#I am baking each and every one of you a batch of your favorite cookies right now in my mind

[haledamage]

the DBDA fandom is so fucking nice 😭😭😭😭 I can't even express how overwhelmed with love I am for you guys right now for real

[yelenaslyubov]

I Don’t Bite

main masterlist || requests || autumn fic list

requested by @belovasecho

a/n: two fics in one week? two fics back to back? who am i🫣this was so fun to write! you can probably tell by now, found family is one of my favorite things to write, hence why a lot of my fics have so many MCU characters in them. i hope you enjoy <3

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ pairing: yelena belova x reader

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ warnings: heavy flirting, language (but i honestly don’t remember), fluffyyy

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ description: on the day of the avengers annual fall family get together, you spend your time baking and watching football commence. during the usual bonfire, the cold leaves you seeking the warmth of another avenger you have a dirty little secret with.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ word count: 2k

When the leaves are at their peak orange glow and it’s just cold enough to stay outside, Steve named it our “Family Fall Festival” weekend. You, along with the rest of the Avengers never celebrated Thanksgiving. This was due to the foundational ideas of it along with the fact that the Avengers were a melting pot of different cultures and places. There was no point in celebrating.

Instead, the team had made their own holiday that consisted of baking, games, gossiping, a large feast, drinking, and a large bonfire to end the day. It was a way to create your very own fall holiday under different premises.

For the majority of the day, you spent time with Wanda in the kitchen baking. You baked everything from apple pie to shortbread cookies. People came and went all day, snatching up different delectables to eat on their way to their next destination.

Since the Avengers really were your family combined with your coworkers, it was nice to have a day with no chaos and only love.

The sun was going down now, signaling the near ending of a wonderful day. You were finishing up your last batch of chocolate chip cookies when you watched some of the guys play a rough game of football. Though they did it every year, you weren’t sure why they continued since it always ended in a fight.

This time was no different as you watched Peter get tackled to the ground by an angry Pietro. There was no way that one did not hurt. You may be Avengers, but you sure as hell still bleed.

You walked down to the field below the compound to see what was the matter. Peter was laying on the ground with a crowd around him.

“That was awesome!” You heard Rocket’s distinctive voice shout.

“Guys, it’s not funny, he’s hurt,” Carol said concerningly.

“I swear I did not mean to hit you that hard, it just… happened,” Pietro explained.

Peter groaned while laying stiff in pain. “Yeah, for sure. The guy with super speed didn’t mean to run full speed ahead into my body…”

“He’s got a point,” you said. Regardless of the situation, you tried to hide your laughter due to Peter’s attempt at being upset.

In the distance, you saw Yelena, Nat, Kate, and Valkyrie huddled next to each other. The thing that stood out most was Yelena’s laughter that resembled the honk of a goose. She was completely bent out of shape chuckling until she was red in the face.

This might do you in for good, and then you would be a terrible friend. You couldn’t stand there and laugh in Peter’s face, so you chose to walk away instead. You found yourself next to Drax, the worst person to be near if you’re trying to be serious. You hoped this time it might be different.

He had his hand buried in a bag of chips and was staring in the distance. You stood next to him and watched as Peter started to get back on his feet. Once he stood up, you noticed the large and noticeable patch of mud that was spread on the back of his pants.

Once Drax caught wind of Peter’s pants, his loud laughter soon followed. He abandoned his bag of chips and clapped his hands together as he lost all control of his body.

“His pants!” he yelled. “They have… they have poop on them! HAHA!” He tried to speak between his wheezing and screaming but it was no use.

“I’m going to take Peter inside, why don’t you guys start the fire,” Steve suggested while grabbing one of Peter’s shoulders and guiding him inside.

“Ooo, you guys are in trouble,” Kamala said.

“You can’t lie, it was a little funny,” you chuckled.

“Oh absolutely, it was hilarious!”

After the fun around Peter's accident had died down, everyone made their way over to the large fire pit that was reserved for the bonfire. Surrounding the pit were several wooden chairs and logs that had been strategically placed to feel the fire’s warmth.

The stars were starting to make their appearance in the sky which meant it was time to start up the fire. Bucky, Sam, and Clint started to work their magic starting the fire with the several dozen large logs that already resided in the pit. Some of the guys spent the morning chopping down a tree or two and splitting logs in preparation for tonight.

In a few minutes, there were sparks flying around the logs until each one was lit aflame. Soon, the fire’s heat was spreading around to everyone, except for you apparently.

You looked around at the faces circling the fire; Agatha and Rio sat far behind the group, Nat and Wanda were now sitting together, and some of the guys were huddling around in a group conversing and laughing.

Though the fire exerted much warmth, you still found yourself shivering underneath your coat. Just in time, Peter was walking towards you in the distance.

“You okay?” you asked him.

“As good as I can be.” He sat down on the log next to you with a groan. “At least it’s a nice night huh?”

“Yeah, for sure,” you said between shivers.

“Oh no, are you cold?”

“Uh, just a tad.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

You expected him to drape part of the blanket he had around him over you, but he did no such thing. Peter was your best friend, but most of the time he was clueless.

“Well, I’m gonna go sit with some of the guys. I’ll catch you later.” Peter awkwardly waved goodbye as you laughed to yourself at his oblivion.

You took this as an opportunity to get up and move to a chair closer. Since most people claimed the chairs before the logs, the only chair that was left was the wooden two-seater chair made for two people.

You sat down closer to the fire and tried to cozy up. You regretted not bringing a blanket down from your room and you were far too lazy to walk all the way back up to find one.

Deciding on just suffering the consequences, you stayed by the fire with only your coat for comfort. To your dismay, warmth still did not find you. You were starting to think you should go inside when the chair next to you creaked.

You looked to your left to find Yelena sitting down, one of the last people you had thought of.

“Cold?” she asked sarcastically. You knew Yelena well enough to know it was sarcasm from the get go.

You knew Yelena, but most everyone else would say otherwise. Based on a decision between the two of you, you opted to keep the relationship between you secret.

You and Yelena had been dating in private for around a year now. You both felt that it would be better to work under the circumstances that you weren’t forming a strong personal relationship. This became hard as time went on, especially now that certain people started to catch on. This was reinforced when you looked across the fire to see Kate, Valkyrie, and Carol staring between you and Yelena with a smirk.

“Uh, what are you doing over here?” you asked her nervously.

“So you’re not cold?”

“No, I’m very cold actually, but-”

“Then no more talking.” Immediately, she unwrapped the thick blanket from around her shoulders and tossed it over you and her own lap. The gesture made you smile and her blatentness made you laugh.

“You didn’t answer my question,” you said.

“And you did not answer mine… at first at least.”

“Exactly, which means you get to answer my question next,” you smiled devilishly.

“Can’t a woman just sit where she pleases? This is America after all.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “Touché, Yelena.”

You usually spent your time staring at her from afar, or catching glimpses while you were paired on missions, but it wasn’t very often you saw her in her natural form.

Her cheeks were glowing bright and hot as the reflection of the fire casted shimmering shadow. Even though her hair was a mess most of the time, it was still perfectly laid and complimented the rest of her so perfectly. And even though she was wearing a sweatshirt that was clearly too big for her and sweatpants to match, she was still the most beautiful thing you had ever seen.

Having Yelena close like this around everyone else was dangerous. Times like these, all you wanted to do was pull her close and take in everything about her.

You could feel Yelena scoot a little bit closer to you. She knew how easily you could be flustered, so it didn’t help when she slipped her hand under the blanket to find yours.

“What are you doing?” you whispered, as if anyone could hear you anyway.

“What, I can’t hold your hand now? I don’t bite, you know,” Yelena huffed, adding a playful smirk at the end. “Well… most of the time.”

You smacked her arm. “Yelena, not here!”

“I��m sorry! How can I not when you look like that?”

Her admiration made you blush. Even with the warmth from the fire, Yelena couldn’t mistake the red spreading all over your cheeks. She took your hand more firmly and squeezed it.

She leaned in towards your face and brought her lips to your ears. “I’ve missed you, detka.”

Her mother tongue never fails to make you shiver. It made it even worse when she decided to bring it out around others.

“I’ve missed you too,” you whispered.

You stole a long look into her hazel eyes. Her lashes hung low as the day dragged on, giving her a dazed look that you loved. Things felt so much more normal like this than in secret, though you both knew it was for the best.

You heard snickering and you looked across the fire to see Valkyrie, Carol, and Kate giggling to each other and staring at the two of you. Yelena gave them a nice middle finger to shut them up, but you couldn’t deny that you liked the attention of the two of you being seen together.

Once the three of them stopped their mocking, Yelena turned her attention back to you. She looked around and when she saw the coast was clear, she lifted your hand to her lips and gave it a quick kiss.

You couldn’t resist any longer and leaned against her body. She had the perfect balance of strength and comfort.

“Have I ever mentioned that you smell amazing?” you asked Yelena.

“Maybe like once or twice,” Yelena smirked.

Instead of holding your hand, Yelena moved her hand to rest on the skin of your back. She scratched up and down and drew small circles. At this rate, you would be asleep within the next few minutes.

Your assumption was correct, her affection making your eyes heavy. For once, you finally felt warm all throughout, a feeling you had been craving all day.

When you awoke again, your surroundings were dark, indicating the fire had gone out. Looking up, you saw Yelena looking up at the stars wide awake. Somehow, you had ended up with your head in her lap.

You slowly sat up and looked around. The party seemed to be over, as the two of you were the only ones left.

“Good morning, sleepy head,” Yelena greeted you.

“How long was I asleep?”

“Long enough for everyone to stare at you while you slept with your head on me.”

You groaned. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“Hey, why are you saying sorry?”

“I don’t know, I guess because of the whole secrecy thing.”

Yelena stared at you harder. “If I can love you in secret, I can love you just as loud for everyone to see.”

Your heart swelled at the sentiment. You took your chance and grabbed the side of her head and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Oh how you had missed the taste of her.

She left a kiss on your cheeks and your forehead to top it off. “Let’s go inside then, hmm? The party has just begun,” she smiled.

“You really know how to make every situation dirty, don’t you?”

“What can I say, it’s a gift.”

With the cold autumn chill and stars to guide you, Yelena led you back inside the compound after the end of the most perfect day.

.

.

.

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[lolitastories]

Butterflies Are Warning Signs

Pt.3

Thomas Shelby

“I’ve noticed a twinkle in your eyes” I look over just to roll my eyes at Esme’s words. “You can’t deny it!” She stands twirling as I stay put on the table, finishing my coffee. “¡Oh love!” She sings. “Whose cupid arrow landed on you?” She smiles. I grab a piece of bread and throw it in her direction. “I didn’t mean it in that way” I sent her a glare knowing the meaning of her words.

“Girls enough” I turn to see Zilpha walking up with eagerness. “Go get cleaned up” Esme huffs, turning around and walking towards the house. “This afternoon I will have a meeting and need you gone.” She saw the panic in my eyes but was quick to cut me off. “I am protected, It’s just a precaution.” I nod. Asking questions won’t help.

“I guess I could find something to do” She pats my hand and stands to walk off.

“Mrs. Clarice is waiting for you to visit.” I saw a twinkle in her eyes. I know why she wants me to visit Mrs.Clarice. It might be nice to see her anyway. I only nodded as she walked away. I finished some chores before taking a long walk towards Mrs. Clarice 's house. Who knows how long Zilpha is going to take but Mrs. Clarice is the perfect candidate to keep me preoccupied for hours.

“My, look how big you have gotten” She pulls me into a hug. The years have passed but she looks just the same. With the same lovely energy that always surrounded her and her house always smelling of fresh baked goods.

“Well it has been years since I was sitting in one of your classrooms,” She smiles, guiding me in. “Are you still teaching?” She shakes her head forcefully.

“Oh honey no.” She places some cookies in front of me and a cup of milk. “I hated to go but it was time.” She turned to look at a picture from on the side table. A man who was just as bright as her, they completed each other. He would surprise her at lunch and always wait for her when school ended. I heard about his passing right after I arrived in America. “After Frank died I knew I needed time,” She turned towards me with a sad smile. “I couldn’t smile for a while,” I kneel down infront of her, placing my hands on hers.

“Am glad that smile he loved so much didn’t disappear.” She gently patted my hand. “It was one that every morning made me smile and I bet he cherished it the most,” She let out a soft chuckle. Mrs.Clarice taught me since I was a toddler, often tutoring me when I needed help. She was the person you could walk to their house and pick up a fresh batch of cookies, of course my favorite good was her brownies. We spoke non stop until the sun was beginning to set. I excused myself and of course I wasn’t leaving empty handed. I continued the long way back home and soon regretted such a decision.

“Need help with those?” I looked up seeing the car stopped just feet from where I stopped walking.

“I’m alright, thank you Mr. Shelby” I looked around noticing the direction was noticeable. I could be walking towards the bar, or the creek, and hopefully his mind didn’t think the Lee’s.

“Oi!” I stop in my tracks hearing the other man in the car scream back at me. I turn to see Thomas opening the door and getting out. “It's not safe for a girl like you to be walking around at night.” My eyes landed at Thomas who put out his cigarette.

“I had my share of cold men, I can handle myself” Thomas grins. “I am not far from my destination, it won’t be dark before I reach it.”

“Arthur,” Thomas finally speaks. “Take the car back home,” The said man wants to argue but settle back once he sees Thomas walking away from him. The car begins to drive away as Thomas grabs onto the basket in my hands.

“You didn’t have to Mr.Shelby,” He waves me off and looks at the distance.

“So where to?” My mind goes blank. Where to? I look down at the basket and take a deep breath.

“I wanted to take these to the small orphanage” Thankfully it wasn’t far off ethier. Thomas fell into pace with my own as he walked alongside me.

“Do you normally do this?” I look to see him uncovering the basket.

“Cook? or visit the orphanage?” I playfully say. He looks back at me weirdly so I choose to cut him off before he could say anything. “I visited my old teacher today and she gave me some fresh baked goods.” He nods. “I couldn’t possibly eat them all so I decided to kill two birds with one stone,” His eyebrows furrowed. “She mentioned that they might be needing a teacher so I thought I would check it out while I am here.” I was going to check it out but hopefully tomorrow.

“Thinking about staying?” I shrugged. I look over and see the gears in his head turning again. It's a big commitment if you are planning to leave,” Truth was it was quite tempting. “I have an offer for you before you decide” He comes to a halt. “My brother John needs a teacher for his kids,”

“Mr.Shelby that is kind but-”

“Remember you can’t say no.” My mouth quickly shuts. If I get over these tasks quicker I can put Thomas Shelby in the past while I am here.

“Okay,” I nod, looking down on my feet.

“Great! Let's leave these at the door and we will go back to the arrow house to make arrangements” I hold back a laugh watching him continue walking at a faster pace. I followed him trying to catch up but his longer legs were quick. Once we reached the orphanage’s door he was quick to place the basket down and knock on the door. I was catching my breath before I saw him turn around and grab my hand, pulling me down the road once again. I didn’t stop to notice the scenery as we got to his home. The only thing I seemed to focus on was his warm skin touching mine. Maybe I was a step behind but he looked back once in a while checking on me. We walked through the door and into his office. “My brother John has four kids,” He muttered while taking a seat on the edge of his desk. I stand frozen by the door with my hand intertwined in front of me.

“So,” I noticed his hand twitching as he started to fiddle with his clock. “Reading,writing,arithmetic,nature study and latin?” I look up hearing a hum agreeing. “Religion?” Never been one to put much care into it since we all have our opinions but I needed to know in case they feel strongly about it.

“No,” He pushes off his desk and finally sits on his chair. “You can leave that for their father.” His arms are crossed looking directly at me. With a little confidence I walk towards him and stop in front of his desk. “Monday through friday, 9 to 2” I settled with a smile wanting to actually laugh at his attention span being so fidgety.

“Mr. Shelby?” He hums again. “You can light a cigarette, I don't mind” He grins at my words. “You seem to have had a tough day.” I whispered the last part but his facial expression allowed me to know he heard me loud and clear. His grin falls. I watch as he gets up and slowly walks over to me. I twist my body towards him taking a slight step back as he is mere inches from me.

“Have you ever kissed someone?” My eyes suddenly move focus to his lips as he speaks. His warm breath hovering over my skin.

“Mr.Shel-” My words stop when his face moves to lean against my cheek. My eyes close as I feel him groan at the feeling of our skin touching, so close to what I was dreading. Grazing my skin like a cat does to someone's leg when it wants attention.

“Thomas,” He whispers beside my ear. My hand instantly grabbed onto his shoulders and steady myself. His hand gripping my hip as he pins me on his desk. I know what the feeling in my chest and under my hips meant, I heard stories from Esme and other females on what a man and woman do, but it doesn’t come close to the feeling of having Thomas so close. My hand grip his white button up’s collar trying to let out the tension in between my legs.

“That would be inappropriate since I will be working here,” My voice just above a sigh. My thumb barely grazing his neck, his head falls down to lean against my shoulder.

“Then when we are alone.” I nod agreeing, truly embracing my love for him so close. It could be the unknown feeling of a man not necessarily Thomas touching me that has me literally rubbing against him. His hand moved upwards making circles on my back. His lips make contact with my neck laying a kiss and it sends shivers down my spine. My head instantly moves back giving him more space. His leg somehow finds his way between mine  and against my core. I close my mouth, forbidding a sound of pleasure so be let out. How can I be allowing something like this to happen? Zilpha has told me how a woman should hold respect but I understand with so little how a woman allows themselves to be degraded by a man. My body moves along with his like a dance we have just invented together.

