#( smooshes face thank you follow the follow sweetie!! )

[thr-333]

Drastic Measures- Part 6

@daminette-december2019-2020

~Comfort~

Damian! for your own health and safety stop trying to KILL Marinette!!!

Ao3

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“Marinette you need to call them,”

Marinette buries her head deeper in the pillow, Adrien tries to pull it away from her.

“Marinette you need to call them,”

Adrien starts leaning his weight into taking it away, Marinette holds tight getting dragged across and half off the bed.

“Marinette if you don't call them I’m going to call them myself,” Adrien threatens, letting go of the pillow and leaving her half hanging off.

“Nooooo,” Marinette moans nose smooshed into the floor.

“Your parents are nice,” Adrien pats her on the back.

“You’ve never seen them angry,”

“They aren’t going to be angry, they're going to be angry if you don't call,”

“Nooooo,”

“... Ops too late I dialed,”

“What?!” Marinette leaps up catching the phone as Adrien drops it.

“You’ll thank me later~” Adrien dances out of the room followed by the Kwamis leaving her all on her lonesome.

“Hello?” Tom’s voice cuts through Marinette's panicking.

“Hi Papa,” Marinette cringes shifting herself back onto the bed.

“Marinette? Marinette! Are you ok sweetie? what's wrong, are you safe, where are you, how can we-”

“I’m ok Papa, I promise,” She relaxes a bit, Adrien was right, for now.

“Oh sweetie, what happened can we talk about- Sabine! Sabine! It’s Marinette! Marinette called!”

“Marinette? Are you safe honey,” Marinette lets go of the breath she was holding at her Maman's concern.

“I’m safe Maman, I’m staying with the Waynes,” She'd ask how exactly Sabine managed to set that up another time.

“Darling, why did you leave?”

“Uhhhhhhhh,” Saying shes on a top-secret mission or can't tell them because it will put them in danger is useless, it’ll just make them ask more she has to completely shut them do- “The sunsets where it rises,”

“... What ,” Marinette cringes at the sharp tone.

“You used to tell me that when there was something you couldn't tell me, for good reason, well now it’s my turn,” Marinette had long suspected what exactly that code meant, but knew enough it meant you didn't ask questions, and you didn't use it lightly, “The sunsets where it rises,”

“Alright, alright I get it please don't repeat that,” Sabine shushes her, “Marinette it can not be used lightly, in fact, you shouldn't be using it,”

“I need to Maman, and I'm not using it lightly, I just need you to trust me, I can handle this but I need to do it without you,” Marinette sighs, she wished she could tell them everything, “I promise when I can I will explain everything, for now, I can’t come back to Paris,”

“Alright Marinette, if you're sure about this,” Tom agrees, Sabine still mulling over it.

“I am,”

“And your smart about it,” Sabine stresses, “Honey even if you can't come back to Paris we can come to you,”

“That's alright Maman, I’ll work better knowing your both safe in Paris,” Marinette relaxes back into the bed, waves of exhaustion washing over her, “Please stay in Paris for me,”

“Alright sweetie we will, just make sure to call us,” Tom soothes her, Marinette could almost fall asleep like this.

“I will,”

“Everyday,”

“I’ll try,” Marinette smiles at his demand.

“Get some sleep darling,” Sabine comfort, Marinette seconds away from doing just that, “I’m sure you’ve earned it,”

“Night guys,”

“Good night sweetie,” Marinette lets the call drop, eyes drooping low.

The door slams open and she jumps up into a defensive position getting tangled in the sheets. She doesn't have a second to steady herself as she is tackled. Marinette kicks the attacker in the stomach using the distraction to roll them over so she’s on top. She miscalculates sending them both off the bed. Marinette's side hits the ground, she groans opening her eyes to see who attacke-

“Damian?!”

“You’re an assassin!” He lunges, Marinette dosages out the way, going again for his stomach but he catches her leg this time.

“What the?” He tries to pin her but she twists her leg to get free and rolls away into a couched position, “I’m not an assassin!”

“You’re here to kill them,” Damian sends a kick her way she dodges, using the momentum to stand up and get on even ground.

“I’m not going to kill anyone!” Marinette snaps, striking first, taking the element of surprise and managing to get him in a hold, “Never have never will,”

“You were raised by one,” Damian tries to get out of her hold, she pulls tighter on his arm in warning, “You can’t be as good as you act,”

“Maybe my Maman was an assassin,” There was certainly no way a baker should know her skills, “But she changed and certainly never wanted me to be one,”

“Tt,” Damian scoffs, trying to break out of the hold with raw strength, little did he know she had him soundly beat in that department, “There's no way, no matter how hard she tries it doesn't change who she is; a killer,”

Marinette is filled with a white-hot rage before dousing it with years of practice. Damian gives up on strength starting a more covert way of getting out, if he finds the right angle he can dislocate his wrist then get the leverage he needs to get free. It was a move her Maman had shown her when teaching her this move, getting out of Marinette's hold by dislocating her wrist without flinching. It had made Marinette think that dislocation wasn't painful, even less so when her Mana had reset it herself without flinching. Then years later while they were still little Kim had fallen in the playground and cried his eyes out when his wrist was dislocated, then had screamed when it was reset. After that Marinette had figured her Maman wasn't all she had seemed.

“Damian, are you an assassin?”

“...”

“Don’t hurt your wrist, I’m going to let you out just don't attack me again,” Marinette relaxes enough so if he wanted to Damian could break out and if she wanted to she could pull him back into the hold, it was a test of trust on both sides, “Damian I’m not an assassin and I wasn't sent here to hurt anyone, I didn’t even intend to be here that just how the cards fell,”

“You expect me to believe that?” He doesn't try to break out but he certainly doesn't relax, "You show up in Gotham then your Mother threatens us to take you in,"

Threatens huh? yeah, that made more sense.

“No, of course I don’t expect you to trust me,” Marinette says gently, “Your families safety is on the line, I expect you to do whatever it takes to keep them safe,”

“...”

“You can change who you are you know,” she did it every day when she became Ladybug, and overtime the line between Ladybug and Marinette had blurred, “My Maman is the kindest person I know, she’s full of compassion and joy no matter what she did in the past, and above all, she cares about me, she cares about her family, just like you,”

“That doesn't change anything,”

“It doesn't change what you did, but it can change what you choose to do,” Marinette rubs her thumb comfortingly over where its clasped on his wrist, “And that can mean a whole lot more that what you were forced to do,”

“... let me go,” Marinette obliges and they both sit up, neither starting a conversation.

Marinette studies Damian, a severe contemplative look on his face. She's sure to others it would look like a scowl, but Kagami isn't very good at expressing herself outwardly so Marinette had learned to read between the lines, and the lines say a lot. Then there's the little fact that Bruce Wayne's son is an assassin and maybe she should be slightly more worried about Bruce himself. She rethinks all their other interactions, framing it with the new information his attitude suddenly makes a lot more sense, and is even admirable in a way.

Something catches the corner of her eye and she spots a camera peaking from the edge of the still-open door.

“Adrien!” She shouts, making Damian jump a bit which she silently finds funny in an endearing way. The phone disappears and Marinette runs to the door where Adrien is already booking it down the hall, “Adrien get back here!”

Marinette gives chase, intent on making him delete whatever picture he took no matter how cute he thinks they are. In her haste, she leaves Damian alone to his thoughts. Yet still, he's more at peace than he has ever been.

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No taglist :P

[itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto]

Amsterdam with Matthew.

A/N: Hi everyone, another Matthew fic for you all! This came about when I was talking to @hercleverboy​ and @gubetube​ a while ago, and just had to fic it! 

My requests for both Matthew and Spencer Reid are open!

Trigger warnings:  Smoking (weed), drinking (alcohol), swearing, sex references/dirty talk.

“Gube, we need a holiday.” You say to your boyfriend one evening, as you cook dinner. Last night Matthew made you lasagne, using the recipe Joe gave him and tonight you are cooking a chicken curry. “I love spending time with you, but I just need a week with my favourite human where I’m not drowning in my University work.”

Matthew smiled at you as he set the table in his apartment and went over to wrap his arms around your waist pulling you into a cuddle. “Where do you fancy peach?” He asked as you leant up to kiss him which he gladly accepted.

“Hmm. I’d like to go to Amsterdam, do some touristy stuff, but also get stoned.” You giggle.

“We’ve already got stoned before muffin, how will this be different?” Matthew asked as you stir the saucepan.

“Because it’s legal there.” You say wiggling your eyebrows

“Amsterdam it is.” Matthew smiled, “How long for dinner?”

“10 minutes.” You smile

“Perfect, gives me time to start looking at places to stay and book flights.” Matthew says grabbing his computer.

“How did I get so lucky?” You thought to yourself and put the rice on to cook.

“Thanks for dinner boo.” Matthew smiled putting his bowl down. “You’re the best chef.”

You smile, “You’re welcome Gube.” And get up putting everything in the dishwasher. “Do you fancy a drink?” You ask

“Can I have a glass of red wine please?” He asks as you nod pouring him one and getting yourself a cider out of the fridge. “You want cuddles?”

“Of course, what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t want cuddles from you?” You chuckle and walk to the sofa.

“You didn’t want any last week when we were at your flat.” Matthew pouts as he makes grabby hands for the wine and for you to cuddle into.

“I had cramps and wanted to be a burrito of sadness.” You say handing him his drink.

Matthew nodded, “But cuddles help.” He says sipping his drink

“My mood swings don’t.” You say. “I hate them, one minute everything is rainbows and unicorns, one minute everything is hell on earth.”

“Aww, my poor little burrito.” Matthew pouted as you snuggled into his arms and started kissing your forehead gently.

“I’m okay now Gube. I just don’t like objectifying my hatred of the world on anyone.” You smile up at him.

“Babe, I have a mother and a sister. I’ve seen it all.” Matthew assured you.

You nod sipping your drink as Matthew put his laptop on your lap and you started to book your holiday.

Two weeks later, you and Matthew arrive into Amsterdam.

“Thanks for letting me stop to chat to my fans, or should I say our fans? They love you!” Matthew smiled, carrying your suitcase and you carried the rucksacks.

“They’re just being polite.” You say, looking down.

“Nuh-uh sunshine. They chatted to you for ages about us.” Matthew smiled, “And you chatted to them whilst I had some stuff to sign.”

You smile, Matthew’s fans totally adore you two, even though you’re not famous, his fans love that you’re just a normal person like them, and you are happy with that. “I guess they do love me, but I know someone who loves me more.”

Matthew gasps dramatically, “Who?”

You giggle going on your tiptoes and kiss his lips softly, “You idiot.”

You arrive into your AirBnB for the week and slump on the sofa, tired from the flight.

“I’m going to take a shower love bug.” Matthew says getting his toiletries out.

“Okay. I’m going to try to stay awake and find us something for dinner. What do you fancy to eat?” You ask looking at your boyfriend lovingly.

“You.” Matthew winked

“Gube!” You say nudging his arm and blushing.

“You didn’t complain last night.” Matthew shrugged. “But I’ll eat whatever.” He said kissing your cheek and went to have a shower.

“Fucking horny bastard.” You mumble to yourself and get out your phone, giggling at how Matthew got horny watching you eat a banana yesterday and then you two had sex straight after.

“Hey babe…” You hear Matthew call from the shower.

“Yeah honey?” You call back

“I forgot my shampoo, be the best girlfriend ever and bring it to me?” He asks

You roll your eyes and go to get it. “Moron.” You say handing it to him.

“Can you wash my hair? It relaxes me when you do it.” Matthew says with puppy eyes.

“I can’t refuse those eyes, of course I’ll wash your hair.” You smile, knowing Matthew would do the same for you. “Close your eyes pretty boy.”

“Thanks pumpkin.” Matthew smiles once you have done the last rinse.

“You always give me such cute nicknames.” You smile kissing his hand.

“Of course angel.” Matthew smiled, “You going to stay there whilst I wash the rest of my body?”

“Mhmm.” You say checking him out.

Matthew smirks, “Okay pretty eyes, my face is up here, not my dick.”

“Whatever.” You shrug as Matthew finishes his shower and wraps himself in the towel.

You giggle and have a shower yourself. “Want me to wash your hair?” Matthew offers

“I’m okay thanks, maybe later in the week?” You suggest

Matthew nods, kissing your shoulder and goes to get ready.

Later in the evening, you and Matthew settled on Tapas.

“Can we get some space cakes to eat back at the apartment?” You ask Matthew with a grin

“Of course. I was just thinking the same.” Matthew smiled as you hold hands

“My hands are so tiny compared to yours.” You pout

“That’s okay, they fit perfectly into mine.” Matthew said kissing your hand and bringing you in for a kiss, even though you had to be on your tip toes.

You smile, even during your bad days or moments, Matthew is always there to make it better.

You go into a shop and buy some space cakes, whilst Matthew buys a few joints for you both.

“Do we need a lighter angel?” Matthew asked you

You shrug, “Can always get another.”

Matthew nods agreeing with you and buys one.

“Can we ride bikes tomorrow Gube?” You ask with puppy eyes knowing it makes Matthew melt

“Of course princess.” Matthew smiled holding his hand out for you as you walked back to the AirBnB

“Okay, so we got alcohol, an ash tray, a lighter, all the weed, and my dream girl.” Matthew said checking you had everything now you were back at the AirBnB.

“Yep.” You smile, putting two glasses of water on the table as Matthew flops on the sofa, opening his arms for you.

“Come here baby girl.” Matthew smiles as you gladly snuggle into his arms and start eating a space cake, which Matthew takes a few bites from.

“You want to light up?” You ask Matthew, smiling at him like a goof.

“Sure.” Matthew said kissing your cheek first and then lit the joint. “I love getting stoned with you.” He said after taking a drag.

“I love you.” You say smooshing his cheeks, then kiss them both and take the joint off him.

“I love you too.” Matthew smiles.

“Joints are definitely stronger here. Not complaining though.” You say as you exhale.

“Mmm.” Matthew says burring his face in your chest.

After a few joints, you and Matthew are definitely feeling the buzz and are slow dancing to ‘Dancing in the moonlight’.

“You know if we ever have kids, I’m going to be so cross if they wear matching socks.” Matthew said as he took the joint from you.

You exhale, “I can just imagine you going ‘sweetie, your Mummy and Daddy love you very much but in the Gubler household we wear mis-matched socks, now please go back upstairs and change.��” You say in a strict Mum voice.

“Remember when my Mum caught us having sex at New Year?” Matthew laughs

You blush, “I was so embarrassed because you said you locked the door!”

“You told me you were sober.” Matthew giggled.

“Never trust an Irish girl when she says she’s sober after 10 pints.” You giggle as Matthew pulls you in for a kiss. “Are my eyes red?” You ask

“Yeah. Are mine?” Matthew asks as you nod.

“As red as the devils horns.” You say trying to keep a straight face.

“Do you want to have sex?” Matthew asked, even when he’s stoned or drunk, he’d never do anything you didn’t want to do.

“Yeah.” You smile like an idiot.

Matthew scooped you in his arms and you snuggled into them as he carried you to bed.

The following day

You wake up first, and put a top and leggings on, and go to the bathroom careful not to wake your pretty boyfriend and then go to make him a coffee, and a herbal tea for yourself.

Meanwhile Matthew wakes up, sad you’re not there, he’s been trying to get you to move in for a while, but as you don’t study where he lives, you’d have to commute two hours every day so you both agreed, once you graduate, you’d move in together.

Matthew smiles seeing you poor him a coffee. “Hi pretty lady.” He says in a raspy voice.

“Morning love muffin.” You smile handing him the mug.

“Thank you. Did you sleep okay?” He asks

You nod, “Yeah. I was fully knocked out after our fun.” You say sipping your tea. “Oh, I booked for us to do some stuff this week. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Stuff?” Matthew asks

“Well, bike riding and a few museums.” You shrug

“Sounds good cupcake.” Matthew smiled, “What’s for breakfast?”

“I got a delivery of waffles coming.” You smile, “Should be here in 15 minutes.”

“You’re the best.” Matthew said kissing your hand

Later on in the afternoon, you and Matthew are cycling around Amsterdam having the best time. “Babe, can we get lunch? I’m hungry.” You ask

“Of course.” Matthew smiled, “What do you fancy?”

“Maybe a picnic, we could get some stuff and sit by the canal?” You suggest

“Aww, I love that.” Matthew said and you cycled to the nearest shop to get some food.

“Thanks for the holiday Gube.” You say sipping your lemonade by the canal.

Matthew snaps a few cute selfies of you both, before putting them on Instagram. “Amsterdam with the best girlfriend who’s also my best friend.” Was the caption

“Aww.” You smile looking through the photos

“When did you take this one?” Matthew asked going on your Instagram, seeing the one of him on his phone wearing a white t-shirt.

“When we got stoned in my flat last time.” You say, “You were so giggly and I just had to take the picture. If you don’t like it, I’ll take it down.”

“No, it’s fine.” Matthew assured you. “We must’ve been really out of it.”

You laugh. “We were.”

Matthew smiles as you put your head on his shoulder and kisses your forehead gently. “Thank you for the holiday darling.”

“You paid for the flights.” You shrug

“You paid for the AirBnB.” Matthew smiled, even though Matthew could afford the whole thing, you still wanted to pay some of it. Matthew knows you never take advantage of him or his money, and it is one of the things he loves about you.

“Gube?” You ask

“Yes my love?” Matthew smiled

“Can we just stay here for a bit? I’m quite comfy.” You say

“Of course angel.” Matthew said draping a blanket over you two and you stayed there for a while just enjoying each-others company.

Taglist: @pumpkin-goob​ , @jpegjade​ , @andiebeaword​ , @hopebaker​ , @hotchsbabygirl​ , @hercleverboy​ , @cupcake525​ , @gubetube​ , @aperrywilliams​ , @cosmic-psychickitty​ , @marleyhotchner​ , @gubler-me-up​ , @trina2323​ , @goldentournesol

[bluejaytaco]

What up? it DND wit Jay!

(We return to the realm where we are standing in front of a giant gold gate. There's a dwarf standing in front of it with a clip board in their hand, just flipping through.)

Alabaster: (walks up) H-Hail and well met, my friend.

Dwarf: Names?

Alabaster: Oh! Um, I'm fine.

Dwarf, flipping through his clipboard: Fine.... Fine.... Nope, not seeing any "fine" here.

Art: (Walks up)....What about Ebony?

