#I work at a museum and can confirm

[deadrlngers]

literally biting screaming losing my mind to hear back from the museum

[catenary-chad]

Because circus trains are a popular OC choice in this fandom, here’s a page with a crapton of photos and info on the Ringling Bros ones. The Blue Unit one from 2012 is a standout because it has rare interior pics and a ton of interviews and info.

They have a lot of very interesting specialized cars with a ton of potential that people may not know about (and most of them had previous lives as something else like a baggage car, and after the circus got repurposed by tourist railroads). Super fascinating to see private and sleeper cars that aren’t luxurious and more like mobile homes on rails meant for long-term stays.

[clerc16]

EVERYONE ADORES YOU (AT LEAST I DO)

3 times in which charles tried to win Y/N over, and the 1 time she caved in.

pairing: charles leclerc x fem!reader

warnings: none.

Liked by charles_leclerc, yourbsf and 61, 780 others

yourusername life recently 🌸

charles_leclerc cute

charles_leclerc hi Y/N

yourusername hey

charles_leclerc you look cutee

yourusername well aware you mentioned it before but thank you

yourbsf gorg!!!!

yourusername all youuu!!

user6 i bet charles is screaming crying throwing up because Y/N was not this enthusiastic whilst replying to him

pierregasly i can confirm

maxverstappen i can also confirm

oscarpiastri me too

charles_leclerc not cool guys. not cool.

user8 i love how honest the drivers are

user9 and how honest charles is too because she IS looking cute

francisca.cgomes miss you!!!

yourusername miss you more love! meet soon?

charles_leclerc meet at an f1 race! fun and exciting

user1 i find it hilarious how Y/N is ignoring all of charles’ attempts

user4 literally giggling i love her

user5 my mother

Liked by charles_leclerc, francisca.cgomes and 91, 719 others

tagged: francisca.cgomes

yourusername day out with my love 💞💓💖

francisca.cgomes the best time ever as always <3

yourusername mwah!

pierregasly please stop stealing my girlfriend from me

yourusername she is MY gf 🤫

francisca.cgomes honestly pierre don’t disturb us

pierregasly get yourself a real partner and STAY AWAY FROM HER

charles_leclerc i volunteer as tribute

maxverstappen charles, no

user9 Y/N i beg you give charles a chance

oscarpiastri Y/N i am begging you too

alexalbon me too. i am tired of this.

scuderiaferrari same.

charles_leclerc what a duo!!! f1 race next? ;)

yourusername No sorry

user6 Y/N LMFAOOOO

user3 oh poor charles

user0 i just heard charles scream loudly into his pillow

arthur_leclerc spoiler alert: he did

user1 mothers are mothering !!!!

user4 charles baby i think you need to start giving up now

charles_leclerc never back down never what

user4 he’s completely lost the plot

charles_leclerc wow 😍

yourbsf get a job stay away from her!!!

Liked by charles_leclerc, scuderiaferrari and 117, 931 others

yourusername spontaneous museum day out

charles_leclerc if you were a painting you would be a masterpiece

yourusername pipe down, leclerc

charles_leclerc :(

yourusername sad faces do NOT work on me 💪

scuderiaferrari just say yes. the whole team is begging you.

maxverstappen not part of the team, but i am begging you too.

pierregasly i cannot be seen in ferrari red, but i beg you too.

alexalbon not a spot of red in my team but i also am begging you to say yes.

oscarpiastri yeah what they all said

francisca.cgomes take me with you next timeeee

yourusername come to monaco!!!

yourbsf do not forget to invite me omg

user1 all the drivers have lost it i am LOVING this

user7 charles is always so down bad in her comments it is hilarious

charles_leclerc my pain is NOT funny.

yourusername it truly is, leclerc

charles_leclerc omg heyyy Y/N

charles_leclerc yk race weekend is coming up right?????? 😁😁😁

yourusername don’t count on me

lewishamilton i didn’t want to involve myself in this but Y/N please say yes before next season comes because i cannot handle him crying in the garage

yourusername omg lewlew whatever u say king!

charles_leclerc SO YOU’RE COMING TO THE NEXT RACE?

yourusername don’t tell lewis i said this, but no

pierregasly ENDED HIM

charles_leclerc shut up pierre

user6 CHARLES FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE IN THESE COMMENTS BRO

user3 Y/N eating as always!

user9 WHY ARE WE NOT DISCUSSING CHARLES’ DISGUSTING PICK UP LINE IM CRYING HES SO CORNY

yourusername i know right, flattering me tho

charles_leclerc am i seeing this correctly? flattering? you’re flattered?

yourusername don’t you have a job to attend to?

charles_leclerc YOURE FLATTERED

scuderiaferrari he’s squealing in the middle of a meeting, calm down please.

lilymhe i miss youuuu

yourusername soooon <3

user8 wait i might be reaching do you think Y/N caved in

user1 no she is NOT that easy to convince

Liked by yourusername, pierregasly and 1, 829, 191 others

tagged: yourusername

charles_leclerc pretty win in front of a pretty girl ❤️

yourusername how charming

charles_leclerc that’s all you really

yourusername why thank you charles

pierregasly WAR. IS. OVER.

francisca.cgomes my girlfriend

charles_leclerc ? stay back

pierregasly we’re in this one together mate

yourbsf you did not get a job and you did not stay away from her. ok.

yourusername it’s okay, kinda glad he didn’t

charles_leclerc ASDNDLSBLXJWOSJ

oscarpiastri FINALLY!!!!!!!!! my parents lowkey

yourusername HIGHKEY even

charles_leclerc you’re officially adopted!

maxverstappen two celebrations in one 🎉🎉🎉

lewishamilton thank you for listening to my advice, Y/N

user6 AAAHAHHAHAHAHKSLDLEKWKWKKDJSKWKJ

user2 MY ROMAN EMPIRE

user8 see guys joblessness WORKS

yourusername it does

scuderiaferrari this calls for a celebratory dinner. not because you won but because she caved in

charles_leclerc ? thanks ig?

yourusername SHHHH CHARLIE DONT SAY NO TO FREE FOOD thank you ferrari :))

user0 SHE WENT FROM LECLERC TO CHARLES TO CHARLIE AAAAAAAAA

Liked by charles_leclerc, yourbsf and 1, 693, 627 others

tagged: charles_leclerc

yourusername loser. my cute loser.

charles_leclerc YOURS

yourusername yes!!!!

pierregasly my job here is done

yourbsf so adorable actually

charles_leclerc is this the comment of approval?

yourbsf possibly

charles_leclerc VAMOS

francisca.cgomes you are still my girlfriend tho

yourusername absolutely

charles_leclerc No

pierregasly NO.

user3 HER 😭 CUTE 😭 LOSER 😭

user7 charles i am so sorry for bullying you

user2 the real question is how did he pull her with no flirting abilities

yourusername he’s hot so it gave him bonus points

charles_leclerc YOU THINK I’M HOT

user5 you know what. fair play charles. fair play

user1 next time i try to ask someone out i’ll use the charles leclerc technique

lilymhe MY BABIES

yourusername double date soon?

francisca.cgomes make that a triple date!

alexalbon WHAT LILY SAID

user0 officially my parents i love them a lot

── ☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★

[reidishh]

001

↳ Loss of Virginity with Aaron Hotchner

"Gonna give you all my love, boy, my fear is fading fast. Been saving it all for you, 'cause only love can last." - Madonna, Like a Virgin.

CONTENT/WARNINGS. Prelude to Smut (18+ mdni); Slight Dom/Sub Dynamics.

WC. 0.6K

AUTHORS NOTE. A light start to kinkmas. This is probably the worst thing I've ever written, but I want it out of the way, so enjoy.

kinkmas '24 masterlist

Aaron was beginning to believe there was no view more beautiful than you perched on his lap, skin flushed, lips kiss-bitten. You were a work of art - painted by Monet, sculpted by Conova. You belonged in a museum, put on display to be adored and revered for centuries to come. 

You were positively bewitching.

You wore Aaron’s navy GWU Law sweatshirt, something you had found shoved in the back of his wardrobe, discarded and forgotten. He wore it often during his time as a law student - it was one of his favorites, though he’d wager that it wouldn’t fit his filled out frame anymore. Aaron loved the way it looked on you, he loved the way seeing you in it made him feel.

Aaron’s hands rested against your thighs, his fingertips teasing against your soft skin, his cock hard and straining against the front of his pants as you unwittingly pushed yourself further against him. He needed you with a fierce desperation, inhibitions be damned. He needed to taste you and to feel you and to hear you. He needed to worship you. Aaron needed to know that you needed him, that you wanted him - he needed to know you were sure. 

“Tell me what you want,” he whispered, his lips brushing against yours, the ghost of a kiss. Aaron could hear you whimper, could feel you grind your clothed pussy against him in response. His hands moved to grasp your hips, halting your tantalizing movements. “You have to say it; I have to hear you say it.”

Your skin flushed a deeper shade of red at the prospect of voicing your desire, of telling Aaron all the places you wanted him to touch you, all the ways you wanted him to take you. 

“Aaron…” you murmured, your heart racing - a ceaseless, unrelenting cadence against your ribcage. You were sure - one hundred percent certain - that you wanted this, that you wanted him to be your first. But, then, there it was… that small, nettlesome flicker of hesitation that kept you from speaking your wants and needs into existence. 

Aaron - damn him and his profiling abilities - caught your hesitation, his grip on you relaxing, his brows furrowing in rumination. “We’re not going to do anything you don’t want to,” the man affirmed, his eyes boring into yours. “If this is too much, too soon… if you want to stop, just say the word. Nothing has to happen tonight.”

“And if I don’t want to stop?”

“We’ll move at your pace,” Aaron promised, face relaxing. “Whatever you want, whenever you want it - it’s yours.” 

His words - the confirmation that this moment was yours, that every passing second and miniscule action would be tailored to your wants and needs… it smothered that flicker of hesitation. 

His words were your green light. 

You bent down, capturing Aaron’s lips in a heated kiss. He tasted like the cheap red wine you had picked up from the convenience store - the wine itself was far too bitter for your liking, though it tasted satisfyingly sweet on his tongue. 

You were an addict. You could kiss him forever, you could lose yourself in everything that was him. 

Your hands left his shoulders, trailing over his chest and stopping at the waistband of his slacks. Your fingertips dipped beneath the waistband as you flirted with the idea of freeing his cock from its confines, delighting in the feeling of Aaron’s teasing smile against your lips.

“I want you,” you admitted, quiet, pleading. “Now. Please.”

Aaron gripped your hips tighter, his fingers digging into your bare flesh as he pulled you further against him. “Take what you want,” he implored. “You’re in control.”

[7ndipity]

BTS As Girl Dads

Ot7 x Reader

Summary: Headcanons about how the members would each handle being girl dads

Warnings: none

A/N: Thanks to @coffeedepressionsoup for this request! This got me soo in my feels, they’d all be such great dads(I may have gone a lil self indulgent but who cares lol). Obviously, some/most of these could also apply to any kid, regardless of gender, but for the sake of the Hc, we’re focusing on daughters

Masterlist

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Jin:

He’s honestly such a girl dad, argue with the wall

I totally see him wholly embracing the title and all the things that are typically considered ‘girly’, like pink and sparkles and all that

He would indulge every single one of her interests. She likes animals? They’re going to the zoo every weekend. She likes music? He’s signing her up for lessons for whatever instrument she’s into

I have this mental picture of them sitting on her bed together while he’s reading her bedtime stories, using all these silly voices and wearing one of her princess hats or something bc she insisted he needed for the character and just-😭

Yoongi:

Yoongi would be the softest girl dad ever, like she had him wrapped around her finger from day one. He took one look at her tiny little scrunched up face, that reminded him waay too much of his own expression when he’s annoyed, and he was a goner

I see him just sitting soo patiently while she gives him makeovers, wearing like three different pairs of clip-on earrings at the same time

He would really focus on teaching her to stand up for herself and makes sure she never takes any shit from anyone

He might come off a little stern sometimes, but it’s just because he worries and wants the best for her

Hobi:

Okay, Hobi as a girl dad might be one of my favorite headcanons, bc he’d be soo fucking sweet with them!

The tea party King. Like he shows up dressed in the most ridiculous outfits to make her giggle, and ready to talk imaginary gossip with her and any plushies that are joining them🤭

He would love shopping with/for her, constantly trying to find the coolest outfits or pieces for her, and they would definitely wear matching outfits when she was little(she would be the best dressed toddler ever, lol)

I also see him being quite protective of her at times, being super nervous/worried about her doing things like riding a bike for the first time or on her first days of school

Namjoon:

Omg Namjoon as a girl dad would be soo fucking protective. Like if someone does anything to hurt or upset her, they’re fucked

I see him loving daddy-daughter days out together, taking her to the park or museums or bookstores, really just wanting to indulge her curiosity and interests

Like Yoongi, he would really work to make sure she knows how to stand up for herself, as well as others

For all of his sternness tho, he would have the biggest soft spot for her, he’s 100% the type to let her have dessert before dinner or something bc she gave him puppy eyes

Jimin:

Omg he’s soo girl dad coded, like it’s not even funny(he literally confirmed that on that ep of “are you sure?” like 🥺)

He would treat her like a little princess, doting on her at every possible opportunity, buying her toys/clothes/treats, taking her on special outings, etc. If she wants something, he will do whatever he can do give it to her

He would not be able to stand seeing her in any sort of pain. Like even her just having a scraped knee would make him slightly misty-eyed, even tho she’s not upset/crying about it

I see them having lots of long talks about whatever’s on her mind. He would really strive to be her safe place to ask questions about anything, from school and friends to life and the future

Taehyung:

I see him being an amazing girl dad! He has this amazing, comforting dynamic with the girls that he’s worked with/is friends with, so I can only imagine how supportive he would be with his own daughter

He would be so indulgent in whatever she wanted. Ice cream before bed? Heck yeah, let him grab a spoon too. She wants a new plushie/toy even tho she just got one like yesterday? Well, the new one needs a friend, soo-

But he would still have his more stern/protective moments with her, just moreso in little ways like making sure she’s always wearing her helmet and elbow/knee pads, brushes her teeth, does her homework, etc

He would play along with all/any of their imaginary games, fully committing to the role(and adding waay too many silly death/fainting scenes bc they make her laugh)

Jungkook:

Junkook would absolutely adore a daughter. Like she would be his little princess and anyone/anything that upsets her will have to answer to him.

On the flip side of that protectiveness tho, he is so unbelievably gentle with her. As an infant, he handled her like she was made of glass, and as she grows up, he would always speak to her in a softer tone than he uses for anyone else 

(Also dodon’t think about him singing her to sleep every night as an infant. Getting up with her in the middle of the night and walking her around the house, singing to her softly till she drifts back off to sleep in his arms)

He would love teaching her things and playing games with her(I totally picture him teaching her boxing in tiny and falling over all dramatic when she lands a hit, lol)

Taglist: @sopebubbles-replies @btsw1fe @this-must-be-my-tardis @whitefoxgirl @bethanysnow @coffeedepressionsoup @main-bangtansmauyeondan @feminympho @classicalelephant @dfqcsqueen @mother2monsters @comingupwithacoolnameishard @universal-travel-er @bo0ghol @captainorangegoose @k4ngelz

[h3nderyss]

you as wayv's 7th member (headcanons)

pairing: ot6 x fem!reader . . . masterlist . . . 127 ver dream ver genre: fluff a/n: romantic headcanons for each member if you were the 7th member and only girl in wayv! u can imagine if ur in a secret relationship or not!

