#WAIT ACTUALLY. technically it's the second valentine's day gift they gave him. they gave him something in high school.

[flowerakatsuka]

gonna post karamatsu's walking sprites from the tuxedo set, too, bc he looks very hamsome to me...

also, kara's boutonnière and this set referencing the valentine's day skit reminded me that the first valentine's day gift kuroba gives him is a preserved blue rose they made.

[itsthemoofacewriting]

The very first night

This is for the SaNa Day Gift Exchange event me and ray are running over at @sanamievents! I love the film ‘Hitch’ and the moment I saw the prompt ‘blind date on valentines’, I couldn’t not do this (also, hands down one of the best romcoms). Besides, with speed dating you don’t know who you’ll see that evening, so although I’ve stretched it slightly, it’s technically not cheating?

This is for my lovely giftee, @yumedarling!

Summary: Speed dating was not Nami’s idea of fun but she was there to make sure Robin would be okay. Which was why she was blindsided by the smooth talking, suit wearing chef sat opposite her. Rating: T

This can also be found on AO3 and FFN. 

Enjoy! 

In all honesty, Valentine’s Day wasn’t something Nami gave a lot of thought to. Sure, she’d spent it with people before and she wouldn’t say no to the attention lathered on her from her partner at the time but she also didn’t lose sleep about being single on the day and staying home by herself.

Hence why she wasn’t thrilled about this arrangement.

“It’ll be fun,” Robin said, smiling patiently.

She wouldn’t be saying that later when they had bags over their heads and trapped in some random guy’s basement.

Okay, fine, she was being dramatic and maybe a bit mean, she knew that, which was why she kept the sarcastic thought to herself. Robin actually seemed a bit excited, she knew the older woman didn’t have the chance to date much growing up and she didn’t want to put a damper on that.

So instead, she nodded, trying to seem positive and like she wasn’t here just to make sure nothing bad happened to Robin.

In her own head though, it just seemed desperate and if it wasn’t for her best friend asking her to come with her, she would never willingly attend. She didn’t even know why Robin wanted to in all honesty, she was attractive, had plenty of men falling over their feet for her but instead she wanted to spend her Valentine’s night in a worn-down youth centre with a conveyor belt of questionable men asking the same questions, over and over again. Although she could hardly judge the men when they were both there too.  

It didn’t improve when they arrived to thirty tables lined up in rows of two, woman already seated and men standing off to the side, waiting for begin. She scrunched her nose, they looked like a pack of hyena’s. It didn’t help that the last two tables free weren’t sat next to one another. That was what she got for dragging her feet and making them late.

“Just signal if you need help,” Nami whispered, throwing an apologetic look to the women seated as they made their way closer to the tables.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

They gave their parting words and split apart, Robin in the second isle at the top and Nami in the first in the middle. At least she could keep an eye on Robin this way.

“If I could have everyone’s attention,” the room feel silent as the host started to speak, cutting through the nervous energy in the room. “I’ll go over how the evening it going to work. The women will stay seated the whole time and the men will move to their left. You’ll have two minutes to talk and as soon as you hear the gong, your times up and the men will move onto the next table. Don’t fret though, if you met someone, we’ll have a half an hour session at the end so you can chat more and exchange phone numbers if both parties want to. Any questions?”

The room stared back at him.

“In which case, let’s get started.”

.

.

.

Nami was bored.

And this had been exactly what she’d expected leading up to the night. The attention was nice, don’t get her wrong, but how many times could she answer the same questions and listen to the same monologue from different men without her mind drifting?

She was only on the seventh man and not one of them had been worth remembering.

So far, she’d had quite a broad selection of men before her, ranging from too nervous, trying too hard, too dull or, the one before her was too cocky. He was telling her about his business that she hadn’t asked about and she’d never welcomed the sound of the gong more than she had in that moment. He stood and arrogantly told her he’d see her later. Clearly no one had told him that that there was such a thing as too much confidence.

Well, it’s not like she’d be sticking around once this was done. Only twenty-three more men to go.

Everyone there was dressed up to a certain degree, women in dresses, men in pressed shirts and trousers, maybe a tie. The man about to sit down before her put them all to shame; tailored trousers, tie, crisp white shirt covered by a navy double breasted suit. He didn’t look stuffy though, he looked comfortable and she wondered if that meant he worse suits often. Regardless, she could respect a well-dressed man. And it maybe didn’t hurt that it was paired with the bluest eyes she’d ever seen and trimmed facial hair.

“Hi, I’m Sanji,” he introduced himself as he sat down opposite her and if her eyes didn’t deceive her, he just given her a very obvious once over too.

“I’m Nami.”

“How’s your evening so far?”

Nevermind, he was going to be like just the others. ‘How’re you?’, ‘You’re gorgeous’, ‘You’re beautiful’, ‘What do you do for fun?’, ‘What do you do for work?’

Maybe she could signal to Robin to save her?

“It’s good, yours?” She answered patiently, ready for the routine.

“Getting better.” He smiled at her, eyes unwavering as he met her gaze and it was obvious what he meant. Subtle and not too cheesy, a fine line he was playing with and it shouldn’t have worked on her as much as it did. She wondered if he would be a smooth talker like some of the others.

“What’s your favourite food?”

She blinked, not expecting the U-turn but he didn’t look smug about it though, he waited for her to answer patiently.

“I love oranges.”

He didn’t give her the chance to ask anything back, going in with a follow up question. “What’s your favourite dish?”

Was he going to play twenty questions with her? It’d certainly mix up the pacing at least.

“There’s a difference?” She asked, eyebrow raised.

“Not always, but sometimes it’s different or an extension of their favourite food.” He seemed confident but he the way he played with his fingers made her question that.

“Roasted duck and orange sauce.”

“So, orange related?” Not judgemental but curious.

“I grew up on an orange orchard when I was a child, so I guess that’s where it comes from.” And so organically, she was opening up instead of him having to pry it out of her with forced, stilted questions like all the others. He was good. “What about you?”

“Hm?”

“What’s your favourite food?”

“I like a spicy seafood pasta, although I’m a chef, so I prefer making the food.”

Hm, well the food related questions made a little more sense. “Okay then, favourite dish to prepare?”

And his face lit up at the question. He’d been very polite and composed up until now but he became more animated by the second and it was so different from the men before him. He told her about the first meal he’d ever cooked by himself when he was young, the meal he cooked for his dad and why he loved cooking that one in particular. Although he was talking a lot, it was peppered with fun stories and it wasn’t to brag or because he liked the sound of his own voice, he was showing her a piece of him and one that really loved cooking. She found herself leaning forward, engaged and asking follow up questions or laughing along with him. She’d relaxed.

The cheap, tacky sound of the gong went off and for the first time that evening, it was too soon. She wasn’t relieved to hear it like she had been before, she felt frustrated that those two minutes were gone and she found herself disappointed as the man at the table next to her stood to take Sanji’s seat.

Except, Sanji didn’t look like he was moving.

“Would you mind if I stayed a little longer?” He asked, eyes on her, not interested in the irritated man huffing and puffing next to him. He’d asked politely, face trying not to give anything away so she wasn’t pressured but she could see it. Beneath it, he looked nervous, like this was make or break and it was again, another side to him that she hadn’t expected. It was rather flattering.

He wanted to stay and if she were being honest with herself, she wanted him to stay too.

She couldn’t go back to boring standard questions. His were obviously trying to get to know her, like all the others, but they were fun, kept her on her toes. It wasn’t just him firing questions and her responding, or him doing all the talking, it was genuinely a conversation.

“Not at all.”

He looked relieved at her words, his shoulders relaxing and the smile he gave her was worth it all. His smile stretched to his eyes and she wanted to see it again.

“You heard the lady,” Sanji took his eyes off her to face the other man, and although the words could have sounded smug, they didn’t coming from him.

It was still apparently the wrong thing to say as the words grated on the man waiting, regardless of the tone.

“Listen man, I’ve been waiting to speak to her. You heard what the host said at the beginning, after two minutes you move on.”

As much as this may be stroking her ego, she wasn’t interested right now, she was aware that she was on borrowed time. Afterall, she had no idea how long they’d let Sanji stay seated with her when they finally twigged it and ushered him along.

Leaning forward, she gained both of their attention before Sanji could respond and in her most innocent voice asked, “Would you mind humouring me? It can be our little secret?” She finished with a wink, the words rolling off her tongue with practiced ease.

Hook, line and sinker.

With round eyes, he nodded, wordlessly moving on to the next table like he was hypnotised. A bit of cleavage, innocence with a hint of something more and they were eating out of the palm of her hand. Men were so easy.

She almost laughed when she turned back to Sanji and he had a matching expression.

He swallowed and tried to compose himself as best as he could. “That wasn’t even directed at me and I’m dazzled,” he told her honestly.

“Good to know it works on you too-” the pink on his cheeks extended her teasing grin, “-but I can’t have you too dazzled, we have another two minutes to go.”

“I’ll try to multi-task then.” Her teasing grin softened and God, when had she been a sap for soft words? “Do you enjoy cooking?”

And they were off again. Nami was telling him that she did, probably not on the same level as him, but she had enough recipes she enjoyed making and the whole time, she had his undivided attention.

Really, he wasn’t doing anything that different from the others before him. He was just smoother without being forced. It was almost as easy as breathing talking with him, he’d ask her questions and hung on her every word as she answered. Their conversation flowed naturally, from one topic to the next and it got to a point where no one would bother interrupting them anymore. The gong would go off, Sanji wouldn’t move and she wouldn’t say anything, nor did she have to charm any more men into leaving them be.

She was telling a story about how she’d been kicked out of her favourite supermarket in the city because her best friend had convinced her it was a great idea at the time to see how quickly they could finish shopping if she was in the trolley and he was running her down the aisles. Sanji had only interrupted her as soon as she’d said his name.

“Did you say Luffy, as in Monkey D. Luffy?”

“Yeah, do you know him?” Which wouldn’t surprise her, everyone knew Luffy.  

“I met in a little while ago, he comes into the restaurant all the time!”

Nami snorted. “Of course he does. He’s a bottomless hole for food. Although if he’s coming back for your food, that’s the highest compliment he could ever give.”

He smiled boyishly at her, clearly pleased with the compliment. “He’s one of my favourite people to feed. He eats whatever he’s given and appreciates food. Although, maybe don’t tell him that.”

“Your secret’s safe with me. Has he tried paying with an IOU yet?”

“Tried it the first time and ended up washing the dishes,” he deadpanned before smiling at her to let her know he was more amused than anything.

She shook her head. “Of course Luffy befriended a chef! That’s so like him. Tell me, how often does he pester you to cook for him?”

“The worst part was telling him where I live.”

She giggled, already imagining him hammering on the door excitedly or climbing through the window if he couldn’t be bothered with formalities. Sanji joined her though and she wished she could see what was going through his head.

“You think you’ve locked all the doors, yet he always finds a way in, right?”

“I’m pretty sure he knows I don’t really mind, no matter what I say or do.”

“You still have to pretend though, otherwise he’ll only get worse!” Sanji nodded sagely, as if taking her pearls of wisdom seriously and storing them aware for later. “So if you know Luffy, you must know Zoro, right?”

He looked at her blankly for a second.

“Green hair, scar over one of his eyes?”

Recognition flashed in his eyes and he paused, as if deliberating what he was going to say next before settling on a tight answer. “Yeah, I know him.”

He said it like he was trying to hold himself back and then it clicked why. He didn’t like Zoro. Which looking at him, made sense. She knew Zoro well, he was gruff, looked grumpy most of the time and knew for a fact, he had worn a t-shirt for a week straight without washing it. A stark contrast from the man sitting opposite her, who was well groomed, well-mannered and dressed exceptionally. No wonder they clashed when meeting, she only wished she’d been there to see it.

“Don’t pretend to like him on my account, he’s my best friend and we don’t always see eye to eye.” She thought about her much they bickered, even if they met at the same time as her and Luffy.

Sanji looked serious as he offered, “If he ever crosses you say the word and I’ll kick his arse.”

Interesting, maybe not as well-mannered as she’d initially thought but she supposed that made sense if he was friends with Luffy. She didn’t mind it though.

She gave a short, sharp laugh. “I have a mean right hook, so you won’t have to defend my honour anytime soon.”

He didn’t look put off by that information, which was a pleasant surprise.

“Oh really?”

“That’s why I’m here. My friend wanted to come and I couldn’t leave her by herself.”

“Because it felt like throwing her to a pack of hungry wolves?” He asked, amused.

“Exactly!” She agreed, glad he wasn’t offended. It seemed he didn’t count himself in with the others.

“Which one is she?”

“Over there, with the long black hair.”

She was pointing to the other side of the room and he leaned over the table to follow the direction of her finger. She tried not to stare at him, instead seeing if she could catch her friend’s eye. He smelled nice though, whatever perfume he had on suited him and there was a hint of smokiness beneath it. She wondered if he smoked? She hadn’t smelled it on his breath.

Robin saw them both then, raising an eyebrow at the both of them looking and the smile on her face told Nami she’d be teased later.

“How did you meet?” He asked, drawing her attention back on him.

She told him about her time at university, how her and Robin had been roommates in her first year before living together for a little while even after Robin had graduated and how she’d met Chopper there too.

“That’s how Robin and Chopper joined me, Luffy and Zoro. Although it’s less joining and more Luffy forcing people to be his friend- but you know how that goes.”

The gong went off again and people shuffled around the hall to find their next seats. She’d lost count of how far they were in anymore.

“So how come I’ve never seen you around when Luffy and Marimo come by the restaurant?”

She huffed a laugh at Zoro’s nickname, knowing she’d store that away for later if she needed it.

“You normally see Luffy during the week, right?” She’d better be right, Luffy had never invited her to where Sanji worked. Maybe they could’ve been doing this sooner if he had.

“Huh, I never realised it but yeah I do.”

“I don’t work on the weekends, so when I’m not at work him and Zoro are normally invading my home.” As well as trashing the place and drinking all her beers. “But with you as a friend now, I’m off cooking duty.”

“He makes you cook for him?” He looked serious again and she realised may have been serious earlier about kicking Zoro’s arse. Chivalry wasn’t dead, it seemed, or at least not with him.

“It’s normally when I’m cooking for myself, so I just make more. Don’t worry, I charge him for it.” She winked playfully at the end of her sentence at him.

“As you should, he has the most beautiful women cooking for him, he’s the luckiest man alive.” It was the first time he’d commented on her looks tonight and after getting to know him better, all the previous compliments she’d received paled in comparison.

Although it did bring back that niggling voice in the back of her head that reminded her that he was good a this. A bit too good. A bit too smooth. And although he’d spent his evening with her, with no signs of his attention flagging, she still had to ask.

“You seem quite good at this; do you do this often?” She kept her tone casual but eyed his reaction.

It caught him off guard, she could almost see the cogs in his brain working as fast as they could, desperate to do damage control before he’d even said anything. She bit down on the grin she could feel pulling at her cheeks.

“No- I mean yes- but not like that!” He tripped over his words, growing flustered.

She almost felt a little mean but it was refreshing to see another side of him that was less composed.

“I suppose I’m a bit of a romantic,” he admitted. “Not that I sleep around or go on lots of dates or anything, I’m not that type of man. It’s more about trying to find the right woman, so I suppose I come to these sorts of events.” He played with his hands nervously, he hadn’t done that since he’d first sat down. “I saw you come in and I knew I needed to make a good first impression because I wanted to get to know you. It probably wasn’t fair to the women before you, I wasn’t exactly giving them my full attention.”

He'd laid himself bare, not a hint of deception on his face and she threw him a bone after such honesty. “That was a good answer.”

The relief flooded onto his face and for the umpteenth time that evening, she thought about how much she liked his smile. She’d be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t won over by the man sitting opposite her.

The final gong chimed to let everyone know the evening was coming to a close. People left their seats, moving to leave or to catch someone they might have been interested in, yet they stayed where they were.

“I know I said I wanted to speak with you when you walked in but I couldn’t have imagined I’d have the pleasure of spending the whole evening with you.”

There were butterflies fluttering in her stomach and she almost cursed herself for feeling like a school girl. “You exceeded my expectations; I was on the verge of signalling to my friend and I was here to rescue her.”

He looked indecisive for a moment, before finally asking, “Would it be okay if I asked for your number?”

And for the second time that evening, she saw his nerves creep back in. He was such an interesting mix but it seemed regardless of the fact she’d spent her whole evening talking and laughing with him, he doubted himself when truly putting himself out there. She wondered where that came from.

“Yeah, you can ask.”

How was she going to live this down when she was so against coming here but was leaving with the number of the man she’d spent her whole evening with?

“Would you do me the honour of giving me your number?”

The laugh tumbled out, of course he’d ask like that. He was smooth, confident, attentive, a bit unsure under the surface but ultimately, he was also a bit of a dork. And she liked that apparently.  

She nodded.

His hand slipped into his pocket, pulling out a mobile to hand over to her and for the first time that evening, they were quiet as she typed her number in, double checking it was correct. She felt like a teenager again. When she handed it back, he made it look like she’d handed him a winning lottery ticket and well, if that didn’t feel good, she didn’t know what would.

When his phone was back safely in his suit pocket, she thought that would be it, left to awkwardly say goodbye with the promise of him texting her but the breath left her lungs as he reached for her hand, lifting it with his head tilted to brush his lips against her fingers. Electricity shot from her hand, up her arm and left a pleasant tingle as her cheeks warmed under the attention. It was like something from the movies, she didn’t think that happened in real life.

His lips lingered before pulling away, his breath warm along her skin and goosebumps lined her arms. He didn’t drop her hand though. “Hopefully I’ll see you soon?”

She nodded, for once speechless, the words lost on her.

With one last look at her, lingering over her face like he was memorising it, he turned to walk towards the door. She watched him go, still stunned and just as he was about to leave, he looked over his should at her once again, beaming and giving her a small wave.

Good grief, had she just been dazzled?

Robin was making her way over then, expression promising nothing but an embarrassing conversation and red cheeks for herself.

Her phone buzzed to momentarily distract herself from her fate-

Hi, it’s Sanji. I had a really good time, is it too early to ask when you’re free? x

-she grinned down at her phone.

------------------------------

I just want to say a massive thank you to Ray for helping me put together this event and to our ever-growing discord of lovely people who joined us!

If you’d like to join our sannami discord, you can do so by clicking here. (Might be worth doing as I’m sure there’ll be some more events coming up later in the year. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge)

As always, please excuse any errors.

Thanks for reading.

[mystic-deep]

"Sensei said girls love swans." | Okkotsu Yuuta x fem!reader

♡ ♡ ♡ description: Just a small box of chocolates, bought on a whim, gifted for no apparent reason. Or so you say.

♡ ♡ ♡ warnings: none, good bad advices from Gojo.

♡ ♡ ♡ notes: I'm working on three other stories with Nanami, Gojo and Toji but had to write something for best boy Yuuta. We're getting volume 0 animated! This was done at the speed of light so please forgive any errors.

♡ ♡ ♡ word count: 2.29 k

Valentine’s Day was quite a surprise this year. You didn’t expect the world to just revert back to old habits so soon, but then again you understood the craving for what was once considered normal. More than a year had passed since the Shibuya incident and with Gojo Satoru finally being released from his prison, things were slowly calming down.

Two major changes came as a result of the near annihilation of Tokyo, one was that now the world was aware of the existence of curses and two was the high number of people that had awoken cursed energy. What were once empty classrooms and training grounds of the Jujutsu Tokyo High School, were now filled with first year students ready to learn from the best. Although the older generation was composed of just a handful of students, they were really the top of the Jujutsu world.

All of your senpais were impressive in their own right so all of them had gathered quite a following of first years. The most popular, by far, was Fushiguro Megumi, the one that possessed the Ten Shadows Technique of the Zen’in clan. A lethal combination of looks, power and status, or so your classmates claimed.

On the opposite end of the spectrum was the third year Okkotsu Yuuta. He was a rare sight on campus and whenever he was present he didn’t interact much with any of the first years. The first time you’ve met him was during a group mission where he was there to supervise. The curse ended up being a special grade and if Yuuta hadn’t jumped in to help you, you’d all be dead. You still remember the bitterness of your classmates when he offered his feedback. Clearly he was right on all points but he didn’t honey glazed any of his words. That incident had caused a string of nasty rumours to spread and everyone in your class began to avoid him as much as possible. You guessed no one was in a hurry to offer him any gifts today.

As for yourself, you tagged along with some of the girls from your class as they chose the best chocolates for their favourite senpais. You didn’t have anyone you really wanted to gift them to, so you bought a small box purely for selfish reasons.

You headed back to campus and as you approached the training grounds you noticed that a small crowd of students were already gathered there. In the middle of them stood Megumi whose arms could barely hold the large number of gifts he had received. The deadpan expression on his face made it clear he wasn’t enjoying the attention.

“You girls better hurry, Megumi-kun looks like he has reached his limit.”

Turning around you were greeted by Gojo who was also carrying quite an impressive quantity of Valentine’s gifts.

“Sensei is really popular.”

“Please don’t sound so surprised.”

As your little conversation went on, your friends quickly abandoned you in order to join the crowd.

“Not gonna join them?” You shook your head as your hands tighten on the handle of your backpack where your box of chocolates was hiding.

“I didn’t buy any chocolates...I mean I did buy chocolates just not for...I should probably head to class.” Feeling too ashamed to admit your selfish purchase, you hurried down the path to the main entrance before Gojo could question you further.

Just as you were about to reach your destination you suddenly noticed a figure not too far from you. Yuuta was strolling along the same path and his expression was not a happy one. Your earlier guess must have been correct judging by his slumped shoulders. Now you never truly worried yourself with his well being, but it just felt so incredibly unfair that he was marginalized like this. At the end of the day, even if he wasn’t easy to talk to, he was a responsible senpai who wouldn’t hesitate to jump in to help others when needed. With that thought in mind, you quickened your pace and called out to him.

“Okkotsu-senpai! Okkotsu-senpai, please wait!”

He stopped in his track and turned to look at you with a surprised expression.

