#Rain honey it's not gonna fall out don't worry

[iamthecomet]

@hypnoneghoul related ficlet coming soon (tonight). But I just realized Rain also did *the thing* at the Bridgeport ritual and I caught it on video.

Bridgeport, CT. 8.20.23

[hhughes]

៹࣪ ៸៸ ALL OF THE SMALL THINGS THAT YOU DO . . . ꒱꒱

ᥫ 𝘩𝑒𝘢𝑑𝘤𝑎𝘯𝑜𝘯𝑠 small things they do that make you feel loved . . .

𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒕. quinn hughes ; jack hughes ; luke hughes ; nico hischier. 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕. fluff. domesticity. 𝒙𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒊. as always reblogs and feedback is appreciated and I hope you liked it <3

യ QUINN HUGHES

boyfriend quinn who stays over at your place more often than not. it’s easier for you to get ready for work since all your stuff is there, so whenever quinn gets a few days off he’ll always spend them at your place.

he started getting up earlier , sneaking out of bed before your alarm even goes off and for a while you were just wondering where he went before you caught him one day.

looking outside your kitchen window you saw quinn brushing the last bit of snow off your windshield and shovel it away from your car.

“ hey angel , you’re awake earlier than usual, ” quinn greets, shrugging off his jacket and taking off his boots as you start the coffee pot

“ yeah I was investigating where my boyfriend has been sneaking off to these last few weeks, “ you say, as shuffles his way over to you and wraps his arms around your waist; burrowing his cold nose into your neck

“ just getting last night’s snow out of your way, “ he mumbles against your skin, pressing kisses against your neck

“ you didn’t have to do that baby, but thank you. you’re spoiling me, i’m gonna get used to it and then miss it when you’re not here, “ you tease, and he uses his hands on your hips to spin you around, pushing you back against the counter

“ I was actually hoping you’d let me hire someone to do it for you, “ quinn suggests with a hopeful tone, knowing exactly how you were gonna respond to this.

“ quinn, don’t start, ” you absolutely hated when he spent unnecessary money on you.

“ I know I know, but it’s more for my peace of mind than it is for yours really. I hate the idea of you having to go out there the morning after a storm and move all that snow by yourself. not even just the snow, what about all the freezing rain we get? what if you slip and fall? hit your head? break your wrist, again? “ he emphasizes the last part and your send him a little glare in return. you slipped and broke your wrist one time and now the guy couldn’t let it go.

" everyone can slip and fall quinn, " you argue and he brings his hands up to cup your jaw on either side, rubbing his thumbs over your cheeks gently

" yeah , honey , but I don't care and worry about everyone, I care and worry about you. “ he retorts and you almost cave seeing the pure adoration he has for you reflected in those green eyes

“ I’ve lived in Vancouver my entire life. the weather is nothing new to me, I can handle it. but i’m guessing if I don’t agree to this you’re gonna keep sneaking out and doing it for me anyway?” you ask and release a little sigh when he nods in confirmation

the last thing you wanted to do was make your boyfriend get up at the crack of dawn, especially on days like today, his off days, just to clean the snow off your driveway and you knew he would if you didn’t agree to this.

“fine, but not all the time. only when we get really heavy snow okay? and no more sneaking out of bed. I miss my personal little furnace when you’re not there,” you pout and he smiles before pecking your lips softly, his hands moving to your lower back

“ that’s all i’m good for huh? shovelling your snow and warming you up? ” quinn teases, hands moving down even further and squeezing your butt as your hands make their way to his hair

“ you’re pretty good at washing my hair too. wanna join me in the shower? “ you mumble against quinn’s lips and he keeps the kiss going for a few seconds before pulling away and responding

“ you know I can never say no to that, “

യ NICO HISCHIER

bf!nico who shows you love by packing you lunch in the morning cause you’re always running late and you never grab something before you go.

he noticed it one night when the two of you were doing your nightly routine that consisted of him laying with his head on your stomach, your hands going through his hair as whatever movie you decided on was playing on the screen.

“sorry” you say sheepishly, your hand freezing in his hair when your stomach suddenly growled loudly and he glances up at you with an amused little grin

“you hungry baby?” he asks, pressing a few soft kisses to your stomach

“yeah , I haven’t eaten all day.” you accidentally let the words slip, and immediately wince after, knowing how your mother-hen boyfriend was going to react.

“you haven’t eaten all day?” nico asks exasperated , sitting up as he looks at you with a frown between his eyes, one of his hands finding its way to your stomach and rubbing soft circles as if he could sooth the hunger away

" that's not healthy schatz, " your boyfriend chastised softly, when you answer his question with a nod.

" I know, I was just running late this morning so I didn't have time to pack lunch. and I had a busy day so I couldn't run out and get something, but I'm gonna eat the entire day's worth of pasta when our dinner gets here. promise, " you respond, moving closer and kissing that frown away

" you gotta take better care of my girl, ya hear me? " nico says, pulling you onto his lap and pressing a kiss to your temple

" aye aye captain, " you answer teasingly and a giggle escapes as gently nips at your shoulder in retaliation.

but ever since then nico wakes up a little earlier and packs you lunch. of course he writes you little notes and tucks them into the bag.

and whenever he's on roadies he'll always make sure to doordash it to you along with some flowers and a note that tells you how much he misses you <3

യ JACK HUGHES

bf!jack who really does all the little things that many people may overlook but since you know from experience what it’s like to be in relationships with people who don’t even do the little things, you appreciate it so much.

he always goes out of his way to clean up the apartment your share, so that it doesn’t feel like you have to take care of him 24/7. in fact it’s the other way around. he’s the one who will load and unload the dishwasher. do your laundry when he’s doing his. clean up your car when he’s cleaning up his.

and yes the occasional mix up of white clothing and coloured clothing does happen, which results in a few your white tops, being a variety of different colours. mix ups that jack repeatedly apologized for and promised to replace when luke pointed it out to him one day.

“ you should’ve said something earlier, “ jack pouts when he examines the seven tops laying on the bed that you got out when he asked you to show him all the shirts he’s ruined

“ you were doing something nice, I didn’t wanna make you feel bad by pointing it out, besides you didn’t ruin them, just gave them a little make over, ” you tease and laugh when jack glares at you as his cheeks turn red

“ m’sorry baby. we can go shopping this weekend I’ll buy you new ones yeah? ” he says, pressing a sloppy kiss to jaw as he collects your tops off the bed and puts them on the chair in the corner. a place he’ll see them and remember to check the brands later.

speaking of shopping, jack loves getting you things. it was something you had to get used to at the start of your relationship as he’d often come home from roadies with a little gift for you.

it’s just sweet knowing that he’s thinking of you even when he’s far away and he’s focused on something else.

is 100% the type of boyfriend to send you money and with a text that reads “go get yourself something nice, you deserve it x ”

he makes sure to leave you a pair of his sweats and a hoodie whenever he goes on the road because he knows how much it helps you when he’s gone.

even buys you the same cologne he uses so you can spray it on the hoodie and it’ll smell like him even if he’s not here.

can’t convince me he doesn’t do a ton of these cute little things for his girl

യ LUKE HUGHES

boyfriend luke hughes who is a bit of a nerd and collects a bunch of random trinkets and collectables.

and once he starts dating you, he just starts collecting a bunch of random things that you might need at any given moment.

need a hair tie? luke has one around his wrist, waiting with anticipation for your hair to start annoying you so he can offer it to you.

getting a random tension headache? luke has some painkillers in the glove compartment. heat pack for your cramps are also in there. along with an eyelash curler.

he even buys mini versions of your essentials (lip gloss, hand sanitizer, etc) and keeps them with him in case you forget yours.

luke’s ass jean pocket? your miniature handbag. he literally has anything and everything you’d need in one of those back pockets. a bobby pin cause a strand of hair has been annoying you? just stick your hand in one of those back pockets and grab one.

and he loves sitting with you at your vanity while you do your makeup. and over time he learns your routine and starts handing you your products🥺

“ going a bit fancier today bub, can you hand me my bronzer? “ you mumble while applying your concealer as luke holds out your mascara

“ um — “ he mutters, retracting his hand and spins your little product cabinet around, looking for a little bottle with the word “bronzer” on it

“ it’s this one, “ you say, reaching and grabbing it yourself and luke’s cheeks redden a bit in response

“ sorry, ” he says sheepishly and you giggle as you lean over to press a kiss against his cheek

“ don’t worry about it baby, “

[lucysgraybird]

Erm i js read ur pregnancy fic, is it possible for u to write an alternative version yk a happy one ??? 😭 it was rlly good tho but that hurttt

YES babe ofc im so sorry 🙏 i saw angst and it got away from me. sorry for losing my head. here is an alternate ending to this fic

warnings: labour/childbirth, blood mention, deeply unrealistic (should've put this on the other one too! i am an 18 year old virgin i know where babies come from and that's it)

The night the baby comes is dark and peaceful: there hasn't been more than a soft fall of rain in weeks, and the spring has brought balmy evenings that have made chores almost a gift to do.

Even more of a blessing is the time after chores, curled up on the porch under Billy’s arm. He's twisting the ends of your hair around his fingers absently, and you twist to look up at his face.

“What's on your mind, honey?”

“Hm?”

“I can hear your thoughts from here, Billy. Are you worrying about something?”

He tucks his chin over your head and you hum contentedly at being wrapped up in him, safe and warm.

“Just thinkin’ about the baby is all,” he says. “What we're gonna name her and that stuff.”

You laugh. “I bet it'll come to us in the moment. We don't even know if the baby’s a girl.”

“I do.” He slides his arm off your shoulder to your waist, placing his hand flat against your rounded belly. “Gonna be the best little girl, and she's gonna look just like her mama.”

"Mm...with your eyes, if we're lucky."

You crane your neck to peck Billy on the lips, coaxing a smile from your husband. Out of nowhere, a cramp twists through your lower back and you cover Billy’s hand with yours, wincing. He shifts you off his chest slightly to look at you.

“You okay?”

The pain passes and you can breathe again – it's not something you've felt before, but you know things get weirder the bigger the baby gets.

“Fine, yeah. I think she was moving around or something.”

Billy gives your stomach a firm look, which coaxes a laugh out of you and chases away your nerves.

“‘s not the baby’s fault, honey,” you say. “She's just getting comfy.”

“You're sure you're alright?” He confirms. “I can ride into town and-”

“I'm good. You don't need to worry, okay?”

He nods and pulls you back against him, his body a shelter from any worries.

As the night creeps on, there are a few more cramps but nothing notable, and you're able to fall asleep almost immediately when the time comes.

That is, until the middle of the night, when you wake up with your entire core on fire.

“Billy,” you whimper, grabbing for his arm.

He groans, still mostly asleep.

“The baby’s coming, Billy, you gotta-” You pause, a bolt of pain too great to speak through wracking your body for a moment. “You gotta go get the doctor.”

That wakes him immediately, and he's rolling out of bed before his eyes are even completely open. He takes in your face, screwed tight and shiny with sweat, and he's trying to get ready and comfort you at the same time.

“It's okay, darlin’, you're gonna be okay,” he says, not even bothering to take off his pajamas before tugging his work clothes over them and shoving his feet into his boots. “I’m gonna get the midwife and she'll take care of you.”

For all his confident words, his voice trembles and breaks at the end of his sentence from seeing you in this much hurt, which sends tears spilling down your cheeks. Billy scrambles for the door, then back to you to press a kiss to your forehead and a hand to your cheek.

“Gonna be fine, darlin'. I'll be back as quick as I can.”

You don't even have time to reply before he's out the door and gone.

The pain only increases while he's gone, time going hazy and strange. You can't figure out how long ago Billy left, or how long it should be until he's back – you can't really think of much besides the ache throbbing from your pelvis to your chest. Noises that don't sound like your own are tearing themselves from your throat as you writhe in bed, trying to find anything that'll ease the pain.

Soon (or maybe not soon at all, you can't say), Billy is bursting back into your room, the midwife hot on his tail. She takes one look at you and turns to Billy.

“I need boiling water and strips of cloth.”

Billy nods wordlessly and disappears out to the kitchen. You didn't realize how desperate you were for him until he was gone, and a new bout of sobs streak down your face.

“Oh, lovey,” the midwife says as she strips back your covers. “Your boy will be back soon, he's just helping me keep you safe while you're in labour. Can you tell me how far you are along?”

She tugs your nightgown up around your hips, and you're in too much pain to feel any shame.

“Baby’s right on time,” you groan. “Just about nine months.”

Your body bows forward with another stab just as Billy walks through the door with a steaming pot of water and strips of a clean sheet, and he nearly drops everything in his haste to get to you. Once he's sure that the midwife has what she needs, he's settling next to you, offering a hand to squeeze and a shoulder to lean on.

“You may want to step out, Mr. Bonney, this-”

“I'm stayin’,” he says, surely putting on a brave face when you grip his hand like a vice. To you, he soothes, “Hold on as hard as you need, darlin’, you're not gonna hurt me.”

“Okay then,” the midwife says. “Get ready to push, lovey, this baby is just about to come out.”

You don't even have to think when the time comes, a baser instinct taking over for you. It hurts like nothing has before and a wail chokes out of your mouth. Billy is still holding you, whispering sweet nothings that you can't quite hear against your temple. His lips are dry on the skin there, and it's grounding in the sea of sticky and hot that you're swimming in.

Suddenly, the pressure in your pelvis changes, but the pain doesn't. Everything is so wet. What is that?

“I'm going to insist you step back now, Mr. Bonney,” the midwife says.

You look up at your husband, whose skin is ash-white against his dark hair.

“Billy…?”

"You're okay, darlin', I'm just gonna let the midwife take care of you." His voice is shaking in a way that makes you nauseated, and the world is swimming around you on top of that.

He goes to step away, just as the midwife requested, and heartbreak rips across his face when you reach out for him. Then there's another gush of wetness and a dizzying wash of pain: the last thing you see before you pass out is the form of a baby in Billy’s arms and the most genuine fear you've ever seen on his face.

When you wake, it's just Billy in the room, cradling a bundle of blankets in a chair he's dragged to the bedside. He's up as soon as you wake, trying to smooth a hand over your head and hold the baby properly at the same time.

“Hey, darlin’, how are you feeling?”

You try to sit up and immediately throw in the towel, groaning. “Tired. And sore. Is the baby okay? What happened?”

