#I hope you all have a great new years eve! <3< /div>
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froggibus · 2 days ago
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I think a story about venture working at an ice cream shop would be super cute!!! VERY flirty, possibly suggestive(?) but no smut! Could it be with a fem reader too? Ice cream vencito my beloved😍😍
Sweet Tooth and a New Year - Venture
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Pairing: Sloan Cameron x gn! reader
Genre: fluff
Word Count: 1.1k
Summary: at an empty ice cream stand on New Year's Eve, you meet an unlikely companion
CW: none really, very cutesy wholesome :) sloan and reader are both dorks, pacing is kinda whack ngl, yes im a mint choco ice cream enjoyer
happy new year!! been working on this req since you sent it but my friends distracted me a lil by getting me on overwatch ^^ ty for all your sweet messages & welcome to tumblr <3 hope 2025 is a good year for everyone, and filled with lots of good memories. if you guys have any new years resolutions id love to hear them :D mine is to write more
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The ice cream stand is a ghost town, which isn’t a surprise, given it’s New Years Eve in the dead of winter.
Picnic tables gleam in the moonlight, a thin layer of frost coating their surfaces. Thin snowflakes dot the air and as you look up to the sky, fluffy clouds loom overhead. It would be a perfect winter night if you weren’t completely alone.
Shuffling towards the empty ice cream counter, your eyes fall against the bored-looking cashier. They have a book splayed across the counter, leaning their head so far into it that the stool they sit on threatens to tip. Brown curls fall in their face, occasionally brushed back by calloused fingers.
Their peaceful demeanour has you stopping in your tracks, ready to turn around and go home. And then the toe of your shoe scrapes the ground and their head is snapping up, tawny eyes locking on yours. 
They blink a few times and as if suddenly remembering they’re at work, slam their book shut. The thud echoes along the walls behind them, ringing in your ears as you close the distance between you and the counter.
They offer you a nervous smile. “Hi there!” 
Your eyes catchon the shiny silver metal of their nametag. You squint at the ice cream cone shaped badge, the cone reading ‘Sloan’ and the end decorated in swirls of purple, white and yellow.
You return their greeting, just barely catching the soft blush that falls across their face. Whether for their privacy or for the sake of your suddenly rapid heartbeat, you force your eyes to look up at the menu board.
You blink. Dozens of neon-lit options stare back at you, ranging from plain vanilla all the way to something called ‘graveyard’. The choices are almost overwhelming and your decision paralysis is only made worse by the freezing cold around you.
You glance back at them to see they’ve been staring at you the whole time, their eyes glittering with something you don’t quite recognize. “What would you recommend?”
“M-me?”
You nod sheepishly, and they instantly begin to read out a bunch of flavours that you’ve never heard of in your life. 
“—and of course rocky road is a classic, and mint chocolate chip, but no one ever gets that one and,” they furrow their brows at you, “sorry, am I talking too much? I have a tendency to ramble and—”
“Mint chocolate chip sounds great.”
While most people would be annoyed with you cutting them off, Sloan seems to relax at your words, their shoulders falling down from their ears. “Do you want a single scoop or a double?”
The word ‘double’ barely leaves your mouth before they’re shuffling away, grabbing a golden waffle cone and packing in the biggest two scoops of ice cream you’ve ever seen. 
They hold out the cone for you triumphantly, clearly proud of how much ice cream they’ve managed to fit on the flimsy cone. “Et voila!”
“Wait, I haven’t paid yet.”
They shrug their broad shoulders, thrusting the cone forwards once more. “It’s on the house. Think of it as a New Years treat.”
You smile, a new warmth running through your veins despite the biting cold. “Thanks, Sloan.”
You swear they blush at your use of their name, the red colour only deepening when your hands brush theirs as you go to grab the cone. 
You take a lick of the ice cream and nod. It’s exactly what you needed tonight. 
Satisfied that you’re taken care of, Sloan grabs another cone and packs on scoop after scoop of different ice cream before meeting you back at the counter.
“So, what brings you to an ice cream stand by yourself on New Year's Eve?”
You lean against the counter and take another lick of your ice cream. “Just didn’t have anyone to spend it with, I guess.” You shrug, “plus, there’s nothing ice cream can’t fix.”
“That’s my philosophy, too.” Sloan grins and takes another lick of theirs, their mouth wet from the condensation. 
“What about you, though? Why does your boss have you working tonight?”
Now it’s their turn to shrug awkwardly. “I don’t really do parties,” they say. “And I knew it would be dead so I’d have more time to read.”
You glance over the counter. “And what are you reading?”
Their eyes light up like fireworks at that question, and suddenly they’re laying down their book across the counter. It’s huge, and clearly very old, filled with old drawings of rocks and artifacts.
You squint, “archaeology?” 
They nod enthusiastically, a thick finger pointing to a small statue of some sort of deity. “Isn’t that just the coolest?”
And while you’ve never found rocks and statues that interesting, their enthusiasm has you catching like a fire, and you find yourself smiling eagerly.
Sloan takes your enthusiasm in stride, starting to flip through pages and point towards different artifacts all across the world. They don’t even need to read the text in the book, already having memorized the whole thing.
The two of you eat your ice cream together while Sloan talks to you about their dreams to travel and their plans for the new year.
You’re so in awe of their passion that you hardly even notice the time passing until Sloan suddenly squints at their cash register, eyes shooting wide.
“Holy shit.”
You frown, “what is it?”
“It’s already 10:30—I need to start closing.” 
The smile on your face falls for the first time since you started talking, your heart sinking in your chest. Talking to Sloan was a nice distraction, and now that it’s ending, you’re not sure what to do with yourself.
Sloan notices the sudden shift in your demeanour. Their hands still on the cash they were counting and they glance back up at you. “Would you maybe wanna hang around while I close? I’ll be really quick—I swear! And then we can do something after.”
You find your heart softening once more, that same warmth flowing through you. You nod your head eagerly and then Sloan is off, counting cash so fast you can hardly keep track.
You flip through their book in the meantime, going back over the pictures they showed you and remembering the smile plastered to their face while they did.
It feels like no time has passed by the time they're done closing. They stand next to you now, a toque pulled over their curls and gloves covering their calloused hands. 
“Come on,” they grab your hand in theirs, the soft fabric of their gloves warming your skin. “If we go now, we can still make the fireworks.”
You close your hand around theirs, letting them lead you through town. While 2024 might not have been your year, you can feel it now with Sloan’s hand woven through yours that 2025 will be. 
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(if you enjoy content like this, interactions go a long way! comments, likes & rbs are always greatly appreciated ^-^ !!)
overwatch masterlist | masterlist
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gugapuppy · 24 hours ago
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Abortion - Part 7 (A!Ghost x O!Soap)
Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7
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First of all, HAPPY 2025!!! 🙌🎉🥳 I hope you had a great New Year's Eve with lots of food, music and fun!
Now, on to the chapter.
CW: Abortion (Offscreen)
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"So... what did you want to talk about?" Soap stared at his own coffee, which exuded a slight vapour, and on the other side of the table, Laswell sat with her arms folded, her face calm.
She had arrived early the day after she and Price had come, saying that she would like to talk to Soap without the lads getting in their way, so the two of them decided to go to a coffee shop a few blocks away.
She swallowed and cleared her throat, making Soap look at her.
"First of all I'd like to explain properly about last night, I insisted that Price didn't come yesterday, but he wouldn't listen." She uncrosses her arms and places them on the table. "Let me explain the Ghost situation."
"Laswell," Soap exclaims, not knowing whether or not he wants to hear about his ex.
"Just... listen to me, after that I won't say anything else." Soap stares at her momentarily until she decides to give a small nod and take a sip of her coffee.
"Last night Ghost called Price, I was with him at the time." She takes a deep breath before continuing. "What Price said last night about Ghost wanting to be a part of your pregnancy is true."
"Then why did he leave me and accuse me, Laswell?! Why?!" A few people look round at Soap as he raises his voice.
"A few years ago, Ghost became a POW for a cartel in Mexico, the things those people did to him... it's something that shouldn't be commented on."
"And what's that got to do with it?" Soap almost spits at Laswell in indignation.
She pauses, thinking about how to tell Soap until she decides to just be blunt. "The reason Ghost walked away after you broke the news to him is because he thought he was infertile."
Soap pauses briefly, repeating Laswell's words in her head on a loop for a moment. The reason Ghost walked away is because he ‘thought’ he was infertile? He could have spoken to Soap if he was unsure!
"Ghost apparently shared this information with Farah who made him take a fertility test, the results of which showed that there were no fertility problems or STIs." Laswell added, leaving Soap with his mouth ajar and anxious.
Someone had to force Ghost to take a test... didn't he even think that maybe he was the father? He didn't even imagine the likelihood, he just jumped into what he always does and ignored everything. As if it was nothing. As if Soap simply didn't matter.
The touch of Laswell's hand on his makes him blink back to reality.
"He didn't trust me? Why didn't he tell me about this doubt, this could all have been avoided if he'd just..." Soap just shakes his head.
"Sometimes people are insecure and prefer to ignore the small ray of hope." She squeezes Soap's hand before letting go. "What do you want to do John?"
Soap doesn't answer right away, he thinks for a moment until he finally decides on an answer.
"I can't go back to Laswell... What guarantee is there that he won't ignore me or abandon me again? I tried to go after him even when he was accusing me of things I would never do... I can't go back to him. Not anymore."
Johnny tries to be strong, but every few moments his eyes start to get heavy and his jaw quivers with a small sob. His head shakes slightly,
Laswell's breathing is cut off for a moment, the smell of a stressed and sad omega spreads through the air. She moves over and stands next to Soap, trying to scent him and calm him down, which gradually works.
While she's crouched down next to Soap helping him, she says calmly. "I'm here for you, John." She hugs him straight away.
Soap returns the alpha's embrace, and in a stammer he says. "Kate... I need a favour."
--🧼--
The next day after the conversation with Laswell, Soap decided to write Simon a goodbye letter, he knew that seeing the alpha wasn't something that was going to happen.
When the day finally arrived, Johnny was nervous, every atom of his existence telling him not to proceed. But he knew that it was the omega's instincts, the instinct to look after the baby and not let anything hurt it. To be a dad.
Gaz had one arm around Soap's shoulder, one of his hands gripping omega's tightly.
Soap felt more at ease with his best friend there. He just wanted to make a nest and put him and Gaz inside, never to come out again.
Some of the patients passing by thought it was strange to see two big, strong men, one of them purring loudly at the other, but in all honesty, Soap didn't give a damn what anyone else thought.
The moment Gaz's sister called out to them, the two of them followed, Gaz saying that he would wait for Soap.
John was taken to a room where he was instructed to wear one of the hospital's clothes. Gaz's sister offered more strongly for the last time that Soap might see one of the therapists first, but the sergeant refused.
And then he was redirected to the room where the surgery was to take place.
As one of the doctors put on the anaesthetic gas mask, John's consciousness gradually faded, leaving only one thought. 
I'm sorry, pup.
--🧼--
When Soap finally woke up, he was lying on a bed, his body was sore and a slight dizziness ran through his head.
Next door he heard someone getting up and then something being put near his mouth, Soap jumped away, but then he heard it.
"It's just a straw, it's water." Gaz said calmly.
Soap drank the water little by little, his throat didn't hurt but his body did, he opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a private room, a window in the wall showed that it was night.
Slowly he sits up in bed, holding his hands a little too tightly. 
Gaz sits down on a small part of the bed next to Soap, who, just as Gaz gets into bed, rests his head on his shoulder. Gaz puts his arm round Soap and shakes him little by little, as if he were a child.
Soap slowly hides his face in Gaz's shoulder, and it's not long before the beta hears sniffling and something wet on his neck.
"It's done..." Soap sighs quietly.
Gaz lightly lays them both down on the bed, giving them little rubs.
"It's done..." Gaz affirms.
═══════════════════════════
Yes, it happened, and yes, there is no happy ending to this story. But this story will have two or three more chapters, which will be the bad ending and the hopeful ending.
If you're going through a difficult time and you're having doubts, see a counsellor for your own good. They will be able to help you.
Take care, and see you guys later.
PS: I guess because I was having a happy day this week, there wasn't much angst, but I'll make it up to you in the next chapter.
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pixelatedraindrops · 1 year ago
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Happy New Year Everyone💜
(Rambling below)
Tbh: This year has been one word for me. Awful. Too much happened and I’d rather not talk too much about it... x-x
My first half of the year was just dreadful. But the second half of it (around July/August) was a lot better. And I have RainCode to thank for that. After losing a close friend, I was in a pretty depressive funk for quite some time. And what I usually do in these times is escape into my current passions and interests and go wild on it.
And boy did I ever. I had just finished RainCode and was officially obsessed. And I wanted to contribute to it. So at first I made some sprite edits, and a Pokémon crossover. Then as I do for every fandom I have a fixation on, I decided to write my very first sickfic of it. And it received so well that felt a bit more secure in indulging in my hidden guilty pleasure some more.
I made more sprite edits involving Yuma and the more I indulged the more obsessive I became. Soon I was making analysis' on his character and making all sorts of whump headcanons for him. Then I realized I became like most sick whump users on tumblr, and I finally had a fandom and whumpee I could call my own... and the feeling I felt was indescribable. I was so happy. Blissful. (Though it did kinda rot my brain from the inside out. But in a good way? If it makes you happy it's healthy....right? XD)
After some time I interacted a little bit with more of the RC community and honestly?? Its such a fresh new and fun community. And there's a lot more adults in it. My last fixation (demon slayer) had too many minors in it so I felt like I didn't belong or have any right to be in the community at all. But with this one?? I feel right at home. I eventually became known here for making sick related content of the series, even dubbing myself the CEO of a tag I made up myself. Whumpcode.
RainCode even inspired me to start drawing again. Something I sadly gave up on for years. And Its helped me find a style for myself and draw things that make me happy c: (aka sick/fever whump lol)
I found a few very nice people to talk to. (mostly because I'm shy and don't talk too much w others online) And I'm surprised my work even inspired some of the community to make some sick art/fics of their own for raincode. It made me feel such indescribable pride. In a sense I am like the other whump users on tumbr, but at the same time I'm not. (mainly because its not a kink to me) I'm more a member of the raincode community than the whump community. And I'm perfectly fine with that.
I first joined tumblr back in 2014 and after some time, took a 5 year hiatus from it. But upon coming back, I'm so happy to have finally found a fandom I truly feel like I'm a part of. And thank you to everyone that supports and enjoys my work. It makes me so happy that there are those that agree with me and don't see me as a freak despite my odd fixation. But focusing on this has made the second half of my year better. So much better...
So thank you, both RainCode and RainCode tumblr. For making me feel like a part of something. And for making my year end on a positive note c:
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have a tiny yuma <3
(part of my big collab wip :3 Coming soon! )
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alllgator-blood · 13 days ago
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'FOGGY STREETS AND CHRISTMAS LIGHTS'
(part 3/3)
I'm gonna infodump about the backstory of this comic, don't feel obligated to read it because it's not cotl related it's just personal stuff, I just want to be able to write about it somewhere cause I can't really talk to anyone about it.
As always, thanks for reading this far, sorry my stuff has been such a bummer so consistently. This comic goes out to all my "christmas induced depression" homies, I left my house maybe like ~5 times all month and it was NOT pleasant hearing "IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!" on the radio when I'm so ready for it to be over. Gonna take it reaaaaal easy til the year ends, you guys take it easy too!! Got some asks I have to respond to when I'm more stable but probably no new comic pages til january
Alright uhhh so this part of the comic is pretty much taken directly from the last time I saw my great-grandma alive, a few days before christmas. She didn't remember me, but at the nursing home there was a piano, and I sat down and played some stuff because I didn't know what to say. I was really into lisa the painful rpg at the time, and I played that "I've got the joy" song that the villain sings without realizing it was an old christian campfire song. She didn't really say much or move that whole night, just kind of gave me a polite blank smile, but started singing the words when I played the notes to that song.
I kinda stopped in shock, my dad frantically asked me to keep playing, so I did. While the comic I made is way more sappy than the actual moment was, I wish I'd cherished the moment longer. I didn't know it was the last time I'd see her alive. Every family christmas was held at her house when she was around, so it's been weird the past few years. I actually lost another dementia-addled grandma to cancer on christmas eve in 2009, so the holiday was already kind of weird for me on top of everything else that makes me sad this time of year. That's what part 2 was about, I'll spare the details but I wrote leshy to act out how I felt back then. Why are we all sad? This is supposed to be a happy time, all the decorations are up and we're almost all here, so why is everyone smiling yet everything feels so wrong? I feel like since leshy's canonically the most ignorant one to things lurking below the surface, he'd be the one to try and make everyone feel better but not quite understand why everyone is so miserable. My first memory of having self injurious behavior came from then, hence why I had leshy pull his leaves off in the last comic. It was confusing and frustrating and I was just old enough to comprehend something was wrong, but not old enough to understand the depth of it, it DEFINITELY didn't help that nobody helped me back then so I made leshy's siblings actually come in clutch instead of grabbing him/yelling at him.
That night with the piano was something that's stuck with me the few years she's been gone, but I felt kind of strange when I asked my dad and my sister about it and neither of them remembered it. The room we were in was completely empty so nobody else witnessed it but us three. I myself have a history of head trauma and memory loss (plus, native americans are disproportionately more likely to develop dementia... lucky us) so if I ever forgot about that moment, there'd be nobody left to remember it. Sometimes when I do comics, it's my way of going "this happened at some point, and the only evidence it ever happened was me witnessing it, so if something happens to me I want the memory to stay alive in some form."
Anyway. The autistic urge to overshare, am I right? Idk what my religious ass great-grandma would think of me drawing demonic comics about my last memory of her, she'd probably think it's funny though cause she raised my dad whose interests have always been "death metal and devil worship". I'm not sure if anyone read this far, I just hope my dumb comics can convey the things I can't say with my voice and struggle to say through text. None of this was supposed to be "feel bad for me!! Woe is me!!", it was supposed to me more like...cathartic? Healing? I almost didn't post this comic because it felt kinda weird, but seeing people connect with it made it worth it imo. Thank you
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subbmissivesuccubus · 1 year ago
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Bully Part 3
A/n: Happy new year/ New year's eve everyone! As promised, here is part 3. Thank you all for following and supporting me these last few months. Here's to a great year of smut ahead <3 <3 <3 I hope you enjoy your favorite pervy menaces <3
Disclaimer: Gojo X Geto X Fem!Reader. DUB-CON WARNING. READER ENJOYS WHAT’S HAPPENING TO HER BUT IT’S MESSY!!! Blackmail!!! Humiliation. Degradation. Free-use dynamics. Spankings. Public sex. Filming. Gojo gives a stranger permission to touch reader!!!
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"Who knew the three of them were...well...like that." Utahime said, immediately gossiping once the taxi started to move. "I can't say I'm surprised though." Shoko said, "They're practically attached at the hip."
The girls and Nanami were sharing a cab to get back to their dorms, gossiping about what had happened during dinner. It was a fun night of drinks and banter, ended with their friend being kissed by Gojo and Geto. When asked about the nature of their relationship, the two men responded by saying they were…fuck buddies.
"She could do better." Utahime said, "I don't get why she's settling for those assholes."
Nanami looked out the window as he allowed the chatter to wash over him, not really paying attention. His mind couldn't help but go back to a week ago when he and Gojo were in class together, the only ones there and he noticed his lock screen...
