#Puppies vs Squeaks

[crystalized-dreams]

Cows vs Aliens... but Puppies vs Squeaks too??

I was recently made aware of a specific excerpt in the February 2023 edition of the Big Toy Book which I have highlighted below: And while I had been already aware of Cows vs Aliens and had been waiting for the first reveal of them (as I know they were shown to investors already at this point), I don’t think anyone was aware of the reveal of Puppies vs Squeaks as well. I still don’t entirely…

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

"Sonic vs. Tails - The Ultimate April Fools Battle"

AO3 link if you'd rather read it there ;)

6:38 a.m.

Early on a Monday morning, Sonic awoke to a rocking sensation. For a moment it was nice, soothing even, and he thought perhaps he'd fallen asleep on a hammock or something.

Except, it was in fact not soft fabric beneath him, but wooden boards.

A faint smell of salt alerted him next. Then a strong gust of wind. Then the cry of a seagull.

A seagull?!

His eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright, panic immediately flooding his chest upon seeing a huge mass of water all around him. He found himself sitting in a wooden fishing boat, smack dab in the middle of it.

He jumped up to his feet with a squeak of true fear, wobbling as the rocking of the boat nearly made him lose his balance.

He raced to the pole where the sails were attached and jumped onto it, full-body clinging to it with both arms and legs. "HOW IN MOBIUS DID I GET OUT HERE?!" he yelled indignantly, as loudly as he could for having just woken up.

A snicker sounded above him, and he jerked his head up so fast he nearly got whiplash.

And whom should he see perched atop the sails post but his little brother, Tails, his namesakes waving around and mischief practically written all over his face.

"Happy April Fools," the smug little fox greeted him, still giggling.

Sonic relaxed slightly, but shot Tails a feigned death glare. "It's on," he shot back, unable to hide a smirk.

-

8:23 a.m.

He had to be subtle about this. Tails was obviously very well aware what day it was. He had to be sly.

So, for his first prank of many, Sonic ran out to buy a cheap whoopie cushion, then slipped it in the Tornado's cockpit, at a perfect angle so Tails wouldn't see it until it was too late.

He was pretty proud of himself for keeping it cool, going on runs and swinging back by the workshop every few minutes to see when Tails needed to go out for a flight.

Except it was taking too long.

If he didn't get that over with, all his time to come up with more pranks for the day would be gone. And that simply wouldn't do.

"Hey, Tails!" he called from the roof, where he'd been leisurely lounging for the past five minutes. "Wanna go for a shopping run?"

After a pause of silence filled only with the sound of some metal clanging, Tails called back, "For what? I thought we were stocked."

"No, we need more— flour." He quickly improvised, having not actually checked the pantry beforehand.

"Why do we need more flour?" Tails sounded both distracted and confused as he continued whatever he was clanging around with.

"Because bread." Sonic flipped onto the ground and leaned his head through the window. "We should make bread."

Tails finally pulled back his goggles and shot him a look. "Why do you want to make bread?"

"Don't question it, Tails! Why can't I be allowed to wanna try new stuff?"

"Because it's April Fools, that's why." Tails smirked and pulled his goggles back down, studying the chunks of metal he was abusing. "There's probably a prank waiting for me at the store or something."

Sonic clasped a hand to his chest dramatically. "You seriously think I went and sabotaged public property just to pull a prank on you?!"

Without missing a beat, and without shifting his eyes from his work, Tails replied, "Yeah."

Sonic huffed and crossed his arms. "Well, I didn't. And the only way for you to see that is to come on shopping with me. I'll even let you pick the store so that you can be sure."

Tails looked at him, arching a brow and resting one hand on his hip. "You're so random," he said, shaking his head with a grin. "You realize you can go shopping by yourself, right?"

"Well, sue me for wanting to spend time with my darling little brother," Sonic pouted, trying his best to pull off a puppy-dog-eyes look.

"Since when did you become so clingy?" Tails laughed, finally setting aside his things and flying over to the window.

Finally!

"It was inevitable. You're too loveable." Sonic yanked him into a hug, right before letting him start flying towards the Tornado.

"I don't know whether to feel touched or suspici—" Tails abruptly broke off as he hopped into the cockpit, and the whoopie cushion immediately squeezed beneath him, filling the air with its awful sounds.

His face went beet red for a moment, then he closed his eyes and sighed. Sonic had already fallen over laughing, tears springing to his eyes at Tails's expression.

"Bread, huh?" Tails sounded way too calm as he turned to face his brother, but there was a terrifying glint in his eyes.

"You bet!" Sonic laughed. "Come on, what are you waiting for? Let's go get flour!"

Tails picked up the whoopie cushion and hurled it full force at the hedgehog's face.

-

8:52 a.m.

After the whoopie cushion incident, Tails forced Sonic to go out shopping anyway. He even managed to trick him into thinking he was doing it as an apology.

Oh, was that poor hedgehog mistaken. He was so in for it. Tails had sent him out shopping— alone— so he could set up his revenge prank.

He decided to go with a simple one. Perhaps he would save the more intricate and wild pranks for later in the day.

This one would still be personal, though.

Barely suppressing a little cackle of glee, Tails snatched a large bottle of clear super glue and generously poured it all over the welcome mat at his front door. This glue wouldn't fully dry for another twenty to thirty minutes, and since Sonic was only getting one thing from the store, he wouldn't take nearly that long.

Sure enough, five minutes after he'd laid the prank, he heard the distinct BOOM in the distance of his brother's impending arrival.

Tails already knew Sonic wasn't going to notice the glue. If it wasn't immediately obvious, and he wasn't in danger, he didn't pay attention to detail like that.

The door handle jiggled for a moment, then was followed by a banging on the door. His muffled voice called, "Tails, if you're gonna send me out to buy stuff we don't actually need, the least you could do is leave the door unlocked for me to actually give you the stuff we don't need."

"Oh, dear chaos!" Tails called back, deliberately sounding way too dramatically surprised. "How did the door lock itself?!"

It didn't matter if Sonic caught on. If he was banging on the door, it was too late for him.

"I don't like your tone, young man." Sonic definitely sounded suspicious, and Tails could barely suppress his triumphant laughter.

"Sorry, Dad." With a snicker, he unlocked the door and swept it open, where he found Sonic standing with a hefty bag of flour, shooting him a look.

He was standing right in the middle of the super glue puddle.

"Seriously, bro? Locking me outside? That's the best you g-GAAUHH!" Sonic broke off as he tried to take a step forward, only to pull the entire doormat up with his foot and lose his balance. He tried desperately to right himself, but only ended up pinwheeling his arms, losing his grip on the bag of flour, and falling square on his chest. A second later, the bag of flour came down on his head and immediately popped open upon pricking his quills.

After the flour dust settled, the two brothers looked at each other for a solid ten seconds, the younger standing tall with his arms crossed and a smug smile, the older slumped on the ground, covered in flour to the point of looking like a ghost, glaring daggers.

He sneezed. "That was low. I like my kicks."

"They'll be fine," Tails insisted, brushing off the flour that had drifted into his fur. "I've got a solution that'll cancel out the glue."

Sonic shook himself off, then stood up and sneezed again. "You owe me twenty rings for the waste of perfectly good flour that we didn't need."

Tails stuck his tongue out at him, then started blowing the spilled flour out the door with his tails.

-

9:35 a.m.

Sonic took a shower after the flour incident, and he made it quick enough so that Tails didn't have any time to try anything more on him, since he was still cleaning up said flour.

Once he'd gotten out and dried off, Tails brushed past him into the bathroom, and a few seconds later he heard the shower start up again.

No way there was this golden opportunity just dangling in front of him . . .

Grinning, Sonic first went to the kitchen and hit the switch for the power hose. Next time Tails went to wash the dishes, he was in for a little surprise.

Then, very quietly, he nudged the door open to the bathroom (where Tails was still in the shower), reached in, and flushed the toilet.

A second later, there was a high pitched "Yipe!" and one very startled, very wet fox kit scrambled out of the tub at the suddenly freezing water.

Sonic heard his name screeched furiously from over his shoulder as he laughed and booked it for the front door, only to catch on the doormat and faceplant the sidewalk, his socks now stuck in the super glue still coating the mat.

-

10:14 a.m.

He deserved this fate, Tails claimed.

"It's called revenge!" Sonic yelled through the door from where he lay on the ground outside in the yard. "Sweet, totally fair, revenge! Can I have the anti solution for the glue now?"

"Nope," Tails called back.

"C'moooon. These are my last clean socks, I can't just take them off and put on dirty ones. Do you want me to defile the house with smelly feet?"

"Ohh, manipulation. That's a new one!"

"Tails!"

"Just wear flipflops. Or go barefoot. I dunno."

"I don't like flip flops!" Sonic squirmed onto his side. "And I don't like being barefoot! Running barefoot is painful!"

"Ah, well. Guess you'd better apologize for ruining my lovely shower and forfeit all your desserts to me for the next three months, if you ever want to run again."

"Sorry, who was being manipulative?"

"You were!"

Sonic huffed. "You know, I could just do laundry. Yeah. Do laundry and be free."

"Wow!" Tails sounded way too amazed. "That's so genius!"

"I'll wash all my socks! I'll wash all the socks!" With caution, Sonic forced his way back onto his feet, then hopped inside the house, doormat still attached. "I'll be free in a matter of . . . hours." He frowned. "Hey Tails, can dish soap clean clothes? And how fast does a fur dryer dry clothes?"

Tails was standing in the kitchen, pouring the remains of the flour that hadn't touched the floor into a canister. He eyed his brother for a moment, then smiled sweetly. "There's one way to find out."

Without thinking, Sonic broke into a relieved grin and started hopping his way into the kitchen. "Good, because if I have to be stuck like this for one—"

He turned the faucet on, and immediately a powerful spray of cold water shot out at his face from the power hose. He yelped and sputtered, immediately switching it off as he suddenly realized he'd fallen for his own prank.

Or, more likely, Tails had seen right through his prank, and had made him fall for it.

Sonic looked down at him, water dripping down his face and off his quills. Tails had lost his cool composure and was doubled over, squeaking with laughter.

-

10:30 a.m.

"I deserved that one," Sonic grumbled, toweling off his face.

Tails sat beside him on the porch, eyes closed in smug contentment as he brushed out his tails. "Yes. You did."

Sonic turned and grinned devilishly. "You realize this isn't over, lil bro."

Tails turned a fanged smile right back on him. "Far from it."

-

11:04 a.m.

Sonic burst through Amy's door and immediately said, "Ames, I need a favor!"

Amy nearly jumped out of her skin, dropping her paintbrush onto the carpet. She sighed, but picked it up without complaining, set it on the ledge of her painter's stand, and gave him her attention. "What's up?"

"Sorry for that," he said quickly, then added, "Could you make a batch of chocolate chip cookies, but like, make three of them with raisins instead?"

Amy wrinkled her forehead even as she smiled. "Wait, what? Why?"

"It's April Fools. I need to get back at Tails."

"Oh, no." Amy laughed as she stood up and started heading for her kitchen. "What'd he do?"

"Oh, many things." As Amy set to making the cookies, he told her all about the events of the day so far. He told her about the pranks on both sides, just to keep it fair.

Amy was aware of their April Fools traditions. The same basic thing had happened the past two years as well.

It had been last year that they learned the hard way not to prank Knuckles. Or Shadow.

"You should really learn to bake," Amy commented as she eventually pulled the batch out of the oven. "It's really very fun! And satisfying."

"You know what'll be satisfying?" He snickered. "The look on Tails's face when he thinks he's gonna taste chocolate and tastes raisins instead!"

Amy shook her head with an amused sigh. "That too, I guess."

They hung out together for another twenty minutes or so, then Sonic bid her farewell and took off back to the workshop.

-

12:22 p.m.

Tails had resumed working on whatever project he'd been doing earlier that morning.

"Yo, Tails!" Sonic raced into the room, holding the container of cookies. "Amy made us cookies!"

"Ooh, she did?" Tails immediately paused what he was doing and lit up, but then suspicion clouded his face. "Wait . . . what's going on?"

"Bro, it's just cookies," Sonic laughed. "What, do you think they're poisoned?"

Tails kept hesitating, but Sonic could see him scenting the air. Since the majority of them were chocolate chip, he was detecting that— not the few raisins.

"Okay. I'll take one," he finally relented, and Sonic handed him one with raisins.

He started heading back to his project as he took a bite, but immediately stopped in his tracks. Sonic watched him stop chewing and look at the cookie for a long moment, then turn and shoot him a deadpan look.

"You're so mean," he complained, mouth still full with the bite he refused to swallow (he hated raisins). Then he tried to spit it out onto Sonic, who yelped and raced away, dropping the container of cookies on the floor.

Tails picked it up, having already figured out that most of the others were actually chocolate chip. Jokes on Sonic, now he had all the good cookies to himself.

-

1:01 p.m.

Their prank fest had delayed lunch a bit, so Sonic (after eventually returning) told Tails to kick back and relax while he made chili.

Tails seemed a little too pleased with the idea, but Sonic barely noticed, too hungry to care.

As he stirred through the pot, Tails watched him, grinning in anticipation for the meal. Earlier, while Sonic had been lying around the front yard with the doormat glued to his socks and complaining, Tails had switched out the salt and sugar.

Half an hour later or so, they sat down together to eat. It seemed Sonic thought they had reached a temporary truce, but oh, little did he know.

Tails deliberately took his sweet time in spooning the chili onto his hot dog, eyeing his brother in his corner vision. Sonic had made his in no time, digging in with two big bites before Tails had even finished dressing his.

Almost immediately Sonic paused, blinked a couple times, then kept chewing. Then paused again, frowning.

His eyes flicked to Tails, who quickly resumed dressing his chili dog.

Sonic finally swallowed. "That's weird."

"What's weird?" Tails asked innocently, actually being subtle this time.

"Chili tastes more like dessert." The hedgehog squinted at him. "Did you sabotage the chili cans?"

Tails sniffed. "How dare you accuse me."

"Did you?"

"No, I didn't. The cans were sealed, weren't they?"

"Hm." Sonic took another hesitant bite, but stopped again, shaking his head. "This tastes so weird. Have you tried yours?"

Tails shrugged. "Try salting it," he suggested, avoiding the question.

Sonic grabbed the salt shaker and generously covered his chili dog with its contents, then took another bite, only to actually choke over it this time.

"Okay, did you—?!" He snatched the shaker again, shook a little onto his finger, tasted it, then chucked it at Tails, who laughed and dove out of the way. "You switched the salt and sugar?!"

"Well, duh!" Tails switched to hovering over the table, snickering. "There are no truces today, dearest brother!"

Sonic threw the too-sweet chili dog at him next, inevitably splattering chili over the table.

"You're cleaning that up!" Tails called in a singsong voice. "I'm going out to Josef's Pasta Alla Paccico!"

"OH, NO YOU DON'T!"

-

2:10 p.m.

They both ended up eating out at Josef's, and even though they did truly call a ceasefire for a grand total of twenty-five minutes, they split the time between actually eating and blowing their straw wrappers at people, having mini sword fights with the butter knives, and constructing architecture with the plates and takeout boxes.

Needless to say, the only reason they didn't get kicked out was probably because both Sonic and Tails were practically world-renowned.

Not long after they returned to the workshop, Sonic inevitably crashed for a nap. He usually couldn't make it through a day without a nap at some point, which was always unfortunate for him on this particular day of the year.

Tails studied him where he slept, on a branch of the tree in his front yard. He knew he'd been the last one to pull something, but hey, who said they were taking turns?

There was simply no way he was passing this up.

First, he grabbed a sharpie and very carefully drew an elaborate mustache worthy of Eggman across his brother's face. He added a few random smiley faces on his cheek and arms, as well as the phrase "SLO-MO" on one shoulder.

Then he grabbed an assortment of potato chips and began carefully stacking them on his head, in his hands, on his stomach, in an entire tower.

He made sure to take pictures through the whole process, then— leaving him there to sleep, still covered in sharpie and potato chips— flew off to print the photos.

Going above and beyond, he put the printed photos in a fancy envelope, marked them as "priority mail," addressed them to Sonic's post office box, disguised himself, then dropped them off at the post office.

An hour passed after he had done all that, and Sonic finally stirred awake.

Upon seeing the stack of chips in front of him, he promptly fell out of the tree with a yelp, and Tails started giggling.

"What did you do to me?" Sonic whined, brushing all the crumbs off his head and chest as he stood up, still groggy.

"You think that's bad?" Tails teased. "Go check the mirror."

A look of horror filled his brother's eyes, then he was gone in a flash. Tails kept giggling, and laughed harder when he heard the yell from inside: "WHY DID YOU MAKE ME LOOK LIKE EGGFACE?!"

"It's called revenge!" Tails called back gleefully. "Sweet, totally fair, revenge!"

Sonic came storming back outside. "How dare you use my own words against me."

"Sorry," Tails told him insincerely.

His brother scrubbed at his cheek. "How long will it take for this to wash off?"

Tails shrugged. "A couple days, probably."

Sonic's resulting screech was loud enough to startle away all the nearby flickies.

-

4:32 p.m.

Sonic spent at least half an hour in the bathroom desperately trying to scrub the marker out of his fur, but only succeeded in making it fade a little.

"Taking advantage of my sleep cycle," he huffed, reaching out to mess up Tails's bangs from where the fox kit sat on the couch. "So rude."

Tails tried to fix his bangs, while Sonic flopped onto the other end of the couch. "Consider it payback for you dyeing my fur green last year."

"You still looked cool, at least!" Sonic protested. "If Egghead sees me like this, I'm never going to hear the end of it."

"I looked like a lime!" Tails shot back. "I had to hide from society for an entire month!"

"It wasn't a month."

"Three and a half weeks. Close enough."

"Mm."

Tails shot him a look, and Sonic reached over to mess up his bangs again. He was rewarded with a throw pillow to the face.

Sonic threw it back, and it was just about to escalate into a fully fledged pillow fight when the doorbell rang.

Both of them froze, and Sonic zipped away in a flash. "I'm not here! You don't know me! If anyone asks, I'm in Holoska on a nice, arctic vacation!"

"Chicken!" Tails taunted after him, then flew over to the door and pulled it open to find Amy and Knuckles standing on the other side.

(Thankfully, the super glue had dried hours before.)

"Hey, guys!" he greeted them, stepping back to let them in. "What's the occasion?"

Amy said sweetly, "We just wanted to make sure you and Sonic were doing okay!" at the same time Knuckles said, "We came to supervise."

Tails rolled his eyes. "We don't need babysitters."

Amy glanced around. "Did Sonic leave?"

Knuckles frowned as Tails snickered. "I guess he did. He's telling everyone he's going to Holoska."

"You can't stop me!" Sonic's muffled voice shouted from somewhere towards the back of the workshop.

"Nobody's trying!" Tails called back, his voice catching on a laugh. "Just be sure to warn Jari-Pekka about your new look!"

"New look?" Knuckles echoed.

Amy facepalmed. "What did you do to him?"

Tails waved a hand flippantly. "It'll come off in a few days."

"And this is why we thought you two needed supervision," Knuckles groaned. "Today always gets out of hand."

"Do we need to separate you two?" Amy asked, although she was grinning.

Sonic chose that moment to burst explosively out of the closet, zip to his brother's side, and pull him close in a protective hug. "No, don't separate us!" he insisted, forcing a huge smile. "Everything's going just fine!"

Knuckles and Amy took a solid ten seconds to stare at Tails's artwork all over Sonic's face, then started laughing, albeit good-naturedly.

Tails grinned at where he was still trapped in his brother's hold, only to start violently trying to squirm away when said brother slipped a sharpie out of hiding and started drawing his revenge on the fox's face.

-

6:00 p.m.

Knuckles and Amy chose to spend the rest of the day at the workshop with them, just to make sure things didn't get any crazier than they already had. By the time dinnertime arrived, both Sonic and Tails had sharpie all over their faces, although the "art" on Tails's face could hardly be called as such. Because of his squirming during the whole process, it was nothing more than random scribbles of blue in random places on his face.

"Next year I'll dye you blue," Sonic promised him as the four of them had dinner together (after Amy switched back the salt and sugar). "We can match!"

"Pass." Tails swallowed his bite. "I'll just look like some kind of mutant smurf."

Sonic snickered. "All the more reason to do it, then!"

Amy groaned. "Boys . . ."

"Hey, we should rope you into this!" Sonic exclaimed suddenly, staring straight at Amy.

"If you want a hammer to the face next, feel free!" Amy stuck her tongue out at him, although she had to hide a giggle.

"As long as you leave me out of it, do whatever you want," Knuckles put in wearily, sounding much like a parent tired of trying to control his children.

Tails smiled at all of them. Knuckles was right; this day was always crazy, and sure, things got out of hand sometimes. But he had no regrets. It was fun. It was a stupid way of bonding with his brother, and that was something he would never regret.

A Happy April Fools Day, indeed.

[littleplantfreak]

Assigned Hybrids (according to me!)

Anon said I should assigned my moots as hybrids so I had the people interested like that post

In no particular order!

@oceaneyesinla Rox is…not a fox despite my tag for them. I’m thinking a mouse hybrid. You’re cute and I do think you would squeak.

@nyxypoo nyx is a bunny. Idk I don’t make the rules well i made the post but and I can see u doing the bunny stomping thing especially when Endo’s on the brain irritating you. Reaching for your tail secretly….

@birinboom a lamb if only so we can frolic together and you’re a bit of a troublemaker despite your cute looks. Otherwise you are a pampered kitty like Duchess from the aristocats.

@o-sachi Sachi my beloved you’re a lion hybrid I think. Or another big cat, but lion was the first to come to mind. Please let me pat your head regardless.

@ironlotus13 Emi! You give me deer vibes. Not fawn but like full on deer. Looks delicate, but certainly isn't when it comes down to it. I could imagine you still have the spots though cause they’re cute. Gives you little antlers cause theyre also v cute aesthetically

@voidcat You’re a cat hybrid. You constantly knock things closer and closer to the edge of the table. Maybe that’s why you like Gen. Cat vs cat but you keep dragging him by the neck scruff with your teeth. 10/10 would still try to pinch your cheeks despite the obvious dangers

@vinomino Mino you’re a bird hybrid I have decided. You remind me of my dad’s parrot he had when I was younger. Sometimes I have the urge to put a blanket over you when you’re up super late like they do with birds.

@hayatoseyepatch Sam you’re always kinda elegant but playful to me and I dont know if it’s Suo’s fault but I get fox hybrid vibes. Otherwise you’d be a swan, but fox was my first pick!

@maruflix you’re a puppy hybrid like me i think Maru! You’re affectionate in a puppy way and very lovable as well. Definitely one that has one of those tails that smack someone’s leg and they go “holy shit” because its like a whip

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, September 12th

ANGELUS: Early 20's by the cars. What is this — Chicago? (sees Angel standing on the other side of the street) Oh, no. I remember this. I remember this place. I gotta get out of here. FAITH: Why? You freaking out? ANGELUS: It's coming. (a car speeds around the corner down the street in front of them) Again. FAITH: What's coming? ANGELUS: I can't do it again. I won't! (Angel runs into the street right in front of the car.) FAITH: Angel, get out of the road. (Angel continues until he's completely across the street. A small squeaking sound can be heard. Angel turns around to reveal that he's holding a tiny Pomeranian puppy.) ANGELUS: (throwing a fit) Doh! FAITH: (giggling) Dude, you just rescued a puppy.

~~Orpheus~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Sexyme Street by MamaBewear (Angel/Spike, Puppet Angel/Spike, M)

Proposals by TheClowniestLivInExistence (Darla/Drusilla, M)

Tea With Milk In by evesock (Spike/Drusilla, E)

As You Purr by VoronaFiernan (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Unmake Me by tempestt (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

A Sword in the Man - ch. 3 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

[Chaptered Fiction]

And Then There Were Two - ch. 3 by Murderpart1 (Willow/Vamp Willow, Not Rated)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs. La Blue Girl - ch. 1-2 by Muhabba (Buffy/multiple, other pairings, E)

After Life - ch. 4 by Alwaysandforevermylove (Buffy/Faith, E)

Recompense - ch. 15 by Moonkid10 (Buffy/Faith, M)

Dear Journal - ch. 7 by desicat (Buffy/William Pratt, M)

Horrorshow - ch. 24 by vampbrat (Angel/Spike/Wesley, Spike/others, E)

Infinitely - ch. 69 by Laragh (Willow/Tara, M)

In Case You Haven't Noticed... - ch. 35 by Sdhuskerfan (Buffy/Giles, E) COMPLETE!

Midnight At The Lost & Found - ch. 4 by The_Crazy_Knight (Buffy/Giles, E) COMPLETE!

A Ripple In Time - ch. 24-45 by CheekyKitten (Buffy/Spike, E) COMPLETE!

A Taste of Buffy - ch. 4 by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Getaway Gang - ch. 2 by violettathepiratequeen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

The Degradation of Duality [Series Part 2] - ch. 50 by Ragini (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Waiting for You - ch. 20 by honeygirl51885 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Through The Keyhole - ch. 7 by Geliot99, cd85 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Getaway Gang - ch. 2 by violettathepiratequeen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Waiting for You - ch. 20 by honeygirl51885 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Eyes Forward, Monster - ch. 6 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Zombydale Gates, CA - ch. 1-2 by veronyxk84 (Buffy, Spike, T) COMPLETE!

