#although I did also like the mistletoe ideas from last Christmas

[emry-stars-art]

Also it’s still St. Paddy’s where I am so the Irishman himself ☘️

[outsideratheart]

14 Christmas party with nuria rabano

The British invasion. That is the nickname the fans have given you, Lucy and Kiera. After the summer you three had all eyes were on you when you arrived in in Barcelona and it made you nervous. Manchester City was all you ever knew so starting fresh was very daunting. You had a new apartment, new daily routines, new training regimes and new room mates on away days although the last one you didn't mind as much because you were roomed with Nuria Rabano and she was like a breath of fresh air.

It wasn't that you had a bad reputation or anything like that but unlike many of your new team mates, you had never met her before. Besides from Keira and Lucy, she is the person that you opened yourself up to the most.

You wouldn't say you had a crush because you wasn't 5 years old but there was something there and you were waiting for the right time to address it.

"So Romeo what's your plan? Buy her a drink, ask her to dance, accidently walk under the mistletoe or maybe all three?" Lucy has been teasing you mercilessly ever you since you confided in her.

"Luce, leave her alone" and of course, one lucy knew it meant Keira also knew.

"I don't have one. Every time I plan something I end up bailing so tonight I am going to have fun, hopefully with Nuria and then we'll see where things go"

You hated how complicated you made things for yourself. All you had to do was tell her that you like her, that is it. Even though you spent several nights in a hotel room together, that was as team mates and the conversation you wanted to have with her would hopefully end with you possibly being something more.

When you arrived at the restaurant Nuria shouted you over whilst patting the seat next to her. The blush that appeared on your face at the thought of her saving you a seat must have been obvious.

"Thank you"

Nuria, being the spaniard that she is, hugs you and kisses both of your cheeks. It wasn't strange for this to happen, all of the team did it when they were off the pitch but the way it made you feel was foreign and something that only happened when you were around her.

"Claro"

The two of you begin your own conversation about what you had planned over the Christmas break, then the topic turned to food as you were handed menus.

Whilst your Spanish was improving you did still struggle with some things. Food items being one of them especially if you had never heard of them before, not even the english equivalent.

"Do you mind ordering for me?" you whisper to Nuria.

"What would you like? There is fish, meat, a few vegetable dishes. Ooo this is one of my favourites" she points a dish.

"Whatever you recommend, you have good taste" you say.

"Yes, I do"

Whilst her words were innocent there was something in the way Nuria responded that gave you butterflies, it was almost as if she was talking about you but you didn't want to get your hopes up.

Nuria orders for you and when your meal comes you are still none the wiser as to what you have. 

“Trust me, you will like it” she says rather confidently.

She was right to be confident, the food is delicious. It was so nice that Nuria ended up eating some and you hers so as the night went on you are sharing meals and feeding each other. Your team mates watch the cute interaction between the two of you all whilst wonder when one of you will make the first move.

Everyone finishes eating but the the drinks keep flowing. You see Mapi and Lucy scheming in the corner and by the way they look at you it is obvious it involves you.

“Who’s up for a game?” Lucy asks.

“What a good idea!” Mapi says “how about truth or dare?”

Many questions gets asked and dares are completed by the time it is your turn. You know it doesn’t matter which you pick, they will include Nuria so you choose truth.

“If you had to kiss someone on the team who would it be?” 

“Nuria” you answer a little too quickly.

“Really?” Nuria asks in shock and you nod eagerly.

“Why?” Lucy asks you.

“No, no” you shake your finger “No follow ups, you know the rules” 

Throughout the rest of the night Nuria is quiet. It’s almost as if she is avoiding you. 

Not wanting the night to end, the team move onto a club not too far from the restaurant.

You see her standing alone at the bar and know this is your chance.

“I’m sorry if what I said earlier made you uncomfortable” 

“You didn’t, I wasn’t. It was a stupid game, I know you didn’t mean it” 

Your eyes widen as you realise what the issue is. Nuria wanted what you said to be true, not something you said because you felt like you had to.

You try to think what you can say to prove to her that you meant what you said. In the end you let your actions do the talking. You cup her cheeks and kiss her. It isn’t overly passionate but it doesn’t have to be. When you pull away you see Nuria with a huge grin on her face.

“I meant it Nuria and I’ve wanted to do that for quite a while” 

“It took you look enough” 

It wasn’t the response you expected but it let’s you know that she feels the same way.

[salty-protagonist]

Where is Doll Getting Blood From? (FOL Orphanage Blood Collection)

Now that we know Doll is a Bizarre Doll, let’s try to find out how she is sustaining herself with blood. This post will include information from the most recent chapters.

First of all, we know that no one can go in or out of the FOL orphanage except authorized people and innocent victims. So, while it is possible that blood is being imported into the orphanage, we need to ask ourselves “What would Undertaker do?”. For this case, it is unlikely that a place designated to be a blood collection center would receive shipments of blood to sustain one (known as of now) bizarre doll.

We also know that the fledged children are how they obtain blood. So, if the children aren’t leaving the premises, how does the blood go outside.

Because the fledged children are in fact, leaving the orphanage.

The last couple of chapters make it seem like once a kid reaches fledging day, then they get celebrated, they leave and then they are brought back at night. We can’t know yet if this is the general case for kids other than Ginny.

Let me remind you that before Ginny, the older kids had no idea where the fledged ones went. They even went as far as threatening Finny to get this information. It has its own large panel with a bold text to show how important it is.

Then Ginny could be a special case that returned to the orphanage compared to all the other fledged kids that we have no information on.

But why did Ginny return?

This question has a simple answer: for Doll. While it wouldn’t make sense for blood to come into the orphanage, why wouldn’t they use the very alive kids that they know the blood type of for food.

Doll ran out of supply like it happened to RC in ch 149, so the women at the orphanage quickly improvised to get her blood. An evidence for this would be the fact that Ginny’s dress wasn’t properly made.

They didn’t know they would need blood that day, so they acted quickly. Much like how Doll didn’t know she would collapse. Otherwise why would she go out in an open field surrounded by people?

Is Ginny dead?

Probably not. At least not when we saw her like this:

Let’s look at a motif that was present many times in the FOL chapters, the mistletoe. It’s known for being used in Christmas celebrations. But it’s importance in Kuro is much different. Theo does explain it a bit, but Finny outright says what we’ve all been thinks about for bizarre dolls all this time.

If mistletoe is digested, it can effect as a sedative that makes people go to sleep. It’s been used as herbal medicine for some centuries. There are dangerous side effects to eating mistletoe, but a large amount needs to be digested to cause death. So I don’t think that’s the case here. Ginny is just sleeping.

What we should be focusing on is the fact they they brought her to the stable. It was where we last saw Doll. Wouldn’t she be able to move on her condition?

Although the kids couldn’t find a secret door, there could be another mechanism that lets blood to be drawn and for Doll to use it. If even one of the snakes doesn’t return, it would be logical to assume that the snake was caught by Doll just like when she re-appeared.

As for the general blood collection, the fledged kids are most likely put the sleep with the mistletoe. Then they are brought to a bigger facility on a supply and demand basis. The blood isn’t drawn and shipped. But the need for whichever blood type gets fulfilled by a fledged kid that has it.

Just as a side note, I think that the lemon pastries have something to do with the mistletoes, but I don’t have anything further yet.

———————————

Thank you for reading!

[dreamdaddydutch]

What about a fanfic about the last good Christmas holiday for the Van Der Linde gang? The 1898 holiday season and all the gang together with Jenny, the Callander boys and the rest of the lads, with the exception of Keiran ofc.

Thanks for the consideration and happy christmas! 🎅🏼🎅🏼

What a lovely request, although slightly sad! So I've written the below, it isn't quite the long fic I wanted it to be but as it's Christmas Eve I really wanted to finish something otherwise I was worried the mood to do it would go! Maybe next year I'll write something more elaborate but for now I hope you enjoy. Merry Christmas! 🎅🏼 x

“Who got the mulled wine?” Hosea’s voice rung through the camp.

Abigail and Karen exchanged glances and shrugged.

A silence descended on the camp. Hosea sighed audibly, nearby he heard Arthur chuckle. Over the weeks previous Dutch had made it clear to all of them that he wanted this to be the best Christmas ever. So, when Hosea thought someone had forgotten to obtain this vital drink his heart sunk, he knew just how important this year was to Dutch and how he wanted everything to be perfect.

*****************************************

“We have had an exceptionally good year, a lucky year, yes. But this has been down to our hard work, our determination, our family.” He had proclaimed one evening, “And with the plans for next Spring in the works I want this to be the best Christmas and New Year ever.”

As if reading Arthur’s mind he continued, “With no expense spared. Decorations and candles, alcohol and good food, gifts for all. We are taking some time off.”

From the corner of his eye Arthur could see Susan huff, her arms folded indignant. “I mean it Miss Grimshaw, we’ll all be pitching in with the cleaning, cooking…isn’t that right Hosea?”

Hosea, ever faithful and by Dutch’s side nodded, “That’s right Dutch.”

“All helping out apart from Dutch, can you imagine him washing dishes? Or Molly for that matter,” Karen muttered under her breath before sipping on the whisky Sean had just passed her.

Javier appeared behind, “Ay, don’t be like that.”

Karen ignored Javier’s comment, she’d learned a long time ago he’d always stick up for Dutch and take his side. He could do no wrong so in her mind this speech of his now was bound to have Javier excited and practically frothing at the mouth.

Thankfully for Karen, Dutch hadn’t heard her comment – very few had and Javier, as fond as he was of Dutch, was also fond of Karen and secretly he knew where she was coming from.

*********************************************

Tilly appeared beside Hosea, “We could always make our own?” She suggested.

Hosea turned to his side and greeted her with a smile, “Ahh now that is a fine idea miss.”

Tilly nudged against him, “Well Hosea I have been known to have a few.”

���More than a few mulled wines I’d say by the sound of it the other weekend!” Tilly turned to see Mac stumbling towards her. She rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore the comment.

“Take no mind of him, he’s just jealous he can’t handle his alcohol as well as you,” Hosea said.

The camp was a flurry of activity leading up to Christmas day.

Like a flurry of snow, the members beavered away. All with their charms and graces, all with their chores and their busy excitement. It made Dutch proud to see them at work.

And Dutch, did Dutch join in with the work? He tried.

On December 22nd the decorations were up, boughs of holly and ivy in between tent posts and a wreath above Dutch’s tent. Mistletoe hung from the branch of a tree which they’d decorated with paper angels, bells and candles.

Javier sat carefully making the most beautiful snowflake paper chains, Christmas here was nothing like Christmas at home he pondered. But then maybe that was a good thing. Maybe it was the best thing. “What’ya doing?” Jack asked.

Javier, not looking up answered, “Making paper chains to decorate your and your mama’s tent.” Was he? Shit, he thought. He was making snowflake paper chains for the camp and not specifically for them.  Why had he said that?

He looked up at Jack, for a moment he felt he could see something of his brothers in him. He shook his head, “Uncle Javier?” Jack sounded concerned. Javier shook his head, “Sorry got distracted thinking about how magical this time of year is.” It was a lie, for the most part. There had been little magic in his childhood Christmases, but perhaps now with his new family he could finally start enjoying them again.

Davey chopped extra firewood, getting some comments Uncle about how he was finally doing something useful for the camp, “Say’s you, shit you’re a parasite!” Davey replied, half in jest.

Uncle shooed him away taking a swig of Irish cream liqueur, “I got lumbago!”

*********************************

“Can we go to Midnight mass?” Tilly asked, full of anticipation of the season. Hosea nodded, “Sure, as long as you and any others who want to tag along are on their best behaviour.” The wink he gave her then was what was written in her list of reasons for loving and looking up to him most of all. Even though Dutch taught her how to read, she always felt she owed so much to Hosea.

On December 24th the food arrived, a giant turkey and some chickens, potatoes, carrots, cabbages, sausages and even some cranberry sauce – rationed at one tablespoon per person which if anything Dutch thought was awful generous of him. There were several large Christmas puddings and Brandy Sauce, Sean was desperate to set fire to them on Christmas day. The answer was a resounding, well….it depends on how drunk you are. Dutch hides a penny in all of them.

Arthur and John cut down a perfect Christmas tree for the camp and set it up near the campfire, they don’t argue, not once…Arthur agrees to put aside his grievances to be in keeping with the goodwill of the season. Javier played festive songs on his guitar while others sang along, though cold outside with food and drink in their belly’s, and love and a song in their hearts they made it through the season.

Before sleep Tilly and Mary-Beth read to Jack, Abigail and John are able to have a moment alone away from the others and share a kiss under the mistletoe.

That night they have a party – was there any other way to do Christmas Eve with the Van Der Linde Gang? Mac and Davey sing a drunken duet, arms linked round one another, they do-si-do round and round, Javier speeding up the playing of his guitar with their dancing.

****************************************

On Christmas morning Charles is the first to wake, he watches the sun rise over the snowy landscape, coffee in hand to keep himself warm. He quietly tiptoes round the camp to ensure everything is perfect for when Jack wakes. He doesn’t know why, he hasn’t been around for long but he wants to make a good impression, wants to be useful, he wants to start anew and enjoy life going forward. Javier wakes next, perhaps it’s the lack of warmth from Charles’ body beside him or perhaps he’s nervous that everyone will have a good time and Dutch will be pleased.

Lenny takes a mug of hot mulled wine over to Jenny and passes it, nervously across without a word. She thanks him with a smile, he smiles back and stands just a little bit too long. She opens her mouth to speak but the moment is lost when Bill claps a hand on Lenny’s shoulder. Jenny blushes and turns away, not wanting Bill to catch-on that there was a little spark between them.

By the time the food was ready the gang had already made their way through most of the mulled wine Tilly and Hosea had made. But there had been no fights or arguments, no acquisitions thrown around and no worries.

They all gather around the tables they’ve joined together, there aren’t enough seats but no one minds. Dutch is at the head of the table with Molly by his side, Hosea on the other side and Arthur, John, Abigail and Jack nearby. Everyone is together; Javier, Charles, Karen, Mary-Beth, Tilly, Susan, Swansan, Strauss, Sean, Pearson, Davey, Mac, Uncle, Jenny, Lenny, Bill, Micah and Trelawney. There is room for everyone at Dutch’s table.

Dutch stands to toast them and every member of his family looks up in awe to the man they owe their lives and freedom to. At least that’s how they see it in that moment. At least that’s how Dutch paints himself and just for the day it’s true.

“My friends,” Dutch announces raising a glass, “My family,” He looks down at Hosea, Arthur and John before looking at the others. “To what has been a fantastic year, I am so proud of each and every one of you. We look forward to the New Year which is going to be even better than this, but for now as a family we celebrate the unity we share, our love of freedom and to live the life we dream of. To all of us this Christmas, bless us all who make our own luck. I love you all.” There was a beautiful sincerity in Dutch’s words, years later others would reflect on how this was the last time the gang were truly happy and at peace.

Across the table glasses were clinked against glasses, Jenny started the clapping and cheering, Javier whooped, Davey and Mac stomped their feet and Arthur shouted, “Here here!”

After food and toasts the party continues long into the night, games are played and a few kisses are stolen under the mistletoe. Jokes and ghost-stories are spoken in hushed voices, thoughtful gifts exchanged with drunken hugs as thanks given.

The sleep they enter into in the early hours of the following morning is a peaceful one, full of dreams and high hopes. Most stagger to bed as the embers from the fire are dying, others stay awake and watch the stars in the clear sky. Each of them dreams of this life they have chosen to lead and how in that moment, if this year was anything to go by the next would be even better.  

[berryvalentine]

Ungalo?

Bless you Beberry 💕

Mistletoe Meetings ♡ (Closed) 

His vision was getting a bit hazy... He knew then that the edible had hit him hard all of a sudden. He giggled to himself as he was attempting to lead you where he wanted you to go, but you were also feeling the effects of that edible you had earlier too. It felt like your hand was glued to Ungalo’s which you didn’t mind, but you found it kind of funny. You loved being near him so the thought of being glued to him didn’t seem to bother you in the slightest. Ungalo suddenly paused though, it seemed he lost his sense of direction. 

“Shit... Now where is it?” Ungalo was looking around. Although it had felt that Ungalo led you pretty far away from the couch, the two of you had only taken a few steps away from it. 

“Where’s what?” You honestly had no clue what he was looking for. You were just glad he was still holding your hand. You wanted to give it a squeeze but it felt like your hand didn’t want to cooperate at all. Your mind was thinking it, but your hand didn’t seem to want to do the action. 

“Uhh... Wait, wait. Hold on.” Ungalo needed a moment. 

If only he could gather his thoughts. Usually he handled edibles better, but not when you were around. You gave him that feeling where it almost felt like this excitement stirring inside of his belly, but it also sometimes felt like maybe it wanted to be nausea. What was that called again? Oh right, butterflies. You gave him that. It made it difficult for him to focus when that happened. 

You still had no idea what he was talking about. Your eyes began to wander as you took in the scenery; Ungalo’s apartment looked so much different when you were under the influence. All the lights looked so bright, and some of them looked like pretty Christmas lights right now. You reached your free hand to touch it and then you noticed something hanging over on the doorway. 

“Haha! Dude! Did you hang weed in your hallway?” you felt a giggle fit coming on. The idea just tickled you so much, but it wasn’t surprising of Ungalo to do that sort of thing.

“Tch. It’s not weed!” Ungalo huffed, but then realized that was where he put the mistletoe. He wondered if the moment was ruined because you saw it already... How was he supposed to pull this off? He wasn’t smooth like his brothers. What’s a good line to use? 

While he was pondering where to go from here, now you decided to take charge and lead Ungalo over there to get a closer look. It still tickled you so much that Ungalo would hang up weed as a decoration. You wanted to get a closer look and then finally it clicked in Ungalo’s mind.

“Wait, shit! That’s what I was looking for!” Ungalo was quick to say, but he wondered if this ruined the moment. 