“Y/n-chan, are you okay?”

You nodded as you caught up with him, impressed that he even bothered to remember your name, and opened your backpack to retrieve the box of chocolates.

“For you senpai, Happy Valentine’s Day!” You gave him the most sincere smile you could muster and handed him the small box. Oh well, better for your cavities you suppose.

With a trembling hand he took the small gift and grinned from ear to ear. “Thank you! I’ll treasure it!” It was just a box of cheap chocolates, you thought, definitely not worth the excitement.

“Urm I’m happy you like them. Anyway, have a good day, see you around!” You practically dashed to your classroom, cheeks red from embarrassment. You didn’t know why you were so nervous or why that silly grin of his made you so flustered.

As you sat down at your desk, you wondered if you did the right thing. You didn’t want him to believe you had feelings for him and you also hoped he didn’t think you did it out of pity. You just thought it was the right thing to do at that time and it was just a small gesture, definitely not worth a second thought.

Or so you hoped until White Day arrived and you found quite a surprising gift on your desk that morning. A large bouquet of roses, there must have been over a hundred. No note though, as if the person that had left them just expected for you to know whom they were from.

You could hear the whispers of your classmates and you shifted uncomfortably. You weren’t really popular, no reasons for someone to give you such an impressive present, so of course rumours began to spread.

As you sat on a bench during lunch break with the bouquet in your lap, you raked up your brain trying to figure out who would offer you flowers.

“Oh no, you don’t like them!”

Yuuta’s voice brought you back to reality and you blinked ever so slowly as you looked at his worried expression. Your eyes dropped to the red roses in your lap and then back to your senpai that was just a few feet away from the bench you were sitting.

“These...these are from you?” Well you did gift him that box of chocolates and this was White Day, technically he was supposed to return the gift. Still, a cheap box of bonbons couldn’t compare to the expensive bouquet that he had gifted back.

“Gojo-sensei said you’re supposed to buy something impressive in order to show your appreciation for the gift you received. I didn’t know what you liked and he suggested roses, he said all girls loved red roses.”

Of course it was Gojo Satoru, it was always Gojo Satoru.

“Senpai, thank you, but this is too much! Those chocolates weren’t really that expensive.”

“No, no, they were pretty good! I ended up eating the whole box! Gojo-sensei tried to steal one away, that didn’t end up well for him.” Good, you thought, he deserved it for unnecessarily complicating things.

“Well if you say so, then I’m happy. I’ve never received flowers before, well my father bought me a bouquet when I graduated middle school but I don’t think that counts.”

“I’ve never received chocolates before, so I guess we’re both at the beginning.” The beginning of what, you wondered, as he offered you a somewhat sly smile.

“I should get these to my room before they wither.”

“Yeah I should probably head to the training ground.” You said your respective farewells before going in opposite directions. This had been awkward to say the least and you were glad it was over.

However, naivety got the best of you. The next morning you were greeted by a large teddy bear that was placed in your seat. Your eyebrow began to twitch as you heard whispers spreading in the classroom.

“Hey is that from Okkotsu? Super creepy!”

“Yeah, poor Y/n-chan.”

“What do you mean by that?” Your patience had reached its limit and with narrowed eyes you turned to look at the girls you heard whispering.

“Don’t you know, Okkotsu curses his lovers!”

“Yeah, he becomes obsessed with them and then they die in mysterious ways!”

“That is literally the most idiotic thing I’ve heard in my life.” Sure, you knew the story of Rika, but from actual reliable sources you also knew that it was a tragic accident that happened when Yuuta was only a child. It was disturbing how they twisted the story just because they were afraid of him.

“If you have this much time to waste on spreading such stupid rumours then I suggest you channel that energy in training. Otherwise you’ll be stuck at grade 4 until the end of days.” As a grade 2 sorcerer yourself, maybe you shouldn’t have looked down on them, but for some reason the way they were acting towards Yuuta was just infuriating and you found yourself becoming quite protective.

You never snapped at them like this before, if anything you were considered quite docile, so the whole class fell silent. You grabbed the giant teddy bear from your seat and stomped towards the door, nearly bumping into Gojo as the later stepped inside the room.

“Where you going Y/n-chan? Class is about the start.”

“I’m going to find Yuuta!” You huffed and walked out of the classroom, knowing full well that you will probably get punished for your actions.

“Y/n-chan is so determined! Everyone, you should have more determination as well!” That was the last thing you heard as Gojo closed the door behind you.

You began your search for Yuuta, trying to ignore the looks that the faculty members you came across were giving you. You must have looked quite ridiculous, carrying that large teddy bear around.

You finally found him near the armoury, and judging from his sweaty appearance you guessed he had just finished training.

“Senpai!”

He looked at you, almost in a panicked way and you quickened your pace so he couldn’t make a run for it.

“Y/n-chan, what-”

“Senpai, this has to stop.” You really didn’t want to tell him your real motives from that day but you also couldn’t let this chain of gifts continue.

“That box of chocolates wasn’t initially for you. I bought it for myself, I only gave it to you because senpai looked so upset. I’m sorry that you misunderstood, it’s not pity or anything, I just thought you deserved it.” You didn’t even stop to breath, you had to let it all out and explain before you lost your nerve. “I’m really happy you liked them but I don’t deserve all these presents in return.”

You looked at him and expected to see anger or disappointment, instead you were greeted with light laughter.

“You’re really cute! Maki-san said not to tease you too much because you’re such a good girl. I guess she didn’t realize how much of a good girl you actually are.” The way he said ‘good girl’ made your heart skip a beat. It sounded almost provocative.

Within a second, he had closed the distance between the two of you and his hand reached to stroke your cheek ever so gentle. Suddenly he was there and you became hyperaware of his powerful presence. You noticed the pretty colour of his eyes, how his hand was just a bit rough and how that small smirk of his made your knees weak and your cheeks burn. You gulped and he seemed to enjoy your reaction.

“I don’t mind that the box of chocolates wasn’t for me. I’m just glad it gave me the opportunity to talk to you.” At this point you felt so bad you hoped the earth beneath you would just crack open and swallow you whole.

“Anyway, you should probably head to class before Gojo-sensei gets upset. Let me get that for you.” He reached for the teddy bear in your arms but you gripped it and pulled back.

“I would like to keep this, it’s a special gift from senpai and I’ll treasure it.” Sure this all began because of a silly box of chocolates but you were also happy that you finally got to see a glimpse of him that not many people got the chance to see. Now that you had a taste of it, you wanted more.

“Well I wasn’t planning on taking it away, just wanted to help you carry it.”

“It’s fine, the whole school saw me already so I might as well parade with it back to class.”

He studied your face for a few moments before his expression turned serious.

“Y/n-chan, do you think we could go-”

“I’d love to go on a date!”

You beat him to it but you wanted to make sure he knew, even before asking, that you really wanted to get to know him better.

“I see, I’m really happy.” His hand reached for yours and gripped it gently. It never failed to surprise you how cool and confident he looked at times and then he did a one hundred eighty and turned into this awkward and adorable mess.

“I must admit this is the first time I’ve asked someone out. I’ll be sure to ask Gojo-sensei-”

“Oh no, please promise me to never ask Gojo-sensei for advice concerning girls.” He was probably laughing like a mad man while giving Yuuta such cringe worthy ideas for your gifts.

“Oh but sensei said girls love swans and-”

“Never!”

[erin-bo-berin]

And Baby Makes Three

MASTERLIST

Happy Valentine’s Day! To celebrate, I’m bringing some more fluff, but specifically daddy Spencer. This was requested by @one-sweet-gubler. I had so much fun writing this one and got a bit carried away as I ended writing about the whole pregnancy instead of just the labor part, so it may be a little long. I hope you enjoy all the Daddy Spencer feels. :)

Spencer Reid/Reader

Rating: G (fluff)

Word Count: 4,278

Spencer was over the moon when you finally fell pregnant.

The two of you had been trying for a baby for a year, with many difficulties. After a plethora of negative tests and even a false positive, you were over the moon when you found out this positive test was the real thing.

You’d taken 6 tests to be sure.

After a visit to the doctor confirmed it, you were determined to make the surprise something special for Spencer.

He had been dreaming about having kids almost all of his life. He was so good with children and the children he encountered at his job, an FBI profiler for the Behavioral Analysis Unit. It was usually scary situations when he encountered kids , but he was always there with soothing words and gentle hugs.

You, with the help of his work family, surprised him at work one day. You were so close to his teammates yourself, you knew you wanted them to be a part of the surprise as well.

You showed up at the BAU under the pretense that he’d forgotten something at home. 

The team had just gathered around the round table to brief about a new case when you walked in. Of course, Spencer was the only one truly surprised one to see you.

You’d apologized for interrupting and said that he’d left something at home that you needed to bring to him. You held up a paper bag, which only confused him, knowing he’d been sure to grab his lunch.

Everyone had watched in anticipation when he pulled a gift box out of the bag.

He’d opened it to a white onesie that when unfolded said Hi Daddy, I can’t wait to meet you. Underneath it was the first ultrasound picture of tiny baby Reid.

He was so shocked that at first he didn’t know what to do. His gaze moved around all the smiling faces at the table, then landed on you, his face breaking into a huge smile.

“Really?” he asked.

“Really.” Your own smile was as big as his.

He’d rushed towards you, hugging you tight and spinning you around in his excitement before the entire team surrounded you both giving hugs and their congratulations.

You were officially going to be parents.

•

Pregnancy wasn’t exactly a breeze for you, yet it wasn’t as bad as some women’s.

The first trimester was filled with lots of nausea, vomiting and exhaustion.

Spencer assured you that it would normally pass by the end of the first trimester. Thankfully it did, but until that point you felt like you lived off of crackers and ginger ale.

He was always the sweetest with you, making sure your supply of both never ran out. When he was home on cases, he’d cuddle with you on the couch letting you have pick of whatever show you wanted to watch��which of course you’d let him end up picking, no matter what. You would lay with your head in his lap and he’d mindlessly play with your hair. Those were some of the best days of your early pregnancy.

By your second trimester, new symptoms arrived, as did the appearance of baby Reid. By 15 weeks, you’d started to show just enough to look pregnant and not actually bloated. 

Spencer would always rub the tiny bump and talk to the baby, things that made your heart soar. It was little gestures like that that made you fall more in love with him each day.

Not only had your belly grown, but so had your appetite. You had started craving things with a vengeance, something that would often mix horribly with your unbalanced pregnancy emotions. It would be like the two wires would accidentally cross in your pregnancy brain, leading to a meltdown.

One night you’d been craving avocados so badly, you’d gone downstairs to eat the last one that you’d been saving. You found it gone, not even remembering you had already eaten it.

Spencer found you on the kitchen floor sobbing over the fact there were no avocados. He’d ended up running to the store at 9 o’clock at night to buy at least two dozen of them. You’d felt so bad afterwards, but he’d only kissed you and assured you that it was only the pregnancy hormones.

“You’re growing a little human, you’re allowed to be a little crazy sometimes,” he comforted you.

Besides the mood swings, cravings and even heartburn, you were most surprised at the changes in your libido. 

You could attest that your sex life with Spencer had never been more steamy than it was then; you were sure he could agree.

20 weeks came and you’d both agreed to find out the sex.

Instead of finding out at the doctor’s, the team had gotten together to throw a gender reveal party—mainly Penelope Garcia’s idea as she was stoked to have another BAU baby around, so who could refuse her?

Obviously it was a small get together with just the BAU team, Spencer and yourself. JJ had been in charge of getting the results, Garcia had baked the cake with the color reveal in it and of course Rossi had supplied his house as the location, as per usual.

You and Spencer both cut into the cake simultaneously and pulled out the first piece, revealing a pink hued cake.

You were thrilled, but you think it was safe to say that Spencer was ecstatic.

•

Baby names were tough.

You’d yet to start talking about names because Spencer wanted to wait until you’d found out the sex before picking a name.

“I want it to be special,” he whined a little, his bottom lip jutting out, “She deserves a good name.”

“I’m still not naming my child Aphrodite, Spencer.”

You had left it to him to research a name; he was so passionate about it, you couldn’t say no. After all, you wanted him involved in every way possible since he couldn’t technically carry the baby.

“Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty,” Spencer retorted, still flipping through books.

He was on the floor surrounded by text books, baby name books, pregnancy guide books, you couldn’t even figure out what else. He’d always been a big reader, but he made sure thus far to have as much knowledge as he could on pregnancy, childbirth and parenting.

“After all, her mommy is a goddess,” he smirked as he flipped a page.

“Why Spencer Reid, that was actually quite smooth of you.”

You ruffled his hair before leaning down and kissing him on the lips. His hands cupped your belly and he gave it a kiss too.

“Well she wouldn’t exist if I wasn’t.”

You laughed and playfully shoved him, leaving him to his reading.

•

Around 22 weeks, you felt her first movements. At first it felt like a small gurgle from your stomach and you’d stopped what you were doing, waiting to see if you’d feel it again.

When the sensation happened, it was like the soft wings of a butterfly brushing the inside of your belly. You’d ran to Spencer, thrilled that you’d finally felt her move. He pouted when he realized it wasn’t yet strong enough for him to feel from the outside.

“Keep on growing, little one,” he’d whispered to your belly, “Daddy wants to feel your kicks too.”

When she started kicking, she kicked hard.

Spencer’s reaction to feeling her kick for the first time was amazing. You could see all the love in his eyes for the little baby girl you’d both created, growing and getting stronger every day.

“I feel you baby girl,” he smiled at your belly, rubbing the spot she’d just kicked, kissing it gently.

Then he took your face in his hands and kissed you so lovingly it left you breathless.

“Thank you for being amazing,” he’d murmured against your lips before kissing you again.

•

5 months had become 6 months. Six nearly had nearly become seven.

You were almost 7 months and at your third trimester and you still hadn’t picked a name for baby girl.

Although one day, it just seemed to click into place.

“I got it!” he’d declared, looking up from a baby book.

“Okay, let’s hear it,” you said, intrigued.

“How about Arabella? It’s a Dutch name for beautiful.”

“Arabella,” you let the name roll off your tongue and you smiled, “It’s perfect for her. Now what about a middle name?”

He was already flipping through pages again, reading fast as lightning.

“I haven’t gotten that far. I’ve only gotten the first name down.”

You chuckled, “At this rate we might name her by the time she graduates from high school.”

He didn’t reply, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated. It was then that a thought occurred to you, or rather a name.

“How about Joy?”

“Hmm?” he asked, still distracted by the text.

“Joy. For her middle name. Because we’re so overjoyed about her.”

He looked up, thinking.

“Arabella Joy Reid,” he said, trying it out, then looking back at you. 

“It’s perfect.”

•

The final trimester was the real challenge.

Your body was swollen and sore, you felt huge and you were constantly exhausted. Spencer was the best at spoiling you and Arabella though. Between the cute baby things he bought—one being an onesie that said Daddy’s Little Genius—he would fix meals when he was home, run a bath for you and cuddle you afterwards.

You would often make remarks about how big you felt but he would immediately squash your insecurities saying you looked even more beautiful while pregnant.

When he left for work or for a case, he’d always make sure to kiss your bump as well as kissing you before he left, his way of saying goodbye to his girls.

As the time crept closer to her being born, his excitement grew. He couldn’t wait for your family to expand. It was so endearing to see him so happy and excited. You knew he didn’t get to have the same experience as you did currently, so you understood that he was more than eager to have her here and bond with her.

He was going to make an amazing dad.

As much as you wanted to meet your little bundle of joy, the impending approach of labor made you nervous. Obviously being a first time mom, you only knew what you’d heard and read, not what the actual experience would be like.

“Some studies have said that childbirth actually hurts more than broken bones,” Spencer had told you.

“Not helping!” you groaned.

He winced, quickly realizing his mistake.

“Well at least there’s medication now for labor pains unlike in old days when they used to—”

You stopped him in the middle of his sentence.

“Please don’t finish that sentence,” you said, “You better believe the moment I can get an epidural, I’m going to get it.”

“Whatever you’re most comfortable with is fine by me.”

He squeezed your hand, showing you that you truly did have his support. He hated to see you in pain and he knew labor was going to be strenuous, but you knew he’d be there with you every step of the way.

“Just think in two weeks we’re going to be able to finally meet her,” Spencer beamed, stroking your stomach where one of her feet had just pushed hard enough to show an imprint through your belly.

“It’s about time you carried her for once,” you teased, resting your head on his shoulder.

“Oh believe me, you’ll have to fight me before I give up holding her.”

You had zero doubts about that.

•

Your due date was right around the corner when Spencer had to fly to Colorado for a case. 

“You’re sure you’ll call me if anything happens, right?” Spencer asked for the third time.

“Spence, I’m sure,” you answered, “Besides my due date isn’t for 5 more days and my doctor said there’s a chance she might be a tad bit overdue.”

“Tell her daddy says to stay in there until I get back.”

“I will. But keep in mind, she’s as stubborn as you are.”

“Hey!” he exclaimed, feigning offense.

You laughed, “Go save a life. I’ll call you later. Love you.”

After you’d said your goodbyes, you resumed the cleaning you’d needed to finish up before baby got here.

You’d successfully washed and put away all her clothes, washed all the bottles and stored them in the cabinet along with the canisters of formula and set up her changing table with wipes and diapers.

Your hospital bag had been packed weeks ago and sat next to the door. 

Now you just finished small things like washing dishes, folding laundry and vacuuming. Sweeping was definitely not an option since you couldn’t bend down for the dustpan. Oh, how you missed being able to bend down like a normal person.

It was around one in the afternoon when you decided to lay down because you had become exhausted and your back had begun to ache. 

With a quick text to Spencer, you let him know you were napping in case you didn’t answer and he reminded you Garcia was on speed dial if you needed anything.

You fell into a restless sleep, waking about an hour later drenched in sweat, the ache now have migrated to the front of your body. You sat up to retrieve your phone so you could time the contractions, just to ensure they weren’t Braxton Hicks. That’s when you felt a gush of liquid between your legs, soaking your pants and the bed sheets.

Your thumb immediately hit the 1 on screen, dialing Penelope Garcia.

•

Spencer was standing in front of the geo map he’d been working on, studying it when his phone rang. He reached into his pocket, seeing it was Garcia and none the wiser thought she would be reporting more info on the current case.

“Hey Garcia.”

“Don’t freak out.”

His brows crinkled.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Y/N’s in labor.”

“What?!” His answer was so loud, it startled some officers nearby, “She’s not due for at least a week more!”

“Don’t tell me, tell your offspring,” Penelope retorted, “Cause she’s on her way.”

“Has her water broke? Are they sure it’s not just false labor?”

“Half an hour ago, they’re checking her now. I’m staying here until you get here obviously, but I’d hurry cause I feel like she’s gonna want you here to wring your neck when labor really starts.”

 “Okay, I’ll catch the first flight I can and call you back when I get the flight info.”

He said a quick goodbye and rushed to Emily.

“Y/N’s gone into labor and I need to get the next flight out,” he told her, simultaneously looking up flight information out of Colorado on his phone.

“Spence.”

He was too busy searching to catch the worried tone in her voice. It wasn’t until he saw the numerous amounts of cancelled next to all flights that he looked up at her.

“Normally, I’d say go ahead and go. But I don’t think you’re going to get a flight anywhere in this weather.” She pointed to the window behind him.

He turned to see it snowing so hard he couldn’t see anything else but white.

“All flights have been grounded until the storm is over. We’re stuck here.”

“No,” Spencer muttered, starting to panic.

He paced back and forth, his frustration mounting. In one motion he swiped all of the papers off the desk in his irritation, his frustration and anger at the situation bubbling to the surface.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he muttered, sinking down in the chair at the table, his hands covering his face.

His hands pushed through his hair in exasperation, his curls falling back into place moments later.

He wasn’t going to make it there in time. He was going to miss it all.

The love of his life and the mother of his child was going to have to go through labor without him.

•

“What do you mean you’re not going to make it?!” Penelope shrieked.

“All flights are grounded for the next 48 hours until this damn snow storm is over,” Spencer said. 

“And there’s no way you can make it back?”

“I’ve tried everything,” he said, sounding resigned.

“What am I supposed to tell her?”

“The truth. Garcia, you’re going to have to stay with her.”

“Me? I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ no babies!”

“Garcia this is no time to be quoting Gone With The Wind!” Spencer exclaimed, exasperated.

“Sorry, it’s just, Spencer I don’t know what to do and she wants you!”

“Just be there, hold her hand, give her ice chips, encourage her. I’m not letting her be alone. Garcia, please,” he practically begged.

“Alright, alright. I’ll keep you updated. Garcia tech-analyst-turned-midwife out.”

-

You were laying in bed, covered in sweat from just making it through another contraction.

At your last check, you were only 4 centimeters dilated. You still had one more to go before you could get the epidural.

“This suuuuucks,” you moaned.

Your contractions were still at least 5 minutes apart, signaling you were still in the last stages of early labor, if not in early stages of active. All of that to mean the pain medication wasn’t coming until they got stronger and more frequent.

“And they said these are only the mild ones,” you groaned, looking over at Garcia who was grabbing your cup of ice.

She gave you another spoonful and put the cup back.

“You’re doing great though and the doctor said the epidural will help with most of the real intense contractions.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing Spencer isn’t here right now cause I feel like I could kill him,” you muttered.

You were devastated when Penelope told you he was stuck in Colorado. You hated that he was going to miss Arabella’s birth and you needed him here. But at the moment, you were exhausted, sweaty, in pain and very angry that Spencer had gotten you pregnant.

Of course, that was just the pain talking.

-

“I’m so sorry you got stuck with me,” you later panted, having worked your way through the previous contraction.

“Oh, sweetheart, no. I’m honored. You’ve been doing great,” she smiled, wiping your forehead, “Besides I’m thrilled to meet my goddaughter.”

You smiled weakly.

You were currently waiting for the anesthesiologist to set up the epidural. Your contractions had started amping up big time and were coming closer together. It had been several hours since you’d first been admitted to the hospital, the nightfall just outside your window indicating the late hour.

