#Let's see... I last drew her.... Christmas 2020?

[aquila1nz]

Queer Women on Shortland Street in 2023

2023 started with Maeve battling it out for top dog in Ferndale Prison, as soon as she won she rang Rebekah, the leader of the evangelical cult Brightshine and asked her to get her out on bail. Meanwhile Brightshine was bankrolling the Shortland Street rebuild and Rebekah ended up in the CEO seat. She gave Maeve a no patient contact job, and as they spent more time together a romance built. Maeve was so relieved to have someone supporting her that she was prepared to overlook Rebekah's need to remain closeted, with only Nicole finding out about their relationship, but Rebekah's various lies slowly came to a head; when she had to go on the run she finally admitted to Maeve her part in Wilder's murder - Maeve tried to drown her but decided not to, and Rebekah was arrested. Goodbye Antonia Prebble.

Maeve returned chastened to Nicole's arms, and despite an STI scare they started fixing their marriage.

Gia took off to a job in Chicago and I guess is unlikely to return since her family has mostly also left the show.

Dawn also left for pastures greener, which is a pity because she was always a character who attracted gay shenanigans.

Six new surgery registrars were introduced, and one of them, Quinn, proved to have very good gaydar, admiring Harper and flirting with both Nicole and Maeve… Somehow Nicole acted liked they'd had a big romance instead of a weirdly inappropriate kiss when Quinn died in the winter cliffhanger. Pretty coulrophobic on the part of the show.

Leanne lost all her money financing son Eric's pyramid scheme, then won the lottery for the second time and announced she was off on a world tour - taking Rosalyn with her! Last we heard she and Rosalyn were living on a vineyard in the South Island - Pele went to stay with them for a while, and we saw Jennifer Ludlam on a video call briefly just before Christmas. Offscreen reunions are better than nothing!

Harper - still married to Drew. Billy - still a preschooler. Marley briefly had a storyline where he played with Drew's clippers and had to buzz cut his long hair, and then Billy had short hair just like their idol older brother a week or so later, I wonder if one or both actors wanted shorter hair in real life.

In the latter half of the year Cassie, Wilder's girlfriend, returned, no longer pregnant but with no memory of what had happened to the baby, and that mystery has been Maeve and Nicole's main storyline.

So an odd year, with decreasing numbers of queer characters, but at least Nicole and Maeve are still together, something that seemed unlikely this time last year. Somewhere in there they've become the show's longest running gay couple, passing Jay and Maia's threeish years.

Shortland Street returns on the 5th of February. Let's see what 2024 brings.

And let me know if I've missed anything, it's been a long year and I wasn't always paying attention!

2022 2021 2020

[ask-demon-prosciutto]

All I wanna say is that your drawings are ✨amazing ✨ keep up the good work😊

Ps. Sorry this isn't an awkward for the characters I just really wanted to tell ya that😅

((I know it may not always seem like it, but as someone who lacks self esteem and feels like they don't pull their own weight, comments like these mean the world to me. I'm eternally grateful for those who have stuck around in spite of my tomfoolery. Again, thank you anon, and thank you everyone else who's still following this blog.

[pillage-and-lute]

Hey I have a holiday prompt for you! What if it’s the pairing’s first holiday together and they stress about figuring out what to get each other? Any pairing you feel like! PS Reading your stuff never fails to put a smile on face!💜💜💜

Hi Blondey!

cute shit ahead. Modern AU

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“Yen,” I swear,” Geralt panted into the phone. “It’s an emergency. Please, I need your help.”

“No.”

“Yen please I’m actually begging.”

“You should have thought to beg before Christmas Eve.”

“I’m meeting him tonight, Yennefer, I’m on Wilson Street, with all the shops and I’m so lost, please.”

“No.”

“I’ll set you up with Jaskier’s hot friend. The one from the coffee shop. She’s single.”

“...I’m on my way.”

-- -- -- Across Town, Triss and Jaskier’s Apartment -- -- -- 

“I just thought I’d have more time to get him a gift,” Jaskier wailed, draped dramatically over Triss’ beat up armchair. “And then it was thanksgiving, then finals and it’s Christmas eve and I don’t have a gift.”

“Well,” Triss said, sipping her cocoa and barely looking up from her book. “It’s not noon yet, shops aren’t all closed. What kind of gift does your relationship need?”

“What?” Jaskier looked up from his flop of despair, confused. 

“I mean, if you’d been dating for a month it would be slippers or some scotch or something.”

“We’ve been dating eight months though!” Jaskier wailed. “I love him, Trissy, desperately. I see his face and everything goes all pink and mushy.”

“You should get that checked out.”

“No, I mean,” Jaskier sat up and looked at her. “I think he could be the one. He might be it for me.”

Triss looked up from her book. She’d known Jaskier since university, and his heart had always been so mobile, but there was something shining in his eyes. She shrugged mentally. Put it down to a Christmas miracle, but Jaskier was really in love.

“What does he like?”

Jaskier huffed. “He likes being grumpy.”

“And?”

“Me.” He paused for thought. “His horse, Roach, he loves riding. He loves his goddaughter, and mythology.”

“Lord of the Rings nerd?”

“Oh you have no idea, he’s basically Aragorn if Aragorn had albinism.”

“I know a place,” Triss said, getting up. “Put on your coat.”

“Will it be open?” Jaskier asked anxiously, pulling his boots on.

“They live above the shop,” Triss said, throwing his scarf at him. “I know the owners, I’ll just shoot them a text.”

-- -- -- Back on the other side of town -- -- --

“Okay,” Yennefer said. “And you’re sure the hot barista is single?”

“Triss,” Geralt said. “And yes, apparently she’s been crying about it to Jaskier for ages.”

“Right, let’s go looking,” Yennefer said, looking remarkably cheerful.

The rows of shops were mostly open for last minute shoppers and Geralt and Yennefer fought through them. 

Well, Geralt fought. Yennefer just glared and people moved out of her way. 

“Does he cook?” Yennefer asked, pointing at a cookware store.

“Ramen and box mac n cheese,” Geralt said.

“You said he likes clothes?” A very full store with what could only be called hipster clothing.

“He has lots of clothes I want something...special,” Geralt said. He was trying not to lose hope.

“You really like this one.”

“I do, you met him he’s just...bright,” Geralt said, mumbling a little into his scarf as the wind blew a flurry at him.

“Hey, look at the music shop on the corner,” Yenn said. “I’m down here all the time, I’ve never noticed it before.”

Neither had Geralt. “Is it new?” It didn’t look new. It looked nearly condemned.

“You said he loves music,” Yennefer said, stomping in the direction of the store.

“I dunno, that store looks...”

“He loves music,” she said. “And you love him.”

They entered the store.

-- -- -- Triss and Jaskier -- -- --

“How the hell did you find this place?”

“I told you,” Triss said, matter of factly. “I know the owners. They’ll be down any minute to open it up.”

“They’re opening it up just for us?” Jaskier asked guiltily. It was Christmas eve after all.

“They owe me,” Triss said. “I introduced them. Well...reintroduced.”

“Welcome to The Sword in the Stone, Gifts and Novelties,” grinned a young man with very blue eyes and slightly large ears, opening the door. Behind him a blonde young man grinned cheerfully too, he was wearing a santa hat.

“Hi,” Jaskier said, stepping gratefully inside. “It’s a pleasure, I’m Jaskier.”

“Merlin,” said the young man who’d opened the door. 

“Arthur,” the blonde waved.

“Seriously?”

The pair just shrugged. Well, Jaskier, called Buttercup/Dandelion/Julian/a lot of other things, wasn’t about to tell people what to call themselves.

“I hear you need a gift for that special someone,” the blonde -Arthur- said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Yeah, he loves fantasy stuff and I just... I don’t know what to get him.”

“Gotcha,” Arthur began to lead him back into the shop. Merlin and Triss were chatting by the door. 

“Were you thinking bigger, got a lovely cardboard cutout of Viggo Mortensen?”

Jaskier pictured Aragorn watching them have sex from the corner of Geralt’s little studio apartment. “Maybe smaller but kind of...niche?”

“Lucky you, this place if full of niche,” Arthur said cheerfully. 

Jaskier looked at the wall full of swords and was that a battle axe? “Yeah...”

“Does he wear jewelry?” asked Arthur, jingling a box full of metal in Jaskier’s direction.

“Not really,” Jaskier said. Then something caught his eye. “Wait...” he pulled something out of the box and held it up to the light.

Somehow...it was perfect.

“How much.”

-- -- -- Yen and Geralt -- -- --

“This place looks closed,” Geralt whispered to Yennefer, looking around at the racks of instruments.

“Not closed dearie, just dusty,” came a cheerful voice from right behind Geralt. He and Yennefer jumped.

“Sorry honeys,” said a little old lady with coke bottle glasses. “Got my slippers on, makes me quiet. She shuffled one foot, clad in pink fluff, off the floor as exhibit A. “Gift from my great grandson, aren’t they darling? Now,” she looked at Geralt with laser intensity. “You’d be needing a gift.”

“Um, yes ma’am,” Geralt said. How had she known?

“Ooohoo you need a gift,” said the tiny old woman, “Cause you’s a boy in love.” She nearly cackled. “Follow me honeys!”

Geralt and Yennefer looked at each other, shrugged, and followed. What choice did they have?

“Got a harp,” the shopkeeper called cheerfully. It was indeed a full, standing, concert harp. It had a figurehead on it but the face looked absolutely agonized.

“Maybe not,” Geralt said.

“Hmmm no,” said the lady, shuffling her fluffy slippers. “Bagpipes?”

“He lives in an apartment.”

“That’ll be a no, then,” said the woman, peering at a rack of instruments in the corner. “Aha!” she shrieked, startling Geralt and Yennefer both. 

“This!”

It was perfect.

“I can’t afford it,” Geralt said, feeling hopeless.

“Oh yes you can,” said the little old lady gleefully, if she could Geralt got the sense she would be jumping and clicking her heels. “Nobody wants ‘em these days, this one’s seventy-five percent off!”

Geralt left with a weird shaped package.

-- -- -- Geralt’s studio apartment, evening -- -- --

“Hey,” Jaskier, said, stomping his boots on the mat.

“Hi,” Geralt replied, stealing a kiss. “What’d you tell Triss?”

“Told her I was sending a gift, what’s you tell Yennefer?”

“She’s heading over there now,” Geralt said. “With that movie they both like.”

“Ocean’s 8?”

“That’s the one, and a plate of homemade Christmas cookies.”

Jaskier smiled at Geralt and stole another kiss. “We’re never going to have a moment of peace, now we set them up,” he said. Geralt grinned at him. “Never, but I think we did the right thing.”

They settled in on Geralt’s little loveseat. Jaskier set a wrapped present on the side table. Beside it, on the floor, was a very poorly wrapped mess. Lots of scotch tape was visible. It was quite large.

Jaskier felt panicky.

“Should we,” Geralt said awkwardly. “Do you want to exchange presents now?”

“Sure.” Oh god, Geralt’s gift was so small, and what if he hated it?

“You first?” Geralt said, handing over the odd package.

Jaskier had always been a rip-it-open present person, but he took his time, although there was no salvaging the taped up paper.

“A lute?” he turned to Geralt in delight, face lighting up.

“A lute,” Geralt said. “Is-is that a good thing?”

“Oh my god, Geralt, yes! Oh I love it! I can’t wait to learn it!” Jaskier dropped kisses all over Geralt’s face, careful of his new baby.

He handed Geralt the little package. “It’s not as great but...”

Geralt was a folding kind of person and folded up the wrapping paper carefully, then he opened the box and took out the amulet with the silver wolf’s head.

“Oh,” Geralt said.

Oh. Was that a good oh or a bad oh? Jaskier tried to breathe slowly.

“Jaskier I...” 

Oh no. He hated it.

“It’s perfect.”

What?

“When I was little I thought I’d be a knight,” Geralt said, pale eyes shining. “And I drew wolf’s heads on everything, my crest, I said.”

Geralt was holding up the amulet as if transfixed. 

“Vesemir can show you, he kept the drawings,” Geralt said. Then he slipped the medallion over his head.

“My knight,” Jaskier said. “My wolf.”

Geralt gave a playful growl. Jaskier’s heart thumped a little harder. Geralt must have picked up on something in his eyes because he cocked his head.

“Oh?” he rumbled, low in his chest. “You want a wolf, do you?” He growled again.

Jaskier leapt up, shrieking with laughter and ran to hide in the bathroom. Geralt caught up before he could close the door.

“I’ll huff and I’ll puff,” he said, dragging Jaskier closer and giving him a bear hug. He growled in Jaskier’s ear.

“And I’ll blow your...how does it go?”

“I’m not sure, wolfie,” Jaskier said, pulling Geralt closer by the amulet. “But I think it ends with you eating me all up.”

It was a very merry Christmas indeed.

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Ope! Idiots! With a random appearance from BBC’s Merlin (In 2020? I guess.) and a little old lady. + the magic of christmas.

[capsiclecevans]

homesickness

Warnings: homesickness mention and mention of the global pandemic and lockdowns 

Summary: request from an anon: ‘You and Chris have been dating for a year, but you live in a different state, so you bite the bullet and leave your job and family and move to Boston.  You start to get homesick with the holidays coming up, and you feel nothing in the home you now share is yours.  Chris noticed that you are acting different, so you tell him through sobbing tears how sad you are.  Maybe he even lets you get a cat?’ 

Word Count: 1,244

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

⭐︎ ashleigh’s masterlist ⭐︎ | ☾ ashleigh’s taglist ☽

a/n: this request has been sat in my inbox for so long, i’m so sorry how long it has taken me to get it up, basically writer’s block is a bitch when it comes to drabbles and i wanted to get started on my ransom multi-chapter, but it is up now! hope you like it! 🥺☺️

*:·ﾟ✧*:·ﾟ✧

Christmas. Your favourite time of the year, usually. This year was a little different though, this year you weren’t going to be spending it with your family. You had bit the bullet and moved across the country to be with your boyfriend. Chris. Chris and his dog, Dodger. You had left your entire life behind, family, friends, your job. When you first moved in it was the best decision you had ever made, you were able to spend every day and night with your favourite person, your boyfriend. But as the months passed and the global pandemic raging as the festive season drew closer, you couldn’t help but feel more alone than you ever have before in your life. You wouldn’t be able to go home, with Chris in tow, to see your family for the week after Christmas, and they wouldn’t be able to come to you either. It had brought your spirits right down, especially with the year that has just happened, you didn’t know how to feel, or even tell Chris. 

*:·ﾟ✧*:·ﾟ✧

You frown a little as you look round the decorated living room quietly, pulling the blanket closer to you to get rid of the chill that you was feeling creeping in, not because of how cold it was in Boston but it was this chill was because of how quiet it was round the house. Chris had popped out to do some last minute Christmas shopping and left you with Dodger as company. 

Usually a few days before Christmas your family would all converge at your parent’s house for the holidays, laughter and noise would fill the house. 

But this isn’t a normal year. Or a normal Christmas. 2020 sucked. The whole pandemic fucking sucked. You missed your whole family and you haven’t been able to see them since you moved to Boston to live with Chris. 

Tears fill your eyes as you look at the bookshelf, trying to make out your things but you couldn’t. The house that you now share with Chris didn’t feel homely to you. It was too big, too quiet and you knew that it would break Chris’ heart if you told him how you actually feel. 

Dodger rests his head on your knee, knowing that you were upset, trying to comfort you before Chris came home. You smile a little and pet his head quietly. 

“I’m sorry Dodge…I just feel so lonely…” You whisper to the pup, unbeknownst to you that Chris has just arrived home and could hear you from the doorway. 

He frowns to himself as he watches you, noticing the tears that have stained your cheeks and sets the shopping bags down. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He asks softly, not wanting to startle you too much. 

You jump and turn to him before shaking your head, looking back down at Dodger who was yet to go and greet Chris. “It’s not a big deal…” 

Chris sits next to you and pulls you into his arms, rubbing your back slowly. “It is a big deal, I want you to feel at home here, I know it was tough for you to leave your entire life behind for me…” 

You sob gently and nods slowly before burying your face into his cable knit sweater, his scent overwhelming your scenes as you can’t help but let the tears fall. “I just, I miss them so much, even though we now share this house, it doesn’t feel like home. I don’t think it helped with the pandemic and that we are unable to really see anyone else…but it has been really hard on my mental health Chris…” 

You feel him press a soft kiss into your hair, something that has always calmed you down when you were upset. But, instead of calming you down, it made you feel worse, guilty that you were feeling like this when it should be the most joyous time of the year. Add the fact that it would be the first Christmas you and Chris spend together in your own house, not either of your parent’s houses. You should be making new memories and new traditions, not crying over something so small. 

“Here’s what we are going to do tonight…” Chris whispers to you, rubbing your back in soothing circles, kissing your temple to ensure that you are listening to him. “I am going to run us a bubble bath and then we are going to get into our pyjamas and then, we are going to FaceTime your parents, have a catch up with them, then we will watch a movie with some hot chocolate and cookies…” 

You can’t help but smile a little at Chris’ plans for you both and his willingness to FaceTime your parents for you. But the feeling of being lonely still lingers even though Chris has been able to cheer you up a little. 

*:·ﾟ✧*:·ﾟ✧

A few days after you told Chris how you really felt and that you were lonely and homesick, he arrived home early from his meetings. Dodger goes to greet him excitedly as you follow Dodger, smiling at him a little. Chris could see that even though you had told him what was wrong it would take some time for you to be back to your normal self again. 

“You’re home early…” You say a little confused as you stop by the kitchen doorway, watching Chris a little confused. You notice that he is holding a small bundle in his arms as he tries to unzip his jacket with one arm and with Dodger jump up at him. “Dodge, come on, let Daddy come in properly…” You tell the pup and he sulks off to his bed quietly, head down and tail limp. 

“I am, and I have an early Christmas present for you…” He says and walks over to you, placing the small bundle of fur in your arms carefully, trying not to startle the small ginger furred kitten he was holding. 

You gasp and looks at the kitten in shock before tearing up, holding her close to your chest as she nuzzles into your warmth. “Chris…” You mumble and a genuine smile gracing your lips for the first time in a long time. “She is gorgeous…” 

“I remember you told me that you used to have a cat when you were younger, so I thought…I have Dodger as my companion and you could have this little one as yours…” He explains and sets the bag of the kitten’s belongings down so he can start putting them in the right places with Dodger’s equivalents. 

You watch Chris a little overwhelmed before leaning down to kiss your kitten’s fur as she purrs up at you. “Welcome to the family little one, I think I am going to call you Ginger, to match your fur…” You say softly and smiles as she looks up at you curiously with her large eyes. 

Chris smiles as he watches you, biting his lip as he knows that getting you a kitten wasn’t the complete solution to curb your loneliness and crush it, but it was a start and he couldn’t wait till the pandemic would lighten up so he could fly your entire family out here for you. To make you smile. Because that is all Chris ever wanted, to see you smile and know that he has done everything he could to make you happy. 

*:·ﾟ✧*:·ﾟ✧

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[leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid]

Dirty Motel Sheets

Pairing: Wincest x Reader very bottom!Reader, bottom!Sam, top!Dean

Word Count: 2813

Warnings: All the smut a threesome can ask for! Dirty talk, oral sex, vaginal sex, anal sex, unprotected sex, drinking, cursing, and of course Christmas

Summary: Maybe it’s the Southern Comfort in the eggnog but this Christmas just got a little more steamy and incestuous. 

Author’s Note: Happy Christmas my lovelies! It’s been a very long time since I’ve written, let alone posted a fic. But here we are, at the end of the dumpster fire that was 2020 and I bring you this @spnsecretsantaficexchange​ for the lovely host @negans-lucille-tblr​. She took pity on me and let me join her exchange at the last minute. Thank you for that darling. I know I missed the deadline but I hope this is worth it! Beta by the wonderfully talented @kayteonline​

Christmas as a hunter didn't mean much. There was no Christmas tree. No lights, strung garlands, or shiny round ornaments. Presents, if there were any, came from other hunters. A new machete, a jar of dead man's blood, or a new flask to keep holy water.

This Christmas however, came with a gift you'd been fantasizing about since you first heard of the Winchester's. There was always talk of the two handsome men who traveled across the country in their black beauty of an automobile. How they only truly trusted each other and that their love for each other ran pretty deep.

Maybe a little too deep, but the thought of Sam's big hands with his long fingers spreading himself open for big brother Dean sent arousal down your spine. Sure, it was wrong, but damn what you wouldn't give to see if the rumors were true.

"Thanks for helping me out, guys. I don't think I could have taken those ghouls without an extra set of hands." You reached out a hand towards the older Winchester as he stuffed the shotgun holding the trunk open to his Baby down into the trunk.

"Ain't no problem, sweetheart." Dean thrust his hand into yours, "anytime you need help, give us a call." A wink from those piercing green eyes had the breath stolen from your lungs.

"You know, it is Christmas Eve. Maybe you should come on back with us to our motel. Have some eggnog." Sam smiled and brushed his hair behind his ear as he leaned against the roof of the Impala's passenger side door.

Warmth flooded your body at the suggestion and you were quick to nod your acceptance to the invitation.

"Sure, sounds great. I'll be by in about an hour. Wanna wash the ghoul out of my cleavage and you might want to get the blood out of your hair too, Sam."

With a grimace, Sam nodded and climbed into the Impala while Dean walked around to the driver's side. "See ya in a bit, kid."

