#(I look forward every day to see what ideas and shenanigans we can cook up together!)

[brokendreamscreation-moved]

‘dibs’ [@helluva-hazbins]

send me a ‘dibs’ if you are ridiculously attached to me as an rp partner

*holds up sign that says “UNO REVERSE: DIBS!!”*

Fr you are the partner I RP the most with on here! You and your muses have helped mine to flourish and grow so much ;w;

[azucanela]

chapter i

pairing: bakugou katsuki x fem!reader

warnings: cursing.

word count: 3k

summary: the internet is enamored with the idea of y/n l/n and bakugou katsuki, two renowned pro heroes, dating. the first issue? the pair rarely interacts. the second issue? apparently, they hate each other, not that anyone knows about that bit. of course, after one night of many mistakes, the whole world knows.

series masterlist

Y/N’S HEAD IS POUNDING when she wakes up the following day. Her hand coming to rub her temple as she attempts to soothe the throbbing of her own head, the light just barely seeping through her blinds already feels like too much as she rises up in her bed. Blinking a few times, Y/N’s eyes adjust to the light and she sighs, stretching her arms upwards and almost wincing at the sound of her bones cracking.

You’d think that a Pro Hero wouldn’t have such issues, and yet.

Coming to a stand, Y/N hisses at the feeling of her cold floor, frowning before she makes her way towards the hallway and rubbing a hand against her eye. She catches a look of herself in the mirror, hair amiss, makeup that she’d applied from the night before still on— and yet her eye bags seem to have grown. If Y/N is honest, she looks and feels like a mess.

That should be a given though, seeing as she couldn’t even remember how she’d gotten home last night. Though Y/N was sure the news would detail any screw ups she’d made. Sighing as she grabs the TV remote from the coffee table by her couch and clicks the TV on. 

“You’re fucking kidding me.” She mumbles out when the TV turns on to reveal that she is in fact the headline, alongside Bakugou Katsuki. 

Almost on cue, a set of rapid knocks sound against her door and Y/N already knows who it is, again.

It was an accident, Y/N hadn’t meant to get blackout drunk at a literal Gala filled with several respectable and admirable peers from the Pro Hero world. And she certainly hadn’t meant to speak poorly about one of those peers— well, if she could really call Bakugou that at this point. After all there was a reason she spoke poorly of him.

“He’s an— an ill-mannered, rude, insufferable—” Y/N inhaled deeply as she looked to Lorelai, gesturing her hands vividly as she finally said, “bastard!”

Lorelai stands with a hand pressed against her temple, rubbing it gently as though that would end the headache that Y/N had probably caused with her shenanigans. “I warned you.”  She mumbles out before reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone as Y/N continues to drone on about the young man.

“I ran into him and I was filled with complete and utter rage. Did I do a few questionable things? Yes. Do I regret them—” Y/N sighs, bringing her hands to her face as the news plays in the background before saying, “I do.” 

If Y/N was honest, she wasn’t remorseful at all, not when it was Bakugou they were talking about. But she was embarrassed, she’d acted out like a child and there was no denying it. As much as she disliked the idea, a public apology was probably necessary and a private one to Bakugou was the least she owed him. 

Currently Y/N L/N and Bakugou Katuski were on every headline and front page there were, all because Y/N had elected to get a little too drunk and start talking trash about Bakugou. In the world of Pro Heroes, her word carried a lot of weight, so although it was unprofessional, Y/N had a feeling it was Bakugou’s PR team that was panicking right now. 

"You’re trending.” Comes Lorelai’s words, a hand coming to scratch the back of her neck awkwardly as she looks back up at Y/N, “I suppose that’s good.” 

Y/N had a feeling the people who shipped her with Bakugou were rather devastated upon finding out that the (non-existent) couple that they idolized yet had zero interaction actually hated one another. “Maybe they’ll stop thinking Bakugou and I would ever enter a relationship now.”

Raising a brow, Lorelai looks up to her, typing away at her phone without looking at the keyboard as she replies, “actually they’re shipping you with Pro Hero Deku. They caught quite a few pictures of you two dancing together last night.” Lorelai’s eyes returned to her screen, squinting as she mumbled out, “the Bakugou shippers are disappointed, but they’re still going strong. Something about… enemies to lovers?”

Y/N groans in annoyance, it was beginning to become abundantly clear that nothing good was going to come of this. Not that she expected such a thing, but a girl can hope. With a sigh, she shakes away those thoughts, pushing them to the back of her mind as she looks to Lorelai, “what are we going to do?” 

“I am going to speak with Bakugou’s publicist, and set up a meeting.” Comes Lorelai’s response, bringing the phone to her ear as she made her way towards the door for more privacy. 

Y/N looked to her publicist, brows furrowed, “I don’t want to meet with Bakugou.”

Rolling her eyes, Lorelai gestured to the TV as she replied, “we don’t have much of a choice do we?” Sighing, Lorelai stares at the ringing phone before saying, “you can’t let your issues with Bakugou interfere with your career— you two were bound to work together at some point. Whether you wanted to or not.”

Y/N can easily pick up on the underlying words as Lorelai steps out the door, she’s essentially telling her to suck it up. And though Y/N recognizes that she is absolutely and completely correct— that she unfortunately cannot allow Bakugou’s existence to interfere with her career, that doesn’t mean she can’t be upset about it. 

And besides, avoiding him had gone perfectly fine up until now. Y/N was still wondering what had possessed him to actually attend a public event. Last she’d checked, the boy hated them with a passion, and most of the time they only further damaged his reputation. 

Last night was only more evidence of that fact. 

“You’re right.” Comes Y/N’s words, sighing dejectedly as she sinks further into her couch. “Let me know how it goes.” Even Y/N could recognize that there was no other choice, and well— she had to be mature and realistic about this.

Lorelai steps away, and Y/N finds herself glad that she can’t hear whatever it is the woman is saying as she straightens her posture, sitting up as she crosses her legs on the couch to watch the news. 

“Famed Pro Hero Y/N L/N was caught expressing her true feelings for Bakugou Katsuki, and they certainly weren’t what fans were hoping for.” The woman on the screen leans back in her seat, moving out of the way to gesture to the screen behind her, as she opens her mouth to speak again, Y/N finds herself grabbing the remote and changing the channel with a glare towards the reporter. 

Not that it was her fault, Y/N had a feeling if she had a job with any news station right now, this story would mean everything for her career. But she didn’t, she was a Pro Hero, and she had more important things to do— and even then, weren’t there more important things to report on? 

The screen changes, and this time there’s another woman on the screen, a solemn look on her face as she leans forward on the desk with her hands clasped. “As the anniversary of the villain Stain’s incarceration grows near, civil unrest has begun to worsen. With another copy cat killer on the loose, it seem that people have once again taken to the streets to demand his release, or at least a change in his current life sentence for the murder of—”

Y/N shuts off the TV, grimacing at the reminder of her school years. Each year, crime would spike, so more Pro Heroes would set to work around this time. And each year, the number of casualties for Pro Heroes would practically triple because of all the people that tried to target them. This wouldn’t be the first Stain copy cat they’d seen, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Most of them didn’t last this long though, caught by the police by their first attempt ideally, if not then their first kill.

Y/N had lost good friends to people like that. 

Exhaling deeply, she comes to a stand, pulling out her phone to see she had several unread messages from Lorelai, all of which were in reference to the current… situation they were dealing with. There were— unsurprisingly— a few messages of concern from Izuku that Y/N can’t help but smile at. The boy had always been too kind for his own good. But what did confuse her were the messages from an unknown number, Y/N’s brows furrowed as she moved to open them. 

UNKNOWN ???

It was only a single message, but it still leaves Y/N confused, few people had access to her number, and for some reason she finds it unnerving as she goes to delete the conversation.

BAKUGOU WISHED HE COULD FORGET the chaos that had been the night before. Alas, every moment was burned into his mind, especially that bit in which Y/N had cursed him out while drunk and maybe something about him trying to fight Deku but that wasn’t really anything out of the ordinary. 

His eyes open to the sound of his alarm, and like clockwork— Bakugou rises from his bed and when his feet hit the floor he’s slipping on a set of house shoes instantly. He’d always been more of the type to live a methodical, routine like, life. Make the bed, cook himself a healthy breakfast if he hadn’t already meal prepped for the week, take a shower, get dressed, go to work. And then do it all over again. 

Bakugou had never felt the need for any spontaneity, seeing as his job provided enough of that. Surprise, there’s a murderer on the loose. Surprise, the murderer targets heroes specifically. Surprise, it's a stain copycat killer. Surprise! He hates Pro Hero Ground Zero more than anything in the world. 

The entirety of last night was not the type of surprise Bakugou was used to. Seeing as his phone is ringing as he tries to make his breakfast, and when he looks to see it’s his publicist— well, that isn’t really something out of the ordinary seeing as Bakugou seems to have a different “scandal” every week. But when the calls don’t stop coming...

Last night was a disaster, it didn’t take a genius to recognize that. Just anyone with a phone and some sort of social media, or a tv that had access to the news. Which was basically everyone nowadays. Bakugou liked to think that he had gone through worse, like when they caught him speaking poorly about Deku— although the boy had assured them that Bakugou meant no harm, and Y/N probably wouldn’t do the same.

Yeah, this was a problem. 

Bakugou had a feeling that if he hadn’t been the person who hired him, his publicist would’ve cursed him out by now. Regardless, the man in question had remained… kind of calm. He was clearly on the verge of some sort of breakdown, staring Bakugou down like a hawk as he sat across from him— hands pressed together as they rested against his chin. The man had arrived shortly after leaving Bakugou about a dozen voicemails.

“How did you manage to piss off one of the most influential women in Pro Hero society?”

Despite being a newer Hero, Y/N had worked alongside several of the Top Pro Heroes already, probably because of her connections with Pro Hero Hawks and her own Charisma, making her one of the most likable of the next generation. That and the fact that she was regarded as a potential Number 1 Hero given the speed she was rising through the ranks. 

Although Bakugou was sure this had damaged her credibility in some sort of way, he had no doubt she’d come back from this, even if he didn’t. After all, he wasn’t necessarily known for his award winning personality. 

In response to his publicist’s question, Bakugou finds himself crossing his arms, shrugging before he replies, “beats me.”

Inhaling deeply, his publicist brings a hand to his temple, rubbing it rather harshly in an attempt to end the major headache that was coming on. “You have no idea? None at all—” One of the other PR assistants is standing beside them once more, the guy had been leaving and coming back for a while actually. This time he seems rather anxious though, “and what the hell do you want?”

“Well— well, sir. You see, we’ve been getting a call from—”

His publicist, Haru Ishida, as Bakugou had come to know him, appears to have a vein popping out of his head as he replies, “I don’t care which major news platform wants to hear what we have to say, tell them the same thing—”

“It’s Ms. L/N’s publicist!” The man cries out, hand pressed against the receiver of the phone to keep said woman from hearing their interaction, face flushed red in embarrassment as he stands straighter and adds, “sir.”

Haru’ jaw drops open as he immediately shoots up from his seat, snatching the phone from the assistants hand and bringing it to his ear before swiftly saying, “Haru Ishida, how can I help you?”

Bakugou gives the man a look, “put it on speaker.” He hisses out.

The man does as he’s told and a woman’s voice fills the room, “I think it’s more of how I can help you, Mr. Ishida.” A pause, “I’d like to set up a meeting between our clients. We can discuss more in person.”

“Hell no.” Bakugou says instantly, seeing as his little reunion with his former classmate yesterday had gone very poorly, Bakugou couldn’t really see a world in which another meeting with Y/N benefitted him in any way. Despite this, his words cause Haru to glare at him, opening his mouth to respond only for Y/N to beat him to it.

“Bakugou.” She muses, “both you and Y/N are experiencing blowback from this.” Comes her words, the sound of typing on the other end of the call as she continues, “but you need us more than we need you. I know Y/N will come back from this, with or without you. But can you say the same about your career?” There’s almost a subtle threat if you read between the lines and it leaves Bakugou cursing under his breath.

If Bakugou was right, this was Lorelai Flores, a renowned publicist though she was rather new to the game. As someone who aspired to be the best, Bakugou initially sought her out. She’d rejected his attempts at hiring her of course, which is why he’d ended up with the second best he could secure. Haru, who was currently inhaling deeply as he replied, “that can be arranged.”

“No it cannot—” Haru ignores Bakugou’s attempt at protesting, simply shooting him a glare before returning his attention to the call.

“Fantastic!” The woman exclaims, “perhaps it can be just you and I, Haru. Clearly our clients aren’t inclined to be anywhere near each other. Of course, if all goes well then I’m sure they’ll be seeing each other plenty.” The sound of a pen scribbling against a paper followed by, “pick me up at 7, you have my address.”

The call ends, and Bakugou’s brow is raised as he looks back to his publicist, who clears his throat before saying, “we’ll come to a consensus sir.”

Meanwhile, the PR assistant from before looks to Haru, “fraternizing with the enemy?”

“I can fire you.” Haru hisses in response, eyes narrowing at the boy before looking back to Bakugou as he straightens himself and collects the paper’s before him, “if you’ll excuse me, I need to prepare for my meeting with Ms. Flores.” He moves to leave, hovering by the door as he says, “by the way, I believe Pro Hero Red Riot is heading this way at the moment.” 

Bringing his hands to his face, Bakugou groans, if he had to guess— Kirishima was going to lecture him, again. He finds himself coming to a stand making his way around the couch, he doesn’t bother to meet Kirishima the door since he’s already making his way inside. At the same time, Bakugou is left to watch as the rest of his PR team is exiting his apartment one by one, taking their equipment with them wordlessly. 

And so, in comes Kirishima, a bright smile on his face as he calls out, “hey Bakubro!” Arms spread wide as he greets his friend, coming to wrap his arms around him. Although Bakugou doesn’t return the hug, he allows the physical contact.

“Hey shitty hair.” Comes his response, mumbled out as he is finally released from Kirishima’s grip. “What do you want?”

With a shrug, Kirishima, steps further inside Bakugou’s apartment, “I figured you might wanna talk—”

“Don’t wanna talk.” Bakugou interrupts, narrowing his eyes at Kirishima. 

Nodding slowly, Kirishima offers him a tight lipped smile, a short silence encompassing them before he says, “but she said some intense stuff so I though—”

“No.” 

“I can talk to her?

“Absolutely not.”

With that, Bakugou found himself wondering how this could possibly get worse at this point, of course, his question would soon be answered seeing as things could definitely get worse.

[whatifxwereyou]

The Oncoming Storm Part 16: The Road Ahead

Liu Kang x Reader and Kung Lao x Reader (gonna do both, two paths!)

Here we go! Yay! I'm excited for the decision you guys made and worked on planning it out last night. Looking forward to some more Kung Lao followed by some delightful Liu Kang, followed by some shenanigans- and then the big choice. Then the fic will split and change names depending on who you wish to follow. I also have two more new fics on the way. I'm still sorting out the notes for those. One will be Liu, the other Lao. Lao's will be very action oriented and Liu's will be a bit more psychological. Hope you are all having a fantastic Monday! Much love and thanks for reading!

Part 15 Part 17 Chapter Index

You mulled over the decision but not for long. It wasn’t a difficult one. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t do it how you’re suggesting.” You shrugged. Kung Lao adjusted behind you. You were still weary but felt stronger as time passed, though marginally so. “If Kung Lao is excited about going to Japan, then he can come with me to Japan.” Just to prove that you could, you sat upright though you felt the weight of your body was still a bit too much for you. Kung Lao placed his hand on your lower back to help support you without drawing any attention to your wobbliness. You were very appreciative of his discretion. Every movement you made that was off, sent Liu Kang’s blood pressure through the roof. “And if Liu Kang is familiar with Huangshan, then that will give us a leg up there. We could use any advantage we can find. If I remember correctly, the Yellow Mountains are huge.”

Liu Kang nodded to confirm that it was true. You didn’t remember much about Huangshan other than what you had read about in school. From the little you did remember you were grateful to have a guide so you wouldn’t have to hike for days to search for an obscure point hidden amongst the rocks.

“Then it is decided.” Raiden looked to you for confirmation and you nodded.

“For the record, I promise that I’m not just excited about Japan and the festival. I’ve spent some time there so I’m familiar with getting around. Not specifically Mount Osore, of course but some familiarity is better than none.” Kung Lao then leaned closer to you and whispered with a grin in Japanese. “I’ll make sure that we’re both safe.” You smiled fondly. You spoke enough Japanese to get by. Your mother had grown up in Chiba and had spoken it often in your youth. You weren’t practiced and would likely be barely conversational but could get by better than most. You’d always wanted to go to Japan. This was a funny way to go about achieving that dream. Honestly, you’d never left home other than a few trips to Vietnam to take your students to competitions.

“Your trip will give me time to do a bit of research in Huangshan. I’ll do my best to see what I can find out before you meet me there.”

You urged Kung Lao’s hand away from your lower back and scooted away from his lap where he’d held you. Liu Kang, still crouched nearby, reached for your hand, and urged his fingers to your wrist to check for a pulse. You sighed and watched as Kung Lao tried not to laugh at your frustration. You waited patiently for Liu to get what he needed but when he didn’t let go, you decided to swat his hand away.

He smiled and turned his gaze, aware that he had lingered for much longer than necessary. The air in Raiden’s chamber was stifling. Between the haze of magic that you’d cooked up and being somewhat sandwiched between two of your favorite people, you could barely breathe. You were suddenly ecstatic to spend some time away from Raiden’s Temple. Not that you didn’t appreciate it. You did! But it would be nice to see the rest of the world. Yours had shrunk from your hometown to this temple and even though it was technically bigger than your hometown it was also out of time, in a way.

“We can head out as soon as Lord Raiden is ready to send us off.” Kung Lao seemed excited. “Right?”

“Immediately?” Liu objected.

“Why not? What are we waiting on, you think?”

“Do you really think that it’s the best idea to leave right this second, Kung Lao? Y/N just had a vision last night. And after what we just witnessed she can barely sit upright.” Liu Kang counted the reasons on his fingers. “Not to mention that I’m burnt out. I need rest.”

“Wow, the pun.”

“…not intended.” Liu considered and seemed pleased.

“Bull.” You teased and Kung Lao laughed and offered you a high five which you reciprocated. Liu rolled his eyes at them both with a heavy sigh.

“Joking aside, wouldn’t it be wise to take a day and be better prepared?”

“That seems like a waste of time.”

“There’s plenty to do today, Kung Lao. Find a place to stay while we’re there. Food. Clothing. Timing. Research where and how to approach this…” Liu counted the reasons again on his fingers.

“I…” You began.

“We can figure that out just as easily when we get to where we’re going.”

“And what if we’re attacked?”

“You really think that something’s going to hunt us the moment we arrive?”

“I don’t think-“ You tried again.

“Not the moment we arrive but we have to consider the possibility considering the way that voice spoke and what Lord Raiden saw.”

You decided to tune them out as they argued. Considering it was about you and your trip you were a little annoyed that they were talking as though you were not there in the room to help decide. You could feel Lord Raiden’s piercing gaze on you as if he were curious to see how you would handle being talked over.

“Listen, boys, your both pretty,” you spoke loud enough to interrupt them. Liu Kang and Kung Lao silenced, looking to you with wide eyes. “And you both make valid points but I’m making the decision. We’ll leave tomorrow morning. I need a chance to rest and prepare. And no, I’m not making this decision on either of your recommendations. This is what I think is best. I know that I’m too tired to do what needs to be done there today.” You scolded them but did so with a smile. It felt nice to be listened to. “This is my quest and you will follow my lead. Got it? I won’t be talked over and steam rolled by you two.”

“Got it loud and clear.” Kung Lao smirked. “I like take charge Y/N. She’s fun.”

Liu Kang on the other hand still looked incredibly worried. “Yes, of course. I’ll follow where you lead, Y/N.”

Raiden stepped closer and you could see the hint of a smile on his face. You were glad that you’d taken his silent encouragement to interrupt the two brothers. “Tomorrow morning you will meet me here and I will send you on your way.” He then turned to Kung Lao and offered him a look that was also a warning. “Remember, this is important.” Liu Kang narrowed his eyes at his brother as if to warn the same thing. You couldn’t hide your curiosity as to why that was. You would absolutely be asking about it later. What kind of trouble was Kung Lao know for getting into exactly?

“You two worry too much. I’m taking this very seriously.”

“When you are finished in Japan then Kung Lao will call me.” Raiden addressed you without further explanation. “I will return him here and send you to meet with Liu Kang in Huangshan.” How exactly would Kung Lao call upon him? You supposed that he was a god, so there was probably some unspoken magic. You’d make a point to ask Kung Lao about that later, too. It would be easier than asking Raiden. He really was intimidating.

“Will do.” Kung Lao smiled and Liu Kang nodded his agreement.

