#I want to see how the fun baking/modern au ends

[emeraldcreeper]

Going slowly insane because I just wanna read my wips but in a done way without having to finish them

[noellefan101]

Adopting Child!Reader

Characters: Wriothesley, Nilou, Childe, Candace, Itto x Gn Child!reader(meaning this is all purely platonic)

Summary: They adopt you and you're now their child, what do they learn you to do and what do they like doing with you

Warnings: platonic, modern au for the most part, implied char x char in some(you can ignore it if you dont like the ship, or see them as friends), sigewinne is your sibling in wrios, arataki gang being the arataki gang

Note: this is one of those fics that i keep looking for but cant find, so i wrote it myself. i really like reading from a child's perspective but whenever i see a fic were a char has a child and its x reader, its always the reader being the mother which i hate. anyway, have fun reading, luv you.

Wriothesley

Sigewinne is his child, sorry, you cant tell me otherwise(especially when its modern au), so you and her would definitely play together. have a tea party, dress Wrio up in cute ribbons and stuff, kill all your dolls together after one cheated on the other. yk, normal kid things.

Wriothesley caries your bags whenever you need to get home from school, he hangs them over his shoulder while you both walk beside him.

If Sigewinne is a little older than you, instead of being the same age, she would try her best to help you learn stuff you maybe dont even have in school yet, but she just needed to help you with it anyway. she just wants you to be ready for it, and learns it better in the process as well.

He would invite his Boyfriend over for dinner once, and you thought Neuvillette's hair was pretty, though you were a little scared of the man. it turned out to be fine after a few other times of meeting him, and you warmed up to him quite quickly.

I dont imagine he's the best cook, but would definitely learn how to make something if you were sad and really wanted a specific dish. Will also make tea for you both a lot, making sure its just how you like it.

Nilou

I love the idea of Nilou, the sweetheart of sumeru, adopting a child and taking care of it. like yeah, she totally would.

And if you showed any interest in dancing whatsoever, she would teach you some small easy steps. and show you a few of her dances made for shows, if you thought it was too hard. she has her own dancing room(?) at home, and she would happily practice a little with you in the room so you can watch.

She's very supportive of whatever you're interested in, but you will learn to respect everyone no matter what, she cant have you becoming like one of those scholars who want all the creative arts gone. But she would still support you in becoming a scholar if that is what you wanted to do anyway, just making sure you're a nice one instead of those other beings.

Loves to bake with you, and really wants to show you all the best recipes so you can make them on your own once your old enough. but of course she bakes the best cakes on your birthday, and it's decorated with something you like or her and you dancing via a messy drawing using buttercream.

Would make jewelry with you, and then wear some at one of her shows. So the people would see all her professionally made bracelets, and then this very vibrant and childish one shining trough.

She loves matching outfits with you, so she will try her very best to find a shirt in your size that matches one of her dresses, it would be very cute but she respects it if you dont really like it at times.

Childe

He seriously just wants to protect you, and probably ended up saving you before taking you in and caring for you when he learned of your reason for being out there all alone. (picture dark alleyway with cold snow and a few adults with weapons trying to get money out of you or smt)

Doesnt really like the idea of you knowing about his job, but he can't hide it from you the same way he hides it from his siblings, so you ended up knowing pretty quickly. But he assures you he won't let anything hurt you, not even himself.

He would have his parents take care of you when he had to go out for a mission, but you would have to promise to not mention what he was doing or he would just have to hire a caretaker next time.

But it was fun playing with his siblings, and the food was great. Plus it was way nicer to be able to play with other children at home, and not have to go out for it. Teucer also had really cool toys, so you and him play together a lot when you come over.

Doesn't let you near any of his weapons, and doesn't wan tyou near any weapon until your at least 13. He can't have you experience the same things as him, no matter how much he likes fighting, he doesnt want you to grow up like he did. So he won't teach you anything of that sorts, only when he thinks it a reasonable time for someone to learn that.

Cooks all your meals for the most part, and learns you how to cook as well, he can also have you help him cut the easy things like a cucumber. Plus you've been sent to school with what to a child looks like a three-course meal from a five-star restaurant. is also really good at getting you to eat your vegetables.

Candace

She's very good with children, but never expected to take in a child herself. She has both no idea what she's doing and knows everything about what she should do, so its a process for the both of you.

She is very loving and knows to let you warm up to her first, but she gets carried away at times and can end up hugging you a little to much for your comfort. But she makes sure to give you lots of your favorite sweets in return.

Loves dressing you up, and would pick your outfits for your when you had school, but of course you picked an item first and then she jsut picked out the rest. For example; you would pick out a cute shirt with a little red car on it, and she would find some matching socks and nice pair of pants or smt, give you a nice red hat if it was needed.

Goes shopping with Dehya often, so she would sometimes take you with her and will explain everything she's getting, and how to use this makeup and what not.

Dehya also comes over quite a lot, and they both do your makeup if you wanted, or let you decorate them in glitters and stickers if you pleased. You now have a special bag with all your little brushes, eyeshadows and all that stuff at home, just so you dont accidentally ruin theirs. (she would not let you put makeup on too much, only once or twice a week. but then there is also something to look forward too)

Itto

Is very chaotic and should not be taking care of a child, also because he gets in trouble so much. But he can't just leave you out there all alone, no one else wanted you clearly, but they are the perfect solution to that. (they are all basically unwanted as well, so you were just like them in a sense)

But Kuki is more of the parent than he is at times, but thats ok, she's basically the parent to all of them at this point.

Anyway, he loves beetle-fighting, so of course you are gonna learn too. He has spent hours with you outside, finding beetles and teaching you the perfect ways to win over anyone. it's only when Shinobu comes and tells you that its bed time for you that you stop for the day, but you have tomorrow to have fun as well.

It's hard to adapt to being with the Arataki gang, but it is better than being alone, so you can have your own little place to be alone in for a little bit, in a corner of whatever they're staying in(an old house that is really cheap i presume, or a really cheap apartment. maybe granny's place or smt).

Taking care of you honestly got the whole gang to stop their antics just a little, and they don't end up in prison for stupid things as much. Kuki is especially thankful for that, but is still concerned for the gang. They teached you how to depend on others, while you essentially teach them to be more careful of what they do, win-win.

You might have cried the first time they ended up in prison while you were there, Shinobu has now taught you how to bail someone out of jail. You will need this in the future.

im thinking of making a taglist but im not sure, so tell me if you want to be tagged in smt

Thx for reading my lovelies, have a nice day, luv ya-Masterlist

You are welcome to reblog and like any of my posts, but you CAN NOT translate, copy or hate on anybody for liking my posts

[mellybouboulove]

My guardian angel🤍𓆩♡𓆪☁️

Chapter 3

Plot summary: Drug Dealer Ellie Williams X OFC slowburn fic, out of universe and takes place in college, set in the 2000s. Smut content to come.

previous: Chapter 2, next: Chapter 4,

Tags: #wlw #sapphic #drugdealer!ellie #modern!ellie #tlou #slowburn #smut #fluff #tlouau #au #modernau #drugs

Chapter 3

The morning after, I woke up on the couch covered with a blanket. The light was shining through the blinds and the birds were singing, that was my first night of real sleep since a week. Lana who was sleeping on my lap started meowing to make me feed her. I finally got the energy to open my eyes and stand up to give food to my cat. Suddenly I looked around realizing she wasn't here anymore.

A wave of emptiness submerged me. My house is still a mess because I was still too lazy to do anything about it. I took a shower, my head full of questions : Why did she leave without telling anything? Did she even care at all? Am I just another stupid drug addict to her? I guess I'll never know. Anyway, it's not my problem anymore. I have more important things to think about like where to find my opiates. Right now I'm feeling better but I know I couldn't handle another day sober.

I put on another pyjama after getting out of the shower when I heard the door opening. I quickly left the bathroom and ran to the leaving room full of joy. Here she was ; she had 2 bags of groceries in her hands and a big backpack; could this be what I was thinking about ? No, she’s too busy to do this. She probably came to say goodbye.

-Ok so, I saw that the fridge was empty, I bought you eggs, pastas… She started to enumerate what she bought for me and explained that she wanted to stay with me for the weekend. I was right, she was about to stay here for a while. -Thank you so much I don't know what to say Ellie that’s so kind of you, how much do I own you? And why do you want to stay here? I’m not at my best you know.. -Nothing, she said, it’s my pleasure if I can help you. I’m gonna stay here for the week-end and yeah I saw that you’re not at your best. I don’t want to be a passive watcher of your fall, that's also why I want to stay with you.

I was so happy to hear this, I don't know if she would be able to do anything to help me heal but her attention was already enough to make me feel better. She installed  her clothes then we talked about my situation while eating. I explained to her how I was feeling about what happened.

-I'm gonna give you some meds. If I see that you’re about to vomit or you’re shaking or about to faint I’ll give you something. If you’re feeling bad and start thinking too much about it just talk to me. I listened carefully to her instructions and she continued.  -Do you think you'd be able to clean your place with me?

All alone I could never clean all that, I couldn’t even find the motivation to eat but now she’s here I dont know why but it seems effortless. She got up, turned on MTV and dragged me by the arm to the kitchen. I did the dishes as she was throwing out my spoiled groceries that were still in my fridge and placed the new ones she just bought. Then we picked up all the clothes that were around my house then she did a machine while vacuuming and cleaning the dust everywhere. We changed my bedsheets, cleaned the bathroom and even gave a bath to Lana. 

Later, we both felt hungry so we decided to bake pancakes. It was really fun, though we first argued on the measurements of the sugar, she gave up and let me add an extra amount of sugar to make them sweet enough. She was eating the leftovers of dough stuck in the spoons and bowls and as she wanted to give me a taste, she unintentionally put some dough on my face which led to a little -very cliché romcom like- fight of trying to put dough on the other’s face. We were running around the kitchen aisle when she finally caught me and we started to calm down. She wiped the dough I had on my cheeks and forehead with her thumb then we went back to baking. The dough was ready, it was time to bake them on the pan. She was making them flip in the air like a pro which I strangely found very attractive of her. She tried teaching me but I made the pancake fall and the dough that was not cooked yet spilled everywhere. She decided to not let me have control of the pan again for the rest of the recipe and I, instead, took charge of setting the table and doing the dishes we just dirtied. 

We enjoyed our pancakes in front of SpongeBob Squarepants. 

-You were right, the more the sugar, the better. She said.  -Told ya..  -Are you feeling tired or do you wanna go out now ? -No I’m feeling good, what do you have in mind? In reality my head was hurting but I needed to stay occupied.  -I was thinking we could go to the fair maybe? -Ohh yes sounds good for me, let me get ready first.

I took another shower after sweating like a pig with all this cleaning, I got dressed in a skirt, a tight top and my platform boots, put some makeup on then did my hair. In the meantime, Ellie took a shower and got ready too. We got into her car on the way to the fair. The smell of the popcorn, cotton candy and churros filled my nostrils, the sky was dark, the stars and lights from the attractions were lighting us. We decided to go for a ride on the big wheel, we sat next to each other, her arm behind my neck, as we enjoyed the beautiful view from the top. I spotted a thrilling roller coaster. I begged Ellie to go for a ride with me until I had to drag her by her hand. We had a lot of fun, I felt like a kid. 

Then, she decided to play a shooting game that could earn us a big teddy bear. After 3 shots, she finally managed to get the target; we were handed a big green dinosaur plushie. I felt so excited, it kinda looked like a date. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, violently turning me around; I was a little shaken up and turned with furrowed eyebrows to see the person who was assaulting me when I ended up face to face with Emily. My heartbeat immediately increased, my throat felt as tight as a bow. 

-How dare you step foot at any party, how dare you pretend like nothing happened ? You’re such a pathetic selfish bitch. Do you ever even think about what you did and how much it impacted me ? Going on cute little dates with your stupid girlfriend while Jonathan is dying at the hospital ?? How can you even handle looking at yourself in the mirror? 

I was left speechless, tears started to fill my eyes, my hands were shaky. She was right; I’m so selfish. I’m thinking about this day on repeat all day long but I didn’t even really try to check up on them. After my treatment started to make me feel crazy, I couldn’t focus on anything else than drugs. I guess it was easier than facing my responsibilities and the horrible consequences my actions had on my friends’ lives. I was just looking for something to focus on other than this. Emily has lost her scholarship after not being able to stay in the soccer team due to her injuries. Jonathan was still in a coma, his parents are visiting and praying for him everyday. I’ve been the luckiest out of us three yet I can only think about MY problems, MY addiction, MY guilt. 