A little over an hour later you found yourself sandwiched between the Winchester's on the ratty, brown plaid motel couch. Both boys were freshly showered and pouring another round of  drinks. The eggnog was heavy on the bourbon, the good old Southern Comfort settling in your belly, and it wasn't long before a warm buzz was singing through your veins.

“So, I have a question,” you blurted as Dean emptied the last of the spiked drink into his glass.

“Sure, darling. What is it?”

“I’ve been hearing rumors, and I have to know if they’re true. It’s probably not, and if it’s total bullshit just say so and I’ll blame my curiosity on the SoCo.”

Sam smirked, “sounds ominous. What’s the question?”

Licking your lips, you sat up straight closing your eyes to gain courage, or maybe it was just hard to keep them open when you were this drunk. “Do y’all fuck? Cause last time I was in Nebraska, Jo said….”

The sound of Dean sputtering made your eyes snap open. “Oh my god, are you okay?”

Dean wiped his mouth and shook his head. “I’m fine,” he cleared his throat before muttering under his breath, “Jo should have kept her big fucking mouth shut.”

A wild grin spread across your face. “So it’s true?” You turned to look at Sam who had been quiet, his face and ears tinted with a rosy hue that you didn’t think was just from the alcohol.

“She walked into something she shouldn’t have. Look, Y/N, you can’t tell anybody. We know what people think and we don’t want it getting in the way of what we do.”

Reaching over, you laid a gentle hand on Sam’s jean covered knee. “It’s okay, Sam. I’m not going to tell anyone.” You peeked over your shoulder at Dean, biting into your bottom lip, “it is hot to know though.”

Dean smirked at your comment and leaned back against the couch, his arm going up and over the back. “You think so, huh? What makes the thought of us, a couple of brothers fucking, turn you on?”

Releasing Sam’s knee, you leaned forward, setting your almost empty glass on the wood coffee table and settled back between the brothers, your hands rubbing along the denim over your thighs. “Where do I even fucking start! You’re both gorgeous, and I’d give my left tit to fuck just one of you. But the thought of your plump lips wrapped around that bulge in Sam’s jeans, his massive hands tangled in your hair as he fucks your throat. Or Sam’s ass in the air, cheeks spread by those long fingers of his while you sink your thick cock into him over and over again. Fuck, the thoughts alone leave my pussy wet and aching.”

Dean leaned in a little close, his hand coming up to lift your chin and tilt your face towards him. “Tell us, sweetheart, do you get off thinking about us? Do you make that ache in your pussy worse, fucking yourself with your fingers while thinking about the cum that leaks out of Sam’s tight hole after I’m done with him?”

Your breathing turned rapid as Dean brushed his lips against yours. “Yes,” you exhaled.

Movement on your other side tried to draw your attention but Dean’s lips were molding against your own, his pink tongue flicking at the seam of your lips until you let him in as Sam curled a hand around your thigh.

A hot breath caressed the curve of your ear, “do you want to join us tonight, Y/N? Stay the night and be filled for Christmas?” Sam’s words were like pure sin in your ear and you moaned into Dean’s mouth as hands started moving across your body.

Deft fingers popped buttons and tugged open clothing, a large hand moving to pull the cup of your bra down to palm at your breast while another snaked into your open jeans, tapping against your clit through wet panties.

It was a blur as Dean's lips on yours became Sam's, his kiss more forceful as he dominated your mouth. Dean's own lips find purchase on your neck, sucking the sensitive skin there while his fingers flicked open your bra.

The hand in your pants rubbed against the wet fabric, your clit throbbing as Sam built you up to almost your breaking point before stopping and pulling away.

He stood from the sofa, offering you a hand which you took rising slowly until you stood at his side. From behind you, Dean grabbed the waist of your undone jeans, pulling them and your wrecked knickers down until they pooled at your feet.

"Go lay on the bed, sweetheart." Dean's words, like a command, swept over you, and when you turned towards the bed it was only then that you realised it was the only one in the room.

"Not much use for two these days," Sam murmured beside you as his large hand came down on the small of your back, giving you a gentle nudge towards the already rumpled and dirty motel sheets.

You went willingly, climbing up along the center until you could rest your head among the dingy pillows.

With you perched and watching, Dean did what came naturally as he stepped up to Sam, shooting you a wink before pulling his baby brother down into a searing kiss.

Tongues tangled and groans of need filled the air as the brothers undressed one another in a synchronized dance they had perfected over the years. Large calloused hands caressing and squeezing as fabric hit the floor and revealed taut skin.

Your eyes were glued to their movements, your hands lightly touching your skin, along your thighs and between your legs, one hand dipping lower to tease your wet opening while the other made lazy circles around your swollen clit.

The squelching sound of your fingers plunging in and out of your drenched cunt drew the brothers attention, Sam, now gloriously exposed to you, stepped away from big brother to crawl up the end of the bed towards your dripping center.

“Such a pretty pussy, it’s been awhile since I’ve tasted that sweetness. Can I taste you, Y/N?” Sam asked, a hunger in his lust blown kaleidoscope eyes.

“Fuck, yes please,” you mewled, withdrawing your hands from your core to clench at the off white sheets below you.

A sly grin rolled around Sam’s lips before he leaned forward, licking a hungry strip between your swollen lips. His tongue wrapping around your clit, pressing hard before moving down to lick at your entrance.

“How’s she taste, Sammy?”

Your heavy lids raised to look over at the eldest Wincester as he stood at the end of the bed, his thick cock in hand as he lazily stroked himself from base to tip.

“So fucking good,” Sam groaned into your cunt, his words adding vibrations to your pulsating clit making tingles of pleasure shoot down all the way to your toes.

Dean stopped touching himself and leaned over to a get something from a duffle bag that was on the floor, a bottle of lube popping free from a zippered front pouch.

“That’s good, Sammy. Keep licking that sweet, tight pussy. Get her nice and ready to take your huge dick.” Dean clicked open the lid to the lube, slicking his fingers as he stepped closer to Sam kneeling between your thighs. “It’s been a couple years since I’ve let Sammy have someone’s cunt wrapped around his beautiful cock. It’s been all mine since he came back out on the road with me.”

Dean stopped talking and your pussy clenched around Sam’s tongue as Dean held Sam’s left ass cheek open so he could smear the thick wetness on his digits over the taut opening of Sam’s asshole. Slowly, Dean sank a finger in, letting the tight rim of his baby brother’s hole stretch to let him in.

“Finger that pussy open while I get you ready, Sammy.”

With a whimper Sam obliged, inserting first one and then two fingers into your greedy cunt, rocking them in and out slowly, matching the pace of the fingers in his own ass.

Desire wracked your body, clit pulsing as your cunt squeezed around Sam’s fingers, his lips and tongue focusing all their attention on your sensitive nub.

“Make her cum, Sammy. Cum all over his fingers and tongue, Y/N. He’s fucking starving for you to flood his mouth with your juices. Come on, sweetheart. Cum for us.”

Dean’s words as he scissored his fingers inside Sam, sent a spark of white hot pleasure through your body, your toes curling and a wail of delight exhaling from your lungs as you came, Sam lapping happily as you soaked his digits.

“That a girl,” Dean praised.

You came down slowly, Sam slipping his hand free as he cleaned you with his tongue before crawling up your body, Dean withdrawing as well to coat his hard cock in lube.

“Think you’re ready for me, darling?” Sam asked, his mouth taking possession of yours without letting you answer as his thick cockhead rest against your cunt lips.

You moaned against the flavor of pussy that was sparking on your tongue as Sam licked into your mouth.

“I think she’s ready, Sammy. Fuck her, hard. Get her nice and stretched by that fat cock before I start getting antsy and start fucking you.”

Sam’s lips left yours as he sat back just enough to see between your bodies and ran his flared cockhead down between your folds, your clit jumping from overstimulation as he rubbed back and forth before dragging down to your opening.

“Dean’s so impatient sometimes,” Sam murmured as he slowly sank his tip into you. The wide head stretched you open further than his fingers had as a pleasurable burn rippled through your core.

Your eyes fluttered shut as Sam pushed his way into your body, settling to let you adjust as he rained kisses over your chest his lips, tongue and teeth greeting your neglected nipples for the first time tonight.

Sam hummed to himself as he ravaged your chest before pulling away with an audible pop to look at you. “Y/N?”  He waited until your eyes opened to continue. “I’m gonna start moving now. If that’s alright.”

“Yes,” you breathed. “Please fucking move before I fucking explode. Need you to fuck me with that huge cock, Sam.”

Dean barked a laugh, “she’s desperate for it, baby brother. Give it to her.”

Sam smiled that boyish grin of his before pulling his hips back and slamming back in. Knocking the air from your lungs as he started pounding in and out of your dripping core. His cheeks starting to redden with the exertion as sweat beaded along his skin, your arms reaching up to pull him in closer, lips searching out his as your nails dug into his thick shoulders.

Pleasure coursed through your core being stretched and stuffed full like you’d never been before flooding your brain with endorphins. Ragged breaths fell from your lips, mirrored by Sam’s own until Dean stepped forward and laid a solitary hand on the small of Sam’s back, just above the curve of his plump ass.

“Hold on for a second, Sammy,” he whispered, resting a knee on the mattress as he pulled his hand down over the curve to hold Sam open again.

Sam’s eyes were on yours as he breathed slowly above you, his bottom lip drawn up between his teeth in anticipation of what was coming next.

You smoothed your left hand down his sweaty back, until you reached his buttocks, grabbing a handful before pulling the other side open for his big brother. “Fuck him, Dean.”

“Fuck,” Dean breathed, his head lolling forward, his eyes shutting briefly at your words as he thumbed his flared tip down and slowly pushed at Sam’s rim.

The brother gave a grunt in unison, and you couldn’t help clenching around Sam’s throbbing erection still inside you.

“Please don’t do that, Y/N. I’ll fucking cum and I don’t wanna ruin this,” Sam groaned, his voice strained as Dean settled deep inside him.

“Sorry,” you giggled before having it punched out of you by Dean as he thrust forward into Sam as hard as he could, sending his baby brother deeper inside you until his cock rest against your cervix.

“Holy fuck,” you yelped in pleasurable surprise.

“Hold on, sweetheart,” Dean said just as he started pumping over and over into Sam, sending the younger Winchester into a rhythm that let him fuck you in turn just as hard.

Grunts, groans, whimpers and mewls of pleasure filled the motel space. Outside the air was freezing, but inside it was hot and smelled of sex; dripping wet cunt, sweat, and lubricant.

“I can’t, Dean. I’m gonna fucking cum.” Sam whined as Dean hammered into his prostate and your pussy fluttered around him, your own orgasm building quickly.

“Try, Sammy. Want us all to cum together.”

But he couldn’t do it. The stimulation rippling through his body, your wet pussy squeezing him tight and Dean rocking into him hard enough for the headboard to be hitting the wall was just too much. Sam ducked his head into your neck, his teeth nipping at your skin as a dull roar left his lips. His cock pulsed against your walls, filling you to the brim with his cum.

The squelch of his white mess dripped out around his cock and onto the bed as the three of you kept moving, Dean using all he had to stave off his release in favor of yours.

“Gonna cum on that dick, Y/N? Squeeze out any bit of cum my sweet baby brother’s got left?”

The rasp of Dean’s words traveled straight to your clit, as did Sam’s fingers and your world exploded into a world of bright white, blood rushing to your ears and leaving you deaf as Dean too grunted out he was gonna cum.

The three of you were a bunch of tangled and sweaty limbs, each panting and covered in each other's white, sticky juices.

“Merry fucking Christmas,” Dean announced as he pulled out and dropped onto his back beside you on the bed.

A whimper at the loss leaving Sam’s pink lips as he too untangled himself from your core and laid on the vacant side of you.

Cum dripped between your thighs and out of Sam’s asshole onto the motel’s grimy off white sheets, leaving them a little dirtier after witnessing your Christmas sins.

“Merry Christmas indeed,” Sam sighed before promptly falling asleep, exhaustion taking over as you giggled between the brother’s.

Christmas as a hunter was rough, but this one had turned out to be the best one yet.

[the-iceni-bitch]

An Early Christmas Gift

Pairing: Surprise (male protag) x Female Reader

Word Count: 5130

Warnings:  Explicit sexual content, explicit language, it’s porn y’all, 18+, SPOILERY CONTENT WARNINGS BELOW THE CUT! PLEASE BE MINDFUL!

A/N: Well ladies, school is slow, I’m off work, and I’m horny, so I have decided to bless you all with my second fic, also a submission in the 2020 Happy Hoeliday’s challenge hosted by the absolutely lovely @stargazingfangirl18​, @donutloverxo​, and @navybrat817​. I wanted to do something a little different with this one, where you don’t find out who your partner is until you get below the cut, like a fun little Christmas surprise. Due to the nature of this fic, there is some content that could be potentially upsetting that would also constitute potential spoilers, the the warnings for those are in the text itself. Please see further notes at the end of the fic and enjoy this little gift from me to you!

“Look honey, they’re perfect!” You exclaimed as you held up the tiny hat and booty set. “Gabi will love them!”

You hadn’t planned on doing any more Christmas shopping, but when your sister called as you were driving around the countryside surrounding Gruyeres to let you know she was pregnant, you knew you had to grab something from one of the adorable shops in the medieval Swiss town.

“Cadeau emballé s'il vous plaît.” You murmured to the shopkeeper as you handed over your payment, and within a few minutes you were walking out of the shop with a beautifully wrapped package, arm in arm with your partner. You were idly chatting about your plans for tomorrow (you’d have to be sure to get up early to ship your gift to Gabi) as you turned down an alleyway on the way back to your inn.

“Ah, fuck.” He murmured as you were halfway down the alley, and suddenly he had you pressed up against the wall with his mouth on yours. You dropped the bag containing your gift in surprise.