“Baby’s just fine,” he says, tilting the bundle to show you a wrinkled, sleeping little face. “The midwife says she's the healthiest baby she's seen in a while.”

A soft smile blooms on your face. There's a relief warming you from the inside-out that you've never felt before.

“You were right about the baby being a girl, then.”

“Mhm.” There's a teasing pride in his hum, and you use a little of your waning energy to nudge his shoulder with your head. “I haven't thought of a name yet, though.”

“Can I hold her?”

Billy hands her to you wordlessly, helping you settle your arms around her.

“She's so small.”

“And she's already caused a lot of trouble for her mama,” Billy says.

He's joking, but when you look up at him, there are tears in his eyes.

“Honey, are you-”

“I'm okay, I'm okay. It was just a lot of blood, and I didn't know what was goin’ on. I thought you…”

The sentence ends there, but you know where he was going, and you lean into him.

“Can't get rid of me that easy, cowboy. We got a little girl to raise.”

The baby stirs a little in your arms, then settles back into a deep sleep. You watch her thoughtfully.

“Billy,” you say.

“Yes, darlin’?”

“How would you feel about naming her Kathleen? After your mother?”

There's dead silence for a moment before Billy presses a kiss to the top of your head.

“I think that's perfect,” he whispers, not trusting his voice to go any louder without breaking. “If that's what you want.”

“It is. Welcome to the world, Kathleen Bonney,” you say, and Billy wraps an arm around you. It is a perfect tableau: mother, father, and baby, and all the love there is in the world.

[lazyjellyfish300]

Hi Jelly! I would love some more of your exquisite Shiu fluff, please 😌 So my request is for Shiu with prompt number 3. rainy day. (I still think about Stella and her droopy ears watching the fishies 🥹)

hello my love!! You're the best 💕💕😭😭 leave it to me to leave things til the last minute 💀💀😭😭 I'm so sorry! Lol. More Shiu is on the way, don't worry ;)

My Fall masterlist 🍂

CW: xFEM!READER, fluff, smoking obv

Words: 473

"BRRRRBBBBHHH!" You blew your lips together as you crossed over the threshold of your home. The comparatively warmer temperature was a welcome respite from the rain drenched world you just came out of as it hit your soaked skin. You shrugged off your jacket and boots, your equally soaked husband right behind you puffing out the last exhale of his cigarette before he extinguished it on the ashtray that sat by the garage door.

Stella waddled in last, shaking off the raindrops that clung to her mocha spotted fur. Loose skin flapping in the wind before she let out the yawn of a lifetime and the tiny pat pats of her feet disappeared down the hall to find her rightful throne among the fish in Shiu's study.

"Sorry we got rained out at the apple orchard, dollface." Shiu gives your bum a playful squeeze as he breezes by you in the kitchen, running a hand through his rain slicked hair. "I've never seen you get so competitive over apples."

"Well they're not just any old apples, they're honey crisp." You clarify with a smile, putting your frozen fingers in Shiu's while he attempted to warm them up with endearing breaths as he held them to his mouth and rubbed them quickly.

"These babies go for like $7 a pound at the grocery store. No way Halloween Holly was gonna get away with the last of them. Not when this is the first and only day off me and my husband have had together in weeks."

"Oh, certainly not Halloween Holly." Shiu winked. "I like this fiery side of you, sweetheart." He leaned on his elbows as he watched you dump this afternoon's harvest haul, several red shiny juicy looking apples with patches of yellow rolling onto the sleek marble countertop.

"How can I be of assistance, dollface? Just say the word."

"Hmmm, first, coffee. Would you get me a cup, my love?"

"But of course, angel." He smiled at you as he crossed over to your fancy coffee press, preparing two mugs of the rich brew. As the water began to bubble, he crossed into the living room, playing some laid back r&b on the vinyl, along with lighting up your favorite candles that made the whole house smell like melted caramel. He could hear Stella's unemployed little snores gently echo off the hallways.

As he looked at you, the love of his life, apple of his eye baking apple pie in the kitchen, with the low hum of the torrent of raindrops outside, and the cozy feeling of his beautiful home slowly warmed him from the inside out, he couldn't help the ache in his chest at realization of the piece of heaven he had carved out for you both.

"Something wrong, darling?"

He can just smile, "None at all, Mrs. Kong. I'm the luckiest man in the world."

[munchmemes]

florence + the machine lyrics, high as hope edition

A SIDE

❛ i'm so high, i can see an angel. ❜ ❛ i hear your heart beating in your chest. ❜ ❛ the world slows 'till there's nothing left. ❜ ❛ in those heavy days in june when love became an act of defiance. ❜ ❛ hold onto each other. ❜ ❛ you were broken-hearted and the world was, too. ❜ ❛ i was beginning to lose my grip. i always held it loosely but this time i admit, i felt it really start to slip. ❜ ❛ at seventeen, i started to starve myself. ❜ ❛ i thought that love was a kind of emptiness. ❜ ❛ at least, i understood then the hunger i felt & i didn't have to call it loneliness. ❜ ❛ we all have a hunger. ❜ ❛ don't let it get you down, you're the best thing i've seen. ❜ ❛ we never found the answer but we knew one thing. ❜ ❛ in that pink dress, they're gonna crucify me. ❜ ❛ how could anything bad ever happen to you? ❜ ❛ you make a fool of death with your beauty. ❜ ❛ i thought that love was in the drugs. ❜ ❛ the more i took, the more it took away and i could never get enough. ❜ ❛ for a moment, i forgot to worry. ❜ ❛ i thought it doesn't get better than this. ❜ ❛ there can be nothing better than this. ❜ ❛ the world is at your fingertips. ❜ ❛ everything i ever did was just another way to scream your name. over and over and over again. ❜ ❛ i want a space to watch things grow. ❜ ❛ did i dream too big? do i have to let it go? ❜ ❛ what if one day there is no such thing as snow? ❜ ❛ i don't know anything. except that green is so green. ❜ ❛ there's a special kind of sadness that seems to come with spring. ❜ ❛ you need a big god. big enough to hold your love. ❜ ❛ you keep me up at night but to my messages, you do not reply. ❜ ❛ you know i still like you the most. ❜ ❛ you'll always be my favourite ghost. ❜ ❛ sometimes i think it's getting better and then it gets much worse. ❜ ❛ is it just part of the process? jesus christ, it hurts. ❜ ❛ though i know i should know better, i can make this work. ❜ ❛ shower your affection, let it rain on me. ❜ ❛ are you deeply sleeping or are you still awake? ❜ ❛ a good friend told me you've been staying out so late. ❜ ❛ be careful, my darling. be careful what it takes. ❜ ❛ from what i've seen so far, the good ones always seem to break. ❜ ❛ i can feel your anger from way across the sea. ❜ ❛ i was kissing strangers, i was causing such a scene. ❜ ❛ oh, the heart, it hides such unimaginable things. ❜ ❛ i want you so badly but you could be anyone. ❜ ❛ hold me down, i'm so tired now. ❜ ❛ leave me where i lie. ❜ ❛ i feel like i'm about to fall, the room begins to sway. ❜ ❛ i can hear the sirens but i cannot walk away. ❜ ❛ i thought i was flying but maybe i'm dying tonight. ❜

B SIDE

❛ i'm sorry i ruined your birthday. ❜ ❛ i guess i could go back, try and make my parents proud. ❜ ❛ i don't think it would be too long before i'm drunk again. ❜ ❛ this is the only thing i've ever had any faith in. ❜ ❛ [NAME], i don't say it enough. you are so loved. ❜ ❛ all the walls were melting and there were mermaids everywhere. hearts flew from my hands and i could see people's feelings. ❜ ❛ and you, you were the one i treated the worst. only because you loved me the most. ❜ ❛ we haven't spoken in a long time. i think about it sometimes. ❜ ❛ i don't know who i was back then and i hope and hope i would never treat anyone like that again. ❜ ❛ oh [NAME], you've always been my north star. ❜ ❛ i have to tell you something, i'm still afraid of the dark. ❜ ❛ do you understand that with every seed you sow you make this cold world beautiful? ❜ ❛ you told me all doors are open to the believer. ❜ ❛ i believe her. ❜ ❛ how's that working out for you, honey? do you feel loved? ❜ ❛ i drink too much coffee and i think of you often. ❜ ❛ are you afraid? 'cause i'm terrified. ❜ ❛ you remind me that it's such a wonderful thing to love. ❜ ❛ i believe in you and in our hearts we know the truth. ❜ ❛ i believe in love and the darker it gets, the more i do. ❜ ❛ it's just too much, i cannot get you close enough. ❜ ❛ a hundred arms, a hundred years, you can always find me here. ❜ ❛ lord, don't let me break this, let me hold it lightly. ❜ ❛ we have no need to fight. we raise our voices and let our hearts take flight. ❜ ❛ my held breath fills the room with love. ❜ ❛ it hurts in ways i can't describe. ❜ ❛ my heart bends and breaks so many, many times and is born again with each sunrise. ❜ ❛ we're sorry, we thought you didn't care. ❜ ❛ how does it feel now you've scratched that itch? ❜ ❛ hubris is a bitch. ❜ ❛ i feel nervous in a way that can't be named. ❜ ❛ we're a family pulled from a flood. ❜ ❛ it was so far to fall but it didn't hurt at all. ❜ ❛ i've always been in love with you. could you tell it from the moment that i met you? ❜ ❛ they told me that they loved me then ghosted me again. ❜ ❛ the older i get i find that happiness is an extremely uneventful subject. ❜ ❛ i must confess, i did it all for myself. ❜ ❛ the loneliness never left me. i always took it with me. ❜ ❛ the loneliness never left me. i always took it with me but i can put it down in the pleasure of your company. ❜ ❛ no chorus will come in. no ballad will be written. it will be entirely forgotten. ❜ ❛ and if tomorrow it's all over, at least we had it for a moment. ❜ ❛ things seem so unstable but for a moment we were able to be still. ❜ ❛ this will be entirely forgotten. ❜

[lorkai]

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ A/N: I wrote this a while back and recently was thinking "hey maybe tumblr folks would like this", I'm not used to write character x character, but these two are adorable and have my whole heart. I loved Venti at first sight when I started playing genshin and wrote tons of fics for him that I probably gonna post later. You can also read this fic on AO3.

Warm gusts of wind blew across her face, sending beads of sweat down her forehead as she ran up the hill, the smell of sunflowers dancing over her messy bangs as she forced her weak legs to keep running.

Normally Lumine would fight the monsters chasing her with the greatest pleasure. Fighting was what she had been doing since she woke up, but today her whole body was screaming for mercy and rest and she wasn't going to deny herself that, after having spent the day fighting hilichurls and abyss sorcerers, doing guild missions and entering multiple domains. All she could do now was run, run and hope her glider worked, any other time she would laugh at the way the stiff wings over her back made her feel. Now she just wanted those same wings to carry her to the safety of solid ground and away from these creatures.

Her heart beat quickly inside her chest as she spared one last look back. Everything was a mess, but she hoped Kaeya's ingenious plan would work - she was the bait everyone was chasing up the hill, but what the monsters didn't know was that a huge siege had been set up to defeat them.

"Don't worry." Paimon muttered.

The fairy pointed to Amber and her bow ready under one of the branches, to Kaeya and Jean hidden in the shadows of the leafy trees. The little fairy knew that Lumine's soft and empathetic heart wanted to continue fighting alongside her friends, but she would stop her this time. Her little hands gently pushing her friend's shoulders to encourage her to keep going.

"They'll be fine, come on, you promised Paimon we'd eat sticky honey roast." Paimon let out a small scream, making Lumine let out a long sigh and massaging her sore ears.

But she couldn't disagree with the fairy; her friends were strong. From all sides, Favonius' knights were attacking without mercy. Lumine's eyes followed every blow of cryo, pyro and anemo that flew everywhere. The ingenuity of the hilichurls and metachurls had cost them a lot and, if by chance, one of them survived the attack, they would certainly think and plan better next time.

Tired, the girl approached the cliff with slow steps, the tall grass brushing her ankles in a way that made her laugh softly. She would meet them down there anyway according to plan. Her job was done and she could leave without worrying about one of her friends getting hurt.

Lumine observed the way the terrain spread out in cobblestones, mud puddles still present due to the recurring rain that had ravaged Mondstadt these last few days. For a second she almost wanted to stand and admire the view, but finally she jumped. Paimon following closely behind her.

The wind enveloped her completely, as if it hugged her and invited her to glide without ever touching the ground again. The feeling of being in the air was freeing, freeing from the pressure of continually having to look for her brother without ever finding him, from the pressure of helping everyone just because she could and was strong. Lumine was a warrior, one who had been fighting forever, traveling world after world, one who had seen and defeated many monsters with her brother. And a warrior only stops fighting when no one needs them anymore; people still needed her - but now, the girl would rest.

When she reached a safe distance, Lumine activated her glider. Its long, white wings spread like those of an eagle, but instead of gliding they do nothing to stop its free fall. It's desperate; Her eyes widen, filling with tears as the wind whistles loudly in her ears and slaps her face repeatedly. As she sees herself quickly falling towards the abyss, Paimon screams and tries to grab her arms.

But it is flawed. The little fairy is unable to stop her friend from falling. And there is no one who can help now.

As she fall, shaking, Lumine thinks about her brother and how alone he will be. She think about the little fairy at her side, about all the Genius Invokation TCG rounds she won, about all of Venti's bad performances, about the archery lessons she took with Amber, about looking for Diona's cats, about the games with Klee and the incredible drinks that Diluc offered her after a tiring day. She remembers Jean's smile and Kaeya's silly comments.

Lumine opens her teary eyes, puts her hands together and uses her Anemo energy in order to stop her fall. She is moving too fast, falling as fast as the tears that soak her amber eyes, the wind that invited her was now the wind that carried her to her death, somewhere above she hears loud noises. Maybe, screams.

The ground is close now. Nothing and no one can stop it; or better said, the only person who can command the wind to his will would be Venti. The young woman's heart sank knowing that he was far away and that again he would lose someone he loved; her eyes close, the breath is lost in her lungs and she waits. She waits to fall and hit the ground, waits for a second of pain before disappearing from this world. But nothing happens.

"Come on, open your eyes!" A familiar voice whispers in her ears. And she feels herself shaking from head to toe.

