#Christmas eve fic

[ivystoryweaver]

'Twas the Night Before - Marc Spector

Marc + falling asleep together for @ladywynne

Winter Wonderland Fluff Ficlets | Marc Masterlist | Main Masterlist

Christmas night and Hanukkah 1st night are both Dec. 25 this year and I'm REAL excited!

Notes: Word Count 2.5k, gn!reader, kissing and flirting. Vague references to Marc's past but it's not angst. Marc is a flirty boy. He's younger than in the Moon Knight series (late 20s instead of late 30s). Just go with it. Overuse of italics, not beta'd.

You don’t believe it.

Even though you see him with your own eyes, you can’t actually believe Marc Spector is standing in his childhood driveway, which sits directly across the street from your childhood driveway.

From your old bedroom window, you can see him pause as his hands land on his hips. He’s facing away from you, but you watch his head drop as if he needs a moment to collect his thoughts or steel himself.

Resisting the urge to bang on the window, or open it and shout his name, you pause as his father, Elias throws open the front door.

Marc must hear his name, but not from you, because he finally looks up, waving halfheartedly before collecting a carryon size suitcase from the trunk of the car he drove up in. After grabbing a backpack from the passenger seat, he trudges up the walk, pausing momentarily before accepting his father’s handshake.

Even from your vantage point, you notice the tension he holds in his shoulders - broader and sturdier than they were the last time you saw him. When you were teenagers. Children, really.

His father claps him gently on the back before leading him inside.

Quite nonchalantly dressed in the cutest outfit you brought with you on the trip (besides your Christmas attire), you march the distance to your neighbor’s house, armed with a paper invitation to your mom and step-dad’s Christmas Eve/holiday party.

Elias would have received an invitation a few weeks back, but you want to be sure that Marc knows he’s invited.

And you want to see him.

Elias graciously accepts your invitation, promising to pass it along to Marc, who is out at the market. You express your disappointment in missing him, and Elias remarks how grown-up you look, and how he agrees that Marc has to see you during his brief visit. Finally, Elias invites you over for the first night of Hanukkah.

“Hey there, need some help?”

Yearning mingles with relief and excitement as you hear the soft tenor of Marc Spector’s voice later that afternoon.

Grocery bags in hand, you whirl around to see him - really, finally see him. No taller, but more handsome. He’s grown into his features. Some people are cuter as kids, while others grow into their best look as adults. Marc was never unfortunate looking, but adulthood suits him wonderfully.

His dark curls are longer than you’ve ever seen them, but styled neatly off his face, despite the rebellious curl or two threatening to fall across his serious, coffee colored eyes. Jaw squared, his throat bobs, full lips parting as he utters your name.

"You’re home for Christmas.”

You smile at him brilliantly.

“You’re home for Hanukkah.”

He quickly nods, reaching, without invitation, into the trunk of your mother’s car to retrieve the rest of the grocery bags. “Same day this year.”

"I know, I thought of you once I noticed it on the calendar.”

His eyes find yours. “You thought of me?”

“Of course,” you nod toward his childhood home. “I think of you every year when I come home, always wondering if this is the year I’ll see the elusive Marc Spector.”

Something darkens his countenance. You can guess what. But he grants you a wry smile anyway. “Lead the way.”

You do so, feeling your heart thump in your chest as he follows you up the front walk, through your front door, all the way into your kitchen as you announce, "Mom, look who I found!”

Your mom squeals in excitement to see the young man she used to know, rushing him through setting down his grocery bags on the kitchen island so she can give him a proper hug.

You hover closely, making sure she releases Marc at an appropriately brief interval. You don’t want him bristling and uncomfortable in your home. Not during the holidays, or ever.

Pleasantries are exchanged, Marc is offered a sizeable sugar cookie in the shape of a dreidel, which makes him chuckle. He nods for you to take one as well, and you choose one shaped like a candy cane, if only to keep him from eating his alone.

"Why don’t you two go downstairs and I’ll bring you some tea or coffee…or cocoa?” Your mom offers, that matchmaking twinkle in her eye.

"Mom, we’re not six,” you tease. “You have enough to do for the party.”

You turn to Marc, who is smiling warmly, something serene settling in his countenance as he watches his old neighbors interact. Just the sight of him steals your breath for a moment. He is truly, remarkably handsome.

He apologizes, letting you both know he has other plans for the afternoon, but promises he'll see you soon.

You show him out, bouncing at little on your toes at the chance of seeing him again.

"So, does this mean you're coming to our party?"

One corner of his mouth curls. "As long as we hide downstairs the way we used to. And dad says you might come over to ours."

“Definitely.”

The holiday party is a smashing success, as always. The whole neighborhood turns up, including Mr. Spector and Marc. Since he hasn't visited home in years, he draws a lot of attention, most of which doesn't interest him.

But he plays the dutiful son and the friendly neighbor, continuously gravitating back to you as a sort of touchstone. You make sure to "need his help" carrying dishes to the kitchen, taking out the trash - anything, really, to let Marc escape if he wants to. The two of you walk Mr. Spector back across the street, lingering longer than is necessary in your front yard.

"You don't have to go yet, do you?"

Scuffing his foot on the pavement, he hesitates, so you're quick to add, "We haven't dodged the rest of the party in the basement yet. And of course, there's the pool table."

"Right," he agrees, remembering the fun (and safe) times shared there.

"I saved some of the good whiskeyyyy," you tempt, taking his arm. "We can watch Eight Crazy Nights."

"Hell no. Die Hard."

Arm in arm, you sneak him back inside, texting your mom to let her know you'll help her clean up tomorrow.

She's quick to text back that you should 'take your time' and 'have fun' with lots of embarrassing emojis.

“Wow, it’s like stepping back in time. This place hasn’t changed one bit,” he marvels as the two of you descend the oddly curved, carpeted staircase to your basement/family room.

"I know. Time capsule,” you laugh, watching as he takes a gander at all the old photos framed and situated across the mantle.

“God, you look almost exactly the same,” he remarks, zeroed in on your senior portrait.

"For real?”

He regards you openly, warmth in his eyes. And something more, as if he appreciates the view. “You’re exactly the way I remember you. Must be nice not to age.”

“Yeah, right,” you chuckle. “But thank you.” A beat passes between you, gazes locking, before heat creeps up your neck, warming your cheeks. “You look different, though. Good different, I mean. You don’t hunch anymore.”

He laughs. “Steven hunches enough for the both of us.”

"Oh Steven,” you remember the alter kept so carefully hidden, but you knew. You always knew. “How is Steven?”

“Good, I think. Probably won’t pass up the chance to tell you himself,” Marc diplomatically responds. “He’s been quiet since we got…home.” He clears his throat.

Boldly stepping closer, you, gently grasp his forearm. “I’m glad you’re here. So glad.”

“Thank you,” he responds evenly, and it feels like something is healed in him since you last talked, and certainly since you last laid eyes on him. “You ready to get your ass kicked at pool?”

“Nine ball, corner pocket,” Marc announces smugly, taking his fourth shot in a row.

“I should so bump into you right now,” you tease.

“You can. I’ll still beat you,” he fires right back, sinking the shot, which makes you groan. So you bump him next time, hip to hip, and he misses.

“Your turn,” he offers, with mock graciousness, and you can tell he’s plotting his revenge. Eyeing him suspiciously, you call your shot and lean over to take it when you suddenly feel him crowding in behind you.

“This is actually my shot, cheater,” he breathes on your ear, strong arms encircling yours as his chest presses against your back. “We’re gonna play the rest of the game just like this.”

“Fine,” you pretend to shrug him off, as if you aren’t thrilled to have him close. He smells like sun-drenched sands and secrets and spice.

Your eyes drift closed as his lips almost brush your cheek. “You knew this would happen.” Wrapping his arms and hands carefully around yours, he executes the shot you called, clumsily but successfully - the two of you almost tipping over in the process.

Gripping your hip with one hand, steadies you, then maneuvers you to the other end of the table to set up for the next shot. “You always know what happens when you cheat,” he taunts, settling in behind you and announcing his next move.

“I think you want to play like this,” you fire back. "You probably love it when I cheat. Consider it your Hanukkah present,” you tease, thrusting back against him temptingly, yet playfully.

The slightest, satisfied growl rumbles in his chest as he leans you forward to make the shot. Then he turns you around, taking the pool stick out of your hand and stashing it across the table beside his own. Leaning forward, he cages you in with his forearms braced on the table's edge.

“So that’s how it’s gonna be?” His gaze drops to your lips.

“Yeah. Guess so,” you shrug. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Marc wets his lips with his tongue, his eyes incapable of focusing on one part of you for long. Eyes, mouth, neck, even your chest and he's not subtle about it. "Haven’t changed at all.”

“You have,” you tell him, grasping his biceps for support as he crowds into your space. “You seem...good.”

Sobering a bit at your observation, Marc eases back out of playful mode, and your personal space. “Better.”

"Good." Missing him so near, but feeling a little off kilter from his blatant flirting, you close the slight distance between you, palms pressing against the warmth of his chest. “Marc, I missed you.”

"I missed you too."

"Now this is a party," Marc says, resting comfortably enough on the lumpy old brown couch, socked feet stretched out in front of him on the coffee table, nursing the "good" whiskey.

"Told you. Thanks for sticking with me upstairs," you softly reply, not at all interested in the action movie sounds on the world's oldest TV.

"No problem. I don't mind it as much as I used to. Especially with you here." He offers you a sip of whiskey with such a familiar nonchalance, you almost feel like a couple.

"I can tell, you know - that the same things don't...I guess bother you as much," you gently prod. "Or maybe you handle things differently?"

"Hopefully," he nods, fingers brushing yours as he takes the drink back from you. "But what about you? How are you?"

So you catch him up on your life. College, significant others, job, your family.

"Your turn."

Then Marc tells you the most incredible story about Egypt and gods and magic powers. And how he is with Steven now. No more hiding.

"It's okay if you don't believe me," he concludes, knocking back the last gulp of whiskey. "I wouldn't."

"I'll always believe you. Tell me more about Egypt. About everything."