"Gojo, what the fuck?" Nanami snarled as he looked at Gojo's phone, his screen flashing up as he received a message. There was a naked woman's photo set up as his lock screen, her face out of frame to accommodate her breasts and her spread legs and Nanami didn't want to even think about what was dripping out of them.
"Oh, my bad." Gojo said casually as he picked up his phone, "But she's hot right? She's my new fuck buddy~"
"Not interested." Nanami said, clicking his tongue in annoyance, "Just keep that shit to yourself. Why do you have that as your phone background?"
Before he got an answer, Geto and you walked into the room, asking them what they were talking about and when Gojo showed them the screen, Nanami noted your reaction. He didn't too much of it at the time, assuming your flustered and angered expression was over how vulgar Gojo was but now he wondered...
No. There's no way that was you, right?
Right?
~~~~~
"What the fuck was that?!" you screeched once Gojo closed the door of the taxi, smacking them both across the shoulders, "Why would you say shit like that?! Telling everyone we're fuck buddies- what will they think of me!?"
"It's the truth, right? Stop your bitching." Geto snarled on your left.
"Exactly. I'd rather you use your mouth for something else." Gojo said on your right, his fingers moving to tug at his pants, starting to undo his belt.
"Wh-What the fuck are you-" you sputtered, your eyes flickering over to the taxi driver who seemed to be paying you no mind but-
"Oh, don't worry about him. He works for my family." Gojo said, pulling his hard cock out of his pants before he tapped on the driver’s seat, "Hey, you don't mind if this whore sucks my cock back here, do you?"
You yelped at Gojo's words, face a bright red as you heard the taxi driver chuckle. "Enjoy yourself, boss." he said, not even looking back as he put up the divider, giving the three of them some privacy.
"There we go. Happy?" Gojo asked as he leaned back against the leather seat, his arm reaching up to grab you by the back of your head. You gasped as he gripped onto a handful of your hair and tugged harshly, his hold on your unrelenting as he started to pull your head down to his lap.
"Get to sucking."
~~~~~
Oh God.
Oh God.
You ran your hands through your hair, eyes wide as you went over what happened last night. You had hoped it was a dream but...it wasn't. You got fingered in the restaurant, got kissed in front of everybody by your bullies before said bullies announced that you were all fuck buddies.
They got you back to one of Gojo's penthouses, (the bastard so rich he had multiple houses he could just use whenever he wanted) and once you reached it, having sucked them both off in the taxi, they cleaned you up the best they could before the three of you passed out on the bed. You fell asleep the second your head hit the pillow, too drunk and loopy to do anything else.
Which is how you found yourself in between them, the two men still sleeping as you contemplated moving country and changing your identity.
To your right, Gojo groaned, his eyes pressing tightly as he fought away the need to wake up, moving from his back to his side and throwing an arm around you. You froze as he pressed himself close to you, nuzzling his nose against your neck. "Fuuuuck..." he cursed, frowning, "My head is killing me..."
"Don't make it our problem." Geto groaned, woken up by his own hangover and Gojo's whining. He looked over at you, taking your appearance in, looking quite delectable in Gojo's oversized t-shirt.
"Mmph- gimme those tits..." Geto said as he fisted the hem of your t-shirt before he pulled it up harshly, bunching it all underneath your chin. You gasped as he immediately leaned forward and took a nipple into his mouth, his tongue lapping at it a few times before he sealed his lips around it. A groan on content left his throat as he started suckling on you gently, truly using your boobs as stress relief for his hangover, the pressure at which he sucked your nipple increasing and decreasing at a slow pace.
"I-I hate you two." you said even as a hand came up to thread through Geto's hair, watching as he closed his eyes and suckled on you. It was honestly a bit soothing, feeling him suckle on you gently and not maul on your nipple the way they usually did. Gojo grunted as he too moved down your body and took your other breast into his mouth, sloppier than Geto but still suckling on you hard enough to make your toes curl.
"Oh God...people are going to think I’m a whore..." you lamented, tossing your head back and accepting your fate, fingers threading through their hair as they used your body. "It's accurate." Geto teased, giving your nipple a few kitten licks before going back to sucking. "Exactly. And who cares what they think." Gojo said, running his tongue over the plush of your breast, making your whole boob wet with his saliva, "You're our whore and that's all you'll be."
"Whatever." you said, not even having the energy to argue. You simply lied down, almost going back to sleep from the sensation of them gently nursing on you. But within five minutes, Gojo was bored.
"Come on, let's go take a shower." Gojo said, pushing himself up with a groan as he got off the bed, but not before grabbing your wrist. Geto growled as Gojo pulled at you, not appreciating being interrupted as he wrapped his arms around you and glared at his friend even as he continued to suckle.
"Don't look at me like that." Gojo said, sticking out his tongue, "You can take her after I play with her."
'Play with her' meant him taking you to the shower and running his hands all over your body like a pervert, squeezing your flesh and washing every nook and cranny as he ordered you to stay still. Sometimes he'd fuck you- other time's he'd simply jerk off and cum on you- always something new with Gojo.
Geto growled, making you shiver at the sensation around your sensitive bud before he pulled away with a pop, a hickey already forming on the fat of your breast.
"Let's all shower together." he said, sitting up as well, "We have a mission today and the principal will kill us if we're late."
Oh right. You were assigned a mission with these two menaces. And if it wasn't tough enough dealing with them before they started fucking you, you can only imagine the shit you're going to have to put up with now. You sighed as the two men grabbed you and lifted you off of the bed, taking the t-shirt off of you and smacking your ass before pushing you towards the bathroom for a very...thorough bath.
~~~~~
"What's with the face?" Geto asked, tapping his finger on his arm as he waited for Gojo to finish getting dressed, "Doesn't it fit?"
"This- I can't wear this! It’s too short!" you protested, tugging at the skirt...if you could even call it that. You were wearing the school uniform but instead of your usual pants, the boys had demanded you wear something else. A mini skirt. The skirt only reached your thighs, even the slightest movements threatening to flash your whole ass.
"Might as well give the curses something to ogle at before they die." Geto teased, looking you up and down, nodding his head in satisfaction.
"Fuck you! I'm not wearing this!" you said, pressing your legs together as you reached for your discarded pants. But before you could even touch the fabric, you felt a sharp pain on your behind, a slap so loud and hard that it made you yelp, the force pushing you face first onto the bed. You whipped your head around, face hot as Geto stood above you, pushing up the skirt a bit to marvel at the red handprint he left behind.
"You don't have to wear it if you don't want to." he said as he pulled his phone out, pointing the camera at you and you couldn't stop him from taking a picture, "But it would be a shame if I accidentally sent this to the schools group chat~"
"...I'll wear it."
"Smart girl." Geto said with a laugh, the sound making your ears heat up in embarrassment. It made you shiver, thinking about all the material they had on you. Pictures, videos, text messages... they continued to torment you and it didn't seem like they'd get bored anytime soon.
And neither would you.
"Get on your knees and keep your face down." Geto ordered, still pointing his phone at you while he used the other hand to push the skirt up entirely, bunching it at your waist and exposing your panties, "Shake your hips. Grind that ass on me."
You gasped as you felt him move forward and press his crotch against your ass, his hardening cock obvious even through the fabric. He started to gently dry hump you, a somewhat bored expression on his face, like it was a chore to use your body to get off. He landed another sharp spank on your butt, reminding you that he was waiting for you to follow orders.
You bit your lower lip, fisting the bed-sheet tightly as you did as he asked, wiggling your hips and shaking your butt against Geto, gasping as you felt him grow harder against you. As you continued to shake, the door opened and Gojo walked in, dressed in his uniform as well.
He whistled as he watched the two of you, noting the redness of your ass cheeks. "Was she being naughty?" he asked, taking Geto's phone from him and continuing to film, giving his friend free reign to humiliate you easier.  "She tried to be." Geto said, reeling his hand back and spanking a cheek one more time before he grabbed your hips tightly, "But you know how she is. It's easy to put her in her place."
You yelped as Geto started to thrust against you, pushing his clothed erection against your clothed cunt as he dry humped you, the flesh of your butt rippling against him as he fake fucked you. Somehow, this felt more embarrassing than if he actually stuffed his cock inside you- it was like he couldn't be bothered to put in the effort but still wanted some pleasure.
He humped you a few times before he called it, pushing your hips away from him and making you collapse on the bed, your knees giving out as you panted against the bedsheet, face red hot with shame. You barely processed Gojo coming behind you, sliding his hand up your waist before he whisked your panties off, tugging them off of your legs before throwing them to the side. You were about to spread your legs, assuming the man was either going to eat you out or fuck you but he simply gave your butt a pat before saying:
"Get up. We gotta go."
"Wh-huh?" you babbled, watching as Gojo grabbed your skirt and pulled it down over your butt, the fabric barely covering you. You pushed yourself off of the bed and stood up, ears flushed as you once again were made aware of just how short the miniskirt was. All it took was for one small movement for anyone to see your privates. "Th-then why did you-"
"You thought being spanked was your punishment?" Gojo asked, a smirk on his face as he leaned in to kiss your cheek, "Nah. You don't get to wear panties."
"No- You can't!" you protested, pressing your hand between your legs, trying to pretend like your cunt wasn't gushing.
"Principal is asking if we've left yet." Geto said, interrupting the conversation, "I could send him a picture of you over Gojo's knee, getting your ass spanked and explain exactly why we're running late. Shall we do that?"
"...Let's go."
Gojo’s driver from last night was picking the three of you up and to your horror but not surprise, Gojo ordered you to sit in the passenger’s seat. You could feel the driver’s eyes on you as you tried to get into the car without flashing him, all decency thrown out the window as you practically covered your bare pussy with your hand as you sat down beside the stranger.
"Did you see her pussy?" Gojo asked once he settled down in the back, Geto beside him.
"I'm afraid not, Sir. She was covering herself." The driver confessed, quite expressionless.
"How rude. Hey," Gojo said, getting your attention as he tugged at your ear, "Spread your legs. Let him see your cunt."
You jumped, your ears ringing at his command, jaw dropping to the floor at the shameful demand. You pussy was already wet- "I- that's- I can't do that!"
"Either you spread your legs or I rip that skirt off and toss you out of the car. Your choice."
With a gulp, you took a deep, shaky breath, your heart hammering in your ears before you slowly started spreading your legs. You heard the driver’s breath hitch as your skirt bunched up, completely exposing your puffy pussy to him. He even leaned forward a bit to get a good look at you, making you close your eyes shut so you wouldn't have to see it.
You pressed your mouth close tightly so they wouldn't hear you moan.
"What do you think? Good pussy, right?" you heard Gojo ask, the other two men also leaning forward to look at you like they weren't more than familiar with your body.
"She's beautiful," the driver responded, "so puffy and cute~"
"Why don't you touch her a bit?"
You gasped, back arching off the seat as you immediately felt a hand on your pussy. Your eyes snapped open, watching as the driver had indeed slid his hand between your legs and was touching you. A total stranger was rubbing your cunt!
"She's so wet~" the man teased, a smile on his face as his fingers glided between your folds, the slick sound of your wetness echoing through the car, "Oh, she feels amazing."
"Doesn't she? She's a perfect little fuck toy~" Gojo said, biting his lower lip as he watched you get touched by the driver, a twinge of possessiveness popping up as he eventually ordered him to stop. The man immediately listened, pulling his hand away from your pussy before licking his fingers off your juices, the action making you moan in embarrassment.
"You know where to take us, right?"
"Yes Sir."
"Good. Get to it. And you," Gojo said, kicking your seat and getting your attention, "Keep your legs spread, got it? Give him something to look at while he drives."
After the long and awkward car ride where you kept your legs spread the whole time, the three of you were dropped off at your location (but not before the driver got to cop another feel). It was an abandoned location, decrepit and having a strong vibe of curses. The cursed energy was so strong it made your skin crawl and your teeth chatter. But you knew you had nothing to worry about. Not only were you strong, but you also had the two idiots with you who were labelled the strongest sorcerers.
It was strange that the curses were not the things that were making you nervous. You tried not to think about how you were used as a toy. As a plaything. As something they can give other people permission to use as they pleased. You couldn’t believe that just seconds ago- a random stranger had their hands on your most private part.
You tried not to think about how much you loved it. "Lead the way." Geto said, giving your butt a pat before you started walking. You didn't need to look behind you to know that they were taking pictures of you, Gojo one time practically putting the camera between your legs and taking an upward shot.
"Stop- I'm trying to focus!" you complained, pulling down the skirt as best as you could which you knew barely did anything.
"You'll only focus once you stop worrying about your outfit. It's just us here, after all." Geto said, "So flash that pussy and find the curse."
"I don't see you two doing any work." you said, cheeks red as you glared at them, "Find the curses, why don't you."
"Nah." Gojo said, idly scrolling through his phone, his glasses reflecting the photos he just took of you.
"The fuck you mean, nah?"
"It's your job to find and defeat the curses today." Geto explained, giving you a sly smile, "Do a good job and we might put in a good word with Yaga. Our recommendation means something, you know."
"...you guys are never that nice." you said, smelling a scheme, "what do you want?"
"We don't want anything." Gojo said, "And as long as you do as you're told, of course. Now push that skirt up and show me your ass."
You huffed, quickly realizing what this mission was going to be.
But hey, if you get a promotion through this...then perhaps you can stick it out.
You gripped your skirt and pulled it up, not having to do much as your peach butt got exposed. The two men laughed and whistled, getting enjoyment and more blackmail material: many pictures of you, in uniform, at a location of curses, flashing your butt. And this was only the beginning.
As you started tracking down the curse, your senses were on high alert and you gradually forgot about the skirt, the shiver you felt as you got in contact with the thick cursed energy making you decide that you needed to focus on the task as hand. You blocked out the two of them following behind you and you blocked out the sensation of your skirt riding up enough for your lower half to be almost bare. When you sprinted up the stairs, feeling a curse nearby, your skirt rode up completely and you only pulled it down once you reached the top.
In front of you was a curse, not a special grade but not weak either. It was a large, disgusting looking thing, oozing power but you knew it was not as strong as you.
"I'm guessing the two of you aren't going to help?" you asked, getting ready as the curse spotted you. "Nope." they responded, Gojo's phone out and pointing at you, taking a video, "all yours."
You didn't have time to respond as the curse suddenly lunged at you, dragging its disgusting body with surprising speed as it gained to attack. You sprinted around it, your body swift and deadly, understanding the way the curse worked in a matter of seconds. You countered every move with your own, slowly weakening it before you exorcised it, the curse dissipating in the wind.
"That was pretty decent, even for you." Geto said once Gojo stopped recording, "you didn't even let the fact that your whole pussy is out stop you from doing the job. Well done."
You looked down and sure enough, from all the running and the dodging and the fighting, your skirt had ridden up once more and your cunt was totally out in the open. You blushed and you quickly pulled the skirt back down, your ears turning red from the embarrassment.
"Fuck. I'm horny now." Gojo muttered as he pocketed his phone, "Hey, hands on the wall- I'm gonna fuck you."
"Wh-" you sputtered, blushing heavily, "But we're busy!"
"Geto can deal with it. My balls come first. Pun intended."
The black haired man rolled his eyes, a fond smile on his face as he said: "Fine. But I'm fucking her once I’m back so you better finish by then."
"No promises~"
Not caring about your response, Gojo walked upto you, gripping you by the back of your neck before he pushed you gently against the nearest wall, his other hand pulling your skirt up. Geto walked past the two of you, following the curse as he left you behind to get a pounding.
"Oh, you're so wet, you nasty bitch." Gojo snarked, grinning as he felt you up, his fingers sliding between your folds, "You loved walking around in this slutty little mini skirt, huh? Yeah, I know you loved it. Probably wanted us to fuck you this whole time."
"D-Don't flatter yourself!" you retorted, wincing as he pinched the plush of your butt before he changed your position a bit. "Mhmm. You're real fucking convincing. Now spread your legs. I want to fuck this nasty pussy."
 Grabbing you by the hips, he made you bend forward, your palms against the wall and your ass presented to him. He continued to play with your pussy, two fingers easily sliding inside of you while his other hand got to work on his pants. He simply slid them down enough for his cock to pop out, hard, throbbing and leaking pre-cum from the red tip. He tapped it against your ass, staining your skin with his fluid before he took his finger out and pressed the tip against your cunt.
He didn't care for foreplay and he didn't care if you felt good. He was here to fuck and that's what he was going to do. And you were going to take it.
"Oh yeah, that's a good pussy~" he groaned as he started pushing inside of you, his cockhead popping into you easily from how wet and dripping you were. You hated to admit it but running and around and flashing your privates had gotten you hot and bothered, even if you were just exposing yourself to the two men who were more than familiar with your body.
You gasped as he continued to bully his cock inside you, eventually bottoming out and spreading your cunt so deliciously wide. His groans were audible through the empty hallways, both his hands now grasping your hips greedily. With a lick of his lips and no warning, the man started to thrust, starting off a bit slow. Your moans jumped with each thrust, your ass rippling against his hips each time he fucked his cock deep, deep inside you.
Despite the many times you've gotten thoroughly pounded by Gojo, you simply can't seem to get used to his size. His cock was deliciously long and thick and each thrust in had his leaking cockhead pressed up against your womb. You slapped a hand over your mouth to muffle your noises on instinct, slick dripping down your legs and staining the floor.
"Fuuuuck- I'm addicted to this free use pussy!" Gojo growled as he not so gently smacked your ass, laughing at your squeal, "Bend you over and fuck you anytime- claim you as my personal whore. I fucking love it!"
“Shut the fuck u-u-upppp!” you squealed, his cock curving just right and bumping against your special spot, a rush of pleasure sparking through your spine. Gojo simply spanked you again before he used that hand to grab your hair, pulling at it roughly. You gasped as your head was pulled back, the pain of your hair being tugged at addicting.
“I felt your pussy tighten, bitch~” Gojo snarled with a smirk, “You love being bullied by us so much- it’s so pathetic and I love it.”
“You’re pathe- ohhh right there- right there!”
“Yeah? Here? Little bitch likes it when my cocks hits her right here?”
Gojo angled his hips so he hit your g-spot with every thrust forward, the clap of his hips against your butt practically echoing through the hallway. You couldn’t hold back your moans, little ‘uh-uh-uh’s leaving you as he pounded your cunt like a toy. You didn’t know how long the two of you were there for, fucking in the open, in the middle of the abandoned building. You were so focused on the pleasure that you didn’t notice the pressure of the curses suddenly disappear.
“Are you done yet? It’s my turn to cream her cunt.”
You groaned as Geto walked over to the two of you, wiping his mouth.
“I still got the taste of a curse on my tongue. I’d like to wash it down with her pussy.”
“Fuck- wait for a bit.” Gojo said, panting heavily, sweat marring his brow, “I’m almost done.”
“Nope. I’m not waiting.” Geto said, punching Gojo in the shoulder and ruining his rhythm, “Plus, there’s another curse that needs killing and I’m pretty sure it’s your turn.”
“You want- fuck-“ Gojo cursed, stilling inside you to give Geto a look, “You want me to fight a curse with a hardon?”
“Well, she fought one with her pussy out so I’m sure you can manage.”
Gojo sighed, rolling his eyes before he conceded, “Fine, fine. But you owe me one.”