Dwarf, flipping through: Uh, yeah. We got an "ebony".... He's an orc. And considering none of you are Orcs, I doubt any of you are Ebony.

Art: Uh, that's racist.

Theodora:... Quite a detailed guest list...

Koejin: (Walks up and points at a random name) That's me.

Dwarf, looks down at the name: Your Grenadine Ceriph? High priestess in Calor? (Context: Calor is a Tiefling city. Koejin is human... well... was)

Koejin: Yeah, that's me.

Dwarf, getting sick of us: Look, I don't have tie for you people messing... (looks up at Koejin and goes silent).... You're not supposed to be here. This isn't your realm.

Koejin: Uhhh... Well, I have business with the man in charge.

Dwarf: I'm gonna have to call Pelor.

The entire group: (various ways of saying, "You do that" From "yes, please do" to "yeah, get that fucking bitch here! I wanna speak to the manager!")

Dwarf, mumbling into a sending stone before looking back at us: Is one of you named Theodora?

Theodora: Uhh.... Yeah.

Dwarf: You guys can go in. That's all I needed because now I know your names. But thanks for lying to me!

(The gates open and we all walk through. It's less blinding, but only slightly less on the other side of the gate. We see people walking around and just enjoying their afterlife. In the far off distance, there is a silhouette of a giant castle. We can also see the opening to a large garden where Pelor is standing with his arms crossed. Some of us see Alabaster's daughter, Eris, stomping on the flowers.)

Pelor, voice booming towards us: Everyone, front and center!

(All of us go with different levels of reluctance. Hennessy leads the way while Art and Jaquine kinda trail back.)

Pelor: So, what is it you need from me? (He's still standing over us while Eris continues to stamp through the flowers.)

(For a moment, we're all silent.)

Theodora: We want to speak to Thia.

Pelor: Thia is not in a place to speak. She is in my castle now, practicing her abilities for the Cleanse.

Hennessy: Is she okay? You don't have her locked up somewhere, hurt, right?

Pelor: Hennessy, my dear boy. Would you lock up a tiger in a small cage? No, you would respect the animal. Thia is in a place of comfort and has free reign.

Hennessy: She's got free reign? So she can go smoke in every room of the castle?! Even your room?!

Pelor: uhh....yes...

Hennessy: Ohh that just won't do. That smell of recreational drugs gets into the fibers and it can be a bitch to get out.

Pelor, suddenly giving off the impression he would like to hurry this along so he could go clean: It doesn't matter. She is my key to cleansing the world and making it all light. And I can save you all, if you kneel before me and accept me as your true god.

(No one kneels but Hennessy does raise an eyebrow at the "kneel" comment.)

Koejin: So how do you promise our safety.

Pelor: Well, you are excluded from this. Your friends, however, are protected because my followers will all survive.

Art: Don't you need the dark to have the light?

Pelor:... You would think that. Ticket Master would have you think that. And you, specifically, reek of him.

Art: Uh, rude?

Pelor: You know what he wants, don't you? He wants me dead so he can be the god of light. His best friend being the god of darkness would mean the two of them would take over everything. The two of them would rule all.

(Art was trying really hard to not say how he didn't see this as a bad thing, considering his bias. But somehow, as everyone was arguing against the cleanse, it was returned to the subject of Art and Ticket Master.)

Pelor: I think we've had quite enough of this talk.

Art: Yeah, let's stop talking about Ticket Master and the guy who may or may not have had sex with him.

(Pelor reacted in disgust which just turned into Art shouting "Sex with Ticket Master!" at the god of light. The tiefling was really aiming to make the god throw up.)

Koejin, joining in: There were definitely tentacles involved!

Art: Lots of tentacles! Sooooo many tentacles!!!

Pelor: Enough! All of you! (grabs Eris by the hair) If none of you will take this seriously, there is no longer a reason to speak with you.

Eris, punching at the hand: Let go! (turns to Alabaster) Daddy! I don't wanna go!

(They walk through a wall made of marble that Hennessy tries to reach through to grab for Eris. He just barely pulls his hand back before the wall solidifies again and he loses his hand.)

Vincent, rushing up to Hennessy: What did you think you were doing?!

Hennessy: The girl didn't want to go with the man! And when the girl doesn't wanna go, you don't let her go!

Vincent: You're gonna make such a great dad!

(behind the garden and before the castle there was a massive labyrinth. We walked up to see two different entrances. Koejin ends up smelling something familiar but can't really pick where it's coming from.)

Art: Hmmm (turns to Red) think you can turn into a dragon and fly up? maybe we can see where to go.

Red, not all that enthused by the idea: Uhh, yeah, I guess. Step back.

(Everyone stands back to give her enough room to transform. She flies up to the edge of the maze, but once her talons hit the edge, they shoot up another hundred feet and knock her back down.)

Red, turns back into her base form and glares at everyone: Well, that didn't help!

Art: (shrugging) well, my plans aren't ever without fault.

(Hennessy casts detect magic and, aside from nearly having his brain explode from all the god magic around, he discovers on direction is dark magic while the other is light.

We end up going towards the dark side because we figure that's where Thia might be hiding.)

(First stop is a room with a sword in a stone. Hennessy can sense that the magic is dark, but it isn't the source.)

Koejin: (climbs up and pulls the sword from the stone and holds it up in the air. She then hears the sounds of us screaming in agony.)

What we see: Koejin pulling the sword out and standing with it like she's posing.

Art: Uhhh.... what is happening?

Theodora: Koejin? You okay?

Koejin vision! Art: (melting away and falling apart) You killed us!!!!

Koejin vision! Theodora: (Also melting) You let us dieeeee!!!!

Koejin, turning to see all this: No! No, I saved Art's life so many times! (Turns to Theodora) I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

Art: Koejin.... we're fine!

Koejin: (runs up to start trying to put Art's face back together. To everyone else, she'd just smooshing his face while still holding the sword.)

Theodora: (dispels the magic from the sword and a little imp pops free)

Koejin: (can now see that everyone's okay and it still just kinda groping Art's face.)

Art:....uh, Koejin?

Koejin: Yeah.... sorry. You were melting just now.

(We talk to the little imp briefly to find that he is a prisoner in the maze. He asks if he's free to go but as soon as he does, he's struck by lightning.)

(We continue down the path for a little bit before Koejin figures out that we're going the wrong way because she can no longer smell the "smelly smell that smells." In that time, Hennessy incinerated some talking furniture which the DM disappointedly let us know that we wouldn't be seeing the IKEA Lich. I have a feeling the IKEA Lich might pop up in a future one shot.

But also, we got this exchange.)

Theodora: (casts a spell in attempt to sober Koejin.)

Koejin: (starts screaming as her skin starts to burn) Stop!

Theodora: (stops immediately) I... I was just trying to help..

Koejin: I'm the God of intemperance, Theodora! You can't just sober me up!

Theodora: What?!

(This starts into a fight about how this isn't the weirdest thing we've been through while she continues to talk about how she wasn't expecting to hear her daughter was a god.)

Red: If I may, I can see where Theodora is coming from here. Be it the weirdest thing or not, finding out your child is involved in some affair with the gods can be surprising. (Shoots a look at Art) Like your son being intimately involved with a tentacle monster god.

Art:.... you weren't supposed to know about that....

Red: You were shouting about it just before while I was standing there.

Art:... right..... forgot you were there....

Red: Either way; something for us to talk about later, Sweetie.

Art rolling his eyes, sarcastically: But Mother, I love him.

((Koejin's Player: And I have to remember to write proper notes about what everyone knows and doesn't know.

DM: Eh, it's all out now))

(We head from the dark part to the light part and find ourselves walking down a hall for hours. It gets to the point where Mrs. Red starts to complain.)

Red: Ugh... when is this fucking thing going to end? Doesn't anyone have a way to move this along faster?

Art: It's going to feel like longer if you keep bitching.

Red: I don't even wanna be here!

Theodora: None of us want to be here!

Art, agreeing: Yeah, and yet, here we are! So, how about you shut your mouth for a bit while we figure out how to get home and make sure there's even a "home" to go back to!

Red:.... Actually, Art. Considering that, I think this might be a good time for you and I to talk....

(Art is pulled off to the side by Mrs. Red, Reita following. Theodora tries to usher everyone a respectful distance away to try and ensure privacy. She does her best, but pretty much everyone is still eavesdropping.)

Red: I know I haven't been the best mother... In fact, I might be the worst... But know that I will try to make this all better and I'm just looking for your forgiveness.

Art:.... you might remember us as a nice, happy little family, but let me tell you what I remember.

Koejin: You tell her, Art!

Art, ignoring her and pretending he doesn't know people are listening: ....you slicing off Reita's face, blowing up Thia's bar, threatening the lives of my friends, destroying the lives of countless different people; I could go on! You barely get to claim the title "mother!"

Red: I did what I thought was best!

Art: You entrusted your children to the God of Death and Deceit!

Red: I didn't do that! (long pause)....I did do that.

Art: Yeah, you did. So, this is how things are gonna go. We're going to go through here and make sure there's a world to get back to, we're going to go to Calor and you are going to fix this. Then we can talk about forgiveness.

Red: ....That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. I would love... to return to our people. I know I'm a tiefling, but I still feel the rage... of a red dragon. Someone would need to take care of our people.

Art:.... the people that treated me like a pariah....

Vincent, butting in: Like Hell I'm gonna let that happen! (storms over to them and looks at Art) Look Art, I'm willing to admit you are not evil. But do you really think you can run Calor? As soon as everything gets hard you run away! Hell, you abandoned your own sister-

Reita, with a surprising amount of clarity: He didn't... abandon me. He thought I was dead.

(The remaining three tieflings turn and look at her.)

Reita: And you're not exactly one to talk; you created weapons for a tyrant and turned a blind eye to the problems in Calor. We've all done things we regret, but we learn and grow from them. How can you stand there and judge him from running from a bad situation when he was a kid? Hypocrite (shoves a slug into her mouth)

Art, smiling and a little misty-eyed: I'm so proud of you! (hugs Reita)

Reita: Uhhh, yeah. Sure.... (doesn't push him away, though)

Red:.... You're not supposed to be talking like that... how are you doing that?

Art, pulling away: Yeah, that was going to be the next part. You feeling okay?

Reita, shrugging: I feel good.... Like, really good.

Red: (grabs Reita and rips open the back of her cloak to see the stone in her spine is not glowing) This.... this isn't working. It should be working.

Art:....We should keep moving. Put a pin in this for now.

(We keep moving ahead with different twists and turns leading into random encounters. One of which is a growing garden gnome that we put Wreybar on top of so she could see over the walls. She tries to say what she sees, but speaks in a way only Wreybar understands.)

Theodora: Okay, but now how are we gonna get her down?

Red: I could probably fly up an-

Wreybar, jumping: Catch me!

Hennessy: (rushes to cast feather fall on her.)

(She floats down and lands nicely on the ground as we hear Thia's booming voice "Giant garden gnome? Goodbye giant garden gnome!" And the gnome just vanishes.)

(Wreybar starts talking in her gibberish and Koejin asks for a translator. Reita steps in and kneels down to her, nodding along by what she's saying.)

Reita: Wreybar says there's a latter coming out of a hole on the other side. It's right next to the castle. How do you guys not get that, she was speaking clearly.

Theodora: Maybe to you. Not all of us can speak Wreybar.

(We ended up getting into a few more shannanigans. At one point, Art attempted to use mislead in attempt to move through faster only to have Reita get impatient and run ahead. Art and Reita had a quick little spat about that along the lines of "by the time we find her, she'll have destroyed everything already!" "We can't find her at all if we're dead! No running ahead!" There was also a bit with Hennessy and Koejin teleporting out of the maze where they met a murder horse and a weird inky blob creature.

At that point the latter was the literally the next turn. But possibly the worst moment.)

DM: You guys come to a dead end. The smell is still coming from over it.

Koejin: Shit....

(We all check the wall to find no traps. But then... Alabaster touches it and a had grabs hold of him. It pulls itself out with his resistance and Alabaster is looking at a marble version of... himself.)

Alabaster: O-oh! Hail and well met... uh, me!

M! Alabaster: Oh! Hail and Well Met! How are you, my fine friend?

Alabaster: I'm quite well, thank you! How... who are you?

M! Alabaster: Oh, I am what remains of you. The you left behind when you left the Pelor faith!

Alabaster: Oh, I see.

M!Alabaster: Have you killed your daughter?

Alabaster: oh, no. That is.... no longer apart of the plan.

M! Alabaster: (grabs hold of Alabaster) I will do it then. I will kill your daughter. She is born of darkness, thus she must die!

(Everyone around him tenses up, but he somehow knows if he looks away, the creature will fade from his sight and go to kill Eris. He can only stare at it to hold it in place.)

Alabaster: (puts his hand to the copy's mouth and uses Create or Destroy Water)

M!Alabaster: (starts to crack and burst under the pressure. The amount of water forced inside kills the creature.)

((Create or destroy water has been a running gag in the campaign. It's been used a few times, but nothing really dark. Not like this.))

Alabaster:....(Still holding his marble copy with a stunned look.)

Art:....(walks up and pats him on the arm) You did what you had to do... Eris is safe now.

Theodora, nodding: Think of it as... you made the right choice.

Alabaster: (nods to both of them and closes the creatures eyes)

Koejin:.... we should destroy it. Just in case.

(They then proceed to break the thing into dust and we continued on our way.)

( We found the latter that brought us up to the castle. As we walk around to the entrance, Pelor stands by the door with his arms crossed.)

Pelor:.... what are you trying to accomplish here? Do you really think you can stop any of this?

Theodora: We're here to talk to Thia. Where's Thia?

Pelor, sighing: Look, last chance before I wipe you out of existence; kneel before me or leave my land and accept your fates.

Red, arms crossed(as is usual for her): Yeah, I'm not one for bowing to people. People bow to me.

Pelor: This goes for all for all of you?

(All of us agree. There will be no bowing.)

Pelor:....then so be it.

(Before he can move in to fight us, he is turned inside out and sucked into a little stone. Thia then drifts down, takes the stone, and crushes it.)

Art: ....hi, Thia....

Thia, glaring: Shut up, Art.

Art, nodding: Hmmm, mhm.

Thia: (turns to Theodora) Go home, Theodora.

(for a moment, her powers work on Theodora, but all of us stop her. This turns into a conversation about why the wipe is unnecessary. Koejin leads the conversation, then turned and asked for someone more "charisma based" to lead.

Art couldn't speak. Probably for the best. He and Thia have never really gotten along.)

Theodora: If you wipe out all existence, we won't be learning from our mistakes. Everything will end up being repeated! The war will be repeated!

Thia: Not if I don't allow free will.

Theodora: And then what is life? that's not a world; that's a simulation.

Thia:... better that than allowing a kid to grow up in the woods all alone.

Theodora:.... Thia, we can make this world better. Create a place where something like that doesn't happen. But this.... this isn't the way.

Thia:....Do all of you agree? Should I.... give up my power?

(This was a major turning point in the story. Because this is where the end boss was decided. And we told Thia to give up her power.)

Thia, nodding: Alright... let's go back home. No reason to strand ourselves here. (she opens a portal)

(We walk through to find ourselves in the tavern Thia owns. She wills away her power, but it's no big ta-do.)

Koejin: Did it work?

Thia:.... I don't know.... Art, give me some money.

Art:..... no....

Koejin: It worked!

(We all celebrate before we all notice the portal hasn't closed. When we turn and look, we see Pelor's face.... on Ticket Master's body. He throws it away like a mask and grins at us.)

Ticket Master: Guess who's the new God of Light? (smiles and waves as the portal closes)

(Outside, we hear loud banging. When we run out, we can see darkness and light bouncing off of each other before they begin to swirl and spread. They head for us.)

Theodora: (hears the voice of Bahamut and an open blue portal) Everyone! We have to go!

(Everyone dives into the portal. Art takes a moment before diving in with the group.)

(There will be one last session and we can all really feel it now. I'm kinda sad that Ticket Master is now the BBEG, but we all saw that coming. There's just a lot to figure out here.)

[is0gild]

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 29

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 8,417

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

"What the everliving fuck, Lea?! Why the hell are you naked in our kitchen?!"

Riku's muffled shout had me jerking awake and shooting up in bed, my hand clutching the blanket.

"Er, heh… laundry day?"

Lea's response.

Both voices had come from the other side of my closed bedroom door. I heard a ruckus out there ensue - possibly the sounds of a chase? Wincing at the sunlight pouring in through my window, I glanced towards the clock on my nightstand. Ugh, we'd only gotten to sleep a few short hours ago.

...speaking of…

I lifted my blanket slightly away from me as I looked down at myself.

Yup.

Not a stitch on me.

Not sure what else I could've possibly expected.

My door suddenly burst open and I gasped, hugging my comforter to my chest once more as Lea came barreling in. Okay, at least he wasn't completely naked. He had one of my bed sheets wrapped around his waist. Thankfully. I don't think that my heart could have survived such a visual otherwise at this precise moment.

He leapt into bed with me, sniggering as he hid behind me. Or rather, tried to anyway. My frame was far too small to be concealing such a large man. "Mornin', gorgeous!" he chirped, planting a swift peck to my cheek.

Face heating and groggy brain still trying to catch up, I began, "I- Wha-"

"Why, Lea?! Just… why?!" Riku yelled from the other side of the door, which seemed to have hit a wall and bounced back to almost closing again. It was now just barely open a crack for us to clearly hear my annoyed roommate's voice through it.

"Was trynta scrounge something up for breakfast!" Lea called back. "El was hungry!"

...I was?

My stomach growled.

Oh. Apparently, yes. Yes I was.

...oh gosh, it hadn't been gurgling in my sleep, had it? How embarrassing.

Riku's voice snarled, "You couldn't have put some goddamn pants on first?!"

"It was an emergency! Hadta get some food in the woman, stat!"

There was a loud angry huff from the other side of the door. "Whatever, you just better not have sat on anything out here or I swear…"

It hadn't escaped my notice that Riku hadn't followed Lea in here. Perhaps the implications of Lea barging in first in his current state of undress had not been lost on him and so he was staying out there to preserve my modesty.

Rayne on the other hand…

My door banged open for a second time to reveal her suddenly standing in the threshold, a huge ear-to-ear grin splitting her face in two. "Oh my god, it finally happened!"

Rayne had no such compunctions.