Marc has always been a fortress - always withdrawing into himself as to not disturb the space around him any more than was necessary. When his emotions did come out, it was usually...really intense, to say the least. Then he would run.

And that was Marc, for a long while. Feel, hurt, withdraw, lash out, run. It was one of the reasons you probably weren't together right now. Not to mention your own contributions to the issues between you years ago.

It's been a long Christmas Eve of wrapping and party prepping and hosting, and having Marc here this year is equally soothing and all-consuming.

Before you realize it, you've inched closer, arm pushing into his arm from shoulder to elbow. Your head drops to his shoulder as he continues talking. Eventually, he either takes a break or concludes his tale, focusing in on the movie. But in the mean time, his voice so soothes you that your eyes flutter closed before you realize it.

The movie ends, Bruce Willis saves the day, along with Reginald VelJohnson. "Let it Snow" plays during the credits and Marc softly calls your name. He suspected you were asleep, but now that he's certain, he doesn't have the heart to disturb you.

The gentle sounds of your breathing lull him into a state of calm he hasn't felt most of his life. He smiles to himself, lets his head drop back against the headrest and closes his eyes.

A couple hours later, you wake up, smooshed up against Marc's side, some Christmas movie playing on the TV. Marc's head has slumped down on his chest and you feel terrible because he simply can't be comfortable.

Calling his name, you shake him gently before easing down on the floor beside him to help him lie down. He stirs momentarily, bleary eyes blinking, struggling to focus.

Seeing you, he seems to remember his situation. "Sorry," he mumbles.

"No, it's okay. Lie down. I'll get you a blanket if you want to stay."

Perhaps he wants to walk back across the street, but it is the middle of a cold night, and this would not be the first time he spent the night in your basement.

But as you stand to get him the blanket, he seems to realize you're leaving. "No, stay," he pouts, still half-asleep. "You're warm."

You sleepily giggle, hesitating only a moment before settling into the tiny space he's created for you beside his stretched out body. "Marc, I don't think I'm a very good blanket."

"Just stay for a minute," he whispers, wrapping his arms around your waist and burying his nose in your hair. "Just one more minute."

"Okay, I'll stay" you agree, now wide awake as your heart races. It takes you a second to tuck your body into his.

You end up half on top of him and it feels so good you can't even think straight.

"You can go upstairs if you want," he offers, palm spreading over the curve of your back as he presses you closer. "Just wanted to hold you, is all."

"I want you to hold me," you confess in a rush, breath ghosting his cheek. "I want to stay."

Then you feel his lips on yours, warm, soft and demanding. You fall apart in his arms as he tastes you, tenderly tracing the shape of your jaw as he eases back.

You don't let him get far, pressing your mouth to his.

“Welcome home, Marc,” you whisper in the dark before you fall asleep together on Christmas morning.

Winter Wonderland Fluff Ficlets | Marc Masterlist | Main Masterlist

[xx-thedarklord-xx]

Gift of Love

Christmas Eve, sneak attacks, a mild prank war and a gift filled with so much love that Harry knows it's the best Christmas he'll ever have.

Ao3

gift for the talented @littlewinnow for their adorable art! And also gifted to the ever delightful @l0vegl0wsinthedark ask found here

[localgirlbecomesobsessed]

Christmas Eve ~

Tis the most romantic day of the year

Includes:

Cathrine x Rui (warning-fluff)

Leo x Xena x Sho (warning-suggestive)

Olivia x Haru (fluff)

Karma x Sho (slightly suggestive and slight fluff)

Cathrine x Rui

“Merry Christmas, Cathrine!Oh man, I must be like super blessed to get to spend it with you!”

The bar was overloaded with cheery couples as the night reached its peak, Rui stood mournfully behind the bar watching them in morbid jealously as Romeo rolled his eyes at his bartender’s longing look.

Rui wasn’t going to open the bar for Christmas Eve, wanting nothing more than to avoid the sight of happy couples as the reminders of what he’ll never be able to obtain sat all around him. The only reason he even dared to open was due to Haru’s pleas, he had set up a romantic tour walk which he planned to end at Rui’s bar, setting up the perfect evening for the couples of Darkwick…

It wasn’t like he had any proper plans today anyway-

He sighed in dismay as he checked his phone once again for any sign of life from Cathrine. Bitterness swirled in his stomache as his texts remained undelivered; he hadn’t heard from Cathrine for three days, he had been trying to organise something for today when she suddenly went radio silent…he tried to check in on her but Darkwick seemed to have other plans as they kept him completely occupied. He had sent Lyca who assured him that Cathrine was doing fine and that she was handling a big project and won’t be able to talk for a while-

“She wouldn’t leave you hanging if it wasn’t important RuRu~!”

A very drunk Haru yelled as he leaned over the bar, he had previously been crying into Romeo’s shoulder before flipping a switch as he saw Rui’s forlorn face. Rui could only give him a wry smile in reply before being beckoned over by another customer…

It was going to be a long night-

———————————————————

Rui sighed once more as Romeo and Taiga dragged a sleeping Haru out of the bar, it was the end of the night and finally the end of his torturous shift.

There was only 34 minutes until the end of Christmas Eve and still not a peep from Cathrine, Rui felt himself deflate even more at the lack of communication with his favourite inspector. The bells jingled above the bar’s door as he swiftly turned around to face the intruding customer as he was about to announce he’s closed for the night, instead the words died in his mouth as his eyes lit up and a relieved smile spread across his face.

There she was…

Cheeks flushed red from the cold as snowflakes covered her making Rui inwardly sympathise for taiga and Romeo who now had to drag a crashed out Haru back to jabberwock in the snow.

Cathrine was catching her breath as she leaned against an armchair awkwardly waving at Rui as she shivered. She was only wearing a lab coat with a thin jumper and red maxi skirt, she was holding a large red gift bag which she clutched to as she finally evened her breathing.

“My phone exploded sorry…”

She huffed out as she unceremoniously placed the bag on a table, grinning at Rui as he looked at her in a mixture of disbelief and amusement as though it was completely normal to have your phone explode.

“Ohhh~ catty I thought you were gonna leave me all on my lonesome…”

His grin widened as she pouted, crossing her arms as she dramatically fell back into the chair behind her, slumping into a relaxed position as she tiredly watched Rui. He tried to play it off as a flirtatious remark but the longing clinged to the end of his sentence as he sauntered over to the bar door, locking it to ensure there were no interruptions.

“I’m sorry…I had to make sure I got all the work done by today and in my rush I-oh!! Your gift, open it!”

Distracting herself from her tale of explosions, she thrusted the bag onto the closest table to Rui, looking at him in excitement as he just blinked in surprise at her.

When did she have the time-?

He couldn’t help but think as he opened the bag, intrigued by the large heavy red velvet box as he gently took it out. Cathrine waited in nervous silence as Rui swiftly opened the box, gasping as an intricate anatomical heart shaped pocket watch presented itself to him. Carved into the front were an array of roses and some of Rui’s favourite anomaly plants, he lightly traced over the details before opening the watch up.

He almost threw it across the room as a strange heartbeat thumped through the watch, it sped up the longer he stared down at it in confusion. He looked up to ask Cathrine a question who bit her nails as she watched him brush a thumb gently across the device.

“It’s my heartbeat…er-it’s connected with this!”

She awkwardly tapped on the silver choker secured snugly around her throat, Rui felt the heartbeat pick up as he looked at her with a mixture of awe and adoration, he couldn’t help smirking to himself as he brought the locket to his lips and pressed a chaste kiss against it.

The locket felt as though it was about to blow up.

As did Cathrine as she rolled her eyes in mild despair and amusement, she didn’t even bother to hide her bright red face, though she did lean onto the palm of her hand which helped to cover at least half of her flustered state.

“Catty…you’re like insane, I love y-this so much-I”

Rui smiled sadly as he pressed the locket to his chest, feeling their heartbeats race in tandem as he clutched it close to his own. He didn’t want to ask what would happen once her curse kills her, if he’ll be carrying a dead heart as well as his own broken one for the rest of his life…

“It’ll carry on…even after I’m gone! So at least I’ll be there, even if it’s just a little bit…if I go aha!”

Cathrine managed to hurriedly squawk out when she noticed the change mood, awkwardly laughing to alleviate the depressing thought of the guy she loved liked carrying around her dead broken heart whilst he lives in isolation.

She shivered once again, though this time she wasn’t sure if it was the cold, her depressing thoughts or the intense stare Rui was currently giving her, pale ruby eyes seeming to want to burn the image of Cathrine into them.

Rui pulled the delicate chain over his head as he tucked the watch safely under his shirt, ensuring to keep it close to him as he added-sewing an inner pocket into all of his shirts- onto his job list of the week.

“Do you mind waiting~ whilst I clear up Catty?”

He wandered over to his coat rack, grabbing his jacket as Cathrine nodded already getting up to help her favourite blonde before startling when he draped his jacket over her.

“Wait here~ my hard working angel!”

He could feel the pocket watch’s beat pick up as she tiredly nodded, smiling to herself as she sat back down.

Luckily, Rui had also planned something for the two of them(just in case she did get in touch with him), he patted his pocket to double check that the rings were still in there as he glanced at the sleepy Cathrine, who couldn’t help smiling as they made eye contact.

Rui hurried the clean up, leaving the major issues for another day as his awaiting pink haired madwoman tried to fight off the urge to sleep.

She’d pull four all nighters to ensure she had Christmas off, wanting to spend the holiday with Rui-and of course the rest of the members of her favourite house.

Rui guided her back to his room, grabbing a big white box and snacks on their way up. He had covered the room in rose petals; floating candles littered the low lit room as Rui’s bed (with a clear divider to prevent accidental murder) had two very large pillows with wine already set up.

Cathrine looked around slightly dazed and amazed, the floating candles swirled around rui causing him to look almost angel-like in the romantic lighting.

The candles then dramatically swirled around Cathrine, distracting her as Rui whipped out the ring box. Taking a deep breath as the candles slowly lead her gaze back to Rui, he could feel the wild beat of her heart as their warm gazes met eachother, Rui stepped closer to her.