“I do not. Now get going.”   Gojo pulled out of you, the slick sound of it making your body shiver as his erect cock stood tall, covered in your juices. He tucked himself back in his pants the best he could, his dick still straining against his pants as he quickly walked away, a determined look in his eyes. He wanted to finish off this final curse as soon as he could so he could get back to destroying your pussy.
Before you could even blink, a bit dazed from the lack of pleasure, Geto was on his knees behind you, his hands gripping your asscheeks before he pulled them apart and surged forward. Blood rushed upto your cheeks so fast you felt dizzy as Geto stuffed his face between your cheeks. He groaned as he rubbed his face on you for a bit, enjoying the feeling of your soft flesh against him like a pervert before he stuck his tongue out and got to licking. He took a long, greedy lick from your clit all the way upto your asshole, teasing your rim before slightly sticking his tongue inside.
Your body shivered, little gasps leaving your mouth at his shameless actions, the man starting to eat you out like a messy meal. He clearly didn't care if you felt good, his movements sloppier than usual, and obviously just wanted a taste. But that didn't stop your body from responding to him, your hips subconsciously pushing out in a silent plea for more, your pussy dripping. He lapped up your juices, drinking you down with a groan as his hands continued to squeeze and pinch at your cheeks.
“Fucking- perfect.” He moaned against you, his words vibrating your clit and making your knees shake, “Just what I needed.”
With a final, toe-curling suck to your clit, he stood up, ordering you to turn around and face him as he started undoing his pants. Your back was pressed against the wall, Geto standing close enough for your chests to almost touch. “Take your top off. Get naked for me.” He groaned as he fished his dick out, giving it a few tugs as he eyed you down like you were a piece of meat. You gulped, heart beating fast in your chest as you hurriedly started to unbutton your blouse, trying to pretend like you weren’t eager.
If they knew just how needy you felt…
Geto suddenly grabbed you by the waist once your buttons were undone before he lifted you up like you weighed nothing. You yelped as he slammed you tightly against the wall, feeling his cock throb against your eager cunt as your legs wrapped around his waist. He grabbed onto the cup of your bra before pulling the right one down, exposing that nipple. He bent down and took it into his mouth, the man clearly having an obsession with your tits as he started suckling.
His eyelashes tickled your skin as he ran his tongue over your sensitive bud, giving it a few flicks with the tip before sealing his lips around it and giving it a toe-curling suck. As he suckled, his other hand slid down and grabbed his cock, tapping it a few times against your pussy before he slid in, the glide easy thanks to Gojo’s previous pounding.
“Ah- fuck-yes-“ you gasped out, unable to hold yourself back, briefly registering that all traces of curses had disappeared in an instant, Gojo having finished the job. It was only a matter of time before he rushes to the two of you, demanding to be back inside you.
This was what you were expected to do for them. Be a pair of spread legs for them to use whenever they want- to be fucked silly- to be bred- to be truly and utterly degraded. Maybe Gojo would make you suck his cock. Maybe the two of them would swap places. Or maybe they’d finally fuck your ass.
From the corner of your eye, your vision blurry thanks to the tears from how harshly Geto was pounding into you, you could see someone hurriedly walk towards you, unbuttoning his pants along the way and you couldn’t help but let out a laugh among your moans.
Today was going to be a long day.
~~~~~
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writer-freak · 6 days ago
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New years eve | Lads x reader
Characters: Sylus, Xavier, Rafayel and Zayne
Warnings: Gn reader, kissing, fluff, english isn't my first language, a bit rushed so sorry for anything sounding weird
A/n: This is something that I just wrote quickly so it's a bit short (and you can maybe notice that I have favorites), but I hope everybody is gonna have a great new year <3.
Thank you for reading and Comments, likes and reblogs are always appreciated and really motivate me to write more <3
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Sylus
Sylus loves going all out, and New Year’s Eve is his perfect excuse to treat you and to celebrate in style. He’d plan something amazing, like a rooftop dinner with a breathtaking view of the city lights, soft jazz playing in the background. When you arrive after putting on the dress he bought for you, he’s also dressed to impress, his usual charm is actually turned up even more if you can imagine that. With a glass in hand, he’d toast to the past year and the one that's to come, making sure you know just how much you mean to him. As the clock hits midnight, Sylus steps closer, his movements careful, his gaze locking onto yours with an intensity that makes your heart beat out of your chest. He slides one hand up to cradle your face, his fingers brushing against your jawline as his other hand finds its place at the small of your back, gently pulling you in. Time around you seems to freeze, you can't even hear the music anymore when his eyes lock onto yours. When his lips finally meet yours, it’s like the world melts away entirely. The kiss is deep and full of passion, his lips soft yet firm as they move against yours with precision. There’s a heat to it, a pull that leaves you breathless and utterly consumed. His thumb gently strokes your cheek, adding a tenderness that contrasts with the intensity of the kiss. Time seems to stretch forever as he pours every unspoken emotion into the kiss, letting you feel how much he cherishes you. When he finally pulls back, his lips linger against yours for just a moment longer, reluctant to part completely. His forehead rests against yours as his warm breath fans across your skin. “Here’s to a year full of moments just like this,” he murmurs, his voice low and velvety, a promise that makes your heart flutter.
Xavier
We know Xavier’s the more quiet casual type, he would value the little things and meaningful traditions. He’d prepare a cozy night in, maybe cooking dinner together and snuggling up on the couch with blankets and a classic movie. When it’s close to midnight, he’d take you outside to a quiet spot to watch the fireworks light up the sky. As the countdown echoes faintly in the distance, Xavier turns to you, his eyes soft and filled with a warmth that makes your breath hitch. He steps closer, his hand rising to cup your cheek with a gentleness that sends a shiver down your spine. His thumb brushes lightly along your skin, his touch featherlight but purposeful, as though committing the moment to memory.
When he leans in, there’s no hesitation, just a certainty that this is exactly where he’s meant to be. His lips meet yours in a kiss so soft it feels like the world has slowed down just for you. The way his mouth moves against yours is unhurried, every motion deliberate and full of emotion. It’s as though he’s trying to tell you everything he feels—how much he loves you, how much he treasures this moment, and how he never wants it to end.
His free hand slides to your waist, pulling you just close enough for you to feel his heartbeat. The world around you fades away, the fireworks and cold air forgotten as all that exists is the feeling of his lips against yours. His breath mingles with yours, warm and steady, as he deepens the kiss just enough to leave you dizzy and completely at his mercy.
When he finally pulls back, it’s with a slowness, as if he's reluctant to let the moment slip away. He stays close, his forehead brushing yours as his eyes search yours, seeing the faint glow of the fireworks reflected there. A soft, almost shy smile tugs at his lips as he whispers, “Happy New Year, my love,” his voice barely audible over the distant sounds of celebration. His arms tighten around you slightly, as though keeping himself to the only thing that matters, this moment, with you.
Rafayel Rafayel’s all about fun so maybe he’d take you to a lively gathering somewhere earlier in the day but later he would probably prefer a quiet moment alone with you. As the countdown starts, he’d grab your hand and pull you away from the crowd, flashing you that smile that always tells you that he has a great idea.
As the seconds tick down, Rafayel pulls you closer, his body pressed against yours in a way that makes your heart race. His fingers dance along your sides, sending sparks wherever he touches. There’s a playful spark in his eyes, but underneath it, you can feel a the affection, a warmth that you can’t ignore. The countdown reaches its final seconds, and just before midnight, he leans in, his breath warm against your ear, his lips brushing just beside it. You can’t help but shiver in anticipation.
When the clock strikes twelve, Rafayel’s kiss is everything you’d expect: fiery, full of energy, and utterly consuming. His lips crash against yours, eager and demanding, as though he’s been waiting for this moment all night. His hands slide to your waist, gripping you tightly as he dips you, just enough to make the world tilt and spin around you. The kiss is wild and intense, full of passion and excitement. You feel his smile against your lips, and you can’t help but smile back, caught up in the moment.
For a second, you forget everything else around you, just the two of you are currently existing even the cheers are just a distant muffled sound. His hands hold you steady, pulling you back up to stand tall, and as he does, he twirls you effortlessly, lifting you off the ground before bringing you back in close, his lips lingering on yours for just a moment longer.
When he finally pulls away, his eyes are sparkling, his grin wider than ever. “There’s no better way to begin the year than with you,” he says softly, his voice filled with sincerity as he holds you even closer, his gaze locking onto yours. The distant sound of fireworks fades into the background, leaving just the two of you in this perfect moment. You’re breathless, both from the kiss and the fact that this is the man that you wish to spend your rest of your life with. Zayne
We know Zayne’s more on the quiet side, but he’s a sweetheart, so his way of celebrating is all about keeping things intimate. He’d take you somewhere peaceful, some hidden place like a hill, where you can just sit under the stars together. Sharing a blanket, you’d talk about your plans for the new year cuddled up against each other, feeling totally comfortable just being with each other.
As midnight approaches, Zayne’s gaze lingers on you, his expression calm yet something deeper behind it. He reaches for your hand, his fingers intertwining with yours, as he pulls you closer gently. The world around you feels quieter in his presence, and the cold night air feels warmer somehow.
When the clock strikes twelve, Zayne doesn’t rush it. He takes a moment to look into your eyes, his gaze so full of emotion that it makes your heart skip. The softness in his eyes speaks volumes, and before you can even process it, he leans in. His lips meet yours with a tenderness that feels like the world has slowed down.
The kiss is slow and lingering, as if he’s savoring every second. It’s soft but meaningful, his lips brushing against yours in a way that makes your chest tighten. You can feel the depth of his feelings, even without the words. His hand gently cups your face, his thumb brushing over your skin with the same care that he gives you everytime. The kiss isn’t hurried, not in the slightest, it’s exactly the kind of kiss that lets you know just how much you mean to him, how much he’s already thinking about the future, and how grateful he is for you.
When he finally pulls back, his forehead rests against yours, both of you taking a breath as if you’ve been holding it for too “You make every year worth it,” he murmurs, his voice quiet and full of sincerity, as though those words were everything he’s wanted to say all along.
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isaadore · 5 days ago
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NEW YEAR'S JACK HUGHES
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pairing jack hughes x reader
SUMMARY you meet jack’s parents for the first time on new year’s eve. word count 0.8k
warnings pure fluff!
note it's my birthday tomorrow (new year’s baby 🤞)!! think of this as my birthday present to u all (because it’s fluff and not angst for once). i hope everyone has a happy new year when the clock hits 12 in 24 hours <3 i also can't remember the last time i wrote for jack, so i hope u guys enjoy this mini fic 🤍 (also the last fic of the year!)
MAIN MASTERLIST JH86 MASTERLIST
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SNOWFLAKES DANCED OUTSIDE the window as you sat in the passenger seat of Jack’s car, the heater humming softly. Your hands nervously fidgeted with the hem of your sweater. The drive to the Hughes’ family home felt endless, even though Jack assured you it wasn’t far.
“Hey,” Jack said, glancing at you with that gentle smile you’d come to love. “You’re gonna be great. They’re going to love you.”
You let out a nervous laugh. “That’s easy for you to say. They already love you.”
Jack chuckled, reaching over to squeeze your hand. His warmth seeped into your skin, calming you, even if just a little. “Trust me, you’ll win them over in no time. Besides, Quinn and Luke have already given you the stamp of approval.”
“Quinn barely said two words to me the first time we met,” you countered, but there was a smile tugging at your lips.
“Yeah, but now he doesn’t shut up about how ‘great’ you are for me,” Jack teased, turning into a long driveway lined with trees dusted in snow.
A big, traditional home came into view. It was lit up with strings of golden lights that reflected off the fresh snow. Jack parked and turned to you, his expression softening. “Ready?”
“Nope.”
He laughed, leaning in to press a quick kiss to your forehead. “You’ve got this, babe.”
As soon as you stepped inside, the warmth of the house and the aroma of something delicious cooking instantly put you at ease. Ellen greeted you with a smile that reminded you so much of Jack’s.
“You must be Y/N. It’s so lovely to finally meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Hughes,” you said, offering her a warm smile.
“Oh, please, call me Ellen,” she insisted, pulling you into a hug.
Jim appeared next, offering you a firm handshake and an easygoing smile. “Jack talks about you all the time. It’s great to have you here.”
You glanced at Jack, who suddenly pretended to be very interested in taking off his sneakers. “All good things, I hope.”
“Nothing but,” Jim replied, his eyes twinkling.
Over the next couple of hours, you found yourself swept into conversation and home-cooked meals. Ellen talked to you about everything from hockey to your favourite movies, while Jim told you stories about Jack as a kid; stories that made Jack groan in embarrassment.
“Oh, did Jack ever tell you about the time he got his skate stuck in the bench?” Jim began, grinning.
Jack groaned. “Dad, don’t.”
Ellen laughed from the kitchen, where she was cutting slices of pie. “He was so proud of those skates too.”
“Wait, what happened?” you asked, leaning forward, intrigued.
Jim gestured animatedly. “He was about eight and went to sit down on the bench, but his skate blade got wedged in the gap between the boards. The poor coach spent ten minutes trying to yank him loose while Jack just sat there, looking absolutely miserable and embarrassed.”
“Oh no!” you laughed, imagining a tiny Jack stuck and helpless.
“I’m pretty miserable and embarrassed right now,” Jack muttered, but the smile he was trying to hide was unmistakable.
“And then,” Luke interjected with a mischievous grin, “when he finally got loose, he skated out like nothing happened and wiped out right in front of everyone.”
“Luke!” Jack protested, throwing a napkin at his younger brother. “You were six; how do you even remember that?”
Quinn chimed in dryly, “There’s a picture somewhere. Mom probably has it in her stash.”
“Quinn!”
The table erupted into laughter, and you wiped at your eyes, your stomach hurting from how hard you laughed; you could feel a six-pack coming in. Jack groaned but leaned close to you, muttering, “I don’t know why I even brought you here.”
“Because you love me,” you teased, grinning at him.
His eyes softened, and despite the chaos around you, he gave you a small smile. “Yeah, I do.”
The evening continued with games, conversations, and even more teasing. By the time the countdown to midnight began, you felt like you were part of the family.
Jack pulled you aside as the others gathered around the TV. His hands rested on your hips, and his voice was soft as he said, “I told you they’d love you.”
You smiled, glancing back at his family. “Yeah, you were right. But don’t let it go to your head.”
Jack laughed quietly, his forehead pressing against yours. “Too late.”
The countdown began, and as the room echoed with shouts of “Ten… nine…,” Jack brushed his lips against your forehead.
“Happy New Year, Y/N,” he whispered at “three,” and at “one,” his lips met yours in a kiss that felt like the perfect start to the year.
Around you, the family cheered and clinked glasses, but Jack’s arms around you felt like home. For the first time that night, you weren’t nervous anymore; you were exactly where you belonged.
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‎‎‎‎‎ ‎‎‎‎‎ MAIN MASTERLIST ✷ JH86 MASTERLIST
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steddiealltheway · 1 year ago
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I just BARELY made the deadline in my time zone, but I did it! This is for Lex's Summer Challenge, Dialogue prompt #25 :) Thank you @thefreakandthehair for organizing this!! <3
It's New Year's Eve, and Steve is not excited. 
The kids have all mostly agreed to stay together, setting off fireworks at the Wheeler's house. Robin has a band thing, meaning she will try to cozy up with Vickie but chicken out before the New Year's kiss. And Steve... he plans on checking in on Max who hasn't confirmed if she is going to Mike's. 
Things have been rough for her since Billy passed only a few months ago. She hates the trailer she had to move to, and as far as Steve can tell, her mom isn't around much. And if she is, she isn't sober. 
The worst thing is that Max doesn't open up to anyone, but there isn't much Steve can do about that. What he can do is drive to her place and bring her dinner. 
He goes about making her way too much spaghetti and makes the drive over. The sun is starting to go down, but he just hopes he can make it home in time to put on headphones and pass out before people start celebrating the new year.  
He just doesn't want to make it anyone else's problem that he no longer likes the look or sound of fireworks – flashes triggering migraines and memories of Russian torture – so he's put a plan in place. Luckily, everyone should be too busy with New Year's celebrations to pay him any attention. 
He pulls up to Max's trailer and parks outside, walking up to the door and knocking quickly. He waits a few seconds, listening for the sound of footsteps coming to the door, but they don't come. He pulls his jacket a little tighter around himself, shifts the tub of spaghetti from his left side to the right, and knocks again.  
After waiting a few minutes, Steve turns and notices the sun is now on the horizon. 
He glances around the trailer park, cursing himself for not bringing his walkie. His eyes land on a van at the trailer across the way that looks somewhat familiar. He notes that there are no negative thoughts that accompany looking at it, but rather, he feels a bit indifferent to it. 
He starts walking that way, hoping he knows the owner, and further hoping that they're nice enough to let him use their phone. He walks up the steps and knocks before stepping down. 
Luckily, this time he hears the sound of footsteps from inside and a bit of muffled cursing before the door swings open. 
Oh. That's how he knows the van. 
Eddie Munson looks down at him, totally bewildered, and shifts uncomfortably, eyes flickering toward the spaghetti while asking, "What are you doing here?" Before he can answer, Munson gets a look of realization and answers himself, "Right, my great supply." 
"No," Steve says quickly. "I just need to use your phone." 
Munson quickly stiffens again. "Why?" 
Steve sighs and shifts the tub again which has started to feel heavier with every passing moment. "My friend lives over there," he says, throwing his thumb over his shoulder, "And I need to check if she's okay." 
"No way," Munson says, hands coming up before he crosses his arms, "No way I'm letting you use my phone to call some hookup." 
"It's not a hookup. She's in middle school." 
"What?" Eddie asks, looking even more horrified. 
"Not like that!" Steve says and runs his free hand through his hair. "She's friends with a group of kids that I babysit." 
"And why do you want to call her?" 
Christ. "Because I'm worried about her, okay? She's not someone who asks for help, and she's not answering the door. I just need to know if she's safe at her friend's house." 
Eddie stares at him for a few more seconds then asks, "What’s the spaghetti for?" 
"Her." 
He's fixed with the same suspicious stare until Eddie finally nods his head and opens the door for Steve to come inside. Eddie gestures to where the phone is and leans back against the kitchen counter, crossing his arms and watching his every move. 
Steve tries to shrug it off as he dials the Wheelers and waits for one of them to answer. 
"Hello?" 
Steve smiles and politely replies, "Hi, Mrs. Wheeler, it's Steve." 
"Oh, Nancy is currently-" 
"No, no," Steve cuts her off, seeing the way that Eddie is starting to tense up. "I wasn't calling about Nancy. I was just wondering if Max was there with the other kids. I stopped by to check on her, but she didn't answer the door." 
Steve can feel his heart thud in his chest as he waits for the reply. "That's very kind of you. But she's with the boys right now. Did you want me to pass a message to her?" 
"No," Steve says in relief. "No, I just wanted to make sure she was okay. Thank you, Mrs. Wheeler. Happy New Year." 
"Happy New Year, Steve," she replies and hangs up. 
Steve puts the phone back and turns to Eddie. "Thanks, man. I owe you one." 
Eddie tilts his head to the side and narrows his eyes. "Why do you care about her so much?" 
Steve sighs and gestures toward the counter with the container of spaghetti in hand. "Can I?" Eddie nods in response, so Steve sets it down. He runs a hand through his hair and asks, "Do you remember Billy Hargrove?" 