She squealed before running further into the room, holding something up in one hand. "Ahh, I'm so excited! So, so happy for you guys! Oh dear lord, you have no idea how frustrating it's been watching the two of you just dancing around each other this whole time but not bloody doing a damn thing about it! It was driving me up the goddamn wall!" Turns out that thing in her grasp was her phone, or so I came to realize when she shoved it in my face, "But finally! The day we've all been hoping for is here at last! The day you've become," pause for dramatic effect,"...a woman! Halle-freakin-lujah! Do you have any words you'd like to commemorate this momentous event with?"

"Why the phone?" was my oh so moving speech as I scrunched up my face and put my hand to the device, pushing it away.

She beamed and shrugged. "I'm recording this."

"You're what?!" I blanched.

"Yup! To immortalize this historic occasion! Plus, I need video evidence cuz otherwise there is no way Anna will ever believe this. She's gonna flip her-" she suddenly gasped, free hand shooting forward to brush my hair back off my shoulder while getting in close with her phone again. "Holy Jesus H Christ, Lea, what the hell did you do to the woman's throat?!"

I jerked back from her touch, brow furrowing. "My...?" I brought my hand up to brush a finger to my neck. Huh. It was rather sore…

"Dude," she fixed me with a pointed look from the other side of her phone. "It's absolutely covered in hickeys."

"H-?!" I choked on the word, eyes widening and face an inferno.

"Seriously. That thing is more bruise than neck at this point." Rayne leaned in even further with her mobile, fascinated. "Would you lookit that? All the lil ones are coming together to form - dun, dun dun," her voice dropped to intone with deep reverence, "the Mother Hickey!"

I slapped a hand over the spot, trying to cover it up.

She snerked then cackled. "Oh, sweetie. Your hand would have to be the size of an extra large, double stuffed pizza to conceal that monster! Damn, Red, for real… that's a masterpiece!"

Lea gave a sheepish laugh beside me, fingers ruffling his wild bedhead hair. "Guess it is some o' my best work, huh?"

Squeaking, I burrowed into my blankets to hide from the rest of the world.

"Alright, no further comment, show's over now. Riku!" Lea gave a sudden shout. "Come corral your woman!"

I heard a slow creak from my door, then the sound of feet awkwardly shuffling in. "Sorry about-" There was a thud and Riku hissed, "Ow! ...about this, Elsa. I pr-" Whump. "Gah! Promise I'm not-" Bang. "Goddamn it! I'm not-"

"Oh for the love of…" A sigh from Rayne. "Riku! You can remove your hand from your eyes, you goob! She's hiding under the sheets."

"I think I'll keep my hand right where it is, thank you very much!" he grumbled back. He could be heard shambling about for a bit more, peppered here and there by him bumping and crashing into a few more things, before finally, "Ah-ha! There you are!"

"Ack! Riku!" The sounds of what could only be described as a kerfuffle followed. "Put me down, brat!"

"We'll, uh… go get breakfast going and give you two some… privacy," Riku grunted out. Pretty sure I could hear him now literally dragging his wife out of the room. How he managed that one-handed (as I could only assume the other was still being used to shield his eyes), I'll never know. Eventually, mercifully, I heard my door click shut.

Lea gave a soft snort. "So… wanna come out and show me your beautiful face?" he then coaxed gently.

Twitching slightly, I gripped harder at the fabric of the comforter - aka my sanctuary. "Hmm… mm-mm, no, I think I'm good in here, thanks."

There was a brief pause. Then, "Alright. Guess me and my beautiful face are just gonna have to come in there instead." The blankets abruptly lifted, but only just enough for Lea to scooch in next to me under them before tucking them back down around us once more. His shoulders hunched, sheet overhead smooshing his hair down as he shot me a grin. "Hi."

Oh gosh, it was bad enough that he'd been naked before. Now he was naked and close. Not that I could really see anything below the waist - he was still wrapped in sheet down there. Still, even though I couldn't see him in all his nude glory, didn't mean I wasn't one hundred and ten percent fully aware of it and that thought alone was enough to send the blood rushing to my face all over again.

Ugh, calm down, cheeks. You'd think after last night, there'd be nothing left to get so red over.

"Wanna talk about it?" he tipped his head to one side.

"Hm?" I hummed absently, dragging my eyes up to meet his. While the actual goods were currently out of sight, I was still finding just the sight of his bare chest rather, hrm… distracting.

He gave a small shrug, "Whatever it is that's bothering you."

I gnawed on my lower lip and glanced away, clutching the undersheet more tightly to my chest.

...last night had been…

...amazing…

...slow and tender at times, and… heated and passionate at others, as well as, er… how shall I put it... enlightening? Sure, let's go with that. But also, it'd been…

...confusing.

I mean, not in the moment itself, it hadn't been. But now…? Well, it was just… we hadn't really talked about anything beforehand. Frankly, we'd let hormones do all the talking. Hormones were a new experience for me. I'd never even had so much as an inkling of a single solitary hormone ever before and last night I'd been struck by a whole raging tsunami of the damn things. Who knew they could be so, er… persuasive. It'd been all too easy to get swept up in the torrent. But now that the storm had died down, now that morning was here and I could think more clearly, I…

Well, I didn't regret it. No, not one bit. But… I guess I just had questions. Like where did this leave Lea and me? I hadn't forgotten the little detail that he'd never really been the relationship type before, and I had no real solid reason to believe that that was about to change just for me. And what about his whole "no girls until graduation" rule? Just what had this been for him then? A temporary lapse in judgement? A moment of weakness? Yeesh, I didn't want to be one of those girls who got all, "What does this mean?" after they sleep with a guy, but…

You know what? No, there was nothing wrong with being one of those girls. Those girls were valid. Those girls had a right to know and so did I, damn it! I deserved to know if this had actually meant something to him or if I'd just been a… another notch on the headboard or… or if he'd just been sowing his wild oats or-

"Oh gosh, was I just an oat to you?!" I suddenly blurted out, snatching the comforter down off my head with a huff.

"Uh…" Lea fought with the blanket a bit himself before his top half broke free to join me out here, blinking at me owlishly. "...no?" he tried, his guyliner-smudged eyes squinting uncertainly.

Right. Good job, mouth. Way to make me sound like a total crackpot.

Inhaling deeply through my nose and then puffing out a slow breath, I gave it another go. "...was last night just a…" The blush returned as I struggled for the right words. "...a one night stand?"

His shoulders stiffened as his head rocked back. "What?! No. God no! El, I-" his hand was reaching for me, but it stopped just short of my arm. He frowned, pulling it back to instead rub over his mouth then drag along the nape of his neck with a sigh. "Shit, we're always doing things so backwards, aren't we? Kissing before we'd even so much as said our first hello to each other… Going steady before we'd even been on a single date… Now hopping into bed together before taking a minute to tell each other how we really…" he trailed off with another sigh, leaving the thought unfinished.

I remained silent, just looking down as I drew my blanketed knees up, hugging them to my chest.

Lea shifted around so he was instead facing me now, clasping his own sheet to keep it firmly wrapped around his waist. Pulling one knee up himself, he propped an elbow atop it as he bent forward to my eye-level. "Do you remember the story I told about how we met?"

My eyes blinked. "You mean the plot of Before Sunrise?"

Grinning softly now, he said, "If you'll recall, that movie starts on the train. But that's not where the story I told began."

A crease formed between my eyebrows. "No, it started with the lantern festival."

"That's right," he nodded. "...I was there, El. I was really there, same time as you."

My spine snapped straight as I inhaled, small and sharp. "You were?"

"Yup! Everything… seeing you there, the lanterns going up, even the bit about me faceplanting into a lamppost… all of it, and I do mean all of it, was true."

I gaped slightly before shaking my head slowly. "But… you said you'd never seen the lantern show."

"I haven't. Oh sure, I was there, but I was too busy watching you instead," he chuckled, tapping me on the nose.

There was a small flutter inside my ribcage. Still, I frowned. "But… but I was the one who said the city we met in was Corona."

He snorted, scratching a spot behind his ear, "Yeah, and I was floored when ya did. Thought for a sec that maybe you actually had noticed me at the festival. But nope, turned out to just be a lucky shot in the dark!" Lea laughed, then paused with a wistful smile. "...obviously in the real story, I didn't end up following you onto that train, but shit, you dunno how bad I wanted to. But I'd just sworn off girls to focus on college only the day before, and I didn't wanna be so weak as to go tossing that out the window less than twenty-four hours in." His lips then pursed to one side, eyes downcast. "In a way, maybe it was for the best. I don't think the time was right for either of us yet. I… wouldn't have been ready to be the person you needed me to be."

I didn't know what to say to that. Even if I did, I'm not sure if I would have been able to get any words out past the tightening in my throat. So instead, I just settled for reaching for his hand.

Flashing me a grin, he brought it up so he could press his lips lightly to my knuckles before going on, "But man, did I regret letting you get away without even so much as talking to you. Was kicking myself ever since, thinking I'd never see you again." His eyes crinkled as he leaned in closer now, "So imagine my shock 'bout a year later when I spot a very cute, very familiar new girl working the ice cream counter across the food court from me. It'd seemed fate had decided to give me a second chance with the divine creature from the lantern festival. I just hadta meet her."

One corner of my mouth tugged up, "What about your dating hiatus?"

"Hey now, I was just trying to get to know you! You were the one who kissed me first, remember?" his lips twisted into a smirk and I rolled my eyes, feeling heat creeping up the back of my neck. His gaze turned serious however. "...women have always kinda been a weakness for me. I'd practically made a career out of skirt chasing. Whenever it came down to making a choice between the ladies and getting my shit together, I picked ladies every time. But when I finally decided, and I mean really decided to buckle down, I cut that part of my life out completely. I thought it would be hard, but it actually really wasn't. Turns out they'd just been a bad habit I hadta kick. Having them around had been a distraction.

"But when it came to you…" his eyes softened as he reached for a lock of my hair to fiddle with. "The more I got to know you, it… The distraction was… not having you around. I couldn't concentrate on anything else… not school, not work... I was thinking about you all the time. Couldn't get you outta my head. Not for a damn second."

"Lea…" my hand came up of its own accord to brush along his cheek.

He covered it with his own, turning his head slightly to kiss my palm. "...you know with crushes, or love at first sight, or whatever the hell you wanna call it… they say you're not really falling for the person, but rather just the idea of them. That you're just building 'em up in your head, putting 'em on a pedestal… but that when you actually finally do get to know the person, it'll be a letdown. That they won't turn out to be who you wanted them to be." Pressing our foreheads together now, he nuzzled the tip of his nose to mine, "But you turned out to be so much better than I ever coulda imagined."

I scoffed, face burning as I muttered, "Sounds like someone's been watching too many of those cornball movies."

"I mean it, so shush, you," he chided, biting back a grin. Then he was shifting a little closer to me. "What I'm trying to tell ya is that you're stuck with me. I'm not going anywhere. I'm yours, if you'll have me. I am all in."

My breath hitched as I stared into those stunning green eyes of his. I hesitated for a second, my thumb idly stroking along where he still had my hand clasped to his cheek. Then I bent forward, giving him a gentle kiss. "...I'm all in too."

"Yeah?" he murmured, grin twitching wider. "So how 'bout it then? Can I be your boyfriend for real this time?"

I hummed a soft laugh, nodding. "I'd like that very much."

"Good." Lea curled a finger under my chin, pressing his lips soundly to mine. Then he used his hold on my chin to carefully turn my head to one side, eyes half-lidded as he got a closer look at, er, heh… at the Mother Hickey. "Hmm, I really did do a number on this side of your neck, huh? Gotta a bit carried away." He planted a quick peck to the tender skin there, making it tingle pleasantly. Then he was sweeping my hair forward over that shoulder and turning my head the other way, tsking, "While this side," a kiss to said side, "is looking rather neglected. You're rather lopsided here and we can't have that, now can we?"

"No?" I breathed, shivering as I felt his lips graze over my skin, my hand drifting down to trail along his chest.

"Mm-mm. Why don't we see what we can do here to correct this oversight," he said, voice low as he began nibbling at my throat. I could feel him hooking a finger into where I had the blanket hugged to my torso, giving it a gentle tug and-

My door abruptly flew open for the third time. "Elsa! I need to talk to-" Anna - that's right, Anna - gasped from where she stood in the doorway now, slapping a hand over her eyes. Lea and I jerked apart, me clutching the comforter more fiercely to my body than ever. My sister parted her fingers for a peek, then snapped them back closed with a giggle. "Oo la la! You two really go the extra mile to sell this girlfriend-boyfriend act! You do remember calling the whole thing off yesterday though, right?"

Lea hung his head and sighed heavily while I scooted off the bed with an annoyed little growl. Keeping the blanket firmly wrapped around me like a misshapen, makeshift dress, I narrowed my eyes and marched over to her. "What are you doing here, Anna? Why didn't you just call?"

"Your phone's been-"

I snatched her hand down from where it was still covering her eyes, since I refused to hold a conversation with her while she looked so silly. She blinked a couple times before a tiny laugh bubbled out of her, "Oh hi!" I merely drooped my eyelids at her and she cleared her throat, expression hardening. "Your phone's been going straight to voicemail and this couldn't wait!"

That's right. My phone was still dead and I never got around to charging it last night. I'd been a little otherwise, ahem… preoccupied.

I pinched the bridge of my nose with an irritated huff. I didn't want to deal with this right now. Taking hold of Anna's shoulder, I spun her around and pushed her back towards my door, "Fine, then just... try calling me again later."

"What?! No, wait!" Her hands flew out to grab either side of the doorframe and she dug in her heels, bringing us both to a lurching stop. "Sis, I really, really need to talk to you!"

"Well I don't want to talk to you!" I snapped back, pressing my shoulder into her back and putting my full weight into trying to get her moving again. No dice. She wouldn't budge.

"Elsa, please!" she whirled around to face me once more, unleashing the full might of her devastating pout on me.

Fudge. I'd never been able to say no to those big, sad, puppy-dog eyes of hers.

I puffed out a small breath with a scowl. Then I grumbled, "Fine. Just give me a minute to get-"

Dressed.

That's the word I'd been about to say.

However, Anna's excited squeal cut me off and she grabbed my elbow, yanking me along with her as she ran out into the living room. I tried to resist, making a desperate grab for my doorknob but only succeeded in slamming the door shut behind me before it slipped free of my grip. Before I knew it, Hurricane Anna had plonked me down on one of the living room sofas with her flumping down beside me.

"Ugh, not you too," came Riku's groan from the kitchen.

Glancing over, I saw him standing next to a pan sizzling on a stove burner, one of his hands holding a large spatula while the other blurred up to clasp over his eyes. Rayne sniggered at him as she pulled something out of the fridge.

"Hey, I tried to change," I shot back before turning my accusatory gaze on my sister. She merely beamed and shrugged in response. Rolling my eyes, I primly adjusted my blanket-dress with as much dignity as I could muster to ensure I remained one hundred percent PG. My other hand went to my hair, which was still gathered forward over one shoulder, thankfully covering the Mother Hickey.

No need for Anna to spot that, thank you very much.

"Come on, hon, let's get you somewhere where you're free to see," Rayne snorted, relieving him of the spatula and taking his hand in hers so she could start guiding him towards their bedroom.

I shot Anna a dull stare now, waiting with a frown.

Her cue to begin.

"Alright, first of all, we're going to have to come back to that later," she waved a hand towards my bedroom door. "Because okay, wow!"

"I know, right?" Rayne chimed in with a laugh, not having quite reached her room yet. I fixed her with an unamused look and she winced. "Sorry," she whispered, returning all her focus on getting her temporarily blinded husband out of there.

Once they'd disappeared through their door, Anna sat up a little straighter, squared her shoulders, and tugged at her skirt, straightening out its wrinkles. Then she took a deep breath, "Right. Okay, where to begin… well, for starters, I did not - you hear me? Not," she reiterated, striking up a finger for emphasis, "suggest the whole you and Lea thing just to keep Mom and Dad from getting mad about the whole Hans and me thing."

I gave her a flat look, quirking a dubious eyebrow.

"I didn't! I swear I didn't! My actual reasons were threefold. Count 'em, three," she held up the matching number of fingers, wiggling them slightly. Then she ticked off the first one, "A, as I brought up yesterday, I figured having him backing you up would give you the courage to face Mom and Dad. B, I thought that big, scary, redheaded ox of a man would make Mom and Dad think twice before still trying to tell you what to do. Which, in hindsight, kinda backfired… but hey, was worth a shot at least, right?" she gave a nervous chuckle.

I did not laugh with her.

She cleared her throat and hastily pressed on, "And C, it was so obvious that you and Lea had the total friggin' mega hots for each other, so I thought I might play cupid and help that along a lil." Her eyes darted to my bedroom door again before she leaned in closer, waggling her eyebrows, "You're welcome, by the way."

Now I full on glowered at her.

Sense the tone, brat.

She gulped, pulling back again, eyes darting about as she fidgeted with her fingers. Then she huffed, "And fine, okay sure, did I realize you two playing lovebirds in front of Mom and Dad might keep some of the heat off of me and Hans? Yes, but that was more of a… an afterthought! Ya know, like… a nice lil perk on the side. Was it a perk I should have taken advantage of? No. Should I have figured out a different weekend to drop the Hans-bomb? Maybe. But-"

"Sorry, sorry!" Rayne suddenly popped back into the room, sneaking past us towards the kitchen. "Just don't want the bacon to burn. Pretend I'm not here."

Returning my attention to Anna, I saw her frowning, deep in thought and possibly trying to think up a different tactic here. Then she was opening her mouth again, "Look, Sis... he and I didn't mean for this to happen-"

I scoffed, "You said that already yesterday."

"No, let me finish! We didn't mean for it to happen, but it did and nothing can change that now. And you know what? I wouldn't want to change that. I am not sorry." I looked at her sharply and she swiftly amended, "I am sorry if it hurt you. So, so sorry, you have no idea! But I'm not sorry that it happened. You have to understand, he and I… Elsa, it's nothing like I've ever known before! It… it's like fireworks! It's amazing and magical and-"

"He who?" Rayne was suddenly next to us in the living room, making me jerk in surprise.

Jeez, I hadn't even heard her leave the kitchen!

Hand covering my rapid, startled heartbeat, I told her, "Hans. My ex."

"Oh…" the corners of her mouth turned down. Then a blink and a louder, "Oh!" Followed by her eyes narrowing on my sister with a disapproving, "Anna!"