“Cathrine could you hold your hand out…?”

He sheepishly grinned as she just gaped at him, holding her hand out obediently as Rui dropped the box into her hand, she opened it, eyes glimmering with tears as a gorgeous silver banded ring with a mixture of lisianthus’ and roses entwined around it came into her view. She gently slid the ring on her finger and sniffled slightly as she tried to subdue the tears that were threatening to flood her eyes, no sleep for four days and two big romantic gestures are a cocktail for a surprisingly emotional Cathrine.

Rui wished he could wipe her tears away, but the best he could do for the moment was to guide her to bed, pour her a glass of wine as the unusually quiet girl seemed to be unable to peel her eyes away from the ring, Rui snickered as the hammering watch pounded against his chest causing Cathrine to finally look at him with the most gleeful and watery smile he’s ever seen.

“Merry Christmas Cathrine~!”

———————————————————

Leo x Xena x Sho

“This Christmas-themed food Sho made might pull some traffic. All right, uploaded. You can eat the rest honour roll, say ahhh~”

Xena rolled her eyes smiling as she took a bite from the spoon Leo was holding out towards her, phone prepped and ready to take a cute picture of himself feeding his even cuter girlfriend.

Although, that was ruined by Xena quickly answering her phone causing the image to come out blurred as Leo clicked his tongue and went to reach out to grab Xena’s phone, ready to tell the interrupter to fuck off.

“Yo Ren-“

He could hear someone yelling down the phone at Xena, shouting words of warnings about a clown wanting to drag her into some stupid scheme? Leo cocked his head as he tried to decipher the incoherent squabblings, his curiosity negating his annoyance.

Xena just quietly listened, letting the caller get his rant out before looking warily at Leo.

“Tell Haru I’m already busy-I’m helping Sho out…”•_•

She was already planning to help out her chef, but she didn’t want Leo to know as Sho warned her of the uniform Leo wants and is getting Sho to wear for his Christmas shift, the poor chef losing a bet with the conniving cat…again.

Though, Xena won’t complain about getting to see Sho in garters and a red sexy Mrs clause outfit, she fears it’s far too cold for her to be in something like that…

But she could already see the gears turning as Leo’s cat like grin widened, eyes narrowing in on her as he put his phone down and basically crawled into her lap. He hung up the phone and threw it onto Sho’s sofa, cupping Xena’s face as he straddled her.

“XeXe, I have something special for you to wear if you’re gonna help Sho~ I was gonna get you to wear it tonight but…”

He pressed a light kiss just above her scar before pushing her into the back of the sofa.

“You’re gonna wear it right~we can all be matching~”

He sang out, watching as Xena flushed underneath him and smirking as he knew she’d do whatever he said, especially when he’s asking like this. She wrapped her arms around him and snuggled into his shoulder, huffing out a dramatic sigh as Leo started playing with her hair.

“You’re wearing one too…?” •_•

She murmured out risking a glance to the now overly happy Leo, who pulled her in for a quick kiss, snapping a picture for a ‘before-his-Christmas-makeover’ post.

“Of course XeXe~ Sho’s already at the truck, I said I’d get some pics for the gram so go get ready, it’s the black bag next to the bathroom~”

He slid off of her, smirking to himself as he remembered how he ensured Sho wore the pretty Santa outfit and how he made sure to leave a very obvious bite mark over the love bite Xena left on Sho the night before. Making sure that it was in plain sight, he couldn’t help his smirk widening as he thought about Subaru seeing the mark, the hotarubi captain said he was going to be the very first customer afterall…

He couldn’t help thinking that it’d be quite cute for Xena to have matching marks…just in case, the shady captain seems to have his attention on both of Leo’s partners.

He waited for her to get changed, eyes racking over her figure as the snug fitting black fluffy crop top with white trimmings and the matching skirt suited Xena to a T, she had thigh high boots on and a black cape with white trimmings as well. He grinned to himself as he beckoned her over, he needed to do her makeup afterall but firstly…

“XeXe, there’s just one more thing you’re missing!”

He pulled her onto his lap and Xena in her compliant confusion allowed him to bring her neck to his lips, only flinching slightly when Leo bit down hard, breaking the skin as he pressed a delicate kiss to the mark.

“Leo…” •_•

She sighed out as she cupped his cheeks in a slight manoeuvre to stop him from biting down again, he nuzzled into her touch, licking the blood off his lips as he gripped her thighs, squeezing them slightly as he debated whether to text Sho and demand he close down the truck and join them….it is Christmas afterall.

———————————————————

“Fuck off-“

Leo snapped at Subaru…once again.

He was scrolling through his phone, trying to pretend he wasn’t watching Sho and Xena’s every movement, he was pouting-furious that both of his partners covered his marks on them just to placate some washed up actor. Although, he was filled with fury Leo’s pupils were blown as he watched the two of them, Subaru had even come over in concern due to the fact Leo’s bright citrine eyes were now almost all black with a small ring of yellow surrounding it-which is what lead to the multiple confrontations.

Sho and Xena were far too busy to step in every time Leo and Subaru had a confrontation, so to calm the already furious Leo, Xena’s cape ‘accidentally’ slipped off and although Subaru’s blush took over his very being at the sight it soon dulled down to a look of horror when he saw the very fresh and raw bite that Leo left behind.

Leo smirked to himself and told Subaru to ‘fuck off’ once more, causing the captain to scuttle off towards sho, who took this moment to roll his shoulder and accidentally moved his scarf causing Subaru to now see Sho’s very huge and obvious lovebite.

Subaru didn’t hang around after that…

Which of course made Leo extremely happy, he could count it as one of his top five Christmas eves.

Leo recorded short vids of Sho and Xena in their sexy Mrs clause outfits causing a mysterious increase in customers as heart eyed students came far and wide to get served by the duo. Leo was wearing a green version of their outfit but was hiding in the corner after getting too tired of dealing with people and needing a better place to film from, though unlike his partners Leo opted for a pair of dark green leather trousers instead of a skirt-not wanting to get too cold.

By the end of their shift the trio looked haggard, Xena replacing her heeled thigh high boots with black crocs (approved by Leo.) Sho followed suit, wearing a pair of red crocs as he quickly cleaned the last of the utensils.

They shuffled back to the dorms, Sho luckily had already put the turkey on before he left and had been prepping food in between serving customers. Alan had helped in cooking some sides and checking in on the turkey (he was under strict instruction from Sho though…)

The vagastrom four devoured their feast as soon as they got home, Alan gave them all small little gifts before disappearing claiming he needed to meet someone (Thoma.)

Leo dragged Sho and Xena to his room, he sat behind Sho and wrapped his legs around him as Xena gathered the gifts that were left in the corner of Leo’s room.

She leaned onto Leo’s side as she handed over two small boxes to her partners.

“It’s only something small but…”•_•

She was nervous as she grabbed a third box that matched the other two. Leo and Sho unravelled their gifts grinning at the matching pairs of onyx earrings-Leo had small oynx hoops-Sho had studs and Xena had one stud and one hoop.

“You’re such a fucking sap sometimes.”

Leo grinned as he put the hoops in, Sho matched Leo’s expression as he gestured for Xena to put them in for him, she did with shaky hands, gently brushing a thumb over Sho’s lobes as she admired the sight of her two partners in their matching earrings.

Leo and Sho looked towards eachother as they each grabbed an earring and pulled Xena onto Sho’s lap, pulling out her black Christmas light earrings and replacing them with the matching set.

Leo took a selfie of the three of them, uploading it immediately onto his stories.

Sho presented his gift, reaching under Leo’s bed as he brought out a slightly bigger box, undoing the box for Xena and Leo as he grabbed their wrists, gently placing a silver chained bracelet onto them, it had their zodiac signs intertwined with their birth month flowers weaved through the chains.

“Seems we had the same idea XeXe~”

Both Xena and Leo pressed a kiss to Sho’s cheek as the white haired man became sandwiched between his two partners laughing slightly at their eagerness and clear happiness with the gift.

Lastly, it was Leo who was left to give a gift.

He handed a piece of paper to Sho, his eyes widening at the R&R approved sheet and world food tour tickets as he turned to face Leo, he had only brought up the event once, only saying it sounded interesting…

Xena giggled as Sho pulled leo onto his lap, littering Leo’s face with kisses as the grey haired man’s eyes once again dilated at Sho’s actions. The moment was interrupted by a shrill ringtone, both Xena and Sho looked at leo in surprise as he answered the phone and passed it to a confused Xena.

“Merry Christmas my little bird…”

Xena let out a choked noise as she realised who it was…it was her auntie-she couldnt help the loud gasp escaping her as she locked eyes with her auntie, almost dropping Leo’s phone if not for the grey haired man’s fast reflexes as he helped her adjust and get into a comfier position.

Once the shock wore off, a rare smile spread across Xena’s face as she excitedly greeted her auntie, sho and Leo confidently introducing themselves to the equally excited auntie as she basically interviewed the two men, once their interview was over (after two hours…) Sho and Leo left the two women to carry on their conversation in private.

Sho nudged leo as they made their way to Sho’s bedroom.

“-and you say Xena’s the sap…”

———————————————————

Olivia x Haru

“Merry Christmas! This is a reindeer, she lives up in the mountains! And I’m Sagara claus! Gahahah!”

“Oli I think my arms and legs have been chopped off.”

Haru flopped on top of Olivia as he literally felt the pain throb throughout his body. Exhaustion seeped throughout him as the effects of being awake for three days straight and hurriedly organising a Christmas Eve couples tour finally took over his soul. Olivia was half asleep as she wrapped her arms around Haru, sighing to herself as she pressed her nose into his hair, the smell of sea salt and cherries overtaking her as she sighed happily, breathing in Haru’s scent.

“I think my brain has a smaller brain inside and it’s frying the bigger brain-“

Olivia’s head throbbed as she felt the draining and anchoring feeling of exhaustion swim around her, she had sent Ren to retrieve a large feast from Sho’s truck, karma will help drop them off and then he’s meant to take Olivia back with him so they could spend Christmas Day together, but as she laid on the couch with Haru in her arms and peekaboo cuddling up to her, she doesn’t know if she has the strength to get out of her current comfortable position.