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: [FANART] Control by girlpire (Angel/Darla, very NSFW)

Artwork and video: Spike Study (to match his girl >:3) by lunchtimebedamned1997 (Spike, worksafe)

Artwork: “It’s Summers Blood” by pocketsizedann (Buffy, Dawn, worksafe)

Artwork: 🖤 "With others I live, with you I exist..." 🖤 by o-cm-draw-o (Buffy/Spike, mildly NSFW)

Artwork: Fanart rec: [prints by] @artbychayne : SLAYERS recced by practicalsmagic (Buffy, worksafe)

Fanvid: Anthony Head in 1997 (He is the same age here as the first season of BTVS) – @buffyannegiles on Tumblr (worksafe)

Moodboard: [green colors] by buffyannegiles (Buffy, Giles, worksafe)

Collage: Collage #156 DHT - Listen to Your Heart - Edmee's Unplugged Vocal Edit by thedecadentraven (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Collage: Collage #157 by thedecadentraven (Buffy, worksafe)

Collage: Collage #158 by thedecadentraven (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Edit: Hunger by raffaella-cerullo (Faith, worksafe)

Gifset: Buffy and Faith meeting pre-Sunnydale by whatisyourchildhoodtrauma (Buffy/Faith, worksafe)

Gifset: EARSHOT and we're all like that. we all have our little internal iagos, that tell us... by detectivedawnsummers (ensemble, worksafe)

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[sickknotdoom]

To be completely honest, the most boring thing about Spinch is that there are only two cultures and one religion. You cannot tell me that Spinch is literally as big as the Earth and there are only two cultures with the only difference between them being the language, and there's only one religion other than atheism.

Kc has SHOWN that squeak has world building talents, but just hasn't given Spinch any depth other than White American Utopia (as you said) with literally no difference. Which is super weird because apparently Anime is a thing on Spinch, and I'm not sure how Kc expects to say "yep, these {obviously American} Anthries invented anime!" And not get bashed.

I'm not saying there should be parodies to actual cultures, but it would be more interesting if everyone wasn't just white Americans. It's not impossible to do it either, there have been tons of comics, shows, and movies with anthro characters that have different cultures in them.

-🌀

IVE BEEN MEANING TO SAY THIS FOR SO LONG BUT DIDNT KNOW HOW so ive just called it a White Gay Utopia & refused to elaborate but yeau you explained it for me. how does an Exact Replica Of Earth (except everybodys a furry & brands have their acronym letters swapped or whatever) not have a mere Concept of diversity in terms of lineage. the closest thing is allotpuns (pun names like uni cornelius) vs allindromes (backwards names like mood doom doom mood).

& no No No. Do Not pull that species = furry equivalent of race shit on me, vitiligo unis canon meanwhile puppys the definition of pasty. "These anthries (who would so be texan irl) invented r&b". its not impossible at all. ive been interpreting certain characters as different races based on their fur (with the exception of vitiligo black uni & asian barry bc those are canon) we can start there

[looneysmackdown]

[edit: fixed up some goofs on the bracket] ooooooooooooooooooh what if i made a looney tunes character tournament?? what then huh????

this will be a huge tournament with 64 participants. the first half on round one will be this thursday 6pm est and polls will only last 1 day. most of these were randomized but some of the match ups were really unfair so i had to intervene a little. there will also be redemption rounds if i feel like it maybe

insp: @character-of-all-time @furryfaceoff @gotalittletoosilly @bunnyrabbitbracket @bestanimatedmovie​ written match ups in undercut

revival round round 1A 1. Bugs bunny vs wile e coyote 2. Sylvester vs porky pig 3. michigan j frog vs elmer fudd 4. marc anthony and pussyfoot vs penelope pussycat 5. Nasty canasta vs the guys from loonatics unleashed i dont remember their names 6. Babs bunny vs granny 7. Honey bunny vs babbit and catstello 8. Hippety hopper vs barnyard dawg 9. Road runner vs pete puma 10. Yoyo dodo vs henry hawk 11. K-9 vs merlin the magic mouse 12. Clyde bunny vs hector the bulldog 13. Tweety vs taz 14. Hugh vs sniffles the mouse 15. Cool cat vs tina russo 16. Sylvester jr vs hugo the abominable snowman round 1B 17. Daffy duck vs marvin the martian 18. Queen tyr’ahnee vs petunia pig 19. Lola bunny vs pepe le pew 20. Cecil the turtle vs claude cat 21. Gossamer vs foghorn leghorn 22. Ralph phillips vs melissa duck 23. Witch hazel vs squeaks the squirrel 24. Charlie dog vs egghead 25. Hubie and bertie vs plucky duck 26. Speedy gonzales vs proto bugs 27. Rocky and mugsy vs aoogah 28. Three little pigs vs yosemite sam 29. Orson vs moo goo-guy pan 30. Beaky buzzard vs eggbert 31. the goofy gophers vs buster bunny 32. frisky puppy vs gabby goat round 2 33. bugs bunny vs sylvester 34. michigan j frog vs marc anthony and pussyfoot 35. loonatics vs granny 36. honey bunny vs barnyard dawg 37. road runner vs henry hawk 38. k-9 vs hector the bulldog 39. taz vs sniffles 40. tina russo vs sylvester jr 41. marvin the martian vs queen tyr’ahnee 42. lola bunny vs claude cat 43. foghorn leghorn vs melissa duck 44. witch hazel vs charlie dog 45. plucky duck vs speedy gonzales 46. rocky and mugsy vs yosemite sam 47. orson vs surprise opponents ralph wolf and sam sheepdog 48. goofy gophers vs frisky puppy round 3 49. bugs bunny vs marc anthony and pussyfoot 50. granny vs barnyard dawg 51. road runner vs k-9 52. taz vs sylvester jr 53. marvin the martian vs lola bunny 54. foghorn leghorn vs witch hazel 55. speedy gonzales vs yosemite sam 56. ralph wolf and sam sheepdog vs goofy gophers round 4 57. bugs bunny vs granny 58. road runner vs taz 59. marvin the martian foghorn leghorn 60. speedy gonzales vs ralph wolf and sam sheepdog semifinals 61. bugs bunny vs road runner 62. marvin the martian vs speedy gonzales finals 63. bugs bunny vs daffy duck vs marvin the martian

[gamblersdoll]

Ditz..

Summary: Miguel was the brute, brash, and meaty giant.. compared to his tiny dumb little girlfriend.

Content warning: 18+, blowjob, fingering, waterpark, mean Miguel.

Miguel was struggling.

Terribly, to say the least, he watched as you tried on countless skirts. Ones that were too skin tight, or too short, barely covering the round of your bottom.

"You're doing this on purpose, little one." He whispered, his hand resting on her hip as she fixed her hair, dark and semi loose but tight curls on her shoulders. "Find something that won't drive me nuts."

"Jean's then?" She asked, her doe brown eyes looking up. Her skin was lightened by the room's light, and she tilted her head like a little puppy.

"No- hell no." He quickly said, the last time you wore jeans, he tore them off of you. You looked way too good in jeans. They always fit you just right around your curves, especially boot cut jeans. "Just.. pick something you like, and let's get some food from the food court." He hummed.

"Okay dokay!" She said, beaming. She grabbed some leggings, ones he hadn't seen before, and one pair of his shirt. It barely covered her bottom, leaving little to the man's imagination. She slid on her house shoes, ones that Jess had gotten her and led Miguel out.

Miguel was no fool since he didn't have spider senses. So he learned more social skills and ques, and how to read people. Hadn't he been your boyfriend, every other spiderman would be on you, drooling or touching you. He knew men were staring.

How could they not? You had beauty only he could have.

He's behind you, glaring at everyone that even looked suggestive towards you, his lips curling up into a scowl or snarl, barring his fangs. He couldn't wait to be back into his office with you.

He would always order for you since you could barely see any menus vs. him being direct eye level to it. But your order always changed, of course.

"Here." He said, giving you a plate of whatever order you previously ordered before, with horchata as a drink. Miguel would never understand how and why you always craved and never had cavities.

"Thank you cariño!" She beamed, taking a sip. She didn't see reason not to call him that, as he always called her that. "Let's head back!" She chimed.

She didn't realize what she could do to him with the slight Spanish she spoke, but they needed to hurry up, the tightness in his pants threatened. He followed behind her, then beside her. He watched occasionally as she took sips of her drink, his body getting hot. Until they got back into his sanctuary.

She placed her food down, along with his, and she felt a hard smack to her ass, it being full impact due to the lightly fitted leggings. She squeaked and spun around to face him, but she met with a glare. She was also caged in, feeling his breath.

"You sound so fucking good when you say honey like that." He gritted out, his pants tight. "Makes me want to ruin your pretty makeup and maybe rip those pants off'a you."

She nodded, her hands finding a way to his chest and feeling his heartbeat. She looked up at him again, feigning innocents.

"You gonna be a good girl 'fer me?" He asked. He watched how she nodded, her plump lips parting slowly and her breathing heavier. "Yeah..? You will?" He cooed, his hand lightly pressing for her to get on her knees, she knew what he liked.

"But, you'll ruin my gloss.." she whined, looking up at him with a deflated look. Her fingertips fiddled with each other, watching his hologram of a suit fade away, his cock sprung free.

"I'll help you put it on again, okay, little one?" He cooed, watching as she nodded and licked kitten licks against his tip. He rolled his head back, groaning at the desired contact. He helped her up, striding to the couch as they both sat on the couch, her on her knees over his thigh.

She felt his hand pull down her leggings, strings of her thong enticing him. Earning a smack on her bare round bottom. She moaned in pain, but always enjoyed the smacks. She slid him back into her mouth, bobbing her head up and down while she hollowed her cheeks. She winced when she felt Miguel grip her asscheek.

Miguel groaned, tossing his head back while he watched her work her pretty mouth.

"Always beggin' for me to throatfuck you.. I could break you with my cock in yer mouth." He snickered, then following up with a groan. He was getting close, his hands reaching to the back of her head, and he snapped his hips into her mouth frantically. "Fuck- fuck..you love it don't you? Yeah you fuckin' do, always so fucking good for me, yeah..? Fuck!" His broken rhythm caused her initial shock, but she adjusted.

He stilled, growling out his oragsm as he felt his cum fill her mouth. "You better swallow all of it, dumb pretty girl." He felt her pull away, swallowing his cum and looking up at him.

However, she didn't realize he slipped her panties to the side, admiring her soaked folds. "Hey.. Mig-" she gasped, feeling his fingers slide inside of her greedy hole, two fingers pumping in and out of her.

She tried to get out of his grip, only ending up over his knee and being fingered. She moaned out, kicking her little legs slightly as a tantrum.

"Miggy.. please!" She whispered, her back involuntarily arching for him. She clenched around his fingers, a white creamy ring forming at the web of his fingers. She tried again to move out of his grasp until she felt constricted.

He webbed her. He used his fucking webs to contain her.

"What did I tell you about running, little one?" He cooed, curling his fingers into that gummy spot in her walls. "Tell me, what did I teach you?"

"Don't run unless you plan to escape first.." she whimpered out, eyes rolling back. She hated being like this, but she loved it.

"That's my girl— oh you clenched at that, huh?" He chuckled, his pace going quicker. "Atta fucking girl.." he felt her shake, her legs quivering.

"Miggy! Plea– please!" She choked out, her walls spasming as fluid gushed out her hole, coating his hand.

His eyes widened, his fingers practically slamming into her cervix. "That's it, that's my fucking girl!" He laughed, amused by his doing and he pulled his finger out of her cunt, her being too fucked out to wiggle away.

He brought a towel to clean her thighs, pulling her panties up and giving her drink.

"Come on, need you to eat 'fer me princesa." He said, sitting next to her and handing her food.

[dragonnan]

Inspired by the post by @7-percent I thought I'd make a post, as well, about in-progress stories. The rule is to post the first lines of incomplete works - I think it can either be posted or unposted pieces. As I've already done one of these for posted works I'll make this one everything I've yet to post (though not EVERYTHING as that's a huge amount).

Untitled Tony Stark VS Wilson Fisk story: Late afternoon sunlight had turned every pane of glass into a pool of gold. The patio doors of the tall office building had been left open – allowing the haze of late day warmth to coil upwards; carried on drafts of air heated from the concrete below. Rubber soles squeaked against marble that knew mainly Italian leather and the rare alligator hide. Two-hundred dollar sneakers were incongruous to the wealth of the man sporting them, but then, Tony Stark had never been a fan of the expected.

“What Did You Do?” Bingo Prompt - Doctor Strange: “I groveled. I groveled my ass off. And then I made sure that I followed through on every single promise that I made to her.” Was the answer to the question that Stephen had never, actually, asked. Was there something on his face that screamed “single guy in desperate need of dating advice”?

“What?”

Tony smirked. “You have been ogling the pretty lady doctor for five minutes. Either you are more of a creeper than I'd pegged you for or there's a history with you two that resulted in the lost puppy face you've been sporting.”

Malaise Story Prompt - Sherlock: The violent sneezing could be heard even as John was still halfway down the stairs. Not even a surprise, really. It was the second week of Autumn and three things that could always be predicted during this season were rainy days, changing leaves, and Sherlock's allergies.

Even Greg knew better than to call unless things were truly dire.

Untitled John and Mary Divorce fic: John had his arms crossed - hands cupping his elbows with his feet spaced apart. Even he could recognize the defensiveness in his posture. Across from him, Mary was pulling the strap of the changing bag over her shoulder. Still in her cot, Rosie was playing with her plush bee - waving it above her head and chortling in her own language. John rubbed at the tip of his nose.

“Tell me I’m not going to wake up tomorrow to find that you’ve disappeared with my daughter to who knows where.”

Untitled Faunlock AU: It was Spring term at Harrow and Sherlock Holmes hated his uniform.

Bloody starched, tight, ungodly shoes, and he was a breath away from yanking the fucking noose from his throat and shredding it with his claws!

Of course, Mummy would have kittens were he to damage yet another suit of clothing and he'd already endured several lectures regarding the cost of his uniform.

Oh how he longed to strip himself down to the skin and race across the grounds faster than any human could manage. The temptation was strong, particularly at nightfall, when his classmates were asleep and the staff either in bed or enjoying a tipple. He still had a few more years before reaching adolescence and he wanted to enjoy it while he could. Once he hit 17 or 18 he could look forward to a week of cramps, fever, and vomiting as his body started pumping out hormones to prepare it for adulthood. From what he'd heard the process was wretched and the end result being he could no longer slip in and out of human form as easily as slipping on a jacket. Not much cop; adulthood. Granted, all of this had been relayed by Mycroft and his older brother tended to dramatize every little thing.

[writing-in-april]

Star Wars vs. Star Trek

Spencer Reid x Female Reader

This is my entry for the secret fic swap that was organized by the ever amazing @imagining-in-the-margins 

The person I got was-  @sunlight-moonrise  who is an amazing little bunny that I love

Thankies all around to my lovely helpers @definitelynotkatesblog , @clean-bands-dirty-stories​ and @httpnxtt  Plus I was inspired by all the asks that @reidscardigan​ gets, it fuels my smutty thoughts!

Warnings: Jealous!Spencer, Rough sex, Impact play (on the heavy side), Face fucking, Light degradation, Choking, Bruising/Marking, Hair Pulling, Unprotected sex, and Orgasm Denial

A/N: I had a great time writing this I think its one of my best works! Feel free to drop a request in my inbox if you have a request (No duplicate requests please)

Word count: 3.6K

Masterlist   

  Spencer and I finally have some vacation time, and my god it feels like it’s been forever. We both worked ridiculously hard at the BAU, so Hotch had finally determined that it was time for the team’s mandatory two-week break this year.  

As soon as we got home the both of us stripped of our work clothes and cuddled up on the couch to watch some movies. Spencer had the remote in his hand scrolling through to find a movie, the cursor landed on Star Trek. I could feel his puppy dog eyes looking up at me through his glasses that he only wore at home trying to convince me into letting him choose it. “Noooo Spencer, we watched it last week” I groaned. Sometimes it felt like your relationship was Spencer and Spock, and you as the delightful third wheel. “Ok what about a different one? We don’t have to watch any of the vintage ones, the new movies aren’t my favorite but they’re still extraordinary pieces of film art!” he ranted enthusiastically. “No, why don’t we watch Star Wars?” I begged, he knew it was my favorite but still insisted that Star Trek was better. “No, because I know you’ll ask to watch the sequels and I don’t like them, the story is just a repeat of the originals.” his eyes rolled and I was surprised they didn’t get stuck in the back of his head. Spencer and I have had this argument many times. The back and forth on which series was better was exhausting but so exhilarating. “Star Wars looks better, has better music, and better plot lines overall!” My voice slightly raised, I hated it when he tried to prove me wrong about this. Star Wars was my cemented favorite just as his was Star Trek. “Star Wars has straight up inaccuracies while Star Trek has improbabilities, not outright errors.” Spencer snarked back. I could tell neither of us were going to win this debate anytime soon. We always ended up in a shouting match about  why we thought our favorite series was better. “Fuck you! I’m right, Star Wars is so much better! I mean look at Kylo Ren, he’s so much better then Kirk or Spock!” Spencer’s face turned into an expression mixed with jealousy and rage. “And look how good he looks during that interrogation scene!” I continued. “You think he’s hot?!” He accused profiling the look I had on my face as I was talking about Kylo “What are you jealous of a fictional character?” I asked mockingly, a knowing smirk adorning my face. Maybe I could get him riled up enough to get something else out of tonight. “N-no of course not that’s absurd!” He squeaked out, giving away how he truly felt. A coquettish smirk grew on my face as I got an evil idea. I deftly snuck my hands into my sleep shorts, slipping under my cotton panties and started to rub soft circles on my clit, not fully giving myself the stimulation that I desired. Spencer’s eyes bugged out of his head getting whiplash from the conversation switch. “Kylo” I moaned out with a simper, gathering my slick arousal I slid down my folds, pushing a finger inside, immediately crooking the digit to locate my g spot. I wanted to push Spencer to the edge of jealousy till he snapped. He got practically feral if I worked him up enough. I continued my descent into a selfish climax- adding another finger, as I picked up the speed of my thrusts into my dripping heat. My mind was so lost in the pleasure I forgot Spencer was there- until my hand was violently jerked from my pussy by a tight clasp on my forearm, just before I was about to fall into bliss. “What do you think you're doing?” Spencer spat.

That voice was usually reserved for unsubs, which served to further dampen my panties, his mind had switched into his dominant persona that was prevalent in the bedroom. “Just indulging myself, Spencer, since you won’t.” I bit back, irritated I’d been brought back from the edge of toe-curling bliss. He shot me a harsh look and tightened his grip on my arm, a warning if you will. I could tell I had just gotten myself into deep trouble, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to rile him up further. “Get in the bedroom and strip. You’ve earned yourself a punishment, brat.” His tone had gotten down right deadly at this point, but I didn’t let that deter me. I was on a mission. I decided to further dig myself in a hole by ignoring his order, simply crossing my arms and turning my head away. I could feel his bitter gaze boring into the back of my skull as I continued to defy his order, my excitement pooling in anticipation for the brutal punishment I’d surely earned. We sat like that for a while- refusing to break out of my sass, and him making sure that I was really ready for what he had in store for me. My legs started to squirm, the tension was almost unbearable. Just before I was about to give him another smart remark his other hand shot out to my leg, holding it firmly so I was no longer moving. A surprised squeak escaped my lips as Spencer  flipped me onto my stomach, my knees coming to rest on the floor and my chest pressed into the couch. I tried to regain my balance in an attempt to crawl away from him but he quickly moved to hover over my form, boxing me in with his arms. “Are you trying to get in more trouble, Dolly?” he asked, his tone dark and condescending. A pathetic little whimper escaped my throat. When I failed to reply quick enough by his standards, a large palm came down on my backside, forcing an answer out of me.

“Yes! I’m sorry Sir, I was trying to get in t-trouble.” “Tsk tsk. Only bad girls like punishment, Doll.” He sounded disappointed. I dug my nails into the plush and hid my face into the cushion, trying to escape from under his heavy gaze. He pulled my hands to rest behind my back, tying my hands with what felt like a drawstring from sweatpants. He’d learned to improvise during our time together; had he left to find more appropriate rope, there was no guarantee I’d be in the same position he left me in by the time he got back. He snaked his hands through my hair, yanking hard to pull my body flush against his own. “Color?” He asked quickly, checking in with me, which only made the situation hotter-what can I say? Consent is sexy. “Green” I replied with a grin. Being disciplined was always exhilarating. “What’s my punishment, Sir?” He let go of the grip on my hair, his hands swiftly moving to remove my shorts and now soaked cotton thong, revealing my bare bottom to him. I rubbed my legs together trying to get some sort of friction but was interrupted by Spencer wrenching my legs apart. “You do that again I’ll add 20 more and you’ve already earned yourself 40- plus a little extra something.” His words hummed against the shell of my ear, sending a shiver trickling down my spine. I groaned in protest and tried to wiggle myself away from him, his hand coming down onto my left cheek in response. “Doll-“ He warned sharply. “If you keep this up I won't let you cum for a week.” His words shook me to my sassy core; I was greedy and there was no way I was going to get myself in more trouble. “I’m sorry...” I muttered into the couch cushion. “Say it louder, Dolly.” The sing song tone/cadence of his voice felt like a trap- contrasted to his previously dark tone and warning smack brought down on my backside. “I’m really sorry, Sir!” I shouted. With my cry, I gave up control to Spencer entirely.  He loved when I acted like this, no matter how angry he pretended to be. “Do you mean it this time?” I could hear the devilish smile on his lips. “Yes!” I confirmed on a shaky breath. I was done fighting him. “You’re so good to me a-and I shouldn’t have tried to make you jealous.”

Although he couldn’t see my eyes, I put on my biggest, sweetest set of puppy dog eyes to really drive my point home.

“So you’re going to sit pretty and take your spankings like a good girl, right?”

I nodded sheepishly, secretly hoping that maybe, just maybe if I was good enough that I might get to come tonight. He let me stew in my thoughts for a minute before resuming his assault on my behind. His hand gripped both cheeks into his palms, kneading the tender flesh that was about to be covered in black and blue handprints. As the first strikes landed on my right side, he grabbed a blanket for me to cuddle into as he landed each smack, his full strength being used in each one, exhibiting just how much I pissed him off. My nerves were prickling, my ass had already started to sting and he hadn’t even reached the 10th strike. I’d definitely be able to feel the pain for the next week- maybe longer. Teardrops started to coat from my lashes onto my cheeks as he switched to the left cheek. By the time he’d reached the halfway mark, the blanket had become soaked by my uncontrolled muffled sobs. His rhythm never faltered as he continued to pepper the now-raw skin of my bottom with more punishing blows. “What are you?” He finally spoke as he was nearing the end of his count, my fingers digging into my palms to help me get through the last few. “I’m a bad girl, Sir” I pathetically whimpered into the blanket.