After what felt like forever of just standing there, Ellie took me apart in a more quiet area. She handed me a glass of water to try to calm me down. She pulled me into a hug and I let myself cry into her arms. We agreed it was time to go back home. Yet again we were driving to my house, making ourselves comfy on the couch while she reassured and took care of me. The day after we spent a while talking about everything and I understood focusing on drugs was selfish, I need to take action and try to fix what I can; Ellie said she’ll help me with everything and will stay with me all along but once the weekend was over, I quickly came back to reality.

[eggluverz]

NOT A WEIRDO STALKER.

PART 5. a stalker or irresistible? [the end]

PAIRING. blade x f!reader

SUMMARY. modern au. you’re minding your own business as a research assistant and college student just trying to vibe. blade is a new team member who is somehow convinced you are trying to stalk him after all your chance encounters together. so maybe he’s a little obsessed with himself, but you find it cute anyway.

NOTE. final part!! a very short and sweet smau and it was a fun little way to explore this very chaotic story with blade :3 hehe i really enjoyed this whirlwind of a mini series and thank u all for reading!! i miss blade already t.t so def expect some more for him soon xx sof

“Have you decided what to watch yet?” 

A deep voice that sounded almost hoarse from having just woken up made you lift your head from your phone. Your new teammate and friend sat beside you on the sofa, a safe enough distance away so that you couldn’t accidentally make contact with him without meaning to. Even though Blade was sitting, his presence still took up the whole room. With his long dark hair and piercing red eyes, he was someone you couldn’t miss. 

There was no doubt in your mind he could fend off whatever was at your door. Even if it was the biggest of stray cats. 

You nodded. “I’ll go with what Dan Heng suggested! Great British Bake Off.”

Blade folded his arms over his chest. A look of annoyance crossed his face as he huffed. His eyes were narrowed and his lips were downturned, almost looking like a pout. “Why Dan Heng?” 

You tilted your head sideways. “Because he was the only one who answered the poll…” 

“I answered.”

“With a show that wasn’t an option to begin with!” you laughed, lightly nudging his arm with your elbow. “That basically doesn’t count as a vote.” 

“Wow.” He rolled his eyes but his stance softened at the brief contact. Blade unfolded his arms with a sigh, leaning back on your sofa and putting his right arm across the head rest. “Very politician of you.”

You crinkled your nose. “Fine, we can watch The 100 another time. When it’s not five in the morning and pitch black and scary.” 

“So there’ll be another time?” he mused. 

You felt your cheeks heat up as he looked at you, his stare unwavering. Was that too presumptuous of you?

Blade basked in your silence. He was in his element. With his arms outstretched and his legs wide, he manspread on your couch, his knee softly pressing against your thigh. It was warm on your bare skin, even through his sweatpants. You never liked manspreading. You always thought it was rather rude. But why did it look so attractive when Blade did it? 

“There doesn’t have to be another if you don’t want,” you said with a huff, unsure if he was teasing you or if the prospect of movie nights was really something he wasn’t very keen on. You hoped it was the former. 

“Let’s see how tonight goes first.” Blade looked mischievous, a challenging smirk on his face as he gestured you closer. You moved so that you were leaning back on his arm. “Not that there’s anything you could do that would make me not want more.” 

“Oh really?” you said, amused. “From claiming I’m a weirdo stalker to finding me that irresistible?” You paused. “Why were you so sure I was one anyway?”

“A stalker or irresistible?” 

“You know what I meant,” you laughed, pleased he didn’t shoot down your flirting like you thought he would. 

He shrugged, tapping his foot against the floor. “Well, I just started noticing you around everywhere the past few months when I’ve never even seen you before. In the same classes as me, same apartment, same lab…” 

“That does tend to happen when we’re both in the same major living in the same complex,” you said matter-of-factly. “The lab though— I’ve been in that since my second year. You just joined now. So you were the stalker in that scenario!”

Blade rolled his eyes. “Then you get my number and ask me to dinner…” 

“I told you already! I saved everyone’s number not just yours!” You were exasperated, cheeks puffing up as you defended yourself. “And the dinner thing really was just me trying to show my gratitude—”

He held his hand up, a quiet chuckle escaping his lips. “I’m only joking now. You don’t need to explain yourself. I get you weren’t secretly obsessed with me.”

You were more amused that he ever thought that instead of genuinely offended, but it still felt nice to have that cleared up. “Good.”

“Maybe now I wish you were though,” Blade whispered under his breath, surprising you. But you didn’t let your momentary shock allow Blade to take control of the entire situation. You wanted to contribute to it as well. 

You threw his earlier words back at him, eyes crinkling into a smile. “We’ll have to see how tonight goes first.” 

He nodded, pleased with your response. “We got a lot riding on tonight then, huh?” 

“It seems so.”

“Then let’s make it count.” 

taglist: @kissingkzuha @kaedear @yevene @vernith @yelshin @ceylestia @karma-gisa @elijahcrevan :) <3

[pomplalamoose]

spending a December with DILF Luke🎄🌟

🕯️🕯️modern day AU🕯️🕯️

A/N: I'm so mad at how wildly busy I am this month, but since this is my first Christmas as a fan fiction author, nothing and nobody will stop me from posting some holiday related fluff!

I sincerely hope you'll have fun with this as well <33

(it isn't necessary to read my other Dilf Luke posts in order to understand what's going on here, but should you have some questions check them out as well🫶🏻)

• because of what happened to his beloved wife, Luke isn't a fan of the winter and the holidays

• he used to be but now all he associates it with is one of the darkest chapters of his life

• for the sake of his child and the rest of his family he tries

• but the sadness sticks to it like syrup and even the littlest of things remind him of what once was

• accordingly it causes quite the drama when your best friend gets invited on a skiing trip at the end of November

• yes, they'll be back just before Christmas but until then?

• they hate to leave their dad alone in his misery, even offered to cancel their plans but he insisted they go

• he wants them to be happy

• so your friend turns to you

• yes, they said they wouldn't involve themselves in anything romance related between you and their dad

• but pleaseee can't you find a reason to stay with him while they're gone?

• yes, they KNOW this will be absolutely weird because of your still unreciprocated crush

• they kind of don't care about that though, you'll manage for sure

• you can borrow their room while they're gone

• "or maybe you won't even need it" they say pulling a face in mock disgust

• eventually, because you know how much they're looking forward to their vacation, you agree

• (and also because of other, more obvious reasons)

• meanwhile Luke is experiencing a wild roller coaster of emotions

• already feeling glum and dispirited like every year, and even more so at the prospect of having to spend his time alone, he was planning to work as much as possible to distract himself from unwanted thoughts

• but when after much hesitation you ask if it'd be okay if you were to stay at his house for, mmh, maybe the next few weeks? he's suddenly ready to ascend straight to heaven

• he'll have you all to himself for nearly the entirety of the month!

• this is his chance

• he's going to make sure you'll enjoy your time with him

• imagine baking the first Christmas cookies of the year together

• it's a bit awkward at first

• although you know the kitchen well you've never actually cooked or baked something in it and thus have no idea where to find the necessary equipment

• no need to worry though!

• Luke definitely owns an old book full of recipes that is handed down in his family and wants you to look through it beforehand

• is there anything you'd like to try?

• or maybe you are able to spot a favorite of yours?

• he easily does the preparations while you're busy reading and so you don't feel quite so useless

• while mixing together the ingredients your sleeves keep slipping down

• because your hands are already covered in the, admittedly, way too sticky dough, you try pushing them up with your forearms instead

• when this doesn't work you attempt to use your chin

• Luke thinks it's absolutely endearing and takes a moment to watch before offering his help

• he gently reaches for you, making sure to roll your sleeves up properly

• coincidentally his warm hands brush over your skin a few times

• it's as soft as he imagined it to be

• possibly he holds on to one of yours wrists for a little bit too long when he's done

• and what about your hair?

• don't you think he should do it up and out of the way as well?

• tying it up in a messy pony tail he tells you to go clean your hands

• in the mean time he'll see what he can do about the dough

• when you return you raise yourself on your tippy toes to take a peek over his shoulder

• you definitely were doing something wrong because it looks perfectly fine now

• maybe you should have put in more flour?

• your thoughts quickly take on a very different direction, however, when you see the way Luke works

• never before did you think something like simply kneading a dough could be attractive

• to distract yourself from the thought of him touching you like that, you decide to have a quick taste

• if the dough is good, the cookies will turn out great as well

• at least that's what your mother always says

• carefully you sneak your hand under Luke's left arm to reach into the bowl

• you don't even want that much, just a little teeny tiny bit

• more quickly than you can react does your hand recieve a playful smack and you pull away with a pout

• don't you know you'll end up with a tummy ache by eating too much raw dough?

• the cookies will be done in less than half an hour, no need to get impatient

• when he isn't looking you stick your fingers into the bowl anyways

• but of course Luke catches you just as you're taking a bite

• he decides then that he might have some fun as well and starts chasing you around the kitchen in mock anger

• your squeals and giggles absolutely delight him

• the oven is doing its work and you're cleaning up together when all of a sudden you catch your reflection in the mirror hanging opposite the door

• looking down at yourself you realize in embarrassment that basically your whole front is covered with a mixture of sugary powder and flour and, is that food coloring right there??

• normally you never end up this messy but this afternoon, it seems, you got carried away a little bit

• of course this had to happen at the worst possible time ever!

• Luke, on the other hand, doesn't look any less perfect than when you started

• typical

• but before you can suggest it yourself he insists on bringing you a change of clothing

• is he going to look through my laundry?, you wonder with a flush to your cheeks

• does he even know where I put it?

• and most importantly: did I look like this the whole time???

• you scrunch up your face and beg for the floor to swallow you whole

• you don't know what exactly you expected Luke to bring to you, maybe a spare pullover your friend left behind?

• instead he returns with something that looks a lot like one of his knitted sweaters

• doing your best to conceal your excitement you pull it over your head, your heart beating fast

• Luke laughs

• it's way too big for you

• "do you need me to roll up the sleeves for you?"

• once the cookies are ready to be taken out you immediately want to try them and happily reach out when Luke offers you one

• he pulls it away as soon as your hand comes close

• "Luke!", you exclaim and again try to snatch it away from him

• he's faster though and dangles it over your head

• a few times you try jumping, then decide to quickly duck around him to get one from the tray

• he easily blocks your way

• at your scowl he can't help but laugh

• when you realize he wants you to eat the cookie out of his hand, by how close he's holding it to your face, you blush furiously

• of course you do as he wishes

• imagine visiting a Christmas market together

• Luke definitely leaves work early so you can go at a good time

• maybe you are a little bit overwhelmed with the amount of people pushing in every direction and so, to not get separated from each other, hold on to his jacket

• he enjoys it immensely and if you come across an especially big throng of people, he might even take your hand until you've made it through

• while you're admiring the lights and all the food and little trinkets to buy, Luke only looks at you

• he's hoping for a chance, any reason, to be closer to you

• so sometimes he waits until you've wandered away from him without noticing and then grabs whatever he can reach to pull you back into him

• when he has you where he wants you, he uses the opportunity to adjust your woolen hat and big scarf

• he's very concerned about you not being warm enough

• do you want something warm to drink?

• he would be happy to buy you anything you'd like to try

• on the way back to the car he has an arm tightly wrapped around your shoulder, hugging you closely into his side

• before he opens the passengers side door for you, he gently wipes the snow off your cheeks and lashes

• at some point he'll take you to an ice skating rink, for sure

• he's pretty good at it and would love to show you how to do it too

• do you need a helping hand?

• are your skates laced up tightly enough?

• don't worry, he's right there to catch you should you slip or otherwise loose your footing

• this is your time to pretend you have no idea what you're doing, even if you're normally able to skate just fine

• cling on to him!

• possibly, because he's SUCH a good teacher you manage to do a few laps on your own at the end

• however you have no idea how to slow down again; your focus was somewhere else entirely the whole time

• would he mind awfully if you were to bump into him full speed to stop?