“Thomas” I finally let out, unable to contain the feeling in my body. The coil on my low stomach is tightening and so is the grip on his shirt and my skin. The rough kisses,licks and sucking on my neck driving my mind crazy.

“Thomas?” I push him off hearing the sound of a knock. The door soon squeaks open revealing an older lady. “I didn’t know you had a visitor,” She stays put beside the door holding an intense and untrusting stare towards me and Thomas.

“What Polly?” He groans walking over behind his desk and pulls out a cigarette but doesn’t light it. My gaze falls down as I try to flatten my dress and fix myself unnoticeably. “This is my aunt Polly,” I lift my gaze looking back towards Thomas and then back at said woman.

“Nice to meet you,” I smile while she only returns a nod.

“This is John kid's new teacher straight from America, Y/N.” Thomas coldly says, taking a seat. “What is it Polly?”

“Can I speak to you in private?” Thomas lets out a short sigh before standing back up. He walks towards Polly and she takes steps back into the other room while Thomas stops at the door way. I hear a couple mumbles before He shuts the door behind him. The softness in his eyes returns as he looks up at me.

“I must take care of something,” I nod, walking towards him. “She will meet you here in the morning.” I nod again. My fingers start to fiddle with the fabric of my dress as his words are cold, yet his eyes are warm.

“I should head home.” I motion awkwardly at the door before taking a step. “Goodnight Thomas,” Why was my heart string pulling me back? Saying you deserve better and acting on it were two different things when your body and mind craved something so intensely. I wanted to hear him call me back, maybe even wrap his arms around me and finally allow me to taste another thing other than me in my mouth. I started to embrace the smell of cigarette lingering in his suit and a little woodsy aroma if you get close enough. But all that soon faded when the night air hit me. Everything after that was a blur. To Thomas driver telling me he was told to take me home, but I denied. I walk back alone with nothing in hand like before. A little colder, when minutes ago I was burning.

Pt.4

[celestialmatcha7]

baking time | fujii kaze

pairing: fujii kaze x gn! reader

wc: 737

genre: fluff

author's note: i promise i didn't forget about my boy, fujii kaze. hope my fellow kazetarians enjoy this. <3

The soft glow of Christmas lights bathed the cozy kitchen in warm hues of red and gold. Snowflakes drifted gently outside the window, painting the world in a serene white blanket. Inside, the air was alive with the sweet aroma of sugar, vanilla, and a hint of cinnamon. Y/N stood at the kitchen counter, sleeves rolled up, surrounded by an assortment of cookie cutters, bowls of colorful sprinkles, and a mountain of flour.

Kaze, wearing a ridiculous but endearing reindeer apron that Y/N had insisted he wear, was attempting to roll out the dough. His tongue peeked out in concentration, and his brows knitted together as if he were solving a complex puzzle.

“Am I doing this right?” he asked, glancing up at Y/N with an adorably confused expression.

Y/N chuckled, stepping closer. “You’re doing great, but it helps if you sprinkle a little more flour so it doesn’t stick.”

“Ah, I see,” he said, grabbing a handful of flour and tossing it dramatically over the dough—and accidentally onto Y/N.

“Kaze!” Y/N exclaimed, laughing as they brushed flour off their face.

“What? You said more flour!” he replied with a mischievous grin, clearly proud of his antics.

Y/N grabbed a handful of flour in retaliation, smirking. “Oh, it’s on now.”

Before Kaze could react, a puff of flour hit his chest, leaving a white handprint on his black shirt. His eyes widened in mock disbelief. “You started this war, Y/N. Prepare yourself!”

The next few minutes were a whirlwind of laughter, flour flying through the air, and Kaze chasing Y/N around the kitchen. By the time their flour war ended, the kitchen looked like a snowstorm had hit it. Both of them were covered in white, their hair dusted like sugar on a freshly baked cake.

Panting from laughter, Kaze pulled Y/N into a hug, ignoring their half-hearted protests. “You look like the cutest little snowperson,” he teased, brushing some flour off their nose.

“And you look like a baker who’s been through a blizzard,” Y/N shot back, grinning as they poked at the flour in his hair.

Once the laughter subsided, they got back to work, this time with a little more focus. Y/N showed Kaze how to cut the dough into festive shapes—stars, trees, snowflakes, and gingerbread people. He was surprisingly meticulous, making sure each shape was perfect.

“Wait,” he said, holding up a gingerbread person he’d just cut. “This one’s you.”

Y/N raised an eyebrow, amused. “And why is that one me?”

“Because it’s the cutest one,” he said, winking.

Y/N rolled their eyes but couldn’t suppress a smile. “Cheesy, but I’ll allow it.”

Once the cookies were in the oven, the two of them set to work on making icing. Kaze insisted on taste-testing each batch of frosting, his eyes lighting up every time. “This one’s perfect,” he declared, his lips smeared with green icing.

“Your definition of perfect is just an excuse to eat more frosting,” Y/N teased, dabbing some red icing onto his nose.

He laughed, pulling them into a quick kiss on the cheek before they could escape. “And your frosting is the sweetest.”

When the cookies were finally baked and cooled, they sat at the table, decorating them together. Kaze’s creativity shone as he made elaborate designs, while Y/N focused on classic, festive patterns. They admired each other’s work, sharing compliments and more than a few laughs over the messier attempts.

By the end of the evening, they had a tray full of beautifully decorated cookies—and a few hilariously disastrous ones, like Kaze’s attempt at a reindeer that looked more like a lopsided dog.

As they sat on the couch afterward, sipping hot cocoa and admiring their handiwork, Kaze wrapped an arm around Y/N, pulling them close.

“You know,” he murmured, resting his chin on their head, “this might be my favorite Christmas memory yet.”

Y/N smiled, leaning into him. “Mine too. Even if the kitchen will take hours to clean.”

Kaze chuckled. “Totally worth it. Especially since we have cookies to bribe Santa with.”

“Santa better love them as much as I love you,” Y/N said softly.

Kaze tilted their chin up, his eyes shining with affection. “Oh, he will. But I love you more.”

And as the snow continued to fall outside, the two of them sat there, savoring the warmth of the season—and each other.

[robbybirdy]

Baking therapy on a budget Ft. Genshin Characters: Keqing - Almond Pulp Cookies

Hello, every birdy. Today we are going to be doing zero waste. If you read the last post you will know that we have some unused almond pulp, from the almond milk. This is a really simple recipe. The original recipe is  vegan and gluten free. However, I am going to share with you what I used because as most of you know I like to use ingredients that I already have in my house, and i don’t like going to the grocery store to get one or two things. Especially if I know I am not going to be using them. 

Before I forget and neglect the character in question like I do in the game. Keqing (ka-ching, $$$) is a significant character in Liyue’s archon quest. She is one of Ninngaun’s helpers. As we have seen in the Stove God Event, Keqing does in fact love food and is not just a workaholic. I was unable to get any shrimp at this time or I would have tried to make one of her favorite dishes, because honestly, that is one of my favorite dishes as well, Golden Shrimp Balls. Even though she says that Almond Tofu is not her favorite food, These cookies are not anything like tofu. 

The ingredients that you will need for this recipe are:

1 ½ cups almond pulp (this is equal to 1 batch of almond milk, which uses 1 cup of almonds)

1 cup rolled oats

½ cup maple syrup, agave syrup or what I did was make a simple syrup with hot water and sugar

½ cup of either almond butter or peanut butter ( i used peanut butter)

¼ cup of ground chia seeds or ground flax seeds - this is equivalent to 1 egg (Which is what i used)

1 Tablespoon of coconut oil, or margarine (I know not the healthist and right now its not really the cheapest thing at the store but it was what I had in the fridge at the time of making this.)

2 teaspoons of vanilla

½ salt 

Optional things you can add

½ cup chocolate chips

½ raisins -this is what i choose 

¼ cup of unsweetened shredded coconut

This recipe is an easy recipe that you can switch out ingredients to make them according to your diet. I had no reason to make this recipe vegan, but it can be made that way if that is your diet. 

You want your almond pulp to have dryed in the fridge for about a day. If you use it right away it will be to wet to work with. 

The first thing you will want to do is preheat your oven to 350 F. Prepare 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats, if you are working in a conventional oven. If you are using a convection oven, reduce the temperature to 325 F and spray your pan, and do not use parchment paper. It will take a lot longer, but the cookies will taste the same.

Next, I combined an egg and the simple sugar to a small bowl and mixed them.  

In another medium sized mixing bowl you are going to mix together the almond pulp and you have to make sure that you have gotten rid of all of larger chunks with a fork. Once you have all of that done you are going to add in the oats and salt, and stir everything together. 

To the egg mixture you are going to add the peanut butter, margarine and vanilla making sure to mix well. 

Now, we are going to add the peanut butter mixture to the almond pulp mixture and stir until everything is absorbed. Once everything is combined you are going to add in your add-ins. 

Use a large spoon to drop the cookie dough onto your prepared cookie sheet. Make sure to flatten each of the cookies. 

Bake the cookies for 350F for about 13 minutes or just until the edges start to brown. Cool them on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing.

These cookies were really good, and I just left them on the coffee table in the living room. It did not take long for the cookies to go. Which is a good sign, because my family is known to tell me when they don’t like something. 

I hope that you liked this recipe.  Feel free to check it out for yourself. See you in the next post. Thank you.

Recipe: Here

Almonds to Zucchini 

[toloveawarlord]

Event: 25 Days of Christmas

Day 10: “ You burnt the cookies?!”

Pairing: Clavis x MC

Tagging: @chaosangel767​

A/N: Not gonna lie. This is on of my favorite fics I’ve written in a while. I love Clavis so much. 

Getting Yves to agree to give her a baking lesson had been an arduous task. It was quite amazing how many excuses and ways to say no that the fifth prince could create on the spot. He’d become skilled at a poised denial and swiftly walking away from her.

But Emma was persistent, and he’d finally given in.

It was the holiday season, or so he’d claimed.

“Eleven minutes. Exactly eleven minutes. Not a second more or less, understand?” Yves checked with her one last time. He’d been informed of a visitor, and it required his attention immediately. Leaving her with his prized cookies wasn’t ideal, but surely, she could handle one batch. 

“I’ve got it. And I’ll begin rolling out the dough for the pies.” It would give her idle hands something to fiddle with while she waited. Emma had no real issues in the kitchen. She could cook fairly well, but since tasting Yves' treats, she was desperate to learn his tricks. Humming to herself, Emma checked the clock before continuing to knead the dough beneath her floury hands. “Oh!”

Warmth enveloped her from behind, cold hands covering her eyes. “Guess who.”

“Hmm, I suppose it must be someone who is determined to give me a fright every time he returns from town. I wonder who it could be.” Emma hadn’t the need to guess. His familiar cologne brought comfort to her. The prince that had managed to steal her heart. “Clavis, I’m baking.”

The mischievous prince returned her sight, only to slip his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. “I see. Yves was swayed by your resolve. He’s as contrary as a cat, but probably one of the only nice ones.” His gaze followed the movements of her hands, the careful way at which she rolled the pin over the dough over and over as it continuously restricted after each stretch.

“That’s true.”

“You’re supposed to say I’m one of the nice ones, you know.”

“Am I?”

Clavis adored the banter between the two of them. It was hard earned on both sides. He’d no idea what possessed her to him, but whatever stars had aligned to bring her here, and give her the strength and compassion to love a man like himself... Well, he did so desire it to be permanent. “Yes, as a matter of fact. I’ll take any such various, such as ‘you’re the very sweetest one’ or even ‘you’re the best in bed when you-’”

The audacity!

A puff of flour hung in the air from Emma flicking it directly into his face. It was quite satisfying to see him sputter and reel back. “Oh, I’m sorry. That was an utter accident. Are you alright?” Her features never could hide her true feelings. On the contrary, it was everything that she could do not to burst out laughing. 

More flour than she’d intended had hit its target, and Clavis very eerily resembled one of the ghosts that likely haunted this castle.

His face and clothes were coated in white. One might expect a prince to be at least a tiny bit miffed in this situation. But not Clavis. Not when he was exhilarated at her surprise attack. This was exactly the fun that he adored, although he was typically the instigator. Golden irises lifted, lips tugging up into a playful smile. “I fully accept your apology, my dear. Come here.”

“Oh no! You stay away from me!” Emma retreated around the island to avoid his intended hug. “You’re absolutely filthy with flour.” Her apron had kept her clothes crisp and clean, as it was intended to.

“The only way to resolve an argument between lovers is to hold each other, you know.” He swiped up fresh flour, watching her as a predator stalking their prey.

“Clavis! Don’t you dare!”

Emma made a dash for the door, but it was all in vain. One arm around her waist, and the woman was hoisted up by the prince. She squealed, squeezing her eyes shut as his floury palm smooshed against her face. “Clavis!” 

“Isn’t that better? We match.” Clavis set her down only to cage her against the counter. His forehead against hers, both now a complete mess, as though children had trampled through the kitchen. Footprints mapping out their steps.

“You’ve gotten me all dirty.”

“I’ll be sure to make sure to clean every bit off.”

The banter came to a sudden end, neither wanting to spend another second apart. Their lips coming together in a tender kiss, broken up by their laughter at the absurdity of their play. The bitter taste of flour dissolved quickly. Her arms around his neck, fingers softly stroking his hair. His hands on her waist, fingers tugging at the apron strings to promptly remove it.

“What is going on?! You’ve burnt the cookies!” 

Yves' interruption enough to startle both Emma and Clavis. His voice dripped with annoyance and anger. He’d given her one job. A simple job that any simpleton could complete. And yet, the smell of burning cookies greeted him in the doorway, along with a disgusting display of affection.

“Emma, we should run,” Clavis whispered, sneakily slipping his hand into hers in anticipation of his plan.

“Yves! I’m so sorry! It’s just, Clavis surprised me, and I lost track of time-”

“I can clearly see what went on here. Please spare me the details.” Yves was only glad that he’d made it before any naked bodies were on the countertop. He’d still throw the dough behind them out for safety. “Clean up this mess!”

“Sorry, little brother, but we’ve got very important business to attend to. Yes, simply too important to wait.” Clavis took this moment to run with Emma in tow. He hadn’t given her much of a choice, holding tightly to her hand. “Hurry or he’ll chase us down and make us clean.”

Emma checked and found no pursuer. He’d be far too engrossed in damage control of his cookies. “You’re impossible.” But she laughed anyway. They were like two children escaping a scolding from mother. It was absolutely ridiculous, running away with a prince into the darkened hallways of the castle.

Her room was closest, which is where Clavis ducked into, firmly locking the door behind them. He wasted no time in bringing her close, hands holding her face. He kissed her with more intent, more passion.

It was enough to make her knees weak. The kitchen mess melted away entirely, replaced only with his gentle kiss and tender touch. He lit an intense fire within her body, deep down into her very soul. A pool of love and affection that she’d willingly drown in. 

But.

“Don’t even think about touching my clean bed with these dirty clothes on.”

Golden eyes lit up with wicked flame. “Not to worry. The bath is a perfectly acceptable place to continue this. I won’t disappoint.”

His absolutely naughty words were met with his lips on her neck, kisses and licks along the spots he’d mapped out as the most sensitive. Her voice sweet as candy, and Emma desired to succumb to the pleasure that he provided. An extension of their love for each other.

[sambvcks]

crawl home to her, b.b. x reader

chapter three // didn’t care much how long i lived

summary: bucky receives a lesson on modern music over cheap beers and freshly baked scones.

warnings: mentions of abuse, food, alcohol consumption, character death (sorry)

word count: 1.6k

author’s note: besties...how we feeling about today’s episode??? using this as a coping mechanism :)

[ read on ao3 | series masterlist | inbox | join my taglist! ]

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Your record collection was extensive and collecting an unhealthy layer of dust since you had inherited them from your grandmother. It didn’t take long to fish out a Best Of album from the vast shelves, handing over the sleeve to Bucky, who sat patiently on your forest green couch, as you fiddled with the turntable’s needle.

To busy himself, he read over the repertoire of songs listed on the back.

“Let’s Get It On?”

“Usually, a guy buys a girl dinner first, Bucky.” You took a cheeky swig of your beer with an eyebrow raise as he flushed at the insinuation. “We’ll start easy. If I Could Build My Whole World Around You. A criminally under-appreciated love song.”

A bouncy beat crackled through from the speakers as you settled into the couch beside him, tucking your legs beneath you. Today’s choice of pajama bottoms displayed little snowflakes across a navy background, despite the heat outside that still lingered into nighttime.

“I like it.” Bucky decided.

“Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell have so many amazing songs together. She might not sound like it on record, but she had a hard life. Abusive, cheating partners. Brain cancer that killed her young. Hard to know what anyone’s going through behind closed doors.”

I’d put so much love where there is sorrow, I’d put joy where there’s never been before.

“I really like it.”

Your apron still hung from your waist, the gentle tick of the kitchen timer in the shape of a grey cat sat by your side. A reminder of the scones you were whipping up when Bucky unexpectedly appeared on your doorstep. You didn’t question him or bring up the late hour. Simply ushered him in with a smile and a beer shoved into his gloved hand.

Bucky feels comfortable for the first time in a long time. Eyes focused, mind stagnant. Your perfume, woodsy and natural, lingers in the air and he has to take a long gulp of his drink just to occupy himself for just a second.