Despite his small and graceful figure, Barbatos holds her in a gentle grip, hands entwining the young woman's waist as he looks at her with great care.

Lumine looks at Venti in surprise, grateful for his quick intervention. In his arms the girl trembles slightly, fear and apprehension, and gratitude flooding her chest as she realizes the gravity of the latest events. Beside her, Paimon flies over them both, unable to chant any words or make any sound, which only makes everything even more serious.

"Thanks." Lumine whispers with a shaky voice. Death is something that naturally surrounds her, but even for someone like her, death is scary. "Thank you, Venti. You saved me." She repeats, wiping her eyes as she hugs him tighter to herself.

There are things they share through their complicit looks, fear was the main emotion. The hug becomes stronger, suffocating, but neither of them moves away from the other for even a second as Venti uses his powers to slowly bring them to the ground. The bard looks at her tenderly, caressing her cheek with one of his hands and he speaks, his tone full of affectionate mockery. "I would be more than happy to reciprocate your feelings, Lumine. You didn't need to fall for me."

The girl smiles and rolls her eyes.

"How did you get here?"

It was a silly question. But for more than two hours he had been playing his harp and drinking as he always did, Diluc had sent her a bloody look when she left the tavern in the company of Kaeya and Amber. It didn't make sense for the bard to be there at that moment, he would have to travel for at least forty minutes to get there. Either way, she was happy he was there.

"I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere," Venti smiled for a brief moment. "I am like the wind and the wind told me that someone I care about was in danger."

The traveler nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer. Her feet finally touched the ground after a few seconds, but Lumine was still clinging to his green cape and refusing to leave his personal space. She was like a little leech invited to stay and Venti didn't mind that at all, letting her rest her face on his shoulder, breathe the fresh air again and, most importantly, feel alive, free from fear.

For someone who always made so many jokes and always had a smile on his face, Venti was quiet now, slowly taking Lumine with him to sit on the soft grass and lean against an old oak tree. The whole time he was holding her. The anemo archon deep inside was also afraid. He was afraid of losing Dvalin, of losing Mondstadt and losing her, the girl who slowly made him lose his barriers and saw him like no one in a long time had been able to.

"Everything will be fine." He assured her gently. One of his hands found its way to her blonde hair, playing with it as she looked at him completely exhausted. "I'm here now, nothing could hurt you."

Lumine forced a smile, her eyelids slowly closing. If exhaustion was consuming her before, after seeing her entire life flash before her eyes and imagining a future in which she would not be present, Lumine would need to hibernate for another five hundred years in order to recover from such past emotion. Sweat stuck to her complexion, mud stained her dress, but she could only feel a comfortable warmth as she continued to spoon the bard.

Beside her, Paimon hugged her arms, half trembling, half trying to appear stronger than she really was, and Lumine pulled the fairy closer until she was in the middle of the two. Like a child. Like their child.

"I know." She whispered.

Lumine knew that she would always be safe and sound if Venti was by her side. She knew that he would take care of herself, her injuries, that he would listen to her anxieties and fears, and that he would then motivate her to get up another day and try again. She knew she had a home in him just as he had one in her, she knew she could wake up after a nightmare and seek comfort in his arms, in his lyre and his singing, she knew that his husky voice after waking up would make her smile as much as the his messy hair. It was the little things that showed her that no matter what happened, Venti would be there for her.

For now, however, they could enjoy the rest and the silence, and the fact that they were still together and would be together for many years to come.

[cas-backwards-tie]

Chapter One: In the Dead of Night

Vladimir Makarov x Reader

The Long Road Masterlist

Summary: Soon after your fiance's murder you find yourself diving face first into enacting a plan to avenge his death. Regardless of your friend's approval, your wellbeing, livelihood, or future, you find yourself in it for the long-con.

Words: 2.2k

Warnings: Violence, Guns, Death, Major MW3 Spoiler, Main Character Death, Grief, Loss, Angst, Anger, Hatred, Revenge, Dark Themes,

A/N: This is... sooooo self-indulgent and utterly crack, tbh. I'd thought it up a while ago and keep thinking about it. I kept trying to think of a way to make it realistic, but... I just feel like there is no way of doing that, so I'm just gonna write it. However it goes, it goes. Also fyi I am using google translate so I really hope it's coming out okay. I do speak Russian, but only Duolingo tiny bit. divider by @saradika

You were prepared for this, you knew it was bound to happen one day, you just didn't know when that day would be. It only looks like, now, it's finally come. As you sit at the counter, stirring the bowl of oatmeal you'd just made and are trying your best to get to cool down, you can't help but think about the man currently in the other room.

You'd expected an entrance something akin to that of a Mission Impossible movie: a loud boom, doors knocked down, guns blazing, venomous words shouted in a language you've hardly begun to understand despite the tedious month of learning to the best of your abilities. Thunder cracks in the distance, rattling the windowpane in the next room; you don't know when the heavy downpour started, but it hasn't given any sign of yield since his arrival only a half hour ago now. Part of you can't help but think back to the myths and legends your husband... husband--your fiance--you remind yourself, mentally scolding as this isn't the first, and you doubt it's the last time you're going to mentally interchange the two words. Part of you can't help but think back to the myths and legends your fiance used to tell you.

The rain reminds you of the the way the Vikings would personify the Norse Gods to Earthly elements. Sure, you know some of the comics, like Thor, and Loki... but nevertheless, with your upbringing, the heavy pounding of the rain against the tin roof and the approaching thunder only makes your thoughts drift back to him. Johnny.

What would he think? What would he do? If he knew you were here... Maybe it's the spiritual part of you that never quite left, possibly having been ingrained from your grandparents when you were younger, or an aunt, an uncle of some sort, perhaps... but you think he'd do something silly like this. Come back as a thunderstorm, manifesting himself as something so threatening and dangerous, symbolizing his distress, unhappiness, and worry for you with torrents of rain, yet trying to protect you from the beyond even with lightning. Yet, you know that's impossible, and certainly not the case. Your heart begins to ache once more as you think of him, not wanting to get caught up, again, in the overwhelming grief you hadn't fully let yourself fall into. This is for him, you remind yourself once again.

"What are you giving her?" The voice comes from the doorway, and you're not entirely surprised by the venom in his tone, albeit taken aback. While he's not loud due to the (presumably) resting woman in the next room, you know that the lack of volume doesn't mean he wouldn't yell if the situation were anywhere else.

"What do you mean? This?" You quirk an eyebrow as you continue to stir in the little additives you'd put into the oatmeal: honey, sugar, and a pinch of salt. "It's oatmeal?" You explain, the confusion obvious in your tone as you hold the bowl up a bit, angling it for him to better see. As if the man has never seen oatmeal in his life; the thought would elicit a whirlwind of laughter from you any other time, or, more accurately, if it were any other person... but this was him. Makarov.

Vladimir Makarov: Thirty-six years old; born in Moscow Russia. Commander of Konni; the ultranationalistic private 'military contractor' group.

You'd done what research you could, found what information you had access to, some you didn't. Utilized what connections, resources, and favors were owed to you. Maybe some of them did it out of pity, out of guilt, or some other sense of failure on behalf of the SAS. Regardless, you'd set your plans into action, intent on making your promise to your late fiance come true. You will kill the man before you. It won't be today. No. After all, that'd be too soon, you have to earn his trust first. Only then, after he's comfortable, and settled, will you pursue your slow and agonizing torture.

"Христос," he curses, "she said you're poisoning her," he speaks slowly, a menacing quality to his tone as he unravels the crossed arms from his chest. Anger is evident in his irises as he stalks toward you with each step, eyebrows in a thick and harsh line. "I ask again-"

"The medication? Is that what you're talking about?" You ask. Feeling your own anger continuing to effervesce in your gut, you turn to face him on the stool, sliding from the counter. While he's still a couple feet away, you have to be more than a handful of feet shorter than him. Of that, you're sure. "Because from what I've deduced so far from being here, she bribed the last caretaker to not give her the medication on the agreement that she'd get more time off!"

He shifts his weight onto his left foot, eyes widening ever so imperceptibly, yet he remains quiet, so you continue. "They gave me her medication, told me to give it to her twice a day, so I'm doing that because she's been prescribed that medication. She clearly needs it, as per her doctor's orders. So unless you think the doctor isn't right, then, that's not my problem! I, however, am not surprised if she's telling you that since she obviously didn't even want me here in the first place."

Rounding the counter, you continue about your--at this point it could be considered daily--routine. Hand grasping your cool blue glass of water, you take a few sips while silently studying him. Despite having infiltrated his life and unknowingly (to him, ethically) disposed of his mother's last caretaker, you haven't officially met your late fiance's murderer till tonight.

KILLER

Slaughterer...! You destroyed him... You took him away from me. You're the reason he's gone. All the thoughts continue to run through your head rampantly, and you can't help but turn to face the wall opposite of him. Pretending to be busy with some of the drying dishes, you try to calm yourself. Acting on impulse and emotion will get you nowhere, you know this.

A heavy sigh permeates the silence that'd fallen between you, and there are the following taps of approaching dress shoes against hardwood floors. Quickly turning to make sure he neither invades your personal space nor dares to touch you, you're met with the visage of Makarov slumped at the counter, head in his hands.

You don't speak, you don't know what to say. Silence fills the space between you. Seeing him like this is weird considering all the stories you'd heard about him. Though you suppose even the most evil of men are still that... human. "How long have you worked as a caretaker?" He suddenly questions.

"A few years," you answer, swallowing the anxiety that starts to bubble up in your throat. "I started as a nurse and thought maybe I'd become a doctor, but it was... too much for me, and... not what I wanted to do. I discovered I liked helping people better as a nurse." It's not all lies, in fact, most of it is true. The only thing that meets your admission is silence, and that fact only raises the tension building within the cottage. Wincing at the rumbling outside, the sound does nothing to help the obvious discomfort you're experiencing finally facing him in person.

"And would you say you're good at your job?" He asks, eyes slightly narrowed in questioning as he slowly raises his head from his hands. The intensity of his dark brown eyes scream hostility and a hurt you can't immediately place your fingers on. Yet despite it all you refuse to waiver underneath his gaze.

"Yes. They wouldn't send me all the way out here otherwise. Not with a case like hers, Sir," you reply.

"Then what-" he tests, pronouncing each word clearly, "would you suggest I do?" He asks. There's a slight breathiness to his voice; with the thin windows, you can't help but feel as though the torrents of northern lake air through the meadow with its water.

Eyebrow raising in response, you're honestly shocked he'd ask such a thing. You're a complete stranger! A whirlwind of emotions go through you; excitement, bewilderment, shock, curiosity... you can't get ahead of yourself. With a sigh out, you shake your head. It may come across like disappointment to him, but really, it's to clear your head and collect yourself.

"Look... it's not something anyone wants to hear, bu-"

"Tell me!" He interrupts, demanding.

"But..." you emphasize, considering you were only putting up polite pretenses for show anyhow. "Really, family members do better when they're living with the family, even with caretakers to help. Whether you can't do it because you're busy or have other priorities, I understand."

"But at the end of the day, family members usually pass more quickly estranged like this on their own in a separate house because they feel lonely and like no one comes to visit. Maybe they have no one, or maybe they feel like they have nothing to live for anymore? She said you only visit her once or twice a year, if that... and while you write letters, that sometimes isn't enough for people, unfortunately. If you really want the truth."

Finished while your spiel, you shift your weight to the other foot as you place the finished oatmeal on the tray you reserve for his Mother. While, yes, you may despise him to the end's of the Earth... his Mother didn't do anything besides give birth to him. You accepted that the night you met her. Afraid to take another sip of your water, you stand in waiting, observant as Makarov seems to silently process everything you've said, his eyes shifting back and forth for a moment.

"I'll be back," he declares before sliding from the stool and rounding the corner into the small living space his Mother used to use more frequently. Shoulders sagging, a breath leaves you that you hadn't realized you'd been holding in. Onto your nightly routine with dinner, you attempt to distract yourself from the continuous torment of thunderstorm outside, meanwhile inside you can hear urgent demands in Russian faintly from the next room. It's clear he's on the phone... but with who? His goons, of course... right? Who else? But to kill you? To background check you? Do you need to prepare to flee?

As you stir the pot of soup you've just put on the stove, you can feel yourself start to sweat and panic. In an attempt to switch gears, you finish her dinner. Oatmeal ready, medication on the tray, you grab the lemonade you two had made the day prior and pour a glass for her before getting a steady grip on the tray and taking it down the hall. With a gentle rap of your foot as best you can against the doorframe, you announce your presence.

"Привет, Как вы себя чувствуете?" You ask, knowing the word for 'hi' and having figured out early on with the help of technology to ask how she's feeling.

"лучше теперь, когда он здесь." She responds with a soft but tired smile. It's a good sign that she's sitting up and alert at this time of night too. You don't understand the first part of what she says as she's talking too fast and you also don't have your phone out to capture what she says into your real time translation app, however you can grasp the last part. 'He's here.'

Placing the tray down on her lap, you shake your head and signal behind you with a frown. A second attempt, pointing to her, you give her a thumbs up and a smiling face for a moment, and then do the opposite. With a thumbs down and a sad face, you try again. "как дела?"

With a wave of her hand, she shakes her head now with a chuckle. "хорошо," she responds, lifting the spoon. "мой Володя!"

Whipping your head around, you find him standing there leaning against the doorframe most likely having been observing the two of you. Hopefully not for long... or maybe not at all since she would've said something. "она так просто с тобой разговаривает?" He says to his Mother, walking up to the bed and into her outstretched arms for the hug she craves.

"она не очень хорошо говорит по-русски," she quietly answers, holding him tightly for a moment, rubbing his back before letting go. With a pat on the bed next to her, she looks between the two of you. "My baby," she struggles to pronounce the word, "Vladimir." A proud smile sits upon her lips for a moment as she gestures to him. He smiles at her, too, and you nod.

"Yes, да. I have met your son just briefly. But it is good to officially meet," you tell her, even if you know she doesn't understand all of it. Shifting your gaze, he meets it with animosity. "Vladimir," you repeat.

"My mother tells me you are," he repeats your name, to which you nod, "it's a pleasure to officially meet you. Now that you're both here, I have news."

"News?" The question pops out of your mouth before you can stop it.