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

kun

checks on u 24/7

PRINCESS TREATMENTTTT

like always makes sure ur comfortable no matter where u go

long walks around the city omg

would absolutely love to take u to traditional locations in china

i swear his love is like a warm blanket

u guys would always go on livestreams tg

it'd actually be surprising to the fans if once u go live without him

sometimes at practice he'd show up with ur fav food

if ur sad expect him to hold ur hand thru anything.

he makes sure ur not going through anything alone

even like predebut, yall just had a CONNECTION.

it was practically like u guys were destined to be tg, like there was just that feeling that he was the one

i can only imagine how many cdramas u guys would watch tg

ten

right off the bat expect one of his songs to be about u

he'd def call u "my love" but in thai

that's how special u are to him

oh also expect him to teach u thai too

u guys r literally THE dance duo of nct

lowkey in one of his music videos he'd want u to be a backup dancer or maybe like.. the female lead

he'd send u all of those selfies with his cats bc he knows how much u love them

whenever ur over it's like who do u love more? ten or his cats?

to which he'd be playfully jealous then shower u with kisses

whenever ur overwhelmed by work he'd insist on taking u out somewhere

honestly before he posts any selfies he'd send them ALL to u beforehand

just so that u have special access to his photos before the official release LOL

if he takes u to an art museum he'd constantly say "but you're prettier."

his tattoos r sooo special to u, and he loves it when u admire them

winwin

he's kinda reserved but when it comes to u he is SO vulnerable

he's so nonchalant lol but u know him and whatever he's feeling

nobody is as close to him as u are

he'd make sure to text u everyday no matter how busy he is

bc of actor winwin, we get CRUMBS.

but ur the only thing on his mind if he's back in china while ur in korea promoting

his actions speak volumes

if the crowd is too big somewhere he will always pull u closer

WOULD tie ur hair back for u if he sees it's bothering u during practice or whenever

honestly he didn't expect to fall for u but.. look where he is

absolutely smitten

xiaojun

his love is so intense

he'd GAZE at u whenever u talk like he'd pay no attention to anything around him

he'd cuddle up to u just like a cat

he's so silly like u 2 r the chaotic duo of nct

both of u are chronically online and would never miss out on a tiktok trend

he'd peck ur lips every now and then just to be silly

and always surprise u hugging u behind ur waist with NO warning

if ur relationship is public i feel you'd do lots of couple trends on tiktok too

he'd sing for u ALWAYS

ask to sing him whatever song and he will

knows all ur fav things and would do anything

pls convince him to bring back the oreo hair. (he will upon ur request)

his favourite intimate thing with u is making out lol

hendery

always makes u laugh

surprises u with plushies, knows how much u love them

during content vids fans would suspect on why he's always around u

and when he's on livestreams, he talks abt u

maybe a littleeee too much...

omg whenever he sneaks looks at u it's enough to make u weak

would always find ways to cheer u up

honestly, his presence is enough!

ur relationship would be soft launched by ur matching posts on insta..

and matching clothes...

wouldd let u play with his hair, pls do it more

he's honestly like rlly touchy

i feel like sm would make a statement confirming the relationship like 2-3yrs after debut

yangyang

sooo charming

i feel like his first crush on u would develop after seeing u in the love talk mv

sends u the cutest pics of him ever

oh my god, such boyfriend material

all u want to do is just cuddle with him which is what happens 99% of the time when ur alone tg

u guys would nap often and the other members would secretly take pics

he remembers the little things abt u

ur just occupying his mind out of his own control

his confession would be bold but he's shaking and quaking inside

when he wants kiss u give kiss

bc trust me it's SO hard to resist this sweetie pie

he's so loving omg

he loves when ur hand mindlessly runs through his hair

give this boy ur attention pls

[flattocatto]

Viktor Modern!AU uni headcanons

ohhh hes in my head i have so many thoughts i have so much to say about him. you guys just let me cook. ok. okay thanks. please reblog like whatever im new here LOL

warnings/key takeaways: mention of recreational drug use, freshman/sophomore year of uni, lots of studying, goofy meet cute, oblivious nerd viktor, both of you live on campus in dorms (same building), GENDER NEUTRAL (use of ‘you’, no specific pronouns)

HE SMOKES WEED

IDGAF HE SMOKES WEED

not like some crazy stuff. no. he smokes weed ti not feel PAIN. yeah you heard me. he smokes shit w high CBD content. doesn’t smoke it for the high, smokes it to feel better

think he would have it medically and everything

ohhh uni viktor would be the only fucker allowed to smoke in his dorm because if his leg got bad how could he go outside huh?? he didn’t share this news (of him being allowed to smoke indoors) but people knew since he’d have a window cracked open all the time. not fooling anyone

on this note i feel like he would only smoke if he absolutely needed to. yk how people go “i can quit anytime!” but never do? he’s the kind of guy to say that but MEAN IT. he just prefers his joints over painkillers because he finds they work faster

ok enough weed talk. he’s getting his masters in biomedical engineering. its obvious you guys ive seen this everywhere.

he wants to make people better prosthetics. he also got a degree in prosthetics and orthotics techs but it was only a 2 year so its ‘just a paper’ as he says

he studies hardcore. its surprising he even makes friends (sorry viktor) but he saw a lot of potential in jayce as a student from people watching. like in canon au :D!

on that note, biggest people watcher. its actually kind of how he got his friends. extroverts pick up introverts from introvert daycare (the corner of the room)

relationship headcanons

if you guys were to meet, it would be one of those silly meetcute things.

hear me out. you book a study room with your friends to study for exams, but none of them show. shame. one got sick, the other had to go home to see their parents or something. all in all, you were DITCHED by your homies

now. someone coordinating the rooms messed up. viktor had that room booked the SAME time you did! gasp! he just likes the space of the rooms to properly spread out his work.

anyway you were already in the room and he shows up. and just stands there. awkwardly. standing man emoji.

instead of apologizing, he STANDS HIS MFING GROUND. “i have this room booked for three hours.”

“thats crazy because ME TOO.”

you go back and forth, before you both realize the confirmation email you got was from the same person or whatever. who had booked the room for you two. not two separate rooms.

after viktor makes a small mumble of “of course”, you offer to let him stay anyway. and explain that you originally had friends going over but they dipped.

its exam season, you aren’t leaving and you aren’t gonna kick him out! thats so cruel!!!

at the end you end up exchanging numbers. and find out you’re in the same dormitory building!!!

he invites you to study with him in a study room next time, to ‘prevent the coordinator from messing up again’ — he just likes your presence

bing bang boom friends. occasionally one of you begins to break silence, asking silly questions about futures and families and holidays. conversation is limited, you are both locked in to studying most of the time

unfortunately YOU are the one to ask him out. viktor is literally just comfortable with your presence and too in his head to think you’d ever LIKE him romantically.

you take him to a museum. yeah. the local one had a free day for students. you’re also 100% chill with sitting whenever he looked uncomfortable. even if he denied needing rest, his face did that little scrunch thing and you just knew

after that you went to the uni again, to the dining hall. and he insisted on giving you a meal off of his meal plan. he said he ‘barely uses them all anyway,’ and forces you to take it. even if it kind of wasn’t allowed. he just lied to the clerk and said he was going to take it home.

very sweet if him, breaking RULES?

thats like the only rule he breaks for you

no, he won’t let you sleep in his dorm

no, he won’t sleep in YOUR dorm either

no, he won’t sneak out past curfew

(unless ur dying)

there was a time you texted him ‘help’ at midnight and he made his way all the way to your dorm very quietly.

turns out you had burnt popcorn. and it tasted horrible and you were honestly stressed to the point of tears. he thought you had gotten hurt. he proceeded to lecture you on appropriate texts to send at midnight past curfew. for like an hour.

glorious ovulation i need to smoke with him.

[luvvyouforever]

vampire!emily prentiss

you are mine, you shall be mine, you and i are one for ever. ꨄ

-carmilla, sheridan le fanu

content: vampire au, wlw imagined when writing, lowk sugar mommy dynamic, sex, possessive, blood, feeding.

𖤐 uses her immortality to enjoy all that life has to offer. indulges in expensive trips, luxurious fabrics, international delicacies, and art collection. her home is always beautiful no matter where she lives and becomes her own personal museum. probably has storage units around the world holding her keepsakes.

𖤐 works for fun rather than for money. creates new lives for herself when she gets bored with one. essentially builds an entire character and lives as her in some new place. will change her hair or her entire style so she's not recognized.

𖤐 if she had some way to just ethically source blood like premade bags or something along those lines, she would. but if those options aren't available, she will feed and drain the worst, almost like a vigilante.

𖤐 she is suchhhh a seductress, luring people in for pleasure and company easily. all she has to do is attend an event dressed to the nines and lean against a table before she has people crawling to her.

𖤐 when she meets you, she's entranced immediately. thinks about you all night long, dreaming of touching your skin and brushing your hair away and feeling your lips on hers. she tries not to let herself wonder what your blood tastes like but she can't help it when you're close and she can smell it.

𖤐 spoils you to no end, but makes sure she's buying you the best of the best. she's so good at being rich and enjoying luxury that she practically has to teach you. she shows you what expensive fabrics feel like and makes some expensive drink for you saying this is the only way you can enjoy vodka.

𖤐 i think she confesses to you that she's a vampire rather than you finding it out in some dramatic fashion. she feels herself becoming more attached to you and she's lived so long that she knows it's better to be upfront about it to keep you.

𖤐 i like to think that if there was some way to have you eternally and let you live alongside her for the rest of her life, she would want that, but she would make sure you're really sure. eternity is not what everyone makes it out to be, she says. but she would be so heartbroken if you said no, knowing she has to watch you age.

𖤐 loves teasing you by dragging her sharp teeth along your skin, sending shivers down your entire body as you think about how powerful she is, what she's truly capable of. enjoys making you come completely undone for her.

𖤐 she has so much experience and knows exactly what to do to make your body sing for her. she can draw it out for an entire night, keeping you down on the bed, making you finish around her till you're a babbling mess. or she can take you against the kitchen counter quickly, having you leave for work in record time.

𖤐 is very possessive and claiming of you. she gets angry at someone's touch against you, even more so if they've been so close to you that she can smell them. licks along your neck, muttering 'mine' the whole way up.

𖤐 will totally gift you something that makes it glaringly clear that you're taken. she'll gift you a locket with her initial carved into it, or an ornate ring she picked up centuries ago. you wear it with pride, so happy to have been gifted something beautiful, but she's smirking as she feels her possessiveness quelled a little bit.

freaky vampire blood stuff below i'm sorry (no i'm not):

𖤐 it would take multiple conversations for her to be comfortable with feeding from you. she likes strict boundaries and open discussion and prioritizes your health over anything. she informs you about how you're gonna feel, how the process will work, everything. when she receives another confirmation from you, she can't help but feel excited that she finally gets to taste you.

𖤐 the first time she does it, she makes it an intimate experience as if it was your first time having sex. makes it dark in the room, lays you down on the plush bed and crawls on top of you. she asks for permission one more time and when you readily give it to her, she bends down and gently seeks her teeth into your neck.

𖤐 from that moment, she's obsessed. she dreams about your taste and craves it all the time. but if nothing, she's great at self-control. she holds herself off until you've recovered, then she will practically crawl to you, begging for another taste. it's the most submissive you've ever seen her.

𖤐 she lost her mind when, as she was about to cum during sex, you lifted your neck, offering her the perfect spot to sink her mouth onto. she finishes just at the moment that your blood fills her. she never wants to leave your side.

[tieronecrush]

office party

javier peña x f!reader

summary: your friend with benefits, javier, is your plus one for your dreaded office holiday party. when a coworker gets a bit too comfortable, javier steps in and shows you exactly how he feels about you.

rating: M

wc: 2.3k

warnings: alcohol use, mentions of sex, inappropriate advances from coworker, fwb, probably missing some so lmk what!!

a/n: my contribution to @pedrostories secret santa event!! was a busy holiday season so i wish i could have done more but excited to participate nonetheless. i hope you enjoy @flightlessangelwings and happy holidays to you!!! and tysm my love @northernbluess for proofing

dividers by @saradika

“Christ, where is he? Gettin’ freezing out here…” you mumble to yourself, gritted through your teeth as you stand shivering in your party attire — a tasteful black velvet cocktail dress, hem stopping a couple of inches above your knees and long sleeves with a sweetheart neckline. Fidgeting with your charm necklace, you nervously scan the entrance stairs to the history museum for the familiar face.

It’s the night before your office lets out for the holidays, and it’s also the night they host their annual holiday party. Even though it was quite the affair and your large law firm spares no expense for the event, you never really looked forward to being confronted with colleagues in ways you didn’t need to see them, and there was usually one man who would hit on you. Open bar, catered food, always in a gorgeous venue, it was a recipe for a great time or a horrible time, depending on your found company for the night. This year was the history museum, one of your favorite spots in the city. The daydreams you’ve had about taking him here pop into your mind like a flash in the pan — fleeting, and simply something to stay as a daydream.

A tinge of reluctance tugs in your gut. Was it weird to ask him here? Is he going to stand you up?

But then, there was Javier. Looking sharp as ever in a suit, one you’ve seen him in once after he stopped by yours after a late night working. Black, with a crisp white shirt and a red tie to fit into the holiday spirit. A smirk plays on his lips when he spots you, taking the stone steps two at a time as he approaches. It had taken a bit of convincing — virtually bribing — to get him to agree to be your plus one for the night, and when he did confirm that he would come along with you, the prospect of the party actually being something more bearable skyrocketed instead of the excruciating evening you usually expect.

“Hey there, querida. Why’re you waiting out in the cold for me? Debe estar congelándose. (You must be freezing.)” Javier greets you with concern knit into his brow, his big brown eyes softened and sparkling in the low streetlight. His large palms find the sides of your arms, rubbing gently to warm you up.

“Didn’t want to get pulled into the abyss alone in there,” you jest, “I don’t know if you’d have been able to find me with all the hiding I have to do from weird coworkers.”

You laugh and Javier chuckles lightheartedly, shaking his head as he relaxes in front of you. Nodding his head toward the door, he follows behind you as you lead with a hand at your lower back.

“Is there anyone I should watch out for specifically tonight? Am I gonna have to act as a bodyguard? Should I tell any of the creeps I have a gun?” Javier’s lips graze your ear as he speaks, keeping close to you when you enter and the sounds of the party erupt. A jolt runs down your spine from the intimate contact. It’s your turn to shake your head, breathing out a laugh as you limply hit your hand against his chest.

Your excitement around seeing Javier and spending more time with him was getting much more frequent and much more intense. Bordering the point where you don’t know if you can keep up the arrangement with the feelings you’re developing for him.

Friends of a few years, there’s always been a flirty undertone between you and Javier. It built up to the point that when everyone had cleared out from a dinner party at your place, Javier stayed behind to help clean up — always a gentleman — and the two of you, admittedly a bit tipsy from the wine that was flowing all night, told each other one a whim that you were attracted to each other. Both free from any ties of old relationships, you fell into an agreement: sex, great sex at that, with no strings attached. You two would remain friends and get exactly what you wanted, which was each other, without the messiness of a relationship. Something you were both jaded from.

These days, however, the lines were starting to blur on your end. Everything he did seemed to tip you further into the deep end before you finally came to terms and accepted that you had completely cannonballed into it.

Javier is a good guy. Didn’t have that reputation around town when you first met, but getting to know him in the wee hours of the morning after a few rounds, you fell fast and hard. It wasn’t until recently that you came to terms with it.

“Nobody needs the interrogation tactics or intimidation tonight, Peña.”

“Okay, okay…Tengo que asegurarme de que te traten bien. (I have to make sure you’re treated right.) One of their best employees, shouldn’t have to put up with the shit, querida.”

The air in the grand entrance of the city’s museum crackles with holiday cheer as festive decorations adorn every corner. Garland hangs around the banisters of the grand staircase that leads further into the museum, but most of the activity is in the large, marble-lined room you both stand in. Nearly every employee seems to be in attendance, people milling about in cliques and others indulging in drinking or dancing.

As both of you saunter toward the bar, the atmosphere softens with each step, the clinking of glasses and the chatter of coworkers weaving together into a cacophony of merriment. Javier grabs you two drinks, a glass of champagne for you and whiskey neat for him, toasting to the night ahead. The clinking of glasses resonates with your unspoken agreement: tonight, like every other night, would end the same way. No strings.

Amidst the swirl of laughter and twinkling lights, and the loosening power of liquor, the boundary between friendship and something deeper becomes increasingly blurred. Flirty comments dance back and forth, charged with an unspoken tension that lingers beneath the surface.