He pressed one palm against the small of your back to hold you flush against him while the other held his balance against the stone wall. One of his thighs moved in between your legs and started to edge your wool pencil skirt slowly upward. You got over the surprise quickly and brought your hands up to latch onto his hair as his tongue ran along your lower lip and you moaned into his mouth.

~~~~~~~~WARNING: GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE~~~~~~~~~~

You almost missed the stranger that came up behind him and pressed a gun to his head.

“Que faites-vous?” the man hissed at you. You noticed four more men, two at each end of the alley, starting to move closer and started to sob.

“Qu'est-ce que vous voulez?” You gasped through a steady stream of tears. Your partner’s hands were now raised in supplication as his jaw clenched in a look of frustration.

“Pourquoi me suivez-vous, eh?” The man had now turned his attention to you, since you were the only one saying anything.

“We, we weren’t…” You had now reverted to your native English as you started to sink down the wall, a blubbering mess.

The man stepped forward and trained his gun on you, shifting his balance as he moved.

You ducked under your partner’s arm as you loosened one of the knives sewn into your coat sleeve, caught the wrist of the hand holding the gun, and slashed down his brachial artery.

“Merde!” he shouted, stumbling backwards as blood rushed down his arm. You could hear the other men cursing under their breath as they started to rush you.

You flipped the blade you were holding into your palm, then flung it into the throat of the nearest assailant before shrugging out of your coat. August was already out of his and was pulling out the gun he had tucked into his waistband.

“They’re too close for that.” You told him as the last three closed in on you. Then you saw 2 more rushing into the alley and let out a sigh. “Damn.”

The newcomers started firing as you dove into a nook in the wall. August had his sights trained on them as he started to take his shots. The other three were on you in seconds.

You managed to dodge the first few punches as you drew two new knives from inside your boot. You caught a glancing blow to your ribs before kicking the culprit twice, once to the diaphragm, once to the face. You felt arms wrap around you from behind as you were lifted off the ground by the largest lackey. You started gasping as he began to squeeze the air out of your lungs.

You whipped your head back fast and felt a crunch as you connected with his nose. He dropped you to the ground with a hiss and you plunged a knife back and connected with flesh, earning yourself a momentary reprieve. You used the other knife to cut a slit up the thigh of your skirt to allow you to move more.

The gunfire had stopped at this point and you managed to catch a glimpse of August grappling with one of the gunmen before one of your assailants bowled into you. As he tried to flip you onto your back, you managed to take over the momentum and wrap your knee around his neck until you heard a snap.

You felt a sharp pain in your side as you straightened back up and were fairly sure you now had a broken rib. You turned to face your final attacker when you heard a choked off scream and a body flew into your field of vision, crashing into the man you were facing.

You turned to your left to see August pumping his fists as he strode after the man he had just thrown across the alleyway like a ragdoll. You squared up shoulder to shoulder as your two opponents did the same.

The final fight started with a crash. The two of you had vastly different fighting styles. You were all strategy, dodging most blows, planning your strikes for maximum damage. August was all brute force; he simply absorbed any body shots and knew that the size and force of his fists would cause damage no matter where they landed. The fight finally ended with your opponent with a knife through his eye, while August’s opponent’s head was almost ripped off with a broken neck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~END OF CONTENT WARNING~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Motherfucker,” you exclaimed, “they shot the baby gift!”

August was already dialing a sanitation team as you went over to inspect the damage. You may have been able to salvage it if someone hadn’t managed to bleed into the bullet hole in the packaging, soaking the beanie and booties.

Leaving the ruined present behind, you went to search the corpses for any useful information. You found one potentially salvageable cell phone (it was only covered in blood, not crushed) and nothing else.

“Shit”

“Sloane wants to talk to you,” August said, handing you his cell.

“Y/L/N, you wanna tell me what exactly the situation is there?”

“Did Walker not give you a run down?”

“His run downs tend to be minimal at best, this one was ‘lots of dead bodies in an alley, send a team.’”

You winced as you touched your ribs to assess the damage. “Yeah, that sounds like him. They made us and boxed us in. I have one cell I may be able to get something out of. Does rice work for absorbing blood or just water?”

You heard a snort over the line. “Take it back to your safe house and I’ll have an analyst pick it up tomorrow. Right now, you need to get out of there, we’re showing law enforcement heading to your location.”

“Alright. Hey, can you have that analyst pick up a replacement baby gift for me?” You asked as you held up a blood-soaked booty.

“Sure, they love when I give them errands.” You heard the sarcasm dripping from her voice.

“We’re on our way back. I’m trashing our phones just in case.” You said as you walked through the alley, making sure to collect all the knives you had used and tucking them back into their designated sheathes.

“Good plan. The analyst will bring you replacements in the morning. Stay in your room at the inn and don’t leave under any circumstances.”

“You got it boss.” You placed the phone on a slightly raised cobblestone at an angle and brought your boot down on it hard, hearing it crack.

You did the same with the phone in your purse as August walked back over to you, carrying both of your coats.

“Hey Walker, what the fuck was that kiss?”

He winced at you. “I thought it would throw them off.”

“Uh-huh” you mumbled as you shrugged your coat back on. That may have explained why he kissed you, but definitely not the way he kissed you. “You’re bleeding”

“Yeah, one of them grazed me”

“Alright, I’ll stitch you up when we get back to the hotel. Put your coat over it for now”

He groaned when he stretched his arm through the sleeve of his coat, feeling the burning of the wound along his ribs now that his adrenaline was going down.

You hobbled back into your room at the inn after you managed to calm down the tiny innkeeper. You weren’t sure how you convinced her you had both just tripped as you were walking down a hill, but she seemed to buy it. She insisted on sending up a bundle of hot towels with you and a bucket of ice, which you thanked her for.

After locking the door behind you, you pulled out the first aid kit from under your bed and turned to your patient.

“I hope you’re not too attached to that sweater.”

“What?” August was slowly rolling his coat off his shoulders. He had rolled the sweater up around his elbows during the fight, exposing his well-muscled forearms.

“Even if I could get the blood out of it, I’m going to need to cut it off you.” You told him over your shoulder as you scrubbed your hands. “I don’t want to drag it over the wound and cause any more damage.”

“Alright.”

You drew the scissors out of the kit and held the sweater away from his torso as you began cutting up towards his neckline. He winced when the edge of your hand barely skimmed the wound.

“This sweater is ridiculously tight Walker; I’m doing my best.”

“You’re fine just get it over with.” He said through gritted teeth.

“I haven’t even started cleaning it and you’re already complaining. Do you want me to knock you out for a couple of stitches?”

“Do you have a sedative in that kit?”

“The kit is the sedative. One good ram against your skull should have you down for the count.”

He started laughing in spite of himself before groaning at the pain.

“If you don’t hold still, I really will knock you out.” You scolded him, pouring an iodine solution over the wound.

“Fuck, Y/L/N! Ah, that stings.”

“Here, bite down on this.” You folded up a towel and handed it to him. He shoved it in his mouth and clamped down as you ran a flame over the needle you would be using. He let out a grunt around it when you first inserted the needle but managed to settle in as you got to work.

Less than a minute later, you finished your beautiful blanket stitch and were about to start wrapping his torso when he stayed your hand.

“Leave it.”

“Suit yourself.” You said, standing up. You winced suddenly as you had forgotten about your own injury and it was now screaming at you. “Shit.” You hissed. “Help me out of my coat?”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Pretty sure I have at least one broken rib.”

He stood up and helped you shrug out of your heavy coat. “Jesus, how many knives are in here?”

“Six?” you said as you did a mental tally. “No, seven. Two in each sleeve, two in the waist, one in between the shoulders.” You went to the bathroom mirror and untucked your blouse from your skirt, pulling up the edge to get a good look at your bruised torso.

“You really need to carry seven knives with you?”

“No. Those are just the ones sewn into the coat.” You put your shirt back down. “Good news, pretty sure I just have a bruised diaphragm. Hurts like a bitch but not a whole lot you can do about it.”

You turned around to head back to the bedroom when you bumped into August’s bare chest.

“Where do you keep the other knives?”

He was looking at you with what you had originally assumed were adrenaline blown eyes, but now recognized as the dilated pupils of lust. His blood must have still been up from the fight.

With your boots still on you were almost as tall as him, but he was a solid wall of muscle in front of you and while you could move him if you needed to, that wouldn’t be good for either of your injuries.

“What are you doing?” You asked him, looking him dead in the eye as you shifted your stance, ready to fight if you had to, but you thought you would have a better chance if you ran.

He let out a sigh and stepped back on his heels, allowing you to relax a bit.

“I think I misread this situation.”

“How exactly?”

“Listen,” he said, “there’s nothing like a good fuck after a fight and we’ve been partnered for almost six months now. I know we’re normally able to take care of ourselves but since we’re stuck in this room together with just the one bed, it would probably be less awkward if we just…”

“’You know we’re normally able to take care of ourselves?’ Where the fuck did you get that idea?”

“You’re not very quiet.” He said bluntly, which you honestly couldn’t deny so you just started laughing.

“No, that’s definitely true” You said. Standing there, looking at him leaning up against the wall with his naked torso that looked like it had been chiseled by Da Vinci after a particularly exquisite wet dream, you couldn’t even deny that often, the thought of him between your legs was enough to push over the edge in your post-fight sessions.

“Alright then let’s set some ground rules. Hard limits for me are going to be anything related to urine or feces. No real soft limits but if you want to do breath play you better know what you’re doing. My safe word is ‘balsam’. What about you?”

He was looking at you with his face in a state of total shock. “Umm, what?”

“What are your limits Walker? What won’t you do? What are you willing to do but aren’t crazy about?”

“No, no, I know what limits are. Same as yours, I guess my safe word can be ‘spruce’?” he almost made the second sentence a question. “You’re fine with this?”

“Should I not be fine with this? We’re both professionals, this is strictly so we’re able to sleep after…”

You didn’t have time to finish your thought as he lifted you up and wrapped your legs around him. He pulled your head down to his and parted your lips with his tongue. You greeted it with yours as he lay you down on the bed and ripped your skirt the rest of the way off from the slit you made in it earlier, revealing a custom garter belt that held four more knives on each thigh. At the sight of that he laughed.

“Is that all of them?”

You propped yourself up on your elbows and looked at him through your lashes. “Why don’t you get the rest of this off and find out?” You said, holding up one booted calf and rubbing it against his shoulder.

He growled at you as he ripped the boot off and ran his teeth against the arch of your foot, causing a quiver to run up your leg and ripple through your core. He removed the other boot next and pulled you down until you were straddling him, then he tore through the buttons on your blouse and yanked you up to roll it down your shoulders. Then he took a step back to take a good look at you.

“Sevent… seventeen knives, really?” He said, looking you over.

Aside from the eight knives around your thighs, you had two around each of your calves, four tucked into the waist portion of your special garter belt, and one between your breasts.

“Twenty-four total, along with the coat.” You grinned up at him. “This custom set cost me a pretty penny, so no tearing it off me like an animal.” You said, glancing over at your ruined skirt and blouse.

“I think I’ll let you remove all of that, for my own safety.”

You threw your head back and laughed, then stood up and started to unstrap yourself.

You started with your left leg, removing the small sheath belt on your calf, and placing it on your trunk, then removing the four knives from the thigh before unbuckling it. Then you moved onto your right leg, fully unstrapping everything there before undoing your garter belt completely at the waist. Finally, you undid your very special bra and placed that on top of the impressive pile, turning back to Walker in only your panties and stockings.

He was looking at you with a lust blown gaze and his fists clenching and unclenching at his side. You could see the outline of a very impressive hard on through his tight slacks and felt yourself clench around nothing as a rush of arousal soaked your panties.

“Fuck, Y/N. That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

You rolled your eyes at him as you strode over, pulling him down for a quick kiss before sinking to your knees. “Low bar there bud, we’ll see if we can improve on that before the night’s out.” You said as you started to undo his belt.

“Um, starting already?”

You gave the outline of his cock a soft nip through his slacks and his hips twitch involuntarily as he took in a sharp intake of breath.

“I mean, I can draw this out if you really want, but I’m pretty sure we’re past the foreplay stage at this point.” You say, pulling down his slacks and boxer briefs to free his extremely impressive cock. It almost slaps you in the face as it bounces back up towards his abdomen. You make eye contact with him as you slowly drag your tongue along the base from root to tip.

“Shit, yeah, you’re right.” He lets out in a quick breath, tilting his head back and screwing his eyes shut.

You give him a wicked grin as you continue staring up through your lashes. Your tongue flicks around the tip a few times, lapping up the trickle of pre-cum that is forming before you slowly take the head of his cock in your mouth, humming around it as you do.

“Jesus, fuck.” He cries as his knees buckle and he lands on the bed with a huff. You slide forward on your knees to follow him and dip your hand between your legs to coat it in your own arousal, before gripping his length and sucking on first one velvety sack, then the other.

His breathing is becoming irregular as he stares at you through hooded eyes. You take his cock in your mouth again and he wraps your hair around his fist as you start to slowly move your head up and down, taking him in a little deeper each time. You feel his tip hit the back of your throat and start to breathe through your nose as you swallow around his cock.

“Shit,” he exclaims as he falls back and places a second hand on the back of your head as he starts to fuck his hips up into your mouth. “Y/N, I’m gonna cum.”

His hips stutter as he tries to pull out, but you get your own hands under his hips to hold him in place. He lets out a low groan and you feel his release running hot snakes down your throat. You continue swallowing around his softening dick until your sure he has nothing left to give you, then you release him with a pop and wipe the drool from your chin.

You slowly kiss and lick your way up his torso, dipping your tongue into the ripples between his muscles and making low, humming noises as you do. His ragged breathing has started to even out as you reach his neck, running your teeth along his pulse point and nipping at his jaw before you place your mouth over his and flick your tongue along his bottom lip.

“Good for you, baby?” You ask against his lips, feeling the scratch of his stubble and moustache against your soft skin as you gently pull on his lips with your teeth.

You feel him grin against your mouth as answer before his tongue meets yours.

“Fucking great, your turn now.”

You only have a second to prepare as he wraps his hands around the outside of your thighs and yanks you up the bed with a yelp until your straddling his face. He buries his face against your silk covered mound and gives a sharp inhale before he starts kissing and softly biting at the skin of your inner thighs, his facial hair scratching at the sensitive skin.

“Take these things off.” He says, pulling at your panties with his teeth before letting them snap back into place as you let out a strangled gasp.

You somehow manage to remove them from the awkward position you’re in and as soon as they’re gone, August drags his tongue along your slit at an agonizingly slow pace.

Your brain short circuits and you have to brace both your hands against the headboard so you don’t collapse onto his face. He moves a hand up to palm your breast, working your pebbled nipple in between his fingers as his tongue circles your clit.

“God, honey, you taste amazing.” He murmured against you before shoving his tongue inside your cunt and making you scream. “You gonna cum all over my…”

You cut him off by grinding your pussy into his face. “Stop talking.” You hiss at him. You can feel your orgasm building and want relief as soon as possible.

You feel his smile against you as he starts fucking you with his mouth in earnest, wrapping his arms around your thighs before he starts sucking on your clit.

The sight of those forearms around your legs combined with the soft hums and moans he’s making against your skin send you teetering over the edge. You feel yourself clench around his tongue and let out a cry, your body tightening and releasing as wave after wave of pleasure wrack you.

When you had finally finished, August slowly rolled you over and softly kissed down your leg as he lowered you onto the pillows. You groaned and arched your back when he stopped, hating the loss of sensation. Your heart was still beating like crazy as you propped yourself up on your elbows to gaze at him.

His hair was damp with sweat as it tumbled into his eyes in loose curls. He raked his fingers back through it to push it out of his face, and you saw that his moustache and stubble were soaked with your slick as he licked his lips and stared at you. You let out a low moan and bit your lip as you felt desire pool at your core once more. You pulled his face down to yours and started cleaning the evidence of your orgasm from his facial hair with your lips as you wrapped your legs around his waist. You felt him harden against you as he began rocking his hips, sliding his cock against your swollen clit and you let out a small whine.

“Ready again so soon sweetheart?” He murmured into your ear, nuzzling himself in the small hollow behind the hinge of your jaw. He slips one hand underneath you and presses you into him further, coating his cock in your arousal.

“Fuck.” You hiss. “Jesus, get inside me now.”

“Condom?”

“I’m on the pill.”

He smiles against your neck as his hips still and he lines himself up at your entrance. You let out a strangled cry as he slams into you, bottoming out immediately.

“Fuck, you’re so tight honey.” He growls into your neck as he stops moving completely.

After a few beats of stillness, you speak up.

“August, I kind of need you to move.”

“Yeah, just give me a second.” You feel his face screwed up against your neck as he holds you there. He’s trying not to come like a teenager two pumps into their first warm cunt. He pulls out of you halfway before slowly pushing back in, and your hands scramble on his back, begging him to pick up the pace as you flutter around him. He finally starts fucking into you at a steady rhythm as you take in a sharp breath.

As he starts to pick up the pace, he takes your left leg from around his waist and moves it so your ankle is propped on his shoulder. He places small bites along your ankle as he presses his thumb into the arch of your foot, causing you to clench around him and gasp, screwing your eyes closed as he edges you closer and closer. You feel his grin against your calf as his hand moves to your upper back and he pulls you up to mouth at your breast, rolling your hardened nipple between his tongue and teeth.

“August!” you let out a scream at the new position. The change in angles has him hitting your sweet spot over and over, and now he is slamming into you fast. “I’m gonna cum!”

“That’s right baby, scream for me.” He pulls you up flush against him and you wrap your arms around his neck so he can stabilize himself against the wall. The hand he isn’t using for balance slides in between you, using two fingers to work your clit as he fucks you harder and harder while kissing you deeply. The bed frame sounds like it’s about to fall apart as he fucks you into the headboard.

You cry into his mouth as the tension in your core snaps and you fly apart around him. Your cunt clenches and flutters as you feel yourself turn to jelly, sinking back onto the pillows as he continues to fuck into you at a punishing speed, a hand on each of your hips as he pulls you onto him over and over.

You feel yourself building again quickly as his cock starts to twitch inside you and your velvety walls constrict around him again. You don’t know if you can handle another orgasm at this point.

He looks down at you as his pace becomes irregular and gives you a wicked grin. “C’mon baby, give me one more.”

You let out a low moan as he presses a thumb to your overworked clit and you spasm up off the bed as your pleasure is released. You feel all the muscles in your core tremble from the strain, and your previously forgotten rib injury makes itself known.

August isn’t far behind you and you feel his hips stutter as his release coats your walls and he hisses your name through clenched teeth before collapsing on top of you and burying his face in your neck. You feel him starting to soften as he slides out of you and he rolls to the side breathing heavily. You lay next to each other for a few moments, waiting for your heart rates to slow down and breathing to regulate before you even try to move or talk. It’s been a while since either of you have been so thoroughly fucked, and you didn’t realize how much you needed it until this moment. You finally come down from your post-fuck high, and groan as you sit up and try to head to the bathroom, knees almost giving out once you stand up. Walker starts laughing behind you and you turn to throw a pillow at his head, which he catches in mid-air. Once your sea legs are back, you make your way to the bathroom for a post-fuck piss. You hear a muttered “Shit” from the bedroom, and the rattle of jostled furniture, and start cackling as you start to run the shower.

“God a shower will be great.” Walker says as he stumbles into view, still pretty obviously fuck-drunk.

“It’s a whore’s bath for you. I can’t believe your stitches stayed in place during all of that, there’s no way I’m letting you ruin them now.”

“You’re so fucking bossy, I oughta…”

He doesn’t get a chance to finish that thought as there is a sudden pounding on the door. You both snap into alert stances as you toss a robe at him and wrap one around yourself quickly. He grabs his gun and takes up a stance behind the door, then gives you a nod once he’s ready, jaw clenched in preparation. You swing the door open to find Mdm. Eberle, the 80-year-old innkeeper, standing there with her even more ancient husband, holding what you can only assume was a previously decorative rifle from the 1700s that they had hauled down from above the fireplace.

“Madame Trellier,” she whimpers at you. “The room below you heard screaming and horrible noises and we… oh.” She trails off once she gets a good look at you.

You caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror before you answered the door, and there was really no other way to describe your appearance than well fucked. Your hair was bunched up and mussed, your mascara was running, and there were love bites running down your neck and on to your chest. Not that the state of the room was any better. Your discarded clothes were still in plain view, and you now noticed a small crack running up the wall behind the headboard that definitely wasn’t there before.

Mssr. Eberle’s look abruptly change from a scowl to childish glee as he gave you a toothless grin while Mdm. Eberle covered her mouth with one hand as a flush crept up to her face.

You started to apologize profusely when Walker chose this moment to stride out from behind the door with a cocky grin on his face, wrap his hand around your waist, and give you a kiss on the neck before heading into the bathroom.

Poor Mdm. Eberle started spluttering while her husband started cackling, assuring you that there was no need to apologize as she started scurrying away. Mssr. Eberle gave you a lecherous wink before following her, and you closed the door behind them with a sigh.

“Stay out of that shower!” You scolded Walker as you headed into the bathroom, ready to get back to the States already so you could debrief and maybe actually be home for the holidays. You didn’t even notice the cellphone you had collected from your attackers was now on the bedside table, laying on top of an electromagnet.

   END

More A/N: Y’all, I had way too much fun with this one. I actually enjoyed writing the non-smut portion as much as the sweet, smutty goodness. I also think I maybe have a bad boy kink? Who knows, we’ll explore further.

Happy Hoelidays!

[monstersandmaw]

Christmas Dad-fic (kind of) anyone? When I started writing this, 'naga' was winning the poll, but orcs and uruks seem to be in the lead now (by two points). I hope this will suffice anyway! Thank you all for your support, and I wish you all a very safe and merry time. I can't see family this year, but we've got a little family on Discord and Tumblr too, so I don't feel so bad! Thanks for being so consistently wonderful.