A brutal THWACK landed against my backside, letting me know he was looking for me to use my big girl voice.  A sob raked through my chest, sending more tears down the blushed apples of my cheeks. “I’M A BAD GIRL, SIR!” My bruised bottom felt like it had been burned by hot coals with welts forming as evidence, as Spencer drew out the last few at a languid pace. When he finally finished, he dropped his head down to plant kisses on each injured cheek, a sign of appreciation for behaving. “You dirty girl, you're getting off to this ” He said matter of factly, moving to run his finger through my drenched folds, his fingers probed my entrance trying to get me more worked up. Surging forward, he replaced his fingertips with his tongue stirring a fire deep in my belly, placing delicate kitten licks along my folds. My body writhed against his touch and for a moment, I thought I might get off easy. Until, again, he pulled away just as I was about to shatter into a million pieces. “Sirrrrr, please?” I begged, my clit was throbbing in tandem with the blood pounding under the skin of my raw and tender bottom. His threat from earlier became evident- he wasn’t going to let me cum easily. “No, Doll, you still haven’t proven that you’re sorry enough.” He roughly yanked me off the sofa, positioning me on my knees in front of him, his clothed cock sitting right in my eye-line. The sweatpants that he had dawned were taken off quickly, I drank in the sight of his hard cock through tear-stained eyes. “Color?” He asked while cradling my jaw. The realization hit me, and I became blissfully aware of one thing: he was about to fuck my face. “Green.” I was always happy to give Spencer pleasure, and to see all the power just my mouth had over him was insanely erotic to me. He gripped his cock in one hand, pulling my chin down to open my mouth with the other. I stuck out my tongue for him and leaned forward, wrapping my lips around the head of his erection to begin gently sucking. Precum filled my mouth as I started to bob my head, working my way farther down his length each time until I reached the base of his cock. I choked slightly, my nose nuzzling against the hairs of his waistline. He gripped my hair on both sides with each of his hands and did a shallow experimental thrust forward, giving me a taste of what was coming. My eyes screwed shut as he set a fast pace, his tip hitting the back of my throat, tears starting to prick at the corners of my eyes again. The hardwood grinding against my knees sourced a new pain, but all I was focused on was the cock  being shoved down my throat and pleasuring the man it was attached to. “Open your eyes, Doll. I want you to see what you do to me.” I glanced up with my glassy red rimmed eyes to gaze at the beautiful sight of Spencer, his head was tilted back, sweat coating his ruffled curls, with his mouth hung open in a silent gasp. Even through my tears I could see this man was an angel.  I groaned, somehow I was even more turned on, so much so that I could feel a pool forming on the floor from my arousal. He rutted harder into my mouth signaling that he was close to his release, drool was now dripping from the sides of my mouth, wetting the thin material of my pajama top. Hot spurts shot down my throat with a strangled cry from him. Tasting his salty release on my tongue, I drank him in, savoring every last drop he had to give me. As he pulled himself out of my mouth, the string of spit connecting my lips to the head of his cock snapped, falling down my chin. Saltwater still cascading down my cheeks met with the mess on my chin, creating  a messy mixture. Spencer pressed a thumb to my cheek, pushing the few drops of cum that escaped along with some spit into my mouth. “You being a cry baby, Dolly?” he cooed condescendingly, wiping away the drops that accumulated onto my cheek bones as I sent him a little pout. “You should’ve thought about the consequences before you broke the rules, Doll.” Turning me around, he pressed my chest into the coffee table across from the couch. Though I still had on my shirt, the cold surfaces rubbed against my sensitive nipples making them harden to a peak. He hadn’t done anything for a minute, so I tried to turn my head to see what he was doing. I was met with a harsh tug at my jaw forcing it to prop up facing the tv. The television flicked to life flooding the screen with the Disney+ logo I tried to glance back again to shoot him an incredulous look, but again I was repositioned roughly to stare at the screen. He clicked through until landing on the Force Awakens. My brows furrowed, but I decided not to push my luck by asking any questions. He pressed play and started fast forwarding until he landed on the scene I had been referencing that got in me trouble in the first place. Kylo Ren graced the screen, starting his interrogation with Rey. Was he going to sit here and make me watch it? Was he going to let me cum? Or was he going to edge me the whole night and hang me out to dry? I was snapped out of my thoughts by a tug at my neck, his palms wrapping around like a necklace, pulling my torso up so that my eyes locked perfectly to the moving figures on the screen. “You think he could fuck you better then I can, Doll?” he ground out. “That pathetic boy compensates with his saber, yet you have the whole package right here sweetheart.” I gasped and wriggled at his words, becoming down right desperate to have him do anything to me. He finally relented, dragging his free hand up my folds, still just barely touching me- ghosting around my clit. He sucked dark bruises into my neck, and as his teasing touches continued, I impatiently whined. “Please, Sir I need you.” “Why should I? You have Kylo don’t you?” “I already said I’m sorry, Sir! And I mean it really!” My begs filled our apartment, loud enough to completely mask the sound of the movie. I had been completely ignoring the film, focusing solely on trying to gain some sort of pleasure from the man endlessly denying it. “Ok, Dolly but only if you promise to never do it again.” I tried my best to nod against  his vise grip on the column of my throat. He deftly snuck two fingers into my pussy, fitting snugly inside of me causing my body to unconsciously move my lower half against him. He started to pump and curl them, expertly hitting the perfect spot each time making stars appear behind my eyes. Suddenly he removed his fingers, quickly replacing it with something far more satisfying before I could complain. His cock bottomed out, filling me to the hilt eliciting a surprised squeak from me. He always made me feel so full-it felt like heaven. His hips propelled forward starting a rough rhythm that left almost no room to breathe, the movie had been completely muffled by our moans and sounds of slapping skin, a heavy dose of sex lingering in the air. His thrusts were irritating the already brutalized flesh off my ass, but the stinging sensation just aided in ecstasy that flowed through my veins. “You look so much prettier with these bruises.” He grunted as I tried to arch my back to a steeper angle so I could take him as deep as possible. “It shows everyone who’s mine, even if they are a fictional character.” Spencer was repeatedly hitting my g spot sending me closer and closer to the edge, but I knew I had to ask permission before I came. “Please, Sir, Please! I’m so close! Can I cum?” “Why do you think you deserve to cum Doll?” He asked, I should’ve known he was still going to throw one last tease in before letting me orgasm. “Because- I - I don’t know I just need it!” I let out a frustrated sob as he continued to thrust with reckless abandon. “Ok. Doll. Let. Go.” he said, accentuating each word with a sharp rock with his hips. My eyes rolled far into the back of my head as I was sent careening into pleasure, the coil that sat deep in my belly snapped, sending me into violent waves of pleasure. As I rode out my delicious high, Spencer’s hips stuttered and the grip on my neck was tightened as he shot ropes into me, stuffing me to the brim. He let go of my neck letting me relax my head onto the table. I’m sure I had a messy, freshly-fucked look on my face but I couldn’t be bothered to care.“Have you learned your lesson?” He asked once he had caught his breath. I nodded meekly, knowing full well I’d be back on my brattiest behavior as soon as these bruises faded. We both groaned as he slipped his softening cock from out of my folds. He slowly padded away to grab his items for aftercare-my favorite part. I had never had a partner show so much care for me like Spencer had. He came back with everything he needed and got to work, starting by cleaning my folds with a washcloth, then switching to a fresh one wiping the tears and spit away from my face. Aloe that he had made sure to warm up was then squirted onto my cheeks, he rubbed the liquid in softly massaging the abused flesh with gentle care. My limbs still felt like jello when it was time to stand, so Spencer helped guide me into new clean pajamas, he even made sure to pick out the velvet ones I liked, they always felt like little soft caresses were being peppered against my skin when I wore them. “You ok, Doll? You haven’t said anything.” He whispered gently, as if afraid he’d startle me. “Yeah” I croaked.My voice had been thoroughly abused throughout the night making rasp harder than normal. “Just feel a little woozier than normal.” He quickly enveloped my form into a hug, drawing me in close so I could smell the cologne that made itself a part of everything he owned. Sitting us both down on the couch, he found as many blankets and as possible making a little fort of warmth around us.

“I’m sorry I was harsh, Doll.” “No no, I liked it, it was just intense.” My scratchy voice obviously made him cringe. “So you are jealous of a fictional character?” I cheekily quipped to try and cheer him up. He let out a chuckle in response and started to ghost little butterfly kisses all across my face.

“I love you,” he whispered between kisses. “Sing to me?” I asked softly. I cherished his horrible singing with all my heart, it made me  soft and mushy on the inside. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey. You’ll never know dear how much I love you, please don’t take my dolly away.” I started to drift to sleep even though I was fighting to giggle at Spencer’s croaky singing. Despite his god awful singing in my ear, sleep found me, whisking me away to the land of sweet dreams. I drifted off in his arms, knowing I was his good girl- knowing he would love and cherish me until the ends of the Earth.

[crystalized-dreams]

Cats vs Pickles: Gold Wave pushed back to Fuchsia

Cats vs Pickles: Gold Wave pushed back to Fuchsia

Recently announced earlier this week on Cepia’s official Facebook Group for Cats vs Pickles was that the rest of Gold Wave (which would have likely been Sets F, G, and H) have been pushed back to Fuchsia Wave, which honestly, if they are going the way of smaller waves/batches overall, I’m not too bothered by. I’m just happy information has been shared and the designs themselves haven’t been…

[fantastic-bby]

ATEEZ vs. Christmas confessions

Pairing: Gender neutral Reader x Member

Genre: Pure fluff 

Word count: 2.5k

Summary: When you spend Christmas at the ATEEZ dorm, they confess to you

Warnings: -

A/n: Merry Christmas!! It’s already Christmas over where I’m at, but it might be weird because I know half of the world is still only in the 24th, but I hope everyone has an amazing Christmas and Happy New Years! 

Masterlist

Hongjoong

Would help you decorate a few weeks beforehand 

I feel like he’s probably more excited than he would show 

He just really likes christmas 

He even made a v short song about it because he likes it that much 

Wants to see what you think about it 

Bcs your opinion matter a lot to him ｡◕‿◕｡

Still won’t admit that he likes you even tho it’s pretty obvious 

Spends the night trying to stay close to you

Would probably get bullied by the other members because they all know 

If anyone else got you for secret santa, he would pretty much beg them to let him have you 

“Please???”

“Hyung, it’s just your luck” 

“PLEASE????” 

He just keeps saying please until Wooyoung gives him your name because he starts feeling bad 

Would buy you cute multiple gifts but they’re all small gifts 

Mingi or Yunho would purposefully hold mistletoe above the two of you 

Bcs they just want him to tell you already 

He’s nervous

You’re nervous

You’re both just staring at each other like ●﹏●

Until someone else Yeosang just yells at you to kiss already 

You peck his cheek softly 

Joong’s face is completely red

He wants to kiss you more 

Pulls you away from everyone else to finally confess to you

When you say you like him back he politely asks for another kiss like the good boy he is 

Seonghwa

Got you for secret santa when everyone drew names 

He’s excited bcs he knows exactly what to get you

He likes you a lot and tries to make it obvious but not too obvious

Apparently it's not obvious to you bcs you brush it off a lot as friendly flirting 

Puts him down a lot bcs he’s worried you don’t like him back

You do 

You’re just oblivious to it 

San teases him about it a lot 

Wooyoung teases you about it a lot 

“Whaaat?? There’s no way Hwa likes me haha Woo you’re being weird” 

Hwa helps you set up the tree because everyone else planned something to finally get you two together 

They’re all hiding from both of you 

When you and Hwa are alone you’re just setting up the tree while listening to music 

He loves the way you find the ornaments so pretty even when half of them are crumpled 

Bcs Mingi bullied Jongho so he hit him with the bag of ornaments 

Mingi’s lucky they weren’t glass ornaments 

Anygays 

When you notice that Hwa’s staring at you

(ﾟωﾟ;)

You blush ofc bcs hhhhh why’s he staring at you like that??? 

“I like you” 

He blurts it out bcs he can’t hold it in anymore 

When he realises that he said it, he blushes like crazy 

You’re blushing too 

You’re also freaking out on the inside 

If you know that tiktok audio filled with high pitched squeaking and screaming yea that’s what’s going on inside your brain 

“(Y/n)...?” 

“yeAH! ◎ܫ◎” 

You’re flustered 

But you finally tell him you like him back too 

The both of you spend the rest of the night pretty much stuck together while the other members bully you both for taking too long to get together 

Yunho

AAAA I love this man 

If he likes you he would be so precious and flustered about it 

Gets nervous around you vvvvvv easily 

Completely forgets how to act like a human around you 

“Yunho?” 

He screams

And it scares everyone in the room because what??? 

You’re staring at him like “wtf”

He’s staring at you like O_O 

Can’t believe he embarrassed himself like that 

Gets teased by Seonghwa 

The other members knew ofc bcs he’s so bad at hiding it 

You also had a feeling but you never really said anything about it 

Helps you go christmas shopping for secret santa 

He runs around the store like an excited puppy 

Is so amazed by all the cute decorations 

“(Y/n)!!! Can we get these?” 

Points to random decorations and holds them out in front of your face 

You let him because you think it’s cute

When you actually get to decorating their dorm he stumbles around a lot 

Makes you really worried 

You see him hanging the lights 

The ladder starts shaking 

“YUNHO???”

He fell but he’s fine because Hongjoong broke his fall he almost crushed the poor man

Confesses to you on accident 

He’s talking to Mingi about it in their room and you accidentally overhear bcs the door is slightly open

“I like (Y/n) a lot” 

“Yea it’s so obvious” 

“That’s not helping” 

Wants to confess at the right time 

But since you overhear you push open their door to the bedroom and they’re both staring at you like (◯Δ◯∥)

You’re staring at Yunho 

He’s staring at you 

Mingi ran away 

“Yun, I like you too you know” 

He goes all huh 

You tell him that you like him too you just never said anything about it 

His face goes from O-O to :D real quick 

Cuddles you for the rest of the night 

Won’t let you leave his side 

Yeosang

No one knows about his crush on you 

He’s very secretive about it 

Thought about talking to Wooyoung but he knows that man might just spill to you on accident 

It’s happened before and Yeo calls him a bumbling fool because of it 

Can compose himself around you 

But sometimes his mind just goes into overdrive 

Finds everything about you adorable 

You got San for secret santa 

You’re torn between buying him condoms as a joke or actually getting him a proper gift 

Yeosang thinks it’s cute that you even considered buying him peppermint flavoured condoms bcs even he thinks it’s funny 

“Yeosang, seriously, should I get him condoms or the plushie???” 

Laughs at you bcs he finds you extremely adorable 

Even tho he’s not your boyfriend, he protects you whenever the members tease you about something 

You tripped over Yunho’s long ass legs while he was sprawled out in the living room, letting San and Wooyoung try and turn him into the grinch

You get covered in the weird green fur that they were using 

When Yeosang hears them laughing at you 

He comes up behind them all (-`д´-)

He makes them leave you alone 

“Don’t laugh at them!!” 

Helps clean you up too 

It takes a lot of time because you’re covered in glue 

“Why are they using elmer’s glue???” 

“I don’t know,,,” 

You two spend quite some time in the bathroom just trying to clean your previously cute sweater 

Yeosang decides he’ll just throw it into the wash in the morning 

Lets you wear that really big grey hoodie of his bcs he thinks you look so (♥ω♥*)

The way it pretty much engulfs you completely 

He tells you before you leave his room 

“I like you a lot, (Y/n)” 

You’re honestly surprised 

Didn’t expect him to like you back because he’s just that good at hiding it 

You tell him you like him too

He pats your head while feeling all c:

Spends the rest of the night helping WooSan turn Yunho into the grinch 

San

He tried to make it really obvious that he likes you 

You just never seemed to notice 

Flirts with you a lot 

Compliments you a lot 

Calls you cute a lot 

But you just blush and brush it off 

He’s all pouty because he thinks you don’t like him back 

He forces Jongho to give him your name for secret santa

“Please”

“But hyuuuung”

“GIVE ME THE DAMN NAME”

Jongho’s lowkey sad bcs he knew what he wants to get you but doesn’t know what to get for Hongjoong 

San goes all out 

Buys you a HUGE gift 

Like it’s actually HUGE 

The box is almost the size of Yunho 

You’re kinda scared of the large package when you see it 

But when you open it you’re all UWU because it’s a giant teddy bear

There’s a cute note hanging off of the tag saying it’s from San 

Draws a cute c: on the note

He tells the others he has a plan to confess to you 

He asks Yeosang to hold mistletoe above the two of you 

Yeosang thinks it’s dumb 

So he asks Seonghwa instead 

He also thinks it’s dumb 

(｀Д´) 

San asks all of them to help 

Hongjoong offers because he wants to be nice (also bcs he knows that if San asks Wooyoung, he might throw the mistletoe at the two of you and accidentally hurt someone in the process) 

Hongjoong gets Mingi to help bcs he’s tall 

Mingi hangs the mistletoe from the ceiling 

Almost gives Joong a heart attack in the process bcs he almost slipped off the ladder 

San’s excited 

Mingi accidentally slips anyway and almost brings down the whole ceiling with him 

Everyone’s terrified

Mingi gets up and reassures everyone he’s fine despite almost destroying the whole dorm 

San’s frustrated bcs now he has no excuse to just kiss you 

Instead, Yeosang shoves you two into the closet and locks the door 

Forces San to confess or else he’ll tell you himself 

He finally tells you 

You go “ohhhhh” bcs now you realise his flirting was actually flirting and not just San being playful 

You apologise for being so oblivious 

San finds you so adorable he just kisses your nose 

You love it 

Spends the rest of the night trailing you like a puppy and makes hot coco with you 

Mingi

Mingi’s like Yunho 

Becomes an absolute mess around you 

Doesn’t know how to handle his feelings 

Finds every inch of you insanely adorable 

He pretty much does everything for you 

“Mingi, can you help me with—” 

“Okay :D” 

“I didn’t even say what it was…” 

It was just baking cookies 

He helps you decorate the cookies 

He messes up a lot 

The snowmen cookies don’t look anything like snowmen but you find them so cute  

Mingi makes you laugh a lot bcs he likes hearing you laugh 

Purposefully messes up the cookies to show them to you 

“(Y/n)! Look!” 

He managed to turn the santa hat into traffic cone 

You find it so cute 

Mingi’s just an absolute bundle of sunshine around you 

When you’re all decorating the christmas tree 

Jongho hands you the star to place at the top 

But you can’t reach it because the tree’s so tall 

Yunho offers to help but Mingi shoves him aside asks him to let him do it

He stands behind you 

“I’ll carry you” 

“Wait—no—” 

You don’t have any time to process that he’s lifted you onto his shoulders 

You’re surprised at how easily he carries you 

Almost bumps your head onto the ceiling because he’s so tall 

“Mingi!! Careful!!” 

He has to squat slightly so that you don’t get hurt 

When he brings you back down he has the biggest smile on his face 

“I like you” 

Your face changes from :D to (꒪⌓꒪) real quick 

Mingi thinks you don’t like him back 

Gets sad for a moment 

It’s not that you don’t 

You just didn’t think he liked you back and now you’re so flustered your brain pretty much short circuits 

“Nononono” 

He visibly deflates 

You explain that you like him back 

His group members cheer for him bcs goddamn you both took so damn long to confess 

He spends the rest of the night clinging onto you 

“Mingi, I have to pee” 

“Bring me with you” 

Wooyoung 

He doesn’t want to make it as obvious that he likes you but he can’t help it 

When you’re around he gets so excited his volume goes all the way up

You find it adorable 

You know he likes you and you like him too

You just wanna see how far he goes before he finally confesses to you 

He helps you cook dinner 

You accidentally burn yourself while cooking and he’s all “!!!” 

Maybe he went a bit overboard 

Tries to wrap your entire hand in bandages 

“Woo, I promise I’m fine. It’s just a burn” 

Still offers to run out and buy something to soothe the burn 

It’s not even that serious, your hand just grazed the frying pan lightly 

Wooyoung only calms down when you reassure him for the hundredth time 

Keeps an eye on you while you continue cooking but loosens up after a while 

He feeds you the food to taste (＾▽＾)

Chases you around with a wooden spoon because you pranked him 

When he catches you 

He can’t bring himself to hit you really hard

So he just 

Taps your arm with it

When it’s time to unwrap presents 

You realise that Wooyoung was your secret santa 

He got a picture of the two of you framed 

It’s a picture you both really like 

Wooyoung LOVES the picture 

Every time he sees it he just gets all (♥ω♥ )

It was the first time you went to their concerts after you became friends 

Jongho helped take the picture at the time 

Wooyoung also had a cute lil sticky note on it that was basically his confession 

You find it so endearing 

When you turn to him he’s smiling really widely but he’s obviously really nervous 

You tell him you like him back and his smile somehow manages to widen 

He pretty much grabs you and pulls you into a bone crushing hug 

He’s honestly a child at heart and he’s so cute 

You spend the rest of the night teasing the other members with him and pranking them 

The other members found it cute at first 

Now they hate it 

Bcs somehow you just managed to make his pranking more intense

Jongho 

Doesn’t know how to deal with his emotions 

Gets really quiet around you because he doesn’t want to say something that could embarrass him

You feel like he doesn’t like you as a person in general from how quiet he is 

Either way, you needed his help to carry some stuff from your car into the dorm 

“Jong, could you help me carry some stuff?” 

His heart flutters at the thought of you asking him first 

So he helps you 

It’s still silent because he really doesn’t want to make a fool out of himself 

You’re kinda scared because you knew he was really strong and you didn’t want torture the others with carrying the bags filled with various christmas decorations 

All of you decorate the living room together 

Jongho’s kinda sad that you don’t stick by his side 

He wonders whether you don’t like him either and starts feeling discouraged because he was supposed to play you a song he wrote

He had Hongjoong help him 

Hongjoong finds Jongho really cute and he couldn’t say no 

He has to reassure Jongho that you do like him because you’ve told Hongjoong before 

“I don’t think they hate you” 

“They don’t talk to me much T-T” 

“Just try it” 

Jongho still doesn’t know how to feel 

Brings out his guitar and starts feeling real nervous 

You watch him intently 

When he’s done, you’re both blushing like crazy 

Pulls you away from the others to talk to you about it 

“You were so quiet I thought you didn’t like me,,,” 

Now he feels bad for being so quiet 

He explains that he just felt really nervous around you 

You find that adorable 

He cuddles you for the rest of the night 

He’s so strong he legit doesn’t let you go and you can’t escape 

[antebunny]

family dinner

Modern AU Jin siblings vs. Jin Guangshan (crossposted on Ao3):

Jin Zixuan leans against the side of his yellow Audi and checks his Rolex Daytona watch. Behind his car are the massive white gates of the Jin mansion, a massive complex with no less than four houses, two gardens, one lotus pond, a garage for the rest of his car collection, and a private movie theater in the basement. Normally, he would open the gates and let himself through, but tonight, Jin Zixuan has no intention of going down the lonely, two-lane road to the main house alone.  

The time is 7:18. He has only twelve minutes left, and no one is here. Jin Zixuan shifts nervously in his Stuart Hughes suit (Diamond Edition) and represses the urge to check his watch again. Instead of checking it, he worries until his heart is thump-thumping in his chest and all he can feel is the bitter cold air on his bare fingers. 

He’s twenty-seven years old, with a two year old son, and he’s still nervous about the coming dinner. He would be less nervous if his mother was coming, but she hasn’t been back to the Jin family home since she divorced his father almost a decade ago–long enough to see Jin Zixuan through high school–and he was not about to ask. Instead, he’d asked the rest of his family.

He’s musing on the meaning of family and obligation when the first car pulls up. It’s a white Rolls-Royce, and it carries a single passenger: Jin Zixuan’s younger brother, Jin Guangyao. His half-brother wears a crisp dark cream-colored Brioni suit, and he adjusts the small osmanthus flower tucked into the pocket when he straightens. 

“No one else is here yet?” Jin Guangyao questions, like he can’t see it with his own eyes.

“Not yet,” Jin Zixuan says shortly.

His brother continues smiling despite his terse tone. Jin Guangyao has never been anything but friendly to Jin Zixuan since he came into his life several years ago, which is why Jin Zixuan is half-terrified of him. The other half of him wants to intervene everytime his father so much as looks in Jin Guangyao’s direction, and half of the time he does, so needless to say, they have a rather complicated relationship. 

“I’m sure they’ll be here,” Jin Guangyao offers, still smiling sweetly.

Jin Zixuan isn’t so sure. Realistically, there’s no reason for all of them to come just to support him. The only reason Jin Zixuan is going, beyond the convention of his father’s annual dinners, is because Jin Zixuan is in fact aware of his skills in life. As of the moment, Jin Zixuan is the sole inheritor of his father’s fortune. Despite the number of half-siblings that Jin Zixuan apparently has, or perhaps because of it, he is confident that he will always be the sole inheritor. That is, unless Jin Guangshan decides to withhold the inheritance to remind Jin Zixuan that he is the only way Jin Zixuan can provide for his family. So Jin Zixuan needs the inheritance, no matter what A-Li says.

Which is why he’s standing here, on his twenty-seventh birthday, trying not to look too nervous as his brother calmly locks his car door. 

“Thank you for coming, A-Yao,” Jin Zixuan finally says, forced but sincere. 

Realistically Jin Guangyao knows that he can expect better treatment from his half-brother than he can with Jin Guangshan as the CEO of Jin Industries, but naively Jin Zixuan still hopes that Jin Guangyao has some room for frivolous things like brotherly affection and genuine kindness. 

Jin Guangyao puts his keys in his pocket and walks around his car to the gate. He’s not a moment too soon: a silver car rolls in after Jin Guangyao’s Rolls-Royce, and parks just a little too close for comfort. 

The first out of the silver car is Qin Su, from the driver’s seat. The gold trim and white hem of her floor-length evening gown trails over the edge of the car as she exits, and as she stands up Jin Zixuan realizes that she really went all-out. She’s dressed in white and gold, complete with a pink peony flower, and her hair and face indicates that she spent at least two hours getting ready. From the way she walks up to him in her white high-heels, Jin Zixuan knows that she knows that she’s stunning. If she wasn’t his daughter, Jin Guangshan would probably make a comment about it. He might anyway. 

“The new style suits you, A-Su,” Jin Guangyao says politely.

“Thank you,” Qin Su says, her pretty eyes flashing. “It’s what my mother wore.”

She doesn’t specify when, but Jin Zixuan winces anyway. “I didn’t think you would come,” he says helplessly. 

“And miss a chance to ruin your father’s evening?” Qin Su retorts, and smiles beatifically. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

The last sibling emerges from the copilot seat. “It’s your birthday celebration, isn’t it?” Mo Xuanyu points out. 

He’s wearing ripped jeans, a tank top, and heavy black eyeliner and eyeshadow. Jin Zixuan wisely does not comment. Mo Xuanyu pulls on a black puffer jacket as he speaks, which makes him the only one with adequate protection from the chilly February temperature. He’s also the youngest here; Qin Su picked him up from his university on the way here. 

“Technically,” Jin Zixuan says instead. 

Mo Xuanyu shrugs and jams his hands into his pockets. “Then what are we waiting for?”

Jin Zixuan checks his Rolex again, and the golden watch hands proclaim the time to be 7:24. “We’re still waiting on a few more people who said they’d show up.”