She had made the decision to help Haru with his scheme, the two working in tandem to impress the crowd and get them to follow along as well as add on additional costs as the couples fell for the romantic atmosphere.

“Shhhh-let’s listen to the rain and have a small-short nap just a small one Oli-“

It was too late to plead for a nap in a slightly incoherent and crazed state as Olivia had already crashed out, Haru couldn’t resist clutching her closer as he followed suit and fell asleep on top of her.

———————————————————

“Hahhh-can’t we just leave them here?”

Ren sighed out as he held onto the large number of boxes, karma smiled softly as he took numerous pictures of the couple who were currently curled around eachother on the sofa. Karma dropped the other boxes before crouching down beside Olivia, poking her cheek as he gradually woke her up. Amber eyes met the others as they grinned at eachother, Olivia gently nudging Haru as the two slowly got up, their hair sticking up as they woke up in a state of discombobulation.

“Foooood~it’s a Christmas miracle”

Haru snuggled into Olivia’s shoulder, the two blinking tiredly as karma and Ren started setting up the feast, Towa was nowhere to be found causing Haru to check the tracker and sigh in relief when it’s revealed he was just in the cave.

Olivia and Karma met each others gazes throughout the meal, looking for a chance for karma to hand over Olivia’s gift for Haru.

“Livi~ how bout you stay here tonight and I’ll come pick you up in the morning! I’ve gotta get some things off Sho anyway!”

Olivia nodded in agreement as karma wrapped an arm around her sliding the purple bag into her pocket.

She smiled in appreciation as she lightly tapped karma’s cheek.

“Don’t make bad choices…I’ll see you in the morning!”

He rolled his eyes as he gave her one last hug; she always worried too much…

“Yeah yeah yeah-I could say the same to you~”

He winked at his older sister as he gestured at Haru, karma sauntered out the door leaving the exhausted couple behind, an exasperated Ren crawled back to his room with trays of food as he managed to avoid Haru’s grasping hands.

Olivia turned to Haru and plopped herself into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck as she handed over the small purple pouch. Haru undid the bag, smiling as he traced the strange red bead with curiosity.

“It’s a fox bead! It’s meant to protect you.”

It was a simple singular bead on a black strong thread, a mixture of red and orange tones swam through the bead as Haru held it up in the light, grinning as he thumbed over the swimming currents.

“It’s beautiful Oli,🥹, you’re too nice to me.”

He clipped it around his neck, unable to stop himself from brushing a hand over the bead once more. Olivia simply giggled shaking her head as she pressed a kiss to Haru’s temple.

“You deserve the world Ru~ you work so hard…”

She pressed another kiss onto his eyelid.

“You deserve so much, I just hope this will protect you, I don’t wanna see you hurt anymore…”

She felt him relax in her hold as she stroked a hand through his hair, a flush spread across his cheeks as he leaned into her touch.

“I got you something too…Sagara Claus picked something special for his favourite girl.”

Haru murmured out as he blindly fumbled a hand through his pockets, pulling out a small purple box, Olivia opened the box and gasped in delight as small framed photo of Haru and herself in an elegant frame presented itself. There were leaves and sunflowers carved into the metallic frame with two foxes on the top and bottom, one looking up at the moon and the other playing with the sun.

The photo was of the two of them in the caves, after their first date, Haru was pressing a kiss against her cheek and she was throwing a wink to the camera, both had a huge blush spread across their faces as their smiles were spread wide.

“This is beautiful Ru…”

She kissed him again and Haru gently placed the photo back into his pocket as he pressed himself into Olivia, he lead her legs to wrap around him as he abruptly stood up and carried her back to his room, smiling tiredly at her as he hummed happily to himself. Olivia just snuggled into his touch, still playing with his hair as she pressed sporadic kisses across his face.

He flopped onto the bed, wrapping the covers around the two of them as he laced their fingers together, he pressed another kiss to her cheek before brushing his lips across the shell of her ear.

“Merry Christmas Oli…”

———————————————————

Karma x Sho

“Sorry for making you help me prep all these roast chicken orders… Wanna do something Christmassy together once we’re done?”

“Shooooooooo, I delivered the last of em’, you done here?”

Karma called out as he drove up to the truck, his scooter huffing and puffing as it worked its way up the hill.

He had used his break time to dine with Olivia, his plan was to originally take her back to his dorm after they ate but she seemed so exhausted he thought he might as well continue working for the rest of the night and then hang out with his sister on Christmas Day.

He wanted to desperately ensure they had the best Christmas ever…it might be livi’s last afterall.

He shook his head as he tried to kick out the horrific thoughts that were trying to surface.

Sho popped his head out of the truck, grinning as karma approached, he had a towel draped over his shoulder as he beckoned karma over. Karma had updated him of the situation, Sho easily agreeing to having karma continue on as his sous chef/assistant for the night as the poor guy had to now cook for the vagastrom dorm students.

“I’m nearly done here-wait over there and we’ll drive home, we’ve got a tough couple of hours to go…”

Karma sighed as he slid into the bench chair. It only took half an hour for Sho to finish up and drag karma onto Bonnie, insisting that they can pick up the scooter tomorrow as he quickly drove back to the dorm.

The next few hours were chaos, Sho and karma somehow managing to cook a feast fit for kings as students lined up for the chance of getting Sho’s food. A couple of students made mulled wine for the two of them as a thank you, it was a giant pot to share for the evening as they decided to finally jump at the chance to win(e)d down and devour the leftovers as well as drinking the giant pot of wine.

“You with your sister tomorrow?”

Sho asked after downing the rest of his mug before ladling another load of mulled wine into his mug.

“Yep, I got an R&R form and we’re gonna go out and about, try and do as much Christmas shit as we can possibly do…”

Karma sipped his wine, sighing in relief as the warm liquid travelled down, humming happily to himself as he leaned on the table. Sho smiled as he brushed a hand through Karma’s hair, fingers grazing lightly over his cheeks as he tilted karma’s head to look up at him.

“Would you be down to do some more ‘Christmas shit’ tonight?”

Hotarubi was doing a night festival, something subaru suggested that Sho should come too, giving Sho the idea of taking karma there for their surprise first date~

“Ohh~a pretty boy asking to spend Christmas Eve with him? How could I possibly say no~>”

Karma giggled to himself as he lifted his head, a light blush on his cheeks from the warmth of the wine (and from Sho’s invitation). Sho and karma both downed their drinks as they prepared themselves to make their way to the festival, Bonnie already purring in excitement of getting to visit hotarubi again.

The night was filled with food, music and a competitive spirit as Sho and karma battled in the many stall games, surprisingly it was an even battle-Karma insisting it was only due to his unnatural amount of good luck; Sho shockingly only won by one stall despite neither him nor karma ever playing these sort of games before. The winner got to choose a dare for the loser and to follow along with Karma’s good luck, Sho dared him to spend the night with him.

Something Karma eagerly agreed too.

Sho was only joking but as karma happily dragged him back to Bonnie, he couldn’t help but go along with it, excited to see where the night will lead them.

———————————————————

“I see you got everything you needed from Sho~”

Olivia couldn’t help teasing her younger brother as the other hurriedly tried to peel the plaster back onto his neck.

“I could say the same to you Livi~”

Karma snickered as he pointed at the love bite poking out of Olivia’s mustard turtleneck. The two blushing as they stomped their way over to karma’s scooter, forgetting to plan their day as they distracted eachother with their constant teasing.

They ended up going to the aquarium-a bunny cafe-shopping-the cinema and a tattoo parlour, getting two white foxes tattooed on eachother as the siblings wanted a memory to keep ahold of, not knowing what will happen at the end of the year they needed something to help them immortalise their possibly last Christmas.

On their way home, Olivia sent constant photos to Haru as she showed off her new tattoo, she sighed as the two stopped and decided to sit at a random park, enjoying the quiet for a while as snow fell silently around them. Karma gulped as he soaked in this moment, soaked up the day they had together as the sobering realisation hit him once again that this could be his very last Christmas with his dear sister- he didn’t realise the tears were falling until Olivia sighed knocking her head against his shoulder as she glanced up at him holding his hand and giving it a strong squeeze as she allowed her own tears to silently fall.

“Merry Christmas little brother-“

[sissytobitch10seconds]

Eve With You

Fandom: Secrets of Soulford Summary: Cody has a lot of memories from his childhood. Most of them aren't great, even though he knows that his father was trying his best. Still, he wants to make sure that his children don't carry the same weight with them. Warnings: Mentions of pregnancy and childhood illness Word Count: 2,660 Ship(s): Felicity Laegiver/Cody Garriford

Archive link!

A/N: Full disclosure here, I'm not super into Secrets of Soulford so it's possible that I messed up some of the canon or the world. I just wanted to write this for my brother as a Christmas present because he really loves it. I hope that it's somewhat enjoyable! Stay sissy and bitchy everyone <3

To my little brother: Thank you for teaching me how to expand my horizons and being so patient. I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas and know that I love you to the moon and back.

Felicity had been run off of her feet all day, which wasn’t that uncommon given that they had twin troublemakers that had made it their life mission to cause as much mayhem as they could. She was glad that her girls were old enough that they could understand instruction and actually take it into consideration. She sometimes wished that she had chosen a husband that didn’t have such a high stubborn streek in his family, but then she would see Cody carrying around their little ones and every thought would be gone.

She truly couldn’t imagine having a family or being married to anyone but him. They had grown up together and seen the other become the worst and then the best versions of themselves. He had been there when she was so sick that she wasn’t even allowed out of her room into the hallways. He had sat with her and read from the books she had been forbidden to touch out of the fear of a single bruise or papercut. She remembered the choppy way that he would sound out words he didn’t know and the flush his ears would get when she said it properly for him. She had been there to see what he had been like when he and his brother had started their training. Cody had been able to pull his head out of his ass and realize that he had to treat others with compassion and empathy long before Gan had kicked it into Logan.