“... Huh? Why? You gonna smoke it?” you gave him a smug look, you still didn’t seem to realize what it was. 

“What? Nah! You can’t smoke mistletoe!” Ungalo spat out... Wait, he just gave away his own surprise.

Now you were looking up once more, the ‘weed’ you were staring at now seemed like there had been two of them. 

“Mistletoe?”  although your movements and reactions were slow, you felt the excitement in your chest. Did this mean he wanted to kiss you? You made eye contact which felt like forever. You wanted to lean in first, but it felt like you were still frozen from the surprise that he actually wanted to kiss you! This rush was so overwhelming.

Ungalo leaned forward first, now pressing his lips against yours. He didn’t want the kiss to last for too long since he was worried maybe his breath was unpleasant or maybe you didn’t want this. He was worried, but he wanted to take a chance... He pulled back ever so slightly, but you pulled him back closer. 

“You know, uh... We could take this back to the couch if you wanna? Maybe.” Ungalo couldn’t look at you. He was worried you might still reject him.

You smiled at him and then led him back to the couch. You didn’t want to be too far from him ever again. 

[gredandforgesmischief]

long story short - f.w

title: long story short

pairing: fred x female slytherin reader

summary: fred has been in love with y/n since they were fifteen, but the universe was never really on their side. (idk i'm bad at writing summaries but basically best friends to lovers. this takes place during gof in the spring.) this is also vaguely inspired by "long story short" by taylor swift bc i'm obsessed w her (see if you can find the lyrics)

other characters/pairings mentioned: adrian pucey/y/n, fred/angelina, george weasley, harry potter, ron weasley, neville longbottom

content warnings: its all fluff, some parts can be construed as angsty?? maybe probably not. sad fred at some point. sad y/n at some point. fred and y/n are both clueless all the time for no reason.

a/n: i wrote this with my Head Empty, but I hope you enjoy (feedback welcomed) also this wasn't proof read so ignore any grammatical errors

“... right Fred?”

“Yeah that’s cool, whatever,” Fred grumbled as a very irritated George hit his side.

The pair were having breakfast at the Gryffindor table, and the two were supposed to be brainstorming shop ideas, but it was apparent that Fred’s mind was off somewhere else.

Regardless of how hard he tried, Fred’s mind was often clouded with his feelings about Y/N. The two had been best friends since third year, and it took him a long time to realize that he wanted to be much more than just her best friend. But just as expected, right as Fred realized, Y/N had gotten into a relationship.

“Dude, Y/N is with Adrian now, you need to get over it,” George said. While he did feel bad for his twin, there wasn’t much that either of them could do about it.

Fred nodded, but just as he was about to respond to his brother, he noticed a flustered Y/N get up from the Slytherin table. In all honesty, if Fred hadn’t been staring at her he wouldn’t have noticed how distraught she was. Without another thought, the ginger boy got up from his seat and followed her into the corridor.

“Y/N, wait up!” Fred called out, not quite sure what he was going to say to her. The Slytherin girl slowed down, waiting for her friend to catch up.

When it came to his and Y/N’s relationship, there wasn’t a lot they wouldn’t talk about, but Y/N’s relationship with Adrian was a conversation that was often avoided. Y/N knew how Fred felt about Adrian, so she made an effort to keep the two as separate portions of her life.

“Hi, Fred,” Y/N’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes glossy.

Fred winced. Up until she had started dating Adrian, Y/N always called Fred by his nickname. When Y/N started dating Adrian she pulled away from Fred quickly. He could tell she tried to make everything seem normal, but it wasn’t.

“Is everything alright? You walked out of the Great Hall a bit fast.” Fred said. The pair were now sitting on a bench in the courtyard.

“Just… some stuff with Adrian.” Y/N said, knowing that there was no way that Fred would allow her to leave it at that. There was an ever growing vendetta that Fred had against Adrian, and him hurting Y/N would probably be the worst thing that the Slytherin could do.

“Listen, I know I’m not Adrian’s number one fan, but I’m still your best friend.” Fred said, hoping that Y/N would talk to him. It had been months since the two had chatted about anything of substance and he feared their friendship would fall apart if they kept avoiding each other.

Y/N went silent for a moment, weighing her options in her head. After a short while she looked at Fred and started, “Have you ever been in love?”

The question completely caught Fred off guard. He wasn’t exactly sure what he expected Y/N to say, but that wasn’t a question he was prepared to think about.

Sure, Fred had dated around during his time at Hogwarts, but the only person he had ever really loved was Y/N. It wasn’t something he had ever wanted to talk about with her, particularly because he didn’t know how great he would be at concealing his emotions. How terrible would it be for him to confess it to her while she was in a relationship?

Fred nodded, “Yeah, I’ve been in love before.”

“How did you know? What did it feel like?” Y/N asked, looking genuinely curious. Was Y/N truly asking him about this?

Fred looked at her incredulously, speaking once more, “Honestly, love, I think it's different for everyone,” The look on Y/N’s face was unreadable as Fred continued, “for me, I just knew.”

Y/N let out a deep sigh, “I feel like it’s all moving too fast.” There she goes again without any elaboration.

As Fred continued to give her terse answers, Y/N decided she had to describe what she meant. She had never really been great at putting her feelings into words, but she’d try.

“Adrian told me he loved me last night,” Fred’s face faltered, “and I didn’t say a word back.”

Fred wasn’t shocked by the idea that Adrian loved Y/N. The pair had been together for nearly five months, and Fred knew from experience how easy it was to fall in love with Y/N. If anything, it was more of a shock to him that Y/N didn’t say it back.

“But you do love him, right?” Once again, Fred hoped that Y/N would say what he wanted to hear. It was cruel of him to wish that Adrian and Y/N wouldn’t work out, but he couldn’t help it.

“I do,” Dammit. Y/N continued, “but I don’t think I’m in love with him. You know?”

Fred understood completely. He had loved a few of the girls he had dated, but he never felt in love. There was always some sort of hesitation that he had.

“I... just feel like I’m trying to force something that isn’t there,” The frustration was evident in Y/N’s voice. “And I thought that maybe I just needed more time, maybe we were moving too fast, but honestly I just can’t feel the way that I want to about Adrian.”

“Do you think there’s a reason why you can’t love him? You wouldn’t stop talking about him during Christmas break.” Fred said, recalling Y/N’s happiness after Adrian had asked her to the Yule Ball.

“What do you mean? I don’t think I acted any differently about Adrian during break.” Y/N was confused. If anything, Fred was the one who had acted strangely during Christmas break.

“No, I definitely recall you acting funny,” Fred said as Y/N shot him a glare.”You ignored me for two weeks Y/N.” Y/N frowned, shaking her head.

Fred remembered the two weeks in vivid detail. Up until six months ago, Fred and Y/N were attached at the hip. That’s why Y/N’s sudden absence in his life stung. In some way it felt like Y/N had picked Adrian over Fred, but he didn’t know why.

“Fred, I did ignore you, but do you really not know why?” Y/N said.

Once more, Fred tried to remember the events leading up to Y/N and Adrian’s relationship, but everything seemed normal. Adrian and Y/N had always been friends. It wasn’t strange for friends to date.

Fred shook his head, prompting Y/N to tell him what had happened.

-

It was a week before the Yule Ball, and the cheeriness around the castle was gleaming. The Great Hall was decked out with garlands of tinsel. Mistletoe was hanging in all of the corridors. It was nearly impossible to be unhappy with how much light was around., but as Y/N had watched what felt like the fiftieth person get asked to the Yule Ball, she was feeling less than cheerful.

“Y/N!” Fred greeted, earning an adoring smile from the girl in front of him. She was sitting in the Gryffindor common room, as she had just been working on an herbology project with Neville.

“Hiya, Freddie, what’s up?” Y/N was excited. She and Fred had been spending a lot more time together recently, and she was convinced that he was going to finally ask her out.

Fred smiled, “I need advice. ” Y/N nodded, encouraging the ginger boy to continue, “if you were to get asked to say, a ball, how would you want to be asked?”

Y/N was practically exploding with joy at this point, but alas, Fred still needed an answer.

“Well, for me personally, I’m not fond of the huge gestures. I feel like if you really like someone then you should just… ask? I know that’s a bit boring, but I wouldn’t want everyone to be involved in my business, so public gestures aren’t for me.” Y/N was getting rambly, a clear sign of her nerves.

Before Y/N could ramble anymore, Fred was marching up the dormitory stairs, calling out a short, “Thanks, Y/N!” over his shoulder.

Although Fred’s behavior was strange, Y/N brushed it off as Fred being, well, Fred. The boy often did things that were unexplainable. It wasn’t until dinner that day that Y/N had realized why Fred had asked her about the ball.

-

“Y/N, c’mon what’s on your mind?” Adrian asked, poking his friend in the side. Y/N was staring down her plate, pushing around peas with her fork. After her encounter with Fred earlier in the day, she had been on edge. The ball was coming up quick, and at this point it was now or never.

“It’s nothing important, don’t worry about me.” Y/N had finally put her fork down, flashing a sad smile at the boy. Adrian looked suspicious, but as he opened his mouth to talk, the pair noticed commotion at the Gryffindor table.

George was ruffling Fred’s hair, and Ron and Harry were laughing. Fred had a smirk on his face, his cheeks tinged a pink color. Just as Y/N was about to approach Fred to ask what the deal was, Fred walked out of the dining hall.

“I’ll be right back,” Y/N told Adrian, before walking to the Gryffindor table to ask George about what was up.

“Hey, George, what was that all about?” Y/N asked as she sat.

“Oh, Freddie boy just asked Angelina to the Yule Ball!” George replied, causing the two other boys to start to laugh again.

Y/N muttered a “thanks” to George before heading out of the Great Hall. She nearly sprinted to the Slytherin common room, not wanting to have a meltdown in the middle of the hall. Y/N was convinced that Fred would ask her to the ball, and it stung like hell to know that he had asked someone that wasn’t her.

When she arrived outside the common room, Adrian was waiting outside for her. Without any question, Adrian outstretched his arms, embracing the teary-eyed girl.

-

“You wanted me to ask you to the ball!?” Fred asked, mentally slapping himself for being so clueless.

Y/N nodded her head yes, clasping her hands together. She thought she had been very obvious about how she felt about Fred, but it was clear he truly didn’t know.

“I’m sorry, Y/N, I never meant to make you upset. Angie and I went as friends anyway.” Fred apologized. He hated seeing Y/N cry, and to think that he was the reason made his insides churn.

While Y/N had cleared up her pre-Yule Ball behavior, there were still a few questions that Fred had.

“Okay, but what does any of that have to do with Adrian? If you wanted me to ask you out, why did you start dating Adrian?” Fred asked, despite knowing how forward all of those questions were.

Y/N sighed, this wasn’t the part of the story that she was particularly proud of.

“Other than you and George, Adrian is probably my closest guy friend. After I heard about you and Angie, Adrian was the person who comforted me while I was crying. I think somewhere along the lines I got my feelings for him all confused…” Y/N trailed off.

“Adrian was sort of an escape from everything. I thought that if you were dating Angie it would stop whatever friendship we had going. It felt like I got knocked off of some weird pedestal.” Y/N’s explanation made some sense, but it didn’t explain why she wouldn’t just talk to him.

“Why didn’t you just talk to me, Y/N? We’re best friends.”

Y/N let out a soft laugh, “I sort of went down a rabbit hole when I stopped talking to you. I was embarrassed, and Adrian was sweet. But after it all, I think I was trying to emulate whatever feelings I had for you with him. I thought clinging to another person would stop my feelings. Clearly it didn’t work. It was just a bad time.”

From what Y/N was saying, Fred was hoping that this meant something for the two of them. But right now, Y/N was still with Adrian, and neither of them would ever do that to them.

“Y/N, you need to tell Adrian how you feel.” If the two were going to date, it had to be proper. Fred didn’t want to be some sort of secret.

“I did, that’s why I ran off actually. We broke it off yesterday, it was just a lot for me to be sitting with him today…” Y/N was slightly embarrassed.

“There goes your excellent communication skills again, why didn’t you start with that?” Fred teased, earning a groan from Y/N.

“Hey, the knife cuts both ways. If you had just said that you were asking Angie to the ball I would have never gotten my hopes up!” Y/N quipped back, intertwining her hands with Fred’s.

Fred sighed happily, “Is there any chance that you still feel the same way about me?” Fred was sure he knew what she’d say, but this situation had proved the two needed to talk more.

Y/N laughed, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, “I’m all about you, Freddie.”

[pillow-anime-talk]

mistletoe. {pt.2}

synopsis: Killing cursed spirits with Satoru, winter prom with Metori and sincere conversation with Juuzou.

# tags: scenarios; christmas!au; current relationships & crush culture; romance; fluff; a bit of angst; sfw

includes: female reader ft. satoru gojou {jjk} + metori saiko {saiki k. no psi nan} + juuzou suzuya {tokyo ghoul}

part one {click}

— SATORU

“... Y/N-chan, on the left!”

“... Hey, hey! Look up, sweetheart!”

“... Oi! Behind you!”

“... Behind you too! Kick their asses, Satoru~!”

“... YEAH! Here’s my super strong girl!”

You two have been in the forest; for over twenty minutes you dealing with killing smaller or larger curses that frightened mushroom pickers or wild animals. You had a lot of fun doing it, all the time competing to see who killed more evil creatures. Of course, your boyfriend was winning so far, by three, but how could you know that some of them would come out of the forest litter, literally letting the white-haired man kill them all in a few seconds? Well, but at least you killed about twelve curses yourself, and that was a really nice result.

On the one hand, you enjoyed spending time with Gojou like that, because it was very rare for the two of you to be together on a mission, but on the other hand... It was the time of Christmas that you wanted to spend in your own home, surrounded by delicious food and desserts, hot wine or beer, loved ones, including your boyfriend’s cute students or your mutual friends. From a long time, that is, from the moment you became a sorcerer, you didn’t spend any holidays, birthdays or anniversaries as you would like. There was simply no time and energy for it because every day, apart from some Sundays, you worked to make life better for vulnerable people. It wasn’t a bad job, but sometimes... when you looking at ‘normal’ couples you envied their ignorance to the fact that some evil had appeared around them. You envied them that they could spend their free time together doing stupid things or relaxing in front of the TV.

So you sighed softly, raising the hand in which you held the small pocket knife. Small as your anti-curse tool was, it was also extremely effective and dangerous. Therefore, you cut the throat of one of the evil souls without any problems, thus defeating the last enemy.

“Ahhhh. Finally...! You’re not hurt, baby?” The young man said in a cheerful voice, and you shook your head in disapproval. Second later, you cleaned the little knife and then, hid it in one of the pockets of your black pants. “Would you like to get some hot chocolate and cake?”

“Huh? Have we finished all our work for today?” You asked in surprise, and the man just bit his lip with joy, putting his finger to his mouth after a while.

“Yes, although you forgot one thing, love.” You raised an eyebrow at his amused words. However, Satoru quickly got rid of your unawareness as soon as he raised his right hand and pointed at something above with his index finger. For a moment you were sure that he meant a curse that hadn’t been killed before, but as it turned out, it was mistletoe growing on one of the tall trees; you were surprised that during the fight he was able to additionally notice a small, green plant. Anyway, you just chuckled lightly as you stood on your tiptoes and tugged at the twenty-eight-year-old by his jacket.

You were happy that at least this one, very sweet Christmas moment could happen to you during the winter season. Thanks to this, these holidays weren’t so bad and devoid of spirit.

— METORI

Every year there was a winter prom at your school; it was the third time for you, while for Saiko, who only joined your class this year, it was something new. Of course, he was skeptical about it from the start and generally discouraged by the very idea of ​​spending time with all PK Academy students, classmates and teachers. That’s why he immediately told you that if you want to go to the prom, he can arrange whatever prom you want; he literally said if you wanted Beyoncé he could call her.

But you just smiled warmly and said that school party is enough for you and you really like it. So he couldn’t refuse you... after all, the gray-haired young boy had a huge, indescribable weakness for you. Plus, even though you’ve been dating for a few weeks, Metori still couldn’t understand how... gentle and simple you were. You weren’t interested in luxury, his money, where his father worked. Instead, you asked every day if he had breakfast, if he would like to go for a walk with you, if he would like to come to you for dinner because your mother cooked a delicious Mexican dish. It was something new and nice for a teenager who had grown up in prosperity and splendor throughout his life. It didn’t bother him, but the prom... it was quite strange and mysterious. But he agreed, so he couldn’t take his words back because he didn’t want you to get sad or disappointed.

Thus, he bought a new, well-fitting and expensive suit – one that would fit perfectly with your delicate dress, which at the same time matches to the color of your shiny eyes. He also paid for new shoes, a watch, and a hairdresser visit, but even that couldn’t compare to your soft, natural blushes and the sweet facial expression you gave him when he came to your house with his butler.

“... You’re stressed?” You asked quietly as you sat in the car and he squeezed your little hand between his much larger ones.

“I’ve just never been at a prom... public... especially at school.” He muttered, and though he turned his head, you could see a hint of blush on his nose and both cheeks. So you chuckled lightly as you cuddled up against his shoulder.

“I’m pretty sure you’ll like it.”

The school hasn’t changed much; only a few holiday decorations have been added here and there. However, the gymnasium took your breath away because it was magically decorated. But before you had time to take your seats on the other side of the door, your physical education teacher stopped the two of you.

“Couples enter after payment.” Mr. Matsuzaki said, and the Santa Claus hat on his head added to the charm of his muscular figure.

Of course, Saiko was already taking out his wallet, but you quickly stopped it, pointing in a specific direction. It was, obviously, the smol mistletoe, which was the aforementioned entry ticket for couples who decided to show up at the ball together. So you smiled slightly at your boyfriend and he looked at you confused.

“What is it?”

“O-Oh, you never kissed under the mistletoe?”

“Kissing under it has any meaning?” He asked, still surprised, and you just moved closer to his face, stealing a short, really sweet kiss.