"Yes, news. Since you're taking care of my mother, you technically work for me. What you said stuck with me. You're right-" he shifts his speaking from you to his mother. "I've been a bad son to you, Mama. ты собираешься жить со мной." Again, he shifts his focus back to you. "We have to pack. You will both live on my compound from now."

~~~~~~~~

acronyms|translations:

Христос = christ

Привет = hi

Как вы себя чувствуете = how are you feeling

лучше теперь, когда он здесь = better now that he's here.

как дела = how are you

хорошо = good / fine / ok

мой Володя = my voldoya (nickname for vladimir)

она так просто с тобой разговаривает = she speaks to you so simply

она не очень хорошо говорит по-русски = she does not speak very much Russian

да = yes

ты собираешься жить со мной = you're coming to live with me

~~~~~~~~

forever taglist: @ohdamnadam , @safarigirlsp , @jynzandtonic , @moonlightsolo

[lana0120]

" My Lovely angel "

Summary: aether comes back home late injured and you take care of his injury

Ship: Aether x reader

Genre: fluff

~The night has fallen and you were still swinging your sword trying to defeat some monsters, you noticed cold water drops falling on your head and realised that it started raining so you defeated the monsters as fast as you could and rushed back home, when you went to report to Catherine you noticed that Many people where rushing to Aether with urgent commissions, and of course knowing him you knew he wouldn't ignore them so you decided to go home first.

~time skip~

You waited until midnight then you started to get really worried , and just when you were about to get up and look for him you heard a light knocking sound you ran to the door for you to be welcomed by a heavily injured Aether his hair was fully down and his golden eyes were barely open you helped him walk to the couch and rushed to find the emergency aid kit,

You tried to stop the bleeding on his abdomen, his clothes were ripped and full of a mixture of dust rain and blood, you offered him a cup of water and went to prepare a warm bath for him as you finished you found him laying on the couch still not moving you checked his heartbeat and he was fortunately alive, you helped him remove his clothes and applied shampoo on his hair rubbing it, you noticed how he started to relax against your touch, while you were cleaning his abdomen he regained consciousness and groaned as he held you wrist tightly, he looked at you deeply and as you were about to explain what you were doing he pulled you close to him and locked his lips with yours he refused to pull away until you had to since both of you were out of breath as your lips parted you looked at him with a red flustered face and a furious look that definitely didn't match your red face

"AETHER you're not fully treated and it's not time for kisses don't you know that if you move alot your scar will ope-" suddenly he kissed you again, "I really missed you [NAME]" he said with a tired and breathy voice you stood up and kissed his forehead "I missed you too honey but you have to clean up first I'll let you do the rest now that you are awake" you said as you walked out of the bathroom he had a sad look on his face as if he is some homeless puppy but you didn't want to fall for his tricks and you left him to clean up

~timeskip~ (yes again)

After he he finished cleaning up he went to your shared bedroom to change and to his surprise he found you laying on the bed a book on your stomach and your head leaning on the side of the bed you looked peaceful so he decided to let you sleep and treat the wounds on his own when you opened you eyes you jumped and stood to look for him and treat him but for your suprise he was sitting on a chair cleaning his sword you stood up and walked towards him "aether why didn't you wake me up you are injured don't sit like that, he gave you a soft smile and spoke "Y/N I'm alright, really seeing you by my side is enough" you sighted "well at least come and lay with me your gonna get hurt if you continue to sit like that" you heard a low giggle and then he immediately strode up and followed you to bed he layed on his back since he was injured and you decided to sleep with your body facing the other side to not hurt him but silly you he wasn't pleased with that he held your waist and pushed you next to him you told him how he would get hurt but all he did was hold you against him you gave up and hugged him then you heard him speak "I love you soo much thank you for taking care of me my lovely angel"

You couldn't help but smile then you kissed him and both of you fell asleep holding each other .

Hope you liked this, this is my first time writing a fanfic in Tumblr,Please write down your thoughts in the comment section thank you for reading!

[inboxinspirations]

60 Lyrics Starters: Jamiroquai Edition

"Have you heard the news today?"

"I think you'd better keep your distance."

"We're too young to die!"

"I can take you there."

"Is someone out there?"

"I want to hold you."

"You've got to stand up."

"There are so many wondrous things for you to see."

"I have done wrong."

"How can you be alive when you are dead?"

"It won't be long before we get our own."

"Have you gone astray or lost your way?"

"I wanna tell you how I love you since we came together."

"I had a vision of you."

"Is this what I truly deserve?"

"Nobody make a fucking move!"

"I can't see, I can't breathe."

"There is nothing worse than a foolish mind."

"I must've died and gone to heaven."

"I know I'm gonna get myself together."

"Now can't you let me take you home?"

"Every little thing you say is sweet."

"You and me, we were meant to be."

"I need your touch."

"I will get to my destination."

"I don't want to hear crying."

"Honey, I don't know why you treat me so bad."

"Just think of all the good times we had."

"Don't let me go."

"What're we gonna do tonight?"

"Where you're coming from?"

"We've got all the time the world has got to give."

"I used to worry about the future."

"I don't know what to do."

"But I don't know what they want from me."

"You know, this rain reminds me of when I was so young."

"The sweet scent of roses is in your hair."

"I think I'm falling in love."

"I can't understand what you're about."

"Where do we go from here?"

"I know I'm better off standing in the shadows."

"Why does it have to be like this?"

"You give me something that nobody else can give."

"You've been tryin' to mess around with my mind lately."

"Don't stop caressing me."

"Don't you walk away from me."

"I think I love you."

"Why do I feel this way?"

"I don't know who to believe."

"Why can't we be together?"

"We're gonna lose the war."

"I think I've had enough."

"I know I'm hard to understand."

"I need to find out where I am."

"Can I get another dance with you?"

"I see your smile in every dream."

"Tell me why it hurts so much."

"There ain't no problem we can't solve."

"I never get the chance to do the things I really like."

"I'd give you anything."

[lizzybeth1986]

Character Playlist: Hayden Young

I realised this year that even though Hayden's was the first appreciation week I'd ever organised, I had never gotten around to creating my own playlist for them. And I've always had songs I associate with them...so I figured now would be the best time to compile them!!

Most of them deal with similar themes of self-discovery and love - both themes I find in abundance in Hayden's story. There are three foreign-language songs, for which I'll attach the translations - one Hindi, one French and one Japanese.

Tagging @haydenyoungappreciationweek and @sazanes for HYAW Day 1: Indescribable! Find the Spotify list here!

On a Day Like Today - Bryan Adams

On a day like today the whole world could change

The sun's gonna shine, shine thru the rain

On a day like today no one complains

Free to be pure, free to be sane

In the Lap of the Gods (Revisited) - Queen

No beginning, there's no ending

There's no meaning in my pretending

Believe me, life goes on and on and

Forgive me when I ask you where do I belong

Indescribable - Olivia Broadfield

Too indescribable

I've got to think it over

When you kiss me like that.

Too indescribable

I've got a sinking feeling,

I don't like where this is at.

It's My Life - Bon Jovi

This ain't a song for the broken-hearted

No silent prayer for faith-departed

And I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd

You're gonna hear my voice when I shout it out loud...

All the King's Horses - Karmina

There is a reason I'm still standing

I never knew if I'd be landing

And I will run fast, outlast

everyone that said no...

Safar - Masala Coffee

Duniya ik kitaab, padhna hai pura

The world is a book; I will read every page of it.

Raahi hoon main hamesha...

I am a traveller, I have always been...

Nayi duniya nayi ruhan

New worlds...new souls...

Rahat har raah deti hai

Every road gives me solace

Safar hai takhti musafir ki

The voyage awaits its voyager

Manzil ki parwah kahaan...

Who cares where the destination is!

Lyrics and Translation

What was I Made For - Billie Eilish

Think I forgot how to be happy

Something I'm not, but something I can be

Something I wait for

Something I'm made for

Alone Part II - Alan Walker, Ava Max

We all need that someone

who gets you like no one else

Right when you need it the most

We all need a soul to rely on

A shoulder to cry on

A friend through the highs and the lows

I'm not gonna make it alone

anatomy - kenzie

It's just anatomy, you're only half of me

And still, you don't know me at all

You've been my missing piece, so why aren't you missing me?

Guess I meant less than I thought

(while the original context of this song was about the singer's feelings about her father's abandonment of their family, I thought the lines worked well for a Hayden thinking about a parent that didn't exist 😞)

Sun - Sleeping At Last

Our once barren world now brims with life

That we may fall in love

Every time we open up our eyes

I guess space, and time

Takes violent things, angry things

And makes them kind

Dernière Danse - Indila

Je remue le ciel le jour, la nuit

I move mountains, day and night

Je danse avec le vent la pluie

I dance with the wind the rain

Un peu d'amour, un brin de miel

A little love, a bit of honey

Et je danse, danse, danse, danse, danse, danse

And I dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance

Et dans le bruit, je cours et j'ai peur

And in the noise, I run and I'm scared

Est ce mon tour

Is it my turn?

Vient la douleur

Here comes the pain

Dans tout Paris, je m’abandonne

Throughout Paris, I abandon myself

Et je m'envole, vole, vole, vole, vole

And I fly, fly, fly, fly, fly

Lyrics and Translation

Then You Look At Me - Celine Dion

Day by day

I find my way

Look for the soul and the meaning

Then you look at me

And I always see

What I have been searching for

I'm lost as can be

Then you look at me

And I am not lost anymore

orion - Kenshi Yonezu

Even in dreams, my heart is somehow never at its best—

So don't bother worrying... about my grievances and tears.

Pulling a string from my unraveling sweater, I constantly tried to weave a constellation,

Using our fingers as the stars.

It ended up so terribly haphazard that we both had to laugh!

If you were truly there with me in that moment... that's more than enough

Lyrics and Translation

You Gotta Be - Des'ree

Listen as your day unfolds

Challenge what the future holds

Try and keep your head up to the sky

Lovers, they may cause you tears

Go ahead, release your fears

Stand up and be counted

Don't be ashamed to cry

[barneswinterraven]

a small fluff piece about bucky based on a text my husband sent me (if you have the time!) : "i dont have the capacity to love anyone but you" it can have some angst, because the situation in which it was sent to me involved some, but it was a happy ending for us lol <3

Only You

Pairing — Avenger!Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Reader Summary — bucky loves someone, but maybe it's not her A/N — my first request!!! i apologize for only getting to this now, my academics have been making me tired all day :') thank you @kingfleury for this prompt. it may have become longer than i intended to

It has been several days since Y/N had any kind of interaction at all with Bucky Barnes. Actually, it's been 5 days and 4 hours.

It wouldn't bother Y/N much if they weren't practically joined at the hip before he started ignoring her. She keeps thinking back to their last interaction and if she had said or done anything wrong to deserve this silent treatment.

"Hey Buckybear, are we still on for movie night later" Bucky only frowns at her question and sighs. "Maybe we could take a rain check on that? I'm still pretty beat from our last mission and maybe you should take a rest first, considering that you were almost shot to death." Y/N gives him a smile and nods as they both walked back to their own rooms.

Nothing. From that last memory, Y/N can think of nothing that may have offended him. It was normal for them to have a movie night and it was normal for Bucky to take a sabbatical from everyone after a hell-bent mission.

But ever since that day, Bucky would take extra measures to not be in the same room as her, to not even at the slightest bit acknowledge her presence. If anyone has noticed this weird interaction between the two, nobody said anything.

The first few days, Y/N thought nothing of it. She thought that maybe Bucky was having some personal days considering everything that he has been through. So she left him alone to give him the space she thought he was silently asking for.

But now, Y/N was frustrated, stressed, anxious, and even annoyed. All these emotions bottled up made her walk up to Bucky's room and demand he explain what the fuck is wrong.

Taking a deep breath, she put up her fist to knock on his door when she noticed that it was left slightly ajar. "Hey, Bu-"

"Look, I love you. Ever since that day I met you, my heart was already beating for you. And that moment on the train, I felt like my heart was literally gonna stop at thought of losing you. I can't even bear to think of another day without you in my life."

Y/N heard every single word come out of Bucky's mouth and shifted her eyes. Steve. He's sitting right beside Bucky on his bed.

With a slow intake of breath, Y/N now understands. How could she have not noticed. Best friends since birth, of course someone was bound to fall in love.

But this discovery and realization only shattered her heart in pieces. Because she has already fallen in love with James Buchanan Barnes, her best friend.

Not wanting to ruin the moment inside the room, Y/N decided to leave. And just when it cannot get worse, her hip accidentally knocks on the door, further opening it.

Both men looked in her direction, her face going red. "Y/N, what are you doing here?" Bucky utters out.

Y/N can only gape her mouth open like a fish, no word falling out of her mouth.

"I'll leave you guys to talk" Steve stands and immediately leaves the room while giving Y/N a slight smile and a friendly wink.

"Look Buck, I heard your confession to Steve. And don't worry about it, I won't tell anyone. I'm just happy that you guys can now be open about your relationship." Y/N meekly tells Bucky, shifting her eyes to not look at him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Realization sets on Bucky's face after thinking back to the words he said before he saw Y/N at his door.

"Doll, honey, you got it all wrong. Yes, I do love Steve but definitely not like that" Bucky can only laugh at how ridiculous this situation is.

"Bucky, it's 2022. You don't need to hide your sexuality. There's no need to be asha–"

"I'm gonna stop you right there. Look, I didn't want you to find out this way but, everything I said that you heard, all of that was meant to be for you. I know I have been a jerk these past few days, ignoring you and shit. But my head has just been a mess ever since our mission on the train. Back there, you almost died. And all I could think was that I was gonna lose you when I haven't even had you."

Tears were welling up on Y/N's face at Bucky's sudden confession. "But why were telling Steve all that stuff?"

Bucky shyly chuckles, his hand rubbing the nape of his neck. "He was trying to help me out what and how I was gonna confess to you. And now I may have ruined everything."

"You're lucky that I love your dorkiness and that I do also love you." Y/N steps closer to him smiling so wide, her cheeks started to hurt but she does not care. No pain can undermine this happiness and love that is blooming from her chest.

"So you love me? Not Steve? Well, at least not in that way?" she jokingly asks.

"Doll, I don't have the capacity to love anyone but you and only you." Bucky whispers as he gently cups her cheeks and leans his forehead against hers.

[lucysgraybird]

I don’t know if you write pregnancy fics, so if you don’t feel free to ignore this!