• he pretends to and gives you a lighthearted scolding for immature behavior

• eventually he laughs just as much as you do

• do you want a Christmas tree for the living room?

• and do you think it would make a nice surprise for your friend when they return home?

• naturally he'll take you with him and turns it into a nice trip

• as soon as he realizes however, that you know the guy who sells them pretty well, he starts to regret his decision quickly

• especially since the both of you seem to get along splendidly

• you end up having a very good time, while Luke glares at the young man whenever he so much as looks at you for too long

• to cool off he pretends to look at his phone a few paces away but is at your side again in seconds when he hears your laugh

• what could possibly be so funny?

• he's fuming until you've picked out a tree you like

• very happy with your selection you eventually embarge on the journey home

• having no idea what's going on inside of him, you thank him for taking you

• you had so much fun and it was great to see, whoever that guy was (Luke couldn't care less), again

• although, you muse, he seemed to grow somewhat strange at the end, wouldn't he agree?

• of course Luke agrees and quietly smiles to himself

• since he pretty much involved you in everything to do with the holidays, he'll ask you to decorate the house with him as well and is relieved when you agree

• while you never seemed to grow bored or in any other way tired of being in his presence so far, he still was secretly worried

• maybe you could install the lights and decorations up high?

• it requires lots of precision and he's sure you'll be able to do it much more quickly than he ever could

• don't worry though, he'll make sure to always stand closely by your side in case you fall

• under no circumstances does he want you to get hurt and regularly checks if the chairs and ladders you are balancing on are sturdy enough

• however he'd be blatantly lying if he claimed there wasn't some ulterior motive to his request

• he knows you're more than capable but nevertheless can't resist to steady you more often than necessary

• just a hand on your lower back here

• or one on one of your legs there

• and because neither of you want the tree to accidentally fall over, he offers to pick you up by the waist

• he likes seeing his hands on you

• how easily you fit into them

• later in December he insists on taking you on a shopping spree

• both of you still need to buy some presents

• and since you refused to tell him what you want or need for Christmas?

• he's set on finding out himself

• the whole time he keeps a very close eye on every single thing you look at, making sure to even remember those that seemed to catch your attention only remotely

• oh and now that you're here at the mall anyways, do you already have an outfit for the upcoming festivities?

• he knows a few very nice stores he can recommend

• coincidentally they have some things he's sure you'll look gorgeous in

• at this point you're very close to the 24th and so you sit down to wrap your presents together

• actually it's Luke who does a lot of wrapping while you simply sit at his side and watch in fascination

• not only is he incredibly efficient but all of his packages turn out looking perfect, like something out of a magazine

• it's not like you're bad at what you're doing either but besides his yours just look slightly messy no matter what you do

• exasperated you ask for his help

• but then he moves to stand behind your chair, leaning in closely to reach around your shoulders

• see? It's actually very easy

• meanwhile you have no idea what's going on and can't concentrate either

• would he mind showing it a second time?

• just a few days later you see your friend again and get to know their entire extended family too

• some uncle brought a mistletoe, which he places above the doorway between the kitchen and the dining and living area

• it's a route everyone has to take many times and much chaos and laughing ensues

• you're enjoying yourself a lot

• your friend's family is just lovely and you end up with many pecks to the cheek while going back and forth as you help to prepare the dinner table

• Luke is watching in distress

• how come he wasn't able to catch you under the mistletoe yet?

[strwberri-milk]

Hi hi hello! Can i request mordern high school love with thoma? Reader being a gentle and reserved person being more popular among the juniors and thoma popular for his charm and being on the basketball team. Theyre relationship isnt too open but its not a secret either. They try to keep it low key of course

Now imagine the small moments with him :( after school studying at the library, walking home together, recess on the rooftop, arcade dates on the weekend and him winning you a plushie that we know sleep with evry night :(( him asking you to prom and being a gentleman :(( him coming over after school to study but end up staying over cause of the thunderstorm outside :(( our parents love him hes so sweet

(Pls help im so delulu for him)

ngl i love. modern high school aus theres smth about the simplicity of high school and being in the in between where you're *almost* an adult but still treated like a child and knowing youre about to ?? crest smth that everyone talks about anyway idk i really romanticised my high school life and ngl all my friends are from higschool LMAOO also the whole freshman/junior/sophmore/senior thing makes no sense to me idek if i put this in the right order and i wish prom was more of a thing here bc yall make it seem so fun

Thoma is definitely that kid that people know of, but don't really know all too well. He's really nice and all the teachers and students like him, and of course being both attractive and athletic made him that much easier to admire.

You had a crush on him for what feels like forever, wishing that one day he'd notice you out of all the other people who liked him too. He had so many admirers due to how kind he was, but being his friend you knew that there was so much to him.

When he finally asked you out it was the most cliche, yet sweetest way he could have ever done it. He drove you to a place that the two of you often frequented. When you got out, you turned around to see a picnic he prepared for the two of you, thinking it was just another nice thing he was doing for you because you were a little stressed out recently but the flowers and shy look on his face told you otherwise.

The two of you didn't go out of your way to tell everyone you were dating. Thoma just wasn't as willing to let people touch him as much, and you were seen hanging around the basketball team a little more often than before. Thoma always walked you to class anyway if he could, so people couldn't really tell the difference until one day they saw him give you a hug.

By that point everyone found out pretty quick but the two of you didn't feel the need to justify anything to anybody so you'd just confirm that you were dating and that was it.

Thoma always loves taking you on various dates whenever you can. He would see what kinds of places pop up on his feed and scout them out before taking you out for a night on the town (until curfew of course).

Your parents were really trying to look for something to be wrong with him, not wanting him to distract you from your life or end up in an unsatisfactory position of your heart being broken or anything like that. However, the fact that he constantly brought you home on time and made sure to say greet your parents every time as well as bring them treats he baked himself made it hard for him to stay hated in their eyes.

He's constantly gifting you things that remind him of you. If he's at the grocery store then he's giving you a candy that you liked. If he's at the mall he found some accessory he thought you'd look good with. It doesn't matter when or where - you're always on his mind and the trinkets you've accumulated from him are proof of that.

Whenever there are any events locally he loves to take you to them. Whether it be some sort of festival or just a pop up his favourite thing to do is explore the grounds with you and spoil you with prizes or the food there. He's got no limits when it comes to you.

Exam season means crunch time. The two of you are forcibly holed up by each other to try and get studying done. He's a hard worker so he's got tons of study tips for you if you need it and the right amount of rewards too. Whenever you get a practise question right or finish a writing prompt within the time limit well he always congratulates you with a hug or a kiss.

I can see him being super into doubling too. The two of you are one of those people who are constantly on call just doing random shit together. Neither of you has to actually talk to the other person - you both just like being in each other's presence.

Your room and bed are both filled with tons of things that Thoma gives you and he can't help but grin to himself whenever he comes over and sees it. He's got photos commemorating everything on his phone, glad that you like the things he gives you as much as he likes you.

Thoma absolutely adores you and I can see the two of you being high school sweethearts. He comes to your events and you to his, and the two of you end up living a perfectly happy life together, glad that one day oh so many years ago the two of you were assigned lockers next to each other.

[tired-biscuit]

since christmas is approaching, can i request how spending the holidays with our fav boy naruto uzumaki would be like?🥹🍥

ofc!! this was so cute to write, i love him <3

𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: naruto uzumaki/fem!reader

𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: none. festive nart is extremely wholesome!! // modern AU.

loves spending the holidays with you and your entire family because he couldn’t do it as a child.

not only do your parents love him and thus get him loads of presents to show the love; even your goddamn grandparents spoil him rotten to the core.

if you have a place of your own, say goodbye to a neat christmas tree and stylish decor. this man makes an absolute mess out of your home with all the clashing colours and discoordinated trinkets that he never ceases to order online.

drinks loads of hot chocolate and puts a rather concerning amount of marshmallows in it (i think he’d be a sucker for the pumpkin spice one especially, even if it’s considered a fall drink instead of a winter one.)

matching ugly christmas sweaters are a must (but his lights up because he needs to steal the show, of course.)

gets so drunk with champagne at the holiday party that he becomes besties with your uncle and refuses to leave his side when you tell him it’s time to go home.

adores wearing colourful mittens and knit hats with pom poms on them.

likes taking you on ice skating and sledding dates.

if you go on evening walks, the chances that he’ll start a snowball fight are extremely high.

looks so freaking adorable when his cheeks and the tip of his nose turn bright red because of the cold.

insists on finding a real christmas tree every year instead of a plastic one.

you decorate it together, of course. 

he also loves buying funny bulbs for the tree and placing random stuff on top of it (you had a lightning mcqueen topper because of him one year.)

surprisingly loves receiving socks as a present (especially ones with funky designs.)

kisses you a lot to warm you up.

adores taking cringey holiday photos with you every year and sending them to all of his friends via mail.

stares at christmas lights with eyes as big and fascinated as a cat’s.

attempts to bake cookies and brownies with you, but gives up halfway in and just sticks to licking the batter off the spoon when you scold him because of the chaos he’s causing in the kitchen.

loves cuddling with you and watching cheesy christmas movies whilst eating said cookies and brownies.

you watch the hallmark ones when you’re both tipsy. you laugh so hard that your bellies start to hurt.

opens presents with the excitement of a little kid, no matter how old he gets.

lives for the homey atmosphere christmas brings to your place.

doesn’t attend midnight mass unless your family goes.

if he does end up going to mass, he’s bumping into your side; poking and prodding you the entire time because he quickly grows bored.

sometimes gets this stare of subtle longing when he sees parents taking their kids into toy stores and having fun.

wakes up bright and early despite that he has the chance to sleep in.

can’t stand ‘all i want for christmas is you’.

builds wonky snowmen with you, and then gets sad when they start to melt.

wraps all your presents in minion wrapping paper because he thinks it’s funny.

is surprisingly a good gift giver.

has frequent sugar rushes that tire you the fuck out as you try to tame them.

prefers warm/colourful christmas lights over the cold-tone ones.

insists on assembling gingerbread houses with you, and then pouts when his looks worse than yours.

loves all the presents he gets, but still loves you the most.

[danisbrainrot]

Hi I was wondering if you can please do one with Johanna having a crush on her neighbour who's a single mom, nurse, ones she asks Johanna to baby-sit her kid cuz she get en emergency shift Johanna say yes, and how they become friends and how Johanna get the corrige to tell reader her feelings, and then them just being lovey dovey

Reader's kid is a mischievous, witty kid and maybe around 4 yo

a/n: I always find it hilarious when people say modern au about the hunger games to mean the au is happening now, so I used present time instead because I feel that's more accurate. sorry if that's not what you meant, anon, if you wanted it set in the hunger games timeline I'll totally write something similar.

present time! au. johanna x female!reader

you sighed in relief as you heard the knock on the door. grabbing your keys and a water bottle, you flung the door open and wrapped your arms around johanna. "thank you, thank you, thank you so much. you're a lifesaver, honestly," you praised, squeezing her tightly.

"anytime," johanna promised, mourning when you finally pulled away from her. a small body made its way in between the two of you, clinging to your leg desperately.

your toddler pouted up at you, causing your heart to melt. you crouched to their level, tucking a strand of hair behind their ear and kissing their cheek. "I know, I'm so sorry, bubba. but mummy's gotta work," you coo. "johanna's here though. she'll have so much fun with you, I promise."

the little girl shook her head, not letting go until johanna teasingly sighed. "well, if you don't let your mum go, I guess I have to take my barbie's home," johanna held the desired toys up on display for the four year old.

"ok, bye mummy," she said quickly, almost pushing you out the door. you laughed, shaking you heard in amusement as you heard the door slam shut.

johanna found herself exhausted by the end of the night. she'd played barbie dolls with the toddler for a good twenty minutes, before your kid decided she was bored and wanted to do something else. they'd raided your closet for something to dress up in, then tried to bake a cake (which turned into a disaster once they realised neither of them could cook). finally they'd watched frozen together, as your daughter sang along to all the songs—johanna couldn't imagine how the young girl wasn't sick of this movie yet, considering this was her third watch and she already wanted to bash the tv against the wall. she'd didn't know how you were so patient.

it wasn't until late at night when your kid finally fell asleep. she snuggled into johanna's side, watching as bluey got up to some wacky adventure. johanna couldn't be more delighted to turn the tv off, finding her head leaning against the little one's, and her eyes fluttering shut.

the sound of keys in the door and you dragging yourself through the house woke johanna up. she groaned, checking her phone to see the time was five in the morning. she got up, replacing her body with a pillow for the kid to sleep on, and walked to the kitchen.

you were scourging the fridge for something to eat, before sighing and pulling out last night's leftovers. you put it in the microwave, watching in a trance like state as the container slowly turned around.