Eddie scoffs, "Like I could forget the asshole." 
Steve nods. "Well, Max was his step-sister." 
"Oh," Eddie says, shifting uncomfortably. 
Steve shrugs. "They didn't have the greatest relationship, but she's been really closed off since...” he trails off uncomfortably, trying not to remember the moment he died. 
Eddie nods his head. “Right.” 
Steve nods back and gestures toward the spaghetti, changing the subject. “You can have that by the way as a thank you for letting me use your phone. I really appreciate it. And hey, Happy New Year.” 
Eddie’s jaw drops slightly as if he wants to say something but none of the words come out. So, Steve walks to the front door and opens it. He doesn’t even move a step down the stairs before a big firework lights up the sky as the loud noise rings out. 
Steve freezes. He feels his breathing getting shaky and shallow as he remembers the fireworks exploding on that spider looking thing’s back. 
He closes his eyes tight, trying to fend off the images, but the darkness only reminds him of the black that slowly devoured his vision when the Russians knocked him out.  
“Hey, hey,” a soft voice says, “I’ve got you.” 
Steve notices the way he’s somehow on the ground with his back pressed against something warm and that same heat wraps around his torso. He blinks back into reality a bit as warm hands run up and down his arms slowly. “You okay?” 
Steve sinks back into Eddie’s arms and closes his eyes. "Fireworks aren't exactly... my favorite thing." 
Eddie breathes out sharply through his nose. “Yeah, I kind of picked up on that.” 
Steve just nods, allowing himself to be comforted for a few seconds before he tenses up and begins to stand up. “Sorry,” he apologies as he makes his way back to the front door. “Don’t know what got into me.” 
He puts his hand on the door handle, moving his body to block Eddie’s view from his shaking hand. 
“Hey,” Eddie says close behind him, “Just stay until the fireworks stop. I don’t want you driving into my trailer on the way out or something.” 
Steve turns and asks, “Are you sure?” 
Eddie nods and gestures to the container. “Plus, there’s no way I can eat this whole thing on my own.” 
Steve is about to say that he’ll be fine when another firework goes off outside, startling him again. “Okay,” he agrees, wondering how the hell this is going to end up. Steve “The Hair” Harrington and Eddie “The Freak” Munson spending New Years together. 
Eddie hands Steve the container and grabs two bowls and forks before walking off. Steve follows behind him to what he assumes to be Eddie’s room, slightly confused about the change in scenery. 
“Sorry it’s a mess. I wasn’t expecting visitors,” Eddie says awkwardly shoving things around. 
Steve just smiles as he looks at the room. “I like it. It feels comfortable,” he confesses. And it does. With the way his parents force him to keep a spotless room that never feels lived in, it’s nice to be in a bedroom that really reflects someone. 
Eddie considers him for a moment and just nods as he takes the container and sets it on his dresser alongside the bowls before pointing at his stack of tapes. “I’m going to guess our music taste isn’t really similar, but feel free to dig through for something you might like that’ll drown out the fireworks.” 
Steve’s heart skips a beat at the thoughtfulness before he makes his way to the tapes, digging through several unfamiliar names that he kind of wants to ask about, but instead he can’t help but ask, “So, what are you doing alone on New Years?”  
Eddie scoops himself a generous amount of pasta as he answers, “Gareth is at a school thing, Jeff is with his family in New York, and Grant’s parents kind of don’t like me.” 
“Why’s that?” 
Eddie fixes Steve with a look. “I’m not exactly ‘meet the parents’ material, and it doesn’t help that I used to hold band practice in his garage and would play louder whenever they told us to quiet down.” 
Steve smiles. “I would love for you to do that to my parents. God, they would be so pissed.” He grabs another tape and instantly smiles and holds it up to Eddie. “I love Queen.” He immediately puts it into the cassette player and turns the volume up enough to block out additional noise while still being able to hear Eddie talk. 
He turns and finds Eddie handing him a bowl and fork with a soft smile on his face, “You know, you’re not what I thought you’d be.” 
“Yeah?” Steve asks. 
Eddie nods and sits cross legged on his mattress. “Honestly, I thought you’d be an asshole. You know. King Steve and all that shit.” 
Steve runs a hand through his hair as he sits next to him. “I don’t think I’m ever going to live that down.” 
“You will if you get out of Hawkins,” Eddie says, shoveling a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth. 
Steve twirls his pasta and stares at it. “I don’t know if I’ll ever leave here,” he confesses. 
“Why not?” 
“I’m not smart enough to make a living somewhere else. Plus, if I move, my parents likely won’t support me – my dad likes keeping me under his thumb. And the kids need me to drive them around.” And they need him in case Hawkins gets another dose of Hell, but he can’t tell Eddie that. “Plus, I don’t think there’s anywhere that would accept me, a former jock and asshole whose only friends are children and Robin. And they’re all so smart that they’ll eventually realize they’re dumb for keeping me around.” He stabs at his spaghetti before putting the bowl down and resting his head in his hands. “I don’t know, man.” 
There’s a pause, and Steve hears a dull thud from a firework outside the trailer even over the music that startles him a bit. It’s so damn annoying that something small like this can reduce him to this. 
“Run away with me.” 
Steve head slowly comes up. “What?” 
Eddie wipes his mouth and sets his bowl on his side table. “Run away with me,” he repeats. “After I graduate, I’m going to run like hell out of here. Come with me to find a place that accepts a former jock and a...” he trails off and looks away nervously. “Uh, a freak,” he awkwardly fills in. 
The bowl in Steve’s hand suddenly feels like it’s in the way, so he sets it on the floor before turning to Eddie and leaning closer to him, hands itching to reach out. “Come on, you can tell me what you were really going to say.” 
Eddie searches his eyes before laying back on his bed dramatically, trailing his hands over his face. “You know what I was going to say. You’ve heard the rumors. Everyone has.” 
Steve has heard several rumors about Eddie, including one about how he worships the devil and does satanic rituals on top of his trailer in the middle of the night. But he has a feeling he knows which rumor he’s talking about. “Yeah, but rumors are rumors for a reason. You never know which ones are true.” 
Eddie sighs and looks up at Steve. He looks like he’s on the verge of telling him before he asks, “So, why aren’t you with your friends tonight? The kids or Robin.” 
He looks down at Eddie for a few moments, wondering if he’ll drop the question, but he holds his ground. Steve shrugs. “Robin is at the thing with all the band kids, chickening out with her crush, and the kids don’t want their babysitter around. Plus, they want to launch fireworks or play Dungeons and Dragons or something.” 
Eddie perks up and sits up on his elbows. “Dungeons and Dragons? The kids you babysit play that?” 
“Yeah. And don’t make fun of them for it. They talk about it all the time, and I think it sounds cool,” Steve says, always quick to defend Dustin even if he’s into weird nerdy shit. 
Eddie sits up entirely and looks at Steve excitedly. “You think Dungeons and Dragons is cool?” he asks in disbelief. 
Steve shrugs in response. “It’s not really my thing, but yeah.” 
“Dude, I’m the leader of Hellfire. You know, the Dungeons and Dragons club at school? What are the kids' names?” 
“Dustin, Lucas, and Mike.” 
Eddie bounces up and down excitedly. “Holy shit, I thought Dustin was kidding when he said he was friends with you.” 
It suddenly clicks, Dustin had mentioned Eddie’s name before, but Steve had never really thought about it as Eddie Munson of all people. “Shit, Dustin talks about you all the time, I just never connected the dots.” 
“He doesn’t shut up about you. The kid adores you. He’d kill me if I took you away from here.” 
“And he’d kill you if you ever left.” 
Eddie smiles and nudges Steve. “Looks like we’re both stuck here.” 
Steve smiles back at him, eyes tracing over Eddie’s face. He’s not sure why he’s never really noticed him before. He guesses he’s always been so stuck in his own shit that Eddie just kind of passed him by somehow. But he’s finally noticing his dimples, and the way his eyes are so deeply brown and easy to get lost in, and his lips looks so full and- 
Eddie lightly shoves him back, a pink blush appearing on his cheeks, “Eat your spaghetti before it gets cold.” 
Steve grabs his bowl and does as he’s told, watching as Eddie gets up to turn up the music a little louder. When he sits back on the bed, the two eat in comfortable silence, letting the music fill the space. Steve’s not sure if he’s ever been able to warm up to someone so quickly, but it makes sense that he’d be able to bond with someone who loves Dustin. 
The song ends and goes into the next. Steve finishes his last bite of spaghetti and laughs as “Somebody to Love” starts playing. He puts his bowl down and lays back on the bed, letting the song wash over him. He sings the lyrics under his breath until he hears Eddie doing the same thing and turns to look up at him. They lock eyes just in time to sing, “Can anybody find me somebody to love?” 
Eddie laughs and lays next to him joining him through the rest of the song. Steve feels ridiculous, but Eddie makes a show of playing air guitar, yelling, “I know how to play this!” Steve just laughs and watches him, feeling his heart beat a little faster in a way it hasn’t for somebody else in a while. 
He sings the rest of the song, mainly focusing on Eddie and the way he so easily gives into the music, unafraid of what Steve might think. As it comes to an end, Steve feels something shift inside him, but Eddie is quick to laugh, “Steve Harrington how can you be struggling to find somebody to love?” 
Steve smiles sadly. “I think I’ve been looking in the wrong place all along, but I’ve been starting to think that maybe I’m unlovable.” 
Eddie scoffs and moves closer to him. “If you think you’re unlovable then there’s no hope for the rest of us.” 
Steve has to move closer to hear him over the music and talk without shouting. “Does that include you?” 
“What do you think?” Eddie asks, tilting his head with a curious smile. 
“I think,” Steve starts, unsure of how he’s going to finish the sentence, “If there’s no hope for you either, then maybe...” 
“Maybe?” Eddie prompts. 
Steve’s eyes glance down at Eddie’s lips. “Maybe...” He looks up at Eddie’s eyes, seeing the confusion, slight fear, and hope. “Maybe you should finish what you were going to say earlier.” 
“Steve...” Eddie says, “You can’t be asking me...” 
“Then, I’ll ask you. Is it midnight yet?” 
Eddie’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. “Not even close.” 
“What if I lie and say that it is so I can ask you for a New Years kiss?” Steve asks boldly. 
Eddie’s breath hitches. “Then, I’d say yes and start counting down from ten.” 
“Nine,” Steve says immediately. 
“Eight,” Eddie replies, shifting onto his knees. 
“Seven.” Steve scoots closer, leaning in to brush their noses together. 
“Six,” Eddie exhales. 
“Five.” Steve’s hands come up to hold onto the back of Eddie’s head. 
“Four.” Eddie’s hands press into Steve’s back to bring him closer. 
“Three.” Steve tilts his head, already brushing his lips against Eddie’s, sending a shiver down his spine. 
“Two,” Eddie whispers, hands gripping on tighter, left hand tracing up between his shoulders to slot their torsos together. 
“One,” Steve says, barely finishing the word as he presses his lips against Eddie’s, finally ending the longest countdown of his life. 
He deepens the kiss immediately, tasting spaghetti and a hint of something that is purely Eddie which he finds entirely intoxicating. 
The music fades from one song into the next, and Steve’s pretty sure a firework goes off in the silence, but he’s too distracted by Eddie to really respond to it. He feels Eddie’s arms tighten around him, slowly guiding him down to lay back on the bed. 
Eddie breaks the kiss to look down at Steve. “This okay?” he asks. 
Steve nods and says, “Happy New Year.” 
Eddie smiles and shakes his head in disbelief. “Happy fucking New Year.” 
He finally understands why people cheesily talk about fireworks going off during a kiss. And maybe even with everything, fireworks aren’t too bad if this is what he can associate them with. 
2K notes · View notes
swiftreader1989 · 1 month ago
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🚨🚨🚨
new theories I will consider going into the glorious rivals
FIRST THEORY: KAILEY IS LYRA'S MOM - kailey is alive and is lyra's mom. when reading the games untold I found the small bits of kailey and lyra's mom to be too similar: these are my reasons ↓ @emreads294 introduced this theory and made a great post abt it (go check it out!)
1.) kailey loves to dance, it's all she ever does and even in hannah's dream she appears to tell her to keep dancing and to teach her future daughter to do so as well. now I imagine kailey aka "lyra's mom" to also hold that true to herself, putting her daughter in ballet and what is basically so much of who lyra is. OFC lyra is going to be dancer if kailey loved it too. I can also imagine kailey being distraught, confused, and upset when lyra quits dancing her senior year of hs.
2.) kailey and lyra's mom both have very bubbly personalities and so much optimism just by the short bits we've seen of them. also kailey is said to have a bit of a short temper, who has that as well? LYRA. kailey LOVES to curse and say "bitch". guess who also loves to curse and has her own trademark aka "asshole", LYRA.
3.) kailey saying "you, glorious thing, you" comes up about five times in the hannah and toby's story. what's the next title of the next book? GLORIOUS RIVALS. now you're probably like yas you sound crazy rn and you're probably right... I do. but jlb never does anything unintentional especially if this phrase comes up so much in the span of such a short story. could this be foreshadowing of role kailey has in the next book and the rivals at play?
4.) @emreads294 brought up another great point as well and said kailey was known to be very nicknamey. meaning she loved to give people nicknames and what does lyra's mom call her? YOU AVOIDER. because she rarely calls her mother. something kailey would say...
5.) this is also random but kailey and catalina both have the same meaning aka pure. which I thought was cute and interesting if that's lyra's mother. we also do not know lyra's mom's name but her stepfather's? that's a little fishy and mysterious if you ask moi.
SECOND THEORY: TOBY SENT LYRA THE INVITE FOR TGG
-toby sent lyra the game invite in hopes to redeem himself for the guilt he's had for "killing" hannah's sister kailey.
-he says he will always be sorry for what he did to her and carries that burden. so when he finds out that kailey IS ALIVE & has a daughter named lyra. he's probably shook and thinks to himself that hannah not only had a niece but avery has a cousin.
-AND by reading toby and avery's relationship they are daughter and father. making lyra in a way his niece. so toby as an "uncle" gives her the invitation because if he can help anyone related to hannah out he will do so especially if he thought kailey was dead.
-who else would say "you deserve this" not eve or alice. they're both psychotic bitches who care for no one but themselves. I like to think uncle toby ate and sent lyra to the game!
what are your thoughts?!
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climbthemountain2020 · 20 days ago
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What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
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Ch.1/5 | Ao3
Elucien Holiday Fic for the @acotargiftexchange
Completed Word Count: 33K Chapter Word Count: 7k
For @itsybitsybluesy I hope this hits all your boxes! The story is finished, and will be fully posted this week <3
Two Days Before
Lucien POV
Lucien looked into the mirror, the lamp casting a low light and making the shadows jump around his face and glow like a halo around his copper hair. He brushed it back over one shoulder, fussing with it then scoffing at himself as he realized how nit-picky he was being. 
He checked his pocket watch, jittery as the moments ticked down. 
It was nearly time to leave and walk to the River House for Solstice and Feyre’s birthday. Just as he had done every year for the last five, he’d winnowed into Velaris earlier in the day. The wards had been marked to his signature and blood, clearing easily for him as Emissary to Night. As soon as he’d arrived, he’d grabbed a bite at Mirania’s Cafe, his personal favorite, and gone to his apartment to bathe and dress and have a cup of spiced tea that he’d definitely not poured whiskey into. 
He straightened, tugging down his vest and checking the sleeves of his forest green tailored jacket. He had hand selected this outfit, the colors of Autumn always highlighting his features best, as much as he despised his court of origin. The burnished orange paired with the green always made him feel a bit like a pumpkin, but from experience, he was well aware that they paired well with the rest of his appearance. He brushed his shoulders a final time, checking the mirror once more and nodding as if to support himself. 
This was ridiculous.
Of course, Lucien always took great care in his appearance. He had pride in the way he presented himself: clever, courteous, and well-dressed. He had, after all, been raised in high society, for all it had been worth in the end. Additionally, the company he tended to keep in Velaris was mostly well-dressed, too. He couldn’t afford to look lacking around them. 
Lucien locked his front door behind him, balancing the box of gifts in one arm while simultaneously tucking the keyring into his inner jacket pocket and making his way down the carved stone steps and onto the cobblestone street. The winter sun had just begun to set over the towering, snowy mountains of Velaris, and the streets were lit with twinkling lights that bounced off all the shining boughs of holly to celebrate the upcoming holiday. Despite splitting his time the past few years between here and his primary residence in the Human Lands, Lucien loved Velaris more than he’d ever care to admit. The city always smelled like a mass variety of delicious foods and drinks and spices, and laughter and joy always seemed to filter through the streets to echo warmly around his ears. Autumn had never had anywhere like this, nor had Spring or the Human Lands. Velaris was truly unlike anything he’d ever known. 
Some visits, he’d stay a little extra time, spending days upon days just walking around the city. If Rhysand or Feyre were aware, which he was certain they were, they never mentioned it to him. He’d explored just about every space in the city now, and even some of the mountain trails, lakes, streams, and forests nearby. Lucien loved being here. 
There was only one thing that could make it better. 
Lucien shuffled the box of gifts in his arms, the unwieldy weight making it difficult to hold in just one arm. His gift for Elain this year was a bit more personal than in the past, but he hoped it would also be something practical. He’d noticed she’d been more interested in germinating the wide variety of flowers that surrounded the River House in the past year, each new flower cropping up more lovely and colorful than the last batch as she tended them with great care and precision. He’d found a lovely leather craftsman in The Rainbow, and while he’d waited on the new leathers he’d commissioned, he’d browsed the store. In one corner, perfectly tucked into a shelf, had been a book on display– a leatherbound journal with the shape of a vine pressed into the cover. He’d thought that perhaps, as she crossed and bred more flowers, she might like to keep track. So, as he purchased his leathers, he’d asked him to press the name Elain into the cover of the book too. 
Things had been lighter between them the past year, though he wouldn’t go so far as to call them friends. Once things had very obviously come to an end between her and the Shadowsinger when he’d found his mate, Lucien had given Elain his time and patience, and in time, they’d worked their way into something tentative just this side of friendship.
It had begun when he’d come upon the River House to meet with Rhys a few months before the previous Solstice. She’d been in the garden lining the front walkways as he’d approached. He wasn’t in the habit of stopping to speak to her then, but when he’d seen the gloves on her hands, he’d stopped short, his feet rooted to the ground. Elain was barely bundled up against the chill of the air, her shoulders almost entirely exposed as the wind tossed her hair over her freckled back. She’d been humming, digging through the brambles surrounding flowers of bright purple and yellow. He was in awe of her effortless beauty, as he always was when he saw her, his body and mind unable to communicate whenever she was around. 
As though she sensed his presence, she turned, meeting his eyes with a little gasp. He loved her eyes, a soft brown as downy as a fawn’s coat, beautiful against her porcelain, freckled skin and bright cheeks. 
So, there they stood, two strangers, bonded irrevocably for life, who had barely exchanged four sentences save pleasantries in the years past. She stuck her hand out lamely, gesturing at the flowers, the pretty leather of the glove stained with earth and catching his eye again. 
She cleared her through. “The crocuses love the cold, but, uhm, the brambles tend to start moving in if I don’t stay on top of them.”
It had been such a simple statement, the most bland of information, but Lucien was riveted. A bright blush crept up Elain’s neck and face. 