"Fireworks, Ray-Ray! Fireworks!" she snapped back in her defense.

Shaking her head, Rayne directed my attention to what she was holding in her hands - a small bowl of mixed, sliced fruit. "To tide you over until the rest of the food is ready," she explained, depositing it onto the coffee table before making her way back over to the stove.

I stared blankly at the little snack, as if not quite sure what to do with it. Then my stomach gave another growl to remind me.

Oh yeah. That.

"The point," Anna steadfastly insisted, "is that we both know you didn't love him. But I-"

A derisive snort escaped me as I started poking through the fruit. "That is so not the point and you know it."

Her face pinched in annoyance and she spat out, "But I do!"

Snagging a grape, my brow furrowed. "...do what?"

"Love him!"

My eyes widened briefly, then I shot her a dull stare. "...you can't love a man you've just been dating a few weeks."

"And why not?" she glared at me as I popped the grape into my mouth. "You and Lea have been only pretending to date for a few weeks and you're in love with him!"

Cue choking on said grape.

Blasted things are hazardous to your health!

Face roasting as I banged a fist to my chest to dislodge the damn thing and let blessed oxygen back in again, I wheezed, "I'm not- We're not- I mean, it's just-"

"Oh please!" she rolled her eyes. "It's you, Elsa. You. You're the very definition of ice queen. You don't just go around having crazy wild monkey sex-"

"Oh my god, Anna!" I buried my face in my hands.

"Don't oh-my-god-Anna me! It's true! You don't! You never do this! So the only obvious conclusion is that you-"

I clamped a hand over her mouth, fixing her with a tiny scowl. Then I said calmly and evenly, "One, it is not the only conclusion. And two, this isn't about Lea and me. This is about you and Hans." I slowly started to lower my hand but when I saw her sucking in breath to go off once more, I quickly gagged her again. Then I shot her a warning look, silently demanding that she zip it. Her eyelids drooped and I took that as reluctant consent. Taking my hand back now, I looked to the bowl of fruit once more. Hm… maybe a banana slice? Yeah, that seemed less likely to murder me. Bending forward to reach for it, I went on, "Now I know you might think you two are in love, but-"

She abruptly gasped, "Holy friggin' cow, what's that?!"

Suppressing a groan at being interrupted, I grumbled, "What's what?"

"That! On your neck!" With a start, I realized some of my hair had slipped back behind me, no longer concealing the Mother Hickey. The monstrosity had broken loose to wreak its unholy havoc. Anna gaped in pure awe, "Damn, Sis, what was that boy trying to do to you? Draw blood, the friggin' vampire?"

"She liked it!" came Lea's voice suddenly as he exited my bedroom, shutting the door behind him with a smug grin.

Cheeks bursting into flames, I grabbed a raspberry to chuck at him for oversharing.

He caught it easily and sniggered. "Thanks, babe!" he chirped, tossing it up into the air before catching it in his mouth.

Then I looked at him. Really looked at him and came to a realization.

That jerk now had clothes on.

"Hey, no fair! How come he got to get dressed and I didn't?!" I snapped, hand balling more tightly into my blanket-dress in my continued effort to keep the thing together and in place.

Anna whined in frustration, "Sis, focus! We're talking about something important here!"

Says the girl who just got sidetracked by the Mother Hickey.

"Okay, maybe Hans and I haven't been dating for long," she began as out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lea poking about the living room in various places, searching for something. "But just like you, I grew up with him. We've known each other all our lives. I know him, Elsa. Really, really know him." At last he seemed to spot it - his leather jacket, which he snatched up now from wherever he'd tossed it last night. He came over to me and draped it around my shoulders, ducking down to brush a peck to my temple as he did so. "Know him and… and care about him. I actually feel like this has been a long time coming, Sis. That he and I were just meant to be. It's the kind of stuff that cheesy romcom flicks are made of, what everyone's singing about in all those sappy songs. Ya know… true love."

"Come on, Anna," I sighed as I tugged Lea's jacket closer, grateful for the added bit of coverage. Thumb idly running up and down the metal teeth of the zipper, I muttered, "Thought you outgrew fairytales a long time ago."

"What's with the shit-eating grin?" I heard Rayne asking Lea as he moved to join her in the kitchen.

He shrugged, plopping down into one of the dining chairs, "You'd have one too if El had just agreed to be your girlfriend."

"Oof, point taken."

"Fairytale or no, I love him," Anna said, drawing my focus back to her. "And he loves me! And I'm sorry that we went about it in the way wrong way and hurt you in the process. I really, truly am! But what's done is done. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness so soon, but I'm asking… hoping, really, that you'll still give it… because I need you right now, Elsa."

She reached out for my hand, squeezing it as her face fell as she momentarily paused. Then, "I need my big sis. Hans' parents… they're furious about all this. They didn't want their son with the second Fryse daughter, they wanted you. They're blowing a friggin' gasket, which is making Mom and Dad blow their own stupid gaskets too. Which is whatever, fine, I can take it… but not if you're mad at me too." She sniffled, eyes downcast and bottom lip quivering. "...I could really use you in my corner right now, Sis. Please."

I frowned at her, eyebrows knitting together and not saying anything right away. Then, "...you two… really love each other?"

"Oh my god, so much," she gave a weak wobble of a laugh, fingers swiping at the corner of her eye. "I love him with all of my heart and I know he feels the same way about me too."

I inhaled and exhaled softly. Then I covered her hand with mine. "Fine. I forgive you. And I'm here for you, whatever you need."

"Really?!" Anna cried out. I nodded and she broke out into a huge grin, eyes welling up even further to the point where tears escaped. Then she was tackling me in a hug that knocked the wind out of me. "Oh thank you, thank you! You're the bestest, most amazing, most beautiful big sis ever!"

Who was I to stand in the way of love?

True love, no less. Apparently.

As she pulled away, she was now a blubbering mess and I had to stifle a snort. She'd always been such an endearingly ugly cryer. Jamming the heel of her palm to her nose in an attempt to dam the flow of snot, she asked, "Can I take a minute or two to clean myself up in your bathroom?"

I gestured a hand towards the restroom door and she got up, starting to make her way over to it. "Anna," I said abruptly and she stopped in her tracks, glancing back over her shoulder at me. I hesitated briefly, gnawing on my lower lip and almost losing my nerve. But then finally I began, "Would you… that is, later, would you maybe like to…" my lips clamped shut. Oh gosh, I was getting so awkward over such a silly little question. Taking a steadying breath, I then braved a tiny smile for her, "...do you want to make some scotcheroos?"

...would she even remember?

She blinked. "You mean… as in like when we were…?" Then it seemed to click and her face did this funny thing were it both lit up and brimmed over with even more tears. "Yes! Yes, I'd like that very much! I… Just gimme a sec, I'll be right back!" Then she hastily disappeared into the bathroom, clicking the door shut behind her.

I jolted in surprise as Lea suddenly one-hand vaulted himself over the back of the couch, quick to take the seat next to me that Anna had just vacated. He gave me a toothy grin as he slung an arm around my shoulders, tugging me closer to him.

...okay, this was going to take some getting used to.

A couple weeks of fake dating had in no way prepared me for the real thing.

However, as I felt him pressing his lips to the top of my head and nuzzling his nose into my hair as he did so, I relaxed a bit into his side.

I might... enjoy getting used to this.

Now if only everything else could be so simple. In particular, my family-

"Oh gosh, my family!" I suddenly stiffened.

"Hm?" his hand rubbed up and down my arm outside the jacket. "What about them?"

I groaned, "I just finished telling them yesterday that you and I weren't dating. Now we have to tell them that we are."

Lea squinted up at the ceiling, pursing his lips to the left. "...do we though?"

"Yes! I mean, maybe not right now, but eventually."

His free hand came up to scratch the tip of his nose, then he smiled down at me. "Hey, lookit the bright side though. Now we don't have to explain any of this craziness to the mall or tell 'em we broke up or anything like that."

I fixed him with a deadpan look. "Not helping."

"Doesn't it though?"

I narrowed my eyes up at him. Then I relented with a small huff, "...okay, maybe a little."

"Can I come out yet?" came Riku's rather pathetic call from his bedroom.

"Not yet, she's still naked!" Rayne shouted back as she used her spatula to shift the eggs frying in the pan. In response, Riku made an annoyed noise that was half growl, half moan.

Reaching for a blueberry now, I asked her over my shoulder, "Hey, were you two out all night?"

"Mm-hm!" she hummed back chipperly.

"They were just walking through the front door when they happened upon me in the kitchen in nothing but the bed sheet," Lea supplied, biting into a strawberry.

Glancing her way, I cocked my head. "Where were you guys?"

"Riku surprised me with a romantic weekend getaway!" Rayne beamed, opening the fridge back up. "Speaking of, I noticed as I was dropping my bag off in the bedroom this morning that our room seemed to be a bit, er… tossed about." She wrinkled her nose, "I seriously doubt it, but you two didn't… you know... in there, right?"

My cheeks flared up. "Oh god, no! That was, um…" I cleared my throat, my fingers fiddling with the zipper clasp on the leather jacket, "...Lea was just looking for, uh… for protection."

Rayne glanced at him, eyelids drooping. "And you weren't packing any of that already, stud?"

His fingers ruffled his hair with a chuckle, "Stopped carrying anything like that on me a year ago when I called it quits with the ladies. Didn't want any excuses to give into temptation."

"Ah," she shook her head, stepping back over to the frying pan. Then her shoulders tensed and her head snapped up as a thought suddenly seemed to strike her. "Heh… you, er… didn't happen to find the, uh…"

"Pumpkin spice flavored condoms?" I said dryly and she twitched. "Yes, we did. And Rayne? You have a problem."

I felt Lea's whole body rumble with a laugh, "Yeah seriously, Raindrop, what the actual fuck?"

Turning several shades of deeper and deeper red, her eyes flicked nervously about. "S-someone gave them to me as a gag gift, I swear!" Yeah, wasn't buying it. Didn't help that Lea had found the box already opened. "You, uh… you two didn't actually… use those, right?"

"Heh… needs must when the Devil drives!" Lea snerked as I facepalmed.

Rayne silently squirmed where she stood for an uncomfortable moment as she poked the spatula at the eggs some more. Then, "...let's never speak of this again."

"Agreed," I gave a single, firm nod. Then I was standing up, slipping out of Lea's jacket and leaving it behind on the couch as I started heading towards my bedroom. "And on that awkward note, I think I'll go put clothes on."

"Lemme help ya!" Lea grinned, hopping up to his feet behind me. However, he didn't get very far.

"Ah-ah!" Rayne was suddenly beside him, snagging him by the ear. He gave a pained hiss through grit teeth as she yanked on it, forcing him to hunch down to her height so she could glare at him. "Getting clothes on that girl is the absolute furthest thing from your mind, bucko."

He clasped a hand to his chest in mock offense. "You insult me, madame! I promise I had only the purest, most honorable of intentions!" She stared at him blankly before pinching his earlobe harder, forcing a tiny yelp out of him. "Okay fine, my intentions may of been hovering, teetering towards the slightly dishonorable."

She sighed, "Need I remind you that that room is a future baby nursery?"

"And oh if those walls could talk, the stories they would tell your future bouncing bundle of joy."

Rayne scoffed, dragging him by the ear back towards the kitchen with him grunting the whole way. Shoving him down into one of the dining chairs, she snapped, "Now sit your ass down here and if you even think about taking so much as one step closer to her bedroom door, I'm gonna neuter you with this thing," she poked him in the nose with her spatula. "Capisce, loverboy?"

He held his hands up in surrender, "Capisce!"

I'd almost made it to my room when my stomach gurgled again. I swiftly made a u-turn and went back for the bowl of fruit, picking it up and carrying it back with me. For the road! As I ate a kiwi slice, Riku called out again, "Now can I come out?"

"Almost, Hon! She's heading for her door now," Rayne yelled back as she started taking plates out of the overhead cupboard, still maintaining a wary eye on Lea the whole time.

"Finally!"

However, I was only halfway across the living room when abruptly there was loud, frantic banging on the front door, nearly making me drop the whole bowl.

Ugh, now what?

"Elsa! Are you in there?" called a voice from the other side. A voice that made me stop dead in my tracks and whip around, wide eyed and cheeks bulging with fruit. More thunderous knocking. "Please answer the door, I have to see you!"

That… sounded like…

"...Hans?" I squeaked after choking my food down.

What on earth was he doing here?!

Lea's whole body went rigid as he quickly looked from me to the source of the hammering. Both eyebrows shot up Rayne's forehead. Then she was turning off the stove burner and wiping her hands on her blue plaid shorts as she made her way over to the door. She unlocked it and opened it a crack, politely but cautiously asking, "Hi, can I help y-"

Hans was suddenly shoving his way inside, pushing past her and shouting, "Elsa, where are you? We have to-" His eyes landed on me and he froze. Then determination seared across his eyes and he was marching towards me, "Elsa, I need to talk to you!"

I'd been hearing that an awful lot this morning.

I blinked, taking a step back and shaking my head, "Hans, what are you-"

That's when he finished closing the distance between us, grabbed me by the shoulders and brought his lips crashing down onto me. This time, I did drop the bowl, sending mixed fruit tumbling everywhere across the carpet. Rayne and Lea gawked at us.

I- Wha- Th- Huh-

Just what...

...the actual hell...

...was up with this friggin' morning?!

I mean, come on! More had happened to me in the past thirty minutes than usually happens to me on any normal given week!

And all while I was still wearing nothing but a stupid bedsheet, for crying out loud!

It took a split second for the shock to wear off, then I was scrabbling to wedge my arms between us, shoving him away and furiously scrubbing my mouth with the back of my hand.

"Oh hell fucking no!" Lea was on his feet in a heartbeat, green eyes flashing dangerously and face twisted into a snarl.

However Rayne stopped him with a hand on his chest. "Cool your jets, Red, and shush!"

"But-" he spluttered, apparently too outraged for words. Instead he settled for gesturing both hands angrily towards Hans with a growling huff. Rayne just struck up a warning finger at him.

Fingers abusing the fabric of my comforter as I clutched it to me desperately now, I frowned, "Hans, what is this? Why are you here? How did you even know where I live?"

His brow furrowed and he stepped closer as I hastily took another step back. "I asked your parents and they had Gerda give me the address. But that's not what's important right now. What's important is I want you back!"

Um… excuse me?!

Riku's voice once more came calling from beyond his bedroom door, "What's going on out there? Who's here?"

"Shush!" Rayne snapped back, eyes wide and unblinking so as not to miss a single second of the little soap opera now unfolding in her living room. "Things. Just. Got. Interesting!"

"But-" Riku tried again.

"I said shush, damnit!"

I just stared at Hans, jaw hanging open in disbelief. "...I'm sorry, you what?"

I must've misheard. Yeah, that had to be. It'd be the only thing that'd make any sense and-

"I want you back."

Nope. Heard him right the first time.

"Elsa, sweetheart, we were good together, right? I mean, we weren't perfect, but what couple is? We had a nice thing going though, didn't we? We belong together," he was saying now, his words soft and soothing as he started to reach for me once more.

I swatted his hands away and walked past him, away from him. Unfortunately he moved to follow, pursuing me around the room. "Hans, did you forget I left you at the altar?"

"And I'm willing to look past that!" He grabbed my elbow, making me stop and face him once more. "If I can put that behind us, then you should be able to too. Think about it, sweetheart. Things could go back to the way they were with us. We were happy, weren't we? We made sense!"

"But I don't want to marry you!" I snapped, jerking my arm free of his grasp.

How was he not getting this? Just… how?

He brought up hands in a placating gesture, "And that's fine, we don't have to get married! Not right away, anyway! It was too soon and you weren't ready, I understand that now. Getting married is not the important part. What matters is that we're together. I still care about you and after yesterday, I know that you still care about me too."

"...after yesterday?" Huh? I glared down at my crossed arms, thoroughly confused now. "...what about yesterday gave you that idea?"

"That whole little speech you gave your parents," Hans stated, as if it were obvious. "I could tell how sad and full of regret you were. Regret over breaking things off with me." Uh… what now? "I could tell you wanted me back, that you went through this whole ruse to pretend like you were okay about the way things ended between us, but you really weren't." I wasn't? That was certainly news to me. "I know you're worried you could never earn my trust back, but it's okay, sweetheart. I forgive you." ...gee, thanks? "I want you back. I need you back." He was reaching for me again, this time for my hand, "Please, if we can just-"

I wrenched my hand back, "Why are you saying all of this? You've never talked like this before. Why are you-" I inhaled sharply, suddenly hit with a thought. "...this isn't you… this is your parents talking through you, isn't it? What'd they do? Threaten to cut you off? Oh Hans, you can't just let them-"

"This isn't about them or anything they may or may not have threatened me with!" Translation: yes. Yes it was. "This is about us! This is-" His words abruptly stopped as he blinked, eyeing me up and down. "...are you wearing nothing but a blanket right now?"

Was Mr Perceptive just now realizing this?

Also, kill me. Kill me now.

"And what did you do to your neck?" he squinted, brushing my hair back off my shoulder.

And the cursed Mother Hickey strikes again!

Swear to god, I was going to friggin' kill Lea for giving me the dumb thing!

Hans gave himself a shake, face hardening. "Doesn't matter! What matters is," he snatched up both my hands now, clasping them together between his, "I love you, Elsa!"

...what was this day even?! I mean, seriously! I had absolutely zero clue what was even happening anymore!

However, his words sent a shock of a reminder through my system and my eyes darted over to the bathroom door, which Hans currently had his back to. Still closed. Still with Anna in there. What with the whirlwind the past five minutes had been, I'd all but forgotten she was still here. Oh gosh, could she hear all this?

Licking my dry lips, my gaze returned to Hans and I weakly shook my head. "You… you don't mean that. What about you and Anna? I thought you two were-"

"A mistake," he said firmly, his grasp around my hands tightening. "That's what we were. A mistake. You have to understand, sweetheart, I was… was hurt. And weak. I did something I'm not proud of. But it meant nothing to me, understand? Absolutely nothing! It's you, Elsa. It's always been you. You're the only woman for me."

"But Hans, she loves you!" I argued, wrestling my hands free of his. I could see the bathroom door behind him slowly beginning to creak open now.

He gave a derisive snort. "No she doesn't! She's just naive and thinks she does. Trust me, Anna will be fine. She'll get over it. Anyway, forget about her. The only thing I want to talk about right now is you and me."