"how was your shift?" you almost jumped out of your skin at the question; you hadn't expected anyone to be awake.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" you ask, forgetting your food and moving to hug johanna. she just shook her head, squeezing you tightly. "it was shit. two car crashes and an outbreak of cholera in some workplace. we're so understaffed and they're stretching us thin—sorry, I should ask how you went. was she a good girl?"

"she was a sweetheart," johanna promises, finally pulling away from you. you sigh in relief, nodding as the annoying beep of the microwave interrupting your conversation. you sit at the table, scoffing down your dinner when johanna sits besides you and places a hand on yours. "I need to tell you something."

your eyes widen, wondering if something had happened while she was babysitting as you drop the fork in a panic. "is something wrong? did something happen to—"

"no, nothing is wrong. I just. . ." johanna sighes, rubbing her brows gently before looking up at you again, "I love you. I love the way you look after everyone, how you're always so kind—even when they definitely don't deserve it—and most importantly, I love your kid," you're taken aback at the confession.

johanna can feel her heart pounding as she waits for a response, but you're stunned into silence. you blink suddenly, trying to comprehend what she was saying, before parting your lips. "johanna. . . I—i don't know what to say," you reply honestly.

"you don't have to," she mumbles, getting up and walking away to conceal the blood running to her cheeks, scarlet with embarrassment. she knew it was a risk to confess her feelings—she knew there was a big chance they wouldn't be reciprocated—but still, she wore her heart on her sleeve.

you got up and grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "johanna, wait," you whisper, coming face to face with her. you stare deeply into her eyes, trying to detect any hesitation or concern. when you see only her loving gaze, you lean forward and smash your lips onto hers. "I love you too," you mumble against her lips, before kissing her passionately again.

"is johanna gonna be my new mummy?" you both pull apart in shock, watching as your four year old wiped the sleep from her eyes.

you laugh, facing johanna and wiggling your eyebrows, before turning to face your daughter again. you crouch down to her level, pulling her in close and squeezing her tightly. "she sure is, baby," you whisper into her neck, as johanna crouches down beside you, embracing both you and your daughter.

[m-jelly]

Heyy, I have a quick question. Could you maybe write something again for an insecure Y/N where she sees other beautiful women on Instagram and thinks bad about herself. So Levi tells her that she's beautiful just the way she is? The last time you wrote something like this it made me almost cry because I can relate too much to that stuff! Also I felt really insecure lately because of my appearance. You don't have to write this, and only if you want! :) Peace & Love!

@kenkopanda-art <3

Beauty is subjective

Pairing: Levi x Fem!Reader

Genre and tags: Modern AU, fluff, romance, being a couple, angst, insecure reader, hurt and comfort.

Concept: While looking on your phone at some fun ideas for baking and cooking for Levi you come across a lot of comments and posts about what makes a woman beautiful. You go against your instincts to stay away and dive deeper only to make yourself spiral into self-hate. Levi catches you doing this and showers you in love.

No tags due to sensitive subject.

Levi leaned over the back of the sofa and looked down at you. "You need anything, love?"

You smiled up at your boyfriend. "All good. I'm just browsing Instagram for cool cooking and baking ideas."

Levi leaned lower and kissed you. "You're too good to me. I'll make us a pot of tea."

"Okay!"

Your eyes flicked back to your phone and you began browsing once more. You moved through the videos posted about cooking and made notes on a few. You hummed a little song to yourself as you felt pure happiness as you looked up new ideas. You were excited to try a peanut butter, banana and chocolate chip cookie someone suggested.

Ideal woman.

You don't know why, but your eyes seemed to lock onto that comment. You frowned a little as a pang of darkness started inside you. You looked at the replies to the comment and saw everyone was talking about the baker. You looked at the video and saw how pretty the woman was. You clenched your phone a little before moving on and trying to focus on baking.

Special routine to make me beautiful.

You gulped hard and didn't understand what had happened. You were happily looking through videos of amazing cooking and baking, but now you were on Instagram models. You saw their routines, how they did their makeup, the things they wore and how people talked about them.

The more you delved deeper the more you were damaging your own self-confidence. You knew you shouldn't be looking for your own good, but you just kept doing it and comparing yourself. You pinched and pulled at your skin as hatred towards yourself consumed you. You felt a lump in your throat at a few comments saying how these women were the perfect women and men deserve women like that.

"Love?"

You looked up at Levi. "H-Hey."

He placed the pot of tea down before sitting by your feet. "Come here."

You sat up and whined. "I don't think you'll want that."

"Why not?"

"Well, I'm not that pretty and I'm a bit..."

Levi grabbed your arm and dragged you closer. "Have you been looking at those models again?"

You blushed a little. "Yes."

Levi held you close to him. "My love, you are the most beautiful woman in the world to me. I love you with all my heart and soul. I wouldn't change you for the world."

You played with his shirt. "Well, they wear lots of makeup and I don't."

"I love your natural look. I love that I see you a lot without any on at all. You're so beautiful without it." He kissed the end of your nose. "Besides, if you wore a lot of makeup it'd get all over the furniture and clothes. Imagine cleaning that out."

You giggled a little. "Yeah, you're right." You hummed. "What about my body?"

"It's sexy as fuck. You know how much I love seeing you naked. I loved biting and kissing every inch of you."

You blushed hard. "You're right."

He massaged your thigh. "You're just stunning."

"Thank you. But Levi."

"I love you. I fell in love with you, not those women. Besides, a lot use filters."

You hummed. "You're right."

Levi cupped your face. "Beauty is subjective darling, so what people find beautiful is different to others. Those women on your phone? I don't find them attractive." He slowly pushed you down making you giggle. "Oh, but you? You are sexy and beautiful. I just want you all the time."

You moaned as Levi kissed and nipped your neck and chest. "Levi."

He leaned up and looked down at you. "I wish you saw yourself the way I see you. You shine brighter than anyone I've ever seen. Other women are like dull grey blobs, but you? You are this angel."

You smiled a little. "You're sweet."

"Besides, if all women aimed to be like those models and men like the male models, wouldn't it be boring? We'd all look the same and it'd be bland."

You played with his shirt. "You're right."

Levi kissed your forehead. "Kiss it better." He hummed a laugh. "I know that my words won't fix the years of wounds you've gained about your self-image, but I am happy to help you slowly heal some of them."

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Levi."

He growled. "Be with another man who will be awful and not me and I'd be unhappy."

You laughed. "Levi, don't think about us not being together. I'll never leave you. I love you, Levi."

"I love you more than anything in this world." He sat up and pulled you into his arms. "Now, it's time for cuddles and tea. We'll look at videos together and pick out some tasty things to make together."

You snuggled into Levi's arms. "Perfect."

[late-to-the-party-81]

Oki doki my loves!

This is…wow!

I never thought I’d get here (especially with the spam porn bot invasion of Winter 22/23), but 1k!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I can’t say it hasn’t been challenging, so that is going to be the theme of this celebration- Challenges.

If you are interested in celebrating with me, and you are over 18, then just head on under the cut!

Still here? Excellent!

So- easy bits first.

From now (18th) until 31st of Jan please feel free to send requests for little drabbles- gimme a babe (or several) and a challenge for one/all of them. Sweet, spicy or soft dark! It could be a little challenge. It could be a big challenge. Whatever you want. (See below for some challenge ideas) I write for Marvel characters, CE characters and SS characters.

Also, for the weekend of 28-29th Jan (GMT) I will be answering the usual game asks- FMK, OVA, Would you rather, Cast your Mutuals, and head-canons about the relationships in my various series - please see my masterlist for Marvel and non-Marvel series. You can send asks in advance.

Then the biggy- and this is a challenge for you lovely lot. A writing challenge. A Challenge Yourself challenge. What do I mean?

Is there a character you’ve never got around to writing?

A pairing?

A trope?

A style?

An Au?

A follow-up to that one shot you really enjoyed writing?

Now is the time! Challenge yourself! Stretch your comfort zone!

No word count limit, but please use a cut if over 250 words. All styles are fine (e.g. Fluff, Smut, Dark etc), but please use appropriate tags (and please, no Underage, Incest, Scat or Bestiality - monster fucking is fine).

The time limit for the challenge is the end of June 2023 and I’m asking you to use the Tags #Challenge Yourself and #Jen’s 1k Challenge so I can find all your lovely entries and make a master list. I’d prefer if you stick to Marvel/CE/SS characters, but that’s not a hard and fast rule if inspiration strikes.

You don’t have to be a moot to join in, but I’d love if you were a follower and that if you do send an ask for a drabble or game you interact with my response.

Have fun, and keep scrolling for some further inspo!

Trope ideas

Only one bed

Enemies to lovers

The grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one

And they were roommates

Sex pollen/Fuck or die

Identity porn

Miscommunication

Mutual pining/idiots in love

Didn’t know they were dating

Stuck in a cabin

Basement wife

Forbidden relationship

Sugar relationship

Undercover/pretend relationship

Style ideas

Fluff

Angst

Whump

Hurt/Comfort

Smut

Soft Dark

Dark

And combos of any of the above

AU ideas

No powers

Mafia

Medieval

Modern Royalty

Omegaverse

Fantasy

Vampire

Demon

Werewolf/Shifter

Apocalypse

Canon divergent (e.g. Avengers Tower fics or Hydra won fics)

Rockstar

College/Uni

Soulmate

Greek/Roman

Firefighter

Medical/Veterinary

Police

Cam/Sex worker

Coffee shop

Bakery

Florist

Tattoo parlour

School teacher

Biker

Challenge ideas for Drabble asks

Keep a secret

Be quiet!

How long can you take it?

How many can you take?

Switching

Build furniture

Meet a deadline

Babysit

Learn a new skill/language

Find the McGuffin!

Supermarket dash

Karaoke battle

Baking battle

New job

Fix the problem

Love you all so much! Let’s have some fun!

No pressure tags: @jobean12-blog @christywantspizza @navybrat817 @sidepartskinnyjeans @jadedvibes @lfnr-blog-blog-blog @mickeyhenrys @weekendgothgirl @yarnforbrains @strangeprincex @writerkenna @elvenfforestydd @doasyoudesireandlive @luxeavenger @wheezy-stucky @flordeamatista @goldylions @ohsymphony @krissy25 @bodeckersdiamonddoll @chrisdrysdale @sunshinebuckybarnes @lunarbuck @aquariusbarnes @beach-daydreaming

[theother-victoria]

KISS ME THRU THE PHONE

SYNOPSIS: Albedo always finds a way to say “I love you” even if he’s not there physically

TAGS: nothing but tooth-rotting fluff, modern au, gn reader

A/N: where are my winter storm buddies at 🙋‍♀️ this one goes out to you

We didn’t get a lot of snow we just got a bunch of freezing cold wind lmao

This was written as part of the Yae Publishing House’s Ice and Snow writing event!

“So… your flight got canceled and now you’re snowed in?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

You hear Albedo sigh on the other end of the phone. A few weeks ago, he had departed for Liyue to meet with an author he was working with. He left with a kiss on the cheek and a promise to return home before Christmas Eve but now…

“The snowstorm did unfortunately hit Liyue. They predicted it wouldn’t, but turns out that was wrong. I should be home within the next three or so days.”

It’s your turn to sigh now. The fireplace was lit, the tree was decorated with ornaments and lights, and you even had cookies baking in the oven. Yet it didn’t feel complete with Albedo missing and knowing that he would be gone for such an important season left a bitter taste in your mouth.

“I know, it’s just that I… miss you.”

“I miss you too, (Y/N). There’s nothing I wouldn’t give to be back at home spending the holidays with you and Klee right now.”

You hear the sound of footsteps from upstairs and crane your neck upwards to see Klee standing at the top of the stairs, pillow and Dodoco plushie in hand. She rubs her eyes sleepily and yawns.

“Klee, I thought you were asleep?”

“I was, but I thought I heard you talking to big brother Albedo. Klee wants to speak to him too!”