“I’m glad you like it. Though, I don’t know if I’ve ever met someone who doesn’t like Marvin Gaye. It’s like not liking Queen.”

“Queen?”

The timer rattled on the coffee table and the smell of vanilla and blueberries nipped at Bucky’s nose.

“Saved by the bell! I don’t have the time to berate you on not knowing about Queen.”

You bustled your way back into the kitchen, sliding oven mitts onto your hands as you inspected the oven with a professional certainty. The record out and into the next track as Bucky watched on, your shoulders swaying to the slow tempo. You were light on your feet as you plucked one tray from the heat and replaced it with another.

It was so easy for Bucky to imagine this world as his, with the soft swing of Motown as the soundtrack to your shared afternoons. In a different life, he would come home to your baking, ask how studying went as you swayed in the kitchen together. You would wash dishes next to one another, hips pressed close, and giggle when he would press his sudsy hands onto your cheeks. You would smear remnants of cake batter on his and he would let you feed him dessert from your fingers.

It wasn’t possible, he knew. Probably ever. You would be graduating school soon, off to be an important attorney and he would still just be your across the hallway neighbor who you sometimes shared desserts and pleasantries with. You would find out who he was eventually. Everyone did. You would leave. Everyone did.

You would simply be another in a long line of failed attempts by James Buchanan Barnes.

Still, he thought, we can have this one simple night. Where you don’t know who he is, and he can imagine that it lasts long after he retreats back to his apartment.

‘Heaven must have sent you from above.’ Crooned the lovesick singers on your record player.

As you returned to the living room with another beer and the promise of scones as soon as they cooled, Bucky could only think one thing.

He was definitely starting to like Marvin Gaye.

He was starting to like you, too.

When he returned back to his apartment, hours later with a pile of records you insisted he borrow in his arms and a belly full of blueberry scones, he fell into bed without a care in his mind. It was his first full night of sleep in ninety years.

-

Bucky started appearing on your doorstep more often.

Your number was now saved in his phone and was his most frequently used contact. You were his secret, though, something he didn’t even share with Dr. Raynor. No matter how many times she tried to get him to speak about his troubling lack of acquaintances.

You were the one thing in the world untouched by all the destruction waging a war between his ears, you were easy and simple and God, it had been a long time since anything had been simple. You didn’t mind that he was brooding and a little bit clueless, or his cheesy jokes and complaints about technology these days.

His record collection was quickly growing, though it was still nowhere near yours.

Most of all, he liked sitting in your apartment, at your kitchen counter or on that forest green sofa of yours. Sometimes, you would let him pick a record and tell him everything you could remember about it. Other times, you would read from your heavy law books and he’d pretend to understand the cases and terminology, head resting against the back of your couch, admiring how your brows would furrow in concentration. He’d tell you not to hunch over your book, but you’d insist you were fine, only to be complaining about your neck the next time he saw you.

“I wish I read more actual books, you know? It seems like all I know these days are case studies.”

The next visit he’d have a worn copy of one of his favorite books tucked under his arm. He’d read to you until you’d doze off to the stories of Bilbo Baggins and his team of dwarves, a blanket tucked up to your neck.

Every visit cemented yourself further and further into his identity, until his trips to the used bookstore down the block became weekly and his morning runs became longer as you pushed more and more baked goods his way. You’d kiss his cheek as you said your goodbyes, leaning against your doorframe as he disappeared into his apartment.

He was happy. Positively, unbelievably happy.

-

Two days before Bucky’s next scheduled visit, Steve died in his sleep.

Pneumonia, or something, Bucky didn’t really comprehend any of the newscast beyond the headline ‘CAPTAIN AMERICA DEAD’ flashing in bold letters across his television screen.

Sam called early that morning and Bucky just knew. He knew what was waiting for him on the other end of that call, so he shut his phone off and laid back on the hardwood floor of his living room, dead to the world.

He didn’t speak to anyone for a few days, not even bothering with his daily runs or grocery store trips. Your knocks at his door went unanswered, with no trace that you had even stood in the hallway waiting for him other than a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies on his doormat. The only appointment he kept was his therapy, where he stared out the window and counted down the minutes until he could leave. Each attempt on Dr. Raynor’s part to bring up Steve was shut down as quickly as it was brought up.

Finally, a week later, a pounding at the door woke him from a restless afternoon nap.

“Buck, I know you’re in there.”

Sam. Of course.

“These boxes are heavy, come on!”

Sam Wilson took up Bucky’s entire doorway with his broad shoulders, the boxes stacked in his arms taking up the rest. Bucky was quick to usher him in the door, eyeing yours across the hall. He knew one look at an Avenger on his stoop would finally connect the dots for you, and you’d never speak to the Winter Soldier again.

“Keep your voice down.” Bucky shoved the final box through the doorway before securing the lock in place.

Sam surveyed his barren living room, eyes flicking to the crumpled bedsheets gathered on the floor next to his sofa but didn’t linger for long.

“I was worried about you, man.”

It used to be ‘we’, but now it’s just Sam.

“Nothing to worry about.” Bucky pushed past him to his kitchen, collecting stray dishes he hadn’t bothered to move to the sink before then. He felt Sam’s careful gaze on him the entire time. He hated that. He hated how much Sam cared.

He mostly hated how much it reminded him of Steve.

“Found these boxes in Steve’s attic. Had your name on them so I thought you might want ‘em.”

Bucky swallowed hard, focused on scrubbing the dishes under water so hot it was turning the skin on his flesh hand a violent red.

“I know this is hard, Buck-”

The glass he had been rinsing shattered between his fingers and Sam took a step back as Bucky heaved in uneven breaths. There was a long silence between the two grieving men, neither able to fully understand the other. Sam would never feel Bucky’s ninety-year heartache, the abandonment and fear of the life ahead of him. Bucky would never understand the weight on Sam’s shoulders or his unease at the shield tucked under his bed at home.

“I just want to be alone.”

Sam could do nothing but respect his wish.

“Call if you need anything.” Were his departing words as he showed himself out.

Bucky got to work cleaning up the broken glass.

taglist: @tisthedamninez @wcndamaxcmoff @freyagallileaevans @bibliophilewednesday @justtoreblogfics @teti-menchon0604 @l-adysansa @heart-eyes-horan @thiswasnevermylifefromtony @rexorangecouny @dilfvision @urafakebetch @comphersjost @am-tired-bois @spid3rgwen​ @beautyandthebleh @euphoricaaaa  @mackycat11 @inadquacy @withyoutilltheendofthismess @motherofallthesmallthings @victoriabaker112213 @macrillez @stvalentiness @nova10711

[nelapanela94]

Of ginger and cranberries

Fluff!

LevixYou

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

It was a cold Sunday morning of early winter. You were walking through the market stalls looking for the most important ingredient for your ginger cookies: ginger. The town's main square was crowded, the bustling sound was getting louder and the smell coming from the different food stalls engulfed the place. People were gathering supplies for the upcoming new year celebration that would take place within a week.

After stopping by several stalls without success, you found an empty bench and took a seat. Walking around with a heavy jute bag on the shoulder was exhausting, and you deserved a rest. You placed your cane next to your leg where you could feel it and put the groceries bag on you lap just to make sure ginger was the only ingredient missing.

As soon as you opened it, a smell of cloves and cinnamon greeted your nose making you smiled. That's how winter is supposed to smell. Putting your hand in the bag, you hissed. The only thing you hated about winter was wearing mittens. Hands were the eyes for people like you, and having them covered make you double blinded. You took one of the mittens off and proceeded to check the content.

Flour. Checked.

Sugar. Checked.

Eggs. Checked.

Butter. Checked.

Cinnamon and cloves. Double checked.

You put the mitten on again before your hand froze and rolled your neck to stretch, placed the bag strap on your left shoulder and took the cane to continue your quest. Ginger was not slipping away from you; but the smell of freshly-baked cranberry pie filled the air forcing you to take a little detour. Your pace fastened following the source of the sweet, luring scent; however, someone blocked your way and in matter of seconds your bottoms hit the cobblestone ground. You whined, and your hand patted your surroundings looking for your guide.

"Tsk. Are you blind? Watch your step, brat" You heard and turned the head towards the voice's source. The man you had bumped into turned around and facepalmed inwardly.

"Sorry, but you're right, as you can see I am blind" You chuckled and waved a hand in front of your face. Levi sighed extending a hand and 'tched'' at himself when he realized his idiocy, you could not see his gesture.

"Give me your hand" He ordered.

You raised your hand in front of you, waited for him to take it and stood up with his aid. "Thanks" You smiled at him, or so you thought.

"I'm right here" The man lifted a brow crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh" You turned towards the voice and thanked again.

Fortunately, all the ingredients were safe and sound in the bag, even the eggs. Nonetheless, your cane was still missing.

"Do you know where my cane is? I couldn’t find it" He looked around and found the stick broken in two. "I don't think it'll take you anywhere" he replied.

"Holy Walls!" You scratched your head and sighed. "Hey, stranger, are you free until noon?"

"I have no intention of becoming your guide" He harshly responded.

"But... would you let this poor, blind girl wander around on her own?" You sniffled with your bottom lip jutting out.

"Alright" He rolled the eyes. "What's our next stop?" You celebrated your little victory by throwing your arms in the air. Levi, indeed, was free until dinner time. Hange and the others had kicked him out of the headquarters and told him not to be back before seven bells. That's why he decided to go to the market and try his luck finding rare herbs and special blends.

"Wait, I'm not supposed to leave with strangers" You said adjusting your woolen cap. "I'm (name)"

"Levi"

"Pretty name" you noted. "Well Levi, I'm on a special mission to find ginger; but first, we must make a strategic stop at the cranberry pies stall" He took your hand and placed it right above his elbow. "Thanks" You muttered and gently squeezed his arm, feeling the muscle beneath his coat.

"Oi!"

"Sorry about that" You lowered your head in embarrassment, your cheeks getting warm. "but, you feel good" You mumbled. Levi snorted and shook his head, the corner of his lips lifted. "You're not bad looking yourself"

You lifted your head batting your lashes in a flirtatious manner and leaned closer to him. "You think so? Well, you're good looking too" You laughed. "No, but seriously, your voice is really attractive and I like the smell of fresh lavender of your hair"

Your words made him blush slightly.

As you walked, Levi studied you and found odd that your coat, cap, mittens, scarf and boots were all the same blue color. "Who picks up your clothes? An eight-year-old?"

"A ten-year-old actually. But my winter clothing is all blue because it's my favorite color, and I don't have to waste time matching each piece"

"So, you know about colors" His curiosity sparked.

"Yeah, I wasn't born blind. I lost my eyesight due to an infection when I was a child" you explained. "At first, I felt insecure and vulnerable, but as I grew up I started to accept my reality and learnt to adapt. Besides, I've been blessed with the people I've come across, they're always willing to help." you smiled.

You reached the pastry sale and bought two pies to go. You wanted to surprise your older brother, and if you were lucky enough, he would forget about your broken cane;  the other one was all for you.

"Aw, you two make a good couple" The old lady commented while packing the sweet treats, making you blush hard. Luckily, you couldn't see the red shade creeping across your companion's face.

"We're not dating" You stated in unison. Levi shoved his hands in his pockets and his eyes darted around while you toyed with a lock of hair.

"I thought someone had finally stolen Captain Levi's heart" The elder woman winked and handed the bags to the ravenette. "Have a good day!"

When you were on your way to get the spice for your recipe, you were first to break the silence. "Captain Levi from the Survey Corps? Humanity's Strongest Soldier?"

"Are you a fangirl?" He lifted a brow looking at you.

"Nope, not me. My nephew is the fanboy" A chuckled scape your lips. "He wants to join the Scouting Legion when he grows older. My brother is not so happy, though." You shrugged.

Once you found the final ingredient, Levi offered to take you home. You didn’t live far from the main square and, even though you insisted you knew the way by heart, he didn't feel like taking any risk. In truth, he wanted to spend as much time as he could with you. In such brief time, he had fallen into your spell. It might have been your looks, or your charismatic, cheerful personality; or perhaps the combination of both. He wasn't sure about his feelings, but he wanted to learn more about you.

You didn't want to say goodbye either. The little time you had spent with him had sparked your curiosity. You had heard the rumors about Captain Levi, but you knew there was more behind his unfriendly personality and sarcastic remarks. There was more behind that hard shell and you were willing to crack it.

"Here" he handed you the two bags of pies and only released his grip when he made sure you had them secured in each hand.

"This one is for you" you kept one of your arms extended in front of you for him to grabbed the bag. "Happy Birthday Captain Levi"

Levi was taken aback and shyly took the craft paper bag from your hand. "Thanks, but..."

"I told you my nephew is a fanboy, and that lady said cranberry pies are one of your favorites"

You remained silent for a while; you opened your mouth then closed it again, as you regretted what you were about to say. Your heart was beating fast, and the warm feeling invaded your cheeks again. You removed your mittens off and put them in your pockets. With your bare hands you took your necklace off and walked closer to him, patting his coat until you found a pocket and put the piece of jewelry inside.

"What are you doing?" He asked squinting his eyes.

"I'm making sure we'll meet again. You already know where I live, all you have to do is to knock on my door"

"Clever brat" He admitted.

"And, I'm giving myself an excuse to touch you" You winked.

Levi leaned closer and whispered to your ear. "You better have freshly baked cookies for the day I come back"

"Count on it" you grinned.

After that day, you woke up every morning to make a batch of your best recipe of ginger cookies, yearning for his return.

[another-tmnt-writer]

You Fell From the Sky - Part 2

Leonardo x Reader

Author: Admin Mo

Summary: After falling from the sky and landing literally in the arms of your favorite turtle, it takes some adjustment to live in another reality, but with the help of the leader in blue, you’re getting used to it.

Note: Let it be known that I wrote the first part of this before I knew reality shifting was a thing, but now that I know it is……let me tell you, I am tempted…

Warnings: None?

Word Count: 1.6k

It had been three weeks. Three whole weeks living in the lair. You were over the moon. Honestly, it was spectacular. However, after three weeks without a phone charger (you’d been using it very, very sparingly and had it turned off most of the time) your phone was now at one percent. So, you popped into the lab, where Donnie was at the moment.

“Hey Donnie?” You asked tentatively, standing in the doorway.

“Oh, hey (Y/N)! Can I help you with something?” He asked, his voice friendly. He looked up at you, giving you his full attention from whatever he was working on.

“Um, do you have a phone charger I can use?”

“Of course!” He pulled open a drawer on his desk that was absolutely filled with charging chords of every time, meticulously organized with twist ties. “What kind do you need?”

“iPhone.” You said.

He reached into the drawer and handed you a ten-foot chord. “Here you go.”

“Thank you!” You smiled. “What are you working on, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I don’t mind!” He scooted over to let you see his screen. “I’m working on figuring out how to open an interdimensional portal right now. Sorry it’s taking me so long.”

“Don’t be sorry. This is literally groundbreaking work. You’re a genius, but I definitely didn’t expect you to do it overnight.”

“Well that’s reassuring.” He chuckled. “I’ll keep you posted. Don’t want to keep you here any longer than we have to.”

You knew he was kidding about the last bit, but your heart sank a little when he said it. You liked being at the lair. You liked spending time with the guys. Sure, you wanted to go home at some point, but you wished it didn’t have to come so soon.

“Thank you, Donnie.”

You left the lab to find Leo lingering just outside. He looked concerned, his arms crossed, head tilted, blue, blue eyes focused on you. “You okay?” he asked softly.

You nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“No reason. You just seemed a little down.” He answered. He stared at you for a moment before remembering, “Oh, April is here. She brought you some more clothes.”

“Awesome. Thank you so much.”

“Don’t mention it.” He shrugged, leading you back out to the living room, where Mikey was ranting about something to April and Casey while Raph listened and shook his head.

You stared at each of them for a long moment, absorbing. Megan Fox and Stephen Amell were standing like twenty feet away from you. It was overwhelming to say the very least. “Holy shit…”

“Hi! You must be (Y/N). I’m April. This is Casey.”

“Hockey puck has got a bit of a chip on his shoulder, but he means well.” Raph elaborated.

“This is so insane.” You laughed, smiling at them. “It’s incredible to meet you. The boys…told you where I’m from, right?”

“Yeah, they did.” April nodded. “That must have been quite the jump.”

“It was. I’m still…getting used to it, I guess.”

“Well, take your time.” She nudged Raph playfully. “They take some getting used to.”

“Hey!” Raph scoffed, nudging her back. “Ya took some getting used to yourself, O’Neil.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much.” Leo said, his eyes sparkling. “I think you’re fitting in just fine.”

You ignored the way your heart raced when he said it, replying with a smirk, “I agree.”

***

It was later that night. You were in the kitchen, baking with Splinter’s permission. He was in his room drinking tea and the boys were out on patrol. That was the other thing. Every time they left, you felt empty. You knew they’d be fine, but there was always a little bit of worry nagging in the back of your brain. What if they…weren’t?

So: stress-baking. The recipe of the evening? Chocolate chip cookies. They were a classic you were sure the boys would like. Your hair was up in a messy bun and you had some tunes playing from your phone. You scooped out the balls of cookie dough, setting them in careful rows on the pan before sticking them into the hot oven.

You baked for a few hours, rotating trays until you had a batch big enough to feed four hungry mutant turtles, their father, and yourself.

You switched off the oven, and right as you did, you heard their voices echoing through the tunnels until finally, they entered the lair.

“Good night?” You asked hopefully.