“I’m going to stop by the infirmary to get checked out now. Just in case. I don’t remember any of what went on here, but I can feel how tired I am.” You were nervous to try and stand on your own, but you also didn’t want to feel anyone else’s worry that day. You’d had enough from Liu the other night. You found his worry sweet, but also a little excessive. Liu Kang seemed surprised and impressed that you were going there on your own without him twisting your arm. Before he could say anything, Kung Lao had jumped to his feet.

“I’ll walk you there.” He offered you a hand. You rejected it and stood on your own, just to prove that you could, even if you hadn’t been positive that you could. It had been worth the effort it turned out, even if your legs were wobbly. Kung Lao had a way of making you wish to prove that you could do things beyond what you thought you were capable of. Even so, he offered his arm, unbothered that you’d ignored his hand. You took it. Your body was exhausted, after all. At least your neck had decided to continue supporting your head. You’d been through a lot lately and were grateful that your body listened to you at all.

“I’ll check in on you later.” Liu assured you and you smiled.

“See you then. Raiden? Thank you.” You bowed politely to them both and Raiden silently acknowledged your gratitude with a bow of his own. There was more that you’d wanted to say to Liu Kang, but Kung Lao was already leading you out of the room. You’d have time to talk to him later. You stole a glance over your shoulder and found him watching you go. Usually when you caught him staring, he would avert his eyes and go about his business but this time he offered you a knowing smile that made your heart flutter. Then he went to speak with Lord Raiden.

Kung Lao led you down the long hallway and around the corner. You pulled from his arm and leaned heavily against the wall once out of sight of Raiden’s chamber. With an exasperated noise, you let your full weight rest against the wall and caught your breath that you’d practically been holding. Your whole body was sore as if you’d worked out far beyond your limit. “I need a second.”

Kung Lao laughed and stood before you, amused. “Exhausted, huh?”

“So exhausted.” You swatted his hand as he reached for you and then whined as he urged his arm around your waist and pulled you away from the wall. You continued like that toward the stairs. He supported most of your weight but didn’t drag you or hurry you too quickly. “Thanks, Lao.”

“No problem, Y/N. Figured you needed an out and a little help to get it. Liu was radiating with worry. Kinda knew you were trying to save face especially after your cute little speech.” He teased but you were grateful that instead of making you sit and breathe, he was just dragging you along like it was no big deal. You did kind of want to lay down and sleep for a year though.

“He worries about me a bit too much, I think. I don’t want him to stress over me. Thank you for helping me do that and not just picking me up like I’m an invalid.”

“I get it. Happy to help.” He shrugged. “Definitely thought about picking you up and doing just that but you seemed particularly defiant after your episode, there.”

“I am feeling particularly defiant.”

“I can tell. And those dragons, Y/N, well, I’m impressed.”

“…how long was I out like that, by the way?”

“Oh, a long while. About an hour, I’d say.”

“An hour?” You gasped, stopping your walk and pulling a bit away from him, just so you could turn to face him. “Raiden and Liu had to keep all that back for that long?” What the hell? You could barely summon an ink jian yesterday and had made dragons, a vortex, and a throne for an hour while you were unconscious!

“Who’s worrying now?”

“No wonder he’s burnt out, Kung Lao! No wonder my body hates me.” You shook out your fingers. They were tingling on and off with numbness. Kung Lao urged you onward.

“Don’t feel bad about it, Y/N. It was awesome.” Kung Lao was beaming with pride. His smile was just like it had been when you were kids, but it suited him better now- with just the slightest hint of dimples and the cutest little wrinkle on his chin.

“It was terrifying. My body did all that without me.”

“When you can control it then you’ll change your tune.”

“Probably but still!” You weren’t sure that you would ever be able to control it to that extent at this point. Honestly, you were still perturbed that it had happened in the first place. Your body and arcana doing things without your permission, speaking in other voices? It was spooky and not in a fun Halloween sort of way. More of in a possessed-by-demons way.

“When we get to Japan, we’ll stop and pick something up to wear to the festival. Probably yukata? Going to look into the appropriate garb.” Kung Lao was apparently done talking about that now.

“You have no idea how much I long for new clothing.”

“Oh? But why?” Kung Lao looked you over while you walked. You were steadier as you went, less losing your footing and wobbling. His grip had relaxed on you, but he still kept his arm around you just in case. Probably. “You’re very cute in the hanfu.”

“Yeah, well your fancy Raiden’s Temple clothing is easier to function in. I need jeans, Kung Lao. Jeans and comfortable shirts! These are pretty but they’re a little too delicate for me. I certainly can’t fight in them. I’m not delicate. You know that.”

“I do. All too well.”

You shoved him playfully, but he didn’t let go of you. “You know what I mean.”

“I do. I get it. Still like the hanfu though.”

“Where did you get all yours, anyway?” You tugged on the jade ring on his belt. You loved what he wore. It was as though it had been personally tailored just for him. He smirked.

“You earn cool clothing with great power, Y/N. Someday you’ll earn your own too.”

“That’s a dumb answer.” You rolled your eyes at him. The trip to the infirmary was just about over and you were grateful for his conversation along the way. Your legs were tired of carrying your body around. Once inside, you waved at Chen who was across the room and surrounded by boxes. Chen smiled at you and held up a finger as if to tell you that she’d be with you in a moment.

You escaped Kung Lao’s arms and turned instead to face him. He folded his arms over his chest and smiled down at you. “Kind of feels like we’re in one of those movies we used to watch at your Grandma’s.” He sounded amused.

“Like Disciples of the 36thChamber?” You recalled one of your favorites. You had nearly destroyed the old VHS tape that your Grandma had recorded it on for you. You’d fast forward through the commercials, seated way too close to the television.

“Or Police Story.”

You smiled fondly in remembrance. Those were some of your happiest memories. You’d spent hours watching your Grandma’s tapes and then you’d go outside and pretend that you were skilled enough to be part of them. You’d held onto those memories tighter than most because he had died. It was still amazing to you that he was there and alive. You really should have talked about it but now wasn’t the time. When would it be though? “I’m not sure that what we’re about to do is going to be anything like those movies but I am pretty excited to remember what the rest of the planet looks like outside of this temple.”

“It’s a healthy reminder. Grounding. This place can be all consuming and a little overwhelming.” You were surprised to find that he understood the idea better than you had expected him to. Kung Lao was very much full of surprises. “Do you need me to stick around or are you okay down here on your own? I don’t love this place. Bad memories. Besides, I’ve got a dozen things to do before the day’s over and we’re on our way to Japan.”

“Oh? Is that so? You were pretty adamant that we leave immediately.” You teased.

“Does that mean you don’t want me to leave? Is that what you’re getting at?” He grinned, eyes sparkling in amusement. His whole face lit up when he smiled. It was remarkable.

“I didn’t say that. I’m just calling your bluff.”

“What bluff?”

“Boy, you can be frustrating.” You shoved his shoulder and he pretended to be pushed back and then smiled.

“Really though, can I go?”

“Go, Kung Lao. I’m fine here. Chen will help me if I need it.”

“Okay, okay.” He laughed and then walked backwards toward the doorway into the hall. “But if you need me then just send someone to find me.”

“Just go!” You laughed and as you turned away, you heard a crash behind you, as though Kung Lao had knocked something over while walking backwards. You did your best to resist looking backwards so that he could save face, but you laughed anyway. Then you took a seat against the far wall of the infirmary, waiting near where Chen was working. Moments later, Chen took the seat next to you with a smile. She looked tired but still happy to see you.

“I noticed that it wasn’t Liu Kang who brought you here today. And that Kung Lao was fully clothed.”

“…do you think that I’m strategically permanently disrobing them or something? I told you what happened this morning.” You furrowed your brow in sincere confusion at the accusation.

“One could hope. Perhaps I gave you too much credit.” Chen laughed and folded her hands neatly in her lap. You sat then in silence for a moment. “Are you here to gush more about Liu or…?”

“Or what? I’m actually here for medical reasons as I so frequently am? Since I have never once ever come to you just to gossip? Especially gossip about myself?”

“Or you could be here to talk about that dopey smile Kung Lao had on and the fact that he knocked over a whole stand of medical supplies on his way out. Or that he was in the infirmary willingly again. I can count the number of times he’s been here on one hand. At least before you got here. And those times were dragged in bloody and beaten.” You didn’t like the mental image of him bloody and beaten.

“You’re the most ridiculous gossip I have ever met.” You whispered in an accusatory tone.

“I know!” She shouted and you held your face in your hands and laughed. Chen had a way of making you smile more than anyone ever had. “Besides, you can do both those things while here. Gossip and the medical stuff. It’s called multitasking, Y/N.”

“I’m leaving for a few days on an errand. Wanted to check in before I go. Today was a lot too and I’m feeling particularly drained.”

Chen frowned.

You felt instantly slighted and turned your gaze to the floor. You were capable. Everyone worried about you, but you’d be fine. You knew this was scary and you kept repeating Raiden’s warning of death in your head, but you could do this. You would fight until your last breath.

“Why are you leaving?”

“Everyone looks at me like that, Chen. I’m fine.” That wasn’t true, you supposed. Kung Lao didn’t often look at you like that. Even as kids he hadn’t.

“Do you want me to list all the reasons that’s a lie? Because I could. I won’t and since you probably have to do this, I’ll send you with extra supplies just in case.” Chen shook her upset away and mustered optimism for your sake. You were grateful. “Are you going with Liu Kang? And more importantly, will you get to have any fun with Liu Kang? Or Kung Lao? I’m not picky at this point. Both very good looking.”

You ignored the gossipy remark and instead explained your vision that morning and very vaguely touched on where you had to go and what you had to do. You weren’t sure how much you should share so you were careful to leave out the most important details. To be honest, you had no idea what you expected to find in either place but it felt good to have a purpose that you knew you could achieve. You very briefly touched on the disturbing incident with Lord Raiden but avoided most of the messy details. You’d been dead unconscious through it, anyway. Chen’s face flickered back and forth between worry and trying to keep a smile up for you. You supposed you couldn’t blame Chen.

“Well, then I’ll make you a little kit to travel with.” Chen patted your shoulder and stood, setting about shoving supplies into a portable first aid kit nearby. She was filling it with the basics but also small bottles of pills and several syringes. She then set about writing instructions for how to use each of them. You were almost certain that you wouldn’t need any of it but were still grateful. “Just in case. Better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it.” She closed the small case and then handed it to you where you placed it in your lap. Then she took both of your hands and sat next to you.

“Thank you, Chen.”

“It’s no problem. This one though? This is a personal prescription given to you by your friend and doctor. Please. Please, I’m begging you. Get drunk. Make some stupid, immature mistakes with one or both of those men. Please? For me? I’m begging. Literally.”

“Ch… I… what?” You stuttered and felt your face burning again. You thought you’d gotten past that today. “Did you not hear the whole part about ancient sacred objects hidden away by a demon creature that I have to find? Or… were you not listening?”

“Oh, no, I heard you. But please… also do the other thing. You can do both. Really. I mean that in every way you can interpret it.” Chen let go of your hands and then tapped the medical kit. “Also, glance over the notes I wrote for you just in case you do need any of this stuff.”

“Oh my God, Chen.” You laughed, leaning your head back against the wall behind your chair. “…thank you for bringing some levity to all this.”

“Thank you for bringing me such delicious gossip all the time.”

You rolled your eyes but still smiled. You were grateful to have Chen looking out for your well-being both physically and mentally. It was so easy to get lost in the haze that was Liu Kang and Kung Lao but with Chen’s constant teasing and joking, it helped you from getting consumed by it. “Would you walk me back to my room by any chance? Not so great on my feet today.”

“Sure, but I’m going to tease you the entire time about Liu Kang being half naked in your room first thing this morning. Still not completely convinced that he was just being comforting unless that word had changed its meaning since I learned it. You kids these days and your slang.”

“Could you possibly keep your voice down?” You stood, slipping the medical kit under your arm.

“It’s fine, Y/N. Everyone in here knows already.”

“I-Chen! What?” You were stuttering again. They all knew? You looked around the room and several of the nearby monks nodded to confirm this was true. Your face was on fire again.

“You’re a fool if you think it’s not super obvious or something. In fact, we have a pool going on down here. One of us is going to be much wealthier after you’ve sorted things out.” Chen shrugged. “I am one of the only people voting for both.”

“You are all terrible monks. Every single one of you.” You said very loudly, and the other monks laughed. Some waved as you and Chen made your way out of the infirmary. Others wished you luck on your journey. One even whispered he was betting on Kung Lao. You suddenly felt very exposed. Were you really that obvious? Chen stayed close to you as you walked and steadied you as she needed to. After you were sure you could talk without dying of embarrassment, you couldn’t help but be curious. “…who’s winning this pool?”

“We all agreed that you’re not allowed to know. I’ll tell you much, much later down the road.”

You laughed, again grateful for Chen and how ridiculous she could be. You were exhausted but also excited for the journey ahead. The next morning you’d be meeting with Kung Lao and travel to Japan to a Buddhist shrine inside a caldera. It was enough to look forward to that it would keep you from dwelling on Chen’s teasing and what Raiden had barely touched upon that morning.

If you didn’t get rid of the shadow hanging over you then you weren’t going to live to see Mortal Kombat.

[asweetprologue]

Geraskier prompt: Cooking and sharing food

hey, sorry for the wait on this one! i’m trying to answer an ask or do a prompt every day in october but I also have school so we’ll see how it goes lmao

anyways I really thought this prompt was cute as shit so here we go!! more below the cut so this post doesn’t take up too much of ur dash 

On the feeding of wolves

One of the first things Geralt had learned when Jaskier came to stay at Kaer Morhen was that the bard could cook.

Jaskier had never come to stay at the keep before. Geralt had never asked. It always felt like overstepping, when he’d thought to bring it up. Jaskier had his own life, friends and coworkers and family that he needed to catch up with, prestigious court positions to fill, beautiful men and women to fall into bed with. He already followed Geralt around for the better part of the year, most of the time. To ask him to come and stay longer, to live in close quarters with Geralt and meet his family… It was too close to asking for what Geralt really wanted. 

That had changed recently, something exciting and tentative springing up between them. Geralt wasn't sure if Jaskier had only just developed a more-than-platonic interest in him, or if he’d realized Geralt felt the same, or if he’d just suddenly decided to throw caution to the wind. Whatever the case, Geralt was glad for it. Things had been better over the last few months than ever before, even if they’d yet to formally put a name to what they were doing. So Geralt had finally built up the courage to ask Jaskier if, maybe, he wanted to come north with him, and Jaskier had gleefully agreed.

Geralt had been worried about Jaskier getting along with the other wolves, fretting over it the entire way up the mountain pass to Kaer Morhen. It turned out he needn't have worried, however. Jaskier had a secret, full proof plan to seduce the witchers of the Wolf School, and it involved warm loaves of bread and a judicious amount of spices.

On the road Jaskier never cooked. Geralt had spent - he didn't even know. Hundreds of evenings, probably, roasting meat over an open fire or tossing it into a pot for stew, throwing in whatever vegetables and herbs he’d been able to scrounge up. Jaskier had complained plenty when it wasn't to his liking, but it didn't bother Geralt. He was a man of simple needs; a warm bowl of soup in the forest or a hunk of chicken in a tavern was enough to suit him. As long as it kept him going towards the next task. 

Jaskier, on the other hand, was a noble deep down and it showed in his tastes. He didn't mind the food they picked up in taverns along the road, but it was obvious that he preferred the fare they received at banquets and the occasional festival. He had a sweet tooth a mile wide and a sensitive palette for spices and ingredients. Geralt, with his heightened sense of smell, should have been better than Jaskier at picking them out by far, but the bard had a knack for it.

It turned out that “knack” was built on real skill. On the day of their arrival, Jaskier had strode into the main kitchen of the keep and said, “Oh finally, a real oven!” Geralt had written it off, only to wake the next morning to Jaskier making dozens of dainty hot cross buns. The fire was crackling away in the stove, and a pot of tea was already boiling away. Jaskier had turned to him with a brilliant smile on his face, flour in his hair, and said, “Those ones just came out! Help yourself. Where are those brothers of yours?” Geralt had stood for a moment, blinking in surprise, before he picked up one of the buns. It was delicious, hot and flaky with a subtle sweetness to it.

It had become a bit of a ritual since then, in the week that they’d been at the castle. Jaskier didn't always make breakfast, but he cooked at least one meal almost daily. He was good, too, his food packed with flavor and warmth that made Geralt feel lazy and content afterwards. Jaskier insisted that they all sit down to eat together, even old Vesemir, and the other wolves began to open up around the bard. Eskel was pleased to have someone else around who had his appreciation for more academic pursuits, and Lambert quickly found that Jaskier was an easy sell on any shenanigans that he wanted to pull. Even Vesemir seemed to enjoy his company, asking Jaskier after Geralt’s exploits on the Path - “He is woefully silent when it comes to his own victories, aren't you darling? Let me tell you about last spring, when he took down an entire nest of archspores near Toussaint -”

It was good. Great, even. Geralt had no idea where it was fucking coming from.

After the first week he finally cornered Jaskier in the kitchen, where the bard was working on dinner. Lambert and Eskel had felled a deer earlier that day, and Jaskier was planning to make some kind of stew with the tough meat. He was currently kneading a dark lump of bread dough, probably to go along with the meal and serve as breakfast the next morning. He looked up when Geralt walked in, his expression pleased. His chin lifted and he nodded to a hissing pot on the stovetop. “Oh, Geralt, glad you’re here. Will you be a dear and stir that for me? I’m afraid the onions might start to stick.”

Geralt did as he was bid, picking up the wooden spoon hanging nearby to shove at the onions in the pot. There must already have been some spices thrown in - garlic, some rosemary, thyme - because it smelled heavenly. “I didn't know that you knew how to cook,” he said after a moment.

Jaskier hummed, focused on his task. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to the elbow, and Geralt watched distractedly as his forearms tensed and released as he kneaded the dough. “Hmm, I suppose you wouldn't. I don't know much about roadside cooking, so I always left it in your decently capable hands. We’ve never settled anywhere long enough to make use of a kitchen.”

Geralt watched the bard, onions forgotten. “You never said. Where did you learn?”

Jaskier glanced over at him and the away, blushing. “Oh, here and there. When I was a boy my parents felt I was too loud to be in the presence of guests, so they usually sent me to the kitchens for the staff to watch over. No idle hands in there, let me tell you. They put me to work quickly enough, little tasks to keep me busy. I helped out more as I got older, until my parents deemed it inappropriate behavior for a viscount.” He smiled down at the dough beneath his fingers, shaping it into a round loaf. “I think that's where I found my love of music and making, if I'm being honest. There were always sounds in that room, people singing and laughing while they made food to feed the house. I like being a part of that.” He met Geralt’s eyes. “I like making people happy by making things.”

Geralt stepped closer, reaching up to lay a gentle hand on Jaskier’s neck. “You don't have to,” he said. “They’ll still like you even if you don't do things for them.” He took a breath, and then continued. “I’ll still care for you. Always. You don't have to be useful, Jaskier.”

Geralt heard the bard’s breath hitch, and then Jaskier leaned forward to press a soft kiss to his lips. When he pulled back he was smiling warmly. “I like doing it,” he said, “but thank you. It means… more than I can say.” Taking Geralt’s free hand in one of his flour coated palms, he said, “I care about you a great deal as well.”

Geralt opened his mouth, unsure of what he was about to say. Something embarrassing, like I want to wake up to your cooking every day or I used to dream about this sort of thing or maybe just I love you. Instead, he said, “I think the onions are burning.”

They were. The kitchen was filled with the rich smell of over caramelized onions, and Jaskier gasped as he pushed past Geralt to attempt to save them. He cursed up a storm as he pulled them from the heat, looking down into the pot with a pout. Geralt huffed a laugh, knowing that Jaskier would find a way to pull it all together regardless. There was flour on his palm in the shape of Jaskier’s hand, and something in his chest that he thought was there to stay. The kitchen was warm, and Jaskier’s hair had flour in it once again, and Geralt felt like he was finally, finally home. 

[ichorizaki]

candle light | k.s.

#PAIRING.  kita shinsuke x gn!reader #GENRE.  fluff #WORDCOUNT.  1.5k #SYNOPSIS.  you have an early christmas dinner with your boyfriend and some of his team members.

✎  author's note is at the bottom of the piece.

Having an early Christmas dinner with some of the members of Inarizaki’s volleyball club was as chaotic as you had expected it to be. The Miya twins were fighting over the remote control on the couch, bickering about which movie to play. Kita, Aran and yourself were busy in the kitchen heating up the food that everyone had brought along with them. Suna was egging on the twins, with Akagi and Ginjima laughing as they watched from the sidelines. Everyone on the team was so busy with their own families in preparation for the merry season so it was a surprise that there was a handful that turned up, anyway. Aran was the host that year like all the years before, seeing how his parents were busy even two weeks before Christmas. Now for him and the twins, it had become some sort of tradition among the three of them.