“You look beautiful tonight, cariño. How come I haven’t seen this dress before?” Javier asks, the two of you standing at a cocktail table, alone and enjoying it.

“Guess you’d have to be my plus one more often, Javi. Then you could see all the dresses in my closet,” you counter, smirking playfully and biting back the desire to mention something akin to a real date for both of you.

“Guess so, querida. Might have to make this a regular thing.” Javier sends you a wink before clinking your glasses together in another smaller toast, a smirk painting his face as he lifts the tumbler to his mouth for a sip.

With every exchanged glance and teasing remark, it’s evident that you’re tiptoeing on the edge of uncharted territory, yearning to express feelings that had long been confined. It’s unclear if Javier feels the same, but soft touches and gentle words ply you open even further, teetering with falling completely.

Then, amidst the dance of emotions and flirtations, a coworker appears in the corner of your eye, sauntering toward the table and bursting the privacy bubble that you happily curated with Javier. His name’s Jake, a man around your age who is friendly with you in the office, sociable guy with one of those “winning” personalities the partners would compliment endlessly. A guy’s guy. But one that had no problem approaching the women in the office. With a warm smile, he extends a hand towards the man at your side, introducing himself with an easy charm that seemed almost too perfect — of course, referring to Javier already as his ‘buddy’. The hint of jealousy that flickers across Javier's face doesn’t escape your notice, and you can’t help but feel a tingle of endearment for his slightly soured mood from being interrupted.

As the night progresses, Jake's alcohol-infused attempt at camaraderie with you grows increasingly unwelcome. He’d been watching you like a hawk so far, cutting in whenever Javier left to grab more drinks or when another coworker pulled his attention away to try to pick his brain about all that’s happening in the government right now. Inching closer to you, Jake leans against the hightop table, making conversation with slurred words and uninhibited want behind his eyes.

When you shift slightly away, attempting to remain civil enough at a work event, you feel yourself bump into Javier. 

At that moment, Javier turns to see if you tapped him to grab his attention, but is met with the clear look of discomfort on your face. Jake leaning in closer, eyes wandering as you responded in the conversation, clearly attempting to check you out. Frustration toward the man in front of you lit in his chest, holding himself back from confronting him and instead fully embracing his purpose for the night. If he was invited as your date, he could act like it, right?

His arm wraps around you possessively, his lips pressing kisses on your temple, and whispered words meant to keep you close. Surprised at first, but happy to feel closer to him and to relish in the protective boyfriend persona, even if it is only to keep a creep away from you.

Jake, seemingly oblivious to the change in dynamics, spoke up louder, laying a hand on your arm and squeezing, “So you ever wanna cut out of work early and get a drink? Maybe end up back at my place? You can wear that dress.”

The proposition sends a ripple of discomfort through the air. Other coworkers turn away, ignoring the advance that left you shocked and speechless. But, Javier, now fully immersed in his role, takes a stern tone, cutting in and gently maneuvering you behind him.

“Hey, cabrón, why don’t you apologize for speaking to her like that?” Javier instructs, nodding to you while your hands wrap around his arm closest to you. “Or am I going to have to find one of your supervisors and tell them all this shit myself? Don’t speak to her again, or even look at her. And I will know if you do — I’ve got eyes everywhere, buddy.”

The look on Jake’s face makes you laugh softly from behind Javier, shaking your head as he backs away and leaves with his tail between his legs. Javier turns to you, wrapping you up in one of his arms and brushing his fingers softly against your cheek.

Concern softens his eyes, the same look that he greeted you with when he found you waiting in the cold, “You alright, cariño? Fucking asshole. You shouldn’t have to deal with that, should report him or something.”

“I’m alright, Javi. Thank you…You didn’t have to—”

Javier shakes his head, smiling with one side of his mouth and kissing your forehead, “‘Course I did. Can’t let anyone talk to you like that.”

You lean into his chest and smile, lightening the mood with a playful comment, “Seemed pretty comfortable being threatening. Did it bring you back to the good ol’ days being a sheriff?”

Ever the master of evasion, Javier shrugs it off with a casual demeanor, attempting to maintain the façade of indifference with a nod, “Sure did. But they weren’t the good ol’ days.”

Hearing the smile in his voice causes a wave of affection for him that washes over you, coming to the realization that it’s either now or never. A surge of courage propels you to take the leap, confessing the fact that you see more with Javier, that you want more with him.

“I know we said no strings, and it was like that at first, but the more I’ve gotten to know you, the more I’ve found that I love you. And you can absolutely walk away and nothing will be held against you, but I can’t keep up with this if I can’t tell you how I feel.”

The atmosphere between you shifts, and for a moment, the world seems to stop entirely.

Javier's eyes softened, and with a sincerity that catches you off guard, he shares a confession too, “Querida, I fell in love with you in the first moment I met you. The second I kissed you for the first time was when I realized it. I thought maybe I could keep it all in, ‘cause I didn’t want to lose you as a friend and just as a part of my life, but I love you, cariño. Have since I heard that laugh of yours and saw that gorgeous smile. And I haven’t felt the same way I feel about you for anyone else before.”

In that moment of vulnerability, the boundaries that confined your actions shatter, opening up a door, wide and clear, for you to walk through and never close.

Away from the crowded party, you find yourselves standing in a doorway adorned with sprigs of mistletoe, a symbol of serendipity. Under the soft glow of the festive lights, Javier takes a step closer, and his lips meet yours in a gentle, lingering kiss. His hand caresses your cheek, one arm wrapping around your waist while yours rest around his neck, pulling him in for a deeper kiss.

As you break apart, Javier looks into your eyes, a sincerity shining through that mirrored the twinkle of holiday lights.

"I love you," he confesses, the words hanging in the air like the melody of a cherished carol.

“I love you, too,” you return, a glowing smile and feeling giddy for the rest of the holiday season with Javier.

taglist: @northernbluess @atinylittlepain @swiftispunk @joelsversion @mrsmando @ilovepedro @deathwife @undrthelights @atticrissfinch @casa-boiardi @wannab-urs @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @fishingforpike @msjarvis @walkintotheriveranddisappear @sugadolly @yazsos @peppesgirl @pastawench @addictedtotlou @brittmb115 @anoverwhelmingdin @spishsstuff @wolfbook87 @mswarriorbabe80 @harriedandharassed @decemberdolly @laiisleitte @fierce-bab @vickie5446 @pertinentpostmortem @livingdeadmaria @sullyosully @bitchwitch1981 @its-nebuleuse @marini03 @piercethevic03 @joeandpedrosimp @kiwisbell @planet-marz1 @txtattoostark @jrosie25 @thereaperisabitch @tbniarq @vee-bees-blog @spidermanfrog @belliezz @joelsflannel @k-k0129 @cartoon-garbage04 @bianqueee04 @nostalxgic

[estellan0vella]

Robbery Older Brother Sukuna AU HFBU Pt2

You sit at the counter of the parlour, sketching random designs in your notebook while chatting with Gojo. Your best friend since high school, Gojo recently joined the shop as a piercer, and his cheerful banter has become a daily highlight.

"Hey, Y/N/N," Gojo says, leaning over to peek at your sketches. "That's some good stuff. Ever thought about doing the tattoos?"

You laugh, shaking your head. "Nah, I'm happy just doodling. Leave the ink to the pros."

Gojo grins, his bright blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "Maybe I'll just have to convince you one day."

Across the room, Sukuna is working on a client's back piece, his concentration intense and unwavering. His presence is commanding, even when he's completely focused on his work. Toji and Geto are busy with their own clients, exchanging jokes and stories as they ink intricate designs.

The door chimes as someone walks in, and you glance up out of habit. A man stands in the doorway, looking out of place and nervous. Your eyes narrow slightly as you take in the sight of the gun he's trying to hide under his jacket.

"Uh, everybody freeze!" he shouts, pulling the gun out and waving it around.

A tense silence falls over the room, but only for a moment. Then, to the man's surprise, laughter erupts from all of you.

"Wow, seriously?" Gojo says, rolling his eyes. "Compensating much?"

Toji smirks, not even pausing in his work. "Yeah, buddy, did you lose a bet or something? That thing's tiny."

"Is that a lighter in your pocket or are you happy to see us?" Sukuna taunts.

The man blinks, clearly not expecting this reaction. His face flushes with embarrassment and frustration, his grip on the gun tightening nervously.

Sukuna leans back in his chair, a smirk playing on his lips. "I gotta say, if you're here to rob us, you could at least bring something more threatening. That little pea-shooter won't get you far."

Toji chuckles, glancing over at Geto who nods in agreement. "Seriously, man. Did you think we wouldn't notice you sneaking in here with that?"

You, still seated at the counter, can't help but join in. "And here I thought I'd seen everything in this shop. Turns out, we're now a comedy club."

Gojo, with his usual irreverence, adds fuel to the fire. "I mean, look at you. You look like a marshmallow"

"What does that even mean?" You ask with a giggle and Gojo shrugs.

The man’s face contorts with a mix of anger and humiliation. "Shut up!" he yells, waving the gun again. "I'm serious! I'll shoot!"

Toji raises an eyebrow, his tone still teasing. "Oh, are we doing threats now? How about this: put that thing away before someone gets hurt. Namely, your ego."

The man looks flustered, his grip on the gun tightening as he points it at you. "Shut up! I'm serious! Give me all your money!"

You roll your eyes, unable to contain your sarcasm. "Sweetheart, I have epilepsy. My brain doesn't work right on the best of days. A gun doesn't scare me. Just don't mess with my face or my tits, alright? They're my best features."

Sukuna leans back, eyes twinkling with mischief. "Can confirm. I'm extremely fond of them"

Geto nods solemnly. "Seriously, those are top-tier assets. We should put them in a museum."

Gojo nods solemnly as you laugh. "We'd have to hold a memorial service for the girls. It'd be tragic."

Toji finally looks up, his expression one of mock seriousness. "The worst crime you'd commit today would be damaging that rack."

Gojo grins wider. "We'd put ourselves in the line of fire to protect those honkers."

Sukuna gestures lazily towards you. "Hey babe," he says with a grin, "don't worry, I'll protect those masterpieces," nodding towards your chest. "Can't have this guy ruining what I get to enjoy every day."

Gojo nods sagely. "He's right, those are national treasures."

Toji nods in agreement. "Yeah, I'd cry real tears if something happened to those."

The man's face turns bright red, his hand shaking as he tries to regain control of the situation. "Shut up! Just give me the money!"

"Is it an innie?" Toji asks, feigning genuine curiosity. "You know, your... equipment?"

The robber's frustration grows as the room continues to be filled with laughter and teasing. He finally lowers the gun, looking completely defeated. "You guys are crazy," he mutters before turning and bolting out the door.

As soon as he's gone, the room erupts into even louder laughter. Sukuna sets down his tattoo machine and walks over to you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. "Glad our national treasures are safe," he murmurs, planting a kiss on your temple and you snort.

Gojo is still chuckling, shaking his head. "That was priceless. Best robbery attempt ever."

Geto nods in agreement. "Yeah, we really should thank the guy for the entertainment."

Toji stretches, leaning back in his chair. "Who knew our biggest concern today would be protecting Y/N's tits?"

You grin, feeling the warmth of Sukuna's embrace. "Well, they're glad to still be here."

"We're all glad they're still here," Sukuna says with a grin. 

The next day, you come into the parlour with a new sign you’ve created. It's bright and colourful, with bold letters that read, “No Guns Allowed. Seriously, We'll Laugh In Your Face.” Gojo takes a marker from you and neatly writes 'We will protect the honkers with our own bodies' making you laugh as you hand the sign to Sukuna who takes it from you, chuckling as he hangs it in the window for everyone to see.

Sukuna steps back to admire your work, a proud smile on his face. “Looks great, babe.”

Gojo, standing next to him, nods in approval. “Perfect. Now we just need someone dumb enough to test it.”

Toji and Geto walk in, glancing at the sign and chuckling. “I give it a week,” Toji says.

“Three days, tops,” Geto counters.

You all laugh, knowing that no matter what happens, you’ve got each other’s backs—and that’s more than enough to handle anything life throws at you.

The rest of the day goes by without a hitch. As you sketch, chat with Gojo, and watch Sukuna work, you feel a deep sense of contentment. Life may be unpredictable, but with this group of misfits, it’s never boring.

The bell above the door jingles, signalling a new customer. You glance up. “Welcome to the madhouse,” you say with a grin. “How can we help you today?”

[frick-yes-dragons]

some notes from Cissy's post-hoot

hunter bi and willow pan!!!!

Raine has moved into the owl house, whether or not they married Eda is up to fans' interpretation (Though Dana did mention marriage shouldn't be required to define love). In any case, they are in a loving relationship

DOES THAT MEAN RAINE HAS TO SLEEP IN THE NEST??

odalia and Alador did promptly get a divorce <33

the blight kids live w Alador and only rarely visit Odalia, and don't put up with any of her shit

King's tower was built and hidden by someone with amnesia..... BAT QUEEN?

Hooty probably spends most of his time away from the owl house as port-a-hooty, with Lilith, working as a curator at the museum

stringbean has been visible in the show logo since the very first episode (!), visible in the S and the L when it's flipped upside down

The collector does visit the isles often and is in frequent contact with king (but there was no confirmation if they've found or interacted with the archivists)

no comments were made as to whether Vee and Masha are still dating, but Vee did definitely have a crush on them

Luz finished high school on the isles, spending weekends and holidays in the demon realm

Flapjack was a gift to Caleb from Evelyn, and was probably the turning point in both their relationship and in caleb's acceptance of magic

neither Hunter nor Eda know about Eda's relation to Evelyn and Caleb (but it was hinted Gwendolyn might...)

The shack behind Luz's house where the portal is was originally where Caleb and Phillip lived; it was basically a ruin until Eda fixed it up during her time in the human realm

eda carved Owlbert herself, AFTER she got cursed as a way of reclaiming and accepting the owlbeast

Raine's palisman was hidden as part of their violin (you can see the head in the scroll). It did not die when the violin got smashed, and Dell helped repair the staff

This is all I can remember for now, feel free to add anything that I missed! Hopefully we get more of these behind the scenes discussions of the show, if you haven't seen the video I've put the link under the break <33

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[naughtyneganjdm]

Christmas in Jackson - Chapter 3

Summary: Realizing that her visit to Jackson has only enhanced the feeling of being lonely for Y/N, she takes a walk around the town to get a feel for everything before considering leaving. On the way back to the inn she decides to take Maria's suggestion and visit The Tipsy Bison where she runs into Joel. The two of them grow closer in unexpected ways.

Characters: Joel Miller, the reader (OC), etc.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61159651/chapters/156927493

Warnings: Swearing, Angst, Dirty Talk, First Kiss, Heavy Touching, Making Out, a slight amount of fluff, etc.

Notes: This is presently my favorite story of mine that I'm updating, so I'm going to try and get as much of it up as I can before Christmas. I surprisingly really like writing Joel which is fun since this is my first solo story that I've ever written with him. Thanks to those that check it out. If you want to read previous chapters, you can find them here.

Even though it was nice getting to rest and not have to worry about the everyday stresses that Y/N had become accustomed to, it felt like the only positive thing that Y/N had accomplished in coming to Jackson was getting a good night’s sleep. Other than that? She was only able to confirm just how unbelievably lonely she was.

Sitting alone in that restaurant brought forth so many uncomfortable feelings for her. Eating alone in New York City? Yeah, she was lonely, but she didn’t feel strange being alone. Here? Everyone’s eyes were on her. That made the loneliness that she had grown used to stronger. Here she stood out and she didn’t know if that was a good thing.

After finishing her breakfast, which was entirely too big, she had her leftovers boxed up. While everything was good, there was just way too much there. So she headed back to the inn to put her takeaway box into the small refrigerator in her room for later.

Returning to the inn, she realized that there weren’t as many people there. It made her wonder if the place was just busier in the mornings and nights considering the kind of draw this place had. Walking through the inn, she took note of the people that were there. Groups. People who knew each other. And then there was her. The one solo person in this place. Everyone seemed to have someone to talk to. Everyone but her that was.