“Better now, angelcakes.” Mikey winked and then stopped in his tracks when he saw the steaming pile of fresh-baked cookies. His eyes widened and he gasped excitedly. “Are these for us?”

“Yep.”

“Wow, she bakes, too, Leo.” Raph teased, reaching for a cookie in time with Donnie.

“Thanks, (Y/N),” said the turtle in the purple bandana.

“Of course.”

Leo went in for one last, still reeling a bit from Raph’s comment, his cheeks rosier than usual. He said softly, “Thank you for doing this.”

“Thank you for letting me crash here. I honestly don’t know what I would have done without you guys finding me when you did.”

“It’s the least we could do.” Leo insisted.

“Alright, quit yer flirting. Let’s all go watch a movie or something.” Raph insisted, walking out towards the TV. The rest of you followed, and of course when you and Leo went to find seats, the only two that were left were right next to each other.

You settled in, blushing a bit. Raph had a smug smirk on his face.

“What?” You challenged, causing him to chuckle.

“Nothin’.”

As it got later, it also got colder, and you soon found yourself shivering the slightest bit, wishing you’d thought to grab a blanket before the movie started like the rest of the guys had.

“Are you cold?” Leo asked.

Instead of telling him you weren’t like you wanted to, you nodded. Without hesitation, he pulled half of his large blue blanket onto your lap, letting you share his warmth. As if you weren’t blushing enough before, he just had to be a gentleman and fluster you even further.

“T-thanks.” You could have punched yourself for stuttering, but Leo didn’t seem to mind. He still kept a polite distance from you, his leg a good few inches from yours despite the blanket that was draped across you both.

You were quiet for the rest of the movie, and when it was over, Raph went to work out, Donnie retreated into his lab, and Mikey went to his room to scroll through TikToks on his phone. That left you and Leo sitting awkwardly under the large blue knitted blanket you were sure Raph had made. Maybe it had been a Christmas present or something. You weren’t sure.

“Not to give you déjà vu, but I’m sorry about Raph.” Leo chuckled. “I asked him to stop, so of course it only got worse.”

“I really don’t mind.” You told him, meeting his clear blue gaze. “That’s what brothers do, isn’t it?”

He laughed. “Yeah, I guess it is. Do you have any siblings?”

“No, unfortunately. I’m an only child. Grew up with my aunt because my parents couldn’t be bothered to actually parent.”

“Mmm.” Leo hummed, nodding.

“I guess that’s probably why I latched onto the idea of you guys so much as a kid. I liked the idea of a sibling bond like that. Working together as a team. Having a built-in group of friends to hang out with.”

“It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, but we do work well together.” Leo agreed. “When we’re not bickering, that is.”

You were quiet for a moment, mustering up courage before you said, “He’s right, though. Raph, I mean.”

Leo stared at you, his eyes widening in half-realization. “What…how…what do you mean?” His voice cracked when he asked it, his heart pounding.

“Well…Leo, I’ve had a crush on you since I was fifteen years old; I doubt it’s going away anytime soon.”

He looked at you in shock, pretty sure he’d hallucinated what you just said. All he could reply with was a shaky, “On me?”

You laughed. “Yes, Leo. On you. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same. I’m not even supposed to exist here.”

“I do. Feel the same.” He blurted. His statement was quick, but it was firm. Carefully, he took your hand in his large, green, three-fingered one and he was reminded just how different the two of you actually were. He was about to let go, but you squeezed his hand reassuringly. He laughed at himself, slightly embarrassed to be floundering in front of you, but it was out of his control. “I’m sorry, I’m new to this.”

“That’s okay.” You smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear.

“I promise I’ll do my best to make you happy. Just let me know if I’m doing something wrong. I’m learning, after all.” His thumb rubbed the back of your hand. “And I know that…at some point you’re going to have to go back. But…I’m willing to make the most of whatever time we have.”

“Me too.” You nodded. A yawn slipped from your lips. It was getting late. You wouldn’t be surprised if the sun was already up. “I think it’s about time I got to bed.” You told him, standing up and setting the blanket on the couch.

Since you’d been there, the boys had created you a makeshift room of your own in one of the giant pipes in the wall, a little one with your own mattress and some bedding Raph had whipped up for you.

Leo stood up too, towering over you as soon as he did. You stood on your toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Leo replied, smiling at you like you’d put the moon and stars in the sky with your bare hands. “See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.” You echoed, walking off towards your pipe, a new kind of warmth swirling around in your chest.

[fridayfirefly]

Virtual Sleepover

Read Virtual Sleepover on AO3

Masterlist

Written for Maribat March Day 4 - Internet Friends

Quarantine had been rough at Wayne Manor, but for Tim Drake, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a bright light through it all. Tim was getting ahead of himself, though. The story of Marinette Dupain-Cheng started on March 20th, 2020. Panic over coronavirus was sweeping the nation. Bruce had gathered all of the members of the Wayne family into the dining room to explain the new rules of the house. No one was to go in or out. Groceries would be delivered to the house. There would be no superhero outings for at least two weeks. Tim didn't think his family would be able to survive, trapped in a house together.

So to preserve his sanity, Tim turned to the internet. There were hundreds of cold cases that he had put on the backburner and hundreds of forums and websites dedicated to solving cold cases. Tim turned to the most popular website and started dumping information, hoping for someone to show up and work through it with him. That's how Tim met Marinette. @MarinetteDC showed up on his page with a friend request, a wide range of technical knowledge about textiles and designs, and about seven different theories on a murder case Tim considered all but unsolvable. Her sleep schedule was just as chaotic as Tim's and she also drank a near-inhuman amount of coffee. Marinette Dupain-Cheng enthralled Tim. And when the chaos of his house threatened to make Tim lose his mind, Marinette became his lifeline.

"Can you hear me?"

Tim nodded. "Yep!"

"Nice!" cheered Marinette. Tim relished the opportunity to see her face, even if it was through a zoom call. "So what do we want to do first? I don't have class until Monday, so we have the whole weekend ahead of us."

"I think we should start with the iconic sleepover classic: truth or dare," suggested Tim.

"Alright. Truth or dare, Tim?"

"Dare." Tim was confident in his abilities to pull off any stunt she might come up with. However, his confidence started to fade as he watched a devious look grow on her face.

"I dare you to bake a batch of cookies - any kind of cookies you want - without using a recipe."

Tim blinked, trying to recall the last time he had baked. Besides a few times helping Alfred out in the kitchen, Tim wasn't certain that he had ever used the Wayne Manor kitchen for anything other than brewing coffee and heating frozen pizzas. "Could I have a new dare?"

Marinette shook her head, the grin on her face demonstrating exactly how much fun she was having, watching the panic in Tim's eyes. "I'll give you one hint on how to make them, but only one, so use it wisely."

Tim groaned, unplugging his laptop from its charger so he could move it to the kitchen. "I'm not actually certain I know all of the ingredients in cookies. Or how long you bake them for. I feel like an hour is probably too long, but I feel like half an hour might not be enough time."

On the other side of the screen, Marinette tried to stifle her giggles but was unable to keep them all in. "No offense Tim, but this is going to be a disaster. I can't wait."

Tim let out another groan. "Must you torture me?"

"How about you keep the laptop camera pointed towards the oven, that way I can tell you once something starts to burn?" Marinette joked.

Tim knew that she was teasing, but honestly, he knew he could use all the help he could get. Still, he wanted to preserve at least a little of his dignity. "Very funny," Tim said sarcastically, setting the laptop down on the kitchen counter.

"Start with ingredients," Marinette advised.

"What all goes into a chocolate chip cookie..?" mused Tim. He got out the flour, white and brown sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla extract, and three different types of chocolate chips that Alfred kept stocked.

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?"

Tim cast a wary gaze upon his ingredients. It didn't seem like enough, but at the same time he couldn't figure out what he was missing. Tim sighed. "I'm ready to use my hint. Tell me what I forgot."

"You forgot to get out the salt, and more importantly, the baking soda," advised Marinette.

"Can I have a second hint?" asked Tim as he gathered his two missing ingredients.

"That depends on what you're asking," teased Marinette.

"I'm going to start listing measurements, and you tell me if it's too much or not enough."

Marinette pretended to think it over before replying, "I'll do it, but only because I want the cookies to come out edible, not because we're friends or anything like that. There are no friends in the Dupain-Cheng kitchen," said Marinette, her voice filled with faux seriousness.

"Lucky for me, these cookies are being made in the Wayne kitchen, and we're all very nice here, and we don't let Tim burn his cookies."

Marinette giggled. "You have a point there," she acquiesced. "Start listing your measurements."

Tim grabbed the measuring cup and starting approximating. "Two cups flour?"

"That will make about five dozen cookies."

"One cup of each type of sugar?"

Marinette shook her head. "You'll want a 3/4 cup of each."

The rest of the measuring process proceeded smoothly, with Tim guessing measurements of fluctuating accuracy (he correctly guessed that he would need two eggs, but his guess of a half-cup of baking soda led to Marinette questioning whether he had ever been in a kitchen before).  Once Tim got the cookie dough mixed, spooned out onto a tray, and put in the oven, they resumed their game of truth-or-dare.

"Your turn, Marinette. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Tim tried to think of a good question to ask. "Since you've now seen how abysmal I am in the kitchen, I want to know one thing that you're terrible at."

Marinette scrunched up her brow. "It's nowhere near as bad as you're inability to crack an egg-"

Tim winced a little, remembering the painstaking process of digging out fragments of eggshell after he completely shattered it in his attempts to crack it.

"-But I have really bad depth perception. I trip over every little crack in the sidewalk. I'm probably the clumsiest person you'll ever meet."

Tim chuckled. "And here I thought you were perfect."

Marinette grinned. "Almost perfect. Truth or dare?"

"I'll pick truth this time, and hopefully avoid being humiliated again."

"I'll go easy on you this round. When was the last time you lied, and what was it about?"

Tim combed back through his memory of the past week, trying to pick out the last time he lied. "I think it was yesterday morning. Dick asked me if the coffee I was drinking was my first coffee of the day. I said yes, but really I hadn't slept that night so I just decided to arbitrarily count my start of the day at the time I would have woken up had I actually gone to sleep."

"So how many coffee's had you had yesterday?"

Tim shrugged. "Since midnight? Probably three or four. I've gotten away with a lot more coffee since I modified the Keurig in my room to stop making so much noise."

"I'm lucky," said Marinette. "My parents sleep so far away from me that they can't hear my Keurig."

"Truth or dare?" asked Tim, continuing the game.

"Truth."

"What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done because you had a crush on someone?"

Marinette flushed red, and Tim immediately knew that this was going to be a good story. "Once I accidentally sent a text to my crush so I stolehisphoneanddeletedthetext." Marinette rushed the last few words, so fast that Tim couldn't quite make them out.

"What was that?"

"I stole his phone and deleted the text before he could read it. In my defense, I made a lot of questionable decisions at that age."

Tim burst out laughing. "How old were you?"

"I was thirteen," admitted Marinette.

Tim couldn't stop laughing at the absurdity of her claims. "You couldn't have asked him to borrow his phone and deleted it then?"

"I was in panic mode. It was between steal his phone or destroy his phone."

"Those were your two options?!" exclaimed Tim.

Marinette blushed even more furiously. "It's your turn. Don't expect me to go easy on you this round. Truth or dare?"

Tim kept up the trend. "Truth."

"What was the worst thing you did at thirteen?"

Tim thought back to his days as Robin, and the many, many stories he could tell. In the end, he settled on one that Jason still brought up when he needed leverage over Tim. "It's not as bad as phone thievery, but it's still a pretty funny story, looking back on it. You know how I have two older brothers, right?"

"Dick and Jason," Marinette confirmed.

"Well, one night I managed to convince Dick to let me drive Bruce's favorite car. Now, keep in mind, I had never actually driven a car before. Surprisingly, I wasn't that bad at driving. I made it home without incident - that is, until I tried to park the car back in the garage and accidentally crashed into Jason's motorcycle. For years after that, Jason used the threat of telling Bruce about my little car crash to keep me in line."

Marinette snorted. "You think that borrowing a phone to delete a text message is worse than borrowing and crashing a car?"

Tim shrugged. "It's a matter of opinion. Truth or dare?"

With a roll of her eyes, Marinette said, "Truth."

"What's one thing you would never tell me?" It was the sort of question that could only be asked during a game of truth or dare. In Tim's opinion, it was this sort of question that made the game worth playing.

Marinette pouted. "I don't like that question."

"Too bad. The rules of truth or dare state that you have to answer it."

"Fine." Marinette looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought. Just as she turned back to face her laptop, her face lit up. It was evident that she had an answer. "Usually I let people learn from their mistakes in the kitchen. However, I will now tell you - because I have to - that your cookies have been in the oven for too long. They're going to start burning if you don't take them out soon."

Tim jumped up to get his cookies out of the oven. They looked a little burnt, brown rather than the golden-brown that Alfred would make, but they still looked edible. "I'll accept your answer, but only because you saved my cookies."

"Now that your cookies are done, do you want to finish up our game of truth or dare?"

"One last question," decided Tim. "And I'll pick truth, to make it easy for you."

"What's the biggest secret that you've currently keeping from your family?"

After Tim's last question, he had expected Marinette to follow it up with an invasive question. Luckily, her question had a very simple answer.

"Easy question - my friendship with you."

Marinette looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Most of my friendships begin through the connections they have to my family. Because of that, I've never really had serious friendships that my family wasn't actively involved in."

"It's not because you're ashamed of me, right?" Marinette sounded unsure of herself. Insecurity was a side of her that Tim had never seen before.

"Of course not," Tim assured her. "You're the best friend I could have ever asked for, Marinette."

"Good, because you're not getting rid of me that easy. I still have a lot to teach you about baking. I think we might try cupcakes at our next sleepover."

Tim laughed. "We'll see about that." He had no doubts that there would be sleepovers to come, and shenanigans involving baked goods to go along with them.

@maribatmarch-2k21

[threecrowsinatrenchcoat]

Plant Your Hope With Good Seeds

Dukeceit Week Day 3: Snakes/Bugs

Remus and Janus break up. But literally everyone knows that's not what they want. Everyone, including their plants.

AO3 Link: [here]

Word Count: 4337

Warnings: n/a

@dukeceitweek <3

-

Unknown Number

hey so i kno i said i wouldnt text u but rupert isnt doin good. can i bring him back? he misses u

Janus stared at the text for several minutes. Rupert was, of course, the Monstera Variegata that he and Remus had raised together all the way from propagation. It had been one of the pride and joys of their plant collection. Losing Rupert in the split had hurt almost as much as losing Remus.

...Almost. 

Janus

Is it getting enough light? Remember it needed the grow light even next to the window. 

Janus texted back against his better judgement. He and Remus were broken up. They’d agreed not to text for a while. They’d agreed to give each other space, get used to being apart. 

It sucked, though. The apartment felt empty without Remus and half their plant collection.

Unknown Number

ya i kno. but i don’t have any south facign windows here. our place is better

Unknown Number

i mean ur place

Janus sighed morosely. Well, if it was for Rupert…

Janus

Fine. Rupert can come back.

Unknown Number

yay! ill be in town this weekend. ill bring him ok?

Janus

Ok.

And then Janus promptly threw his phone across the room.

Because here’s the thing. Janus and Remus were broken up. Remus had moved eight hours away and everything. He’d been accepted into the Nuclear Engineering graduate program a state away, and they had both heard too many horror stories about long-distance relationships to brother trying. So they’d had a very civil and mutual split. Janus kept the apartment. Remus took the TV. And they’d divided their plant family between them: they each kept their favorites, and Remus had taken the hardier plants, while Janus kept the ones that were likely not to survive an interstate move.

And then… Remus left.

And Janus had not immediately wanted him back. Not at all.

(And, of course, Janus was lying to himself.)

Remus texted him Saturday morning that he was on his way, and Janus spent the first few hours of the wait stress-cleaning. He then checked on every single plant in the apartment. Watered the ones that needed it. Rotated some of the more vivacious growers so that they wouldn’t lean full-body toward their light source. Moved his small army of Sansevierias out to the apartment balcony for some extra sun.   

Then, when all that still failed to fill up the entire eight hours of waiting, he started stress-cooking. So by the time Remus texted that he’d just gotten off the highway, Janus had himself a pot of minestrone soup simmering on the stove, a tray of made-from-scratch lasagna in the oven, and was mixing up a batch of double chocolate chip cookies. 

There was no way he was going to eat all this food himself, he realized. He was so used to booking big meals like this, because Remus ate like he was three people. And lasagna was his favorite.

“Oh, Jake, what am I doing?” he groaned to the N’Joy Pothos that cascaded down the side of the refrigerator. And then his doorbell rang. 

Janus opened the door to find Remus, dancing awkwardly from foot to foot, with his face half-hidden behind the green-and-white leaves of Rupert. 

“...Hey,” Remus said, sounding sheepish. Janus’ heart clenched.

“Hi,” he said. They stood there in the doorway for a full minute before Janus stepped back and motioned for Remus to follow. Remus hesitated, but obeyed. 

“Uh… I’ll just…” Remus looked around. Janus hated how uncomfortable he looked. Until about two weeks ago, this had been Remus’ apartment, too. “Can I put him in his old spot?”