“Akagi, if I have to hear ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ one more time, I��m gonna lose it, I tell ya!” Atsumu yelled from the couch. You heard some more bickering between the four of them in the living room and you all but sighed heavily while checking the strength of the flame on the stove. They were an absolute handful, you knew that, but for some reason it just dawned upon you that their family members had to deal with that almost every day.

“I don’t care, I’m playing Mariah Carey,” Akagi drawled. The music got just a tad bit louder and you could only assume that he had increased the volume of the stereo in a childish attempt to spite the setter. Of course he would.

“Oi Tsumu, play The Nightmare Before Christmas, ya piece’a trash!” The grey-haired twin barked, battling once again for control over the remote. Atsumu was complaining about the alleged poor taste of movies, claiming that he’s always had the better taste in movies and therefore should be the rightful bearer of the remote for the time being. “I don’t care what you say, The Nightmare Before Christmas works for Christmas and Halloween, so suck it up!”

“What are they even fighting about?” A sigh left your lips, the question not directed to anybody in particular in the kitchen. Aran was mixing the tea while your boyfriend, Kita, stirred the soup broth that Suna had brought.

“Lord knows at this point.” While Kita’s words were but a mumble under his breath, you heard them clearly and it elicited a soft laugh from you. “Thanks for coming, by the way.” You turned to him, raising an eyebrow as you stirred the fried rice carefully to make sure that it’s heated up evenly for consumption.

“Kita, there’s no need to thank me. This is exactly what I need before I spend a week with my relatives.” Your eyes flit back to the pot, your grip on the handle tightening.

“You need a headache before dealing with another headache?” Aran appeared to your side and you elbowed him gently. Silence befell the three of you before erupting into calm laughter. It’s a lovely dynamic that the three of you have, being dubbed the parental figures since the three of you are the most reliable out of everyone else on the team. “It all smells great, I think we can start setting up the table now.”

“I don’t trust the twins with the glassware,” Kita sighed. The taller male was quick to react to that with a short laugh. “Maybe get Ginjima, he looks like he’s a heartbeat away from selling his soul to Satan.”

While Kita busied himself with summoning a helping hand to set up the table, you began scooping the soup into a shared serving bowl as Aran worked on delivering the main dishes to the table. Commotion and clamouring of excitement blurred with the cavalier brashness of the twins’ language as everyone began to take their seats. Only when you were done did you finally join everyone else, seated right in between Aran and Kita as always.

“Thank you for the food!” The sheer volume of the boys were enough to shake even the liquids on the table, a force of habit from their on-court shenanigans and cheers as a team. If just this handful was enough to make you sit back and take a breather, you couldn’t imagine the entirety of the team. Everyone began digging in with Kita and Aran being the ones to help with the servings while you helped with pouring the iced tea into everyone’s glasses.

“Y/N, do you want some beef?” Your boyfriend was quick to attend to you as soon as he was done with his teammates and you muttered a thank you to Aran who served you some of the fried rice. Turning with the intention to look at what Kita was referring to, you were met with his earthen eyes that just seemed to soften every time he looked at you. A smile graced your features upon finally registering that he was referring to the stir-fried beef that Akagi’s mom had made him bring along to the dinner party.

“Sure, Kita.” He was careful in the way that he gave you a spoonful of the side dish, making sure that you were happy with the amount by looking at you and gauging your reactions. “Thank you, my love.” While his smiles were rare, they never were with you. Moments as such elicited the gentlest of a smile to blossom on his face. He leans forward to give you a quick peck on the cheek.

Dinner went as swimmingly as it could with the twins’ constant bickering over who gets the remaining share of which food. Sometimes Suna would be the perpetrator and steal from Osamu’s plate from where he had strategically sat down to his left while his twin was on his right. Even after that and it was time to clean the dishes, Ginjima was the one who had volunteered his hand to help out so you, Kita and Aran could catch a break. He had dragged Osamu along with him as well as Akagi and Suna so that the twins could catch a break from each even if it was just for a mere fifteen minutes.

You were cuddled up to Kita on the couch, his arm slung over your shoulders and your own hands playing with his free hand on your laps. You weren’t exactly paying much attention to what was being shown on the television and you were sure that neither was your boyfriend for his piercing gaze was on you the entire time. His attention was far on something nearer to him and it was you. Turning your gaze and attention onto him, he was already looking back at you with that shy smile of his.

“Hey, you,” he chuckled. You rolled your eyes, the smile on your face growing bigger by the second and you pressed your lips to his. “And to what do I owe the pleasure?” He was chasing after your own lips for a second kiss but caught himself before he got lost in your everything. That was just the magic of you, always reeling him in with your beauty and that stunning smile of yours; everything about you was but a never-ending bliss that he felt privileged to be able to call you his.

“You’re just the best boyfriend in the world.” His smile only grew wider at your words that tasted sweeter than the honey his grandmother had harvested earlier that week back at the family farm.

“We should do this again sometime soon,” you suggested. He hummed in response, the calloused hand that was cradled by your own soft ones reaching up to brush the hair from your face.

“With the team?” He offered, and you playfully smacked his chest.

“Just us two, silly.” Kita’s gaze fell upon your face, wandering all over until he met your eyes once again.

“Sounds good to me. I’ll cook whatever you want.”

Thus with the promise of a dinner date sometime that week, you sidled up to him and got comfortable in your position on the couch. The ones who got dragged into cleaning the dishes were finally done and have hijacked the couch, jumping into the empty space and fighting for an optimal seat where they could see the television properly. Atsumu was unfortunately banished to the floor with Akagi, resorting to sitting on seat cushions while Aran decided on what movie to watch.

Even with the rowdiness of the volleyball players around you, you were completely at peace in your own little bubble at the far end of the couch with your boyfriend. In a way, he’s the only salvation left for you before you have to spend an entire week with your family, immediate relatives included. You wouldn’t have had it any other way. He may just be a candle light in your otherwise dull life, but he shone brighter than any star and sun in the universe and you couldn’t be more thankful to have such a wonderful man be yours.

꒰💌꒱ A LETTER FROM SOL!

HI TWIN @shxnosuke​ BAE BRO !!!! I’M YOUR SECRET SANTA !!!!!! bro do you have any idea how excited i was when i got your name bro ???? i was over the moon bro i love you so much bro. i hope i did kita justice for you bro, i love you bro. also thank you so much to my sweet baby nikki @lettrespromises​ for beta-ing it and reassuring me, i love you so much<3

[solarianvoidthearoace]

Excerpt#2 of my Gerry Keay/OC Magical/Mythical CollegeAU

Part 1

CN/TW: Relationship negotiations (narrative), mushy confessions, narrative mention of abusive past relationships, narrative mention of (aversion to) sex - two sentences after "Aside from being asexual"

Characters entering a long-distance relationship, anxiety, discussion of mental illness, reference to past trauma, character experiencing an affective breakdown, character being in a dissociative/shutdown state, self-depreciation and trying to shut people out, it/its pronouns for Michael Shelley, he/they pronouns for Gerry, they/them pronouns for OC

“These last weeks… I…”, he looked away. Gerry finally looked away. He closed their eyes with a pained little smile. His next words barely above a whisper. A quiet confession,

“I thought about kissing you.” When he could look at Yanis again, they returned his little smile. Both seeing that the other didn’t dare hope, still. Yanis pressed against Gerry’s hand on their face,

“None of that sounds romantic, to me.” Which made Gerry chuckle,

“I do hope so. I’m not in love with you.” Yanis nodded, turning to press a kiss to Gerry’s palm. They lay there in quiet, processing the moment and letting their feelings calm back down. That emotional turmoil subsiding.

When Gerry’s hand slid away, he raised a brow at Yanis. A bit helpless and his tone insecure,

“Where does that leave us?”

Yanis shrugged,

“Wherever we both want, I’d say.” Gerry nodded, looking away again, half hiding in the pillow,

“I just needed to let you know.” Yanis moved closer, their shoulders touching and them pressing together from the waist down. They raised a hand to Gerry’s hair, loosely carding their fingers through.

“Do you want a relationship? Give that a try even though it will be long-distance?”, their tone gentle, as quiet as they were talking. Gerry whined,

“I don’t know.” He turned back towards them,

“I just know you’re important to me and I want to be close to you.” Yanis nodded,

“I can’t stand the thought of our goodbye being forever either. I want to be close to you like this, I want to listen to your rambling and when you infodump about something I have little clue about. And I love how we can turn so many things into hourlong debates for the fun of it just to agree after all. I’m really happy with how much we can cuddle, can touch each other. And even with one or two of your stims straining my misophonia, being around you is grounding.” Gerry nodded, another pained smile twisting their face. Yanis cooed, then shushed him,

“Don’t you start crying now. I still need to know whether you want us to try getting committed.” Gerry chuckled at that, though it was rather watery and the first tear slipped. Yanis took a deep breath, letting their hand trail from Gerry’s hair to their cheek,

“Long-distance queerplatonic relationship, what do you say?” Gerry closed his eyes for a moment, humming and finally smiling.

“Can I please kiss you already?”

They did decide to label their being together as a committed relationship. There were still some negotiations and discussions to be had, around what they both wanted, their needs and boundaries. They did have the first of those discussions the very same day. Gerry elaborating on what they liked about Yanis dragging him around. Yanis reassuring him they will always make sure Gerry stays comfortable with that. On another matter, Gerry had known about Yanis not being interested in sex. That coming up wasn’t a surprise. Aside from being asexual, Yanis knew that they personally found penetrative sex rather underwhelming. They weren’t disinclined towards the general idea. But having had one too many ex-partner get upset with them for not meeting expectations… Yanis was ultimately rather averse to sex. Which, to Gerry, didn’t matter. And Yanis had to concede that, both of their mythical nature gearing them towards seduction and sexual indulgence, they both had a solid grip on how to deal with that on their own. Making out, mutual groping and feeling each other up was very much appreciated, though. And they both knew the other would stop if they asked to. They felt no need to bring sex into their relationship if they weren’t both enthusiastic to do so.

It worked well. They talked on the phone and through video calls every week, in addition to texting every day. And when Yanis’ semester abroad came around, Gerry was all too happy to welcome them into his London home. An apartment he shared with Michael. While it was a bit sceptic, parading the brother shtick of having to approve Gerry’s partner, Yanis grew friendly with him pretty quickly.

They shared Gerry’s bedroom for the entirety of Yanis’ semester in London. Leading to some late-night shenanigans, fumbling and groping implicit, between them. Aside from getting a taste for what it could be like to move in together when they both had graduated. And being together like that was generally nice. Solidifying their relationship as the right choice for them both.

After Yanis’ semester abroad, they were left with either of their semester breaks. And since that didn’t always line up, it was bound to happen that one of them still had lectures and courses wrapping up while the other was in their non-term already.

Because of that, they had decided Gerry would come visit Yanis. And that Yanis sending them the spare key to their flat was just most convenient. Having lived together, they had seen a few of the more ugly sides of each other. Both carrying trauma with them and sometimes buckling under the load of their respective mental illnesses. Especially Yanis hadn’t been able to hide their, sometimes attack-like, affective breakdowns even while Gerry and them had simply hung out. And while it obviously wasn’t pretty and did put their evening activities on hold, Gerry never once felt burdened by Yanis.

And during their stay in London, he had been unable to hide their own affective breakdowns, their own flashbacks and shutdowns. But Yanis had taken care of Gerry all the same, not even needing prompting to help Michael in calming Gerry down. Simply waiting for instructions how to go about that in the best way.

They simply had had to acknowledge that either their mental illnesses, with attacks and meltdowns, were just part of their relationship. That accommodating not only their own but their partner’s mental health and neurodiversity was part of the necessary groundwork for them.

And they never once had had a problem with that. With needing to reassure each other, with taking care of each other as well as giving one another space when needed.

Still, Gerry’s anxiety didn’t like that his train connection to Yanis’ university city was delayed. They had been looking forward to cooking together, having a stressless evening. But the European railway network being what it was, one delay piled up to two, to three. Until, when Gerry finally made it to Germany at all, they were a solid three hours late. On his train route that would have taken 8 hours in the first place.

And he couldn’t get a hold of Yanis.

Gerry knew they had had lectures that day but even then, Yanis should have been at home around 4 in the afternoon. It wasn’t that he needed to know what they were up to instead. But Yanis not answering to texts ever since Gerry arrived in Brussels… what had been almost 8 hours now… it worried Gerry.

Of course he was worried. And in turn suddenly glad to have a key to Yanis’ flat. He knew they both had expected him to arrive some time around 6 in the evening. When he finally did let themself into Yanis’ flat, it was almost 10 at night.

The flat was dark. The curtains being left open wasn’t unusual but Yanis, needing glasses, would usually put on lights when it got past 9 in the evening. Frowning, Gerry set down his bags by the door.

Shooting them another worried text message. With how quiet it was in the empty-appearing flat, he could hear the faint buzzing of Yanis’ phone.

As Gerry went looking for it, he found the device abandoned on Yanis’ bed. And being closer to the bathroom now, they heard laboured breathing.

When he poked their head into the bathroom, Gerry felt a cold shiver running through him. Yanis sat on the floor, curled up around themself. They were pressing themself into the corner between bathtub and tiled wall. And even in the dark Gerry could easily see them shaking and shivering. A sudden sob startled them both.

“Yanis?”, he pushed the door open, slowly coming closer. Getting onto their knees a good distance from Yanis still.

“<i>Kleines</i>, what’s the matter?” Yanis tensed, taking a shuddering breath before they slowly looked up. Seeing Gerry there with them, they whimpered. Struggling before they could speak,

“I’m sorry. I…” Before mortification cleared their face,

“How late is it?” Gerry shook his head, slowly coming closer,

“Doesn’t matter. Are you okay?” Yanis blinked, turning away. Sighing, Gerry reached out for their shoulder. When Yanis didn’t pull away from their touch, he moved close enough to wrap an arm around them. Neither spoke a word while Gerry slowly stroked their back. When he felt Yanis loosen up a little, he tried again,

“Do you need anything? Are you okay?” Yanis closed their eyes,

“I’m fine. And if you want to leave, I wouldn’t fault you.” Gerry almost sat back in surprise.

“I mean it”, Yanis’ voice gaining strength again,

“I would never hold it against you if you decide I’m not worth the trouble. Or you just can’t handle seeing me like this. I’m glad you care but I understand if I’m too much. You can leave me, I’ll manage.”

Gerry didn’t know what to say. The words bringing back that cold chill and feeling like a gut punch at the same time. Searching Yanis’ face, they retracted his hand.

Very slowly, he moved away. Only getting back to their feet when there was a good distance between them and Yanis.

Leaving the bathroom, he felt a stab of guilt. But Yanis remained quiet. Assuming the worst case, Yanis had had whatever breakdown or affective attack had left them shut-down like this a good 8 hours earlier. Gerry felt nauseous even considering that. And with how Yanis had left their phone in another room, they must have had a bad mental health day in the first place. Otherwise they would have messaged him, asking they help them through the breakdown via text.

Grabbing a bottle of water and a blanket off the couch, he went back to the bathroom. Yanis had shifted. No longer curled up where they sat. Instead their legs were stretched and their body turned towards the tub, head resting on the brink.

Like this, Gerry could take a proper look at them. Well, as good as the lack of lighting allowed for.

[bewaretheidesofmarchyall]

Soulmate Shenanigans Part Three: Return Of The Shenanigans

Let’s do this!

At this point, you probably know the drill (and, if not, parts one and two are here and here!)

Basically I found some prompts for September, and now I’m doing them in October just because

Prompt #3

You have an animal that only you and your soulmate can see.

Warnings: Death mentions, brief mentions of drowning (I pinky swear that I’ll stop drowning Janus for the rest of this challenge), brief mentions of house fires (I pinky swear that I’ll stop setting Patton on fire for the rest of this challenge)

World Building

Soulmates had always been an idea bubbling in the back of humanity’s brains. A sort of “hey, this romance thing is complicated, could we just kinda know?”

It was starting to annoy the fates

Do you expect them to do all the work? I mean, what with the spinning, and the looking ominous, and the lack of dental, their job is a hard one, and you want to make it harder by having them weave two people’s stories together?

One day, a fate heard yet another “please, let me meet my soulmate tomorrow” prayer and went nuts

Fine. Fine! You want soulmates? We’ll make soulmates.

The plan was to create two soulmates, make them fall in love

And then kill them.

Just to remind humans where they stood on a cosmic scale. Just to remind them that every story ends tragically, when you get down to the end.

They reviewed a few couples (Some Romeo and Juliet people had promise), but in the end decided. Feuding families? Check. Opposites attracting? Check. Tragedy? Inevitable.

Characters

Patton: Patton grew up inside the hedges.

Hedges were his family’s specialty, so the house was surrounded by them. He rarely got to leave, but he could get lost in the gardens and talk to his imaginary pet, so all in all things were okay. Sure, maybe it was weird to have a blue jay that only he could see, but he was lonely!

See, Patton’s family liked three things

1. Having heirs (but only in theory)

2. Increasingly elaborate hedge mazes

3. Fighting a blood feud the goddamn lawyers

Patton wasn’t really on that list, but he wasn’t on the list of hated things either, so there was that.

List of Hated Things

1. The goddamn lawyers

2. Anyone who associates with the goddamn lawyers

3. Anyone who is descended from the goddamn lawyers

4. Anyone who gets in the way of the blood feud with the goddamn lawyers

5. Dandelions. They’re not serious gardening.

Janus: Janus was, of course, a child of the goddamn lawyers

The lawyers weren’t a clan of blood like the gardeners, but one of merit. And having kids was seen as a conflict of interest, and therefore frowned upon.

Of course, it’s illegal to murder or criminally neglect children, so he was allowed to stick around and have a childhood vaguely reminiscent of John Mulaney’s “one black coffee”, “over on the bench”, and “getting accused of murdering Princess Diana” skits

Most of his childhood was spent accusing his pet blue jay (that couldn’t be seen by anyone else) of crimes and then debating himself about whether or not the bird was guilty, like a normal kid.

However, when it became clear that someone else was stealing his blue jay, he had to find them and give them a piece of his mind, even if they lived behind formidable hedges

The Plot

Patton (about eight at this point) was wandering around the grounds, talking to Sunny (his name for the bird), like every other day, when the strangest kid he’d ever seen in his life appeared through a small gap in the hedges and informed him that the bird was his and he’d be leaving soon

A bird custody battle ensues

Janus uses a lot of legal terminology, which Patton pretends to understand. The debate ends when Patton’s aunt shows up and threatens to chuck Janus over the garden walls if he doesn’t get out immediately.

Janus runs off, but Patton sees him through the hedges later, and he looks kind of sad about the whole thing, so Patton offers to share custody of Sunny. 

Janus perked up at this solution, despite claiming that the bird’s name was really Iago, and a friendship was born.

It was hard for them to chat when both their relatives would love to murder at least one of the kids if they could get away with it, and Patton was separated from him by the hedges, but they managed.

Sunny/Iago was decent at carrying messages, Janus was good at finding secret passages, and Patton had adequate aim when tossing packages over the hedges.

They were best friends for years and years, confidants in their crazy worlds.

At around sixteen, Janus convinced Patton to leave the grounds for an afternoon. The two of them saw the sights (which meant buying/stealing bread) (you can guess who actually bought the bread and who stole it) and had fun

The evening ended with the two of them sitting under a tree, chatting. The dandelions were in that in-between stage where some of them are flowers and some seed-heads, so Patton was able to weave a crown of flowers and make a wish at the same time.

Take a wild flying guess who he wished for (hint: they were currently wearing the flower crown and pretending to not like it, but would secretly never take it off. Ever.).

Patton claimed he’d wished for world peace (which, on further reflection, he felt bad for not thinking of first), and Janus claimed he’d wished for solid gold coins, but they were both lying.

Eventually, Patton had to go home.

Sunny-Iago: Sunny-Iago had gone by many names before. As one of the extra-dimensional lords of fate, they’d been called things like, “THE FUCK IS THAT”, “IT HAS SO MANY EYES”, and “Oh, fuck, that raven’s back again”. It made perfect sense for them to have at least two, despite being in the flesh prison of a blue jay this time.

A damn blue jay.

At least ravens have a little class.

Anyway, their job was to guide two sweethearts together and then drive them into a metaphorical (or literal? It could always be literal) brick wall. This was proving harder than expected, since the most important thing was to not get attached to either of them and well

Sunny-Iago had gotten attached to both of them. It was hard to see kids grow up and be fine killing them off, okay!

But they knew the drill. This had to end in some kind of tragedy. 

So, they had a plan. Instead of having them both killed off because of miscommunication, they’d merely never see each other again and pine after what could have been, eventually turning into a bittersweet story they’d tell to....someone younger and more naïve, or something. They were still working it out!