“It’s a tradition, love. You have to kiss under every mistletoe if you notice one.” You said happily and then thanked the teacher for going inside the gym.

Of course, Metori in his head was already calculating how many tons of mistletoe he should buy so that you could continue kissing him as sweetly as you just did.

— JUUZOU

You put two cups of hot, beautifully fragrant chocolate on the table; one was with two white marshmallows and the other with six. Of course, it was easy to guess which portion was for Juuzou and which was for you. Nevertheless, you smiled gently and then sat down next to the white-haired boy, staring at him out of the corner of your eye.

“... About what did you dream, Juuzou-kun?” You asked softly, taking the purple cup between both hands. The warm ceramics pleasantly burned your all fingers, which made you breathe blissfully. “Of course, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to tell me. We can just sit in silence and drink our sweet cocoa.” You added after a brief second so as not to put unnecessary pressure or general stress on the nineteen-year-old.

“It’s no big deal. I dreamed about my mom.” He admitted hesitantly, also taking his dark-green mug. “When I woke up and looked at the calendar I realized we had Christmas time and... Well, my mom never gave me any, not even a small gift, nor did I ever spend that time like other children my age. It hit me a bit. Not that I regret it, but... what Christmas really is?” His short speech made you look at him with a very sad expression on your face and after a quick while you just put your warm chocolate on the table, getting up from your wooden chair and walking to a random cupboard in your smol kitchen.

This year you didn’t have time (because of work) and no idea (because of fatigue) for presents for loved ones, and even more so for the unexpected guest – Suzuya, who loved to sleep in your house because, as he once said, ‘He felt at your place very safe’, but you managed to come up with a little surprise fastly; you wrapped a red ribbon that was in the cupboard with needles and scissors around an unopened box of nut cookies. You also managed to find a piece of paper and a black pen, so you wrote a concise but sincere wishes to the inspector, which ended with a tiny heart and a star. Out of the corner of your eye, you also noticed the mistletoe lying next to the clock, which was a little joke your dear friend had made to you two days ago. So you took everything and went back to the quietly sitting Juuzou, smiling slightly at him, even a bit silly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think about gifts before, but... I hope that’s enough. After today’s work, we can go to the gallery or the park to see the decorated Christmas trees, you will surely like them. Happy Holidays, Juuzou. I hope next year will be a good one for you.” You said shyly as you handed him ribbon-decorated cookies. At the sight of them, the boy only blushed, then looked at your other hand, which was still gripping a little twig. “Ohh... it’s... such a small tradition where you get a kiss under the mistletoe.” You picked up the plant and then placed it over the white-haired young man’s head, bending down after a while and giving him a short peck on the left, smooth cheek. “Merry Christmas once again.”

“Merry Christmas to you too and... thank you for that.”

You only smirked, reaching for the mug of already cool drink. However, you weren’t disappointed in drinking the cold cocoa, because the honest, slightly timid smile of the boy you liked from the beginning of your work at CCG warmed your whole body better than any other hot chocolate, tea or coffee.

[nooneelsecomesclose17]

I'm just gonna keep on waiting underneath the mistletoe

I had the idea for a fic about Robert retiring in my F1 universe for a while but never got the urge to actually write it. Then I was struggling madly with the Mistletoe prompt for today and I started writing this. So yeah the prompt itself is a bit shoehorned in but allow me it!

Also I'm playing massively fast and loose with the F1 calendar because I'm pretty sure there's no way the British GP would be held in December but I had to for the throwback to the original fic.

If you haven't read it you can find it here. It's not strictly necessary as this will stand alone pretty much, but why not have a read anyway.

Robron Week Christmas Special - Day 4

A fic a day in December - Day 22

(AO3 link)

Robert had had a good morning, he’d had breakfast with his daughter which was always fun, and then he’d completed a load of paperwork that he’d been putting off before heading into the gym he and Aaron had installed a couple of years before to save driving into Hotten to use the one at the team base. Although he missed Aaron he was feeling happy enough. He should’ve known it wouldn’t last.

He stepped off the treadmill, throwing a towel round his neck as he picked up his phone. Sighing as he saw it was Chrissie he debated not answering it but given how many times she’d called he doubted it’d stop her.

“What do you want Chrissie?”

“Nice greeting. I wouldn’t keep ringing if you’d just answer your phone. I need to see you.”

“Why?” He couldn’t think of anything he wanted to do less.

“Not over the phone. Meet me at Alonso’s in Hotten tomorrow. One o’clock.”

“Chrissie, you can’t just…” It was no use, she’d gone. He couldn’t think what she wanted. He’d not heard from her since she’d dumped him over four years ago and he had no idea what she wanted with him now. What he did know was, he had to tell Aaron.

_____

“What do you think she wanted?” Aaron asks when he calls him that night. Just his luck it’s all happening when Aaron’s away for a couple of days doing publicity for the team.

“I don’t know, I don’t even want to go to lunch with her. Maybe I should just not bother.”

“Don’t be daft, it’s obviously important or she wouldn’t keep ringing. If you don’t show she’ll just come to the house.” Robert screwed his nose up, that was the last thing he wanted. The house was his and Aaron’s sanctuary, a place to shut the world out.

The next day takes an age, waiting for lunch, thinking of nothing else until he’s kissing Ella goodbye and leaving Chas in charge and driving to the restaurant. She’s waiting for him, looking the same as she had the last time he’d seen her, although slightly less mad, given she’d just found out he’d slept with her sister.

“Chrissie. I’d say it was a pleasure…”

“Yes well it’s not where I want to be but I had no choice. I’ve been trying to get hold of you for ages!”

“Can’t resist me? Even after all this time.”

“Shut up Robert.” She stops as the waiter comes over to take their order. “It’s about Rebecca.”

“Chrissie, that was years ago.”

“She’s dead.” He just looks at her open mouthed. Of everything he’d expected the lunch to be about that wasn’t anywhere on the list. “It was a car accident a month ago.”

“Chrissie, I’m so sorry.”

“Are you?” He supposed he deserved that. It seems like a lifetime ago that they dated, when he’d been a different person.

“Of course I am! How’s your Dad? Lachlan?” His mind is reeling as she tells him how they’ve coped. “I still don’t…I mean you didn’t drag me here to tell me that?”

“No. The thing is…your little…dalliance with my sister…” She trails off and opens her bag, sliding a photo across the table. “This is Sebastian, Seb. He was five two months ago.”

He looks at the picture of a little boy, ice cream in hand, sun hat on, bright blue eyes shining with happiness. His brain is ahead of him, already doing the calculations.

“He’s mine? He can’t be. It was just...”

“Please do me the courtesy of not saying it was only once. He is Robert, you only have to look at him and my sister wouldn’t lie, not about that.” He nods, he can see it, he has a look of Vic when she was little, there’s really no doubt. “I’m not after your money either.”

“I didn’t think you were. So what…why did she keep him from me Chrissie?”

“I don’t know, she never said. She disappeared not long after you and I started going out, only came back a couple of years ago with Seb. Probably scared you’d try and take him or I’d never speak to her again, I don’t know, but now she’s not here and…she left instructions that if anything were to happen then he was to be with you.” He sits back in his chair, not sure how to answer. “I know this is a shock, but this is what she wanted Robert and as much as I despise you, I’ll carry out her wishes, and besides he should be with his father.”

“Yeah.” He doesn’t know what else to say.

“I thought, maybe you could come over at the weekend, and meet him and we’d go from there. I have to be in France in a month so we have to get moving.”

“I’m sure we can keep to your schedule. I need to talk to Aaron first.” He had no idea what he was going to say. Aaron loved kids, he was fantastic with Ella, but this was different, this was a child from another relationship, he had no idea how to even start the conversation.

_____

He should’ve known Aaron would be amazing, he’d stumbled and stammered over the phone, telling him everything the minute he can get hold of him. Chas had asked what was wrong when he’d arrived home but he’d shrugged it off not wanting her to know before Aaron. He could only imagine what she’d say.

“I’m sorry.” He says, slumping down onto the sofa, Ella colouring happily at the table in front of him oblivious to the turmoil her Dad is going through.

“What are you sorry for?” Aaron asked. “You didn’t know Robert, there’s nothing to be sorry about.”

“You’re not mad?”

“At her for keeping him from you, yeah, but not at you. I know you, you would’ve been there for him if you’d known. I can’t be angry about something that happened before I knew you.”

“You didn’t sign up for this though.” He wished he were here, wished he could hold him, he always made everything feel better.

“For what? Another kid? Your son? Rob, we have a daughter, we always talked about more one day and I know it’s not the same but he’s your little boy and I’ll love him like my own. Is that what you’re worried about?”

“I guess. I just…what if he hates me for not being there, thinks I don't love him?”

“He won’t. We’ll deal with anything together.” He sighs. “Do you want me to come with you on Saturday?”

“Yeah, please.”

“Then I will. Don’t worry, we’ll sort everything out.”

“Don’t know where I’d be without you.” He relaxed a little. “So how’s it going?”

“Boring, as always. Think yourself lucky you got to stay home.” He laughs. Aaron’s hatred of any of the publicity side of racing was legendary and had never improved.

_____

The next day dawns and he’s barely slept, too many things going around his head. His phone is lighting up even before he’s out of bed and when he glances at it he can feel his stress levels climbing already.

F1 ace in cosy lunch with ex

Playing away Robert?

While the cat’s away

The articles are accompanied by photos of him and Chrissie in the restaurant, full of speculation about him cheating on Aaron, telling the readers how Aaron was away working while he was enjoying intimate lunches, making everything sound so awful. They’d raked up everything in his past, all the articles they’d written before most of which were wrong.

He resisted the urge to throw the phone across the room, instead choosing to ring Aaron, to assure him again that nothing was going on.

“Have you seen the papers today?”

“Yeah.” He sounds funny, and Robert instantly thinks it’s because of him.

“I’m sorry.”

“Will you stop apologising. Not the first time the press have come for us, probably won’t be the last.” That was true, they hadn’t let up the whole time they’d been together. They’d got used to it mostly, but even so he wished they could just lock themselves away.

“That’s not very comforting. I don’t know what to do. If I make a statement with the truth…we haven’t even seen Seb yet.”

“So don’t. Who cares what anyone else thinks Robert.”

“And you?”

“I trust you. I don’t have any reason not to do I?”

“No!”

“There you go then. Let them say what they like, they’re the ones who are going to look stupid in the end. Just concentrate on Seb, and when I get home we’ll go see him and go from there, ok?”

_____

“You alright?” Aaron asked as they stood outside the house, hands clutched together.

“No…yes…I don’t know.” He hadn’t slept the night before, giving up on sleep at four in the morning, getting up to watch trashy TV and pace around the living room. Aaron squeezes his hand and reaches forward to knock on the door, standing back until Chrissie answers.

“Robert, Aaron, come on in.” She leads them into the living room that Robert remembers from when they were dating and then he sees him and his breath catches. There’s really no doubt as he looks at him, almost the spit of Victoria at that age.

“Seb, this is Daddy…remember we talked about him?” Chrissie said gently to the little boy sat in front of the telly, clutching a cuddly giraffe as if his life depended on it. He looked up at Aaron not knowing what to do, still coming to terms with the fact that he was a Dad again. Eventually Seb shook his head looking up at him warily. He crouched beside the sofa, realising he must seem gigantic to him.

“Hi. That’s a very cool giraffe you’ve got there. Does he have a name?”

“Bobby. Mummy said it’s cos that’s your name.” Robert blinks back tears then, angry that Rebecca had kept him from him, had clearly told him about Robert, but had never tried to introduce them. He didn’t know what to say, tries to smile at least because he can’t let Seb think he’s angry at him. “Have you got your car here?”

“Hmm? Yeah me and Aaron came in a car.”

“No, your fast one. Mummy used to let me watch.”

“He means your race car Rob.” Aaron tells him, coming over to join them. “Not today Seb, it’s in the garage all tucked up ready for another race, but if you want we can go there one day so you can see. Would you like that?”

“Who are you?” He asks after nodding.

“This is Aaron, he’s my husband. Do you know what that means?”

“It means you love him!” He says with a little giggle.

“Yeah. Um, did Aunty Chrissie explain what’s happening? That you’re going to come and live with us?” He nods, going quiet again, the stranglehold on the giraffe getting tighter. “You can come and see everyone whenever you want, you know.”

“Ok. Do you have toys at your house?”

“Yeah and we’ll bring yours with us, and we have a little girl too, she’s only three, but I think you’ll like her. You’re a big brother now mate.”

“When can I meet her?”

“Soon. We’re going to talk to Aunty Chrissie about that right now.” He wanted to take him right there and then, but he knew it wasn’t practical, they still hadn’t got anything for his room.

_____

It had all gone swimmingly really, much better than he could’ve hoped, Seb settled right in with them. He was quiet but that was only to be expected with so much change in his life so quickly.

The family had rallied round as always, with helping to move his stuff, to keeping him occupied while Aaron and Robert had to work.

Everything had been brilliant until he and Aaron had to leave for Australia. He felt stupid that it hadn’t occurred to him that he would have to leave him. They’d taken Ella with them for the first two years of her life, finding that easier than leaving her at home. Then Chas had taken over babysitting duties, and would with Seb. With Seb though it was different, he’d just lost his Mum and they didn’t want him to think they were abandoning him too.

“I don’t know what to do.” He admitted to Aaron a few days before they were due to leave. Seb had heard them talking about going and had got upset. It had taken ages to settle him down so he could sleep and Robert was almost as bad.

“He’ll come round, it’s just all new right now.”

“Maybe I should call Paul, get him to find someone else to take my seat, for Melbourne at least.”

“What?” Aaron sits up in bed looking at him.

“You saw him, he was distraught. It’s not fair on your Mum either is it. It was a lot to ask of her with Ella and we’ve been taking her with us mostly, but we can’t do that with Seb, he has to go to school.”

“Mum doesn’t mind you know that.” She’d offered straight away said it was no problem.

“I know…I just, he’s lost his Mum, he’s living in a new house with new people, it just feels wrong to go and leave him.”

“Do you want to take him? I can call Vic, arrange the flight. You saw how mad on cars he was.”

“No. It’s too far.” As much as he didn’t want to leave him he knew that it was too far to take him. “It’s just hard. He knows we race but I don’t think he understands that means we have to leave. I don’t know how to explain it to him.”

“Well Mum did have an idea that might help.”

_____

“Daddy, where are you going?” Seb asks, walking in on him packing his bags the night before they had to leave.

“Australia, remember, we talked about it?” Seb shook his head, giraffe once more clutched in his hand, pouting and Robert hoped it didn’t mean another tantrum was coming. “Come on, l got something for you.”

He takes his hand, leading him into his room, lifting him onto the bed before handing him a wrapped parcel.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a map, of the whole world. You know that me and Papa have to go away to race our cars don’t you?” Seb nods, ripping the paper away from the package. “Well I know you’re sad that you can’t come with us, so Nana Chas suggested I get you this and then we can put a mark on each place we go so you’ll always knows where we are. What do you think?”

“Rather come with you.”

“I know mate, but it’s ever such a long way away and you have to go to school. You know you love school and seeing all your friends. I promise you can come to some of the races, with your sister, just not all ok? So, shall we put this up on your wall?” Seb nods, but he still looks sad. “Now, do you know where Australia is?”

Seb shook his head. “No.”

“Let’s get the map up and then I’ll show you.” He sits Seb back on the bed and quickly pins the map to the wall. “Right, this is England, where we live, and right down here is Australia.”

“Far away.”

“It is. But you know that we’ll be back next week don’t you, eh? And you’ll be alright with Nana Chas.”

“Want to see you race the cars.”

“You will. She’s going to record it for you to watch because it’ll be the night time here when we’re racing. And you know what, we need you to look after Ella for us too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, that’s what big brothers do. Nana has plenty of fun things planned for you too while we’re away, you’ll have so much fun you won’t even miss us.”

“Will so.” Seb pouts.

_____

The first races away had been dreadful, he hadn’t been able to concentrate, being so far away, the time difference messing everything up and he’d hated every single second. They had taken him to the next couple of races that had been in Europe and if anything it had helped the two of them bond but it wasn’t a permanent solution. It was something they’d known would come up when Ella started school anyway, they just hadn’t expected to face it quite so soon.

Seb appearing at the races nearer home had started off a whole new round of press rumours and a part of him was just done with it all, tired of having to defend every part of their life, of having no privacy. He knew he had a decision to make, one he hadn’t expected to come for a good few years.

“I need to talk to you.” He said to Aaron as he came back in from his qualifying session in Spain. They were done for the day and it was probably a terrible time to do this but he had to, needed to get it out.

“Can’t it wait until I’ve dealt with the rabble?” He nodded his head to the waiting press.

“I…” Of course it could, but he almost needed him to validate his decision, to tell him he was doing the right thing.

“Go on then.”

“I’m thinking of quitting.” Aaron had just stood there stunned, not saying anything for a good minute.

“What? Because of Seb? We’ll manage Rob, I told you. It’s getting easier every time.”

“For him yeah. But…it’s not just that. Mainly it is, but…I’m getting older Aaron, it’s not like I’ve got that many more years left in me.” He’d felt it for a while but this season has just cemented it in his mind that his best was behind him.

“But…you’re just dumping this on me now?” He looks behind him at the waiting press huddle.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to keep it from you and I need to speak to Paul, you know my contract’s up anyway.” He shrugged. It wasn’t just about Seb, he’d lost that passion this last season, the fire in his belly. It’d crept up on him and Seb had just made the decision a lot easier. “I owe it to him to give him as much notice as possible. What do you think?”

“Is it what you want?” He nods. “Then there’s nothing I can say is there.”

“You think it’s the wrong decision?”

“I think you’re still coming to terms with everything and maybe you should wait, see how Seb gets on when he stays with Mum a few more times. Like you said we’d have to decide something properly with Ella soon enough. Just…think about it a while yeah?”