You sigh and beckon her over. She immediately scurries down the stairs and practically flies towards the couch, landing on the cushions with a loud “oof” before clambering into your lap.

“Big brother Albedo! It’s Klee! I miss you so, so, so, so much! When are you going to come home?”

He laughs. “Hello, Klee. I miss you too. I already told (Y/N) that I’ll be back home within the next three days, so you won’t have to wait much longer. But how are the holidays going for you?”

“It was so much fun! Yesterday, Diona came over and we had a snowball fight. Then, we gave each other presents and had a sleepover!”

“That sounds like a lot of fun, Klee.”

“It was. I can’t wait to see what Diona gave me!”

She pauses for a moment, furrowing her brows and staring up at the ceiling like she was deep in thought.

“Big brother Albedo, I wanna see you!”

You hear a barely suppressed chuckle in his voice. “I can arrange for that.”

Albedo abruptly ends the call, much to your surprise, and a few seconds later, your phone buzzes with an incoming video call. Klee giddily makes grabby hands at your phone and you hand it to her. She hits accept and her face instantly lights up upon seeing him.

You quietly slide off the couch and into the kitchen to check on the cookies. As Klee gushes about her day to Albedo, you pull out the frosting sitting in the fridge you had prepared earlier and get to work decorating the cookies. Klee must have smelled them because soon after, she comes waddling into the kitchen with an expectant look in her eyes.

“Look, big brother. (Y/N) made cookies! Can I have one? Pretty please?”

You glance at the clock. 9:45 pm. It was already way past Klee’s bedtime, but since it was the holidays, you’ll make an exception.

“Just this once. But promise me you’ll go to bed after this, ok? The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you’ll be able to open your presents.”

She quickly finishes it and as promised, heads upstairs to bed after you give her a goodnight kiss on the forehead. With your phone back and Klee asleep, you finally have the chance to talk to Albedo. His gaze instantly softens and you’re unable to stop yourself from smiling like a lovesick fool at the sight. His bangs are pushed back with a headband and he has a sheet mask on his face. You have to stifle a laugh at the sight of it.

“Hello, dearest. I hope taking care of Klee hasn’t been too exhausting.”

You shake your head. “No, it hasn’t. She’s just excited because it’s Christmas, but she’s been well-behaved.”

Getting up, you head towards the storage room underneath the stairs and pull out Klee’s presents hiding in the back. He must have seen them because he raises an eyebrow.

“Are those Klee’s presents? What did you get her?”

“Just a new Dodoco plushie and some colored pencils she’s been eyeing for a while now,” you reply as you set them down under the tree.

“Well then, where’s my present?”

You look at him strangely. He has a slight smirk on his face that tells you he knows exactly what he’s doing. Normally, he’s not this forward, but maybe the distance was getting to him?

You roll your eyes and blow him a kiss.

“Here’s your present for now. Hurry up and come home so I can give you the real one.”

Albedo laughs at the action, a sweet and pure sound that has your heart involuntarily fluttering.

“Thank you, my love. I promise I’ll be back home as soon as possible.”

You yawn and Albedo takes notice of it.

“It must be getting late over there. I’ll let you go to sleep now-”

“Can you stay with me for a little bit longer?”

He pauses at your question, then smiles.

“Of course. Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

You settle back down on the couch and stare out the window, where the first snow is beginning to fall, promising a white Christmas.

Klee will surely be excited to wake up to it, you think.

“Anything really. How are the holidays celebrated in Liyue?”

He hums. “It’s not as significant of a holiday over here, but they still celebrate it to an extent. I passed by the harbor the other day at night and it was aglow with festive lights and decorations. It was quite the sight and I hope to bring you there next year to witness it for yourself.”

“Mm. I’d love to see it for myself too.”

The clock ticks away in the back and the roaring fire is slowly reduced to mere embers. The snow piles up outside until all you can see is a blanket of pristine white coating everything within sight.

And despite being oceans away, you feel as if Albedo is right next to you and with that, you don’t feel quite as lonely anymore.

“Hey, Albedo?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

“And I love you too, dearest. Go to sleep now and when you wake, I’ll be back home. Don’t miss me too much now, ok?

“Goodnight, (Y/N), and may you be blessed with the sweetest of dreams tonight.”

[taomyou]

The Romance of Reimbursements - Chapter 2

Pairing: Levi Ackerman x Reader Status: COMPLETED Summary: There’s a guy you see every Friday on bus 143, and you think he’s pretty hot. It wouldn't hurt to tell your best friend about him, would it? or, you and Levi take the same bus home from work every Friday, and you fall in love slowly, clumsily, and with all the time in the world to fold as many paper stars as your heart desires. Word Count: 6.3k Tags: slow burn, friends to lovers, modern au, office au, fluff, romance, meet-cute, matchmaking

(A/N: this fic is already completed and entirely available on ao3 here if you would like to read it. i am currently in the process of crossposting everything to tumblr, so please be patient!)

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next time

That Friday, you do end up finishing those cookies for Hange.

After they were finished going off about the dinner they were dragging you to "no matter what," the two of you moved back over to the kitchen to roll out dough balls, cover them in cinnamon sugar, and shove them in the oven.

You both eased back into conversation about anything and everything, bar the guy from the bus, and things were smooth sailing for the rest of the day Hange spent at your place. After you were finished with business in the kitchen, Hange went back to their apartment to quickly grab some of last night's leftovers for the two of you to share as dinner, and you both decided to lay on the couch again to eat and watch random Shark Tank episodes on some probably illegal streaming site Hange found.

You swore they were uploaded to an official website somewhere, but they insisted that those episodes were probably really boring if they were free to watch. No matter, it was a great deal of fun even if neither of you really understood any of the entrepreneurial jargon they used on the show.

After you and Hange got tired of complaining for the hundredth time that none of the contestants would choose Lori as their investor, you sent Hange off with a smile, a hug, and a tupperware container of the snickerdoodle cookies. You had brought up teaching them the recipe so they could make it without you, but just like with every other recipe you tried teaching them, Hange insisted that coming over to your kitchen to bake with you was far more fun than doing it alone.

On the way out the door, Hange told you they'd text you the time and other important details once they got home, and, just like that, you were alone to stew in your thoughts again.

You dragged yourself to your bathroom, not having had a moment to change into your home clothes yet, and stripped yourself down to hop in the shower. The joyful expression that was on your face when you hugged Hange goodbye fell from your face and became replaced with a tight-lipped smile. You leaned down to turn the faucet on, tugged on the pullup knob, and let the water rain down on you.

Somehow, you missed the name Hange said belonged to him. Well, not somehow. You knew you weren't listening when they were rambling earlier, but you wished you had asked Hange at some point to put a name to a face. They had to have known you weren't listening, and you're sure they wouldn't have been offended if you did ask, but you didn't want to bring him up again for fear of them veering the conversation back to him.

Squeezing some shampoo into your hands, you rub them together to lather it up and bring them up to massage into your hair.

Oh well. No use really worrying about it now. You just needed to get through one dinner: how hard could it be?

✰

Okay, maybe you should've worried about this earlier.

Currently, you're standing in front of two outfits laid out on your bed. On the left is a nice black dress and a white coat, and on the right is a turtleneck, dress pants, and brown overcoat combo. You have another hour before you have to go, but here you are, trying to figure out what to wear to a dinner with who you thought to be the most beautiful man to set foot on this Earth.

You've been stood in front of your bed for a good 20 minutes already.

What were you even doing? Fussing over a man was one thing, but now you're acting like you're trying to dress yourself for a second grade class field trip to the zoo.

Actually, you wouldn't be wearing anything nearly as fancy to the zoo, but you get the point.

You're a grown, twenty-seven year old woman. You're an attorney, goddammit. You should be fine handling a measly dinner arrangement with someone you just happened to find absolutely gorgeous.

It's not like it'd be just the two of you either. Hange explained over text on Saturday that the "we" in "we're having dinner on Sunday" consisted of some of the people in their friend group, one of whom was your mystery bus stranger. They never really described any of their friends before in great detail, just assigning them nicknames so they could tell you stories about them from time to time.

You especially liked the ones about Shorty, a grumpy man Hange described as having a "perpetual stick up his ass."

He seemed like someone you'd want to be friends with, despite the obvious contrast his personality seemed to have to yours. Hange would talk sometimes about how much of a pain it was to hang out with him because he'd always complain about their driving or how sweet the tea he'd ordered was. Other times, they'd retell you his stupid jokes and let you laugh into the palm of your hand at how painfully sarcastic he seemed to be.

The only time you were ever tempted to actually come along with Hange and their friends was when they invited you to his birthday party (which was apparently disguised as a Christmas party, for whatever reason) a few years ago, but you already had a vacation back to your hometown planned that year.

Hopefully, Shorty's there at dinner. Maybe his presence would give you something to focus on instead of the handsome stranger Hange apparently knew and was going to bring with them.

Shaking your head to get out of your thoughts and back to the task at hand, you grab your phone from your shorts pocket to text Hange to ask what to wear. You get your answer seconds later when they reply, telling you to wear a dress.

"Dress it is, I guess," you mumble to yourself, grabbing the dress from your bed to change into it, as well as a pair of fleece-lined tights and safety shorts from your cabinet to help fight against the cold. Thank goodness you did your makeup before figuring out your outfit so you wouldn't have to rush that on your way out the door.

After putting on the dress and other garments, you head over to the bathroom with a small box of your accessories to use your mirror to put them on. It was convenient to have worn the dress, you decide, since choosing your jewelry would be easier than it would be if you wore the other outfit. After taking a quick look at all the trinkets you have in the box, you decide on a nice necklace with a single pearl pendant, purple wisteria drop earrings, and a decently large satin bow for your hair.

You take a good step away from your mirror to see how everything looks all put together, and you decide that you look... pretty. You hadn't really had the chance to dress up recently, and it was a nice change to be able to style yourself how you wanted. Of course, you had to look good at work, but it's not like you actually liked wearing pantsuits and heels all the time. Come to think of it, the last time you remember feeling so pretty was that first Friday, months back, when you first saw that stranger.

After checking your phone to see you had another 30-ish minutes to get to the restaurant, you shove your phone, wallet, and keys into your purse. Slipping on a pair of black flats, you make your way out the door and put on your coat as you walk downstairs to your car. Hange already left their apartment earlier in the morning, so they weren't able to carpool with you over to the restaurant, but they promised they'd be there a bit earlier than the scheduled meet-up time to make sure you'd have company while you waited. Somehow, you doubt that.

And you were right to doubt Hange's early appearance. When you get inside the restaurant, you see no sign of them anywhere. You take a quick glance at your phone to see that there's 10 minutes before the scheduled time everyone's supposed to arrive. The waiting area is quite large, but everyone looks already occupied with their own group, so you can't guess who is or isn't a part of Hange's circle.

To your surprise, you hear a familiar voice say your name behind you, and you turn around to see... Erwin?

"Erwin? What're you doing here?"

He seems almost as confused as you are to see him, especially since the two of you have never bumped into each other outside of work before, but he still answers nonetheless. "I'm meeting for dinner with some friends. I wasn't sure if it was you, but thank goodness it is and I don't have to make a fool out of myself greeting a complete stranger."

You nod in understanding, feeling a bit awkward seeing your work superior outside of... well, work. He's dressed in the same clothes he wore to the office, more or less, though, so you'll get over the initial shock soon enough.

He clears his throat, bringing attention back onto himself. "What brings you here tonight, if you don't mind me asking?"

You nervously laugh at his question, bringing up a finger to tap your cheek in embarrassment. "My friend's introducing me to a couple of their friends, which is quite a long time coming since I've gotten away with not meeting them for as long as I have. One of them is apparently this guy I've seen on the bus before though, so that should be fun," you answer, and despite the blistering cold blowing into the waiting area from the constantly swinging entrance doors, you can feel your face start to heat up like it always does when you think of him.

Erwin quirks an eyebrow at your answer, but before he can say anything, you hear Hange plowing into the space.

In tow is... oh, it really is him.

A large part of you, prior to this exact moment, wanted Hange to be wrong about knowing the stranger you told them about.

Some other part of you wanted it to be true, though.

He looks just as good as he did 2 days ago when you last saw him, maybe even more so now that you're under the extravagant lighting of the restaurant.