 “Who?” Mo Xuanyu asks curiously, and it’s at that moment that a flaming red and black sports car comes roaring down the road, and Mo Xuanyu’s face lights up. 

The door is kicked open, and Jin Zixuan’s brother-in-law flings himself out. Wei Wuxian emerges in a black Armani suit, now the tallest person in their smallest gathering, and grins. 

“I didn’t know you were coming,” Mo Xuanyu squeaks, and Jin Zixuan holds back a wince. His youngest brother has the most embarrassing idol crush on Wei Wuxian, which is only embarrassing because–

“Mn.” Out of nowhere, Jin Zixuan’s brother-in-law (-in-law?) places himself in front of Wei Wuxian, straightening his white suit coat like it’s even a millimeter out of place. He glares Mo Xuanyu down, and Jin Zixuan goes from feeling embarrassed for his brother to feeling sorry for him. 

“You brought him?” Jin Zixuan complains to Wei Wuxian before he can stop himself.

“Where I go, Lan Zhan goes,” Wei Wuxian retorts. They’re already holding hands. Jin Zixuan hates this. 

Wei Wuxian’s husband levels his icy glare on Jin Zixuan, and suddenly Jin Zixuan is imagining that glare leveled at his father when Jin Guangshan inevitably tries to get world-renown bioengineer Wei Wuxian to work for Jin Industries again. Perhaps bringing him along isn’t such a bad idea after all. 

“It’s lovely to see you,” Qin Su offers, and the glare is gone, just like that. 

“But not as lovely as you are tonight,” Wei Wuxian says smoothly, and the glare is back.

Jin Zixuan pinches the bridge of his nose with two fingers and sighs. He’s so busy sighing that he almost misses the arrival of the last car, a violently purple Jaguar that for once is not racing around at nearly illegal speeds. 

“You’re late,” Jin Zixuan snaps, when the driver’s door opens. 

“I was helping my sister get ready, asshole,” Jiang Cheng snaps right back, slamming his door closed. He straightens the cuffs of his dark purple suit before opening the copilot door for said sister. 

Jiang Yanli ducks gracefully out of the car, and Jin Zixuan’s heart immediately goes gooey in his chest. He’s afraid that his face does, as well, because Wei Wuxian makes a disgusted face at him. 

She wears a layered dress of lavender and rose pink, and the skirts skim over the ground as she steps out of the car. In her arms, she carries a precious little bundle that Jin Zixuan loves with all his heart, and now he knows that his face has gone all gooey with emotions because his wife smiles at him, which really doesn’t help with the emotions. 

Jin Zixuan holds out his arms, and Jiang Yanli places their tiny baby bun in his arms. 

“I’ve finally got him sleeping,” Jiang Yanli says in a hushed voice, and for a moment there’s silence as everyone welcomes the newest, sleepiest, cutest little dumpling to their growing party. 

Jin Ling’s little face is puckered up even in his sleep like he’s thinking hard. Jin Zixuan’s small, sweet bao of a son is dressed in a matching pair of a white jacket and snowpants, complete with a white yarn hat that’s the size of his entire head. 

“It’s good to see you, A-Li,” Qin Su says finally, once the moment of silence has passed.

Jiang Yanli smiles. “You too, A-Su,” she says. “We should get the group back together one of these days.”

Jin Zixuan isn’t sure whether he’s terrified or pleased. Jiang Yanli’s friends from college are a force of nature, and given that they’ve gone on to become a rising neurosurgeon, an environmental scientist, an urban planner, and in Jiang Yanli’s case, a child psychiatrist, they’d be even more a force of nature now. 

“I wanna hold him,” Wei Wuxian says in a stage whisper.

Jin Zixuan directs his best glare at him, holds his sweet little dumpling closer, and prays that his wife won’t cave to Wei Wuxian’s puppy dog eyes. 

“I believe it’s time,” Jin Guangyao intervenes smoothly, swooping in before a fight can break out. 

Jin Zixuan shoots him a grateful look, even though he’s mostly sure that Jin Guangyao didn’t intervene just so that he wouldn’t have to turn his darling baby son over to his brother-in-law. 

“It is 7:30,” Qin Su agrees.

Mo Xuanyu cracks his fingers, grins wickedly, and then puts on a pair of black shades, just to match his black puffer jacket. “Let’s go ruin Dad’s night.”

“Can we not get him to call the cops on us?” Jin Zixuan asks, one step short of begging. 

“My dad is on speed dial in case anyone needs a ride,” Qin Su says, tucking her phone into her purse. 

Of course. The CEO of Qin Industries on speed dial. Though Jin Zixuan supposes that that move is fair, considering that Qin Cangye knows his daughter is going to Jin Guangshan’s house. 

“I think we have enough cars,” Jin Guangyao says.

“But let’s not burn the house down?” Jin Zixuan pleads. It’s true that he asked all of them to come, but please come, I don’t want to be alone with A-Li is not the same as please, I want to pay for damages. 

“No promises.” Wei Wuxian smirks. 

“Nothing that can be proven,” Jiang Cheng adds. Jin Zixuan belatedly remembers that he’d invited them because he knew they would defend A-Li if his father even looked at her funny. Which he might. God, Jin Zixuan hated his family.

“What else is family for?” Wei Wuxian retorts. 

Oh no. Jin Zixuan’s heart is going all gooey again, and this time it isn’t from the adorable sleepy bun in his arms. He furiously tries to force down a blush that heats his cheeks in the cold winter air. 

Jiang Yanli notices, because of course she does, and she steps closer to pat his arm. “He won’t burn the house down,” she says reassuringly. 

Jin Zixuan is privately still dubious, but he doesn’t argue. He turns to the grand white gates. Jin Guangyao stands on his left and half a head shorter, and Jiang Yanli stands to his right. His two other siblings and three in-laws gather behind him. 

Then, with his family dressed to the nines and ready for war, Jin Zixuan unlocks the white gates and sets forth to ruin his dad’s night. 

[atlas-tries]

Shatter Me

A Patton angst fic by yours truly

Read on AO3

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Summary: All the sides have secrets, but none have one as lethal as the one Patton is keeping. Can he keep it under wraps long enough to resolve it or will the trauma of it all spell his undoing? 

Hey guys, so this has been a long time in the making (aka since January). But I finally got this finished and I’m very proud of how it turned out. This was all based on a simple headcanon I had about how Patton experiences emotional pain. I hope you enjoy it, and the next chapter will be out next Monday! Check the notes for definitive links to the next chapter.

Chapter 1: Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones but Words Hurt Far More Deeply

At some point or another, all the sides had kept secrets from each other.

Mostly, it had to do with where they had been in the past or something silly, like the time Roman “accidentally” ate all of Logan’s Crofters. The others still kept some, likely to make a well-placed or dramatic reveal of it, and Patton was no different. He himself occasionally had physical manifestations of emotional pain. However, there was one thing he knew that wasn’t a secret.

Patton knew how they all really felt about him.

Sentimental.

Overbearing.

Naive.

Worthless.

Even if they rarely said any of those descriptors out loud or in his presence, the unspoken words came through loud and clear every time they thought he would mess something up. Which was in almost every video he appeared in. They thought he didn’t notice the dismissive remarks or the eye rolls whenever he had any ideas to share when Thomas had an issue that needed working through. It’s just ol’ Patton spouting off whatever random thoughts and/or dad jokes pop up in his head like always.

For the most part, Patton could handle whatever emotional turmoil they threw at him. He knew that despite what they thought, they still cared about him and valued his opinions. The occasional pain was worth it if they were happy. And they were, especially after Thomas had introduced them to his online community of Fanders (the part that made him the happiest). Even Patton himself had been ecstatic to reach out to so many other kiddos out there. At least, he was until they had gotten in front of the camera.

Yeah, his jokes didn’t land with the others, it wasn’t a big deal. That was no different than telling them in the Mindscape on most days. However, he really wanted to do that four-part harmony when Roman suggested it, even after they immediately shot it down when he came in. But Patton could shake that off, too. He was strong. So, imagine his surprise when he discovered short, thin cracks radiating from over his heart when he was changing into his cat onesie that evening. “Oh,” he said, running his hand delicately over them, “That must’ve gotten to me a little more than I thought.” No matter, though, they always went away within a few days.

Everything went back to relative normal in short order and Patton was back to being a happy pappy. The next few videos came and went without much fanfare. He was even featured by himself to help Thomas with his adultery! There was nothing better than that. The cracks didn’t return until just before they started planning out The Mind vs. The Heart.

That morning, Patton had been making breakfast for everyone as he almost always did. This morning was especially pleasant for him because Thomas had actually listened to Patton yesterday when he suggested he go and pet all the puppies in the pet store on the way home. Having that thought at the forefront made it easy to softly sing to himself as the bacon sizzled. Roman was already eating his as fast as he could fancifully manage.

“Roman, I know my food is good, but please don’t choke up on your swallow through,” Patton said with a smile, taking the last batch of bacon out of the pan and putting it on a plate. Roman just nodded and kept doing exactly what he was doing. “Say, you didn’t happen to see Logan when you came down, did you?” Patton was getting a little worried about Logan. It was early, yes, but the logical side always made his appearance long before now.

“Haben’t sheen ‘im thish morning,” Roman said with a mouthful of pancake.

Patton hummed, set his and Logan’s plates on the table, and grabbed some forks. He sat down at the table, picking at the eggs a little. He would feel better about eating when Logan came. As if on cue, soft squeaks came from the staircase. “Huh, speak of the devil,” Roman mumbled. Patton immediately perked up.

“Good morning, Logan!” Patton shouted. Logan stopped at the bottom of the stairs and covered his ears.

“Too loud, Pat,” Logan grumbled, making his way slowly to the table.

Patton softly replied, “Sorry. I made breakfast.” He couldn’t help but notice the dark circles beneath Logan’s eyes as he approached; they were almost dark enough to rival Anxiety’s. Patton was very much hoping that Roman wouldn’t notice, if only to preserve the peace (and the rest of his good mood, but Patton didn’t want that to be the focus).

“Thank you.” Logan sat and went straight for the coffee, downing half of it in only a few seconds. So far, so good. “Ugh, aren’t I a little old for cat-shaped pancakes, Patton?”

Patton shook his head with a smile. “You’re never too old to have a Patton paw-ncake!” he said cheerily, batting a pawed hand in the air for emphasis.

“Wow, looks like someone’s been to the dark sides this morning. Can we get a bag check on Logan’s eyes?” said Roman, going for another mouthful of bacon.

Logan wasn’t amused. “I’m sorry some of us have to work overtime to make Thomas make the right decisions,” he spat. “Sometimes it’s like I’m the only adult here.” Patton felt that familiar pain ghost across his chest.

“Ex-cuse me, how dare you say such a thing, and when Padre was nice enough to make you breakfast! And anyways, you are NOT the only one who has to pull late nights, Snide and Prejudiced,” Roman countered.

Patton said, “It’s fine, Roman, ple—”

“Really?” Logan adjusted his glasses. “Because it seems to me like you only keep Thomas up at ungodly hours fantasizing about the things you want.”

“Oh, and you don’t?”

“As the most important side, no, I don’t.”

“Oh well ex-cuuuuuuse me, Mr. President—”

From there it devolved into them shouting over each other. Roman slung eggs and syrup everywhere while wildly gesticulating. Logan kept smacking the table trying to make his points. Chocolate milk was going everywhere. They had never been so tense with each other.

“Um, kiddos?” Patton said. Neither of them heard him in the midst of their shouting match. “Kiddos?” he said a little louder, reaching out toward them. “Maybe if we just—”

“THIS DOESN’T CONCERN YOU, PATTON!” both of them yelled. Patton recoiled. Another crack split painfully across his chest. Both of them went back to screaming at each other. He couldn’t stand to see them like this, even if they were hurting him in the process. What else could he do but meet them at their level?

Patton stood abruptly and slammed his hands down on the table. “That’s ENOUGH, both of you!” he scolded. They instantly hushed, flustered and in awe that Patton could even raise his voice. He took a breath and calmly continued, “Roman, I appreciate you defending me like the noble Prince you are, but it’s okay. We know that Logan isn’t the only one that works the graveyard shift, but we shouldn’t make fun of the sides that do when they’re not in their best shape. And Logan, I know you’re tired, but—”

“Yes, from trying to mitigate the effects you had on Thomas yesterday,” Logan interrupted. “We almost adopted one of those puppies when we have neither the resources nor the time to look after one. And who was the one who had to convince him that it was a bad idea? Me!”

Even though Patton wasn’t sorry about that in the slightest, he still apologized. “You did the right thing, Logan. Why don’t you go back to bed for a little while? You’ve earned it,” Patton said. “I’ll even keep your breakfast warm for you.”

Logan nodded and left wordlessly, taking the coffee mug with him back up the stairs. With him gone, Patton looked to Roman. “You owe him an apology, mister,” said Patton.

“What? Me? He was the one being snippier than an Edward Scissorhands wannabe!” Roman cried.

“Well, you didn’t help that, now did you? But he also owes you an apology, too.” That garnered a little “oh” from the Prince. Patton sighed and took Logan’s plate to the oven, turning it on to the lowest setting.

“You know we would’ve worked it out on our own eventually, right?” Roman said. “This is just what we do.”

“I know,” Patton responded. “I think … I should start cleaning up. There’s chocolate milk everywhere.”

Roman nodded. “Okay, Padre. Is there … something I can help with, at least?” He got up and handed his mostly empty plate to Patton.

“Thanks, but I can handle it,” Patton said softly, voice barely above a whisper. He felt Roman’s hand on his shoulder and looked up at the Prince.

“You shouldn’t worry about us so much. We’ll be fine. And, uh, I promise I’ll make it up to the Grinch up there,” said Roman with a small smile.

We don’t need you smothering us.

Great! Now Patton’s thoughts were going to take it upon themselves to put translations after the other’s words! Patton tried to return a smile despite the pain in his chest growing. It must’ve convinced him because Roman, with a final pat on his shoulder, turned and left. As soon as Roman was completely out of sight, Patton rubbed at the cracks to try and soothe their aching. It never worked, but it made him feel a little less like a sad dad. Oh well. At least they’d disappear soon enough.

Or not.

A few days after Losing Motivation came out, Patton had once again busied himself in the kitchen, this time baking chocolate chip cookies while humming along to the Disney showtunes that Roman had playing in the living room. No doubt Thomas would have them stuck in his head by the end of the day. Not that it was a problem in Patton’s mind; the music really helped him ignore the constant throbbing pain that those ugly fractures left on his chest. Better to have Disney showtunes on the brain than a recent ex-boyfriend, right?

The oven timer let out a short ding! at the start of the chorus to Prince Ali. “Oh cookie, where would I be if you weren’t hooooot,” Patton sang over the lyrics. He danced over to the oven while putting on heart-patterned oven mitts. “So full of sweets from eating way more than I ouuuuggghhht. To.” He took the finished cookies out of the oven and twirled around to the music, kicking the door closed and sliding the baking sheet onto the stove in one smooth motion.

Patton made quick work of getting them off the baking sheet and onto a plate. “Cookies are ready!” he shouted. Quick, thundering steps met his cry and in seconds, Roman was in the kitchen juggling three.

“Don’t mind if I do, Pat,” said Roman. Fear never deterred Roman, not even when in the face of third degree mouth burns from oven-fresh cookies. Patton would be lying if he said he wasn’t proud of his son for being so brave (even if another part of him was terrified of Roman getting hurt). “Hanksh,” he said with a mouthful of molten cookie, pretending that it wasn’t actually too hot but still doing the hashafashafa thing to cool it down while he ate.

“You’re welcome, son,” Patton replied. He looked at the cookies and remembered why he was making them in the first place. Ever since Anxiety had made himself known, Patton had been trying to reach out to him. Sure, he was dark and broody and sometimes the others had a little trouble seeing how important his contributions were, but he wasn’t the villain that they made him out to be. Anxiety deserved to feel welcome, and that was something Patton would always advocate for.

He set a few of the cookies on another plate for the rest of the sides (and himself) and poured a glass of milk. “Anxiety’s gonna love this!” He picked the cookies and milk up and danced them out of the kitchen, making sure to pass by Logan on the way. Not that it was hard, he was almost always studying at the dining room table. “Hey Logan, do you wanna eat a cookie?” Patton sung to the tune of Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?

Logan glanced up from his book. “I would prefer not to as I am attempting to set a good example for Thomas by abstaining from sugar,” Logan responded.

“Ah. Well, more for me and Anxiety, then!” said Patton. “If you change your mind, there are some more in the kitchen.”

Logan put the book down and said, “Hold on, are you telling me you’re still intent on making friends with him?”

“Well, yeah, what’s so bad about that?” Patton asked.

“I can’t believe I have to explain this to you again. Anxiety has no place with us, Patton, and it’s time that you stop pandering to him. There’s a very good reason why he lives with … them, and not us.”

The little fissures began slowly spreading. Patton was getting good at keeping it under wraps. And under shirts. “Now Logan, just because he’s a little different from us doesn’t mean that he has bad intentions. Sure, he started out in a bad place, but who’s to say that he can’t grow out of that? Sometimes, people just need a push in the right direction to shine. Bright like a diamond~,” Patton sang the last part, which earned him a groan. “I promise, if I felt fishy about any of this, I wouldn’t be doing it.”

“Why would you feel like a fish? Do fish even feel?” Logan said, genuinely perplexed.

Patton sighed. “Gosh, words can be tough. What I mean is that I don’t feel bad about reaching out to Anxiety, not when he’s been reaching out to us in his own way. I don’t get the feeling that he means us harm.”

“But you have to admit that when it comes to character judgement, you can be too forgiving,” Logan said.

“… Is that a bad thing?” Patton quietly replied, wincing a little as the cracks splintered further.

Logan’s eyes narrowed. “Patton, are you feeling alright?” he asked.

Oh, no.

“Of … course I am!” Patton said. “I’m Morality, why wouldn’t I be feeling?”

Logan grunted and adjusted his glasses. “Let me rephrase that. Patton, moments ago, you clearly indicated you were in pain. Am I interpreting this cue correctly?”

“Um …” Patton stalled. Maybe it was time to tell someone about this; it wasn’t like he could keep hiding it forever. With a sigh, he replied, “Yeah.” Oh no no no no, he couldn’t do this.

Logan stood there silently for a few moments before realizing that no explanation was going to come out of him without prompting. “Would you care to explain what’s causing it? I can perform first aid if necessary,” he said, stepping toward Patton.

Patton backed away and put his hands up. “I’m alright, really. It’s just … a little heartburn is all. You know me, not waiting until the cookies are cool to start munchin’! It should go away soon,” he replied. He couldn’t describe how badly he wanted to get out from under Logan’s scrutiny.

“If that’s all, then, here,” Logan conjured some Tums, “please take two of these.” He offered the bottle to Patton, who took it with a smile.

“Thank you, Logan, where would we be without you?” said Patton. He took some out of the bottle and made a show of chewing them up. Even if he didn’t really need them, he wanted to be sure that Logan felt listened to.

“What is that on your neck?” Logan asked, gesturing on himself where he thought he saw something.

“Hmm?” Patton felt around in that general area, squeaking softly when he felt a small but deep fracture across his skin. How did he not notice that before? Quick, Patton, think of something! “It’s uh … it’s chocolate!”

Logan’s eyes narrowed again. “Chocolate?”

Patton smiled. “Yeeeaahhhh, I must’ve gotten chocolate on myself when I was making these cookies. Silly me,” he lied, waving a dismissive hand. Well, it wasn’t totally a lie; he did still have some chocolate on his hands.

That seemed to sate the logical side. “Very well then, be sure to wash that off. And I know that no matter what I say, you’re still going to take your cookies to Anxiety. Just, please be careful around him, no matter how he makes you feel. We do still need you to help keep Thomas functioning normally,” said Logan.

“Thank you, Logan, I appreciate that. I promise I’ll be careful,” Patton said with a smile. Logan gave him a curt nod and went back to his studies. Some of the pain subsided with that last comment, which Patton was very grateful for. If it had been anywhere near what it was before, he couldn’t have done what he had set out to do without cuing Anxiety on to his problems. With as much of a smile as he could muster, Patton picked up the cookies and milk and headed down to Anxiety’s room. Thankfully, Logan didn’t notice him adjusting his cardigan along the way.

Patton always thought it was odd that the doorway to the darker side of Thomas’s mind would be inside the broom closet at the end of the hall. In another way, it made a lot of sense when he thought about it a little harder. Anything he wanted hidden would be stowed in here for safe keeping until he was ready to confront it. Plus, it made an excellent visual pun that made Patton giggle every once in a while. He opened the door, carefully balancing the plate on his arm.

“Let’s see, last time I made two rights, a left at the weird eyeball painting that stares at you, another right, then a left, and it’s the last door on the left,” Patton mumbled to himself as he walked through the dark side’s labyrinthine corridors. “Please let there be no spiders this time.”

In between the first two rights, a yellow-gloved hand slithered its way around the edge of the corner in front of Patton, making him stop dead in his tracks. No no no, not now! “Well well well, if it isn’t Morality,” Deceit stepped out in front of Patton, “have you finally decided to join us AND bring us cookies? I know we would all be devastated if you did.” His ever-present smirk seemed even more delighted than normal.

“Um, no. I’m just bringing Anxiety some cookies like I’ve been doing for a while now. You know that,” Patton replied. This definitely wasn’t making him uneasy.

“Indeed I do, and I also know something else.” Deceit strode forward until he was uncomfortably close. “You’ve been hiding something I find to be … most exquisite. If you keep that up, you’re liable to put me out of a job. Tell me, how long do you think you can play my game but keep me away from the field? Or even better,” he slowly circled Patton, eyes ever trained on him, “how long do you think you can keep their prying eyes away from your little secret?” He gently touched the center of Patton’s chest, which made him hiss and nearly drop the cookies and milk.

Patton had to take a moment to catch his breath. “I refuse to … make this their problem,” he gasped. He could’ve sworn he saw a few glowing drops of his essence through his shirt where Deceit’s finger had been.

“Oh, of course you don’t. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that one. They’re obviously trying to hurt you by saying and doing all of these little things and telling them this would only make them want to do it more,” Deceit said, coming to stop in front of Patton.

“Look, I know you’re just trying to look out for me in your … own way and I appreciate it, but please, Dee … I can’t tell them this. It would break them even more than it’s breaking me— and I won’t have it.”

Deceit’s smile faded. “You don’t want to listen to reason? Fine. But I leave you with this,” he shook a finger and slowly began sinking out, “what would hurt them more: the others finding out about this now or the others finding out about this when you’re in itty. Bitty. Pieces?” His last words echoed through the empty halls, chilling Patton to his core.

He knew Deceit was right, in his own roundabout way. That was one of his greatest assets: he was a brilliant analyst despite his airs, one that could keenly rival Logan’s perceptive inclinations. It was also what Patton dreaded about him. He couldn’t hide anything from Deceit, not that there was much he could do to hide all the cracks given how many there were.

“No!” Patton said to himself. This wasn’t the time for getting absorbed in thoughts! This was supposed to be bonding-with-his-precious-anxious-baby time, gosh darn it, and he was not going to waste any more time thinking about all the things that were hurting him! Putting on his best determined dad face, Patton quickly marched toward Anxiety’s room.

Before he could get too far, though, he saw Anxiety’s familiar, brooding figure lurking through the halls. He perked up almost imperceptibly when he saw Patton coming. “Oh, there you are. Not like I was worried about you being late or anything,” he said, fiddling with his hoodie strings.

Patton just smiled, relieved that Anxiety hadn’t noticed the little, slightly glowing stains on the front of his shirt. “Of course not. Shall we?” he replied. Anxiety nodded.

The two shared a nice, albeit short, time in Anxiety’s room talking through everything they could. Anxiety’s particular favorite seemed to be picking through Disney movies (or really any movie) to find all of the dark origins or morbid underlying themes they held. While Patton liked being able to spend time with Anxiety, the combination of being in his room for longer than around half an hour and the negative talk were lying heavily on his chest. Still, he never let it show that those cracks were slowly spider-webbing across his skin.

By the end of the day, every step was a Herculean task for Patton. He barely made it back to his room without stumbling. Still, there was one last thing to be done: survey the damage he had accrued. He trudged into the bathroom and grasped the sink with shaking arms, head hanging heavily. “Alright, head up on three, Patton. One, two, three,” he said, letting go of the sink and looking up in the mirror. Despite his weathered appearance, not much could be seen with his shirt still on aside from two small fractures that forked up either side of his neck. The few that had made it past his sleeves were so thin that he didn’t even notice them at first. Patton sighed. He really didn’t want to look at the epicenter of the damage. “Right after this, you can go to bed,” he bartered with his reflection. He gently lifted the hem of his shirt up and nearly fainted from what he saw.

The cracks at the center of Patton’s chest had turned more into chasms where his skin had chipped away like broken porcelain. His essence shone through, now a raging blue storm that threatened to break through the invisible barrier where his skin should be. From there, the light bled through into the smaller fissures that spanned his entire torso, front and back. He knew it was bad, but it had never been to this extent. He gently touched the edge of the center break and accidentally dipped his finger into the blue fluid. The tears he had repressed welled up in his eyes, spurred on by a jolt of raw emotion. Patton quickly wiped the fluid off onto his pants. The tears no longer had any driving force behind them.