After being propped up against Penelope and neither of you looking at the needle that was inserted into your spine, the epidural was finally taking affect. The sweet sensation of numbness was a relief. You had gone from being in excruciating pain to feeling absolutely nothing and it allowed you to get some rest while your labor advanced.

A few cat naps later, Penelope had sent a selfie of the two of you to Spencer to let him know that you both were still alive and well; things were going smoothly. 

You passed the time by watching tv, talking to Garcia and napping. It took hours for you to progress, but slowly, you did. It was nearing dawn the next morning when it was reported that you were 9 centimeters dilated. It was getting closer to time to meet yours and Spencer’s baby and you found yourself wishing again that he was here with you.

Things progressed fast and by 7 am you were pushing your baby girl out into the world. Penelope was holding your hand as you squeezed it, pushing with all your strength. 

She, the nurses and the doctor kept hollering their encouragement as they told you to push and finally you heard the wonderful first cries of your baby.

You fell back against your pillow, exhausted, overwhelmed, but happy as she was placed on your chest. She was still covered in all the normal birthing elements, but she was beautiful, just like her name implied.

“Oh Y/N she’s beautiful,” Penelope gasped, in awe.

She’d followed the nurses when they’d taken Arabella to clean her off and measure her. 

“Nice and healthy too. Almost nine pounds,” she smiled, “She’s going to be tall like her daddy.”

You smiled and watched as she took pictures of her to send to Spencer.

You reached your arms out and took her from the nurse once they’d swaddled her.

“Hello angel,” you whispered, “You just couldn’t wait until daddy got home, now could you?”

•

It had officially been almost an entire day since you’d had Arabella. 

You’d just gotten her to sleep when you heard a commotion just outside of your hospital room. You heard a mixture of voices, but your heart leaped when you heard your boyfriend’s in the mix. 

Footsteps got closer and you looked up as Spencer practically bounded in, a huge smile on his face. He dropped his go bag and satchel on the floor next to the door and walked over to your side.

“There’s my angel,” he said.

“Which one? Her or me?” you teased.

“Both of you.”

Spencer smiled running a hand over your still mess of hair and kissed your forehead.

“Look at her. You did amazing, Y/N.”

“Well you did kind of help,” you smirked.

“Okay, we did amazing.”

“Yes, we did,” you agreed, handing her to Spencer.

“Hi beautiful,” he crooned, stroking her cheek with his finger, “Daddy’s been waiting a long time to meet you.”

He sat in the chair beside you and snuggled her close. Arabella stretched a little in her sleep, opening her eyes when she heard his voice.

“Someone recognizes daddy’s voice,” you smiled.

“Well hello there Arabella. I heard you had quite the dramatic entrance.”

She cooed, eyes never leaving his face.

You watched the two of them, especially Spencer. He was so in love with her and you were so in love with him.

She yawned and gripped onto his finger. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked, looking up at you now that she was contently cuddled in his arms.

“Tired and sore,” you chuckled, “But she was definitely worth it.”

“I’ll say, I mean look how cute our baby is.”

Spencer held one of her feet that had come out of the swaddle.

“Look at those tiny feet,” he baby-talked to Arabella, before kissing the bottom of it.

She pulled her foot away, beginning to get fussy.

“What’s the matter, Princess?” he frowned, covering her foot back up with the blanket.

“She’s tired and probably hungry. She’d barely gone to sleep before you got here.”

His eyes lit up.

“Can I feed her?”

“Go ahead,” you smiled.

You rang for the nurse and while she fetched a bottle, Arabella began to cry.

“I know, I know,” Spencer pouted, rocking her slightly, “A bottle’s coming, baby girl.”

The nurse returned with the bottle and Spencer took it, placing it gently in Arabella’s mouth. She started sucking greedily, her cries vanished.

You watched them with sleepy eyes, a smile on your face. Spencer looked up, noticing you drifting off.

“Hey, why don’t you rest and take a nap? I’ve got this.”

“You sure?”

He leaned over, kissing you gently.

“Yes, I’m sure,” he looked down at Arabella, “Tell mommy we got this.”

She made small grunting noises as she ate and he chuckled.

“See? We’re good on our own.”

You didn’t argue. You knew you’d need your rest and better take it when you had the chance. You’d began drifting off when you heard Spencer’s words to Arabella.

“I love your mommy so much. Besides you, she’s the best thing to ever happen to me.”

•

Spencer watched his daughter eat all of her bottle while he talked to her. She seemed to listen too, watching him the entire time.

“Just wait until auntie JJ meets you,” he said, “She might ever want to give you back. She’s never had a baby girl.”

He told her all about the rest of his teammates, talked to her about how he waited so long to meet her, he even told her how he and Y/N had met. He set the bottle aside when she was finished, laying her against his chest and on his shoulder to burp her, like he’d read about.

When she was settled, he laid her against his chest, rocking her just a bit. It wasn’t long until he fell asleep along with her.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep when a nurse had woken him.

“I’m sorry Dr. Reid,” she apologized, “I was just making rounds and was checking in on the baby. Do you want me to take her and put her back in the bassinet to sleep?”

“No, I think I want to hold her a little while longer.”

She smiled and nodded before she left the room. He looked down to Arabella sleeping peacefully on his chest. 

His mind couldn’t wrap around the fact that this tiny, perfect little human was his. He was filled with such love for her and Y/N.

He kissed her head gently.

“Not even a day old and you have me wrapped around your little finger.”

He got comfortable in the chair once again, falling back asleep with her in his arms.

Despite all the bad things he saw in his day to day work, good moments like this truly outweighed all the bad.

Tag List: @dreatine​ @reid-187​ @groovyreid​ @reidslibra​ @suvikamahes98blr​ @fuckthealarm​ @whatspunispun​ @iamburdened​ @cindywayne​ @thomasfoockinshelby​ @tinyminy88​ @theitcaramelchick​ @missprettyboy​ @hushlilbabydoll​ @sammy-jo1977​ @theonlyone-meeeee​ @haileymorelikestupid​

[bluejayblueskies]

storge

n. familial love, born out of familiarity or dependence; a natural, unforced, instinctual love

Words: 3.3k

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

Relationships: Danny Stoker & Tim Stoker, Sasha James & Tim Stoker (background)

Characters: Tim Stoker, Danny Stoker, Sasha James, Minor OCs

Additional Tags: AU - No Supernatural, AU - Everyone Lives/No One Dies, Internalized Acephobia/Arophobia, Implied/Referenced Arophobia (minor), Aromantic Character, Asexual Character

Summary:

Danny finished the last slice of the pizza they’d ordered, stared at the credits scrolling across Tim’s television screen from the cheesy Valentine’s Day rom-com they’d just finished watching, and said with feigned casualness, “I don’t think that’s for me.”

Tim, who had wanted that last slice of pizza, thank you very much, rolled his eyes and said, “Well, then I’m picking the pizza toppings next time. Maybe then we won’t have a pizza that only tastes like jalapeños.”

“Oh, absolutely not. Last time you put pineapple and pepperoni on it, which is grounds for termination from topping-decisions for life.” Danny paused, and then he took his eyes away from the television, looked at Tim, and said, with distinctly less casualness, “I meant the movie. Um. The romance part, specifically.”

Read on Ao3

Or, read below (additional warnings below the cut):

Additional warnings: - character forcing himself to stay in a romantic situation even after he becomes uncomfortable - character mentioning the possibility of forcing himself to have sex with someone (doesn’t actually occur)

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So here’s the thing: Tim is terrible at giving gifts. It doesn’t matter how long he’s known someone or how many of their favorites he can list off the top of his head—he still always ends up getting them something so incredibly, horribly generic because he just can’t do it. Sasha’s never going to let him live down the time he got her the exact same mug she keeps in the archives because he panicked, okay? And it was the only thing he could think of that wasn’t just candles or soap.

 (“I honestly would have preferred soap,” Sasha said as she covered her mouth with one hand to stifle her laugher, the other still grasping the mug. Tim was significantly less amused.)

 The one silver lining to the whole thing is that it’s never been a problem with Danny. Not because Tim is necessarily any better at getting gifts for him, but because Danny treats each and every gift from Tim like it’s something incredibly special and unique. Once, Tim got him a six-pack of plain black socks—just to test his theory that Danny was just being nice, or maybe just as a joke (or possibly both)—and Danny said, with a million-dollar smile, “You know, I was just thinking the other day how cool it would look to pair a patterned sock with a black one. This is great, Tim!”

 Yeah, Tim’s pretty sure that Danny’s just fucking with him at this point. But honestly, Tim doesn’t really mind. It takes a lot of pressure off him during any of the traditional gift-giving seasons because he knows that whatever he gets Danny, Danny will just smile and thank him like it was what he’d always wanted.

 Maybe that’s why Danny does it, Tim thinks as he stares at the dozens of tabs open on his computer, each for a different online retailer. To relieve the pressure.

 If so, then Tim’s really ruining the whole thing now, isn’t he? Because instead of doing that follow-up Jon requested two days ago, Tim’s been agonizing over whether to get a mug or a shirt or a pin, or maybe something more personal like those sunglasses he’d seen the other day, or—

 Or maybe something from the million other terrible ideas Tim’s had. With a long, drawn-out groan, he pushes back from his desk, stands with a too-loud pop of his back that has Sasha glancing up from her paperwork with a grimace, and makes his way to the breakroom.

 He needs coffee.

 As he waits for the pot to brew—because he’s the only one who drinks coffee in the archives (and yes, Sasha’s intricately named espresso beverages are technically coffee, but he doesn’t deign to count them)—he closes his eyes and tries to convince himself, yet again, that there’s a good reason he’s putting himself through this, and that no, it is not a stupid idea that has a ninety-nine percent chance of backfiring horribly.

 It had gone like this:

 Four months ago, Danny had finished the last slice of the pizza they’d ordered, stared at the credits scrolling across Tim’s television screen from the cheesy Valentine’s Day rom-com they’d just finished watching, and said with feigned casualness, “I don’t think that’s for me.”

 Tim, who had wanted that last slice of pizza, thank you very much, rolled his eyes and said, “Well, then I’m picking the pizza toppings next time. Maybe then we won’t have a pizza that only tastes like jalapeños.”

 “Oh, absolutely not. Last time you put pineapple and pepperoni on it, which is grounds for termination from topping-decisions for life.” Danny paused, and then he took his eyes away from the television, looked at Tim, and said, with distinctly less casualness, “I meant the movie. Um. The romance part, specifically.” Then, with a disarming smile: “I’ve got the comedy more than covered, after all. I told you I got that wedding gig, right? Maybe I can try some of my jokes on you.”

 Danny opened his mouth again, clearly ready to launch into a demonstration of his latest vocational pursuit, but Tim’s brain had finally parsed Danny’s words enough to say, maybe a bit too abruptly, “Hold on, hold on. Let’s go back to the romance bit, yeah?”

 He really, really hoped the statement had come off less accusatory and more encouraging. It must have worked because Danny’s smile faded into an expression that didn’t look afraid, only nervous. Still, Tim felt the need to add, with the edges of his words sanded down into something softer, “Obviously, you don’t have to tell me anything you aren’t comfortable with. But I’m all ears.”

 “Mm, they are pretty big,” Danny quipped. “Only going to get bigger, too.”

 Tim just sat back on the couch, crossed his arms, and waited. The credits on the screen continued to roll, the peppy pop music that accompanied them disrupting what might have, in any other situation, been an awkward silence. It still felt like an awkward something.

 Then, Danny sucked his bottom lip between his teeth, worried it for a few seconds, and said, “Okay, so- you remember telling me about when you figured out you were ace, right?”

 “Right,” Tim said.

 “Right,” Danny echoed. He fiddled with the silver ring on his left thumb absently, like he always did when he was nervous or when he had a million things racing through his head and he was trying to decide which thread to pull that would make them all come together into a neatly-stitched pattern. “Well, I guess all the stuff you said about liking sex but not wanting it with anyone in particular got me thinking about things that I like. And, uh. Things that I don’t.”

 There was another pause. The television screen had gone dark and the silence that stretched over them didn’t feel awkward anymore. Just heavy. Danny gave the ring on his finger another twist and said, “It had never really occurred to me that I could like to do something but not with anyone in particular, you know? Like- okay, so I enjoy flirting. I think all those stupid, cheesy pickup lines are hilarious, and seeing how people react to them is really fun. I mean, sometimes people laugh, sometimes people get annoyed, and sometimes people blush. But I never want anything out of it, you know?”

 Danny stared at the blank screen; the profile of his face showed a smile, but the lines of his forehead and the creases around his eyes were tight. Wordlessly, Tim moved closer so that his shoulder pressed against Danny’s, light enough that it wasn’t oppressive but a grounding presence all the same. From the way that Danny relaxed slightly at the touch, Tim decided that it was a good move.

 “One time, actually, someone offered to buy me a drink. You would have liked him, Tim—he had this really strong jawline, little bit of a five o’clock shadow, bright red hair. So I got the drink, and we talked, and even though he was funny and I had to stop sipping my drink because I kept choking on it when he would tell another joke, I just had this itching underneath my skin, like I just couldn’t get comfortable. But,” Danny said with a tight smile, “I ignored it. I told myself, You flirted with him first, Danny Stoker, and this is what happens when you flirt with people. Sometimes, they flirt back. So I had my drink. And then another, you know, because drinks are like potato chips, you can’t have just one.

 “He didn’t ask me to- to come back to his place or whatever, which was- god, I don’t know what I would have done.” Danny bit his lip, leaned more heavily into Tim’s shoulder. “Probably would have said yes? And I don’t need you to tell me that that would have been stupid. I know.

 “Instead, he gave me his number on one of those fancy business cards—I don’t really remember for what company, I threw it away as soon as I got home—and told me to call him. And I knew, as soon as he said that, that I wasn’t going to. That it- it wasn’t fun anymore, because there was this expectation to deliver.” Danny’s forehead creased, and he shook his head slowly. “No, that’s- that’s not quite right. An expectation to reciprocate, maybe?

 “The thing is, the idea of romance and dating and all of that sounds interesting in theory, and sometimes I can even imagine myself doing it—albeit not with anyone in particular, just like as a thought exercise I guess. I tried, a few times, to put a specific face to whoever I was going on lovely Italian wine tours with or- or hand-feeding grapes to on a bed on some island. Tim, don’t make that face, wine tours and grape feeding are peak romance. Uh, I think.

 “Anyway, anytime I tried to imagine dating someone instead of just dating, I got that same itching feeling under my skin. And I thought, well, I’m just not picking the right people. It’s got to be someone I really like, you know, someone I care about. Clearly, red-haired guy had not been the one.

 “And then… I found someone. Her name was Ash and she was just everything I ever could have wanted. She was funny and brave and did this little thing with her nose when she laughed that made me laugh, and she was a much better rock climber than me but I was better at rappelling because she could never trust herself to lean back unless someone guided her down, and I really, really thought that it could be her, you know? I knew that I loved her, and even though most of my standard lines bounced right off her, a few stuck. If I tried, really tried, I even thought I could picture it: every single corny, cheesy date I’d ever imagined, with her face cut and pasted into the image. It was a bit like a bad Photoshop edit, you know, where the edges clearly didn’t fit? But I ignored it because it fit well enough, and she made me happy.”

 Danny took a long breath and let it out just as slowly. Tim thought of a million things to say, a million reassurances, that he eventually let sink to the back of his mind and dissipate. Instead, he fought back against the instinct to break the silence with a laugh or a word or just a noise and instead leaned further back against the couch. Patience was not his strong suit, but he could do it for Danny.

 Finally, Danny continued, “And then one day, she… she asked me out. I guess I must have looked pretty shocked because she laughed and said that she’d been flirting with me for weeks, just like I’d been with her, and so there was no need to look so surprised. The thing is, I hadn’t even noticed. Every time she’d made some joke and I’d laughed, I’d thought that was just normal. Being friends, you know? Maybe that’s stupid, given that I’d been flirting with her too. Maybe not. I don’t know.

 “I said yes. And spent the next four days regretting it. I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. We were planning on going out to dinner that Friday, and the entire night before I got maybe an hour of sleep? I just kept thinking, you know, is she going to want to hold hands? Is she going to want to kiss me? Is she going to want to do more than kiss? What about other things, the wine and the grapes and rings and weddings and kids and—”

 Danny cut off with a sigh, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Yeah, so I called her an hour before I was supposed to meet her at the restaurant and said that something had come up and I couldn’t make it. Which was a lie of course, and I’m pretty sure she could tell because instead of asking what was wrong or what had come up, she just said okay. In a voice that sounded like it very much wasn’t okay. And when she hung up, I realized we hadn’t scheduled a new date. And it filled me with so much relief that I just felt guilty, because I still loved her, you know? And I just couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong, why I liked to flirt but felt so uncomfortable when it actually worked, why the idea of dating didn’t bother me until it became a reality, why every single ‘crush’ I had just felt so forced even if I cared about the person so much it hurt.

 “And then you told me that you were ace, and you talked about how it felt to be ace, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about Ash. I didn’t think that your situation was the same as mine, but it just—it felt close? So I finally thought to look up how I felt. And I’m still not one-hundred percent sure what label fits or whatever, but just knowing that there’s labels at all, that there are people out there who feel the way that I feel and that I’m not just- just doing it wrong—god, it was just this huge weight lifted off my shoulders.”

 Danny laughed, a bit harshly, born more of a release of nerves than of humor. “Is it a bit weird that I still really like to flirt? Maybe I should give a disclaimer before every pickup line: Hello, I’m Danny Stoker, I’m some flavor of aromantic and asexual, this flirting is purely platonic. Hmm, that’s a bit wordy.”

 Then, a smile cracked Danny’s face in two, tinged with more than a hint of devilish teasing. “Maybe I’ll make a business card.”

 Finally, Tim broke his vow of silence with a snort. He nudged Danny’s side with his elbow and said, “It can be a family venture. Stoker and Stoker, aspec brothers in crime.”

 Danny’s smile softened into something subtler, and he said, with an unusual amount of sincerity in his voice, “Thanks, Tim. I… I mean, I didn’t think you would react badly, but still. Thanks.”

 And Tim’s heart broke just a little, and he pulled Danny to his side and wrapped his arms around him tightly. “Never,” he said firmly. “I’m really glad you told me, Danny. Really, really glad.”

 So yeah. Tim can’t mess this gift up, because Danny had trusted him with this part of himself, and Tim really, really wants to support him in every possible way. Even if that way involves cheesy novelty mugs striped with the colors of the aromantic flag.

 Ugh.

 Tim grabs his distinctly not cheesy plain black mug of coffee and makes his way back to his desk, entirely absorbed in a swirling mess of thoughts filled with blacks and greens and whites and purples. Which is why he doesn’t notice Sasha sitting at his desk until he nearly sits on top of her.

 “Christ,” Tim says, jumping back so quickly he nearly spills his coffee. Sasha barely acknowledges him; she’s too busy typing away at something on his computer, and when Tim looks over her shoulder, he realizes with a sickening horror that she’s closed all but a few tabs on his computer. Tabs that he’d carefully curated. Tabs that he needs.

 (Tabs full of indecision and terrible, terrible ideas. But he needs them all the same.)

 “I hope,” Tim says with a voice that’s only slightly on the saner side of panic, “that there’s a perfectly good reason why you’ve thrown a wrench the size of a small house into my gift planning process? Because otherwise, I am three seconds away from freaking out.”

 Sasha waves a hand at him, still not looking away from the screen. “All your gifts suck, Tim.”

 “Hey!”

 This time, Sasha does look at him, something apologetic in her eyes. “Sorry. But they do.”

 Sullenly, Tim says, “Danny doesn’t think my gifts suck.”

 Sasha sighs and turns back to the computer. “Danny loves you a lot more than he loves your gifts. But that’s not the point.” She types something on the keyboard, navigates through a few windows without even taking the time to look at their contents. “You’ve been scowling at your screen all day, Tim. And I know it’s not because of that Remmier case that Jon assigned because I finished that yesterday.”

 “Oh. Thank you?”

 “Yup. You owe me coffee.” Sasha types a few more things, squints at the screen, then makes a noise of triumph. “There. Get him that and thank me later.”

 Then, Sasha’s out of his chair and back at her own desk, leaving behind only a warmth that Tim can feel as he takes his own seat and finally gets a good look at what’s on the screen.

 Huh.

 Tim orders it. And a few days before Danny’s birthday, he has an idea. Maybe the only good gift-giving idea he’s ever had.

 So the next time he’s at the shop, he picks up some supplies. And for someone who majored in anthropology and doesn’t know the first thing about graphic design, he’s quite happy with the final product.

 And when Danny unwraps the box on his birthday, sat on Tim’s couch with empty boxes of Thai takeout in front of them, the first thing he sees are the cards, set right on the top. It’s a silly little design, a set of two mountains striped with the aromantic and asexual colors, and next to them:

 Stoker & Stoker, Inc.

Aspec brothers in crime

Where the flirting is platonic, NOT erotic!

 Underneath the cards, there’s a new climbing rope, striped with greens and whites and greys and blacks, and a matching set of metallic purple carabiners, something that Tim absolutely never would have thought of but that’s perfect nonetheless. Danny takes a card in one hand, runs the thumb of the other over the edge of the climbing rope, and looks at Tim.

 And Tim thinks he gets it, then. Why people put so much time and effort into giving people thoughtful, meaningful gifts. Because Danny’s expression isn’t fucking with him or relieving the pressure or just being nice or even this was what I’d always wanted. It’s something truer, something softer, something that sits in the pit of Tim’s stomach and burns softly, warming him gently from the inside out

 Yeah, Tim’s never going to be able to go back to generic gifts after this. He’s going to need a much larger coffee budget.

 (This conviction lasts, at least, until later in the evening, when Tim confesses that Sasha helped him with the gift and Danny laughs and says I figured, before saying in a quieter voice that the climbing equipment is great but the cards were Tim. That the black socks and novelty mugs and vanilla candles were generic but that they were Tim as well and that Danny had made it a game to try and guess what Tim was going to get him that year, keeping a bet with Sasha on how long it would take Tim to accidentally give him the same gift twice.