My sister stood in the doorway, expression unreadable as she just stared silently at Hans' back. Oh Anna. Poor dear, sweet Anna. She wasn't like me. She didn't know how to guard her heart and not let people in. She wore her emotions on her sleeve. This was going to break her. What would she even say? What would she even do? How-

"YOU BASTARD!" she suddenly roared, charging towards him.

He whirled around with a startled, "Anna? Wha-"

She bodyslammed into him hard, sending them both crashing to the ground where she then proceeded to start royally whaling on him and calling him every nasty word under the sun while I and the rest of the room's onlookers just watched blankly.

...huh.

Apparently, that's what she'd say and do.

Welp. Guess that answered that.

Author's Note: Oh gosh, this really WAS a lot to happen to Elsa in the space of… yeah, 30 minutes sounds about right xD All with only that infernal bed sheet to keep her modesty intact! I just have too much fun torturing my precious awkward penguin, it's all done out of love, I swear xD Anyhoo *throws confetti and blares trumpets* it's official, Lea and Elsa are a couple for REAL this time, huzzah! Did anyone guess that Lea had actually been at the lantern festival? I dropped hints throughout the story, but dunno, maybe they were too subtle… or too obvious and just no one said anything to me xD Anyhoo, not much left to go now, just a lil bit of wrap up!

Next time, how will things unfold from here on out for our newly minted couple? Will Elsa EVER actually get to put on clothes? Will Riku EVER get to leave his own bedroom ever again? Just HOW deep does Rayne's pumpkin spice addiction really go? Is the Mother Hickey ACTUALLY proof that Lea is secretly a vampire? Will Anna LITERALLY get away with murder by the time she's through with Hans? Sorry, running on empty with questions at this point, got nothing but silly ones left for ya'll xD Anyway, stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

[znaeb]

I needed to come see you. | B.A.

“This again?”

You internally rolled your eyes when you saw who was on the other side of the door. You thought he was getting past this, that he was maturing.

The drunken parties had seemed less interesting to him recently, but here he was again. Drunk, whining about god knows what, and on your doorstep asking to come in because he’s too wasted to drive himself home.

“Brandon, What is this?” You closed your eyes and pinched the bridge of your nose.

“I just needed to come see you, I just needed to make sure you were still here.” He stumbled but caught himself with one hand on the doorframe.

“Where would I have gone?” You furrowed your eyebrows at him, “it’s 2am, B.”

“I dunno, out with Steven.” He mimed gagging himself at the mention of your off-and-on-boyfriend’s name.

You chuckled at him before stepping farther into the house and tugging his sleeve so he’d follow you, “C’mon, let’s get you to bed.”

“No, I need to talk to you about something.” He said sternly as he pulled his arm away from you.

“And what would that be?” You said as you sat him down on the couch and tried to get his jacket off of him.

“Well I don’t want to tell you now.” He pouted, smooshing his face against the arm of the couch and tucking his hands under his head.

“Whatever...” you said calmly, knowing he was just drunk and didn’t know what he was saying.

You sat on the floor by the couch so you could comfortably talk to him face to face, you reached your hand up and ran your fingers through his hair. His eyes closed and your plot to make him fall asleep began to work.

“Do you need water or anything?” You whispered to him.

He shook his head and mumbled a quick, “no, thank you.” You sighed and stayed there quietly next to him for a while.

When he was almost completely asleep you stood up and grabbed a blanket from the little rack by the couch to cover him up.

“Thank you.”

“No problem, Brandon.” You smiled at the fact that he even had good manners when he was drunk.

“Y/N?” He said slightly louder as you started to walk away.

“Hm?” You turned around as you put your foot on the first stair step.

“I’m in love with you.” He said it without even opening his eyes. In fact you’re pretty sure he was asleep within 3 seconds of saying it, but even though it seemed not to affect him in the slightest, it took you a minute before you could regain your thoughts and turn to walk up the stairs.

You didn’t sleep very well that night.

—

Fuck fuck fuck fuck....

He was ripping his hair out, cringing at himself for his actions the last night. His drunken self never failing to embarrass him.

“Maybe she’ll think I was just too drunk and out of it...” he whispered to himself as he paced the floor of her living room.

Thankfully she was still asleep and he didn’t have to face her and the inevitable embarrassment of what he’d said.

He grabbed his jacket and bolted for the front door, opening and shutting it as quietly as the squeaky S.O.B. would allow.

He walked the few blocks from her apartment to the parking lot of the pub where he’d been the night before. he pressed the unlock button on his little remote a bunch of times and hopped inside, turning the key and speeding away from all his problems.

“Nick!” He called for his roommate the second he opened the door.

He walked into the kitchen where he saw him eating a bowl of cereal at the small island. “Nick... I fucked up, dude.”

“What’d you do this time?” He rolled his eyes.

Brandon gave him a dirty look before continuing, “I got drunk last night...”

“So?”

“And then went to Y/N’s...”

“Shit...”

“And then I told her I’m in love with her...”

A slight pause. A bite of cereal. And then Nick spoke: “yup, you fucked up.”

“Wow you’re so helpful. Thank you, oh wise one.” Brandon rolled his eyes and tossed his keys on the counter before sitting across from his roommate.

“Well what do you want me to say? You are in love with her, and it’s not like she was never going to find out.”

“But I didn’t want her to find out from drunk Brandon! I wanted her find out when I planned to tell her.”

“Oh? and when was that, Romeo?” Nick mocked him.

“Y’know... when I planned.” Brandon crossed his arms.

“Wow.”

“Shut up.”

—

When you woke the next morning your head hurt. The lack of sleep obviously didn’t agree with you. You rubbed your eyes as you got up and walked down the stairs.

As your foot hit the last step you heard the door close, making you huff and put your hands on your hips. He crashed on your couch, then told you he was in love with you, then bailed? Dick.

“That motherfucker.” You shook your head as you walked into the kitchen to start the coffee maker.

Who does he think he is? Making you lose sleep and then leaving without even offering an explanation?

You considered calling to make sure he got home alive, but you decided to just check the Snapchat map and see his location. Sure enough, he was at his house.

You wanted to storm over there and ask him the thousands of questions that were now swirling around your brain, you wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake the answers out... but you didn’t. You were afraid of those answers.

You didn’t exactly know what your feelings toward Brandon were. You knew he was definitely more than a friend, but you’d never let yourself get farther than that. You refused to let yourself think about him that way, no matter how many weird, intimate, thankfully only occasionally sexual, dreams you’d had about him.

You poured yourself a mug of coffee when it had finished brewing and decided you needed to talk to the best advice giver in the world. Edwin.

“Hey sugar pie, what’s up?” He answered on the 2nd ring and sounded way to chipper for this early in the morning.

“Ed, something happened.” You sighed.

“Uh oh, tell me everything.” You heard his car start in the background and you furrowed your eyebrows.

“Was that your car? Where are you going?” You questioned impulsively.

“Home. My graveyard shift just ended.” He spoke matter-o-factly, “The E.R. was suspiciously slow and I need something to make my day more interesting, so, spill.” He didn’t let the subject change, he loved knowing everything.

“Brandon...” You started and then paused, “he showed up at my house last night, at like 2am.”

“Oooh, did you guys do the diddly do?” You face palmed.

“No! He was drunk.” You rolled you eyes and clarified the situation as much as you could, “he walked to my house because he couldn’t drive home.”

“Oh, is that it? I was hoping for something more interesting.” The disappointment was very evident in his voice.

“No... he kind of— well not kind of... he, um, told me that he’s in love with me?” You bit your bottom lip and squeezed your eyes shut as you waited for Edwin’s reaction.

You heard a gasp through the phone and then, loudly, “fucking finally! I’ve been waiting for one of you to let it slip.”

“Wait, what?” You were officially puzzled.

“Sweetie, everyone knows.” He sighed.

“Knows what?” You asked in a defensive manner.

“That you and Brandon are basically obsessed with each other.” You could practically hear him rolling his eyes at you.

“We are not!” You scoffed at the very notion, then after a moment of silence added, “at least I don’t think we are...”

“Honey, are you seriously going to try and deny this? To me? I know all. I am all knowing.” He sassed and you chuckled.

“Does Miranda know too then? You do tell her everything.” You laughed out loud thinking about it. Edwin and his fiancée, Miranda, pretty much knew everything about everyone in their friend group. They were like the parents to whom all the pathetic single friends brought their drama.

“Well obviously, me and my wife share everything. It’s how we keep our relationship so healthy.” Although they weren’t scheduled to be married for another 3 months, they had been referring to each other as ‘wifey’ and ‘hubby’ since their senior year in high school.

“What do I do, Ed?” You said after another moment of silence, “I don’t know what I’m feeling.”

“Just take some time and think about it, like really think about what you want. And just be honest with him when you decide what you feel. He cares about you a lot... he’ll get it, whatever you choose.”

Once again Edwin came through, he always gave the best advice. You sighed again and nodded even though he couldn’t see you.

“Okay... okay you’re right. I’m gonna just have to wait to talk to him until I know what I want, because I literally have no idea what to say.”

“You got this, boo.” He encouraged, you then heard a door opening in the on his end and him say, away from the speaker: “Good morning, little miss love of my life.”

You swooned at the soft words your friend spoke to his fiancée. you silently wished you had that with someone— and because of the current topic of conversation, your mind automatically went to Brandon.

“Hey, Y/N?” You heard Ed addressing you on the phone again, “I’m gonna go eat some breakfast with M, we can call back in a little while if you still want to talk though.” He offered kindly.

“No that’s okay! Thank you for everything, go spend time with your wife!” You laughed as you shooed him off of the phone.

He laughed then said, “alright alright, text one of us if you need anything.”

You said your goodbyes and hung up. Then you stood alone in your kitchen for another few minutes before deciding to run some errands and think about everything.

—

“Ed, I—“ Brandon was cut off seconds after he began to speak.

“I heard.” Edwin rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“You heard? From who? Y/N? What did she say?” He questioned his best friend frantically, “Edwin, I swear to god, tell me what she said!”

“I’m not going to betray her trust like that!” He smacked Brandon on the side of the head, “calm down.”

“Ow.” Brandon rubbed the spot that was now sore from Edwin’s assault.

“What I will say is that I think you should just give it some time, let it breathe, and she’ll come to you.” Edwin made hand gestures to emphasize his point, “and, also, maybe don’t be a creep and show up at her door at two in the morning!”

Brandon physically cringed for the millionth time.

“I didn’t mean to do it... it just happened. It was totally unplanned.” He hugged himself tightly, hoping it’d make the pit forming in his stomach stop growing.

“Dude, fuck off. You knew exactly what you were doing when you got drunk at the only bar within walking distance of her house.” Edwin leaned against the kitchen counter and cocked his head to the side.

“Ignorance is my story and I’m sticking with it.” Brandon shook his head and huffed.

“Wow, very believable.” Miranda chimed in as she walked into the kitchen. Her long blonde hair swayed behind her as she made a bee-line for Edwin, latching her arm with his, “I almost, almost thought you were telling the truth.”

“Hello, my love.” Edwin completely abandoned the conversation to greet his girlfriend, nothing new.

“Hello.” She beamed at him and kissed his cheek.

“Guys! Focus! I need serious help!” Brandon pleaded.

“Oh, we know.” Ed raised his eyebrows at B.

“Why is everyone so mean to me? My god!” Brandon threw his arms up in defeat.

“Oh stop it, drama queen...” Miranda rolled her eyes, “hey, don’t you have work in like 15 minutes?” She furrowed her brows and looked at him.

“No I—“ He looked at his watch, “fuck! I’m gonna be late.” He rushed around to find where he’d set his keys. When he finally found them he hurried to the door, Edwin following close behind to lock it after him.

In a last ditch attempt to gain some information he turned around in the doorway and rushed out, “Please tell me what Y/N said?”

“Never.” Edwin scoffed and smacked the other side of his head, “go to work, Brandon.”

“Fine, bye.” He grumbled and hurriedly made his way out of the apartment complex and to work.

—

“Zion? thoughts?” You raised your shoulders as you sought the opinion of your neighbor. The normal routine of sitting on his back porch and having a beer to unwind after work was rudely interrupted by you ranting about the whole Brandon mess.

“What about that Steven dude?” He questioned and tipped his chin up, “What’s up with him?”

“I don’t even really like him like that, every now and then we both just get bored of being single and go to the movies or something.” You plopped down on a deck chair after you finished pacing and crossed your arms, “he literally would not care at all if I started dating someone else.”

“So you want to date Brandon?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you’ve thought about it?”

“I mean... yes.”

“Okay.” Zion started, setting his beer down and leaning foreword, “I’m gonna say a word and your gonna say the first thing that pops into your mind. Don’t think, just say it.”

“Z, that’s stupid. What’s that gonna prove?”

“Will you just shut up and do it?” He rolled his eyes, having no patience for your doubt of his methods.

“Fine.” You sighed.

“Tree.”

“Tree?”

“Okay, something other than the word I said, please? Thank you.”

You rolled your eyes, but gestured for him to continue.

“House?”

“Home.”

“Car?”

“Road trip.”

“Friend?”

“Miranda.”

You let your mind go blank. Bored to death with this little exercise, you zoned out.

“Dog?”

“Cat.”

“Lover?”

“Brandon.”

“Aha! You love Brandon!” Zion accused, pointing a finger at you. You were just as startled by your own admission as you were of Zion’s sudden triumphant yelp.

“I... What the fuck?” You scratched your head. You honestly hadn’t meant to say it. Your own subconscious baffling you beyond belief.

Zion leaned back in his chair and sipped his beer with utter satisfaction. A smirk on his face as he mentally crowned himself the king of relationship advice. Even though he himself has never had a serious girlfriend, he reckoned he’d be amazing at relationships.

“I think I’m in love with Brandon.” You admitted to yourself as you came to terms with feelings you’ve had since high school, “Huh... how about that?”

“It’s not that weird y’know, people fall in love all the time.” Zion remarked offhandedly.

“I guess that’s true.”

You both sat in silence while you finished your drinks and then retreated back to your respective homes.

—

It was 2am.

You knocked on the door and waited. Your intense nerves were crawling up your back like some sort of monster and making the little hairs on your arms stand up.

You waited as you heard footsteps from inside, bouncing on your toes and hoping to god that this goes how you want it to.

The door opened and light flooded out and into the ground. Making it difficult to hide the uncomfortable look sneaking it’s way on your face.

“Y/N?” Brandon was surprised to see you.

“Hi.” You did an awkward little wave then stood there silently.

“Um, what’s up?” He stepped outside with you and turned to pull the door closed behind him, taking the light away and making everything dim once again.

“I just needed to come see you.” You spoke quietly and looked down, eye contact seeming impossible at this particular moment.

“I thought you’d be avoiding me for the rest of our lives.” He attempted to joke, also looking down.

“I could never do that.” Your head shot up and you looked at him for what felt like the first time ever.

You re-noticed the small things you adore about him. Like how his eyebrows raise when he’s giving you his attention, and how his eyes are so pretty (even when you can barely see them), and how he bites the inside of his cheek when he’s anxious.

“That’s a relief.” He whispers.

“Hey, Brandon?” You issued a question in response. Your eyes once again glueing themselves to the ground, too scared by what you were about to tell him to look him in the face.

“Hm?” He stepped closer, the tips of your shoes almost touching.

“I’m in love with you too.” You finally forced yourself to look up at him again, and when you did his face was much closer than you had thought. Your noses brushed as he responded:

“Can I kiss you?”

“Yes please.”

And so he did.

[bowieandqueen11]

Upside Down Part 3 / Mike Wheeler Angst

Thank you all so much for requesting a part 3, I didn’t think I would get such incredible support!! <3

‘Ms Byers! Ms Byers can you please, please open the door!’

‘Son of a bitch, this is so messed up, you know that right?’

‘If only Eleven were here...’

‘Well she’s not, okay, and neither is y/n- and for the love of- Ms Byers! It’s Mike! Open the door!’

‘Come on kid, move out of the way. Joyce? Joyce, it’s Hopper. I-I need your help Joyce. I....-’

The door suddenly swings open, nearly knocking Mike onto the patio floor on his butt, but he manages to grab Lucas’ arm just in time and knock them both down instead.

‘I’m here, I’m here, don’t get your pants in a twist. What seems to be the problem, guys, at nearly’, she looks down to check her watch, ‘two in the morning?’

Mike stumbles back to his feet, slightly shoving Hopper out of the way to stand in front of Joyce.

Mike would never forget the eerily silent drive to Will’s house, or the desperation that followed suit. Not for as long as he lived. The eerie darkness of that night would never allow itself to escape his memory, no matter how warped or twisted with confusion and regret it became. He clearly remembered the pitch-black curtain that draped across the Hawkins sky as if trying to smother the air. He remembered the twisted, warped shapes that the stars made against the blackness as they drove down the dirt track, pebbles spitting out from underneath the crunching wheels as he banged his head against the glass, blaming himself. The milky specks twirled and flitted out along the sky, the silver glow of the moon seeming cold and cruel as it bathed Hopper in a silver, alien light, only illuminating how pale and shaking he was as his fingers gripped the steering wheel tighter. A hot blue fire flickered in Mike’s heart and soon started to grow, eating its way through his insides and forming tears at the corners of his eyes that melted down his face like wax, feeling like he was trapped in a never ending nightmare as they trekked down that never ending road. Crying felt good, especially when they were tears that left Mike weak at the knees. As soon as Joyce’s face had flashed in front of the door, confusion furrowing in her eyebrows as she stared out at the two of them (Jim having sent the other kids home with Steve), clothes already on and an atmosphere around the way she pounded onto the porch that meant she was ready to become tangled up in whatever disaster Hawkins had pushed onto her next, Mike couldn’t hold it in anymore. He broke down, realising how unfair this town was to allow people like the Byers to be so wound up in misery that now it was a case of expecting it rather than hoping it would go away, how unfair it was that they were so young and yet had to deal with heartbreaking tragedies. How unfair it was that he hadn’t realised how much of an idiot he had been and told you how furiously he was in love with you. But Hawkins wasn’t a fair town, and so it was to be expected.