His suit's grey, just like his eyes, and it seems like he did his hair differently—maybe it's slicked back now, you can't tell from where you are in the room. You just barely take note of his height, which you never noticed before since you were too nervous to really look at him walk off the bus, but you jest that making him short was the universe's way of trying to make him "unattractive." As if that would even be possible; the man looks like he's topped the list of TC Chandler's Top 100 Faces every year since birth.

Even with the distance, however, there's no denying that that's him. The guy you see every Friday on bus 143 is across the room from you, standing underneath the same chandeliers you are.

The two of you accidentally make eye contact, and you think you're about to faint. Let's hope the host can seat you at one of those comically long tables so nobody can see the blush blooming on your face once again.

Hange skips over to you, giving you a hug and breaking you out of your momentary trance. Once you realize what's going on, you hug them back in earnest and give them a bashful smile. They most definitely take notice of your red face after leaning back a bit to get a good look at your face and pinching your cheek playfully, but they don't make any comment about it.

"You, hey, you! You look so cute!" They coo, refusing to let go of you. You awkwardly laugh, seeing Erwin over Hange's shoulder. If you thought he looked confused earlier, he looks completely and utterly taken aback now.

Hange pulls away from you and stands proudly between you and Erwin, that same shit-eating grin from Friday bright on their face once again. They motion for the other raven-haired man to come over, which he does with a quiet frown on his face. Somehow, even that gets you just a bit more red in the face.

"Levi! Erwin! This is my friend, Astraea!"

You nervously wave at both Erwin and who you now know as Levi, though you're quick to bring your hand back down to hold your other one behind your back.

You were sure Erwin wasn't who Hange was calling Shorty in their stories, and as much as you wanted to deny the possibility, Levi was probably Shorty given his obviously short stature. Curse you for wanting to meet Shorty and not considering that him and the bus stranger could've been the same person.

"Wait, your name isn't Astraea," Erwin says, quizzically looking between you and Hange.

Before you can explain, Hange butts in. "No, you wait! How do you know that? Are you stalking me and my dear friend?" They proposition, pointing an accusatory finger at Erwin.

Levi scoffs at that, and for the first time, you hear his voice. "Please, Four Eyes, as if anybody has the time to try and follow you around," he quips.

How is it possible for someone to sound so good? Dear lord.

You have to keep your eye on a decorative plant at the corner of the room to avoid making eye contact with anyone for fear of them getting a full view of your face.

"Erwin's my work senior. You know, the one that made me give up my parking spot," you tell them, eyes still locked on the plant.

At that, Hange laughs fully and puts their hand over their chest. "Small world! Well, good to know we can skip that introduction!"

"That still doesn't explain the fact that her name apparently isn't Astraea," Levi speaks up, probably rolling his eyes at Hange.

You can feel everyone's gaze shift to you, so you awkwardly choose to face Erwin as you answer. "Uh," you start. "When I was a kid, my younger brother was obsessed with Greek mythology. Astraea was one of the first names he learned and he insisted that I was 'just like her,' whatever that meant, so he'd always call me that. I ended up using it for all my usernames because I was so paranoid about people online finding my personal information. Eventually, I got so used to it that I usually just ask people to use Astraea instead of my real name."

Hange smiles and drapes an arm over your shoulder, trying to apparently get you less tense. You melt a bit into the embrace, but you're still too nervous to even look in Levi's direction.

"And your brother was right! I took a Greek mythology course in university, and you fit Astraea to a T!"

Erwin looks like he still has questions, so you nod at him to prompt him to ask them.

"How come nobody at work calls you that, then? You're close with quite a few people in the office—surely you've exchanged information with them by now."

You politely smile at that and answer.

"I ask them not to use it at work since I don't want other people in the office to look me up on social media, but they use it if we're out together."

Erwin seems content enough with your answer and offers you a calm smile. You still can't bring yourself to look at Levi, and you don't want to even begin to think about any of the possible things going through his head.

Does he even recognize you from the bus? Sure, you two have never talked or even made eye contact before this official introduction, but the bus wasn't really crowded at all. He has to at least know your face, right?

Before you can dwell on the thought, you hear Hange invite Erwin with them to go to the reservation desk to let the waitstaff know that your party has arrived, leaving you alone with Levi.

Before you can reach into your purse to try and make yourself look busy on your phone, Levi clears his throat and starts to speak. "So, you didn't know Hange and Erwin knew each other?" He asks, trying to make some conversation to fill the silence now that the other two were away.

You make no move to look at him, opting to keep your eyes on Hange's animated conversation with Erwin at the reservation desk. "No, Hange and I don't really talk about our friends all that much with each other. Just stories here and there, you know?"

Levi gives a hum in response as a signal he heard you.

God, you can already feel your palms start to get sweaty. The red on your face could probably be written off as sensitivity to the cold winter air outside, but you're done for if someone notices you wiping your hands on your coat too many times.

"Did you come with Hange?" You ask, eyes still on Hange in the distance.

"Yes. I was supposed to come with someone else, but he had a work emergency and sent Hange instead. They're probably trying to see if our reservation is still fine now that we're a person short. If I knew that Hange was going to be the one driving me, I would've just walked over here myself."

Okay, well, now you know for sure he's Shorty.

You laugh a little at his reply before tucking your hands into your coat pockets.

"That's Hange's driving for you," you start. "Have they ever talked about me before?" You question, deciding to try and gauge his opinion of you from Hange's stories of you. You see him nod from the corner of your eye.

"If you're the neighbor who lets them run around wild with a sugar rush practically every other day, then yeah, they've talked about you plenty," he remarks.

You laugh awkwardly, eyes shifting to the floor. "Good to know."

Definitely not good to know, but you weren't gonna let anyone but you know that.

Before either of you can try and save the conversation, Hange waves their arms high up in the air to get the two of you to the desk where the host is waiting with menus tucked under his arm. You and Levi walk towards them, not much distance between you and him, and the four of you are seated at a fancy booth. Hange and you sit on the same side while Erwin and Levi are seated across from you, with Levi right across from you.

There goes any chance of avoiding eye contact with him.

To buy yourself some time away from his steely gaze, you open the menu to look at the options.

Alright, you weren't actually looking at the menu. You looked it up online when Hange texted you where you were going, and you already picked out what you wanted before today. It seems that Erwin also knows what he wants, not bothering to even pick up his menu.

"Is it alright if we call you Astraea, then, seeing as we're not at work?" He asks.

You look across the table at him, glad to see that Levi brought the menu up over his face so you couldn't see each other, and nod. "Yeah, that's fine."

Hange bumps your shoulder with theirs and asks you to help them choose between the two dishes they want, and once they choose one of them, Erwin flags over the waiter.

You think it's weird that he doesn't wait for Levi to tell him he's finished looking at the menu, but you don't want to question it.

After everyone informs the waiter of what they want, he takes your menus away and comes back seconds later with napkins, both cloth and paper ones, and silverware. Out of habit, you immediately start tearing at the paper napkin to form a long strip.

"You still make those?" Erwin asks. 

You absentmindedly nod, starting to tie the small loop at one end to start the star.

"She does it everywhere we go! I have a vase of them at my place, it's a really cute decorative piece to have," Hange praises, looking over at you with their face leaned into their hand.

"I have a jar of them on my work desk, and I've gotten quite a few compliments from clients about it over the years," Erwin adds, now also watching you form the small trinket.

You finish rolling up the strip, tucking it into itself, and pinching the corners before handing it to Hange, just as you always do when the two of you are out together. This time, however, instead of putting it into their coat pocket as they usually do, they hold it in their palm and stick their arm out across the table in front of Levi, who blankly looks between the star and Hange.

"Why are you giving it to me?" He questions.

Hange groans and gets up a bit from their seat to get closer to him. "I have more than enough at home already, and Erwin seems like he does too. Just take it!"

Levi rolls his eyes but goes to grab the star from them, placing it down on the table. You didn't think he'd take it at all, but you were even more sure that he would just leave it there after dinner was over.

Hange turns their attention back to you, eager to get a conversation going at the table. "So now that I know you work with Erwin and I don't need to introduce the two of you to each other, let me tell you about Levi!" They start. "I don't know if you remember, but Levi's the one I call 'Shorty!'"

You nod at that, having figured that out already. You look back over at Levi who seems to just be looking outside a window across the restaurant.

Seeing as Levi and Shorty were the same person, you suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and become acquainted with him.

Maybe becoming friends would help force your budding attraction to him down, and seeing him every week wouldn't be so stressful on your heart. The heat on your face has cooled down significantly now that you've had a moment to get settled into your environment, but there's probably still a light tint on your face that you'd probably never be able to get rid of with Levi around. If distance made the heart grow fonder, proximity should do the opposite, right?

"It's nice to meet you, Levi," you offer with a smile.

He lets his eyes trail back to you before scoffing and going back to looking outside the window. "Thanks, Four Eyes, for introducing me as a Shorty," he sarcastically says. There's a pause where nobody speaks before Levi opens his mouth again. "And is it really your first time meeting me if we see each other on the bus every week?"

You stop breathing momentarily, letting the question sink in. You awkwardly laugh for what feels like the hundredth time today.

So he does recognize you? Go figure.

"I guess not, but it's nice to finally know your name."

He nods and looks over at Erwin whose eyes were already on the raven-haired man.

"What are you looking at me like that for, fucker?"

Erwin chuckles at that, giving his friend a good-natured pat on his back. "C'mon, Levi. Be a bit nicer," he lightly scolds.

"Yeah, Levi! She's probably already terrified of you!" Hange adds.

Levi makes eye contact with you at that, seemingly trying to gauge your own opinion of him.

You raise your hands slightly up off the table in defense. "It's fine, guys! He's right, we do see each other every so often. And the client I had last week was far scarier than Levi, I think I can handle him," you joke, trying to lighten the mood.

Hange laughs at that, as does Erwin. Levi doesn't offer up any sign he thought your comment was funny, but you notice that his frown has been replaced with a neutral expression.

Until the food arrives, you and Erwin discuss some matters from work. You feel a bit guilty for having brought up that you had a bad experience with a client, since now Erwin is determined to get you to talk about it with upper management. You most definitely won't, but something tells you that he will, being who he is. Hange is listening along to your conversation, giving their own opinion or cracking a joke here and there while Levi remains quiet. Whether or not he's listening, you can't tell.

The food arrives just as you and Erwin finish talking about work. As the four of you eat, the conversation is shifted once again towards Levi.

"So, what do you do for work, Levi?" You ask cautiously, trying to find a way to include him.

His eyes don't come away from the plate of carbonara in front of him, which you're grateful for because it means you wouldn't be making eye contact again. "I'm a professor at the University downtown," he says monotonously.

"Levi, please! Give her something to work with! Astraea, he teaches architecture at Sina University on top of doing freelance work!" Hange praises.

Your eyebrows furrow as you try to put together the pieces of information you're receiving about the man.

You did your Juris Doctorate degree at Paradis Law School, but some of your professors held lecture at the Sina campus because it was further downtown and closer to their own law offices. You knew how hard it was to try and find parking at Sina, even with the parking pass you bought during your first term. You had to call the finance office several times to try and cancel it after realizing how useless it was.

He probably took the bus to and from Sina's main campus to avoid the hassle of parking.

After you were happy with the conclusion you came to, you stew a bit in the information again, this time thinking about how you would've loved to have a professor as gorgeous as Levi when you were a student. You were never one to skip class, even when you went through periods of extreme burnout, but you knew you never would've even considered ditching if lugging yourself to class meant you got to see him.

"It's really impressive that you're a professor. You probably take the bus because of how shit the parking is, right?"

At the mention of the parking conditions, Levi finally looks up from his food to scowl in your direction. You assume it's to show his disdain for the actual parking (because the other possibility is that he's annoyed at your question).

"The absolute fucking worst. I thought I was safe because I have a staff parking pass, but no. Those childish, good-for-nothing brats would even take the last parking spot right in front of my fucking eyes," he griefs. At the mental image of an unlucky student parking and running off to avoid the wrath of a random professor, you let a full, hearty laugh escape your mouth. You don't bother covering your mouth as you laugh, having already finished chewing before Levi even answered your question. Erwin and Hange join you in your jovial giggling, and they both chastise Levi for slandering the poor students.