She was glad that it as all over, that they were finally settled. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if her life continued to be that kind of chaotic nightmare. She had her tinctures to make sure that she didn’t suffer from her condition and she didn’t pass it onto her children either. Cody and Logan had long since gotten their curse lifted from them without a single person having to die, something that was far easier than the Motherless wanted to say that it was. They were able to live happily in their little home on the edge of the Soulford, attending counsel meetings and working to better their community.

One day, her parents would pass or decide that they could no longer rule over the land as they once had. She would have to pack up her family and move into the massive house that she had resided in when she was younger. She would have to attend every meeting instead of just the ones that held some amount of interest to her. One day, Isaac wouldn’t be able to train more Garrons to take over the police force and Cody would have to spend more and more time away from their family.

She knew that it would come one day, but today was not that day.

For now, she had her home. It was a quaint cottage that Logan and Cody had built together as a way of quelling their nerves about their wedding and baby respectively. The walls had been painted over with a lovely bright white that was grimy within toddler reach, despite her attempts to clean it. The floor was covered in rugs just about everywhere that they didn’t hinder movement or make a mess, such as the kitchen and the bathroom. There was a large family room with as many bookshelves as they could fill with things from their life before they became parents. Further into the house was the main bathroom, their shared office, the dining room, and the kitchen. Upstairs was the nursery, the spare room that would be taken by the other twin once they were old enough to sleep apart, and the room that she shared with her husband. She had decorated her space the way that she had liked it soon after they moved in, pleasantly soft colors and eclectic furniture that they had purchased from the local craftsmen.

Currently, her home was decorated for the upcoming Christmas celebration. She had strung red and green tinsel over every picture frame, the tree was sparkling happily with the light from the fire in the living room, and the girls had produced quite a few paper snowflakes to fill any empty space on the windows.

The holidays were different with children than they had been when she was younger, or even when she and Cody had first gotten married. The beginning years that she had spent with her husband were only difficult because they had realized how different their traditions were from each other. They had since assimilated them together into a wonderful amalgamations so that they both felt like the dark winter months were special. Once they had children, the struggle had returned and then quickly faded away.

Cody was able to take the girls sledding and have them help him pick out the tree, two things that Felicity had never been allowed to do. In turn, she was able to read her favorite stories to them and take them to the ball that her mother threw every year. Something new that they had started with only their family, however, was baking Christmas cookies on the eve before the holiday.

With everything else that they also had to do given their stations and the quickly fleeing hours until the big day, they had to rush it. The girls had been absolutely coated in flour, which had made Ella more upset than she had been since Maggie put snow down the back of her coat. Cody had taken them to have a bath while Felicity finished putting the last batch in the oven and cleaning up. It was a lot easier to clean chocolate chips out from between the floorboards when she didn’t also have to worry about how close her four-year-olds were to the stove.

She had just finished placing the mixing bowls back into the cupboard where they belonged when she noticed that she couldn’t hear the noises of bathtime any longer. She wiped her hands on her ruined apron and then reached behind her so that she could undo the strings. She felt a bit of viscous batter that had made its way to her hair that she would have to get out at another time, but for now she wanted to find her babies.

Felicity hadn’t really known what kind of mother she would be when she realized that she hadn’t had a cycle in several months. She had gotten her pregnancy confirmed by the town healer and then had to do a lot of mental work. She knew that Cody would be overjoyed since he already liked playing with Logan and Gan’s little one, but she was still worried about what being full time parents would do to them. She adored her husband and tolerated her father-in-law, but just the change in generations made her a bit stressed that they wouldn’t be as good as her parents had been. Even then, her parents had made some poor decisions about how to raise her that had hurt her for a very long time.

Then their girls were there, finally in their arms with their tiny perfect everything. They had made the biggest decision that they had in a long time and finally named them Cordelia and Margaret, their Ella and Maggie. Felicity had been unable to look away from them and she knew that even if she struggled with parenting them, she would always try. She would correct the mistakes that their parents had made without going too far in the other direction and harming her children in another way. She would be humble and learn from them, she would apologize and be gentle at all times. She wasn’t an outside perspective and she wasn’t in the minds of her still very young children, but she was confident that she and Cody were doing a good job so far.

Felicity’s fingers brushed through her hair to card out any of the leftover cookies that were clinging to her blond ringlets. She tucked the apron onto the back of one of the chairs next to the dining room table. Her dress underneath was still stained with bits of flour and egg, which was why it was the one that she used when she was doing housework. She would have to change it after she found out where the loves of her life had gone.

She walked carefully up the stairs towards the hallway where the nursery and spare room were. She made sure that she was quiet enough that she could pick up on any hushed whisperings. Her beautiful little girls were so close to each other and both so imaginative in their own ways that they would make a game out of everything. They knew that they were supposed to be quiet when they went to bed and thus would try their best to do so when they were playing past bedtime, but they almost always failed. Just last week, she and Cody had caught them playing in the hallway with their little toy soldiers while mimicking their uncle in something that was akin to Cody’s goblin voice.

She was met with a noise, but not what she had been expecting.

Tiny angels - Christmas angels try to sleep

Don't let Santa hear the sounds of little feet

Now its time to close your eyes and drift away

Until you wake tomorrow and its Christmas day

Cody’s dulcet tones echoed through the lofty ceiling of their second story. She immediately realized that he was already in the nursery with their girls, she could hear the underlying snuffling of toddlers falling asleep that proved it. Felicity raised a single hand to her mouth to make sure that she stayed quiet as she drifted closer to where the sound was coming from. She leaned on the door as she took in the scene in front of her, her heart hammering in her chest.

Tiny angels - I have heard you every night

Whispering with bright eyes shining in the light

Daddy, when is it Christmas - will it soon be here?

Well my darlings, it's very, very near

The nursery had changed quite a bit since they had taken their twins out of their room. Gone was the huge crib where Maggie and Ella slept together, holding each other’s hands to comfort the other as they slept. They had exchanged them for twin beds that were tucked under the sloping edge with a huge piece of cloth each so that they created a faux-canopy. The other half of the room held the half dozen shelves that were filled with numerous book and toys, handed down to the twins from their parents and Logan. 

Cody was seated in between the heads of the beds with his back pressed into the wall. He had turned towards Maggie, who always had a harder time falling asleep. His eyes were so heavily glued to his daughter that he hadn’t even registered the fact that his wife was right there, watching him.

As near as you my angels - since you came to me

Now Christmas day and every day is the same to me

The only gifts that I could want are you, my darlings

Cody brushed his fingers over Maggie’s already sweaty forehead to remove some of the dark black locks from where they were falling into her eyes. She gave a little noise of acknowledgement and then rolled over. She burrowed further down into her blankets, her arms tightening as hard as they could around the stuffed animal she had received last year for Christmas.

Tiny angels - Christmas angels sleeping tight

May Santa bring you all the gifts you want tonight?

And some day when you have tiny angels too

I hope you find the joy I found in you

Felicity worried for a minute that she had been found out when she noticed that her husband was turning. She almost let out a sigh of relief when she saw that he was still enamored with their children and she was hidden.

He turned so that he was facing the other twin, singing lightly to her while curled around the side of her bed. If the scene in front of her hadn’t been so sickly sweet, then she would have thought that it was almost comical. The furniture had been made especially for a four-year-old and Cody was a grown man that worked out every single day. He looked massive sitting in between the tiny toddler beds while trying to make himself as small as possible.

You changed the world, my angels - when you came to me

Now Christmas day and every day is the same to me

The only gifts that I could want are you

She knew that sentiment inside and out. The girls had been a surprise to them both, something that neither of them had taken into consideration as early into their marriage as they had come. They had been so worried, so nervous and anxious that they were going to do it wrong. The moment they saw their babies, they knew that they would have to at least try. She remembered it like it was yesterday and likely would for the rest of her life. Their daughters had changed their entire worlds if not the world has a whole.

Tiny angels - Christmas angels try to sleep

Don't let Santa hear the sounds of little feet

Now its time to close your eyes and drift away

Until you wake tomorrow and its Christmas day

Cody finished the last verse and then gave both of the girls a kiss on the head. Ella stretched out so that her foot was hanging out from her blankets, but he quickly tucked her back where she belonged. Maggie gave another stir of discontent but when one of her blue eyes blinked open and saw that it was only Cody, she slipped back into her lull of sleep.

He stood up and watched them for a moment. Both of them had always done that and likely would continue to do so until their girls were old enough to stop needing to be tucked in. Felicity didn’t want to think about them being that grown up though, even the thought of it made her heart ache in her chest.

Cody turned around and walked towards her. She had the common decency to look guilty at being caught, but the only thing that he did was smile at her. He grabbed one of her hands with his own and then used the other to close the door so that they wouldn’t wake their children. “Are the cookies done?”

“Thank the gods, yes,” she laughed. “The girls give you any trouble?”

“You’re asking about our girls? Not Logan and Gan’s hellion?” he asked with a small chuckle. He kissed the knuckles of her hand as he led her further down the hall. “I’m sorry if my singing scared you, I know I don’t have a very good voice. I just… I saw that song in one of the books that Harold gave us and I thought that it would make Christmas Eve even more special. I’ve been singing it to them since they were newborns.”

“Cody, your voice is amazing!” Felicity gasped like she couldn’t believe that he had just said that. “And I think that you doing that for them is so sweet. I’m so glad that I married you.”

He paused and turned towards her, his spare hand coming to rest on her cheek. He traced his thumb over her cheekbone for a few seconds before he leaned in for a kiss. “I love you.”

She closed the distance between them. “I love you, too.”

[ash-and-starlight]

“They’re going for the twins,” said Zuko. “They’re spreading out around the ice, they know—” and inevitably, like the scratchings on an oracle bone, the image was stuttering into view on their planetside radio map. Around the disrupted frequency of the Siqiniq and Taqqiq’s ice wall, the remnant Fire Nation ships were spreading out, the asteroids that had been fencing them in all scattered by now— “We’re going after them,” said Zuko.