Joel and Maria had caught her eye when she had returned. They were both working, but she knew better than to keep bothering the owners of this place. All of them had better things to do than to keep helping her distract herself. She already felt pathetic enough as it was that the only people she had interacted with were those that owned the inn that she was staying at.

God, one of the biggest things she learned from this trip? Traveling alone sucked. It was hard not to feel awkward or out of place when you were all alone. Sharing memories with people was much nicer than doing everything by yourself.

Disappearing into her suite, she put her leftovers away and then considered what to do with her time. What she really should have done was learn more about this town so she wasn’t aimlessly roaming around. Instead? She just decided to take a walk around the inn. Doing what Maria suggested earlier, she took her time looking over things. Learning about the place that she was staying in. Even though this was an inn, from everything they had inside of it, it felt more like a museum. There was so much to learn about the history that took place here. Really? She would have never traveled to a place like this. Nor would she have picked to stay somewhere like The Copper Peak Inn. But? Fate chose this for her. Truthfully? She did wonder if fate hated her. It’s not that she despised this place or anything. It had it’s certain kind of charm, but she didn’t feel like she fit in here. And everything seemed to remind her of that.

Embarrassingly, she walked around the inn more times than she really should have. She read many of the write ups on the wall at least twice. She was pretty confident if they asked her to give tours of the place, she would be able to educate people with confidence about the history of this inn. And she’d do it well.

That’s how boring her day was. Or maybe that’s how uninteresting and how unexciting she was. Spending hours in the inn she was staying at to learn the history didn’t sound like a whole lot of fun when she thought about it.

Instead of doing another round around the inn, she headed back toward her room. And she did what she should have done. Decided to google the place she was staying. Joel was right. If she was going to stay somewhere she really should have done a deep dive of the place. One of the few things that she could do during the daytime was go to a hot spring they had about twenty minutes out of town. There was a certain draw being able to lounge in a hot spring during the middle of winter. Then again, that meant she would have had to go back to the clothing store to get a bathing suit and it would have felt so awkward doing that in the middle of winter.

So instead of having to face that embarrassment, she just decided to lay out across one of the couches in her sitting area to binge watch Christmas movies. Was this something that she could have been doing back at home? Of course it was. But for some reason she chose a random small town in the middle of nowhere to be doing this.

Halfway through her watch-a-thon she had gone to purchase a bag of microwavable popcorn from the vending machine down the hallway. And that was her snack for the remainder of the day.

This kind of thing wasn’t really like her. Honestly, she couldn’t remember the last time that she just got to lounge around and do nothing. Life didn’t allow that for her. But? It felt like that’s all she could do right now.

It was well into the evening by the time she finally decided to move. Going to the window, she looked outside to see that the sun was just starting to set beyond the mountains. It really was a gorgeous sight. If there was one thing good about Jackson? It was how beautiful the scenery actually was. You would never see something like this in New York City. New York was a different kind of pretty. This was mother nature and it was stunning.

Down below she noticed that the waitress from earlier was right. Nighttime really was the time when Jackson thrived. People were flooded into the streets, taking a stroll around town observing the holiday lights that the town had put up. They were enjoying their surroundings and taking in all of the decorations.

Maybe taking the advice of the waitress would be a good thing. Going out during the middle of the night would be the best idea for her. With so many people out, she wouldn’t stand out amongst the crowd. Everyone would be focused on what they were doing that she might be able to get to enjoy herself.

Getting dressed warmly in one of the new outfits that she had bought for herself earlier, she headed out of her suite ready to explore Jackson. There had to be something here that would draw her to the town. Help her get a feel for things. Now would undoubtedly be the best time for fate to show her that she didn’t make the wrong decision in coming to Jackson. There could be something here to prove to her that she was meant to be here.  

Moving down the stairs, she tried being hopeful about this whole thing. Upon reaching the bottom step of the stairs, she realized that there was now a stranger that was working at registration. The Millers had to go home at some point, so that only made sense. There was no way that they could be there all the time.

Instead of heading out the front, she moved through the back hallways that Maria had led her through earlier. Getting a look at the bar and the restaurant, she realized they were packed. They weren’t kidding when they told her that the prime time for people out here was nighttime. Although she knew that the nightlife didn’t last incredibly long. She learned that last night when she had arrived in Jackson.

Right now? She wasn’t hungry and while the live music could have been a draw, she just wanted to get a feel for the town. So she left out the doors that were there. Immediately, a chill surrounded her and she pulled her jacket in closer to her body. The wind chill was rough against her face and she found herself thankful that she went out and bought some clothes to stay warm. There was no way that she would have ever been able to walk around with anything she had originally had in her bag. It was too damn cold. Sure, New York City could get cold, but this was something else entirely. It was much colder here. Especially at night.

Doing what was suggested, she walked around the town unhurriedly. Everything was very simple. From the town all together to their decorations. But? It was beautiful in its own way. When she reached town square, she realized it was very small. Most of the decorations for Christmas were found there. Sadly, it only took a few minutes to walk through it. What amused her the most about town square was the antler archway that was at the entrance. This town was so old western it hurt.

This place really was a town in the middle of nowhere that sat in the valley of mountains. Somewhere she read that this downtown area was just under 3 square miles of land. It wasn’t much, but it did have a lot of personality.

Since the walk through town square was so small, she decided to just take a seat on one of the benches to watch things. That was something that she often did in New York City too. It gave her time to enjoy the ambience of it all. From where she was seated, it was right off to the side of the ice-skating rink that they had there. Watching the people skating was amusing to her because it was so small compared to the things that she was used to in New York. In New York? Everything was busy and it was busy all the time. Here? Things were more relaxed. Peaceful. Nothing was rushed. People were just enjoying themselves and no one looked miserable. It was nice to see.

Unfortunately, being there only dug in for her how alone she was. Even here she realized that most everyone had someone that they were with. They were all together with friends, lovers or families enjoying the holidays.

Getting up, she continued her walk around town. It didn’t take long for her to walk around the most populated parts of town. During her walk it had started to snow. It was a light dusty snow that was adding to what was already on the ground, just lightly covering the streets. Thankfully it wasn’t a heavy snow since she had to walk back to the inn. Actually? She was grateful that it started to snow. Everything became a whole lot prettier when it did. A dream glow laid over the town with the Christmas lights just catching the snow right as it was falling from the sky.

On her way back to the inn, the bar that Maria had talked about had caught her eye. The Tipsy Bison. Back when she was sitting at town square, she had spotted the tourist bar that Maria had told her about earlier in the day. When she saw it? She knew Maria was right. It was a tourist trap. And she could see why. There was a large display over the top of the building to draw people in. It was the only place in the town that she had seen that had stood out like a sore thumb. There was no questioning that the cowboy themed bar was busy. As for The Tipsy Bison? She could tell that it was busy, but nowhere near the amount that the other bar was.

Considering the night was still young and the Christmas films would still be there waiting for her to watch them during the day tomorrow, she decided to go in and check things out. Stepping into the bar had an immediate chill run down her spine. The moment she entered, just like out of a movie everyone in there seemed to turn to look at her. It was starting to make her anxious how that happened every time she entered a new place.  Pretty quickly, unlike at the restaurant, the people were quick to turn away though. Only having their interest on her for just a moment.

Having that happen had a rush of adrenaline flowing through her veins. There was an intense urge to turn around and head back to the inn, but she wasn’t ready to be locked up again inside of that room. Forcing herself to stay, she took a look around. Everything around her confirmed for her that this was most certainly a bar for the locals. That’s probably why she stood out like she had. Every inch of the place reminded her that she was in the west. Deer heads hanging on the wall. An American flag was put up on the back wall behind the bar. There was a jukebox playing in the corner with some unknown country song. An old piano was in the corner. And the colors were so much similar to that of those you’d find at the inn. A small stage was set up near the back of the place where she assumed musicians in the town would come for a chance to perform. This place was pretty crowded and it was rather small.

Certain parts of the bar were busier than others. Most of the crowded areas were near the bar, the tables and the back room where people were playing pool. After taking a quick glance around the general area, she spotted Tommy and Maria with a group of people laughing together around a few tables. It was sad that the only faces she knew here were those two and Joel.

Heading over toward the bar, she went to the furthest end away from the crowd. At first? No one noticed her. Not even the bartender. And it made her wonder why she even came in here. Sure, she knew Maria and Tommy but they were with friends. They didn’t need her coming and bothering them. So she just waited. Eventually the bartender spotted her. By the expression he gave her, she knew that she was being judged for being the outsider, but she tried to ignore it. Ordering a drink was easy for her because she needed to relax if she was going to make it another moment inside of this place.

Being alone allowed her to observe the people that were there. Most people looked happy. Enjoying their moments with their friends and family. And even if people were there to just get drunk, everyone seemed to know the people that were sitting near them. Which only emphasized the feeling of being miserable for her. Running away from New York because of her loneliness only led her somewhere else that further reminded her just how lonely she actually was. She never felt more alone in her life.

After tonight? She was fairly certain that she would be going home. At least in New York City she didn’t feel like a lone wolf in the pack. Here she was just reminded repeatedly how much she didn’t belong.

Finishing off the drink she had gotten herself, she got up and took a look around. This felt like such a waste of time.  Spending seven hours to go back home on a plane wasn’t optimal, but she didn’t have much of a choice from where she was standing. Every day was just going to continue to be lonely reminding her all over again of how pathetic she actually felt.

Noticing there was a door at the back of the building that was partially opened, she figured she would go outside and just take in the night. The waitress earlier had mentioned how pretty the night sky was here in Jackson. Maybe she would take advantage of that. Spend some time out under the stars. Head back to the inn. Pack things up and then head out tomorrow morning. If there even was a plane that would head out to Newark tomorrow. From conversations she had at the Jackson airport, she knew that flights were spotty. She had only just gotten lucky to end up here. Then again? Was it really luck?

Heading for the door, she managed to move through the crowd. Once stepping outside, an immediate chill flooded her body. Clearly the temperature outside had dropped significantly since she had walked into the bar and it surprised her. It wasn’t even that long. By now it was extremely dark outside with just the streetlights giving off a small amount of light that was filling the area.

What surprised her though was the soft strumming of a guitar close by. Coming to a full stop on the back porch area, she stood there listening. Just from the small amount of light she could see that it was Joel sitting on the steps at the back of The Tipsy Bison. There was an acoustic guitar in his arms and he seemed to be humming a tune to himself. The longer she stood there had those hums starting to turn into quiet lyrics that he was singing under his breath.

“Wow,” she blurt out finally causing Joel to jump, his fingers pulling away quickly. Immediately he went silent, a scoff falling from his throat when he realized that it was her. “You are actually good at something other than being grumpy.”

“What are you doing here?” Joel grumbled under his breath, tensing up when she moved across the way to come take a seat beside him on the steps. Eyeing her over, Joel realized that she was staring up at the sky.

“Maria told me about this place earlier. I was taking a walk around town, trying to get a feel for things,” she claimed, hooking her fingers together as she took in the time to really appreciate the stars and the night sky. Because of the light pollution of New York City, this really wasn’t something that she got to see a lot. “I figured instead of heading back to the inn, I would get a drink. It’s weird that everywhere I end up I keep running into you.”

“No kidding,” Joel’s fingers curled around his guitar, sliding further across the step to give them more room between them. “For some reason, fate wants me to keep running into you. She can be a bitch like that sometimes.”

“Oh please,” she rolled her eyes at Joel’s comment, giving him a quick glance. This time she wasn’t offended and she came off more so amused. “I bring you such joy when I’m around you. Stop being so damn crabby.”

Obviously she was being a smart ass, but the comment made Joel let out a muted laugh. That was the first time she had actually made Joel smile. Well, other than when she was a fool and got whipped cream on her face from the hot chocolate earlier.

“So you play the guitar?” she questioned, nodding her head toward the guitar that was in his hands.

“Obviously,” Joel stammered, bobbing his head about evoking her to let out a long exhale. By now she should have just expected the sass from him.

“It sounded good,” she complimented him, taking her attention away from him to look up toward the sky again. Even though she didn’t mind talking to Joel, she had come out here with the intentions of enjoying the stars and that was what she was going to do. “Do you play here a lot?”

“I don’t really play in public,” Joel answered her, his fingers dragging across the instrument. That surprised her, especially since what she had heard wasn’t all that bad. “I like playing, but mostly to myself.”

“Well that’s a shame. I think the people in there would appreciate your talent,” she suggested, eliciting a laugh from Joel at her suggestion. His response told her that he didn’t believe that. “Even though you were being quiet, the singing sounded good too. I liked it.”

“You barely heard it,” Joel reminded her, setting the guitar aside safely so that it wouldn’t get damaged. This was typical of them to bicker about something as simple as a compliment that she was giving him. “You can’t decide I’m good after just hearing me for a minute or so.”

“It was more than a minute or so,” she stated with a tip of her head. Hearing that she had been there longer made Joel anxious showing that he wasn’t used to playing around people. “I’ll happily listen to you if you want to play a little bit more though.”

“Not a chance,” Joel swiftly rumbled under his breath, reaching his hand up to brush his fingers through his messy hair in an anxious sweep.

“It was worth a shot,” she frowned, leaning in to playfully nudge Joel with her arm. Giving him a weak smile caused confusion to flood Joel’s features. Obviously, he didn’t expect her to continue to be kind to him. “I always wanted to learn how to play the guitar, but I just never had the time to do it.”

Clearing his throat, Joel acknowledged that this was her way of trying to bond with him again and he shrugged his shoulders, “Okay?”

A disappointed breath escaped her lips, her head lowering when she let out a tiny laugh. Their tension only seemed to entertain her now. Shaking her head, she took notice of the way that Joel was staring out at her with the silence surrounding them. The longer they sat out there together alone, the more awkward things were starting to become.

“What are you even doing out here?” Joel pushed, a muscle in his jaw flexing. Part of him wondered if he would regret asking her because she seemed to ramble on when he would ask her a simple question from their previous discussions.

“The waitress from earlier told me that the stars were really beautiful at night. So I wanted to see them,” she responded, pointing toward the sky as Joel leaned back on his palms to get more relaxed beside her on the step. Gazing up at the stars himself, Joel’s Adam’s apple bounced in his throat when she looked back up at the sky. “You don’t get to see this kind of thing where I’m from. It’s beautiful.”

Right now he had a decision to make. He could get up and leave. Allow her to enjoy the stars by herself. Or he could allow her the moment of enjoying what it was like outside without giving her more shit. And surprisingly? He picked the second. There was just something in the way that she gazed that had him wanting to be the slightest bit polite in the moment.

“It is beautiful, but if you really want to get the best view before you leave…you should stop at the ranch right outside of town. There aren’t any lights to pollute the sky. It’s just you and the stars,” Joel educated her on where the best place to see the stars was. “If it isn’t snowing, you aren’t gonna get a better view out here. When I first got here, that was my favorite place to go. I got to be alone and it allowed me to think. Clear my mind when I needed it.”

“That sounds nice,” she admitted, impressed that Joel was letting her in on the tiniest details of his life. There weren’t a lot of occasions in their time interacting where he would be incredibly forthcoming with positivity about things. “Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m going to see it.”

“And why is that?” Joel asked finding her short answers she was giving him to be different for her. Usually, she talked a lot. And right now? She was strangely quiet.

“I think I’m going to leave tomorrow,” she told him, letting him in on the decision that she had been coming up with over the last few hours with being alone. Truthfully? That was something he’d probably appreciate since she had been annoying him from the moment she walked into the inn. “Being here? It just makes me realize how lonely I really am. How pathetic I am.”

“Just like that?” Joel blurt out, his face twisting with displeasure from her answer. “After all that attitude with me giving you a hard time, you’re just going to give up?”

“Give up?” she repeated what he had said, finally lowering her head to meet his stare.

“You certainly seemed like you had something to prove to me in staying here. That’s why you got the clothes wasn’t it?” Joel stammered, holding his right hand up and waving it about. “Now you’ve suddenly decided that you are just going to leave? Instead of trying to make it here?”