He had, he’d left it for weeks, but nothing changed. Seb settled in better than any of them hoped in the end, but the idea had taken root in Robert’s head and he couldn’t shift it. The continued stories and rumours in the press hadn’t helped, this time because of him crashing and ruining Aaron’s race. They’d got pictures of them arguing after which was apparently evidence of fractures in their marriage even though in reality it was nothing more than Aaron letting off steam, just as Robert had many times before. He knew it was rubbish but that didn’t stop him being tired of the whole circus. Vic had had to pull him back from storming up to the press more than once.

_____

“I made an appointment with Paul for next week.” He tells Aaron as they wait in the airport lounge for their flight home from Hungary a few weeks later. Aaron nods. They’d talked it over and over the past few weeks and he’d not got any closer to making a decision, but he knew he had to.

“Ok.”

“I know Seb’s ok, he’s great but it’s so long to be away, the season just keeps getting longer and longer, and Ella will be at school soon enough too. She can’t be at races anymore without Seb feeling left out anyway. We can’t keep palming her off on your Mum like we have been.” When she was little she’d gone everywhere with them, the darling of the paddock, and it had been easy, but now with Seb, with her being older, it wasn’t practical.

“She loves having her. Both of them. If anything she spoils them so much I’m worried they won’t want to come home when we get back.”

“I know…I want to be there for him, for both of them, but he lost his Mum and then we’re jetting off every other week, it’s not settled for him.”

“Whatever you decide I’ll support you, you know that. You don’t need to justify it for me. I just wanted you to do it for the right reason, not just because you felt guilty at not being in his life. That wasn’t your fault.”

“I know. Doesn’t make it easier to deal with though.”

“So you’re going to quit.” It’s a statement not a question. Aaron knew he’d made his mind up.

“Want is too strong…but it’s coming anyway, and besides it’s not like I’m getting a raw deal. No more hotel beds, no more four a.m flights, no more dealing with the press…sounds good to me.”

“You don’t fool me. I know you love all that.” Once upon a time he had, the whole high life that formula one gave was a bit like a drug, you couldn’t get enough. Now he knew it wasn’t the be all and end all to life, what he had with Aaron and their family was much better.

“Not as much as I love our son and daughter.”

“And I don’t?” He looked at him, that was never a question. Aaron doted on Seb like he was his own, had from day one, and Robert loved him for it.

“Aaron…come on, I didn’t say that. That’s not what I meant. Look I’m thirty seven next year, I’ve got another couple of years, maybe three if I’m lucky. I don’t want to be someone clinging on when I can barely make the back row. I always wanted to go out on top. I’m not really there anymore but close enough. You…you’ve got four world titles, years left to get more, to be the best there ever was…and when you do I’ll be right there with our kids. But now’s my time to go.”

“You signed a contract.”

“Yeah. So I do the rest of this year and no more.” He could break it he knew that, retire right away, but the team had been good to him, he wouldn’t let them down. He could do six more months.

“Maybe you’ll beat me this year, then you’ll change your mind.” Robert laughed, Aaron was already a good few points clear of him and the rest of the field.

“I won’t. I’ve had my time, had my glory. I mean it.” He adds at Aaron’s sceptical look.

“And when I leave every other weekend, when I’m gone weeks on end, you won’t end up resenting me?”

“I won’t, I promise. I’m not saying me and Ella, and Seb won’t be at any of the races, oof course we will be, but…I meant it I’m getting old Aaron. All these new kids keep coming in and, it doesn’t feel like it used to. I’m going through the motions more often than not.” It felt strange to be admitting it, but he’d felt it for a while. The thrill of it wasn’t there anymore, and sometimes he’d found himself backing off when the younger him would’ve rushed in and to hell with the consequences. “If that’s what’s bothering you then stop. Nothing’s going to change how I feel about you Aaron, certainly not this. It’s the best thing for our family. To be honest I’m tired of the press thinking they have a god given right to us, to our family as well.”

“That’s not going to change, at least not if I keep racing.” Maybe it wouldn’t, but he wouldn’t be in the middle of it all.

“Which you are.”

“Says you.” He fires back. Robert knew he wasn’t serious, he still loved it.

“Yeah, damn right. I’m not doing this just cos of that, being rid of them is just one of the benefits. I’m old Aaron, I feel old. I want to retire. Maybe I’ll get a veg patch or something.” Aaron snorts at that making the couple over the other side of the room look up at them. “I could get a veg patch.”

“You could. I won’t cancel our supermarket order just yet though eh?”

“Idiot.”

“You really won’t be mad that I don’t follow suit?”

“God no. I want you to go out there and break the record for the most Championships, which means you have to win at least four more before you even think about retiring.”

“You really think I can?” He shakes his head, how can Aaron still be so unsure after all these years, after being awarded countless honours.

“Absolutely. And me, and our kids will be right there when you do.” Aaron doesn’t answer and Robert doesn’t fill the silence, knowing he has to process everything his own way.

“You’re sure about this?”

“Hundred percent. It’s time.” The more times he said it, the more sure he was.

_____

That had been months ago. He’d talked to the team, his boss had been disappointed but understanding, and now it was here, his final race. It was like every other race day, in every way, except one.

It was the last time he was going to go on the drivers parade, the last time he’d line up for a national anthem, the last time he’d watch those five lights, hoping his reflexes were good enough.

He’d lost count of the number of races he’d started, he knew it was in the two hundreds and this was the last one. After this he got to go home and enjoy Christmas with his family and not think about racing ever again.

Except of course he would because Aaron would still be here, but for him it was time to say goodbye and hang up his racing boots.

He’d thought he’d be more sad, that he’d be having second thoughts. Instead he’s excited for the future. He’d already had offers, an autobiography, TV work, all sorts of stuff for sponsors and the best bit was he didn’t have to take any of them if he didn’t want to. He could just stay at home and do what he liked. He and Aaron didn’t have to worry about money, they were well off and still pretty careful with it.

He would do something, he knew he’d be bored if he didn’t in the end, but just the thought of spending quality time with the kids was enough. Maybe when Ella started school and he had more free time he would reconsider.

He looks at his watch, he should be getting out there but he was enjoying the peace. He knew as soon as he set foot outside the motorhome he’d be hounded by the press. He’d only announced his retirement the day before. Even though the team had known for months, as had most of the drivers, it hadn’t been confirmed until the previous day and the press had been trying to speak to him ever since.

He knew why, despite denials the rumours had kept on going all year, that he’d cheated, that Seb was a result of that because none of them could seemingly work out the maths, that he and Aaron were on the verge of splitting up. No matter what they’d said or did they hadn’t stopped.

Aaron had been amazing through it all, and the four of them were as happy as they could be. Seb had settled at his new school like a champ, coming home each day with tales of what they’d done, being the best big brother to Ella. He still got disappointed when they’d leave, but Chas’s idea of the map on the wall had helped a lot and each time they had to stick a pin in it so he’d know where they were. They’d already decided keep it going next year when it was just Aaron leaving.

He wasn’t sure how he’d feel when Aaron had to leave next year as much as he’d reassured him he’d be fine, when he should be going with him. It’d be odd, he’d been doing this since he was seventeen one way or another. It was going to be a hell of a change, he knew that, and he hoped he could deal with it.

“Oi. You’re late.” A voice sounds from behind him and then Aaron’s wrapping his arms around his waist, leaning his chin on Robert’s shoulder. “Paul’s doing his nut.”

“I’ve been here before.” He smiles up at him. His husband, just one more thing the sport had given him. “I was on my way.”

“Looked like it. Come on, one more chance to beat me.”

“Yeah, in a minute.” Aaron pulls away, stepping in front of him, looking worried.

“What’s up? Not having second thoughts are you?”

“No, just thinking. You know everyone thinks I’m trying to outrun the stories don’t you?”

“So what? We know the truth. Since when have you cared about the press and anyone else?”

“I don’t.” He stands up straight. “S’pose I’m just being maudlin. I’m allowed.”

“I suppose.” Aaron shivered as they walked out of the motorhome. “What the hell possessed them to hold the British GP in December?”

“What else? Money.”

“I hate this race.” Robert didn’t comment, he knew well enough why. It had bothered him the first couple of times he’d been back after his accident, but he knew Aaron still had the odd nightmare about those days after.

“I know.” He pulled him into a quick hug. There was nothing else he could say. “Stupid time of year for a race, you’re right. I’m sure there were icicles hanging off my tyres yesterday.”

“Idiot.”

“Come on then, time for me to kick your arse, for old times sake.” Aaron’s laugh echoes as they walk out hand in hand and he can’t help but think back to last year when he finally made the decision.

_____

When they reach the garage he switches to race mode, nothing else gets a look in. Aaron’s the same, if anything he’s more focussed than Robert. Ever since his injury years before he didn’t have the same single tracked mind. He supposes he’s learnt there’s more to life. It was different with Aaron, he was still at the top of the game, still won with ease, something Robert had been struggling to do for a while. He just didn’t mind quite as much as he used to.

Strangely enough, once he’d decided to quit it was like a weight lifted off him, he hadn’t realised how much it had been playing on his mind and his season had gone better than ever, in fact he was still in a shout of the title. Wouldn’t that be a fitting end to a pretty decent career? It’d shut the press up too he thought with a smile. There’d been too many headlines speculating on him being over the hill or whatever phrase was in fashion this week. Maybe he’d show them just one more time.

There’s just one problem. The same problem he’s had for nearly five years.

Aaron.

They’ve enjoyed the season, fighting it out, laughing at the press wondering just how it affected their marriage as they had since they’d got together, and now Aaron was just one point clear of him. If he won, then he’d get one more title before he retired. He found he wanted it more than he’d expected.

He’d thought he’d lost the thrill of it, but when he’s in the car one last time, it’s right there with him waiting for the lights to go out, for him to put his foot down and let destiny take its course. Aaron wouldn’t go easy on him, he knew that.

He wouldn’t want it any other way.

_____

He’s covered in champagne, Aaron taking great delight in spraying it right at him on the podium and his suit is sodden and sticking to him, and he’s freezing cold. He desperately needs a shower but there’s a line of microphones waiting for him. The adrenaline never lasts long enough to get him through it.

“One last time?” Aaron whispers, all smiles, arm thrown around him. He never would’ve thought that first time they met that he’d ever be able to do this, to walk down the pitlane like this with his husband. It felt good.

“And just think no one can do a damn thing if I tell them to take a running jump.” He smirks as Aaron throws back his head in laughter and he just knows that photo is going to be all over social media in minutes.

“Robert! How does it feel to be world champion again after so long?”

“Way to make a guy feel old there Nat. It feels great. I can retire happy now I’ve beaten him once more for old times sake.” He nods his head towards Aaron matching his smile.

“You’re still retiring? Even after that?” Someone else asks.

“Yep. Can’t wait.”

“What do you have planned?”

“I might take up gardening. Other than that, the school run. Just normal stuff.”

“And the rumours about your marriage?” He turns his head, that wasn’t one of the usual suspects, the regular reporters he grudgingly trusts, the rest he’d gladly ignore for the rest of his life.

“Do we look unhappy to you? I’ll tell you what I won’t be sad to see the back of stupid questions like that, or unfounded rumours being plastered all over the papers.” He can see Aaron watching out of the corner of his eye, his own interview forgotten. “Aaron and I are very happily married.” He looks over, sees the tiny nod. “I’m looking forward to coming back next year when I can, with our children, to support him going for another world title.”

“Speaking of Aaron, there are suggestions that he let you win today.” He’s actually speechless, just stands there gaping like a fish for a good few seconds before laughing. He and Aaron had nearly taken each other out on the track during the race until their boss had told them to knock it off. Anyone who thought Aaron let him had it easy had clearly not watched the race.

“Oh Steve…I haven’t won an argument in our house for about four years, you really think he’d let me win a race? Come on!” Everyone bursts into laughter. “And now I’m off. I guess I’ll miss you all, just a little bit.”

“I can’t believe you said that.”

“I only speak the truth.” It was true really, mostly because he and Aaron didn’t fight all that much and if they did it was usually over nothing anyway. “Was I wrong? Did you let me win?”

“No chance mate.”

“Exactly. Can we go home now?”

“I think Paul expects you to turn up to the party.”

“Paul can expect what he likes. He stopped being my boss about thirty minutes ago. I want to go home with you, cuddle Seb and Ella and sleep for about a hundred years.”

“No you just know that Adam has supplied about twenty mistletoe bushes for tonight and you don’t want to spend all night avoiding everyone so they don’t kiss you.” He’d heard his best mate and engineer telling everyone earlier in the day and had rolled his eyes. Combining the end of season with the team Christmas party was asking for trouble and that was something he was definitely too old for.

“You’re the only one who gets to kiss me under the mistletoe. Come on, who cares if we go to the party or not?”

“Our boss.”

“Your boss.” He reminded him.

“Getting me into trouble one last time yeah?” He nods. “Come on then, shower. Then we’ll go home.”

The drive home is long, although not as long as it could’ve been if they hadn’t rejigged the season, even if it was freezing.

The sight as they walk in the door is worth it driving home in the dark and cold though. Chas is watching a film, looking half asleep, glass of wine on the table, but it’s Seb and Ella that Robert sees, sprawled next to each other on the sofa, pyjamas on, replicas of their race suits that that they’d had made. They look perfect, Ella with her dark curls fanned out behind her, clutching onto her teddy and Seb, a protective arm over his sister, giraffe tucked under him. No party or world title can come close to this he thinks to himself.

“Worth missing a party for eh?” He says when Chas has hugged them both goodnight, with a promise that they’d call in for the family party the next night to celebrate his win.

“Yeah. Was still kinda hoping to get a snog under the mistletoe though.” Aaron shrugs with a smile.

“You mean like this?” He pokes about in his bag that had been dropped on the floor as soon as they stepped inside. He’d found it hanging above one of the doors in the motorhome and he’d hidden it in his bag on his way out.

Walking over to Aaron he holds it above their heads. “Merry nearly Christmas then Mr Dingle.”

“Merry nearly Christmas, Mr world champion.”

[kurutabaa]

Mistletoe Headcanons!

Including Akira/Ren, Ryuji, Ann, Haru, and Futaba!

MERRRY CHRISTMASSS~!

Or Hanukkah~!!!

I hope all of you had a good year and celebrate Christmas/Hanukkah this year. As a toast, I’ll happily write Mistletoe Headcanons for (Majority) of the Phantom Thieves! I really hope you can see the extra effort I tried to put into this, I hope you enjoy🎄🌸🌸

(This may have turned into kissing headcanons while writing, but it’s a win-win either way.)

Akira Kurusu

He is incredibly suave when it comes to kisses, so be prepared for your heart to absolutely melt because of him.

He normally wouldn’t care much about mistletoes, but with you? It’s a whole different story.

It doesn’t really matter wether or not you’re in public, he doesn’t care what other people think (To some extent) and will show his love for you anywhere you feel comfortable.

If his stats are maxed out, he will ABSOLUTELY ask you to dance.

“Would you like to dance, Treasure?”

As he interwines his hand with yours, he’ll gently spin you around and perfectly land you both under the mistletoe without missing a beat.

“Ah, it seems like we’re both under the mistletoe. Would you like to share a kiss~?”

He cups your face and presses a firm yet heartwarming kiss against your lips.

This was all in front of the Phantom Thieves, if you were wondering.

Buuuuuut never mind that! It depends if he’s feeling snarky or greedy that day, because he’ll either continue to pepper you with kisses as your face is beet red or just... Walks away, and the bastard absolutely knows you’ll come up to him wanting more.

“You’re being quite greedy, Treasure. Do you want me to shower you with some affection?”

If you’re both in his room relaxing, he’ll lean in reaaaaally close into your face and hang a mistletoe above the two of you. He likes to wait a few seconds before kissing you to see your reaction.

Making him flustered with a mistletoe usually depends on his mood! If you want to make him go weak in his knees, the best time to do it is when your initiating cuddling with him or whispering reassurance into his ear.

He’ll pull you back into the kiss, muttering sweet words as he pulls back for air.

“I love you, Treasure... I love you so much...”

“You’re the only thing I want this year...”

If you sneakily walk up to him and hang a mistletoe between you two, he’ll smirk and give you a teasing remark before giving you your well deserved kiss.

“You’re so cute, Y/N.”

The two of you can be caught off guard if Futaba randomly hangs a mistletoe above you two while chatting.

“Heeey, what are you two waiting for? Kiss, kiss!”

Akira silently cups your face with his hands and kisses you. Ah, what a charming young man~

Ryuji Sakamoto

He gets flustered just at the mention of a mistletoe. He also thinks the general idea is stupid.

“What’s the point of a mistletoe? Isn’t it just some weird thing to get people to kiss?”

But when it comes to you he reaaallly wants to score a kiss from you under the mistletoe.

Of course he wants to kiss you! But with everyone watching you two like that? Too embarrassing.

Which means you or one of the Phantom Thieves have to initiate it. Oh boy.

If you silently hold up a mistletoe above you two, he’ll stare at you confused until he looks up.

“W-What the heck are you doing with that thing?”

“I wanna kiss you, bonehead.”

“Jeez! If you wanna kiss me, you don’t have to use a stupid mistletoe.”

You found it adorable that he was so shy about kissing you, either because it was in public or that he was caught off guard. Either way, you enjoyed it~

He’s also very oblivious, you two can be standing under a mistletoe and he’ll just continue talking. In situations like that, you just have to kiss him without warning. It gives a cuter reaction, so it’s a win win!

If you keep nagging him with a mistletoe, he’ll slowly get used to it and take advantage of the fact he’ll get kisses~

“..Are you really not gonna stop bothering me with that thing?”

“Nope! Not until Christmas is over.”

“Alright, alright. Come here.”

His kisses are very cute but short! You gotta pull him back in for a longer kiss.

“Are you happy n- MMPH?!”