“Oh Patton, you’ve got to remember not to do that,” he once again told his reflection. He had forgotten how much emotional sway his essence had when he touched it. Patton knew he couldn’t keep the happy act up like this. So, what else could he do but make himself as scarce as possible until it healed at least a little bit?

And that’s exactly what he did.

[thirstyandbeautiful]

Hhhmm what about some innocent cuddles with Lance watching the sunset and some hard and rough fucking with lando under the starry sky sending you all the way to the stars?

just have to mention that is our wonderful, beautiful, talented M’s birthday!!! Happy Birthday M, we love youuuuu! 

so enjoy some lando filth for the occassion:

lando vs lance: Outtakes!

Sweet & Spicy: Stargazing

*note* outtakes do not exist in the lvl timeline, I’m basically just using the characters from lvl to have fun with y’all

sweet: lance lays it on thick at the romantic getaway 

“Babe,” you mumbled, feeling the warm blankets being pulled in towards your body before you were suddenly weightless. “what?”

Lance shushed you and you felt his warm lips press to your forehead. “I wanna show you something, doll.”

You hummed in reply, letting the darkness and warmth pull you back into the oasis of the sleep world. You always did sleep best when you were on or near the sea, between the sweet salty air, the rhythmic sound of the tide coming and going, the gentle rocking of whoever’s boat you were on. The ocean was truly your zen.

“Doll, wake up.” You heard Lance whisper.

You felt yourself being lowered before all the blankets loosened around you. There was a pressure behind your ear, the soft sound telling you it was Lance kissing the skin. You settled back, your back against his chest, snuggling down and back into your little nest before opening your eyes.

You listened the gentle swishing of the waves you were currently sailing in, they rhythmically brushed by like the best lullaby you’d ever heard and you felt yourself falling into the sweetest pit of your subconscious before the heat of Lance’s mouth on your cheek shook you from your inner oasis.

“Look up.” Lance’s lips brushed against the shell of your ear. 

You rubbed your eyes and tilted your head back against his collarbones. You grumbled a bit before you finally looked up. The view took your breath away.

The stars looked amazing above you. The sky seemed to glitter with their soft light. It was the clearest you’d ever seen them and you found yourself at a loss for words. The dark around you should’ve been a little scary, but instead you were amazed by it. You weren’t sure if you could, but you wanted to spend the rest of your trip sleeping under this sky. 

“It’s beautiful.” You murmured. 

“You’re beautiful.” Lance responded.

You playfully elbowed him before you leaned back and turned your head over your shoulder. Lance instantly leaned in, his arms tightening around your center as he kissed you. 

“I’m so happy I’m here.” You murmured. “With you.”

“Can’t imagine anything without you.” He whispered back. 

Lance kissed your cheek and your shoulder, peppering kisses on any part of you he could reach. 

“Can we stay here?” You mumbled as you felt your eyes grow heavy.

“Of course,” Lance replied. “We can stay wherever you want.”

spicy: lando fucks you in front of the only witnesses he’ll allow

“Fuck, I think, my phone...” you trailed off as you held up your phone screen, the red battery icon flashing on the screen of your iPhone.

“Well, I guess we’re walking.” Lando sighed.

“I don’t wanna walk.” You whined

“Well darling, both our phones are dead so we don’t have much of a choice.” He giggled at your pout before putting his arm around you to pull you in close. Up close you could really see his rosy cheeks. “Come on, the sooner we get home, the sooner I can get you whining for something else.”

You felt your eyes widen before you squeaked. Lando’s hand had crept off your shoulder to swat at your ass, making you stumble forward as you started walking in the direction of your home. You shot a look over your shoulder, giggling as you stumbled to the side. Lando grinned at you, tilting his head like the innocent puppy he loved to pretend to be. His tongue sneaking out to lick the corner of his lip while he winked at you was his truer form.

The walk home wasn’t that bad geographically speaking, if you were being honest the hardest part was outrunning Lando every time he started getting frisky behind you.

You had been walking in front of him since he slapped your ass to get you moving, and every couple of steps he’d sneak back up behind you. His hand would grab a handful of your hip, your side, your ass and you’d take off running from him for a couple of feet before you both continued walking down the dark road. A few times he snuck up on you just to blow into your ear or neck- you weren’t sure which tactic made you wetter but the walk was starting to get torturous as you felt your panties getting increasingly wet.

It couldn’t be helped: Lando and alcohol were just a horny duo. 

You’d lasted another couple of steps, led by the incredibly dim street lights- has this area always been so rural?- and followed by Lando’s shadow, until you finally did something about it.  

You waited until his shadow started meshing with yours on the road, showing you how close he was to teasing you again. At the last possible moment, that your tipsy mind could process, you spun on your heel. Your hand went to his soft curls, pressing your lips to his as you opened your mouth to lick at his. Your other hand dragged down his chest all the way to his crotch, where you squeezed his thick cock through his pants. 

Fuck, he’s huge when he’s soft too.

You moaned into Lando’s mouth as he did nothing to discourage your jump, his own hand coming up to grab your jaw as his tongue pressed to yours. His other hand gripped your hip, pulling you flush against him as he began dominating the kiss. You hummed as his tongue pressed to yours, he was practically leaning over you at this point. You could feel his dick start to stiffen, his flesh quickly turning to steel in his pants until you could make out the full shape of it. He always got hard so fast.

You wanted more.

You didn’t make a sound when your knees scraped the road, you were way too focused on unbuttoning Lando’s pants. When they finally were, you reached in, grabbing the hot skin of his dick before pulling it out, quickly dragging your tongue from base to tip before sucking it into your mouth. 

Lando moaned. “Fuck,” he laughed. “My eager little slut.” 

Your eyes squeezed shut as you pushed him down your throat. His demeaning words always make your panties flood, but when you were both drinking and could get filthier, you guys made a mess.

“Take Daddy’s cock.” Lando bit out, encouraging you to give him pleasure. 

You gasped as Lando fisted the hair at the base of your skull. “No, not like that.” He began pumping his hips into your face, making you take as he gave. “You know Daddy likes it rough.”  

Lando was vocal out in the open, and with the way the wind carried, he sounded louder. Your thighs pressed together as you let him fuck your face, eager to taste him. You whined low in your throat as you hoped he’d paint your face with his cum. Your cheeks heated with the thought, but it wasn’t much of a surprise. 

You and Lando really knew how to pull the slutty hoe part out of each other. 

Lando leaned back, pushing his hips forward. You looked up and saw his eyes shut, his teeth sharp against his lip. He was so close, you were so close to finally getting what you wanted.

When a car suddenly drove past, the passengers cheering out the window as they drove past. 

You and Lando both gasped, his cock pulled from your mouth as you both turned to watch the car zoom away. It hadn’t slowed at all, coming and passing quickly, but it definitely saw what was going on for them to react that way. You bit your lip, so glad Lando had been behind you for the walk. That was the only reason why his back had been to the car. 

“Lando-” your words died as he yanked you to your feet. 

“Fucking slut couldn’t wait and just as I’m about to cum that car drives past like that.” He growled in your ear. 

Lando’s hand was tight at the base of your skull again as he pulled you along next to him into the grass alongside the road. You gasped and looked down as best you could to watch your step. You could see some dry blood on your knees from scraping them against the road.

But you could also see Lando’s cock. Your dominant, sexy lover hadn’t even bothered to put his huge, hard cock away. It bobbed freely in the wind with each step as Lando dragged you to who knows where. You licked your lips and reached down, wrapping your fingers around it so you could hold it like a leash.

Lando cursed. “I know, you little cockslut. Daddy’s gonna get us both off.” 

He shoved you forward a few steps. You finally focused on what was in front of you, letting go of his dick as you realized he had, somehow in the dark, spotted a large tree with a low thick branch that split from the trunk. It was almost too good to be true, but you were horny and desperate and not about to question it.

“Fuck.”

“That’s the plan, darling.” 

You squeaked when Lando spoke into your ear, slapping your ass as you hurried around the large tree. You were finally far enough from the road and covered by the tree enough that you could fuck with a low chance of being spotted. You felt your heart flip as you wished he’d just fucked you in the open. 

“Another time, dirty girl.” He whispered in your ear, already knowing what you were pouting about.

He turned you around so you could face him while he stroked himself. 

“Take it off.”

You grinned at Lando, the anticipation making your skin tingle as you quickly pulled your shirt over your head, playfully throwing it at his feet. You moaned and walked backwards, letting your bra fall off your arms as you headed towards the trunk of the tree. 

“That’s it, baby, good girl for Daddy.”

Lando leaned down as he followed, picking up your shirt on the way. You moaned when he wrapped it around his dick and started stroking himself. 

“Daddy,” you whined.

“No, no, no, shush.” He tsked at you. 

You giggled as you let your bare back press to the bark. You shivered at how sensitive you felt, how the tipsy feeling that alcohol gave you seemed to mix with all your natural happy chemicals in your pretty head. You felt like you were floating, you may have been swaying on your feet. 

“Look so good when I’m about to fuck you.” 

Lando was in the same state as you. His eyes were heavy lidded as he stroked himself, his cock still hanging out of his pants with your shirt wrapped around it. His tshirt was pulled up, giving you a delicious view of his chest and abs, every soft ridge and turn of his muscle and tanned skin illuminated by the moonlight that shined the side of him. 

“Show Daddy where you want him.”

You leaned back against the tree, lifting one booted foot up on a low branch while flipping your skirt up. You pulled on your lace panties, pushing them to the side and spreading your lips, showing Lando exactly where you wanted him, where you always wanted him. 

“Fuck me.” He moaned.

“That’s the plan, darling.” You answered cheekily with a wink.  

 Lando laughed as he dropped your shirt, moving towards you quickly. You leaned forward to kiss him but he shocked you by dipping his head just short of your lips to capture one of your nipples in his mouth. He bit the bud hard before softly and wetly sucking. 

You moaned and threaded your fingers through his hair as he sucked, one of his arms wrapping around your back while the other hooked under your raised leg. With the right hold on you, Lando lifted you off your feet so you were pushed harshly against the tree, leaning back over the curved trunk that opened towards the road. your leg straightened until he rest it against another branch, his arm still wrapped around your waist to help keep you place. 

Lando panted against your chest, propping you up until his hips nudged your own. He could feel himself pressed to you, and reached down to finally get inside you. When he sunk into your heat, you both started moaning. 

Your head dropped back, the hot, welcome stretch of Lando finally pushing into you was like breathing fresh air, and you sighed, your whole body going compliant and limp in his arms against the tree. 

When Lando had pushed a bit more of himself in, he finally put his body into it, thrusting into you roughly to the hilt. You gasped, all the air you had felt in your lungs punched out by your pleasure and thickness filling you. Your eyes snapped open and you let out a choked moan as you could see the lights of another car passing the road a couple of feet away. 

“Oh darling, don’t worry they can’t see you.” Lando nipped your throat as your head leaned back against the trunk so you could see directly above you. “But fuck all, if Daddy won’t make sure they hear you.”

The last thing you saw before your eyes rolled back in your head was the starry sky peeking in between the branches above you and Lando. 

[dine-on-darling]

The Feeling of Being Full

It’s my babe Beelzebub’s turn to get a taste of Darling~

Soft, safe vore, similar size, willing prey

---------

Out of all the demon brothers, Darling found that Beelzebub was the most comfortable to lie on top of.

Darling flipped another page of her book, bouncing her foot idly on the bed behind her. Her whole body fit snuggly on top of Beel’s massive frame. Not only was he a solid two feet taller than her, but all the muscle he accumulated made him a certified giant compared to her. So she could prop herself up on the middle of his chest easily without slipping off to either side, the surface solid and warm underneath her, her weight on top of him wasn’t even something for him to blink at; the demon himself contently scrolling through the D.D.D held above his face, one hand on her back to ensure she was stable.

Hanging out like this was easy for the two of them. Beel was always so gentle with her, and so kind too, it hadn’t taken long at all for them to grow close. He was naturally very cuddly too, they could spend hours comfortably next to each other, so long as there were no interruptions, that is. Which, given that they were in a house full of rambunctious demons, there usually were.

Today, she’d only been in Beel’s room for a little bit, having stayed at school to take care of some stuff. She’d decided to stop by Hell’s Kitchen on her way back with Mammon, grabbing a sandwich for her self and a couple extra as a treat for her favorite gluttony demon. She knew how his hunger followed him everywhere, so she was glad to see his excited face whenever she brought him a snack. Of course, he’d torn through every sandwich in a second, and if she hadn’t eaten her own before coming to see him, he’d probably have given her puppy dog eyes until she handed it over. No doubt he’d be hungry again before long, though.

Speak of the devil, so to say, the comfortable silence was interrupted by a rumble that had Darling’s whole body vibrating for a moment, for the source was directly under her. She laughed lightly, poking a finger into Beel’s stomach. “I’d expected that poor sandwich to last you longer than, what, thirty minutes tops; guess I shouldn’t underestimate the power of the avatar of gluttony, eh?” She rolled off of him, and he patted his empty stomach with a shy smile.

“Sorry, I know you were comfortable like that.” He pushed himself up to a sitting position.

“It’s fine, big guy.” She lifted an arm to pat his bicep, still lying down. “If you want, I can run to the kitchen to get some snacks for you.”

“Really?” His eyes lit up.

“Sure, it’s no big deal. I can’t carry as much as you, but Luci would probably get upset with you for clearing out the fridge before dinner anyway, so I can get you enough to hold you over.”

Beel smiled as bright as Mammon when he’s starring at Goldie. He opened his mouth to say what Darling was sure would be an agreement, but then it looked like something occurred to him and his mouth closed. He looked off to the side, thinking about something.

Darling quirked an eyebrow; what was he hesitating for? Usually when it came to food he was all over any ideas, she couldn’t think of a reason he wouldn’t immediately take her up on her offer. “Beel?”

He looked back to her. “Ah, sorry.”

Darling sat up, turning to face the demon fully. “Is everything alright?”

He nodded. “Yeah, thinking about something, is all.”

“Do… you want to go get the snacks from the kitchen yourself?” Maybe he’d been weighing the pros and cons of getting less food vs facing Lucifer’s wrath?

“No, actually I was thinking about how what I want to eat isn’t in the kitchen.”

“Oh, so you want to run out somewhere, then?”

“There’ no need, it’s already in the house.” He looked almost shy, a blush tinting his cheeks.

Okay, now Darling was really confused, Beel hardly beat around the bush, especially when it came to food. His stomach rumbled again, and he furrowed his bros slightly in thought, this time looking right at her. There was a look in her eyes that she thought seemed familiar… oh, hold on a tick.

“Beel… you’re not talking about me, are you?”

The hunger in his eyes grew, and he nodded eagerly, like he was happy she was the one to say it.

It’d been a little over a week and a half ago that Mammon had first swallowed her. Since then, they’d done it again a couple more times. She’d been hesitant since it still felt like such a weird arrangement to her, but the thought of how comfortable it felt despite the strangeness made her much more willing. The first time, Mammon had been so caught up in the feeling that they hadn’t done much more than cuddle like that on the bed before he let her out. But that night at dinner she’d wished she could perform that shrinking spell on herself to hide her embarrassment as he loudly told the story to his brothers. She’d had her head ducked the whole time, so she could only assume that the glances she felt from the other boys had been curious and possibly judgmental, if only she’d looked then she might have known that that was the start of hungry ideas beginning to form. To her relief, the others hadn’t really said anything about it since then, except for a few teasing comments when Mammon decided to walk around and show everyone his Darling filled gut, much to her further embarrassment.

The only one she thought she’d noticed a subtle change in was Beel, like he was looking at her in a new light. Honestly, she’d expected the avatar of gluttony to start getting ideas, but he hadn’t actually said anything to her about it and treated her like normal, so she’d assumed at this point that he simply wasn’t interest in eating something he wouldn’t be allowed to digest. Now she saw he real reason: he was too worried about making her uncomfortable. In his eyes, it was one thing for Mammon, her guardian, to have that level of intimacy with her, but if he were to ask and she assumed he was merely thinking of her as another meal to satisfy his boundless appetite, if she thought back to all those careless comments about eating her all the demons had made that she only recently began taking seriously, then it might damage their friendship. Looking only at his surface, it’d be easy to write him off as merely a gluttonous muscle head, but Darling learned early on how emotionally tuned in he is.

Beel was still looking at her with that hungry, hopeful look in his eyes. His stomach groaned, and he placed a hand over it to settle it. Darling blushed, his stomach was rumbling because he was hungry for her. She wondered how much of his thoughts have been occupied by this lately.

He noticed her hesitation, leaning back to put some distance and frowning. “Sorry, I know it’s a weird request, I shouldn’t have-“

“Well…” Darling interrupted him. She chewed at her own lip, thinking about what she was about to say. “If it’s safe, like with that spell, then it’s fine.”

Beel looked back at her with wide eyes, like he couldn’t believe she was actually entertaining him. “Are you sure?”

She smiled at the look on his face, he’s such a sweetheart. “Yeah, it’s fine, Beel; so long as you let me out before it’s time for dinner.”

He grinned at her, leaning forward to gently grab the back of her head and press his lips to her forehead. Like Mammon, he whispered more strange words, but it seemed slightly different. That same warm feeling washed over her, and she hummed in the back of her throat. She’d come to expect the shrinking to happen almost immediately after the warm feeling subsided, so she was surprised to find herself at exactly the same height still.

Beel picked up her hands delicately in his much larger ones and brought them up to his mouth.

“Wait!” She said.

He stopped right before her fingers passed through his lips, looking disappointed to be stopped, gazing at her through is lashes with puppy dog eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“A-Ah, well, aren’t you going to, y’know, shrink me first? Like Mammon does. I mean, you can’t actually fit me at this size, can you?”

He only smiled and reached over to ruffle her hair. “No underestimating the power of the avatar of gluttony, remember? Besides, you’re already so small compared to me, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t even be able to feel you if I shrunk you anymore.”

That made sense, she supposed. She still had her doubts, but he seemed confident in himself, looking at her with eyes asking for her permission to continue. She nodded her silent agreement, and he gladly raised her hands that last bit to push them into his mouth. The moment his tongue touched her skin and he got a proper taste of her, his eyes closing in bliss and an appreciative hum rising in his throat, she knew that there was no backing out of this now.

He seemed to be trying to go a lot slower than he’d normally eat out of consideration to her, taking the time to soak in her flavor. He pushed her hands in until she felt them touch the back of his throat. She tried her best not to shiver at the feeling.

Again, Beel brought a hand up to grab the back of her head, this time pushing it down a bit. This confused her, she knew she’d have to duck her head to get it into his mouth, but he still had most of her arms to work in before then. At least, she assumed so.

He pushed her hands in a little bit further so his throat could grasp them, and swallowed.

Darling couldn’t help the squeak that left her mouth as she was forcefully jerked forward, finding herself suddenly lodged up to her head inside Beel’s mouth. Her fingers fluttered, already at the entrance to his stomach. Holy shit, that’s one hell of a throat you’ve got there, Beel.

He paused to rub her back a moment, as though apologizing for startling her. His tongue flicked over her face, and she scrunched her eyes closed as it was coated in his saliva. It was interesting, she thought, being inside a mouth at her normal height rather than her shrunken height. It was much more cramped, and she’d been worried about Beel’s sharp fangs scrapping her as she went, but he was doing a remarkable job of keeping her unharmed; she could only barely feel them poking into her.

She could feel him trying to restrain himself from going too fast, but she could also feel the impatient rumble build from below her. His stomach wanted her badly, and Beel was often powerless to it’s command.

She would have expected her shoulders to pose a challenge, but at this point she’d given up on doubting his eating ability. His tongue gave her face a quick caress, before he worked his mouth to readjust her a bit, and gave another heavy swallow.

His throat was all too happy to pull her deeper in, quickly and without fuss guiding her along it’s course. Her head followed her arms, now causing a bump to start forming on Beel’s abdomen.

He placed one hand against his throat, relishing in the feeling her movements caused, and then settled it against where her head pushed against him, rubbing circles with his thumb.

It was now that he tilted his head back, raising her legs into the air so that he could use gravity to assist him. The odd feeling of being upside down like that made her kick her legs helplessly, and Beel used one hand to reassuringly grab her thigh to steady them.

He was losing his patience now, trembling at the feeling of her starting to fill out his stomach, but he needed more. Her clothes were getting in the way of her taste now anyway, and while he was a little disappointed by that, it made it easier for him to quickly proceed with his next swallow.

Her legs slide in easily like they were simply large noodles he was feasting on, and he was soon able to finally close his lips around the last part of her to enter his lips. He barely paused there to enjoy the feeling, swallowing hungrily again.

Darling’s body sloshed forward heavily as the rest of her landed in his stomach and she was sealed inside.

Beel’s hands straight away went to his stomach, roaming over the surface. He licked his lips to try and get more of her taste, letting out a moan of satisfaction. He could feel her moving around, trying to get comfortable. Despite having a full person within, Beel’s stomach wasn’t as protruding as much as one might expect. This was both due to their size difference and his rock wall of an abdomen helping to keep it held back. It was still very noticeable, but not something he’d have trouble moving around with.

“You okay?” Beelzebub asked.

Darling nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“It’s not too cramped, is it?”

“No. I mean, it feels like a tighter fit than being in Mammon’s stomach, but the walls are all soft enough that it feels fine. Really, it’s comfortable.”

He smiled softly. “Good.” He carefully moved, trying not to jostle her too much, so his back was leaning against the bed’s headboard, continuing to massage his stomach. He watched it move as Darling shifted in place to find the best position to curl up in.

Inside, Darling experimentally stretched out her arms, getting a feel for the place. It certainly did feel different from Mammon’s, but not in a bad way. She almost wished there was a source of light in here so she could take a look around, maybe next time she’d bring her D.D.D with her, although she wasn’t sure if the protection spell would keep that safe as well. She noted how there was no trace of the food she’d watched Beel devour a mere half hour ago left in his stomach and became very glad for that spell.

They were both quiet as she found the most comfortable position she could and settled, Beel’s hands rubbing circles into her the whole while. Darling pressed her hands against what she was pretty sure was the front of his stomach and, almost out of habit at this point, started massaging back. Mammon loved having his belly rubbed so much that she figured Beel probably would as well. Judging by the steady purr that built up all around her and the way the space tightened around her, she was spot on.

Beelzebub felt like he was back in heaven. Not only did he actually feel pleasantly full for the first time in probably ever, he’d never had his food rub back at him. Then again, Darling wasn’t any regular food, she was someone very precious to him, and his purr grew louder as he thought about how nice it felt to have her tucked away safely like this. He wrapped his arms around his middle, trying to hug her ever tighter. Both of them relished in the comfortable warmth they felt.

Nice as they moment was, it was eventually interrupted by a few swift knocks on the door and it opening without the knocker waiting for permission. Which wasn’t surprising, seeing as it was Mammon who entered the room. “Yo, human, Satan said you were hanging out in here with- Hey!” Darling could hear his muffled shout, and then his voice got louder like he’d run closer. “Is that my human in there?!”

“Mhm.” Beel nodded.

“Not cool! What part of “my human” did you not get? Spit her up!”

Beel squeezed his stomach tighter. “Nope. I only swallowed her a minute ago. Besides, she agreed to do this.”

“Daaarliiing! How could you?!”

“Sorry, Mammon,” she called, not sure how well her voice could be heard through Beel’s flesh. “I’d say this is what you get for walking around with me despite me asking you not to, you’re the one who gave him the idea.”

Beel nodded happily. “Thanks, Mammon!”

“Gggrrr! Now I have to compete for this too?! This sucks!” Mammon scratched at his hair in frustration, scowling off to the side. He’d seen the looks on his brother’s faces; he should have seen this coming. It was only a matter of time before the others would try and get a taste as well. He sighed, crossing his arms. “Whatever, I was still your first. Oi, Beelzebub, you better cough her up by dinner, and I’m not letting you have her back today.”

Beel nodded. “Fine.”

Darling rolled her eyes at Mammon’s dramatics.

The door clicked shut again a moment later, Mammon no doubt going back to his own room to sulk.

“Sorry about him.” Darling said, patting the side of Beel’s stomach.

He laughed, patting back on the same spot. “It’s fine.”

Darling resumed her petting, and Beel sunk back further, closing his eyes with a smile to better enjoy the feeling. They’d stay like this until it was time for dinner. He was looking forward to the thought of eating, but he couldn’t help but wish all food would make him feel this way. Now that he knew what it was like to be full, there was no way he was letting this be the last time.  

[thdorkmagnet]

Marco’s Birthday Blowup Blast

Hey everyone! Today I’m bringing to you all something a little different. This was just a fun idea I’ve been working on for a while now thanks to a request I received from an anonymous source and I knew I had to make this when they gave it to me. I don’t normally take requests but this idea was too good to pass up!

So today is Marco’s 16th birthday and Star is determined to make it the best birthday Earthni has ever seen! Haha, I hope you all enjoy, especially my awesome requester who helped me out with a bunch of the ideas for this story! 

Disclaimer: Star vs and all it's characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.