I crave pregnancy angst, like maybe child birth going wrong or something but like angst to fluff with Billy the Kid

hey so . i wrote this and missed the memo on the angst to fluff so it's kinda fluff to angst! so sorry. hope you enjoy!

WARNINGS: childbirth, premature birth, stillborn baby, child loss, brief graphic descriptions

The night the baby comes is dark and peaceful: there hasn't been more than a soft fall of rain in weeks, and the spring has brought balmy evenings that have made chores almost a gift to do.

Even more of a blessing is the time after chores, curled up on the porch under Billy’s arm. He's twisting the ends of your hair around his fingers absently, and you twist to look up at his face.

“What's on your mind, honey?”

“Hm?”

“I can hear your thoughts from here, Billy. Are you worrying about something?”

He tucks his chin over your head and you hum contentedly at being wrapped up in him, safe and warm.

“Just thinkin’ about the baby is all,” he says. “What we're gonna name her and that stuff.”

You laugh. “Well, it'll be a while yet, so you've got some time to figure it out. We don't even know if the baby’s a girl.”

“I do.” He slides his arm off your shoulder to your waist, placing his hand flat against your rounded belly. “Gonna be the best little girl, and she's gonna look just like her mama.”

“Mm…with your eyes, if we're lucky.”

You crane your neck to peck Billy on the lips, coaxing a smile from your husband. Out of nowhere, a cramp twists through your lower back and you cover Billy’s hand with yours, wincing. He shifts you off his chest slightly to look at you.

“You okay?”

The pain passes and you can breathe again – it's not something you've felt before, but you know things get weirder the bigger the baby gets.

“Fine, yeah. I think she was moving around or something.”

Billy gives your stomach a firm look, which coaxes a laugh out of you and chases away your nerves.

“‘s not the baby’s fault, honey,” you say. “She's just getting comfy.”

“You're sure you're alright?” He confirms. “I can ride into town and-”

“I'm good. You don't need to worry, okay?”

He nods and pulls you back against him, his body a shelter from any worries.

As the night creeps on, there are a few more cramps but nothing notable, and you're able to fall asleep almost immediately when the time comes.

That is, until the middle of the night, when you wake up with your entire core on fire.

“Billy,” you whimper, grabbing for his arm.

He groans, still mostly asleep.

“Something’s wrong, Billy, you gotta-” You pause, a bolt of pain too great to speak through wracking your body for a moment. “You gotta go get the doctor.”

That wakes him immediately, and he's rolling out of bed before his eyes are even completely open. He takes in your face, screwed tight and shiny with sweat, and he's trying to get ready and comfort you at the same time.

“It's okay, darlin’, I'm sure it's nothing,” he says, not even bothering to take off his pajamas before tugging his work clothes over them and shoving his feet into his boots. “I bet the baby is just growing extra fast.”

For all his confident words, his voice trembles and breaks at the end of his sentence, which sends tears spilling down your cheeks. Billy scrambles for the door, then back to you to press a kiss to your forehead and a hand to your cheek.

“Gonna be fine, darlin'. I'll be back as quick as I can.”

You don't even have time to reply before he's out the door and gone.

The pain only increases while he's gone, time going hazy and strange. You can't figure out how long ago Billy left, or how long it should be until he's back – you can't really think of much besides the ache throbbing from your pelvis to your chest. Noises that don't sound like your own are tearing themselves from your throat as you writhe in bed, trying to find anything that'll ease the pain.

Soon (or maybe not soon at all, you can't say), Billy is bursting back into your room, the midwife hot on his tail. She takes one look at you and turns to Billy.

“I need boiling water and strips of cloth.”

Billy nods wordlessly and disappears out to the kitchen. You didn't realize how desperate you were for him until he was gone, and a new bout of sobs streak down your face.

“Oh, lovey,” the midwife says as she strips back your covers. “Your boy will be back soon, he's just helping me keep you safe while you're in labour. Can you tell me how far you are along?”

She tugs your nightgown up around your hips, and you're in too much pain to feel any shame.

Fear shoots through you. “I'm not in labour,” you gasp. “I can't be, it's only been six months since I missed my period.”

Your body bows forward with another stab just as Billy walks through the door with a steaming pot of water and strips of a clean sheet, and he nearly drops everything in his haste to get to you. Once he's sure that the midwife has what she needs, he's settling next to you, offering a hand to squeeze and a shoulder to lean on.

“You may want to step out, Mr. Bonney, this-”

“I'm stayin’,” he says, surely putting on a brave face when you grip his hand like a vice. To you, he soothes, “Hold on as hard as you need, darlin’, you're not gonna hurt me.”

“Okay then,” the midwife says. “Get ready to push, lovey, this baby is just about to come out.”

You don't even have to think when the time comes, a baser instinct taking over for you. It hurts like nothing has before and a wail chokes out of your mouth. Billy is still holding you, whispering sweet things you can't hear against your temple. He might be crying but you can't tell; everything is so wet and hot and sticky that it feels like your throat is closing and your neck is folding in on itself. If he is crying, there's a small part of you that wants to be angry with him, because how dare he cry when you're the one going through this, but it's overshadowed by how scared and confused you are and how he must be feeling that way too.

Suddenly, the pressure in your pelvis changes and the pain subsides, just slightly. You struggle to sit up even a little, peering down at the midwife, who is cradling something you can't see in her arms. Billy, who has a better vantage, is trying to nudge your face into his shoulder, but you resist.

“My baby…?” You whisper. Your voice is hoarse and you're exhausted, but all you want to do is cradle your newborn child.

“It was very early,” the midwife says gently. “She wouldn't have been long for this world, even if-”

“No,” you say, and you can't quite identify what the feeling is behind your resistance. “Let me see my baby, let me hold her!”

You try to scramble up, ignoring the way it makes everything hurt, but Billy holds you back.

“I'm going to clean and wrap her, and then you can hold her, lovey,” the midwife says, standing. You still can't see the body in her arms. “I'm so sorry.”

You turn to Billy as the woman leaves and shove his chest. His eyes are shining, his face is sticky with tears, but he makes no move to stop you.

“Go after her, Billy, don't let her take my baby! I need to feed her, you gotta name her, we…”

Billy just wraps you in a silent hug, and whatever dam was holding the realization back before breaks.

“I'm so sorry,” you sob. “I didn't mean to, it wasn't supposed to happen like this.”

“It's not your fault, darlin’,” he whispers, stroking a hand over your sweat-matted hair. “It's not your fault.”

You never get to hold your baby girl, exhaustion and grief sending you to sleep before the midwife returns. Billy will tell you in the morning, hesitantly and under much duress, that she was born blue.

[familyvideostevie]

𝕟𝕠 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: 𝕠𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕓𝕖𝕣

a farmer's market steve harrington x reader au part 1 [7.2k] | part 2 [8.3k] | part 3 [13.3k] | part 4 [4.6k] | au masterlist

OCTOBER

The rain starts halfway through the first market of October. It comes without warning; a chilly Saturday with scattered clouds turns dark and the bite in the air seeps into your bones. The crowd thins in a matter of minutes despite the promise of a market rain or shine, since a summer rain can be something free and spontaneous. A fall rain is bound to end in a cold.

"Do you need help?" Joyce asks. It's barely started to drizzle but you can see the dark drops marking her jacket. "I think we can close early. Jonathan is almost done with the flowers, I'll send him over here --"

"No, I'm okay," you tell her. You shove candles and jars of honey into your crates with as much care as you can spare. The pickup is just around the corner and you can load everything yourself even if your back will feel it later. "Really, I'm sure other people can use the help more!" Joyce tuts but runs off. As soon as she does the rain picks up. You can feel it spray onto your face from the wind, feel it soak into the wool sweater you're wearing.

"Eddie --" you say, about to wave him off, but he picks up the other full crate at your feet.

"Keep packing or someone much meaner than me will come over to help you," he says, winking. "I'll put this in the New-Bee's pickup on my way out, okay?" He's off before you can get in a word of protest.

You decide to tackle the rest of the stock before bringing out another crate but your hands are shaking so much from the cold and your skin is wet and everything is wet and you're worried you're going to drop something. You manage to pack one more and are debating whether or not to bring it to the truck when you hear heavy footfalls in the rain behind you.

"I'm fine," you yell over the rain. There's no response so you turn and the sight punches a hole in your chest: it's Steve. He's soaked to the bone, just like you, but he looks like...like...well. His own sweater and flannel combo are weighed down with water and his jeans are a shade darker than usual. You feel a little warmer than you did a second ago.

He jerks his chin up in greeting and he reaches forward to gently grab your elbow. "We gotta go," he says. "I think there's gonna be lightning soon. And you're soaked." He takes in your chattering teeth and the crates around you like he's doing a calculation in his head.

"I gotta get the stock --" His palm is so warm even through your dripping sweater that you have to keep yourself from leaning into him.

He tugs on you gently. "Leave it."

"Steve, I made this stuff." The plea is pathetic in your ears and you wonder if he'll make fun of you for it. You really hope not, since you've been turning over what Dustin said to you for days and it's fair to say that Steve Harrington is a puzzle you want to figure out. If he lets you.

The warm hand on your elbow disappears and you expect him to storm off but he just scoops up the third crate you've finished filling and heads for the truck.

"Gee, thanks," you mutter, squatting to grab the stacks of candles for the last crate. You're really shaking now but you're trying to move fast, so when a peal of thunder finally tears through the air you're startled enough to drop one of the glass jars. It shatters and the candle wax inside rolls away.

You don't think as you start to pick up the shards of glass with your bare hands, don't consider that maybe it's a bad idea until you slice your palm with one.

"Shit!" you yell, staring helplessly as a thin line of blood wells and drips down your skin. It doesn't look deep but it hurts. A warm hand on your back almost sends you careening forward into your mess but another on your shoulder steadies you.

"Woah, what the fuck happened here?" Steve asks, harsh tone at odds with how he's touching you as he crouches down to examine the glass.

You are humiliated to feel tears gathering and your throat getting tight. "The thunder, I --. It startled me and I--"

"Are you bleeding?" He hauls you up and a few steps away from the glass before you can answer. Your hold your injured palm out in front of you like it'll bite but Steve is quick to grab your wrist gently when he notices you shaking. You sniffle and his eyes meet yours for just a second.

"Hey," he says so softly you can barely hear him over the rain. "Hey, it's fine. Lemme just --" He digs in his back pocket with his free hand before he produces a blue bandana.

"That better be clean," you grind out, hoping to regain control of the situation, but the words are thick in your throat. As it is, you feel entirely too caught up in Steve's orbit, in the warmth of his touch and the kindness in his gaze. He smirks as he wraps the cloth around your hand, tying it tight enough that it won't come off. You hiss and he winces.

"Sorry," he whispers. He clears his throat and releases you. "Just this left?" He taps the side of the last crate with his foot. You nod. Steve makes quick work of the rest of your stock before he picks it up and heads out into the rain. You glance at the glass you're leaving behind before heading after him. The rain is coming down harder and lightning flashes before another crack of thunder makes you jump again.

"Told you!" Steve shouts, tucking the tarp over the back for the last time before you both clamber into the front seats. The rain pounds on the roof and the windshield and you're both panting so hard the window starts to fog. Steve is shivering though trying to hide it, jaw clenched as he runs his hands through his sopping hair. You turn the truck on and blast the heat.

"Where's your car?" you ask. Your voice sounds louder now that it's just the two of you.

"Robin drove today." He angles one of the vents towards you. "She uh, took all the stuff back already."

"So you're stuck here?" You can't believe that she'd leave him on accident or even on purpose.

He shrugs. A drop of rain travels down this column of this throat and you swallow. "You needed help." He says it like it's obvious. Like you should expect him to stay through a storm just to be at your side.

"Okay," you say. "I'll-- I"ll drive you home." Steve looks at you like he's seconds away from laughing in your face.

"With that hand?" All at once the pain rushes back, the steady throb of the cut on your palm taking over. The bandana is as soaked as the rest of you so you can’t tell if you’re bleeding through it. "I don't think so," he snorts.

"Steve." It's the softest you've ever said his name and he all but flinches. "I don't want to fight with you."

"I--we're not fighting," he argues, then catches himself. "I don't want to fight with you either. So I'll ask nicely." He clasps his hands like a boy in church. "Please, oh please, will you let me drive?"

Part of you wants to refuse just to be difficult – and because you totally can drive one handed. But you decide right now, in the cab of your truck as it pours, to try with Steve, and maybe this is what trying looks like. Because he stayed in the rain to help you. Because you’re tired of convincing yourself you don’t want to like him. And well, because your hand really does hurt. "Fine," you sigh. "But I'm not going back out there." Stubborn to the last, your dad always says.

"I'll go over you," Steve says quickly. The cab of the pickup is big for Steve to barely brush your thighs as he hauls himself into the driver's seat but you're so close for just a few seconds that you feel your breath hitch. He's dripping wet like you are but you swear that you can feel the warmth that seems to emanate from him through the fabric.

"Does New-Bee's have a first aid kit? Or do you want to go to the hospital?" He adjusts the seat a little and pulls out of the parking lot in to deserted downtown Hawkins.

"Bob has one," you say. "I think that'll be fine." Would he actually drive you to the hospital if you wanted to go? Something tells you that he'd stay with you the whole time, too. It makes you shiver.

Steve eyes you. "Shouldn't take too long," he says. "Gotta drive a little slower in the rain." The thunder rumbles but it sounds far away now. He hits a bump and your hand smacks your own knee and you hiss.

"Green or red apples?" Steve asks suddenly.

"What?" He repeats the question. "Uh...green," you say. He nods.

"Same. Cats or dogs?"

"Both. Steve, why are you asking--"

"Really? You like cats? They're monsters, I swear. Get scratched every time I go near one." The questions continue. Tulips or daisies? Night or day? Sunrise or sunset? He seems delighted that you're playing along with his game, willing to tell him even small tidbits about yourself. You're both only children, both like morning, both hate spinach. He likes sunrises but you like sunsets, and he actually yells in outrage when you say you "can't stand ice cream."

"I always get a brain freeze!" He's waving his hand in the air like he's searching for the words.

"You're just eating it wrong, or something. Who doesn't like ice cream?" You laugh, the pain in your hand forgotten for the moment. Oh, you think. He's distracting you.