Content: penetrative sex (gender and body neutral reader though), brief background mention of a fleetingly missing child, single dad Wordcount: just shy of 6k words

Preview:

The  crash of falling packets and tins that filled aisle three brought  boiling blood to your ears and you just had to stand there, one aisle  over, clenching your jaw and trying not to swear out loud for a long  minute. Retail work at Christmas fucking sucked. A tin can rolled out of  the aisle as you rounded the corner to survey the damage, and you  stooped to pick it up. By the time you’d straightened, you could hear  gentle, hissed cursing emanating from the source of the crash.

There in aisle three, a monstrously thick and long tail coiled up in embarrassment, was a naga,  their warm, tanned skin flushed pink from ears to neck as they began  scrabbling to pick up the remnants of the Christmas display. “I’m so  sorry,” they cringed as you appeared and they took in your uniform.  “Really, it’ssssss… I’m… Gods, I’m so sorry. I’ll clear it all up. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s  fine,” you said, trying to be professional. At least they weren’t  somehow trying to blame you for it, which had been known to happen in  the past when people dropped glass bottles of gross mulled wine or  frothing bottles of beer. “Nothing’s broken…”

“Thank the Godsssss.”

You looked a little more closely at them and had to twitch your mouth into a tiny smile. They really were enormous, even by naga standards. Guessing he was male, from the clothing and general  appearance, you had just opened your mouth to tell him again that he  could leave it to you, when a much smaller voice from behind him  groused, “Oh my Gods! Dad? You’re so embarrassing!” The tiny, reedy  voice drew out the final word into a long and scathing rebuke.

You bit your lips together and fought back the rising urge to laugh as a young naga,  perhaps six or seven, slithered round the other end of the aisle with a  big bottle of orange juice in her hands, which she’d presumably been  tasked with fetching.

“I know, I’m sorry sweetie. Will you help me clean it up?”

“No  way!” she snorted, and dumped the orange juice in the trolley before  bolting as fast as possible from the scene of the crime.

He  let out a long, slow breath through his nose and rubbed his fingertips  between his eyes. You risked a glance up and saw that he looked suddenly  exhausted. He wore his shiny, black hair long, as many naga did, and tied back in a plait that fell most of the way down his back, and he was duffled up in a chunky, dark green cable-knit sweater. From this angle - where  you were stooped on the floor and picking up packets of chestnuts and  ready-made stuffing for Christmas - you were struck by just how  attractive he was.

When he caught you looking at him, he sighed again. “I’m so sssssorry,”  he said. “I just… wasn’t paying attention to what the rest of me was  doing. Really, you don’t have to clear it all up for me. I promise to  put it all back where it came from.”

“It’s fine,” you said, and found that you actually meant it. “You should probably catch up with your daughter…”

His  eyes darted to your name badge and you saw him read it before he smiled  at you. He had thick, slightly pronounced canines and a glimmering  white smile that made your insides swoop. “You’re probably right… Thank  you. I’m so sorry…”

And  with that, he was gone, pushing his shopping trolley around the corner.  Well, his torso disappeared, but it was a while before his massively  long body vanished completely. If he’d lain out flat, he must have been  at least ten metres long from head to tail tip, if not longer.

The  regular, lyrical slithering of his body, the way his muscles bunched  and shifted to propel him forward, also did unexpected things to you,  and you found yourself tingling all over. The diamond plates of his  scales shimmered like patinated bronze - a warm, coffee-brown with  darker, mesmeric spots - and it was clear from his upper half that he  was in really, really good shape. You licked your lips and hoped he  hadn’t noticed your private lusting after him, and turned to the last of  the packets just as your manager appeared.

“What the hell happened?” he asked. “I heard a big old crash. You alright?”

You  laughed. “Yeah,” you sighed, straightening with a grunt, and hand to  your lower back. You eyed his tail too and chuckled. He had to have been  half the width and length of the anaconda naga, and where the latter had moved slowly, with ponderous, undulating movements of his muscle, Osman was a golden-brown viper naga, and twitchy as a bird. “A naga forgot to keep track of the end of his tail, I think. Sideswiped the Christmas display.”

“Ahh,”  Osman sighed melodramatically, clearly relieved that no harm had come  to you, his shop, or to a customer. “Well, we’ve all done it at one  point or another.” He shot a glance up at the speakers in one corner of  the store and glared at them, as if the venom in his gaze would make  them drop off the walls. “And if I have to hear one more rendition of  ‘All I want for Christmas’, I think I might take my own tail to the  Santa display over in aisle four… Could be most satisfying…”

You grinned, and headed off to start restocking the frozen food aisle.

Read the whole thing over on Patreon, and don’t miss your last chance to read everything else on there for just $5 before I mothball it on 31st December 2020!

[stray-kids-react]

Polaroid

Han x Fem. Reader Soulmate au

Warnings - Swearing, mentions of sex, and Fluff that'll make you cry.

Masterlist

...

Y/n's pov, November 27 2020

My mother once told me that I will know when I'm in love, she never specified what hints will cross my path... She just said I'll know.

As a young adult now, sharing an apartment with my close friend Yeji. I'm starting to become impatient with this whole game of love, why can't I just get told who is my perfect match. I'm so tired of having my hopes risen up and then crashed down onto my heart... Breaking it each time.

"Any plans today?" Yeji asked from the kitchen, making me cringe at the word plans.

I just was still recovering from a terrible break up, where I caught the supposedly love of my life slurping the life out of his assistants pussy. I won't forget the feeling of my heart completely stopping for a few seconds, as my mind told me to run and not look back.

"Yes actually, I have a date with Netflix and the leftovers in the fridge." I replied, slyly smirking as she stared at me like a worried mother.

"Well Netflix isn't going to have to wait for his turn. Because I have this guy who is really interested you and is a total sweetheart." She sighed, showing me a photo of the guy she was trying to set me up with.

"Yeah... No." I replied, beginning to retreat back to my room.

"Y/n! JISUNG TOLD ME!" Yeji announced, catching my attention from the front of my bedroom door.

"I-it's still a no Yeji." I whimpered, shutting the door harshly behind me as she sighed in defeat.

Yeji's pov

She needs to get out of this place, it's been two weeks now. All over a guy she barely even knew, I know the true reason she is hiding and she will never admit it.

Y/n is scared to see his face again, our best friend Han Jisung. The best friend that she happened to fall in love with, and moved away from after she got accepted into the university of her dreams.

They were never just best friends in anyone's eyes, not even there own. Yet they both tried to fill in the whole in their heart with other people, never realizing that all they had to do was just say three difficult words.

Y/n was in a hurry to find her perfect partner after I found mine, the man next door with the matching tattoo on his wrist. Your tattoo shows up when you are over the age of 19 and are near your soulmate, it shows up on your wrist, neck, or shoulder blade.

She didn't want to see Jisung in case that tattoo never came, they both wouldn't be able to handle the realization. But it is a part of life, and I'm not going to let my best friends live alone when they could have a chance to be in love and happy.

Han wanted to see us both while he was visiting the city, even though he knew the risk of utter devastation. That fake profile was just a set up so that she would finally meet up with Han, and she probably already knew about my plans.

I walked up to her door cautiously, gently brushing my knuckles against her door.

"Y/n... I know why you are actually upset."

Y/n pov

"Because of Han Jisung." I answered, brushing past the old childhood photos saved on my phone.

"I know that's what you were going to say Yeji, and you're right. I know I won't be able to take it if the guy I love isn't the one for me, and that all of those nights alone with him that are coded into my brain are worthless. I'm scared Yeji, I'm scared that I won't be able to think of most of my life without tearing up." I explained, as she plopped down on my bed next to me.

"You're fear will just get worse until you find out, you'll never know the result until you actually try." She replied, placing my head on her shoulder for comfort.

I let out a shaky breath as a couple tears streamed down my cheeks, she was right as usual. But I still needed at least one day to prepare myself.

"Fine, but let me rest today. I'm not going to fancy restraint with puffy eyes and bed head." I remarked, watching as a sly smile spread across her lips.

She slowly began to exit my bedroom, delighted that she finally got her way with me. Not even explaining who that fake date even was, probably just a random guy from Google. It was 11:30 at night, and all of my crying really wore the energy out of my body and mind.

So eventually sleep crossed paths with my mind and hooked up, completely losing consciousness as my memories flashed like a polaroid camera.

December 15th 2018

"I can't believe we're graduating this year, seems like we only started high school yesterday." Jisung sighed, carrying both of our bags while walking home together.

"Don't worry quokka, you'll still carry my bags for me even after high school." I teased, pinching the reddened skin of his cheeks.

"Oh very funny, and you'll still put crackers in your mouth and pretend to be a walrus." He remarked dodging the snowball that came his way.

He set my bags down on my front yard as he gathered his own army of cold fluff balls. I tackled him to the ground as we both drowned the silence in laughter, I traced my frosted mittens across his face. Gently crossing his lips as he brushed the snow chunks from my hair.

The close warmth of his breath against my face sent my heart into a frenzy, I secretly craved the closeness of him... But I never wanted to admit it in case I'd lose him.

His now glossed lips looked so kiss able, the way they pouted as he focused on my hair. And how they stretched into a warm smile that left a fuzzy feeling in my heart for years, made it only harder to stop myself from interlocking them with mine.

"I better get going bun bun. I'll see you tomorrow at school though." Jisung reassured, lightly booping my nose as he left his trail from my snowy front yard. Waving one last time to catch my attention as I was at the front door.

"Farewell loser!" He shouted, showing off that bright smile of his.

"Farewell to you as well, asshole!" I retorted, giggling as I walked into my empty house all alone.

November 28th 2020

Y/n pov

"Wake up! Time for bubble tea!" Yeji screamed, jumping on top of me as she consistently hit me with my own pillows.

"I thought we were meeting Jisung later." I sighed, looking at the red numbers of my alarm clock reading 7:30am.

"Yes we are, but I want bubble tea and to talk with you about some stuff I found out." Yeji replied, pulling me out of bed to soon push me into the washroom.

I complied to her excited energy, understanding it is pretty exciting for her.

The steaming water swallowed every inch of my skin, blocking out all of the noises outside. Only leaving me and the blank wall to stare at, droplets of water racing against each other. A flash of the mirror and sunlight clashing, sending the flash of a polaroid to my memories.

August 16th 2018

Yeji squealed as her boyfriend threw her into the pool, soon joining her in a large cannonball jump. All of his friends danced around with liquor drenching their breath, as their bodies clashed together in ways they didn't fully understand.

It wasn't my style of fun, it instead gave me a wave of fear and stress. Not recognizing any of these people, while they danced around half naked. Yeji's boyfriend decided that she had enough fun for one night, and took her home to rest.

I hurriedly gathered my belongings and rushed out the door, just as excited and horny shouts came from the pool. I was okay to walk home alone, it felt nice to be surrounded my silence for once. Even if my conscious tortured me about every bad possibility.

"Need a drive home party animal?" a familiar voice called from across the road, that voice of the man who has always had my back.

"I'd actually really like that." I replied, feeling a wave of comfort when I entered the car.

"I can tell your a bit freaked out." He sighed, throwing his bad into the backseat.

"That party was just... A lot. A lot more than I expected." I whimpered, still a bit overwhelmed from the experience.

"How about you stay at my place for the night. We'll even watch some American horror story..." Jisung suggested, even though he was shit terrified of anything remotely scary.

"I'm holding you to it quokka." I giggled, slapping his thigh teasingly.

We drove to his home as the car filled with a random playlist of songs, one landing on my favorite 'Turning Page'.

"I didn't know you liked this song." I commented, blushing softly at the tone of the song.

"I want this to be the song that represents me and my soulmate. It sounds cheesy, but it's true." He revealed, glancing my way as the car stopped in the from of his home.

The whole topic of soulmates use to be humorous to me, remembering when me and Han drew matching docks on our palms as 'our' symbol. Even taking a polaroid photo of the amazing art we drew, I still have it in my phone case.

Then it hit me, how much it would hurt to see him destined with someone other then me. That moment when he glanced back into my eyes with a shy smile, is when I admitted to myself for falling madly in love with my best friend.

November 28th 2020

I walked along the streets of our home town, hanging my mask off my chin when sipping my bubble tea.

"You know what's crazy." Yeji started, catching my focus immediately.

"I remember the moment you started crushing on Jisung. You didn't even have to tell me, I already knew." She admitted, gazing at me with only a soft warmth in her eyes.

"It was obvious by how many photos you had of him and you on your wall, and the way you looked at him as if he were your dream person." She continued, texting something on her phone that I couldn't quite see.

"Or how when he caught you staring he'd reply with 'take a picture it'll last longer'... And you always did to get revenge. I will never forget the day I saw you two as more then best friends, that was the same day when I bought you that polaroid camera for Christmas. " She replied, taking a short break as her hands nervously fidgeted with her skirt.

"That's why I want a 'thank you' later on." She mumbled, before running off and leaving me completely stunned on the bench.

"Y/n..."

September 14th 2018

"It's crazy that this is your last day here." I sighed, trying my best not to cry.

He nodded trying to smile the pain away like me, but soon caving in once his arms met my body. I nuzzled into the crook of his neck, hoping I could capture his scent one last time.

"I'll still visit. I can't cope without seeing your face, asshole." He chuckled lightly, sniffling quietly when he retracted his arms away.

He stared at my features for a few long seconds, as if he was contemplating on doing something. Jisung shook his head, smiling brightly once more as he pulled me into one last hug.

As he put his palm on the door knob, I shouted his name one last time. Running across the room towards him, he turned around immediately dropping his bangs on the ground.

He instantly knew what I was going to do, since his lips molded with mine without one ounce of hesitation. His hands lost in my hair, pulling me closer and closer until there was no space between us. Jisung's lips were so much sweeter and softer then any other kiss I've had.

The sweetness was sprinkled with the salty taste of our mixed tears. Only creating more as the kiss began to end, both of us realizing we should've told each other so much sooner.

"I love you." We both sighed at the same time, smiling sadly at the bittersweet sting in our hearts.

November 28th 2020

"Jisung..." I gasped, turning around quickly to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

"W-wow... You've really. Wow." He stuttered, cautiously inching closer towards me.

"You too." I chuckled airily, swallowing back my tears. I missed him so much, but it hurt too much to see him at the same time.

"Y/n... I know it's been a while. But I honestly came here because I needed to see you. I still love you, and I don't care if we're soul mates or not. I'll sharpie our own symbol on us everyday if I have to." He revealed, grasping my hands between his own.

"I'm sorry that I was being so selfish." I sighed, caving into my own tears. Regretting my fears of seeing him again, feeling terrible for torturing him just as much as I tortured myself.

"We are both scared. It's not our fault, but I just want us to accept that things may not go our way. But that won't stop us from being together." He reassured, lightly brushing frosted his mitten across my features. Glossing over my lips gently, his eyes warm and gentle as they fluttered shut.

I molded into his kiss immediately, lacing my fingers through his silky hair. Soon pulling him closer to my so there was no space between us, making sure no one could try and ruin this moment for us.

His lips still were as sweet as the first time they molded into mine, and his fingertips could still make my legs give out by how gentle they were against my skin. Every emotion flashed through my mind, all my regrets, confidence, love, lust... It all flashed just like a...

"Polaroid." He gasped, tugging my palm next to his as the ink slowly traced the same picture into my palm. The picture of the camera that captured all the moments I treasured with my soulmate, the soulmate that was everything I could've asked for.

[doing-all-write]

home for the holidays

Pairing: Ben x Fem!Reader (she/her pronouns)

Summary: Reader is fine with being alone on Christmas. In fact she prefers it. But when her best friend, Michael Hardy, invites her to Christmas with his family, how is she to refuse? Especially when Michael lets slip that his mysterious brother Ben will be around for the holidays... 

Word Count: 9K

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol, implied sex and swearing. And so much goddamn softness, WHEW. 

A/N: HI!!!! I’M BACK!!! AND ALIVE!!! 2020 has kicked my ass in many ways but I cannot thank all of you enough for supporting me. To all my new followers, to all my old followers, to everyone who still liked and reblogged my stories, I saw all of you and it made me happier than you could have imagined in this dumpster fire year. I hope all of you made it through this year and I hope this sweet little story makes you feel better.

I would be remiss to not give a huge, massive thank you and I love you to the Lizard Ladies, @mrhoemazzello​ , @diasimar​, and @fairestkillerqueenofall​. You three are truly the wind beneath my wings, the farts in my butt, the light at the end of the tunnel. I can’t thank you enough for the love and support this year and I love you from the very bottom of my heart.

💖💖As always likes, comments and reblogs are always appreciated 💖💖

I'm......dreaming.....of a white......Christmas

Bing Crosby's velvet voice wafted through the air, competing with the scent of pine from the lit candle as they wafted through the apartment. Swaying along to the slow beat, she measured out the final cup of flour she needed for her last batch of gingerbread. 

The air was thick with flour and if she stuck her tongue out, she was sure it would taste of baked goods. Humming absentmindedly, she popped the last batch of cookies into the oven and reached up for the towel flung over her shoulder to wipe her hands off. Pulling her phone out of pocket, she set a timer and checked her messages.

There was one from her friend, Michael: 

Mum won't let up about you coming over for the holidays

Oh? 

yeah

Why?? 

cuz she thinks no one should be alone for the holidays 

Rolling her eyes, she huffed out a breath at Michael's message. She had moved to London when a job offer had come up she couldn't refuse. To help her get the lay of the land for her neighborhood she had taken up jogging. On one of her nightly jogs she had turned a corner and-

WHAM

Groceries went flying one way and she another. As she lay groaning on the ground amidst spilled apples, she contemplated which would be worst, dying from a concussion from running into someone or dying from embarrassment from running into someone.

"You alrigh'?" 

Groaning, she slipped her hand into the one extended to her, "Yeah. I think so. My ego's more bruised than my tailbone so we'll go ahead and chalk that one up to a win." 

The chuckle caused her lips to raise up in a smirk as a woman's voice cut through the conversation, "Oh dear! Michael, I told you to watch where you're going! And this poor young woman...are you quite all right, dear?" 

Stifling a laugh at the rolled eye coming from, she could only assume was Michael, her eyes snapped back to the woman in front of her. One blond curl hanging in front of her eyes as her hands fluttered around (Y/N)'s body, not wanting to cross the line into impropriety.

"Really, it's alright! I'm alright." 

"Are you sure? I can't apologize enough-"

"Seriously! It's fine. It was no big deal. I wasn't -"

"Well he clearly wasn't either-"

The two women's voices were overlapping each other and finally the man stepped forward and gently clasped his hand around the older woman's wrist, "C'mon mum. I think she's okay." 

Eyes scrutinizing her face, (Y/N) did her best to arrange her features into someone who didn't have a concussion. 

She wasn't sure how effective it was but it seemed to quell the older woman's nerves as she nodded and took stock of the mess surrounding them.

"Oh god. Looks a bit like we've upended a fruit stall haven't we?" 

Chuckling, (Y/N) knelt down to help clean up the mess. Gently handing things over to the woman as her son placed them gently back into the bag. After the last piece of fruit had been collected, she wiped her hands on her pants and stood up with a groan.

The woman's eyes snapped back to her immediately as her son groaned, "Ahh c'mon, why couldn't you have kept that in?"

"Sorry! Not my fault I've got the bones of a 90 year old already." she grimaced as she arched her back in an attempt to stretch it out.

"At least let us walk you home, dear. Please? It'll make me feel better that you'll be alright and safe." 

Glancing over the woman and her son, (Y/N) figured the worst harm they could have done her was already out of the way so she shrugged and told them what street she lived on. 

The woman's eyes lit up, "Oh! That's not far from us at all is it, Mickey?" 

Cheeks pinking at the nickname, "Mickey" nodded and mumbled something as he became studiously interested in the ground. 

Smirking at his reaction she nodded and turned in the direction of her home. As they strolled along, (Y/N) got to know her two new friends better. Angela did live just up the street and had two sons. Michael and Ben. She was married to Keith and Michael still lived with his parents but Ben was out of the house, working as an actor. It was obvious she was proud of Ben but immensely proud of Michael as well and wanted to make sure he didn't feel left out by his brothers light. 

She stopped at the end of her walkway to her flat and pulled her key out of her pocket, "Well, I can't say I always meet people like that but I'm oddly glad we met this way." Chuckling, Michael patted her shoulder and Angela pulled her into a hug. 

As she released her, her eyes flicked over the house, "Dear, it doesn't look like anyone's home. Will they be soon?" her lips tugged into a frown. 

Rocking on her heels (Y/N) sucked in a breath, "Well...I, um, I live on my own so-" 

Before she could even finish that sentence, Angela had barreled past her, grabbing her key and getting a pot of tea on the stove and throwing a dish towel over her shoulder as she got dinner prepared. Michael walked past (Y/N), laughing at her gaping mouth and nudged her with the bag he was holding, "Welcome to the family." 

Since that day, Angela had invited her over to dinner at least once a week. She and Michael had gotten close and other than one drunken kiss, they were best friends.

In all this time though, (Y/N) had never met Ben. But, the holidays were approaching and from all of the fuss Angela had been making the last few days, it seemed like he was finally coming home. 

Her phone vibrated in her hand again. Another message from Michael and at least three from Angela badgering her into staying at their place for the holidays. 

Slumping against the counter, she let her eyes gaze out of her kitchen window and grow unfocused. 

She was used to spending the holidays alone and had actually come to prefer it. No annoying family members, no "accidentally" getting too drunk and asking conservative family members why they "fucking hate women." No. Her holidays now consisted of pajamas all day, whatever takeout was open and a whole bag of Hersehy's kisses that she ate throughout the whole day as one cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie played in a continuous loop.

But....

She did miss being around people. Feeling cozy. Playing a game after a big Christmas dinner. 

She missed Christmas dinner.

Maybe it wouldn't be all bad...

Plus she could finally see what Ben's deal was. 

And hang out with Michael. 

And Angela and Keith.

Before she could think too much about it she found herself texting Angela that she would be spending the holidays with the Hardys. 

~

"You fucker-"

"Michael! I didn't raise you to use that language!"

"He started it!" 

Rolling over in the twin bed in the Hardy's guest room, she thrust her arm out, wincing at the cold air biting into her skin. Snatching her phone from the nightstand, she quickly drew it back into the cocoon of warmth she'd created in the night. 

Sighing, she snuggled further into the blankets as she unlocked her phone, checking her messages, the white noise of Michael arguing with whoever was over made her smirk. 