Marco's soft snores echoed around his dark room, the boy's curtains closed tight to prevent any horrid light from flooding in and disturbing his peaceful dreams. The boy mumbled incoherently in his sleep, clutching the stuffed rabbit he slept with closer, a line of drool beginning to slowly spread on its cotton face, as he settled down deeper into the welcoming warmth of his pillow. At his feet, his litter of laser puppies were all curled up into balls as they snoozed, even the normally hyper dogs not wanting to be disturbed so early in the morning.

The door to Marco's room creaked softly open, a blond head slowly appeared in the doorway a second after, a bright grin on her face as she took in the adorable form of her boyfriend. She held in the coo she felt rising at the back of her throat, her Marco just too cute for words when he was asleep. She silently tiptoed closer, being careful not to jolt around the tray of his freshly made breakfast and accidentally alert him to her presence. She set the tray down as quietly as she could on his desk, before creeping closer to the teen so she was now standing over him. Her eyes shimmered as she just took a few minutes to watch him sleep, sighing softly to herself. Even though it had been months since the Cleaving, Star still couldn't believe sometimes that Marco and her were finally together. It felt like just yesterday they had confessed their love and yet at the same time, it was as if the two had already spent a lifetime together. These last few months had been the best of her life and she was determined to show her boyfriend just how special and important he was to her by throwing the best birthday party possible! He was sixteen now, after all. She had to make sure everything went perfectly.

Speaking of perfect, what was the perfect way to wake Marco up? Star frowned as she tried to think of the best way for her Marco to start his day. Finally, an idea came to her and a bright smile lit up her face once again. She slowly reached out a hand, placing it lightly on his shoulder, before giving him a small shake. "Marco," she whispered. "Would you like me to kiss you awake?"

The only reply she received was a groggy yawn, but that seemed to be the right answer as Star slowly began leaning closer to him, loose strands of her hair falling onto his face. As she got closer to her target, she closed her eyes, her lips puckering as she prepared to plant a loving kiss on his cheek.

Marco giggled softly as Star's blond locks tickled his skin, his heavy eyelids lifting slightly as he checked to see what could possibly be disturbing his dreams. But the moment he saw the form hovering over him and moving steadily closer by the second, he panicked. His groggy brain was unable to decipher what who or what it was that was so near to him, his instincts quickly taking over as he was jolted awake by the scare.

So he did what any rational person would do when in a similar situation... he screamed. He tried to scramble away from the stranger, his body flailing wildly as he tried to get out from his tangle of sheets (nearly sending the startled laser puppies flying), before he reached the end of his bed where he fell to the floor, letting out a loud oof when he hit the ground.

"Marco!" Star cried in distress, quickly climbing onto the bed so she could peer over and see the state of her bestie. The boy just blinked up at her, the startled look clear in his brown gaze, panting heavily after the scare. "Star?" he groggily squeaked out, his still tired brain struggling to understand what was happening.

"Hey," Star said sheepishly, waving hesitantly down to him.

"Wh-What happened?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbows as he stared up at her with uncertainty, the blond almost able to see the gears turning in his head as he made sense of it all.

"Sorry, I was trying to give you a kiss to wake you up," she explained while shooting him an apologetic smile.

"Oh," the boy said, letting out a steady breath as everything finally clicked into place.

"Guess maybe I should have just let you wake up on your own," Star admitted, tapping her index fingers together guiltily.

But Marco only laughed, though that was most likely in part by the dozen or so ticklish puppy tongues that were licking his face as he did his best to push them away. "Well, I appreciate the thought anyway, Star," the hooded boy said sweetly, shooting her a loving smile. "Besides I've definitely had way worse wake up calls. I mean, these little guys used to laser blast me awake basically every morning," the hooded teen continued, picking one of the puppies up to show Star exactly who he was talking about. His voice switched to an overly-sweet coo as he said to the little dog, "Didn't you, Barko Diaz? You and your brothers and sisters used to be a big handful, didn't you?"

Star giggled at her boyfriend's actions, especially as the little pups' barks grew louder in reaction to the change in their owner's tone and they began licking him more furiously than before causing Marco to laugh. He did his best to hold them off, but it was a losing battle as for every puppy he managed to move away, another took its place. Finally, he gave his girlfriend a pleading look, squeaking out, "Help."

Star came to his rescue, grabbing hold of Marco's outstretched hands before helping him back up on the bed, the boy letting out a relieved sigh. "Thanks," he said, shooting her a grin, which she returned with one of her own.

"No problem," she replied. She looked back down to see the puppies had begun wrestling with each other without their owner to keep them entertained. Since the Cleaving, the laser puppies no longer shot laser beams anymore (they should really think of a different name for them now) which was honestly, a huge relief for the Diaz's furniture since singed and burnt couches and tables were not very appealing to look at.

"So what's up, Star? You usually don't wake me up this early without a good reason," Marco asked, giving his bestie a questioning look.

"Uhh did you seriously forget," Star said, playing jabbing his side with her elbow. "It's your birthday, silly."

Marco's eyes lit up as the memory returned, saying thoughtfully, "Oh yeah, that's right. That is today."

"Yep, you're officially sixteen now, Marco!" Star squealed, pulling him into a tight hug. "Aren't you excited!?"

A giant smile flooded Marco's face as he just clung onto his eager girlfriend. "Yeah, it is pretty great."

Star quickly pulled out of the hug, holding his shoulders at arm's length as she told him with shimmering vision, "And as your girlfriend, I am going to make sure you have the best possible birthday in the history of birthdays!" She giddily clapped her hands together as she added, "Just wait until you see what I have planned, you're gonna love it!"

Marco laughed, finding his girlfriend beyond adorable as he said in a flirty tone, "I'm sure I will. You always know just what to do for me, Star."

"Aww, Marco, you are too sweet," the girl cooed, cupping his cheeks in her hands. Marco started to lean in for a kiss but the girl suddenly let go of his face and jumped off the bed, causing him to fall forward with a short yell and face-plant directly into his soft sheets. Star didn't notice this though, as she went over to the tray of food she had brought in, lifting it slowly, careful to not spill anything as she turned back around to face her boyfriend. "Speaking of which," she began with a hinting edge to her tone, Marco watching her quizzically as she walked over to him. "I made you breakfast!" the blond exclaimed, before setting the tray down in his lap.

The boy looked down at his breakfast in surprise, staring at the plate of fresh bacon, purple eggs (okay that was a bit alarming), and pancakes, as well as a glass of orange juice, and his gaze softened, touched that his girlfriend would be nice enough to make him breakfast. But then a thought occurred to him and he quickly turned back to Star, asking, "You made this?"

Star nodded. "Yep, only the best for my favorite bestie slash boyfriend!" she said, shooting him a wink.

The boy gave her a thin smile, eying his meal cautiously as he tried to indiscreetly check and make sure it was safe to eat. After all, he loved Star but her cooking skills were... well, she didn't really have any to speak of. Somehow, beyond Marco's comprehension, the blond managed to burn or ruin even the simplest of meals and he would rather not have to deal with food poisoning on his birthday. He gulped, trying to stall for as long as he could as he asked her hesitantly, "So did you, uh, make this yourself?"

"Nope," Star replied, sitting on the edge of the bed, as she gauged her boyfriend's reaction closely. "Eclipsa helped me out, since I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to cooking and I wanted to make sure your breakfast was perfect."

"Wait, Eclipsa knows how to cook?" Marco asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Apparently," Star shrugged, sounding equally as shocked. "And she's pretty good at it, too. Try a bite."

The boy now satisfied that he wouldn't get sick from eating his meal, grabbed his fork and picked up one of the eggs, stuffing the whole thing directly into his mouth. Star held her breath as she just waited for his reaction. He chewed on it thoughtfully for a second, before humming in approval, his taste buds going wild with every bite. "Oh man, Star you were right, this is delicious!"

Star sighed in relief, glad to know her boyfriend was satisfied with his breakfast and her eyes shimmered like her name-sake as she watched him quickly devouring his meal hungrily. "You really think so?" the blond asked, her heart swelling with pride.

"Oh yeah, this stuff is incredible," the boy said with his mouth still stuffed with food, not even bothering to swallow as he spoke. "Especially these eggs! I've never tasted anything like them before."

He picked up a piece, ready to take a bite of it, before Star said, "Oh yeah, that was Eclipsa's idea, she said dragon eggs were full of nutrients and flavors you can't get anywhere else."

The boy froze, stopping mid-bite, the fork inches from his mouth as he turned to Star with a worried expression. "Did you say dragon's eggs?"

Star nodded in confusion. "Uh, yeah, why?"

"Because I have a dragon cycle and Nachos would hate me if she knew I was eating her own kind!" Marco exclaimed.

Star scoffed, waving an arm in the air. "Dragons are a totally different thing than dragon cycles, Marco," she matter-of-factly explained. "Everyone knows that."

"Well, I didn't," Marco admitted sheepishly, poking at his half-eaten plate with his fork.

The blond just giggled, cupping his cheek in her hand once again as she told him, "You still have so much to learn, Marco."

The boy gave her a loving grin, his cheeks heating up slightly as he locked gaze with her startling blue, his heart thumping away in his chest like crazy. "Thanks for the breakfast, by the way, this was really nice of you."

"You think this is good, just wait till you see what other surprises I have cooked up for you," Star told him, shooting him a sly grin. "I'm going all-out for your birthday!"

Marco's eyes lit up with intrigue at that, but it quickly vanished, replaced instead with a determined expression. "So, uh, Star, speaking of surprises" he coyly began, setting his tray aside as he leaned closer to her. "I know you're whole plan to wake me up didn't really work out... so how would you like to make it up now, instead?"

Star's eyebrows raised as she playfully asked, "Oh ho ho, are you asking me to kiss you, Diaz?"

"Maybe," he said mischievously, purposely not meeting her eye.

The blond leaned even closer to him, till their foreheads were practically touching before saying, "Well, y'know, I would love to, but..."

Marco gave her a confused frown. "But what?" he asked, unable to keep the disappointment out his voice.

"But..." she continued, the smirk on her lips causing several of Marco's brain cells to fry. She whispered gently into his ear, "...your face is coated in dog drool."

The boy froze, his eyes wide with shock as his cheeks lit up red in embarrassment, while Star burst out into laughter at the cute look of surprise on her Marco's face. Finally, the boy shot the litter of puppies a dirty look as he grumbled to them, "Thanks a lot."

…

After Marco cleaned up his face and changed into his typical attire of hoodie and jeans he made his way downstairs, where he was greeted by the smiling faces of his parents, who wasted no time running over and wrapping him up into a super tight hug. "Happy Birthday Marco!" they said in unison and the boy just laughed and hugged them back. "We can't believe you're already sixteen!" Angela exclaimed.

"Thanks mom, thanks dad," the boy said sweetly.

"It seems like just yesterday you were still in diapers and trying to stuff nacho chips up your nose when we weren't looking," Rafael cried with glee, his eyes welling up with tears.

Marco blushed and immediately whispered to them, "Dad, not in front of Star." He inclined his head over to the staircase where Star was watching the display with a silent grin.

"Oh, don't mind me," the blond said, maneuvering around the Diaz's and slowly backing away toward the sliding glass door that led to the backyard. "Keep having your family moment, I'll just be outside if you need me," she continued, plastering on the most innocent and trustworthy smile she had. "And uh, maybe don't come outside for the next like thirty minutes or so, give or take." Once she was at the door, she reached behind her and slid it open, never once breaking eye contact with her boyfriend and his parents. She took a single step back and started to close the door back but not before pausing to give Marco a warning glare, quickly adding, "I mean it Marco, no peeking."

"No peeking, I promise," the boy said, with a short nod.

The smile returned on Star's face as she said in her typical Star cheer, "Okay!"

She finished closing the door, before a large sheet was hung up over it, preventing Marco from even trying to look outside. But it didn't keep him from hearing his girlfriend's very loud shout of, "Okay people, hurry up! We only have half an hour to make the best dang birthday party Earthni has ever seen!"

"But um, Star, Earthni has only been around for a couple of months," came the hesitant voice of Alfonso.

"Which is why we are gonna make this one so great that no birthday in the future will ever compare, got it?!" the girl practically screamed, followed by an immediate, "Yes ma'am."

The boy just chuckled shaking his head at his girlfriend's antics before turning to his mom and dad and asking, "So uh, where's Mariposa?"

Just as he said that he felt a tug on his pant leg and he looked down to see his one-year-old sister staring up at him, her arms stretched out, fingers trying desperately to reach her big brother despite the obvious height difference, saying in her little baby coo, "Biii Bwover, upie, upie," which Marco knew translated to "Big Brother, up, up."

He laughed, not even hesitating as he reached down and scooped the little girl up and into his arms, saying to her, "Okay, Mariposa, okay, if that's what you really want." Once she was safe and settled in her big brother's arms, the boy tickled her underneath the chin in the exact place he knew would get a giggle out of her, as he cooed, "Guess what, Mari. Your big bro is 16 years old today, isn't that awesome?"

His baby sister just laughed and clapped her hands together, still finding talking difficult and so mostly relayed her emotions by either clapping when she was happy, crying when she was sad, or scowling death glares at whoever dared to make her angry.

Angela sighed, putting her hands on his shoulders as she told him, "Oh Marco, you are such a good big brother."

"Thanks mom," the hooded teen replied, not taking his eyes off his sister as she grabbed his finger in both tiny hands, staring up at him with shimmering eyes.

"And we have no doubt you're going to be an even greater dad," Rafael quickly added.

"Thanks dad," Marco replied instantly, not really thinking too much about what his parents were saying, his focus more on Mariposa than anything else.

"And Star is gonna make a great mom, as well," Angela said cheerfully and the hooded teen made a noise somewhere between a groan and a squeak, whipping his head over to face his parents, exclaiming with flushed cheeks, "Where did that come from?"

"Just stating a fact," his mom said nonchalantly.

Marco's eyebrow slowly raised as he asked suspiciously, "Have you and Mr. and Mrs. Butterfly been talking again?"

Both of his parents laughing nervously as they clearly tried to cover up their secret intentions. "No, of course not, Marco," his mom said, in a very fake tone. "We just think you and Star are very cute together and if you ever did end up having kids, we'd be happy for you."

"Uh-huh," the boy said doubtfully. But his voice retained its regular cheer, as he added, "Well when we end up having kids than I'm sure Star will be a great mom. After all, there's nothing that girl can't do."

There was a loud boom outside, one that caused the whole house to shake, the Diaz's looking around with concern, fearful of their home being damaged, while Marco just stared ahead calmly (he had grown numb to this sort of thing in the several years he had known Star), but making sure to hold Mari just a little closer to him than before. Once their home has stopped shaking, the family turned to the back door with worried looks. "Star, you okay?" Marco called out to his girlfriend, shifting his hold on his baby sister as she laughed and clapped her hands at the funny house shivering.

"Yep, everything's great! Nothing to worry about!" came Star's muffled response.

Marco sighed in relief, thankful his girlfriend wasn't hurt, he couldn't help but still worry over her at times. She was the most important thing in his world, after all. He didn't know what he would ever do without her. The hooded teen quickly shifted his attention to his parents, who both still looked a little startled by what happened. "Um, sorry guys. You... know how Star is," Marco said giving them a nervous grin. Although Star's antics never bothered him in slightest, he didn't know if his parents felt the same and he didn't want to ruin their shining opinion of her. He wanted his family to approve of the woman he loved, see her for the incredible, mature individual she was and had become and not just the wild, explosion-happy blond that had lived under their roof back in the day. There was much more to Star than that, he just hoped his parents could see that too.

But to his surprise, the two burst out into laughter, Marco looking between them like they had lost their minds. Finally, their sudden laughing fit ceased and Angela very calmly told him, "Oh Marco, you don't have to apologize. You know we've always loved Star's energy."

"Even if it did sometimes result in destroying our house," Rafael added as chipper as ever.

"So wait, it really doesn't bother you?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course not," Angela replied. "Do you know how many times we've had stuff explode in the backyard? At this point, we're used to it." She smiled reaching over and cupping his cheek in her hand, as she added, "Besides, if it means seeing you this happy, then it's worth it."

Marco smiled over at his mom, telling her, "Thanks mom. That means a lot to me."

"I know it does," Angela said. "And I have a feeling we'll have a lot more craziness to expect in the future, won't we?" She winked over at him and Marco laughed and nodded.

"Yep and I wouldn't have it any other way," he said, feeling a relief fill his chest. It didn't matter to them whether she was a mature adult or just a crazy teenager, they accepted his Star either way and that was the best gift he could have asked from them, especially as his dad added, "Neither would we."

…

"Okay Marco, just keep walking forward," Tom instructed him since the boy was currently blind with his friend's purple hands pressed tightly over his eyes.

"Is this really necessary?" Marco asked as he allowed himself to be led through his house, his parents following behind them, Rafael now holding Mariposa.

"Hey, Star gave me specific instructions on what to do, okay?" Tom told him, continuing to guide his friend outside.

"Yeah but I already know about the party, it's not exactly a surprise," Marco pointed out.

Tom shrugged. "Tell that to your girlfriend, not me," the demon boy said and Marco just sighed.

"Okay fine but why didn't Star come do this, then?" the hooded teen asked.

But instead of receiving an answer, Tom just moved his hands away, leaving Marco blinking in the sudden sunlight, as a crowd of people began all shouting to him, "Surprise Marco!" and "Happy Birthday!" and one voice even loudly proclaiming, "Surprise Turd!! You're most favorite person in the universe is here, so y'know you can be happy now!"

Marco resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Pony Head's undeflated ego, turning his attention instead on the rest of the party and party-goers, saying brightly, "Thanks everyone!" while taking everything in. When Star said she was going to going all-out for his party, she wasn't kidding! The backyard had been transformed into a massive fiesta (complete with a mariachi band) all forms of decorations coated the area: balloons, streamers, banners, the works. Marco even spotted a box of fireworks set off to the side, which gave him an uneasy feeling as he worried Mariposa or Meteora might find it and Mewni knew those girls and dangerous explosions didn't mix. The hooded teen also spotted a huge object hidden under a tarp and Marco felt his interest peak again, curious what other surprises Star possibly had in store for him.

Finally, his eyes landed on a table set up in the grass with more presents than Marco thought he had ever seen before in his life, especially at one of his birthday parties. Until right then, Marco hadn't realized just how many friends he had made the last couple of years and seeing the sheer amount of gifts brought a tear to his eye, touched that so he had so many people caring about him now. The hooded boy felt deep gratitude fill his chest as he knew it was Star he had to thank for this, without her, he never would have met half the people standing here before him and the others he probably never would have had the courage to talk to if it weren't for his wonderful, amazing girlfriend.

Speaking of which... the boy did a quick scan of the smiling faces that surrounded him, looking for a flash of golden hair or shimmering blue eyes but spotted neither, Star completely absent it seemed from his sight. Marco frowned, turning to Tom and asking, "Uh, where's Star?"

Before the purple-skinned boy could get out a word, Jackie spoke up, telling Marco helpfully, "She said she left something at her house and needed to go get it."

"But she told us to go ahead and start celebrating without her," Janna pitched in.

"Oh," Marco said, unable to keep the disappointment from leaking into his voice. He had been hoping Star would be there so he could thank her for the party. Plus, it just felt weird celebrating without her there, everything a little less bright without her beautiful smile to help brighten his spirits. He and Star had been practically attached at the hip since they had started dating. Not that he was complaining, every second he spent with Star felt like a fairytale and filled him with a warmth that only his bestie could provide. He truly did love her.

"Don't worry, dearie, I'm certain she'll be back soon," Eclipsa reassured him as her and her husband moved to where they were standing next to him, Globgore's beefy arm draped around her shoulder as he gave the boy a sympathetic smile, while their daughter squirmed, trying to get to her best friend who she had spotted in Rafael's arms.

The boy gave the ancient queen and Monster a thin smile, before confessing, "Thanks it's just weird not having her around." He rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly, as he hesitantly added, "I know it's stupid, but ever since I thought I lost her forever it's been hard... being apart, y'know?"

Eclipsa and Globglore shared a knowing look, momentary sadness flooding their features, before they turned back to the hooded teen, Globgore telling him softly, "Probably better than anyone else, Marco." The queen laid her head on his shoulder and the Monster quickly returned the affection by tightening his embrace, bringing the love of his life closer to his side.

Meteora, though, had finally had enough, letting out a loud cry to gain their attention and the three looked down at the baby with surprise. "What is it, Meteora?"

The half-Monster child began fighting in her mother's arms, her small hands reaching out toward the Diaz's. Eclipsa, quickly picking up on her daughter's needs, set the child down on the grass, where she immediately began crawling away, her little devil's tail waving back and forth like crazy. Rafael, seeing the child approaching put Mariposa down as well, the girl able to walk the few steps over to Meteora before falling, but she wrapped her arms around her best friend as she did, pulling her into an adorable hug that had both families and most the crowd awwing at the adorable display.

Tom, seeing his friend successfully distracted and no longer thinking about Star, turned to Ferguson and Alfonso and gave them a short nod, signaling them it was time to begin. The two gave a quick salute before running off to go grab Marco's next surprise, while Tom just came up behind Marco and put a hand on his back. "So Marco, I hope you're ready," he began and the hooded teen raised a worried eyebrow at his friend.

"Why? What's happening?" he asked, knowing that any sentence that started like that couldn't be good. He knew from personal experience.

"Oh, nothing..." Tom continued, trying to act nonchalant but Marco could easily see he was just trying to stall for something. "Just a little surprise Star cooked up."

"In this case literally," Janna suddenly spoke, appearing beside him out of nowhere and causing both boys to let out a cry of surprise.

"Janna, don't sneak up on people like that," Marco scolded her.

"Yeah, you might end up giving someone a heart attack," Tom added, busy panting while he clutching a hand over his racing heartbeat.

The creepy girl didn't look even slightly sorry as she simply shrugged the whole thing off, only responding with an emotionless, "Eh, whatever."

Marco frowned but rather than engage in a pointless argument with Janna, he instead decided to focus on Janna's earlier line. "Wait, what did you mean by 'literally'?" the hooded teen asked, raising a curious eyebrow at the girl.

The beanie-wearing teen immediately pointing somewhere behind the two boys, telling Marco, "See for yourself."

And as Marco did just that, his jaw almost hit the floor as he spotted the giant, multi-layered chocolate cake coated in small little pieces of candy, it seemed, which all glittered in the sunlight and was decorated with 16 identical candles which were not lit with flames but were instead shooting off miniature fireworks. The boy's eyes shimmered as he stared starry-eyed at the delicious looking dessert being slowly and meticulously carried in by Ferguson, Alfonso, Oscar, and Sensai. "Is that... for me?" Marco asked, his eyes never once leaving the cake as he watched the four guys straining to carry the heavy treat another step.

"Yep, only the best for you, buddy," Tom said with a smile, wrapping an arm around his friend's shoulder.

"What's that stuff all over it?" the hooded teen questioned.

"Star insisted we cover it with bits of Captain Blanches Sugar Seeds since it's your favorite cereal," Janna explained.

"So wait, you mean she made this herself?" Marco gasped out. Since when did Star become such a good cook?

"We all pitched in, but Star was in charge of making sure you'd like it," Tom explained. "She said it was more personal if your friends made it, instead of someone else."

At those words, Marco felt his eyes well up with tears, unable to stop the goofy grin from invading his face as he was once again left amazed by something his girlfriend had done. Star was just too good to him sometimes. Just when he thought she couldn't get any sweeter or more incredible she managed to outdo herself and the boy felt a deep, tender warmth spread through him as he once again wondered to himself how he had gotten so lucky as to meet a girl like Star. "It's perfect," the boy whispered, his voice cracking against his will.

"Marco, are you crying?" Tom asked in concern.

The boy sniffed and wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his sleeve. "Maybe just a little." Tom and Janna shared a knowing grin before both patted their friend gently on the back. After that, the group just watched in silence as Globgore stepped over to help the struggling humans, taking mercy on them as he lent his strength to the effort. The Monster grew some in size so he was able to easily lift the massive cake from the weak human's arms, before single-handedly moving it over to the large table without breaking a sweat, Eclipsa fawning over him every step of the way. The others could only gawk in surprise and awe, Sensai even muttering under his breath, "Whoa, I think I just met my new hero."

Marco, Tom, and Janna went over to the Monster king once he was done, the hooded teen telling him gratefully, "Thanks Globgore, I really appreciate it."

"Anytime, Marco," the Monster said, shrinking down to his normal size, before stepping back and allowing the boy to get a closer look at his cake. It was even more enormous up close, towering over Marco and for a moment the Latino worried there was more there than even a whole crowd of people could finish. As he looked closer at the cake he noticed the inscription written in frosting, lining a few of the layers, reading, "Happy Birthday, Marco! Blow out the candles for an extra special surprise."

Marco's eyebrow slowly raised at that, wondering what that could possibly mean. These were clearly magical candles (hence why fireworks were bursting out of them every two seconds) which meant he had no clue what blowing them out could possibly result in. Really it could be anything, heck the cake could even explode for all Marco knew.

"So hey, Marco, you should hurry up and blow out those candles, don't you think?" Tom asked awkwardly, poorly trying to act nonchalant and cool but he failed miserably, only confirming to Marco that they were definitely up to something.

The boy shot his friend a suspicious look but was stopped from saying anything as a hand was suddenly on his arm and he turned to Jackie giving him a smooth smile, as she told him, "Yeah dude, do it. I wanna get me some of that cake."