Steve pulls into New-Bee's and Bob's truck is missing. He must be out somewhere, maybe caught by the storm which is still raging, rain steady though not dangerous anymore.

"You're coming in, right?" you ask. He nods, once again running a hand through drying hair that's about to get wet again as if it’s a nervous habit. Maybe it is. But you don’t know why he’d be nervous.

"Ready?" He turns the car off and braces a hand on the door. "We can get the stuff later." You nod and he counts down on his fingers before you fling yourselves into the downpour, running towards the wide farmhouse covered porch. The cold is a shock and Steve grabs you mid-gasp, your uninjured hand in his as he hauls you up the steps and out of the rain. Your fingers feel frozen in his but you don't let go.

You start to laugh. Water pools at your feet and you're cold and your hand hurts and Steve is looking at you like you've lost your mind. But you laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

"What's so funny, honey?" Steve asks, incredulous. The nickname only makes you snort and laugh harder. It sounded so sour coming from him just last week and now it's sweet, now he's grinning at the noise you're making. "Besides, me, clearly," he adds before he starts laughing too. It occurs to you that this might be flirting.

"Steve," you gasp between laughs, "you hate me." He stops laughing but you keep going until you smack your hand on your knee again, and this time it hurts so much it brings tears to your eyes immedietly. Steve hisses like he's the one who's hurting.

"I don't hate you," he says, almost as an afterthought. "Can I see your hand, please?" You hold it out without hesitation. Something has changed between you but you can't exactly pinpoint what or when -- just that now you're offering yourself to him easy as anything.

This time his touch burns, callused fingertips and wide palms overwhelming as one gently unties the bandana and cradles your palm. He whistles long and low. He pulls it gently to his face and you bite your lip because it has been so long since someone touched you like this, with care, with attention.

"I want to see it under some light but I don't think there's any glass in it. And it's not deep enough for stitches. And it’s only bleeding a little bit." He’s rambling.

"Do you do this a lot?" you ask.

He's still looking at your hand but manages some sarcasm. "What, play doctor?"

You flush. Definetly flirting. "Steve."

"Nah," he sighs, letting you go. You shiver again. "I've seen lots of small injuries working at Sara's for so long. Let's go inside, okay?"

The front door is unlocked as usual and as soon as it smacks closed behind you the rain starts to pound harder. "Can I drive you back when it calms down?" you ask him as you tug off your soaked boots.

"Sss-ure." Steve fails to hide his shiver. "Where's the first-aid kit?" You wave for him to follow you to the upstairs bathroom.

"I bet I have some stuff you can change into, if you want." He's going to get sick if he stands around in his soaked clothes much longer.

"Hand first."

"I can do it myself, Steve," you say over your shoulder on the stairs.

He smirks. "I'm sure you can."

The bathroom is big enough that you can both stand in front of the sink, the first-aid kit open on the counter next to you. You allow Steve to examine your palm in the dull light, keeping your eyes on the ceiling. Something tells you that looking at him or your hand might not be such a good idea right now.

"I'm just not as good with new people as I thought," he says, picking up on the abandoned conversation from the porch. He rubs an alcohol wipe along your cut and you scrunch up your nose, eyes pricking. You don't want him to see you almost cry again. "There hasn't been anyone new here in a long time. So I just... we got off on the wrong foot." You don't say anything. You feel him start to wrap the gauze and deem it safe to look down.

"I don't hate you," he repeats, eyes on your hand. "That's what I'm saying."

"I don't hate you either," you say softly. Steve looks at you then, eyes warm and hair damp, the corner of his mouth curling into a grin.

"Fooled me." He secures your bandage with a satisfied hum. "You said something about dry clothes?"

He follows you down the hall to your bedroom. Steve doesn't comment on the bare of your walls, the way your suitcases are out as if you're going to use them at any second. His eyes linger on the numerous candles on your vanity. The bottom drawer of your dresser is full of New-Bee's branded clothing that Bob has given you, soft things you've taken to sleeping in. A pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt should work, and you hand them to him.

"Thanks." He turns on his heel to return to the bathroom.

"Bring me your wet stuff and I'll throw it in the dryer!" you call after him before stripping out of your own soaked clothes, the damp denim of your jeans making a wet sound on the floor. Soft pants and a favorite hoodie fill you with welcome warmth as the rain continues to thud on the glass panes of your windows. You almost run into Steve in the hallway on your way to the closet with the dryer and you have to swallow a lump in your throat at the sight of him.

He's --. Well, he's in your clothes, barefoot in your hallway. To see him this way feels intimate in a way you don't know how to handle and it makes your heart do something funny in your chest.

"These are comfy," he says. His hair is a mess and you're staring and for some reason his cheeks are pink.

"You can have them," you tell him without thinking. Oh god, you think. Where did that come from? "I can get more from Bob, anyway." You pull open the washing closet and he throws his stuff in the dryer alongside yours. Your traitorous brain wonders if he's still wearing his underwear.

"Well, now what?" He looks at you through damp bangs, arms crossed. He looks softer than you ever thought him capable of being.

"This will take like, half an hour maybe? So I guess you have to hang out with me until then." He groans and you swat his arm, the venom from your first meeting nowhere to be found. Steve heads back towards your bedroom as you finish setting the dryer and you find him sniffing some of the glass jars he'd been eyeing earlier.

"These smell great," he tells you, eyes fluttering as he inhales one labeled evergreen/lavender. "You made 'em?"

"Yeah." You sit down on the edge of your bed. "Test batches for new scents."

"Still burning your fingers?" He looks at your hands, one bandaged by his own and the other curling into your blankets. You shake your head, remembering how he'd come to talk to you at the market, how his gaze had darkened when he noticed your fingers.

"What were you going to ask me last week?" you ask. He sets down the candle and straddles your vanity chair so that he's facing you.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, well." Maybe he doesn't remember. "I just-- before those kids of yours showed up, you were going to ask me something."

"You remember that?"

"I pay attention." The to you goes unsaid but seems to float in the air between you nonetheless.

"Oh," Steve says. He crosses his arms on top of the chair and sets his chin on them. "I was going to ask you to uh, hang out? But looks like that is happening right now."

"Really?"

"Don't sound so excited," he grumbles. You roll your eyes. "Uh, Nancy is gonna be in town this week and we're gonna have a Friday night...thing. By the lake."

"Steve," you say. You feel warm, warmer than you have all day. Because he wants to hang out, wants to be friends. And he has, maybe this whole time. "I don't know who Nancy is."

"She's Mike's -- the tall kid you met -- older sister. Jonathan's girlfriend. She's at school but she's coming back for her little sister's birthday. Holly, she's a real sweetheart--"

"Okay," you say.

"Okay?" he parrots. "You don't even want to know who will be there?"

"Careful, Steve. It sounds like you don't want me to come after all." He laughs.

"No, no, I want you to come. Now can I ask you something?" You nod, crossing your legs and his eyes follow your movements. "What did Brenda say to you? A few weeks ago, before we, uh...fought again."

It seems to be a day of catching each other off guard. "Does it matter what she said?" He taps his fingers in a random pattern on your chair.

"I just wanna know." His eyes are dark, his expression guarded. You can feel the walls you've only just broken down start to rebuild and you're desperate to keep them at bay. But you don't want to lie to him. Not while he's in your bedroom in your clothes after the day you've had together.

"She...she told me to be wary of you." His eyebrows raise and his jaw tightens. "She said you uh, broke a lot of hearts in high school."

"Why did she say that to you?" Now that is a truth you are not going to tell him. That she caught you staring.

"Dunno," you mutter.

"Is that why?" he asks. "Why we didn't get along? Why you were so mad that day?" How can you tell him it's because he makes your brain fuzzy, because you were hurt that he judged you so fast? That you did the exact same thing to him?

"I don't--. No." You rub your face with one hand. "Steve, I don't even know her. I don't know why she said that to me--"

"It's true," he interrupts. "I was an asshole back then. I guess I still am," he adds. "I guess I haven't changed a ton, based on how I was to you. How I am to you." He snorts and it's a harsh sound.

"Steve," you begin. "Steve, look, you said it yourself. We got off on the wrong foot and I was as much a part of that as you --"

"You don't have to defend me. You have no reason to." Why does it feel like this is turning into a fight? “That’s just my story, I guess. And everyone knows it.”

"I don't think I understand --"

The dryer beeps and he's out of your room in a flash. How have you lost track of the conversation so quickly?

"Steve," you say. "Steve, wait a second." He's in the hallway pulling his clothes out and shoving them into a paper bag he's found on the shelf. He won't look at you.

"I think I better just go. I don't...I don't want to fight again." The rain has all but stopped without your noticing.

"Then don't fight with me! Steve, come on, I'll drive you. It's bound to rain again and you'll get sick. This is a stupid idea!"

"Yeah, well," he mutters. "That's never stopped me before. See you later. Uh, thanks." He holds up the paper bag with his dry clothes as he shoves his bare feet into his boots. And then he's out the door.

"What the fuck just happened?" you say out loud to yourself in the empty kitchen.

____

It's frustration and embarrassment that keeps you from chasing after Steve. From going to see him at Sara's that night and on Sunday. You spend the rest of the weekend furiously making candles only to realize you've just made batch after batch of the one Steve picked up in your room -- an evergreen and lavender scent. Your hand doesn't hurt anymore, the cut already healing into a thin scabbed line underneath the bandaids you keep on it.

"Not that I'm complaining," Bob says when you bring the finished jars into the farmhouse on Monday morning. "But what's the fixation on this candle? You've made enough for three farmer's markets at least."

"Bob," you sigh. "I think I messed up but I don't know why." You and Bob talk most days when you run into each other in the house, but you hardly speak to him about non-farm matters. And yet, who else do you have to turn to? You don't think you can call anyone to talk about Steve, since everyone knows him, and you feel silly about the whole situation as is.

"And candles are going to fix it?" he teases. You groan and he claps you on the back gently. "Listen, kiddo. I know you've had a rough go of it and that Hawkins might not have sold you yet. But you're finding your way. And I know that you've made quite the impression on a few folks already." He picks up one of the candles you're labeling and smells it. "How about you take some of these over to Sara's? Give 'em a few and see if Hop wants to put some up in the store on the property."

Your boss eyes you as you feel your cheeks heat and you shift from foot to foot. "Sure, Bob," you tell him. You realize you have no idea what Steve does during the week, let alone on a Monday. It's time to find out.

You rehearse an apology on the drive to Sara's Farm. "What do I have to apologize for?" you mutter as you the truck bumps down the long drive. But urge to get back the Steve that padded around your room barefoot in borrowed clothes is stronger than your stubbornness. The property itself is huge -- much bigger than New Bee's. There are multiple barns that look well-built and maintained along one side of the fields and on the other you see a variety of livestock grazing. A bright blue chicken coop is next to the small farm store and the farm house sits charmingly in front of what looks to be rows and rows of trees. You wonder where Steve lives.

The farm store is empty of customers on a Monday morning but it's full of beautiful produce and goods: bags of apples of all colors, cherries, and sunflowers. Root vegetables and fresh eggs sit next to baked goods you have a feeling El is responsible for. There are t-shirts and hand-painted canvas bags and flower arrangements with the Byers Flowers tag on them. At the register sits a man you've never met but know on sight -- Jim Hopper. Former police chief, current farmer and collector of wayward individuals, if you've got the story right. That's how Steve ended up here, anyway.

"Uh, hi?" you say. Hopper looks up from a tattered paperback but he doesn’t spook.

"Hello," he drawls. "You here from Bob's place?" He jerks his chin at the New-Bee's bag you're carrying full of your candles.

"I--yeah." You introduce yourself and he sucks on his teeth and stands, gesturing for the bag.

"You're the new girl Harrington talks about," he says. "I'm Hop. Welcome to Hawkins." Your brain is trying to make sense of what he's saying. Steve...talks about you? It's not that strange considering you have been a massive pain in his ass on purpose but still.

"I've been here almost a month," you blurt out. Hopper looks at you over the candle he's smelling. It's a look that says: I know what you’re really here for.

"Belated welcome, then," he says. "You make these?" You nod. "They smell great. I'll call Bob and tell him we'll stock 'em."

You look at your shoes as if they're suddenly very interesting. "Is uh, Steve here?" Hopper sighs and wipes a hand across his face as he mutters something that sounds like damn kids.

"Not today," he replies but offers no details. Your fists clench in your pockets because something about this feels rehearsed. "Hey," Hopper says and you look up. "Maybe if you bring some more candles tomorrow he'll be here."

But when you return the next day with a full crate of candles you find El and the boy you remember as Mike sitting behind the counter. El grins when she sees you and calls out your name. Mike whispers something in her ear.

"Hi El, Mike. Where can I put this?" Mike hurries around the counter to take it from you. There's a clear set of shelves right by the register that he starts to fill.

El rests her head in her hands and smiles at you. "Dad said you'd come by today. That color is really pretty on you." You're wearing a deep green sweater under a denim jacket.

You wink at her and she giggles. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Parent-teacher conferences," Mike says. "Hop's there so we get to run the store today." He carefully lines up all the candles so the labels face outwards. El watches his every movement.

"Are your other friends here?" A screech from outside floats in through the open window followed by what sounds like Max's laughter.

"They're supposed to be collecting eggs," El says. "But the rooster doesn't like Dustin very much."

"And, uh..." You examine a jar of strawberry jam. "Is Steve here? Your dad said he might be." Her eyes are soft as she chews on her response and tucks her hair behind her ears.

"He told me to tell you that he's not here," she says. Mike looks at her with fond exasperation.

"El, I don't think we were supposed to say it like that."

She raises her eyebrows at him. "Steve is being silly and Max and I won't be a part of it. So be glad she's outside because she'd be less nice than me." She looks at you, mouth twisted in a grimace. "I don't know where he is today but if you come back tomorrow maybe you'll catch him."

"Great," you mutter. "He's avoiding me." You blow a raspberry to keep your frustration at bay. "Here's some free life advice, Mike." He looks at you warily. "Don't avoid girls. They'll find you." He sputters and El cackles.

And you fully intend to catch Steve sooner rather than later because this is getting ridiculous. Wednesday morning finds you driving over to Sara's yet again. No candles this time, but you have a plan: search every inch of the damn property for this ridiculous boy and make him talk to you. Because you don't want all of this to be for nothing -- the thing between you that changed from something cold and hurtful to something that made you look forward to seeing him. That, and you want to go the hang-out on Friday without things being awkward.