Joyce rushes forward, wrapping her slender arms around Mike’s shoulders and letting him grasp onto her shirt, heaving sobs bubbling out of his mouth as he tried to stop his throat from constricting, his cheek smooshed against her shoulder almost painfully, but he couldn’t care less. She looked up to Jim, about to ask what on Earth had happened now, but as she caught sight of him pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes squeezed shut, she decided it was best to just shepherd them inside.

~

It took Joyce even less time than Hopper expected to find the christmas lights again. She ran scrambling across the living room, her fingers twitching eagerly as she lightly bit her bottom lip, bumping her hip against the flowery chair in the corner before kneeling down next to the suitcase. Jim took deep breaths in, shaking his head in disbelief that the idea the Upside Down was still open, still accessible, and had taken you. His only daughter. And he would march through hell to get you back. Little did he know, that Mike, who had run down with Will and Jonathan into the basement, trying to find a can of paint in the dusty shelves full of old toys and faded school reports, was thinking exactly the same thing.

Shuffling aside a few boxes, rummaging through a few carrier bags, Joyce let out a relieved ‘ah! Here they are!’, before pulling out a small, dinged box. 

‘I can’t believe you still have those things.’

As she pulls them out, the frail multicoloured glass rattling in between her small fingertips, she gives Jim a sad, knowing smile, shrugging her shoulders as she murmurs, ‘I kept them for emergencies.’

It took Hopper even less time to hammer them up onto the walls, Mike following his trail by painting black letters onto the wallpaper, much to Jonathan’s internal dismay that they’d have to redecorate the living room, yet again. Mike winced back a little, grimacing at the small flecks that fall onto his fingertips, running down his hand like thick, black, slimy blood, making his stomach drop. He smiled painfully, stepping back and squeezing his eyes shut as the memory ripped through his brain. You had just arrived in Hawkins, it was your first weekend in the dull place, and you had invited Mike over to help decorate your room, not knowing what else to do. He had picked out a soft eggshell blue for your walls, but as the two of you tried to plaster it on, you had just ended up starting a massive paint fight that Jim still hadn’t forgiven you for.

You had figured your heart out long before Mike had understood: a heart Mike had spent years desperately trying to capture, without fully realising that it had always belonged to him. In his mind he was still that scared little boy standing in your blue bedroom, wishing the day would never end. But as he clenched his fists shut, stepping back to gaze at the wall, all he could see was black. 

‘Y/n, sweetheart, can you hear me?’, Jim starts.

‘Y/n, if you can hear us, tell us where you are!’, Joyce finishes.

Will moves up to stand by Mike, slight fear in his widening eyes as they gaze up at the wall, before Jim’s head falls in dismay at the silent house.

‘Maybe we’re being redic-’

Before he can even finish, the leftmost red light begins to twinkle lightly, a soft glow that fills the corner of the room in a harsh light. His mouth dropping open slightly, Jim turns back to stare at the wall, the lights that now glow so bright he fears the bulbs may burst now gleaming in his eyes.

‘Joyce, can you spell it out!?’, Jim asks, following the trail with his eyes.

‘R....U....N. Run, Hop, she’s telling us to run!’

‘Y/n where are you!’, Mike shouts, running over to bang his fists against the wall, kicking and kicking against the wood, helpless, wild screams falling from his lips as he ignores the sound of Joyce spelling out the next word.

‘D...A...N...G...E...R. Why are you in danger, sweetie?’

‘N....O....H...I....D...E. N...O...S...A...F...E.’

Mike’s breathing starts to become desperate and heavy as he presses his cheek up against the wall, not caring about the paint that soaks and stains into his skin. All he cares about as the bulbs burst above his head, leaving the room in a darkness that chills the five of them to their bones, is splaying his fingers against the wood and digging in, as if he could reach through and latch himself onto you. 

‘I’m sorry, y/n, I’m so sorry.’

Little did he know, that on the other side of that wall, your damp, slime covered cheek was pressed up against it too.

[rather-impertinent]

To Build A Home

A/N: This is a little something I wrote based on the promo for this week’s episode. This is my first Grey’s fic so I hope it isn’t too terrible! If anyone has any requests please let me know 🥰

“Jo, stop pacing,” Alex said gently.

Jo continued to pace on the wooden floor, seemingly having not heard him, anxiously chewing on the sleeve of her thick cardigan.

“Jo...”

“I can’t stop pacing!” she hissed. Jo quickly regretted her tone and sighed, coming over to sit beside Alex on their couch. She leaned her head on his shoulder. “What if she doesn’t remember us, Alex?” she asked in a small, quiet voice after a few moments had gone by.

“Well, she’s not gonna remember us,” Alex pointed out matter-of-factly. When Jo looked at him with a round mouth and sad eyes, Alex chuckled and wrapped his arm around her, rubbing it in comfort. “Jo, you’re a surgeon, you know babies don’t usually recognise faces until they’re about 2 months old. Last time we saw Evelyn she was 3 days old and some really bad people left her at a fire station. In a couple weeks she’ll be a year old, and we get to celebrate that with her. We’re actually pretty lucky, you know, adoption can take years, so 11 months is not too bad.”

“‘Not too bad’?!” Jo repeated incredulously, looking at her husband. “Waiting has been hell!”

“Yeah, but in the grand scheme of things we’re pretty lucky.” Jo was right, though: the waiting had been hell. Their cell phones were on loud speaker at night not in case of having to respond to any incoming traumas, but in case they received a phone call from the adoption agency. It was hard to believe the waiting would be over by the end of the day. “So, did we decide if we’re gonna go with Eve, Evie, Eva, Ellie or Ella?” Alex asked, trying to lighten the mood. He fidgeted impatiently with the soft ears of the rabbit plushie he’d bought for Evelyn seven months ago, during the first of two false-starts.

Alex’s jest elicited a laugh from Jo, though they were indeed still undecided as to what shorthand they’d use for Evelyn. “No, we didn’t,” she said, still chuckling, “we’ll get a better feel of that when we hold her.” Jo glanced around the fully baby-proofed living room and noted the unopened toy box with a sense of trepidation. How the hell was she going to be a good mom? She’d never even had a decent version of one in her entire life. Maybe that was a start: knowing how not to treat a child.

“You’re gonna be such a good mom,” Alex told Jo, as though reading her mind. He gently nuzzled his nose against her cheek in hopes of easing the anxiety that was radiating off her.

Just then, the doorbell rang and echoed loudly throughout their new home. Both Jo and Alex felt as though they’d had a bucket of ice water thrown over them as they involuntarily leapt to their feet.

They turned to each other and Jo’s let out a shaky, nervous breath. “How’s my hair?” she fretted, combing her fingers through her loose curls. She wanted to look friendly and motherly but calm and professional at the same time.

“You look perfect,” Alex assured her. “How’s my shirt?” He fidgeted with the already closed buttons.

Jo ran her hand over the pale blue button-up and gently straightened the collar. “Looks great; wrinkle-free.”

“Okay,” Alex said, exhaling in relief. “Let’s do this.” He held out his hand to Jo, who accepted it gladly. He’d always be her anchor in a storm.

On the surface, Alex looked the definition of cool, calm and collected, but Jo could tell by the damp warmth of his palm and the way he gripped her hand that he was just as apprehensive as she was.

“Hey,” Jo said gently as they came face-to-face with the front door - with their future. Alex’s brows knitted together as he looked at her. “I love you.”

A small smile tugged on the corners of Alex’s lips. “Love you,” he murmured back before leaning in to kiss her gently, already feeling more relaxed. He reached for the doorknob. “You ready?”

Jo inhaled and exhaled. “Ready,” she affirmed as Alex peeled open the front door.

“I come bearing gifts,” Allison McLean, the social worker responsible for Evelyn’s welfare, greeted excitedly in a sing-song as she bounced the baby in her arms.

Over the last few months, Jo and Alex had gotten to know Allison really well, and it was nice that she had always rooted for them.

Despite the vote of confidence, the process of adoption had been a long and stressful one, mainly because of stupid mistakes in their pasts and Jo’s name change complicating matters slightly, but all their worry melted away as soon as their baby smiled at them.

She leaned forward and away from Allison towards Jo - as though she recognised her.

Stretching out her arms and taking her gently, Jo felt a strange but powerful wave of love wash over her as Evelyn’s eyes stared straight into her own. “Hi Evie,” Jo whispered as she bounced the infant before taking her chubby little hand and kissing it. “I’m your mom.” Jo found herself grinning as she announced it out loud for the first time. “You’re safe with us now, sweetie. I promise, I - we - will never let anyone hurt you, okay?” A single tear trickled down Jo’s cheek: she would have given anything to hear those words from a parent figure. But it heartened her to be in the position where she could speak those words to someone else; it had come full circle, and the pain could stop here.

Alex drew swirling circles on Jo’s back to comfort her, knowing exactly what she was thinking. He kissed her temple for reassurance. “Mm okay, my turn,” he announced after a moment, holding out his hands in eager anticipation.

Jo shot him a doe-eyed, Bambi pout. “But I’m not done yet,” she clucked, smooshing Evie’s smooth cheek against her own.

The sight before him took Alex’s breath away and he lost his train of thought. “Shut up,” he eventually said, significantly gentler than he’d intended. “Don’t hog her, she likely won’t even talk to me from the age of eleven through to twenty, so it’s only fair I get some time in now before she hates me,” Alex argued logically, not knowing that the child looking at him with big, round blue eyes would never hate him even when she tried.

With a small sigh, Jo conceded his point and carefully handed off Evie, warmth pooling in her stomach as she watched how natural Alex was with babies. “Hey princess,” he greeted softly, gently waving her hand so she could get used to . “I’m your dad,” Alex informed her, narrowly avoiding bursting with the pride of it. Evie babbled something nonsensical in response. “Yeah, I know, it sucks but I promise we’re better than a cardboard box at a fire station,” he joked, to which even the adoption agent had to smother a smile.

“Much better,” Jo emphasised, kissing her rosy cheek. She then began to stroke it as Alex continued to hold their baby. “I promise I’ll learn how to cook just so that we can all eat at the table like a proper family, like the ones you see in lifetime movies.” Jo’s tone was almost dream-like.

Alex chuckled. “Lifetime movies suck, Evie, but not as much as your mom’s cooking.” Jo lightly nudged him in protest. “On thanksgiving and Christmas, we’ll go to your aunt Meredith’s and she’ll have someone there who’ll know how to cook a turkey. Or we’ll go visit my mom, your grandma, or she can come here, we haven’t really figured it all out yet. But anyway, get excited, because we eat a lot of pizza here. With vegetables, of course,” Alex added as an afterthought for Allison’s sake.

Jo chuckled and fondly rolled her eyes at her husband.

All of the adults were relieved and pleased to see how placated Evie was in her new surroundings, which would be her forever home.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Jo’s eyebrow raised competitively as she thought of an idea. She grabbed Evie’s free hand to gain her attention and wagered to her husband, “Hey, I bet you ten bucks I can make her smile more than you can.”

Alex scoffed, “Pfft, are you kidding? I’m a peds surgeon, I make kids smile for a living. Mom’s pay me ten grand to make their kids smile.”

“Great, then you’ll definitely be able to hand over that ten dollar bill when you lose,” Jo gloated, already making faces at Evie, who looked between her new parents questioningly, as if unsure whether they were really fighting or not.

“Oh, it’s on, Karev. Better fluff up the sofa cushions for when I kick your ass at this,” Alex bragged, his self-assurance at an all-time high. This was his game, and the touchdown was in sight.

Simultaneously, they launched into the Olympics of pulling stupid faces, each unwilling to be outdone by the other, the aching facial muscles were no deterrent.

Unfortunately for them, Evie seemed much more interested in the stuffed bunny that was waiting patiently for her on the couch than her crazy parents’ attempts to make her laugh and smile.

“Oh, you wanna meet bunny?” Jo cooed at her, having followed her curious gaze to the couch. “Your dad picked her out just for you.”

“Why don’t I give you a moment to show Evie around the house and then we’ll have one last look over the papers?” Allison offered as she examined that Evelyn was more than safe in the arms of the two strangers who were already smitten by her very existence. “I think I’ll grab myself a coffee from that place round the corner. Can I get you two anything?”

Jo and Alex continued battling to see who would get offered a wider smile from baby Evelyn and almost didn’t hear Allison’s question. “Oh, no, thank you,” Alex said warmly as he was yanked out of what felt like a daydream. Jo continued to pull silly faces at Evie, who gurgled in contentment at all the loving attention she was receiving. A look passed between Jo and Alex. “We have everything we need right here.”

[bilbos]

Pretty Stranger || Colin Wilson

word count: 6.8k

requested: yes || no

author’s note: written for the lovely @thepensieve <3 this is also an au where Colin has just moved to Seattle and isn’t a hockey player!

~ ~ ~

You sigh, laying down on your quilt. It’s a sunny day out and it’s oddly warm for this time of year. Normally, June isn’t extremely hot, but today is defying that. As such, almost everyone is out enjoying the weather at Green Lake, but it’s nice being around so many cheerful people. There’s something refreshing about it and brings a small smile to your face.

Currently, you’re trying to sketch out a couple of tattoos for some clients of yours. They’re pretty open with the designs and you can’t decide if that makes it easier or harder to design them. So far, you’ve settled on two designs and are trying to come up with one more. Working at one of the more reputable tattoo parlors means that there was never a shortage of clients that were waiting to be impressed, so you always spent more time than necessary working on what was asked of you.

You close your eyes for a few seconds, meaning you don’t notice the cat that’s decided to curl up on your blanket. It’s only when you roll over and almost smoosh her that you notice her. She’s a tabby and an absolute sweetheart, bumping her head into your hand, hoping for some scratches.

“What are you doing here, sweetie?” you whisper.

She settles back down once you start petting her. You notice a collar on her, and slowly go to check it. Thankfully, there’s a number on there and you give it a call.

“Hello?” a voice answers, confused.

“Uh, hi, I think I have your cat?” you reply. “I’m over at Green Lake, the part near Ben and Jerry’s.”

“Oh! I didn’t even notice she left! I’ll be there…soon?” the person says. “I live a few blocks from the lake, so I don’t know how long it’ll take me.”

“No worries, I think she’s content laying right where she is,” you reply. “Oh! I’m also on a yellow quilt if that helps?”

“Thank you! I’ll be there soon,” the person says.

You set your phone down and pick your sketchbook up again. This has been an odd addition to your day, but definitely not unwelcome. It’s about fifteen minutes later when you notice a cute guy looking around, a bit confused. When he notices you, he smiles and walks over.

“Hey, I think you found my cat?” he asks.

“Yeah, this would be her,” you answer.

“I appreciate you calling, she’s been sneaking out a lot more,” he explains. “It’s just been so warm and I don’t have air conditioning yet, so I’ve been leaving the windows open.”

“She sure is adventurous,” you comment. “But, uh, I hope you have a good day!”

“Oh, uh, yeah, thank you,” he replies, as he picks up his cat.

He does a sort of awkward wave as he walks off. You shake your head a bit and decide to call it a day. Obviously, you aren’t going to be able to focus anymore on the designs, so you start packing up. There’s always tomorrow to finish them up since you still have some time before the final consultation meetings.

~ ~ ~

Even though Green Lake isn’t a convenient place to hang out considering that you live in Wallingford, it’s still one of your favorite places in Seattle to chill. There were other great parks, but at least here, there was a bit more to lend a bit of inspiration for you.

It’s been a couple of weeks since you were last there, and there were even more designs you needed to work on, so it’s time to buckle down. You were there for a couple hours when you notice a cat walking up to your quilt. It appears to be the same one from when you were here last. Sighing, you call the owner’s number again.

“Uh, hello?” the owner greets.

“So, uh, your cat got out again? It’s the same person from a couple weeks ago,” you explain. “I’m in the same spot.”

“I’ll be there soon,” he sighs.

Not too much later, you see him walking towards you again. He smiles softly and picks up his cat. She meows loudly and looks mildly upset that she’s being picked up.

“I guess I really should get on that air conditioning thing, huh?” he says to his cat. “Can’t have you keep sneaking out on me, sweetie.”

You laugh. “I think that would be smart. It doesn’t ever really get too hot here that often, especially this time of year, but when it does, it’s completely miserable.”

“No doubt about that,” he replies. “I’m Colin, by the way.”

“Y/n,” you reply. “Well, I hope she doesn’t sneak off for the rest of the day.”

“Thank you again!” he says, awkwardly waving again.

You just shake your head, smiling and getting back to your designs.

~ ~ ~

It takes Colin’s cat sneaking out to Green Lake and laying on your quilt four more times before he actually decides to sit and talk with you. Not that you were hoping for it before, but you’re definitely not complaining now.

“So, what is it that you’re doing out here so often?” he inquires.

“I’m a tattoo artist and I’m working on designs for final consultations,” you answer.

“Oh, that’s cool! Do you always come out here to work?”

“Only when it’s nice out. Otherwise, I just go to one of the five million cafes here.”

Colin snorts. “5 million seems to be a low estimate.”

“Ah, see I was just talking about Wallingford alone.”

“Wallingford?”

“Uh…yeah, it’s one of the neighborhoods here. Right next to this one, actually,” you explain.

“I’m new here, so I haven’t learned all the neighborhoods yet. But you drive all the way out here to sketch?”

You shrug. “It’s nice out here and I used to come here all the time as a kid. It gets pretty busy when it’s nice out, but it’s not as bad as some of the other parks.”

“Oh, that’s neat.”

You laugh softly as you nod. “So, you’re new, huh?”

“Yeah, I came out here for a job and I haven’t had a chance to explore much.”

“I could, uh, show you around if you want? Unless you already have someone to show you around?”

“I actually don’t. That would be really nice.”

You smile. “Well, you already have my number, so let me know when you’re free!”

“Sounds good, y/n.”

~ ~ ~

The first place you insist on taking Colin to is the Seattle Art Museum and Pike Place Market. There’s an amazing exhibit going on at SAM that you’ve been wanting to check out and considering it’s so close to the market, it would be a shame to not go there as well. You also insist on taking Colin to breakfast at one of your favorite places: Biscuit Bitch.

“They’re able to advertise like that?” Colin asks, hesitant.

“Dude, they’re food is good enough that they can probably get away with worse. Trust me, you’ll fall in love,” you explain.

Colin takes your word for it and is definitely impressed. “Well, I hope the rest of the day lives up to this.”

“Considering I’m taking you to one of the most iconic parts of the city soon, it better live up to it.”

He laughs as he follows you to the museum. SAM looks pretty boring from the outside, seeing as part of it is a boring grey building. But when you step inside, it feels like a proper art museum. Colin seems intrigued.  