“Sure,” Janus replied with a nod. Rupert’s old spot had been in the bedroom, where the big, beautiful south-facing window let in a ton of light. He’d moved Venus de Milos, his Marble Queen Pothos, and La Hoya Jackson, the finicky Hoya Carnosa that Remus had wanted but didn’t expect to make the 8-hour drive without going into shock, to free up Rupert’s spot. Remus hesitated again, before he nodded awkwardly and wandered off to the bedroom, all three feet of plant and two gallons of soil in tow. Janus went to the oven and took out the lasagna. 

“Howl looks good,” Remus said when he came back into the kitchen. Janus glanced up from where he was laying balls of cookie dough out onto baking sheets. 

“Thank you,” he replied. Howl was their dramatic fiddle leaf fig tree, which had decided to throw a fit just before Remus left. “I switched it to a terracotta pot with peat moss and pearlite, and doubled its water intake. It seems to be tolerating it well.”

“Good.” There was a long pause. Then,” How are you?”

Janus looked back to the cookies. “I’m doing well,” he lied. “And you? Do you start class soon?”

“Next week,” Remus answered. “And, uh. Yeah, I’m doin’ good.” Another long pause. “Uh… I’ll just. Head out, I guess.”

“You could stay,” Janus blurted out. Shit. “For dinner, I mean.” He gestured to the tray of lasagna, fresh from the oven. “If you want.”

Remus gave him an uncharacteristically shy smile, then nodded slowly. He didn’t say anything, though, so Janus just gestured for him to take a seat at the table. And then he joined him, a plate of lasagna for each of them.

“So tell me, how’s living with Roman again?” Janus asked, a few bites into the meal, because he could not take the awkward silence a moment longer.

“It’s ok,” Remus answered. He shoveled another forkful of lasagna into his mouth. “This is really good, Jan.”

Janus smiled softly. “Thank you.” A pause. “Roman doesn’t mind all the plants?”

“Nah, he’s dating this guy Patton who apparently loves plants, so the apartment being full of houseplants is a huge plus to him now.”

“Good for him.” The oven timer went off, startling him slightly. He started to get up, but Remus waved him off.

“I got ‘em, you did all the cooking.”

Janus didn’t protest. Remus got up and took the cookies out of the oven. And he even moved them to a cooling rack like Janus had taught him to do. He came back to the table. 

“How’s work?”

Janus sighed. “Oh, terrible as always,” he answered. “I really must start looking for a new job.”

“Finally getting fed up?” Remus teased. Janus rolled his eyes. More seriously, Remus continued, “You deserve better, Jan. You gotta find some place that treats you right and pays you what you’re worth.”

“Thank you, Remus.”

“And hey, just sayin’, I still think you’d make an excellent stripper.”

Janus snorted at that. “I haven’t fully ruled out that particular career change.”

They fell easily back into their usual banter, lingering late into the night over a dessert of milk and cookies. It was pushing 10pm when Remus glanced at his phone and cursed softly. Janus glanced at his phone as well.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you so late,” he said. Remus shrugged.

“Nah, it’s cool. Thanks for dinner, Jan. It was real good, as always.”

“Where are you staying?”

“Uh… well, the plan was to stay with Logan, but I guess he had some kind of family emergency, so I don’t wanna trouble him. I’ll probably see if I can find a hotel room.”

Janus’ brow furrowed at that. “Why don’t you just stay here?”

“Oh, uh. I don’t wanna trouble you. I kinda feel like I already overstayed my welcome a bit?”

“Nonsense. A hotel room will cost you at least $100 for the night, and that’s simply ridiculous,” Janus insisted. “You should just stay here.”

Remus worried at his lip, which Janus knew meant he was mulling over his options. Then, he nodded. “If it’s not a bother?”

“Of course not. You’re not a bother, Remus.”

Remus’ eyes softened, and he smiled. “Ok. Thank you. Oh… lemmie go get my overnight back outta my truck.”

When Remus came back inside, Janus had just about finished making up the couch. 

“Hey, you don’t gotta get all fancy,” Remus teased. “You know I can sleep basically anywhere.”

“This is for me,” Janus replied. He fluffed up one of the pillows a bit more. “You take the bed.”

An odd look flashed across Remus’ face. “No way, Jan. I’m good on the couch.”

“Remus, you just drove eight hours, and you’re doing it again tomorrow. I am not letting you fuck up your back.”

‘I don’t-”

“Yes you do, no matter how often you say you can sleep anywhere,” Janus scoffed. “You can’t lie to me.”

Remus’ eyes softened, and after a moment, he sighed. “Ok, Jan. But what about you?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You hate sleeping on couches.”

“It’s only one night-”

“And don’t you work tomorrow?”

“Yes, but-”

“You’re going to be so grumpy at work without a proper night’s sleep.”

“I’m usually grumpy at work anyway,” Janus pointed out. Remus snorted.

“Ok, that’s true. But I don’t want you to be even grumpier,” he said. “Let’s just share the bed.”

Janus eyed him for a moment. This was a terrible idea. They should not do this.

“Ok,” Janus said anyway.

They got ready for bed in awkward silence, which just made Janus miss Remus’ long, rambling chatter that much more. When Janus finished in the bathroom, he found Remus sitting gingerly on what used to be his side of the bed. Janus came over and sat down on the other side.

“Hey, uh… thanks,” Remus said. “For lettin’ me stay.”

“Of course,” Janus answered. “I… I still think of you as a friend, Remus.”

At that. Remus grimaced slightly. He didn’t say anything, seeming unable to find the right words. Before he could, Janus pulled back the top blankets on the bed and laid down. After a moment, Remus did the same.

“Good night, Remus,” Janus said quietly.

“...Good night, Janus,” Remus answered. Then he reached over and shut off the light.

-

Remus played that night over and over in his head in the days after he got home, and each and every time, he was just as stumped. 

He knew, in his brain, why he and Janus had broken up. It had been the only thing that made sense at the time, when the facts were just that Remus was moving away to pursue a lifelong dream, and Janus would never ever try to stop him from doing so. So they broke up. It made sense… right? 

But… That morning, he’d woken up to Janus curled up in his arms, face smushed against Remus’ neck, and… Remus had completely forgotten why they had even broken up in the first place.

Remus was back at Roman’s apartment, now. Eight hours away in his own cold bed, arms empty of the man he loved, just staring at the ceiling. A sharp knock on his door snapped him out of his daze.

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty,” Roman called. “Don’t you have class in like an hour?”

“Fuck!” Remus scrambled to get up, but succeeded only in rolling out of the bed.

“Don’t forget to lock the door when you leave,” Roman added. Clearly he was unconcerned by the loud “thump” of a body hitting the floor. 

“Yup, got it,” Remus groaned in reply. He staggered, successfully this time, to his feet. 

Getting dressed was a rushed affair of ‘grab whatever’s closest,’ and soon he emerged from the bedroom with one shoe on, the other in his hand, and his backpack slung over one shoulder. He rushed into the kitchen to grab the travel mug of coffee Janus always set out for him in the mornings. And then the realization hit: Janus didn’t live here.

Remus dropped his shoe. 

The rest of the day went about as well as it could have gone without any coffee- that is to say, terribly. He got lost trying to get to campus, then he got lost again trying to get to class. Then he got stuck in traffic on the way back to Roman’s apartment. And then, to top it all off, the grocery store had been out of his favorite chips. 

So here he was, mopey and chip-less, and fucking exhausted. He dumped his backpack and collapsed face-first onto the couch. Roman, who happened to be sitting on said couch, made a noise of protest.

“Move, I need to sulk,” Remus mumbled, though his voice was thoroughly muffled by Roman’s thigh, since that was where his face had landed. 

“What on earth do you need to sulk for?” Roman asked incredulously. He moved to shove Remus off of him, but Remus went full ragdoll, and Roman couldn’t do a damn thing. “You are a grown man, you know.”

Remus turned his head just enough to stick his tongue out at Roman. Roman stuck his tongue out back.

“I had a terrible day, I earned a good sulk.”

“Didn’t like your classes?”

“Nah, they were great.”

“Professors?”

“Great.”

“Classmates?”

“Great.”

“Then Zeus Almighty, what are you so mopey-dopey about?” Roman remanded.

Remus squirmed around so he was laying on his back, head still in Roman’s lap, to look up at his brother. “So… uh… you promise not to get all, like. I told you so and shit?” 

“You miss Janus!”

“No! I-”

“You do!” Roman crowed triumphantly. Remus rolled onto his side so he didn’t have to look at his brother’s dumb gloaty face.

“...Maybe,” he groaned. Abruptly, he clamored to his feet and started for the stairs. “I gotta go build a chair.”

“Carpentry won’t solve your relationship problems,” Roman called after him.

“I know,” Remus called back. “Wrong type of wood.” If Roman had a response to that, Remus was already out the door and didn’t have to hear it. 

Patton found him out in front of the apartment building some time later, a jigsaw in hand, and a pile of cut wooden dowels at his feet.

“Hey, kiddo, what are you up to?”

Remus looked up from where he was balancing a plank of wood precariously across a milk crate, because his work table was one of the things he’d had to leave behind at Janus’ place.

“Oh, hey. Ro-bro’s upstairs.”

Patton gave him the sort of smile teachers gave to the kid they caught eating glue for the fourth time. “That doesn’t look super safe. Do you want any help?”

Remus took in Patton’s soft blue sweater and the dad-jeans from the nicer end of his closet, as well as the reusable grocery store bag that smelled suspiciously like some kind of lovely home-cooked meal; he shook his head. “You look dressed for a date night,” he said. “I don’t wanna fuck up two relationships this week.”

Patton’s eyes, impossibly, got even bigger and softer than they normally were, which honestly was quite the feat. He walked over to the stairs but, instead of making his way up to Roman’s apartment, he plopped down on the third step, facing Remus. Remus stared, bewildered.

“Uh, what’chu doin’ there, pops?”

“Well, it just sounded like you needed to talk,” Patton replied cheerfully. “So here I am.”

Remus stared a moment longer, somehow even more bewildered than before. “Uh…”

“I know I haven’t known you very long,” Patton continued. “But something tells me you’re the type of person who busts out the power tools when you’re upset.”

“How the hell can you tell that?”

Patton glanced over his shoulder, then leaned forward slightly. “Because,” he said, voice lowered conspiratorially. “I’m like that too.”

Remus blinked. “You?”

“Yup! I replaced all the tables and chairs in my house with ones I made myself after my last breakup,” Patton giggled. “Only two of them collapsed when I sat in them, too!”

Remus glanced down at the jigsaw in his hands, and then he sighed. He set it down, and went to sit next to Patton on the steps. 

“Ok, well. Yeah, maybe I’m kinda upset.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Yeah? No? Maybe?”

“Yup, those are your three options!” Patton teased. Remus rolled his eyes.

“Ok, fine. You win, daddy-o. I’m upset because I miss my boyfriend. Or, well, my ex-boyfriend. I want him to be my boyfriend again.”

“Have you told him that?”

“Of course not,” Remus whined.

“Why not?”

“Because… I mean. It wouldn’t change anything. I still moved away. And I don’t even know if he’d want to be my boyfriend again either. Maybe he’s happier now.”

“You don’t know that,” Patton said gently. “Sure, maybe the circumstances aren’t the best right now, but if you both want it, things have a funny way of working out. But you have to talk to him.”

“I…” Remus paused. And then he sighed deeply. “I guess you’re right. Hey thanks, that did actually sorta help.”

Patton offered him a gentle smile. “Of course, Remus! Any time!”

“Hey!”

They both turned to see Roman standing at the top of the stairs, arms crossed.

“My own brother, hogging my boyfriend like this! The betrayal-”

“Relax, Ro, he’s not my type,” Remus shot back. “I prefer sarcastic little menaces.”

Patton giggled at that. He stood up and patted Remus on the shoulder. “I hope things work out,” he said. Remus smiled back.

“Yeah, I hope so too.”

Really, he just wanted Janus to be happy. Ideally with him, but if Janus was happier without him, well… so be it. 

- - -

Janus was miserable. 

“Dude, c’mon,” Virgil grumbled, immediately upon seeing the state of the apartment. “You’ve been watering your plants and filling the humidifiers, but you can’t be bothered to throw out your gross pizza boxes?” A pause. “Wait, you don’t even like pizza, what the hell.”

Janus just shrugged. After letting Virgil and Logan into the apartment, he’d gone straight back into blanket-burrito-on-the-couch mode. And really, he’d only bothered to get up and let them inside in the first place because Virgil had threatened to axe down the door- and Janus knew for a fact that Virgil owned multiple axes. 

“I believe he is engaging in what is described as ‘emotional eating,’ or using food as a coping mechanism in a time of stress and emotional turmoil,” Logan said helpfully. Virgil just huffed.

“That’s fine and all, but Jesus Christ, dude.” He gestured around the livingroom where… ok, yeah, it was a mess.

“Did you two come here just to insult me?” Janus grumbled. His face was half-mashed into a pillow, though, so who knows how much of that was actually discernible.

“We came to make sure you were still alive,” Virgil snapped, indicating that at least most of what Janus had said was discernible. “You weren’t answering any texts.”

“Yes, and you called out of work three days in a row,” Logan added. “We are concerned for you, Janus.”

“I’m perfectly fine,” Janus lied from the comfort of his depression blanket burrito. He was not particularly surprised when neither Virgil or Logan looked even remotely convinced.

“Alright, drastic measure time,” Virgil growled. He walked over to the window, and picked up the young Burgundy Rubber Tree Janus had yet to name. Janus sat bolt upright. 

“Virgil? Don’t you dare-”

Virgil walked past him and vanished down the hall. When he came back, his hands were empty, and he had a smirk on his face.

“Oh, fuck you,” Janus hissed. He dragged himself up off the couch to go rescue the poor thing, finding it stashed in the dark, windowless bathroom. When he came back to the livingroom, Virgil and Logan were sprawled across the couch.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Janus set the rubber tree back on the windowsill alongside the Snake Plant Army. “Ok, I’m up. Are you heathens happy now?”

“I take offense to that,” Logan muttered, while Virgil just crossed his arms and said, curtly, “Spill it.”

“Spill what?”

“Why are you so upset?”

“I’m not upset-”

“Falsehood,” Logan interrupted. “I have known you since high school, Janus, and I have never seen you like this before. It is highly alarming.”

“Is this about Remus?” Virgil asked.

“No,” Janus said immediately. “Of course not.”

Virgil and Logan exchanged a Look. Janus groaned.

“Fuck. Ok, fine. Maybe it is.”

“Was that so hard?” Virgil asked. 

“Yes.”

“You-”

“Janus,” Logan interrupted Virgil’s retort. “It is my understanding that emotional distress is often alleviated through, as they say, ‘talking it out.’ It is clear you are not handling the break-up as well as you initially believed-”

“Of course I’m not!” Janus snapped. He took a deep breath, and turned back to the plants on his windowsill. Kaa, the Sansevieria Moonshine Remus had gotten for Janus as an anniversary present last year, was already leaning slightly toward the window again. He rotated it, and a few of the other snake plants on the sill. And then he realized the others had been quiet for far too long. He turned to find them both watching him with sympathetic expressions. “What?”

“Keep going,” Virgil prompted. Janus sighed. He felt exhausted.

“Of course I’m not,” he said again. “Because I love Remus.”

“And?” Virgil prompted.

“...And I didn’t want us to break up,” he finished, feeling glum. Wordlessly, Virgil stood up, and approached Janus, arms out. Janus stepped into the embrace. Nobody said anything; Janus didn’t cry, but he stood there for a long time. Then, he stepped back.

“Thank you,” he said, and he meant it. Virgil gave him a small smile. Logan cocked his head, seeming confused.

“I don’t understand. You just… needed a hug?”

“Hugs are great, Logan,” Virgil replied. “You should try them sometime- hey, where are you going?”

Janus strode past them both, beelining for his bedroom to find his laptop. Over his shoulder, he answered, “To fill out some job applications.”

- - -

Remus was outside building a new bookshelf- because Patton was moving in, and Roman's teenie-tiny sad little excuse for a bookshelf, which held only Disney DVDs and no actual books, wouldn’t suffice for all of Patton’s cookbooks- when his phone rang. Which was weird, because nobody ever called him, because he never fucking answered.

“Not interested, Mr. Spam Man,” he crooned over the sound of the generic iPhone ringtone. He was learning how to do kerf bending for this bookcase, and goddamn it he wasn’t going to be distracted by-

His phone started ringing again. He swore and ripped off his gloves to silence his phone. But as he did so, he realized the number flashing across his screen was a familiar one. 

“Janus? Are you ok?” he answered the call, half panicked, because Janus hated phone calls almost as much as he did.

“Hi. Yes, everything’s fine.” Janus sounded slightly hysterical, which made Remus feel even more frantic. “Where are you?”

“I’m at Roman’s. Are you sure you’re ok-”

“Great, don’t leave. I’ll be right there.”

“What does that mean-” Remus demanded, but the line was already dead. Remus swore again. He briefly considered calling him back, because what the actual fuck was that all about, but he was only about 30 seconds into that brief consideration before a familiar car tearing through the apartment complex parking lot caught his attention. He quickly brushed as much of the sawdust off his clothes as he could because holy shit Janus had just parked right there in front of Roman’s apartment.

Remus watched, dumbfounded, as Janus scrambled out of his car- dressed in his very nice black suit and pale yellow button-up- and came running across the lawn toward where Remus was working. He had a tiny plant clutched to his chest.

“Uh, Jan, you good?” Remus asked. Janus stopped in front of him and doubled over, breathless, for a few moments. Then, he straightened up, and fixed Remus with a look of sheer determination.

“Remus. I want to get back together.”