Marco couldn't help but chuckle as the girl raised a clenched fist dramatically. Jackie was still just as cool and awesome to hang out with as ever, one of the few things he was glad had stayed the same since Earthni's creation. He was thankful that the two of them had been able to stay friends.

The birthday boy's thoughts were interrupted as an arm wrapped around his shoulders, Janna saying in a warning tone, "But seriously you should really hurry up and blow out those candles."

"Why?" Marco asked, even knowing he wasn't going to get an answer. It was a surprise, after all.

"Just trust us, dude," Tom spoke up, while the hooded teen was gently pushed forward so he was now in primary position for blowing out the candles. The boy let out a sigh, knowing there was no getting around this, he had to blow out the candles... whatever the consequences. So, Marco just sucked in a deep breath, preparing his lungs for what he needed to do, before blowing as hard as he could in the direction of the sparkling candles. The magical flames went out in less than a second and the boy couldn't help but smile to himself at his accomplishment. But then out of nowhere the cake suddenly exploded, coating Marco head to toe in cake frosting, as well as the rest of the crowd, all except Janna and Tom who pulled out matching umbrellas holding them up in front of them to block the messy explosion.

To say Marco was caught off-guard by this was an understatement, the boy was paralyzed with surprise, his eyes wide as he just stood there dumbfounded. But to his greater shock (if that was even possible) what was once a mega-sized cake now stood his one and only girlfriend, Star Butterfly, Marco watched mesmerized as the top layer of cake landed perfectly on her head, somehow staying balanced up there.

"Wha-Wha-Whaaa," was all Marco was able to stutter out, before Star suddenly shouted, "Surprise!" She threw her arms wide, doing a little jazz hand flourish as her shimmering gaze studied his face. "Bet you weren't expecting that, were you?"

The hooded teen only dumbly shook his head. The girl did a little fist pump, whispering in celebration, "Yes, nailed it!" But as the girl stopped and looked around at her family and friends coated head to toe in cake mix she cringed, a guilty look on her face. She turned to Tom and Janna, chuckling nervously as she said with a sheepish grin, "Oops, guess I put in a little too many exploding berries into the mixture."

"You think?" Tom said sarcastically.

Marco was still just paralyzed in shock, staring wide-eyed at his girlfriend taking in her new appearance. She had apparently changed outfits while she was away, her hair now tied up into pigtails with twin buns on either side of her head both of which seemed to have unlit sparklers in them. Her devil horns had been replaced with a yellow headband that had stars rather than horns.

She wore a short sleeve dress with a pink top and a red and blue striped skirt. The side of the skirt had a yellow firework design. Around her neck hung a red heart necklace that seemed to gleam in the sunlight and her left arm had a star bracelet that matched her headband. Her leggings were now pure white and she had on dark blue boots with butterfly patterns on the front of them.

But the strangest sight of all though (and that was saying something) was the giant purple cigar in the girl's mouth, which had sparkles, magic dust, popcorn and all manners of things shooting out of it and the boy couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the weird-looking object.

"Star, what's going on?" the boy asked, his head still spinning with questions. "Why were you inside my cake?"

"Oh I saw it in a movie once and I wanted to try it out," the girl said nonchalantly, her voice slightly muffled by the cigar. She took the cake off her head and set it down on a plate next to her, before turning back to the boy with her hands on her hips, trying to judge his shocked reaction. Marco, meanwhile, just asked the next of many questions he now had, "Well, what's with the cigar?"

"Well, first of all, this isn't just any cigar," she began, pointing to it with a bright grin still on her face.

"Think he gathered that," Tom whispered to Janna, the two sharing a small chuckle.

Star ignored them, though, explaining, "This is a mystical razzle-dazzle cigar! It's a tradition on Mewni for boys to have one on their sixteenth birthday. They say the light that comes from it helps them to bring good fortune for the rest of their lives."

"Wait, then why do you have it?" the boy asked.

"I'm just testing it out to make sure it works," the girl explained. "Plus, it makes me look super cool!" Star struck a dramatic pose, while Marco laughed at his adorable bestie, finally recovering from his shock as he just enjoyed being near his girlfriend. "Well that's not entirely true since you look cool all the time, Star," Marco told her with a flirty look and the girl seemed to melt.

"Aww Marco," she gushed, before leaping off the table and wrapping her arms around Marco's neck, holding him in one of her signature tight hugs. The boy froze up for only a second, afraid one of the bright sparkles would set him on fire or something. But nothing happened, Star careful to turn her head in a direction so that the stream of magic that seemed to be coming from the cigar wouldn't hit him.

"So what did you think?!" she asked him, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Did you like your surprise?" The hooded teen couldn't help but laugh as he gave the girl a gentle squeeze around her small frame, burying his head into her shoulder. "I loved it," he replied softly, kissing her softly on the cheek.

"Aww, Marco I'm so glad!" she squealed in delight. She pulled out of the hug, before plucking the cigar out of her mouth and sticking it into his, causing the boy to blush bright red, as he became distinctly aware that his had been inside Star's mouth not a moment before. "Oops, almost forgot to give this to you."

"Um, thanks Star but I-" the boy began, having trouble speaking around the massive cigar but was interrupted as the girl gave him another tight hug, her head now leaning against his chest, nearly causing him to lose all the air in his lungs as he let out a strangled cough. Star didn't notice this though as she just started rambling to him, "Oh wow, Marco, you look awesome! I was so worried I wouldn't be able to find one of those for your birthday after the whole... y'know magical dimension getting destroyed. But luckily, it looks like only the spells and stuff like that were destroyed, while a lot of the magical objects and things are still around and work just fine. Which is great, since those aren't really all that dangerous. So anyways, what do you think of it? Isn't it sooo pretty?"

Seeing the twinkle in Star's eye, made Marco pause, as he looked down at the stream of glitter and bright lights coming from the thing sticking out of his mouth. It was really pretty he had to admit. And Star did seem to trust it? Maybe he should just relax. Earth and Mewni were permanently linked now, he should probably get used to stuff like this. Even without magic being provided from the magical dimension, it was still a pretty crazy and hectic place to live. "It does look pretty cool," Marco told her, giving her a small smile, well as best he could, his eyes having to do most of the conveying. His eyes were quickly drawn back to the cigar, though, as he just watched the colorful display. "What's all in this, anyways?"

"Oh y'know, just a bunch of magical stuff," Star told him waving her hand nonchalantly in front of her.

"So, uh, what's with the popcorn, then?" Marco asked, raising an eyebrow as he pointed to the small fluffy kernels that repeatedly fell out of the cigar along with the magic stream with a noisy pop.

"Oh, what that," the girl said, before explaining to him matter-of-factly, "That's because the whole thing is just a corn on the cob wrapped in corn husks and magic and other stuff."

"Huh, neat," the boy said. That didn't surprise him too much... what with Mewmans bizarre and slightly unhealthy obsession with the vegetable.

"So the cigar is really cool and all and not that I don't appreciate it but well... you think maybe you could put it out for now so I can maybe actually eat my cake instead of getting covered in it," he asked, the slight teasing in his tone causing Star to giggle sheepishly as she looked around at the damage to the crowd and even her own now chocolate-covered dress.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Guess my baking skills still aren't what I want them to be," she told him with a hesitant smile. This quickly turned back into a grin, though as she added, "But hey, look on the bright side, now you smell great!" She leaned closer, gently sniffing his hoodie before giving him a satisfying grin. "Mmm, chocolate, the perfect fragrance!" Marco just rolled his eyes, shaking his head at his wonderful girlfriend's antics, a twinkle in his eye as he was just happy to have her near.

The girl did oblige his request, taking the cigar out of his mouth and expertly putting it out, before slipping it into the pocket of his hood to wait to be used later, her mind already scheming how to re-lit the cigar later, since she had to be sure to keep Marco impressed. She was still hoping to make this the best birthday imaginable... which meant it was crucial everything was as cool and over-the-top as possible.

After that, towels were quickly passed around to everyone so they could all clean up before the cake was sliced and handed out to the group of friends and family, who all settled down on the grass to enjoy their meal, even if they had been covered in it a moment before. For most, it was far from the strangest birthday party they had ever been to since both Star and Marco combined always made for some sort of odd, unexpected experience. Besides being covered in cake was far from the worst thing that could have gone wrong where lit candles were involved.

Marco sat on the grass next to Star, their hands remaining constantly intertwined, the two talking and chatting like usual as they enjoyed bites of the delicious birthday treat (who knew cereal and chocolate went so well together) the blond overzealous as she went on and on about how much Marco was going to love his present since it was quote: "Super incredibly awesome" and Marco just laughed and told her he was sure he would since it was coming from, quote again: "The coolest girl in the universe". As they spoke his gaze slowly moved to his baby sister, Mariposa busy smearing her hands with cake frosting before slapping them together and creating a giant mess, mimicking her friend Meteora's example as the young half-Monster was doing the same thing... only somehow messier. The boy smiled as he watched his mom beginning to fuss over cleaning up her daughter with a wet towel, before turning his attention back on Star, taking a second to admire her unbelievably cute face as she stuffed way too much cake in her mouth at once, before asking, "Hey Star, so what exactly is that thing you have hidden under the sheet?"

"Wha-" the girl mumbled around her bite of food, her chipmunk cheeks causing Marco to once again chuckle at his girlfriend. Could she seriously get any more adorable?

"Y'know that massive thing you have just sitting over there," he explained, pointing it out to her.

Star followed his gesture, swallowing down her dessert before telling him, "Oh that thing? That's your extra super secret surprise. It's for the grand finale!" She gave him a wink that made his heart leap into his throat for a second.

Now Marco seemed even more curious, leaning closer to the girl, laying his elbow against his knee before resting his head on his hand, staring at her with a twinkle in his eye. "Oh really? Soo then you maybe want to give me a tiny hint or anything?" the boy asked, flashing her a hopeful smile.

But his girlfriend just shook her head, shooting him a playful look as she replied, "Nope. You're just gonna have to wait and see, Diaz." She gently booped his nose, which only seemed to encourage Marco as he moved in to plant a kiss on her soft lips and the blond closed her eyes to do the same.

But the boy halted, upon feeling a small hand reach into his hoodie pocket and his eyes flew open in panic as he jerked his head around to see his baby sister now holding the giant cigar in her tiny fists, shaking it around with an infectious giggle. "Ahh, no Mariposa that is not for playing with?!" he screamed, diving for the girl, intent on taking the dangerous item away from her but she was quick to crawl away, leaving the boy crashing to the ground with a loud oof. He could only watch in horror as the one-year-old reached her friend, settling down next to her as she and Meteora took turns hitting it against the ground, laughing all the while.

Marco now looked on the brink of hysteria, his face turning pale as he imagined every possible worst-case scenario in his head, only to feel Star's hands on his shoulders. He turned around to see Star smiling down at him, the simple expression enough to draw him back to reality and calm him down some. "Relax, Marco, it's totally harmless," she told him, reassuringly. She paused, for a moment rubbing thoughtfully at her chin, before adding, "Wellll, so long as you don't touch it when it's lit. Or have it near anything that might explode. Orrrr put it in the wrong way, trust me swallowing that much magic dust can't be good for you."

The boy gulped, now looking even more worried as he just held up a finger and told her in a small voice, "Be right back." The boy raced over to his sister, coaxing her to give it back to him, before sighing in relief and walking back over to join his girlfriend. As he did, he overheard River saying to his dad approvingly, "Ahh, I remember my first magical cigar! I nearly set the entire castle on fire."

"Oh my, well that's nothing compared to the time Angela and I came home to find the house completely destroyed by Star and Marco after your daughter created a hurricane above the house," Rafael replied in his typical cheerful tone. "It took us all weekend to clean up the mess." There was a pause before the two dads shared a hearty laugh, while Marco resisted the urge to roll his eyes. How could they seriously joke about stuff like that?

When the boy finally got back to where Star was his mouth dropped open to see Janna now sitting in his spot, Tom's arm draped around her shoulder, giving him a sheepish expression as his girlfriend was finishing the last bite of Marco's cake. "JANNA!" the boy screamed furiously, his hands clenched and shaking at his sides as he glared at the beanie-wearing girl.

"What? You weren't finishing it," Janna said with an uncaring shrug of her shoulders.

"I was going to," Marco said with an exasperated sigh.

"Sorry, dude, I tried to stop her," Tom told him nervously. "But y'know how Janna can be sometimes?"

The hooded teen just pinched the bridge of his nose, before saying, "Yes Tom, I'm well aware of just what Janna is capable of."

"Don't worry Marco, you can have the last bite of mine, okay?" Star told him, offering him her plate of half-eaten cake. The boy smiled taking the plate before sitting down next to Star, picking up a bite with his fork before offering it to her instead. "Okay, but only if you let me share it with you," he told her sweetly.

Star blushed but eagerly took the bite of cake off his fork, Marco doing the same thing for himself. The two just enjoyed chewing their dessert while leaning their heads against one another as they cuddled lovingly for a few minutes.

Tom and Janna simultaneously gagged at the sight, the former saying, "Man, am I glad we aren't that kind of couple."

"Yeah, me too," his girlfriend agreed. "Sappy stuff just isn't my style."

"Really," Tom asked in a teasing tone, wagging a knowing eyebrow at her. "Cause you were pretty sappy back when you first asked me out or did you forget that you started crying when I said yes?" The boy had a proud smile on his lips at the memory that was until Janna reminded him with an emotionless deadpan, "Actually Tom, you were the one who started crying."

The boy's whole body seemed to deflate at the memory. "Oh," he said in a tiny voice.

"And then you started blushing like crazy when I kissed you," Janna continued, every word causing Tom's face to grow a brighter and brighter shade of purple. "And you cried at that movie we watched-"

"Yeah okay!" Tom whispered harshly, slapping a hand over his girlfriend's mouth to keep her from embarrassing him any further, looking around in a panic to make sure nobody overheard. Realizing it was safe, though he let out a sigh of relief and removed his hands, before shooting Janna a scolding glare. "Let's not talk about that where everyone can hear us, please?"

"Suit yourself," the girl said with a shrug, but the smirk on her lips was unmistakable proof that she had been enjoying messing with him... as usual.

…

A short while later, Marco found himself with a mountain of presents to open, making his way slowly but diligently through the stack, box after box ripped apart as he gushed and fawned over each and every one of the special gifts his friends had all gotten him. Star the whole time hovered around him, seemingly trying to make sure he was enjoying himself at all times. The moment things started to lag, usually when Marco was taking the time to thank someone for his gift, the blond would immediately fling the next present into this hand, wanting to as she put it, "Keep things as exciting as possible!" Marco had his suspicions though, that it had more to do with the fact that Star had insisted she go last and her impatience was getting the best of her, wanting to hurry things along so she could give him her gift.

Still, Marco wasn't too fazed by this, enjoying unwrapping every single gift he was given. Jackie and Chloe had given him a cool looking beret that the skater said would make him look 'cooler than ever', which Star had agreed while instantly gushing the moment he put it on. River had given the boy a giant leg of meat which Marco wasn't sure he wanted to know what creature he had hunted down to get that for him. Moon had given him a much more practical gift of a wallet, but to the boy's surprise, it was colored plum, which turned out to be because Star had explained to her mom the whole incident in Quest Buy. Eclipsa and Globgore got the boy a beautiful looking badge that was inscribed with the symbol of the Mewman's most elite knights, proof of the hard work he had put in. Pony, being Pony gave him an autographed picture of herself and had been sure to make sure the whole thing was being recorded for the next episode of 'The Pony Head Show'. Oscar had given him a card, Alfonso and Ferguson had given him a new die for their favorite game, and Sensai gave him his entire collection of the "How to Karate" VHS series since he had been insistent Marco go for his black belt now that he was back on Earthni, even though he probably knew more about combat than anything those tapes could provide him. His parents got him a new fanny pack with the words "Best Big Brother Ever" sewed onto it which had made Marco tear up and give both of his parents a hug over.

Finally, that just left two more gifts on the table, one from Tom and one from Star. The hooded teen carefully picked up the first one, not taking too much time to pause and study it (seeing Star's eager grin out of the corner of his eye) before he tore through the thin wrapping paper and found himself gawking at the gift hidden underneath the layers. The boy gasped, his eyes shimmering as he said in a voice shaking with excitement, "The Mackie Hand limited edition, complete collector's box set including the original Swedish versions and with additional never-before-seen deleted scenes!" The boy clutched the present close to his chest, before exclaiming, "I love it! It's just what I wanted!"

"I knew you'd say that," Tom said with a wink, looking quite proud of his purchase.

"Thank you so much, Tom!" the boy shouted gratefully, hugging his friend tightly.

"Hey, what about me?" Janna pointed out, crossing her arms in front of her chest in annoyance.

"Uhh, what do you mean?" Marco asked in confusion.

"Duh, this gift if from Tom and me," the creepy teen explained as if the answer should be obvious.

"Yeah, we decided it would be best if we went on a joint gift for you," Tom added, shooting his girlfriend a loving smile.

"Oh really, why's that?" the hooded teen inquired, looking between his two friends for an answer.

"Well for starters Tom knows you better than I do, so I figured he was guaranteed to get you something you'd like," Janna admitted honestly, lightly elbowing her boyfriend's arm and shooting him a wink.

"Aw, come on Janna don't say that," Marco began, not wanting his friend to be so harsh on herself. "I'm sure I would have loved whatever you would have-"

Tom loudly cleared his throat from next to him, interrupting the boy and he turned to see his friend violently shaking his head and mouthing the word 'no'. The teen then stared back over at Janna and seeing the creepy grin slowly spreading across her face, suddenly remembered who was dealing with, swallowing loudly. "Actually, y'know, I think I'm good with just the... Mackie Hand stuff. Thanks," he awkwardly squeaked out, his eyes shifting hesitantly between the couple.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best," Janna said with a quick shrug. "My gift probably would have given you a heart attack or something."

Tom leaned closer to Marco so he could whisper dramatically into his ear, "She's not lying, dude. I saw her present myself and trust me... you dodged a bullet there."

"Okay, time for my present!" Star screamed hyperly, literally appearing between the two and shoving the present into her boyfriend's hands. Marco, struggling to process what had just happened, stood their dumbfounded for a second while Star practically bounced on the balls of her feet, waiting impatiently for him to unwrap her gift. "Open it, open it, open it!" the blond began chanting, losing any and all semblances of restraint/sanity as she continued to move closer and closer to the boy, until she was squeezing his cheeks between her hands, her eyes shimmering like her namesake. Marco couldn't help but laugh at his girlfriend, this was probably the craziest he had seen her in a long while, he hadn't realized just how much more reserved she had become in the couple of years he had known her. Now though, it was like the old hyper Star had returned full force and he was glad to see his bestie could let loose sometimes and still be the wild, amazing girl he had first fallen for.

"Okay, okay Star, you can stop now, I'm opening it," Marco said, still laughing at his girlfriend's antics, while gently pushing her hands away so he could concentrate on his present. Star did as Marco asked, lowering her hands back to her sides, but her goofy grin persisted as she watched her boyfriend's every move with intense but shimmering eyes, not daring to blink in case she missed a second of her bestie's reaction. Marco looked down at the present in his hands and couldn't help but smile at his girlfriend's wrapping attempt, although it was no doubt sealed in layer upon layer of tape and paper, he could still clearly see from the size and shape that it was a sword. He began to steadily unwrap the gift, moving slowly and delicately despite Star's intense watch on him, not wanting to accidentally cut his hand open on the sharp blade, while thinking to himself how thoughtful it was for Star to get him a new sword. He had been sadly without one since giving up El Choppo for Nachos and he had badly been wanting a new one. And of course, his awesome bestie would know exactly what to get him, at this point she probably knew him better than he knew himself.

But somehow Star had still managed to surprise Marco with her gift. The hooded teen discovering this the moment he ripped off the last of the paper and stared open-mouthed at the sword held in his hands. The blade was made of a thin piece of metal perfectly shaped to more closely resemble the blade of a scissor, while the handle was made of a smooth, turquoise blue material that Marco would recognize anywhere, the now black crystal embedded in the center of a circular base along with the bat wings protruding out of either side, giving it away in an instant. It was Marco's wand, converted to act as both guard and grip for his new weapon and the boy had to blink a few times just to make sure he was seeing it right. "I-Is this..." Marco began softly but found he was at a loss for words due to the lump in his throat.

But he didn't need to finish for Star to understand, nodding her head vigorously as she squealed, "Yep! I've been saving it ever since the Cleaving, I wanted to make it into something special for you and this just made sense to me. Figured this way we could actually get some use out of that thing after all the trouble it caused." She frowned for a second before the smile returned as bright as ever. "And now whenever you use this sword, you'll remember when we first got together."

Marco laughed, pulling his girlfriend into a tight hug as he told her sweetly, "I don't think I could ever forget that, but I love the sword, Star. Thanks! You're the best bestie a guy could ever have!"

"Aww, Marco," Star cooed, squeezing the boy tightly back. "You're the best, too!" For a moment the two just clung tightly onto each other, neither wanting to break their hold as they just silently enjoyed being this close to one another. Finally, though, Star broke the silence as she asked the boy in a whisper, "You know what would make this even better?"

"What?" Marco asked in a blissful sigh. He felt like he was in heaven being able to hug Star like this and he couldn't imagine anything making this moment any better. But suddenly, Star pulled out of the hug, flashing him a loving smile that caused several of the Latino's brain cells to fry. The blond leaned in close and he could feel his cheeks growing hot as he realized there was a kiss heading his way. He closed his eyes and puckered his lips as he waited for Star's lips to meet his. Only to rear back in surprise when something was instead shoved into his mouth and his eyes flew open to see Star grinning ear to ear and the magical cigar now trapped between his lips. "Give you back your super awesome cigar!" Star shouted, her enthusiasm and energy now reaching an all-time high.

Marco, however, could only stare down in shock at the object, wondering how his girlfriend had managed to catch him off-guard with this, especially since he hadn't even felt Star pull it out of his pocket in the first place. But the blond took advantage of his momentary distraction as she suddenly pulled out a brightly lit sparkler from seemingly nowhere, while shouting, "Now hold still while I light this baby up!"

This managed to snap Marco back to reality as he shouted out (or more like mumbled out since the cigar was really hard to talk around), "Wait, what?!" But he didn't dare move as his girlfriend dramatically flung the sparkler outward, holding it up to the end of the cigar. After a couple of seconds, the cigar came to life as the same array of sparkles, dust and popcorn began shooting out of it and Star smiled proudly at her accomplishment, putting her hands to her hips as she admired her work. "Yes, now that's more like it!"

Marco gazed thoughtfully down at the cigar, before asking, "And you're sure it's not too... showy?"

"Of course not," Star loudly exclaimed, giving the boy a loving smile. "It's your birthday, Marco. You deserve to show off a little!"

Tom seemed to look over to them at that exact moment and he gave his best friend an approving nod, shouting encouragingly, "Looking good, Marco!"

"Yeah, pretty cool, dude!" Jackie added via yell, giving the boy a wink and thumbs up. And Marco couldn't help but blush at the praise.

"See, Marco? You look awesome," Star said, gesturing over to the two with a confident smile.

Marco didn't respond, his cheeks turning red with a blush but a smile now spread across his face (not that it could be seen past the massive cigar). He really appreciated the effort Star was putting in for him, still finding his girlfriend's antics as enduring as ever. She really was going above and beyond to give him a perfect party and he couldn't imagine what he had done to deserve someone as special as Star in his life. Sure her methods were a bit extreme and over the top but that was just one of the many, many things he loved about her.

Still, he was a little disappointed he hadn't gotten a kiss from her after all, but there was still plenty of time for that. Something told him the party was far from over yet.

And this hunch was correct, as Star suddenly shouted to the other party-goers, "Alright, guys, who's ready for some fireworks!" to which everyone loudly cheered.

Marco smiled as he watched his girlfriend happily bounce over to where she had the fireworks stashed, scooping up a bunch from the pile and bringing them over to Marco. She plopped them down on the ground, before looking up at her boyfriend with an eager grin, saying, "Alright, Marco are you ready?"

The birthday boy froze, not quite sure what Star meant by that. "Ready for what?" he asked in confusion.

But he got his answer a second later as Star suddenly held up one of the fireworks, where a quick spark from the cigar lit up the end of the fuse and the blond released the rocket, sending it streaking up into the air. This was soon followed by a loud bang and an explosion of beautiful colors, causing everyone around to ooh and aww at the sight, some even clapping at the display. "Wait, are we using the cigar to light these?!" Marco shouted in surprise, pointing down at the pile of highly dangerous, explosive devices.

"Of course," Star replied as if the answer was obvious. "What else would we use?"

"Uhh, how about the demon boy who can literally light himself on fire?" Marco reminded the girl.

Star shook her head, saying, "Nah, Tom gets to do this kind of stuff all the time, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Marco! Come on, don't you want to live a little dangerously?!" The girl clenched her hand into a dramatic fist, flashing the boy an excited smile that melted the boy's heartstrings in an instant.