“The gloves help when it’s cold. I meant to tell you. I never wear gloves to garden. It’s not that I don’t– that I don’t like them. I do, they’re beautifully made. I just like the dirt under my nails. But in the winter, they’re very effective with the brambles.”
Lucien could feel the smile spreading unbidden across his face. It was perhaps the most words he’d ever heard her speak at once, and the fluster in them had him feeling some strange type of giddy.  
He fought and lost the urge to tease her a bit, to see that blush creep higher to the tips of her beautifully pointed ears that she finally left on display regularly. He ached to trace them with his lips, nip them with his teeth, as he did so frequently in his dreams. 
Don’t scare her off Lucien. This is a fragile moment, don’t be a cad.
He lost the war with himself, the urge to see that gorgeous flush again overwhelming all sense left in his centuries-old body.
“Your flowers are beautiful, my lady. I’m sure that they are pleased whenever you find time to be on top of them.” 
Elain let out the most ungraceful sound that Lucien had perhaps ever heard from her, a laugh her body had resisted. The blush rose just as he’d hoped, beautiful and soft and pink as it raced to the tips of her ears. He gave a sweeping bow and a smile, continuing on into the house and sending the smallest rush of warmth back at her to soothe her skin against the frigid air. He refused to look back, his decision made. For the blush alone, it had been worth it. 
That had been over a year ago now.
It would have been foolish for Lucien to assume that things would change between them after that, and they hadn’t, not really.
But…
At first, he thought he was imagining it.
At his next visit, Elain had averted her eyes as usual at his presence, but his breath had caught in his throat to see her at dinner wearing the pearl drop earrings he’d gifted her years before. He’d never once seen her wear them. They caught the light beautifully, and she had tucked her hair back, showing them off for anyone willing to look. 
It felt intentional; it felt like a claiming. 
He had forced himself under control, begged his mind not to read into it, to get his hopes up. 
Then that night, with Mor in town and Nesta and Cassian down from Illyria, the seating arrangements had been shifted for dinner, leaving the only open seat for him at the end corner of the table next to Elain. His eyes crept back again and again to the earrings and the way they swayed gently back and forth as she spoke. All night he fought the urge to inhale too deeply, to speak past pleasantries and risk scaring her away. 
But his body fought him every second.
Smell her, touch her, taste her, it said. 
And it was impossible to avoid, the smell of her, honey and cinnamon and glazed pears nearly making his eyes water and his cock half hard under the cover of the table. He’d glamoured himself immediately, unwilling to risk making anything awkward, especially with a loudmouth like Cassian around and always ready to tease him like a bawdy older sibling. He liked Cassian, but there were no secrets safe with the giant bat.
As dinner that night had come to a close, he breathed a sigh of relief to think he’d made it through. Elain would escape to the kitchen as she always did, and everyone else would drink in one of the many sitting rooms of the River House, and he would be safe. 
Gods , but he wished she’d come, too– plop down in his lap, let him press his nose to the juncture of her neck and shoulder and inhale until he was dizzy with the scent of her.
“Did you get enough to eat, Lucien?” Feyre poked fun at his clean plate as she stood with Rhys to move to the sitting room as Nuala and Cerridwen cleared the table. 
He laughed. “The food here is always impeccable. I’ve long gotten over the stigma of being the first to clean a plate.” 
Everyone chuckled, and Lucien began to push his chair back to move with them. Before he could remove himself from the table, Elain spoke as she began to clear the remaining dishware. It was so quiet he hardly heard it, but she bent closer to him under the guise of picking up an errant fork, her breath nearly in his ear. 
“I’ve always seen some merit in finishing first, personally.” 
Everyone had already left the room, and no one but Elain was there to witness Lucien’s sharp inhale. Nor the way his cock immediately stiffened along with his spine.
With a swirl of honeyed pears and demure smiles, Elain had pulled back and was already gone, not sparing him a single second look.
Had he imagined it?
He spent weeks plaguing himself with that very question. But the next time he’d visited it had happened again. This time, the middle man had been a cream-filled pastry from a local bakery on one of Lucien’s morning visits. He’d shown up early that day per Rhys’s request in order to overlap with Nesta and Cassian’s schedules, so they’d opted to do a casual meeting over breakfast. Elain was helping Feyre with Nyx on one of the small couches lining the massive dining room, and Feyre reached back for him just in time for Lucien to sit down. Naturally, Elain would be eating breakfast with them; it was her home. But Lucien hadn’t been prepared for her to lift the small tea plate with the full pasty on it, meeting his eyes from across the room when no one else could see, and taking a bite so large from it that the cream exploded across the plate in a surge so disarmingly sensual Lucien nearly choked to death on his tea. 
So, for the past year, not only had she made a point to wear those blessed earrings every time he’d stopped in, but she’d made a habit of torturing him. 
Between innuendo, teasing visuals, and side comments that no one but him ever seemed to hear, Lucien was convinced he’d lost his entire mind.
That Solstice, he’d brought her a cookbook from the vendor’s quarter in Velaris. It had specialties compiled from every court, running the gamut from appetizers to great feasts to desserts, all nicely bound. For the first time, she’d looked him in the eyes as she’d opened it, thanking him and stroking a finger back and forth over the cover while Lucien tried his hardest not to explode into a million fragments.
He’d come back a week later to update Rhys on a matter on the border of Spring, and waiting for him in the study was a plate of cherry clove tarts, his favorite childhood dessert from Autumn
He’d felt twisted up at the emotion at seeing them for the first time in decades, the smell of them causing the sharp sting of unshed tears to burn his eyes. His mother used to love making these, sneaking them beneath the edge of the counter to him as he skittered off to devour them in an alcove, yet unaware of the sort of life that lay ahead for him. He controlled himself as he waited for Rhys to finish a meeting, and when the door finally burst open, he was surprised to see Elain carrying a tray with tea and cups
She startled. “Oh! I didn’t think you’d be here yet.”
“You made these?”
She blushed again, that lovely spread creeping up her neck at the implication before he even realized what he’d asked. “No, Nuala did. They were in the book you gave me. I thought you might like them.” She poured two cups of tea and handed one to him. A chai. “I figured it might be nice to have something from Autumn when I heard you’d be coming.”
“That is…very kind, Elain.” Lucien was having trouble finding the words, so he sipped the tea instead.
“Well, have you tried one?” She gestured to the tray. The tarts were covered in a dusted layer of powdered sugar, Elain carefully selecting one and placing it on a small tea plate for herself. Lucien leaned forward to help himself– no part of him strong enough to resist cherry clove tarts. He sat back, carefully shaking any loose sugar, then stopped in his tracks as he watched Elain lean in to take a big bite, her pink tongue slipping out of her mouth and over her perfect lips to catch the sugar and missing a bit of cherry at the corner of her mouth. 
He wanted to put his mouth on it, suck it off her skin then keep going.
Lucien nearly fell apart as he watched her swallow, her throat bobbing as she consumed the pastry. Something primal and uncontrolled within him was begging and roaring and tearing to toss her on the couch, lift her skirts, and fuck her stupid. 
Something about the mischief glowing wild in her eyes told him what she was imagining wasn’t far off. 
She raised a finger to the edge of her mouth, pressing the errant piece of filling onto her finger, then sticking the same finger into her mouth, sucking it elegantly. Her eyes, the soft brown of a fawn’s coat, didn’t leave his for a moment.
Lucien was only saved by the grace of the doors opening once again and Rhys entering. 
“So good to see you, Lucien,” Elain said through a smile as she turned to go, leaving him absolutely wrecked in the process.
Now, as Lucien walked through the streets of Velaris for yet another Solstice, he felt ready to snap every time he came within a mile of her. He could hear the beating of her heart quicken when he came into the room, could see the delicious flush over her soft skin as they spoke. Something had shifted between them, despite no one else seeming to notice or care. Everyone still treated her like their little baker, their gardener, sweet Elain. Lucien was sure she was sweet in many ways; in fact, he’d like to try a taste and test that theory himself.
But he held himself back. Elain had distanced herself from him for so long, for so many reasons, and he would let her decide when, if ever, she was ready. And when she did, he would be waiting. Until then, though, he remained a pile of dry brush, waiting for the single scratch of a match that would burn it all to embers.
He passed the garden beds in the dark, the sun now sunken below the mountains surrounding them and the lights lining the path illuminating his way. He could practically see the ghosts of him and Elain speaking there, could almost smell her on the wind, hear her laughter dance around his ears. He shook his head and pressed on, shifting the box to one hip as he knocked on the door. 
“Lucien!” A very pregnant Feyre flung open the door, hugging him and nearly bowling him over with her belly. “Sorry. Stomach first.” She waved him in, undeterred. “We’re still waiting on a few. Come on and have a drink. I can take those!” She grabbed the box of gifts, carting them off to the study as Lucien shucked off his coat to hang it in the foyer. He could hear the merriment rooms away, people laughing and cracking jokes, ice clinking in glasses. Between Feyre’s found family and Vassa and Jurian, Lucien had more community now than he’d maybe ever had in his life. Five years ago, he wouldn’t have believed it. He surely wouldn’t have believed he’d be sharing a Solstice with Rhysand and his brothers, but here they were. 
He couldn’t sense Elain anywhere in the house, the steady thrumming of her heart mysteriously absent as he pressed down the hall and joined the others. Rhys poured him a drink and clapped him heartily on the back as he took a seat and chatted. All the while, his mind was elsewhere, eternally searching for her in every space he entered. 
“...strange, though. Nothing major, but definitely a pattern.” 
“How many does that make now?”
“I think that was maybe the seventh in as many months, maybe even less.”
Lucien’s interest was piqued, of course, now that he’d been caught out not listening. “What’s that?”
“Velaris has seen a series of vandalisms lately–”
“And Rhysand is being over involved, despite us doing quite literally the same things here as younglings.” 
Lucien grinned again– Cassian wasn’t shy about getting some drink in him and sharing innumerable stories about their youth. Even Lucien had to laugh when he wasn’t rolling his eyes. 
“What sort of vandalism are we talking about?” If they weren’t seriously on alert, he imagined it couldn't be anything too grave. 
Cassian piped up as soon as Rhysand opened his mouth to speak, earning another irritated look. “ Nothing. It’s the work of a bored teenager, I’m sure.”
“Tampered wards, things moved around. More recently there have been a few small, contained fires and explosives,” Rhysand offered.
“Explosives?” Lucien lifted his brows.
“They’re firecrackers, Rhys. Get your head out of your a–”
“Alright, here we go!” The voice of Nesta filtered through the room as she raced in, her nephew on her shoulders flapping his wings valiantly. Now that he was nearing four and his wings were strong enough to start supporting him, the group had been allowing him to practice flying. Every time Lucien visited, they were trying another method to strengthen them enough to carry his full weight. Lucien enjoyed watching Nyx; it tickled him to see such seasoned warriors care so tenderly for such a small person. Something he never dared to address within himself ached at the thought of a family all his own. And, as always, he shoved the thoughts away violently. There was no use imagining something that might never exist. Lucien knew from experience the pain that getting your hopes up could render. 
“You’re too overprotective now that you’re a father, Rhysie. What are you going to do when Nyx is tearing up the town? Call in the Darkbringers ?” Laughs came from around the room as Feyre settled next to Rhys, giving him a kiss. Nesta returned with Nyx to Cassian’s side, a protective hand coming around her shoulders. Lucien, not for the first time, reveled in this feeling of family around him. Years ago, he’d felt very much the outsider at these gatherings, always uncomfortable and not quite the right fit. But something had shifted long before Elain had started speaking to him more. Perhaps it had been the sacrifices he’d been willing to make in the battle with Koschei , or maybe just the recurrence of his presence had finally become commonplace enough to be accepted. Regardless, this was another home to him now– these were the people he’d chosen to surround himself with. He was glad to spend his Solstices here, and happier still to have another holiday in the Human Lands for Christmas. 
The front door slammed open, boisterous voices in the hall pouring in. Lucien knew that it was not Elain. No one seemed worried, and he tried not to be either. Elain had been fae for years now. She was smart and knew Velaris well. She was likely just out grabbing last minute supplies for dinner or dessert, knowing her.  
Emerie and Mor rounded the corner, arms around each other and flushed from the cold. Mor had taken the longest to warm up to him, for the obvious reasons, but he found he liked her quick wit and admired the fierceness with which she protected her friends. They’d eventually bonded drunk one night while he agreed to tell her embarrassing stories about Eris growing up. 
“Lu Lu! You’re here!” With acceptance had come nicknames.
Emerie slung Mor down onto the couch. “We started a bit early at Rita’s,” she pretended to whisper, Mor shoving at her butt with her foot. 
Behind them were the Shadowsinger and Gwyn, much quieter in their entrance, but wrapped around each other nonetheless. They weren’t particularly talkative, as far as members of the inner circle went. But there was no denying how in love they were. Lucien’s heart ached a bit, longed when he saw the way their eyes always met, their covert touches nearly missable by anyone not searching for them. Would Elain be quiet in that way? Reserved? Or would she love out loud like Mor and Feyre? More thoughts that he regularly forced from his own head. 
“Is that everyone?” Cassian asked Rhys, changing topics. 
“Everyone who’s coming. Amren somehow lost a bet and is spending Solstice in Summer.” 
Mor snickered. “God, she’s done for. Or maybe Varian is. Who knows with the two of them.”
Around him, everyone continued talking, but Lucien was no longer paying attention, the pounding in his ears suddenly overwhelming. It was the steady thwump , thwump , thwump of a familiar heartbeat, one he knew just as intimately as his own. 
He couldn’t see her, but Lucien knew Elain had arrived. Her heart was pounding in time with his, a steady beat with an echo that always calmed something in him at the same time as it drove him mad. His body immediately went on alert, skin flushed and blood rushing below his waist. This back and forth dance with her was like the longest, most intense edging he’d ever experienced in his life. Every time he visited, he found himself glamouring his scent for the entire duration of his stay. 
It was only moments between when he’d felt her arrive and when she bustled out of the kitchen, face flushed and eyes a bit wild. Lucien had a moment where jealousy roared inside him like an ugly beast. Had she been out with another suitor? But her scent hit him from across the room with the intensity of a brick wall, and there was no one there except her, lovely and light and intoxicating.
“So sorry! Had to finish the icing.”
Liar, he thought, but he let the amusement remain in his eyes alone. Beautiful little liar.
But Lucien kept her secret, despite his own curiosity. And when he sat down next to her at dinner, he scented her again, just to be sure. 
Sometime in that past year, his seat had regularly become the one next to hers. No matter the other company present, he would find her as he looked for his own seat, the open one on her left belonging to him. They had never addressed it, nor had anyone else, but it continued nonetheless. 
Another thing Lucien had learned was that the members of the Inner Circle never missed a chance to celebrate, and every chance they had to celebrate, they cooked enough food to feed a family of twenty for roughly two weeks. He couldn’t complain– every single thing he’d ever eaten there had been nothing short of mouth watering, and he always finished everything with great gusto, often reaching for seconds, and greatly savoring the leftovers they inevitably sent him home with. Tonight’s feast was no different, plate upon plate of roasted meats, vegetables soaked in butter, the creamiest mashed potatoes that Lucien had personally ever seen, as well as side dishes that he’d never even heard of before lined the table. 
He listened as everyone spoke around him, the way they normally did. He enjoyed being a listener, most of the time, interjecting occasionally but mostly just enjoying the friendly back and forth. Elain, as usual, was quiet by his side. He caught her frequently in his periphery, practically dragging his eyes away from her by force each time. 
Until one time, he found her looking back. The conversations continued, loud and brash, around them, but her eyes stayed hooked on his. Then, without saying a word, Elain lifted a forkful of food to her mouth. Lucien tracked the movement like a predator watching its prey, each millisecond it traveled through the air sending thousands more sparks down his spine until, finally, the fork met her lips. Her pink, perfectly bowed lips– which took their precious time closing around the fork, pursing slowly, intentionally, as she closed her eyes, savoring the food. 
Lucien had the sense to check his glamour before his heart gave out right there at the Solstice table. 
When she opened her eyes again, batting her lashes and returning her fork to her plate, a smirk teased her lips. 
Cauldron boil and fry me. 
Lucien’s breathing had sped up, and he fought desperately to get it controlled before someone else noticed he sounded like a panting animal. He forced his eyes back to his own plate with willpower that he must have plucked from the very depths of his soul. 
He was confronting this tonight. Somehow, some way, he was getting Elain alone. He adjusted in his seat, his cock hard and angry in his pants, and saw Elain smile fully down into her food. 
Oh yes, there would be discussions. 
+++
Waiting through presents and dessert was a special kind of torture for Lucien, his body aching to move the night along so he could get her alone, even just for a moment. A highlight, however, had been Lucien seeing Elain open the present he’d gotten for her. She seemed a bit flustered as she opened it, eyes somewhat glassy with emotion as she’d looked at him after. 
“Thank you, Lucien.” His name on her tongue nearly drove him mad with as tightly as he was wound. But he simply nodded in response as she turned to set it tenderly aside, as though it was something precious.
Now, it was long past midnight, the night quiet and the revelry settled into something more casual and comfortable. Mor was crashed out on the couch, her head in Emerie’s lap as she stroked her hair. Gwyn and Azriel had left not long after dinner, having just arrived back from spy work on the continent before coming to the River House. Nesta and Cassian were retiring to a guest bedroom, too drunk to fly or winnow home. Elain had long since gone to the kitchens to help clean up and pack food and treats to send off, always careful to let Nuala or Cerridwen prep, package, and deliver the one for Lucien. 
But he hadn’t seen her in hours, the steady beating of her heart close, but not close enough. He could feel his chances slipping away. 
“Lucien, would you like to stay?” Feyre asked sweetly, coming up to him with a hand on her stomach, Rhys not far behind. 
He was not so drunk he couldn’t get home–he was actually quite sober– but being in the same house as Elain while he slept was a special kind of torture. On the other hand, it would give him more time tomorrow to speak with her. He’d made up his mind. 
“Sure, thanks for the offer.”
“You know where your room is.” She gave him a brief kiss on the cheek. “Happy Solstice, Lucien.”
“Happy birthday, Feyre.” Lucien had stayed often enough that he could find his way down the airy halls of the River House, the ceilings reaching high on each floor and windows lining each inch of open space to show the sun and stars. The room he typically stayed in was at the end of the hall, where most of the other bedrooms aside from Rhys, Feyre, and Nyx slept. It was reserved for him and him alone, though he didn’t stay often. They simply had more rooms than they needed. 
He liked the comfort of it. It had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Sidra, and a bathroom of his own so he didn’t need to wander far. He shucked off his vest as he entered, draping it over the chair by the door. But Lucien stopped when his eyes caught on an item sitting in a beam of moonlight on his bed. 
There on the duvet was a small package. He stepped closer to find it was wrapped in brown paper, delicately tied with a twine bow. He could scent her on it, the wrapping carrying hints that he could mistake for no one else. He picked it up in his hands, the box nearly weightless and yet carrying the weight of the universe within it. 
Elain had gotten him a Solstice present.
He was nearly afraid to open it, afraid to ruin the magic. She’d never given him anything before. Had hardly thanked him for his presents before last year. And yet, here it was. A gift that felt so undeniably her resting in his palm. 