So, they grabbed a quill pen in their beak and wrote a note to Patton’s aunt (it took several tries. Beaks were not meant for holding quill pens). 

The note said something along the lines of “You know the goddamn lawyers? Of course you do. Your nephew fell for one, last chance to fix the situation is at 10:00 at the gate”.

Back To The Plot

Patton and Janus got back to the gardener grounds. Neither wanted to leave the other’s company, so they lingered at the gate, chatting and finding excuses to stay.

After a few minutes, it was obvious that Patton had to leave. Before doing so, he quickly kissed Janus on the cheek, just in time to get caught by his aunt, who came close to stabbing the both of them with a garden trowel.

When Janus came back a few days later, wilted dandelions still in his pocket, Patton was gone, sent far away from lawyers and love. All that was left was the bird. A stupid bird that no one else could see.

Time-lapse! Seven years later!

Janus was working on the most important legal case any lawyer had in a solid three years.

A gardener had murdered one of his relatives (he kept forgetting which one, which was a bit of a problem, since half of his job was to look tearful about them) with a wheelbarrow, and he was attempting to get them arrested for it. 

If it worked, the gardeners would have consequence for committing murder, which would hopefully tone down the blood feud a little.

Half of the jurors had been rigged by both sides, some paid to vote one way and some paid to vote another. There were, however, six undecided jurors out there.

The Jurors

Logan: Logan is the only person on the jury who knows anything whatsoever about law and what can be done in a courtroom. He actually wants the most just and logical thing to happen. 

Weirdo.

Roman: Roman is an actor in a touring production of Much Ado About A Midsummer’s Ham (Cooked As You Like It)

He just wants this trial process to be over so he can get back to rehearsal-wait, nevermind, the guy with the glasses is cute and he’s going to make this court case last as long as possible.

Remus: Remus is here to cause as much legal chaos as possible

He might get arrested for contempt of court.

Virgil: Virgil gives 0 fucks about anything that happens, but knows more about law than Logan, who knows more about law than anyone else in the court.

Remy: Remy heard from people that court cases are full of juicy drama.

Those people are wrong. It’s just a bunch of legal stuff. He’d rather be at Starbucks!

Emile: Emile is psychoanalyzing everyone else on the jurors section. Especially Remus.

Back To The Plot

The case progresses normally

Well, normally for this town anyway, which means that the goddamn lawyers are dying off fast (mostly of poison).

Janus, however, has managed to dodge every assassination attempt. He’s lawyering like Billy Flynn here!

Late in the afternoon, everyone’s a little tired and a lot bored when yet another witness is called. Janus was pulling his hat over his eyes for shade from the sunlight streaming into the court, when he heard the witness’s voice.

After a seven year disappearance, Patton stood in the courtroom.

Remy leaned forward. He saw the look on Janus’s face. At long last, drama had arrived.

After the court got out of session, Janus dashed down the steps of the building to catch up to Patton. He offers to get a coffee with him, but Patton turns him down, insinuating that he only offered to get information on the gardeners. Janus left, dejected.

Over the last seven years, Patton’s was in the far away land where his family started: New Jersey. While in this cursed place, his family attempted to change him from a dandelion to a venus flytrap, and nearly succeeded.

Nearly.

But when, the next day, his aunt poisons Janus’s water glass (gleefully explaining that this poison doesn’t show up on the standard tests and precautions), he just so happens to be clumsy enough to knock it over before Jan drinks it, and ends up volunteering to get coffee to make up for it.

Coffee meet-ups lead to coffee dates lead to rekindling of old romances (all under the utmost secrecy)

Eventually, the court case comes to a head. 

The six pre-decided jurors work quickly, but Logan debates, and Roman stalls because he’ll be missing Logan, and Remus is forcibly removed from the courthouse, and Emile forgot to take notes, and Virgil sleeps through most of it, and Remy couldn’t care less about this, only caring about what happens with Janus and Patton.

They make their decision

Since they saw like 47 murder attempts over the course of the trial, it’s not a stretch to assume that the gardeners did kill that guy with a wheelbarrow.

Janus and the rest of the prosecution celebrate, and in the excitement of the moment, he and Patton end up sharing a kiss.

That’s the moment the gardeners went from Lowkey Trying To Murder Him to Highkey Trying To Murder Him

Both of them walk home with their head in the clouds

When your head is in the clouds, it’s easy to get kidnapped and thrown in the harbor to drown, especially if you happen to be a goddamn lawyer who just won a case.

And when your head is in the clouds, and you overhear your relatives talking about how they threw the person you love the most into the harbor to drown, it’s easy to make rash decisions

Like grabbing a torch and running into the middle of a prized hedge maze, and threaten to burn it all if his aunt didn’t tell him where Janus was. 

When the answer was “dead, obviously”, Patton took the torch to the shrubbery, and the estate burned.

Problem: Janus crawled to shore and survived. 

Secondary problem: Patton’s not trying especially hard to escape the fire.

Janus got to the house, saw it was on fire, and ran into the grounds. He eventually found Patton (who was still alive and in the hedge maze), but....it’s a very intricate hedge maze, and now there’s smoke everywhere, and they can’t find their way out.

At the last second, Sunny-Iago swooped over their heads, pointing to the exit, and they run after them.

They’re almost out of the burning grounds when Sunny-Iago falls to the ground, still, and they find themselves in another place entirely.

The Fates

The Fates had bet on how good old birdie would kill Janus and Patton off

Knife? was the most common bet, followed by Wolves. No one bet on them living in the end.

Except Meghan (alternate name: The Lurking One), and nobody liked Meghan, and nobody liked losing money. 

So, they were going to do the job personally.

Back To The Plot

Janus and Patton find themselves in a tomb where every grave is theirs. A tomb where every grave is theirs is essentially the office space of the fates, who enjoy the atmosphere.

The Fates themselves take a multitude of forms: Animal, vegetable, mineral, eldritch, you name it.

And they all bicker amongst themselves about how to best kill off the couple.

Knife? Wolves? Triscuits? How??

Janus tricks them into debating the subject round and round in circles, but they eventually come to their senses.

As a last ditch hope, Patton says that they’ll pick the method of death for them if they give the couple a chance to plead for their lives.

The fates agree, and the Final Court Case begins.

Janus is quite a lawyer, but there’s literally a saying about how hard it is to argue with Fate, so its a nail biter of a case. Patton manages to give a passionate defense and Janus brings up evidence, but it’s still anyone’s game how the jurors will vote.

Steve votes for death

The Great Rot votes for not death

Spatula votes for not death

Karen votes for death

Meghan votes for not death

A Clump Of Petunias votes for death

Broken Taco Shells And Broken Hearts votes for not death

That One Relative At Family Reunions That You Pretend To Know But Don’t votes for death

Microwavable Lasagna votes for not death

The Ghost Of Richard III votes for death

That Sock That Always Disappears From Dryers chooses not to vote. What a jerk.

At this point, it’s tied 5-5. Enter Remy, who just wants to go to the extra-dimensional Starbucks.

He deliberates. He hems. He haws. He draws out the moment unnecessarily long for drama’s sake.

But, at the end of the day, he was always rooting for these humans.

Remy votes for not death.

Conclusion

Patton and Janus get to live. Time is very short for humans, and eventually they would both die, but right then and there, they got to live.

Dandelions eventually took root where the carefully trimmed hedges had once been.

And Roman noticed, after his performance was done, that a certain nerd was in the audience.

And he could also see Roman’s blue jay.

Hope you enjoyed!!

[slashingdisneypasta]

Could you do some cute baking shenanigans for Laughing Jack?

Sure thing! 