Did one of your friends stop by? 

She scrolled through a few social media channels before Michael responded,

nope

Ben just got here

scared the shit out of me by hiding behind the kitchen door

almost spilled my entire cuppa

Letting loose a full laugh at that, she locked her phone, stretched one more time and pulled herself from the bed. Curiosity over meeting the mysterious Ben almost winning out over her need for coffee. 

Popping her head through a sweatshirt, she grabbed her phone from the nightstand and slid it into the pocket of her joggers. 

Trotting down the stairs, she followed the deep timbre of Michael's voice mingling with the higher cadence of Angela's and a third voice that...was even deeper than Michael's. 

Her breath hitched in her throat as she listened to the voices competing in the kitchen. The way they danced around each other, through each other and over each other in the way that only family members could talk to each other. 

Not wanting to interrupt them, she decided to peek through the door to get a feel for the room. Inching forward, being sure to miss the creaky floorboard that would give her away, she leaned forward. 

Eyes roving over the tableau in front of her, she felt her lips twitch as she saw Angela sitting in a chair, her hands clasped around her favorite mug, eyes shining with love at having her two boys back under the same roof. 

Michael was in the chair opposite, clutching his, she assumed, refilled mug.

She couldn't see Ben so she moved to the right and-

Her jaw dropped open.

Whipping around she pressed her back to the wall. Digging her phone out of her pocket she composed a new message to Michael. 

Why didn't you tell me your brother is hot?? 

how am i supposed to bloody know if he's hot or not

he's my brother

Yeah but

You could have at least given me a heads up!! 

Her spine stiffened as she heard footsteps approaching the door. Suddenly, Michael's silhouette filling up the door frame as he stepped forward to head up the stairs.

Before he got to the first step, she hissed, "MICHAEL"

Completely forgetting the fact that Michael had already had the wit's scared out of him by his own brother not a few moments before, she felt a little bad about scaring him again in the same way.

"JESUS. What is with this house I swear-"

Waving her hands in front of her, she stepped forward as she shushed Michael, "Keep it down! I don't want your brother to know I was creeping right outside the door!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't be creeping right out side of doors!"

"Fair point. How's my morning breath?"

Leaning forward, she let out a loud exhale only to clasp her hands over her mouth as Michael retched and stepped back, 

"Well. Shit. That answered my question." 

"Just...jesus...come into the kitchen and have a cuppa and then Ben and I were going to run some errands for Mum. You can come with us." 

Pulling her hands into the sleeves of her sweatshirt, she fidgeted as she weighed her options. As she went back and forth about the cost/benefit analysis of having Ben see her first thing in the morning in all her unwashed hair and morning breath glory. 

Then her rational side kicked in and realized how dumb she was being. Worrying about what a man would think of her, who gives a shit? The voice in her brain rationalized, if he doesn't like you looking like a half made muppet then he doesn't deserve you at your completed muppet. Shaking her head at the metaphor she'd created she looked up at Michael, "Yeah. Yes. Let's do that. Sorry. I freaked out there for a second."

"Yeah. You really did. It was almost as bad as that time the guy who looked like Tom Hiddleston winked at you from across the bar." 

"Well, who was the one who got him to pay for the drink she choked on and ended up spilling all over herself, HUH?"

Michael threw up his hands in defeat, turning on his heel to march back into the kitchen. Muttering under his breath, ruing the day Angela had run into her. 

Snickering, (Y/N) hitched her joggers up and padded behind Michael into the warmth of the kitchen. The only thing that felt warmer was the look emanating from Angela's eyes. 

"Morning, love. Sleep okay?"

"Yeah, Angela. Like a log. I swear the beds here are more comfortable than my own." She answered, leaning down to plant a kiss on her cheek. 

"Yeah, snore like one too." Michael snickered as he slid back into his chair.

"I...snore like a log?" 

"Yeah. That's definitely a saying."  

"She can't snore worse than you, mate." Ben chuckled as he pushed himself from the counter, extending his hand, "I'm Ben. Michael's brother."

"It's nice to meet you! I'm (Y/N)."

"I know. I heard all about how you met this family as soon as it happened. Michael gave me the play by play. But it seemed he changed his tune about how you're a, what was it?, a 'clumsy sod'?"

Gasping as she turned to Michael, he held his hands up, "It was forever ago! How was I to know that we were meant to be best friends?" His voice rising as he sank deeper and deeper into his chair.

Angela swatted Michael's shoulder as she went behind him to pull (Y/N)'s favorite creamer from the fridge as Ben laughed. 

"Fuck you! I might just keep your Christmas present for myself then!" 

"NO. You wouldn't!"

Pointing a threatening finger at him, she cocked an eyebrow as Angela rolled her eyes, setting the creamer down by (Y/N), "I can see that the lovely family moment we were having has been ruined. I'm getting ready. You three behave, and clean up the kitchen!" she yelled over her shoulder as she waltzed out of the room. 

(Y/N)'s eyes followed her out of the room, knowing she wasn't that upset. She was secretly thrilled her boys were back home and under the same roof as her. What mother wouldn't be?

"Oi! (Y/N)! Focus! How soon can you be ready?"

Michael's voice snapped her out of her revere. Turning back around, Ben's eyes were the first thing she locked on. Fighting back the blush climbing up her neck she cleared her throat, "Can I at least have a cup of coffee first? Please? And then i'll be ready in like, an hour?" 

"Ugh. Fine. I'm gonna go watch the match," a glint lit up in Michael's eye as he bolted out of the kitchen, finger resting on his nose, "Nose goes on not cleaning up!"

Rolling her eyes, she turned to grab the creamer and a mug from the cabinet.

"Did he always do that growing up?" 

Nodding, Ben rolled his eyes back at her, "All the time. He's the youngest, he got away with way more shit than I ever did." 

"That tracks," she replied as she doctored her coffee up. 

"Huh"

"What?" She didn't look up as she poured the brown liquid into her mug, relishing in the scent that rushed up into her nostrils, waking her up almost instantly.  

"I just-I've never seen someone pour in creamer first and then coffee."

"It eliminates the need for a spoon, my ex turned me onto this method and, I don't know, it stuck." Shrugging she moved to return the creamer to the fridge, sliding past Ben in the process, desperately hoping he'd smell bad or at least have morning breath but no. He smelled like old books, leather jackets and the first day of fall. 

Fuck. 

As she sidled past Ben, he thanked his mother for having such a small walk way between the table and the counter where he stood. She smelled like coconuts and coffee. He tried his best to not inhale too deeply, didn't want his brother's friend thinking he was a creep.

His brother's gorgeous friend.

Michael had failed to mention that (Y/N) was a knockout. He figured either they had hooked up once and it hadn't worked out or Mikey was too chicken shit to make a move. 

He would have placed his entire life savings on the latter. 

"Sorry, have to sneak past ya again." She smiled at him as she went to grab her coffee mug and Ben extended an arm in a mock bow, "My lady." 

Letting out a bark of laughter Ben couldn't help his own lips to curl up into a smile. 

"How come your brother didn't get any of that charm?" she asked, bringing the coffee up to her lips and blowing on it.

Ben wrenched his eyes from the perfect circle her lips made and forced himself to focus on their conversation, "Just goes to show I'm the superior sibling." He crossed his arms over his chest as he surveyed the kitchen. 

(Y/N)'s eyes tracked his, taking in the damage, "I'll help you clean up. If we both tackle it, it won't be too bad." 

"No, c'mon. Finish your coffee. Besides, if my mum catches you cleaning, she'll have my head. She still thinks of you as a guest." 

Snorting, she shook her head, "I know. It kills me but, hey, if it means I get a break from cleaning for a while, I'm all for it."

Ben looked up at her as he moved to collect all the dirty dishes and she tired not to gasp at how long his eyelashes were, "You live alone? Or does your boyfriend not pick up after himself like a prat?"

"Ha! No, I don't have a boyfriend, I live on my own so I have no one to blame but myself when the plates are stacked to the ceiling."

Laughing, they traded horror stories of living alone. The weirdest things they had done, the grossest things, what they liked most about it. (Y/N) was having such a good time, she didn't even think before she heard herself say, "You should come over and see my place sometime. The scene of the crime for the Great Pomegranate Death of aught four."

Ben's laugh died on his lips as he looked right into her eyes, "I would love that." 

Nodding, she looked into her empty coffee mug only to be distracted by Ben's hand coming into her periphery, "Can I take that for you? It's the last thing actually and then we're free and clear." 

"Oh, yeah! Of course. Thank you so much for doing that, I appreciate that."

"No problem, got to earn my keep around her somehow."

Giggling she stood up, following Ben as they exited the kitchen and pausing as they both reached the stairs, "Well, I'm gonna shower and get ready then we can go Christmas shopping?"

"Sounds good. I'll let Michael know."

"Cool, um, thanks for the morning company. Michael definitely downplayed how you're the cooler sibling."

"It's because he's a shit," Ben deadpanned, feeling his heart swell as she threw her head back in a laugh. 

Shaking her head she started moving up the stairs, "You got that right." 

Ben watched her go, trying to tell himself he shouldn't be thinking about his brother's best friend in the shower and how badly he wanted to join her.

~

"Why is that thing staring at me?" (Y/N)'s eyes were wide as the off-brand elf on the shelf stared back. Well...one eye was staring at her. As Ben got closer he realized the other eye was painted basically on the side of the elf's head and couldn't help jumping back a little.

"See? It's horrifying."

"Only parents who really hate their kids would buy that."

"So you and Michael had that in your rooms then?"

Ben glared at her in faux annoyance as she smirked at her own joke. 

"Aww are you guys buying that? I was going to get it for mum." Michael whined, nicking the deranged doll from its spot on the shelf and looking for a price.

"Ha. Good one man." 

"Yeah, that's a pretty good joke." (Y/N) agreed as she wandered away, distracted by the candles a few aisles down. 

"Why would you say that? I'm being serious." Michael's lip pouted and Ben swiped the elf from his hands.

"Christ. I forgot how bad you are at giving presents."

"Hey! I got you a really nice gift last Christmas!"

Ben stared blankly back at his brother, "You got me a black market Arsenal hoodie that said 'Assenal' on it and still had the price tag on it." 

"And it was the best gift you've ever received, I'm sure." 

Throwing his arms up in annoyance, Ben's gaze drifted over the shelves before stopping on (Y/N) as she bent over to grab a candle from the bottom shelf. 

The snap of Michael's fingers in front of his face pulled him out of the daze he had slipped into it.

"Who’re you drooling over, mate? You know you need to let me have first crack at her-" Michael's sentence died on his lips as he saw the woman Ben had been oogling. 

"Oh no-"

"Look, I-"

"Are you serious?"

"I know she's your best friend but-"

"Right and you better bloody stay away from her!"

"You could have warned me she was beautiful!"

Michael dropped his head into his hands as Ben shifted from foot to foot, "Seriously Mikey, this won't go anywhere if you don't want it too. I'll respect your boundaries but-"

"No, I should have seen this coming," Michael sighed as he lifted his head up, gazing over at (Y/N) as she strolled further away from them, holding at least four candles, "I think, honestly, that's why I didn't tell you." 

Ben stiffened at the hoarseness in his brother's voice.

"(Y/N)'s one of my best friends, and she's practically Mum's daughter and I always figured you'd fancy her whenever you met her so..." he threw his hands up to signify the futility of that exercise, "just...really think about this before you fuck up a really good thing." Michael muttered as he shoved his hands in his pockets. 

"Hey. Mike. Seriously, I'm sorry. I need you to know that if I do decide to go after (Y/N) it won't be for just a casual hook up, okay? It'll be because I care about her like you and Mum do. Promise." 

Michael nodded as he sniffled, "Cool. Thanks, man. Anyway."

"Yeah, uh, who else do you need presents for?" Ben cleared his throat as he tried to dislodge the emotion that had gotten stuck there. 

"Really, just (Y/N)." Michael nodded to the general direction of where she'd gone.

"Well, don't get her any candles." 

Michael shot him a weird look and Ben shook his head, "Don't worry about it." 

~

"Guys, c'mon, my feet are killing me and I'm starting to get hangry. I need food. Or caffeine. Or sugar. Or, ideally, all three." 

Michael threw an arm around her shoulder and Ben tried to ignore the stab of jealousy he felt at the casual closeness they had. 

"There's a Starbucks straight ahead, why don't you get something there and Ben and I will check out this last store, okay?" He pressed a kiss to her cheek as she peeled off toward Starbucks.

The knot in Ben's stomach got bigger. 

"What store are we going to? I swear we've been to 50 stores and you still haven't found anything that (Y/N) would like."

"It's one of her favorite stores. She loves it." 

"You've said that at the past five stores, man.” 

"But this time I mean it." Michael said with renewed verve as he struck up a quicker pace toward the shop. 

The sigh that left Ben's lips could have blown out all the candles (Y/N) had bought at the first shop.

Stepping inside the store though, Ben could see why this would be her favorite.

Books with ornate dust jackets covered every reclaimed wood table. Plants and fresh flowers bloomed from every corner that wasn't filled with crystals, tarot decks or notebooks. There were vintage clothes dripping from racks around the perimeter of the boutique. Jewelry with signage describing which local artist had crafted it. A corner with vinyl records stacked in a case that went to the ceiling with a ladder to browse at the very top. 

Ben hadn't known (Y/N) for very long but when he stepped into this store, he was surprised he didn't see her pouring over the vinyl and calling excitedly to them about a particularly exciting find. 

Looking around, he spotted Michael pawing through some of the clothes and figured he better intervene before he bought something everyone would regret. 

"Do you think she'd like this?"

"Yeah if she wanted to look like Nana's drapes."

Michael made a disparaging noise in the back of his throat as he shoved the dress back on the rack, "Dammit. God. Why am I so bad at this." 

Ben shrugged and moved deeper into the store, veering towards the bookshelves. (Y/N) had mentioned in their conversation that her apartment was covered in books, who doesn’t love a new book? he thought. 

Crouching down, he ran his finger over the spines of some of the books. Taking in their titles, swaying to the jazz playing softly over the speakers his finger stopped on a book of poetry. 

Golden read the gold inlay on the spine, a tiny sun at the bottom. Ben pulled it out, flipping the book over to see who the author was and realizing it was a compilation of local authors poetry.

"That's a wonderful book."

Ben jumped at the shop assistant's voice.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! I just, I saw you and your brother browsing and I figured I'd see if you needed help with anything." 

"He looks that lost, huh?"

"Well," her eyes traveled to the ceiling to find the right words, "he was looking at a diary where you can track your period so..."

"Jesus" Ben hissed as the shop girl laughed. 

"It's okay, I told him to try a necklace or a pair of earrings instead."

"God you're a saint, thank you." 

"No problem. Didn't want his girlfriend to hate him forever!" the laugh Ben let out felt hollow. His heart constricted at the idea of (Y/N) being Michael's girlfriend and not his. 

"So, uh, this then," Ben held up the book of poetry, "you said it was good?" 

"Oh absolutely. It's one of our best sellers. One of the writers, she's one of our most popular jewelry creators too. She made a necklace to go with the book actually..."  her voice trailed off as she ventured back to the front of the store. 

Ben followed closely behind, stopping as she bent over a display rack of jewelry, finger dancing over the delicate chains till she found the one she wanted. 

Turning, holding out her finger, a whisper thin gold chain fell down to where a delicate ring with swirls resembling the sun dangled.

"Do you think she'd like it?" 

Ben felt himself nodding before he even realized it. All he could see then was the chain sitting around (Y/N)'s neck and the charm hitting her chest as she looked up at him, eyes sparkling. 

"Can you gift wrap it?"

Smiling, the shopgirl nodded and went to the register. As Ben watched her box and wrap the necklace, he felt Michael's hand land on his shoulder. 

"I still have no idea what to get her. This is impossible, mate." Michael sighed as his eyes roved over the counter. 

"Wait a tic, what's that?" pointing an accusatory finger at the necklace and book, Ben felt himself tense.

"Well, it's a book of poetry and a necklace to go with it-"

"You wanker! That's perfect! How much is it?" Michael's wallet was out and buying the set before Ben could even stop it.

"Hey, whoa. C'mon man, that was going to be my present for (Y/N)." 

Ben could see the shopkeep girls eyes widen and figured she thought she was in the middle of a love triangle between two brothers. 

Michael scoffed, "You just met her, how do you know she'll love it?"

Ben struggled to come up with a retort as Michael nodded decisively, "That's what I thought." 

Feeling helpless, Ben wandered out of the shop to get away from his brother before he strangled him for being so dense. 

"Oy!" Ben turned at the sound of Michael's voice, "Don't pout. I'm a great brother and picked up a candle for you to give her so you don't look like a total tosser." 

Rolling his eyes, Ben turned and stalked toward the coffee shop as Michael's snickers followed behind him. 

~

The tap at the doorframe caused (Y/N) to look up from her book, smiling as Angela poked her head into the room. 

"Sorry love, didn't want to bother you but I got a gingerbread house going and I have to pop out to finish some Christmas shopping. Would you mind finishing it up for me?" 

Smiling and nodding, she placed her bookmark in her book and pushed her sweater sleeves up, "Sure. Did Michael also give up?" 

"No, he's actually out with some friends. Ben's taken over for now but figured he could use reinforcements." 

Angela's tone was casual but (Y/N)'s eyes snapped to her anyway, trying to figure out if she had planned this with a mother's intuition or if she just didn't want her eldest to be alone. 

Either way, she appreciated getting more one on one time with Ben. 

As she made her way down the stairs, she felt Angela's cool palm catch her elbow right before she hit the landing, "Love..." the tone of her voice made (Y/N) stop and turn, "I'm so happy you and Michael are close and I know you two are friends but...I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I think there may be something...extra with you and Ben." 

Her stomach clenched and all of a sudden she found it difficult to look directly at Angela.

"I know it's none of my business and I would never pry or try to tell you how to live your life, much," she modified her statement at (Y/N)'s raised eyebrow.

"But...I really wouldn't mind if maybe one day you were really my daughter." 

The lump in (Y/N)'s throat made a response impossible so she just nodded and Angela smiled wanly. Bringing a hand up to rest on her cheek, Angela's eyes were watery. 

"Right," Angela cleared her throat and moved past (Y/N) on the stairs, "I'm counting on you to make that gingerbread house not look like a disaster!" She called over her shoulder.

Sniffing, (Y/N) swiped a finger under her eye, catching the moisture that had fallen. Shaking her head, she moved down the stairs and pushed open the kitchen door only to be met by a wall of sound. 

THAT'S THE JINGLE BELL ROCK!

Ben's voice was hilariously off key, the Santa hat on his head askew and flour covered his face. 

Which dropped comically as he moved to the back of the gingerbread of the house and his eyes met (Y/N)'s.

Her mouth was moving but Ben couldn't understand what she was saying. Fumbling in the pocket of his joggers, he pulled out his phone and hit pause. 

"-Mean Girls dance?" 

"Are you asking me to learn the Mean Girls dance to this song with you?" 

"What makes you think I don't already know that dance by heart?" She cocked an eyebrow, moving closer to inspect the house from all angles. 

Ben's hands immediately became sweaty as (Y/N) got closer to him, eyes squinted as she scrutinized the work he'd done so far. 

"Went for a classic look I see." 

"Well, you know what they say, if it ain't broke and all that."

Nodding, (Y/N) turned to face him, eyes lighting up as she took in the streaks of flour all over him.

"You managed to get flour in your eyebrow. And on your cheek and...wait...you have frosting..."

Her voice trailed off and Ben's breath caught in his throat as her hand came up to gently swipe a bit of frosting from underneath his eye.

Her palm cupped his cheekbone and she wasn't even thinking when she gently stroked it with her thumb. The sigh that escaped Ben was involuntary and caused (Y/N)'s lips to quirk up slightly. 

"Did you get it?" the words left Ben's mouth in a wisp and (Y/N) found herself leaning forward to catch what he had said. 

"I think so, yeah." She whispered back, not making any move to remove her hand from his face, thumb still gently stroking his cheekbone, letting her eyes get lost in his. 

Suddenly feeling like his legs wouldn't support him, Ben put a hand down on the table and that's when a loud clang caused them to jump apart. 

Slapping a hand over her heart, Ben looked embarrassed as he bent down and brandished the decorating knife that had fallen to the floor. 

"God that scared me. Are you okay? Did you cut your hand?" Ben chuckled and showed (Y/N) the fronts and backs of his hands. 

"Clean, not a scratch on me." 

There were a few seconds of silence as (Y/N)'s eyes traveled all over his hands. Ben cleared his throat and (Y/N)'s eyes widened as they snapped up to meet his. 

"Sorry, I, uh, got distracted." 

No need for Ben to know she was distracted thinking about his hands wrapped around her throat. 

"Well, now that we've got the harrowing death by kitchen utensil out of the way, did my Mum send you in here to help me decorate?" 

"She did. Apparently she doesn't trust her own son to be responsible with decorating a home for cookies." 

"She barely trusts me to take care of myself I don't know why this would be any different." 

Every laugh Ben managed to pull from (Y/N)'s lips felt like a victory to him. 

"Well, put the tunes back on Hardy and is there another Santa hat I can wear? I feel severely underdressed for the occasion." 

Smirking, Ben held up a finger as he pulled a plastic bin from underneath the kitchen table. 

"Mum brought this out and I think I spotted something in here earlier that I think would suit you much better than a Santa hat. Close your eyes." 

Making a big production of closing her eyes and covering them with her hands, she heard items being moved then the creak of the floor as Ben drew closer.

His body felt warm as he stood in front of her and slowly slide a headband onto her head, making sure to not ruin her hair. He smelled like sugar and spices and she was overwhelmed with the urge to lick his neck. 

"Alright, open your eyes." 

She did, blinking at Ben as he bit his lips, trying to keep from laughing. "It really suits you I think." 

Looking wildly from side to side to find a mirror, Ben pulled out his phone and turned his camera on, "Here, let's take a picture. Then you can really see how amazing you look."

(Y/N) leaned into Ben and he tried to ignore the voice in his head telling him to kiss her cheek. 

"BEN!" She could barely say his name as giggles overtook her. The headband with light up Christmas bulbs in danger of falling off as she bent over with laughter. 

Ben couldn't help but laugh with her. Her laugh was infectious, he wanted to be the one to make her laugh for the rest of her life. 

"I don't understand why you're laughing, this is a very serious matter." He wheezed out as (Y/N) straightened up, trying to take a deep breath in. "Okay, okay, whew, alright. I'm ready for this picture." She waved her hands in front of her face as she did her best to stop laughing. 

"Ready? 3, 2, 1" Ben counted down and as he pulled the picture up so they could look at it he didn't think he'd seen anything more beautiful.

(Y/N) was mid laugh, Ben's eyes were twinkling as he leaned into her. Their respective headgear askew, flour and icing all over their faces. 

"Is that our Christmas card?" (Y/N) joked as she wandered back over to the table with the decorations, picking up a piping bag full of icing and wielding it with an expert precision. 

"Yeah, it can say 'Our First Christmas'" Ben replied, taking one last look at it and hoping that maybe one year, they really could get Christmas cards together. 

~

Christmas Day dawned bright and early.

It had snowed last night and Ben and (Y/N) had delighted in locking Michael out in the snow when he'd run outside to make a snow angel in nothing but his boxers.  

Waking up to an incessant banging on her door, (Y/N) let out a groan as she stuck her head out of the cocoon she'd made of her blankets only to be met by Michael throwing a pillow at her face.

"MMPH"

"Wake up! it's time to be holly and jolly and all that bullshit!" 

Ben's laugh made her perk up a little and sit up farther in bed, "I'd be a lot more holly and jolly if you wouldn't throw pillows in my face." 

"She's got a point." 

"I hate when you take her side Benjamin. What happened to brotherly love?" 

"Oh that went out the door years ago." 

Michael's reply was drowned out by her and Ben's laughter. 