“It’s not really that simple,” she stated with a frown, her throat tensing up with him saying it like that to her. Yeah, earlier she thought she was going to prove to him that she could make it here. And maybe it was stupid to leave after she had gotten a new wardrobe for herself to be here for a while. But she didn’t think she could continue to keep up with the loneliness that was emphasized with being here. “There is nothing here for me. You were right. I’m a moron. I’m completely insignificant and I was a fool for thinking that running away from my life would just make it better somehow. I just realized how lonely I really am. I don’t even think anyone in my life has realized that I’m gone. I don’t even think they’d care.”

“Saying that wasn’t meant to be an attack on you,” Joel huffed out, resting his elbows on his knees when he slouched forward. “Everyone is insignificant in the long run Y/N. This is a big, big world. With a whole lot of people. We’re just a tiny part of what makes the world turn. Y’know?”

“Yeah,” she whispered, finding herself getting emotional at the idea of it. That was Joel’s way of kind of apologizing and she could recognize it. But? She didn’t think he was wrong. “But everyone else is the center of someone else’s world. And that’s when they actually become significant. You may not change the world, but you could be someone’s world. And I don’t think that life was ever meant for me.”

“Now that’s just silly,” Joel claimed, his face scrunching up in disbelief. Beside him she shifted on the step that they were on so she could give him her full attention. “You’re a doctor. A surgeon. You’ve saved lives. You’re important. I’m sure because of you a lot of people are still alive. So maybe your light shines brighter than you thought. Maybe you should think about the lives that you saved. And then I reckon you’ll realize how much more important to the world you really are.”

“I have nothing to show for it,” she pointed out trying to hold back on the emotions that she was feeling. There was a lump growing at the center of her throat. This was something she thought about a lot. Even if she did save people, she was alone in this world. So did it really matter? “I put so much effort into something that ultimately just left me alone.”

Joel looked like he wanted to say something with his lips parting, but then he reconsidered it and just lowered his head. Stroking his fingers at the back of his neck, Y/N could tell that Joel was uneasy with this whole thing and didn’t know what to say, “I’m surprised that you are even being nice to me right now.”

“Who said I was being nice to you?” Joel scoffed, looking away from her and toward the other direction. It made her smile with the immediate shift in attitude that he seemed to give her at the idea of him being nice. “I’m just talking.”

“Well damn. I was kind of hoping that I would rub off on you before I left,” she teased, reaching out to pat Joel on the knee. Even though Joel seemed to not like her very much, she thought that he was loosening up to the idea of her. “Pretty soon you’ll just remember me as that annoying New York City girl that was an idiot and showed up to town with no idea what she was getting herself into. It will be a good story to tell people. You can make people laugh. I’m sure the town will be interested to hear what a ridiculous loser I was.”

“You think I’m out to make people laugh?” Joel’s eyebrow arched, his head shaking after he asked her that. Hearing her comment only annoyed him. That wasn’t the kind of person that he was. “You obviously haven’t been paying much attention to me. I’m outside in the freezing cold, playing my guitar to myself. Do you really think I’m the type of person that wants to gossip? I just wanna be left the hell alone. If you haven’t picked up on that.”

“Oh, I’ve picked up on that,” she snickered at the thought, her eyes growing big when she looked him over. Joel was certainly grumpy and that was hard to avoid. Looking to change the subject, she nodded over toward the instrument that he had set aside earlier. “That’s your guitar?”

Giving her a small nod, Joel reached for it and handed it over to her for her to look at. Accepting it carefully, she pulled it in closer to her so she could gaze upon the details, “You just keep your guitar at the local bar?”

“I make them,” Joel explained to her, a sense of anxiety showing through in his voice when he started to open up to her some. This wasn’t like him opening himself up to a stranger, but he was doing his best to try to be normal in the moment. “The owner paid me to make a few for the bar in case people wanted to get up on stage and use them for an open mic night. I uh…like carving things. And I like music.”

“Oh wow,” she was surprised to hear that Joel actually made this guitar that was in her hands. Caressing over the lengths of it, she never would have thought that this wasn’t a guitar that someone would have bought at a store. “That’s really impressive Joel. It’s beautiful.”

“I’ve done better,” Joel accepted the guitar back from her when she handed it over to him. “But it’s not too bad.”

“Will you play something for me?” she asked of him provoking him to immediately shake his head. Disappointment flooded her veins, but with another firm shake, Joel was making it clear that he didn’t want to play again. “Please?”

“No means no,” Joel chuckled noticing the pout that she was giving him. It reminded him of a child that wanted to use that look to make someone do what they wanted. “The hell do you think that’s gonna do? Make me feel bad and play for you? I barely even know you.”

“I’m miserable and there is a tiny chance that you playing might make me happy,” she insisted with a weak smile, nodding to the guitar again. Dramatically shrugging his shoulders, Joel couldn’t help but laugh. This was someone he barely knew. And she was asking a whole hell of a lot out of him. “Please will you play something?”

“No,” Joel stood his ground, his laughter growing when she nudged faintly at his shoulder again. Truthfully? He should have been more annoyed with her. But really? He was actually amused with her antics. Her fingers curled around his upper arm and she faintly tugged back and forth at it multiple times. “What in God’s name are you doing?”

“Please? It would make me shut up,” she let her words linger, purposely being annoying in the way that she was asking him. Tipping her head and fluttering her eyelashes had him continuing to laugh uncomfortably beside her. “Come on.”

“You’ll shut up if I do it?” Joel inquired, forcing himself to stop laughing. Angling his head just slightly allowed him to give her a glare with his big brown eyes.

“Promise,” she assured him, nodding her head about and placing her hand in over her chest. Acting as if that would be a stronger guarantee for him. Groaning loudly, Joel shifted on the stairs and placed the guitar the way it was meant to be. At first he appeared to be nervous, glancing several times in her direction. Closing his eyes tightly, Joel seemed to be pep talking himself under his breath before starting to strum at the guitar. Once he was at ease, the tune started to come together and it made her smile.

To his surprise, she was quiet. That certainly helped him play because then he could pretend that he was alone. Just like he was most of the times he played his guitar. Occasionally he would steal a quick look at her to see that she appeared to be in awe of the music that he was playing. After a while, it became soothing for him to play for her. It had been a long time since he had played for someone and to have an audience in some fashion that actually enjoyed listening to him was nice. Especially after he thought he may have lost some of his talent.

“What about singing?” she spoke up after a while causing him to smile and shake his head.

“Don’t push it,” he silenced her, finishing up with the final tune that he had started. When he was done, she clapped quietly. There was a warmth that flooded into Joel’s face. Even though it was freezing outside, there was an embarrassment over the fact that he allowed that to happen that was pressing in over him.

“That was amazing,” she thanked him for taking the time to do that. Having him play for her was not something that she expected him to agree to. Especially with how their interactions had started out. “You really should play for people. I bet you’re incredible. Just allowing yourself to relax out here really opened you up to things with me out here.”

“Baby steps,” Joel breathed, shaking his head again to remind her that he wasn’t ready for that kind of thing.

“Why did you start playing the guitar?” she wondered, pulling her gloves out of her jacket when she started to notice the pain that came with her being cold.

“I uh…” Joel thought long and hard if he should tell her the truth. “I wanted to be a singer when I was growing up.”

“What?! That’s awesome,” she reached out again to supportively squeeze at his shoulder. It made Joel tense up underneath her. He wasn’t used to people being so touchy with him. “Why didn’t you? If that’s the case you shouldn’t just be playing out here to yourself. You should be playing out there in front of everyone.”

“Life happened,” Joel didn’t want to elaborate, his eyes narrowing when he spoke about his passion leaving him. “I just don’t know if I’ll ever be able to play in front of a crowd again. I get nervous playing in front of people. Having everyone’s attention on me. I don’t like it.”

“That’s a shame. Because I think you were meant to shine,” she professed, placing her hand in over the center of her chest giving him a big cheesy smile. “You’re like a beacon in the dark. But in a good way. You’re great. I loved hearing you play. I wouldn’t be the only one to enjoy it. I assure you of that.”

Hearing all these compliments from her was strange for him. People were always thankful when he helped out around town, but because he was shut off from the world around him, no one was ever really this complimentary of him. So it was hard for him to respond to it. Being social wasn’t one of his strongest talents.

“So you went from wanting to be a singer to becoming a contractor. And then you became the owner of the inn,” she thought aloud about what she had known to be true about Joel. “You can carve beautiful things. You are amazing at playing the guitar. You sing. You build. Is there anything that you can’t do?”

“Be a social creature?” Joel joked pulling forth a loud laugh from her lips. Immediately, she slapped her hand in over her mouth realizing that her finding that funny may have been offensive to him. “It’s okay. I’m the one that made the joke. You can laugh.”

“So…” she took note of the fact that he was starting to open up more with her. Little by little. Forcing her laugh down, there was a warmth flooding to her face. “Are you married?”

“Are your observational skills that bad?” Joel wondered, his eyebrows bouncing up with her looking down toward his hand. Squinting with the minimal amount of light, she realized that there wasn’t a band on his finger and she nodded. That was his answer.

“Okay, so you’re not married,” she concluded, waving her hand about in the air. “What about a girlfriend? Do you have a girlfriend out here?”

“No,” Joel’s words were firm, his head shaking as he spoke. There was a muscle at the corner of his jaw that flexed with his dark eyes narrowing out at her.

“No what? No you don’t have a girlfriend?” she confirmed with Joel who laughed beside her uneasily. There was a sense of curiosity in her eyes, but also confusion with how easily Joel was shutting down during this conversation.

“No, we’re not having this conversation,” Joel asserted causing her to let out a disappointed groan. While she was open with him, he wasn’t that kind of person and he wasn’t about to have this kind of talk with someone that he barely knew. “We’re not about to talk about my love life. I’ve already shared more than enough with you about my life.”

“I know nothing,” she reasoned with him, her face scrunching up in annoyance.

“More than enough,” Joel commented with another amused sound falling from his throat. “We’re not about to become friends you and I.”

“Why not?” she paused to think about what he said. And that surprised him. She seemed to be upset that he wouldn’t even consider opening up to her. “Maybe we would make good friends. Two insignificant people to the world. Lonely and alone.”

“Who said I’m lonely?” Joel countered, his body tensing up when he sat up straighter beside her. Hearing her call him out like that caught him off guard. “Maybe I like being alone. Maybe I’m better in that kind of environment.”

“Yeah, okay,” she grumbled under her breath, dropping her head forward in defeat. Joel was standing his ground that he wasn’t going to open up to her any further. “We took those baby steps and you just make sure to slide right back to remind me that there is no chance of us being civil with one another.”

“I played my guitar for you,” Joel reminded her, waving his hand between him at the instrument that was still there. “That was a lot for me.”

“That was barely scratching the surface,” she claimed, amused that he thought that was a big deal to focus on.

“It might not be a big deal for you, but that was huge for me,” Joel stressed to her, his hand lifting to place in over the center of his chest. It drew her attention back to him so he could get her to understand. “I don’t play in front of people. So you may think it was something small, but for me? You have no idea how big that was for me.”

“Fair enough,” she swallowed down hard realizing that he was being honest with her. “Thank you then.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Joel didn’t know how to respond. So he just stayed silent beside her.

“I’m going to guess you aren’t dating anyone,” she broke the silence between them getting Joel to scoff at her bluntness. “So I don’t even know why I asked that when I knew the answer.”

“And how do you know that?” Joel bit down on his bottom lip, irritated that she would just assume something like that.

“Because you wouldn’t be out here alone playing your guitar if you had someone in there waiting for you or someone at home,” she gathered taking note of the fact that he remained outside with her instead of going back into the bar. “If you had someone waiting at home for you, that’s where you would be.”

“I guess your observational skills aren’t that bad after all,” Joel acknowledged, getting her to shrug. She wasn’t wrong. Even if he didn’t want to admit it. “And you? You mentioned that your boyfriend recently dumped you?”

“God, you had to mention him,” she scowled at the idea of her ex. Shaking her head, she pointed back toward the building and unhurriedly stood up from where she was seated on the stairs. “I need to get a stronger drink than I’ve had. Do you want to share a drink with me?”

“Not really,” Joel was honest, grunting out when she came back for him and hooked her arm around his. Working to get him up from the stairs, he stumbled back following her into the bar. Compared to what it was like outside? It felt nice with the warmth immediately surrounding them once they walked in. They must have been outside a while because there wasn’t as big of a crowd by now. Motioning her to wait, Joel put his guitar away and then met her back where he had left her. Heading over toward the bar she took a seat beside Joel and waited for him to order. “Whiskey.”

“I’ll have what he’s having,” she pointed toward Joel who gave her a tiny smirk.

“It’s strong,” Joel warned her as the bartender came back with two glasses. Pouring the drink out for them, Joel let out an amused rumble when she threw back the drink immediately coughing once the burning liquid hit her throat. “I told you.”

Stroking his hand over the top of the bar, Joel shook his head in amusement. Grabbing his drink, Joel took a small sip of it noticing that she was asking the bartender to pour her another, “Maybe sip it this time?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she waved her hand off in the air dismissively not really listening when she swallowed down most of it.

“You’re not going to be able to walk back to the inn if that’s how you keep drinking it,” Joel suggested with an amused sound, drinking more of what he ordered. “Do you ever make any decisions for yourself?”

“What do you mean?” she finished off her next drink, her eyes narrowing when she turned to face him at the bar.

“You had someone pick where you were going at the airport. You had someone tell you which place to stay at in Jackson. You had me pick your breakfast this morning. And then you just copied me and got the same drink that I did,” Joel recalled everything that he knew to be true. Once again, the bartender came back to fill her drink for her. “No wonder you’re unhappy. You have everyone pick everything for you.”

“I chose the room I wanted to stay in,” she prompted, her fingers stroking down over the side of her glass. It made Joel chuckle that it was the only thing she could come up with in the moment. “Your breakfast suggestion was good, so I assumed your drink selection…”

“Is very strong. I use it to help me not feel,” Joel stressed to her, finishing off his first drink. Motioning the bartender back, he got him to fill his glass again and he leaned in closer to the bar. “I don’t think you’re gonna be able to handle your alcohol as well as I can.”

“You’d be surprised,” she shot back almost determined to prove him wrong. Taking another sip of the whiskey, she knew that it wouldn’t often be something that she chose. He wasn’t wrong there. “And to answer your question, I always make my own choices. My bad decisions have led me here, so I don’t think it’s a problem to let someone else pick things for me sometimes.”

“It can’t really be that bad, can it?” Joel huffed, his brow line creasing at the idea that her life was so awful. Multiple times she had stressed how terrible life was for her, but it was hard to really think she was right. “You live in a brownstone in New York City. You can afford to do whatever you want. You’re a doctor that saves lives. People probably look up to you.”

“This is the first time I’ve had any kind of vacation in years. I work really hard. And the brownstone?” she thought about his question, inhaling sharply before drinking down the rest of her drink again. “Well, let’s just say you don’t care to hear about it.”

“I assume it was a place you had with your boyfriend?” Joel retorted, his nose wrinkling when he followed her in finishing off his next drink.

“No. I mean occasionally he would stay over or I’d go to his apartment. I just could never really get rid of the brownstone,” she admitted to Joel, tensing up beside him. Staring off in the distance, she didn’t know which thing to talk about. The boyfriend or the brownstone. “You know, we were together for five years. He was my senior, but we just seemed to click. At least I thought we did.”

“It sounds like an abuse of power to me,” Joel grunted, getting amused when he saw Y/N request the bartender to come back. “I can’t imagine working at the same place as your boyfriend was the best idea in the first place.”

“Can you just leave the bottle? I’ll pay for all of this,” she waved her hand about between her and Joel. The bartender gave Joel a look who simply shrugged his shoulders and got more comfortable on the seat by the bar. Leaving the bottle, it allowed Y/N to pour more for both him and her. “I always knew he was an asshole. For the most part though? He was always pretty okay with me. And then when I found out he was cheating and blamed me for the whole thing? I started to realize that everything that I thought was okay or special about him, really wasn’t. I was blinding myself with the idea of him. Not really how he was.”