To be honest, I have no idea what this mess is but its quite interesting? Haha

~~~

After a day of sitting in my new bedroom, in my new house, ignoring the world and generally having a wonderful time, I decide to finally emerge from my cave of comfort and happiness at nearly 6 in the afternoon to re-greet L.J, who’s been watching TV in the living room all day. Creeping up on him, I giggle when the palms of my hands land on his feathered shoulders -so soft! - and he jumps under my touch from surprise.

“L.Jayyyyyy,”

“So, the monster surfaces.” He whispers, then turns his head, fluffy hair brushing across my cheek as he does, and plants a kiss to my cheek. When he pulls back, he halts short, and quickly asks- “Ah, Y/N, do we live in a school district now?”

“What is this ‘we’? You paid for nothing in this house?”

“Yeah, but I eat all your food and watch all your TV; Therefore, I live here.”

I’m not entirely sure that does, in fact, eat all my food. Sure, I see him eat all the sweet things but I have never seen his lips touch any of the veggies or meats that periodically go missing. I have a theory that he’s keeping Offender fed, wherever he’s hiding out this time- the man hasn’t been seen since he showed up at the mansion 2 months ago in a drug fuelled haze, but L.J always has an update on him.

Besides, I can’t cook anyway and tend to end up ordering takeout, so its probably better this way. It would all go to waste. “Mm.” I tilt my head earnestly, letting go of him and instead resting my forearms on the back of the couch by him. “So, you’re a freeloader.”

He just bares his teeth in mirthless smile. “So, school district?” I sigh, deflating.

“No, course not.” I take his chin between my fingers and jostle his head sternly from one side to the other. “I wouldn’t stick you right in the middle of kiddy-town. Ever.”

“Damn it. Well, what do you wanna do for the rest of your day?” L.J deflates as well, slouching in his seat and looking forward again with a slight pout at not having been served victims on a silver platter with apples in their mouths. The corner of my mouth twitches up a few times, awkwardly, before I get off the back of the couch and head for the kitchen.

“I have an idea!”

He meets me in the kitchen, long stripy arms held tightly behind his bony back in curiosity. “Ooh, what is it?”

“Baking!” I rummage through the pantry for a moment, before coming out with my arms full of baking things - baking powder, flour, b-carb soda, food colouring, vanilla essence, and various cake mixes, -  struggling to get them to the bench before anything fell and made a huge, flowery mess as L.J just watches, not even thing about lift a claw in assistance as his eyes follow me. When I finally drop everything down onto the counter, a little pack of jelly crystals flops to the floor and I pop down to my knees to pick it up. When I get back on my feet, I’m surprised to see L.J excitedly sifting through all the things.

Smirking at a couple different bottles in between his claws, L.J asks. “Say, don’t you need milk and butter and stuff to bake?”

“I’m getting to that, you exasperation!”

He just laughs.

___TIME SKIP: Minutes Later___

“Okay, so, the recipe says- ah!” A gasp rips from my throat when suddenly the Betty Crocker’s box mix is slapped up towards the ceiling and firmly out my hands without so much as a warning. “What??”

“No recipes!” L.J, not wearing an apron or a hat or having even so much as put his hair up, but has rolled up his sleeves to reveal -old,- bandaged arms, rests his fists on his hips and looks at the ingredients he set up all in a row from biggest to smallest like he’s Columbus and they are the America’s he just pulled his ship up by.

“No recipes?!”

He turns on me. “Do you wanna hear it in Spanish??”

Sighing, I look back at the now daunting task. “No… “

“Good.” Connecting his claws so they’re spread over his knuckles, twisting his wrists so his knuckles face him, L.J pushes them forward to stretch out his arms. “Lets go!”

As he starts picking ingredients out at random like Drop Dead Fred making a Vodka and Pants Pie, I pout to my fallen compatriot- the box mix packet which has fallen on the floor in a corner.

“Recipe… “

“What was that?!”

“Nothing!”

I may have made a huge mistake asking L.J to bake with me.

___TIME SKIP: “  “ ___

Oh merciful God, I know we’ve had a tremulous relationship as of late, with me being with L.J and everything, out of wedlock to boot, but please, oh God, do not let him destroy my new home!! I’m still paying off debts!!

Biting my thumb nail and hugging my stomach, I nervously watch L.J sift in what I know in my heart to be too much self-raising flower but am telling myself could be just the right amount, flashing him a smile around my nail when he glances excitedly at me for encouragement.

“There! Bee-you-tee-full! Now, the flavour. Hm.” Fists on hips and chest puffed out, he looks thoughtful; Truly, a child at heart. And… at… claw point- every Tuesday. “Flavour, flavour, flavour, flaaaa-vore. Hm. Flavour, flaver- Flavour! Ah!” In a flash of black and white, as while L.J was sifting random white powers into the big mixing bowl his sleeves had slipped back down, he grabs some random jars from a random shelf and starts shaking random… orange… dusts into the mixture.

“Uh, L.J, what’re those?”

“Flavour! Something to spice it up!”

“Yeah, I got that, but what kinda flav-“ I pick up a jar once he’s done with it, and see that he’s literally pulled from the spice shelf and sigh. Why am I not surprised? “Cayenne Pepper.”

L.J winks, leaning to the side to bump his elbow into my shoulder. “Secret ingredient.”

Ah… obviously.

Despite my nerves, which I’ve learnt to just go with in L.J’s presence, I flash him a toothless smile back.

___TIME SKIP: “  “ ___

After he shoo’s me towards the bowl so I can crack the eggs and pour in the milk, -‘adult jobs’, he says as he goes and opens a bottle of vodka, sniffing it and taking too-large mouthfuls, - I blow a raspberry at him.

And after I’m finished with that, we get the electric mixer going and each take turns serenely letting drops of randomly coloured food die into the bowl, leaning on the bench together and leaning over the thing like it’s a damn pot vaporiser.

Drop.

“L.J, are you happy? You know, killing children and all that.”

Drop.  

“Yeah, I think so. Are you happy in your lawyering job?”

Drop.

“Law Practise, L.J. And yes.”

Drop.

“Ah, okay then.”

Drop.

Drop.

Drop.

“… L.J, are you harbouring Offender in the basement?”

“… L.J?”

He turns around abruptly, and cups my face; Claws resting along my cheeks and rubbing - or scraping gently in his case, - across, leaving wet blue food die on my skin. He tilts his head and smiles softly. “I love you.”

“… Okay so I’ll take that as a yes.”

Drop.

The mixture turns into a yucky brown mess, because it was whipped for too long, but feel like we aired out a lot of mess between so- Worth it.

Then we pop it in the oven and go back to watch more TV.

Rango is on.

___TIME SKIP: The Cake… or whatever… is now baked___

One Rango is over, and L.J and I have counted every background character for no reason, I finally smell the smoke through my sniffles -from standing over the spicey cake mix,- and remember the cake.

Gasping, I turn to L.J with wide eyes. A millisecond later, I kick off the couch and rush to the kitchen yelling to L.J about the cake.

“The wot?” Has he honestly become that invested in Rango to forget about his masterpiece??

Panicking, I rush to put on an oven mitt and make sure to open the oven door with my uncovered hand before waiving the grey smoke out of my face and standing up straight again to get away from the asthma inducing mess after I do so. I cough. “Oh jesus.”

“Oh! The CAKE!” L.J yells from the livingroom and pops up beside me, his teleportation only adding purple smoke and yellow sparks to the nasty grey smoke cloud wafting from the oven. He promptly takes a step back and waives his own hand- but doesn’t cough. Does he have lungs? “Oh, baby girl, what have you done?”

“I hope you were referring to the cake, there, L.J.” He is not blaming me for this mess-

“Oh- I was!”

“Right.” After setting him with a threatening squinty look, looking back only for a second because I don’t think my stare was quite withering enough, I look back to the oven and turn all the knobs down. Then I step back, open the fridge and retrieve the orange juice, and then finally go out to the backyard- something we probably should have done at five today instead of this baking disaster.

I open windows as I go.

“Well, come on L.J! It’ll take a while for that to cool down, we’re outside till then.”

“Ooooh, outside!”  

[moodysnowflake]

Let’s rant about - Fugou Keiji

This is the most disorganized post I could possibly write. Nice. Spoiler alert guys, if you’re not caught up to episode 5 of Fugou Keiji Balance: Unlimited.

I did warn you.

When I recognized the armored limo, I thought ‘It makes sort of sense, ‘cause since he’s not driving the Cadillac, and he’s traveling with the President, he’s automatically in a life-threatening situation as well.’ We can all argue that his car might not be armored, but come on… I bet my tonsil (they are extremely useful organs if you have still functioning ones)that the Cadillac has to; you just don’t stroll around in a vehicle equipped with military level stuff in it and don’t have it disaster-proofed. And speaking about military…we might finally have some clue, or it is better to say a clearer lead, on the Kambe family business: security and/or military related. He provided the president with freakin HMMWV - High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, a.k.a. Humvee - vehicles and other special protection equipment. That might explain why there doesn’t seem to be a damn bottom in his wallet, nor limits his power can’t overcome. Well, until now, but I’m gonna rant about it later. It makes sense, ‘cause this area is way more lucrative than any other. Stark Industries and the Yard division of Wayne Enterprises showed us as much, right? I scrunched up my face when Daisuke said “I’m simply here as proxy for my grandmother.” I connected the dot ‘Oh, so that’s why he was looking so cold/pensive (laughing fit because my stupid brain made the connection between pensive and Purple Hyacinth [if you don’t know this webcomic, please check it out on Webtoon, it’s a good story]) with the news at the beginning of the episode. Granny Kambe was sick or something, so she might have persuaded him into going.’ I still don’t get why Haru didn’t know, but I’m sure Daisuke had his reasons… I also thought that Daisuke is not the only one available, right? What about best girl Suzue? Daisuke is not exactly a people person, but what do we know, maybe she was going to go and Daisuke got in the way to not have her have to deal with nasty issues.

What I was definitely not see coming was Daisuke’s “No. There will not be a day where I succeed as head of the family.”

My plot bunny had a seizure right then and there. Daisuke? Sir? I replayed it again and again, and I was struck by a new idea every time I did, and his cold-blooded tone, robotic aseptic expression didn’t help in the least. He’s impassive while he speaks, he’s emotionless. And that’s terrifying. It’s a horrible display, at least for me, because episode 4 showed us he cares, he’s capable of feeling emotions, and pretty strong ones too.

I need to focus on this because I think it’s important; everybody saw episode 4 as it was the most randomic, epic fujo-bait episode ever. Welp, sorry for disrupting the rose-tinted dream, but no. I mean, yes it was, but it wasn’t as well. I’ll try to elaborate, because I think that episode shouldn’t be discarded as just another episode. I think Fugou Keiji is very similar to Id:Invaded in this respect: nothing is thrown there by chance, nothing happens without a purpose, everything has a meaning. This is an one core show, with 11 episodes scheduled, which a pretty odd number, and if the story is meant to end in 11 episode (which I think it is), that means you can’t fuck around with filler episodes. [If you haven’t seen Id:Invaded, you should give it a chance. It’s rated R-17, so please proceed with caution. I mean it; it’s not just a very physically violent show. There are shades of ‘Dead Dove: Do Not Eat’ level shit in there.]

The progression might feel a bit fast to an old school, at least 2 core, 25+ episodes trained anime watcher like me, but as long as it’s organic, that’s totally fine. Episode 1 introduced our MC, said us ‘look, there’s this angry fluff boi, which is called Katou Haru, ad there’s this dripping ice-cold asshole boi called Kambe Daisuke: Shenanigans ensures.’ From episode 2, evolution started, as it should have. We needed to reach the end of the episode to see it, but we got it; when Haru roughs Daisuke up, we expected for him to have no reaction, and many may think that’s what happened, but I think that’s not the case. I think Daisuke was seriously ruminating about Haru’s overreaction, and his look was a deep thinking one. He’s not an impassive robot anymore. Episode 3 cemented it, showing us am astounding variety of emotions effectively coming out: he’s annoyed (glare shoot while Haru’s running him mouth, blabbering about being a good senpai), angry (Haru snitching him, then having to formally thank and ask for guidance), tired (sighing at Haru, stuck  dangling by the pole), salty (”Are you working hard, Inspector Katou?” [Can we blame him? Haru snitched him out, then the next day he had to hear from Kamei that he needed backup. I still think that he might have been waiting for him outside the station from the beginning, and just got confirmation from Kamei. Which made him, obviously, even saltier.], “This is precisely the moment I would like some coaching.”). Also, incredibly trusting and perceptive; he’s watching Haru like a hawk, giving him access to HEUSC (which he didn’t have to, but he thought he had to give him a chance), helping getting into the Shinkansen (he gave his mask to Haru, either because he knew the smoke used was not really harmful, or because he trained to hold his breath long enough to get himself out of its range), giving him his gun and - last but not least - getting himself between Haru and a gun. Granted, all of his suits have to be bulletproof - you cannot make me think otherwise -, but if you get shot, it still hurts as fuck, and you can get bruised, or even slightly crack a rib if the shot is close enough. So yeah, it wouldn’t have been pleasant. What’s the purpose of episode 4 then, except for fangirls to drool over it? Hands out, I’m not insulting the category, I’m gonna speak about it later, so put that on hold and don’t chew me for the time being. Like everybody perceived, episode 4 served other various purposes. Like the metaphors of dog: Daisuke is kind of a 27-years old puppy, because he can’t survive in the outside world without help. He can use rocket grapples, breach police communications, erase data from the internet, use a torch to melt a windshield, fire a rocket launched and Karma only knows what else, but he can’t do groceries to save his life, nor cut a potato without almost chopping his fingers off [insert Cloud’s pouting “I’m doing my best…” icon here]. He’s snarky, but soft (to Haru, the kids (ep3 and ep4 ones), and Suzue). He’s spoiled, but open-minded (he appreciate convenience store ramen, he values Haru’s cooking over pre-packed food). He’s cautious, but yields if he feels (reasonably) reassured (You think the kid is good? Fine by me, I’m gonna help. You think he’s not gonna shoot? Fair enough, I believe you. You need HEUSC to snoop up something to prove he’s okay? Just ask it. You think I don’t need a band-aid and lick the cut? Bit weird, but okay.). Like a dog, he can behead you with a bite, but if he trusts you, you can belly rub him to death. Episode 3 was Daisuke’s “I’ve got your back.” as well as episode 4 was Haru’s “I’ve got yours too.” This is what episode 4 is too: it’s Haru having Daisuke’s back. It’s Haru having patience and understanding, after Daisuke giving him his absolute trust and resources. Unlimited. They started sensing each other out from episode 1. With not really good results at the beginning, but it’s an understandable situation. Think from each other’s perspective: Haru’s a experienced police officer, who has Daisuke crashing into his life with very unorthodox methods and no chills, throwing money around without a second thought, pretentious and disrespectful. It’s almost physiological for him to try to deck him down at first glance. From Daisuke’s point of view, he might not know better, he’s socially awkward, civilian life interaction none existent. But most of all, we don’t know why he chose MCPD, nor how was he trained. Heck we have come clues, but not guarantees until we hear it from his mouth.

Yeah, I’m talking about you, Nakamura Chosuke, from that weird-ass look you gave each other in episode 2 coming out of the interrogation rooms, from the fact that in the OP you’re standing still while the rest of the team is moving forward and only Daisuke is going the opposite way towards you, from the fact that you might know way more than we may be comfortable with. You and Daisuke know each other, or at least know what’s up, and we’re gonna find out. Preferably soon, without having one of you dying. Please.

Daisuke needs to test the waters, to see who can be trusted and who can’t; it is very likely that he’s a pretty serious issue, something which he need someone to trust his life with. That, and also that his ‘training’ might have made him ‘somewhat selfish’, sometimes too cold, too unresponsive for his own good. But watch my words, he might be like this sometimes, because reasons, but he’s always on his toes, and he’s always listening. He listened to Haru while he ranted at him in episode 2, he listened to Haru while he asked him for help in episode 3, he listened to Haru while he herded him around in episode 4. Episode 4 served to provide Daisuke an alternative. It was not just about a tantrum. Story-wise, it gives Daisuke a space in which he feels safe, a zone his Kambe life can’t break into, as long as he doesn’t want it to reach him. Or at least, this is what he perceives.

Like someone said, when he’s saying that he’s not gonna inherit the Kambe Group, he’s talking with an indifferent, apathetic look. Mechanical, stolid, like when he talks with Kikuko. It’s the exact same face. Precisely. He doesn’t feel, he doesn’t react, if not prodded. Either because: 1. He really doesn’t want: he’s not a violent person, he doesn’t enjoy hurting others. He could just pay his way out of a murder, if he wanted to. He never acts to kill or harm. It makes sense that he wouldn’t want to be the heir of such a vicious empire. At least from what we know until now… 2. He’s been prevented or not supposed to: he might want to do it, but it might not be possible, because he might not be the designed one (OP’s women?), or be who we think he is. Maybe he really is ‘Shiro’s brother’, a replacement for someone else.

In both cases, it makes sense that he’s not granted access to weaponry/military information. It would also make sense to keep them from him in order to kill him. This leads into episode 5. He might have been trapped in Kikuko’s place, and grandma Kambe might not have anything to do with it, but at this moment everything could be possible. That being said, HEUSC confirmed Daisuke - and revealed us - that he’s disposable, a spare paw that can be disposed of at any given time, without concern nor regrets; he very well might have known this all along. He looks (really) slightly troubled to have to prod HEUSC for information about the bomb, because the AI butler is actually not interacting that much. And…Daisuke is like…going to die in the next 4 minutes? And Suzue is not coming? And that SHOULD be a problem, right? Daisuke dying SHOULD be in the ‘NO GOOD’ list in HEUSC programming. HEUSC SHOULD be trying its hardest to help him. Right? Daisuke is of course maintaining his collected cool, but surely the other two doofuses yapping around aren’t helping him. Put it with HEUSC not being helpful, it’s understandable for him to snap at it, asking for blueprints and directions. Because he was expecting them from the very beginning… When HEUSC answers come, he’s not shocked. We saw him alarmed, that’s not how his scared face looks like. He just seems disappointed, a hopeless realization, borderline frustrated, like he’s thinking “Is it? This is really the truth, they’re letting me die here”. Then he morphs into some sort of cold resolution, like “Bitch no, I’m not gonna kick the bucket without trying.” When I heard we were dealing with VX gas I said ‘Welp, someone really wants to be sure you dead, Mr. President.’

As some of you might be wondering, what is Daisuke doing? Why is he flooding the bathroom? Why is he drowning his jacket? The bomb is a gas one, and VX, also known as sarin gas, is one the deadliest chemical ever created. Basically what it does is shutting down your neurotransmissions, which means no impulse flowing, which stops every brain function and muscle in your body. Heart and diaphramm included, so no blood circulating and no oxigen.Not good. 10mg can kill a man. So, what they said in the episode is not fantasy, guys. That’s really bad juju. If it gets onto your skin (but for the love of Karma, I hope you’ll never have to experience it), you have to get it off as fast as you can washing and with a binding powder. In the meantime, you have two(three actually) guys to keep working: heart and lungs. As long as they run, there’s hope. Therefore, inject atropin every 10-15 minutes until resolution (to keep your heart galloping as fast as it can), pralidoxime (to actively compete with the substrate the gas attacks and help your diaphram and lungs not to stop) and diazepam (for the rest of your muscles not to tear themselves apart because of the other two compounds trying to save your life but not doing a really great job at keeping everything else in check). If you inhale that shit without atropin within arm’s reach, you have less than 2/3 minutes.

That’s why Daisuke unceremoniously tackles Haru out of the way.

So, why the jacket? Simply enough, soaking it, he creates a sort of barrier, or to be more specific, a medium (water) in which the gas is going to be trapped into before being released into the air. In the first seconds,the molecules produced by the canisters will be dissolved into the water, effectively trapping the gas withing the fabric of the jacket, as long as the water saturates. After that, if the gas continues to go, there would be a point were there’s gonna be too much of it in the water, and some of it will start to escape into the air. It takes time, depending on the pressure applied and the amount of water that the fabric can hold. That’s why Daisuke is keeping the jacket under the sink until the very last moment; the more water clinging, the better chances to survive. Even if, like the guard said, it’s not gonna work for long. I’m still not really sure why he’s going for the punch tho. He loosens the bow and the shirt to likely be able to pull it over his face just in case, since he is the one IN FRONT of the fucking bomb. The only option I can think of is that he’s trying to break the pump (and possibly bend a tube); VX is liquid at room temperature, so as long as you don’t inflate the canister and vaporize it into the air, you’re not in immediate danger. He’s hoping so hard for this to work, because he doesn’t want to die, as opposed of what he might have been thinking up until now. Because now, contrarily to what he said us in the very first line of episode 1, the boredom is gone. Now he has something to fight for (a truth he’s looking for) and someone to care of.

Yes, he might have not-so-gently wacked Haru away, but he was also pretty sure not be able to see the Sun again. He lost his composure and almost yelled at Haru for help. We can see that Haru doesn’t argue further, he immediately gets that something’s dangerous is going on, because if it makes Daisuke worry, that’s definitely not good. How can we be sure it’s gonna work? As they were being lead into the room, the guard explained that that was a NBC proof room: Nuclear Biological Chemical proof room. Which means it can withstand a nuclear blast, radiations, biological agents (viruses, bacteria, molds, other nasty living beings, organically poisonous compounds) and chemical agents (inorganic gases, hazardous solutions like strong acids or bases, explosives, corrosives etc…) because it’s airtight and has its own air and water independent reservoirs and systems. NOTHING can get in. Which also means that NOTHING can get out. Therefore, even if the gas is released, it’s contained.

For all the previously said things, that’s the reason Daisuke looks sad, discouraged and tired when he’s standing outside the embassy, with his hands in his pocket, his shoulder almost sagging down, the circle under his eyes darker than they have ever been. Because yes, you might not have noticed it but he always had those, except from ONE time, specifically one morning. I’ll let you guess which one… Then he snaps out of it hearing Suzue’s voice, probably not to worry her. Yes, I think that Suzue might be a watchdog, to make sure Daisuke fulfill his role and gets him out of trouble when he can’t, help him when he needs, but I think that as soon as he will be marked as not useful anymore, she might meet the same fate. She grew attached, she cares. Best girl might not even know it, and if she knows, she’s definitely doing her best to help him as much as she can. We all love you so much Suzue. Please don’t die. Please please please.

Episode 5 is the catalyst. Now Daisuke can’t trust anything anymore. He might not have done it in the first place, but now everything got shattered. If HEUSC has not authorized him, it means the AI butler is also monitoring the access. Which means Daisuke is gonna be under surveillance (or at least, stricter than it already was).

If episode 4 didn’t happen, Daisuke will be dead, or almost drowning in desperation, because he would have no one to turn to, no safe place to go to. We know this is not the case. We know Haru can help. Daisuke might not be a fan of this, and it might take a bit for him to put himself back together and explain, but we know it’s gonna happen. We know Haru is gonna listen, and he’s very much gonna want to help him. Now Daisuke knows it too, because he experienced it. We also know that Daisuke listens to Haur’s words, so I’m sure he remembers even Haru’s druk rambling about being a hero and a civil servant, and he’s gonna pull that out at some point. He might get something mixed up, since he was a bit fazed, but not enough not to flinch at Haru’s questioning… even if he wormed into the bathtub to sleep XD Best of all, he’s not even fazed by it. He just open his eyes and wakes up. Also, he sits by the table SLOUCHING. Kambe Daisuke. Slouching. In the morning. I love him so much. Haru taking care of him all the freaking way, feeding him and teaching him the ways of the peasant’s world. I love him just as much. Daisuke listens and processes; when Haru says him that, even if there’s almost no chance to find Shiro, he says that he’s gonna try regardless. Daisuke responds with “I see.”. Which means ‘You’ll keep trying, so I should do that as well.’ This is Japan guys. Read the air. There’s as much stuff unsaid that said.

A question is Kikuko then: is she best grandma or are we dealing with another Aizen situation (I made you strong so I could have a decent challenge)?

Nakamura Chosuke, Sir, you need to start singing soon…

Now, I have a very strong fear: in the OP, there’s the same scene repeating itself: at the beginning with Haru, Daisuke and Shizue in a room, then Haru is not there anymore. I’m still recovering from Banana Fish, and I watched it while it was airing…

Last thing, before I forget. About fangirls. You might have guessed, by the amount of word vomit I garbled over, that I am one as well. Everybody can react to the story as they want. I squeaked like a hamster too when I saw Daisuke wearing the ‘boyfriend outfit’, when he winced when he cut himself and licked his cut, when he waited for Haru to start eating before doing it himself, when he praised him for the cooking, when he understood why he replaced Shiro, when he lent him the money to return home, when he smiled to Hattori and Suzue, and when he used Haru’s natto recipes. I’m here for the ride as much as you are. I’m here for the fluff we’re obviously not gonna get. I’m here for a whipped Daisuke, wrapped around Haru’s finger, screaming in pain because of the loss, pleading to save the detective and take him instead. I’m here for the fall from grace, I’m here for him realizing he’s been living a beautiful nightmare, that justice is more than meets the eyes, that there’s so much more that he can be. I’m here for him realizing all of this with Haru being taken away, triggerim him into madness.

The wind exists even if you can’t see it.

[leggomylino]

I saw someone else do one of these about a week ago, and it’s been on my mind to do one as well. It’s a very sweet gesture and I want to let all my mutuals know that not only do I see them and care about them, but I also really appreciate y’all as well! So without further ado, here’s my shoutout to each and every one of you! ->

@lovesickmark​ -> I’m pretty sure you’re like, the first person I really connected with on here? If not THE first then definitely one of the first. I know you’ve been going through a lot and I respect that; I’m cheering for you from the sidelines tho, just remember that! It’s been wonderful having you around so I hope you’re doing well and that you keep moving forward. <3

@jisungx2​ -> JOSIIIIIIIE >A< My INFP sister. I’m sure things have been kind of annoying and rough for you too, what with the holidays here and having to work Black Friday and most the rest of the season (holy cow I salute you and I’m really glad you didn’t die. Ily man.) It makes me so happy when you leave cute asks in my box like “hope you have a great day!” or “[enter cute chain mail here]”. You’re just very cute 😞😞 and I really wish you all the best this holiday season! I hope you’re taking care of yourself and remembering to take breaks when you need it. Remember the storage room excuse. Ily bro man.

@iiasha​ -> We haven’t been talking for very long but like, omgosh I love talking to you oops. 😂😅 Idk sis, I guess because most of my mutuals are a bit younger than me it’s nice to have someone who’s the same age I can relate to? And also someone to guide me through the confusing but quite entertaining world of the Seventeen fandom 💍 (I’m on my laptop and I couldn’t find the giant diamond emoji don’t @ me). ALSO! YOUR WRITING!! IS SO GOOD!!! Ugh I STILL gotta get to that Jimin alt. ending ��😓 But I’ve been very invested in working and my language studies as of late while procrastinating on my other works rip. ANYWAY! I APPRECIATE YOU!! LET’S TALK MORE!!! YEEHAW!!!!

@joully​ -> You and I are still going to take over the kpop industry with our band, right? Shoot, what was the name of it again?? 😂😂 I don’t remember RIP...anyway, we don’t talk hardly as much but, I still see a lot of your posts and think about you! You’re really talented and I’m totally jelly of your piano skills 🥺🥺 Like dang I wish I could play half as good sis. Also, I’d really like to visit Germany one day! My dad’s best friend lives there, they met while he was travelling Europe in the army. He said we may go there one day and if we do, or if I just have to make my own adventure, I’d love to meet at a coffee shop and say hello. <3 Please continue taking care of yourself and come talk to me sometime! If you don’t, I will!! Lol 💕

@minniewoos​ -> 😎😎 <- SEE I REMEMBERED ❤️ I really hope your anatomy final went well! I bet it did <3 And if you haven’t taken it yet, you’re going to do great, I know! ^^ We haven’t talked for long but, I enjoy talking to you a lot. It’s always nice and appreciated to have another stay to bond with and just chat about how dumb boys can be but wow they sure are cute while doing it. Sigh. Anywho, I’m looking forward to talking with you more, and if you ever get a chance, I’m excited about getting to maybe study Korean together!  천천히 해 💓

@kpoptrashx2​ -> Luisa!!! We don’t really speak as often either 🤔 But I really appreciate that you’re always there to help me with my writing and give me pointers when I need it. Thank you so much for that! It’s truly very helpful because as a writer I have no idea how something is going to sound to others who have no idea what’s going on inside my head. ^^” Not only that but it’s a joy getting to chat with you as well. 💓 I hope you’re doing well and that we’ll get to catch up soon!

@hanniesunshine​ -> Omgosh sis I cannot wait for your story to come out! You know the one I’m talking about so I won’t accidentally spoil anything lol. But anyway! I hope you’re well and that you’re doing alright. We haven’t talked for very long but I had so much fun talking about your story with you, and I’m looking forward to chatting about even more stuff! 🥰

@bopping-to-my-kpop​ -> Sis you betta talk to me more or imma come after you 😤😤 Don’t test me I’ll dang sure hold another court case if I have to! And it’ll be totally rigged because I’ll be in charge of everything! The judge? It’s me. The jury? Also me~ Any outside opinions? I have influence in all of them! 💞 ...Nevertheless, I really hope that you’re well, and please know that you can come to me for anything :c Even if it’s just to take your mind off of something negative and you need a laugh. I’ll see what ridiculous shenanigans I can cook up for you, okay? You’re never a burden, I love helping people (esp. people I care about!) so please stop by anytime!! #westanemmainthishouse 🥀

@xxsanshinexx​ -> I haven’t talked to you in forever but I really hope you’re doing well! I haven’t seen many posts from you recently :(( Idk if you’re just busy or if I’m blind, but if you ever get a chance I’d love to catch up! Whatever you got going on please keep doing your best and remember to take your time as well. <3

@spuds-potato​ -> 🌟🌟🌟 B)) What’s poppin little sis? I hope you’re doing well as well, and I’m still waiting for my story 😤😤 Remember if Celi dies she’s dragging her bf down with her okay?! Okay. Some Romeo and Juliet action going on 😂😂 Aaaaaaanywho, I’ll have to pop in soon on Insta and you can tell me about your day! Remember boys are dumb and drink plenty of water~ 💗💗

@chanscoffee​ -> I know you’re super busy but I totally miss talking to you 😭😭 and I hope you’re well. I rarely use Snap but I need to hop on there sometime and maybe we can chat! Or on Insta. Idk we’ll see. Whatever you have going on just know I’m still supporting you and I’m here if ever you need someone. 💖

@daydream-jwoo​ -> Okay I’m telling you now imma be texting you soon! Seriously sis how have you been?! We have so much to catch up on! 😩😩 The holidays have managed to be both crazy and slow at the same time some how? Like time has been completely nonexistent and a total paradox lately. 🗿🗿 It’s wild. Anyway imma keep this one short bc it’s been so long and I’ll text you soon!! 💝💝

@thevampywarlock​ -> Give me a minute.........okay. *deep breath* AAAAH I THINK YOU’RE REALLY CUTE!?!?! ...Aaaaaanyway uwu” The stories you write are so cute and just, small wholesome things that you manage to extend and expand upon? Does that make sense? I really admire that. It’s like subtle but I definitely see it and eventually I’m going to come around to going on a reblogging spree \o7o/ But until then I hope you’ll consider stopping by and talking with me more? You’re a wonderful author and I think you have a kind heart. ^^ <3

@jisungsjheekies​ -> Oh sis. We gotta chat more too! Your stories are also very cute and well written and idk why but, I feel very compelled to support both you and @backhugsforhyunjin​ and whole squad. It’s very strange and I don’t mean to alarm anyone 😂😅 I just...can’t really explain it other than I feel like y’all are good people and I’d love to get to know you better. Anyway I’ll cut this short to avoid making anything unnecessarily weird, but, I’d really love to talk with you more! And I def support and appreciate you!!

@backhugsforhyunjin​ -> Sis you too, we def gotta chat more 😤 If you ever need anyone to talk to, I understand we aren’t close at all but I’m available to listen or give advice if you need it? 😅 Also, you’re a wonderful author as well. I really wish the best for you and hope to hear from you more in the future. If anything, please remember to take your time and know that there are people cheering for you! You got this, whatever it may be!!

@gaiyofanfiction​ -> Asdfghjkl now that we’re buds ofc I had to make you a part of this too 🤪🥳 I think we could use a team name, what do you think about #TurkeyDragons?  Bc the NCT float?? 😂😂 I like it honestly...but if you hate it lmk lmao. I hope we get to talk more soon and I’m really looking forward to an update of Twisted Karnival! One of the greatest fanfics I’ve ever read on here 😞✊ Of course with the Holiday season here updating isn’t super important, y’all pls take care of yourselves first and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season! (p.s. if anyone else is reading I wish this for y’all as well!) ❤️🎄

~~~

. . . That was a lot. If I’ve forgotten anyone I sincerely apologize and I love and appreciate you as well! Please don’t be mad at me 😩😩 At the end of the day I really do love and appreciate all my followers and mutuals, y’all are all fantastic and I’m always rooting and cheering for you like the Mom in every Pokemon rpg ;-;-;-; Keep going and become the Pokemon Champion okay? And I mean really go kick Gary’s ass, because he’s an ass and needs his ass whooped after all the crap he puts you through in Red/Green. I can’t wait for a reboot to come up on Switch so I can kick his butt all over again 😤🤭🥴 Anyway x9,000, thanks for coming to my Appreciation Ted Talks and I sincerely hope you all have a wonderful day and rest of 2019, as well as a happy New Year and an amazing 2020! ...Dear son of a biscuit it’s gonna be 2020. Wow. Letting that sink in. Where’s the rewind button? Actually I’m not sure if I wanna go back maybe it’s best if we bury this year for the most part and start over 👀💧

OKAY THAT BEING SAID EVERYONE GO OUT AND TAKE DOWN GARY!!! ILY ALL WOO 화이팅!! LET’S GET THIS 2020 BREAD after a cup of eggnog and some holiday celebrations uwu Peace out and again I love y’all! 💝

[downinthedevildom]

Ahh, if matchups are still open, I'd love to know mine! I'm a trans man who really likes science (foresnics), math, and art (though my art is currently buried under Obey me! Memes). I like reading a lot, and favourite genres are sci-fi and horror. I also like cooking, gardening, and knitting. I used to be on a Badminton team, and I'm an Aries! Also, my younger sibling is like 80% of my impulse control, jqksoksod. I'm also horrible with directions of any sort, constantly lost.