The Mercy of Magpies chapter 5

written by thee one and only @ranilla-bean and betaed bt @faux-fires

Chapter Post || Cover || Map and Characters || Ch 2 || Ch 3.1 || Ch 3.2 || Ch 4 || Ch 5.1

[lonely-night]

Happiest Season 2.0: Agathario Riley/Eve

Riley returned to her hometown for Christmas and she met Eve who's visiting the small town that she randomly picked on map. After bumping to each other a few times, Riley suggested to take Eve to a gay bar to see a drag performance.

[jovialobservationanchor]

The gentle blue light of the illusions reminded Harry of Patronuses in an aching way. He liked the soft glow of them on Draco’s face. Draco, for all his theatrics in Hagrid’s Magical Creatures class and his more understated shyness of Luna’s animals, regarded them with an unguarded awe. He liked clever magic. How had Harry never noticed what a boffin he was?

They were standing in front of a jackalope when Draco turned to meet Harry’s stare. His eyebrows lifted in inquiry.

Harry felt his face heat, but he was still tipsy from the beer and was, after all, an alumnus of Gryffindor. He leaned in to kiss Draco.

Title: Wont

(A holiday-flavored sequel to Knead, my coffeeshop AU set in Oregon!)

By: laughingd0g

Length: 37k

Summary: This is what happens after.

Tags: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter EWE, AU, coffee shops and cafes, farm/ranch, slice of life, Portland Oregon, Ex-Auror Harry Potter, Baker Draco Malfoy, Muggle life, established relationship, banter, friendship, drinking, wine, food pr0n, fluff, stress baking, kitchen sex, miscommunication, minor Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, past Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner, vegetarians and vegans, food fight, Christmas Eve, Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve

Read on AO3

I was going to wait till I’d released the short epilogue to make this Tumblr post, but I can’t wait any longer to share this beautiful artwork by my dear @rama-thorn. Merry Christmas, friends.

(The epilogue is coming, though! 🥰 )

[g1rld1ary]

christmas eve - sirius black x fem!reader

wc: 2405

cw: pure fluff, swearing, you meet sirius' friends on Christmas eve

me: happy christmas eve chickens!!!! hope u r all staying safe and happy and enjoying the holidays!!!! xxxx

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

If you had been asked in school if you would ever fancy Sirius Black, you would have said never in a million years. Sirius Black was a loud-mouthed, annoying, entitled son of a bitch. However, many years later, you would only say your boyfriend was a son of a bitch — you hated that woman.

If either of your respective groups of friends had been asked the same question, you were sure they would have given identical answers. In school you were quiet, polite and stayed under the radar. And Sirius was, well, Sirius. There was no way the two of you would ever get along.

Admittedly, you still didn’t exactly look the pair. Sirius and his dark silky hair, electric silver eyes and intimidating worn leather jacket, and you with your muted colour palette and unassuming appearance. Yet, you thought you went together pretty well. Still, you could both understand that even time and maturity didn’t make your get together more expected. In fact, you were probably the last person the marauders expected to show up to their Christmas Eve dinner.

When Christmas Eve finally came, Sirius and James were busy setting up his and Lily's dining room for the perfect holiday event. Decked in horrendous matching Christmas jumpers with terrible puns stamped across the front, each boy broke into laughter whenever they caught a glimpse of the other’s across the table as they lay down the fancy cutlery. Remus and Lily, cooking in the other room, had opted for more neutral red and green jumpers as a tribute to the season.

“Come on, mate, we’re brothers yet you’ve kept this girl hidden for months now, can’t you just tell me?” James begged, arranging the centrepieces to be spaced how he knew Lily liked.

“Patience, Prongsy, you’ll meet her soon enough. Promise you’ll be nice to her?”

“When have I not been nice?” James cried, hands up in mock offence. Sirius just shook his head, turning to arrange some pillows.

James cast him an inquisitive look, protective wasn’t usually Sirius’ style, which meant that something about you was really different. He’d been considering that for a while, and his suspicions were only confirmed with every passing day.

There were three main reasons that James thought Sirius was (for lack of a better word) serious about you. Firstly, Sirius was healthier. With the family he was born with, it wasn’t surprising that Sirius had a host of trauma and mental health issues. And though he’d tried therapy and meds a handful of times the habit had never really stuck and he’d always had a level of discomfort in his own body. Lately, though, Sirius had seemed more relaxed and in control. James wasn’t stupid, he knew that a partner couldn’t fix anyone, but he was absolutely more inclined to approve of one who made his best friend feel like himself again.

Secondly, Sirius was more private. Sirius had always had an outrageous sense of humour, uninhibited when it came to sex jokes or sharing conquests. But recently James had noticed that while Sirius still made jokes they were aimed at other people, he’d almost completely stopped talking about his own sex life. Of course, when prompted he would boast about how sexy his girlfriend was and how incredible and active your sex life was, but it was never Sirius bringing it up, or making gross comments about your body and what you could do with it.

Finally, Sirius was gentle. He’d always been charming, but the unfiltered adoration in his eyes when he spoke about you took James aback — he’d never seen it in his brother before. It was so pure and well-intentioned that James knew in his core that Sirius was head over heels and the fall was not coming to an end any time soon.

As the clock ticked by the gang all trickled in, the dining room filling with warmth and laughter. At five minutes past nine, you rang the doorbell.

“Is this the girlfriend?” Lily clapped with delight, jumping up and down with Mary.

“I’ll let her in. Play nice,” Sirius said with a stern sweep of the room, satisfied when his friends all played along, nodding solemnly.

Standing on the Potter’s doorstep you were ball of anxiety. You hadn’t seen any of the marauders — apart from your boyfriend — since you finished school, taking a muggle job. Thankfully Sirius opened the door, greeting you with his toothy smile.

“Hi, lovely,” He said, engulfing you in a bear hug. You giggled, wrapping one arm around him, the other holding up a purple umbrella.

“Hi,” You smiled back, “Sorry I’m late, all the houses look the same.”

“What are you talking about? You’re right on time.” A lie, but a kind one so you let it be. You shook the water off your umbrella before stepping inside.

Safe in a warm home you leant up on your tiptoes to plant a kiss on Sirius’ lips as he slid the coat down your arms, hanging it up on a hook beside you. You were half-tempted to just stay in his arms for the rest of the night and abandon the dinner altogether, but you figured that wasn’t possible while you were inside someone else’s house. It seemed like Sirius had the same idea, pulling away with a groan.

“Come on, everyone’s waiting to meet you.” You followed him out of the entryway, calming yourself with a breath.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I present my girlfriend.” Sirius revealed you dramatically as you waved shyly, shifting in your small brown heels.

“Uh, hey—”

“Holy shit, it’s you?” Marlene slammed her hand on the dining table. You jumped slightly, squinting to figure out what was going on. Your mouth dropped open as you connected the dots and looked up at Sirius.

“Do they not know we’re dating? Sirius!” You scolded him, smacking him on the bicep. Sirius floundered for a moment, struggling to summon the charm that usually got him out of trouble.

“In my defence,” He preached, “Would they have believed me?”

“I would not have,” Peter put in helpfully. You laughed, putting a hand to your forehead in exasperation.

“I guess I don’t blame you. It’s nice to see you, Peter, by the way. Long time no see, I’ve heard so much about you all.” The group all shared a look, something akin to guilt growing that they hadn’t seen someone they graduated with for years.

“And we know nothing about you,” Lily said with an expectant look to Sirius, “Since your boyfriend was so insistent on keeping you hidden away from us.” Sirius just shrugged, lifting his hands in surrender.

“Oh, baby, are you ashamed of me?” You teased with a dramatic pout.

“What’s there to be ashamed of? You’re perfect.” Sirius swooped down to press a kiss on your cheek. You grinned subconsciously as Mary and Marlene mirrored your expression. Sirius had dated a lot of people but they’d never seen him be so gentle.

“Is anyone else scared of Sirius being a normal human being?” James stage whispered and the others all agreed, joking at their friend’s expense.

“Enough gossiping about me you heathens, I’m helping Lily serve up some food. Right, Lils?” Sirius made a summoning motion and Lily followed him, a small smile still on her lips. He’d chosen wisely, Lily was the least likely to tear him to shreds about his behaviour.

You sat shyly on one of the couches in the Potter’s living room, studying your nails as you tried to come up with conversation.

“So, are you working, studying?” Remus asked kindly, putting you out of your awkward misery.

“How’d you and Padfoot meet — again?”

“How’d a twat like Pads score a girl like you?”

“I’m working, I run a muggle bookshop. Sirius came in one day by chance and just kept returning until eventually we started going out.”

“Sirius reading?” Mary asked incredulously, drawing laughter from you. You nodded happily, glad to talk about your boyfriend.

“Surprising I know, but he’s been really into it over the last few months!”

“Can I just defend myself and say that I was shopping for Remus’ birthday gift the first time,” Sirius popped his head through the door, “I didn’t start reading until I wanted to get her to like me.” You shook your head with a smile, rolling your eyes playfully.

“I was going to say I couldn’t imagine Sirius perusing a book store for fun, but it makes a lot more sense when you say it’s for a girl,” Marlene teased, popping up to help Sirius bring the dishes to the dining table.

“Hey! I’m an intellectual now, you arse.” Sirius pulled out your chair for you as the group migrated to the dining table.

“Yeah, okay, Padfoot,” Remus snorted and Sirius scoffed in false annoyance before you all fell silent, devouring the meal.

You ate and shared stories for hours and you felt strangely at home among the group. At some point Sirius, sitting beside you, threw an arm over your shoulder and you cuddled into his warmth.

You loved learning about the Marauders, you only remembered fragments from school since you were never close with any of them. James being an auror made perfect sense when you remembered his amazing DADA performances, and Remus becoming a teacher was a wonderful sequel to his long tutoring sessions in seventh year. Lily expecting a baby so young had shook up their home life but the house had clearly started getting child-ready even though it was months away. Regardless, the group welcomed you warmly and you felt immediately at home.

“I just can’t believe that you of all people are together. I mean after all this time, how you both were in school… what are the odds?” Peter asked, reaching over the table to take another scoop of vegetables. You bit your lip and tried to control the heat creeping up your neck.