 Hey, Tim says, but his mouth is twisted into a smile. He ruffles Danny’s hair in that way he hates and says that he’ll stick to the basics from now on, then, and they put on some shitty comedy that Danny insists on watching and eat ice cream until their stomachs hurt.

 And if Tim sees Danny glancing at the business card every so often, wearing a smile so soft it’s almost melting, he certainly isn’t going to mention it.)

[animebaby00]

A Gift That's Bittersweet (Levi Ackerman x Reader)

Valentine's Day 2021

"There we go...perfect."

You wiped your wrist across your forehead, admiring the sight before you.

A clean edged white box, adorned with a big red ribbon with small tag dangling from gold string that read:

To: Levi

Love: Y/N

Today was Valentine's Day. The day made especially for couples and loved ones, and you had just finished making your present for your own said beloved.

Corporal Levi Ackerman.

Your relationship was a... unique one. More so on Levi's side since everyone on the scouts thought that the short, ill-tempered man was incapable of many feelings, much less love.

But you changed that, though it wasn't exactly clear on who fell for who first.

He appreciated that you were such a good soldier. You never gave him any problems and never faltered to obey him. You also cleaned significantly better than everyone else and your personality was one that he could actually tolerate. He found himself drawn to you and oh boy how you were drawn to him.

Levi was very attractive to you. But not just in his looks. You were also attracted to his underlying care for his comrades and even the stupid little things on how he gripped his teacup. He had feelings surfaced much farther below than the average person and even before you had gotten together, he had shared those feelings and other experiences with you.

And you listened. You understood. You didn't judge. And for him, that sealed the deal.

A grin made its way into your face. Oh how you couldn't wait to give him your gift.

The box contained chocolates, completely homemade, ranging in a few different shapes and flavors. You had wanted to try making chocolate for quite sometime and so this gave you the perfect opportunity to do just that. So technically, yes, Levi was your guinea pig, but what Levi doesn't know won't hurt him. Plus, from the little licks you had taken off from the collection of mixing utensils you had used, you thought what you had sampled didn't taste half bad.

Alright. Time to deliver your present to your short-tempered (no pun intended) boyfriend.