You sound like my kind of person, lovely! Science ALL the way 😤 (though struggle street is a REAL thing when it comes to math, I envy your love for it! 😭) That being said, I match you wiithhh;

Lucifer!

Your vast range of hobbies and interests are sure to get his attention. He’ll often find you everywhere and anywhere around the House of Lamentation studying, cooking, gardening, knitting, maybe even challenging his brothers to badminton too; you know they’d want to challenge you after finding that out - you’ve really got it all! 

At first, he’d remain on the outskirts, observing your stay and enjoying the subtle changes and fun you can bring to those around you. Family is very important to him. So when he finds you sitting shoulder to shoulder over a book with Satan or getting into debates and discussions with Leviathan on the best genres; maybe even cooking up a meal with Beel and Belphie or having Asmo chatter away to you while admiring your knitting skills, it’s not going to take too long before Lucifer finds himself joining in on these things too. 

Though your impulsiveness might be disarming and, at times, more work than the demon is cut out for, he finds himself becoming more endeared than disgruntled by your next best thing. He likes your unpredictability, it’s already common in his house and adding you to the fray really brings a life to the halls that he never considered possible until you were there. 

You can be sure that he finds himself becoming more attuned to your whereabouts and thoughts; he’ll always be there to help you out of a mess if you need it or even fondly sigh before berating and teasing you over a silly decision. Nevertheless, you have his support, even if he may not realise or accept it at first! This support most definitely extends to your internal compass. 

Getting lost has never been so interesting with Lucifer somehow knowing through instinct alone that you are somewhere where you shouldn’t be. Expect texts throughout the day checking up on you or even ridiculous texts like “If you find yourself thinking of something, think to yourself; “What would Mammon do?” If it’s something he would do, don’t.” 

You’ll even find yourself with the odd call as he insists on the reason simply being that he wanted to make sure you were actually making it home, to work and to your classes safely. Although… your company is quite nice, perhaps we could talk some more? 

He enjoys hearing about your day and your opinions on new art and forensic discoveries. He finds himself looking forward to your phone calls, giving his own opinions and sharing his own discoveries over the years, sharing what it was like to watch humanity learn and evolve their understandings; he’s quite knowledgeable once you get him talking, and he certainly finds himself doing so quite freely around you. 

On particularly bad days when you find yourself completely out of sorts with nowhere to go (and definitely spelling trouble!), Lucifer will personally come down to find you and accompany you himself. 

The first few times this happens he’ll probably claim it necessity, but when he wakes you up early to join him, alone, for breakfast and then finds himself the last to leave? You find yourself with a new routine, one where the avatar of pride keeps you at his side. 

Honourable mention : Mammon

Probably an interesting choice you might think but I can see this boy being consistently amazed by you every day. Like Lucifer, he finds your charm in the things you have passion for; you can bet he’s itching to ask you a million questions while you’re gardening or knitting, having no idea the effort that goes into these things at first until he hears it from you, or is royally flustered when he tries to do it himself. He’s absolutely the first to challenge you to a ridiculous match of badminton which ends up more of a show when he manages to ignite that sibling rivalry and turn it into an open battlefield. He brings a lot of silly fun and excitement to your life where, in turn, you provide a bit of an even balance... sometimes. You know the two of you are going to end up in all sorts of shenanigans, the words ‘impulse control’ are not apart of your vocabulary, you have no idea where you are, Leviathan is chasing you and you’re running for your lives; how did you end up in this situation again? Who knows, but Mammon is there and you’re definitely both laughing with exhilaration and a little bit of fear; you thrive in each other’s company!  

[until-theend-oftheline]

Best Things In Life Are Not Planned

Pairing: Stucky x Reader

Warnings: None really  

Square Filled: Feelings Accidentally Revealed for @marvelfluffbingo and Falling In Love for @star-spangled-bingo

Word Count: 1700ish

A/N: This is a  written for @samsgoddess as part of my 1 year anniversary + 2 k follower celebration. This one also got away for me (clearly I got absolutely zero control over any of my characters) and the direction it took I suddenly realized it was fitting for my prompt I’m sorry. I know I messed up for @fangirlfiction challenge

Betaed By: thank you to my Ana Banana for betaing this one for me. I owe you one @percywinchester27

***My fics are not to be saved nor posted on any other sites without my express written permission.***

You had known Bucky and Steve for a long time. You ran the food services for the entire Avengers Tower, which meant you almost lived in the building. They actually did, so, you had been bound to run into them. What you hadn’t expected was that you would actually run into them.

Steve at first as you had been heading out from one Tony’s many conference rooms after dropping off dinner for what had turned out to be the entire team of Avengers. You were a little bit flustered and had certainly not expected Captain America to be just on the other side of the door. You had tumbled over, apologizing as you quickly got up. Or had tried to get up. You didn’t get more than halfway before your head knocked into Bucky’s as he bent down to try and help you up.

It had been an embarrassing first meet and you had stormed off without introducing yourself or even talking to the two apologetic handsome super soldiers. Actually, you had been about ready to hand in your resignation, which Tony would never have accepted, but you could always have tried when Steve and Bucky had shown up in your kitchen.

After the first few awkward apologies, the conversation started flowing freely and easily and the two men became regular guests in your kitchen. Bucky sometimes helped out and other times the two of them just sat together watching you work.

It quickly became evident to you that the two of them were an item. More than that, they were soul mates. You had never believed in that nonsense but seeing their love and knowing their story slowly changed your mind. What you hadn’t expected was how strongly you came to feel for the two men yourself.

You hated yourself for it. You never wanted to come between something as unique as what they shared. Not that you even for a second thought that you could either. But it was also more than that. Your feelings weren’t towards one of the men. They were towards both of them. You were falling in love with both of them. Not just because they were the two single most handsome men you had ever met, but also for the gentleness and softness about them. In many ways, Steve came off as the more confident one, but Bucky was more free with his touch. He was quieter though, especially with other people around, whereas Steve talked openly.

You saw the scars they both bore in their minds and you ached for all they had been through, but more than that you admired them. You admired them for still being kind-hearted and loving men when the world has done its darndest to twist them into something they weren’t. Bucky especially, but Steve as well in many ways.

What you certainly hadn’t been prepared for, was how open mouthed you had been yourself when you had consumed a few beers celebrating a job well done after one of Tony’s extravagant celebrations. The two boys had fled to your kitchen as soon as your staff had gone home for the night and you had been drinking alone with them. Laughing and dancing around the room much to their amusement.

You weren’t sure how it happened, but in your buzz and while being completely caught up in the moment of being spun between the two gorgeous men dancing with you in your empty kitchen, a confession of love had fallen from your lips. You instantly slapped your hands over your mouth staring at the two men for a few seconds. They had looked like two deers caught in the headlight of a car and you had fled. Completely ignoring their calls of your name as you sped out of the kitchen, into the street and jumping into the nearest taxi with tears falling silently down your cheeks all the way home. You had been so sure you had ruined the best friendships you had ever had that night. You were so embarrassed and filled with grief the next morning, you had called in sick. The last thing you had expected was for the two super soldiers to be knocking at your door that afternoon; pleading with you to let them in and hear them out.

You were sniffling, standing in the middle of the floor with a blanket tightly wrapped around your body, listening to Steve talk to you through the door.

“Sweetheart. We know you’re in there. Please. We just want to talk to you,” Steve coached, but the tears didn’t stop from flowing down your cheeks. You had never been so scared in your life. You had no idea why you were scared either. You didn’t fear them. You never had and you never would.

“They must hate me,” you muttered to yourself, as you tried to gain the courage to open the door.

“We don’t hate you, doll,” Bucky’s voice sounded through the door, making you jump. Off course they had heard you. Stupid super soldier hearing you thought to yourself this time not wanting them to have another reason to be angry with you.

You took a deep breath to compose yourself before you opened the door, but the moment you saw them standing there the dam broke again. You started sobbing, hiding your face in your hands and Bucky instantly stepped forward, wrapping his arms around you in a tight embrace. You heard the door close behind them and felt Steve’s warm hand begin to draw soothing patterns against your back as you cried against Bucky’s chest.

“I’m sorry. I know I messed up,” you sobbed as Bucky gently rocked you in his arms. You didn’t see the look he shared with Steve. If you had, you probably wouldn’t have understood either. They shared a silent language that comes from decades of friendship and love.

“You didn’t mess up Y/N/N,” Steve spoke as he kept his hand on your back, moving a little closer to you both. “You just did what we have been trying to do for weeks.”

“What?” you sniffled, pulling back, looking up at the two men with a look of utter confusion on your face.

Bucky smiled softly, pushing your hair back from your face as Steve continued to speak nervously.

“We… Erhm Bucky and I… What I’m trying to say… I mean,” he fumbled over his words until Bucky finally had it and his fist landed against Steve’s arm.

“OW,” Steve complained, glaring at Bucky and making you laugh at their shenanigans. You knew the only thing Bucky had hurt with that punch was his pride. Which wasn’t altogether that bad either since they both managed to smile widely as you giggled.

“What Casanova here is trying to say, is that we are in love with you too, doll,” Bucky explained and you instantly stopped laughing. You starred from one man to the other in utter disbelief as your brain tried to catch up with what you had just heard.

“What?” you blinked, looking from Bucky to Steve and back again.

“We have fallen in love with you too, sweetheart,” Steve repeated, gently taking your hand and turning you to face him. “We have been trying to tell you for a few weeks, but this thing isn’t exactly conventional and we didn’t want to lose your friendship. If that’s all you want we’ll understand. It’s a big decision I know…”

“You love me? As in love me?” you interrupted, staring at Steve who nodded and a big smile grew across your face. You felt so happy you felt like, laughing and crying, screaming and dancing all at the same time.

“Why is nobody kissing me then?” you teased with a huge grin on your lips, that broke into a full body laugh with the flustered expression on Steve’s suddenly very red face. A laugh that was quickly cut off by Bucky’s lips on yours as he dipped you and kissed you breathless only stepping back to let Steve, who had now composed himself take his place.

That’s how you found yourself here. Walking down the empty streets of your quiet neighborhood. Or as quiet as anything could be in New York. You found yourself walking between them, with each of their hands in yours. You were practically skipping, you were so happy.

The three of you had been on a few dates. One to a Farmer’s Market that ended in a Picnic. One at their apartment in the Tower after Bucky had cooked for the three of you, insisting you did enough of that every day. Tonight you had been to see a movie, boxing Bucky between you as he still felt slightly uneasy in the dark crowded room.

You were taking things slow. There had been lots of touching and kissing, but none of you had tried to take it beyond that. You weren’t in a rush to take things further. You wanted this to last and not ruin things by going to fast. You, however, also weren’t ready for the night to end when the two men led you to your door.

“Come up with me?” you turned around to face them and you saw Bucky give Steve a questioning look.

“Sweetheart I don’t know if…” Steve began before you interrupted him.

“Not to do anything. I just want to fall asleep cuddling with the two of you,” you reached out again taking each of their hands back into yours. “I want to wake up with you.”

Steve smiled at you softly before looking over at Bucky giving him a small nod and a smile spread across his face.

“We can definitely do that doll,” he promised, as they both leaned in to kiss each of your cheeks, making you giggle. This certainly was the beginning of something special. It might not be either conventional or something you had planned, but maybe it was true that the best things in lives are not planned.

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Stucky (x Reader) Tag Team

@feelmyroarrrr @princess-evans-addict @littlebittcrazy @sleepretreat @thejourneyneverendsx @scarlettsoldier @captainsamwlsn @hellaqueerangelofthelord @danijimenezv @cd1242 @mizzzpink @becs-bunker @blacktithe7 @ifyougetkilled-walk-it-off @grace-for-sale @scarletlingeries @avengerscompound @mizzezm @barnesrogersvstheworld @readitandweepfics @averyrogers83 @sorenmarie87 @docharleythegeekqueen @esbellrke @slowlywithfreedom  @the-wayward-robot @myfanficlibrarium

[animeniacss]

What I Want - BadBoy! Taehyung x Reader - Chapter 17 - Spring Day

Synopsis:  You are an innocent, excitable new girl, moving all the way to Korea due to your dad’s new job. As you anxiously learn about the new world around you and how you’ll make your mark, you stumble into none other than bad boy Kim Taehyung and his band of six crazy friends. He seems to be bothered but you, something he doesn’t even understand. Will you be able to tolerate the shenanigans of Taehyung and his rowdy friends, or will you fall victim to his charms just like everyone else?

Featuring Jihyo and Dahyun (TWICE) as your friends, and BTS members as Taehyung’s group of friends.

Genre: Romance, BadBoy!V, BadBoy!BTS, High School Romance, Drama

Length: approx. 4.1k words

Chapter 17 - Spring Day 

It took most of the next day to handle the situation with Ji Seok. They were tempted to get the kid in cuffs and bring him in once they looked everything over. They even looked up the complaint from you about the concussion in December, and did some investigating at Ji Seok’s school, with his friends, family, and yes, and even Hyuna. It looked like Ji Seok was going to finally go away for something, face the consequences of his actions. That is until Daddy was done waiting. He gave the cops the day to do their job, but when it looked like Ji Seok was in hot water, he pulled the Sergeant and working Detectives into a meeting. It was only a matter of minutes before the Sergeant as well as Detectives Dong-Wook and Da Min sat in the Sergeant’s office with Ji Seok, who looked annoyed as his father sat beside him and watched the video Jungkook sent involving the fight with Taehyung. The Sergeant paused it and the man took a deep breath, hitting Ji Seok over the head.

           “Ow!” He frowned.

           “Shut up, Ji Seok.” He said. “Now, Sergeant, what do you suggest? I really don’t want to have to involve my lawyers in this, but I will if I must.”

           “Well, Mr. Na, based on what the video shows, your son initiated the fight with Mr. Kim, who only responded after the second punch was flung. My Detectives spoke with both parties and that is why Mr. Kim was released.” Mr. Na looked at his son, who was staring out the window in annoyance.

           “Look. The way I see it is two teenagers getting out of their hormonal rage. Luckily, both got out with a few bumps and bruises and nothing more serious.” Mr. Na leaned forward. “I assume we can just leave it at that? I’m sure that…Taehyung kid and his parents would prefer it that way too?” The Sergeant took a deep breath, nodding. “My son needed to be knocked around a bit, maybe it’ll keep his head on straight for once.”

           “I can agree, this time. But, I assure you, if your son ends up in my station again, I don’t intend to make it just…go away.” The Sergeant said. “I know it’s happened before in other stations, but not in mine.” Mr. Na chuckled, reaching a hand out to the Sergeant as the duo gave a firm shake. Mr. Na also reached out to Dong-Wook and Da Min, shaking their hands as well with a smile on his face.

           “I can assure you that this won’t be happening anymore.” He said. Ji Seok snickered.

           “Whatever.” He mumbled, only to get another smack upside the head by his father.  

           “Apologize, Ji Seok.” He said sternly. Ji Seok rolled his eyes, nodding his head slightly as he murmured a half-assed apology. “Thank you, officers.” He grabbed his son by the shoulder and practically dragged him out of the room. Both detectives saw Ji Seok turn around and look at them, flipping them off as the doors closed behind him.

               “What a prick.” The Sergeant huffed.

               “At least his Dad seems to understand the consequences, unlike him. God, I wish we could’ve just put him away.” Da Min said. “That other kid looked like hell when he arrived.”

           “Trust me, he’ll be back.” The Sergeant said, sending both Detectives out of his office and back to work.

-----

As the weeks went on, March turns into April, Taehyung recovered from his injuries. But now he had a new, and to him, much bigger problem to face. It had been one month since you told him that you loved him, and he has tried countless times to say those same words to you. But every time he did, he would clam up and say something else instead. Over time, you kind of figured out what he was trying to do, and it meant a lot to you that he was trying. But still, you hadn’t said it to him since the first time, thinking that if you did so, it would make him even more anxious about it.

           Since the upcoming week was going to be filled with nice weather, you decided that it would be fun to invite all of your friends over for a nice little BBQ. You knew how much spending time with friends meant to Taehyung, so you thought it would be a good idea for everyone. Getting permission from your parents, you got all of the necessary ingredients at the grocery store, and made sure to get enough to feed a whole bunch of people. It was exciting, the idea of having all of your friends over for a fun afternoon together on a nice day. Saturday seemed like the best bet, most people were free then, and the four oldest boys were readily prepared for their entrance exams in the next few weeks. So, you called every person up and invited them over on Saturday.

           Everyone kept their schedules open, if they even had anything planned, and your house was packed with teenagers starting Saturday at noon. You had woken up early to prepare different finger foods, snacks, and a whole bunch of BBQ that your father offered to help prepare. Your mother made giant pitchers of lemonade and put out water for easy access. It was nice. Everyone was in the backyard, your brother running and playing a Nerf gun shooting game with Jungkook, Taehyung, and Namjoon. Jin had offered to lend your father a hand with the cooking, and you were sitting on the porch with Jihyo, and Dahyun, sipping lemonade as you watched the gaggle of boys make fools of themselves. Yoongi was acting as a referee for the Nerf gun war, making sure all shots were fair and keeping points. It seemed he was ruling in favor of your brother and Jungkook.

           “That’s not fair, Hyung!” Taehyung said, lowering his gun. “That totally hit him!”

           “Nah,” Yoongi said. “Missed.”

           “What kind of a referee are you!” Namjoon shouted. Jimin and Hoseok were cracking up at the argument that was breaking out.

           “The best kind!” Your brother shouted. “Yoongi-Hyung has good eyesight!”

           “Oh, can it!” Taehyung grinned, shooting a plush bullet at your brother. Jungkook quickly scooped him up and moved him away. “THAT’S CHEATING! AUGH!” He fell to his knees as Jungkook as your brother joined in with the loud laughter.

           “No, it’s not, we’re on the same team! You guys just suck.” Jungkook said. Taehyung and Namjoon lowered their guns.

           “My turn!” Jimin shouted as he and Hoseok ran towards the guns and lifted them up. You watched Namjoon sit beside Yoongi, who snickered at his playful frown.

           “You definitely played favorite, you can’t fool me.” He said to Yoongi. Taehyung approached you and the girls, leaning on the porch as you handed him your lemonade. He took a sip of it and handed it back to you.

           “You’re sweating.” You said, pointing to the bandana on his forehead that looked like it was getting soaked in sweat. “Hot hard did you play? It’s just a Nerf gunfight.”

           “Tch, tch. You don’t just play a Nerf gunfight. You do it to kill your enemy.” Taehyung teased. You smiled at him and Jihyo poked the side of his head.

           “Please don’t kill the ten-year-old, okay?” she asked, and you and Dahyun smiled. As Taehyung continued to playfully pester you three, and the boys were continuing their Nerf gun fight, Jin looked up.

           “Guys, the food is done!” He called out, both him and your father bringing the plates of BBQ to the table and setting it down.

           “SWEET!” Jungkook and your brother shouted, dropping their guns as everyone gathered at the table. Your mother set up enough plates and everyone took a seat. You went to seat yourself between Jihyo and Taehyung. Taehyung quickly stood up, pulling out your chair for you. You smiled.

           “Aww, thanks.” You said, sitting down as he pushed you in.

           “Will you push my chair in too, Hyung~?” Jungkook teased playfully as he went to take his seat across from Taehyung, and Hoseok and Yoongi began to laugh. Taehyung sat down, quickly extending his foot and kicking the seat back, making Jungkook fall back and grab hold of the chair for support. That only made the table laugh harder, and Taehyung smirked.    

           “So brutal.” Namjoon sighed. You watched your brother poke his head in to see what was on the table, and Jin turned to him.

           “Mom said I have to eat inside because sis has her friends over.” He pouted. Jin simply scooted his chair over and motioned to the extra stool that was put out for extra seating.

           “Come join us. You’re not bothering anyone.” He said, and your brother beamed, taking a seat between Jin and Namjoon. All of you said a quick thank you for the food, and then began picking at the different plates. There was a spread of different meats, sides, rice, drinks, and anything else a bunch of hungry teenagers could dream of. You all began to pick and eat, chatting amongst yourselves. You didn’t participate too much in the conversations, but you did eavesdrop. As you put a mouthful of meat into your mouth, you saw Jihyo and Dahyun talking with Yoongi about the taste of the meat, Jungkook and Hoseok were still laughing about Jungkook falling off the chair, Jimin was talking across the table to Taehyung about the Nerf gun fight, wanting to go against each other after they ate, and Jin and Namjoon were talking to your brother, trying to learn more about him. He was eager to please, telling them about school and his friends, as well as all of the new video games he got. You saw your mother come poke her head out, looking for your brother.