Remus’ heart, the traitorous bastard, leaped up into his throat and blocked all his words from coming out. 

“It’s… it’s ok if you don’t want that,” Janus continued. His look of determination faltered slightly. “It’s ok. But I needed to tell you. Because I love you, so much. And I… I didn’t want you to think I didn’t, even if you don't-”

Remus found his words abruptly. “Jan, fuck! I do! I do love you. I never stopped loving you. All I want is to be with you.”

Janus’ eyes softened. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Good, because I’ve just been offered a job here.”

Remus choked. Janus was eyeing him smugly. “You. Just like that, you got a job here?”

“Just like that,” Janus grinned. “I just came from the interview. They offered me a position on the spot.”

Remus couldn't help himself any longer. He lurched forward and pulled Janus tightly into his arms.

“Hey, be careful,” Janus said, though he made absolutely no effort to get out of Remus’ embrace. “You’ll crush our new son.”

Remus pulled back just enough to look at the small plant Janus held in his hands, and only then did his brain register what it was. 

“Is! Is that-”

“Yes,” Janus replied, holding up the tiny Drosera Capensis seedling. Remus had wanted one of these for ages.

“For me?”

“Well, for us, ideally,” Janus answered, with a shy smile. “But, mostly for you, yes.”

Remus gently plucked the baby octopus plant- their new son!- from Janus’ hands, and placed it carefully on top of the milk crate that was serving as his carpentry workbench. Then, he hoisted Janus up off the ground and spun him around.

“Oh- Re-” Janus exclaimed, though he was laughing. “Put me down!”

“No!” Remus trilled. He spun Janus around once more. Then he just stood there, holding Janus, gazing up at him. Janus’ eyes grew soft. Slowly, he carded his fingers through Remus’ hair.

“Hey,” Janus said.

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Remus set Janus down, but kept his arms still wrapped tightly around him. His heart felt warm.

“Hey.”

Janus looked up at him. “Yeah?”

“I love you, too.” 

[chibinekochan]

How to become a Demon Ruler 112

Part:   01 I 02  I 03  I 04 I 05  I 06 I 07 I 09 I 10 I 11

GN. Reader insert

taglist:  @ayesha95    ;  @nomnomcupcakesworld ;  @fex-phoenix   ; @depressed-bixch ;   @kitsune-oji   ;  @witch-o-memes

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Another morning comes. Unlike the previous days, I'm woken up by Barbatos. 

"Time to rise and shine young master. Due to yesterday's events, we have to squeeze in another lesson, so I have to wake you up earlier." He sounds cheerful, but his tone gives me shivers. 

  I did not think he was mad at me yesterday but this is my punishment for sure.

  With a groan, I sluggishly get out of bed. "Good morning Barbatos." I yawn. I'm too tired to fight back. "Is there time for my morning shower?" 

"Certainly, and there is time for breakfast as well." Barbatos smiles calmly. 

  With an uncertain feeling, I get ready. I really have to get back on his good side. 

  Much to my surprise, Barbatos has prepared breakfast in my room today. "Please sit down and eat with your best manners today's meals will be part of your lessons." He certainly thought this through. 

  I do as he says and use my full arsenal of polished manners. Barbatos corrects me from time to time, but not any different than in our usual lessons. 

 I hope he can see that I'm working extra hard today. 

 "Very well, now we will perform a short test of your knowledge." Barbatos presents me with a small stack of papers. 

 I wish I had prepared for this. The test covers everything I have learned in these past days. Luckily enough it's multiple choice. 

 Barbatos quickly glances over my finished papers. "You passed, though your score is far from perfect." 

I feel very depressed about this, mainly because he usually compliments me. Even when I'm far from perfect. 

 I look at Barbatos. "I know I made you upset, but please forgive me." 

He looks at me seemingly confused. "I'm not upset. I simply want to know where you stand in terms of regular demons." Then he stops himself for a moment, placing a hand on his chin. He thinks for a moment. "I'll take that back. I'm upset about yesterday, but not for the reason that you assume."

"And what reason is that?" I look at him, confused. 

"Well, I wanted to choose the outfit with you but now lord Diavolo has taken that experience from me." His face makes no motion. 

I blink a few times at him. "We can just choose an outfit together next time." There isn't any issue in my opinion. 

"I am well aware of that, but it won't be the outfit for your first party in the devil dom." He sighs, this must be a bigger deal than I thought. 

"In that case, we can buy the outfit for my next milestone together." This sounds like a good idea. 

"I will look forward to that, and you did a good job on the test." With this, Barbatos seems to be back to normal. This makes me feel instantly better. 

 Barbatos continues to give me another lesson on the devildom, focusing on its countless dangers. He isn't over yesterday after all. 

 After this, it's finally time for something much more enjoyable. 

 Our baking "lesson". 

 Barbatos leads me to the kitchen. It's very impressive and yet again I don't see a single person around. 

 I pull out a recipe book. "We should start with something simple since I'm not used to the kitchen here." 

"Just tell me what you need." Barbatos seems very excited. 

 I list the ingredients for simple chocolate cookies. 

 Barbatos has everything ready at lightning speed. 

 Then we measure everything. Barbatos is very good at this step. Much as I expected from him to be honest. 

 Barbatos then turns the mixer on and explains the oven to me. Other than its demonic nature, it's a pretty straightforward oven.

 While we wait for the cookies, I show Barbatos the rest of the book. "All of these are very interesting. I think cookies would be the easiest gift. We can easily math out a huge batch that will satisfy Beelzebub." He is very fascinated by every single item in the book. 

"Sounds good to me. Maybe we can bake two different recipes to give him a bit of variety, but I wonder if there is something that caught your eye?" It seems to be fairly easy to find some for Beel but I'm curious about what Barbatos wants. 

"The cakes interest me the most. There are many options that I would love to serve with tea." He already has some ideas, it seems. 

"That sounds great, but I meant for yourself." I gently correct him. 

"Serving you and the young lord cake with tea is one of my greatest joys." Barbatos has no concept of accepting treats. 

"Then how about a cake for all of us together?" This is a great compromise in my opinion. 

"That sounds lovely. How about this cake in that case?" Barbatos points to one of the cakes in the book. 

"Sounds great to me." I already look forward to it. 

 We end up making 3 different types of cookies, after running out of hazelnuts. We make chocolate chip cookies, hazelnut cookies, and basic cookies with different decorations. 

 I feel pretty proud of the end product. I could probably open a store with all of them. "I think with this amount I can give each of the brothers, you and Diavolo a few to try them." 

 I look at the huge amount with a sense of pride.

  "I'd be honored to get some of these as a present. Barbatos smiles. 

"How about eating a few now?" I eye the delicious-looking cookies. 

"Certainly, we want to make sure they are good after all," Barbatos smirks at me. 

I like this side of Barbatos. I take a cookie and hand it to Barbatos and then grab one for myself. I take a bite. The sweet flavor spreads in my mouth. 

"How is it?" With big curious eyes, I look at him.

"It's absolutely delightful." A big smile spreads across his face.

I'm very happy about this. 

"But now I regret that I never asked you what your favorite cookies are." He sighs with regret. 

"Oh, that would be the chocolate chip cookies. They are simple but there's nothing above them for me." It's the very cookie we have just eaten. 

"No wonder it tastes so great. I will make sure to always remember that." Barbatos smiles at me gently. 

This causes my cheeks to grow hot. "I'm just glad you enjoy them."

"Should we start with the cake now?" Barbatos must really look forward to the cake. 

I smile at his enthusiasm. It's very nice to see a completely new side of Barbatos. Baking with him feels very casual. 

"Yes, first we need to prepare the biscuit dough and bake it." We both start to get to work. "It's funny since we have never done this before, but we are a great team." 

Barbatos nods. "You are right. We should do this again soon." He seems to enjoy this just as much as I do. 

"You are right, next time we need to bake some demon delights." I already look forward to that. 

"I have this great recipe that you will love. We should make that." He smiles at me naturally. He seems so different from his usual professional self. I would love to see much more of this side of him. 

"That sounds great. Maybe we can cook together too." I always enjoy his food but cooking together sounds fun. 

"That would be very lovely." He gently looks at me with a light smile on his face. Then suddenly he seems to remember his standing. "I mean that would be very inappropriate."

I feel a strong tug on my heart. "I need to learn about demon cuisine too." I try to convince him. 

He smiles and shakes his head. "Very nice try, but I can not let that slide."

I sigh disappointedly. "But what if I don't know the dish and its ingredients and someone wants to poison me?" I try something else. 

Barbatos raises his eyebrows. "You should never eat anything that I haven't given you."

"I just really enjoy doing things like this with you." In desperation, I try the honest approach. 

Barbatos blinks a few times. I guess I surprised him again. "I can't win here can I?"  Then he chuckles softly. "Alright, but only something easy and fun to cook." He shakes his head with a smile. 

I grin at my victory. "Sounds fair to me." 

He once again shakes his head and then turns to whip some cream. 

Once the cake is made, we decorate it. It looks very good. I sent a picture to Mammon, to make him jealous. It works. 

With great pride, Barbatos and I look at our creation."It's so pretty, it's almost a shame to eat it." 

"Indeed, but it's cake time so we will." Barbatos looks with great joy at the cake. 

I can only nod to that. 

I put a few cookies on a plate for Diavolo. 

Barbatos prepares everything else. I have seen him preparing the table many times already, but it's still very impressive.

We both wait for Diavolo to arrive. 

"It's so great to see. The worst part of my punishment was not being able to see you." Diavolo looks unusually gloomy. 

"That wasn't part of your punishment, the young master simply needed to work harder today." Barbatos calmly fills his cup with tea. 

"We were very busy. We made today's cake together and the cookies on your plate too." I try to cheer him up. 

"Oh, they look great. I'm so glad I finally get to try my siblings’ baking talents." Diavolos mood shifts in an instance. He gives me a big smile when he takes a cookie and bites into it with great delight. 

"I baked them with Barbatos, but I hope you will enjoy them." I can't take all the credit by myself. 

"I didn't do much." Barbatos doesn't seem to want the credit at all. In all honesty, he did most of the work. 

"They are great, the best I ever had." Diavolo doesn't seem to care either way. 

"I think that is giving them too much credit." My cheeks are once again hot. 

"Don't sell yourself short." Barbatos smiles at me while filling my cup up. 

"With all this praise I might become the first demon ruler with their own bakery." I giggle lightly. 

"Haha, I'd love to see that." Diavolo gives me a huge laugh. "Oh with all of this fun I almost forgot. We had to move the party to tomorrow. I know it's a big hassle. It just couldn't be helped." Diavolo drops this big news like it's nothing at all. 

I almost drop my cup. "TOMORROW?! I'm not ready whatsoever!" 

Barbatos raises an eyebrow. "Has that anything to do with the demon brothers?" 

"It's mainly because of Lucifer and then the new school year will start sooner than we planned to." Diavolo keeps on calmly drinking his tea. 

"This is very troublesome. I will have to go right away to make sure that everything will go smoothly." Barbatos sighs. 

"I can't believe it. How will I ever survive at this rate?" I feel so lost right now. 

"You will be fine. After all, I will be there to support you." Diavolo is not worried whatsoever. 

"I will support you as well and have no doubt that you will shine tomorrow. Due to this sudden change, I have to entrust today's dance lesson to Diavolo, as much as I regret it." Barbatos mumbles the last part.

"Does that mean my duties will be shorter today?" Diavolo shines as he asks this question. 

"No." Barbatos coldly refuses his request without another word. 

Diavolo shrugs. "Then I will just do my best to be fast today."

"You should strive for that every day." Barbatos looks at Diavolo with narrowed eyes. "Anyway, you don't need to worry at all about tomorrow." Barbatos once again encourages me with a gentle smile. 

I can only hope that he is right. 

"He is right. There is no way the demon brothers won't love you." To answer my thoughts, Diavolo speaks up. 

"Exactly, even I personally would be happy enough with them being cordial towards you." Barbatos shakes his head. 

I start to chuckle. "That sounds like you are jealous."

Barbatos seems surprised and coughs a little bit. 

Wait does that mean he is jealous? Well, he might just be overprotective. 

Then Barbatos seems to remember that he has to be somewhere. "I should get going." 

"Yes, please don't worry about us." Diavolo gives Barbatos a kind smile. Barbatos looks critical at Diavolo. 

"I will keep him in line." I can imagine what goes through his head. 

Barbatos lights up instantly. "I will leave him in your capable hands." 

Diavolo shakes his head. "I can take care of myself you know."

Barbatos doesn't acknowledge Diavolo and leaves. He couldn't even finish his cake. 

"Of course you can, I think he just likes teasing you." At least something like that. 

"Maybe but he might be right too." Diavolo sighs. "I can see why my father adopted you. He probably wanted to motivate me."

"I'm not sure how a simple human could motivate you, but I'm glad if I have that effect on you. Honestly after seeing what it's really like I don't think I even want to become the demon ruler." I never wanted this in the first place. 

"Not any human of course, but you certainly do. Ever since you came here I feel more motivated to push my big plan forward. The union between all of the realms. Ever since meeting you, my plan seems more attainable than ever." He looks at me with full sincerity.

 He is usually so goofy that it's a completely different feeling from usual. 

"It's a great vision, and I think if anyone can do it's you, and if I can support you in any kind of way I will," I say this with my full heart behind it. 

"Thank you, you don't know how much these words mean to me…" Diavolo stops himself. "Never mind, we should clean this up and finish today's work." 

I'm sure he wanted to say or ask something important just now but stopped himself. I wonder what he was about to tell me, but I can't bring myself to ask. 

I only nod and quickly put everything back onto the cart and into the kitchen. Putting everything away, only leaving a cup and the rest of the cake for Barbatos.

  Then I read a bit while Diavolo finishes his work.

  Diavolo seems very exhausted once he is done. Lucky for him, I saw this coming and prepared him some coffee. "You worked very hard today, drink this to recharge."

"How thoughtful of you, at this rate you might steal Barbatos' job." He seems very happy about my compliment and the coffee. 

I giggle. "Nobody can do that."

"You are right." He smiles gently. "I'd also feel strange if you start calling me my lord." He seems to find this thought very amusing. 

"You are right, that would be strange." With that, we go to the dance hall. 

Diavolo fumbles with the record player and then a slow waltz starts playing. 

"Do you still remember the steps?" Diavolo seems slightly concerned. 

"Yeah, but I might still step on your feet." I'm unsure of my skills, to say the least. 

"Just take it slow and just focus on me." Diavolo gets into the right pose.

  I'm used to it, but Diavolo is taller than Barbatos and differently built so it's a completely new experience to dance with him. 

Diavolo starts to move slowly, and I can easily follow his lead. It feels very natural. 

It doesn't feel like practice somehow but like we even when I still make sure not to step on him. 

He smiles at me. "We should dance more freely if we can in the future."

"You mean like at a normal party or a club?" I'm not sure what he means. 

"The kind of party we have tomorrow is normal for me but I suppose. I'd like to experience a regular party in your world too." Diavolo looks deep into my eyes. 

"That sounds like fun. Have you ever been to a devildom disco?" Our conversation just naturally flows away from tomorrow. 

"I have, but I could never mingle. There are always exceptions and usually, people are scared of me." Diavolo looks just a bit sad. 

"We should throw a casual party then. With only our friends. I mean I don't have many in the devildom yet but I'm sure it will be fun." I smile at the idea. 

"That sounds wonderful." Diavolo has a strange smile on his face. 

His schedule might not allow something like that. 

"We can always just have fun together too. Just dancing like this is also very nice." I try to cheer him up. 

"Actually, I want to ask you before tomorrow… Do you like the devildom?" It sounds like this question was weighing heavy in his heart. At least his eyes tell me so. 

"Of course. I have only seen very little of it, but I love what I have seen so far." To me, it's not even a question, to be honest. 

Diavolo seems honestly deeply relieved. "I'm glad." He seems to be holding me a bit closer now. There seems more to his words. Something he isn't saying right now.

  I suppose he will tell me soon enough. I fully trust Diavolo. Strangely, I feel like this already. It's not even a week since I know him and yet here I am barely able to imagine my time before I came here.

  "What is on your mind?" Diavolo notices my absentminded thoughts. 

"Sorry, I was just thinking how funny it is that I feel so at ease here even after such a short amount of time." I feel embarrassed about spacing out. 

"I see, that is a great thing. You adapted so quickly, it's amazing. You truly are amazing all around." Diavolo has such a kind expression on his face. 

"I'm just normal. I think it's all thanks to you and Barbatos." I can't think of anything special that I have done. 

"Well, I gladly take the credit if you want to. I think we should stop for today. Tomorrow will be a long day for you." He seems sad to stop. 

I feel the same way. As soon as he lets me go, I feel like a great deal of warmth leaves with him. 

"You are right. I will just fix something to eat for myself. Do you want something too?" I don't feel like heading to bed without dinner. 

"That's such a sweet offer but dinner is already prepared in our rooms tonight. Such a shame really." Diavolo seems to have some regrets about this. 

"Oh I see, have a pleasant night Diavolo." I don't manage to fully hide my disappointment.

"Yes, have sweet dreams." There seems to be a flicker of sadness in his eyes too.

  We both don't say anything else and go our separate ways. 

Dinner feels so lonely tonight that I can't fully enjoy it.

  I feel utterly unmotivated tonight and just fall on my bed after changing into my Pajamas. 