Lucien carefully pulled the twine, setting it on the bed. He would save it and the paper and everything else forever, he knew without a doubt. As he opened the small box inside, his heart leapt into his throat. There in the moonlight, he could see a pair of cufflinks nestled into the cotton buffeting. They were oval, remarkably shaped, the center filled with something that appeared to be resin cradling the most lovely assortment of crushed fall leaves imaginable. It looked just like the woods around the Forest House, a rare piece of home that he actually missed. 
It was, without a doubt, the most thoughtful gift that Lucien had ever received. 
Lucien’s chest twisted momentarily, the emotion overcoming him. But when it happened again, he knew it wasn’t emotion tugging in his chest. 
It was the bond. Elain was pulling on the bond. 
Like a specter in search of the afterlife, he followed the pull blindly, setting the box down on the table by the bed and moving towards the door without another thought. He felt it again, stronger this time, and he obeyed, no doubts in his mind about where she wanted him to go. 
He usually avoided any feelings through the bond, shoving that need to touch it, stroke it, caress it deep down in his chest. But the pull was unmistakable this time, and it was coming from Elain.
Occasionally– in her dreams, he’d assumed– she’d touch the bond, just enough that Lucien would feel it. At first, it had been enough to drive him insane, especially knowing she’d done it unintentionally. After a while, he’d learned to mostly ignore it, to see it for what it was: purely innocent, a naive mistake, a mistaken brush against something she didn’t fully understand. But this was not that. 
All sense was lost when he felt a third pull, a beckoning, a summons in his chest. His hand hit the knob and turned, his sights set on her room down the hall. He would get his conversation after all, it seemed. 
The second Lucien emerged into the hall, though, he was met with the burgeoning sounds of chaos– loud voices and slamming doors, lights turning on throughout the River House. It took a moment for his mind to catch up, and he saw Elain shoot into the hall too, as though she’d been waiting right on the other side of her door. Her frantic eyes met his in the darkness as she pulled her robe tightly around her body. 
She’d been waiting for him . 
He didn’t have time to process as the hall filled with everyone else, the voicing cresting together as she shook her head minutely. 
“What’s happening?” Lucien hadn’t had the time to change out of his clothes, trousers and cream colored undershirt rumpled but at least still on. Cassian was half naked as he bustled into the hall behind a grumbling Nesta. 
“There was an explosion.” Rhys was all business, entirely on alert as he held a sleeping Nyx in his arms. 
“Where?” Nesta’s sharp voice cut through the hallway, the drowse of sleep no longer roughing her voice. 
“The bank of the Sidra near The Rainbow. Someone hid a cache of fireworks charmed to go off.”
“Any injuries?”
“None, and no damage reported. It was far enough from the buildings.”
“Just enough to wake everyone up,” Cassian grumbled through a yawn, an oof leaving his chest as Nesta elbowed him. 
“So why are we all up?” Mor was not a morning person at her best, and her day of drinking certainly hadn’t left her at her best as she slumped against Emerie. 
“I want to check it out. It might be a trap, a distraction to draw our attention away.” 
“ Or , and hear me out, Rhys, it could literally just be fireworks on Solstice– Nesta , stop!” 
“We can check it out, Rhys. It’s fine,” Emerie reassured. Rhys handed a sleeping Nyx off to Feyre to take to Nuala and Cerridwen, then began assigning roles as Lucien waited to be told where to go. Feyre returned, her clothes changed and her eyes alert as she approached him. 
“Lucien, take Elain to the Human Lands for now?”
“Oh, Feyre, I hardly think that's–” Feyre put up a hand to silence her sister, and something flared inside Lucien before he could stop it. He hated the way they treated her, as though she were a child just like Nyx, someone to be moved and maneuvered and dealt with rather than as a functioning adult amongst them. 
“It’s safer there, Elain. Please, go with Lucien.” Feyre’s eyes were pleading as she turned to her sister, and though her brows were furrowed in clear annoyance, Lucien saw the moment it smoothed out. Her pretty brown eyes met his over Feyre’s shoulder. 
“Fine.” Lucien could see Feyre’s shoulders visibly relax, but the tension in Elain’s held fast. She turned on her heel and went back into her room, closing the door behind her just slightly harder than necessary. She had changed much in the past five years– her mannerisms, her fashion, and clearly the way she spoke to Lucien. But the one thing that hadn’t changed was her reactions to her sisters. She always seemed to defer to their wishes, their judgment, their expectations. 
Lucien hated it. 
“Thank you. I just want to know she’s safe while we look into this.” Lucien looked down at her. 
“Feyre, you know your sister is older than you and also a fae, correct?” He injected some teasing into the words, but he hoped they struck a chord. 
“Of course I do. But you know how Elain is.” 
The words filled him with ire. Smart? Talented? Capable beyond measure? How would anyone ever know when they made practice of shoving her into carefully curated corners. It wasn’t an argument he’d win tonight. 
“Of course I will take care of her, Feyre.” She nodded, looking relieved, and moved to walk back over to the group. “But she deserves more credit than I think you give her.” Feyre stopped for a moment, back still turned to Lucien, before she continued on down the hall. He sighed and turned back to the door, finding it opening slowly as he did, Elain coming through now dressed with a small bag over her shoulder. Lucien took the bag immediately, and then found himself extending his hand towards her without thinking. She barely hesitated before taking it in her own, her skin so soft against his calloused fingers that it nearly took his breath away. He winnowed them straight out before he could do anything he’d regret, their feet hitting snowy ground. 
The house towered in front of them, far more room than any one of them would ever need. Despite the late hour, smoke rose in the moonlight from a number of chimneys, a soft glow emanating from within. It was much colder here than in Velaris, and though he flexed through the way his magic always felt bound when he first crossed over, he still sent a little burst of warmth Elain’s way as he gently pulled her towards the house. 
Jurian and Vassa were likely long asleep, but Lucien pulled out his own key to open the front door, locking it again behind them as he offered to take her coat. She shrugged it off as she looked around the bright foyer, starry eyed, and Lucien tried not to focus every bit of his existence onto the outline of her chest. 
“You live here?” Gods, her voice was so sweet. He almost forgot she’d asked him a question, fumbling to find his voice to respond.
“When I’m not in Velaris, yes.” 
“It’s lovely.” The manor was atypical, one they’d built after the fall of Koschei to house Vassa away from the castle that held such poor memories for her. She’d wanted to live with Jurian, maintain a life separate from her past while continuing to rule. Lucien had helped them construct it, sturdy walls of wood and stone, sort of a mimicking of the Forest House but with brighter colors per Vassa’s request. The tapestries were all wildly well lit, the colors from within and the lamps in the hall making sure every inch of the home felt cozy and bright. They’d included unique furniture from the continent, Prythian, and the Human Lands, making a hodgepodge of colors that, rather than making it tacky, made the house seem lived in. Nearly every space had its own fireplace, and though they didn’t often entertain, they kept rooms ready and available in case. Lucien loved it here, and judging by Elain’s eyes, she had never seen anything like it. He hoped, for whatever it was worth, that it was someplace she’d like, too. 
“It’s home.” He smiled as he said the words, his chest lighting up as she turned to him and smiled back. Despite how the evening had turned, she was here, with him, away from her meddling family and the pressures of Velaris. Perhaps this turn of events hadn’t been so negative after all. 
“Come, let me show you your room.” Without thinking, he pressed a hand to her lower back, leading her up the mahogany staircase into the upper halls. When they reached the second story, she spun again to take it all in, the warm air rising here to make the loft even cozier as they made their way into the hall of bedrooms. Blessedly, he noted, Jurian and Vassa were silent tonight. Despite being on entirely the opposite side of the house, Lucien had taken to wearing weighted ear plugs some nights to drown out the sounds so he could sleep. It wasn’t the welcome he’d wanted for her, certainly. 
Somewhat selfishly, he showed Elain to the guest room right next to his own room. He reasoned that it was for the window view of the distant mountains and not the proximity to his own quarters. He opened the door, motioned her in, and set her bag down near the dresser, sending a flame into the lantern on the nightstand, and then another into the fireplace. He tried not to preen at Elain’s impressed little gasp as she spun near the bed. 
“Our home is your home. Feel free to help yourself to anything here. There’s a bathroom right across the hall from you, and I’m right next door.” He pointed lamely to the left, as though she might see through the wall to his room, to his bed, through him straight into his soul, even. 
She took a step back towards him, then another, and he felt his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth. He longed to finish the evening they’d started, but he tamped the urges down as he always did. She’d had a rough night, was somewhere unfamiliar, and any promises or intent made before didn’t necessarily still apply. 
Still, she stepped closer. 
“I, uhm, I apologize for the night. I’m sure this isn’t how you wanted to spend your Solstice.” 
“It’s not how I was imagining, certainly.” Her voice was soft, and she took a final, tentative step forward. They were close enough to touch if they reached out their arms, close enough that Lucien could feel the tension crackling the air between them. He wanted to kiss her. It would be so easy to just take a single step and close that gap. So easy to wind his fingers through her hair and pull her mouth to his.
Kiss, touch, taste, claim–
Lucien was a gentleman, and as he had for the past five years, he renewed his oath to let Elain come to him when she was ready. All the way to him. 
“Goodnight, Elain.” Lucien tried not to feel gutted or hopeful at the disappointment that crossed her face as he stepped back into the low light of the hallway. 
“Goodnight, Lucien.” His name on her tongue was nearly enough to send him sprinting back through the doorway. Instead, he stepped to the side, taking the two steps to his own door where he would lay awake in his bed, knowing she was mere feet away from him, and thinking about the way it had felt when she’d tugged down the bond between them.
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lucy90712 · 12 days ago
Text
Family Christmas- Pedri
A/n: Happy holidays guys. I have a surprise new mini series for new years so get ready
1st December 
The test stared back at me as it laid face down on the bathroom counter while Pedri stood behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist. We have been sort of trying for a baby but not taking it too seriously by tracking my ovulation or anything so I really wasn't expecting to miss my period only 3 months after coming off my birth control. My period was due 5 days ago and I've had no signs that it will be coming any time soon the only usual symptom I've had is a bit of nausea in the mornings and evenings but that's also a symptom of pregnancy. The thought that I could actually be pregnant has me excited and nervous being a mum is a big change in life a change I know I'm ready for I'm just nervous about doing things wrong. 
"Are you ready to find out?" Pedri asked 
"I'm ready" I replied 
"You don't need to be nervous it's it's not positive we'll just try again it doesn't matter ok" he said 
"I know I've just got my hopes up so if it's not positive I'll be a little disappointed" I said 
"And that's ok but let's not think about that right now" he said 
He kissed my cheek then put his hand on the test waiting for me to do the same so we could flip the test together. I took a deep breath and put my hand next to his then we counted down from three and turned the test over. Staring back at us was two distinct lines just as dark as each other so there's no question I'm definitely pregnant. Without me even noticing tears of joy poured from my eyes which Pedri wiped away before pulling me into the tightest hug. This is the best early Christmas present ever and now we can surprise the rest of our family throughout the holidays. 
~~~~~~~~~~
24th December 
Way before we found out I was pregnant we agreed to host Christmas with Pedri's family which at the time was a great idea but now I'm sort of regretting it. There is so much that goes into hosting so I've been exhausted all week because the first trimester is really taking it out of me so coupled with all the extra things I've been doing I can barely keep my eyes open by 9pm. Pedri has helped as much as he can but he's only been off for the last few days so now here we are finishing wrapping presents on Christmas Eve and I still have some food to prep. 
Usually I do most of the work when wrapping presents as if I don't it will look like a toddler wrapped them in the dark as Pedri doesn't exactly have the eye for wrapping. Under my instruction he did most of the work as then I could just sit there and hold the paper while closing my eyes for a few seconds to get some rest. The main thing we needed to wrap was the things we bought to surprise Pedri's family with the news as they don't know yet. We had our first ultrasound just a few days ago so we added some of the pictures to the little onesie we bought that we customised to have the baby's rough due date on. I can't wait to see their faces a when they find out because it's been so hard to keep it a secret from everyone especially when I've been feeling so awful and having to lie and say it's just a regular sickness. 
After we finished wrapping I went to prep some stuff ready to make dinner tomorrow as I don't want to spend all day in the kitchen and not enjoying the festivities. I tried my best to get on with the prep I wanted to do but the smell of the food was making me feel so nauseous I tried to breathe through my mouth or just ignore the smell but I couldn't. Eventually it became too much and I had to run to the bathroom where Pedri quickly joined me to help hold back my hair. To begin with my sickness wasn't too bad but over the last week or so it has definitely got worse there is certain foods that I just can't stomach anymore and the smell of most things makes me nauseous. Once I was feeling better I wanted to go back to the kitchen and finish what I started but Pedri wouldn’t let me he insisted on doing it so I gave him instructions and he did all of it for me. 
Pedri joined me back on the sofa and put on a show for us to watch or for him to watch while I fight to keep my eyes open. As predicted I must've fallen asleep as I was woken up by the squeaky step on the stairs as Pedri carried me up them. When he saw my eyes open he cursed the step before telling me to go back to sleep but I would only do that when he tucked me up in bed and gave me the goodnight kiss I missed out on before. 
~~~~~~~~~~
25th December 
My Christmas morning started out with the most delightful gift of having to run to the bathroom because I woke up feeling overwhelmingly sick. Luckily my hair was already up this time but Pedri still sat by my side and rubbed my back for nothing more than moral support but I appreciate it anyway. He got me a glass of water and helped me up so I could brush my teeth so that we can get on with the days plans. Like the amazing husband he is Pedri made me some toast for breakfast as he knows that’s one of the things I can eat when everything else makes me sick. He also had all my vitamins I'm supposed to take laid out and some water to go with them which so nearly made me cry as all my hormones have had me extra emotional but I managed to hold back. 
We agreed that we weren't going to open any presents until Pedri's family arrived but after we finished eating Pedri handed me a gift and told me to open it. Inside was a little photo album meant to capture every first of a baby's life I flicked through the book to see all the moments we can capture in here then I saw that Pedri has already put the first ultrasound picture in there. That was enough to make me cry I can't wait to fill this book with memories and cry again every time I look at it. 
"Thank you this is the best gift" I said 
"You've already given me the best gift so I had to try and get you something that represents that and I know you love a photo album" he said 
"It's perfect I can't wait to keep adding to it" I said 
We continued to talk about what our lives will look like over the next year and then for the rest of our lives until Pedri's family arrived and I had to hide the photo album quickly. He ran and let them in and helped them with the bags of presents they'd brought with them while I greeted them all as it's been a while since we were all last together as life has been hectic. Rosy complimented my outfit and told me I looked beautiful which really put a smile on my face as I've not felt good about myself since my pregnancy symptoms took over. We all chatted for a little while catching up before I could see Pedri getting impatient and wanting to tell his family already so I suggested we open presents. 
Pedri quickly took over and gave his mum the gift we wrapped yesterday and says it was for all of them so they all gathered round to look at what it was. Seeing the look on their faces as it sunk in made my day. I knew they would all be excited as Pedri's family are all really close but I wasn't expecting the immediate group hug we were both pulled into. I've never heard the word congratulations so many times but it made me happy to know they were so excited as I know our baby will have the best grandparents and uncle. 
"congratulations how far along are you y/n?" Rosy asked 
"I'm just over 8 weeks so not far along but we couldn’t wait to start telling people" I said 
"How have you been feeling?" Fernando asked 
"I've been better but I'm doing ok" I answered 
"She's been quite sick recently and very tired but she's been a trooper and still living like nothings going on" Pedri said 
"The first few few months are tough but it does get better and it's all worth it in the end" Rosy said 
"We can take over everything for today you should be resting and taking care of yourself" Fer offered 
"Oh no I can't have you do that you're supposed to be guests I'm fine really" I said 
"Don't be silly at least let us take over dinner I remember when I was pregnant with the boys the smell of food always set me off" Rosy said 
"Ok but I will make up for it at a later date we will invite you over for dinner and I'll cook for you" I said 
"That sounds lovely" Fernando said 
We opened the rest of the presents we had got for each other but nothing was really able to top the pregnancy surprise we started with. Pedri did get me a little heartbeat reading machine so once the baby is more developed we will be able to listen to their heartbeat at home which I enjoyed. He said he thought about getting this really cute baby onesie he saw but he held back so that we can get the first things together but he did promise to use one of his days off to go baby shopping with me in the new year which at this time in my life is my version of a great day. We also had to joke about the fact that Fer had bought be a nice bottle of wine which of course he wasn't to know was bad timing but it made everyone laugh especially when Pedri said we could pack it in my hospital bag for right after the baby is born. 
Then it was time to start on dinner but I wasn't allowed to lift a finger in fact I wasn't even allowed to get myself a drink of water someone else aways did it for me. I was also periodically fed snacks by Pedri who wanted to make sure I'm getting enough nutrients even when I'm not feeling well. At some point I must've fallen asleep as it was light when I last remember being awake but then it was dark out and very dark out. It was a good nap though as I actually felt refreshed and like I had some energy for once. As I slept for apparently most the afternoon dinner was almost ready so I got up to freshen up as I know I look ridiculous when I've just woken up. I fixed my hair and even put on a bit of makeup which made me look and feel more human which is the most I can ask for at the moment. 
By the time I was ready the table was being set so I tried to help as I've done nothing all day but Pedri steered me away from the kitchen to the table where he pulled out a chair for me and told me to sit down. I wanted to help but he told me that his parents have it all covered so my job is to just sit and look pretty which he said I'm doing a great job of. He gave me a quick kiss before running back to the kitchen to help. It didn't take long before there was a plate of food put in front of me which looked amazing although I had to try not to smell it as it will make me nauseous. The food was lovely much better than anything I could've made but I guess thats what happens when you get chefs to make your Christmas dinner. I ate as much as I could before I started to feel sick which Pedri could definitely tell as he squeezed my hand under the table to check that I was ok. 
The original plan was for everyone to stay and watch a movie after dinner but Pedri's family insisted on leaving us be after cleaning up which again I tried to say wasn't necessary but they insisted on helping out. The house ended up cleaner than it started out so I won't have to clean for a few days which will be nice. 
"Thank you for taking over dinner and cleaning I really appreciate all your help" I said as they were all leaving 
"There's no need to thank us you've done all the hard work preparing for today" Fernando said 
"And if you need anything don't hesitate to reach out even if it's just something small we are all happy to help out" Rosy added 
"Thank you guys we really appreciate all your help" Pedri said 
"Make sure you take care of her bro and you've got to learn to cook now your a father" Fer said 
"I've been trying haven't I love" Pedri said 
"He has and he's definitely getting better I don't have to supervise all the time anymore" I said 
They congratulated us one more time before leaving so it was just me and Pedri. It wasn't late but we decided to just go to bed as it's been a long day. Pedri definitely wasn't tired but I was so he got me to rest my head on his chest as he played with my hair as he knows that always sends me to sleep.
“Good night mi amor I love you and our little baby so much already” Pedri whispered as I was falling asleep
“We both love you too” I whispered back 
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monigote001 · 8 days ago
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today is my birthday, December 28th
take a simple and quick drawing guys, hope y'all have an amazing day ♥️
Some thoughts I have in this hard month for people who have felt the same
Warning for suicide, Alzheimer, the loss of someone, take that in mind! Just sharing some delicate stuff of my life in these hard times for many, thanks in advance for reading <3 have a great new year!