You bypass the store completely and head for the orchard. It's a bitter cold day, the first one in a while, and you should have worn gloves. As it is you're shivering in your jeans and long-sleeve layered under a the same sweater as yesterday and a flannel and a jacket. The tip of your nose feels like Jack Frost himself blew on it and you're rubbing it when you almost crash into someone popping out of a row of apple trees.

"Hey!" says Robin, arms reaching out to steady you. "You okay?" She looks as cold as you but she's smart enough to be wearing a beanie. You haven't seen her recently, haven't talked to her one-on-one since your first meeting in the library. You wonder if Steve told her what happened.

"Wasn't watching where I was going, sorry." You sigh but Robin's friendly energy tamps down your frustration. "How are you?"

"Oh, you know," she sing-songs. "No classes today, so I'm here to help a bit with apple picking. If you want advice on the best varietals right now I'm your girl. Hopper made us memorize an entire list this year. I think I know more about apples than I ever wanted to." She digs into her cargo pants pocket and pulls out a huge red fruit. "Good breakfast though!" The crunch of her bite makes you smile and she tries to say something through a mouthful of fruit.

"Robin, don't choke!" She rolls her eyes and makes a show of chewing before trying again.

"Are you coming on Friday night?" she asks. "Nancy is psyched to meet you and Eddie won't stop bothering me about hanging out with you and Steve --" She groans like his very name is a chore to say. "Well, I bet you're here to see Steve, right?"

You chew on your lip before responding. "Did he tell you what happened?"

"Sounds like a classic case of Steve getting stuck in his own head and being a jerk. But that's just my opinion." Robin rocks back and forth on her heels and takes another bight of the apple.

"I wanted to apologize but I don't really know what I'm apologizing for," you admit. "I think we were about to become friends."

She hums. "Well, he's in the orchard a few rows that way." She points in the direction you were heading. "Just listen for the radio playing Springsteen really loudly. And please, please come on Friday." She pulls you in for a hug so quick you don't get the chance to return it and darts off back towards the farm store. You listen hard and hear some music in the distance so you head towards it, you cold hands shoved in your pockets.

"I'm dyin' for some action," a voice carries over the orchard. "Sick of sittin' round here tryin' to write this book." You quicken your pace along the openings in the rows of trees, head craned to glance down each one in search of Steve. "I need a love reaction," he sings and you try very hard to keep a hold on your frustration. "Come on now, baby, give me just one look---"

It gets harder when you find him at the top of a ladder. The radio is loud from its place in the dirt and he's pulling apples from the top of a tree and tossing them into a cloth bag. Stock for the farm store, you guess. You're content to watch him, drinking your fill after a few days without a glance. The realization that you missed him is a sudden one that has you rubbing at your chest. But its not the ache that you’re so used to – it’s something entirely different. What is this boy doing to you?

As if he hears you thinking, Steve turns over his shoulder mid-singing and spots you. His eyes widen and his cheeks color even more -- he's already flushed from the cold and his efforts -- and he starts down the ladder. "Bee girl," he calls. "Fancy seeing you here." He skips the last few rungs and hops onto the ground to turn the radio down. You realize that he's wearing overalls over a soft green sweater that matches your own. He's not wearing gloves either and his ears are pink and you want to touch him and -- wait, what?

"You've been avoiding me, Steve," you say, your heart beating entirely too fast.

"How's your hand?" he asks. "You keeping it clean?" You hold up your palm so he can see the bandaids there.

"It's fine. Steve, I said you're been avoiding me--"

"Yeah," he admits. "I'm sorry."

"I-- what? Really?" You've come ready to argue again, ready to stand your ground and tell him he's been unfair.

"Really. Did you...not expect me to apologize?" He frowns. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just got in my head about stupid stuff. About the way other people think of me, all that shit." He digs his hands into his overall pockets. "And I took it out on you. So, I'm sorry. I uh, I won't do it again. I swear."

"Oh," you breathe. "Well, then." You laugh a little and Steve smiles hesitantly. "I was ready to fight. Tell you to stop being such a stubborn asshole and talk to me." He grimaces.

"I was embarrassed, actually," he says. "I mean, a girl from high school tells you the truth and I get shitty about it? Not a good look." He takes a casual step towards you to inspect a branch of the tree you're standing by. "I just feel like you're getting all the worst parts of me."

You snort. In the days you've spend thinking about him, you know that's not true. He's stubborn and he's quick to defend and he's possessive. Steve is all of that, but he's also funny and kind and helpful and loyal. You'd be silly not to admit that to yourself. You hope he can see those things, too. "I want to be your friend, Steve," you tell him. His head snaps up to look at you. His eyes are warm and the corner of his mouth curls up.

"I want to be your friend, too," he says softly. A cool wind rushes down the row of trees and his ladder shakes. "Is that safe?" you ask, shivering a little.

"Yeah, it's better when I'm on it, actually --" He notices you shake. "You're cold." He steps forward to rub his hands up and down your arms. When he catches your fingers he hisses. "You gotta wear gloves, honey," he says. The nickname seems to slip out without his notice. It sounds different than when he said it in jest on your porch. It's sweeter than you imagined it would be now that he seems to mean it, almost sweeter than you can handle. "You should go back to the store and make Wheeler give you some free cider."

"Do you want to come?" you ask. Just minutes ago you were ready to fight with him and now you don't want him to stop touching you, stop being near you. This boy is giving you whiplash.

"I gotta keep going out here or Hop will feed me to the chickens." He looks almost pained to send you off alone. "But I'll see you Friday? Are you okay with Eddie picking you up?"

You nod. "Yeah. I'll be there." You eye the ladder again. "Be careful, Steve. I don't need my new friend falling out of a tree!" His laugh warms you all the way to your toes.

__

Time passes impossibly slowly for the rest of the week. But then it's 7 pm and you're waiting for Eddie to pick you up and you're excited. Over a month in this town and you're finally feeling like you've got your feet under you -- you've got friends and they want to hang out with you and you're making things you’re proud of and you feel good. The night is chilly and you're sure to shove a hat and gloves in your bag along with some marshmallows.

A car honks and you almost trip over yourself on the way out the door. Eddie sits in a van that looks like it's on its last legs. You can hear the music blasting but he turns it down as you climb in.

"It smells like mushrooms in here," you say. He laughs and backs out of the New-Bee drive.

"Usually smells like weed." He winks at you. "I think the 'shrooms smell better. Earthy, ya know?"

"Whatever you say." You're about to start basic small talk when he clicks his tongue loudly.

"So, you and Harrington, huh?" he asks. You try to keep your expression neutral but your eyebrows lose the battle and raise to your hairline.

"Me and Harrington, what, Eddie?"

"I don't know sweetheart, you tell me."

You fiddle with the heat nob. "He's not that bad, I guess." Eddie laughs again. He's a joyful dude.

"Told you so," he sings. "Glad you came around, or I think he'd have blown a gasket starting at you all the time." You look out the window. It feels like things have gone from zero to 100 in the span of a week. Loathing for Steve turned to frustration turned to something warmer, something softer. You want to know him. You want to understand him and to talk to him and to figure out what makes him tick. And you want him to know you.

Eddie spares you more talk of Steve and instead regales you with stories of his band and his odd boss at the mushroom farm, Rick. You deduce that in addition to selling mushrooms legally and weed a little less so, Eddie is perhaps the sweetest, strangest boy you've ever met.

The lake, Lover's Lake, you remember, is dark and you have to walk down a small bluff to get to the bonfire. Steve doesn't seem to be there yet but Robin, Jonathan, and a girl you assume is Nancy all cheer when you arrive.

"There she is!" Robin cries. You pull out the marshmallows. "And she brings snacks!"

"Steve should have the graham crackers and chocolate when he gets here," Jonathan says. "Glad you made it."

"I'm Nancy," the girl next to him says. She's bundled in an Emerson sweatshirt and a jacket you've seen Jonathan wear before. "It's so good to meet the one who seems to be looking after these guys when I'm not around." She pats the spot next to her and you settle in between her and Robin.

"Oh, I don't know about that," you say. "I'm just the new girl in town."

"The new girl in town that we are obsessed with!" Robin adds. "She's great, Nance. An expert in bees already, too. The candles she makes are beautiful." You're starting to feel like a product Robin is trying to sell.

"It's true," Jonathan says. "The kids love her, too."

"Kids," Nancy scoffs. "Mike drove us here, Jonathan. They're hardly kids anymore."

"Your brother is sweet," you say. "And Steve said it's your sister's birthday? I hope you're having fun being home for that." Nancy smiles softly and leans into Jonathan. The easy affection between them makes your chest ache.

"I always love coming home," she tells you. "Hawkins is a special place full of special people." Her smile turns to a smirk. "Though I've heard you've become well acquainted with one of them."

Eddie snorts. He's already got a marshmallow on a stick over the fire. "That's one way to put it, Wheeler." You bury your face in your hands and groan.

"We're friends now, I swear!" you say. "He just pissed me off at first."

"He was an asshole, you mean," Robin corrects fondly. "Oh, Steve. We love him, don't get me wrong. But you were a sight to behold, putting him in his place like you did."

"I really wish I was there for that," Nancy sighs. "But seriously, I'm glad you're friends now and that he asked you to hang out with us. I was going to make Robin do it if Steve didn't get his act together --"

"Munson!" a voice interrupts. "Can't you wait for the rest of the s'mores stuff?" Eddie's marshmallow is now on fire as he greets Steve with a sheepish grin.

"Grocery store is a mess tonight," he says, dropping two plastic bags on the ground by your wood log benches. He's got a thermos tucked under one arm. And -- you swear you gasp just a little bit -- he's in a beanie. "I got graham crackers, chocolate, beer, and warm cider for anyone who doesn't want beer." He passes the six pack to Robin and she, Nancy, and Jonathan take one. Eddie looks between you and Steve and the thermos like he's trying to solve a puzzle before he takes a beer, too.

"Guess this is for you and me, bee girl," Steve says. Robin scoots over and Steve settles next to you on the wood, his thigh pressing warm into yours. "Hey," he says quietly, just to you.

"Hey yourself," you reply. It's no longer a surprise that you're so glad to see him. Eddie starts to ask Nancy about the big city and Steve cracks open the thermos and pulls out two chipped mugs from one of the plastic bags. You take one and his bare fingers brush against yours, warm as always.

"Did you bring gloves?" he asks, pouring hot cider into your mug. "And a hat?"

"Why, you gonna give me yours if I didn't?" you tease. He grins and your stomach swoops.

"Nah," he says. "I forgot my gloves, so I'm just making sure I can steal yours later."

"Wait, I brought blankets!" Eddie runs back to his van to grab them and tosses one to you and Steve. You hold his mug as he wraps it around you both, the thermos held between his legs.

"No need to steal my gloves," you say softly. He snorts a little.

"So," Nancy begins. "I hope I'm not prying, but can you tell me how exactly you ended up in Hawkins?"

"Oh," you say. "Uh." The cider is warm when you take a sip. You wonder if Steve made it himself before coming over here. "There's not much of a story, really." Robin gently knocks your foot with hers and Steve's thigh presses into you even more. "My folks wanted me to go to college so I did. But I didn't like it and I didn't want to waste money so I asked if I could uh, drop out."

"Badass," Eddie says. Nancy shushes him.

"I don't know what I want to do with my life," you continue. "And we had a connection to Bob and my parents told me to try the total opposite of college which is working on a bee farm, I guess. So, I'm just trying to figure it out." You take another sip of your cider. “Start a new story, or something.”

"I'll drink to that," Jonathan mutters. You laugh and it's echoed around the fire. He starts to tell a story about his classes at community college and you pull the blanket tighter around you. Steve is warm at your side and you glance at him. There's no use pretending that he's anything short of beautiful. You've thought so since you first saw him, even when he made you see red. But in the firelight and his hat he looks soft, young, happy. You trace the line of his jaw with your gaze and look away only when you realize you're staring at his lips. On the other side of him, Robin grins at you.

"Who wants to skip rocks?" she says. You realize you have no idea what's been said the last few minutes. She stands up and tugs Nancy from your side. "Come on," she says to the boys.

"Not on your life, Buckley," Steve says, but she's already down the bank with the others. "I hope no one falls in," he grumbles.

"Don't be such a grump," you tease. "They can handle themselves."

"It's too cold." Steve pouts exaggeratedly and you reach up to tug on his beanie.

"Thank you for inviting me, Steve," you say softly. "I'm having a nice time and it's...nice to have friends." His pout turns into something a little more real and his eyebrows furrow. "I like Hawkins a lot. I've just felt kind of adrift, if that makes sense?"

"I didn't help," he sighs. "I made it worse, I'm sure. I'm sorry for --"

"But you're helping now," you say. You put your hand on his knee and he inhales sharply. "No more apologies needed."

"I like the candles that you made," he blurts out. “The new ones that we’re stocking at Sara’s.” You smack your lips and keep your hand where it is.

"How did you know I made them?"

"You told me, just now." He's teasing but his face is flushed. His eyelashes look impossibly long. "Nah, I knew. You're a candle wiz. Even if you're clumsy." He eyes the hand that isn't on his knee, the one that you cut. You hold it up to show him, just like you did on Wednesday in the orchard. You feel bold under his gaze, bold in the darkness with your new friends laughing down at the shoreline. Bold because you've gone from being alone to being wanted in the span of a week and it feels good.

"I made them because you were smelling that one in my bedroom," you confess. "The evergreen lavender tester."

Steve's face does something complicated, like he's sorting through how he should feel about this. "Aren't you observant," he mutters, but it's teasing. His eyes catch your gaze again and this time he's searching for something. Then his hand settles over yours on his knee and you're worried he's going to pull it off.

"Can I try something?" he asks. "You can tell me to go fuck myself if you don't like it." The memory of your first meeting makes you laugh but it comes out as a nervous giggle because Steve is leaning in. He's leaning in and the crack of the fire and the laughter by the lake is drowned out by the sound of your own heart beating in your ears. You close your eyes and wait to be kissed.

Steve is warm everywhere. His hand on yours, the line of his body as he turns into you, the palm that frees itself from the blanket to cup your jaw. He breathes into the small space between you for just a second too long and you decide to close the gap. He gasps against your lips and it's such a sweet sound that you smile. It's a soft kiss, sweet and hesitant. His lips are gentle but the hand on your face suggests that he could take control at any point, that he's letting you decide how long to keep this up.