[robbybirdy]

71. Baking therapy on a budget Ft. Genshin Characters: Cyno- Almond Lace Cookies

Hello, every birdy. This recipe is going to be going down in my favorites, and one I am going to make for years to come. But that can only be said when I have almonds in the house. 

Cyno is the character that I selected for this recipe. He is a leader of sorts in Sumeru. Like Dehya, one of his favorite foods is nuts. He likes roasted nuts and dried foods. And honestly, in a weird way, this recipe represents that. 

The first thing you will want to do is preheat your oven to 325F. 

The recipe and the measurements will be in the description down below. 

I made some almond butter and I thought it would give me the same constancy if I made my peanut butter cookies. And this was the result. 

For the almond butter you will need: 

Whole raw almonds 

Oil 

Food Proccessor

You are going to put 1 cup of almonds into your food processor with approximately 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. And pulse it for a few minutes, until the natural oils from the almonds come out and it has the same texture as peanut butter. You can add more or less than that if you want. I went with more almonds because it didn’t seem like enough for my family. 

For the cookie itself you are going to need:

The almond butter

Egg(s)

Granulated sugar

Baking powder

Baking soda 

For every cup of almond butter, you are going to add 1 egg and 1 cup of sugar. Next, you are going to add in your baking powder and baking soda. 

Using a cookie scoop or a cereal spoon that measures about 1 teaspoon. Roll each cookie out, in the palm of your hand and repeat. These cookies will be a little bit on the wetter side. But do not worry. They will taste amazing. 

Place them 2 inches apart from each other. You do not want them touching because they will spread. 

Bake the cookies for about 6-8 minutes. The first batch that I did, I baked them for 8 minutes and they seemed to be a little bit darker than I wanted. So I reduced the time to 6 minutes and they were brown, but not burnt. But when talking about time and baked goods I would just say use your best judgment when it comes to your oven. Every oven is different, and the time may be different for you. Not just talking about these cookies, I am referring to any recipe. 

I honestly had not really an opinion about these cookies when I first had the idea for them. Or rather, when my dad and brother came up with the idea. So I made them, and they turned out a lot flatter than I had expected. 

BUT… the response to these cookies was overwhelmingly positive. My family really loved them and I brought them in with me for my volunteering, and everyone loved them. They told me that they tasted really good.

As most of you know I use baking as an experimental process so the fact that everyone loved them made me really happy. 

I hope that you liked this recipe. Feel free to check it out for yourself. See you in the next post. Thank you.

Pinterest: Here

Recipe::

Ingredients:

Almond butter

1 cup Almonds

1 tablespoon Oil 

Almond Butter Cookies 

1 cup Almond Butter 

1 cup sugar 

1 egg 

Almond butter is simple to make. I used both a food processor and a high powdered blender, that had a setting for nut butter. And honestly, I preferred the texture and taste of the food processor almond butter. For every cup of almonds that you are going to add about 1 tablespoon of oil. Pulse that for a few minutes, until it has the same consistency of peanut butter. 

Preheat your oven to 325F. 

For every cup of almond butter you use, you are going to add in 1 egg and 1 cup of sugar. Mix everything together. 

Using a teaspoon, you are going to roll out your cookies. They will spread, so do not fill the cookie sheet up. 

Bake the cookies for 6-8 minutes. 

They have the same consistency as oatmeal lace cookies. They taste amazing. I hope you liked this recipe. 

[imgoingtohellsofuckit]

Christmas Cookies

Spencer Reid x Reader 

Warnings - uh none? 

summary - Reader tries to convince Spencer that christmas isn’t all that bad

Spencer was all about Halloween. The costumes, the decorations. He loved every single part of the holiday. He was having the most fun on Halloween enjoying his traditions. However, like most Halloween people he didn't exactly love Christmas. And his girlfriend is more than happy to help change his mind about the holiday.

"Isn't this all a bit much?" Spencer asks as you balance yourself on one of the dining room chairs to try and hang the stockings. "I mean it's just gonna be us."

"That doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves," You tell him. She smiles lightly as she steps off the chair to look over your work. "Alright, do you like it?" He smiles lightly.

"Yeah- you do know there are no written records of the origin of the Christmas Stocking?" He tells you. A dorky smile across his face. "people have tried to write the legend or match stories up to explain the lore- the most accepted one is about St. Nicholas wanting to help a poor family but because the father was so stubborn he couldn't just hand over anything to help. So he dropped gold into stockings that were hung by the fireplace to dry." You nod along to the words. Enjoying the fun fact.

"And now they are normalized for most countries," You add, "well- do you like these? The embroidery kinda got a little sloppy." Spencer gives you a soft comforting smile.

"I love them," He assures you. You nod lightly. Moving back to the tub of decorations. It was mostly leftovers of things that just didn't fit with everything else. "It's very winter wonderland in here."

"I love it," You smile, "alright I'm gonna start making cookies- which do you prefer chocolate chip or sugar cookies?"

"Sugar Cookies are more seasonal," Spencer starts, "am I supposed to be helping you?"

"Yes spencer," You tell him. He chuckles. You move to take his hand. Pulling him along to the kitchen. He groans slightly. Once in the kitchen, the two of you start pulling the ingredients out of the pantry. These were clearly your addition to the household. Spencer maybe cooked a handful of times and year and he baked even less than that. So when you moved in you filled the shelves with things to make it almost seem like the people in the house take care of themselves. You both set everything on the counter. "Alright let's do chocolate chip first- they are easier to make anyways."

"Who decided that?"

"Me- why Spence are you gonna argue it?"

"No no just wondering," He says as he pulls down the mixing bowl, "this thing hasn't been touched since my birthday."

"Is that your way of saying you want me to bake more?"

"I mean I wouldn't be opposed," He says chuckling lightly, "it's always a good time for cookies made from scratch." You nod as you grab the measuring cups. "I mean if it isn't too hard."

"Maybe I'll make more but only because you're cute," You say as you pull his hands into yours, "and I love seeing that smile." He chuckles lightly. You move to pull him into a quick kiss. After you break the kiss you move to start measuring out the flour. "Do you have something else you want? Maybe something to take to work with you?"

"We work together-"

"I know that but you travel- I just sit with Garcia," You tell him, "if you don't want any that's fine I just figured I'd offer-"

"No no- I want some," He assures you, "maybe those pumpkin cookies? I know you only really make them around Halloween." You nod lightly. "But they are my favorite."

"Pumpkin cookies it is," You tell him pouring the sugar in, "but I'm sending you with Peppermint candies. You'll have something festive." He chuckles. "I'll make you like this holiday damn it."

"By buttering me up with sweets?"

"If that's what it takes," You say at once, "can you hand me the chocolate chips?" He moves to hand them over. You add them into the bowl then hand it over to Spencer to stir. He takes it and moves.

"I don't know why you always give this to me it's not like I'm any stronger than you," Spencer says as he starts to stir the dough, "it's counterproductive."

"It's busywork," You tell him, "when you do stuff like this I get to hear you talk and I love listening to you talk." He smiles lightly. "So pretty boy tell me some more facts?"

"Alright- Modern Christmas cookies can trace their history to recipes from Medieval Europe biscuits that's when many modern ingredients such as cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, almonds, and dried fruit were introduced into the west," Spencer starts, "the 16th century they were popular around Europe. Each country tended to have one traditional biscuit. For Germany, it was called that Lebkuchen. It's mainly made from honey-"

"Oh speak more Germany to me, love," You say with a bright smile.

"Oh you're testing my knowledge," He says running through his thoughts to remember the translation. "Ich denke, du bist so schön." You smile. Not knowing what the words mean but just knowing that you love watching Spencer like this. Watching him show off how smart he is. Other people thought he was a show-off when he did this. You always loved watching him use that big brain of his. "Wanna know what it means?"

"Hmm depends."

"On?"

"If I'll think it was more romantic when I couldn't tell what you were saying," You tell him.

"I said that I think you are so beautiful," He tells you. You smile at the words.

"Thank you, Spencer- but that sounds like you're trying to score," You chuckle. A cocky grin covers his expression. You move to pull him closer to you. Tucking a strand of his hair behind his ear. "Is that what you want? To get in my pants, pretty boy?"

"Well, I'm never opposed-"

You chuckle loudly. Turning back to start placing the cookies on the baking trap.

"Think you can take over this part?" You ask him. He nods. Lining the trap along with the balls of cookie dough while you start on his pumpkin cookies. "can you hand me the flour Spence?" He moves handing over the bag. You give him a quick mischievous smirk as you grab a pinch full of flour and toss it at him.

"Really?!" He asks at once, "and you call me a child."

"You look so pretty- even covered in flour," You chuckle.

"Hmm let's see if that works both ways," Spencer says. He moves to grab a whole fistful of flour and tosses it over at you. You chuckle in a slight offense as you attempt to wipe off the flour from your clothes. "Beautiful even covered in flour." You roll your eyes lightly as you move to dump the cup of flour into the second mixing bowl. "You wanted my help love."

"Oh, I'm enjoying this," You tell him, "you having holiday fun. Absolutely amazing." He chuckles lightly. "wanna get those in the oven?"

"Sure," He says. He places the tray into the oven. Moving to set the timer. He turns back to see you working on getting his pumpkin cookies together. "I'll wash the bowl so we can work on the sugar cookies next."

"Doing the dishes- wow Spencer that is seriously hot."

"I do the dishes!"

"I never said you didn't- but by the way, I do them way more than you do," You say as you stir the dough, "you think the waters gross so you whine-"

"I wasn't whining-"

You nod lightly. Moving to cute the cookies into the shape of sweaters. Hoping to add some festive flair to them. Spencer moves placing the now clean mixing bowl onto the counter. He starts on the sugar cookie batter.

"Sweaters huh?" He asks.

"Like little Christmas sweaters- or your little sweaters," You tease. He nods. A light smile across his face. "I assume you remember the recipe?"

"Even if I didn't have an eidetic memory with how many of these we had to make last year I don't know how I could forget," He says as he moves through the recipe. You chuckle lightly.

"Hey all of our coworkers loved it," You point out. He nods lightly.

Last year the two of you made about 10 batches to hand out around work. It made your coworkers day. Plenty of smiles and laughs with the baked goods.

"Besides stuff like this means I get to spend more time with you," You smile.

"Always a good thing," He says moving to start stirring the batter, "why haven't we got a mixer yet?"

"Because I asked you for a mixer for Christmas," You chuckle lightly, "besides we always forget how much we want one until we bake anything which is only on birthdays and holidays."

"Okay well- I'm going to make sure that you get your stand mixer," He chuckles, "mostly because I hate all of the mixing." You laugh loudly. "But also because I love you." You roll your eyes playfully as he sets down the ball of dough. He moves to roll it out to cut out the shapes as you set the second batch of cookies in the oven. "Do you want more facts about Christmas cookies?"

"How dare you even ask- of course, I want more Christmas cookie facts," You say as you turn to Spencer. He laughs lightly. Always excited to share is knowledge. Especially when someone wants to know. Even more so when someone as beautiful as you asked.

"Gingerbread originated in the Crusades and was originally made using breadcrumbs, boiled with honey and seasoned heavily with spices," He starts, "It was pressed onto cookie boards which then was nothing more than carved slabs of wood with religious designs and dried. People were said to only be allowed to make the cookies themselves around the holidays because the rest of the year laws restricted its baking to guildsman."

"Guildsman?" You ask, "hmm well I guess that's one way to protect jobs. And cookie boards- kinda like cookie cutters."

"Yeah, that's how it evolved," Spencer tells you, "cool right?"

"Very," You tell him, "God I love that big brain of yours. Seriously Spencer." He gives you a big smile. You move cupping his cheeks.

"You love my brain?"

"I love all of you," You tell him, "but I adore your brain. I love listening to you talk."

"I knew you were perfect," He teases. You laugh lightly as you move into his arms. He wraps them around you tightly. "I love you so much."

"I love you too Spence," You tell him. He moves to tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear.

"Du bist die Liebe meines Lebens," He says softly.

"Mm, what does that mean?"

"You are the love of my life," He says quietly. You smile moving to pull him into a soft kiss. His hands fall to your waist. Placing them carefully. Making sure not to move them without permission. Your hands tangle in his hair. Pulling him into an eager kiss. He moves backing you up against the counter. Careful not to be too forceful that he hurts you. Still, he takes the chance to deepen the kiss.

You move back at once as the timer blares. You move to grab the cookies from the oven at once then shoves the other tray inside. Spencer helps set them on the cooling racks. Y/n chuckles as he yanks his hand back.

"Spencer, you okay?"

"Yeah the cookies are hot- you think I would have known that." You both chuckle lightly. He smiles. "I've got another cookie fact-"

"Oh well, please share my love," You tell him.

"Another place in history where we see the cookie shapes being significant for the holidays is in colonial areas where the Church of England was influential. They call it mumming Christmas stories were acted out and food was used to help depict the stories," He explains, "am i boring you?"

"Not at all," You reply as you watch him carefully.

"Alright well in the 1800s, Pennsylvania Dutch children created large cutout cookies as window decorations now they were made with tin cutters and shaped like people, elaborately decorated with icing the closest to gingerbread men since they weren't religious,"  Spencer explains.

"We should make gingerbread men then," You tell him, "go traditional... Spencer, we could make gingerbread cookies of ourselves!" He chuckles lightly.

"That's dorky-"

"You're calling me dorky?" You ask him, "really? Are you kidding me?"

"It's dorky!"

"You break my heart," You tell him, "we could make gingerbread people for all of our friends. Tell me that wouldn't be adorable."

"Yes it would be cute but I don't even think we have the supplies for gingerbread cookies-"

You look to him pouting lightly. He sighs.

"I'll run to the store," Spencer gives in.

"Thank you, baby," You say brightly.

He's quick about getting to the store. Working through the aisles quickly to gather everything his girlfriend needs.

"No Penelope he's at the store," You tell the blonde on the other line, "gathering cookie ingredients."

"Oh baker Reid," She starts, "awe I love when you two bake. You always get such cute pictures."

"And it's so nice to spend time with him," You tell her, "normally we get days like this every couple of months at best... I'm waiting for JJ or Hotch to call me and ruin my fun."

"Don't speak it into existence," Penelope says, "Kevin is on his way over with a bottle of wine and a good time- and if I lose that I might go berserk." You laugh lightly as you place the sugar cookies on the cooling rack. Before turning back to the homemade icing. "I need a night in my prince's arms."

"Tell me about it," You chuckle, "Between the cases and Spencer almost dying every other week I really need this time with him. Even if it's just us making cookies." Penelope chuckles.

"Don't you dare tell me there won't be more," She teases.

"I don't know for sure," You say honestly, "depends on if Hotch lets me have my boyfriend for the night." She laughs lightly. You could hear the door open. Spencer calls to let you know he's home. "That's him Pen."

"Oh please give me all the juicy details on our Doctor Reid later!"

"Bye Pen-"

"Bye Y/n!"

You hang the phone up and move to toss it onto the counter. Spencer hands over the bags.

"Who was that?"

"Garcia," You tell him, "she was asking me to share some juicy details about our sex lives."

"People actually talk about that stuff?" He asks clearly a little embarrassed.

"I mean yeah," You chuckle, "I don't tell her everything if you are worried about that."

"No, I'm not worried about it-" He's starting to get flustered. You take his hand gently. He sighs. "Did you tell all the girls at work?"

"Just Penelope," You tell him, "and it's only small things. Like romantic gestures. I try not to say anything that I know you wouldn't want me to." He nods lightly. "Now wanna start making the cookies while I get your pumpkin cookies iced."

"Of course Malady," He says brightly. You move carefully icing the cookies as he starts on the cookies.

"You never told me what you want for Christmas," You point out.

"I want a whole day just the two of us," Spencer tells you.

"That is out of my hands," You tell him, "but I'll try my best to make it work." He nods lightly. "Anything else you want?"

"Uh- books," He tells you.

"Books? Any book?"

"No - I'll make a list," He says at once. You nod turning back to the cookies. "Anything you want that isn't the mixer?"

"Your love."

"You already have that," He chuckles. You turn to finish icing the cookies before starting on the sugar cookies. Spencer watches you carefully as he works on the gingerbread cookies. "Come on you have to want something else."

"I want you to take me to go look at Christmas lights," You tell him. He smiles lightly.

"I can do that," Spencer tells you.

"I knew I picked you for a reason," You say brightly. He moves setting the dough on the counter so you both can cut out the shapes. After you get them cut out he tosses them in the oven. You look over to him eagerly.

"What?"

"You're so handsome," You say brightly, "and I love you." He chuckles lightly. You take his hand carefully. "Christmas movies?"

"Depends... Which one?"

"Hmm, Polar Express?"

"Perfect," He says softly. You move to pull him along to the living room. He gets the movie set up as you climb onto the couch excitedly. Wrapping your arms around him the second he lays back down. You move resting your head on his chest. Feeling the rise and fall of his chest. As you keep your eyes on the movie Spencer gently plays with your hair. "You're beautiful."

"Thank you, love," You say softly. He moves pulling you closer to him.

"You know if we get to be like this then maybe I'll start to like Christmas," Spencer starts.

"Oh we can be like this all the time for Christmas," You tell him, "even better- we can have matching pajamas."

"Matching pajamas?"

You stand moving to the bedroom. Digging through the bags until you pull out matching pajama sets.

"I was going to wait until Christmas eve to get these out but I think we can manage getting them now," You say as you toss a set over to him, "you like them?"

"I love them," He says.

"Perfect because I told JJ we'd wear them to her Christmas party," You chuckle.