The suicide rate usually increases on birthdays and after holidays such as Christmas and New Year's Eve. In a day like this, not so many years ago I chose that route. It is not a surprise how hard it is, how deep the sadness can be. Hearing people celebrate, I don't have that happiness to share with myself. I can't tell you a story of overcoming myself, because I am still building it. You are not alone, you will never be.
A few years ago I wouldn't have been here, a few years ago I would have left my mother without a son, my sister without a brother, my cats without a father, my grandmother without her grandson. me without another opportunity to see for myself that things can change, that there is more than hurting myself and feeling that way.
Years ago I was 11 or 12, years ago when I was so young I tried to end it all for the first time. Years ago I lost my grandpa, my Tata, someone so important that treated me like he treated his daughter. He gave me everything, even when he was so sick, when the Alzheimer got him and slowly made him lose himself. Every time he saw me, he thought I was my mom, his only daughter. I held him the night before he passed away, I took care of him all those years, I was the one who gave everything to show him all the love he taught me, and to be with my Grandma in those hard years.
Today I'm 19 years old, and you didn't see me get this far in life. But I had to see how yours ended that night. The grief I still hold against my chest will never leave me, more than a grandpa, you were my dad. I will be forever grateful about you giving me the comfort I will never experience again. And for that, I will keep living to give someone that gift.
A few years ago I had my Tata, a few years ago I lost him.
A few years ago I didn't find the strength to continue anymore.
But this year I'm learning to stand up again,
with love, some deer called Monti. ♥️
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ilypaigebuckets · 7 months ago
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i’m listening to ts rn so u guys are getting this 😇 hope you like it i think we need more cc fluff
plot: it’s the morning after a new year’s eve party with the team, hosted at your and caitlin’s apartment. you guys are cleaning up and caitlin tells you how grateful she is for you.
New Year’s Day - Caitlin Clark x Reader
15. 14. 13. 12. 11.…the entirety of the Iowa women’s basketball team watched the tv waiting in anticipation for the ball on the screen to drop, signifying the new year. You were in your junior year at Iowa, and had loved it thus far. While watching the clock your mind wandered to all the things that had happened that year.
10. 9. 8… Women’s college basketball’s popularity had grown exponentially, and so had your team’s success. You had gotten closer with your teammates.
7. 6… You’d injured your knee and had to be out for almost a month, but you had a great support system behind you.
5. 4… You looked next to you and there she was. Your favorite thing that happened to you all year; your girlfriend, Caitlin Clark. She had been your teammate all throughout your college career, but the two of you had only started to explore the romantic tension that lingered between the two of you this past year. It was the best thing you’d ever done. Caitlin noticed your eyes on her and stared back at you. She smirked and wrapped an arm around your shoulder.
“See something you like?” You rolled your eyes are your overly-cocky girlfriend, but leaned into her touch. You were still staring at her, and she was staring back. Her smile took you to another planet. It was almost like time froze and nobody else was there. Nobody else mattered when you locked eyes with her. It was you and her against the world. Alas, the noise grew louder the lower the numbers counted down to. Before you knew it everyone was chanting, “3! 2! 1!”
“Happy New Year!” Everyone cheered as the ball on the glowing television dropped. You grabbed the side of Caitlin’s face and turned it back to you, colliding your lips together. It was a sweet, but passionate kiss that definitely lasted a little longer than appropriate for a public setting. When you finally released her face from your grasp she looked at you stunned.
“What?” You looked at her with doe eyes, “I thought that’s what couples were supposed to do on New Year’s?” Caitlin smiled at you and pulled you closer to her, at a loss for words. She had definitely hit the jackpot. Soon enough, everyone said their ‘goodbyes’ and goodnights’ and you and Caitlin were left alone in your apartment. You looked over and her fondly, then looked back at the mess on the floor and grimaced. There were beer cans, bottles, confetti, anything you could imagine it was on your floor. You started to groan at the thought of having to pick it all up and Caitlin pulled you into her chest, resting her chin on top of her head.
“Let’s go to bed baby, we can clean up in the morning,” and just like that, she was leading you to your bedroom.
The next morning you woke up in Caitlin’s arms, just like usual. The light peered in throw the blinds in rays that accentuated the green in her eyes. You buried your head into her neck trying to avoid looking directly into the light and breathed in the faint smell of her perfume she wore last night. Caitlin stirred and held you even tighter.
Since it was the first day of the new year, you wanted to start things off on the right foot. You got out of bed and got ready, throwing on some sweatpants and one of your girlfriend’s hoodies, then headed to the kitchen to make the two of you some breakfast. Caitlin followed suit closely behind you, and after breakfast you got to work picking up the remains of last night’s party.
You swept glitter off the floor while Caitlin started picking up bottles. Every once in a while, Caitlin stole glances at you. Everytime Caitlin wasn’t looking at you, you were stealing glances at her. You walked past Caitlin on your way to dump the glitter in the trash and brushed past her arm, desperate for her touch. Feeling sentimental after thinking about how grateful you were for everything that happened in the part year, you walked back to where she was and rubbed her arm. You looked down and saw she had a polaroid in her hand. After further inspection, you saw it was the two of you mid-kiss. She turned to you, “this is so cute, Y/n, who took it?” You simply shrugged. You had no idea, but it sure was cute!
“Cait I-“
“I love you so much babe. I’m so happy I get to go into another year with you!” She cut you off, but it was okay because she was adorable and what you had to say was pretty much exactly what she said. You wrapped your arms around her neck, holding onto your memories and onto her. You pecked her on the lips, leaving her wanted more. “That better not be the last New Year’s kiss I ever get from you.” She laughed and kissed your forehead, “trust me, it was the first of many. Wanna take a break? You know my resolution was actually to spend some more quality time with you this year!” She winked and you knew exactly what she meant.
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queerprayers · 28 days ago
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Hi! This advent I really want to honour my faith rather than just celebrating christmas in a secular sense. I found your post about advent and the liturgical new year inspiring, and I was wondering if you could point me towards some ideas or resources for advent practices or ways to go about worship specifically for this period - everywhere I've looked just talks about lighting candles, which I'm not able to do in my current housing. Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you for your blog and everything you write here, and I hope you have a wonderful new year <3
Happy Advent, beloved! Candles are great (including fake ones or felt/crafted ones)—or you could recreate a similar weekly/daily thing, like hanging another star in the window. But that's not your only option. Here are some thoughts! (I also said some similar things last year you might find interesting.)
One of the most meaningful things about my Advents growing up was the fact that it was visibly not-quite-Christmas. We put up our tree maybe a few days before but we didn't decorate it until Christmas Eve. We didn't listen to Christmas music till Christmas—we listened to Advent music. We put our nativity set in the window, but gradually—we would set up Mary and Joseph traveling to it, and I remember waiting to unpack the baby Jesus until Christmas Eve. (The wise men were on the bookshelf until Epiphany.) I've put a painting of the Annunciation on my altar, but Christmas stuff will wait. 
It's very important to me to make each season distinct materially. The things around me, the music I listen to, the books I read, the prayers I say, change tangibly—in Advent and Lent especially. My emotions come and go, what I'm thinking about is different every day, but it's Advent because I am doing Advent—and not yet doing Christmas, no matter what the music in the grocery store or the parties I'm invited to tell me. (I don't refuse to find joy in them, I'm just conscious about the fact that I'm in a different season. It's not as big a deal to me as the Lent/Easter divide, though, which I will defend with every part of me.)
I love liturgical colors for this reason, too—my church isn't very extravagant and mostly looks the same throughout the year, but the altar cloth is a different color. I know exactly what season it is just from that. (Our Advent is blue to honor Mary, but most people's is purple like Lent with maybe a pink Gaudete Sunday.) My home altar also changes color, so I have that visual in my room as well.
So do it on purpose, candles or no. Maybe wait on a few Christmas-y things, like ornaments or music (don't worry, Christmas has twelve days and then you can keep doing it all through the Epiphany season if you want). Make it Advent, whenever you start! 
Historically, Advent traditions have been very similar (or identical) to Lenten ones. The Orthodox church calls Advent the Nativity Fast. It's been a penitent preparation. Things we may associate with Lent, like going without things or structured prayer, can find a home in Advent as well.
Secular celebrations and consumerism have affected Advent as well as Christmas, with countless calendars and just in general by filling our lives with Christmas themes that might make us forget Advent has its own themes. (To be clear, I support anyone celebrating Christmas—once a religion evangelizes/colonizes/rules, it has no right to accuse people of appropriating its holidays. I am simply talking about how the cultural practice differs.) Advent has themes of peace and love and hope, but it's got more specific themes than that, scarier stuff than that. It's about Christ's coming in the Incarnation, but it's also about Christ coming all around us every day, and Christ's promised future coming.
Spend some time with Isaiah, spend some time with meditations on Mary (I just read some of Catherine of Siena's words which are here as a reading for March 25.). From the poem I posted, you can tell I spent some time with Joel last year. Here's the Revised Common Lectionary daily readings for these seasons—you could start a habit or do it for a season or explore some passages every once in a while. You can find the Book of Common Prayer's traditional Advent prayers here (The Collects >> choose Traditional or Contemporary language >> Seasons of the Year). The ancient "O Antiphons" accompany the Magnificat starting Dec. 17 (here's a booklet with commentary & Latin chant). Forward Movement has several podcasts, if you want to pray daily while commuting or taking a walk or right before bed.
There are a million Advent devotionals out there—you can find one from an author you like, or search your/a denomination + "advent devotional" or "advent prayers" and you'll probably find something. For some social justice oriented ones, I've found Red Letter Christianity's Reflections from Bethlehem (by Palestinian authors), Justice Unbound's Boundless: An Anti-Colonial Advent Devotional, and the UCC's Abolition Advent Calendar. Cole Arthur Riley (Black Liturgies) is doing an Advent series on her Patreon. Jan Richardson posts art and poetic blessings throughout the year.
In terms of books, I recommend:
Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas
Preparing for Christmas (Richard Rohr)
Celtic Advent (David Cole)
WinterSong (Madeleine L'engle & Luci Shaw)
Advent for Exiles (Caroline Cobb)
If you want poetry: Accompanied by Angels (Luci Shaw). 
I'll tell you a secret—most devotionals are meant to be read every day, but no one will know if you don't do that. You can start them at any time and read as much as you like whenever you like. Don't not start one because you don't think you'll be regular about it. 
And of course, you don't need a book to say "Advent" on the front for it to be an Advent book—or music or anything else. I'm about to start God Hunger: Discovering the Mystic in All of Us (John J. Kirvan) which I picked up at a book sale but it's on the Internet Archive! I'm drawn to poetry and Marian hymns in this season, and things that talk about the end of the world and prophecy. Whatever Advent is to you, surround yourself with it—and anything you're just starting to think about, you can explore.
The beautiful news is? The years spiral on, and Advent returns. Every year we're confronted with it, and every year I never do exactly what I wanted. But I've found some stuff to bring with me, some books to reread, things I know further my practice and things that don't. And when the spiral returns to this distinctive place of waiting for something already in our hearts, of hoping for something we don't understand, of inviting in someone who has already snuck in like a thief in the night, we can try again.
So happy Advent, and may yours be visibly, tangibly, purposefully Advent. May you be the impractical kind of hopeful and the holy kind of scared. Christmas is a miracle slowly being tended (rather than Easter's miracle erupting from the ground)—not that there's no blood, no surprise, but that for nine months Life itself grew quietly. So keep watch. Make your life a womb, make your Advent a narrowing toward the humanity God enters. Tend the darkness and bring in some light—a candle is just a way to do that, but there's so much light in the world. Here's to finding it.
<3 Johanna
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adrienneleclerc · 6 months ago
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Do you think you can do a Lewis Hamilton imagine
When Y/N is at a New Year's party because her friend dragged her along and she just got out of a really long relationship and Lewis is also there and he sees her across the room all sad and alone so he walks up behind her and grabs her shoulders turn her around and kisses her and walks away without saying nothing and she doesn't know Lewis is a driver and Lewis doesn't know that she's a famous photographer and they meet maybe a few years later or later month whatever you want to do and F1 gives her a job to be a photographer for them
Oh and I want a cute fluffy ending if you can do that thank you so much xoxo
Oh and can you make Y/N Mexican
As a Mexican myself, a Mexican Y/N should be easy to write, sorry it took me so long to write this. My wifi went out when I tried to save this. I don’t know if this is what you had in mind but I hope you like it!
Once Upon a Kiss
Pairing: Lewis Hamilton x Mexican!Reader
Summary: Famous photographer, Y/N L/N, and Formula 1 driver, Lewis Hamilton, kiss at a New Year’s Eve party without knowing anything about the other. Their paths cross once again when Y/N is hired as Ferrari’s new photographer.
Warning: spelling and grammatical errors
A/N: MY FIRST LEWIS HAMILTON FANFIC TO CELEBRATE HIS HOME RACE WIN!!! Also I do mention a stereotype where Puerto Rican men are trash
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Y/N was in her apartment watching her favorite movie and eating ice cream in a Stitch onesie. She then heard the door open, her friend Ofelia entered the apartment with takeout.
“No, no, uh uh, there’s no way in hell you’re eating ice cream right now, I got us Chinese food.” Ofelia said.
“Great, put it on the counter,” Y/N mumbled.
“Why are you in a stitch onesie? It’s only 8pm.” Ofelia said.
“Because I wanted to. Did you get the chicken wings and pork fried rice plus my chicken broccoli and white rice?” Y/N asked.
“Yes, why do you need 2 orders?” Ofelia asked.
“One for today, the other for tomorrow, obviously.” Y/N said.
“Anyway, we have a party later tonight.” Ofelia said.
“What do you mean ‘we’?” Y/N asked pointing between them.
“You and me, we’re getting super dressed up and going to a rooftop party.” Ofelia said.
“Who’s hosting?” Y/N asked.
“I Don’t know, a friend of a friend of a friend.” Ofelia said,
“We’re going to a rooftop party in New York City in the middle of winter?” Y/N asked.
“They have those heating lamp thingies. Come on, it’ll be fun, take your mind off of Derek.” Ofelia said.
“Don’t mention Derek.” Y/N groaned, opening up her takeout container to start eating.
“You see, I haven’t to mention it because you can’t stop thinking about him.” Ofelia said.
“De que hablas? I haven’t thought about ese cabrón mal parido in a minute.” Y/N said. Ofelia silently counted down from 3. “The audacity ese hijo de su madre had to cheat on me.”
“I mean what did you expect, Y/N, he’s Puerto Rican.” Ofelia said.
“But we’ve been together for 8 years, I just don't undertsand what i did wrong." Y/N said.
“No, no, no, no, you did absolutely nothing wrong, guys like him only cvare about getting their dick wet, thats it. Anyway, eat and then get dressed. Actually shower first, outfit, hair, makeup, that party is gonna be amazing! Apparently the guy who’s hosting lives in a penthouse.” Ofelia said.
"Sounds fun." Y/N said.
"I've also been sending your portfolio to my bosses..." Ofelia started
"Lia, don't. I told you i was going to look for photography work myself." Y/N said.
"But everyone is DYING to work with you, imagine taking photos for Elle, Cosmo, Vanity Fair, they love your work." Ofelia said.
"What if I want to work somewhere else, outside of New York?" Y/N asked.
"I can live with that, just please don't go to Jersey." Ofelia said (sorry if you live in New Jersey, its just a very New York thing to shit on Jersey)
"Deal." Y/N said.
Hours later, Y/N was showered, hair was done, makeup was perfect, and the outfit was giving 90s supermodel, SHE was givng 90's supermodel. Ofelia was sitting on the couch when Y/N came out.
“Aahh, you look AMAZING, okay, lets go, I have the invitation and I’m so happy his building has parking.” Ofelia said.
Girls showed ID and invitation to the doorman and bouncer when entering the building and accessing the rooftop.
“Wow, this party looks lit.” Ofelia said.
“Yeah, it does. I wonder how they got the heat lamps up here.” Y/N said. Ofelia was looking around until she saw her friend.
“Oh my god, hey! I saw my friend from work, I’ll see you later, okay.” Ofelia said walking away
“You can’t just leave me here!” Y/N tried shouting but Ofelia wasn’t within hearing range. “Great.” While Y/N was just observing the party, keeping to herself, Lewis Hamilton was by the DJ booth, hyping up the party.
“Make some noise, NYC!” Lewis said and everyone cheered, but he saw a woman by herself who didn’t cheer at all. He thought she looked quite beautiful, even under the low light. “Hey man, I’ll be right back.”
“Alright, I’m gonna start the countdown in a few.” His DJ friend said. Lewis nodded, dapping up the DJ before getting down from the stand to look for the woman he spotted. It took a while for Lewis to find her since she was moving too, looking for her friend, but she eventually stopped at the table where there were chips and drinks. The DJ started counting down to midnight, Lewis was standing near Y/N but didn’t make a move.
“Happy New Year!” Everyone shouted, Lewis turned Y/N and kissed her, walking away after they pulled away. Y/N stared at him when we walked away, he looked so familiar. Y/N felt someone else grab her shoulders.
“Y/N, you got a New Years kiss, from who?” Ofelia asked.
“I have no idea, but he was a good kisser, I’ll tell you that much.” Y/N said,
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6 weeks later, Y/N was on her computer reviewing her emails and she screamed. Ofelia came running out with a baseball bat.
“What happened? Is it the rat again?” Ofelia asked
“What? No, I got an email from Scuderia Ferrari.” Y/N said.
“The Formula 1 team? You don’t even watch the sport, why the hell did you apply?” Ofelia asked.
“Well i have always wanted to travel, apparently F1 drivers travel ALL THE TIME, this is in Maranello, Italy, I always wanted to go…” Y/N said,
“You don’t speak Italian.” Ofelia said,
“I’m learning, chingada madre, will you let me finish?” Y/N asked. Ofelia nodded her head. “Anyway, Scuderia Ferrari are looking for a new photographer, I’ve seen the posts they made on Instagram, my photography style is very similar, I’m sure the person in charge wouldn’t want the Instagram page to lose the ‘essence’ of Ferrari so looks like I’m their new photographer. Ah, I am so excited! I start in a few weeks, they have emailed me my plane ticket for the following week, even temporary housing until I can get a proper place and a company car (unrealistic but it seems nice).”
“Wow, the people at Ferrari are very generous. I’ll help you pack.” Ofelia said.
2 weeks later, Y/N arrived at the Italian airport, was greeted by a Ferrari employee, and was taken to her furnished apartment. Y/N called Ofelia and showed her the view and everything. Y/N hung up, got her camera, and walked outside her apartment for a little while to take pictures of everything until she got a call from her boss.
“Hey Mr. Vasseur, how are you?” Y/N asked.
“I’m doing well, have you settled in?” Fred asked.
“I have, thank you for asking. To what do I owe your call?” Y/N asked.
“My drivers landed in Maranello today, do you think you can come to headquarters tomorrow?” Fred asked.
“Yeah, you bet, see you then.” Y/N said.
The next day, Y/N was entering the Scuderia Ferrari Base in jeans, white button up blouse, sneakers, and a Ferrari cap because of the sun. She was greeted by Fred.
“Y/N, so nice to meet you in person, how was the drive?” Fred asked.
“Very good, thank you so much for the car. What am I supposed to take pictures of?” Y/N asked.
“Well Hamilton and Leclerc are training on the sim because we have the Australian Grand Prix in 2 weeks. Come, I’ll introduce you to them.” Fred said, leading Y/N to the training room where they have the racing simulator.
“Ha, I beat your time!” Lewis said.