Joel didn’t know what to say. He just finished off his drink and she was quick to fill his glass again, “I’m pretty sure that he just used me for sex. Because I’m really good at it.”

Hearing that caused Joel to choke on his drink, an amused smile tugging at his lips with how blunt she was being, “I’m serious. I’m really good at it. My blowjobs are top notch.”

“You might want to lower the volume there darlin’,” Joel urged her, placing his hand out in front of her to get her to notice that a few people from the bar were staring out at her after what she said. “You might draw the wrong crowd and the last thing we need is one of these people trying to take advantage of you when you are very obviously drunk.”

“I’m serious though,” she continued on, having a warmth flooding into Joel’s face with her rambling. Both from embarrassment and worry that people were hearing her go on and on. “I promise you that if I gave you a blowjob it would be the best you’ve ever had. I’m a doctor. I know what to touch. I know how to pay attention to the way you react to things. I was trained to be an expert about the human body and I’m good at it. I could keep edging you until you had one of the most powerful orgasms you’ve ever had. I know how to use my body to make you feel good.”

“Uhm…” Joel shifted, his Adam’s apple bouncing in his throat with the way that she was talking. Looking back over his shoulder, Joel noticed a few of the regulars that were sitting at the bar started to pay more attention than they really should have been. “Mind your business fellas. We’re having a bit of a breakdown over here.”

“Let them listen. Maybe the best thing for me is to hook up with someone here. Show my ex-boyfriend that I don’t care,” she ranted, pouring herself another drink. Reaching for the bottle, Joel made sure that he had a hold of it because he thought she had more than enough for tonight.

“No one here is good enough for that,” Joel was quiet in the way he spoke, sliding in closer to her to hush her. “No one is good enough for you. And someone might take advantage of what you’re saying right now, so try to tone it down a little bit. I don’t want one of these guys hurting you.”

“And suddenly you care,” she seemed to slur a little, an amused smirk pressing in over her features. “What about you? Did you ever have a bad breakup?”

“I really don’t want to do this,” Joel claimed, his hand placing in over the center of his chest. Reaching for the glass that she had poured for him previously, he swallowed it down hard and then poured himself another. For a while she just stared at him. Expecting him to open up. Grunting, Joel let out a tense breath and nodded his head. “Yeah, I was married at one point.”

“What happened?” she wondered, her eyes big when she looked to him for the story.

“Too much,” Joel stressed, a rush of color flooding into his face. Holding his hand up, he realized that she was pouting and rolled her eyes. With her pouting, he knew that he was never going to hear the end of it if he didn’t give her some kind of answer. “It ended. What else is there to really say? I was young. It didn’t work out.”

“She left you broken hearted, huh?” she inquired, tracing her fingers over the top of the glass. Grumbling to himself, Joel was quick to finish his drink again. Hell, it was a bad idea but he filled his glass once more. These weren’t thoughts he was happy bringing up.

“Yeah. She abandoned me when…” Joel stopped talking, a muscle in his jaw flexing when he thought back on his life. “It doesn’t matter. It was for the best that she did disappear. She wasn’t much of a wife in the first place.”

“Both of us have been scorned by people we thought we loved,” she emphasized her words, trying to reach for the bottle that Joel had snatched earlier, but he kept it from her. Making sure to keep a distance from her and the bottle, Joel wasn’t allowing her to grab it. Her hands pressed in over his chest, but he shook his head firmly. “You’ve had just as much as me tonight.”

“I’m bigger than you,” Joel bobbed his head about, not wanting her to get hurt from all that she was drinking. By the way she was talking and the lack of her filtering system, there was no way that she was okay here. “I think you drank too much, too fast. And I probably did too.”

“You’re no fun,” she frowned, lowering her head to rest it over the top of the table. Growling, Joel finished off his drink and knew that he would be feeling all of the glasses he drank later. So there was no doubt that she would be too.

“So I’ve heard,” Joel muttered under his breath, finishing off the bottle that was before them and pushing it toward the edge of the bar. Drinking the rest of it kept her from being able to have any more. Something told him that while he was used to drinking heavily, she wasn’t.

The sound of people having fun caused her to lift her head from the bar top to look over her shoulder at the people dancing together, “Do you want to dance with me?”

“No,” Joel shook his head immediately, his response upsetting her in the moment. “It’s not just because it’s you, I just don’t…dance.”

“Why?” she pushed, her hand reaching out to place it in over his to try to get his attention on her. “Are people going to freak out if you end up dancing with someone?”

“I don’t care what people think,” Joel vowed biting down on his bottom lip, but by her expression he could tell that she didn’t believe him. “I just don’t do a lot of things.”

“And maybe that’s why you’re sad like me,” she hinted evoking Joel to grumble something under his breath.

“Who said I’m sad?” Joel countered, shaking his head in disbelief that she would even make that kind of suggestion. “You know nothing about me.”

“You drink to numb the pain. You’re angry, all the time,” she listed off the things that she had experienced with Joel since she had come to town. “You like being alone. You don’t surround yourself with people. You’re torturing yourself for some reason because you don’t think you deserve to be happy.”

Slouching forward, Joel’s breathing grew louder and she knew by what she had said that she was right, “Broken recognizes broken. There’s a reason I was drawn to you. You and me? We’re exactly alike.”

“We’re nothing alike,” Joel retorted with a wrinkle of his nose finding it hard to believe that there was much there between them that was similar. “You’re just drunk and you’re saying things that you really shouldn’t be saying.”

“Come dance with me,” she begged, standing up from the seat and holding her hand out toward Joel waiting for him to accept her offer. After standing there for longer than she really should have, she threw her hands up in the air. “Fine then, if you won’t dance with me, I’ll ask one of these fine gentleman here to dance with me and then afterwards…”

Stumbling toward the men that she had drawn the attention of earlier with her sexual comments had Joel hopping up from the seat to reach out to grab a hold of her arm. Hissing out, Joel moved with her toward the area where people were dancing and it made her smile.

By now the music was a slow song and Joel felt embarrassed when she reached for his hand. Stepping closer to him, she placed her hand at the small of his back and Joel did something similar, “I don’t…dance.”

“Just move your body to the music,” she couldn’t help but laugh with Joel standing before her stiff as a board not moving at all. Stepping back, she reached for his wrists and started to wiggle them having him scoff. “Loosen up Mr. Miller. No one cares that you are up here dancing. And if they do, fuck them.”

“I don’t really loosen up,” Joel tried to explain to her rolling his eyes at the way she was attempting to get him to relax. Releasing a long exhale, Joel slouched a bit and made a dramatic expression. “Better?”

“We’ll work on it,” she reached for his arm to lead it around her waist. Dropping his head back, Joel hated that he got himself into this position, he just didn’t want her to end up hurt by someone else in the town. Sure, he knew most people here but he didn’t trust a lot of them. Grasping his other hand in hers, she just led him to move slightly while the other people around them did something similar. “Not bad, right?”

“It’s awful,” Joel snarled getting her to laugh and drop her head forward to rest it against the center of his chest. When she did that the scent of her perfume flooded through his lungs and it made him take in a sharp breath. “I don’t like being the center of attention. I don’t know how many times I can tell you that.”

“I’ve picked up on it,” she admitted, lifting her head slowly and locking her eyes with his. Sliding her free hand up over Joel’s arm had her eyes growing wide. For a moment she stopped to squeeze at his bicep and it made him laugh. “Wow, you’ve got a bicep going on there Mr. Miller.”

“You know it’s against the law to feel someone up against their will,” Joel replied getting a tiny laugh to fall from her lips at his comment. “I’m just saying.”

“It was innocent,” she hushed him, moving in closer to him while the two of them continued to dance. It was hard to block out the rest of the world around them, but he was trying everything to pretend that no one else was there while he did this with her. “What do you think I should do? Do you think I should go home?”

“I’d say you should do whatever you want to,” Joel gave her the right answer that anyone should have. “If you want to stick it out here, try it. If you want to go back home, go back home.”

“Going back home scares me,” she was honest with Joel, her silly expression fading when she thought back on her life. “I don’t know what I’m capable of if I go back home and realize how awful things truly are.”

“Then don’t go home,” Joel was quick to respond, a disappointed breath falling from his throat. “I don’t know what’s going on in your life. But I do know what it’s like for things to be hard. For things to feel like the end of the world. Life doesn’t always work out the way we hoped, but you just…you gotta keep finding things to fight for. Or you’ll never survive.”

For the first time since she had been here, Joel could really see the sadness in her eyes. Pulling her close, Joel cuddled his head in against hers and continued to dance with her. In the distance he could see that Tommy and Maria were still there in the corner of the bar. Their dancing had caught Tommy’s attention and he was watching the two of them together. Trying to avoid his brother, Joel heard the sound of awe from Y/N when the next song started to play.

“Now this is a good one,” she remarked, humming the tune while she danced along with Joel. “I’m not really one for country music? But this song? I love it.”

“Why?” Joel snickered, his face scrunching up in amusement attempting to listen to the lyrics.

“You don’t know this song? It’s Amazed by Lonestar,” she educated him on the song causing his right eyebrow to arch while they continued to move together.

“I never said I didn’t know the song, I asked you why you loved it,” Joel reminded her of what he had said, moving just enough so he couldn’t see his brother and the group Tommy was with. It was a way to keep himself distracted.

“Listen to the lyrics,” she instructed, her hand pressing firmly in over his chest. “It’s a song about a person being so incredibly in love with someone that they can’t imagine life without the person they love.”

She hushed him in the moment, imploring him to listen to the lyrics as she sang them herself, “I don't know how you do what you do. I’m so in love with you. It just keeps getting better and better. I wanna spend the rest of my life with you by my side. Forever and ever.”

Having her singing in front of him had a tiny smirk remaining over his lips. Here he was, someone who wanted to be a singer when he was younger being afraid of singing in front of her, but she was singing along to the tune of the song they were dancing to together, “So you’re a romantic?”

“Everyone is a romantic,” she stopped singing long enough to respond back to him making him snort. “They are.”

“It’s unrealistic,” Joel disagreed, his head shaking slowly at the thought of the song. “No one is in love with everything someone does. You’re bound to get irritated with someone. And people can tell you that they want to spend the rest of their life with you, but they never really mean it.”

“It sounds nice though, doesn’t it?” she didn’t fight him on his rebuttal, sighing loudly at the idea of what the song was stressing. “To have someone love you so much that even your flaws have them falling more and more in love with you.”

As the song ended, Joel could hear the upbeat music surrounding him. A slow song he could handle, but not one like this, “How about I walk you back to the inn so we can let you get some sleep because it’s getting late?”

Since he was offering, she just gave him a nod. Motioning him to wait, she headed back to the bar to pay the bill and he moved in beside her while she finished. Quickly, he led her toward the door to exit and once they got outside, he watched her shudder. “You’ll eventually get used to the cold. Probably by the time you leave, but you’ll get used to it.”

“I’m sorry,” she blurt out, surprising him as he walked side by side with her. “Here I am completely unloading on you and you never liked me to begin with. Now you’re stuck walking me home.”

“Who said I didn’t like you?” Joel grunted, noticing that she reached the depression stage in her drunken state. “Just because I bicker with you doesn’t mean I don’t like you. I don’t like anyone. So it really has nothing to do with you.”

“I just think I’m a bother,” she confessed, swallowing down hard as they walked together in the snow back to the inn.

“It’s not like I had anything better to do tonight,” Joel attempted to make her feel better. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel even more depressed with her drunk like this. Emotions were strong when you were drunk and he knew what he was capable of when he was intoxicated. He didn’t want that for her. “Instead of drinking alone, I got to spend my time with someone else.”

“Which is misery for you,” she smirked getting Joel to chuckle at the idea.

“I handled it,” Joel promised her, swiftly reaching his arm out to hook his around hers when she slipped to keep her from falling. Grumbling something under his breath, Joel sighed loudly. “You need to learn to be careful.”

“I’m not used to this shit,” she stammered, throwing her free hand about showing that the area was still very much snowy. “In New York they usually take care of this shit pretty quickly. I’m sorry.”

“Stop telling me that you’re sorry,” Joel ordered, his lips parting with a huff falling from his throat.

“Sorry,” she apologized once more, a stressed exhale escaping her lips. It made Joel laugh that once again she was saying it. “I mean…”

“You’ll work on it,” Joel held his hand up so she didn’t have to continue to think about it. “I used to apologize a lot too when I was younger for things that I had no control over. You’ll learn that it doesn’t matter. You did nothing wrong.”

“Thank you,” she was now really starting to feel the effects of the alcohol hitting her. Joel was right. She drank too much too fast. “Not just for the pep talk, but just for tonight. As sad as it is, tonight is probably the best night I’ve had in a very long time. That shows you how pathetic I am.”

Instead of responding, Joel just gave her a nod as they approached the inn, “Do you need help getting up to your room?”

“No, I’m fine,” she assured him, stepping back and away from him. Pushing his hands into his pockets Joel watched her as she headed toward the entrance of the inn. Second guessing, she turned on her heel and looked back to Joel. “You know, there is more to you than you think there is. You’re not just some grumpy man…”

“Thanks for that,” Joel was amused with the way she worded her statement. It looked like she wanted to say more, but then turned back around. Going to step up toward the building, she felt her legs giving out on her and before she could fall Joel was behind her catching her. “You need help into your room.”

“It was just ice,” she refused hearing Joel grunting when he helped her back up to her feet.

“There’s no ice there,” Joel directed her to look down where it was only a step that they had managed to keep clean from the snow and ice. “You’re just drunk. And pretty damn drunk.”

Turning in Joel’s arms, her hands braced in over the center of Joel’s chest and she looked up at him with big eyes, “You have puppy dog eyes. They’re big…and brown.”

“They’ve been that way my whole life,” Joel smirked, hearing the sound of someone exiting the inn. It was an older woman who caught sight of them and Joel could see the smile that pressed in over her features with looking at them.

“You’re under the mistletoe,” the woman pointed up toward the decorations that Tommy or Maria had undoubtedly put there.

“Nah, that’s not mistletoe. That’s something…else,” Joel suggested, not really sure if that was true or not. Really, he had no idea what mistletoe looked like, but he wasn’t about to admit that his brother or his wife was ridiculous enough to put that at the front of their inn.

“No, that’s mistletoe and it’s customary for two people underneath it to kiss,” the older woman explained getting Joel to laugh thickly at the idea of it. “It’s bad luck if you don’t. If you look up the history of it you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

“I’m not really one to follow the…” Joel’s words came to a quick halt with Y/N tugging at the collar of his jacket. Pulling Joel down, she captured his lips in a kiss that he wasn’t prepared for. What should have been his natural reaction was to pull away, but he didn’t. Instead, his hands dropped down over her sides bracing at her hips almost instinctively. Each sweep of her lips over his was tender and passionate. It drew chills down his spine. With each passing second, the kiss continued with her fingers sinking into the tiny curls of hair at the bottom of his neck. By the time that she broke away from the kiss it had Joel’s eyes fluttering back to an open with his breathing heavy. “Rules.”

“I don’t need any more bad luck,” she explained to him in a whisper why she had kissed him, her lips still lingering over his. The warmth of their breath still pressed over the other’s lips and Joel’s eyelids grew heavy while he stared down at her. After the woman had gotten them to kiss she was back on her way wherever she was headed leaving them standing together in front of the inn. By now neither one of them had moved. His hands were still settled at her hips and she still had her arms wrapped around his shoulders. “I think we both could start using some good luck. With traditions and all.”

“Yeah,” Joel couldn’t gather much to say, just giving her a small nod. Realizing that it was starting to snow again, Joel swallowed down hard still feeling the warmth of her lips lingering over his. “Maybe we should get you to your room now.”

With a silent nod, she unhurriedly dropped her arms down. One of Joel’s hands dropped down, the other grabbed a hold of hers to help her back into the inn. Walking through the lobby, he took note of the fact that no one was there anymore. It was late enough that anyone who was staying at the inn would be in there rooms and the restaurant along with the bar were likely closed. The only person there was an employee that was sitting in the registration room facing away from them while watching something on their cell phone.

Taking his time leading her up the stairs, Joel huffed when they got to the top and she pulled her hand from his to move over toward the sitting area that was there, “I just need a breather for a minute.”