Throwing the pillow back to him, she and Ben smiled at each other as Michael caught the pillow and disappeared down the hall. 

"Merry Christmas." Ben said as he leaned up against her doorframe. 

"Merry Christmas" she replied, swinging her legs down over the bed frame, letting them dangle off the side. 

Swallowing thickly, Ben had to tear his eyes from her legs, shaking the image of her legs intertwined with his from his brain. 

"So, has Angela been up since five making breakfast?" (Y/N) said through a yawn, stretching and not realizing the turmoil that was causing Ben as he watched her body unfold before him like a flower. 

"Uh...yeah. Yes. Most likely. She loves a hearty Christmas breakfast." he murmured as (Y/N) finally stood up and out of bed. 

"Well, yeah. Who doesn't?" She remarked as she hunted down her sweatshirt and pulled it on over her t-shirt. 

He let out a breathy laugh as he did his best to get the swelling of his cock under control. 

(Y/N) finally let herself look at Ben fully as she pulled the sweatshirt over her head and felt her lower half growing warm. 

Alarm bells were ringing in her head and the only thought going through her head at the moment was GRAY SWEATPANTS!!!!!

Gray sweatpants and a loose t-shirt with a low v-neck that had her thinking how easily she could have teared it in half. 

They would have stood there, devouring each other with their gaze, the sexual tension getting so thick they were drowning in it, if Michael hadn't called up the stairs calling them prats to break the tension.

~

"Well! Seeing as how we're all so full we can barely move, do we want to open presents?" 

Angela had barely finished that sentence when Michale had disappeared through the dining room doorway, yelling over his shoulder "C'mon! I want to see if I got the new FIFA." 

Laughing at Angela rolling her eyes, (Y/N) stood up as Ben did the same, smirking at his family. 

"My lady" Ben cracked as he and (Y/N) reached the door at the same time. 

"Thank you, sir." Dropping into a curtsey, Ben raised an eyebrow.

"You're surprisingly good at that." 

"Learned from the Queen myself." 

"You know the Queen?" 

"I'm the secret princess actually."

"Might have to start calling you 'princess' then." 

(Y/N)'s stomach clenched at the thought of him calling her princess in his deep voice. Keeping her eyes down, she let out an airy laugh, hoping to sound unaffected. 

If she'd looked up and seen how sincere Ben's eyes were, there would have been no doubt in her mind that he was being 100% serious about the new nickname. 

As they made their way into the living room, Angela settling into her chair and Michael sprawled on the couch, Ben suddenly felt nervous. 

He hoped (Y/N) liked his present. He'd felt resentful toward Michael as he wrapped the candle. He knew this was a fine gift for someone he'd literally met just a few days ago but he couldn't help being disgruntled that Michael had swooped in and stolen such a perfect gift from him. 

Swatting Michael's feet off the couch he settled in as (Y/N) crouched next to the tree, "Can I hand people presents? That's how we did it at my home, if that's okay." She ducked her head, cheeks growing pink at appearing sentimental. Ben didn't realize he was smiling at her until he caught his mum appraising him. 

Running a hand through his hair, he shifted in place as Michael yelled, "OI. Where're my gifts?"

"Hmm, I'm looking but I don't see any gifts for you...why...it looks like these are all for me!"

"Fuck off-"

"Michael!"

"Sorry mum. Frick off, I see one with my name on it right there." Pointing emphatically, Ben smacked his hand out of his face. 

Snickering, (Y/N) scooted over to grab the present and threw it at Michael. 

From there, it was all a blur of wrapping paper, bows flying and exclamations of surprise and delight. 

Ben was busy reading the inside flap of the novel his mum had gotten him when he heard Michael's voice cut through his reverie, 

"Here. (Y/N). I got this one for you."

"Aww, Michael. You shouldn't have." 

"Yeah, well, don't say that till you've opened it, dear." 

"Mum!"

Forcing a laugh that sounded hollow even to him, Ben sat there, staring lazers at the box in (Y/N)'s hands. 

It, funnily enough, was shaped like the box the candle came in. 

It even had the same wrapping paper he'd used. 

Ben hardly breathed as the wrapping paper fell away and the candle he'd wrapped just last night was revealed. 

"Aww, Michael! Thank you so much. I love it." She smiled at him as she uncapped it and sniffed it. 

Bolting up, Ben murmured something about getting more coffee and stumbled out of the living room. 

Gripping the sink, he could barely believe what he'd just witnessed. 

He didn't even want to believe it meant what he thought it meant. 

"Hey."

Head jerking up, he didn't even notice the present in Michael's hand until he thrust it forward.

"Give it to her. You had dibs on it anyway." 

Ben's jaw dropped, "Is-are you actually doing something decent for once in your life?" 

"Shut the fuck up, man. I see how you look at her. There's no way you don't not have legitimate feelings for her."

Struggling for a quick response, he could only manage a half hearted grunt as Michael emphatically shoved the present closer to him. 

"Go on. Take it. She's gonna love it and it'll mean way more coming from you than me I bet." 

Gently taking it from Michael, he had no words. Looking up, he pulled Michael into a hug. 

"Oh. Alright. Guess this is what we're doing." 

Letting him go, Ben sniffed, rolling his shoulders back, "Right. Okay. Thanks for this man." 

"Yeah. Just...don't hug me again." 

"No promises." 

"Figured." Michael was almost out of the kitchen when he stopped and turned back to Ben, "Also. My room is right next to yours. If I hear any noises that even sound remotely like sex-" 

"Oh my god, dude."

"I'm just saying! Jesus isn't the only one watching you sin and judging you for it." 

Ben could only stare incredulously at Michael's back as he contemplated how his brother could do something so sweet but ruin it all in the same moment. 

~

They had just finished dinner and Ben still hadn't found the perfect time to give (Y/N) her present. 

Every time he thought he could get her in a moment alone, someone walked into the room or the timing seemed wrong. 

He knew he'd have to act soon but the right moment had yet to present itself and he was getting anxious. 

It also didn't help that Michael kept texting him asking if he'd given the gift to (Y/N) yet. 

So, yeah. No pressure. 

"Oof. I feel like all I've done today is eat." 

"How is that different than any other day though?" 

Throwing a Christmas Cracker at Michael, (Y/N) laughed. 

"You don't need to expose me like this." 

Ben watched their interaction with jealously. He wished he could just give her the present now but he wanted it to be perfect. 

Pushing back from the table, (Y/N) stood up and stretched, "Well. I'm going to go for a walk. Does anyone want to come with?" 

Ben's eyes lit up and he sprang out of his chair. Before he could say anything, Michael was rising as well, opening his mouth.

Getting ready to body check his brother into next week for ruining this moment, Angela stepped in. 

"Michael. You haven't done any of the cleaning up this week. You're staying here and helping me wash up."

(Y/N) almost missed the wink Angela shot her as she and Ben were left in the dining room as Michael's protests grew quieter. 

"Shall we?"

"My lady." 

Smiling, she stepped into the foyer. Her and Ben making idle chit chat as they bundled up against the cold. 

Stepping out into the night, the clouds were heavy with snow. Taking a deep breath in, she sighed out, enjoying the look of her breath appearing in a fog before her.

"Smells like snow."

"Snow has a smell?"

"Yeah, it...I don't know how to describe it. It just smells fresh and new." 

They walked on in silence for a bit. (Y/N) was tempted to ask why he hadn't gotten her a gift for Christmas. She had gotten him the pair of rounded sunglasses he'd admired in the shop window for Christmas and she had just met the man.

Feeling pressure on her elbow, she stopped. 

"Come with me." 

Following after Ben, not minding that his hand was still on her elbow guiding her, she wondered where they were going. 

Feeling bold (with the help of the generous portions of wine Angela had served at dinner), and figuring it must have been uncomfortable for Ben to lead her by the elbow, she gently untangled her arm from his. 

Smiling at Ben's furrowed brows she slide her hand into his. 

"Figured this would be easier than holding my elbow." 

Fighting the smile breaking over his face, and failing miserably, Ben stared ahead. Butterflies erupting in his stomach at the feel of her hand in his. 

"Where are we even going?" 

"Oh. Yeah. I should have thought of that. Not really smart of me, huh."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, I'm not a bad guy but still. We don't really know each other and it's dark. I know some women might be nervous in these circumstances."

Trying to quite the Women's Studies major screaming in her head about his "wokeness", she gave his hand a squeeze.

"I don't know. Just feel like I've known you for much longer than we actually have." 

"I feel the same way." 

(Y/N) thought she had imagined him saying that, his voice was so low but with how his cheeks pinkened, she figured she hadn't imagined it. 

Pulling her up short, he pulled them toward a bench. Two trees bending over it, branches intertwining like lovers fingers creating a canopy. 

Sitting down he put his hands in his coat pocket where (Y/N) thought she heard gift wrap crinkling. 

"So."

"So." She said, tilting her head back to stare at the clouds. Ben took this time to admire her profile. 

"Why here?"

"Just wait. It'll be worth it."

Shrugging, she turned her face down to look right at Ben. 

"Think it's going to start snowing soon." 

Huffing a breath, Ben turned his body to face her more fully. 

"Listen. What you said earlier about it feeling like we've known each other for forever, I genuinely feel like I've known you for a long time. And...I got you a Christmas present."

Ben shook his head as (Y/N)'s face melted into a bemused expression. 

"This isn't coming out right but-" he rubbed a hand over his face and (Y/N) watched as his shoulders melted and when he lifted his head out of his hand, she knew he'd made a decision.

"I like you. A lot. And I know you've known my family for a while and my brother's your best friend and my mum's your second mum but. Fuck. I just. I really like you and ever since I saw you I thought you were gorgeous but then we talked and you were funny and so smart and," 

He sucked in a huge breath as (Y/N)'s head kept spinning with what he’d just revealed to her. 

"That's why I got you this and I wanted to give it to you at the perfect moment so. Merry Christmas."

He shoved the present towards (Y/N) who just barely grabbed it before it rammed into her stomach. 

"Wha-. Ben. I-" 

She stopped as Ben frantically shook his head, 

"Please just open the present before you give me an answer," his eyes widened at how that could have come across, "Not like, I want that to change your mind but. I don't know. Just. Please open it."

(Y/N) nodded. Looking down at her hands and letting out a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding.  

Ben noticed how her hands quivered as she pulled the ribbon off. His eyes stayed locked on her hands. He couldn't stand to look at her face until he heard her gasp. 

Eyes trailing up to meet her face, his whole body melted. 

One hand over her mouth, her eyes were watering at the necklace. 

"Ben...it's beautiful. I. I don't know what to say." She let out a watery laugh as Ben leaned toward her, 

"There’s another thing in there. It goes with the necklace." 

Sniffing, she picked up the book underneath the necklace and let out a peal of laughter. 

'You remembered!" 

"Of course. You said you needed more books of poetry to really be a pretentious ass." 

"God. This is amazing. But these actually look like amazing poems." She consented as she quickly flipped through the pages. 

Shaking herself before getting too sucked into the book, she blinked her eyes up at Ben. 

"Will you put this on for me?" Brandishing the sun necklace between them. 

Nodding, Ben took it with shaking hands.

 Turning, she moved her hair out of the way, and tried not to gasp as Ben's fingertips grazed the back of her neck. 

"Okay. It's on." he whispered. 

Turning back around she locked eyes with him. Realizing they were still very close to each other. 

"How does it look?" 

Swallowing thickly, Ben leaned closer.

"It looks amazing." 

"Good." She whispered against his lips and Ben's only reply was to press his lips to hers. 

Grabbing his arms, she moaned at the muscle’s flexing underneath her fingertips. Ben wrapped his arms around her waist. He tried to pull her closer and cursed their layers. 

(Y/N) would have stayed entwined in Ben's embrace all night if a brilliant flash hadn't erupted around them. 

Pulling back in surprise, she was met with the sight of every tree in the park covered with a thousand tiny lights.  

Gasping, she barely registered Ben laughing at the delighted look that crossed over her face. 

As her eyes drank in the sight around her, Ben couldn't help but admire the way the lights were reflected in her eyes. 

"What is this?"

"It's a park I discovered one year when I was walking alone.  They do this every year from the first of December to New Year's Eve. I haven't told anyone about it. I wanted to share it with someone who was really special to me." 

Ben didn't know which was shining brighter. The lights on the trees or (Y/N)'s eyes.

"I really like you too." 

"Yeah?" 

Nodding emphatically, (Y/N) snaked her arms around his neck. "Since the moment I laid eyes on you really." 

"Hmm. Seems like someone is stealing my lines." 

"It sounds better coming from my mouth though." 

"I bet a lot of things sound better coming from your mouth. Princess." Ben growled before claiming her lips as his.

Moaning, (Y/N) had to stop herself from straddling Ben then and there. 

Breaking apart from Ben's lips was the toughest thing she'd ever had to do. 

"My apartment's not far from here actually."

"Yeah?" 

"Come with me." 

Smiling at how she turned his own command on him, Ben grabbed her hand and together they ran through the cold toward the bright lights of (Y/N)'s cozy apartment. 

~

Waking up the next morning, (Y/N) was briefly confused by the brief weight around her torso.

When she felt the steady rise and fall of Ben's chest, she sank back into him as memories of last night flooded through her, causing her to press her thighs together to stave off the wanting that had appeared again. 

Hearing her phone vibrate, she carefully reached an arm out to make sure Angela hadn't called a search party on them.

Ben texted me. Angela's fine but I had to talk her down from subscribing to wedding magazines. x 

Snorting, she shot a heart emoji to Michael as she felt Ben's lips press into her shoulder. 

"Morning, princess." 

Moaning, she turned to face him. "Your morning voice is the hottest thing in the world." 

"Yeah?" he cocked an eyebrow as (Y/N) nodded.

Ben took a moment to consider it. 

"Then you clearly haven't seen yourself first thing in the morning wearing only that necklace."

Shivering at Ben's finger pressing the charm into her skin, she smiled. 

"Figured you'd like that."

"Like it? I love it." 

Smiling, she burrowed further into his chest and said through a yawn, "Will you read a poem to me?" 

"Of course, darling." Planting a kiss on her head, Ben reached over to grab the book of poetry from the bedside table. They'd fallen asleep after reading each other poems from it last night. 

Paging through it, Ben stopped when he found the perfect one:

Light. 

Sun. 

Gold. 

Your Smile. 

Your 

Heart

Your love.

Your love for me. 

All golden. 

They spent the rest of the day alternating between the bed, the kitchen and a walk back to the park with the lights where they promised to each other to return back to it every Christmas Day.

[michaelsheenpt]

Michael Sheen: The pandemic has shown what is possible on homelessness

The actor now uses his Hollywood cash to fund his passion for activism. Sheen reveals why he revels in spending money on the things that matter and why he has hope for the post-Covid future.

Michael Sheen, activist and actor. It is in that order these days. And he’s doing rather well in both spheres. He has spent the last few years trying to find a way to balance his twin passions. And, he says, he is slowly getting there.  

“A big part of it was shifting things in my head and knowing what the priorities were,” says the 51-year-old.

“I made the shift psychologically to go, right, the acting work and everything that comes with that is going to support the other stuff I’m doing.  

“So even though to the outside world, maybe it wouldn’t seem like it – because I’ve been doing lots of acting work and things that have kept the profile up and all that –  from my point of view, the priority has been different. Now the acting work fits in around the other stuff.”

That ‘other stuff’ involves supporting the Homeless World Cup and the fight to expand access to affordable credit, campaigning to get the right to a good home enshrined in law in Wales and combating loneliness with the Great Winter Get Together (an idea inspired by the late MP Jo Cox). Then there’s working with Social Enterprise UK, for whom he is a patron alongside The Big Issue’s Lord Bird, helping local journalism and communities get access to trustworthy information, publicising and supporting both foodbanks and theatres and fighting period poverty.  

It’s a heady and righteous cocktail of vital causes. And it takes up a lot of Sheen’s time. With the Covid pandemic of 2020, and Brexit around the corner, he feels his activism is going to be more important than ever in 2021.

“Everything that was happening before Covid came along which has been exacerbated,” says Sheen. “So it’s not like issues I was focused on beforehand – around homelessness and high-cost credit – are going away.

“We’re bracing ourselves for it getting a lot harder and more people being involved. The work that was going on pre–pandemic is going to get even more pressured. Because when you look into anything around poverty and inequality before the pandemic, the fallout from the way Universal Credit was being rolled out was having a massive effect. Well, there’s going to be a lot more people on Universal Credit now.”  

But Sheen also sees this as a moment to seize, a chance to rebuild society anew, a period that is packed with potential.  

“We saw what was possible around homelessness during the pandemic, where people were able to get off the streets and were put into accommodation and given support that wasn’t there before,” he says.  

“That has made a lot of people think. If that’s possible during a pandemic when people are really motivated, then why can’t it happen afterwards as well? Why does it take a pandemic to do it? We have seen that the fact there are still people living on the street is a political choice.

“So while we are bracing ourselves for really challenging times, that’s balanced out by a sense that there’s the chance to build up from the ground again. How do we reimagine who we are and how we live and how we work together? The status quo wasn’t working. So we have to innovate, we have to reimagine, we have to reinvent – there is a moment of possibility to build back better.”

He is on a roll. He sounds like a politician. A good politician. With that rich, sonorous voice rising as he advocates a new way of living, a new vision for society. He compares the imminent, we hope, post-Covid moment to the situation facing the post-war Attlee government. 

“When you go through a big, nation–changing event, which this has been, there’s the opportunity to reimagine a different relationship between the state and society and between us as a community,” he continues. “To see how communities have pulled together gives you a new awareness of who we are and what we can be. We can rebuild our nation in the light of that.  

“There won’t always be that window of opportunity. We’ll go in a new direction and a new status quo will emerge. Let’s hope it can be a fairer one.”

But Sheen is not just about ideas for a brighter future for Wales, the UK, and beyond. He’s also at the top of the acting profession. And we’ve seen a lot of him in 2020.  

There was his brilliant, uncanny, portrayal of Chris Tarrant in Quiz back in March – the memorable pop-cultural drama-doc which drew a massive lockdown audience to its exploration of the infamous, scandalous, did-they-didn’t-they ‘cheat’ storm on ITV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire – shedding light on the inventive, pre-internet ways WWTBAM fans across the country hooked up to game their way onto the show.

Sheen was – not for the first time in a career that has seen him portray with such skill a diverse crowd of famous names, including Brian Clough (The Damned United), Kenneth Williams (Fantabulosa), Tony Blair (The Deal, The Queen and The Special Relationship), and David Frost (in Frost/Nixon) – utterly, bewilderingly believable as Tarrant and the three-part series, aired over consecutive nights, was genuine event television. 

Then, when it became clear this pandemic and these lockdowns weren’t going anywhere fast, Sheen joined forces with his Good Omens co-star David Tennant to make Staged – the first, and perhaps only show to capture the tedium, the disconnectedness, the discombobulation of lockdown life.  

With the big–name actors playing heightened versions of themselves – Sheen pompous, cultured, guzzling wine, Tennant eager to please, upbeat, hapless – it was a roaring success on iPlayer.

“David is very different to what you see in the series in real life,” says Sheen. “But although I’d like to say I’m different to the version of me in Staged, that’s pretty much what I’m like.”

The surprise second series of Staged catches up with Sheen and Tennant (or should that be Tennant and Sheen?) a few months down the line.  

“We knew the series was very easy to do, filming it at home on a laptop – or that even if we went back to a more normal life again and were working elsewhere, we could film it anywhere,” says Sheen.  

“And by the time we came to the second series, it was different. Even though we were still spending a lot of time at home, the second series was during a period where everybody, including David and I, were trying to go back to do things. Then the rules kept changing.  

“So you never quite knew whether what was going to happen from day to day. The second series reflects that. But obviously, going back to work and trying to go back to normal is very different from me and David than they are for a lot of people – so we were aware that had to be dealt with as well, because never wanted it to be about two poncey actors and their lives. We wanted to find a way to do it so that people could still identify with it.”

This year, Sheen, like most of us, has spent more time at home. He has, he says, enjoyed catching fewer planes, appreciated his friends and extended family more than ever, raced through five series of Line of Duty and been wowed by Normal People, starting his way down Schitt’s Creek but still found little time to read novels (“I’ve asked for a few from Father Christmas”).  

Because if he does find time to read, it is usually research on housing, on fighting poverty, on rebuilding the broken or the out-of-control housing market, alongside the occasional script.

But if 2020 has been about anything for Sheen, is has been about spending time with his baby daughter Lyra.

“When we went into that first lockdown in March, she was only five months old,” he says.  

“So our focus has been her this whole time. Really our experiences wouldn’t have been massively different. The main overwhelming part of our experience of the last year has been having a baby, as opposed to Covid. And I know I’m very fortunate to be able to say that. But anyone who’s had a baby knows that that just takes up all your bandwidth.

“They give you structure, don’t they? A reason to get up in the morning. A lot of people have said it is difficult getting motivated to do stuff – but that’s not an issue when you’ve got a little one, is it? So I have got very used to being in the house. I even got to do two seasons of a TV show from my kitchen, which is pretty nice…”

Staged returns to BBC One and iPlayer on January 4

Michael Sheen on the legacy of the Homeless World Cup in Wales

In the summer of 2019, Cardiff hosted the Homeless World Cup. As the football tournament, featuring players from around the world, all of whom were experiencing homelessness, kicked off, we knew Michael Sheen had played a huge role in bringing the event to Wales.

What didn’t emerge until later was that, when some promised funding failed to emerge, Sheen was faced with a choice between sinking more than £1m of his own money into making it happen or cancelling the event.

He paid. They played.

It was a triumph and will last long in the memory. So how does Sheen feel now about it?

“It is an extraordinary event that happens every year,” he says. “It was going to be in Finland this year, which I was really looking forward to – because Finland has been quite pioneering in the Housing First strategy and I was looking forward to being able to find out more about that. But I still feel the way I did before – and what motivated me to try and make it happen here in Wales is that it is life-changing for people and can be a transformative experience in all kinds of ways.

“For some people who take part in it, it has an immediate effect. And for others, it may be years later that the effects of it manifest in their life. But that was why I was so committed to being a part of making that happen.

“A lot of the motivation for us in Wales was about what it could act as a platform for afterwards. And that has been affected by the Covid crisis, because a lot of the legacy work we were doing was unable to move forward in the way we’d hoped because of all the restrictions. But what I learned and discovered during that period has made a massive difference to me and the work I’m doing around homelessness.

“The relationships we developed through that time with support service organisations, the people I met and the insights I got into what people are struggling with and what would help were invaluable. It’s been a huge thing for me. I’m still paying for it. So that still affects my life as well, obviously, and things that I’m doing.

“But my acting work is there to support the other stuff. I’m putting money into things constantly, even though I still owe money to do with the Homeless World Cup. So until the time comes when I’m not able to earn money in the same way, then I’ll keep on spending it on the things that matter to me.”

SOURCE