“Now I’m happy~”

He’s really cute when he gets upset if someone hangs a mistletoe above you two. He has a noticeable blush on his cheeks and he’ll try to avoid eye contact with you.

Who was the culprit? Futaba, of course. It’s always Futaba, heheh~

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Ryuji—“

“S-Shut up!”

After the holidays are over, he’s glad he won’t have to be pestered with a mistletoe. But he will miss the copious amounts of kisses he got from you.

Ann Takamaki

She’s confused about the concept of a mistletoe, but being a fan of romance, is totally down for it.

She’ll usually initiate to get you two under the mistletoe! Either by dragging you under one or casually lifting it up above your heads.

Since she doesn’t care wether or not people see you two being intimate, she’ll do it whenever the time calls.

You find it amusing at how smug and eager she acts whenever you’re under a mistletoe because of her.

“Oh wow, what a surprise! Looks like we’re under the mistletoe.”

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

On the other hand, she gets rather flustered if you initiate it. She’ll struggle a bit to look at you in the eye but will gladly kiss you back.

“A mistletoe..?”

“Come here, you dork.”

“Hey, can we do that one more time?”

She loves kissing you, so be prepared to be regulary swept under the mistletoe. The absolute joy on her face is so precious, please cherish her and she’ll do the same back!

If you’re both in private, she’ll be more intimate with you physically and verbally. Lingering kisses that last a few seconds longer, caressing eachothers cheeks, somber words in eachothers ears, she’s so cute~

“Mm, I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you, too.”

“I’m so lucky, you know that? If you weren’t mine, I’d want you for Christmas! Hehe!”

You can tell how much she adores you just from her kisses. Take good care of her!

She has a big smile on her face and giggles whenever you pull her back in for another kiss.

Ann enjoys to pepper you with kisses afterwards! She loves giving you affection and won’t be afraid to do so.

If you two are both surprised by a mistletoe, wether it be Akira or Futaba, she won’t have any shame and kiss you like usual.

“Ah?! You scared me! What are you doing with that?”

“What do you think I’m doing?”

Out of all of the Phantom Thieves, Akira and Ann have the best kisses.

Haru Okumura

Besides Futaba, she gets easily flustered by the thought of kissing you. But further into the relationship, she became more intimate and initiated kisses with you. Although she does still get a bit shy!

She’s such a hopeless romantic, so she would absolutely melt at the thought of you two kissing under a mistletoe!

She never knew how to bring it up to you, so she, shyly, hung a mistletoe between you two. Sometimes she’ll ask someone else to do it for her, but it’s rare.

“Oh, my. Would you look at that. I guess that means we should kiss, right?”

The shy smile she had on her face made your heart melt, to be honest.

And the way she leans in to kiss you?? It’s so adorable oh my god. Her face is so cute when she puckers her lips and closes her eyes!!

She’s a bit caught off guard when you do kiss her, even if she was expecting it. The quiet yelp makes you smile a bit.

If you two are in public, she’ll pull away after a few seconds and glance around shyly to see if anyone saw that. It’s not like she cares about her image, but someone seeing you two kiss makes her flustered.

But! In private she’s going to be a lot for intimate! She almost seems desperate at times. If you let go, she’ll immediately hug you and kiss you deeply again.

She likes feeling your body, so she’ll run her hands in your hair or caress your cheeks.

Her face is flushed when she pulls back, but she smiles at you and mutters a small “I love you.”

“You’re something money never could buy, dear.”

Being surprised with a mistletoe makes her weak in the knees. The lovesick look on her face can make any man or woman’s heart to ache.

“A mistletoe? Ah, that means..”

Haru always feels energized after you kiss her, so hearing her angelic laugh is usual.

“Hehehe! Thank you for the kiss, Y/N.”

Although she’s happy, she can’t stop feeling so flustered and embarrassed!! Haru usually has a big smile on her face while she embarrasingly covers her face with her hands.

Your heart is absolutely melted at this point, who wouldn’t want to pepper her with kisses and cuddle her afterwards??

Futaba Sakura

Although she enjoys pestering on other peoples love lifes, she has no idea what to do in her own. Heck, she’d never even knew she’d be dating someone as amazing as you. (She loves you a lot by the way, she’s just too shy to say it..)

She totally loves the idea of kissing under a mistletoe, shes seen it in anime all the time. It wouldn’t be too hard, right? Thanks to her being easily embarrassed, she’d be weong.

No way is she going to initiate it, so she’s counting on you to do it for her!

Fourtunatley, she’s easy to read. You can see her staring at the mistletoe nearby or her face flushing whenever she spots a couple kiss under it.

“Eh? What are you doing?”

“You’ll see~”

She immediately notices your dragging her ot the mistletoe and she becomes a stuttering, blushy mess.

“W-W-Wait!! Hold on! I’m not ready! W-What if I mess up and—“

“Shhhh, It’s just a kiss, dork.”

She’ll calm down if you hold her close and caress her cheeks. She always feels so calm when you give her affection.

Futaba still feels extremely embarrassed, but leans in and expects you to close the gap. It’s your choice wether you want to kiss her hard to surprise her or give her a gentle kiss.

You can almost feel her body trembling when your lips both touch. Not that she’s anxious, but oh my goodness she loves you so much that she doesn’t know how to deal with it. Anything you do to her that can be taken romantically makes her knees wobble and her cheeks flush red.

If you’re a bit taller than Futaba, you find it adorable when she leans up on her tippy toes to kiss you.

Futaba still feels embarrassed when you pull back, but loosens up immediately. Returning back to her childish attitude.

“W-Wow! That felt amazing, I-It was like I was the protagonist of a romance anime..”

“Hey, c-can we maybe do that one more time..?”

She had the dumbest smile on her face, totally lovestruck. If Akira saw her like this, she’d know she would be in for a lot of teasing. Touche.

Although she’s still flustered, she regains her fun personality and sometimes hangs up a mistletoe between you two in a teasing manner.

She expects that this time you’ll be embarrassed and she can get some sort of payback for making her so embarrassed, but it’s up to you on how you’ll react.

Futaba is still flustered even in private, but the intimacy in the kiss is very noticeable.

Dear god, start french kissing her and she’ll probably pass out. If you want to be a big tease to her, suddenly deepen the kiss and french kiss her.

She wakes up from her shock pretty fast, and begins punching you in the chest while scolding you.

“W-W-What was that for?! D-Did you really have to do that?!”

She’d rather be dead then admit this, but she liked it a lot when you did that~

Dies from embarrassment if Akira hangs a mistletoe above the both of you. She loathes that shit eating grin he has on his face, must’ve been payback for all the times shes teased him about his flowy pants.

“A-A m-mistletoe?!”

“What a coincidence, you and Y/N are both underneath it.”

“Don’t act so innocent, Akira!”

You had to chuckle at that, who wouldn’t? Besides, getting to see an upset Futaba was adorable.

As she argues with Akira, this is the perfect chance to catch her off guard and kiss her. You’ll have to thank Akira for this later.

“A-Ah.. Wait, I shouldn’t be grateful! Don’t do that again, Akira!”

As flustered she can get, she adores your kisses and would suffer through anything to get them~

Dec 25 - Happy Holidays from Susumu 🌸

[wonder-kid-pugh]

Coming Home for Christmas - (Mal Pugh x reader)

Mal loved Christmas

It was without a doubt her favourite time of the year. Every year it felt like she was 6 years old again as her excitement grew with each passing day getting closer and closer to Christmas. She just loved everything about it. The playing in the snow. Spending time with the family. Belting out the lyrics to Christmas songs. Drinking hot chocolate while snuggling up in front of the fire.

But what really made Christmas special was the people she spent it with.

One of the few downsides of being a professional soccer player is the lack of time. She spent so much of the year away from family and always training whether it be for club or the national team meant she didn't get to see her family as much as she would have liked. Not to say she regretted any of it. It was the one of the few sacrifices of being on one of the best teams in the world. No, what she regretted was the lack of time. She regretted how time seemed to slip by so easily. It just seemed to slip through her hands. She could do nothing but watch as it helpless slipped away.

But that's what made the holidays even better. She cherished the time she got to spend surrounded by her family and friends. It just made the holidays just so special no matter how stressful it was at times.

It was also a constant reminder of her relationship.

Y/n L/n has been in Mal's life since she was 6 years old. She has been there through the highs and lows of her life and her career. They had done practically everything together. Growing up she attended every single one of Mal's games and whenever she needed someone to help her practice Y/n was always there to fill whatever position was required. Y/n was Mal's first call after getting called up the National Team and you better believe your ass that Y/n was there in the front row cheering her on when she made her debut. It was only after Y/n surprised her at the game did she realised that she had fallen for her best friend.

Mallory had fallen and had fallen hard

So you can only imagine her delight when on Christmas Day 2017 after both being caught under the mistletoe together Y/n kissed her confessing how she's been harbouring feelings for the forward for a while now. Mal was so dazed by what was happening that she could only stare shocked at the poor girl leading her to believe she didn't feel the same. It was only when the girl started to stumble over her words apologizing profusely for her actions did Mal regain her senses and pull her back into a gentle kiss.

And that was the beginning of their relationship.

It also didn't hurt that it was the same day a year later that they told each other that they loved each other. Christmas for Mal was her favourite time of year for all those reasons. I mean how could you possibly hate Christmas after all that? She had everything she needed. But this year it was slightly different. She had the snow, she had the carols, she had the presents. She even had family.

But she didn't have Y/n.

See while Mal decided to join the Bruins and eventually The Spirit, Y/n enlisted in the Army. Ever since she was younger all she wanted to do was help people. She wanted to make people's lives better. She wanted to do some good in the world. So she became a medic for the Army. Running into battle to help the people who help serve and protect their country. And although it was tough they preserved. Y/n's selflessness was one of the reason she fell in love with her and as much as she hated being away from her, Mal knew that she couldn't stop Y/n from doing what she wanted to do and that was to help people.

She missed her girlfriend. But Mal knew that it wouldn't be for much longer. Y/n promised she would be here for Christmas. It was their holiday. She would never miss such and important day for the two of them. And she never breaks her promises. Which is why Mal as happy as could be answered the facetime request immediately after seeing her girlfriend's name flash on the screen.

She immediately stopped everything she was doing and smiled as she answered the facetime request. She practically squealed when she saw the image of her girlfriend who's been away from her for over a year now, "Hey Babe!" But her smile faltered when she saw Y/n give her a weak smile in return, "Hey Love". Mal scrunched up her eyebrows, "What's wrong?" Y/n sighed and bites the corner of her lip as she stares back at her long term girlfriend.

Immediately Mal knows something is wrong. Mal has known her girlfriend long enough to know that her has a habit of biting the corner of her lip when she's nervous about something.

Or something has gone terribly wrong

"What's wrong?" Mal asks as she frowns lightly at the screen. Y/n's shoulders slumped as she released a big sigh dragging her hand down her face. This did nothing to ease Mal's nerves, "Y/n?" Y/n looked sadly at the Mal as she wanted nothing more than to hug her in this moment after the disaster of a day she had today, "There was an attack on the base...".

Mal's eyes widen, "Oh my god! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She quickly shakes her head, "No! No I'm fine. Everyone's fine. A few bumps and bruises but nothing we can't handle". Mal could see Y/n look down no doubt playing with her fingers before she looked back up at her sadly, "The plane on base that was planning on bringing us home was damaged in the attack". Mal's breath hitched as Y/n continued, "It was the only plane on base at the moment and there's a storm incoming and they don't think they can get a plane here in time before it hits".

"What does that mean?" Mal asked her voice dropping to a whisper. She tried to look anywhere else but her y/e/c met Mal's brown orbs lacking their usual sparkle, "I don't think I'm going to be home for Christmas".

It was that moment that Y/n wished nothing more than to tell her it was a terrible joke. She could feel her heart break as she watched as Mal's face dropped. The smile that never failed to light up a room disappeared in a second.

And the worst of it all was the fact that there was hundreds of miles in between them stopping her from comforting the love of her life.

"I'm really sorry Love. But because of the storm they can't get another plane to get us home. And it means that they're short on medics so they need me to stay until they can get someone to replace me. I swear Mal if there was a way-" she tried to soften the blow as if it would relieve the forward in some way.

Mal could see how distraught the medic was at telling her the devastating news. She knew that she would rather give her left arm than miss Christmas at home. She knew that she was trying her best to seem okay for her because as much as Mal hated the idea of not being together for Christmas.

She knew that Y/n hated it more

"Babe?" Mal says stopping Y/n from her ramble before she went into a downward spiral. She tries to put on her most convincing smile as she looks at her through the camera, "Y/n it's okay. I-its okay really. There's nothing you can do about it. It's just really unfortunate timing". Her face softens as she looks at me sadly, "You know I'm going to do everything in my power to get back home to you as soon as possible right?" Mal smiles lightly, "I know".

It looked like she wanted to say more before her name was called sounding very urgent, "Shit Love I'm really sorry I have to go. His condition just dropped-". But I shake my head, "It's okay go save a life". She snorted at the saying her girlfriend had taken to telling her everytime she had to go away. She quickly kissed her hand putting it to the camera before quietly whispering, "I love you superstar". I smile at her softly, "I love you too Hero". She gave me one last smile before the call disconnected.

Mal sighed as she dropped her phone burying her head in her hands. The most important holiday of the year and she's missing the most important person in her life. Mal loved Christmas.

But this Christmas already seemed off to a bad start.

............

"Is everything okay Mal Pew Pew?" Sonnet asks as she dropped into the seat across from the sombre forward. Everyone noticed that the forward's mood had dropped significantly since the day before. Everyone knew how excited she got at Christmas. The already happy going forward just seemed to shine even brighter at Christmas.

So what happened between yesterday and now that made the forward do a complete 180?

"Yeah what's up? There's been something off with you since yesterday" Lindsey adds as the rest of the team listened in on the conversation. Mal just checks her phone once more only to see that there is still no new message from Y/n. The forward sighs as she runs her hand through her hair, "Y/n's base was attacked".

Everyone's eyes widen as they look at the younger player. "What? Is she okay?" Rose asks sitting up. Mal nods, "Yeah she's okay but she won't be home for Christmas". Everyone was silence. They all knew how important Christmas was for Mal and Y/n. They saw how much the two loved each other. They were the light of each others lives. And they knew how devastated they must be being away from each other at such an important time of the year.

"Awe we're sorry Mal" Christen says as she drops into the space beside the forward with Tobin right beside her as always. Mal shrugs trying to play it off, "It's okay. There's nothing we can do about it. Just really unfortunate timing". Nobody says anything knowing that nothing could make up for the loss of a love one on the holidays. All Christen did was pull the younger forward into a hug.

After all the hell that was the Corona Virus the team decided to hold a massive team celebration for the holidays. All the player's families were all going to join at the end of camp and all spend Christmas together. And while Mal was grateful she would be surrounded by so much friends and family, nothing could replace Y/n being there.

If only she knew how much Y/n was busting her ass trying to get home to her....

...........

Y/n stood back straight hands behind her back as the general looked her over. He eyed one of his top medic up and down, "Are you sure this is what you want?" But all she did was nod respectfully, "Yessir". Even though he look a bit reluctant he nodded nonetheless, "Although I don't like it". Y/n  tensed up before he continued, "I respect your decision and understand why you want to". Y/n relaxed the tiniest bit as she nodded at her superior, "Thank you sir". He starts to nod before he starts filling out some paperwork, "Go pack your bags".

Y/n scrunched her face lightly, "Sorry sir? I don't understand". He just glances up at me with a small grin, "You have a plane to catch". He looks back down going back to writing, "You better hurry. The planes going to be here soon and you need to leave soon to beat the storm". You couldn't stop the smile spreading across the young medic's face, "Thank you sir. For everything". He looks up from his paperwork, "Go home to your girl L/n". Y/n gave him one last salute before rushing out to go pack her bags. The General shook his head with a small smile. Although he hated losing his best medic he knew that where she needed to be was home.

It was the best news she had ever heard. They were somehow able to scramble a nearby charter plane to bring some troops home. Y/n being one of them. Within 15 minutes Y/n had all her belongings packed and was running towards the plane which was scheduled to lift off in 2 minutes. She had just make it into the plane as they were about to lift off. As she had got on the plane she took out the small Polaroid picture of her and Mal. She smiles as she ran her thumb over the creased photo showing just how many times she had taken this photo out. She quickly placed a gentle kiss to the precious photo before tucking it away again and instead swapping it out for her phone.

It was a long flight home but it was okay because Y/n had some major stuff to plan and it would all be worth it in the end to be able to see Mal on Christmas Day.

............

"Christ" Y/n mutters as she pulls her jacket closer to her. Being away from home for so long she almost forgot how cold it was in her home state. However the cold Colorado weather did nothing to deter the medic though as she felt a wave of warmth flood through her as she knew she was so close to seeing her family again. She was close to seeing her Mal again.

Although it seemed like the world was against her today.

It was hard enough for Y/n to find a taxi to drive her to where she needs to be. She blamed it on the heavy snow falling and the fact that most people were probably at home, all bundled up in blankets surrounded by their loved ones enjoying one of the best holidays of the year.

Exactly where Y/n should be right now

Thankfully her prayers were answered as one car pulled over and allowed her in. She quickly told the driver where she was heading before slumping against the seat. They were driving comfortably for a while and Y/n struggled to sit still in the seat.

That was until she faced her next problem

"Shit.." the driver mutters quietly but Y/n was able to hear him over the popular Christmas songs playing quietly from the radio. Y/n leans forward, "What's wrong? Why are we stopped?" The driver gave her a sympathetic, "Sorry but the snow's too heavy and is blocking the roads causing traffic. It pretty much bumper to bumper right now". Y/n sighs as he turns to her fully obviously seeing how important it was for her to get where she needs to be.

Y/n flops back against the seats, "Fuck..."

.............

"Okay time to hand out presents!" Vlatko calls out to all the families scattered around the room. Mal grudgingly gets up from playing with Marley who had been doing well from distracting the girl from missing Y/n right now to now sit beside her sister as everyone moved to the Christmas tree they had set up.