You can't see whether Levi's smiling or not, seeing as he brought up his cloth napkin to cover the lower part of his face, but you're sure he's just doing that to hide his mouth while he chews his food.

The rest of the dinner went smoothly—much more smoothly than you anticipated.

Everyone contributed in some way or another to the steady conversation, and the anxious feeling Levi brought you over the course of the last couple of months dissipated the further into the night you got. You didn't get to learn much more about him, though. The conservation turned over to Hange, who mostly talked about work and their coworkers, but everyone at the table knew more than enough about their antics to be able to comment on the stories they were telling. Even Levi let a small smile slip onto his face every once in a while.

Hange suggests that the four of you let the waiter do a "credit card roulette" to end the night, and you assume that Erwin and Levi are used to this because they both reach into their wallets wordlessly to give their cards to Hange. Thankfully, they see your confusion and don't laugh at you for it.

"Whenever we hang out, we let the waiter blindly choose which card to pay the bill with. If you're not up for it, that's fine, but it's always a great deal of fun," Erwin says, explaining what the three of them are about to do.

"It's fun for you guys, I fucking hate doing this," Levi grumbles.

Hange laughs at that and hunches over, hand to their chest. "Good one, Levi! Astraea, don't listen to him! He's only salty because his card always gets chosen!"

You smile at Levi sympathetically and move to your purse to get your own card and hand it to Hange, deciding to join in on the "fun."

Hange cheers at your participation, and so Erwin again flags over the waiter to choose between your cards.

Hange probably coached the waiter into choosing the Chase Sapphire card when they left the table to go to the bathroom earlier, though, because it's Levi's card that gets chosen.

You see him sigh in frustration across from you, pinching the bridge of his nose, and Hange breaks out into yet another fit of laughter. You aren't really all that surprised that Levi's card gets chosen, but you join in on the moment and laugh with them, and Erwin soon also joins with a deep chuckle and some words of sympathy for Levi's bank account.

Before the receipt comes back and Levi is able to sign off on it, Hange suggests that the rest of you leave for the waiting area to avoid the guilt of seeing Levi cover such a large bill, but you decline and say you'll keep him company. Levi looks pretty confused, but he doesn't protest, and so Hange and Erwin scurry off to the front of the restaurant to wait while you and Levi sit in silence.

When the waiter comes back with the receipt and places it on the table, you grab it before Levi gets the chance to sign his name.

"What do you think you're doing?"

You hold out your pointer finger to him, effectively shushing him as you look at the total and dig into your purse to get your wallet. Your friends are usually quick to question you about why you even keep cash on you, but you always have it in case of situations such as this one. When you get enough money to cover just a little more than half the bill, you hold it out in front of Levi and give him a tight-lipped smile.

"I feel pretty bad about having you pay for my food when you don't really know me," you reason, still waiting for him to take the bills in your hand. He seems pretty caught off guard, but he makes no move to take it from you. "You and Erwin probably didn't know I was coming until a day or two ago anyway, so think of it as me apologizing for intruding on your plans."

He doesn't look offended, but he still doesn't do anything to indicate he's willing to take the money. Instead, he stands up and leans over to grab the receipt tray from you. Sitting back down, he signs his name and motions for a waiter to come over. The waiter looks a bit confused as to why you have so much money out when the bill was already paid, but he thanks you for dining with them and leaves.

Levi looks at you for what feels like an eternity before he speaks up. "There were no plans to intrude on. Hange texted us on Friday at damn near midnight to tell us we had to come to dinner with them and their friend on Sunday."

You blink slowly. And again. And again. You don't say anything, but as the silence grows, you're suddenly aware that he's been looking at you for a good while, and you can feel that all too familiar heat on your face again.

"My best guess is just as good as yours as to why they decided to introduce all of us so suddenly," he says, trying to ease your confusion.

Except he's wrong.

You know why Hange organized all this: it was to get you a chance to meet the handsome stranger you told them about just 2 days ago. 

You're finally able to gather the words you want to say after a good second, but not before you let yet another anxious laugh past your lips.

"Still, I feel pretty guilty that you're paying," you say softly, your cash still outstretched to the man in front of you. He sighs at your words.

"Don't feel bad about it, I don't mind," he starts. He sees that you're still unwavering in your resolve and continues. "But I appreciate the gesture. If you're so worried about it, let the waiter play roulette with your card again next time," and with that, he pushes your hand back towards you.

You're already too flustered for your face to get even more red than it already is, but his touch made it seem like it was possible. And what was it he said? Next time? Would you be meeting with him in this group again? Would you even be opposed to that?

No. No, you already thought to yourself it would be nice to befriend him, even before you knew who he was.

Desperate to get some air, you sheepishly shove your cash back into your purse, not bothering to put it back neatly into your wallet, and get up from the table.

"Alright, I'll do that then," you say.

He nods in return and starts getting up himself. Once he's up on his feet, you start heading over to where Hange and Erwin should be. You notice that Levi's eyes are lingering in the direction you just came from, so you tap his shoulder to get his attention.

"Did you forget something at the table?" You ask.

He hesitates a moment before nodding, saying a quick "go ahead" to you before walking back to where the lot of you just sat.

You, not wanting to be inconsiderate, stay put and wait for him to return. Soon enough, you see him come back with a hand in his pants pocket, and the two of you continue the trek over to your friends. You don't remember feeling like the walk was so far, but you could probably chalk that up to the fact you were completely stuck in a daze earlier. You still were, to some degree, but it was to a much lesser one now.

When you catch sight of each other, Hange gives you a huge smile just as they do every time they see you, and the four of you head out of the door, thanking the man holding it open. Everyone's car in different areas around the building, so you all have to exchange pleasantries before heading your separate ways.

You hug Hange goodbye first, and they thank you for coming along to dinner. You thank them for inviting you as well, and Hange immediately moves to say goodbye to Levi, leaving you to send off Erwin.

"I didn't expect you to be who Hange was bringing, but it was nice seeing you," he says, extending a hand out for you to shake.

You accept it firmly, and you smile up at him. "I didn't think I'd ever catch you outside of work either, but yeah. It was nice," you reply.

He returns the smile you give him, and Hange comes over to the two of you to nudge you over towards Levi and take your previous spot in front of Erwin.

You didn't think Levi seemed like the type to care for physical touch, despite the earlier exchange you had at the table, so you don't offer him a hand or hug. Instead, you bring your hand up to give him a wave. You get a nod in return, which you'll take as his own way of saying goodbye.

"You know Hange's gonna drag you around everywhere with us now, right?"

You chuckle at that and look up at the dark sky above you, your hands in your pockets. They're no longer as clammy as they were when you first made eye contact with Levi, thankfully, but the warm of your coat is still very much welcome.

"Yeah, but I think I'll manage."

Just barely out of your line of vision, Levi's expression gets just that tiny bit more peaceful, and he joins you in looking up at the sky. He mumbles something under his breath, but you don't quite catch it.

After one last goodbye to everyone, Erwin walks across the street, Hange and Levi head over to the valet area, and you walk over to your car parked a little bit down the road. As you sit down and position yourself to back out of your parking spot, you let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding.

There's a heat that creeps its way back to your ears and cheeks, just as it does every time you think of the handsome stranger from bus 143, but for the first time, you don't feel inclined to try and to get rid of it.

✰

Next Chapter

[ramblingsofafanatic]

WIP Game

Thank you @martianbugsbunny and @seth-shitposts for tagging me (both here and my main account)! I've hit a bit of an art/writers block so maybe this will help me get out of it. (Please i have too many wips save me)

Rules: In a new post, list the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

I have quite a bit so i'll organize them below a read more, because ive decided to hell with it have the name of all 61 of my wip files from various fandoms xD. Theyre not all like the official title - just the document names.

Also since I have so many WIPs, i am tagging anyone who sees this and wants to do it! I'm being serious if no one else has tagged you directly please take this as your opportunity to talk about your wips (and like you can tag me as the person who tagged you so i can ask you about your wips? please?)

We will put these in the order of what i think will be most interesting to people, not necessarily the order of my personal interests rn lol

Kalluzeb:

1. Part 4 - I Love You (I Know You 'verse)

2. Adoption fic

3. Autistic!Kallus

4. Bedtime

5. Caf Shop AU

6. Lasat-Cat Likeness

7. part-time soulmate, full time problem

8. are you okay?

DinLuke:

9. "You will be the end of me"

10. A merry, crackling fire

11. Assassination attempt

12. Bed rest

13. Broken bone

14. Chronic pain

15. Crying

16. Death of a sibling

17. Identity Crisis

18. Imposter Syndrome

19. Loneliness

20. Making Out

21. Scars

22. Sleeping on the couch

23. Social Anxiety

24. Warm Blankets

Newmann:

25. Taking Care

26. There are many benefits to being a marine biologist

Danbert:

27. Dan doesn't need to know. but he finds out anyways.

28. Dan praise kink testing

29. Herbert Nightmares

30. Megan's brother

31. puns

PatCap

32. Professors!AU

Codywan:

33. ORDER 66 BECAUSE PAIN

34. Royalty/Bodyguard AU

Obikin:

35. Modern!AU

Hankcon:

36. Baked With Love

Good Omens:

37. Season 2 fix-it

TBB

38. Platonic Techo

Balaine (my oc world)

39. Valyra and Nomi

40. Cities and Towns Descriptions

41. Customs and Rituals Ideas

42. History of Balaine

Other Original Stories

43. Adalia

44. Dear Ceylan

45. Nick Of Time

46. Favourite Record

Thrawn x Reader

47. Empire Doesn't Have Sick Days

48. Looking For This?

TBB x Reader (really inventive titles with these ones)

49 The Tech Hug Research Proposal

50. Crosshair 1

51. Echo 1

52. Hunter 1

53. Tech 1

54. Wrecker 1

Kallus x Reader

55. kallus x reader

Prequels

56. anakin x reader

57. anakin x padme x reader

58. would you do the same for me? (obiwan x reader)

The Sandman:

59. 5 times you kiss morpheus and 1 time he kisses you

Shame fics (its piss kink im sorry)

60. Shame xD (Kalluzeb)

61. Listen... dont read this filth (Danbert)

AND DONE!! Bet you thought i was lying about the 61 wips huh? i was tempted to cut out quite a bit of these but as i said earlier: fuck it have fun go for it, plenty to choose from.

[violetsareblue-selfships]

1 8 15!

-selfshippery

I'll answer for my Heikazuscara polyship :3

How did you get together? Tell the story in as much or as little detail as you’d like!

I have a fic for this (not posted yet I don't think) but uhh... so me & Kazu got together first (essentially high school sweethearts that evolved from childhood best friends so like how my genshin s/i is but in a modern au) and then in college, we end up with scara & heizou as roommates and oopsies feelings blossom.

so for the confession... kazu brings it up to me that he likes them and I think they're cute but not outright interested at that point (it's in like the first year or so of rooming with them) but I know that I will like them if that makes sense (like the crush is beginning but not fully formed). So, on a separate day, I bake cookies for everyone and we bring it up then and all agree to all date each other and see where it goes <3

8. What’s a road trip (or any equivalent) like between you guys?

Ooh, a road trip would be fun. Kazu would be happy regardless of how planned out the trip is. Heizou would have like places he wants to go see & Scara would pretend he's annoyed the whole time but he's enjoying the atmosphere. I feel like driver would rotate between all of us by like day and we'd either stay in small inns along the way or just keep driving (switching out when the current driver gets too tired). As for music... I think again it'd alternate who gets to be in charge of it. So, all-in-all a fun trip (though I think Scara'd be cranky by the end bc introvert with very minimal alone time but he could recharge at home after)

15. Assign each F/O and your S/I a Hogwarts house!

Gonna go ahead and disclaimer that I do not support JKR... still I'll answer this. My S/I is me and I was a Hufflepuff so... Scara would be either a Ravenclaw or a Slytherin, Heizou's a Ravenclaw, and Kazuha... could be any tbh; I do like either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw for him.

[liaromancewriter]

Do you think your pairing would work out in an AU? I.e. are they together because the serendipity of the universe brought them together, or was this the only way for them?

You know how in Avengers: Infinity War Dr. Strange says there is one possible victory out of 14 million outcomes? That's how I feel about Ethan and Cassie except in reverse: there are 14,000,605 outcomes of them as soulmates for life except one (You Weren't Meant For Me).