“Your room is right there,” Joel pointed toward the area she was staying from where he was standing on the last step to get to the second floor. Moving in closer to the fire, she held out her hands and Joel grumbled to himself. Joining her in the sitting area, Joel noticed the way that she was shivering. “You can get under your blankets, get warm.”

“My room doesn’t have this fire,” she explained to him, pointing toward it getting Joel to smirk. “I can’t remember the last time I sat by a lit fireplace like this. It’s the closest I’ve felt to Christmas in a long time.”

“This is the closest you’ve felt to Christmas?” Joel wondered, finding that hard to believe. “You’re from one of the cities that goes all out for Christmas. And sitting here in front of the fireplace is where you feel the closest to Christmas?”

“It reminds me of being young,” she claimed, her eyes looking tired when she rubbed her hands together to warm up. “I remember when I was little sitting by the fire with my parents. They’d tell me stories about Santa while we shared hot cocoa. It brings back old memories. Don’t you have any of those?”

“I uh…” Joel swallowed down hard, leaning further back in the seat that he was in. Stretching out in the chair, he didn’t know what to say. “I try not to think about my youth all that much. Or my past. It makes me feel things that I don’t want to feel.”

“Like what?” she whispered, giving him her full attention and he felt on the spot.

“Sad,” he was honest with her, a lump growing in his throat. Forcing himself to look away from her, he knew he didn’t want to elaborate because he knew that he couldn’t handle it. A moment later, he felt her hand pressing in against his. Allowing her to touch him, Joel sucked in a sharp breath of air with her fingers hooking with his.

“Me too,” she informed him, squeezing his fingers in her grasp. “I’m sorry Joel.”

Caressing his thumb at the back of her hand, Joel’s heart skipped a beat when their eyes connected. Sliding to the edge of the chair he was seated in, Joel shakily reached out to sweep his fingers in over her jawline. It had her leaning into his touch, her eyes coming to a tight close.

“Is it bad that I keep thinking about kissing you?” she finally spoke up, her eyes coming to a slow open. Contemplating the question, he gave a single shake of his head knowing that he had been thinking about it too. “You tasted like whiskey and peppermint.”

“Oh,” Joel smirked, keeping his fingers still hooked with hers, but with his free hand he motioned her to wait. Digging into his pocket he pulled out the candies that he had snagged from the front desk earlier when he was at registration. “I’ve been eating these all day.”

“That explains it,” she chuckled seemingly moving in closer when Joel put them back into his pocket. Lowering her eyes to gaze over his lips, she went to speak up, but then paused. Looking as if she was embarrassed. “Would you be angry if I kissed you again?”

“No,” Joel whispered, granting her permission to lean in closer to him. The warmth of her breath pressed in over his lips helping to add to the chills that ran down his spine. Nudging her nose faintly with his, Joel’s body seemed to tense up with her bottom lip slightly dragging across his. In that moment, his eyes closed with her mouth covering his. Faint brushes of her lips over his had him pressing in closer to her providing her with the encouragement to continue to kiss him. Starting to kiss her back, Joel’s free hand caressed up over her shoulder toward her neck with his fingers wrapping around the back of it. Sweeping his thumb in over her jawline while they kissed had her purring into his mouth.

A nervous breath escaped him when she released his hand, standing up from the seat that she was in. Stepping before Joel, she carefully crawled in over him and it had a tremoring breath escaping him. Palming up over her thighs, Joel tipped his head back with his lips parted. There was something in the way her eyes locked with his that had his heartbeat skipping in his chest. Cupping his face in her hands, her thumbs caressed at the sides of his face. Closing his eyes, he liked the way it felt to have someone touching him like that. It had been so long since he had felt a tender sweep like hers.

“You are so handsome,” she slurred, dragging her thumb across Joel’s bottom lip. Pressing gentle kisses at the pad of her thumb had her whimpering. A low rumble of a moan escaped his throat, with her right hand sliding over the back of his head to sink into the thick tresses of his hair. A gentle tug had him tipping his head back so she could cover his lips with hers again. Nibbling at her bottom lip had her lowering down in over his lap getting him to pull back slightly to look between them. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Joel assured her swallowing down hard as she started to kiss at his jawline down over his neck. Sucking in a sharp breath of air, Joel’s hands slid in around her to palm at her bottom giving it a small squeeze. By the moan she gave, it relieved him to know that she was okay with it. Grasping her jaw between his thumb and index finger, Joel urged her back to him to steal a hungry kiss from her lips. It had her lips parting allowing him to brush the warmth of his tongue against hers. Returning the gesture had Joel humming against her mouth, the vibrations of it causing her to whimper. Their foreheads pressed together with her hands flattening out over the center of Joel’s chest, caressing down over his abdomen. Lifting up in the seat, Joel nipped at her chin evoking a moan to escape her lips. The softest of rolls of her hips over his had his head tipping back, dropping back against the chair. “Y/N…”

A moment later, her hands were working to press up underneath his button down and his white t-shirt. Once the warmth of her fingertips dragged across the flesh of his abdomen, it had Joel’s back involuntarily arching up toward her, “It’s been a very long time since I’ve been with someone…”

“That’s okay,” she hushed him, standing up from his lap making him nervous that she was ready to leave after his confession. A moment later, she was carefully lowering down to her knees, pushing his legs open slightly. Adjusting his positioning, Joel’s breathing grew louder with her fingers caressing up and over his thighs. Having her eyes looking up at him like they were as her hands caressed further up his body had him sucking in another sharp breath of air. “When was the last time you had a good blowjob?”

“Hey…hey,” Joel lifted his head to make sure that they were alone knowing that just below them was the employee that was working for him. “We’re in public.”

“Everyone goes to bed early here. No one is going to come out,” she assured him, attempting to reach for the belt in Joel’s pants, but he was quick to reach for her hands trying to stop her. “It’s okay. We’re alone. Do you not want a blowjob?”

“I’d love a blowjob, but I’m not sure this is such a great idea,” Joel admitted hearing the sound of his belt jangling when she managed to get it undone. Grunting out, Joel was surprised how strong she was when she started tugging at the button in his pants. After she got the material separated, she was swiftly pulling down the zipper. “I’m not sure you’re sober enough to do this.”

“I know what I’m doing,” she promised, her eyes locking with his while she caressed over his thighs again. “You deserve this. I promise you, you won’t regret it.”

“But you might,” Joel thought aloud, gulping loudly when she lifted up enough to push at the bottom of his shirts again getting the material up under his chest. Immediately her lips brushed over the area right below his navel getting him to groan out. His eyes came to a tight close while she peppered wet kisses over his flesh. A raspy moan followed when he felt her left hand drop to caress in over the center of his pants. “Y/N…”

Biting down on his bottom lip, he tried to silence himself to keep the employee from knowing what was happening while her caress focused in over his manhood having him growing rigid beneath her touch. Caressing his hand in over the back of her neck, Joel trembled when she started lowering her kisses down over his body. Kissing at his thighs through the denim, her head centered in over his lap. Grunting out, Joel felt the weight of her over him growing heavier and he dropped his head down to hear her breathing loudly.

“Y/N?” Joel breathed out her name, stroking his hand over the back of her head. Scrambling to move forward, Joel managed to lift her head up realizing that she passed out in his lap.

Cussing to himself, Joel took a quick look around and wiggled beneath her enough to be able to hook his arms around her. Lifting her up, Joel knew that she was way too drunk to be making these kind of decisions. Carrying her over toward her room, Joel balanced her the best he could to reach for his keys. Fumbling with the keys, he almost fell into her room when he did manage to get the door open. Entering her room, he kicked the door shut with his heel and carefully carried her over toward her bedroom. Lowering her into the bed, Joel went to leave, but then second thought things.

Reaching for her shoes, Joel managed to get them off setting them aside on the floor. Working the blankets down in the bed, Joel started to pull them up in over her tucking her in. Adjusting her pillows under her head, Joel was very cautious in the way he moved her wanting to make sure that she was comfortable when she woke up in the morning. Caressing down over the side of her face, Joel sighed loudly and went to leave.

“Joel,” he felt the faintest of touches sweeping in against his wrist. “Would you lay with me?”

“Here,” Joel outstretched his hand, grabbing the teddy bear that was sitting on the nightstand. Working him into her arms, Joel gave her a weak smile and shrugged his shoulders. “He’s a much better cuddler than I am.”

“Please? I…I don’t want to be alone,” she whispered leaning into the warmth of Joel’s touch with him caressing at the side of her face.

“You barely know me,” Joel reminded her, swallowing loudly with her turning into his palm to press a kiss over the center of it.

With another begging expression, Joel cussed to himself and dropped his head down against the edge of the bed. Standing up, he took his time kicking out of his boots. Pulling back the covers, Joel crawled into bed with her. Carefully, he slid in beside her. Turning away from him, she lifted her arm hinting to him that she wanted him to hold her.

Doing as she asked, Joel’s arm loosely wrapped around her waist with him nuzzling his nose against the back of her neck when she got comfortable in his arms. Lifting up just enough he managed to turn off the light. The sensation of her fingers hooking with his took his breath away with the two of them getting relaxed in her bed.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her breathing growing loud again when she easily fell back asleep in his arms.

Cuddling in close to her, Joel felt the lump at his throat growing realizing this was the most at ease he had been in a very long time. What the hell was he getting himself into?

----

Tags: @jdmorganz @carolineesnell @ayumi-wolf @dilfsandmartinis @christinamadsen

@brittmb115

[thevoidstaredback]

I should be sleeping, but I'm not, so here's a thing based on a thing I just saw!

Pre ID reveal (I do a lot of these, but that's because the comedy is endless)

The JL and JLD especially, as well as all the protege teams treat the Bats with Fae or Vampire or Cryptid rules. The Batfam figured it out after the third time the others turned down the invite into Gotham, and they all started rolling with it. Nothing really comes of it, though, until someone does accept the invite to Gotham.

I'm thinking it's gotta be Clark, Diana, or Oliver. Clark could be there for an interview with Bruce Wayne (probably shortly after he buys The Daily Planet) and Tim Drake. Diana could be there for any number of reasons, but I think she's there for a new art exhibit that opened up in the Greek part of Gotham museum where she bumps into Damian Wayne and Dick Grayson. Oliver could be there on business, strictly speaking, but he hasn't talked to Bruce in person since just after their senior year of high school, so is it really a coincidence that he meets up with Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd (who was revealed to have been in witness protection for a time)?

Dealer's Choice on who's there. Could be one, could be all three. Could be someone else entirely! (Though, I can really only see Barry as having a good excuse of working with the GCPD on a case and meeting Dick that way if you really wanted to not use the other three)

Anyway. We're gonna use Clark here because he'd be extra cautious around magic, seeing as it's one of like...2 weaknesses he has.

Clark is sent to Gotham for an interview with the head of Wayne Enterprises. Ownership didn't change, but stuff got mixed up around last year, so he could either be meeting with Bruce Wayne or Time Drake-Wayne. Either way, Clark doesn't want to be here. Lois was supposed to be here, but she got sick, so he got stuck traveling across the harbour to the Crime Capitol of the Country.

He'd normally be ecstatic about potentially running into any of his JL coworkers in their natural habitat home cities, but Gotham was different. Batman, for all that he is Superman's best friend, doesn't let anyone into Gotham. There had been speculation for a while as to why that was, but no one had really been able to confirm it.

Kal-El didn't make it a habit, but he had, admittedly, tried to find out who Batman is under the cowl. He couldn't help it! He and Diana had told both each other and Batman who they were, but Bats had refused. He and Diana were understanding, of course, but that didn't stop the journalist side of him from slipping into the forefront of his mind.

At first, Kal thought he was sick. But he can't get sick. It's not like he could just ask B if his cowl was lined with lead or magic or kryptonite or something!

God, he hoped it was magic that was preventing Kal from seeing through Batman's cowl. It couldn't be kryptonite because Kal would've known it the second he got too close. Lead was the only thing he couldn't see through (that wasn't magic) but that brought up the issue of B's health how heavy the cowl was.

Magic, believe it or not, was the most logical explanation. Batman's cowl and cape are connected, so any magic on one would be on the other. With the way that Batman's cape seems to move on its own, somehow pull him deeper into shadows, and is able to hide at least four humans at any given moment, well, it's not a stretch to say magic was being used. Ignoring the fact that Batman hates magic.

That's a lie. He hates what he doesn't understand. And, try as he might, the man can't get a handle on magic.

Off topic.

Clark got off the train at exactly fifteen-hundred hours. Fourth-five minutes before he had to be at Wayne Tower (who named it that? surely not Mr. Wayne himself?) to meet whoever he was interviewing today.

Not knowing the layout of the city was what probably made Clark on obvious target. He should've memorized a map of the city before coming here.

He knows that there are three parties at work. Red Hood, who not even Batman pushes the boundaries of; Signal, who covers the entire city during the day; and Batman, Robin, Red Robin, Spoiler, Black Bat, and Oracle who cover the night shift. Sometimes, Nightwing joins them from Bludhaven, but that's only sometimes. It's safe to assume, though, that Red Hood and Nightwing are the two outliers. So long as Clark doesn't draw the attention of those two or Signal, he should be fine. A quick in and out and he'll be home free!

"Mister Kent?" the receptionist asks when he approaches her desk.

"Yes," he clears his throat, nervous for some reason he can't place, "That's me." What's wrong with him? It's just a routine interview! He's done hundreds like it before!

The receptionist smiles at him. "Misters Wayne are both waiting for you in Mister Wayne's office on the tenth floor."

He nods his thanks and goes to the elevator. Doesn't this building have like...thirty floors, though? Wouldn't the CEO's office be on the top floor?

Regardless, Clark uses the short elevator ride (complete with smooth jazz as the provided white noise) to calm himself down. He's met hundreds of big shots. Mister Wayne, whichever (or both?) he's meeting with today will be no different.

Maybe.

Probably.

Hopefully.

The elevator dings, the sound an odd harmony of several notes on the C Major scale instead of the single tone bell that is common through everywhere else. He gets off on the tenth floor and finds exactly four offices. He knocks on the door labeled 'Bruce Wayne'.

"Come in!" is called from inside, though the voice sounds too young to be Bruce.

Clark opens the door with an easy smile, taking in stride the fact that he is meeting with both Bruce and Tim Wayne. Oh, dear. "Good afternoon, Mister Wayne, Mister Drake-Wayne."

"Please," Mister Wayne has on the smile he always wears for the public. "Call me Bruce."

"And call me Tim," Tim shakes Clark's hand after he stands from his seat. The door clocks shut behind Clark.

Ah. Now he knows why he's so nervous. Batman usually only has bad things to say about Bruce Wayne. On the other hand, Tim Drake is a complete mystery to him.

Clark takes a seat on the couch opposite the two men when he's prompted. They go through pleasantries they all know are ingenuine before Clark opens up the notepad he brought with him. "Now, Mister Wayne, Mister Drake-Wayne, what made you decide to buy The Daily Planet?

Storyboard Part 2

[whyse7vn]

MIN YOONGI

FAVOURITE:

Yoongi prides himself in being your favourite.

Relishes in knowing he’s your favourite. Yoongi has always carried this certain smugness to him because of it. Yoongi imagines you hold him on a pedestal in your mind. Above Namjoon above Jungkook above them all because Yoongi is your favourite always has been always will be.

Your first.

Your favourite.

Yoongi was 25 when he first realised he was your favourite. You had kissed him the night before you were set to move in with Jungkook on the rooftop of your shared dorm building the sun set and the air cool.

“Yoongi i’m sorry i—”

“Don’t apologise” He tucks a piece of loose hair behind your ear your cheeks dust a pretty shade of pink.

Cute.

Yoongi moves his hand away from your face and turns to lean over the balcony eyes now taking in the view of Gangnam after hours.

“How come you’re here? didnt Namjoon want to speak to you or something?”

“Oh uh yeah!”

You’re flustered by the sudden question.

Cute.

“-he did but uh Namjoon can wait… right?”

You play with your hands as you speak your tone of voice anything but confident.