Brianna who could see how much Mal was struggling to get into the Christmas spirit without Y/n present, "You okay?" Mal plasters on a fake smile even though she knows that her sister knows just how fake it is, "I will be". Brianna doesn't say anything and instead turns to her daughter who looks at her aunt confused tilting her head, "I think Aunt Mally needs a hug right now. Don't you think Marls?"

The small girl smile and jumps into her aunt's arms never one to deny a hug. Mal chuckles lightly as she hugs the small girl back, "Thanks Marls". Marley smiles brightly as she turns so she's sitting in Mal's lap as she starts to fiddle with the forward's fingers to keep her occupied.

Mal sat and watched as people one by one exchanged gifts which lifted her spirits the tiniest bit. The team had made it their mission to help their crestfallen teammate. They had done everything and anything which came with the perfect Christmas. They had baked cookies, made gingerbread houses, sang Christmas carols, built snowmen, everything. Which Mal appreciated very much as it relieved the ache in her heart slightly.

And before she knew it, it was her turn to pick presents. "Want to help me open my presents?" Mal asked the little girl in her lap who nodded enthusiastically. But just as they started tearing into the first present the door burst open.

Mal's face scrunched up as she heard her teammates gasp looking at something behind her. She shifts around turning to see how has her teammates attention. But her eyes widened as she saw who stood behind her staring straight at her.

Because there stood Y/n L/n

Brianna was the first to recover as she moved her daughter out of her sisters lap and into hers. At this Mal scrambled to her feet and ran into Y/n who had her arms open waiting for her. "Your here" Mal cried out into her shoulder as she clutched onto her for dear life, "your really here".

Y/n had never felt more complete in her life as she wrapped her arms around the girl she so desperately loved, "I'm here Love. I'm home". Hearing this Mal pulled back and kissed Y/n harder than she ever had before. In any other moment they would have been mindful that they were in a room filled with the family and friends but all that mattered in that moment was each other. After being away from each other for just over a year, all they cared about was that they were back in each others arms.

Once they separated Mal looked into Y/n's eyes as both their eyes started to water, "But how? I thought-you said you couldn't-". Mal just couldn't get the words out but Y/n chuckled, "Did you really think I wouldn't move heaven and earth to make it back to you for Christmas?" Mal laughs but as she wrapped her hand around her neck and Y/n held her face in her hands she flinched lightly, "Why are you so cold?"

Y/n looked a bit sheepish as she gave her a small smile and her cheeks flushed but Mal could tell whether it was from the cold or her question, "Well I was in a rush and I didn't get time to change. And then we got stuck in traffic and then the taxi broke down. So I kinda ended up running here".

Mal pulled back a bit shocked, "You ran here? Babe it's snowing outside!" "Oh trust me I know" Y/n laughed making her girlfriend shake her head at her in disbelief. "Beside" Y/n grinned, "it's not the first time I ran through a snow storm to tell you I loved you". Mal smiles at the memory of how when they first said that special 4 letter word with Y/n almost killing herself in the process as she ran through a snowstorm to Mal's house to tell her before Mal could even get a blanket around her to warm her up.

"Your so stupid" Mal mumbles as she brushes from snow out of Y/n's hair. But that doesn't stop the massive face splitting smile from spreading across Y/n's face, "I love you too". Mal smiles as she presses another kiss to her girlfriend's lips, "I love you more than anything in the world".

Mal took her girlfriend's hand and dragged her towards their friends and family, "Cmon let's get you warmed up". But they didn't make it far before something collided with Y/n's legs, "Y/n!" Y/n smiles as she picked up the small girl in her arms, "Hey Marls". The small girl tucked herself into the crook of Y/n's neck and she wrapped her arms around her neck in a tight hug, "I missed you". Y/n just kissed her head and hugged her back gently, "I missed you too Marley". "Not as much as me" Mal said quietly leaning into the medic's side causing her to wrap her arm around the soccer player.

After greeting her family and friends from her long time abroad she found her place right beside Mal as they resumed opening Mal's presents. The two were making sure that they were always touching in some sort of way as Marley help the two open Mal's presents. Once Mal opened her last present Y/n gave her a small smile, "I'm sorry I don't have a present for you..." But Mal simple shakes her head intertwining their fingers, "The greatest gift I could ever receive is having you home for Christmas".

Y/n smile brightly, "Well that's good because..." Mal frowns as Y/n detaches theirs and stands up in front of her for a second. But that all changes when Y/n bends onto her knee.

There was a pin drop silence as everyone watched in awe as Y/n pulled out a small box smiling at the forward who's eyes started to water once more with her hand clasped tightly in front of her mouth.

"Mallory Pugh" she starts, "you have been an essential part of my life since I was 6 years old. I couldn't possibly imagine my life without you there. Through the highs and lows, through the best and worst of times we have been there for each other. And the thought of not being home for Christmas with you made me realize something". She takes a deep breath as she sees tears stream down Mal's face, "I don't ever want to worry about missing another Christmas with you. I want to be home for every Christmas for the rest of our lives. I want to be there cheering you on at every match. I want to be the one you come home to and argue about with one of us do the dishes". Everyone laughs while Mal snorts remembering all the playfully arguements they have over who's turn it is to do the dishes only to end up doing them together in the end.

"I want to start a family with you. I want to give you all the things I promised you if you'll let me. So..". She opened the small box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring, "Will you, Mallory Diane Pugh, make me the happiest person alive and marry me?"

Mal doesn't even say anything and instead flings herself into Y/n's arms. The force of which sends the two of them toppling to the ground. But Y/n barely had anytime to recover as Mal smashed her lips against hers. They were vaguely aware that everyone else was cheering like mad for the young couple. When Mal finally broke the kiss, the two of them gasping for air, Mal nods frantically, "Yes. Yes! I will marry you". Y/n smiled before bringing her into another kiss.

As Y/n lifted them up off the ground they were immediately swarmed by their family. "It's about time!" Horace laughs as he hugs Y/n. Mal's eyes widen, "You knew?!" He shrugged sending a wink at the medic, "She's had our blessing since you were 18". Mal looked at Y/n who blushed, "I asked ages ago but I wanted to wait a little longer until we were both stable". Mal nods and interlocks their fingers kissing her cheek.

"So how long do we have you for?" Rose asked after looking at the ring perched on her friend's finger. Mal's smile falters slightly as she looks to her now fiancée. But Y/n smiles brightly down at her soon to be wife, "How about forever?"

Now this catches everyone's attention

"What?" Mal breathes out. Y/n smiles, "As of today I have been honourably discharged from service". Mal jumps up again wrapping her arms and legs around her, "Your staying?" Y/n nods kissing Mal's temple, "Forever Love. I'm staying forever".

Once again everyone smiles the young couple as Vlatko smiles, "I guess now is a good time to introduce our teams new addition to the medical staff". Everyone turns to Y/n who smiles. All the youngsters plus Kelley jump on top of Y/n and start cheering. "I'll also be taking over diets and fitness training alongside Dawn so I don't know if you'll be cheering for much longer" Y/n laughs.

Once everything gets back on track, Mal takes residences in Y/n's lap as they move onto Tobin's gifts. "I love you so much Superstar" Y/n whispers in Mal's ear as Tobin unwraps a new skateboard from Ash. "I love you too Hero" she whispers back. Y/n presses a kiss to Mal's shoulder as she wraps her arms around the smaller girls waist. This had to have been the happiest moment of their life so far. Nothing could top this not even winning a World Cup. But what did you expect.

They both loved each other more than they love Christmas

Hey guys!!! First off Merry Christmas or happy holidays!!! (Whichever). I wrote this a few days ago in the build up to Christmas and I hoped you enjoyed it. Christmas has always been a special time for me so I hope this brought you a little joy whether you celebrate the holiday or not. Even though it's been quite strange this year I hope you enjoy the day and get to spend it with the people you love. Anyways I hope you enjoyed. Once again Merry Christmas and until next time, bye!!!

[allsassnoclass]

A Summary of my Ficmas 2021

read under the cut to find a few of my thoughts, milestones, and possibilities of ficmas next year

so! ficmas 2021!  what a wild ride this was.  at the beginning of november, I posted a list of prompts and let people send one in.  i got a total of 9, which meant i had three free spaces where i could make up the fic plot.  i wanted to begin with a bang and fake dating (like i did last year), and i wanted to write a new year’s/new year’s eve fic (also like i did last time), which left one other spot open for whatever i needed/wanted at the time.

This ficmas consisted of 59,214 words posted over the course of 12 days, which is!!!! a lot of words in a short amount of time!!!! especially considering that by the time christmas hit, i had written if we make it through december, 600 words of the coffee shop cashton, 2k of the 5+1 muke, and the cake fic (which i had recycled from an old prompt from a year ago) despite my best efforts to work ahead this year.  that means that there were a lot of words written as the event progressed.  it’s a marathon, folks.

this ficmas also is notable for a few milestones and firsts for me, including:

my longest fic to-date at 28k

my third fake dating fic

my first mirry posted on ao3

my first zouis fic

my first lilo fic

my first cake fic posted on ao3

compared to last year, i wrote more overall and started off pretty strong with a fic that i’m very proud of.  i wrote if we make it through december over the course of november, which meant i was able to give it time to exist before i edited it and didn’t feel rushed with posting it, which set a better tone for ficmas overall.  however, i seriously struggled last night specifically, and given that i had work some days instead of being on break like i was last ficmas it was a challenge to finish the fics on time.  I’m also very happy that I was able to post 9 different pairings and 1 ot4 friendship fic! versatility!  cashton is actually my most-represented pairing in this ficmas set, with two fics where they’re the main pairing and two fics where they’re in the background.  for someone who hasn’t actually written much cashton, that was a pleasant surprise!

so, what does this mean for ficmas next year?  i’m not sure! lots of things could change between now and next year, but there are pros and cons that i’ve already been considering.

on one hand, i like accomplishing a goal, and ficmas gets me to write pairings that i otherwise wouldn’t/haven’t.  i also get a lot of instant validation out of it (although the statistic validation (comments/kudos/hits) definitely takes a big nosedive in the second half of ficmas.  either way, i kept all my ficmas comments as unread on ao3 and there’s quite a few of them lol).

on the other hand, i’ve written 24 christmas/winter/new year’s fics by now, which is quite a lot. i’m running out of ideas and titles!  i have a few ideas that i could still use, but i also don’t want to get repetitive.  i also generally hate coming up with titles, so doing 12 in a row is very difficult, and i already ran into a problem where a fic i wrote for this ficmas fit a title from last ficmas better than that original fic did.  there’s only so many generic phrases about christmas or cold or ice or mistletoe that you can use before it starts getting repetative.

so, who knows what will happen next year! i might do ficmas as you know it again (except i’d definitely start writing earlier to be better prepared and have less pressure during the actual event), but i’m also brainstorming other ideas (like possibly a chaptered fic posted during advent, or simply only posting 6 fics instead of 12).

until then, my ficmas 2020 and ficmas 2021 fics can be found here and here on tumblr or here and here on ao3 in case anyone missed them!

[malfoys-demigod]

Mistletoe

Draco Malfoy x Reader 

Summary: After 5 years in America, the reader comes back home to enjoy a party hosted by the Potters/Weasleys and maybe... a mistletoe surprise?

A/N: Merry Christmas, everyone! I’ve been busy but I’ve also been wanting to do a Draco fic. Enjoy and happy holidays (whichever event you celebrate!) It’s not the best but I hope you like it. 

Word Count: 1.7k

Taglist @the--queen-of-hell @bbeauttyybbx

“Would you like a cup of tea with your frosted cupcake, madam?” asked the house elf. 

She shook her head, smiling politely, “I’d love a fresh cup of joe instead, thank you.”

The elf tilted his head, narrowing his confused eyes, “Pardon me, madam, but what exactly is a cup of joe?” 

Embarrassment started filling up the oxygen she was breathing as her eyes started growing bigger with realization that the term was not widely known in British soils. She chuckled to herself awkwardly, “Oh-”

“It’s a fresh cup of coffee, Hokey,” a voice from behind said, “I believe it’s an American saying.”

Hokey nodded, going back to his work as he started brewing Y/N’s coffee. While this was going on, she turned around, to meet the owner of the voice from behind. It turned out to be Draco Lucius Malfoy, who seemed to be casually smirking, placing both his hands on the pockets of his trousers, looking at her from top to bottom. 

“Well, well, well,” he happily said, “If it isn’t Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Hello to you too, Draco Malfoy,” she nonchalantly greeted him, copying his gesture of calling you by her first and last name. “And how were you aware of this American slang?” she asked, crossing your arms. 

Draco’s smirk only got wider, when he took her cupcake, getting a small, smooth bite from it. “And why should I tell you?”

“Because I’d like to thank you, for saving me from utter embarrassment with my American customs.” she lied, as she just wanted to know how he could translate such an American saying for it was different in England. 

Draco leaned in, seeming as if he was actually going to tell her. She peered in as he said, “I have a better way for you to thank me.” Her utter disappointment in his reply resulted in her leaning back, slapping his arm forcefully. “Douche,” she muttered. As Draco winced in pain, laughing lightly, she took her coffee and made a bee-line to the other side of the room. 

She found familiar faces such as the hosts, Ginny and Harry Potter, with their best friends, Hermione and Ron Weasley. A wave of relief flushed on her face as she walked straight to them. “Hello, everyone,” she greeted relievingly. 

The group turned to Y/N, hugging her out, as they smiled at her merrily. “Enjoying the party, Y/N? It’s probably not the same as you do it in America, but it’s lovely, ain’t it?” Ron asked politely. 

“Nothing beats a traditional English party like having English turkey on Christmas Day, Ron.” she confidently replied, cheering her coffee mug with his. “Although I thought there would be more gentlemen in this part of the world.” she muttered loudly, giving them a confused face. 

“What exactly do you mean by that, Y/N?” Harry asked. 

Y/N shook her body, gesturing that she was shaking off bad vibes from her system. “Nothing much, only that Malfoy came up to me just a few minutes ago. Same old flirt to all, am I right?” 

There was a mix of emotional replies from the group, causing Y/N to get puzzled. Harry and Ron shook their heads at each other, smiling cheekily while Hermione and Ginny let out a small laugh with each other. 

Y/N narrowed her eyebrows, “I don’t understand. Is it really that funny?”

“Heavens no,” Hermione said, “You’re wrong, Y/N!” 

“Wrong?” the staggered girl asked, “What do you mean?”

“Go on, Harry,” Ron prompted his best friend, “Tell her!”

Harry nodded, looking at you, smiling cheerfully, “Ever since you’ve left for America, Draco slightly changed.”

You walked forward, interested in what Harry was saying, “Uh-huh, go on, Potter.”

“Well, he hasn’t been the same old flirt to many ever since YOU left.” Harry grinned. 

Despite not understanding what they were trying to tell her, she nodded confusingly, “Right,” she said, “Did something happen to him? Did he lose his memory? His charisma? Because earlier he seemed quite-”

“Goodness, Y/N!” Hermione exclaimed tiredly, “How could you possibly not get it?”

“Get what?” Y/N asked, surprised at Hermione’s tone of voice. 

“Can’t you tell that the reason he hasn’t been the same old flirst was because he only had eyes for you?” Ginny questioned her. 

“Catching a job in MACUSA meant catching an American boy from his point of view too,” Harry backed Ginny up. 

“You do have an American suitor, or not, Y/N?” Ron asked curiously. 

The flooding of information got Y/N to shake her head madly, as she waved off everything with her hands. “Not that I know of,” she teased lightly. Although, she wanted to go back to the topic the others seemed to be serious about. “But could you elaborate more on what you were talking about?” she asked, looking back at the rest. 

Hermione, tired of this play, rolled her eyes, “He’s only had eyes for you Y/N!” 

Y/N shook her head lightly with denial, “That’s absurd,” she chuckled lightly to herself, “That can’t be right.”

“How so?” Harry wondered. 

“I-I just never caught any visible signs,” she shrugged, her tone going higher. “He usually teased and flirted but I never really thought it would lead to any signs. And when he asked me to the Yule Ball? I thought he was joking!”

“That was bloody embarrassing on his end. Going with Parkinson while she went with who’s-his-face.” Ron muttered to Harry, who seemed to nod in agreement. 

Ginny shook her head, grinning at Y/N’s blind self, “Oh, Y/N, the things you made Malfoy go through.” Like a light-bulb that sparked on top of her head, she immediately grinned more, looking at Y/N. “Y/N, have you ever fancied him? You can’t just go around, letting him tease and flirt with you all those years without feeling something, right?”

Y/N looked down at the ground, quickly contemplating on her answer. She gulped, looking back up at the whole group, Ginny in particular. “Well, perhaps once or twice. But I always thought that it the idea of him and I wouldn’t happen. So, I never really went on about feeling something towards him.” 

“Well, we’re really glad you haven’t found yourself an American suitor during your five years at MACUSA. Malfoy’s changed, in a good way, and you two deserve each other.” Ron stated proudly. 

“Yeah?” Y/N asked, causing herself to smile. 

“Yeah,” Harry said, as the rest nodded. “You should probably head back to him. He’s by the drinks booth.” he nodded, motioning Y/N to turn and check that Draco was exactly where she left him. 

Y/N took a deep breath and started making her way back to Hokey’s booth, passing through the wave of many other familiar faces, who were filling up the whole floor. Draco was quietly drinking something from his cup, facing Hokey, who seemed to be busy to even bother ask if Draco wanted a refill of his drink. 

“Two glasses of your best champagne please, Hokey.” Y/N announced herself, leaning at the bar. This caught Draco’s attention, as his face was now livelier since Y/N was back. It was her turn to start the conversation with Draco, although he was quicker in terms of opening his mouth. 

“So,” he spoke, “I see you’re having a grand time but are you sure you can drink two glasses at once?” 