You picked up the box and opened the door to the kitchen, walking out the door to your superiors office with a happy, little spring in your step.

~~~~~

It didn't take long for you to arrive, especially because of just how familiar you were on the route to Levi's office since you had probably been asked to go there from every single point in the building. From the training grounds, the barracks, the cafeteria, and so on. 

Oh the benefits of being the Corporal's girlfriend. 

Finally, you were met with the large, brown, oak door to his office. It was intimidating to some, but to you, it was just another ordinary door. 

You lay your fist against it, giving a few swift knocks.

A deep, flat-toned voice answered from inside. 

"State your name and business."

You snickered. He sounded so serious. 

A lot of people were so scared of his tone, to the point of peeing their pants, but not you. However, even though you knew he wouldn't care if you just waltzed in, you still kept it formal

"Cadet L/N. I have a...uh…" you looked down at the box in your hands, "A delivery for you, sir."

"You may enter."

In a haste, you maneuvered your arm so as to hide the box of chocolates behind your back, using the other to grasp the door handle and turned it, opening it just enough to fit your body through. 

You shimmied inside and closed the door behind you, standing before your superior who was intently reading through the dozens of documents splayed across his desk, his usual cup of tea in his hand. 

"What is it, cadet ?" He asked, face non moving. 

You raised your eyebrows in surprise. Playing it extra serious today are we ?

"Cadet ?" You inquired, "Hm. I could've sworn I had a name."

"Tch, brat." 

"No, that's not it either." 

The raven haired man sighed, leaning back against his chair. 

"Are you trying to be annoying ?" 

"Depends. Is it working ?" 

Apparently so, because an actual, tiny smirk etched its way into Levi's lips. He grunted, sitting up straighter and set down his tea cup and documents to give you his full attention.

"What is it, Y/N?"

"Much better," you giggled, walking towards him, "

"Got your work cut out for today, huh ?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." He grunted, running a hand through his raven hair, "Erwin has the rest in his office. This is only half."

You scrunched up your face, causing Levi to let out a rare, airy chuckle.

"My thoughts exactly, but it has to get done." He stood, walking over to you, "Now what do you need ?" 

"Nothing much," you crooned, "I just have a little something I want to give you. Close your eyes "

"Y/N, I really have to-"

"Please ? Just for a second.

Levi sighed, but abided by your wishes and closed his silvery orbs. You ducked your head lower to make sure they were completely shut before pulling the box out from behind you.

"Okay. Open."

He did, blinking a few times before looking downwards at the box in your hands.

"Happy Valentine's Day Levi !"

He blinked again, casting his gaze to look up at you, eyebrows furrowed.

"What's wrong ? Why do you look so confused?" You asked.

"You... actually got me a Valentine's Day present ?"

"Of course I did." You smiled, pushing the box forward, "Here. Open it."

He slowly took the box from your hands and took care in removing the ribbon tied around it. You kept your eyes on his nimble fingers as they worked away at perfectly untying the ribbon.

You new Levi completed every task perfectly and put his fullest intent into everything he did.

Apparently unwrapping something as simple as a present applied to those standards as well.

Finally, the bow was removed and you were near bouncing on the balls of your feet as he lifted the lid of the box, and when he realized its contents, he looked up at you once more.

"Chocolates ?"

"Mmhm !" You confirmed "Completely homemade especially for you."

"Y/N…" he trailed, with slight uncertainty, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, "You know I'm not the biggest fan of sweets."

"I know," you chirped, leaning towards him with your index finger pointing in the air, winking, "That's why I said especially for you."

"I'm afraid I don't follow."

"Well…" you started, picking up one of the decadent little desserts, "Why don't you try one ?"

"I don't-"

"Come onnnn Levi." you pushed the sweet close to him, "Just try it."

A sigh of defeat left Levi's mouth as he grabbed your wrist, leaning his head forward to place his teeth on the chocolate you held off to him. He then bit it in half and began to chew.

Albeit, ever so slightly, his eyes widened.

The flavor of the chocolate was unexpected. It was unlike anything he had ever had before.

It wasn't overly sweet at all, in fact it had a tart bitterness to it that he actually rather enjoyed. It had just the right amount of richness and dare he say a little bit of saltiness as well.

But every single flavor he tasted complimented each other perfectly.

You had a smile on your face the entire time as you watched him chew, eager at his facial expression and when he finally swallowed.

"So…?"

"They're...good."

"I knew you would like them !", You grinned, eyes sparkling as you clasped your hands together, "I thought you'd appreciate something a little stronger so I opted for dark chocolate instead of milk. I also didn't add as much sugar as they said and I also made use of a little bit of pure sea salt to give it a different flavor. Some of them are also plain like the one that I just gave you but also took some care into making some different flavors."

You pointed at one of the rounder pieces of chocolate, "That one has chopped hazelnuts in it," you pointed to the one next to it, "And this one has a fudge mouse but don't worry I didn't make that too sweet either. And this one,"

You pointed at a chocolate that looked a little bit different than the other ones. It was almost a dark burgundy purple and there were a few others just like it in the box, "Is infused with tea leaves. I made quite a few of these ones because I thought you would enjoy them the most because...well...you're always drinking tea. But I don't want to reveal what they all are because I want you to be sup-mmph?!"

In one, swift movement, you were silenced by a pair of lips. They were warm, soft, and familiar and ironically tasted exactly like a cup of tea.

Levi didn't press himself forward to kiss you like this too often so you wanted to enjoy it but he pulled himself away far too quickly enough for you to be able to, leaving you somewhat breathless and a little frustrated as your lip puffed out in a pout.

"You talk too much." he stated simply.

"And you tease too much." you grumbled.

A low hum left Levi's throat as he turned to put the box of chocolates on his desk before carding his head back to look at you.

And did something you weren't expecting.

"Thank you for the chocolates, Y/N."

Your eyes widened.

Even though you two were together...hearing Levi actually say thank you was just...wow.

You didn't know what to say, and he chuckled again at your somewhat dumbfounded expression.

"Are you at a loss for words for once in your life ?"

You flinched, shaking your head, "N-no I just...I'm just not used to-", you trailed off as he leaned against his desk, arms folding over each other as tilted his head amusingly to the side.

Your heart was beating in your rib cage. Why did he have to be so...so…

"Y-you have work to do right ?" You asked hastily, stepping backwards, "Y-yeah of course you do ! So I'll be leaving now ! See you later !"

But you didn't even manage to get one foot out the door as Levi grabbed you by the wrist and pulled you close to his body, causing you to let out a little yelp of surprise as his head pushed into the crease of your neck.

"L-Levi ?"

"Come by my office after dinner tonight."

Your breath hitched,"W-why?"

He leveled a hand to the side of your face, pushing a strand of hair behind your ear, lips inches from your collar bone.

"So I can give you your present."

[froggy-1988]

Valentine's Day - Have a quick TTS story

“He was beheaded!” Rapunzel’s eyes were wide.

“Well, the story goes that he died for love, the king at the time had banned marriages, but Saint Valentine was a priest and he continued to perform marriages in secret.” Cassandra explained patiently.

Eugene had been trying to lead his girlfriend out of the castle for a surprise Valentine’s date, they’d made it to the courtyard before they’d seen Lance enthusiastically telling a story to a rather bored looking Cass. Naturally Rapunzel had bounded up to them on bare feet, telling them excitedly that it was Saint Valentine’s day, and naturally Cassandra had interrupted to tell her what Valentine’s day was actually about. Or rather Cassandra’s bloody version of it with wars and beheadings.

“But he died?”

“Yes.” Eugene said.

“Most people don’t live long without a head.” Cassandra added.

“And we celebrate the day he died?” Rapunzel said looking confused.

“I think you are looking too much at the graphic details of this.” Eugene said sending an annoyed glance over at Cassandra as he placed a protective hand on Rapunzel’s shoulder

“And besides.” Lance said. “He probably didn’t even die on February the fourteenth, that date was probably chosen to fit in with the pagan Feast of Lupercalia.”

The three friends turned to look at him.

“What? I know stuff.”

“The point I’m trying to make is, we are not celebrating the death, but more the notion of him being willing to face death in the name of love.” Eugene said with another pointed look at his friend.

Rapunzel’s eyebrows furrowed as she thought about that, then she broke out in a big smile.

“Oh, like when you died for me?” She leaned into him and tilted her head up to meet his gaze. “My Saint Eugene.”

“If he’d really died then he wouldn’t be here to annoy us now.” Cassandra pointed out. “You know Eugene, if you really wanted to die for love I could go and find my lucky halberd and help you out.”

“Cass, my hair dousn’t have healing powers anymore, I wouldn’t be able to bring him back.”

“That’s the point.”

“Well then technically you would have died for love twice, and Saint Valentine only died for love once, so you would outrank him. We could rename the day Saint Eugene’s day.” Lance pointed out. “You’d be famous.”

“I’m already famous.”

“That’s the problem you have with that?” Rapunzel said quietly.

“Oh, famous thief turned romantic who dies twice for love, now that is a story that I would want to read. I mean, it has all the right elements, the beautiful princess, the cute animal companion, the roguish best friend with a heart of gold, that’s me by the way.” Lance continued.

“I am not going to die just because it would make a good story. Well, not again anyway. Now will you please leave us alone, I’ve got a romantic valentines day planned and it does not include you two.” Eugene snapped.

“Ahh Eugene, can’t they come on our Valentine’s day date?” Rapunzel asked. “I heard people in the market saying it was bad to be alone for Valentine’s day. We can’t let our friends be alone.”

“I personally prefer it.” Cassandra answered.

“No can do, I am working a shift at the duckling.” Lance said. “But thanks for the invite Princess.”

“See Eugene, we have to find Cassandra a date to spend Valentines’ day with.” Rapunzel said.

“Did somebody say date!” An excited vice called.

Cassandra groaned as she saw Varian racing over the flagstones of the courtyard towards them.

“Varian! My man!” Eugene said rushing towards him and clapping him on the back. “Just in time. Rapunzel here did not want to leave our delightful Cass alone, but now you’re here you can keep her company.”

“Uh sure. I came here to see…”

“See Rapunzel!” Eugene said quickly rushing over and leading Rapunzel towards the gate. “Lance is going to be with the pub thugs and Cassandra has our favorite alchemist inventor boy to play with, so we can go on our date safe in the knowledge that nobody is alone.”

Rapunzel glanced over her shoulder one more time as she walked through the gates.

“Well, I guess that’s alright.”

“Go, have fun.” Cassandra shouted after them. She herself turned on her heels to walk back to the castle.

“Hey wait up!” She heard Varian call from behind her, he jogged to keep up. “I uh, came here to see you actually.”

“What is it Varian?” Cassandra asked stopping, apparently too quickly as Varian staggered and almost fell over his own feet.

“I um…” He nervously ran his hand through his hair as one hand searched through the pockets of his leather jerking pulling out a glass bottle full of a green looking substance. “I made you a valentine’s day gift.”

Cassandra eyed the bottle in his hand suspiciously, for a second she was worried that it might be some kind of explosive. Then, she was excited that it might be some kind of explosive, that would definitely put her ahead of the game in defending the castle.

“It’s uh.. a fragrance oil.” Varian explained. “You know, for smelling nice. I mean, not that you don’t smell nice… but…”

Cassandra reached out and took it from him.

“Thanks, I guess.” She said. “But why’s it green? Aren’t most perfume oils sort of pinkish?”

“The floral ones are but I guessed you weren’t really a floral kinda girl, I mean lady, so I made it with herbs.”

“Herbs?”

“Yeah, thyme, sage, rosemary.”

“Like you put on a roast chicken?”

“Or lamb…” Varian stuttered.

“Oh, so it’ll make me smell like a dead farmyard animal. Thanks.

“Well.. no more like a …roasted farmyard animal.” His shoulders slumped. “I just thought you might like it. Most perfumes are flowery and I thought this smelt more fresh, more invigorating. You know....more you.”

Cassandra sighed and put her hand on Varian’s shoulder.

“Look, kid, I’m sorry I was tough on you. I always find this day hard.”

“Because you don’t have a date?”

“No, because everybody thinks that I should be miserable because I don’t have a date, and honestly, I’m not all that bothered. I like being alone.” Cassandra said frustratedly thinking of all the years that had passed where she had been shot sympathetic looks by other women.

“Oh.” Varian said with a sigh.

“But it’s better being with friends.” Cassandra corrected herself. “Like you.”

Varian’s face brightened. She took the stopper out of the scented oil bottle, the strong smell of rosemary hit her nose, she didn’t actually dislike it, and Varian was right that she’d didn’t like to wear the flowery perfumes when she was training,

“Thank you.”

Varian smiled at her hopefully.

“Anything for a friend.” He said.

“I uh.. “Cassandra hesitated for a moment. “So, uh.. do you want to help me put up the decorations in the main hall?”

“Yes! Absolutely. I uh mean…. I’m not doing anything else so..” He tried to sound casual.

Cassandra gave him a small smile.

“You know one of the perks of being my co-lady in waiting is that you get to taste test all the sweet pastries the chef is making for tonight’s Valentine’s day ball.”

“Awesome!” Varian said punching the air. “I will be the best Valentine’s day taste tester ever.”

Cassandra smiled fondly at him as they walked side by side back to the castle.

[claptrap-stan]

Happy Anniversary!

Or, Athena definitely doesn’t forget it’s her anniversary, and sets out to make it the best day possible. 

A Jathena fic about their first anniversary, and Athena trying to figure out what that entails. If you prefer, the source will take you to the fic on AO3! Enjoy. 

Athena had never been great at keeping track of the date.

Even as a bounty hunter, she’d only been aware of the passing of time because it signified how long it was taking her to finish a job. Years of Atlas training had lead something as frivolous as dates being relegated to the back of her mind, out of her way.

This was the first time it had come back to bite her.

She faltered midway through signing the piece of paper in front of her, rereading the date another three times as if that would somehow make the numbers change, but nope. That was definitely the date.

And it was definitely the date of her anniversary.

And she’d definitely forgotten.

“Is there a problem, miss?” Asked the guy holding the parcel, his voice high-pitched and nervous, and he stepped back instinctively as he spoke, as though he expected her to attack him just for asking. Which was a dumb fear, because if she attacked him he’d probably drop the package and that would just be inconvenient, but she appreciate the respect.

“No,” she said bluntly, finishing her signature and handing the clipboard back.

Technically she hadn’t forgotten, she just hadn’t been paying attention.

She was pretty sure that wasn’t a valid excuse for forgetting your own anniversary.

She took the package from the man – it was lighter than she expected – and slipped it under one of her arms as he let out a breath of relief. “Uh- thanks,” she told him, remembering Janey’s comments about her needing to be politer.

“N-no problem, ma’am!” He gave her a sharp nod, but she was already walking away, trying to think.

The to-do list Janey gave her would probably take the next few hours, and then everywhere would be closed, but if she hurried she was pretty sure she could squeeze something in to save her own ass. The problem was: what did celebrating an anniversary even involve?

Romance had never even been on her radar before meeting Janey. She’d been too busy for that, too angry, and she’d never cared enough about other people’s lives to pay any attention to that. But Janey had been in at least one other serious relationship before her, and she’d know exactly how this was supposed to work. Which left Athena with two options: try and guess how this worked, or swallow her pride and ask for help.

She decided to try guessing.

#

Step one: a bouquet.

She’d dealt with enough of Moxxi’s wanna-be suitors to know that giving flowers to someone was meant to be romantic. Plus, Janey tended to like anything that made the house look ‘more like an actual human lived in it’, and Athena was pretty sure plants fell into that category.

Also, they weren’t hard to find. Even as she pulled up outside the hardware shop, mentally running over the things Janey had told her to buy, she could see plants lining the pathway.

Clearly, she’d overestimated how hard this anniversary thing was going to be.

She made sure to buy all the parts first, double-checking it against the list as she fastened them to her stingray – if there was one thing Janey would prioritise over their anniversary, it was her work, and Athena wasn’t about to screw that up. As soon as they were secure, though, she turned her attention to the plants.

Most of it was boring green weed, but she pushed those aside to pull out the flowers dotted within them. It was mostly tall yellow and blue flowers that seemed to glow faintly in the shade of the building, as well as a couple of strange-looking purple tendrils that were so thick that she had to use her knife to cut the stems. Once she’d picked most of them and gotten a decently-sized handful, she used a bit of the extra twine she’d brought to hold them in place.

“Ha,” she muttered softly to herself, straightening up and brushing the dirt off her knees with her free hand. The flowers seemed to droop a little as she held them under the sun, but she figured they’d perk up eventually. Whenever people tried to give Moxxi flowers, they always seemed perky and vibrant. She’d probably just have to shove them in some more dirt when she got home, before she showed them to Janey.

Still, they looked pretty great, if she did say so herself.

Someone walking past gave her an odd look, but the second she turned towards him he ducked his head down, picking up his pace.

It took her far too long to place his face. She was getting out of practice. But still, there was no denying it – she knew exactly who he was. He’d hit on Janey last week, getting a little too handsy with her when she’d flatly turned him down. Janey had dealt with it herself, of course, kicking him straight out the building, but Athena was still pissed she hadn’t gotten her shot at him.

Now was her chance.

Her free hand was already grasping at the space where she usually she kept her shield when she realised what she was doing, and faltered.

On a normal day, she wouldn’t have hesitated. So, she left her shield at home these days – she still carried around her gun and at least two knives. She could still pretty easily take him out in the next thirty seconds.

Except that there was a reason she didn’t carry her shield around any more, and today of all days, she wanted to give Janey exactly what she wanted.

No murder. No danger. No trying to kill dicks in the middle of the street.

She could do that. It hurt, but she could let that guy speed walk his way out of her line of sight. She could do it for Janey, at least today.

And besides, she wouldn’t want to damage her flowers.

#

Step two: food.

During the last Valentine’s day she remembered being aware of, she’d been tracking down a target who happened to be seeing one of his employees at the time. She had a distinct memory of killing him in his kitchen when he was trying to cook a romantic meal. His boyfriend, it turned out, had been the one who hired her, but that was besides the point.

Meals were considered romantic.

As she wandered through the shopping market, she considered trying to make something for Janey. It would definitely be more personal, but every time she offered to cook, Janey seemed to develop a sudden craving for takeout. Athena had no idea what Janey’s favourite meal would even be, let alone how to cook it.

So takeout it would be, then.

She glanced at the to-do list again. The next stop would put her right next to Moxxi’s – perfect. They did food. She could head in there first to pick something up.

By the time she got to Moxxi’s, the sun was starting to set, turning the sky a deep blood red. She still had a good ninety minutes before it would be dark and Janey would start to head back, which was plenty of time. She only had one thing left on her list, after all.

The bar was emptier than she expected when she walked in, although she supposed it was pretty early. That rarely seemed to matter on Pandora, though.

Moxxi glanced up from behind the countertop as the door swung shut, her usual smirk already plastered on her face. Her expression seemed to soften just slightly as she registered who it was, not looking away as she approached the bar. Athena half wondered if she was going to overfill the drink she was pouring, but she’d known Moxxi long enough to doubt it.

“Evening, Athena,” Moxxi greeted her once she reached the bar, her usual flirtatious drawl not hiding the slight curiosity in her voice. “If you’re here looking for extra hours, you’re out of luck. Everyone’s being particularly well behaved today – unfortunately. You know I love watching you work.” Still not looking away, she slid the beer she was pouring across the countertop, straight into the waiting hand of a man sat two seats down, who grunted in response. “’Sides, sugar, don’t you think you deserve to spend some time with that lovely mechanic of yours?”

“I am,” said Athena, shifting a little. She always hated being in places like this when she wasn’t working – too many years of honing her senses had left her a little too alert. Especially when the people around her where mostly drunk. Still, she knew she was safe. She could kill everyone in this room with ease. The thought calmed her a little. “It’s our anniversary. I was actually going to buy some food.”

“Oooh, happy anniversary then, darling.” Moxxi propped a hand on her hip, her expression still not faltering. “In that case, what can I get you?”

Oh. There may have been one flaw in her plan. Usually, it was Janey who went to pick up the food. The only takeout she knew about was the old skag meat stand she used to work at, and she was pretty sure that didn’t constitute a romantic meal. Also, there was no way Moxxi sold skewered skag meat anyway.

Thankfully, the older woman noticed her hesitation, her grin growing slightly wider with amusement. “How about I make it a surprise for both of you?” She offered, leaning forward to prop her hands up on the bar, doing a bad job of suppressing the humour in her voice. Athena couldn’t really be annoyed at it, though, because it was the ideal solution.

“That works,” she said, trying to act nonchalant about it. “I have one last stop on my to-do list – can I come back afterwards for the food?”

The look in Moxxi’s eye clearly told her the act hadn’t worked, but thankfully, she didn’t question it. “Of course you can, sweetie. But first- do I get a sneak peak at Janey’s anniversary present?” She leaned further forward, her tone dropping lower. “You know I love a good lover’s present.”

“I’m actually on my way to pick up her present,” Athena lied through her teeth, giving herself barely half a second of thought. “But, no, it’s, uh- private.” Nobody had ever mentioned anything about gifts what kind of gift was she even meant to get and where the hell was she meant to find it-

“But those are the best kind of presents,” said Moxxi, putting on a tone of faux-sadness, before breaking her charade and smiling. “Fine, go and get your missus her present. Your food will be waiting here when you get back.”

“Thank you,” said Athena, and this time it came more naturally to her than with the delivery guy. Still, she thought, as she made her way to the exit of the bar. This was a problem.

#

Step three: the gift.

Really, Athena should’ve expected this. No good plan had ever only had two steps. And honestly, everything she’d been doing so far seemed to be focused on giving something. An actual gift seemed like the obvious conclusion.

Not that that hindsight helped her now.

She tried to glance around the shop as she hefted up two cartons of washer fluid, so focused on looking for any potential presents that she ignored the worker trying to offer her help, but she couldn’t see anything that would work. It was all machine-based fluid; oil and water and different coloured liquids she couldn’t identify filling the rows of shelves.

Which was completely useless to her.

She must’ve looked pretty pissed, because the guy who rang her up looked like he was waiting for her to lose it at him, but she couldn’t be bothered trying to school her features into a ‘nicer’ expression. He’d live. She had bigger things to worry about.

She continued to scan the area even as she lugged the cartons outside, as if she was going to find the perfect present just sitting on one of the benches ready for her to take.

There was a little skag pup foraging in one of the bins, and Janey had been suggesting they get a pet, but Athena was pretty sure she hadn’t meant a skag. Unfortunately. She knew the weapons shop across the streets sold some nice daggers, but that had never really been Janey’s style. The ammo shop was useless, and she didn’t have any Eridium on her to hit up the black market – not that Janey would want her to do that anyway.

She fixed the washer fluid to the stingray and then leaned against it trying to think. There was the half-crumbling pub, which was useless to her, the bakery, the sweet shop, the café-

The sweet shop.

The sweetest thing Athena enjoyed was the Atlas lattes, and she hadn’t been able to have them in- a long time. Janey, on the other hand, rarely drank something more bitter than her hot malted milk, and had an almost ridiculous sweet tooth.

Athena started walking towards it immediately, relief flooding her the second she realised it was open. Were chocolates a kind of lame gift? Probably. Did she have the time to worry? A quick glance at her watch told her no, she didn’t. Besides, maybe the flowers and the meal would even it out.

At least, she hoped it would. The second she stepped into the shop, she was hit by the almost overwhelming vibrant packages that lined every shelf. It looked like something big and colourful had puked in it. Even the smell was almost sickeningly sweet, like chocolate and fruit and sugar all mixed into one.

She tried not to wrinkle her nose as she grabbed the nearest heart-shaped box of chocolates. She probably could’ve spent all night looking for the perfect one, but right now, time was of the essence, and she figured that was romantic enough.

She half threw the box at the cashier in her impatientness.

#

She made it home just twenty minutes before Janey was due back, and ran in as fast as she could, dumping everything not-anniversary-related in the corner of the garage. She could deal with that later.

Instead, she filled a bowl with dirt from outside and placed it on the kitchen sink, shoving the flowers into it. “There, now you can perk up a little,” she muttered as she covered the roots, a slightly threatening tone entering her voice.

Then she switched her attention to the food. Moxxi had packaged into heat proof boxes for her, so all she had to do was put it on the plates. The hostess hadn’t held back – one of the boxes contained a variety of vegetables, the other a huge piece of roasted pork. She tried to arrange them on the plate as nicely as she could manage, although she didn’t really know what constituted as ‘nice’ in this situation.

She’d only just decided it was good enough when she heard the front door swing open, followed by the sound of Janey announcing herself.

“In the kitchen!” Athena called back, quickly turning scoop the flowers up and shove the bowl of dirt under the sink, out of sight. They hadn’t perked up that much, but she thought they still looked fine. She grabbed the chocolates with her free hand and hid them both behind her back just as Janey walked in, holding a paper bag.

The mechanic faltered as she saw the table, surprise flickering across her face. “Wow, Athena-“

“Happy anniversary,” interrupted Athena, holding out the chocolates and the flowers. For a second, Janey paused, looking awed, but then she seem to come back to herself and quickly made her way across the room, dropping the bag on one of the counters.

“Thank you,” she said, taking the gifts and smiling. “And happy anniversary to you, too.” She put the chocolates down on the side and pressed a quick kiss to Athena’s cheek. “I wasn’t expecting anything like this – I know you aren’t good with dates, so I figured you’d probably miss it-“

“Never,” said Athena, smoothly, and Janey smiled again.

“Well, I’m sorry I doubted you. This- this is amazing. Just- let me put these in some water before we dig into the food, okay?” She turned towards the cupboard before freezing halfway through reaching for it. “Uh,” she twisted back slightly, looking curiously concerned. “The food. Where-“

“It came from Moxxi’s,” said Athena, brightly. Seeing Janey happy filled her with a sense of relief. Why had she been so nervous before? Clearly, she was a master at this stuff. “You’ve never mentioned what kind of food you’d like me to cook, so I figured it was safer. Why?”

“No reason. No reason at all.” She was fairly sure she saw relief on Janey’s face as the latter finally turned to grab a glass, although she couldn’t imagine why.

She watched as Janey filled the glass with water before setting it on the side and carefully placing the flowers in it. Water. Of course. Why had she gone with dirt?

Still, they looked great, so it was fine.

Janey turned back to her with a grin. “I got you a present too, of course – although it’ll have to wait until after this meal.”

“Why?” Asked Athena, raising her eye brow. “Is it more food?”

“Well.” Janey leaned back slightly and buried her hand in the bag she’d brought in. “It involves eating something.” She pulled her hand back out and held up- a bath bomb. “But first, we’d have to take a bath.”

Athena glanced at the bag, which still clearly had something in it.

She was 90% sure she could guess what it was.