“I think we balance each other out,” You reasoned, “Sirius is such a… distinct character that he needs someone boring like me to bring him down.”

“You, boring? You’re the daughter that everyone wants!” Marlene laughed, sipping a red wine.

“I couldn’t function without her.” Sirius laced your fingers together, gaze heavy on you. “She reminds me to take care of myself, go to bed before three A.M., and of course, is hot and sexy as fuck.” That was the Sirius his friends all knew, but the school-era immaturity was gone. No longer was it the ladies-man Sirius Black trying to get into someone’s pants, instead, it was Sirius making a dumb joke with someone he loved.

“Sirius!” You cried, covering your face with both hands, including the one Sirius had attached to yours. Times like these you could feel the differences between you — Sirius was known for his crude humour, you would never bring up how sexy you thought Sirius was, joke or not, especially not in front of people you didn’t really know.

The night progressed with more reminiscing and storytelling, and you listened enraptured as they told story after story of pranks and parties, a life you were unaware of being led right beside you at school. You all ended up tipsy, an embarrassing stack of empty wine bottles building up at the end of the table.

As you were told was a common occurrence, the group all decided to just stay over at the Potters, pulling out mattresses and spots on the sofa with practised speed. You took the place they gave you, grateful to still be welcome.

Swaddled in blankets, Sirius was the first asleep, dead to the world in a matter of moments. For someone who stayed up half the night, he really did pass out as soon as his head hit the pillow. Whenever he was with you, anyway.

Someone across the room called your name in a whisper, wand faintly illuminated. You sat up to look their way, finding the rest of Sirius’ friends looking at you.

“We just wanted to say we really like you, and we’re really happy for you and Padfoot, even if we were weird at the start,”” Mary said and you couldn’t contain your grin.

“And why weren’t we friends in school? We would’ve gotten along great,” Remus added, rubbing tired eyes.

“I would have been putting a target on my own back,” You confessed, “You were all in the same house, confident in yourselves and could defend yourself against the bullies. I was alone in my house and deeply insecure. Even if we were friends I would’ve gone back to my common room at the end of the day and been vulnerable. It was easier to just be alone.”

“You thought that through.” James nodded appreciatively but you just shrugged, a fact was a fact.

The conversation moved away from you for a while, whispers and stifled giggles bouncing across the room.

“You know that Sirius is in love with you, right?” James blurted out of nowhere, slapping a hand over his mouth.

“What?”

“Isn’t it obvious? He looks at you like he’s your whole world. He raves about you all the time; how great you are, how he’s so glad he met you. He’s my brother and I know him better than he knows himself; he’s mad for you.”

You took a moment to let that sink in. You hadn’t put too much thought into whether Sirius loved you, you’d always just been happy with the way they were going.

“Oh,” You hesitated. “I hadn’t considered that. Well, um, I should probably get to sleep, I have a lot of family to see tomorrow.” It was a poor excuse, you knew, but that was a big word.

You bade the group goodnight once more before snuggling into Sirius, and he instinctually wrapped his arm around your waist. As you drifted off to sleep, the thought crossed your mind that maybe, love wasn’t so out of the picture.

[goodomensao3tagoftheday]

[ivystoryweaver]

Holiday Fics Masterlist (the whole year thru)

Main Masterlist

New Year

See "Autumn" for Rosh Hashanah/New Year Jake Lockley fic

Valentines

(Art, not fics)

Oscar Isaac Characters Valentines Masterlist

Mother's Day

"What a Mother Can Be" Moon Dads (Steven and Marc) || 1.7k words

Father’s Day

“He’s Okay” Marc Spector || 1.3k words

Autumn

"Happy New Year, Jake" Jake Lockley || 820 words

Halloween

"Spectre: A Moon Knight Halloween Love Story" Moon Boys || ongoing || 18+

Thanksgiving

"A Date, Then?" Steven Grant || 1k words

Winter

"Next December" Jake Lockley || 805 words || 18+

"Surf's Up" Jake Lockley || 100 words

Holiday Season

"Jingle Bells" Santiago Garcia || 800 words

Holidays with the Moon Boys moodboard

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" Poe Dameron (Life Day) || 3.1k words

Hanukkah

"Eight Nights (in December)" Marc, Steven (Jake is mentioned) || 7.4k words

Christmas

"(Everybody's Waitin' for) The Man With the Bag" Miguel O'Hara || 1050 words

“Fairytale of New York” Llewyn Davis || 2.2k words || 18+

Birthday

Moon Boys Celebrate Your Birthday 635 words

“March the 9th” Marc Spector || 1.4k words

[possumdnp]

no matter how far away you roam (rated T, 1.5k words)

Summary: Some things will never change, like Dan and Phil video calling each other from their family homes over Christmas.

Read on ao3 here!

[cinderellasfella]

To the outside world, Captain America carries the mantle of leadership and the weight of the hard calls without complaint. Behind closed doors, it's a different story as Thor relieves Steve of the burden of command.

Rating: E

Word Count: 3.2k

Ship(s): Steve Rogers/Thor

Major Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply

Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Light Dom/sub, Dom/sub Undertones, Blow Jobs, Face-Fucking, Hand Jobs, Praise Kink, Subspace, Aftercare, Fluff, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship.

[newtonsheffield]

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Bridgerton (TV), Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Anthony Bridgerton/Kate Sheffield | Kate Sharma Characters: Anthony Bridgerton, Kate Sheffield | Kate Sharma Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas spirit I guess, Inspired by Serendipity (Movie 2001), Anthony is a grouch Summary:

“I’ll just get the first bloody thing I can lay eyes on and get the hell out of here. And maybe a candy cane. Because that’s whimsical.” He reached out, his hand closing around one of the gloves. He’d already turned to leave, groaning at the line of people trying to make their purchases already 40 people deep, when he was stopped, something pulling the gloves back, out of his hand. “Can you let go of my gloves?” Anthony wheeled around, startled at the woman’s audacity and honestly, more than a little fed up with the entire city. “If they’re you’re gloves what are they doing festooned in this display?” He gestured like a maniac. The woman’s dark eyes fixed on his, an amused smirk curving her lips. “Festooned?” Anthony leaned back a little, trying not to notice how beautiful the woman was. He gave her a sarcastic sigh, “It’s a festive garland.” He gestured to the tinsel. “The festoon in question.”

 OR

Anthony Bridgerton doesn’t believe in fate but maybe he needs to start

OR

Serendipity

[haddonfieldwhore]

winter things - matthew tkachuk

matthew tkachuk x gn!reader

summary: your best friend matthew brings you home to celebrate the holidays with his family. their only christmas wish is for the two of you to finally get together

warnings: mentions of drinking, use of y/n like twice? (this is my first time including the whole tkachuk fam in a fic and i’m not super confident with it so please take it easy on me)

i hope you all enjoy the fic! happy holidays🌲♥️❄️

word count: 2.8k

you smiled at the familiar house that came into view as matthew pulled the car into the driveway. you had spent so much time here growing up with the tkachuks that it was almost a second home, welcoming you back with open arms as you stepped out of the car, a thin crust of snow crunching beneath your boots. matthew sniffled as he walked up the driveway next to you, and you laughed, watching as he struggled to carry all of the gifts that he insisted to bring all in one trip from the car.

“calm down, florida. it’s not that cold,” you laughed, careful not to drop the tin of christmas cookies your mitten covered hands held tightly. you and matthew had traveled from the sunshine-state to st.louis, where you had grown up together. whenever you came back to visit, despite all the years he spent living in calgary, it always took him a day to get used to the snow again.

“shut up,” he pouted, but even he couldn’t contain the smile that spread across his lips. even with his hands full of gifts, matthew held the outside door for you, and before you could even raise a hand to knock the inside door opened, revealing taryns smiling face.

“hey! took you guys long enough to get here,” she laughed, and matt sent her a mocking glare. “let me take that from you”, she offered, grabbing the cookie tin from your hands as you and matthew walked inside. you shook off the light dusting of snow that had gathered on your shoulders, before you felt matthews hands slide your jacket off your arms, hanging it up in the closet for you. keith stood up from the couch and walked over to greet the two of you as you dusted a few snowflakes out of matt’s hair. keith embraced his eldest son in a hug, which matthew happily returned, before he gave you one as well.

“we almost thought you two weren’t coming. did matthew forget how to drive in snow?” keith asked, causing you and taryn to laugh, and matthew to roll his eyes.

“i haven’t been here 2 minutes and that’s two florida jokes,” he raised his hands in disbelief.

“i didn’t hear dad say that word, did you?” taryn asked you, and you shook your head, and matthew narrowed his eyes at you playfully.

“why is avery one ganging up on me?” he asked, and you heard the thump of footsteps coming down the stairs behind him, as brady and his wife emma appeared.

“that’s what happens when you show up late, buddy,” the younger tkachuk brother teased, and matthew grabbed him in a headlock in response, but it quickly turned into a friendly hug.

“y/n got here at the same time as me,” matt argued, and you raised your hands in mock surrender, as chantal walked into the living room to see what all the commotion was.

“we don’t pick on our guests, that’s the rule. it’s so nice to see you!” she smiled, and gave you a warm hug.

“mom!” matt protested, and she walked over to hug him too.

“oh, relax. come here,” she pulled him into her arms.

taryn brought you into the kitchen, and after each of you washed your hands, she helped you take the cookies out of the tin and put them out into a festive plate.

“have you been home from school very long?” you asked, and taryn shook her head.

“just a few days. how was the drive from the airport?” she asked.

“it was pretty good,” you said. there wasn’t too much snow this year so driving conditions were good. “my driver wasn’t great, but he was cheap so i can’t complain-“ you teased as matthew walked into the kitchen and within earshot.

“i heard that,” he smiled.

“good,” you smiled back, scrunching your nose up as he stuck his tongue out at you.