"Pajamas?"

"Her and Will are wearing their own matching PJs," You tell him, "it's just a cute thing... We don't have to."

"No no I like it," Spencer tells you. You aren't convinced he's telling the truth but you don't mind. This stuff is more your speed anyway.

"Well then let's get them on," You tell him. He nods. moving to pull off his sweater and replace it with the red Christmas top. You smirk slightly as you look over him. "You're so pretty."

"You always call me pretty," Spencer says as you toss away your top.

"Because you're pretty," You shrug, "sorry love." You move pulling on the pants. Spencer adjusts his slightly. You were a little worried it wouldn't fit right considering how tall and lanky the bastard is. "Please tell me that fits. They didn't have anything that was longer the wasn't also bigger and I didn't want it falling off of you."

"It fits fine," Spencer assures you. You move to take his hand carefully. He smiles widely.  

"Come on we have to get the cookies," You tell him. He nods as you lead him out to the kitchen. Spending the rest of your night baking and watching holiday movies.

Spencer was sure that as long as you were by his side he'd give the holiday a chance.

[cosmiclatte28]

#4 Hello, Rival (Mark Lee x you)

Fourth day of Christmas

Hello, Rival (Mark Lee x you)

I do not own the pictures, but I own the stories :) enjoy! 

Moving on to a new country has never been easy, even for you who was only eight when you leave New York to Toronto. You certainly miss the Christmas lights New York always have each year, but turns out Toronto is not that boring, or at least your neighbor is not boring.

You grew up with the family tradition of decorating your house with Christmas lights. Your father likes to step up your house’s Christmas lights to another level. He once designed the theme to be Avengers, once he made it Winter wonderland, another one of your favorite is the time he made a Frozen castle in front of your house. Those were back in New York where people always take a picture in front of our house.

It is now your third Christmas in Toronto and your father hasn’t come up with any idea.

“Dad, are we going to put on the lights soon? Our neighbour has started cleaning their lawn.” You peek over the blinded window to the house next to yours. They look like they’re a big family, judging by the number of people sweeping the leaves right now.

Your brother joins you on spying your neighbour, “I wonder what they are making this year. Dad are we going to decorate the lawn this year?”

Your father throws a shocked look to you and your brother “My dear (y/n) and Jaehyun, there is no way I am not putting lights this year! Just wait I’ve drawn them nicely here.” He opens his laptop and the two of you scurry to his side.

He opens his blueprint and Jaehyun claps his hands, you marvel at his work.

“Nutcracker?” your mother suddenly joins the three of you.

He nods his head proudly, “Tomorrow my nutcracker air mascot should come in the mail and we can take the lights out! We can do this, we’ll make our house looks nicer.” He places his hand and we all put ours on top of his.

“Okay now, ginger cookies are here! Let’s decorate!!!” your mother places a hot tray of fresh baked cookies on the dining table and you’re more than delighted to decorate the house.

Your family always make them and distribute some of the batches to neighbours. You spend the entire afternoon jamming to Christmas carols and finish writing small quotes on every cookies. You hand them to your mother so she can pack them nicely and you flop on the big couch in the living room.

Your brother, Jaehyun is playing the piano while listening to you commenting on your neighbour who has started putting on lights.

“I think theirs will be the usual theme, just snow man and some santas.” You spy on your neighbour as if this is a secret mission.

Jaehyun just chuckles and lets you spy more, he even adds fire like asking you how many people are there and who seems to be the laziest one.

“Are you going to school tomorrow?” your mother asks after dinner is over and you and Jaehyun are lounging over the TV playing on some video games.

You nod your head, “Tomorrow is the Christmas celebration in school and we have holidays!”

“Then you better sleep or you will be cranky. Jae you’ll help us with the lights right?” your mother asks your brother. He nods his head, “I’m free tomorrow.”

You pout, “I want to be a part of the team too!!”

Your brother teases, “You’re in school. Sorry but you won’t have credits when people come to gaze at our house.”

If your mother did not stop the two of you there, you’re sure you will be on the floor trying  to tackle your tall brother.

“We will wait for you. Jae will pick you up on twelve and we can eat lunch and start preparing the lights. Now bed time!” she points to your room and after you get up to brush your teeth your mom send you to dreamland.

The next day, you cannot hold back your excitement. You’re super happy to attend the school’s Christmas party and the last day of school, but you cannot wait for the bell to ring.

“Jumpy today, unusual…” your friend Jisung asks you.

“Oh Jisung I’ll put on the Christmas lights today!! Can’t wait.” You pick up your bag and almost run away if not for his little scream of “wait”

You turn your body and he hands you a nicely wrapped box, “I made them, some chocolates. Merry Christmas!” he waves his hand to you and you hug him tight, “Thank you!”

He is your best friend in school, you’ll miss him! Your sadness disappeared as soon as you step out of your school and see your brother with his annoying smirk.

He just waits until you’re by his side and the two of you start walking back home.

“I got a chocolate from Jisung.” You boast the small present to your brother.

Jaehyun looks at it without much interest, but his hand is fast and before you can see a piece of chocolate gone, Jae has already munch on the sweet food.

“Yak!!”

He smacks his lips, trying to savour the taste, “Hmm I guess it’s good, might need a second test.” He reaches out again but you quickly close the box and glare at him.

Jaehyun laughs at your angry face and just pokes your cheek, “Sorry, come on don’t put a sour face! It’s Christmas soon!”

When your eyes catch the pretty decorations, your neighbours had made on their garden, you forgot your sour face and run to your house.

Jaehyun has to run after you and there in your lawn you can see your father already planning out the things we have to put up today.

“Okay put your stuff inside and come out quick.” Your mother says as your father is already busy putting on the lights on the higher parts of the house.

Jaehyun helps father with the roofs and electrics, while you help mom with the tinsels and just the balloons.

It took all four of you the whole time from One to Five to finally plug in the cable to the socket and cheer when the lights perfectly work according to plan.

It really looks magical! With the white snows and the lights, you can feel like you’re in a new world, the nutcracker realm.

After cleaning up and dinner, all four of you spend your night taking pictures in front of the house. Documenting the project for this year and basically updating it to your social media.

Your eyes see the flashing lights your neighbours also have on their houses. Everyone has their own concepts, and it is all pretty.

The next day you wake up with a happy feeling. You enjoy your breakfast and see a freshly baked pie with sweet inviting smell on the kitchen.

“Mom, are you making pies?” you yell and she replies from the laundry room, “Oh that was from our neighbour. Mark’s mother baked them, cut it up if you want.”

You eye the freshly baked pie but suddenly stop when your mother appears in the kitchen with a jar of cookies.

“If you have nothing to do, please help me deliver this to their house.” Your mother hands you the jar of cookies you decorated last night.

You knit your eyebrow, “Which house is Mark’s?”

Your mother rolls her eyes, right you never meet him. “The one on the left.”

Your mouth pops an “Oh” and you grab your coat quickly. After putting on socks and boots, you take the cookies to the house next to yours. The same house that you spied on yesterday. Their decoration did not look bad, though you like yours more.

After knocking three times on their door, the door opens and a young man similar to your age greets you. His face looks surprised.

“Yes?” he said.

You clear your throat, “Oh Mark right? I’m (y/n) your neighbour. Ever since we move here, we kind of have an unspoken Christmas lights competition,” you look around and he also peeks to see your house. You continue, “And I finally meet my rival!” you grin. He laughs and you hand him the cookie jar.

“For you and your family. Thank you for the pies!” You shyly brush your hair away and feel your cheeks burn when he examines the cookies.

“Looks nice and yummy. Did you make this?” he brings out one and tastes it on the spot.

Your eyes dilate as you hope he says something good “My mom bakes it, I decorate it.”

He chews and swallows, his eyes lit up, “Hm interesting! I love this. Thank you (y/n)!”

You reach out your hand, “Nice to meet you, rival” you wink

He laughs and smirks, “Nice theme over there too, rival.”

The two of you laugh.

“Come here next time and play with me.” He politely invites you over, since both of you had never hold a conversation before.

You nod your head, “Feel free to visit me too!”

He winks, “No worries, I’ll visit you whenever I am free. Okay then, see you! I have to help mom send some more pies.”

You turn your heels away after sending the last good bye and with light foot steps you reach your home.

“Christmas never disappoints! Look, I finally know my rival and we’re going to be good friends.” You tell Jaehyun your story as soon as you see him.

“Oh yeah? How are you so sure?” he yawns bored about the lame childish story he always hear from you.

You smack your lips, “Because my heart says so, and I am not like you.”

See you!! Christmas masterlist

[cupcakemolotov]

Far From the Shallow Now

Synopsis: Caroline needs to get her head on straight after the ball and is still awake when Klaus drops by.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence × Pre-Relationship × Technically Tyler and Caroline Are Still Together × No cheating × Still Mostly Tyler Friendly × A Moment After the Ball × a what if × Domestic Fluff × Sort Of ×

A tiny pieces would be part of the random snippet series. Just a bit of a what if Caroline had been up when Klaus dropped off the drawing. You can read it here on A03 if you prefer.

                                                       -

The kitchen smelled like her childhood. Warm brown sugar and melting chocolate, the memory of afternoons spent baking with her dad were precious moments that still ached. Pre-vampire Caroline has really hated cooking, and she’d found her opinion hadn’t changed much over the past few months. But baking? With its necessary precision and attention to detail, even the most finicky of recipes soothed her. It had been her dad that had first put a wooden spoon in her hand, who had sighed at her scrunched nose and red face and smoothed her bangs.

“Come on, Care Bear. Let’s try a new recipe today. I’ll let you pick.”

But those memories had been filled with afternoon sunshine and the blare of a radio, and they had been a long time ago. Long before the silence between her parents had grown cold and Bill’s business trips had taken longer and longer. Her childhood was bittersweet and it clogged her throat to think of all the things she’d lost.

But that was for another night.

Tonight, all she had was the silence of her home and the shadows of the neighborhood around her. With her mom working the graveyard shift, she had the house to herself. It had been a relief to come home to shadows and silence after the noise and color of the ball. A chance to process and detox, push away the memory of Klaus’ hands on her skin, the boyish, curling smile on his face and the anger as she’d walked away from him. Breath shuddering in her throat, she stirred the cookie dough a little more thoroughly.

A little pre-baking cleaning had helped calm her juggling nerves and here she was, getting worked up again. The fridge was stuffed with sympathy casseroles, and she’d thrown out dozens of wilting flower arrangements. The cards were neatly stacked and organized in piles alphabetically and according to whom she still needed to reply to.

Her mom probably wouldn’t even notice.

Tomorrow’s project would involve freezing what was left of the food that her mom would eat, she’d already packed the leftovers into Tupperware so she could return the pans to her neighbors. But her dad had taught her to never return a dish empty, so at least her midnight baking would have a purpose. Absently licking at a smear of cookie dough, Caroline watched the clock on the oven click over past 3 AM, and mentally counted her blood bags. She’d need an extra tomorrow, to offset her lack of sleep, but her mind couldn’t stop spinning.

Is it so hard to believe I fancy you?

She’d showered as soon as she’d gotten home, needing to remove Klaus’ lingering scent from her skin. She scrubbed herself pink with her favorite soap, and stood in the shower far longer than needed. The dress was already folded and packed in the box it had arrived in, her bra and underwear at the bottom of her dirty clothes hamper. Now she was sitting in her kitchen in old cheer sweats, and surrounded by two dozen cookies while she worked on the next batch.

And nothing had managed to stop the wheels spinning in her head.

Running a hand down her face, Caroline tried again to decide how she felt about the fiasco that had been her night. The dancing, the hunger and lust in his gaze, those falsely boyish smiles and the rage that had burned when she’d flung his diamonds back at his face.

Klaus had meant every word he’d said and none of it. That was the game he played. Perfection and coercion, falsely sweet words that clung like poisoned honey. It’d been easier to push aside her curiosity, that niggling fascination for how his brain worked before he’d turned his gaze towards her.

Klaus was a monster. But he was a smart one, always steps and steps ahead of his enemies. She didn’t want him, she needed to not want him, and she was pretty sure he didn’t want her either, and it stiffened her shoulders to think he saw her as the distraction Damon insisted she play or his very own potential Trojan horse.

She would never betray her friends.

But Caroline didn’t want to die.

Eyes closing at the thought, she took a careful breath. The games Damon played were dangerous. Esther, Bonnie, all his siblings were spinning on a course that could only lead to collateral damage, and she was sick of it.

Tyler too sometimes only saw her as useful. Her dad had died helping him and still the last time they’d talked he’d wanted her to play more games. As if she wasn’t drowning in grief and what if’s, as if her world hadn’t been twisted as violently as his, as if she wasn’t trapped in a spiderweb she had no idea how to escape. Her fingers tightened on the wooden spoon, and she exhaled slowly.

She and Tyler hadn’t chosen what had been done to them but they could choose how they responded and she was starting to feel less and less comfortable about the bitterness he carried. The hard edge of rage. Whatever had happened when he left and found Hayley had sharpened parts of Tyler she hadn’t known were there and she wondered what he saw when he looked at her. If what he saw made him as uncomfortable as it made her.

Lips flattening at the thought, she reached for the bag of chocolate chips and froze at the sounds of her front door opening. Eyes snapping up, body going taut at the potential threat, her stomach knotted at the sight of Klaus stepping into her home.

For a long moment, they just studied each other.

In the hours since she’d left the ball, he’d ditched his jacket and bow tie, his white waistcoat nowhere to be found. His hair was no longer so perfectly arranged, he’d rolled his shirt sleeves to bare his forearms, and if that wasn’t enough to spike her blood pressure, he still wore his suspenders. Hidden behind the counter-top, her nails dug reflexively into her palm. He’d been stupidly good looking earlier at the ball with his sly smiles and dimpled promises, but this? Rumpled, lips bitten red, his gaze dragging along her body with a slow perusal that set her nerves of fire was something else entirely.

Klaus smiled slow, cheeks creasing, all of the anger from before tucked beneath charm and guile. “I’m surprised you’re still awake, love.”

“Your family is exhausting,” she agreed tartly, straightening her spine. “But of the two of us, I’m the only or who is expected to be here at all. Kind of rude, just bargaining in, don’t you think?”

He gave an elegant little shrug and strolled closer. Her jaw flexed, and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a velvet box and setting it on an empty space on the counter. “I do have an invitation. And perhaps it is also just as rude, don’t you think, to return gifts?”

Shoving the wooden spoon back into the cookie dough before she was tempted to smack him with it, Caroline settled a hand on her hip and faked her bravado. “It’s way ruder to offer gifts with so many strings in the first place.”

An amused glance from beneath his lashes before he peered at her cooling racks of cookies. “Most women enjoy apology jewelry.”

“I must have missed the apology.”

One dimple peaked high on his smile and he snagged a cookie. “I didn’t realize you baked.”

She narrowed her eyes as he took a bite, his clear dodge. This entire conversation felt surreal, a little bit domestic, and a lot concerning. Wasn’t she just thinking about how dangerous he was? This, this charm, only highlighted that danger. He slipped so easily from mood to mood, as mercurial as the wind and she needed to remember that.

Promises or no.

“It’s not like we really exchange small talk. And that’s the only cookie you get. I have a dozen dishes to fill and I need this done before mom gets home.” She tipped her chin towards the dining room table where the clean dishes and tinfoil were waiting for her. She was willing to bet he'd already noted the dishes, but so what. “So why don't you get to your point and leave?”

Klaus made a thoughtful noise as he finished the cooking, dusting his hands of crumbs. “Need help?”

“From you? Absolutely not.” The words slipped out before she could catch him and find something politer to say. This was her grief, her method of coping. He didn't get an opinion and he didn't get to pretend they were friends. Not when he wold kill all of them if he thought it necessary. This? This mess and this grief and this small thing to help her mom was hers.

The smile died on his face but she didn’t flinch. She didn't know what he read on his face, but his head tipped in a silent acknowledgement. Instead of baiting her more, his hand returned to his pocket, and this time he produced a rolled up piece of parchment.

Caroline looked at it warily. “What is that?”

“Part of the apology,” he murmured as he set it delicately on top of the box holding the diamonds. “The bracelet is yours love, no strings. Do with it what you will. As for the rest.” He paused, blue eyes narrowed as he studied her, a hint of gold burning the edges of his iris. “The games my mother plays are not kind to her pawns. Be sure you don’t find yourself in over your head, Caroline.”

She lifted her chin to hide her tremble. “Threats?”

“Call it a warning.” Klaus said. “Likely the only one you’ll get.” Just as quickly, that sense of danger melted under another smile and he snagged a second cookie before turning and sauntering away at her protest.She slid her tongue between her teeth at the sight of just how well his pants were tailored and the way the suspenders highlighted the length of his back. The image was going to be burned behind her eyes for days.

As if he could sense her gaze dragging down his spine, he cast one more boyish smile at her as he opened her door. “The cookies were delicious, love. I do so look forward to learning what other secrets you're keeping.”

She watched him go, barely breathing, a mix of alarm and arousal mixing with adrenaline. So many layers. The hidden threat in his words, the reminder that he could walk into her home whenever he wished. The return of the bracelet, that little bit of claim he’d laid on her life.

An apology.

Swallowing, she wiped her shaking hands on her sweats and reached for the parchment. It unrolled to show the familiar lines of her face and the perfect image of a horse.

Thank you for your honesty.

Swallowing, she set the drawing down and didn’t know what to think.