“I like baths,” was all she said, before looping her fingers through Janey’s belt loops and pulling her close enough that she could kiss her easily, which of course she did. Janey nearly dropped the bath bomb as she fumbled, but she managed to place it on the side before burying her fingers in Athena’s hair and kissing her back, pushing hard enough to press the later into the side.

“I specifically said we have to wait until after we’ve eaten,” mumbled Janey, but she didn’t want to break the kiss, leaning even further into it. Athena hummed softly against her lips.

“Okay, sure. We will,” she promised, also not breaking the kiss.

They probably never would’ve split apart if it wasn’t for the hacking cough sound that came from behind Athena, catching both of their attentions. There was a pause as they turned in surprise to look.

“Athena,” began Janey, her voice almost deceptively calm. “Did your flowers just spit acid at the wall?”

Oh.

Maybe Athena wasn’t the master of anniversaries after all.

[scientifthicc]

You’re Gonna Catch a Cold

hello all! this is my valentine’s day exchange gift for the wonderful @shadowsofrainbows ily!! hello, i’m your valentine skdjskj. i really hope you enjoy the gift because i’m not sure if its any good or not so i’m sorry if it sucks. i really enjoyed writing it and its a tyrus fanfic so i hope you like it :)) by the way, im sorry this is posting so late, tungler dot com was being a butt and i couldn’t post it until now :(( sorry to keep you waiting so long hhh

also!! a big thank you and shout out to @swingsetboys for organizing this valentine’s day gift exchange!! these gift exchanges are so fun to do and without you we wouldn’t have them so thank you ilyy! and thanks for being so kind and helpful when tumblr’s a pain in the ass skdjsk

Cyrus tapped his foot impatiently as he anxiously waited for TJ to answer the call.

TJ’s voice comes from the phone, but it’s not him, it’s his voicemail. “It’s TJ. If you’re hearing this it’s probably because I don’t feel like answering the phone right now. Leave a message, if you want.” A beep comes from the phone, signaling the start of the voicemail.

Cyrus took a breath before starting to not sound as worried as he really was. “Hey TJ, it’s Cyrus. Again. Nobody’s heard from you in a couple days so please please please answer me as soon as you can.” Pressing the red End button, he turned to his friends with a downcast face.  Cyrus had been stressing out since Tuesday when TJ didn’t show up to school and didn’t answer what had come to be many texts and calls. None of the teachers TJ had seemed to know what was happening either, sending him into a whirlwind of thoughts. Is TJ okay? Is he hurt? Is he dying? No, he’s not dying. But what if he is dying?? Now it was Saturday, and the GHC was standing outside the Spoon, waiting to go in as Cyrus called TJ for the millionth time.

“No answer,” he said with a frown.

“Cyrus. Relax. He’s probably fine,” Buffy said, putting her hands on Cyrus’s shoulders and drawing out the word “relax”. She spun him around and ushered him into the Spoon.

“Yeah,” Andi scoffed, as they found a booth and sat down. “You’re probably just going through a TJ-withdraw.” Andi and Buffy chuckled while Cyrus scowled.

“Right,” he said, looking over the menu and pretending to ignore Andi’s comment. “He’s probably fine.” He paused to take his order when the waitress came over before continuing. “That doesn’t guarantee he’s okay. What if he needs our help?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “If you want to know so bad, why don’t you stop by his house and find out?”

“You’re right,” Cyrus said determinedly, putting both palms on the table and standing up.

“Wait- now? Your food hasn’t even arrived yet” Buffy said, but Cyrus was already out of his seat.

“Update us!!” Andi yelled as Cyrus was walking out the door, earning a thumbs up from him as he left to signal that he had heard them.

Andi and Buffy exchanged a knowing look, and Buffy rolled her eyes once again. “He left his coat,” Buffy giggled.

On his way there, the sound of Cyrus’s feet crunching in the snow was the only sound that could be heard, and he couldn’t help but think about what could have happened to TJ. Was he grounded? Cyrus doubted that. He wouldn’t be surprised if his parents took away his phone if he was in trouble, but it doesn’t make sense that they would keep him from coming to school. Did TJ get into trouble at school? He didn’t want to think of that as a possibility. He knew TJ was better than that. Did his family go on vacation? No way. TJ definitely would have told him beforehand.

Eventually, Cyrus ended up on TJ’s front porch that afternoon, pacing in front of the door as he waited, shivering, since he accidentally left his coat with Buffy and Andi in his rush to leave the Spoon. He let out a frosty breath, looking down at his feet as he stopped in front of the door, hands in his pockets, and waited.

“Hey,” said a congested-sounding voice, making Cyrus jump as he broke out of his thoughts.

Looking up, Cyrus went to respond but stopped short at the sight in front of him, barely preventing himself from choking on the frigid air around him. Standing there in front of him, in the doorway, was TJ Kippen himself, but different. He clearly looked sick, and he was wearing gray sweatpants Cyrus had never seen on him before, but it got worse; he had no hair gel, making her hair a fluffy dirty-blonde mess, and was wearing glasses. Cyrus couldn’t help but be a teensy bit upset by the fact that TJ had never told him that he actually wore contacts. A little forewarning would’ve been nice — he was having trouble handling the sight in front him at that moment. It took him a while before Cyrus realized he was staring at him like an idiot.

“Uh- TJ! You’re okay!” Cyrus finally exclaimed before cringing, realizing TJ wasn’t exactly okay, considering he was sick and wishing he had kept his mouth shut. “I mean— you’re not dead, at least.” He facepalmed. “I— nevermind. Hi TJ.”

TJ started laughing before devolving into a coughing fit. Growing concerned, Cyrus let himself inside and shut the door to keep TJ out of the cold. “Are you okay?”

“I’m good. I’m a little sick. Just a little, though,” he answered with a heavily congested voice before sneezing multiple times.

They walked into the kitchen, where Cyrus immediately felt warm. The entire house gave off a welcoming, lived-in, and cozy feel, especially the kitchen with the warm beige walls, different variety of mugs in one of the see-through cabinets, and the pictures on the fridge that displayed upcoming events, drawings TJ made when he was about 7 or 8 maybe, and souvenir magnets. When he saw the old drawings, Cyrus smiled, admiring how cute they were, before turning back to TJ as they both sat down at the kitchen table. “Did your parents take away your phone or something?”

“I mean, technically.”

Cyrus gestured for TJ to continue.

“Well.” TJ paused to cough. “My parents are the — sniff — type of parents who don’t let you — sneeze — use your phone when you get sick, because they think using it will be bad for you and delay you from getting better,” he explained before grabbing a tissue from one of the boxes that were currently everywhere in the house and blowing his nose. “So, when I got sick and had to stay home, I couldn’t really let you know, which sucked.” He coughed a couple times.

Cyrus frowned. “That sucks.” TJ nodded his head in agreement. “ I was so stressed. I was worried you died or something. I must have called you at least 15 times.” Cyrus couldn’t help but cringe at how desperate he must’ve sounded, but TJ would’ve eventually seen the calls and texts when he got his phone back anyways, so he had nothing to lose.

TJ grinned and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything, he started to cough. He was shivering a little as well, despite the fact that it was currently warm in the house.

Cyrus frowned again. “Where’s the blankets?” TJ vaguely gestured to a door under the stairs — while still coughing into his arm — that seemed to be a small closet. He fetched a pink blanket, with Dora, Diego, Backpack, and Boots with huge lettering that told you it was Dora the Explorer blanket — in case you weren’t sure before — and threw it on TJ before moving to the cabinets to hunt around for a tea kettle, a mug, and a tea bag. Once he finally found what he needed, he started preparing tea for TJ. The tea kettle was already filled with water and heating up on the stove before TJ finally spoke up.

“Uh, Cyrus?” TJ questioned, finally removing the blanket from over his head where it had been thrown on him. “What are you doing?”

“I’m making you tea and taking care of you, duh,” Cyrus responded, now setting a pot on the stove and searching through the cabinets for ramen soup (every house had to have ramen, he thought) while he waited for the tea to be made. Cyrus, still facing the cabinets, kept going before TJ could say anything. “I don’t see anyone else around, so I’m gonna be the one to do it.” He was clearly in full-parent mode by now, and there was no going back. Putting the ramen packet he finally found down and turning to face TJ, he asked, “By the way, where are your parents?”

TJ rested his head on his arm. ”They’re gone for the weekend for a wedding. They didn’t want to leave me in the ’state I was in’, but they’d RSVP’d months before,” he answered, complete with air quotes, sniffs, and sneezes.

“Oh. Uh, okay,” he said, turning around to continue making the soup and to hide his blush. They were gonna be alone for God knows how long and Cyrus didn’t know how to feel about it. Cyrus and TJ sat in comfortable silence for a couple minutes while Cyrus made the soup. He may not know shit about cooking, but he had learned to at least make soup for when his parents were out and there was nothing else to eat, so it had become a staple food for him. Cyrus assumed it was comfortable silence, at least; it was entirely possible that TJ could have fallen asleep and Cyrus wouldn’t have been surprised. In reality, though, although Cyrus was unaware, TJ couldn’t help but stare at Cyrus and appreciate what he was doing for TJ. He felt undeserving to have someone as lucky as Cyrus care for him, even though it wasn’t like he would ever tell him how he felt.

Eventually handing TJ the tea that had finally finished being made (“With honey and lemon to help your cold, of course,” Cyrus had told him), he broke the silence by asking how he had managed to get by at all so far in the state he was in.

“I haven’t,” TJ answered after a couple seconds of thought. “I was dying earlier. But I’m dying a little less now.”

“Thank God I’m here, I guess,” Cyrus said with a smile. Time stood still for a second as TJ and Cyrus simply stared at each other for a couple seconds, a blush creeping up on both of their faces, not that oblivious TJ noticed Cyrus’s blush, or vice versa. The awkward silence was clearly cutting through the room, though, so Cyrus cleared his throat before it could get worse, turning to check on the soup to find that it was ready.

Handing TJ the soup, Cyrus told him, “Okay, well, go to your room and lay down. I’ll be up in a couple minutes with something else and I’m gonna pick a movie for us to watch.”

TJ rolled his eyes. “I’m not that sick, Underdog,” he informs him before hacking and coughing once again. No matter how many times TJ says it, Cyrus’s heart skips a beat when TJ calls him “Underdog”, and he knew it always would.

“Go upstairs, TJ,” Cyrus said with half-seriousness.

Begrudgingly, TJ stood, soup in hand and Dora-themed blanket wrapped around him and held together with the other. “You’re being such a mom,” TJ grumbled under his breath, but loud enough to still be heard by Cyrus (which he totally did on purpose).

“What was that?” Cyrus called with raised eyebrows.

TJ flashed a cocky grin at him. “Nothing!” he answered with a cheeky (but stuffy) voice before sludging upstairs to obey Cyrus.

Cyrus’s eyes followed TJ  with a goofy grin as he trudged up the stairs. Never would Cyrus understand how TJ managed to be so charming, even when he was sick.

Once TJ was upstairs, he pulled out his phone and opened his notes to find the smoothie recipe he kept around for when somebody got sick. It was a random thing to keep on your phone, but in Cyrus’s defense, you never know when you need to make an emergency smoothie and it obviously it came in handy.

The smoothie turned out to be a greenish-brown color, giving Cyrus some serious doubts on how good the smoothie actually was — not to mention how it would taste — but Cyrus grabbed some straws and headed upstairs anyways. Walking through the hallway on his way to TJ’s room, he spotted lots of family pictures throughout the years, baby pictures of TJ, and school pictures, as well as baseball pictures, of TJ. Cyrus couldn’t help but gush over how adorable TJ was in all the pictures, and couldn’t resist from taking a few pictures from his phone of the multiple photos on wall for blackmail and future birthday posts.

Finally finding TJ’s room and walking into it, he found that TJ had already chosen and started some kind of action movie without Cyrus, and was laying down in bed. TJ sat up when Cyrus entered the room, though.

Cyrus pouted. “You already started without me?” he said with mock-sadness and betrayal in his voice. TJ just shrugged. “I forgive you. I know the sickness is getting to your head.” Cyrus handing him the smoothie and straws. “I made a smoothie. It’s not poison, I promise. I think.”

TJ laughed and took the smoothie. “Thanks, Underdog. You really didn’t have to do all of this for me. I don’t deserve it,” TJ said with a soft smile that made Cyrus want to kiss him on the spot, but when hearing that TJ thought he didn’t “deserve it”, he couldn’t help but go off on a tangent.

“But I did have to! And I wanted to, too. You most definitely deserved it and I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving you here by yourself when you were sick and if I wasn’t here then there would’ve been no one here to take of you and who knows what would’ve happened if I didn’t do anything about it and I didn’t have had any contact with you because you don’t have your phone so I wouldn’t have been able to check up on you to see how you’re doing and you’re already sick so you need to feel comfortable and have company and get better and what if you got worse and—”

“Cyrus! Cy- Underdog! Listen to me Cyrus. It’s okay,” TJ said, cutting him off and trying to calm him down. “Look at me. I’m fine. Okay, I’m not fine, but I’m not dying and I’m not going to die. You really don’t have to go full parent mode on me. I’ll be okay,” he said with a soft smile. “Now,” he said, once Cyrus has realized he had gotten too worked up and had calmed down a little. “Come sit down and watch this stupid movie with me.” TJ grinned and patted the bed.

Cyrus let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Sorry. When I really care about someone I get super caring and protecting, I guess,” he answered, smiling sheepishly. Cyrus was beginning to feel embarrassed about his tiny outburst, but knowing TJ wasn’t judging him, he was able to relax.

TJ blushed at the thought the Cyrus cared about him so much. “It’s okay. I honestly really appreciate it, Cy.” Without thinking, Tj decided to be bold. “It’s pretty cute, to be honest,” TJ said, before taking a sip of the smoothie handed him. But before Cyrus could choke about what TJ just said (and before TJ could freak out about what had come out of his mouth before he could think about it), TJ coughed and made a fake gagging noise. “Ugh! This is disgusting. What’s in it?” he asked with a disgusted tone, gesturing to the smoothie in his hand.

“Well, there’s spinach, orange juice, basil, beets, carrots… all of which is supposed to help you heal more quickly!” Cyrus said, realizing how gross the combination sounded when he said it out loud.

TJ fake gagged again, making a “blech” noise and pretending to stick a finger near his mouth at the thought of the mixture. “It’s horrible. Taste it with me?” he suggested with a smirk, offering Cyrus a straw.

Cyrus accepted the straw, acting like he was extending his hand at a royal ball. “Gladly,” he responded with mock formality, taking a seat next to TJ on his bed and sticking his straw into the smoothie.

“On the count of three?” TJ asked, to which Cyrus nodded. “No chickening out!” he announced it advance.

“I won’t!” Cyrus promised.

TJ took a deep breath. “Okay. One…” Cyrus took a deep breath and braced himself as much as he could. “Two....” TJ grimaced, not prepared to take another sip. “And…. three!” Cyrus quickly took and swallowed a decent sip to keep his promise, but TJ only pretended to take a sip.

Immediately, Cyrus turned away and gagged. “Why do I even try to do anything related to cooking?” Cyrus rasped, disgusted, while TJ laughed his head off. Hearing his laughter, Cyrus whipped head back towards TJ. “You didn’t drink it?” he yelped. TJ shook his head no. “The betrayal!” he gasped, putting a hand over his heart. Then, he scowled. “Okay, this time we both have to try it. No fake outs, TJ, and I mean it.” Cyrus attempted to say this in a threatening voice, which wasn’t very successful, although TJ agreed anyways.

“On my count this time,” Cyrus stated. Just before the countdown, Cyrus heard his phone go off multiple times next to him, most definitely texts from Buffy and Andi asking him to update them. They can be patient for a couple hours, he thought to himself, fumbling around for his phone without moving from his position, and shutting it off so they wouldn’t distract him. I might do something daring in a couple seconds, and now is not the time “One…” They both leaned into the horrid smoothie. “Two…” Cyrus’s eyes flickered up to meet TJ’s, causing them both to realize how close they were. “Three,” Cyrus announced in a breathless voice, and a second later, instead of lips meeting their straws, Cyrus leaned in before he could second-guess himself, TJ’s lips meeting Cyrus’s as he leaned in that the same time to close the distance as well.

It was as if they had both planned it, as if they were on the same wavelength. The kiss was a short but meaningful one, saying so many things neither of them had dared to say before and confirming their feelings towards each other. It felt like two pieces of puzzle fitting together, the perfect match.

They broke apart after a few seconds, foreheads touching and their eyes gleaming, saying things that neither of them seemed to be capable of saying with their own mouths. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of just staring at each and blushing, both started to giggle.

“If you don’t be careful Cyrus, you’re gonna catch a cold,” TJ said, smiling so wide he could hardly contain it.

Cyrus grinned. “Too bad,” he shrugged, leaning in to close the gap once more.

Four Days Later

“I told you that you were gonna get sick!” TJ chuckled.

Cyrus blew his nose and pouted. “Yeah, but I hoped that my immune system would prove you otherwise!” Cyrus sighed. “Clearly, it let me down,” he said, barely able to finish his sentence before sneezing. “Why can’t I see you right now?” he said with a frown, wanting to reach through the screen to see TJ in real life.

“Hm. Bless you, by the way,” TJ pretended to think for a second. “Maybe it’s because I had to come to school and you’re bedridden with a cold?” He suggested, smirking.

“Oh,” Cyrus said with a downcast face. “I guess that’s true.” Cyrus went to continue the conversation, but when Cyrus opened his mouth the speak again, he heard the bell signaling the final warning to get to class go off.

“As much as I hate to say it, I gotta get to class, Underdog,” TJ announced sadly, causing Cyrus to pout once again and make him want to stubbornly insist that TJ stay, but he accepted defeat instead, deciding to sleep in to make the school day go by as quickly as possible. “See you after school, boyfriend!” TJ exclaimed with the biggest, goofiest grin on his face, blowing him a kiss through the screen.

Cyrus pretended to catch it and put it on his heart, an equally big and goofy grin on his face. “You too, boyfriend. It’s my turn to choose the movie, by the way. Bring soup!”

[sunkissedpages]

Just Another Thursday Night || Tom Holland x Reader

For my valentine @technicolor-lightning​!! this is probably the cheesiest thing I’ve ever written so buckle up lol. it’s been so great getting to know you over the past few weeks, love!! and now I can finally follow you ah!! happy valentine’s day, I hope you like it!!

also!! thank you so much @dtftomholland and @thazypangolin for hosting and putting so much hard work into this I had an absolute blast with it!!

Warnings: swearing

Word Count: 1.6k

As far as commercial holidays went, Valentine’s Day was your least favorite. Corporate America always goes batshit crazy when it comes to profiting off of people’s affection, but they took Valentine’s day to a whole different level and it made your skin crawl. Of course, maybe your bitterness was tied to the fact that you’d only ever had one nice Valentine’s Day in your entire life, but that was only a theory.

You and your roommate Tom planned to spend Valentine’s Day exactly as you always did. You’d order from three different takeout restaurants: Cuban, Italian, and Chinese and spend the entire night watching bad game shows. It’s what you had done for the past three years, save the year Tom had a girlfriend (whom you despised) and had taken her out to dinner instead. You still gave him shit for dating a pathological liar, even a year and half later.

Work had dragged on, but at least you were able to lock up early since patrons had stopped coming in over an hour ago. No one needed to be in a bookstore on the evening of Valentine’s Day, they all had better things to do- or better people to do.

It was raining, of course, and you’d left your umbrella at home. Tom had texted you a picture of it sitting by the door where you’d left it and offered to bring it to you at work, but you knew he was busy so you said you’d be fine without it. You regretted not taking him up on his offer now that you were pushing your way through the rush hour crowd holding your bag over your head trying to stay somewhat dry without much success.

You must’ve made your way around ten couples who were kissing out on the sidewalk. It was hard not to roll your eyes at them. To them the rain was romantic. Apparently they weren’t worried about catching bronchitis.

You were thankful for the blast of warm air that hit you the second you stepped inside your apartment building. It was already an old building when you’d moved in with Tom, but over the years it had really started to fall apart. There were more leaks in the ceilings, which made rainy days like today all the more difficult, the wood floors creaked, and the hot water only worked sometimes, but the rent was fantastic for the location and you couldn’t dream of living anywhere else. The elevator had been out of order for months, but you still weren’t used to taking the stairs all the way up to the sixth floor. You felt like you were dying every time.

“How was work?” Tom asked as soon as he heard you come through the door, completely soaked head to toe. He looked up from his laptop and pressed his lips together in an attempt to suppress his laughter upon seeing your appearance.

You narrowed your eyes at him. “We sold thirteen copies of Romeo & Juliet today.” Tom cringed. “All these boys think they’re so original by getting their lit major girlfriends fucking Romeo & Juliet for Valentine’s Day.” You went on and Tom closed his laptop to show he was listening. “I mean at first I felt kind of bad for them because they don’t know any better so I’d suggest Pride and Prejudice if they wanted something that was still well-known, but also romantic to be a little more original or Mansfield Park if they wanted to seem like they did research or put some actual fucking thought into it, but they always took the easy way out.” You hadn’t realized you felt so passionately about this until now.

“Anyone buy Alex, Approximately?” he asked and you immediately smiled. You always did when he brought up your favorite book.

You still remembered the first time you read it. It’d been a rainy night, much like tonight and you’d brought it home from work. It’d been on your to-read list for a while and you were finally able to get to it.

You’d had plans to go out with Tom and friends, but the weather had turned the five minute walk to the bar into a nightmare so the two of you bailed and spent a night in instead. Tom was curled up on the couch with his script and you with your book. Every time you laughed or smiled at a part Tom would stop working and ask you about it. You’d read the part out loud to him and he’d listen intently, urging you to go on when you’d finished, but you just laughed and told him to get back to work, unaware of his gaze that lingered on you as you got lost in the words you were reading.

“No,” you sighed, kicking your shoes off at the door where they could dry. “No one has good taste apparently.”

He smiled softly. “You still wanna watch game shows tonight?”

“Of course! It’s valentine’s day isn’t it?”

“You shower, I’ll order the food?” he suggested.

“Perfect.”

By some miracle the water warmed almost instantly and you were able to take a scalding shower. You let the water nearly burn your skin as the chill slowly eased from your bones. After your shower you changed into some sweats. Even though it was valentine’s day it wasn’t like you were trying to impress anyone.

Tom was set up on the floor of the living room with one out of three orders of food already on the coffee table. Family Feud was playing in the background. You couldn’t wait to spend the night lounging around and stuffing your face with your favorite person.

You and Tom both waited around until the rest of the food showed up, shouting answers out at the tv and yelling at the contestants when they got the question wrong.

The rest of the food arrived in under and hour and Tom set everything up while you were tasked with grabbing drinks from the fridge.

“There are some raspberries in there too,” Tom called from the living room.

“What?” you shouted back, not completely sure if you’d heard him right.

“I picked up some raspberries from the store, they’re your favorite, right?”

“Yeah, they are,” you replied softly, warmth filling your chest as you looked at the rosy berries in front of you. “You didn’t have to do that, Tom,” you sighed as you brought everything back to the living room.

“I know, but it’s valentine’s day, I wanted to do something nice.”

“But I didn’t get anything for you,” you whined.

He chuckled. “They’re just raspberries, y/n.”

You watched countless episodes of Family Feud, Jeopardy, and Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader until the sound of a buzzer made you both cringe, your brains hurt from all the trivia, and the raspberries in the container dwindled to almost none.

“I think I won,” Tom said at the end of the night with a yawn, stretching dramatically.

You shook your head. “No way, I got seventy points and you only got sixty three.”

“We said we weren’t keeping count this year!” he protested.

“Technically we didn’t. It wasn’t official!” He gave you a look. “You know I can’t help myself!”

“Uh huh, whatever,” he pouted. “I get you raspberries and this is how you treat me?”

“Come on, Tom, don’t be a sore loser!” He stuck his tongue out at you in defiance. “Real mature,” you laughed, stifling a yawn. “Hey, but thanks for spending valentine’s day with me,” you said genuinely. “It doesn’t feel so lonely when I’m with you.”

“Of course, it’s tradition,” he shrugged as he started putting pillows back on the couch.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I would,” Tom said and you froze, heart sinking. Of course Tom would want to spend valentine’s day with a romantic interest, who wouldn’t? But you and Tom had a good thing going, or so you’d thought.

“Oh,” was all you said as you helped him straighten up.

“Wait, no that’s not what I meant- shit.”

“It’s okay, Tom, you don’t have to explain-”

“No hold on,” he said and disappeared into another room returning only seconds later with something behind his back. “So I might have gotten you something else.”

“Tom! Why didn’t you tell me we were doing gifts?” you asked when he handed you a small wrapped package.

“Just open it.” You tore into the paper to reveal a copy of We Were Liars. It was a book you already owned and had read several times. It was one of your favorites. You looked up at Tom in confusion. “Open it.”

You flipped it open to reveal scribbles on the inside cover. “It’s signed?” you asked in disbelief, already smiling.

“That’s not all, read it,” he urged.

Y/n, Tom is too much of a bitch to tell you himself, so he asked me to send this message along to you: He’s completely head over heels for you, girl. Has been for a while. Be his valentine? - E. Lockhart

You looked back up at him, beaming. He was biting his thumbnail nervously, waiting for your response.

“Are those good tears or bad tears?” he asked.

You hadn’t even realized you were crying. “This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“So...is that a yes?”

“Yes, it’s a yes!” you cried, flinging your arms around him to embrace him.

He hugged you tightly, then leaned back to kiss you tenderly, taking your face in his hands and wiping the remaining tears away with his thumbs.

“Happy valentine’s day, love,” he whispered.

“Happy valentine’s day, Tom.”

“Same time next year?”

Forever Tags: @mischiefmanaged49 @bookingbee @cloverrover @perhaps-he-schnapped @awkwardfangirl2014 @the-queen-procrastinator @tastingthestarz @sleepybesson @everythingbooknerd @sunshine96love @bitchymathematician @livingincompletesilence @melbookstrash @swim-deep-or-die (some of you guys I couldn’t tell if you wanted to be on my permanent taglist or the woko taglist so if you want me to switch you over lmk)

Send me an ask to be added/dropped from a taglist

[wild-untamed-heart]

[JUPITER]'s Vday gift 2020

[This is a drabble from Jupiter for Kajika for Vday! I hope you like it! As usual, you can do with this drabble as you like. You may treat it as a standalone, or you may reply to it. 

Another year has gone by and Jupiter had become even closer friends with Kajika at this point. She’d gotten to know the older woman well, and sometimes would watch how she interacted with Ponsol.

He was the primary reason why she and Kajika became friends, and it was through him that she could get some understanding of her interests. For sure, she did enjoy flowers, and she was what you could call a social butterfly. She didn’t seem to be the type who judged people based on superficial things.

She was someone that even Ponsol had nice things to say about in private. It was rare to see someone that Ponsol actually tried to befriend. He had many ‘friends’ for business reasons, but he didn’t have many friends that he personally felt compatible with.

As such, you could say that Kajika was truly a rarity in their lives, and Jupiter wanted to remain good friends with the other. She was surprised the one time that Kajika gave her a gift for Valentine’s day and so she returned the favor. Last year, they gave each other gifts as well.

She received a bouquet of origami flowers that Kajika had folded, and each of them had a message attached to them. It was clear that this would have taken a lot of time and effort. The messages themselves were also very nice to read through.

Kajika truly was a very kind hearted person. It would be difficult to befriend someone who was mostly mute, but that never stopped Kajika, and this was something that Jupiter particularly appreciated about her.

Her friend was always willing to support her through anything and she was very patient as well. No matter how small of a step Jupiter made in her pursuits to learn how to use her voice again, Kajika was always so proud of her.