           “Come back inside, leave your sister with her friends.” She said. Your bother whined, but Jin waved a hand.

           “It’s okay, ma’am. He’s not bothering us.” He assured. Your mother smiled a bit.

           “Okay, but be respectful, okay?” She said. Your brother agreed, his mouth full of rice as the boys chuckled a bit. Your mother retreated inside. Your father was watching over you all, making more food so that way he could supply it right as what was already served had been devoured. As he watched the food cook, he made sure he angled himself to see out the kitchen window at the group of kids at the table. More specifically, you and Taehyung. He saw you both talking, mostly Taehyung. He also saw you lift up a mouthful of rice, before turning to Taehyung and offering it to him as your hand waited underneath. He hesitated, blushing as a few of his friends teased him, but in the end, he leaned forward and accepted the bite of food. It made you smile.

           “My turn.” You said, grinning. Taehyung laughed a bit, reaching over a bit to take some chicken in between his chopsticks. He brought it up to your lips and you opened your mouth, grinning as you quickly covered your mouth to catch the bit of sauce that dripped out. Both of you began to laugh. Your father couldn’t help but smile a bit, turning back as he plated some more food. You reached over to get some more water for yourself when you realized the pitcher was empty. “I’ll be right back. I need to refill this.”

           “I’ll do it,” Taehyung said, taking the pitcher from you as he stood up.

           “You sure?”

           “Yeah.” He said. “Gotta walk off what I ate so that I can make room for more, you know?” He smiled as he headed into the house, closing the screen door behind him. As he walked into the kitchen, he saw your father plating the food that he was about to serve. They looked at each other for a moment, and Taehyung simply nodded his head in acknowledgment, before going to the fridge to get more water. He pulled it out and filled up the pitcher without a word. As he closed the door, he saw your father approach him. Mentally preparing to be intimidated, he turned to your father. “Yessir?” he asked curiously.

           Your father didn’t say anything. He simply stuck out his hand. Taehyung looked down at it for a moment, a bit shocked. He wasn’t expecting this. He lifted his hand, taking your father's hand as they firmly shook.

           “My daughter is happy with you.” He said simply. “I still am not a fan of this but…you treat her well. I can’t deny that.”

           “Thank you. I care about her a lot.” Your father nodded.

           “I see that. Just remember, I was the first man she ever loved. I showed her how she deserves to be treated ever since she was brought into my life. She knows how she deserves to be treated, and if you expect me to allow this, you’ll understand that.”

           “I do,” he said.

           “Good.” He released Taehyung’s hand. Taehyung nodded. It was extremely awkward for a moment, but Taehyung stepped back and took the pitcher in his hand. He nodded his head a bit towards your father before returning outside. He set the pitcher down and took his seat beside you once again.

           As food was continuously served and everyone ate themselves full, you and your mother gathered up all of the plates and utensils. The boys all moved from the table, sprawling themselves out across the backyard as they groaned.

           “I ate too much.” Jimin whined.

           “The food was so good.” Hoseok added.

           “I may never walk again. I can’t move.” Jungkook mumbled, groaning.

           “Why did you guys eat your weight in meat?” Dahyun asked, watching them from the porch.

           “Meat is amazing, that’s why.” Namjoon hummed. You stepped back out onto the porch with your mother, both of you placing bowls of chips and other snacks out on the table for people to pick at through the day.

           “Dessert will be out in a little while.” Your mother said. You heard the seven boys collectively groan in agony at the mention of dessert, and it made you laugh. You watched your brother go over to the porch steps and pick up his Nerf gun. He loaded it up, with exactly seven of the foam bullets. He glanced at you and grinned devilishly. You pulled out your phone, stepping onto the grass as you hit record and nodded. You knew it would probably hurt, but you had to admit, the idea was too good to pass up. Your brother went up to the boy closest to him, Jin, who was covering his face with his hands as he murmured about his stomach ache. Your brother pointed the Nerf gun at him and-

           Ping.

           “AH! Christ!” Jin grunted, holding his stomach as he rolled over. You brother began to laugh as he hurried over to the next victim, Jimin. Jimin opened his eyes to see the gun pointed right at his stomach.

           “What are you do-“

           Ping.

           “OW!” He held his stomach, groaning as the laughter from you and your brother intensified. He saw your brother head towards Namjoon and groaned. “Hyung…look out.” He said dramatically.

           “Huh?” Namjoon glanced over, seeing your brother rush up and pop a foam bullet right in his side. “Auuugh! You monster!”

           “What’s going on?” Hoseok rolled onto his side as your brother approached him next. “What the? What are you doing?” He was next. “Owwwwww. So meeeean.” He pouted, putting his face in the grass.

           “Don’t you dare...” Yoongi said when he saw your brother approach. “Don’t do it, kid.”

           Ping.

           “Ah!” He bit his finger as he muffled a swear word. Two more targets. He hurried to Jungkook, was trying to sit up, but his stomach was to full. Taehyung was lying next to him. Your brother towered over them, both looking up.

           “…You wouldn’t.” Jungkook said. “After I saved you from your demise earlier!?”

           “I need to get all seven of you.” Your brother said.

           Ping. Ping.

           Taehyung and Jungkook groaned in pain, a bit of laughter mixed in as well as you ended the video. Your brother collected the Nerf gun bullets and set the gun aside, before you two exchanged a high-five and laughed.

           “You’re so cruel…” Jin groaned. Satisfied with himself, your brother went back to the porch to sit with Dahyun and Jihyo, who also found enjoyment in his spontaneous decision to torture the boys.

After that, some time passed where everyone just kind of relaxed, allowing the nice day to just go by. The boys lounged on the grass, some even falling asleep, while you, Dahyun and Jihyo sat and talked on the porch, occasionally sitting in silence as you scanned your phones and showed each other funny things you found during your searches. Your brother passed out on the couch inside for a little while, and your parents were in the kitchen doing the dishes. It stayed this way for about an hour or so, but nobody minded. As the sun began to set, dessert was brought out by your mother. She brought out the cookies, refilled the bowls of chips and pitchers for drinks.

           “Desserts ready. Want to go wake those guys up?” She asked you, pointing to the seven boy’s unconscious in her backyard. You nodded.

           “I have an idea.” You got up and went into the living room, shaking your brother awake. He woke up and you led him outside, handing him the Nerf gun. “Go ahead.” You said, giggling. Your brother hurried onto the porch as the boys slowly began to wake up from their naps.

           “Who's ready for round 2?!”He shouted, purposefully hitting the Nerf gun loud enough for them to hear. Almost immediately, each boy sat up.

           “NO!” They said in unison. You and the girls began to laugh at how frantic they looked.

           “Desserts out, boys. Come on.” Your mother said. The boys got up and headed to the table. Your brother was scooped up and Taehyung and the duo horsed around for a minute in the grass, your brother howling in laughter.

           “Come on.” You called out to them, motioning to the desserts. “There won’t be any left for you at this rate.” The boys eventually stopped their little wrestling match and joined everyone else at the table after you called them a few more times. “Enjoy. I made the cookies myself.” You beamed, and everyone began to reach around, taking what they thought looked good. It was another little while of chatting and eating, just relaxing together as a group of friends. You saw how happy Taehyung looked as he spoke to his Hyung’s, or ate some snacks, and how excited he was when he put his arm around you and held you close to him. You were glad he was at such peace, and that you were able to bring him here.

           You all were having such a good time in each other’s company that when it got dark, you didn’t want the day to end. Jungkook was the first to leave, around 6 p.m. after getting a phone call from his mother.

           “Bye guys. See you at school.” Jungkook said as he grabbed his backpack. He looked at your brother. “I’ll be sure to get back at you for that Nerf gunshot. My stomach still hurts.” Your brother playfully stuck his tongue out at him, and you hit him over the head, frowning.

           “Don’t do that.” You said. “Bye, Jungkook.” Everyone waved him off. The next to go was Yoongi and Hoseok, around 6:15 p.m. Jimin was close behind them.

           “We need to make more plans to study,” Namjoon said to his friends as they were heading out.

           “Yeah, we will.” Yoongi said, fixing his hat.

           “Thanks for today.” Hoseok said, smiling at your mom. She smiled back. “It was great~.”

           “Come back anytime.” She encouraged, taking his. “Summertime we can do this again.”

           Namjoon and Jin spent some time with your brother, who was excited to show them his new video game. They didn’t mind staying back for a bit, but they too had to leave around 7.

           “Come back and play soon, okay?” your brother asked.

           “We will.” Jin said, ruffling your brother’s hair as he and Namjoon got their stuff. They thanked your parents before making their way out the door, leaving just you, the girls, and Taheyung. You glanced between them.

           “…Do you girls want to stay the night?” you asked Jihyo and Dahyun.

           “Sure.” They said happily. Taehyung frowned, wrapping his arms around you.

           “What about meeeeeeeeeee?” he whined playfully, making you giggled.

           “Goodnight, Mr. Kim.” Your father called from the kitchen. Dahyun and Jihyo laughed as Taehyung pouted.

           “Goodnight, Sir…” he called out. You took his hand and led him to the door as he waved to your brother and grabbed his sweatshirt off the back of the couch. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

           “Okay.” You said happily, getting on your tiptoes as the two of you shared a kiss goodbye. “You going home?” you asked.

           “Yeah, probably. I should make sure my mom isn’t dead, you know?” You frowned a bit, and he chuckled, patting your head. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I haven’t been home in a few days, though. No harm in…stopping by I guess.” He shrugged.

           “Well, call me if you need anything, okay?” You said, smiling up at him. Taehyung nodded, planting a kiss on your forehead. He looked down at you for a moment, taking a deep breath. “What’s wrong?” you asked curiously. Taehyung shifted in his spot, biting the inside of his cheek. Was now the time? Could he finally tell you that he loved you? You deserved to hear him say it, and he didn’t want to make you wait any longer. You saw him struggle and took his hand. “Tae?” You said gently. He looked down at you. “You look tired. Get some rest.” You lifted his hand up, kissing it. “Okay?” Taehyung nodded.

           “Okay.” He said. “See you at school.” You nodded, closing the door behind Taehyung as he headed down the steps and onto the street. He ran a hand through his hair as he went down the street. “Fuck….fuck fuck fuckfuckfuck!” He kicked a wall angrily. “Unbelievable.” He pulled out his phone and dialed Jimin’s phone number, listening to it ring as he headed down the street.

           “Do you think Taehyung said it after we left?” Hoseok asked Yoongi, the duo taking a sip of a beer that Yoongi had in his car. They were parked outside Hoseok’s house.

           “Doubt it.” Yoongi said, reaching over to take a swig. “He’s never ever said it to us in a friendly way.” Hoseok chuckled.

           “Do you want him too?” Hoseok teased. Yoongi hummed. “I think it’d be adorable if he did that.” Yoongi chuckled, taking another sip.

           “Yeah, it would be kind of cute.” Yoongi agreed. “Alright, I’ll see you at school.” He said, nudging Hoseok towards the door. Hoseok frowned.

           “Uh, no?” he asked. “You just finished like two beers.” Yoongi looked over.

           “So?”

           “So tell your mom you’re staying here. I’ll set up the guest room.” He patted Yoongi’s shoulder as his friend groaned.

           “Alright.” He said, turning off the car as they stepped out of the car.

-------

           “So you chickened out again?” Jimin asked, laying on his bed and tossing a little stress ball in the air, catching it in his hand just to throw it up again. He had his phone on speaker as he listened to Taehyung.

           “Yeah…” Taehyung sighed softly. “Every time I try, I just clam up. I don’t know what to do. If this takes any longer, I’m worried she’ll really get upset.”

           “I doubt that,” Jimin responded. “You’ll do it at the right time, and I’m sure it’ll be romantic and she’ll cry and you’ll be happy you’ll say it fifteen million times over.” Jimin smiled.

           “I hope so.”

           “Why don’t you practice on me?” Jimin asked. Taehyung huffed as he heard his friend laugh.

           “Dude, stop…” he said. He had to admit to himself, he was a bit anxious to try. But, he had never told his friends he loved them, even though he did. He just…it wouldn’t ever come out.

           “I’m only kidding,” Jimin said. “You really shouldn’t stress.” He said. “…Why don’t you take her on a nice date? Just the two of you? Maybe the romantic air will give you the courage to say it.”

           “You think so?” Taehyung asked.

           “Didn’t you want to take her on a picnic back in December?” Jimin asked curiously. Taehyung nodded, grinning.

           “Yeah. Yeah, I did. That’s a great idea. Jimin, you’re the best!” He said.

           “I love you too, Taehyung~.” Jimin teased. Taehyung hung up and hurried into his house to plan.

Return to Masterlist

Next / Previous

[sassycassie-s-writing]

Strawberry Jam

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): DC, BatFam - Jason Todd/Red Hood

Rating: PG/K+

Original Idea: My mom and I were making jam this summer. It was funny.

Notes: (Masterlist)(By Character)(About Me) Oh domestic shenanigans and affectionate teasing. One day it’ll actually happen to me... @welovegroot @batboys-and-other-messes @haylo4ever

^^^^^

Jason really didn’t like it when I sat on the counter while he cooked. I didn’t take up a lot of space, but he usually used every inch of counter space—despite actually being a rather clean cooker. But I really liked sitting on the counter while I watched him cook.

I leaned my head back against the cupboards. “How come you like to cook so much? Why are you so good at it?” I asked. “I hate cooking.”

He smirked and pinched my chin between his thumb and bent index finger under my chin with fingers covered in flour. “That’s why I cook in our household, darling,” he teased before leaning forward and rubbing his nose back and forth over mine. He went back to mixing the dough for whatever he was making—which appeared to be the start of homemade noodles for what I guessed was chicken noodle soup.

I could chop the vegetables if he asked me, but he wouldn’t ask. He liked doing everything himself.

“I enjoy cooking because it’s therapeutic,” he continued frankly, not looking up from his dough. “But I'm good at it because… well. It was one of the few things Dick couldn’t do very well. And as a kid who felt overshadowed by the Golden Boy of the family… anything I could do better than Dick was something I’d put effort into doing.”

I tilted my head slightly to the side. “You know, for technically being an only child since Dick was moved out by the time you started being Robin and being an only child before then, you are such a little brother,” I remarked.

Jason was washing flour off his hands and flicked water at me. “What, and you’re not a little sister who feels overshadowed by her big sister?”

“Yeah I am,” I said. “Which is why I can tell you that I see that in you.”

Jason chuckled. “Touché, darling,” he said.

“Though my relationship with my big sister is different than yours with Dick. I don’t feel overshadowed in the sense of accomplishments. I am the Golden Child of my family. I feel overshadowed by her in… I don’t know. Being forced into the shadows. She shoves me there by forcing her accomplishments on the people around us like, ‘Look at me! Look what I’ve done!’ and then looks at me like, ‘Oh, her? Yeah she did good too I guess.’ And yet… my ‘did good’ is usually something… better than hers. I graduated college with a three-point-seven GPA. She got a two-point-nine when she graduated. I know GPAs don’t measure worth and are basically BS, but c’mon. That’s an accomplishment and I worked hard for it.” I stopped. Jason had heard my rants about my sister so many times he probably knew her better than I did.

“Yes you did. I remember that.”

I changed the subject. “So, were you really only four-foot-six when you were, like, fifteen?”

“Yeah. Malnourishment. Then I got healthy as Robin and took a dip in the Lazarus Pit. It was one h&$* of a growth spurt. I remember my legs in particular aching for days. Which kinda sucks in the middle of combat training.” He made a face of displeasure at the memory and went back to his cooking—pulling out a large chopping knife.

We had lots of large knives hidden throughout the house anyway (that I occasionally discovered while dusting or spring cleaning), but this one was serious business for the vegetables.

“Well, you look very healthy now,” I offered.

“Thanks babe,” he said distractedly.

My phone started ringing. I glanced at the Caller ID. Alfred Pennyworth is calling…

I slid the Accept option. “‘Yello?” I greeted.

“Mrs. Todd,” Alfred said.

“Hey Alfred. What’s goin’ on? To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I was attempting to contact Master Jason, but he wasn’t answering.”

“Oh his phone’s charging in our bedroom and he’s making dinner,” I explained. “His hands have been covered in flour for the last fifteen minutes.”

“Ah. I see. Well, I knew you would likely have your phone on you. On the subject of making food, would the two of you like to stop by the Manor in the next few days to help me make some strawberry jam?” Alfred asked.

“Jay?” I nudged Jason with my toes. “Wanna help Alfred make jam?”

“Absolutely!” Jason answered.

I tilted my phone back to my mouth. “Hear that?”

“Yes ma’am,” Alfred said.

“Alf, how many times have I asked you not to call me ma’am? It makes me feel old,” I teased.

“Apologies, Mrs. Todd.”

“It’s alright. Anyway, yeah. We’ll drop by soon to make jam.”

“Delightful.”

^^^^^

To Jason’s mild irritation, I hated strawberries. They smelled weird, especially fresh, and the texture was unpleasant in my mouth.

Alfred asked us to help him with jam because I was the most responsible of the “grandchildren” (since he really considered Bruce a son and all of Bruce’s kids his grandchildren), and Jason loved making food of any kind.

I was stirring sugar and pureed strawberries together, wrinkling my nose against the smell. But Jason was standing so close that his aftershave or cologne (or whatever made him smell so good that masked the scent of gunpowder that tended to cling to his clothes) helped me not think too much about the strawberries. He was scraping a heated pectin-and-water mix into one of the six bowls I’d already stirred together. Alfred was playing classical music over the speakers.

“Mrs. Todd?” Alfred asked, always referring to me in a formal way no matter how much I asked him to just call me by my first name.

“Yeah?” I replied, glancing at him over my shoulder.

“It is pleasing to see you two in such high spirits. I know things are a tad… rough, when you live this lifestyle, however, I am relieved you both still manage to be so happy.”

I grinned. “Thanks Alfred.”

“Also, you do an exceptional job stirring. I should like to have you next year complete the same task.”

“I’d be happy to.”

^^^^^

“Master Bruce, I have good news and bad news,” Alfred said, entering Bruce’s home office. “The good news is that your son and daughter-in-law are here helping me make jam.”

“And the bad news?” Bruce prompted.

“Your daughter-in-law still doesn’t like strawberries. Or jam.”

Bruce couldn’t help but twitch a small smile. “Well, if that’s the worst news you have at the moment, I’m grateful that’s what it is,” he said.

“As am I, Master Bruce. As am I.”

^^^^^

Jason laughed as he threw me over his shoulder out in the foyer. “Well, B, guess I’ll just take what’s mine and skedaddle!” he called. I squealed and laughed and pounded his back.

“Put me down, put me down!” I shrieked.

“That feels really good,” Jason teased, hauling me out the front door. “Why don’t you give me poundy massages more often?”

“Because you’re a jerk!” I retorted. “Put me down! You’re going to crush my intestines!”

“I'm not a jerk. And you know you love me.”

“I do but put me down!”

Jason laughed and set me gently on my feet. “Okay, okay,” he relented playfully. “Just because I love you so much.”

We laughed, took each other’s hands, and strolled off toward our car. “Bye Alfred! Bye Bruce!” I shouted over my shoulder.

“Goodbye!” Alfred called from the doorway.

[mcdoogly]

Happily Ever After

Howdy, made a late ass Christmas fic, but it’s basically the 12th day of Christmas for whatever.

Have some cutesy goats and fishdad

“So what are you gonna get her?”

The question hung in the air as Undyne rummaged through Asgore’s cupboards for snacks. Her eye lit up as she found a pack of beef jerky, beginning to tear into it with hungry gusto. She turned around and looked at him as he sat on his couch. “I mean, you ARE getting her something, right?”

Asgore sighed, watching his old trainee rip into a fresh chunk of dried meat. “I don’t know.”

The house almost shook as Undyne slammed the pantry shut, all thoughts of food cleared from her head. “WHAT?! Gyftmas is in three days!” The ex-guard shook her head. “You’re telling me you got Queenie nothing?”

“Well…” he murmured, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, “she told me not to worry about it…”

Undyne pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh my god, you actually believed that? That directly translates to ‘You better get me a gift, Dreemurr!’ How long were you two married?”

Asgore slumped into his chair, groaning at the entire situation. “I know, I know. I just have no idea what to get her.”

“You know her better than anyone else in the whole entire underground! How the hell do you not have a clue?”

“Undyne, she and I have been together for over a millenia. It gets quite difficult to be original after a century or two.” Asgore leaned forward, rubbing his face as he continuously drew blanks. “And especially with that… break she and I had I have even less of a clue what she would want now.”