Cassie (and I) love the quote from Kiersten White in Chaos of Stars “And I’d choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I’d find you and I’d choose you.”

I don't write a lot of AUs, but I showed the possibilities in the following:

Can’t Help Falling: Ethan is well...Ethan, but Cassie is a ballerina who's in town for a performance run. I always meant to write more for this AU as I had a half-baked/almost done idea of how their relationship unfolds here.

What If?: This is a college AU series based on a reblog game question: what if they were the same age and had met in college. It also featured an end scene with Maxenna because they're meant to be together in every universe too (including in the one where Ethan and Cassie are not).

Fated: This series started as a one-shot FBI AU but soon became a trilogy. It was a lot of fun to write (and Amanda Schull has played an FBI agent in movies and TV, so not hard to imagine her in the scenes).

I have fic ideas for other AUs. There is one that I really want to write. It has Cassie as a philanthropist, running her family's foundation. Ethan is still who he is in canon, and is asked to shill for money. They meet at a fundraiser and he has preconceived notions about her. Drama ensues.

With Maxenna, I've started to explore their "what if" scenarios, starting with A Modern Fairy Tale and A Modern Romance. What if Max & Sienna meet while she's in med school? They still have a 'friends to lovers' arc, but not completely as they become lovers before it's all figured out and need to hit pause.

There's another AU idea I have for them where Sienna is a chef doing interesting experiments with molecular gastronomy in New Orleans' food scene. Max is still a Valentine and wants to woo her for his family's hotel business. He's all business and she's determined to get him to see her as a woman not an acquisition.

My blog is all about soulmates and happy ever afters, so in every scenario, my pairings will find each other.

I can guarantee you that I'm not short of ideas, just time. 🤣

Tags under the cut

Character Asks: @annfg8 @bluebelle08 @cariantha @crazy-loca-blog @coffeeheartaddict2 @doriopenheart @lucy-268 @jerzwriter @lady-calypso @mrs-ramsey @queencarb @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin @tessa-liam @trappedinfanfiction

[rex-shadao]

Whenever I hear the words "Peter and Wendy being equals", my mind begin to toy with the AU idea of Wendy leaving London and staying forever with Peter in Neverland. That is one of the two logical conclusions to the mindset, the other being Peter staying with Wendy in London.

And it's a fun idea experiment because you have to ask yourself why canonical book Wendy would choose to back to London and grow up. And what kind of characteristics would make growing up easy for her as stated in the novel? Then you have to figure out what you have to remove from Wendy's character to make her want to stay in Neverland.

And what I found is that it's Wendy's motherly qualities that allows her to embrace the idea of growing up and children of her own. She is already a motherly figure to her younger brothers. She acts as a mother to the Lost Boys. And she can relate to her care for the boys to her own mother and realize how much her mother misses her. In fact, it's the memory of her mother that prompts Wendy and her brothers to make the fateful decision of growing up. And growing up without trouble.

In the Edwardian era of London, Wendy would have no trouble growing up at all since she doesn't do anything outside of society's expectations. It's when adaptations start to modernize Wendy's character that we see cracks within the story. Making Wendy be an action-driven, adventurous, swash-buckling girl is great and gives her an equal footing towards Peter. But when you think about the time Wendy is living in, would this kind of behavior be tolerated in London society? Especially from someone expected to grow into a proper lady and mother?

The 2003 adaptation manages to retain the fact that Wendy is a storyteller and a mother first and foremost, just one with a more active imagination. But already, there were cracks in the story adaptation, not helped by the fact the 2003 adaptation also gave Peter a lot of grown up (romantic) feelings he should not be feeling if he was supposed to remain a child at the end of the movie.

If Wendy is to go even further into the badass, action girl that is equal to Peter as a partner rather than being his mother, then it makes no sense as to why she would choose to go back and grow up in London. She would just stay in Neverland and never come back beyond maybe a few visits to her parents if she remembers. Why would she return to a society that would restrict her movement and future? There's no reason for her to believe that things will get better for women's freedom in general since she doesn't have future sight.

And consequently, the 2023 Wendy's character motivations feel contrived and half-baked despite being "promoted" as equal to Peter. She goes from "I want to have adventures and not grow up" to "Peter, that is dangerous" on a dime, and the film doesn't spend a lot of time in Neverland for Wendy to actually immerse herself into this world of adventures.

As such, the decision to return to London and grow up feels less like a natural decision for Wendy to make and more like, the book ends with Wendy returning to London and growing up, so we must do the same. This is why Wendy's motherly characteristics and her desire to care children as a mother is so important to her story. It is the needed catalyst for her to accept reality. This is why for a film called Peter Pan and Wendy, it really feels more like Peter Pan and Hook because the film did spend a lot of time explaining why Hook hates being a grown up and his falling out with Peter.

All in all, the need for Wendy to Peter's equal is unnecessary because Wendy is already the main character of the story anyways. The only time where a Wendy being Peter's equal would be interesting is to explore a scenario where Wendy (or a different girl) chose to stay in Neverland with Peter. I read one such called The Wendy that Stayed, which features a modern orphan girl named Mary who is taken to Neverland and becomes Peter's actual equal. She's not really like Wendy. Quite the opposite in many ways. But she does show what kind of girl would chose to stay in Neverland rather than grow up in the real world.

I know I’ve spoken about my issues with ‘Peter Pan and Wendy’ (2023) before, both in my initial thoughts post about the film after it released and a couple of smaller comments since, but I’ve realised something this past week after rewatching the original Disney cartoon and the 2003 non-Disney live-action while sick, and I feel I need to talk about it.

It’s about Wendy Moira Angela Darling.

While I stand by that Ever Anderson was one of the highlights of the film and that she did a great job as Wendy, the Wendy in the film is not really the Wendy seen in Barrie’s book, nor the one in the play and other films adaptations. It’s a very different character in a lot of ways, and while it’s normal for characters to differ from adaption to adaptation - especially over the course of 70+ years - I feel like the Wendy seen in the 2023 is more like Jane, Wendy’s daughter, from Disney’s Return to Neverland sequel in 2002.

Let me preface by saying that I actually love Jane in the sequel as a character - I see a lot of myself in her, and while the sequel in itself is not really my favourite, I do have some nostalgia for it because I grew up with it and it’s a cute little story. I like that Jane is actually different from Wendy in a lot of ways; she’s a lot more headstrong and more of a tomboy, and while she’s also a storyteller at times like her mother (mostly to her brother Danny), she is a lot more practical I think and seems to be opposite to Wendy in that she’s trying to grow up too fast. Wendy believes in Peter Pan and doesn’t want to grow up, meanwhile Jane believes Peter Pan to be silly childish nonsense, that she has to grow up quickly and be more adult due to the war/her father being away - Wendy says to her, “you think you’re very grown up - but you have a great deal to learn”.

Obviously the 2023 Wendy doesn’t want to grow up, that’s still the same, but in terms of personality, temperament and the way she treats her brothers after the broken mirror incident (blaming John for it), she reminds me more of Jane than Wendy. Like Jane, she also doesn’t seem to have a good time going to Neverland (at least not at first?) and she seems to take on a lot more action than Wendy did in the animated film.

Of course, it’s not the first time that we’ve seen Wendy wielding a sword and fighting pirates - the 2003 Wendy was shown to play with wooden swords and use real ones, even remarking, “who are you to call me ‘girlie’?!”. I’m not saying that Wendy can’t be a sword wielding girl and fight because she can, it’s one of the additions I love the most about the 2003 film.

The problem with the 2023 version of Wendy is not her being a main character (she has always been a main character), nor her sword fighting and being generally bad-ass - it’s the erasure of the other qualities that make her Wendy Darling.

One of Wendy’s primary character traits is her mothering nature - she is very motherly to her brothers, and when she hears that the Lost Boys don’t have a mother, she’s aghast and agrees to be their mother. The whole “Peter is father, Wendy is mother” idea is clearly a reference to how kids in the playground will play games like “mummies and daddies” - kids imitating what they see around them. It’s all a big pretend game in Neverland for fun. It’s also undeniable that Wendy pretending to be the Lost Boys’ mother is clearly reflective of her own mother, who she adores and is portrayed as the loveliest lady ever, and how she’s imitating Mrs Darling in a lot of ways during this “game” - singing to them, telling them stories, medicine etc.

Some would argue that Wendy is “forced” into being the “mother” and that while all the boys are off having fun, she’s left playing house, which I understand. But what a lot of modern audiences and filmmakers don’t understand these days is that motherhood is NOT an anti-feminist idea - there seems to be this view that portraying a girl wanting to be a mother or expressing the wish to be married/have children is some old-fashioned misogynistic notion, which is absolutely bizarre to me.

As a feminist myself, I believe that there is no clear cut definition of “womanhood” or what it means to be a strong woman with autonomy. Some women want to have careers and not have children, and that’s fine; some women want to have children, that’s fine; some women want both, and that’s fine. What matters is that it’s the woman who is deciding what she wants.

For me, Wendy has always been this remarkable and extraordinary character to look up to because she chooses to grow up - and for her, that means having her own children to tell her stories to. That’s what she wanted, that’s why she went back to England, and that’s part of her character arc, realising that by growing up she has things to look forward to.

For some reason, when 2023!Wendy thinks “happy thoughts” to make herself fly when being walked off the plank, her vision for the future that she looks forward to involves piloting automobiles that haven’t even been invented yet and then dying alone? Which… I mean, if that’s how someone wants to live then fair enough but that’s not Wendy. That’s not the Wendy Darling I grew up loving.

A lot of my issues with the 2023 version of Wendy do in fact link with other issues of the film in general: the Lost Boys including girls, for example. Like I get wanting to be inclusive, and I 100% wanted to be a Lost Girl growing up, but the Lost Boys are boys for a reason (“girls are much too clever to fall out of their prams”), and when Wendy arrives it’s a huge deal because they’ve never actually lived with girls before, and the only concept of girls they have is their memories of “mother”, which is why Wendy becomes their mother figure - because they literally don’t have any other female figures in their lives to compare her to other than the tiny scraps they remember of their mothers.

There’s also the issue of the thing prompting Wendy not wanting to grow up being changed; in the original, it’s because it’s her last night in the nursery and moving from the nursery - aka the room she has spent her entire life thus far in - to her own room is a HUGE transitional worry that a lot of kids probably go through (usually it’s in the form of moving from toddler beds to big kid beds but still). In the 2023 version, she’s being sent off to boarding school for some reason which doesn’t really make sense to me because the Darling parents a) are so poor they have to have a dog as a nursemaid and b) love their children so much that they would never do that to them. I’m not saying that being shipped off to boarding school ISN’T a worry for a young girl or a huge deal, but it isn’t one that I think necessarily fits with the story.

There’s the fact that Wendy is no longer the storyteller; in most versions, the reason Peter visits the nursery is because he likes her stories. Instead, the reason he comes to the nursery is not because he likes her stories but because he used to live in the house? And instead of bringing her to Neverland to tell stories, he comes to take Wendy away as he apparently heard her saying she didn’t want to grow up? It just doesn’t sit right with me, but maybe that’s just my opinion.

Also, for some reason, Wendy and Peter don’t actually seem to like each other at all in the 2023 version - I’m not saying there should have been romantic hints or whatever, but even just in a friendship way they really don’t seem to care in any way about each other. They just seemed rather indifferent towards each other, and it’s kind of jarring to see.

In some ways, I feel like 2023 Wendy was made a little too bad ass and on the nose super feminist: “this magic belongs to no boy!”, slapping Peter across the face (which was just…??? Why?!?!), constantly criticising Peter/Neverland, having WAY more action and heroic moments than Peter Pan himself… maybe in a different story it could have worked but for this one, it came across forced at times, like they were intentionally trying to show “look! Look how badass she is! She can fight off grown men all by herself! She doesn’t need a boy to help her! She can do everything by herself!”

This is why I feel like the 2003 version of Wendy is the best one (so far): while they modernised her slightly by making her sword fight and express an ambition to write novels about her adventures, she was still a storyteller and motherly figure to the Lost Boys/her brothers. For me as a child, seeing Wendy be the storyteller and her journey of acceptance about having the grow up was really important to me because I could completely relate to it.

Of course, I recognize I’m very biased because this is the one I grew up with (along with the animated Wendy of course) so I’d be interested to hear other people’s thoughts!