[timebird84]

🎄 PotO Advent Calendar 2020 🎄

By @sloanedestler​

Mistletoe

 December 23rd

 “Thank you for such a lovely dinner, Erik.” Christine gave him a beaming smile as he opened the car door for her, leaning toward him just enough that he considered stealing a kiss, but he lost his nerve and merely helped her into the vehicle.

 Unbelievably, it had been exactly two weeks since he and Christine had had their first official date, and if her happy demeanor just now was any indication, he was hopeful there would be still more of them. When Erik slid into the driver’s seat and fastened his seat belt, she looked at him earnestly. “I was thinking maybe you could come up to my apartment when we get back there?”

 There was no chance he would say no to that invitation. Not only would he leap at any opportunity to spend time with Christine, he had been hoping to give her the Christmas gifts he had gotten for her tonight. While they planned to spend Christmas Day together, having been invited to spend the holiday with Meg and her mother, the thought of giving Christine her gifts in front of an audience made him apprehensive.

 “I would love to.” Unable to control the thrill that shot through him as her smile got even bigger, he continued, “but first, I had something else planned.”

 Christine giggled, knowing she was probably acting like a girl on her very first date, but she simply couldn’t help it - she had had feelings for Erik for so long, and now that she no longer had to hide them, it seemed like happiness was just bursting out of her. “Oh, really? What?”

 Erik shook his head, but she could see a slight grin on his thin lips. “It’s a surprise, my dear.”

 “Ooh, another surprise? You already remembered my favorite restaurant tonight.” Despite the difficulties Erik had in being around people, he had taken her to the same Italian restaurant that her father had always taken her to on special occasions, which she had just happened to mention to him months ago when they chatted after one of her voice lessons. As they had pulled up to it earlier that evening, she had fallen for him even more when she realized that Erik must have taken that bit of information about her and filed it away, even if he had thought he would never have the opportunity to actually take her there.

 Although she was dying to know what the surprise was, Christine decided to just savor the anticipation of whatever he had planned, and to continue to enjoy being with Erik like this, but as he drove them toward a residential neighborhood, her curiosity was nearly getting the better of her.

 Just as she was about to break down and ask him what he had planned again, Erik turned down a street seemingly at random, and began driving slowly down it. “You’re the expert, Christine. Does this look like a good street?”

 “A good street for what?” she asked blankly. She was crazy about Erik, but that didn’t mean that she always understood what he was talking about.

 “For Christmas lights? I remember you said you and your father used to drive around and look at people’s Christmas lights every year, so I thought maybe you would like to do that tonight.”

 When Christine didn’t answer, he glanced over at her, wondering if he had done something wrong, feeling his familiar insecurities rise up despite his best effort. When he saw the way her eyes were gleaming, his heart sank as he saw that he must have, if the tears in them were any indication.

 “Christine, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I can take you home now.” Already berating himself for ruining what had been a perfect evening, he started to make a move to turn the car around, but she stopped him with her small hand on his arm.

 “No, Erik,” she said huskily, “I would love to look at lights with you. I was just...surprised you remembered that I told you that. It was so long ago.”

 Erik met her gaze, his yellow eyes burning behind his black mask. “I think I remember everything you’ve ever told me, Christine. Every conversation we had after your lessons, you have no idea what they meant to me, what your friendship meant to me.”

 How she adored this strange, intense man. “Oh, Erik, it meant so much to me, too.” She nearly added that those conversations were what had led to her falling in love with him, but she held back, thinking it was too soon to tell him she loved him. Even though Christine knew without a doubt that she did.

 *****

 “You can still come up, right? I’ll make hot chocolate,” Christine asked once he parked in front of her apartment building, stealing a sideways glance at him. Although the mask made it difficult to read Erik sometimes, she thought she detected a happy gleam in his eye at her invitation.

 “Of course, Christine. I would love to.”

 Erik reached in the back seat on his way out of the vehicle and picked something up, but she couldn’t tell what he was holding until he came around to her car door. Even though it made her feel a little silly, Erik seemed to get so much enjoyment from opening doors for her that she didn’t have the heart to tell him it really wasn’t necessary. When she got out of the car, though, all thoughts of doors flew out of her head.

 “Erik!” she exclaimed happily. “You got me a present!”

 Seeing Christine’s excitement over the elegantly-wrapped boxes in his hand temporarily robbed Erik of any coherent thought. “Yes,” he agreed with her, “two, actually.” He immediately cringed at having stated the obvious, but his stupidity didn’t seem to bother her, since she slipped her hand into his free one for their short walk up to her apartment.

 When they got inside, Christine hung his coat up next to hers and led him over to the couch, where Erik placed her gifts on the coffee table in front of it. He sat, hoping she would join him, but instead she moved toward the kitchen. “I’ll just get the hot chocolate started, all right?”

 Erik would much rather have the opportunity to cuddle next to her on the couch, but Christine had brought up hot chocolate several times, so maybe it was important to her. “That sounds nice,” he said politely, if not entirely truthfully.

 Just when he started to wonder if he should have offered to help her, she called to him from the kitchen, “Erik, can you come in here?”

 Rising quickly, he made his way to help her, but to his confusion she met him in the doorway, hands empty. When she just looked at him and smiled, Erik started to feel self-conscious. “Did you need help, my dear?” Why was she looking at him like that?

 Still staying silent, Christine raised her gaze to the top of the doorway, and Erik realized there was something hanging there, some sort of Christmas decoration like the ones scattered all over her apartment. He stared blankly at her for a moment longer, and then suddenly realized what she wanted from him.

 Christine blinked in confusion when Erik reached for the mistletoe hanging above them instead of leaning down to kiss her. “Erik, what are you doing?”

 He paused, confusion in his eyes. “I...thought you wanted me to move this for you? Since I’m so much taller?”

 Just managing to bite back her amusement, not wanting to hurt his feelings, Christine shook her head. “That’s mistletoe, Erik.” When he just continued looking at her in confusion, she continued. “You know, when you meet someone under it, you’re supposed to kiss.”

 That certainly got his attention. “You...want to kiss me?”

 Now Christine was the one feeling confused. “Of course?” She and Erik had kissed multiple times over the last two weeks, and she was reasonably confident she hadn’t given him any reason to think she wouldn’t want to repeat the experience. “We’ve kissed quite a few times by now, Erik. Why would you think I wouldn't want to?”

 He glanced away, embarrassed. “I just thought...I wouldn’t want to presume anything.”

 Christine’s heart clenched as she heard what Erik wasn’t saying. Before her attempt to flirt with him under the mistletoe derailed any further than it already had, she simply reached up and pulled him down to her, meeting his lips with hers.

 Although Erik was stiff at first, he soon wrapped his arms around her and began kissing her in earnest, thrilling to the feeling of how tightly Christine was holding him as she eagerly returned his kisses. After a long period of time where they proceeded to get more and more lost in each other, she finally drew back with a shaky laugh, dropping her forehead to his chest.

 “I think the hot chocolate is probably cold by now,” she said with the most musical giggle Erik had ever heard. Truly, every sound she made was perfect to him.

 “I don’t mind,” he replied truthfully, but she laughed again and pulled away as he reluctantly let his arms fall from around her.

 “I’ll heat it back up. Meet you on the couch?”

 Unable to say no to her, he simply nodded.

 *****

 When Christine entered the living room and set the hot chocolate on the table, Erik expected her to sit beside him, but instead she went over to her small Christmas tree and pulled a brightly-wrapped package out from underneath it. Smiling shyly, she brought it over and sat it down next to the presents he had brought for her. Surely it couldn’t be...had she gotten him a Christmas gift?

 Christine smiled at him sweetly after she sat down beside him. “Do you want to open yours first?”

 Erik stared at the gift in shock, unable to believe that this lovely girl had taken the time to buy a present for him. “Open it?” he asked her blankly.

 “Well, yes, that’s what you do with gifts. Haven’t you ever gotten a Christmas present before?” Christine’s grin told Erik she was joking, but he decided he needed to try to collect himself before she realized the sad answer to her question.

 “Why don’t you go first?”

 He didn’t miss the eager gleam in Christine’s eyes. Erik filed away the information that his sweet girl liked receiving presents for future use.

 Christine reached for the smaller of the two boxes, but Erik stopped her by handing her the slightly bigger one first. Wondering if that meant what was in the small box was the better or worse gift, Christine took the package from Erik and tore the lovely paper off.

 “Oh!” she exclaimed happily when she saw that the present was a box of her favorite cookies, from a specialty shop in New York. “Erik! You remembered this, too!” Christine recalled raving about these specific cookies when she had described her last trip to the city to him. How sweet it was to think that Erik had been so attentive to all the little things that she had told him, even when he thought she would never be anything more than his voice student.

 When she picked up the smaller gift, she noticed that Erik’s always-straight posture became even stiffer. Was he nervous about whether or not she would like this present? Intrigued by what that could mean, she peeled the paper of it eagerly, but when she saw the tiny velvet box inside, she started to feel a little nervous herself.

 Was Erik going to propose? Christine knew she loved him, but this...was too sudden.

 Gingerly, she popped the little box open, nervous to see what was inside it. Christine’s first reaction at seeing earrings instead of a ring was relief, but she soon realized the beauty of the pair. Nestled in the box was the most gorgeous jewelry she had ever seen in person, each earring consisting of a round sapphire surrounded by tiny diamonds. This...was decidedly not costume jewelry. Erik must have spent a fortune on these, she thought distantly.

 Erik watched as Christine examined her gift, nervously hoping that she liked the earrings, but when she raised her wide-eyed gaze to his, his heart plummeted. She obviously didn’t like them, or thought they were too much, or maybe she didn’t like him at all and had only agreed to a few dates with him to be nice, and now didn’t know how to tell him that after he had foolishly spent several thousand dollars on jewelry.

 “I’m sorry, Christine,” he said hopelessly, as he started to rise from the couch so he could leave her in peace, but she grasped his arm to stop him.

 “What are you sorry for?”

 “I...it’s obvious you don’t like them. I’m sorry,” he said again. “It was too much. I-”

 To his surprise, Christine stopped his rambling by placing her delicate fingers on his lips. “Erik, I love them. They’re absolutely beautiful.” And to his surprise, she replaced her fingers with her lips, kissing him sweetly and sliding her arms around him.

 As their kiss started to deepen, Christine pulled back just a fraction, and Erik had to bite back a moan at the loss of her lips on his, but she was merely reaching for his mask. However, instead of tearing it off as she had in the past, she paused just before touching it to gently whisper, “May I?”, waiting for his slight nod before untying it.

 She turned away just long enough to set the mask on the coffee table, and then Christine was right back in his arms, but instead of instantly resuming their kiss, she pressed her soft lips to his forehead before kissing his wasted cheek. Even though he knew it was too soon, he couldn't stop the words that left his mouth, prompted by the sweet way she was treating his horrible face.

 “Christine, I love you.”

 The sweet angel in his arms froze, and Erik cursed his stupidity. It seemed he was determined to frighten her off one way or the other tonight. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I know it’s too soon, but I thought you surely knew anyway-”

 Once again Christine cut him off, this time by briefly pressing her lips to his, then pulling back to say, “Erik, it’s all right. I mean, obviously I suspected that you did.” She leaned in for another quick kiss. “And, Erik, I love you too.”

 Erik was completely stunned into silence by the words he had never dreamed Christine would say to him, but she spared him the need to answer by pulling him into another kiss. This one lasted quite some time, until she pulled back for air, leaving her forehead pressed against his.

 Suddenly she gave a little start. “Oh! You haven’t opened your present yet.” Turning away, she reached over to pick it up and hand it to him. Erik took the package from her and merely admired it for a moment, savoring the thought that the girl he loved had actually gotten this for him. Part of him wanted to simply leave it wrapped just like this so he could always have the reminder that Christine had cared enough to get him a gift, but he knew that would not be what she would consider normal behavior.

 When Erik began to carefully remove the paper from his gift, Christine was struck by a sudden thought: he had gotten her both an incredibly thoughtful gift and an extremely expensive, absolutely beautiful one, and she had gotten him-

 “A sweater! Christine, it’s perfect!” Cringing that Erik was being so sweet when she had gotten him the most cliché gift ever, Christine awkwardly tried to explain herself while Erik examined the fitted black garment as if it was the most delightful thing he had ever seen.

 “Sorry, I know a sweater is a little...boring, but I just thought it would look nice on you. And it’s your favorite color,” she finished lamely.

 “Christine! Why would you apologize? This is by far the nicest gift I’ve ever received.” No need to ruin the evening by mentioning it was also the only gift he’d ever received. In a sudden burst of inspiration, he added, “Because it came from you, of course.”

 That was apparently the right thing to say, as Christine threw her arms around him and drew him in for more kisses, the hot chocolate completely abandoned on the coffee table by this point.

 When they finally pulled apart, Christine nestled up against his side, laying her head on his shoulder. “I really am sorry your gift wasn’t more exciting, Erik.”

 “Christine, truly, I love it. I can’t wait to wear it to our celebration on Christmas Day.”

 “Oh, Erik, that is so sweet of you.”

 They lapsed into silence for several minutes, simply holding each other close, until Erik spoke again.

 “Christine?” he asked hesitantly.

 “Yes?”

 “Do you...think you might wear the earrings on Christmas? Do you really like them?”

 “Of course I do, Erik! And I can’t wait to wear them on Christmas.” Christine squeezed Erik’s thin waist in a hug, hoping he could feel just how sincere she was. He responded by wordlessly burying his face in her curls, holding her just as tightly as she was holding him, before finally breaking his silence.

 “I’m so glad you like them. Merry Christmas, Christine.”

 “Merry Christmas, Erik.”

[shinjukuspiritcommittee]

Top 20 2021

My Favorites (updated)

Hello my readers, it’s been a while since I just posted something not related to a headcanon and I am doing one right now. I just wanted to take a bit of a break to just get SOMETHING on here on my days off work. Plus I’m just trying to find my groove when it comes to writing again so hopefully this helps me just get back into the mood of making a post more often lol. I wanted to revisit this topic for a while just because we’ve had a lot more events and a lot more alts in the game were added. And I know for a fact LifeWonders reads these posts in some capacity because I have meme’d an AR into the game with my top picks from the last list I did for Christmas 2019. No I didn’t. I’m just joking around and I know LifeWonders doesn’t read this.

Anyways rather than just make up a list on the spot like last year I decided to use the Housamo Sortmaker (Link: https://club.housamo.xyz/sortmaker/ ) to try and make a list that’s more revealing to what I was thinking at the time. Since I talked about 20 characters ish last time I’m just gonna read from my 20th place to my 1st place spots and try to justify whatever I was thinking at the time. Anyways-

20: Marchosias and Susan: This one was a surprise for me if I’m being honest but I’m just gonna blame the fact on Shukou’s recent involvement with LifeWonders in the form of Live A Hero and how Ryekie and Mokdai live in my headspace rent free whenever I think about the characters in that game. Maybe we can see about getting some LAH headcanons since that’s a LifeWonders property too). So out of all the characters Shukou drew for Housamo why did I pick Marchosias? Easy, it’s been 4 years and this poor man has yet to receive a proper alt or any kind of skin for that matter and I think that it’s a crime. Sure he’s not my favorite but he’s definitely grown on me because he’s just a gentle dad kind of character and his design has grown on me over the years. I just hope he doesn’t get left behind since he has a lot of really interesting and potential things to look forward to in the future given how the main story has unfolded.

19: Shiva/Algernon: The helmet heads are together because DAI XT quickly became my favorite artist for Fire Emblem Heroes and I really just like their designs. DAI XT just knows how to draw robots, armor and muscles well. Also Chapter 11 with Shiva you can read into some interesting perspectives. I don’t want to spoil any of the untranslated content for anyone who’s waiting for the official english translation. But if you are curious Roureem has a blogspot where he posts summaries of the newly released events.

Link: https://housamosummaries.blogspot.com/

18: Cthugha: I love this goober so much. He’d constantly try to act super sentai just trying say good morning everyday. He may not be very bright but that just adds to his charm and honestly I enjoy how he always tries to play the hero in a lot of scenarios because it’s refreshing when they implement him after a bunch of heavy hitting story stuff. I’m not gonna spoil too much about it but I will say he’s more than welcome after everything Chapter 10 and 11 put the reader through.

17: Mineaki: I’ve made a post about him being one of my least favorites way back when I first started this blog and let me just say how times have changed and I’ve learned the value of not judging a book by it’s cover. I still think there’s something a bit off about Kowmei’s style for his characters, but Mineaki has definitely grown on me. He’s a caring instructor who does watch out for his students even if it’s not always in the most direct way possible. Not to get into too many spoilers he’s got a lot of intrigue around him as well and I am curious to see his role get expanded down the line.

16: Ded: Housamo is the reason I really like christmas. The Christmas stories despite following a similar structure to each other do tend to be my favorite stories. Ded himself is also just another good dad character. He’s also two guys for the price of one, so I mean… you know… you’ve got the forever ask your other dad situation. There wasn’t much thought put into this choice I just like santa as a concept because I think the outfits are cute, it’s always nice to get something for people you care about on Christmas and Ded is the perfect embodiment of both sides to Christmas.

15: Shinya: Everyone we need to manifest buff Shinya for 2021, this is not a drill. This is legitimate. We must make Taromati’s and my wish come true. To be more serious again he’s just a sweet and gentle character. He’s also drawn by my favorite Housamo artist. Their characters always just look so naturally good. I’m just surprised he hasn’t gotten much of an alt given he’s perfect material for Valentine’s day. He’s just a soft boy and I would love for him to be in more things because I just enjoy seeing him.

14: Jacob: I have to be honest Jacob is on here because every time I look at him he just gets more handsome to me. I wasn’t all that impressed with his introduction and we don’t know much about his background but I’ve just been drawn to him more and more. Maybe it’s just because he’s drawn by GomTang? I just like looking at him and I can’t help it. To speak a bit less crass he’s another gentleman kind of guy and those are always nice.

13: Shennong: Yeah I like the doc a lot. Firstly, I’m a huge sucker for big bulls and Shennong fits the bill. The white fur really adds to his appeal visually and the purple horns give off a bit of an unnatural appearance. Shen feels like someone who’s been touch starved and alone for a long time given how he acts as a character and when we actually hug him I just lost it. He always has others well being on his mind so he’s not afraid to jump in and help, or give a much needed lecture about when you need to take better care of yourself. He just comes across as very well balanced overall.

12: Heracles: I won’t lie- at first he didn’t interest me much. He looked incredibly plain when among the rest of the cast and he seemed like the typical “bait” character since the banner had Echo, Barguest, Gyumao and Snow. But after reading the translation for Valentine Time Slip I was taken aback at how much of a gentle giant he turned out to be and I just really liked his interactions with the others in that event. And honestly his special quest from that year was one of the more unique ones given the slower pace and more romantic vibe it had. After the event warmed my heart I did a complete 180 and I just knew I really liked him.

11. Yasuyori: Before I start praising him I feel I have to justify why he didn’t quite make top 10 and it will have some mild Chapter 10 spoilers. To be as vague as possible his resolution just didn’t vibe with me at the end of Chapter 10. Like it wasn’t a bad resolution and it was the right choice to make but in my opinion there really wasn’t a moment I felt was clear where he made a choice for himself. Everything just sort of happened around him and it felt like he didn’t really do much to improve his situation. To an extent I kind of see that being the idea given his origins and the story he’s based on and there is some semblance of him coming to terms with himself alongside his isolation being portrayed pretty well, but I just wasn’t satisfied with it as much as I would like to be. With that out of the way, oh my god I just want this boy to never stop smiling and I just want to give him hugs constantly please he just deserves to be happy!!! Yasuyori is a character who’s got a lot of baggage and he’s just trying to find ways to properly cope with his trauma and not repeat past mistakes and I just really like that idea. His role in Xmas 2020 (sorry I just forgot the name of that event, but its when he gets his alt) was a much better representation for his character in my eyes. I’m not gonna spoil anything like I keep saying but he isn’t one to disappoint in future appearances and I just hope this lovable lug keeps getting the support he deserves.

10: Hephaestus: A spicy way to start the latter half of the list. I just want to give this lad a hug and tell him he is worthy of love. But at the same time he is a little shit… and I love that. I can’t fully explain why I grow a paternal instinct in me seeing this grown man sob about his mother but I just do. I want to keep him safe and give him all the affection he wants. Though I am aware a lot of Hephaestus’s interest in his parental figure is… questionable. I am just gonna say I would accept his love for what it is and he just wants approval.

9. Shuten: I’ll be honest I have no proper reason for why I like Shuten so much. He’s just a cool and reliable guy. He just seems like a go with the flow kind of person most of the time and he’s a bit more direct than most of the characters which I always appreciate. Plus I have an unspoken bias for naop guys in Housamo.

8. Durga: While not number 1 on this list, I still really like Durga. She’s quirky but not to an annoying degree, she’s determined and definitely very confident in her own abilities. Her growing to be more sociable throughout her events is something I enjoy seeing because it really creates this sense of growth.

7. Kyuma: I get a lot of people don’t like Kowmei’s art but I really think we should look past it because Kyuma is one of the sweeter picks. He’s someone who just wants to prove himself for his own worth and not what David can provide, but David is part of him and it just creates the potential for a good arc. Plus this boy is unintentionally smooth and will just take your heart when possible. I honestly want to see Kyuma more in events because he’s honestly the jock that carries 3 of the 4 brain cells. He’s also the last one without an alt so I’m just hoping he gets one in 2021 because he really deserves one in my opinion. (Also fan art makes him really cute).

6. Tomte: Tomte is relatively new but honestly his event in 2019 really endeared me to him. I’m trying to be spoiler free because the best way to enjoy these stories is for yourselves but let me just say his arc in the event was really endearing to me and much more than I was expecting. His fan service is also incredibly hammy and I love it. Visually Tomte is one of my favorites, I love his multi colored hair and starlit pupils cuz it makes his otherwise more generic look have some flare. I knew I liked him out the box and when I read about him in the summaries and can’t wait to read the official translation for him. I was just very endeared.

5. Tetsuya: Tetsuya fucks. Moving on…