Undyne looked down sadly at the old goat. “Well, you two have had to have gone on dates lately, right?”

“Of course.” Asgore nodded. “We try to spend at least one day together every week, either at her house or mine. Why?”

“Notice anything different she might’ve gotten into since you two last celebrated Gyftmas as a couple?”

He furrowed his brow. “I don’t recall anything new? Her house looks almost exactly like it did when she and I lived together.”

Undyne scratched her chin. What were things she knew Toriel liked? She enjoyed reading, but who wants to get a book for Christmas? Lingerie crossed her mind, but she doubted that Asgore would appreciate something so raunchy. Snails? Boring. Pie tin? Too utilitarian. Socks? Too scandalous. She shook her head, too many ideas were flooding in at once and not a single one useful.

An idea clicked into place in her mind, spurring Undyne to walk over to Asgore, grabbing his shoulders from behind. “How about you treat her to a nice day out, get her to a spa, give her a nice massage, order some fancy food; the whole nine yards! I bet she would love that!”

“She would indeed,” Asgore looked up, “That’s what I got her last Mother’s Day.”

“Then why not supplement it with a little ‘Happy Ending’.” She winked, nudging him with an elbow.

“Undyne, I understand your excitement and support of her and my relationship, but I wouldn’t concern yourself with my sex life.” He looked down guiltily, his cheeks rosy. “And… that was also a part of her Mother’s Day gift.”

Undyne seemed to deflate after the initial surprise of what Asgore said as her idea once again proved to be a failure. The fish pressed at her temples, trying to think of anything that would be a good gift for the ex-queen. She let out an exasperated sigh and sat down next to her father.

“Man, you’re right. This is harder than I thought.” She supported her chin with a fist, still trying to think of anything to help her old goatdad out.

“It’s fine. Worst case, I’ll just have to sleep on the couch for a few nights.” He chuckled. “I’ve been through much crueler punishment from her.”

“Yeah…” Undyne sighed again, racking her brain. She had Alphys’s gift ready and wrapped the day after last Gyftmas, why couldn’t she come up with something right now for such a simple old lady? “Does she need anything for her classroom?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“Her car?”

“Nope.” “Hmm… What about her kitchen?”

“It’s as well stocked as always.”

“You sure she wouldn’t want another…”

“Undyne I don’t like repeating gifts, especially within a year of giving the last one.”

“But this time you could wrap your-”

“Undyne!”

“Fine, fine.” She flopped against the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling. After a minute or so she finally spoke up again, “Well I’ve got nothin’.”

Asgore sighed, “Now you see how I’ve felt for the past couple of months or so.” He grunted and sat up. “I suppose I could just get her a bottle of wine or something of the like, maybe a few snails. Not the most original gift but hopefully it’ll be thoughtful enough.”

“I doubt she’d get that mad anyway,” Undyne added, “it’s just one day of the year.”

“Yeah,” said Asgore, a bit lost in thought, “let's hope.”

~~~

Gyftmas day was over as the sun dipped beneath the snowy horizon. Asgore and Toriel had snuck away from the rest of the party at the latter’s house to enjoy some quiet time alone. Everyone else was either asleep or too focused on the spectacle of Gyftmas movies that were now fully available for monster kind. The two goats were sitting on Toriel’s bed, her head on his shoulder as they simply enjoyed the time spent together.

“Another Gyftmas done, eh, Gorey?” she giggled, sinking against him further as he wrapped an arm around her.

“Yup,” he responded simply, taking in a deep breath. The house still smelled wonderfully like her cooking, and between that and the gorgeous monster that was hanging on his shoulder, he almost felt at ease about her present. “It is nice getting to spend it with family after delivering all of those present last night.”

“I bet,” she sighed, looking up at him. “And now you get to spend the night with me~”

He chuckled as her grin turned wily, matching it with a smile of his own. “Well, that’s just the best part.”

She shifted on the bed so she could wrap him into a warm hug, the queen closing her eyes as she relaxed into him, her smile turning soft. “Good answer.”

A small hum left his throat as he traced a hand on her back, earning a small contented sigh from his queen. They stayed there for a minute, his hand just idly moving on its own accord between her shoulders until he finally spoke up. “Does that mean I pass the class?”

“I wouldn’t go that far yet, Dreemurr,” she threatened playfully. “We haven't even gone to bed yet.”

“Oh?” he asked. “And what does that have to do with it?”

“That’s your exam!” She smirked with a bit of sly enthusiasm, sitting back up to eye level with him before the two broke into quiet laughter.

They nuzzled and spent a short while being sweet with one another as their laughter quieted down. A giggle here, a playful pinch there. The goats had barely a hitch in their sway as old habits became new ones again. Despite the aforementioned “break”, the two had reformed much of their old saccharine shenanigans since the past few months the two had been together. Asgore smiled as the two settled on the sheets, looking lovingly down at his wife.

“Oh!” he interrupted, catching Toriel’s attention. “Before I forget, I have something for you.”

The queen looked at him curiously as he grabbed his phone. He clumsily pressed a few buttons until a neatly wrapped box materialized out from his phone’s speaker. The sudden appearance caught Asgore off guard, who scrambled and seized it haphazardly before it could fall on the floor, much to Toriel’s amusement. Asgore’s cheeks flushed as she giggled at the show, just happy he didn’t drop her present. While this storage system Alphys installed on his phone was surely useful, Asgore wasn't quite used to it yet.

“It isn’t, uh, much,” he laughed, scratching the back of his neck, “but, you know... merry Gyftmas, Tori.”

“Oh, Gorey,” she exclaimed, her smile widening as she took her gift. “I told you not to worry about getting me a gift this year!”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Asgore chuckled, matching her expression, “but I went against my better judgement and didn’t listen to you this time.”

“Aww,” she cooed, “Well, now I feel like a fool-- I didn’t get you anything. That’s why I told you not to, dummy!”

Asgore laughed. All of the anxiety in his chest vanished as he realized that Undyne’s incessence was in fact not needed. He leaned against Toriel, before saying “Well, that’s a relief. I don’t think I need a better gift than just getting to see you every day.”

“Oh my goodness, you are the biggest sap I have ever met, Dreemurr,” Toriel chuckled, “You sure know how to make a lady blush.”

“I’m glad you think so,” he teased, “Now come on, open your present. We are trying to sleep tonight, yes?”

“I don’t know, are we?” She picked at a corner of the wrapping paper with a claw. “If memory serves me correctly, I remember for some reason Old Saint Nick gets a rather random burst of energy on Christmas night every year. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” She looked up and smirked knowingly at him before tearing the rest of her gifts packaging to streamers, revealing the box underneath.

Asgore’s face flushed as Toriel stared him down. “W-Well, I’d imagine he must get tired from giving out presents all the night before…” He looked down her body and then back up at her eyes. “So I’d assume the best person to ask as to why would be Mrs. Claus. She must know him best.”

“Of course she does,” she giggled as grabbed the top of the box, “It’s her job after all.” Her eyes lit up as the packaging gave way to her gift: a bottle of her favorite wine.

“I didn’t know what else you’d like, so I just went with wine,” he said, some of the previous nervousness seeping back into his belly, “We somehow manage to go through a whole bottle every week when we have our date night, so I know it’ll at least get used.”

“Trying to get me drunk now, hmm, Gorey?” She elbowed him playfully, giggling as he quickly grew flustered. Before he could start stammering out a response, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “It’s a very thoughtful gift, Asgore. Thank you very much.”

“O-Oh! Of course, Tori!” He laughed, his leg shaking slightly from his nerves. “I’m glad you like it!”

“Mhmm, this will come in very handy.” She set down the bottle and cleared the bed of any wrapping paper. Sighing, she leaned against Asgore again, closing her eyes. “I do feel bad for not getting you anything though, Asgore.”

“Aw, don’t worry about it, Tori. I meant it earlier that just getting to see you is gift enough. Especially these private chats.”

“Oh, so you’re calling these ‘chats’ now, hmm?” She inspected a finger on her paw to pretend to be uninterested, a slight smirk on her muzzle. “I had a different word in mind for whenever you end up in this room.” His cheeks turned rose red as the old queen cackled, her banter making quick work of Asgore’s nerves.

He was at a loss for words, sitting ramrod still as he was not at all sure how to respond. Meanwhile, Toriel was howling in laughter, the queen draping her arms around his shoulders and squeezed him close as she spoke up, “Oh dear, Gorey I’m sorry. You are just so fun to tease.” She nuzzled against his cheek in apology, “Please don’t be mad.”

“Of course not,” he chuckled, warming up to the hug, “I don’t see how you making a joke about how prolific I am would hold any offense.”

“‘Prolific’, hmm? That’s a pretty word~” She cooed as his hand rubbed up and down her back, the queen wiggling against him to get closer. Asgore looked at her happily, the two making eye contact before he placed a hand on her cheek, grinning as he pressed his lips to hers. A content hum came from Toriel’s throat at the gesture as she closed her eyes, falling into the kiss for as long as Asgore held it.

It was simple and quick until the king broke it, Asgore smiling and watching Toriel open her eyes. His gaze turned lidded as he stared into her dark rubies, swearing he could see hearts in them as he slowly got lost in her happy expression.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you smile like that, Tori,” he said, breaking the silence.

“Oh?” she responded, puzzled, “Like what, dear?”

“Like I didn’t hold the kiss long enough.” He smirked as she broke into laughter at his dopey response.

He felt like a champion as she giggled into his ear, the queen hanging off of his shoulder as he soaked in the attention from his wife. Eventually, Toriel spoke up again, “So, what was that question you wanted to ask Mrs. Clause again?”

Asgore grinned at her smirk, his hands heading exactly where he wanted them to go as Toriel giggled in excitement. “Oh I have plenty to ask her.”

~~~

“So how’d the gift exchange with Queenie go?”

Undyne stood next to Asgore in Toriel’s kitchen the morning after, both of them enjoying an early cup of tea while the rest of the guests were stuck asleep for at least another hour or two. The ex-king looked up from his mug at Undyne’s question, smiling at the memory from last night.

“Oh it went great! She loved what I got her, and you’d be hard pressed to find me complaining about mine.” He smiled, closing his eyes as he enjoyed another sip of his famous golden flower tea.

“Oh yeah?” asked Undyne with a toothy grin, “Well what’d you get her?”

“Just a bottle of wine. She and I go through those so fast nowadays, and I know she definitely enjoys at least a glass every night on her own right, so I thought why not?”

Undyne gave Asgore an almost overly forceful pat on the shoulder. “See! I told you it wasn’t as hard as you made it out to be. Women are easy!”

Asgore chuckled as he swallowed another bout from his mug. “I wouldn’t quite say that, but I was definitely thinking too hard about the whole ordeal. I’m just happy everything went well.”

“Managed to avoid the couch once again, huh?” Undyne joked, earning a chortle from the old king. The two shared a laugh as they finished their tea. The freshly risen morning sun was shining bright through the windows as the snowy winter landscape outside starkly contrasted the coziness inside. Asgore was completely content in his “Mr. Dad Guy” sweater that Frisk insisted he wore for the occasion, his mug slowly growing empty while he sat at the kitchen table.

The quiet of the morning was broken again as Undyne spoke up, a question ready on her lips. “Well if that’s what you got her, what’d she get you?”

“O-Oh, well she didn’t really get me anything. See-” Just as he started to explain Toriel walked into the kitchen, her eyes tired yet lidded as she walked towards the cupboard with a stride in her step. There was a content smile on her face as she plucked a mug from the shelf and waltzed over to the teapot as the other three eyes in the room were glued to her. She yawned, swaying to a slow rhythm as she poured herself some tea. The room was deadly quiet, save for the delicate clinks of china as Toriel prepared her cup.

The queen finished pouring herself a spot of tea, and turned around to the other two monsters. She walked to Asgore, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Good morning, dear,” she said sweetly before turning to Undyne. “And hello to you Undyne, I hope you slept well.” She took a sip of her tea and sighed at the taste, her smile easing wider as her eyes closed. Without another word she made out of the kitchen, almost strutting as she neared the exit, looking over her shoulder.

“Asgore, dear, could you come back to bed when you’re done? I think you forgot your present in my room.” With a subtle wiggle of her hips she left, leaving Undyne and Asgore dumbfounded for a minute straight.

Steam rose from their mugs as they sat in silence again, until a massive grin grew on the guard’s lips, which was immediately turned towards Asgore. His blank expression cracked into a nervous smile, the king chuckling as the pattern of Toriel’s wallpaper became suddenly very interesting.

“I suppose,” Asgore scratched the back of his head as he chuckled guiltily, “you could say that my Gyftmas came with a happy ending.”

[howtotrainyouragents]

For the headcanons ask: Alya Cesaire, Mako from LoK, Mack from AoS, and then any character that you really want to answer for but haven't been asked, if you please! :)

Yayy, thanks for asking!! Here’s the original ask game if anyone’s curious. Haha, this got SOO long, but I had a lot of time to kill soo:

Alya Cesaire, my sweet child who might be the only one in the bunch with a brain cell: 

Headcanon A:  realistic:

Absolutely does the dumbest things for the scoop. Nora has every right to be worried because her lil sis is a dumbass,

Her website is so freaking legit (She gets interviewed by legit news sites, like come on!) She has bios, dates, damages, and ongoing information about akuma attacks. She’s building up profiles on Ladybug, Chat Noir, Hawkmoth, and the other superheroes. People are shocked to learn there’s not a whole team behind it but just one very dedicated teenager. She’s going for the Pulitzer Prize.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

So she’s a comic book fan right. She’s as nerdy as they come. She cosplays  (thank goodness for a genius designer friend) and goes to all the cons (thank goodness for a rich friend). She buys all the limited editions. She does fundraisers for kids. And anyone who is a jerk or gives her a hard time for being a girl/kid is gonna get  punched in the face (Thank goodness for a boyfriends who restrain her and then, upon failing, covers for her ass so that she doesn’t get kicked out or grounded).

She loves movies, she loves running outside and exercising, she loves pastries, she loves doing her nails and posting fun videos!

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

She misses Martinique so much. She loves Paris and her friends there but it’s just not the same. The warm weather, the friendliness, the dialect,  her extended family. They moved because of Nora and her dad and mom’s jobs, but ugh whenever she Skypes back home, it hurts so much.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

She and Trixx have a complicated relationship because she’s all about the truth and Trixx is all about the illusions. It takes her a while to get it right and a while to see how clever Trixx is with their words and manipulation. She wanted to ask Ladybug for another miraculous, but learned that she was able to see things in shades of gray rather than black and white because of Trixx and that makes her a smarter journalist

Mako (MAKO, MY BABY!!!) 

Headcanon A:  realistic: 

He’s a little nerd. He always wanted an education and could never get it growing up. So he’s patient, he reads, he studies, he’s a fast learner. Lin Beifong is very proud of him; Tenzin wishes he could switch him and Korra out sometimes.

He’s always going to be the dad friend, always looking out for everyone’s wellbeing  (no matter how bad he is at it), always providing and taking care of the others. He carries photos of his friends(+ferret) in his wallet and shows them to everyone whether they asked or not. He’s uptight and falls alseep in movies and makes bad jokes. He’s an Ultimate Dad

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

Now that’s he’s a cop, he loves to treat his friends. Getting them into the secure events, joyriding, treating them to dinner.

He and Asami love to race each other. He’s usually super uptight and worried, but when he’s relaxed, he and Asami have so much fun testing out new Satomobiles. Bolin always referees. Korra used to race too but she’s been banned because she uses her Avatar powers to win. So she just gets to joyride when the others are taking a break.

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

It took him a long time to get used to his firebending. He had started training with his mother but after their murders he became too terrified to firebend. It was only when he learned that he could be a probender that he began to learn his powers for real

Learning lightning was the hardest and scariest thing he’s ever had to do. He had to have so much peace and patience, and he just wasn’t there yet. Their probender mentor taught him the skills but he was still so full of rage and grief. It was only on one afternoon hanging out with Bolin and Pabu that he realized there was still  hope and happiness to look forward to. His parents wouldn’t want him to be stuck like this. Fire was ambition. And his ambition was fueled by his love for his brother. He would do anything for Bolin. He took Bolin outside and for the first time he bent lightning. Bolin and Pabu smothered him in hugs and they got his favorite noodles that night.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

Make FireFerrets still a thing. I can’t believe we only got one season of the awesomeness that is probending (and all the complicated implications). I wanted Fire Ferrets to last at least for a few more tournaments and have them winning and them being able to use the money to set the brothers up comfortably and for Korra to be able to live a little more independently.

Mack (who literally deserves the world and I will fight you on this) 

Headcanon A:  realistic:

Learned his love of mechanics from his father. He continues to work as a mechanic on the side even as director, as relaxation and to remind him of his family

He also is the only one who is actively learning the traditional SHIELD training protocol for becoming a spy, i.e. learning languages and such. He’s slow at the languages (#Turtleman) but he’s much farther along than anyone else.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

Hosts massive video game tournaments online and is a legend in the gaming community. Also, and absolutely is a gentlemen online. Harassment? Pedophilia? Foul or sexual talk? Mack is coming after you and he will destroy you. Only good people allowed. Newcomers and minority groups worship him for this because he makes everyone feel safe and included 

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

He wishes he really did quit SHIELD and went back to just being a mechanic. Everyone likes to tease him about wanting to quit, but he is genuinely so heartbroken over seeing so many friends die or disappear. He has nightmares about the day SHIELD fell. He stayed because he was capable of doing something to help and it was the right thing to do. But selfishly, he wants peace in his life. He wants happiness and normalcy. He doesn’t want nightmares of losing his friends, his love, his daughter

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

He meets up with Bobbi and Hunter all the time. Facetimes them. Plays betting pools with them. Gets drunk. They’re friends for life and F anyone who gets in the way. Honestly he gets a hoot out of their shenanigans and they need him to keep them sane. Also they love Yoyo; half the time they call Mack its because they want to talk to her.

Simmons! Wow, apparently I had a lot headcanons for her. What a good murder child :)

Headcanon A:  realistic:

She doesn’t have a freaking MD, so she’s taken accelerated courses in her spare time in order to be able to pull off surgeries and cleanings and whatnot

She’s the leading expert in Inhuman biology. She’s constantly being consulted but also will sometimes make up crap to get the government  off of SHIELD’s back

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

After Daisy, she’s easily the most dangerous of the group. Not because she can fight (because she’s only moderate at fighting), but because she has no mercy. She will leave you for dead on the operating table. She will fire your ass. She will throw a bomb at you and syringe you full of poison. She might even shoot you, and she will sacrifice herself when necessary. Simmons believes she knows what’s right and wrong and she’s learned to take matters into her own hands, everything else be damned.  

She and Fitz finally get their cozy apartment with the breakfast nook. Everyone visits for brunch on the weekends (Daisy visits for breakfast everyday) and Fitz cooks while she studies because she’s a morning person and it’s a get-up-at-6-workout-study-breakfast routine. She has a study just for herself that’s just full of biochemistry and Inhuman biology stuff. It’s a cutesy English-Scottish apartment (she and Fitz had many rows about how to decorate, more Scottish or more English, and they finally decided on half and half). 

She plans all the movie nights and bakes cookies and family dinner. She has weekly late night talks with Daisy, sitting under the covers of Daisy’s bed. She has frequent date nights with Fitz which ends with lovingly bickering while one’s brushing teeth and the other’s showering for bed. She loves to ramble on about her science to anyone who will listen and Mack loves to listen the most because he just doesn’t like to talk much and it turns out they love the same punk rock music so they just hang out and she gets to talk. 

Coulson and May have definitely become her adoptive parents because her family doesn’t know half of the stuff that has happened to her (she could tell them but she doesn’t want them to worry about her.) Coulson gives great hugs and tells her take a break. May gives her a drink and lets her vent. And when Elena and Deke join, she’s does the same for them and passes on the love she received. 

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

Even before she joined Coulson’s team, her family was disappointed in her. Ever since the Academy, they had no idea what she does or what she’s done since. She loves her parents and siblings but she feels so damn distant. She’s like a ghost who only comes for Christmas. Just one of her brothers knows what’s really going on with her and when he first found out, he didn’t speak to her for months.

She’s just been through so much that she’s terrifed of being alone. Going undercover, being stranded on an alien planet, being a servant, losing Fitz (she really needs therapy omg), that she’s just scared to be a alone. She’s English, so she doesn’t usually do visible signs of affection. But after everything she’s been through, she stands a little closer to people, she holds onto whosever arm is nearest, she plays with hair and cuddles and reaches for anyone’s hand just to know her SHIELD family, her true family, is still around. And when they’re not: She still carries around a shiv.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

How about she gets therapy? How about she calls out Fitz for some of his crap because they both know that its healthy to be honest with each other? How about she gets her own storylines where she continues to do science and learn inhuman biology and help others because that’s who she is and that doesn’t make her weak or uninteresting *microphone drop*