“Any particular reason that you wanted to take me here?” Colin asks. “I thought we would go straight to the market.”

“There’s something special about this place. And it helps give you a better idea of the history of Seattle.”

“I thought this was an art museum, not a history museum.”

You shrug. “They overlap a lot.”

Colin takes your word for it and follows you through the museum. He seems interested enough, but you can tell that this definitely isn’t what he would normally do in his free time. However, you decide to keep looking through the different exhibits, making the ticket price worth it.

A couple hours later, the two of you make your way out to the streets again. Colin was pretty quiet throughout the museum, so you hope the market will give you both some energy back again.

“Ready to check out the market? We can grab some lunch down there as well,” you suggest.

“Yeah, I’m down for that. That’s where the cheese place is at, right? I keep hearing about this cheese place I need to try.”

“Ah, yes, Beecher’s. We’ll definitely go there. I’ll have to take you to the chowder place some other time, then.”

Colin smiles. “Glad to know that you aren’t tired of me yet.”

You snort. “Please, you let me hang around SAM for hours, even though I could tell you were getting bored.”

“I wasn’t getting bored.”

“Colin, you don’t have to lie about it. I know that it can be a bit boring sometimes, I’m not too offended.”

He laughs and follows you down to the market. After walking out of the dining part of the market, everything becomes much livelier. Colin looks around, excited.

“Where should we go to first?” he asks.

“There’s some cool shops right around the corner here.”

He follows you, grabbing onto your wrist as the crowd thickens for a moment. You smile softly and don’t bother to say anything when he doesn’t let go. When the two of you get into the main shop area, Colin looked around, curious.

“I heard something about fish throwing?” he asked.

You nod. “It’s right over here, but I can’t guarantee that they’re doing anything, though.”

“Can I catch one?”

“If you buy it.”

He frowns for a second. “I’m debating if I want to carry a fish around all day.”

You snort. “Please, nobody will care here. And this is our last stop for the day, so you won’t have to worry about stinking up your car.”

“Oh, this is it?”

“What do you mean this is it?” you asked, slightly shocked. “Wait, are you being sarcastic? Please tell me you’re being sarcastic.”

Colin laughs, as he nods his head. “Today’s been amazing, y/n. Thanks for getting me out of the house today.”

“Let’s just hope your cat didn’t come looking for me today. You did close the window, right?”

“I’ve been super careful, I promise.”

You roll your eyes as you stop. Colin looks around briefly, then smiles when he notices that you’re at the fish market. Thankfully, a couple of people have bought fish, so he gets to see them singing. Afterward, the two of you meander around all the shops, enjoying some of the weirder items that are being sold.

“I think it’s time for you to be introduced to Beecher’s.”

~ ~ ~

It’s a few weeks later, and well into July, when you and Colin take another day for a mini-tour of the city. You weren’t quite sure what to do with him at first, but then you decide on taking him to Queen Anne. There’s a coffee place that you want to go back and visit, but you didn’t have enough of a reason until now.

“So, what’s the plan for the next adventure?” Colin asks.

“Queen Anne, but since the parking is kind of a bitch over there, we’re going to walk a bit to explore there,” you answer. “I hope you like stairs.”

“You’re gonna make me walk up stairs? I thought you liked me,” he whined.

“It’s not that bad. Besides, there’s some amazing views there. Like Queen Anne has one of the best views of Seattle and it’s easier if we walk there. I promise it’ll be worth it,” you explain. “And if you really hate it, then you can just uber back to your car.”

Colin huffs. “Fine. But only because our first trip was so much fun.”

You smile brightly at him and you notice a faint blush on his cheeks. The Galer Crown stairs are one of your favorite parts of Seattle that isn’t super popular. People hate the idea of stairs enough to avoid it, so it’s never been too crowded. And it’s a wonderful way to see the city in a new light as well.

The next time the two of you are free is on a Saturday, which means traffic is a bit rough, even for an early morning. Thankfully, there’s still parking at the bottom of Queen Anne and as you hop out of the car, Colin just groans.

“I can’t believe I agreed to this. It was a horrible idea, really,” Colin comments.

“Oh, please, like you weren’t texting me nonstop about this for the last week.”

“Honestly, I should really stop hanging out with you after this. I do enough exercise at work.”

“Colin, your cat would never forgive you if she never got the chance to see me again.”

“She sneaks out enough to see you, I think you’ll both live.”

“Maybe I’ll just keep her then.”

Colin gasps. “You wouldn’t dare.”

You just smirk.

“God, I can’t believe I agreed to this,” he sighed.

“Just shut up and follow me,” you say. “I promise it won’t be that bad after the first 100 stairs. You just get used to the pain after that.”

Colin just groans again as the two of you start walking. After about half an hour, you take a right instead of continuing up the stairs. Colin looks at you, slightly confused, but you can tell that he’s relieved that the stairs have stopped for time being.

“Where are we going?” he asks.

“You know how I said Queen Anne has one of the best views of Seattle? I hope you’re ready for this,” you reply.

A few minutes later, the two of you are walking into Kerry Park and Colin just stops for a moment, taking in the view. You smirk, knowing the feeling.

“It’s even prettier at night,” you comment.

“How can it get prettier?” he whispers.

“Trust me, the city never stops amazing you, I promise. I’ve been living here for almost my whole life and it hasn’t stopped yet.”

Colin just smiles and walks up to the railing. You let him have his moment, remembering how in awe you were the first time you came here. No matter how many times you’ve come here, you always enjoy the view of your city, but there’s just something magical about seeing it the first time.

“Can we just call it a day here?” Colin asks, hopefully.

“It’s only a little bit longer and then I promise we’ll be done. There’s a café I want to take you to.”

“But there’s so many cafes here, I think we can skip out on this one,” Colin tries to reason.

“Trust me, El Diablo is worth it. It’s honestly the best coffee in this neighborhood, I swear.”

“You better not be lying, because if you are, we’re really going to stop talking.”

“You know, you’re finally starting to settle in here. Only someone truly from Seattle would break up a friendship over a coffee.”

“No, that’s just common sense,” Colin replies.

You raise an eyebrow.

“Okay, fine, maybe I am becoming a bit snobbish about my coffee,” he replies, petulant.

It takes another 15 minutes to get to the café, but you can tell Colin is liking the vibe so far. This place has a super laid-back aura to it, and doesn’t even feel like it’s in the middle of the city. It’s also one of the few places in the more expensive part of the city that doesn’t feel like it, either.

“I’d suggest one of their special hot chocolates. The spicy one is particularly good,” you remark.

“Okay, last time I checked, I’m one of those white people who can barely handle a jalapeño,” Colin replies.

You snort. “It’s not that type of spicy, I promise.”

Colin looks at you hesitantly, but then nods. “I’ll give it a go, but you’re gonna owe me so much if I don’t like it.”

“You got it.”

You order for the both of you, as Colin grabs a table near one of the windows with comfy chairs. When you sit down with him, he smiles.

“I’ve been having a really good time with you,” he comments.

“Well, I sure hope so,” you joke. “But I’m glad. I know it can be really hard to make friends here.”

Colin shrugs. “It isn’t the worst. I just think making friends as an adult is hard. There’s always so much going on.”

“Just have to keep things fun and understand that everyone is busy. Besides, quality over quantity at this point.”

Colin nods. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

~ ~ ~

Things for you and Colin get a bit hectic from there on out. Colin gets busier with his jobs and has his weekend in the middle of the week. Now there’s a surge of students leaving for college, your free time gets packed with friends getting matching tattoos.

When it’s all said and done, it barely leaves any time for you to show Colin around. You’ve taken him to a couple of restaurants and the Pacific Science Center, but not much else. You would feel worse about it if you both weren’t so tired all of the time.

Finally, in November, an opportunity arises for you to show him around again and for Colin to officially meet your best friends/coworkers.

“So, some of my coworkers and I are going to the zoo next Thursday and I want to know if you want to join,” you say next time you see Colin. “I can’t believe you haven’t been there yet and now that it’s November, all the lights are up.”

“I don’t want to intrude,” Colin says, hesitantly.

“Oh, please, they’re all dying to meet you. Besides, this is a chill day and nobody’ll be mad if I bring you along. And you haven’t been there yet. It’s a yearly thing, too, if that makes it any better.”

“I guess,” Colin replies, still a bit unsure with himself. “I just have to see if I can shift my appointments or not. It can be a bit tricky this time of year because people are taking a lot of time off.”

“No worries, just thought I would ask,” you reply.

~ ~ ~

You end up not hearing about the zoo again until the day before you’re supposed to be going. Colin texts you asking if it’s too late to join in. You decide to call him.

“Please, like I would turn you away,” you say the second he picks up his phone.

“I know, but I just managed to get my last appointment covered, so I wasn’t sure if it would be too last minute,” Colin replies.

“That’s exactly why I couldn’t turn you away. Having you sit all alone in your house while I’m having fun at the zoo is the saddest thing to think about.”

“You’re just being dramatic,” Colin groans.

“I can’t be dramatic if it’s true.”

You can feel Colin rolling his eyes through the phone, which makes you laugh.

“I can’t believe I’m friends with you, y/n. But text me the details and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

~ ~ ~

Your friends don’t stop teasing you the second they find out that Colin is going to show up. They know exactly how much of a crush you’ve started developing on him in the recent weeks and now they’re finally meeting him in person.

“I can’t believe it’s taken this long for us to meet him,” Jeremy says, excitedly. “And don’t say it’s because we’re too much to handle. Lord knows you’re the worst to handle out of all of us.”

“You’re so rude, Jeremy,” you groan.

“Good to know you’re the worst of them,” Colin comments.

You startle a little, before laughing. “Well, good to know that we’re all getting off on the right foot.”

Colin shrugs. “If I can put up with you, I’m sure I can manage them.”

Your friends all laugh and Jeremy throws his arm around Colin’s shoulders.

“You’re going to fit in just fine here, Colin,” Jeremy says.

Before heading into the zoo, you introduce Colin to the rest of your coworkers, Liza, Mackey, and Zoe. Colin insists on buying your ticket (insisting that it’s his turn to pay for hanging out) and you notice your friends all trying to hold back their laughter. This just makes you blush.

The first exhibit you all go to is the penguins. It’s feeding time, so they’re all swimming throughout the water. No matter how many times you’ve seen them, this is always one of your favorite places to stop. Colin notices how excited you are and smiles. Jeremy nudges Liza, who points it out to Mackey and Zoe.

Throughout the rest of the day, the same thing keeps happening. Either you or Colin will smile at how excited the other is getting, which makes your friend group nudge each other insistently. A few hours later, all of you exit the zoo and decide to grab dinner at a small Mexican restaurant that isn’t too far away.

After you’ve all been seated, Colin speaks up. “I’m glad I came today. It was really fun.”

“We’re glad you came too,” Mackey says. “We don’t get to meet a lot of y/n’s friends outside of the tattoo shop, so it’s good to know she wasn’t making you up.”

You groan, as you lean back in your chair. “You’re all the worst and I regret introducing you to him.”

They all just roll their eyes. The waitress comes up, which quiets the conversation for the time being. Zoe keeps looking over at you, trying to figure out your feelings. You know that she’ll badger you enough at work tomorrow, so you leave it be.

“So, how did you all meet? I know that you guys work together,” Colin says.

“That’s actually how we know each other,” Zoe replies. “Y/n was the only one who grew up in the area, so she took us under her wing.”

“Is that her thing? Showing people around the city?” Colin asks.

Mackey snorts. “Yeah, she’s basically an unofficial tour guide. She’s always dragging us around the city to try something out.”

Colin nods. “So, how did you all get into tattooing? It’s cool, but I feel like nobody really sets out to do that?”

Everyone settles in comfortably after that question, more than happy to let him in on a slice of their personal life.

~ ~ ~

After Colin heads out once dinner is done, your friends turn on you immediately, ready to pounce.

“Can’t this wait until work tomorrow?” you groan.

“It could, but we want details now, when nobody is eavesdropping,” Liz comments.

“I mean, he’s super cool, you all saw that. And his cat likes me, which is a huge plus,” you reply. “I don’t really know what else to tell you all.”

“How long have you known that you liked him?” Mackey asks. “Because those were some serious heart eyes you were giving him when he was asking about your work.”

You snort. “It’s not that serious yet, we’ve barely hung out. I know that I’ve known him since June, but we’re both so busy. I feel like I’m still getting to really know him.”

“I would beg to differ,” Liz mutters. “All of your mid-day coffee breaks with him would speak otherwise.”

“Look, we’re just friends right now and that’s totally fine. I promise I’ll be fine with it, okay?” you reply. “You all like him, which means he isn’t going anywhere. And I don’t want to ruin that.”

“We wouldn’t keep Colin around, you know. If he broke your heart,” Jeremy says softly. “We like him, but not at that cost.”

You shrug. “I’ve managed through worse things.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to,” Jeremy replies, pulling you in for a hug.

~ ~ ~

It’s almost a month before you’re able to take Colin out again. Currently, it’s pouring down rain, which is pretty normal for December in Seattle. Thankfully, most of the aquarium is inside, so you don’t feel bad taking him here. Sure, it might ruin the fun of taking him to see some of the weirder sculptures nearby, but you’ll still take him there, regardless.

“I feel like this is something we should have done on the same day as the zoo,” Colin comments.

“Trust me, this is a totally separate adventure,” you reply. “There’s other things to see around the area, too. I promise it’ll be worth it.”

“Well, you still have yet to fail me, so I’m gonna trust you.”

You smile softly at that, and lead Colin into the aquarium. He insists on paying for your tickets again this time (“it’s only fair since you keep showing me around”), which doesn’t help your emotions. You drag him to the more outdoors part of the aquarium so that you both have time to dry off later.

“Oh, they’re so cute,” Colin whispers, when he sees the seals. “I didn’t realize we were going to be seeing anything so cute today, y/n!”

“Are you telling me you don’t find sea life cute?” you joke.

“I mean, so many things are straight up scary,” Colin comments. “And I don’t really know what I was expecting, if I’m being honest.”

“I promise there’s tons of cool stuff here. How do you feel about touching some stuff?”

Colin blanches at the thought.

~ ~ ~

“This was fun,” Colin says, as the two of you make your way out.

“Like you said, I haven’t steered you wrong yet,” you reply. “There’s something else that I want to show you really quick. It’s going to be a little bit weird, but it’s a lesser known iconic part of Seattle.”

“If you’re saying it’s weird…”

“Just follow me.”

Colin hesitantly follows you down the pier. There’s a huge fountain not too far from where you are right now that you need to show him, and it leads nicely into a walk near the water. Even though it’s still drizzling out, you think it would be a nice way to end the afternoon.

Once you get there, Colin freezes. “What…is happening?”

“It’s the Father and Son fountain,” you comment. “I guess some guy wanted to leave a million dollars to SAM, but only if they were able to secure a fountain with a nude male figure. Thankfully, Louise Bourgeoise agreed.”

“I honestly can’t believe they went through with it,” Colin remarks.

You snort. “Of course they did. The park wouldn’t be as exciting otherwise.”

Colin just lets out a slightly distressed noise. “Not that it isn’t cool, but it certainly is…a choice.”

“There’s a rose garden not too far from here if you want to check that out,” you reply. “I mean, it’s kind of a maze, but not really?”

“Yeah, we can go.”

Thankfully, the drizzling is letting up by the time you and Colin get to the rose garden. Considering it’s December, there isn’t much in the way of flowers, but there’s still some bouquets scattered around. Colin doesn’t say much, but he keeps glancing at you, like he’s trying to make up his mind about something.

“You doing okay?” you ask.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just…” Colin grabs your hands before speaking again. “Is it okay if I kiss you?”

“Oh,” you whisper. “Yeah, that’s more than okay.”

Colin smiles softly and leans in. Kissing him doesn’t lead to fireworks or makes you feel like everything is just complete. But it does feel like home, like he would never try to hurt you. When he pulls back, Colin gives you a searching look.

Smiling, you quickly kiss him again. “Does this make our next adventure a date?”

He laughs. “Yeah, I would like that a lot.”

~ ~ ~

In all honesty, you can’t believe that you haven’t taken Colin to see the troll earlier. Maybe it wasn’t a full day type of event, but you can’t live in Seattle and not see it. Besides, maybe you could convince Colin to check out Westlake while the Christmas decorations are up while it’s still before Christmas. You could see them after the 25th, but that isn’t as fun.

“Remind me why I have to see this?” he asks. “I know it’s an important part of Seattle culture and all of that, but like…I can just look at pictures.”

You sigh, exasperated. “You very well know that isn’t the same as seeing it in real life. Besides, I can’t believe that you’ve never been to Fremont before. It’s like…the most hipster part of the city.”

Colin fakes offense. “You wound me so deeply.”

You laugh and just shake your head. “Also, I’m hoping the fact that this is only a quick stop will convince you to go to Westlake with me. Mackey and Zoe said that they would be able to come with, too.”

Colin has clicked extremely well with your friends and has melded into your friend group seamlessly. It makes you happy to know that he was able to find some good people to be around.

“We haven’t even officially been on one date yet and you already know how to get me to do things,” Colin groans.

“I mean, we were friends beforehand. Just because we’re doing dates now doesn’t mean I suddenly forgot everything about you.”

Colin just rolls his eyes. “Let’s go see this troll then, I guess.”

When the two of you walk up to it, Colin tilts his head a little bit. You can tell that he doesn’t quite get it, which you suppose makes sense.

“Do you know why they decided to make it? That’s like…my real question here,” Colin asks.

“It was part of an art competition since they wanted to try and do something to clean up under the bridge. Obviously, this artist won, and that’s…really it,” you explain.

“People here are so weird,” Colin whispers.

“And yet you agreed to go on a date with one of those weird people,” you retort.

“Still trying to figure that one out, if I’m being honest,” Colin jokes.

He kisses your head and grabs your hand, then looks at you with a questioning glance.

“You don’t have to ask me to hold my hand, you know,” you say.

Colin shrugs. “I wasn’t sure and I thought it would be better safe than sorry.”

“Well, just know that I’m good with it from here on out,” you reply. “Now, do you want to hang out here a bit more or do you want to go to Westlake?”

“You already convinced me to go to Westlake,” Colin points out.

“Only because I said Mackey and Zoe were going to be there. I promise that they won’t be mad if you don’t want to go.”