You linger, pulling away only to lean back in for another quick peck against Steve's growing grin. You can't help it.

"C'mere," Steve says, tugging you into a hug. A first kiss has never felt so enormous, so monumental. You hide your face in his neck. "You don't taste like honey, honey," he says into your hair. "I feel kind of cheated."

You pinch his thigh and he yelps.

"We're friends, huh?" you say, knowing that you're crossing a line that maybe you can't come back from. And it's a dangerous move because you know right there, in the cold October night by the fire with his hand on your face and a blanket around you both that you could love him. It would be so easy. He could be your home if you wanted him to be. And that's terrifying.

"We're whatever you want," Steve replies.

___

tags: @cheerupbarry @srrybutno @97soroka @sunlitide @gloryofroses19 @carpediem1219 @themarvelousbee @sunshinehollandd @katsukis1wife @imherefortea @spideyboipete @lonelywidow @actual-mom-steve-harrington @steveharringtonscarkeys @pennyllanne @ducky-is-dead-inside @ih3artcry1ng @escape-in-time-x @sea040561 @manyfandomsfanvergent @blandyton @liberhoe @annaisweird @mrs-dr-reid @toomanyacorns @darlingoctober @selfdeprecatingnerd @dullsocietyy @keep-drivng @shireentapestry @mintfrostflower @freezaz123

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[inkrabbit]

Would you happen to have any headcannons for Swiss and/or any of the other ghouls taking care of their sick s/o?

honestly lets have all the ghouls

Swiss:

"Sick...? Hang on, lemme look that up."

and best believe he's asking Primo to make you one of his famous teas to help you feel better

you're not leaving his bed either, so get comfy

don't worry, he's not leaving your side until you're all better. and yes, that means he's cuddling with you as much as you'll allow

you wanna watch a movie? some stupid videos to make you feel better? you got it.

he'll also play something for you on his guitar and softly sing to you in hopes you feel better

also pls eat for him, even if you don't really want to. he'll cry if you don't

Aether:

"You're hotter than a fire ghoul. What's wrong?"

he doesn't 100% understand when people get sick because ghouls aren't prone to sickness

if you give him a quick rundown, he gets the general idea

will ask some siblings for tips, and also get a couple books

refuses to let you leave bed when he sees that "rest" is one of the important home remedies

keeps checking up on you to see if you feel better because, no Aether, sickness doesn't go away within hours of rest

gives you some of his books to read and offers to play music to help relax you more

Cirrus:

"You're still in bed? Did you stay up late last night?"

one of the few ghouls that actually knows what to do

checks your temperature every hour and always ends it by kissing your forehead

brings you food to eat in bed so you don't have to waste energy getting up

you can get up and do things, but she's gonna give you a firm warning to get back to bed

also gives you fuzzy blankets and a few stuffed animals she found to try and make you comfy

she'll stay if you want her to, but other than, she's giving you your space so you can rest peacefully

Cumulus:

"Honey, what's wrong? You're burning up!"

also one of the ghouls that knows what to do and she's quick too

within five minutes, she's taken your temperature, run you a hot bath and got you a cool and damp towel to rest on your head while you sweat it out under the covers

makes soup from scratch and uses the herbs from Primo's garden to enhance the flavor and boost the potential of it helping you

she gives you anything you want and even softly sings for you to help you fall asleep

shoos away any of the other siblings or ghouls that try to check on you. if they wanna know how you're doing, they can ask her

keeps a show on that you like so you're not bored being in bed all day

Mountain:

"Ayy, I'm sick too! ... What do you mean flu?"

just like Aether, he doesn't get it at first and he needs a little more in-depth rundown on what the "flu" is

all he really understands is "I feel horrible and hot and disgusting"

he runs a nice hot bath for you and, when he hears how you don't have energy, decides to take it with you so he can help clean you

keeps making jokes and telling stories to try and make you happy

he's more than happy to cuddle with you in bed all day, even if you're feeling icky

tell him if you want some alone time. he'll understand. he just wants you happy and back to normal

Rain:

"Hey, you're burnin' up. Are you okay?"

he knows what sickness is. he's seen Papa sick a few times so he has a good understanding on what to do

asking one of Primo's ghouls for the best home remedies for you and making them himself

understands if you don't want anything, but also encourages you to eat and drink so you keep your strength up

always keeps a bottle of water beside you just in case you need it

plays his bass for you and softly sings if you don't mind him staying with you

don't be afraid to ask him for anything, no matter the request. all he cares about is your health and he wants to take care of you

Sodo:

"Lucifer, you're hot! Is that what it's like touching me?"

doesn't understand at first what's wrong with you, but like Mountain, he gets the gist when you mention how you feel

this is one of those times where he gets really soft with you and insists that, if you need anything, no matter what, all you have to do is ask him

ends up cuddling with you all day and watching shows on his laptop

he won't tell you, but he absolutely loves this. doing nothing and just spending time with you

offers to play music on either his bass (if he can find it) or his guitar. you gotta kiss him if you want him to sing, though

swaps between English and Swedish when gently talking to you while you try falling asleep

Sunshine:

"Is something wrong? You're like... really hot!"

asks Cirrus and Cumulus for advice on how to properly help you

like Cumulus and Rain, she makes you soups and teas herself and uses herbs from Primo's garden to help

she plays a couple of her vinyls to keep you entertained, but feel free to ask her to turn it off. she'll understand

checks your temperature whenever she thinks you feel better or worse

cuddles with you in bed and constantly checks to see if you're okay

will 100% understand if you want to be alone, but she will be coming by every now and then just to check up on you

[hauntedwitch04]

Hi, I was reading the Promts list and this is the first time I've ordered one and I don't know how it works but I'd like to order some with Azriel and if it's too many can you consider just one. 😊

All of them are from touching list #2.

Touch-hands holding

1- tiny hands in big hands

2- calloused hands in softs hands

Kisses

22- Kisses in the rain

Touching

3- Hiding face in neck

Dancing in the rain

Azriel x reader

Words: about 1.0k words

Warnings: None, just pure fluff for our lovely shadowsinger!

Author's note: Hi love, I'm so sorry if it took me ages to write it down.  I love your prompts, they are just perfect for our Azzy. Hope you like it. Have a great day.

p.s. I’m so sorry, my grammar is really bad, and I think it’s not one of my best stories.

Requests are open I Ask

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tiny hands in big hands

calloused hands in softs hands

Kisses in the rain

Hiding face in neck

"Damn, it didn’t take rain now." 

Says Azriel exiting shortly after me from the restaurant, after paying for our dinner. My mate had insisted on going out tonight, to eat at one of the best restaurants in Velaris. We had decided not to go "Rita’s", because we knew that we would meet our family and we wanted to spend a little time alone. It’s been a long time since we could just be him and me, and Azriel had decided that tonight would be all ours, since it was our anniversary, too. I can hardly believe that fifty years ago today we became life partners. Again I thank every day the mother for giving me such a perfect mate as Azriel, which I sometimes doubt I deserve. 

I feel his big warm hands on mine, which I wrap perfectly like pieces of a puzzle that come together after a long time. His scars are rough on contact with my skin, but they do not bother me, indeed I find them pleasant. Az didn’t like to show me his scars at first, much less touch me with them, but after showing him that he loved them, with small and large gestures, he started to melt and appreciate them more. 

My hands look tiny, but he always liked them. They make him feel strong and duty-bound to protect me since I am his "presiding doll", as he says, even if it is the same one that trains me to be one of the most deadly murderers in all of Prythian. He always felt compelled to protect me, and he once explained to me that it was because I couldn’t protect anyone he cared about, that he would die rather than me ending up like his mother, mother, and sister. 

"I’m sorry honey, I wanted this evening to be perfect." He continues, and I realize that I was enchanted by watching him. 

"But this evening is perfect, like every moment I spend with you. Now we go home, the evening is not over shadowsinger." I say while with a smirk I make him understand what I mean. He laughs at my words before taking my hand and starting to run in the rain. In this weather it is not safe to fly, since we may be hit by a fulimine if we go too high, so we have to walk home. We are walking along one of the streets of Velaris, when I stop suddenly, making it turn. 

"Honey, are you okay? Why did you stop?" she asks worried, but I don’t answer. I extend my arms and raise my face towards the sky, while I close my eyes, enjoying the sensation of the drops on my face. 

"Love, you’re gonna get sick if we’re in the rain this long, we gotta go." He continues my mate, trying to convince me to move, while he takes my wrist, but I’m not moving. 

I get lost in the feeling of my wet dress against my body, the drops falling from my hair and the deafening sound of thunder. Then all of a sudden I turn to him, and I see him looking at me with attention as if I were a rare work of art that he has never seen. 

I wrap my arms around his neck as I put my head in the recess between the shoulder and neck. I take a deep breath and absorb her intoxicating smell. Its perfume is almost a dorga for me; that essence of cinnamon, of old paper like that of maps and books that often for work must consult and sea breeze, like the perfume I gave him a few years ago and that he wears only for special occasions, since he thinks it’s too good to be wasted. I can feel the rain on our bodies as we stand in that hug in the middle of the road, between the lightning and the thunder. 

"Dance with me Azriel." I say quietly after minutes of silence. He doesn’t answer, but he moves his hands over my hips, and so we begin to sway to the rhythm of a song that is not heard, but at the same time plays in our hearts. We hover among the drops of rain, like the lightnings dancing in the sky above us. The rain is still strong around us, but we don’t care. It is as if we were the rain, and as drops of water we flowed over the road, embraced, with fluid and delicate movements. We keep dancing until our feet hurt, then we squeeze in. 

I look into his eyes, he looks into mine. Our souls are bound by an unbreakable and invisible bond, but in our eyes we can see the love we feel for each other. Without thinking about it, our lips touch first gently, then the kisses become more and more rewarding. Now our tongues are dancing in our mouths. Eventually we are forced to kiss because of lack of air. Azriel’s lips are red and swollen, but in his pupils you can read that he is not satisfied with the kiss, and that like me, he would like to spend the rest of his life kissing us, and it would still not be enough. 

"I like to dance in the rain with you." I say finally after recovering a little oxygen, he laughs and nods. 

"We should do this more often." I smiled at his words, before returning to kiss him, thanking his mother once again for the gift she gave me.

Taglist 

• @rylettalark • @winchestersgirl222 • @nothingimportentreally • @PhotosAllOvet • @Duda

[jbreenr]

It's On!

Pairing: Andy Barber × Reader

Summary: Accidents can happen when playing with the snow. Lucky for you, this one had a good ending.

Word count: 715

Warning: None that I know.

A/N: I decided I'll be posting some drabbles (mhm) throughout the week till Saturday. Hope you like 'em at least a little. Happy holidays, everyone! As always, lack of vocabulary and grammatical mistakes abound. *apologizes in español*.

ᴺᵒᵗ ᵐʸ ᵍⁱᶠ ¯ ᶜʳᵉᵈⁱᵗˢ ᵗᵒ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜʳᵉᵃᵗᵒʳ

“Oh, you'll regret that!” Your playful warning came right after a cold, wet snowball hit you in the shoulder.

Jacob and other guys of the block were divided in two groups, hidden behind Christmas decorations and fighting a battle where white balls of snow flew in every direction.

After recognizing you as Jacob's step mom as they jokingly called you, one of them invited you to join their team so there would be five against five. Naturally, you said no, you were waiting for Andy to come out to pick your parents from the airport, but apparently your refusal worked as an excuse for one of the girls in the other team to fire at you, instantly making you a part of the game.

Multiple laughs, tactical orders and the unmistakable sound of snow hitting people and fences could be heard in the whole neighborhood, you were sure of that.

Your clothes were soaked, cold and sticking to your skin with every movement you made, but you didn't care. You were having fun, mocking yells and smart comebacks slipping from your lips with the same ease your shoes slipped in the snow.

“Surrender while you still can!” Forming a ball with your numb, frozen fingers, you suggested your rivals. “Cause we won't be merciful!”

You could see one of them hidden behind a plastic snowman, his position was perfect,even for your terrible aim. There was no way you could miss…

SHIN

The ball was thrown only to be followed by a collective gasp that froze you more than the snow under your knees.

Andy was standing in the middle of the staircase, hands fixing his scarf, coat semi-open, and white little dots all over his beard and a part of his hair.

Everyone stood still for a couple of seconds, waiting for the man's reaction. Would he get mad? Would he join the game? There was only one way to find out.

“I'm sorry, honey.” You came out of hiding with an apologetic look. “It wasn't meant for you.” You said with a nervous laugh.

His hand removed the snow from his face before turning to you, wearing a comprehensive smile.

“Don't worry, darling. I bet it wasn't.” He pointed to the car. “Ready to go?”

Despite your soaked appearance, you nodded, said your goodbyes to Jacob and his friends and turned to make your way to the car. The towel you kept in the truck would do…

SHIN

A shiver ran down your spine when a wet ball hit you right in the back of your head, the cold water falling through your hair and peeking to your neck.

You turned slowly, feeling like the main character of a movie, licking your lips, ready to face whoever had thrown the snowball.

And, like out of a movie, everyone in the battlefield pointed at Andy who had his hands in his pockets, his head tilted and a not so innocent smile adorning his features.

“You did not.” Disbelief fell off your lips, the excitement of the battle bubbling in your belly again.

“I did.” A teasing ooooooh from the group followed. “What're you gonna do about it?”

You checked your watch, there was still plenty of time .“This means war, Barber.” You threatened.

Opening his arms, he said, “Bring it on, Y/L/N.”

“To your posts!" A girl screamed for everyone to run to their hiding spots before fire rained… figuratively.

There were no sides anymore. It was everyone against everyone, there were no points to count or a clear target.

Only when one of Jacob's friends hit by accident an old man passing was when the war was terminated by collective agreement with no resentments and a friendly truce.

By the time you took the remains of snow out of your hair, you were shaking. The temperature of the day stabbing you like a dagger through your clothes.

“What will my mom say when she sees us looking like this?” Rubbing your hands up and down your arms, you asked.

Andy hummed, hugging you close to him to share his warmth with you. “She'll disapprove of every part of it.”

“Yeah, she will.” Tightening your grip on his back, you rested your face on his chest with the biggest smile on your lips.