“I can’t,” she chuckled, “That’s why the other one is for you.” she reached for the glass Hokey served, giving it to Draco, who muttered a small thanks. 

“Also, I realized something.” she pointed out. 

“And what is that, dear Y/N?” he asked casually, looking at Y/N with such fascination. 

Y/N gulped quickly, knowing it was now or never. “Well I realized I was rude during our first encounter earlier.” 

“Rude?” he wondered, but chuckling. 

“Well yes!” she justified herself, “It’s highly assumptious that you were expressing a crude joke, which is something that you normally express and since I haven’t been used to that in sometime since I was in America, I may or may not have taken it in lightly and I called you a douche which I’m quite sorry-”

“Hang on, darling, take a breather first, you’re rambling.” Draco stopped her, placing his hands on her shoulders with a confused smile. 

Y/N stopped as requested, looking at him with a tilted, uneasy head. 

Draco continued the minute he saw that she was cooling down. “Right,” he said, “Crude joke?” he highlighted the phrase she was rambling about. 

Y/N slowly nodded with a raised eyebrow. 

“I honestly don’t see what’s so crude about a mistletoe opportunity.” he thought, shaking his head. 

Y/N shook her head as well, but in confusion. “M-mistletoe opportunity?” 

“Yeah,” he laughed, pointing up at the ceiling. 

Y/N nervously looked up to see a hanging mistletoe, shining above the two. Hearing a small chuckle from Draco, she looked back at him, chuckling embarrassing as she stroked her hair. “Oh.” she said. “Draco I’m-”

Her apology was interrupted when Draco placed his hands on Y/N’s face, cupping her cheeks as he pulled in for a deep, passionate kiss as he took advantage of the mistletoe moment. 

Y/N’s uneasy figure started relaxing as she started kissing Draco back, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. 

Draco pulled back, grinning politely, looking at her soft, sweet eyes. “Thank goodness for the mistletoe or I wouldn’t have had the chance to do that.” 

“What a shame you couldn’t have planted one in our Hogwarts years while you were immensely head over heels for me as an adolescent.” she smirked, looking at his now-red cheeks. 

He looked down, smiling still, but shyly. “It’s a shame you couldn’t see how head over heels I was as an adolescent.” he chuckled, “I take it either the Weasley’s or Potter’s have told you?” he looked at her. 

Y/N nodded, giggling. “I guess it was never too late, right?” 

“Never.” he agreed, brushing back a strand of her hair back into the back of her ear. 

Y/N placed her hand on Draco’s forearm, which he brought down for her, now holding his hand. She looked down at his hand, squeezing it tight. When she looked up, she smiled. “Happy holiday’s, Draco.” 

“Happy holiday’s, Y/N and welcome back home. I missed you dearly.” he greeted, placing a kiss on her forehead. 

[dcforts]

[day 12: the one with the dancing + day 16: family]

The bunker is quiet.

Even the giggling from the girls’ room has stopped.

Cas starts the last dishwasher and sighs. They did it.

His back hurts, his feet are heavy and his neck is stiff, and now he thinks that conveniently falling asleep on the couch right before the end of the night was nothing but a strategy on Sam’s part. He should have done the same.

Sure, everyone had volunteered to help, but Dean had been resolute and unwavering. They all had a long journey and they needed the rest, there was no way he’d let them lift a finger in his kitchen.

A Winchester treat package, Christmas edition.

Even when Jody had stayed behind and insisted, Dean hadn’t wanted to hear it.

“Is not cooking, decorating and serving enough?”

“We invited you for the whole deal Jody,” Dean had said, physically blocking her from entering the kitchen. “Go to bed. We got it,” and he’d said it with such convinction that Jody could only shake her head and relent. 

“Fine,” she’d said, shoving a finger in his face, “but I’m never again letting you doing my dishes when you come over.”

Dean had just huffed a laugh and taken the last dirty plate from her hands.

Cas was already in the kitchen at that point, sorting through leftovers and empty bottles.

That was – Cas doesn’t know how long ago. It’s been a while since he’s checked a clock.

But he knows Dean is throwing out the last of the trash and the kitchen is clean and ready to be stained again. So he feels like they did it.

He goes back to the main rooms for a quick check to see if they missed anything, and he ends up stepping on a piece of wrapping paper and tape that starts squeaking at every step. He sighs, walks to the nearest chair and lets himself sink into it.

He peels off the piece of paper, but then he can’t bring himself to get up again.

He’ll just be a minute, he tells himself, just to get his back some respite. He’ll get up when he’ll hear Dean come back.

He props an elbow on the armrest and his head on his hand and wonders if he can hear the dishwasher beep from there.

He had no idea that holidays could be so exhausting.

Barely sleeping in anticipation of all the things that had to be done, working tiredlessly in tidying up and preparing for guests, last minute shopping, wrapping, cooking.

And then, having everyone around all the time, talking and laughing. From the moment the girls from Sioux Falls had invaded the bunker that afternoon, Cas is pretty sure he hasn’t had a single moment alone. Even when he’d gone to the bathroom at one point, Garth had followed him to get him to hold little Cas for a picture.

And that’s not to mention: keeping everyone out of the kitchen, setting up board games, save Claire from choking with laughter watching Donna and Dean singing and air guitaring to their own rock version of Jingle Bell Rock, alchool spilling, gifts opening, “Please don’t read that book out loud, there could be a deadly spell in there”.

And after dinner, directing everyone to their assigned bedroom, keeping them there, taking care of who needed extra blankets, who wanted extra pillows, teethbrushes, slippers, babies crying and drunken giggles.

Complete, utter chaos.

But now sitting there, in the quiet room and with the Christmas tree twinkling a few feet away, Cas thinks: a really good day.

He so wishes he was already tucked under the covers in an horizontal position, though.

A sound startles him from his thoughts. Dean takes the steps to the library in one jump. “Hey, all done?” he asks, and doesn’t sound at all like someone who’s been up since dawn.

“Dishwasher,” Cas says, stifling a yawn.

Dean stands a few feet from him and smiles fondly, “You can go if you want. I can handle it.”

His tone is charming and lively and Cas can’t possibly understand how he has any energy left when he can barely keep his eyes open.

Still, he shakes his head, “You can go if you want. I’ll stay up. You’ve done more than anyone else.”

“Alright, we’ll both stay up then,” settles it Dean, “Are you gonna fall asleep on that chair?”

“Mh,” says Cas who’s actually amazed at how incredibly comfortable his own hand is.

He hears Dean walking around him.

“How much longer for the dishwasher?”

“No idea.”

“Let’s say four minutes, uh?”

What he says doesn’t make any sense to Cas, not until sweet and soulful music starts filling the air around him.

Dean comes back into his space and when Cas blinks his eyes open, there’s a hand in front of him, palm up, in offering.

“Come on.”

“Dean,” he groans, but he’s already accepting it and letting himself be pulled up.

“I’m doing this so that you don’t fall asleep,” Dean says, his voice low, walking backward and dragging him along until they are in a clear space.

“I’ll just fall asleep on your shoulder.”

Dean stops and their chest touch. “I’ll allow it.”

Chestnut roasting on an open fire, sings the record and Cas drops his head on Dean’s shoulder and circles his waist. He closes his eyes and it feels like losing touch with reality a bit – he lets himself fall and fall into the warmth of his body, the smell of food on his clothes, the strong grip of his hand. Dean is solid and perfect and makes him feel lighter and Cas is much more comfortable than he was a second ago.

“We’re supposed to be moving, Cas, you’re just hugging me,” comes Dean’s amused voice from someplace around his ear.

Cas sighs but slowly starts swaying to the rhythm of the record as it sings, Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe, help to make the season bright.

“Do you think they’ll be up early?” Cas asks, mouth pressed against Dean’s sweater.

“Yeah. But we’ll have Sam sort out breakfast.”

“We need to lock the door.”

Dean lets out a laugh and raises a hand to stroke his hair. “Come on, it hasn’t been that bad.”

As he laughs his whole chest vibrates and his muscles shift, and Cas, pressed against him, starts to feel more alive. It’s all Dean, he knows - it’s the life and light he contains. It’s always been like that with him.

“Well, now I’m feeling much better,” he says and he means it.

“Yeah? Wanna go again from the start?”

Cas pulls back a little to look at him. This close, he can see clearly the bags under his eyes, but also the way they still sparkle, “Are you actually serious? You’d do that?”

Dean shrugs and leans in for a quick kiss before saying, “Sure.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Yeah, but - more happy than tired.”

“And you’d do it - all over again? Even the part when I dropped the tray with the starters?”

“Yep.”

“Even when Charlie spilled sauce on Bobby, when Garth told that superlong story about his kids? Even when we caught Sam and Eileen making out in the bathroom and then there was that big fight over charades?”

“A thousand times,” he says, and he buries his face into Cas’ hair, “if it means I get to be with the whole family and you, at the end of it all.”

“Well, you’re very sweet, really. But I’d rather we just disappear until New Year’s.”

Dean laughs again, “I’m not the one who promised Claire a foosball rematch.”

Cas lets out a pained sigh and shifts to press his lips against Dean’s neck , “I’d forgotten about that. Why did you let me do it?”

“Cause you love it.”

They fall quiet as the record takes a breath and starts singing again, And so I’m offering a simple phrase, to kids from one to ninety-two.

Cas starts kissing a trail up the side of Dean’s neck.

“Mh,” says Dean swallowing, his voice suddenly raspy, “alright, we’re locking the door.”

Although it’s been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you, sings the record.

They let it sing.

The dishwasher beeps. They don’t hear it.

joining @bend-me-shape-me in doing this!

The Christmas Song sang by Nat King Cole

[darter-blue]

For my Christmas prompt challenge with @martelldoran and @kalee60

Prompt: Mistletoe

Find it here on ao3

Bucky is not having the best time.

Objectively, looking back at some of his past experiences, this should be a cake walk. He can catalogue the following as evidence: He is not tied down. He is not under duress. He is not fighting for air. He does not have any kind of electrode, or electrical device strapped to or near his body. He is not being put into cryogenic storage. He has not been given a gun, a knife, and a mission to use those weapons to hurt, maim or kill.

He is not being hurt, maimed or killed.

And the big one, the kicker; he is not alone.

But. Therein lies the problem.

It’s true that Bucky craves company, the warmth of a body close by, the comforting sound of someone else's breathing, the weight of their presence in a room. But he can only handle one or two people at the best of times. At the worst of times, well, he can barely handle himself, it’s no good for anyone else to be near him.

And this, right now - well there have to be close to a hundred people in this room.

Admittedly it's a large room. Of course it is, it's Tony's tower. The room is open to the entire space of this floor, and split level. But still. It's loud and it's crowded, and the exits are compromised, and Bucky hates it. He hates it.

And Steve. Steve isn't here yet. He was supposed to be here an hour ago. He was supposed to be here to make an appearance, to be a team player, smile happily and accept Christmas gifts and drink the spiced wine and then rescue his old friend Bucky from the smothering effect of too many people and not enough air.

But he's not here. He's stuck at a press event for the Avengers, and has sent Bucky a text to say that he would be there soon, to please wait for him, that it had been too long since he's seen him and also he needs a good excuse to get out of the party early.

What better excuse is there than a broken down ex-assassin with proximity issues and a desperate need to get home to his (too) quiet, park slope apartment.

So. Bucky is stuck until Steve arrives.

He managed to get here on his own, though, so at least he can tick that box off his recovery list. Today he performed grown-up-human-being tasks. He has made polite conversation with people he doesn't know well enough to panic on, he's managed to keep down three out of three of the hors d'oeuvres he's picked from passing plates, and he's managed not to slip into staring his murder glare at anyone, not to scare the shit out of Tony's guests, or the wait staff, or the other Avengers. So he will be patting himself on the back tonight, perhaps he can look back and see the pain as being worth the sense of accomplishment.

Bucky is especially proud that he's managed to dress festively, as requested, in a dark green knitted sweater covered in tiny reindeer, a red knit cap to keep his head warm and red and white Christmas mittens that, despite his compulsion to do otherwise, he removed upon entering. Shortly before he sat down at the couch he quietly pulled into this corner. They are sitting next to him, folded, on the coffee table. Next to his eggnog and the helmet for his motorcycle.

Natasha has been swinging by his spot every twenty minutes to gauge his emotional state, and each time she looks more ready to pull him up and force him to mingle. So far Bucky’s face has persuaded her to avoid the inclination.

Someone finally does collapse into the seat next to him, but it's not Nat and it's not Steve. It's the kid, Wanda, with her long auburn hair and her big eyes and her haunted expression.

'Is it okay if I sit here?' she asks, looking over at Bucky, perched on the end of the cushion like she's ready to jump up at the slightest sign that Bucky doesn't want her there.

And though he’s terrible at talking to people (he remembers fleetingly, that he was good at it once) he can’t deny that the proximity, the rhythmic sound of her breathing, the heartbeat Bucky's enhanced ears can hear, nice and steady; it all serves as a balm for the excessive number of people shouting and laughing and eating around him.

'Sure, you can sit there,' Bucky answers, flicking his eyes up and down Wanda's outfit. Green, red and white striped stockings with a short red pinafore dress over a green long sleeved t-shirt. 'I like your outfit. Festive.'

'Oh,' she says, looking down at herself, 'Yes, well. This is my first ever Christmas, so I'm taking it very seriously.'

'Ah,' Bucky says, not wanting to poke too hard at the subject, lest she not wish to open up, 'It's my first Christmas for the last seventy years or so. I went a bit overboard with festive as well.'

'Are you holding up okay?' Wanda asks, a lilt to her accent, her head cocked slightly to one side. 'Did you need anything?'

'I'm okay,' Bucky lies, 'I'm just… laying low.'

'I can see that, ' Wanda smiles as she looks over the couch he stole away to hide on, 'But it's good that you're here.'

'Thanks, kid,' and he means it. There's few people in the world who can understand what it's like to live in Bucky's head. He's lucky that two of them happen to be here tonight, keeping an eye on him.

And of course now that Bucky has found someone to talk to, Steve finally arrives. When the way Bucky's eyes will seek him out, will track him, is made even more obvious by the fact that it stops him mid conversation. And though he's conscious that Wanda is watching him, Bucky can't help the laugh that escapes him at the sight of Steve in his "festive" outfit.

He has put zero thought into it, it's just his regular outfit, blue jeans and a too tight blue dress shirt, but with the addition of a headband with some kind of green and red decoration fastened to a wire, standing straight up over Steve's head.

And Bucky would be excusing himself to get up and go over to him, only it seems like suddenly every other guest at the party has had the same idea. Bucky knows that Steve is a favourite, that people flock to him. Bucky is well acquainted with the particular brand of magnetism that Steve has possessed his entire life. But this is different.

Every new person that greets Steve is reaching up to kiss him. Most people are pressing rosy Cheeks to Steve's and planting a kiss there. But every so often someone will bypass Steve's offered cheek and press their lips to his lips. Lips plump and pink and now accosted. Lips that Bucky has been staring at since Steve walked in the door. Lips that he's always had trouble looking away from.

But Bucky’s indecision is a moot point now. Steve has spotted him tucked away in the corner with Wanda and smiles. He says something low and serious to Sam, on Steve’s right, their heads bent forward and their shoulders touching. And then Steve laughs and looks up, claps Sam on the shoulder and makes a beeline for Bucky. Scattering people as he wades through them, singular target now in sight.

He gets three feet from Bucky and then pauses. Standing straight and looming over Bucky and Wanda. Looking between the two of them nervously.

'Hey Buck, sorry I'm so late.'

'It's no problem, Steve,’ Bucky says, nervous by proxy, ‘Wanda's been keeping me company.'

'That’s good, you look good. I love the sweater, where did you find it? Have you been shopping?'

Bucky has to admit, this level of nervousness is unusual even for Steve. 'No I made this,' he says, pulling at the knit, ‘I’ve been knitting as part of my therapy.’

'You made that, Buck?' Steve asks, strange half smile on his face.

'Yeah… it's a work in progress.' He dropped a few stitches, it's a little uneven at the neckline, but it fits and it's warm, so Bucky is happy with it.

'No, I love it.'

And Bucky doesn't like the fluttery feeling those words set off in his stomach. He tries to deflect. 'What about you?' Bucky asks.

'What about me?'

'What's with this terrible excuse for a festive outfit, some holly or whatever over your head?'

'Oh you mean the mistletoe?' And Steve eyes are darting away from Bucky, his feet are scuffing the ground.

'Ah,' Bucky says, suddenly understanding the rush to get to Steve so they could kiss him, 'You did that on purpose?' He only asks, because normally Steve hates to be kissed, or touched, or be the center of attention. Also it's fun to watch Steve blush. Always has been.

'Well, I mean. yes. It's festive! I ran out of time to implement my first plan, this was a back up.' Steve is getting more flustered with every word.

'It's cute,’ Bucky says, making light of it, worried Steve might spontaneously combust with this sudden onset of nerves, ‘And there are people lining up over there to actually kiss you. Seems like a good plan...'

'I didn't really... I mean I didn't want...' Steve can’t seem to find the words he's looking for, and Wanda looks between the two of them and stands up from her chair.

'I have to go find Maria, come and say goodbye to me before you head off, okay Bucky?' Wanda asks, already backing away from where Steve and Bucky are speaking.

'I will,' Bucky calls out after her, and she salutes him sloppily before turning away.

'Sweet kid,' Bucky says, looking up at Steve, 'So sorry, what's with the "kiss me" sign that you've decided to dress in for this party?'

'It's not a- Listen I hadn't exactly thought this through, okay?'

'Sure, that sounds just like you,' Bucky says with a laugh.

'I just wanted, I just thought, it might be nice to have an excuse to-' Steve cuts himself off by closing his mouth with a snap.