Jokes aside this one’s a bit simple. I have no shame in admitting I think he’s attractive and his whole resistance towards wanting a relationship is cute in a weird roundabout way. When he says no I just want it MORE. I just really like duo haired tsunderes.

4. Kengo: Kengo 3rd alt 2021. Please LifeWonders I need my favorite Summoner. He’s a bro and that’s what counts. Kengo has got your back, not afraid to rely on you, a very fun and dynamic guy. Sure he’s not that bright when it comes to making plans or any book smart, but there are times where he’s the best at being able to read the room or just understand what someone needs to hear even if it isn’t always what someone wants to hear. His bullheaded nature is actually one of his redeeming qualities because it’s nice to just not overcomplicate things and just understand what’s actually going on. Yes the early story didn’t do many favors for him but to me the events, especially the later ones, do much more work for his character. To me, at least.

3. Ashigara: Ashigara is best bear, and I will defend that stance in 2021. The main thing that draws me to Ashigara is that I can see a bit of myself in him. He gets very emotional when he gets left alone, he’s very loud when with his friends, has a tendency of speaking his mind- just someone who wears his heart on his sleeve. I also appreciate that in spite of the negative he isn’t someone who backs down when the going gets tough and in a few instances he’s able to hold his ground physically at least.

2. Wakan Tanka: Love at first sight. This ray of sunshine still persists as the number 1 husband, but number 2 character. Firstly I am a huge fan of the partial beast aesthetic. The buffalo ears and the horns  are absolutely adorable. Secondly he’s a perfect body type; he’s not too muscular but not exactly flabby. Third he is just so positive and I love that. He’s someone I admire and wanna hug.

1. Taurus Mask: The more things change the more they stay the same. I’m still a big Taurus Mask fan for all the same reasons as last time. I just… relate to this boy. He is an incredibly shy boy who uses his public persona for confidence. Maybe I’m reading too much into it but it’s like we’re soul bros!

So yeah, my tastes haven’t changed in a year and a half.

[summoner-chan]

[𝕊𝕜𝕖𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝔻𝕦𝕞𝕡 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 2020✨] P3

Woo!!! Finally got the the last one everyone!! I've been delaying this for so long so I'm really sorry for that (´；ω；｀)

Let's get into it then!!✨✨

[TIDDIES warning because we all know Housamo characters has them 🖐️😔❤️✨]

Ok, I'm an absolute simp for Tanngrisnir and the Battle of Bells Ikebukuro Christmas Event just increased my love for him a thousandfold!! (●♡∀♡)✨✨ Truth to be told, I drew this before the night of the release of the said Event so I'm just!!!! Happy!!!!✨✨✨✨ Ded Moroz out there really be giving my early Christmas present 🖐️😔❤️✨

In this piece, I drew a cough cough towel only adorned teacher because I felt that LW did him dirty from not giving him a sauna skin variant for Mystic Christmas Event which would actually showcase his tiddies that was hidden away in his tracksuit skin variant-

I don't mind if he only had a split moment of appearance but dear GOD give him and the others (Jugo, Marchocias and others I can't remember their names but know their faces well-) SOME DESERVING SCREEN TIME AND SKIN VARIANTS ｡:ﾟ(;´∩`;)ﾟ:｡

Same reason as the previous piece!!! I just wanted to do more skin variants for my goat hubby and once I'm finished with some current works, I'll work on the sprite making for the skin variant!✨(Besides, i have a thing for my F/Os in sweaters..👉👈...they just suddenly look so ❤️❤️) I'm pretty much excited for it but we'll have to see if IRL businesses will try and kill me or not (・–・;)ゞ💦💦

Also!!!

HE!!!✨✨✨❤️❤️❤️❤️ My hubby who's obsessive with stew making (ㆁωㆁ)

I think I did Yoritomo dirty in this one considering I had an art block that time and just wanted to draw someone and why not the new characters from CHP 11? There's a full picture for this but I decided to not include it in since haha anatomy went brrrr-

This was done in the real early months in 2020 and you can tell the improvements I have now!! And yes!! This piece was the first of me drawing Tanngrisnir, there's some errors how it looks stiff and him looking like he's not really going to kick with determination so I'll try to redraw this soon and give it a more oomph to it and it'll be good! Really loved this piece and making the spinning wheels was already a pain to draw-

Not to flex but- I'll be flexing here because I don't have enough artwork of Housamo characters yet so everyone have to deal with seeing my bestie's artwork presents drawn for yours truly! ✨✨

This was from the art challenge that we did together and the pose reference was from a Chinese Romcom movie called Love At First Kiss (it's so comedic that it's frustrating-) and if I have the time, I'll try to post more of her presents she's done for me because her art is just 😤👌✨✨✨❤️❤️!!!

Here's a little progress work I'm doing right now which is my take on the Exiles and the first of it would Euryome, The Exile from Olympus!

Excuse the really messy sketch since lining the art would take time so I decided to fill out the colours first so I don't have to make my head spinning thinking about what colour to put it with- But I'm really happy how it turned out, especially the water! Which happened to be an accident but nonetheless looks pretty good! This work in progress is actually done during 2021 but you'll see why I included it in✨

THIS was the first design of Eurynome which I done in 2020, now flipping through the papers, I saw this piece (while disrespectfully looking away at the very terribly drawn Ophion which you guys can see half of it-) and wanted to redraw it and so I did!

Somehow, the design was toned down, with the rope rings and horns especially. What I had in mind for the first design was how Ophion was her spouse who is also by chance a dragon kind thus I had implemented the horns.

The revamped version however was more to showing the fluidity of the clothes which was taken from how Eurynome is an Oceanid that Iived in the waters so I wanted something that wouldn't be too heavy looking and went something with more simpler and lighter adornments

So there you have it! The end of the Sketch Dumps from 2020 has come to an end! The next series would be Sketch Dumps from 2021 that will be posted from time to time so please do anticipate it!! Thank you to everyone who had liked this and reblogs are very much appreciated!!

Note that my commissions are still open!! If you want a three art pack for just 15$ just hit me up and we'll get to it! Only two slots open so be quick!! 😤👌✨

Summoner-chan, signing off!✨

[deepperplexity]

Prompt: 19. Deck The Great Hall

A/N: So I had another fic in mind for this but to do that one justice I'd need about 6-8k words and I simply don't have the time currently :s It's 9.30 am over here as I'm starting on this fic and I feel a bit stressed about all the things I need to get done IRL as we are drawing nearer to Christmas but I'll be damned if I don't manage to finish Snapemas xD

Setting: Hogwarts, The Great Hall

Pairing: Snape x Teacher!Reader (Head of Gryffindor House)

ABBR.: |(y/n)|

Word count: 1660

Warnings: Some fighting, Swear words - nothing major though.

Masterlist page // Masterlist post // SNAPEMAS POST

"Red!" you said decidedly as you looked with crossed arms at Severus. He sneered and arched his brow. "Green," he simply stated before he waved his wand and with the use of Colovaria changed the colour of the decorations. You hissed and stomped your foot. "I said red," you huffed and waved your wand to change the colour again. "Green is better!" "No, red is better!" "It's because you're head of Gryffindor!" he growled. You tsked at him as he changed the colours yet again to green. "I could say the same for you!" you snarled as the colours around you changed for the umpteenth time to red.

You both leaned closer to each other in anger and frustration as your wands worked tirelessly to change the colours around you. It went so fast now that the decorations barely had time to stay as one colour for more than two seconds at a time. The Great Hall was more like a disco ball than anything else at that moment. You both refused to back down. He had been a Grinch the last month and you would not give in again as he had already decided your shared quarters would house no decorations for the holiday and it had bummed you out.

You knew Christmas wasn't his favourite holiday, not that he had such a thing, and you also loved him dearly - almost desperately - so you had allowed him refuge as the rest of Hogwarts was decorated. All you had put up was two stockings hanging at the mantel with your names on one each. But you would not give in this time, no sir!

"Why are you even helping to decorate?" you asked on a snarl, "you don't even like Christmas, you don't even let me decorate our own place!" Your voice rose as you suddenly realised how hurt you were by his inability to see how much Christmas meant to you. It was your favourite holiday of the year as it was the only time your family had played nice as your extended family was around. It was the only time you had felt safe in your childhood and the only time you dared be happy as you grew up.

Severus arched a brow at you as the fight you both were having in the middle of the Great Hall drew the attention of other staff members. "(y/n)," he said in a growled murmur but you slammed your foot down so hard it echoed out into the Entrance Hall. "I let you take away Christmas for me, why can't you just let me have this?!" you screamed while sobbing. Something changed in him at that moment. He had not felt as though you had minded so much not to decorate your shared quarters. But he had obviously been mistaken.

"(y/n), I did not-" But he was interrupted as Headmistress McGonagall stepped up with cold eyes and rapid steps. "You are both out of line! Control yourselves, for Merlin's sake, you are not teenagers. Whatever you're arguing about take it up in private. Now leave, go!" McGonagall said with a booming voice that was not to be argued with. You gawked at her while Severus seemed unaffected by the Headmistress's words. But you were not one to disobey your boss, so you left the Great Hall with rushed strides as Severus followed quickly behind you, calling your name and asking you to stop. But you couldn't. You were too upset, too hurt.  

You managed to keep your tears at bay until you reached your shared quarters and it was as if someone hit you with a brick as the lack of Christmas decorations was all too apparent when you had just walked away from the Great Hall. "So empty," you mumbled through a sob as the tears came the moment you stepped inside. You were about to slam the door shut when Severus grabbed it and pushed himself in. You were furious for what he had done.

"(y/n), I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" You glared at him as your hands shoved at him in pure anger. He didn't move an inch as there was no real force behind your push. "Why did you do that? Why do you have to take this from me? I give you everything and I can't have one single thing?!" Your voice was hoarse and broken as you sobbed and tears streamed down your cheeks. It hurt, you had not decorated for Easter, for all hallows eve, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. You didn't even celebrate Valentine's Day as he saw it as nonsense. You gave it all up because you loved him so damn much you put him before you without making a fuss. You just wanted to make him happy and in the end, you had deprived yourself of the one thing that had always been happy in your life.

He seemed at a loss for words at first. "(y/n), what do you mean?" You gawked at him, hurt and angry. Mad beyond belief. "What I mean? WHAT I MEAN?!" you screamed at him and you were sure the whole castle heard you. He took a step back as you leaned closer, your face red with anger. "No Easter, no Halloween, no thanksgiving, NO FUCKING VALENTINE'S DATE?! And now, now I don't even get Christmas?! Why are you so fucking cruel?!" Your words finally leaked out of you but as they did so, those last words slipped out as well and you saw him flinch.

It knocked the anger right out of you as you had worked so hard to make him comfortable with you, make him happy with you, make him feel your love for him. You sighed deeply as the previous anger turned to sorrow. Perhaps, I love him too much... You thought as you realised just how much you had given up just to be with him. How much you had deprived yourself, held yourself back so as not to make him uncomfortable. It was bordering on ridiculous.

"I'm, I'm sorry I didn't mean to say that," you whispered as you snivelled. But he didn't say anything, he just stared at you. His gaze was as intense as it could possibly be. You couldn't read him, didn't know what he was thinking or feeling and it made your stomach hurt.

"I did not know you wanted to celebrate those things," he said after a moment. You blinked, confused and somewhat in shock. "You never showed such wants and wishes when we discussed those things," he continued and you gawked at him yet again.  What kind of idiocy was that? Who the hell didn't want to celebrate such things as Christmas and Valentine? you could not understand how he could be under that impression at all. "You said no, you said you didn't like the holidays, you said it was unnecessary nonsense..." Your voice was low and trembling as you allowed the hurt you felt to be seen by him.

It took a moment but then he wrapped you in his arms. "If you had told me you wanted to celebrate I would have gladly done so, (y/n)." You shivered at his words as your arms snaked around his waist. "But you said you hated all that kind of stuff..." "Whenever have I said that?" he asked and you sighed. "When we met, it was nearly Easter and you said you found the holidays to be a disturbance and a nuisance that was complete nonsense, I believe those were your exact words."  Severus scoffed at that, but you kept on speaking. "And you always complained and grumbled about how silly it was, how unnecessary and how much you did not enjoy Christmas, or any other holiday..."

You pressed your face into his shoulders as he sighed deeply. "Are you being deliberately stupid?" he asked you on a huff and you jerked back only to be met by his soft eyes and a gentle smile that covered his thin lips. You furrowed your brows as he huffed again. "(y/n)," his fingers under your chin tilted your head back, "I do believe I have been helping you decorate Hogwarts ever since we started dating, I also believe those words of mine were before you were a part of my life, no?" You nodded gently and he smirked. "Well, do you not think I have changed for the better since you became mine?" He asked and you thought about it for a moment before you nodded.

He wasn't wrong, he had changed quite a bit since before you were partners. "You never showed enthusiasm about holidays, you asked once what I had planned and I said I didn't see the point with those things and you just agreed. How, do tell me, was I supposed to know you wanted to actually celebrate? Please do enlighten me on how I was supposed to know you wanted that?" He said and your cheeks blushed scarlet. He was right, oh how right he was and how bloody wrong you were...

"I'm, sorry..." you said as you looked into his eyes and he nodded. He never was one to hold things against you for any length of time as he could clearly see you understood how wrong you had been in the situation. "Now, shall we go back o decorate the Great Hall, or do you want to decorate here?" he asked with a soft purr to his voice. you eyes turned wide and you beamed at him as e smiled at you. "You mean-?" He nodded and you sashed your lips against his as you were just too filled with joy.

Masterlist page // Masterlist post // SNAPEMAS POST

Tags: @lizlil @snapefiction  @morphineisouthoney​ @setsuna-meiou31​ @snapefiction​ @monstreviolet  @meteoritewolf69​

Want to be tagged? 💚 You can tag yourself HERE! Or tell me and I’ll gladly tag you! 😍

[Dec:2020]

[stardancerluv]

Gotham Lockdown 2020

Part 18a

Summary: Christmas night...

After much discussion he let you and Doll Face decorate downstairs in the club for Christmas. Only you and her had been allowed down there. It had taken some time. But you found all the two of you needed. Utterly estatic, the two of you managed to convince Roman and Victor to get all dressed up. Roman, didn’t need that much convincing but since he was still a little tipsy from earlier, he took a shower to clear his head.

You climbed in behind him and wrapped your arms around his middle. A deep sound came from him followed by a rich chuckled as you placed a few kisses across his back. Loving the little freckles here and there.

Your heart hurt so you sighed and you pressed a kiss then laid your cheek against him. “What’s the matter?” You moved so he could face you. You immediately, nestled close. He shielded moat of the water from the shower head so it wasn’t hitting you in your eyes.

“Baby, talk to me.” You looked up and watched him swallow. You pressed your lips together. “Look at the beginning of this I became a mess; Fuck I usually am.“ He chuckled. “But I can be here for the best I can.” He tilted your face up.

“I just miss everything. I am so glad you did that dance party for me. I...I just miss walking around. I miss not having to stick to the shadows to get things we want.”

He nodded. “Well, look the doctors said yesterday they are close to getting a vaccine.” He rose an eyebrows. “Pretty soon, we will open the club and have to deal with drunken Harley before we know it.” He chuckled.

You nodded. “Yeah.” You sighed. “It’s just rough.”

“I know baby. But hey, look at us. We got so much closer. Who can say their fiancée got shot getting her a ring.” He gave you wide smile, his eyes twinkling.

You smiled then. “Only you Roman.”

“Exactly.” He brought your hand up where you wore the ring, he pressed some kisses. “Now, let’s finish getting ready and you can show me what you and Doll-Face did to my club.”

“Ok, I can’t wait.”

******

Later, with your hair twisted softly up and a dress on, you handed Roman a martini before the two of you went into the elevator.

“You it took you and Doll-Face a few days huh?” He tool a sip and you nodded. “I might get too used to you doing this for my club.” He chuckled.

“Maybe, I can do it a party or two.”

“We’ll see.”

The elevator stopped with a ding, Victor was actually in a and Doll -Face came in with a green shimmery dress. Victor, looked Roman up and down. “No, um random t-shirts boss?”

Roman rose an eyebrow, “Victor, did you?”

Doll-Face and you shared a look.

He nodded. “Certainly did boss.” He chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

Roman smiled. “Don’t make me promote Doll-Face and have a meeting where I will see you at the docks.” He laughed then so hard and managed to not spill any of his martini.”

“It was cute.”

“Well...” They shared a look and started laughing.

Once the the doors opened, you took out the remote and cued up the lights along with some Frank Sinatra singing some carols to set the mood.

You watched him walk in and then you cued up the Christmas tree. You and Doll-Face stood back and watched the two of them. Roman, put his glass down and turned around take it all in. Victor, did the same his eyes widening.

Roman, them stopped and looked at you. “Come ere’ baby.”

You did he pulled you close to his soft velvety, suit. He cupped your cheek. “This really looks amazing. I love it.”

****

The rest of the night, the carols bounced off the walls dodging the laughter and giggles that chased the carols. It was a quiet but very nice evening. Roman, almost fell off his chair when he opened the pajamas you and Victor had made for him with his face on them.

There was even some twirls and the clicking of heels as some close shimmies and dancings went across the floor.

With tomorrow being a new day, Roman and Victor promised to clean the dishes and whatever else had to be taken care.

The four of you had huddled close on your respective spots in the living room, still dressed wonderfully as you watch the last Christmas movie for the season.

Later with his maroon silken pajama pants resting low on his hips, he held you close. He was warm and solid. The soft tuffs of his chest hair comforted and tickled you as he held you. “We’ll get through this. When we do, Gotham will belong even more to me. You will always be safe, what we have together will always be safe.” He gave you a warm look as he glanced down at you.

“I always feel safe with you.”

The snows swirled outside of the picture window as dawn’s light, tried to push aside the snow clouds. Your lips drew close and with a sigh you kissed.

@darling-i-read-it @spn-obsessed-dean @vintagemichelle91 @xxxeatyourh3artoutxxx @ewanfuckingmcgregor @zodiyack @angel98624 @frenchgirlinlondon @nebulastarr @emyliabernstein @thepeachreads @itsknife2meetu @theblackmaskclub @omghappilyuniquebouquetlove @nomnomnomnamja @poe-kadot26 @top-rumbelle-fan @babydoll97 @hazel-nuss @vcat55 @feelthemadnessinside @rosionis @queenofgotham800 @brookisbi @peachthatdrinkslemonade @johallzy @foreverhockeytrash @frostypenguinoz @rentskenobi @starwarsslytherin @proffesionalclown @chogisss @dance-like-russia-isnt-watching @shantellorraine @xxinvisiblexx @pooshnulooshnu @speedypartyducksuitcase @blondekel77 @saphic-susperia @drarrylov3r @i-cant-hear-you16 @deadlymistress24 @yesqueenofthelight @siriusblacksworld @apocalypticwafflekitten

[supernatural-love14]

Supernatural-Love14 100 Followers Writing Challenge

Hello! So I want to say a MASSIVE thank you to all of you who have followed me, you all are amazing each and every one of you!!! Thank you for reading my stories, commenting, liking, reblogging. It means the world to me! I definitely wasn’t expecting to reach 100 followers on this but thank you again. 

This is my first writing challenge so I don’t know how this will go. As far as I have decided I'm not going to have a deadline at the moment because I am not sure how many people will get involved in this challenge. I hope a lot of you do join in. 

Even though Christmas is coming up I didn’t want it to be overloaded as a Christmas themed challenge as I know of someone else who has reached 100 followers and is currently doing that. So I’ve just decided to do a general one. If you want to write about Christmas, I will leave some Christmas themed prompts down below as well. There won't be many so ask me quickly before someone else takes them!! Also if you are doing a Christmas themed one, try and post it around Christmas time (You don't have too, but it’s the spirit of Christmas)

There are some rules to this. Not many, so I hope this is ok. In other words, most things are ok to write about.

Rules:

1. Fluff, Smut, Angst, Smangst, Flangst are welcome in this challenge.

2. You can do anything (as long as its Supernatural related) basically whether its AU, A/B/O, Gender Insert, OFC, Canon, are allowed. (No Wincest/Destiel) 

3. It can be about Dean, Sam, Castiel, or John.

4. Kinks are welcome in this challenge - but just so you know I have not done kinks on here, but you are welcome to write about it. 

5. No writing about minors in any way (e.g sex and so on), it cannot be about a minor. (I don’t really want that on my first writing challenge.) Basically because there are mostly adult writing not only from my writing but others as well (probs including yourself) 

6. There is no word limit. Write as much or as little as you want. But if you write more than 300 word please add the More Reading line.

7. Please do use tags/warnings in your work and warnings for the sake of other readers. Depending on which route you go when you write. 

8. No DEADLINE (As of yet) Considering that I don’t know when I will reach the next milestone, this will be open for as long as possible. And you can post it when you like and I will let everyone who want to take part in this when I come up with a deadline.  

9. PLEASE tag me in your work when you publish it, so that I can comment and reblog it. And also I will add your work to the masterlist of the writing challenge. If I don’t respond message me incase Tumblr decides to not let me see it or know about it. And also use the  #Supernatural-Love14 Writing Challenge.

10. PROMPTS - my assumption is that not many people will be doing this challenge as of November 2020, so at the moment it will be 1 prompt per writer. If you really want to do a particular prompt that someone else is doing then please do message me about it. (This rule might change in the future depending on how long this challenge will go on for)

PROMPTS BELOW: 

There is not many prompts at the moment (November 2020) as I don't know how many people will get involved, but if most prompts get filled, I will add more prompts later on. And some rules might get changed. And I know that not all prompts will be filled.

GENERAL

1. “While you’re still with me, you’ll never be safe” @deanswaywardgirl

2. “You killed her! She was the only person I ever loved and you killed her!”

3.  “I know you hate me, but you should hear yourself. You sound just like him, you sound just like your father.”

4. “Why are you wearing my shirt?” “Because it smells like you.”

5. “You’re the only thing that matters in my life.”

6. “You’re lying to me again. Why can’t you just tell me the truth.”

7. “Why did you wait until I moved on?”

8. “Did you know you talk in your sleep. It’s cute.” @ellewritesfix05​

9. "I'm not going if you're not going, it wouldn't be fun without you"

10. “I’m sorry do I know you?”

11. “I can’t keep playing pretend.” @jensengirl83

12. "If anyone asks, this was YOUR idea"

13. "we probably shouldn't be doing this" @queenofgoats (idk why but its not tagging you)

14. "you didn't hear it from me"

15. “Are they really ‘just a friend’?”

CHRISTMAS - I might add more later depending on how many people want to do Christmas (just comment down below if you want more)

1.“You didn’t really think I’d let you spend Christmas alone, did you?”

2. “Don’t you dare throw that snowball?”

3. “Why is there mistletoe everywhere I go?”

4."I don't remember the last time I truly enjoyed Christmas." @janicho88 series master list

5. “How much did you put in the eggnog?”

PLEASE DO SEND ME AN ASK OF THE PARTICULAR PROMPT AND NUMBER YOU WANT TO DO! 

ALSO PLEASE SIGNAL BOOST or Tag anyone you think would like to get involved, SO WE CAN GET MORE WRITERS ON THIS ASWELL! THANK YOU! X

Forever Tags:

@peachyafshawn @vicmc624 @deanswaywardgirl @hobby27

Dean Winchester Tags: (If you see a line through your name I cannot tag you for some reason??)

@foreverasouldreamer @a-girls-little-world @dreamyalessiaa@dhawandyke @bi-danvers0 @anorable-agnes-drew@autumnfrancour2 @waywardbeanie @ellewritesfix05@flamencodiva @akshi8278​ @tuataracda123