“you two should take your bags upstairs to matthews room. there’s a little early christmas present for each of you up there,” chantal instructed, and you smiled, laughing as matthew stole a cookie off the plate on his way past. you followed after him, protesting as he grabbed both his bag and yours from by the front door, before heading up the stairs.

you knew this house like the back of your hand, and you smiled as the familiar scent of the tkachuk family home mixing with the smell of christmas cooking and baking filling your nose. you turned the corner and saw matt already sitting in his bed, your bags placed on the floor neatly as he read the tags on two gift bags that sat next to him on the bed.

“this one is for you,” he said, holding out the green gift bag to you, keeping the red one for himself. you opened them together, each pulling out flannel pyjama pants, yours green with a plaid pattern and his red, just like the bags had been. it had become a tradition for chantal and keith to buy christmas pyjamas for each of their kids every year, and then for emma as well, and you felt honoured each time you were included.

“we get to match this year,” he smiled, and you set the pants on top of your bag to wear later, and looked around matthews room. while his decorating had changed since you were younger, there were things that remained the same; the small dent in the ceiling from when matthew and brady had decided to play hockey inside and sent a puck flying up into the plaster. there were pencil marks on the door frame with the three siblings initials next to them, even a few with yours.

you walked over to desk and admired the bulletin board with pictures push-pinned to it, most of them containing the two of you, ranging from when you were kids until last time you had visited his parents with him for his birthday a few years ago.

“is it weird being back here?” matthew asked, coming over to look at the pictures with you. his hand rested half on top of your as you leaned on the desk, and you smiled, shaking your head.

“no,” you answered. “it kinda takes you back in time though, doesn’t it? like nothings changed?” you asked, and he turned his head to look at you.

“yeah. i feel like i’m a kid again whenever i’m here with everyone.”

“thank you for inviting me,” you leaned against his shoulder, and you felt him rest his head on yours.

“of course. it wouldn’t be the same without you here,” he replied, and you hummed contently in response.

“hey, dinners almost ready,” you heard taryn’s voice from the doorway, neither of you having noticed her come up the stairs to find you. you turned towards her, a smile on her face as she looked at you and matthew standing together. it had come up a few times between her and matt’s family if the two of you were ever going to realize you were in love with eachother, and as the years went by, taryn was convinced the two of you would never figure it out.

“okay, we’ll be right there,” matthews arm had snaked around your waist at some point, and he pushed you towards the door after taryn, following his younger sister downstairs to eat.

-🧣🧦🌲❄️-

after dinner, keith and chantal watched as ‘the kids’, meaning the three tkachuk siblings along with you and emma, decorated the tree. the lights had already been strung a few weeks before, but it was a family tradition to hang the ornaments on christmas eve. chantel had requested everyone get changed into their pyjamas for pictures, and you noticed that the pattern on brady and emma’s matched, as well as hers and keith’s having a matching design. still, neither you or your best friend figured out that they were in fact meant to be couples pyjamas.

“this one’s yours, brady,” matthew said, handing his brother an ornament with his name on it.

“what movie are we thinking this year?” keith asked from his recliner, holding a few dvds in his hand. “home alone, the grinch, elf…”

“i like home alone,” emma offered, and brady and taryn agreed.

“any of those are fine with me,” you smiled, choosing an ornament and hanging it on the tree.

“sweetheart, why don’t you put the star on the tree this year,” chantal suggested, passing you the tree topper. “you’re the guest after all.”

“are you sure?” you asked, and she nodded with a warm smile. carefully, you stepped up onto the small wooden stool next to the tree so you could reach the top, and you were relieved to feel matthews hands on your waist, gently steadying you so you wouldn’t fall. keith looked at chantal with a knowing glance, watching matt take your hand to help you down from the stool after you had successfully placed the star on top of the tree.

“okay, i want a picture of all you kids by the tree, while it’s still snowing outside. it will look really pretty in the window behind everyone,” chantal said, getting her phone camera ready.

taryn stood in the middle, while brady had one arm over her shoulder and the other arm holding emma close to his side. matt stood behind you with his arms hugging you and his chin on your shoulder as you all smiled for the photo. you and emma made the siblings and their parents take a photo together as well, before taryn put the movie in, home alone winning the vote. keith was sat in his recliner, while taryn and chantal sat on the loveseat. emma and brady sat on one end of the large couch while you sat in the middle of it and matthew leaned against the armrest at the other end.

maybe it was the flight from florida, or the spiked eggnog you’d had after dinner, but you began to feel sleepy about an hour in to the movie, and tried not to make it too obvious that you were yawning as not to be rude. matthew still noticed however, and he gently placed a blanket over your legs, stealing some of it for himself as you curled up under the warm material. while you appreciated the gesture, the added warmth only made you more tired, and you soon drifted off, matthew catching your head just in time as it fell to the side. he rested it safely in his shoulder, and smiled down at you as you snuggled into him.

emma elbowed brady in the side gently, pointing at the two of you, completely in your own little world. chantal glanced over, her eyes meeting emma’s with a quiet laugh before she watched her eldest son place a gentle kiss on the top of your head, oblivious to the two women watching him. the movie ended with you still fast asleep, and as it neared midnight, everyone said goodnight and went off to bed, leaving you and matthew alone on the couch.

“hey, sleepyhead. time to get up,” he shook you gently, and you mumbled incoherently in protest, your fingers digging into the material of his hoodie as you snuggled impossibly closer. “unless you want to sleep down here, but i warn you - dad wakes up at like 6 am,” he laughed, and the sound pulled you out of your slumber.

“why didn’t you wake me up sooner? i feel bad for falling asleep.”

“don’t feel bad,” he laughed again. “you could probably set the house on fire and my family would forgive you, they love you so much. but maybe don’t- i kinda like it here,” he teased.

“i promise not to set the house on fire,” you mocked him playfully, and his hands tickled your ribs, causing you to fall backwards onto the couch with him on top of you. “please, i’m sorry, please stop-“ you pleased through tears of laughter.

“fine, but only because it’s christmas and you asked nicely. lets go up to bed, mom will want us up early to open presents,” he surrendered, getting up off the couch and extending a hand to help you up.

matthew didn’t let go of your hand as you both walked into his room, only letting go of it to go into the attached bathroom to brush his teeth. you did the same after him, walking out to see him already under the blankets.

“come here,” he held his arms open for you to crawl into, his hoodie discarded in a pile on the floor, leaving him in just the flannel pyjama pants. it wasn’t an unusual sleeping arrangement; having shared a bed with him many times when you were kids, and anytime you came to visit his family. you switched off the bathroom light and laid down, curling up next to him as his arms pulled you close, tucking you securely under his chin. the soft facial hair on his chin tickled your forehead as you wrapped your arms around him, his body invitingly warm as you felt yourself getting sleepy again.

matt squinted his eyes, looking at the clock on the nightstand that read 12:03am.

“merry christmas, bug,” he mumbled softly, and you hummed in response.

“merry christmas matty.”

-🧣🧦🌲❄️-

you woke up to the sound of the alarm matthew had set on his phone going off at 8am, the time chantal had requested everyone be up for presents and then breakfast. you tried to get out of bed but matt refused to let go of you, his arms holding you tight as you tried to squirm out of his grip.

“come on, before brady eats all the cookies,” you argued, and that woke matt up, but he still grumbled and groaned as he finally let you of you and rolled out of bed. he pulled a t-shirt over his head, tossing you one from his dresser to throw over your tank-top. running a hand through his messy curls to tame them as best he could, and you rubbed your eyes as you followed him towards the hallway. you bumped into his muscular frame, not realizing he had stopped in the doorway, and you looked at him with confusion, realization flooding over you as he pointed upwards.

“oh-“ you breathed, looking at the small green bundle of mistletoe that had been hung from the doorframe while you were sleeping.

“that wasn’t there before, was it?” matt asked, looking down at you, and you shook your head, your eyes meeting his.

“why would someone hang it there?” you asked, and he laughed, finally getting it.

“i think maybe my family is trying to tell us something,” he said, reaching for your hand with his.

“matty-“ you mumbled, your voice barely above a whisper as you looked at your lips, and then up to your eyes again.

“can i kiss you?” he whispered, stepping closer in the small doorway, leaving almost no space between your bodies. you mind was racing a mile a minute, unable to form words as you nodded, and he leaned forward, pressing his mouth against yours so softly, his lips only ghosting yours before he pulled back, waiting for a reaction.

“do that again,” you smiled, and his hands went to your hips this time to pull your body flush against his, as he kissed you again. his lips lingered on yours longer this time, and your hands rested against his broad chest as you kissed him back, never wanting to let go.

like all good things, the moment had to end, as you heard taryn call from downstairs.

“are you guys awake?”

“yeah, be right there,” matt called back, his eyes never leaving you as you stared up at him, everything making sense as you both put the pieces together.

“i love you, matthew.”

he smiled warmly, and kissed you once more, like he was making up for all the times he should have done it before.

“i love you.”

“i think we’re the last to know,” you admitted, looking down at the matching pyjamas, and up at the mistletoe, before looking back at him, a smile permanently plastered on his face.

“i think you’re right,” he laughed. “come on, before they send a search party.” he dragged you gently by your hand down the stairs, taking a seat on the couch and pulling you to sit in his lap.

taryn and chantal each looked at you with a raised eyebrow, and you had a sneaking suspicion they were behind the mistletoe. taryn watched matty place a kiss on your cheek, and she sent you a wink.

maybe it was the warmth from the fireplace, or matthews arms around your waist holding you close to him, but your heart felt warmer than you could ever remember. brady and emma began passing out the gifts, and you took one for matt from her hands.

“you go first,” he said, gesturing with a nod for you to set it on the coffee table. emma placed a present with your name on the tag in your hands, as matthew whispered in your ear.

“i already have everything i want.”

disclaimer: all screenshots, events, and/or interactions depicted in this are a work of fiction. i have no association with any parties mentioned

[sillygoofyqueer]

Random reminder to comment on fanfiction that you've read and enjoyed because that shit is like crack cocaine to us, guys. You want to help support fanfiction writers and motivate them to write? Nothing gets the juices flowing like a well timed comment praising a fic. Anyway - Losing hope - Chapter 16 - I_cant_think_of_a_name_right_now_340 - 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù [Archive of Our Own]