'An excuse to kiss somebody?' Bucky asks. And this time the laugh is fake. Because Bucky doesn't want to know who Steve has his eye on. Who Steve wants an excuse to kiss at this party. Stark knows a lot of pretty people. Although for a moment Bucky is frozen by the idea that it might be Sam. The two of them are close in a way that makes Bucky's heart hurt a little. But that's not his job any more. It's not his spot. He's not Captain America's right hand man. He doesn't have Steve's six. Sam has that now.

God he hopes it's not Sam.

(He likes Sam, he does, but he can’t ignore Sam. He would have front row seats to watch the whole thing unfold).

Whoever it is, Steve has gone bright red. It shouldn't be so fucking gorgeous, the red flush that creeps up into his cheeks, that spreads down his neck, out to his ears. His few freckles stand out starker against the flush and he looks younger. More innocent. More like the Stevie that Bucky still has patchy memories of, from before the war. Before Steve got big.

'G-ah,' Steve starts with a strangled cough, 'No it's... Well I mean yes but I...' Steve looks around, scanning the room and his eyes land back on Bucky, wide and terrified.

'Are they here, Steve?'

And Steve nods slowly, reluctantly.

'Do you need me to go with you?' He asks, like maybe Steve needs a wingman. Though god knows, from what Bucky remembers, he was never very good at it in the past (which was potentially deliberate on Bucky's part, if the emotions attached to those faded memories are anything to go by).

'No Bucky, I...'

'If you're chickening out you can always just take the thing off your head, Steve, no sense getting worked up about it.' It's criminal, the relief Bucky is feeling at the idea that Steve might not be able to go through with it.

' No Buck. I just - will you give me a second to figure this out,' Steve says, and he steps closer as he speaks, his words almost a plea, the way he's looking at Bucky.

And Bucky has to nod, because he never could deny Steve anything.

Steve steps closer still, right in front of where Bucky is sitting in his chair, and then drops to his knees in front of Bucky. Which... has Bucky raising an eyebrow. Has him moving forward in his seat to lean into Steve's space, find out why he's looking at Bucky like that.

When Steve reaches across with his big hands to take a hold of Bucky's and rest them on Bucky's knees, it's time for Bucky to start asking questions.

'Stevie, what is it?'

'It's you, Buck.'

'What's me?' Bucky asks, and the worry that he might have done something to warrant this bizarre behaviour is clear in Bucky's voice.

But Steve just smiles and shakes his head. 'Oh Buck,'  he says, leaning impossibly closer, 'It's for you . The mistletoe,' and Steve looks down, his ridiculous eyelashes fanning across his cheeks as he does, and then up again, to fix Bucky with that bright blue stare, 'The mistletoe is for you .'

Wait. What? Bucky has to process that. He has to take a moment to hold that thought in his mind and turn it around until it makes sense. The mistletoe is for Bucky?

'You want...' Bucky stares into Steve's eyes and now that he's looking for it, sees the same stress, the same fear in Steve's expression as he imagines can be seen on his own, 'You want to kiss me , Stevie?'

And Steve sighs a puff of air with relief. 'Yeah Buck, that's exactly what I want.'

And Bucky. Bucky doesn't wait a second longer. He shifts further forward and pulls Steve in sharply by their clasped hands. Steve lets go to catch himself on Bucky's shoulders, and Bucky lifts his free hand to cup it against Steve's cheek. 'Me too, Stevie,' Bucky says, sighing the words into Steve's lips, they're so close to touching, 'I want that too.' And he tilts his chin up to meet Steve's mouth, living out this moment he’s been dreaming of for too many lifetimes. He fits his lips to Steve's, opens into him, draws Steve in with the slight press of his tongue, sucks Steve's bottom lip in and bites down on it gently.

And Steve, Steve pushes back against Bucky. With a sudden rush of power he drives into him, pushes him back against the couch, crowds into him, uses all his bulk to slam Bucky into the cushions and kiss him with a ferocity that should scare Bucky but in fact does the opposite. Bucky can't do more than simply clutch at Steve, hold on by his fingertips as Steve attacks him. Open his mouth to Steve's lips and teeth and tongue.

It's not until they hear someone clearing their throat that Bucky remembers they're at Stark's party. Practically in the middle of a crowd of people.

They separate slowly, look up furtively, and it's Nat looking down at them. The rest of the guests seem to be turned away with feigned nonchalance.

'So ah, not that this isn't hot as fuck,' Nat says, smirk on her face and in her voice, 'But you might want to slow down before you start removing clothes. You don't want to show Tony up at his own party.'

'Fuck,' Steve says, pulling away just enough to Bucky to breathe beneath him, 'Shit, sorry Buck.'

'It's okay,' Bucky says, breathless, 'But ah,’ Bucky looks around and back up at Steve, who’s shirt buttons have been ripped open, the mistletoe knocked askew, hair sticking up everywhere, ‘Maybe we should get out of here.'

'Oh,' Steve says, his pupils blowing out wide at the idea of their leaving together, 'Oh, but I don't have a car. Sam drove me.'

'It's fine I've got my bike, it's just big enough for two,' Bucky says with a smile, and Steve smiles too, wide and joyful.

'Well go on then, Jesus,' Nat says, shaking her head at the and pointing over her shoulder, 'Get out of here, I can make your excuses with everyone for you.'

'Thanks Nat,' Steve says, standing up and pulling Bucky with him, leaning in to press a kiss to Nat's cheek, 'I owe you one.'

'You owe me many,' she says ominously. 'Hurry up before I change my mind.'

And they don't need to be told again. Steve pulls Bucky along behind him as they head for the elevators. Ignoring any and all curious faces.

'My place or yours?' Bucky asks as he presses the button for the garage.

'I don't care as long as it's with you,' Steve says, staring down at Bucky.

And Bucky can't do anything but stare back. And scream internally. And thank god that he didn't leave the party early.

Because this... This is everything Bucky wanted and more.

This might not really be his first Christmas. But it's his best. It's the best.

It's perfect.

[wordsbeyondimagination]

Christmas Lego Date

Hey, Hope you all are safe.

I wanted to say that I don't feel any confidence in my writing, and the situation here is also not very good. Everyday we are living like owing time. If you all can suggest any genre or any changes to the themes, then please feel to ask. I will surely reply because writing is something that I love the most.

Take care.

Mama Suh always wanted to see her grandchildren, and play with them but to her disappointment, her son never got time to date, anybody. So, she had to take things in her hand.

She set up a date for Johnny in Chicago when he was home for Christmas. The first date went through knowing each other’s name, interests, and work. And that was like a total clash when an introvert meets an extrovert. He was the one that set up the atmosphere and made you comfortable around him. That was the only thing that made you look forward to your second date with him. He had planned a date at a fancy restaurant but changed it at the last moment and asked you to visit his home.

Johnny had already planned the whole evening. He had brought a Christmas tree and lots of lights and mistletoe. He had prepared the dinner himself. And prepared gifts for you. Well prepared and was only waiting for the doorbell to ring.

He was overwhelmed when he heard the bell ring.

“Good Evening, Y/n, did you have any problem finding my house?”

“No, it’s such a good location, why would there be any problem.”

“I had brought fruits for Uncle and Auntie.” His parents were not in the house that’s why he chose to invite you or else Mama Suh would have asked you about the date of marriage.

“Yeah, I will say her when she comes back.” He took the basket from your hand and escorted you to the couch.

His house had a warm feeling. It sharply contrasted the snow falling outside. Your string was getting stronger with him. With his personality, he was like a fireplace to you. You were always considered cold because of your introverted personality but he understood you. He always made efforts to make you comfortable around him.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Hmm…”, he said arranging the table.

“Why did you choose your house for our date?” Johnny smiled at you. He admired your innocence and curiosity.

“I planned to take you out but Mom said that she is going out with Dad, so, I invited you here, and also I thought a house would’ve different feeling. Don’t you like it?” He asked with fake concern that panicked you.

“No, no, no, it’s not like that. I like quiet places. I like your house very much. It’s warm just like you,” you mumbled the last three words but he heard that and pretended like he didn’t hear anything to make you comfortable around him. It was rare to have someone have feelings from the first blind date but you two were just fools in love.

You noticed the Christmas tree and decorative laying behind the couch.

“Have you tried this?” You asked pointing to the tree.

“Yeah, I wanted to surprise Mom and Dad but I have no idea.” He said scratching the back of his neck.

“Will you help me? You can come up with ideas.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, let’s do that after dinner.”

The dinner was full of laughter. He narrated the 10th-floor stories. Some deadly, some comedic, and some horrific. You almost choked once because of his stories, he hurried to your side with water and patted your back. It was that moment when you realized that you need him in your life, for a lifetime. Both of you settled and again he started with all his stories, his stories didn’t end and your laughter didn’t stop. It was a moment that was going to be memorable for both of you till death.

After dinner, you both settled on the floor for decorating. Although Johnny insisted on sitting on the couch, still you said that it wouldn’t have any feeling of a family. It gave him hope.

“I saw your designs on your Instagram page, how do you get so many ideas?”

“They just come. I don’t do anything for them to come.”

“We also have a bunch of kids in NCT who design, you would love to meet them. You would love to meet them all. We have everyone younger than me except one and trust me even though he is the eldest but he is like a baby. I hope I can take you there.” You just smiled at his words but never replied to anything so he didn’t ask you anymore but little did you that he was asking you to come with him. You couldn’t even ay him that you watched every NCT video at least 10 times to know more about him and you memorized everybody’s name.

You two sat decorating the Christmas Tree, and he was helping you and also narrating the stories when he decorated trees with his groupmates. Unaware of time, you two enjoying your date, a date that you wanted.

“Y/n, I have something for you.” You looked at him and he ran to his room and came out with two folded sweaters for him. When you unfolded it, you saw that it had your initials on it and Johnny had also his initials.

“Wow, I like it. Thanks.” He smiled.

“Well, I also have something else for you.” He again ran inside and came with a wrapped box.

“What’s this?”

“You will know when you open it. Come on open it.” He became excited and started to jump and seal clap and for the first time, anybody’s excitation excited you. You started to unwrap it.

“Hogwarts Castle Lego set! Thank you very much. But how do you know that I am a Potterhead?”

“Oh. I saw your Instagram and you had many drawings of Harry Potter, so…”

“Thank you. I love this.”

Only this! not me! Johnny thought.

“Johnny, it’s getting late, I think I should go. We will meet next time.” He never wanted you to go. You were the one he wanted the most and always treasure you and protect you. He wanted you to stay by his side.

“Okay.” He stood up and went with you to the door but as soon as he opened the door, a chilly gust of wind blew and it was a snowstorm.

“Looks like a blizzard!” You were just about to go inside when he grabbed your wrist.

“Y/n, we are under the mistletoe!” You looked up and indeed a mistletoe was hanging and you both under it.

“When did you hang this?”

“When you were busy decorating Christmas tree.” He said with a shy smile. Yeah, you should’ve known that it's his idea.

“Y/n, I think we should kiss.” He placed his lips on yours. Even though the chilly winds and the snow were cold but you felt warmth under his touch. It was love. When you separated, his eyes were full of feelings for you. A home for you.

“I think I have to stay here. The snow won’t allow me to go.”

“Hmm.” Even nature was on his side.

He closed the door.

“Y/n, I want to ask you something.” You looked at him. He was serious.

“Yeah.”

“Would you…would you like to come with me to Korea and stay by my side? You can carry freelancing there.” You smiled at his confession. That is not only what you wanted but that was what you needed. You were crazy for him, and you needed him.

“Yeah. I would love to.” Johnny was overwhelmed with your response, he hugged you at once. But something came between you two ‘Lego’.

“Johnny, do you want to try this with me.” He nodded.

“Wingadium Leviosa ”

“Expelliarmus”

And you two were in a sleepless night, sitting near the fireplace and joining the Hogwarts castle and casting spells on each other treasuring the memories with your kiss and hugs that you shared.

[carewyncromwell]

“Good evening, friends...I hope you all are well. I’m called Bartholomew, or Bat, Varney. No, your eyes do not deceive you -- I do have fangs, and my eyes are red, for yes, I am a vampire. But not to fret -- I more than keep myself satiated with Blood Pops from Honeydukes sweetshop, so you needn’t worry about me sinking my teeth into anything other than this most wonderful time of year -- Christmastime. 

“For those of you who are unaware, my ‘mundane,’ as she calls herself, has given me access to this ‘Askbox’ of hers so that I may discuss, debate with, and perhaps even educate her followers on aspects of this festive season. Tory is currently sitting off to the side, and is silently encouraging me to remind you that you may consult the ‘Bat Comments on Christmas!’ tag for more of my thoughts...as well as to send more owls my way regarding Christmas, should you wish.”

[Bat’s scarlet eyes twinkle with amusement.]

“Now then -- early this morning, I checked the Askbox, and I received this lovely owl from @sakura-soldier​ -- ”

“First of all, my dear, I must compliment you on the wonderful choice of subject. Christmas trees are one of my favorite additions that the 19th century made to the celebration of Christmas...for yes, when I was a boy growing up in England in the late 18th century, we did not bring fir trees inside and adorn them with finery. Instead garlands were more par the course -- most commonly, garlands made out of holly, ivy, and mistletoe, and decorated with ribbons and flowers like lavender and rosemary. If one was particularly well-off, they might even include fruit in their garlands -- there’s nothing quite like the smell of oranges and spices wafting through the room, while you’re dancing across the floor to a proper Christmas jig. We also brought in fir and yew branches and hung them over doorways and on fireplace mantles, but they were generally left as is, rather than decorated. The thought behind bringing plants like holly, ivy, and fir tree branches indoors is that they represented ever-lasting life in the midst of the unforgiving winter cold...a comforting thought, to be sure, in the face of everything else dying. It’s a tradition that goes back a very long way, all the way back to the Pagans and even the ancient Romans, who used to bring in evergreens to celebrate their winter holidays of Yule and Saturnalia, respectively. 

“So when did the tradition of fully furnished holiday trees come in, and why? Well, the tradition itself actually originates in Germany, circa the 16th century. There are several legends that have been used to explain the Christmas tree’s origin. One is that Protestant reformer Martin Luther once saw a fir tree shining in the moonlight and ended up bringing one of its branches home decorated with candles, in an attempt to share the beauty of that sight with his children. Another is that the Christian saint Boniface felled an oak tree a group of Pagans were worshipping, only for it to be miraculously replaced by a beautiful fir tree, which Boniface declared symbolic of Christ, since it was triangular and thus evoked the trinity. Not to be too disrespectful to those people who preach these stories, but I think it’s far more likely that it’s another example of the Christian church wanting to assimilate aspects of other Pagan religions into its holidays, so as to make those holidays more palatable to the areas that it hoped to convert. Either way, Germany pioneered the idea of the evergreen being a ‘paradise tree’ -- a tree symbolic of the one in the Garden of Eden, decorated with apples and put up on Adam and Eve’s Day, December 24th -- which, of course, we now know as Christmas Eve. It’s not hard to see how those original decorative apples later inspired Christmas baubles. By 1605, there are records of Germans decorating their fir trees with roses made out of multicolored paper, foil, and even sweets. 

“Although many people like to credit Queen Victoria and her German husband Prince Albert as the people who first brought Christmas trees to England, the idea actually was first brought across the English channel by Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, when she decorated the Queen’s Lodge in Windsor with one forty years prior, in 1800. Victoria and Albert did, however, make the idea more appealing to the British commonman, when a card was published in British papers depicting the happy couple and their children with their lovely candle-decorated tree...and soon everyone in England wanted one in their homes too. That card was later edited and reprinted in an American newspaper, and soon the Americans -- who, may I just point out, originally largely disdained Christmas -- were getting in on the act too. From what I understand, it’s actually thanks to the Americans that Christmas trees became big enough to reach the ceiling -- back before they embraced the tradition, Christmas trees were generally much smaller. Apparently they were also hung up on the ceiling at one point, which I can’t imagine was particularly easy for Muggles to wrangle!”

[Bat laughs. It’s a handsome, delighted sound that seems too happy for how brightly his beast-like fangs gleam.]

“But yes, by 1860, one couldn’t find a middle-class home in either Britain or America that didn’t sport a proper Christmas tree. From the 1840′s on, even artificial trees were sometimes used in place of living ones, the first kind being made of goose feathers. From what my research outside the fourth wall tells me, the artificial trees first pioneered in the 1930′s have also gone on to find new popularity as well, in the face of environmentalist concerns. The ornaments we use to decorate trees have also become much more diverse and interesting over the centuries, with the first baubles being made out of lead and hand-blown glass, but later additions being made of everything from tinsel to silk.”

[Bat takes a long sip of blood before he shifts gears.]

“Now then...to your query regarding my ideal tree. Truthfully, as much as artificial trees can be very beautiful in their own right, I do very much enjoy real trees. The smell of fir and mistletoe never fails to bring a smile to my face, especially considering that my sense of smell is one of the only scents that has been magnified by my condition, rather than hampered. As for decorations, I would want it full of ornaments -- covered completely, from top to bottom -- with a whole assortment, all different kinds and shapes and colors and textures, store-bought and hand-carved. Perhaps it could use some enchanted frost and fairy lights, as well. And perhaps a popcorn garland, if Bertie, Violet, or Holly wanted to make one. @thatravenpuffwitch​ @cursebreakerfarrier​ And for the topper...a Golden Snitch, made of gold and silver tinsel.”

((OOC: My mum has used an artificial tree for several years now, and I always decorate it for her, since she likes my decorating aesthetic. 😊 We always use two or three strings of white lights, and then decorate our tree with all the old family ornaments that have emotional significance to us, spaced out so that each one is perfectly visible, with larger, heavier ornaments closer to the bottom and lighter, smaller ornaments closer to the top. Some of our ornaments are heirlooms, souvenirs from trips, or presents from family and friends, but a good handful of our ornaments were actually hand-carved out of wood and painted by my late great-uncle! My personal tree topper is a Princess Tiana ornament with such a wide skirt that I turned it into a topper instead, though Mum still uses her old crochet angel. (A picture of the tree I decorated for Mum last year is under the cut!)))