“Yeah, it won’t happen again, mate.” Charles said. Fred then cleared his throat, causing the drivers to stand up.
“Gentleman, this is…” Fred started
“No way, you’re Y/N L/N, I bought some of your photos from a New York gallery, you’re very talented.” Charles said, shaking her hand.
“Oh thank you so much, I was wondering who paid so much money for my photos.” Y/N chuckled, she turned to look at Lewis, they stared at each other until Y/N held out her hand for Lewis to take it. “Okay so do whatever it is that you were doing to I can take some photos. So go on the simulator, talk, do whatever.”
“What kind of photographer are you?” Lewis asked.
“Well, i Don’t specialize in anything if that’s what you’re asking. I have taken landscape photos, I’ve been a photographer on a vogue photo shoot, taken runway photos, even photos of animals. So I’m an…everything photographer.” Y/N said. “Again, do whatever is natural, im sure your fans will love to see you guys bonding now that you’re teammates.”
Y/N took photos of them talking, being on the sim, even some of them just walking around the Ferrari base.
“Okay so I think I got some pretty good shots, you can check it out before I show Fred.” Y/N said. She connected her camera to her laptop so the drivers could see the photos better.
“These are really good, Charles was right, you’re very talented.” Lewis said.
“Why thank you. What about you, charles? Are my photos to your liking?” Y/N asked.
“Yes they are, I never doubted it.” Charles said. Charles left Lewis and Y/N alone so he could change out of his Ferrari clothes.
“You recognize me, don’t you?” Lewis asked.
“How could I forget the man who gave me a new years kiss. I thought I’d never see you again, kinda made it up in my head that you were a secret agent or something.” Y/N said, Lewis laughed.
“Sadly no, I’m just a formula 1 driver. I’m surprised you didn’t know who I was at the party since it was my party.” Lewis said.
“You were the host my friend was talking about! The one with the penthouse, no fucking way. Also, Mr. Billion Dollar Man, you didn’t recognize me either, you were the one who kissed me, meaning you spotted me first, prior to our kiss, and charles knew who I was right away.” Y/N said,
“True. But why were you by yourself? You looked sad, did something happen?” Lewis asked.
“Well my boyfriend of 8 years cheated on me, my friend dragged me to a party and then went off to see the friend who invited her, so yeah, that’s what happened.” Y/N said.
“Who could possibly cheat on you? You seem so sweet” Lewis said.
“Thank you, but you Don’t know me.” Y/N said.
“How about we change that. You want to go out for lunch?” Lewis asked.
“I would love to.” Y/N said.
The End
Hope y’all liked it!
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goldfades · 1 year ago
Text
✮ 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, quinn hughes
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you can hear it in the silence, silence, you you can feel it on the way home, way home, you you can see it with the lights out, lights out you are in love, true love you are in love
one step, not much but it said enough you kiss on sidewalks you fight and you talk one night he wakes strange look on his face pauses, then says you're my best friend and you knew what it was he is in love
you two are dancing in a snow globe, 'round and 'round and he keeps the picture of you in his office downtown and you understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars
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♡ ─ word count | 3.5k
♡ ─ summary | 3 times that quinn wanted to tell you he loved you, and the 1 time he finally did.
♡ ─ warnings | unedited (when are my works ever lol), mention of comparison between jack/quinn, exhaustion, slight angst??? but mostly tooth-rotting fluff, quinn overthinking, idk maybe there are more but nothing major LMAO
♡ ─ taglist | tbd!! check link in navigation if you are interested
♡ ─ ev's notes | this took WAY too long to write and lowkey not very proud of it, but i wanted to get it out before i start writing my fics for my 100 follower celly. i love quinny so much, he deserves the world and i hope this fic does him justice LMAO. ALSO THIS SONG MAKES ME FEEL SO FREAKING SICK, ITS SO GOOD. also now im noticing a theme on my page, only writing fics inspired by taylor songs, i need to switch it tf up. anyways, enjoy this slightly longer quinn fic & lmk your thoughts in the comments/reblogs. have a great day!
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Quinn had never been the type to fawn over anyone ─ especially a girl.
In his 23 years of living, he can't remember a time where he was getting all excited and giddy over the mere thought of anyone. All he could ever remember was just focusing on family, hockey, friends.
Sure, there were flings ─ there were always flings but it would never end in anything more than that. It was just a fling. Sure, sometimes he would want something more but most of the times, the girls thought they were just getting themselves into a one-night stand. Two nights (never in a row) if they were lucky. But that was it.
Even if Quinn wanted a relationship (he doesn't, he would swear), he didn't have time for it. Family, hockey, friends ─ that was it. That's all he wanted.
Of course, that was all thrown out the window when he had met you.
Well, not initially. Quinn wasn't the 'love at first type' kinda guy and neither were you. Your first meeting was nothing out of the ordinary. Just a casual meeting at a friend's gathering, a few exchanged pleasantries, and nothing more.
Yet, something about you stuck with him. It was your sweet smile, maybe, or the way your eyes just looked kind and they would light up when you were asked about your job, or your family. Quinn couldn't pinpoint exactly when it happened, but at some point, he found himself thinking about you when he should have been focused on his next game or practice.
His friends noticed the change in him. His younger brothers had noticed the small change and would tease him. "Hey, Q, what's up with you? You've been awfully distracted lately," Quinn could just imagine the stupid grin etched on Jack's face as he spoke those words.
Quinn, normally quick with a witty retort, found himself at a loss for words. He knew he was in new territory; he had never, ever in his life been overthinking about a girl. For the first time, hockey or family or friends weren't the only thing on his mind.
As days turned into weeks, Quinn's feelings grew stronger. He'd catch himself daydreaming about you during team meetings or staring at his phone, waiting for your texts back. He would go look at your instagram multiple times a day, waiting for a new post to go up just so he could see that pretty smile of yours but somehow, he was never satisfied with just that. For once in his whole life, he had wanted to actually get to know a girl based on one meeting and a couple of texts. It was maddening, this feeling of being drawn towards someone in a way he had never experienced before.
He also couldn't ask any of his buddies for advice because all he'd get was teasing so he had to keep it to himself, which somehow made this entire situation so much worse.
Then finally, there was that one night. You were both at another gathering, the same friends, the same laughter, but this time something shifted. You shared a small inside joke, a quick glance, and Quinn felt his heart race in a way that no slapshot or overtime goal had ever made it race before. He felt a surge of contradictory emotions during that one-second moment, a mix of anxiety and excitement that overwhelmed him. It was a sensation so intense that he wanted to vomit, yet strangely, it was different from the kind of feelings he had experienced before ─ it was not because of hockey, it was a girl. No, you weren't just a girl to him anymore, he realized. You were much more than that to him now.
As he drove home that night, he couldn't deny it anymore. He was falling for you, and it terrified him. Love was a complicated thing, one he had always sworn to avoid, but now he was caught in it's tight grasp all because of you.
The following days were a whirlwind of emotions. Quinn, who had always been the composed defenseman on the ice, found himself stumbling over words and second-guessing every move he made when it came to you. He couldn't concentrate during practice, and his teammates couldn't understand what had gotten into him and if he was being honest, neither did he.
But one thing was clear - Quinn Hughes was in love, and he didn't know how to handle it. He realized that his carefully constructed world of family, hockey, and friends had been upended by the presence of one person ─ you.
And so, this journey begins - three times Quinn wanted to tell you he loved you, and the one time he finally did.
──
ONE
──
After what seemed like the longest practice of his entire life, Quinn trudged back to his apartment, exhaustion weighing down every step. The weight of expectations from his teammates and fans pressed on his shoulders. Today wasn't his day; his passes were off, shots missed the mark, and he stumbled more than once during drills. Even coach had given him some constructive criticism, which usually wouldn't have bothered him, but today it felt like salt in the wound.
As he entered his home, he was ready to collapse onto the couch and shut out the world. As he collapsed on his soft couch, he groaned out in pain, the soreness in his muscles somehow hurt more than usual. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, until he heard the familiar buzzing of his phone in the pocket of his shorts. He cursed under his breath and pulled it out but all the anger seemed to slowly dissipate as he saw your name and contact picture spayed out on the screen.
Then he remembered. Tonight was supposed to be date night for the both of you. He cursed again before answering the phone, sitting upright on the couch.
"Hey," he answered breathlessly, the exhaustion clear in his voice.
"Hey, Quinn I'm outside─you okay?" You say through the phone but before he could answer, you continued. "Shit, sorry Quinn is this a bad time? I know you just had practice and probably tired, I should've texted but you know, I was so excited─"
"No, no, no. Come up, I'm fine I'm not tired." He was lying and you both knew it, but you sighed through the speaker. "Please, come up. I want you here."
"Okay... promise?"
"Promise, Y/N." He said your name so softly, it made your heart flutter and you couldn't help but smile.
"Okay. I'll be up in two secs," You said. "Bye."
The phone call ended and Quinn exhaled. He was tired, sure ─ but he was excited to see you. Even the sound of your voice made him relax so it wasn't even that much of hassle having a date night. If anything, he was sure, you'd make him feel better.
He quickly changed his clothes and he heard the doorbell ring. Quinn opened the door with a tired smile ─ it slowly spread as he saw your pretty smile. He felt his heart speed up as you slowly examined him, and that smile slowly dropped.
"Quinn..." You whispered, a small frown on your face. His disheveled appearance made you slightly sad.
You both made eye contact for a few seconds before you sighed and walked in, your arms wide open. You embraced him warmly, putting your arms around his shoulders and squeezed him softly.
As your arms enveloped him in a warm, comforting embrace, Quinn felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. Your presence had a way of soothing his mind. The subtle scent of your floral shampoo, the softness of your warm touch, it all wrapped around him pleasantly.
He closed his eyes, letting himself bask in the tenderness of the moment. Your fingers traced gentle circles on his back, and it was as if you were silently reassuring him that it was okay to have bad days because you'd be there to catch him.
You pulled away, your eyes met again, and he saw genuine concern in your gaze. That alone was enough to make his heart skip multiple beats. Quinn couldn't quite put it into words, being around you was like like returning to the warm embrace of home.
He wanted to utter those three special words as he met your gaze, your kind eyes but the words slowly died on his tongue as you continued talking, taking his hand in yours.
"Let's go eat some ice cream and watch Top Gun." You smiled, knowingly.
He laughed softly and nodded, squeezing your hand. "Sounds like a plan."
──
TWO
──
The moon cast a soft glow through the white curtains as you and Quinn sat together in his dimly lit living room in comfortable silence. The day had been long, filled with its usual chaos and pressures, but now, the world was still. The only sounds were the faint hum of the city outside and the occasional car passing by.
With a sigh, Quinn leaned back into the couch, his exhaustion evident in expression. You watched him closely, sensing the weight of the day on his shoulders. Your relationship had grown stronger over the span of a couple months and you had become his confidante, the one he turned to when he needed to escape from the demands of the team and fans.
Practice had been harder than usual and somehow, on top of all of that, the media had initiated a new trend of drawing comparisons between him and Jack, which made his mood worse.
You knew that; watching Quinn get slowly demotivated by the comments made by those nobodies, it hurt your heart. Breaking the silence, you softly asked, "Quinn, how are you really holding up?"
He looked at you, his gaze wavering at your soft eyes. There was something about the way you looked at him, a warmth and understanding that he had rarely found in anyone else. It was as if you could see right through him, past the tough exterior he often wore.
For a moment, he hesitated, unsure of how much to reveal. He almost gave you the media-trained answer but then, he realized that with you. "Not sure, if I'm being honest."
"That's fine, Quinn." You answered softly, "you don't have to know. But what I do what you to know is that you're not Jack. You're not Luke, or Trevor, or anyone else. You're you and that's enough."
That simple answer made him halt all his thoughts. He felt his shoulders slowly drop, letting out a loud exhale. He felt a sense of relief wash over him, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
With empathy in your eyes, you couldn't help but feel the toll it was taking on him. The Quinn you saw now, weary and vulnerable, was a side he rarely showed to anyone.
Quinn's voice wavered as he spoke about the comments that everyone had been making on the media. "It's just... they don't understand, Y/N. They don't see the hours of practice, the sacrifices, the love I have for this game. All they see is Jack's brother, or one of the Hughes brothers."
You reached out and gently placed a hand on his arm, comfortingly. "Quinn, I see you. I see the hard work, the dedication, and the love you have for hockey. And I believe in you. You might be just Jack's brother or just another Hughes to them, but that doesn't matter to me. I see Quinn and you know what, that's enough. And if it isn't enough for them, then fuck them."
His eyes met yours, and there was a vulnerability in that eyes that spoke volumes. In that moment, Quinn realized that he was sharing not just his struggles, but his true self with you. It was a level of trust and intimacy he hadn't experienced with any girl before.
The silence that followed was a comforting one, filled with unspoken understanding. It was as if you were his anchor in the storm, a source of encouragement and warmth. Quinn couldn't help but think that he was lucky to have you by his side, someone who saw him for who he truly was, beyond just hockey player or another Hughes brother, beyond the expectations.
As he held your kind gaze, Quinn couldn't help but think that he wanted to say something more, something that would convey the true depth of his feelings. But for now, he settled for a heartfelt confession: "You're my best friend."
──
THREE
──
The frenetic buzz of the post-game celebrations following a thrilling overtime victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Quinn found himself into another arena, one of bright lights and microphones. His heart still raced from the intensity of the game, but now, he had to face the media. The sweat dripped from his forehead, his heart was still beating from the intensity of the adrenaline in his system.
The victory had been hard-fought, Quinn playing a pivotal role in securing it. The puck on his stick, he executed great moves, the slide of the ice beneath his skates, the thud of the puck hitting the net, the eruption of cheers all merging into a thrilling crescendo of sensations made his head buzz with excitement.
The reporters, with cameras flashing and microphones thrust forward, surrounded him like a hungry vultures. They fired questions, one after another, probing for insights into the game-changing play that had secured the win for the Vancouver Canucks.
"Quinn, that last-minute save in overtime was incredible! Can you walk us through what was going on in your mind?"
"Quinn, there's been a lot of buzz with your brother, Jack Hughes. How does it feel to outshine him tonight?"
"You've been compared to some of the greats tonight. How do you handle the pressure of those comparisons?"
"Quinn, your family's here tonight, right? How does their support affect your game?"
"Quinn, fans are calling this one of the best games of your career. Do you think this win is the turning point for the Canucks this season?"
The questions all blurred in his head, the bright lights straining his eyes. Quinn, used to these post-game interviews, felt a distinct unease tonight even after such a big win. The questions were sharp and the scrutiny was intense. In the midst of this media frenzy, he sought solace in the one thing that always brought him strength: you.
He remembers seeing you in the stands before the game and his mind kept replaying those few seconds where you shared a big grin as you both made eye contact.
Amidst the crowd of reporters, he spotted you, your presence radiating pride and warmth. Your eyes locked onto his, and for a moment, it felt like it was just the two of you in the arena. You gave him a big thumbs up with a big grin, knowing how anxiety inducing those post-game interviews could be. Quinn longed to speak the words that danced at the tip of his tongue but he knew he had to navigate this sea of questions first.
──
This week had to be the longest of Quinn's life. The 3 hour, 5 am pre-season practices had been so tiring, he felt the life get sucked out of him after every exhausting practice. There was one thing he had been looking forward to and that was your date night. Even though he knew that he would have do this week over again practically the next week, he was okay with it knowing that he would be able to spend some time with you over the weekends.
As Friday night finally arrived, Quinn couldn't help but feel a sense of relief and excitement. The thought of spending time with you, of being himself without the pressures of anyone else, filled him with a sense of comfort.
He had suggested a new restaurant downtown, a place neither of you had been before. As you both entered the restaurant, the soft piano ambience and the chatter created the perfect atmosphere. Quinn couldn't help but steal a few glances at you, admiring your beauty and the easy way you fit into his world.
You had worn your hair back in a low bun, showing off your sweet collarbone, a pretty necklace that Quinn had bought for you on a trip hanging off it. It was a silver color and the jewel a beautiful deep blue color that brought out your angelic eyes. Quinn couldn't help but stare and you felt your face burn with heat as you caught his loving gaze.
"What, is there something on my face?"
He chuckled, shaking his head. "No, no. You just look beautiful, like always. I like that necklace, wonder who bought it for you."
You giggled in response, feeling slightly giddy. You couldn't even lie, Quinn had you in a trance. You were head over heels. "Yeah, I wonder who."
The rest of the night was spent like this ─ sweet and teasing, it all felt right. Everything just felt right, it was if the last week hadn't happened. Every problem just slowly faded every time either of you spent time together, no matter how big or small it was.
After dinner, you decided to take a walk out in town. The summer air was unusually cool, the lights of the city perfectly setting the atmosphere for the night.
Quinn held your hand, your softer and smaller hand fitting his like a glove. You both walked through the town, talking and laughing like you two were the only people in the world.
As you both passed a bar, your ears filled with the familiar tune of your favorite song. You immediately stopped and looked at Quinn knowingly. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's playing!"
Quinn let out a soft chuckle, nodding. "Wanna go in?"
You ignored his question and started lip syncing the lyrics to him, playfully. He started laughing even louder, letting his head fall back. You had started laughing, too ─ then, you took his hand in yours and started dancing.
If it this was anyone else, Quinn would've been slightly embarrassed but as he saw your eyes sparkling and your wide small, he truly couldn't feel anything but love. He had a smile on his face as he grabbed you and pulled you closer, dancing happily with you.
As the song ended, another started playing. 'You are in love' by Taylor Swift had started playing and Quinn almost let out a laugh at the coincidence. You looked back at him, a deep blush gracing on your face. He took your hand again and pulled you closer, and you put you put arms around his broad shoulders.
You both looked into each other's eyes and he took account of how beautiful you looked in this moment ─ you always looked beautiful, no matter when or where or to who, it was just a fact. But you looked more than just physically beautiful, everything about you was perfect, your flaws, your smile, just everything.
And that was when Quinn really knew, in his bones that you were the one for him.
"What?" You whispered, as you saw Quinn's expression changed slowly. He loved that too ─ how empathetic you were, how in sync you both were. You always knew what he was feeling.
You asked, but you knew what the answer was.
"I think ─ no..." His words died on his tongue as your expression changed too. "I know it. I love you."
It didn't feel like a big confession. It didn't feel how everyone described it to be, it just felt like a normal statement. You both had thought it before, multiple times ─ so saying it out loud wasn't a big confession to either of you.
He loved that, he was so used to everything being so big and grand, he wanted it simple. He loved that and he loved you.
You could see it in his eyes, too. His eyes were softened as he gazed at you, like he always looked at you. But this time, you acknowledged it more. He loved you. Quinn loved you. As you gazed into his brown eyes, your heart swelled with a deep sense of connection. You had known, just like he did, that this feeling existed between you. It wasn't born out of big gestures or dramatic confessions; instead, it had quietly grown, nourished by the everyday moments you shared.
As the song ended softly, you let out a breath you didn't know you were even holding. "Yeah. I know I love you, too."
His smile got impossibly bigger and then, he leaned in and gave you the biggest of kisses ─ the dramatic ones, too. He had your face in his hand, the other one holding on your waist and you pulled him closer with your hands.
You felt his mouth smirk as you both sloppily made out. You laughed into the kiss but neither of you pulled away. Neither of you liked PDA but this time, it felt right.
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