“I have to see all the sights, don’t I?”

~ ~ ~

When you find Mackey and Zoe at the outskirts of Westlake, you can see them eyeing you and Colin suspiciously. Subtly, you shake your head, knowing that they would want to ask you about how your date has gone up until this point. Zoe rolls her eyes as Mackey just sighs. They should know at this point that you’re a bit tight lipped about certain things.

“So, how was the troll?” Mackey asks.

“I mean…it was fine I guess?” Colin replies. “It’s cool and I guess I get why it’s an iconic part of Seattle, but it wasn’t that exciting.”

Mackey gasps loudly, as Zoe just stares at Colin in confusion. You just laugh as he starts to look a bit distressed.

“You can’t say that where people can hear you,” Zoe whispers.

“But-” Colin starts.

“There are no buts about it, sir,” Zoe says, shutting him off. “Now it’s time to admire the Christmas lights and most importantly, the tree!”

“I still don’t get what the deal with this is,” Colin comments. “Like, I know that it’s pretty and everything, but…”

“Half the point is that it’s romantic,” Mackey points out. “And you and y/n are practically dating, so you have to take her there. Also, it helps getting you in the spirit.”

“Just be happy that y/n hasn’t dragged you to Molbaks yet,” Zoe says, a dead look in her eyes.

“Hey, it’s amazing there during the holidays, so I don’t get what you’re complaining about,” you reply.

“But it’s the same thing every year,” Mackey whines.

“Well, it’s not my fault that you don’t know how to have fun,” you retort.

Mackey fakes offense, as Zoe and Colin laugh. You look at them all, and just shake your head.

“Whatever, it’s your loss,” you reply. “I’m sorry I like to have fun.”

“You should take me,” Colin says, after a brief pause.

You frown a little bit. “You were just commenting on the fact that you don’t get the point of seeing the Christmas decorations in a major part of Seattle. What’s convincing you to see the decorations at a nursery?”

He shrugs. “You haven’t steered me wrong yet. For the most part.”

“You’re the worst,” you say. “Are you never going to let me live down taking you to the troll?”

Colin smiles widely. “Nope.”

Mackey and Zoe watch this exchange with amusement and you just know that they’re going to tell Jeremy and Liza about it before the work day tomorrow. You know that they’ll all tease you about it through the whole day, but you know it’s coming from a good place.

Walking through the rest of Westlake is pretty calm and when you get to the tree at Macy’s, the three of you pause on the sidewalk, where there’s other people looking at the tree. Sure, it’s not that big of a deal, but there’s always something fun about just walking through the city with no worries. Colin takes your hand and squeezes it, smiling softly to himself.

~ ~ ~

Somehow, December turns into January, which turns into February and March. The beginning of the year is always a busy time for the tattoo shop. People want to start their year off with a tattoo or they want it mostly healed by the time summer comes around. In February, there’s more than enough couples getting matching tattoos.

Because it’s so busy, it means that you’re at the shop more than you’re at home or hanging out with Colin. You don’t mean for it to happen, but it does. And Colin understands, but it doesn’t make you feel any less bad. It’s also been a while since you’ve seen Mazy, his cat, which makes you just as sad not seeing Colin.

One day, you notice Colin walking into the shop, which isn’t too unusual, as he’ll occasionally bring you lunch. But he normally gives you a heads up, in case you have appointments during his normal lunch time, so you’re a bit confused. Then you see him holding Mazy, and you’re even more confused. Thankfully, you’ve just wrapped up a session with someone, so you make your way over to him.

“What do I owe for this honor?” you inquire.

“Jeremy said I could bring her by,” he answers. “Says she might help with a client that’s a bit scared.”

You wince, knowing exactly which client he was referring to. She’s a sweetheart, but her pain tolerance was low and her tattoo required multiple sessions. Mazy loves being held, so hopefully she could help keep the client distracted.

“That’s actually not a bad idea,” you comment.

“I mean, I also miss you, so that’s my other reason for coming over,” Colin admits, sheepishly.

You roll your eyes. “We’re getting dinner tonight.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t miss you any less.”

“You’re impossible,” you joke.

Glancing at the clock, you notice you only have thirty minutes until your next appointment, meaning you need to get your station sanitized. You look at Colin sheepishly, but he just rolls his eyes and follows you back.

“When’s your next day off?” he asks.

“I have this Sunday and Monday off,” you answer. “Why?”

“Nothing, just have a small something planned out for the two of us,” Colin replies.

“Better be good, considering I was planning on laying on the couch for those two days.”

“I promise it’ll be worth it.”

~ ~ ~

Turns out that Colin has planned for the two of you to go to Discovery Park on Sunday. It’s a beautiful park, and is the largest one in the city. On a sunny day like today, the mountains will be out and some flowers might already be in bloom.

“I can’t believe you’re taking me somewhere,” you remark. “It’s usually the other way around.”

Colin shrugs, as he parks the car. “I thought it was about time. Besides, I remember you mentioning the fact that it’s been a while since you’ve been here.”

You look over at him in confusion. “I did?”

“Yeah, you told me back at New Years that you wanted to come here again in the spring. Said it feels like home.”

You snort. “Well, that explains it. I was probably drunk off my ass when I told you that. It’s true though. There is no bad part of the park.”

“I know, I came here last week to scope it out.”

“You came here without me?” you exclaim. “I’m so proud of you! Look at you growing up and exploring the city without me. Soon, you won’t even need me around.”

Colin just rolls his eyes and gets out of the car. You follow suit, and start walking down the main pathway with him. He takes your hand and swings it in-between the both of you. Quiet moments like this always make you feel more at peace and content. Being with Colin the last few months has been amazing, in part because of how much fun the two of you had together, but also because he just made you slow down and enjoy things.

“You know, showing you the city has made me love it again,” you comment.

“I didn’t realize you ever fell out of love with it,” he replies.

“It’s just…I started getting fixated on the things that needed to be improved on. There’s so much shit going on here that’s hard to ignore and you just…forget to take in what’s around you. I think when Mazy found me, she knew that I needed to just slow down.”

“Mazy? My cat?”

You shrug. “I mean, she probably didn’t. But I like to think of it like that. Makes meeting you feel more purposeful, I guess.”

Colin smiles widely and pulls you in for a kiss. You kiss him back, but pull back quicker than you would like to.

“We’re still in a public park, you know. Can’t get arrested for public indecency or whatever.”

Colin just rolls his eyes. “Come on, I’m taking you to the bluffs.”

“You’re not going to push me off, are you?”

“Are you suggesting that I’m going to murder you in broad daylight? I promise you I’m much smarter than that.”

“But Mazy would miss me! And what about the rest of my clients at work? You can’t have them without an artist, Colin.”

He laughs as he replies, “Ah, yes, that definitely convinced me. Don’t want your coworkers getting swamped with your work.”

“Just watch, I’m going to shove you off of this cliff and show you who’s boss.”

“So dramatic,” he sighs. “Let’s just go to the bluffs, I promise that I won’t push you off them.”

You eye him suspiciously, but then just break out in laughter before grabbing his hand again. Colin shakes his head and the both of you continue to walk down the trail. There’s plenty of people out enjoying the park, but you still feel like there’s some illusion of privacy. It takes a little while to get to the bluffs, but when you do, you see the mountains out in full view.

There’s an open bench, so you drag Colin over to sit on it. For a few minutes, the two of you sit in a comfortable silence, just watching the clouds float through the sky. Then, Colin looks over at you seriously.

“Is something wrong?” you ask, concerned.

“No,” he whispers. “I just love you so much.”

“Oh,” you reply softly.

He leans over and kiss you softly on the lips. You deepen the kiss for a brief moment before you pull back. Colin searches your face, looking for an answer.

“I love you too, you know,” you say. “You have to know that. I just don’t show anyone around my city.”

“Except for your coworkers.”

“Yeah, but they’re my ride or die, and now you are too. You’re not going anywhere.”

Colin snorts. “Good, considering we still have so much left to see.”

You can’t wait.

[ladyvegeets]

Edible 4

-For all those asking for more Edible. Inspired by @okebtrash’s adorable picture of Bulla patching up her papa with bandages.-

Read Edible on AO3 or FFnet. 

~xox~

Vegeta stared down at the beautiful woman he — by some stroke of luck — called his wife. Bulma lay sprawled beneath him. The soft glow of morning highlighted the rise and fall of her chest, flushed cheeks, and matted hair. ‘Thoroughly fucked’ was one of his favorite looks on her.

The column of her throat beckoned. He leaned in to kiss it while contemplating an encore. 

“Mmm,” she sighed sleepily.

Ah, he knew that tone. She was exhausted, even now her breathing was evening out. What time had she come to bed? He couldn’t recall, having fallen asleep waiting up for her. 

Damn. Perhaps waking her up so early for this wasn’t the best of ideas.

He gently pushed off. She made a half-hearted sound of protest as he wiped her clean, but was half-way asleep by the time he tucked her in under the blankets. With a final kiss to her brow, Vegeta pried himself away, ignoring the instinct to stay and watch over his mate.

He headed for the spare bathroom by the kids’ rooms so as not to disturb Bulma’s sleep while he cleaned up. Along the way, hushed voices caught his attention. He slowed to a halt.

Trunks and Bra were coming down the opposite end of the corridor, the older boy bent to whisper in his little sister’s ear. “—just remember, don’t tell Dad or—”

“Don’t tell me what?”

Trunks froze, the color draining from his face. 

“Papa!” His daughter’s face lit up and she came dashing towards him. “I’m BLEEDING!”

What?! For a sickening moment, Vegeta couldn’t breathe.

“Bra, you snitch.” Trunks slapped a hand over his face with a groan. 

Bra came to a halt by his boots and raised her skirt to show off her bleeding knee. A tiny wound. But the impression it left was huge. Vegeta scooped her up before laying murderous eyes on his son, the same glare he had leveled enemies with. “Boy, you have five seconds to explain yourself before I send you to the afterlife.”

“Dad, c’mon. We were playing outside and she tripped. No big deal, I swear.”

“Tunks says I might get a scar like you, Papa!” Bra announced excitedly.

“Bra!” Trunks hissed with desperation, begging her to stop making the situation worse.

Vegeta tightened his fingers over his daughter. “Oh, he better hope you don’t. Trunks, go make breakfast. Your mother worked late last night, so you’d best be quiet. I’ll deal with your lack of common sense regarding the care of your sister later.”

Trunks made a sour face but dragged himself off to the kitchen without further protest. Vegeta shifted Bra’s weight in his arms, brushing back her fly-away hair. “Let’s get you fixed up.”

“Okay.”

He carried her to the bathroom and set her on the sink. “Is this the only place you’re hurt?” he asked, looking at the graze on her knee. It was already scabbing over. Thank you Saiyan genes. 

“Uh-huh.”

Such a wound for a Saiyan was inconsequential, but he wasn’t about to take any chances with his little girl. He cleaned the wound and dug around in the cabinet, pulling out a box of all-purpose band-aids. 

“Nuh-uh, not dose ones. I wannit the ones with the staw-bees!”

Vegeta sighed and kept searching.

“Papa?”

“Hn?”

“You have lotsa scars.”

Glancing down, he saw Bra scrutinizing his torso. It was the same look Bulma gave when puzzling out a malfunctioning invention.

“Did you fall down too?” his daughter inquired.

If anyone else accused him of tripping over, Vegeta would have ended them. Permanently. But Bra’s world-view was small and innocent. She meant no insult, and she certainly couldn’t comprehend the suffering or horror that he had endured and inflicted to earn his scars. Like hell he was going to ruin that innocence just yet. 

“…Something like that.”

“Oh… You’re really clumsy, Papa.”

His cheek twitched. Thankfully Bulma wasn’t around to hear that one; he never would have lived it down. 

“So it would seem. But what’s important is that I picked myself up again. Every time.”

Her little brow furrowed with contemplation. “You didn’t cry?”

A few unpleasant memories resurfaced. “…Only when it really mattered.”

She fell silent, and he resumed his search for the bandaids.

Ah. Finally. A box of bandaids with cartoon strawberries smiling obscenely at him was tucked away in the far back corner. Someone really needed to organize this cabinet better. Vegeta dug it out and peeled open a plaster, smoothing it over his daughter’s knee.

“How’s that?”

Bra lifted her leg to examine his handiwork. “It’s crooked.”

“Then fall more symmetrically next time.”

She laughed, her whole face lighting up. At least someone got his sense of humor. The sound was infectious, wriggling under his skin and easing the tension in his body he wasn’t aware he carried. 

Despite himself, he smiled back. “Alright, Princess. Let’s go check on your brother.”

“Okay.” She made grabby hands, and Vegeta picked her up. As they walked towards the kitchen, her chubby fingers traced a scar on his shoulder.

“Papa, did your Papa help fixit your hurts too?”

His mouth thinned. His father? Now that was an old wound. Time had mostly healed it over but it still stung when dug at. “No, he didn’t.”

Couldn’t.

Or wouldn’t.

A side-glance found Bra watching him with big blue eyes. He stopped his thoughts before they ruined the morning. 

“What do you think Mommy would like for breakfast?”

Bra gasped and bounced in his arms, excited to know the answer. “Staw-bee pancakes!”

Vegeta smiled and carried her off to the kitchen as she chanted the words over and over.

~xox~

 Bra wasn’t watching where she put her spoon. It missed her mouth, smearing mashed sweet potato over her cheek. She rubbed the mess away with the back of her hand, eyes fixed on her parents. 

Papa sat on a kitchen stool, his face as grumpy as the troll in her Saturday morning cartoons, only the troll didn’t usually bleed bright red from a cut on his brow. Mommy was sewing up Papa’s hurt. he didn’t look happy about it, but still he allowed her to fix him. After all, Mommy was very good at fixing broken things; she had fixed her toys more than once.

“Can’t you and Son ever go easy on each other?” Bulma asked.

“Tch. That is not how true warriors train. Besides, I gave Kakarot as good as I got, and more.”

“Yeah, yeah.” 

Bra adjusted her spoon and this time found her mouth. Blergh. Her nose scrunched at the taste of cold vegetables. With a careful glance to make sure her parents weren’t watching, she spat the food back on her plate.

“This is entirely unnecessary,” Vegeta grumbled. “You know it will heal on its own.”

“Not before bleeding all over the damn place. Besides, it’s deep enough that it might scar, and I think you have enough of those.” Bulma finished her stitches and put a bandage over the wound. With a warm smile she leaned in, nudging her nose to Vegeta’s. “There. As rugged as that might look, I’ve grown fond of your face the way it is.”

He huffed, his large hands grabbing Bulma’s hips and pulling her closer. “Why do I tolerate you?”

Bulma nuzzled his cheek. “Let’s go to bed and I’ll remind you.”

He started to smile, but then his eyes slid to the side where Bra was still pretending to eat. “Echalotte.” She snapped upright at his sharp tone. “Did you finish your dinner?”

Her plate was mostly untouched. “Uh… not yet, Papa.”

“Stop dawdling.”

Her head lowered at his reprimand. Papa rarely told her off; she didn’t much care for the experience. Sullenly, Bra pushed her vegetables about on her plate, kicking her feet into the kitchen counter below.

“I’m going to wash off,” Vegeta said, and left Bulma to pack up the first aid kid. 

Still sulking, Bra smooshed her peas into her plate. “Mommy?”

“Yes honey?”

“Why do you helpit Papa? I don’t think he likes getting fixed.”

Bulma laughed. “Ah, your father just thinks he’s too tough for help. But truth is, he’s not used to getting any and doesn’t know how to ask for it.”

“He doesn’t know how?” Bra asked, amazed there was something Papa couldn’t do.

“Nope. So I just help him.”

Bra reflected on that as she swirled her food into paste. Papa was always helping her and Tunks and Mommy and even the whooooole universe from evil bad guys. It didn’t seem fair that he couldn’t ask for help in return. 

“Mommy?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for helping Papa.”

Bulma smiled and came to sit by her. “Of course.” She brushed Bra’s bangs out of her face. “That’s what families do: help each other. Because we love each other, right?”

Bra beamed. “Right!”

“Now finish your dinner.”

“Ugh,” Bra whined, dropping her head forward in defeat.

~xox~

 Blood splattered the ground where Vegeta walked. His wife would be pissed. Bulma hated when he made a mess but in a roundabout way, this was her fault. Sure, he might have asked Bulma to increase the intensity of the training bots but she was the one who exceeded his expectations. If he didn’t know any better, he would think his wife was trying to kill him.

Goddamn she was amazing.

Still, he had underestimated her upgrades and now suffered the consequences. With some luck, he hoped to make it to the bathroom before anyone noticed.

He limped passed the living room where Bulma’s mother was keeping an eye on Bra. 

“Oh my!” Panchy exclaimed. “Vegeta sweety, don’t you look a fright.”

So much for not getting noticed.

At Panchy’s announcement, Bra’s head jerked up from her coloring book, her eyes going wide seeing the state of her father. “Papa! You’re hurt again?”

He paused. “It’s nothing. Keep drawing.”

Bra ignored him, hurrying over and grabbing his hand. It made his heart tighten to see how tiny her fingers were compared to his. Bra examined his wounds, her brow furrowing mightily. What had got her so worked up? She had seen him injured before. But before he could ask, Bra sprang off down the hall. “Wait, Papa. I’ll helpit!”

Ah, goddamn it. Off to fetch her mother, no doubt. With a heavy sigh, Vegeta followed. May as well get this over with. 

But he didn’t get far. The patter of little feet heralded Bra’s return, a box of bandaids held in her chubby hands. She looked at him with the same determination he had seen countless times on her mother’s face.

“Okay, Papa. Let Bra take good care of you!”

Well fuck. How could he say no to that?

With a sigh, he sunk into a sitting position before her, and allowed his daughter to play nurse.

Just like her mother. 

“You have so many hurts,” Bra tutted as she stuck plaster after plaster on him. At least it wasn’t the goddamn strawberry ones. “Don’t worry, Papa. Families helpit each other.”

He peeled open an eye to look at his daughter’s earnest face. Family… Did he ever imagine he could have such a precious family after everything that had happened to him?

Bra was opening another plaster when he scooped her up into his arms and hugged her tight.

“Aren ilgnen kalor, Echalotte,” he whispered fiercely in her ear.

“Papa!” she squealed, and soon her laughter filled the corridor as he tickled her sides and nommed her tiny neck.

 ~xoXox~