This year, Valentine’s day was on a Friday, so right after school let out, Jupiter could go and meet Kajika. Seeing as it was now a weekend, she didn’t have to be home by a strict time. (That being said, she still had to get home in a somewhat timely manner, else her parents would worry about her)

“Ka-Kajika Onee-chan!” Jupiter stuttered with a slight squeak to her voice. She did try to raise her voice, but it was still pitifully small. She wasn’t very used to using her voice to speak, and volume was certainly something she struggled with. She always liked to say that it’s because of her shyness that her ‘volume settings’ are set so low.

The young girl held a box up for Kajika. Inside were cupcakes that she baked herself! “Valentine—Valentine’s day! Gift!” She was really putting an effort to show how far she’s come. Speech therapy wasn’t the easiest, but she was stubbornly sticking to it. She had to learn how to speak again, for her sake as well as for others.

A lot of people liked to think that it was simple to start speaking again, but it wasn’t that easy. You had to learn how to speak again, and there was also the emotional trauma that was associated with it. Sometimes she’d freeze up or she’d start panicking. That’s why she went for therapy.

“The … cupcakes…” She was speaking slowly, even though she was trying to speak as quickly as she could. She knew that Kajika didn’t mind waiting, but Jupiter still felt bad about making someone wait for her, when normally this wouldn’t have to happen. “A-are red velve-velvet. Rainbow cream ch… cheese frosting.”

Blue, yellow, and pinkish-red frosting were made in separate batches, then put into a piping bag. When they were piped out in a swirl, the colors mixed together in the parts the 3 colors came in contact with each other. That’s how you got the other colors of the rainbow even though only 3 colors were made.

She needed a break. Jupiter sat down, looking rather disappointed in herself, but it only took a few seconds for her face to pick back up again. She was making a lot of progress! In the past, all she could do was make squeaking and grunting sounds. She learned how to turn those sounds into decipherable words!

Little progress is still progress! She took deep breaths, calming herself down, because her heart was beating erratically at the moment. Once she calmed her nerves, she started back up again. There is chocolate in red velvet cupcakes, so technically, she was still gifting Kajika chocolate today. She didn’t cheat the system!

Cream cheese was the classic frosting topping that was coupled with red velvet, so she was confident that it would taste good. It was easy to color with food coloring as well, so her ending resulting cupcakes were cute! She even added cute colorful sprinkles on top!

“Kajika Nee-chan… has… a colorful personality… it colors my world!” What a big beaming smile she had on her face right now. Perhaps she wanted to do something similar to Kajika’s gift to her last year. She wanted to convey the fact that Kajika’s existence in her life made her life a lot brighter.

Albeit, she kept herself rather optimistic, but her life couldn’t be very colorful given the company she had around her at times. Her life was mostly full of math, and that’s entirely because she liked to chase around Shugarl and get his recognition.

Kajika was one of the friends she had that could keep her bright and happy. A person who could always manage to see the bright side to any situation. There was always a reason to smile and have fun.

It was like this: A rainy day is dark and bleak, but it’s a necessary part of life because the water sustains life. It may be dreary, but it’s important to the circle of life.

What comes after the rain is a beautiful rainbow that brings color and cheer. No matter who you are, you get this sense of childish excitement when you see a rainbow. Around Kajika, she could be a childish little girl who could have fun doing all sorts of illogical things.

She could be herself and learn all sorts of fun new things. “You are my rainbow~” She managed to say this without stuttering, clearly, she practiced this phrase a lot. Of course, she did! It was the finale!

______________________________________________________________

It had been a grueling week at university and Kajika was extremely pleased that it was the weekend at long last. After all the various tests, assignments and practicals she had been burdened with, she could think of nothing better then to spend her days off hibernating to catch up on some rest but there was one important thing she was looking forward to first.

A meeting with Jupiter.

Her heart felt all the lighter at the prospect of meeting her younger friend and a dose of her angelic sweetness was sure to refresh and relief her. Thinking of her precious little friend, it was astounding to think how much their friendship had flourished since their introduction through Ponsol. 

Kajika’s eyes immediately lit up the instant she spotted Jupiter and couldn’t help but grin fondly when she heard her name called in that soft, delicate voice. To her it was the most precious sound, especially considering all the effort the younger girl put into making it.

As she made her way closer, the young heiress wondered if she should get Jupiter a gift to mark the milestone of their friendship… or take her on an outing somewhere… and then a box was raised in her direction. It was rather funny that just as she was thinking of getting a present for Jupiter that she should present her with one only…

W-wait… V-Valentine’s Day…

It was that time of year already? When had that happened? Shoving her feelings of shock at having forgotten to the side of the time being, she gave Jupiter her undivided attention as she carefully explained the gift she had made. Kajika listened raptly, giving the younger girl an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder when she took a moment to sit down. She could tell Jupiter was feeling discouraged at the need to take a break but on the contrary she was proud that her friend had made such considerable progress.

Her heart fairly melted at the touching words spoken in that adorably soft voice and Kaijka had to restrain herself from tackling the girl in a bear hug. In the end, she carefully set the box of cupcakes aside to swing Jupiter in the air as she laughter happily.

“And you… you are my Sunshine~”

Carefully setting her young friend back on the ground, Kajika lowered herself to kneel in front Jupiter and gently held both her hands as she looked up at her imploringly.

“Young miss, it would be my greatest pleasure if you could come have tea with me tomorrow to enjoy these cupcakes together… if you’re available~”

Her hibernation plans would need to be put on hold but that was perfectly fine, spending more time with Jupiter was worth it. As for the fact that she had forgotten all about Valentine’s Day… she’d just make up for it on White Day.

[fangirling-throughlife]

Sant Jordi (World's Book Day)

Summary: Shawn falls for a Valencian girl who's an enormous bookworm.

A/N: as today (well, it's past 12, so technically it was yesterday) is Sant Jordi (a festivity in Spain, specially in Aragón and Catalonia), a day commemorating the World Book Day (because of the anniversary of the death of Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes and Garcilaso de la Vega), I thought of this little idea. I'm from Valencia (where the girl is from), so it's just almost 2k of publicity for my city and my language (Catalan). So, if anybody is going to visit or would like to visit the city, I'll be happy to answer any questions. Also, I'm a big bookworm, which is why it's about books and St. Jordi. Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

Word count: 1795 words

One of the first things Shawn learned about Anna was her unending love for books. She didn’t mind when it happened, where she was or in whose company, she always had a book between her hands. She couldn’t leave the house without something to read, and Shawn had learned that the hard way. During Christmas he had flown out to Valencia, her hometown, to spend some time with her, as he would be starting tour soon, so he wouldn’t have the time to see his girl, who was busy with her classes. One night, between Christmas and New Year, he took her out to have dinner and watch a movie. They arrived late to the restaurant, because she realised she didn't have her book with her when they were on their way for 10 minutes.

It isn't surprising, though, considering where he met her. She spent the summer in Toronto, studying English, and she went to a little book shop next to Shawn's building two or three times a week. Shawn saw her one day, roaming the aisles full of shelves and talking to Leonard, the owner, as if she were an old friend, and was intrigued immediately. He noticed she usually was there between 18 and 20, so he went outside around those hours, hoping to see her.

He looked at her black hair, her dark-brown eyes hidden behind considerably thick glasses and her tanned skin. He knew her features so well that he saw her when he closed his eyes. At one point, he started feeling like a stalker, but he couldn't stop thinking about her. He noticed that she wasn't Canadian three weeks after he saw her for the first time, when she left the shop one day talking on her phone. He didn't recognize the language, though he was sure it wasn't French (he surely would've recognized some words). All he knew was that it was beautiful and melodic, so it had to be something between French, Italian and Spanish. He realised that she would be leaving soon (he asked Brian when college started generally, as she was giving off some big nerdy college girl vibes), so he decided he had to talk to her before she did. One day, after he checked she was inside, he entered and talked to her, pretending to be looking for a gift for Aaliyah. He asked for her advice, which she gave very excitedly, and, after 30 minutes, he found the courage to ask her out to have a drink.

If Shawn loved the idea of her, after “stalking” her for three weeks, he fell for her the moment she talked to him. He was surprised when she admitted she knew his music, because she was completely cool with the fact that Shawn Mendes himself asked her out. She talked about her dream to become a writer, or, at least, an editor, and he talked about how much he loved writing music. They kept on seeing each other every night after her classes for the last 10 days she spent in the city.

By the time she had to go back to Valencia, the both of them were deeply in love with each other. The only thing stopping him from buying a ticket to go see her were the multiple commitments he had for the next months. The first time he could go see her was end-October, for her birthday. When he got to Valencia and she showed the city to him, he understood her personality. She mirrored the beauty of her city perfectly. He quickly noticed the duality of it: it's got the characteristics of a big city as well as of a small provincial town. It combines century-old history in the centre with a modern and vibrant side more outside. Just like he expected (just by knowing her) the people were nice and welcoming. For the first time in ages, he could enjoy some time without being “the Rockstar” all the time, as people seemed to be very chill about him being there.

As tour started in Amsterdam in March (she didn't have so much work around that time), he made sure she was there for the two first shows. She didn't have any classes for a whole week afterwards, but as she quickly explained to him, “It's Fallas, I can't miss that. Plus, I've already said yes to a billion plans, I won't even be free.”  So, from the 15th till the 20th of March, he would find after every single show pictures of his bookworm girlfriend at parties, in front of statues that, according to her, were “a form of art, and satire” (he would have to see them with his own eyes, and maybe actually understand her language to conceive that very deep meaning she was trying to explain). She sent him awfully long videos of fireworks displays, every night longer than the previous one. Through her camera and his screen he was dragged into the festivities of Fallas, something he definitely needed to experience by himself.

His favourite moment of March, though, was the show in Barcelona. She didn't answer the phone for hours, making him anxious, but she appeared out of thin air backstage, sharing a mischievous smile with Brian. Later, he found out that they had been plotting against his sanity for the past hours. That day he saw her really get into the show and the atmosphere. She was fluent in both French and English, but in Barcelona she could speak her native languages, Spanish and Catalan. She surely didn't notice, but he did: she opened up, she chatted with fans and won them over with her charming personality. After all, she was talking to her people. She freaked out when Aitana came backstage and asked for a picture with her “please, please, please” . That day, he knew that the love for her culture would always be enormous.

She couldn't make it to the final show in London, because she had an exam on Thursday and the combination of trains, flights and busses was simply impossible, so she just watched it from a video call with Brian. She saw her boy be sick and told him to stay hydrated, she told him how proud she was, but she couldn't help but feel awful because she wasn't there, with all his family and loved ones. When he announced, after the show, that he was going back to Toronto in the morning, she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. One part of her understood him completely. He had been away for such a long time that he needed to be in his own bed to recharge. He had studio sessions and SNL coming up, so she shouldn't be surprised that he wasn't coming. He still called her every single day and night, he asked about her classes (didn't she tell him they had 2 weeks of Easter Holiday?) and about the city (the weather was awful, so she didn't leave the house).

The one subject he seemed to avoid was the most pressing one considering the time of the year. To Anna, the most important festivity (even though it wasn't a national holiday, it should be, in her opinion) was St. Jordi. She remembered with a smile the story she heard every year at school. And, even though there were two official days to celebrate love in Valencia (the historical one, Sant Dionís, on October 9th, and the globalised one, Saint Valentine, on February 14th), she considered Sant Jordi, on April 23rd, the one true lover's day. The traditional gifting of a rose and a book was, in her opinion, the most romantic gesture in a relationship. Well, she didn't really care about the rose (although she couldn't deny the fact that she was a hopeless romantic and she loved to get a rose), she was always eager to know what the book would be. It was also the first Sant Jordi since she started dating Shawn, so she was terrified. Hadn't she made it clear how important the day was to her? He didn't have to fly over, he could just ship a book, or even send her a gift card so she could buy the books herself.

When midday passed on the 23rd, she decided she wouldn't be waiting for him to call alone sitting on her couch. Even though it was raining (surprise, “En abril, aigües mil” (in April, it rains a lot)), she took her umbrella and raincoat and walked to the book fair. All the stress she had been building for the past weeks vanished when she saw the thousands of books in front of her. She quickly started to look (not buy, that's her strategy: first looking and then deciding on the purchase), and she almost forgot about her boyfriend who'd forgotten about this special day.

But, the same way she kept quiet for the entire day when she went to see him in Barcelona, he didn't talk to her while he was getting to Valencia. Even though he didn't think she'd be at home, he tried, and his suspicions were confirmed by her sister. So, he immediately left for the book fair. With the help of her sister, he found her without attracting too much attention to himself. She was reading the first chapter of a book she seemed to be considering, a second one in her hand to check up on later. He slightly chuckled, because she's the only person who would stop to read the first chapter of a book before deciding on buying or not. He immediately froze, but relaxed rapidly, as his chuckle didn't give away his presence. When she finally was done, she returned one of the books to its place and turned to take her wallet. That moment, she was met with the view of Shawn Mendes with a red rose, her favourite, and a copy of her favourite author's new book. At first, she couldn't believe it, until he walked up to her and whispered in her ear, “it's not that funny to be kept in the dark for so long, isn't it?” She laughed, knowing he was talking about her's and Brian's stunt in Barcelona, promising herself she would never do it again. “It's not. I thought you didn't remember.” She confessed. “That was my whole idea.” She couldn't help but glare at him, but he quickly pressed his lips onto hers, smiling in the kiss. “Feliç dia del Llibre, amor”. (Happy Book Day, love) Shawn said, proud of himself for remembering the phrase completely. She chuckled (he didn't understand why, though, his pronunciation had been excellent), and answered. “Feliç dia de Sant Jordi, amor.” (Happy St. George day, love).

[shy-violet-soul]

The Best Laid Plans

Pairing: Sam Winchester x female reader Summary: Sam’s first Valentine’s Day with a sweetheart, and he’s planned so carefully. What happens when someone tries to ‘help’? Warnings: none. A couple of bad words and tooth-rotting fluff Word Count: 1,300 ish A/N: This is my offering for the Galentine’s Day Exchange by @spnfanficpond. I wrote this for the marvelous @seenashwrite! Please note I wrote this under the influence of the flu, so I can only claim about 63% of this fluff. The rest is brought to you by tea, toast, and decongestants. Hope it makes you smile, Nash! @mrswhozeewhatsis, tagging you for the double-check. :0)

With one last fiddle of the dimmer switch, I finally got the lighting perfect. The fleece blanket had flopped out of place, and I tucked and plucked at it until I was happy. Dean’s endless smirks during the hours I’d spent knotting the edges into submission I shoved away. I shook my head as I scooted her favorite body pillow into the corner of the couch; she stubbornly insists on using my day-old t-shirts for pillow cases. I’m not complaining, though. The memory of her wrangling the cotton bookends onto that hapless bedding always makes me smile.

“Well, well, well, Sammy.” I almost jumped out of my skin. Dean lounged in the doorway, Cheshire cat grinning as he ate a bowl of Fruit Loops. “You’re awful dressed up for Unattached Drifter Christmas.”

“Shut up.” Self-consciousness twitched in my shoulders as I brushed a hand down my chest, smoothing down the sweater. I shouldered passed him and headed towards the kitchen, swiping her favorite pink insulated coffee cup from the shelf. After the “incident”, Jack was very meticulous about always putting it where it belonged. A whiff of the coffee pot reassured me it was her favorite blend. “You didn’t drink any of this, did you?” I squinted suspiciously over my shoulder.

Dean shook his head around his spoon as he shoveled in another bite. “No, man, I have my orders.” I could feel the jerk smirking at me as I poured the coffee and added a generous spoonful of sugar. Her ‘no sugar in my coffee’ edict was off the table today. I frowned at Dean as I walked back to his ‘cave’, placing the coffee on the side table in easy reach. “You’re going to a lot of effort.”

Frustration rolled my head back and ground my teeth together. “I think she’s worth a lot of effort, Dean.”

“Hey, man, I agree. 100%. She’s great, you know I love ‘er. I’ve just never seen you go in for all the…” Dean waved his hand at the room. “Chick flick crap. Stuff!” he hastily corrected. “All this very...romantic...niceties.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve never had someone in my life I cared about for Valentine’s Day.” I didn’t like where the cookies were - I picked them up and surveyed the scene for a better spot. “I want it to be special. She deserves it.”

Dean smiled - a real one this time. “You both do, Sam. Go for it. You do all this cupid crap.”

“LOOK AT YOU!”

“Hi, guys!”

The two voices from the doorway had both of us spinning.

“Oh, no,” I breathed, dread pouring into my gut. “Jack, what did you do?”

“Ngghhgg-” Dean grunted, caught before he could run. I could hear his spine crack from here.

The young man’s smile glowed mega watt with pride. “You told me you needed a cupid’s help for Valentine’s Day. I prayed, and Efniel answered. He’s a cupid. Well, Castiel says he’s technically a cherub, third class. And, he says he knows you!”

The cupid-cherub-third-class dick dropped Dean and turned towards me.

“So! You little love bird, you, are you ready?!” No. No, I was not. “Let’s do a little love dance!”

I watched in horror as parts of the nakedness jiggled just as Efniel jived in place and clapped his hands. In a flash of light, the room exploded in red ribbons and rose petals. My beautiful, romantic, low-key scene was now all tacky satin and teddy bears. Shiny baubles hung from the ceiling, bowls of conversation hearts were on every flat surface, and an ear-bleeding mix of Elvis and Elton John filled the air.

“What in the actual hell?”

In that moment, I prayed with every fiber of my being to whatever deity available that a hole would open up below me and swallow me for all eternity.

“Sam? Did a gift shop throw up in here?”

“Oh, shit. C’mon, Jack, let’s go!” Dean took off running, the traitor. Jack gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up as he gestured for Efniel to follow him. The winged menace actually wiped away a tear as he winsomed his way out the door.

She batted a hanging heart decoration out of her face as she walked further into the room. Her grin was huge. My horror was bigger.

“Sam, I’m so confused, but I’m laughing. Snickering. I’m snickfused! What hooliganing have you been up to? I thought you weren’t a hearts ‘n’ flowers kinda guy.”

“I’m not! I swear! I didn’t do this, I promise. I wouldn’t do this!” I swore, looking at her pleadingly. She cocked one eyebrow at me as she kicked aside a giant white elephant stuffy holding a pink satin heart.

“Why not? I’m not your ‘sweetheart’?” she mocked, holding two candy hearts over her eyes.

This couldn’t be going farther south if I shipped it UPS.

“No! That’s not what I meant! I mean, you are my sweetheart. I had a whole thing planned, just not -” I swept my arm across the room. “-this!”

“Wait - this is my body pillow. With your shirts still on it. And is that...that’s my coffee mug.”

Desperate to explain, I rounded the other side of the couch to join her when she sat down.

“It’s got your favorite coffee, just the way you like it. And here.” I shoved the plate I realized I was still holding at her. A trifle violently as she flinched, but whatever. “I found a recipe for peanut butter Frosted Flakes cookies.” She wasn’t saying anything. Why wasn’t she saying anything? “And, I found these on eBay - DVD copies of a couple of Hallmark movies. I don’t know if you’ve seen “Unleashing Mr. Darcy” or “Love on the Side Lines”, but I got them new and unopened. You’re always saying how we don’t get any couple down time, and I thought we could watch them together. You can cuddle with your pillow, and I washed your favorite blanket. Dean’s gonna let us have the man cave all day, and I wore that sweater you said you liked, and then Jack thought I meant a real cupid, and-”

Her soft fingers touched my lips, bringing me to a halt.

“Sam?” Her smile was so soft, my brain blinked for a second.

“Yeah?”

“Rambling.”

“Right. Sorry.” Her fingers rubbed enticingly over my whispered words. My shoulders sagged as her gaze drifted appreciatively over my sweater, to my carefully chosen coffee cup, DVDs, and cuddle material. The smile she turned towards me turned the rock in my gut to straight up butterflies.

“I love it. All of it. Even the crazy cupid additions! But,” she paused, grabbing me by the tie and urging me close. “I love you more than anything. Even the cookies.”

My dimples hurt my smile stretched so wide. I grabbed her, holding her as close as the cookies would allow.

“I love you.”

“I’m dancin’ to hear it.” Warmth touched her words as she squeezed me, then she wriggled away and kicked off her shoes. “Now! I want you here,” she patted the spot beside her as she flounced the blanket over her legs. “And one of these started.” She waggled a DVD as she plopped the plate of cookies in her lap. I scrambled to get the movie rolling, eager for at least part of my plans to get back on track. She was already chewing when I joined her on the couch, and I couldn’t stop the smile when she groaned her approval. I pushed ‘play’ on the remote and wrapped an arm around her, sighing with pleasure at her weight and warmth against me. The intro credits started, and she snuggled into me further, fingers curling into my sweater. It might not be a perfect chick flick moment, but it was perfect for the two of us.

Guess my plans worked out for the best after all.

[starspatter]

WIP Challenge

Tagged by: @summertime-children

Tagging: @astrologista, @atsushishelteredinmoonlitjasmine, @benditlikegumby, @cryptoriawebb, @ibmiller, @iceperialprincess, and @otherwise-uncolonized

Challenge: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous.

I'll also do what deta did and post comments + short fragments.  (Be warned it'll be very long though, and most of these are actually Pokémon fics since I was a much more prolific writer when I was younger, and that was the fandom I wrote mainly for.)  I also won't be including "Heroes and Thieves" on here (or any DC/superhero stuff really since I’ve essentially “done” everything I had planned for now), as *technically* it is all already completed in draft form, and I'd like to keep things a surprise for whenever I do end up posting~

Hero and Seek

“Well, we’re all together now, so let’s have some fun, all right?  Don’t worry, it’s really simple.  One person is the ‘demon’, and the others have to hide from him.” “Eh?  A ‘demon’?  But that’s scary!” Three pairs of eyes turned up to her in fear.  Those eyes, which screamed and streamed the stark color of blood the first time she saw them – not just from tears, but from the ‘monster’ they believed dwelled deep within.  She thought for a moment, then removed her scarf. “How about this then?  Whoever’s the ‘hero’ has to find and rescue the others.  It’s a very important Blindfold Brigade mission!”

I’ll start with the one Kagepro fic I did attempt at least, which I described previously here, but is basically about Ayano + the Meka Trio playing “Hide and Seek” for the first time.  (I actually had it originally titled as that but just came up with this new version on the spot lol I’m so clever~)  For some reason I’ve always been hesitant about reading/writing Kagefic, but I actually got a fair bit farther in this than I thought, so perhaps I should try to finish it someday... Princes and Frogs

“K-Koizumi-senpai… Um… Please go out with me!” Itsuki stared down at the tiny underclassman, watching a rose mantle spread slowly over her cheeks as she gazed back with shy, but determined hope in her bespectacled eyes.  The older boy could make out his own handsome face reflected off the lens, a virtual image embellished by sparkling hearts and stars.  With dim satisfaction and relief, Itsuki ensured that his bright, patient smile betrayed no hint of the weary sigh that whispered behind it.

This is an intro excerpt of the first chapter I planned to write for an ItsuHaru fic from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, which I only ever posted the prologue for.  ItsuHaru was my first obsessive OTP, and I still think about returning to this story someday (especially since I have now proven to myself I *can* finish a full chapter fic if I put my mind to it), but it’s been so long I feel like I’d need to refresh my memory of the whole series/am still holding out hope for a Season 3 to motivate me again. *shot*

Fall to Pieces

As Itsuki stared at Yuki’s vacant visage, his resentment kept building.  His hands clenched, rigidly gripping the edge of the table.  Somehow, it just didn’t seem fair.  That she could so easily ignore the madness fate had dealt them, never reveal any signs of suffering or bitterness towards her situation, and yet always, always wear the same damn expression on her face. How could she possibly stand it? He can’t stand it. (any more)

An ItsuYuki one-shot, where Itsuki basically blows up at her from pent-up frustration over having to wear a mask all the time and his hidden feelings for Haruhi.  The two start to form a connection over their respective “unrequited loves”/understanding of each other’s pain, and one thing leads to another...  Like “Heroes and Thieves”, this is in fact technically “complete”, since I actually used the leftover steam from the former towards finishing at least one thing I started a long time ago - although I’m still not sure I’m totally satisfied with it/kinda want to wait to figure out what I’m doing with my other ItsuHaru fics before I publish it by itself.  (Incidentally the working title comes from an Avril Lavigne song lol.)

Little White Lies

“Perhaps the best thing for the princess would have been to fall in love.  But how a princess who had no gravity could fall into anything is a difficulty--perhaps the difficulty.” -George MacDonald, The Light Princess - Haruhi Suzumiya was walking on air. Itsuki could tell by the way she glided into the clubroom, sailing like a paper airplane – or a balloon with an inflated ego to match.

...Yeah that’s as far as I got with this.  This was meant to be a “White Day” story, which is Japan’s “answer holiday” to Valentine’s Day, where guys reciprocate by giving gifts to the girls who gave them chocolates.  I always wondered how the boys actually responded in-universe, and I imagine Itsuki secretly stressing out a lot about taking care to not upstage Kyon, but at the same time wanting to sincerely express his genuine appreciation and feelings towards Haruhi - whatever they may be.  In the end, he settles on a copy of “The Light Princess” by George MacDonald, which I highly recommend reading since it reminds me so much of this pair, and in general is such a fun and snappy “tongue-in-cheek” take on the fairytale genre. Sora in Wonderland

But wait- this one was a bit different from all its brothers and sisters.  For one thing, it was wearing a fancy waistcoat with pockets- and sleeves that were far too long for it.  As soon as it passed by her head, it stopped and slowly turned its head around to stare directly at her with its huge circular yellow eyes.  Sora stared vacantly back for a full five seconds before the information registered in her brain and she suddenly yelled, “Hey!”, and sat bolt upright.  The Heartless panicked upon hearing her voice and fled at top speed across the white sands, headed towards an opening in the rocks; Sora jumped down off her perch and immediately chased after it, no longer caring about the heat.  The Heartless hastily disappeared inside the cave, and Sora soon followed after, determined to catch the freaky little thing and ask it some questions, like what it was doing on the island at this time, and where on earth did it get a waistcoat.