“Right” Yoongi confirms.

Namjoon can wait.

Namjoon will wait.

Sure Yoongi feels a little guilty on keeping Joon waiting but his ego is way too high right now pride practically overflowing.

“You picked me over Namjoon”

He’s giddy body warm with emotion.

“What?”

Yoongi doesn’t respond. He can’t. Not that he heard you anyways, too many thoughts consume him in this moment. He wishes he could stop time. Wishes he could take a photo of this moment wishes he could replay this scene over and over again wishes he could write down the exact words the exact touches you had just exchanged on a piece of paper and hang it in a museum for all to see. Call him psychotic call him insane he’s way beyond caring at this point because this moment right here means everything to him. So long of silently fighting to be at the forefront of your mind and finally an opening.

An opening you had gone out of your way to create for him.

You had picked him.

Yoongi.

Right now over Namjoon.

But Yoongi knows this is just the start. If he plays his cards right, which he will, and successfully roots himself as your first and your favourite.

In his peripheral watches the way you slightly bounce on the balls of your feet.

He knows you’re nervous and he knows he has to take advantage of that. He knows he has to get you hooked to solidify his place as your favourite. He knows he has to-

“Listen Yoongi, if i made you uncomfortable or…”

He turns to face you again.

“Let me kiss you for real this time”

—

6 Months after your shared kiss and one or two (definitely more) ‘casual hookups’ Yoongi is aware you’ve slept with Jungkook that you actively sleep with Jungkook.

Yoongi actually found out you were fucking messing with Jungkook from you yourself. The guilt of sleeping with another man behind Yoongi’s back eating you up so bad that you just had to blurt it out over your shared chinese at 3 AM. Yoongi had assured you that it was fine. I mean it was Jungkook…. Jeon Jungkook like loser Jeon Jungkook who had been telling you he loved you since he was 16 yet the relationship between you unchanging.

Oh, right…

he guesses it has changed now you know, you mess around and stuff. But it’s not like Jungkook is your boyfriend or- …okay so maybe it’s not completely ‘fine’ in Yoongi’s mind that you’re messing around with Jungkook he might be a little jealous but admittedly Yoongi sleeps with other people here and there too he can’t be a hypocrite now!

And it was inevitable, well that’s what he tells himself. You’re both the same age, live in the same house and Jungkook is clearly into you and you—

it doesn’t matter because it was inevitable.

Inevitable yet unchanging of Yoongi’s position as your favourite. That he wants to be is sure of. Because from 9 to 5 to 10 3 or 12 Yoongi is the one you call, work hours he’s the one you bother and after work hours he’s the one occupying your time. Not Jungkook not anyone else just Yoongi, your favourite.

—

When you became close with the members of seventeen Yoongi still stood confident in his position as your favourite. When you went on that date with Mingyu, when those pictures of you and Sungcheol got leaked when you wouldn’t stop talking about that Woozi guy, Yoongi was certain he was still your favourite. Sure he did get into a couple of fights broken a few bones but it was all within reason and definitely not because his position as your favourite felt as if it was being threatened.

Yoongi has always been your favourite

from the moment you gave him the opportunity to be

from the moment you kissed him

from the moments you’ve chosen him over someone else

from Minho to the Seventeen guys to Jungkook you’ve always come back to Yoongi.

Always.

So those 4 1/2 months,not that he was counting, you were with Jaehyun Yoongi for the first time was admittedly worried.

Worried.

So fucking worried.

You suddenly like sand in his hands 4 1/2 months of torture.

Slipping through his fingers.

4 1/2 months of waiting.

Right in front of his eyes.

4 1/2 months of wondering.

Unsure on what to do.

4 1/2 months of doubt.

4 1/2 months of regret.

4 1/2 months of cheap alcohol.

4 1/2 months of unsent messages.

4 1/2 months you sand slipping through his fingers. Yoongi unsure on what to do.

The day you a Jaehyun broke up Yoongi was already one foot out the door but Namjoon told him not go and then Hobi sent a text saying you were with him and then 30 minutes later another saying you were on your way to see… Tae?

You still sand slipping through his fingers but it shouldn’t be like that no not now because Yoongi is your favourite. Your first your favourite and you’re not in a relationship so things should be back to normal but you, still sand slipping through his fingers no- Days pass he thinks about you going to Tae he thinks about you Taehyung and Namjoon, he remembers Hoseok punching Jaehyun sand NO he thinks about valentine’s day you, Seokjin Taehyung slipping through his fingers. Jungkook and you but he is your first so why are you still—

Sand.

Slipping through his fingers.

Why?

It’s not a question of why anymore, is it?

Yes Min Yoongi your first.

But your favourite?

False.

Min Yoongi was never your favourite

but you,

definitely his.

—

some overall context this is from yoongi’s pov so if like points contradict and shit if just representation of how his mind is atm and all that like yeah idk if it translated well lmk :3

tags: @piw6n @92jinnies @birdie-vhs @blairebangtan @hob3loveofmylife @jujubiism @bloopkook @ratchetpizza1 @myntalks @arloo00 @watamotee33 @y2kcy3brz @taiwan0618 @freyadanvers @gguksbeloved @raetf @bbsantc @winuvs @medicinemybish @bxnnyhime @leleluvsbts @baetukki @zyaaaszn @thelilbutifulthings @jazminethecreator @k4ngelz @jmnscutie @threeopossumsinacoat @cynicalyoongs @lightningpussy54 @eunthv @gigiiiiislife @lowkeykin @elissasimp @socksfirstalways @knjlvr06 @lailaisarmy @thvkives @xstfudaisyx @xxxanimangxxx @solstice34 @ml8dy @hoeforseoks

[pookietv]

aquatic missile | arthurtv

had this idea that i thought was adorable so here

have a little arthur with a crush on a marine biologist !!!!

after arthur had moved to london, finally getting somewhat used to the area he had moved to, he had become slightly socially worn out from seeing his friends much more often, being exposed to many more social situations all whilst trying to unpack and organise his new flat.

so he had decided to abandon his responsibilities for the day to go to the aquarium, which was honestly one of the things he had been looking forward to most when moving to a bigger city then he was used to, the museums, zoos, and aquariums he could finally visit.

he was happy going alone, wanting to unwind, his headphones hanging from his neck, ready to play some music as he strolled through and gawked at all the sea life.

when he walked into the lobby, he noticed the place was quite empty, but it didn't wholly surprise him - it was 11am on a tuesday, most people were probably at work or school, and he had somewhat been glad it was empty.

he walked up to the desk, slightly looking up at the woman at the desk before back down to his feet for a moment.

the worker was quite pretty.

"hi, can i help you?" the woman spoke, in a sweetly helpful way.

"hello, i just wanted to get a ticket?" he said, a little quietly.

"just a one day general admission?" she asked, and he confirmed with a nod of his head.

"yeah, that sounds good to me," he nodded, his eyes slightly crinkling as he offered her a slightly awkward smile.

"have you been before? we have a little leaflet with a map in that might help if you'd like one, you can obviously just wander as you please but if theres specific things you'd like to see, they're all labelled in here," she offered, placing a small blue coloured leaflet on the desk, his fingers gently reaching to take it, nodding gratefully.

"oh, thank you, yeah.. i mean, i love all the sea creatures but i do really like the sharks," he admitted with a small laugh, and she nodded, giggling a little herself.

"oh, me too.. the sharks are my favourite by a mile, i even have a specific favourite shark, they actually let me name her," she smiled, and his eyes lit up.

"no way, really? what did you call her?" he asked, clearly interested.

"a little rogue but i called her missile," she said bashfully, and he laughed.

"that is very cool." he confirmed, and she blushed a little with a nod.

arthur handed her the money for the ticket, taking it from her with a small thanks as he headed his way into the aquarium.

he could easily spend hours in the aquarium, and he did, meandering slowly and stopping at each small fish that he could see, reading all the boards with the facts on, and by the time he had even looked down at his phone he noticed it was already 2pm, and he was approaching the shark section of the aquarium, a grin on his face at the prospect.

he had barely ran into anyone whilst walking through the winding path of the place, and in the shark section he could only see one person in the whole big area, a big glass tunnel, someone hunched over on a bench, eating and watching the sharks on the other side.

he began slowly walking around, his head focussed on looking up at the glass, watching the sharks swim around, even over his head when he was lucky before he heard noise.

"oh, hi again," a small familiar voice said, and he turned to the girl eating, who had lifted her head up - the worker from before.

"hello," he said, smiling a little, "must be very cool to be able to eat here on your lunch break," he joked a bit, and she nodded.

"uh huh, one of my favourite parts of the day, checking on missile... and of course all the other sharks, i love them all. though, feeding time is also pretty cool,"

"feeding them would be so cool," he nodded in confirmation. "which one is missile?" he asked curiously, and she grinned.

"the one that swam over your head before," she laughed slightly, putting down her box of pasta and standing up for a second, slightly closer to him before pointing upwards, at a spotted slightly smaller shark, "that's missile, she's a leopard shark,"

"what about the others? do you know all their names?" he asked, and she nodded, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"that's david, he's a lemon shark... that's haribo, he's a gummy shark, that ones called eve, she's a nurse shark... and the rest are hiding somewhere, but we have hammerheads, angel sharks and cow sharks hiding round here somewhere," she laughed a little, shrugging, "some of them like the attention more then others,"

"so you're really interested in sharks? or is it just a thing where you know a lot from working near them?" arthur asked, and she nodded again.

"i studied marine biology, i usually work more behind the scenes but on quiet days i work behind the desk too, but yeah, i love sharks, and just sea animals on a whole... i mean, i even have a shark tattoo," she giggled. "what about you, you just here to see them or do you have an interest?"

"oh, um, i have an interest in animals in general, and i just moved to london, so i wanted to come see the aquarium 'cause i've never been before," he admitted, and she nodded.

"i do love the aquarium, it's so peaceful, i mean sometimes i come in even on my days off, which in most jobs seems so bizarre but, i don't know, i just love it here."

and that's how arthur ended up frequenting the aquarium more than he intended to, over the past month going at least six times, enjoying the aquarium (and secretly hoping to run into the girl who he had become just a small bit infatuated with but had only admitted that to his close friends, who in turn obviously mocked him)

"you literally don't even know this girls name," george laughed when arthur had admitted he may have had a tiny crush on her after telling them about going to the aquarium for the fourth time in two weeks.

"well, obviously i know that, but i mean, i can't find out unless i see her again, can i?"

"only arthur could go to an aquarium and randomly fall in love with a girl just because she spoke to him about sharks," chris said sarcastically, and arthur rolled his eyes at him, his face red.

"she was cool, okay? she literally gets to name and feed and pet sharks, that is cool!" he defended himself in a splutter of embarrassment, only leading to slightly more giggles

when he next went, and he had paid for his ticket with someone else at the desk, and began his wander around the museum, he heard a slightly teasing voice once in the shark exhibit.

"you know, you could have saved yourself a lot of money if you had just bought a monthly pass," a giggling voice said, and he turned around to her with a slightly red face and a shrug.

"didn't realise i was gonna end up coming so much," he admitted with flushed cheeks.

"just become obsessed with the sharks, eh?" she asked, and he gulped down with another shy nod.

"uh huh. and, um. well, kinda hoping to run into you, also," he acknowledged, only to hear her laugh a little more.

"stalking me now, are you?" she asked, only to make his eyes widen

"no, not like that! just that, you know, i thought you were interesting and that-" she laughed a little harder now,

"i'm just kidding, don't worry about it. you do know there's other ways to see girls you find interesting other then hoping to bump into them at work?" she teased.

"well, that's what i was hoping to ask, you know... if i could maybe see you not in the shark section of the aquarium? like a date?" he asked, fiddling with his fingers a little.

"sure, that sounds nice," she smiled at him, "though, you don't even know my name," she teased.

"well, what is your name?" arthur asked, slight more confidence in his voice and a small smile on his face, slightly reassured that she had said yes.

"whats yours? i mean, for all i know you're some stalker who frequents aquariums looking for victims," she teased, leading him to jokingly roll his eyes.

"my name is arthur, and i promise it was not stalking... just thought you were smart, and pretty, so.. what's your name?"

"suppose you'll have to find that out on the date, hm, arthur?

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

The Current event makes me smile since it kind of confirms a headcanon I had that the Great Seven have animated movies based on them. Makes me wonder about the plot of the movies

Disney should get on the Twisted Wonderland AU Animated Remakes. What is Ursula was a good witch, what if Scar was right to take the throne and did he take it from Mufasa? (Or whoever is the stand in for him)

The Evil/Beautiful Queen...actually GOOD?

Yeah, it makes sense! Since the Great Seven are historical figures and the stuff of legends, surely there would be popular media made in their image. It’s like how the Disney fairy tales borrow from stories in the public domain or how there are historical retellings and reinventions (Hamilton, anyone?).

I believe TWST has mentioned films based on their own stories and history before too, but purely in the animated sense rather than live action. In book 3, Ace and one of the Atlantica Museum guards talk about an animated movie based on the tale of the mermaid princess and her prince; this movie is said to have come out ~30 years ago, which corresponds with Disney’s animated The Little Mermaid. Ace compliments the movie’s soundtrack too way to stroke your own ego, Disney/j.

Later on in Tapis Rouge, the characters discuss other films based on the Great Seven, including one Queen of Hearts movie. A Sea Witch movie is also mentioned; in it, she “goes gigantic” and also sings as she brews potions. The Octatrio quite enjoy this particular film.

(Side note: Another anon once suggested to me that people probably also write fanfics of Neige and Vil since they’re celebrities… Think like “My mom sold me to One Direction?!” Wattpad kinds of fics, but replace One Direction with Vil or something. You can read those post here!)

It’s… interesting this event specifically has Vil promoting a live action adaption of an in-universe animated film about the Beautiful Queen—an animated film which was the first full-color animated movie AND it originally released close to 90 years ago. They also reference the funding issues that Disney suffered while producing Snow White + inviting bank employees in to preview the movie to acquire more investments, stating that the studio that made the animated Beautiful Queen experienced the same. The in-game live action is even slated to come out “NEXT YEAR”. They’re not being subtle here with TWST’s references to their own version of the irl Disney Snow White (the live action is coming out in 2025, the OG is also almost 90 years old, etc.). I wonder if the EN server will actually get Tapis Rouge around the time of the irl release of Disney’s live action Snow White as part of a promotional campaign? 😂

UPDATE: There are even more not-so-subtle references to Disney animations in part 4 of the event, including discussion of cel animation, rotoscoping, adding blush to the characters, and how Disney brought in real animals/observed the “real thing” to help with animating similar scenes or subjects. They also cheekily say that most animation nowadays is CG 💀

I know some books under Disney publishing try to show alternate tellings or show the villains in a more sympathetic light, but I don’t know that they would ever commit to fully animating a film like that. It definitely would not happen in the style of traditional animation, Disney no longer seems well-equipped to handle that task 😔 I feel like it would also be pretty niche or might not get overwhelming positive reception with recent audience calls for “true bad guys” instead of twist or sympathetic villains (though I’m not sure what percentage of people watching Disney actually have this opinion).

I do wonder how those “AU” films would work though…? It wouldn’t be as simple as suddenly turning the G7 into “good guys”. The scenario and other characters would also have to drastically change. TWST doesn’t necessarily make the original “good guys” “bad” in a world where the villains are historical figures; we still hear plenty of positive or neutral stories about the achievements of the mermaid princess and other Disney heroes.

There are also times when the same story diverges into multiple separate stories that seemingly have no connection to one another. For example, there is a story where a princess marries a street rat (clearly referencing Aladdin) and they live happily ever after in spite of the difference in their social statuses. However, there simultaneously exists a story in which the Sorcerer of the Sands saves a princess from being deceived by a fake prince (also referencing Aladdin). The same goes for the mermaid princess (Ariel)—there is both a story referring to a “mermaid princess” who married a human prince and also a different story (clearly still pulled from the same film) about a mermaid who made a deal with the Sea Witch to find true love but broke her contract in the end.

Very cool idea, just not sure where it would lead or it it’s feasible or worth it monetarily for Disney.