The hooded teen let out a sigh. It was hard to argue with Star, especially when she was so enthusiastic and eager about something, Marco wanting nothing more than to keep that look of joy on her face. Plus, he had been missing some danger lately, without real magic existing things had just been kinda mediocre, something he hadn't experienced a day of since the moment Star walked into his life and it was jarring and weird. Sure, it was never a dull moment with Star but things felt unnaturally slow and mild in comparison to the life he and Star had been living on Mewni. A part of him kinda missed the chaos and he would be lying if he said he didn't find the prospect of danger exciting.

"Okay, you win, let's do this!" Marco exclaimed and Star clapped in joy.

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Star cheered.

The two spent the next several minutes lighting the fireworks together, the sky soon filled with the steady bursting of bright colors and lights, the crowd all enjoying the show as they watched the brilliant display. Marco and Star took turns setting each firework off, Marco either maneuvering his cigar over them or Star holding a fuse up for him to light. The two were having a fantastic time setting rocket after rocket off, laughing and just having a great time together and for a moment it felt like the good old days when it was just the two of them fighting Monsters and goofing off as best friends, almost as if no time had passed at all, days, weeks and years melting away until it was just Star and Marco, besties against the world.

"Heeeyyy Marco, bet you can't light one off in mid-air!" Star challenged the boy, tossing a rocket up and down in the air in a show-offy way and the boy smiled and dropped into a ready stance.

"Bring it on, Butterfly!" he replied playfully. Star grinned before throwing the firework his way and Marco watched it closely as it descended. He took a step back, letting the rocket fall directly in front of him and kicked a leg out, catching it on the end of his foot and sending it flying upward. The boy wasted no time as he quickly grabbed onto the cigar still in his mouth, allowing him to aim it right at the firework, a sudden burst of magic hitting the fuse at just the right angle and setting it ablaze. Star watched in wide-eyed wonder and amazement as the now-lit firework zipped away into the sky, going off in a beautiful explosion of blues and purples.

"Top that," Marco said smugly, shooting his girlfriend a victorious grin and Star gave him a teasing glare back.

"Alright fine," Star retorted, suddenly pulling out duel rocket, both attached to a ridiculously long fuse, from behind her back and saying, "Hit me up, Diaz!"

The boy obeyed, stepping over and lighting the end of the fuse with his cigar. Star waited a few seconds as the fuse grew shorter and shorter until finally she held both out directly in front of her and screamed, "Duel Rocket Blast!" letting both go at the last second before they shot forward sailing over the heads of the memorized crowd before exploding into a barrage of pinks and reds, all of them in the shape of a heart.

Marco nodded approvingly. "Pretty cool, pretty cool," he commented and Star bowed over and over again in front of him.

"Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all day," the girl said dramatically and her boyfriend giggled. "And now for my next trick..." Star began and Marco gave her a confused look as she carefully placed a stick of dynamite in between her lips.

"Uh, Star, what are you-" the boy began to question only to cut himself short as Star out of nowhere leaned closer, causing Marco to freeze and his cheeks to flush bright red from the close contact. He didn't dare move or even breath as his girlfriend leaned in more and more, until the tip of her firework touched the end of his cigar, effectively making the two objects "kiss". There was a second of silence, Marco just shockingly staring into Star's mischievous blue. Then the dynamite's fuse suddenly sparked to life, a small trail of fire quickly burning away at the explosive. Marco was about to shout something to Star, when the girl simply leaned her head back and spat the firework out, letting it sail over their heads before exploding with a small pop.

"There, now I'm done," Star said, proudly puffing out her chest.

"You know that was incredibly dangerous, don't you?" Marco asked in a near scolding tone, an eyebrow slowly rising.

Star just scoffed, waving her arm as if dismissing the accusation altogether. "Oh, please, I used to be magic, remember?

"Emphasis on the 'used to be'," Marco pointed out and Star gave him a tiny frown.

"The point is, I can handle a few minor explosives," Star continued, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She gave Marco a flirting smile as she added playfully, "Besides, this coming from the guy who was stabbed by a unicorn and just walked it off like it was nothing."

Marco flushed, coughing once into his hand as he muttered under his breath, "Well that was different."

"Sure it was," the blond said with a knowing wink.

The hooded teen began looking around for a way to change the subject, stopping a small pile of fireworks all marked, "Warning: Extremely loud". A mischievous grin spread across his face, rubbing his hands together in anticipation as he said, "Alright, now it's my turn." He quickly set them all up, sticking each one into the ground, before tying their fuses together, he then moved both him and Star far enough back so that he didn't have to risk himself or his girlfriend being blown up. He then set the fuse on fire, covering his ears and Star quickly following his example as they watched the fuse slowly maneuver over to the waiting rockets. Each of them were then sent streaking up into the sky, where they all went off in a fantastic cascade of explosions and the crowd let out a cheer of joy. Star's eyes shimmered as she just grinned up at the beautiful flash of colors, Marco watching her reaction closely and feeling his heart race over how adorable she looked right then. There really was no one quite like Star and the birthday boy felt perfectly content just being able to sit next to her.

Finally, though the last of the fireworks went off in a burst of spiraling blues, leaving the sky empty and eerily silent. A cheer rang out from the crowd of party-goers, all of them clapping for the entertaining display (well all except Pony Head, who had no hands). "Wow, that was awesome, Marco!" Star cried, giving the boy a quick hug around the waist.

"Thanks," Marco said while standing, before offering his girlfriend a hand up as well, which Star eagerly took. Once the two were both on their feet, they both found themselves just staring into the other's eyes, Marco not yet releasing his bestie's hand. The moment seemed to last a lifetime (as their moments together often did), Marco trying to memorize every detail of Star's face, until finally, the blond asked in a loving coo, "So now what are we gonna do?"

Marco shrugged, his eyes still not leaving Star's as he responded in a similar flirting tone, "I don't know, what do you want to do?"

"Hmmm, well I think I have an idea," Star said, tapping a finger to her chin in pretend thought.

"And what's that?" Marco asked, leaning an inch closer to the girl.

"Welll, how about..." Star began softly, only to scream at the top of her lungs, "You light this rocket I have strapped to my back!!"

"What?!" Marco exclaimed, finally breaking off eye contact as he realized that Star was telling the truth, she really did have a massive firework half the size of her attached to her back. How had Marco not noticed her putting that on? Had he really been so preoccupied staring at Star he had somehow missed that gigantic thing?

"Come on, Marco! Light me up I'm ready to head for the stars!!" Star shouted, poising with a fist dramatically in the air as if she were flying.

"Ooohh no, not happening!" Marco said, shooting the idea down in a heartbeat. The two had already been pushing his safety instincts with their game, but not in a million years would Marco ever willingly set off a rocket attached to his girlfriend. There was just no way that was ever going to end well.

"Oh come on, Marco, I'll be fine, I'm a Mewman, remember? I can handle my explosions," the blond pressed, the look on her face telling the birthday boy that she was not taking no for an answer.

"Yeah, except you don't have magic now, remember?" Marco argued, putting his foot down on this idea.

Star deflated a little at that, pouting as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Okay, fine," she mumbled, her cheeks puffing up in such a cute way that Marco was sure he felt a few brain cells fry just from looking at it.

"Well in that case," a voice said, appearing behind Marco, causing the sixteen-year-old to scream. He looked over his shoulder only to see the smug face of Janna, who snatched the cigar out of his mouth before he could even blink. "Mind if I have a go?"

"Hey, Janna! What are you doing?!" Marco shouted angrily over at the girl who quickly stuck the cigar into her own mouth without a second thought.

"Aw, relax, Marco," the creepy teen said, giving him a reassuring grin that did nothing to reassure Marco in the slightest. "I'm just testing this out is all."

"Oh cool," Star said, her eyes filling with hope again. "Hey Janna Banana, think you can give me a light?" The blond turned to display the rocket a little better.

"Sure thing, Star," Janna said, taking one step forward, before Marco held up a hand, blocking her from taking another step.

"For the last time, nobody is setting off any rockets that are attached to my girlfriend!" the hooded teen said in a warning tone.

Janna held up her hands in surrender taking a few steps away from him. "Suit yourself, Diaz. It's your party, after all," she said, her voice hiding a cryptic layer to it as she inched closer and closer to the remaining pile of fireworks. "I'll just have to do something even more memorable," the girl added, her evil grin now obvious.

"Janna, what are you doing?" Marco asked suspiciously.

"Just this," she said with a casual shrug, before turning and letting out a big puff of the magic cigar, the resulting burst of magic landing right in the middle of the fireworks, several of the fuses already lit and depleting fast.

"Ahhhh, Janna no, get away from there," Marco screamed, running at the girl but it was too late as a huge explosion of bangs and flashes and colors were set off at once. The entire backyard soon bombarded by streaking rockets as party guests dove for cover, trying to avoid being caught up in the inevitable detonation of the air-born bombs. All except for Tom, who just sat calmly in his spot, sipping at his punch, Eclipsa and Globgore doing the same next to him. Mari and Meteora just laughed and clapped at the bright and noisy display, while Angela and Rafael did their best to shield the babies from any possible dangers.

One of the fireworks headed right for Star, who was busy gawking at the explosions open-mouthed, not noticing until it was too late as one went right into her mouth, making her swallow it in confusion. There was a short pause before Star's stomach imploded, her belly expanding and then returning to its normal size the girl standing there with a dazed look on her face.

"Star!" Marco screamed in concern, ignoring the danger as he raced over to check on his girlfriend. He grabbed her by the arms, gently shaking her as he asked in a panic, "Are you okay?! Do you have internal bleeding? Do I need to call the hospital?!"

"Marco, I'm fine," Star reassured him, gently peeling his hands off of her. "Like I said before, I'm a Mewman I can handle my explosions." Then, out of nowhere, the girl hiccuped, a puff of smoke exiting out of her mouth, before she covered it, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Marco stared at his girlfriend in shock for a second, before turning and glaring over at Janna. "And see, this is why I didn't want you messing with fireworks," he told the beanie-wearing girl.

Janna just shrugged. "Aww, come on Marco, she's fine, Star's way tougher than you're giving her credit for."

Marco sighed, massaging his forehead with his fingertips. "That's not the point, Janna," he said tiredly.

"Then what is your point?" Janna asked, raising an eyebrow. "Cause as far as I can tell I just made your party unforgettable."

"Yeah, but not for the right reasons," Star pointed out, frowning at the girl now too, putting her hands on her hips. "You could have hurt someone."

"But I didn't," Janna corrected them.

The young couple just let out a simultaneous sigh, Marco face-palming, before turning over his shoulder and shouting, "Tom, please explain to your girlfriend why doing that was stupid and dangerous."

"Um, right," Tom said, standing and approaching Janna. He stopped a few inches in front of her, ignoring the smile on her lips as he cleared his throat and said scoldingly, "Jan, that was a really risky thing you did back there, even if it did look cool."

"Tom!" Marco shouted and the boy quickly corrected himself, "I mean, what were you thinking Janna?" he wagged a disapproving finger in her direction for emphasis, but Janna seemed unfazed by any of this.

"Well to be perfectly honest I just wanted to show off for my awesome boyfriend," Janna admitted, giving the boy a flirty look.

"Awww, babe," Tom said, his cheeks flushing a dark purple as he gave his girlfriend a goofy grin, causing Star and Marco to facepalm.

"Besides, that puny thing was nothing compared to what I can really do. You should have seen the explosion me and Eclipsa set off to try and blow up Mina," Janna explained, Tom staring at the girl with a shimmering gaze.

"I love you so much right now," he whispered, putting a hand gently and lovingly on her back.

Star and Marco both sighed in defeat, before a smile spread slowly between the two, unable to stay mad at Janna when she and Tom looked so cute together. Besides, Janna was Janna, there was nothing anyone could say or do that would change that girl. "Soooo what now?" Marco asked, turning to his girlfriend in anticipation.

Star grinned mischievously, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. "Well, I think it's about time to reveal the grand finale."

"Wait, seriously?!" Marco squealed in excitement. "It's happening now!"

"Yep!" Star replied brightly. She put both hands on either side of the boy's face, moving till her face was inches from his own as she said, "So, Marco Diaz, are you ready for your big surprise!"

"Uh, heck yeah, I am!" the boy shouted, pumping his fists into the air.

"Okay then..." Star began suspensefully, before suddenly pulling out a massive, colorful foam mallet from nowhere. "Then heads up, Marco!" she screamed, before full-on smacking him with the object, the thing releasing a small squeaky sound as she did, Marco screaming as he was sent sailing harmlessly through the air. The hooded teen tried not to panic as the ground beneath him grew farther and farther away, until they vanished beneath a layer of clouds. He had just barely crested the top of one of the fluffy clouds when gravity took hold, his stomach lurching as he began his rapid descent.

Star, meanwhile, watched with pride at her skyward boyfriend, the hammer propped on her shoulder. She noticed the boy beginning his fall and quickly shouted over to where Ferguson and Alfonso stood, awaiting her orders, "Okay guys, uncover the surprise!"

The two teens grabbed the large sheet and pulled it off, revealing the giant blue cannon underneath. "Move it a little to the left!" Star shouted and the boys obeyed, pushing it into its new position.

"I don't know Star, I'd say a little to the right would be best," Tom commented and the two teens obeyed.

"Nah don't listen to him girl, it's fine where it is," Pony declared, Ferguson and Alfonso moving it back.

"Perhaps you should move it more toward the fence," Eclipsa helpfully suggested.

"No left!"

"It should be more right!"

"I'm telling you, girl, it was fine where it was in the first place."

Ferguson and Alfonso were beginning to grow weary and annoyed at all the constant directions from the bickering group, the two sending them all glares. All the while, Marco's girlish screams grew louder and ever closer.

"Would one of you make up your mind?!" Ferguson shouted.

Star looked up, quickly judging the distance before racing forward and hitting the cannon with the hammer as she yelled out, "Super Hammer Swing!" pushing it back a few inches, just before Marco landed inside. The boy took a few deep breaths (clearly out of breath), his eyes wide and his hair messier than usual.

"Surprise!!" Star screamed in excitement, her smile incapable of growing any wider, dropping the hammer and throwing a small bit of confetti into the air.

The birthday boy just blinked once in disbelief, before he asked nervously, "Uhh, Star, no offense but why am I inside a cannon? And what was with the whole hammer thing?"

"Well, first of all, I know that ever since we destroyed the magic you've been really missing going on adventures and doing quests in the Neverzone and stuff like that," Star began, the pride in her voice still as clear as day as she leaned back against the cannon, looking completely calm despite the precarious situation the love of her life was in. "So I figured why not let you re-experience the thrill of adventure again with this baby." She patted the cannon lovingly.

"And the hammer?"

"Uhh, dramatic effect," the girl replied as if the answer were obvious.

Marco sighed. Should have known. "Don't you think this is a little unsafe?" Marco asked, his safety instincts resurfacing once more.

"Ohhh no you're right, Marco," the blond agreed, her face flashing with doubt as she walked slowly over to him. "I mean what was I thinking?" she scoffed, smacking a hand against her head. Once she was in front of him, she pulled out a helmet, quickly shoving it onto his head, before saying in a sing-song voice, "There, now you're all ready to go!"

Marco looked up at the helmet once, before fixing his girlfriend with a curious stare. "Where did you get a cannon, anyways?" Marco asked, slowly raising an eyebrow.

"Mom made it," Star replied immediately.

"What?!" the hooded teen exclaimed in disbelief.

"Oh yes, she's been making the neighbors jealous with her skills, haven't you, Moonpie?" River asked, pulling his wife a bit closer.

The woman blushed, modestly replying, "Oh it's nothing more than a hobby, really."

"Aw come on, mom, this is like the coolest thing you've ever done," Star told her, before turning back to her boyfriend. "Sooo Marco, are you ready to blast off to who-knows-where?" The blond asked dramatically, her eyes glittering with joy and affection as she waited for her bestie to answer, the boy biting the inside of his lip at the adorable look on his girlfriend's face. To be honest, he wasn't all too sure about this idea (even though the thought of an adrenaline rush had his body tingling with anticipation) but he also knew that there was no way he could say no to that cute face staring back at him. So he swallowed whatever safety instincts were telling him this was a terrible idea as he simply replied, "Yes."

"Great!" Star exclaimed before skipping over to the long fuse, picking up the end and handing it over to Janna, who still had the magic cigar in her mouth. "Okay then Janna, would you do the honors?"

"Sure, why not?" the beanie-wearing teen replied with a small shrug.

"Great!" Star exclaimed. Janna took in a deep breath, filling her lungs up as much as she possibly could, leaning in closer and closer to the waiting fuse, before stopping just short of it. She gave a small little puff into the cigar, causing only a single spark of magic to spring out, which landed precisely on its target, instantly igniting it. The small flame began to eat away at the long cord, the cannon growing and expanding to almost cartoonish levels as it made ready to spit out its unwanted occupant. As the fuse continued to burn away, Star watched it with curious interest, keeping her hands pressed tightly against her ears, but the smile still never straying from her lips.

Suddenly, though, Star remembered something, shouting over to her boyfriend, "Oh, yeah and remember, Marco, the best way to avoid losing a limb is to-"

But before the girl could finish her warning there was a loud bang as the cannon fired, sending an unprepared Marco streaking through the air. The entire group gathered in the backyard all watched as the boy grew farther and farther away, hands cupped over their eyes to try and spot him better. Soon Marco was nothing but a speck in the distance, vanishing from sight with a twinkle.

"Aww and there he goes," Star muttered softly to herself, putting her hands on her hips, her body covered head to toe in soot but she didn't seem to notice.

"Um, Star," Jackie suddenly spoke up. "Don't you think Marco went up a little high?"

"Nope, he's fine. It's all going according to plan," Star replied in a heartbeat.

"Well, what about your rocket?" Jackie pointed out. "Is shooting yourself off into space also part of your plan?"

Star laughed, waving a hand in the hair as she said, "Silly Jackie, the rocket isn't even lit, so it can't possibly-" But the words died on Star's tongue as she turned and saw the rocket was indeed close to igniting, the small flame inches away from reaching the main part of the explosive. "Oh," was all the girl had time to say before flames began shooting out of the bottom of the firework and she was launched into the sky. "AHHHHH!!!" came a distant shout, before the shooting Star disappeared into the night sky with a twinkle and a flash.

Jackie watched in disbelief as her friend vanished from sight before turning to stare at Janna who had a proud smirk on her face, holding the cigar dramatically between two fingers. "Pretty sure that wasn't part of the plan," Jackie commented in a warning tone.

Janna shrugged, before quipping, "It was part of mine." The girl brought the cigar back up to her lips, adding confidently, "She can thank me later." She started to take a deep puff when the cigar suddenly exploded, a colorful burst of magic dust and burnt popcorn filling the air around the teen, Jackie taking a step back and shielding herself from the blast with a raise of her arms. Once the dust cleared, Janna was left standing, covered head to toe in soot, the tip of her beanie on fire as she just stared blankly forward, seemingly unaffected by the explosion that just went off in her face.

"Uhhh, are you okay?" Jackie asked, concerned for her friend's safety.

"Oh please, you think I haven't had things explode in my face before?" Janna asked with a scoff. "I mean, I'm dating Tom for crying out loud, I deal with stuff like this on a daily basis."

"Actually, I'd say it's more the other way around," Tom corrected her with slight annoyance.

Janna smiled mischievously, telling her boyfriend in a voice thick with flirtation, "You know you love it."

Marco, meanwhile, was floating somewhere in space, his eyes wide as he looked around in shock, his brain struggling to understand how he was breathing all the way up here. But then again, this was Earthni, it was better not to question anything, he should just be happy he hadn't suffocated. Still, as he stared down at the long drop waiting below, his keen eyes unable to even spot his house (or his entire town for that matter) from this height. He let out a long sigh, as he realized he was now faced with a serious conundrum. Sure being fired out of a cannon had been thrilling and fun (if not slightly terrifying) but once the initial adrenaline rush wore down he realized he was stuck here, hovering in the atmosphere with no way to get down. He reached slowly for his phone, intent on calling one of his friends to come and pick him up with Nachos when he heard a loud shout echoing through the stratosphere.

He recognized the voice in a heartbeat, knowing Star's sweet tone anywhere since it had permanently engraved itself into his mind, just like anything having to do with his amazing bestie. Marco smiled, listening as his girlfriend's initial cry of fear turned to one of exhilaration and delight. Looks like he wouldn't have to make that call after all. Of course Star would come and get him, his girlfriend would never leave him hanging like that and his heart pounded in his chest in anticipation for her appearance. But his heart came to a sudden stop as he did finally spot the girl and realized that she was being blasted into space via giant rocket... and she was headed right for him.

Marco screamed, flapping his arms in an awkward attempt to avoid getting hit, but it was futile as the two lovebirds collided, the rocket exploding into a giant array of colors.

Down below on Marco's backyard, Oscar noticed a flash in the sky, saying nonchalantly, "Whoa, cool. Nice explosion."

Everyone all turned to see what the boy was talking about, only to gasp in shock as they too spotted the explosion, which soon formed into a giant pink heart made of light and fire, followed by another of different shape and size and then another and then another. The crowd all gaped at the sight, before clapping and cheering at what was surely meant to be the grand finale for the event. Mariposa and Meteora both giggled and cooed at the pretty display, while their parents all hugged their respective partners close. Ferguson and Alfonso pulled out their phones, snapping pictures of the sight. River was busy stuffing down as much food at the snack table as possible while nobody was looking, while Moon just sighed in annoyance. Pony was giving over-exaggerated expressions with Seahorse's camera posed on her. Jackie and Tom both looked up with concern at the colorful display, the skater asking, "Do you think they're okay?"

"I'm sure their fine, those two have handled way worse," Tom pointed out and Jackie nodded in agreement, a smile finally spreading across her face. Next to them Janna was nodding in satisfaction, seeming pleased with the results from her efforts, "And see, this is exactly why you guys should trust me with stuff more often. I just did Star a huge favor!"

"How is almost blowing her and her boyfriend up a favor?" Tom asked with a raised eyebrow.

Janna rolled her eyes before explaining, "She wanted this party to be as memorable and over-the-top as possible, right? Well, what's more memorable than that." The girl jabbed a finger in the direction of the quickly fading explosion. She crossed her arms smugly in front of her chest before adding, "Plus, those two even get some alone time together. So I'd call this a win-win."

Jackie and Tom shared a look as they realized that Janna was actually right. And neither were quite sure how to process this. Suddenly, Janna appeared between them, putting her arms around their shoulders as she led them over to the snack table, saying, "Now come on, guys. Let's grab some of Mr. Diaz's food before Star's dad eats it all."

…

Star and Marco said nothing for a moment, as they just floated gently next to each other, both forms now fully coated in soot and ash. Their eyes were wide as they stared blankly ahead, not even aware of their weightlessness, as they just hovered there. They were so out of it that neither saw a small laser puppy float by them, yapping happily or an open and empty chip bag sail past. Finally, the young couple's eyes met and they burst out into laughter a second later.

The two stayed like that for a few minutes, their chuckles growing louder and more rambunctious with every passing second until tears were falling from their eyes and Star was clutching her stomach, making her spin around in a lazy circle. Their giggles filled the void, causing their own voices to echo back at them, which only made them laugh harder, finding their partner's chuckles infectious.

Finally, the two were able to get a hold of themselves, their laughter slowly dying down into nothing more than breathless gasps as they struggled to breathe normally again. "Oh man, that was so exciting!" Star screamed, pumping her fists into the air.

Marco chuckled again, finding his girlfriend's enthusiasm as enduring as ever, "Yeah, I gotta admit that was pretty fun, even if it did get a little scary back there when you came at me with that rocket."

"Aw, come on, Marco. Did you really think I would attach something that dangerous to my back? You know me better than that at this point," Star told him and the hooded teen smiled, reaching out a hand to her.

"Yeah, guess I do," Marco replied, his cheeks tinged pink.

Star grabbed his hand and allowed him to pull her in close until they were in a tight hug, their bodies wrapped warmly and snugly around each other, slowly rotating in the lack of gravity though neither of them noticed nor cared. Marco couldn't remember the last time he was this happy, it felt so right having Star in his arms and it made his whole body tingle with a warmth only his Star could provide him.

"So did you like your surprise, Marco?" Star asked and Marco chuckled, squeezing her just a little bit tighter.

"Yeah, I did," the boy whispered, his voice soft but filled with love. "Thanks for throwing me such an awesome party, Star. I'll never forget it."

"Sure thing, Marco," Star said, thrilled to hear that Marco had enjoyed himself. Her party was an all-around success. Sure there were problems here or there, but so long as Marco was happy then she had done her job perfectly. "Anything for you."

Marco went silent, letting the wonderful moment wash over him. He knew that soon he would have to call Jackie and tell her to bring Nachos to pick them up, but right now he just wanted to stay here with his girlfriend, his bestie, his Star just a little longer. He did, however, pull out of the hug, Star giving him a curious look as their eyes met. "But there is one other thing I'd like for my birthday."

"What?" Star asked, her eyebrows scrunching together in the cutest way that Marco had to fight the urge to swoon at the sight.

"This," he whispered softly, before closing their distance between them. His lips met Star's and it was like another firework had just gone off, the spark the two felt real and perfect and so, so right that it left both of them breathless. Star gasped lightly against his lips before closing her eyes and deepening the kiss, her lips moving in perfect sync against his. For a long time, the two just floated there like that, their forms hanging high over the world they had created together, Marco enjoying the greatest gift he could have ever received. Star's love.