OKAY SO I TOTALLY FORGOT THIS WAS A THING but apparently I tried to write a Kingdom Hearts parody of “Alice in Wonderland” lmao.  I’ve never actually played the games (aside from half of CoM), but it was probably inspired by a crossover art my friend drew? ^^; Also Sora is a girl in this bc that’s my headcanon and I’m sticking to it. XP *shot* Note: The following fics are all Pokémon-related so I’ll just be listing them in roughly chronological order (from most recent to ancient, although they’re all pretty old at this point). Stranger

The elder slowly rose to his feet, gazing at the boy, the champion, the stranger.  “In all this time, why didn’t you come back?  You could have seen for yourself how she was.” Lance wanted to yell something defiant, like a child.  But he wasn’t a child.  Children were forgiven for their mistakes.  And he didn’t want to be forgiven. The professor’s ancient hand came to rest on the boy’s shoulder.  “It’s the way this town works.  We don’t talk about things that happen outside our own world.  Maybe it was too long ago – too late for you to understand.” Lance didn’t say anything. “At least talk to Delia.  She’s been wanting to see you.” “Sorry.  It’s too late.” “You’re a bastard.” “I know.”

So this looks to be among the last things I’d written before taking a long break from fanfiction circa... 2007, jeeze.  Over 10 years, huh.  But, I think it speaks a certain amount of maturity that it’s the piece I liked most upon rediscovering.  It’s based on an idea I once had that Lance was (unknowingly) Gary Oak’s father, and he was friends/rivals with Ash’s father, who originally won the title of Champion but relinquished it so he could be with his “wife” and kid (or rather, then-pregnant teenage girlfriend).  *Something* happened though (I forget what I had in mind) and he ended up dying, leaving Lance bitter and depressed so he refused to return to Pallet Town because of too many painful memories.  (Though he *cough* “comforted” their other female childhood friend for one night of drunken grief before he left. ;()  What I like most about it honestly is the parallels bw Lance’s relationship with Ash’s dad and their sons’, and that amidst all the angst I enjoyed portraying the earnest energy and optimism of Ketchum(?) senior (”like father like son” after all).  I was definitely inspired by Mitsuki’s father in Full Moon wo Sagashite/Maes Hughes from Fullmetal Alchemist by making him a total “dork dad” who’d brag about his (illegitimate) family on national TV during the championship tournament lol.

Ihavenoidea

Either way, I get the feeling this really wasn’t what I had in mind when I made my decision to quit training.  I mean that in an intuitive sort of way.  Like, sometimes I feel as if I’m not meant to be here, like my life should have ended up differently someplace else.  Perhaps this is just one of those weird inconsistencies I told you about.  Perhaps not.  Even after all that’s happened to me recently, I still can’t really be sure about it.

...No seriously, I have no idea where I was going with this.  As far as I can tell it’s written from the POV of Gary Oak, whom I’ve always had a lot of... “complicated” feelings towards.  It probably has something to do with another concept I’ll discuss next, although for some reason it sounds like I was going for some sort of AU? *shrug* By contrast to the above, it reads like a whiny teenager complaining about his life - which makes me cringe but is probably an accurate portrayal of who I was at the time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ This one was actually dated a little after the previous, so my best guess is it was some kind of vent rant where I would “give up” writing/creating and “childish” ideals for a while, as I was wont to do - but I still always come back to it somehow... RainbowMolly

Molly stepped out from the car and onto the dusty road, her heart beating wildly.  She could hardly believe she was actually here, of all places. The ride had been long and mind-numbing with anticipation, and now that they’d finally arrived at the destination, it all felt somewhat surreal to her. A small bear clambered out from the vehicle, joining her as she stopped to take in the rustic view that met her bright blue eyes.  She smiled and picked up her Teddiursa, cuddling its warm, fuzzy body close to her own. Her gaze traveled down the road which stretched in both directions, houses lining up against its margins. She followed it with her eyes towards a hill in the distance, on top of which sat what looked like a quaint little farmhouse with a windmill, turning in the summer breeze.  She breathed in the country air, catching whiff of a faint salt smell from an ocean in the distance. So this was Pallet Town.

...Why I didn’t actually name the file “Chasing Rainbows” - which was the title I had planned for this - I don’t know.  This dates back to an old idea I had where I believed Molly Hale from the third Pokémon movie was secretly the true “God” of the Pokémon world - in the sense that the entire universe was an unknowing fantasy of her own creation, similar to Haruhi Suzumiya (ok fine this was totally a crossover/rip-off of the same concept so sue me OTL).  In a place where children never seem to grow up and can go on grand fantastical adventures forever, Gary always struck me as an anomaly who willingly *chose* to forego such a life to pursue more “adult” interests by becoming a researcher.  So I saw him as filling the role of “Kyon” - the cynical narrator who was destined to ground “God” and bring her back down to earth, but at the same time be won over by her innocence and charm and learn to appreciate “kids’ stuff” again.  However, the Legendaries were actually aware of the power Molly holds, and so saw Gary as a threat to their very being - as by “waking” the dreamer and having her face reality meant erasing their kinds’ entire existence.  As the “apocalypse” nearly occurred in the third film, Mew and Celebi took on human disguises (in the form of May and Max respectively) to investigate Ash, who was able to calm Molly and “save” the world by “perpetuating” the delusion (and whom Molly totally has a crush on btw *shot*).  So it’s a bit of a love triangle lol, with Mew and Celebi (*cough* an alien and a time traveler, get it? *shot*) acting as mediators/interference.  (Although Mew might’ve secretly shipped Gary and Molly herself. ;O)

Betrayal

And these blades, these damned scythes that attached themselves to my arms when I was born, a curse upon me since birth, though it had not been apparent up until now.  They were covered with blood, the vital crimson liquid that flows through our bodies, now dripping down the steel surface in a webbed pattern, drops beginning to splatter the pure, emerald grass below.  The arm felt heavy and weak as I tried to lift it, as if it did not belong to me, but that was only a wishful thought.  I gazed calmly at it, inspecting the intricate designs the flow of the substance had created, as if it were an abstract piece of artwork. Tentatively, a pink tongue rolled out and caught a small droplet of it just before it fell from the sharp edge, just to convince myself that it was real.  The semi-sweet, metallic taste confirmed this.  I had indeed taken these men’s lives, just as I had taken hers.

So I remember this was written from the POV of a Scyther who seemingly went on a murderous rampage.  I only know that I wanted to give him an “Edward Scissorhands”-like story, since the idea of having such sharp objects attached to one’s limbs so that one could never directly “touch” another without being a danger is pretty tragic.  I suspect “her” was someone (a human?) he cared about but killed by accident, and after that he was only seen as a symbol of power/treated as a tool to incite fear before eventually rebelling against his “master”... Roses

“If you love someone, you should give them something that’s yours. That shows how much you care for them.” In the darkness, I pictured his smiling face, explaining to me as he wrapped a present for his girlfriend. His blue eyes were shining with a sort of spirit unfamiliar to me; I guessed, a feeling of love.

Another “dark” take on a Pokémon’s biology (I really liked writing explorations of those back then lol), this time of Roselia.  The idea was that a Roselia was so in love with her trainer that she would do anything for him - including allow him to cut off her arms so he could give them to his girlfriend.  I actually ended up turning it into a poem at one point:

Love is like a rose they say, And affection leads to grief they warned. For in the end love betrays, Its Beauty maimed by a poisoned thorn. You gave me pure water with a smile. Your cheerful face became my sun. I offered up my blood to you, And in return demanded none. Chop off my wrists, and tie them together. I’ll gladly bleed myself to death. In order to give you that which I hold most dear. My dear, my dear, Won’t you accept this bouquet? You take it, smiling warily. A blush creeps onto your face. And in those eyes I can see A garden of roses stretched out, Composing a wondrous place. Then you bound my hands in lace, And brought them to the girl next door. You presented them to her with grace. … My blood continued to pour.

Fanfic

She smiled at me, although something about her expression indicated something wasn't quite right.  I watched as she glanced over towards the west, her gaze lingering momentarily on the setting sun.  The glowing, orange sphere was slowly sinking behind the distant mountains, peaks cloaked in a pale, lavender haze illuminated by flickering beams of gold and scarlet cast across the horizon.

More accurately, I found this buried in a “catch-all” file where I had several (mostly finished) fics saved.  This was meant to be from the POV of an Eevee who had just evolved - supposedly into an Espeon due to happiness and bond with her trainer, which is what both wanted.  However, since it took place at sunset, she didn’t realize she had become an Umbreon instead, and her trainer ended up abandoning her for it. ;( It was a warm

Children’s shrieks and laughter echoed across the park as they flocked towards each other, and soon were chasing one another round the playground, weaving in and out between the swings as they partook in an innocent game of Tag.  One child was It; she was trying desperately to catch one of her friends so that they would take over the job instead.  Then it would be her turn to run away, for none of them wished to play the loathsome role of It.  Or was it because they feared being tainted by the person’s touch?  It must have been one of the two, for while she would struggle to reach them, catch hold of them, they would only flee, thoroughly enjoying the fact that they were vexing her.  Twice she nearly caught one.  Her fingertips were almost within reach of one of the other girls’ dresses, whose russet tresses were flowing wildly from the rush of movement and shining with golden highlights as the rays of the sun struck individual strands.  The target shrieked and shook her head, whisking her skirt free in time to escape capture, laughing with glee at the sight of the girl left behind, miserable and alone. 

Yeah I totally just went with the default beginning of the first sentence lol.  I guess this comes full circle with the first Kagepro fic I mentioned (although I’m not even sure I was aware back then that the Japanese version of the game literally called “It” a “demon”, which is even more fitting).  I believe this was part of a Pokémon series I was writing involving a creepy little girl and Mewtwo who would bring about the end of the world or something like that, but generally I guess I was just going for a “Catcher in the Rye” feel. *shrug* Golden Lights

The pale, rosy fingers of dawn were filtering in through the Granite Cave entrance, basking a small area near the opening in pinkish illumination.  Just out of reach of its expanse sat little Mika, huddled in the gloom of the shadows, watching the light creep steadily towards her as the glowing ball of fire rose slowly towards the East.  She knew about the Light that came from Outside.  There were plenty other small apertures broken into the cavern walls and ceiling that allowed some thin streams of gold brilliance to trickle through.  She had always done well to avoid them.  The brightness was like poison to her skin.  But they weren’t the Lights she’d had described to her by the old Crobat that always resided now deeper within the underground chambers, dozing now, most likely.  He wouldn’t awaken until night came round, and she did not wish to rouse him and perhaps disturb him from a pleasant dream.  She was very wise about things like that, being the young child that she was.  Still, she would have liked to hear a story to comfort her just then.

Last one I could find, about a Sableye who, like Icarus, literally “flew too close to the sun”.  In this interpretation I imagined that Sableye were creatures who could not stand sunlight at all, as it would cause their skin to burn.  But Mika (pronounced like “Mica”) always dreamed of going outside to see the “Light” anyway.  She was eventually tempted by Mew to leave the cavern under her angelic PROTECTion and step into the Light, who was acting as Ho-Oh’s messenger to “recruit” souls to “live eternal as an element of Ho-Oh’s Guarding Flame“, as the PROTECT faded and a “holy fire” began to spread.  I guess I was going for a Biblical/”Rapture”-esque reference.  (...Man I sure was obsessed with the endtimes as a kid. *shot*)

[lokismercedes]

Spring Break with the Asgardians

Chapter 1

Word Count: 1,982

Warnings: Swearing

Paring: Loki x Reader, Thor x Gracie

Summary: Sadie and her twin sister get roped into taking the Asgardians to Daytona Beach for spring break. There will be trigger warnings in later chapters, smut also in later chapters. Slow burn.

Almost all of Mercedes and Gracie Starks suitcases were packed. As they were putting the suitcases in Gracies' jeep wrangler there was a brilliant flash of light that literally knocked Sadie on her ass. A minute later two regal, tall, and very handsome gods were standing on a permanent ruins circle in front of Tony as he helped Sadie up from her spot in the driveway.

  “LADY MERCEDES AND LADY GRACELYNNE!” Thor shouted and pulled them into a spinal injury inducing hug.

 “Hey it’s great to see you two bros, but next time can you give me some warning that you're coming? I nearly died when that light hit my small, weakened, mortal eyes.” Sadie said as she stepped away from the hug rubbing her eyes.

  “Oh, Mercedes, you are fine,” Loki smirked at her. “Besides how would we let you know we were coming? Your primitive technology doesn’t reach Asgard.” The cocky asshole had a point.

  "Sadie, I told you last week they were coming the day you two were due to leave,” Tony shouted above the song Gracie decided to start blaring from the jeep. “By a GODDAMN BIRD! THING WAS HUGE!!!”

  “No, it was Hunn,” Thor corrected and let out a booming laugh at his own joke.

  “Jesus Christ. This. Shit. Is. Heavy.” Gracy said throwing a suitcase in the back hatch. Thor noticed all the bags in the back of the jeep. “are you two going on a mission somewhere?” Thor asked hopeful.

  “NO, WE’RE GOING ON SPRING BREAK TO DAYTONA BEACH!!!!!” Gracie basically bounced up to him

  “What is that?” He asked curiously

  “It’s the vacation we both desperately need!” Sadie said and shrugged her shoulders “would rather go for the Daytona 500” She mumbled.

  “Sadie, this is to help clear your mind. You have taken so much shit, from everyone you surround yourself with. You need positivity. You need this. I came up from Tennessee to go with you” Gracie hugged her twin and looked deep into her eyes, Sadie gave a sad smile. Loki walked up to Sadie.

  “Who do I have to kill to put a better smile than that on your beautiful face!” He deadpanned looking directly at Sadie and towering over both women. Technically being 5’2 everyone towers over them.

 “Loki, really it’s fine.” Sadie looked up at him and shrugged her shoulders and waved him off. He frowned

  “No, it is not,” He brought up his left hand to Sadies cheek “or you wouldn’t have that pout on your face,” Loki put his index finger and thumb under her chin. “Talk to me dear” Sadie broke out of his hands and smiled again, but it wasn’t much better.

  “I can’t, its guy trouble, plus I have to finish packing, I’ll call you when we stop for gas?” She asked quietly, voice thick with emotion, a tear slipped down her cheek. Quickly she wiped it away, but not before Thor saw it. “Tony thank you for watching the girls for me.” Sadie tried to go for her signature crooked little grin but her bottom lip started to quiver.

  “Least I can do for my baby sister” Tony smiled at her. This gave Thor a great idea knowing that the girls weren’t going, then there would be room for both of them.

  “How long are you gonna be gone for?” Thor asked smiling. Sadie narrowed her eyes at him

  “You two ain’t going!” Sadie said and crossed her arms on her chest.

  “Please Lady Mercedes, I promise we will be good, no fighting, arguing-” Thor was cut off by a finger in his face as Sadie stood up on Gracie's shoulders.

  “I’m trying to get away from men, you two alone pump out enough testosterone to suffocate a large Christian Neighborhood.” Sadie said “Plus you two came out to see the Avengers” Sadie finally pointed out. Tony stepped up.

  “Actually Sadie, I think taking them along with you is a great idea.” Tony put an arm around her when she jumped down off Gracies back. Sadie didn’t see the wink Tony shot Loki. Sadie also didn’t know that the whole reason the Asgardians were here was to see her and Gracie.

  “Why?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

  “This will give you a chance to show these two how to REALLY party.” Tony finished with a wink this time thrown at Sadie. In return she shot him her most devilish grin.

*************************************************************************************************************

Two weeks after the Asgardians came back from saving the world in England, every now and then they spend a few days or weeks with the Avengers. When Loki finally met Tony’s niece Sadie he was immediately mesmerized. She always had a witty comeback for him, and her constantly challenging him with her crooked little grin. He never met anyone like her before, the women on Asgard always immediately either submitted to him or shut his advances down, some even seemed to be annoyed that Loki was the prince that sought their companionship for the night and not his older, stronger, more handsome brother.  Yes, Sadie agreed to go on a date with him for valentines day but she made sure they were only going as friends. She was still healing from her divorce and Loki understood, but it’s been almost 3 months when he has seen her last, he is going to have her no matter what he has to do. Seeing Sadies face as soon as Gracy mentioned why they were going in the first place assured him of it. He pretty much had this on lock though. Sadies twin daughters, Savanna and Dakota, absolutely loved Loki and once told him that they refer to him as “dad” to each other. Hearing that from them brought tears to his eyes and pulled in both into a lung-popping hug that could rival Thors. The three of them held each other for a long time. It was in that moment he knew that not only was he in love with Starks little sister Sadie, But he loved her two fifteen-year-old daughters as if they were his. When they let go, they asked him if they could actually call him dad, he was so shocked and taken back, he was speechless. It wasn’t until Dakota said in a very small voice

  “If not that’s totally ok, we completely understand, I mean we’re just mortals, and well-” She was cut off when he hugged them both again and told them in his most proud voice

  “I go by many names, little mortals, God of lies, Mischief, Silvertongue, and others, but never have I gone by dad,” he gave them a smirk and added, “That would be my most prized title, but how would your mother react?” He quirked an eyebrow.

  “Mom wouldn’t care.” Savanna shrugged.

  “Then you two are more than welcomed to call me dad,” Loki said releasing them.

Since then both of the girls completely dropped calling him by name and started to call him dad, at first everyone, was shocked except Sadie, when Steve Rogers questioned Sadie why she doesn’t care that her girls are calling Loki dad, she stated simply that the girls are the ones who wanted to.

*************************************************************************************************************

“I cannot believe Tony talked you into bringing these two with us.” Gracie mumbles and she pulled out onto the road.

  “Well believe it Grace, because he did.” Sadie rolled her eyes.

  “What gives? Why did you cave? Sadie, that’s so unlike you.” Gracie sneaked a glance at y/n who was looking out her window.

  “Honestly? I basically stopped caring after all the shit that happened last weekend.” Sadie said leaning her head against the window and shrugged. Thor and Loki shared a look in the back seat, but neither said a word. Sadie’s behavior worried them, this definitely wasn’t the tiny little spitfire of a mortal that, one minute made friends everywhere she went, the next ready to throw down with a group of men much bigger than Thor single-handedly.  Sadie shifted in her seat so she was able to turn to face the brothers. “Hey listen, guys, sorry I’m not being much fun to be around, Gracie and I have to make a quick stop about 3 hours from now, in Harrisburg Pennsylvania,” she looked both the brothers up and down.

  “You might want to take Thor in with you,” Gracie mumbled leaning her head by Sadie ear. Sadie seemed to ponder that and shook her head and replied: “I was thinking the opposite actually, honestly I was thinking of taking Loki in, sure Thor has the muscle but these people are always strapped to the teeth and Loki would be way more useful with his Seidr.” Sadie pointed out trying to speak as quietly as she could. Thor was the one who spoke up

  “Uh, lady Sadie, would you care to share with us what you two are planning? Especially if you’re gonna need us.” He asked with a ghost of a smile on his lips.

  “I’ll let you two know when we get closer, trust me the less you know the better.” Sadie waved her hand nonchalantly.

  “That’s not doing anything to assure me, my dear.” Sadie sneaked a glance behind her seat and seen Thor actually had a very worried look on his face.

  “Aww don't worry handsome, you know Ma’s got you, If there's one thing I’m awesome at it’s running from the law,” Sadie held out her fist and waited for Thor to do the same, as he bumped knucks with her “Plus I’m needing Loki for this hustle.” Sadie looked at him. “What do you say Big D? You wanna move a hustle wit ya girl?” She asked.

  “First, what in the Norns did you just call me? Second even the gift of Allspeak can’t translate what in the 9 realms you’re trying to tell me, milady.” He purred and quirked his brows at her, Sadie just waved her hand in the air.

  “Hm, some translation language hack. I’ll tell you more when we get closer, oh and Big D stands for Big Daddy.” Sadie put her bottom lip, gave him her most sincere saddest pout and the look immediately stirred something in Loki, his breathing hitched as he felt his pants grow tight. She noticed his eyes widen, as he immediately shifted in his seat and a light blush crept onto his face. “Pretty please, I’ll owe you one?” Sadie hesitantly asked. Loki locked eyes with her and held out his hand so fast she flinched involuntarily then winced when she realized she had flinched. She took his hand in hers and holy shit was it monstrous compared to her tiny little hand and shook it. “Why do I feel like I just sold my soul to the devil?” Sadie mumbled leaning back in her seat.

  “ Oh no, my little princess, I promise you I’m much worse.” He seductively said. Sadie inwardly groaned but outwardly rolled her eyes, not wanting to show how his words immediately lit a fire in her core. As she turned to look back out the window, Sadie thought this trip with the two brothers might not be so bad after all. In fact, most likely she’s gonna get laid. It’s no secret to anyone that knows Sadie and Loki how they both feel about each other. Sadies able to hide it a little better though just because of her recent events that had gone down with her ex-husband. The last thing she wants is to screw up Loki’s life the way she has screwed up basically everyone else's life that fell into step with her. Sadie leaned her head against the glass and closed her eyes. Gracie looked over at her sister and sighed.

  “Love you, Sadie.” Gracy smiled.

  “ Love you too.” Sadie mumbled without opening her eyes and fell asleep.

[rex101111]

Swipes Of Sword And Fan 10

And after a short while, another one of these! :D This one is a bit rough but I wanted to just finish it and have it out so I can move on. Also this is technically a sequel to chapter 5, but you don’t have to read that to get this one.

Enjoy! 

Chapter 10: Pastries and Acquaintances.

Anji loved bakeries. The smell of fresh bread and pastries always brought him a profound sense of calm and contentment, even simply browsing the various shelves and admiring the various goods and the colorful designs of the more sugary confections made a smile stretch across his face.

Illyria certainly had its fair share of quality establishments, and the market place being the first thing he and Baiken saw when they landed made that very clear. Anji had to restrain himself from showing to much excitement lest Baiken smack him upside the head.

Which was wasted effort, since he took so long staring she did it anyway, "just pick one already, the king won't wait forever y'know."

Ah, yes. He almost forgot why they were there. An especially odd message had somehow found its way to them, an invite from the first King of Illyria, Ky Kiske himself. An invite for lunch, of all things.

Lunch with his family, of all things.

Of course, the true intention was clear from the wording of the letter, his "majesty" wanted to speak to the two of them about matters concerning the ongoing "disbanding" of the Japanese colonies.

(Baiken had spat on the ground and said something about "closing down the zoo" but otherwise seemed to take the king's intentions as the man meant them, kind and open to diplomacy…Anji hoped he wasn't expecting Baiken to be diplomatic though, that would just be idiotic.)

Still, lunch was lunch, and what kind of guests would they be if they showed up with nothing to contribute? And so they went to town with a few hours to spare to grab a gift for the king and his family, Anji quickly jumped in with a suggestion of baked goods.

Baiken, who was still firmly in the camp of "not giving a shit", gave him a thumbs up and told him to pick something tasty but inexpensive to bring to the so-called "lunch."

"King or not, I ain't throwing my hard earned money away on some glittery ass cupcakes."

"That's fair."

They asked around for the best bakery with a reasonable price range, and were quickly led to a small little place a few blocks away from the hustle and bustle of the market square, place simply named "Bakery."

"Not exactly creative are they?"

Anji nudged her with an elbow and they went inside…only to be greeted by one of the most infamous hired killers on the planet…wearing a white bakers' outfit, complete with a tall hat and apron.

"Good afternoon, welcome to-"

"What the fuck."

"HOLY SHIT IT'S THE SAMURAI LADY!" Shouted the robot head perched on the counter, who was currently only the second strangest thing in the building, before glancing at Anji, "AND THE FAN DUDE-hey when did you start wearing shirts?"

The following few minutes were an odd mix of awkward mutterings and more than a few false starts to what could have been a very long, bloody, not to mention noisy battle that would have ended badly for everyone involved.

"You," Baiken said apropos of nothing, voice suspicious, once she could gather enough calm to speak without her sword, "are supposed to be dead."

The man said nothing in response, his hands moving behind to counter to do something he, or rather Anji, would probably regret. "We're not your enemies." Anji said quickly lifting one hand while using the other to block Baiken's path. "We heard of your demise during the Valentine incident years back…seeing you here is…quite strange."

Anji and the man shared a look, a glint of familiarity passing for a moment before the Venom sighed.

"I intended to die that day." Venom, and he was Venom there was simply no mistaking him, ground out tightly, slowly lifting his hands from behind the counter to rest on the face of it, fingers flexing as if to grab something. "Unfortunately that choice was taken out of my hands by this one."

The robot head he pointed to clenched his metal teeth with a huff of steam, "this one has a name ya know."

"He saved my life, at the expense of his body, and so I have been gathering money in order to repay him his…kindness."

"You could say that with just a little more conviction there buddy."

"This," Venom went on, ignoring the head, which Anji belatedly recognized as Robot-Ky, gesturing to the store, "is simply a means to achieve that." Some odd look shined in his eyes for a moment, "…and, perhaps, to find a path I wish to follow."

Anji hummed in interest, taking a few steps towards the counter, Baiken watching keenly as she remained near the door, "really? Tell me than, how does a dead man find his way into owning a bakery?"

Venom narrowed his eyes at Anji, paying close attention to the smile pulling at his lips and the gleam in his eyes. "Life tends to pull us in odd directions."

"Ah, Zato then." Anji nodded sagely, inwardly grinning at the badly hidden flinch from the former assassin, "calm yourself, it's hardly a difficult connection to make, since the head of an assassin's guild should know whether someone is dead or not." He allowed himself an actual grin at the mild paling of Venom's face. "Especially one who had worked so closely with him."

Venom slammed his hands on the counter, the harsh sound reverberating around the room, "what do you want?" Venom ground out between his teeth again, face drawn and grim, "if you want some information on Zato-sama you can forget it so just kill me and-"

"Relax!" Baiken shouted from the door, tone casual as she shook her head, "we ain't here for that." She took her hand off the hilt of her sword and walked slowly towards the two men. "If we were I'd already be walking off with your head in a bag to get payed." She stopped in front of him, Venom looking a bit at a loss, "we just came in to buy…huh."

Venom blinked at her as she stopped of a sudden, "what?"

"You took my advice."

“What advice-?”

"You got a haircut!"

Venom blinked again at Baiken's smug smirk and Anji's carefree smile, feeling all the tension draining out of the room, letting out a shaking sigh with a hand on his face, fingers threading over the pulled back hairs on the top of his head. "How can I help you, dear costumers?"

"That depends!" Anji stated cheerfully, grinning with all of his teeth and spreading his fan dramatically, "what do you suggest for a proper gift for guests invited to a family lunch?"

Venom blinked again, "that would depend on your host." He cleared his throat, "who are you visiting in Illyria exactly?"

"First King Ky Kiske."

Venom gaped at the other man for a while, before drifting his gaze to Baiken, who simply tilted her head with calm features, as if to confirm that, yes, he heard that right.

Robo-Ky's gears audibly groaned and turned in his head. "Holy crap."

(Venom had turned out to be a very good baker, and Anji was very glad to pay just a little extra for his goods.

Baiken was not so easily won over, and as they walked off from the bakery to their appointed meeting with the kind, she mentioned that they should educate him about melon bread on the way back.)