#and at the end i was helping my friend out of her dirty costume and he pulled up my sleeves for me and that really did make a difference

[lovsome]

if you show me kindness just know that i will remember that forever

[not-neverland06]

hi!! Given my obsession for Hugh jackman I am CRAVING for some Leopold X reader (from Kate & Leopold)! Maybe with some little angst but happy ending??

I love your blog!! Have a wonderful day 😽💐💓

Leopold Mountbatten x fem!reader a/n: I don’t know how controversial this is going to be and I don’t care. I could never finish the movie because I hated Meg Ryan in it so much. It’s so odd, I’ve loved her in everything else she’s been in but she made it such a hard watch. Maybe it’s because she reminds me of my grandma in the worst way lol, but I finished it for you anon sorry this was a little rushed Anyways, hope you enjoy lovelies Summary: Your neighbor went back in time and dragged someone back with him. He's irritatingly polite and far too interested in your way of life. What are you meant to do when you fall for a man who was never even supposed to meet you?

“Hello, madam, please I need your help!”

You’re used to crazies, it is New York after all. But they’re not usually shouting at you through your window. Especially not when you’re on the sixth floor. You look away from your coffee and glance towards the fire escape. 

There’s an oddly dressed man with red eyes waving at you through the dirty glass. You offer him a tentative wave back and he nods aggressively. “Yes, hello, I need your assistance.”

“Um,” you shake your head, “Sorry, I don’t have any drugs dude.”

“No,” he places his hands pathetically on the glass and shakes his head. “Please, I have been kidnapped.” Finally, you take a step closer to him. You can tell now that his eyes aren’t reddened from any medicinal fun, he probably got pepper sprayed. 

Your friend did it to you once when you tried to surprise her on her birthday and you’ll never forget just how awful you looked afterwards. You can see him a bit more clearly now. Whatever odd costume he’s got on, it looks good. Genuine and clean. 

Not like most of the street performers you see in Times Square. Besides, he doesn’t have that maddened look in his eye that makes you worry he’s going to come inside and kill you. Tentatively, you open the window. 

He’s leaping through in a second and you jump back with a yelp. He turns towards you and his eyes widen before he quickly turns away. “My good lady, where are your pants?”

“Uh,” you glance down at the oversized shirt you’re wearing and the tiny shorts underneath. Admittedly, it’s a little skimpy, but you’re not walking around naked. You’ve heard of committing to the bit, but this is a bit much. “On,” you tell him, walking around him and trying to stand close to the phone. 

“Ma’am-” He’s cut off as someone slams their fist on your front door. You keep a weary eye on the man while you unlock your door. 

“Hey,” Stuart smiles at you. His eyes drift slightly past your shoulder and he goes barging into your apartment. “Leopold! What did I say?”

You huff and glare at Stuart’s frantic back. “This is yours?” Stuart nods and rushes Leopold out the door. You don’t miss the pleading, while slightly scandalized, look he sends you. 

You slam the door closed behind them, shaking your head and going back to your morning paper. You doubt you’ll be seeing him around again. 

You know, it’s just your luck that your upstairs neighbor is a scientist, one who happens to dabble in the art of time travel. And it’s just your luck that he had to fall down a damn elevator shaft. 

Now, according to him, you have to care for someone from a different century so he can make it back to his time portal in, well, in time. This is fucking ridiculous. “I’m going to kill you, Stuart.”

“Look, they’re going to take my phone but he really cannot-”

It goes silent on the other end. You shout his name a few times but hear nothing in response. You assume the hospital staff has finally gotten sick of his shenanigans and has taken his phone. You slam your handset down with a huff and look towards the living room. Leopold hasn’t sat down since you walked in and it’s unsettling. 

“So,” you start and his attention snaps towards you. “1876, huh?”

He nods and you roll your eyes with a scoff. “Oh, this is insane. This is insane,” you mutter to yourself, walking towards Stuart’s door. Leopold gives you a concerned look before quickly following after you. There’s a part of you, and you hate that part, that actually believes some of this. 

Stuart is a brilliant, though flawed, scientist. You don’t doubt that he might have actually unlocked the secret to traveling back to the past, but it’s such an insane idea to try and wrap your head around. 

“Come on, we’re leaving.” You know that Stuart doesn’t want him out of the house. Tough. You’re not going to just stay inside and wait until he can supposedly go back to the past. You don’t give Leopold any time to process your answer, already out the door and heading towards the stairs. 

“You know,” he starts as he catches up to you. “You are quite rude.” Your first instinct is to snap back at him. But you take a breath and stop yourself. 

You’re desensitized, ridiculously used to just how awful New Yorkers can be to each other. And whether this man is truly from the past or not is up for debate. But he is polite and earnest, and you have no reason to be a bitch to him. 

“I’m,” the words are hard to come by but you force them out anyway, “I’m sorry.” He looks genuinely surprised by the apology and it only makes you feel worse. “This is just an insane idea to try and grasp.”

He chuckles softly, smiling as he glances down at his feet. “Yes, how do you think I feel?”

You’re sure it’s not his intention, but you only feel like more of an ass. If this is hard for you, whatever he's going through is a hundred times worse. You weren’t forcefully ripped out of your own time and shoved into another you don’t understand. He’s still trying to comprehend the television.

Though, you’re sure being a scientist has helped him in marginally understanding how all of this is possible. “How do you like the future?” It sounds awkward and stiff, but you haven’t had to talk to anyone in a really long time. 

Your interactions are pretty limited at the book shop considering no one ever comes in. They all order online nowadays and all you really have to worry about is organizing shelves. You’re embarrassingly rusty when it comes to conversing. 

And his propensity towards eloquence only makes you feel worse. “I must admit, some of your inventions have been quite fascinating. I’m especially fond of your showers.”

Your face scrunches slightly at the mention of hygiene and you nod, “I bet.” Before either of you can attempt to salvage this horrible attempt at conversation your phone starts ringing. “Hold on one second,” you tell him. You walk a few feet away from him but you can still feel his eyes boring into your back as you move away. 

“Hello?”

There’s a frantic shout of your name down the line and then the distinct jingling of keys. “I need you to cover the shop. Marcy just went into labor and I’ve got to go!” Paul doesn’t give you a chance to respond before he hangs up. 

Your jaw gapes and you stare down at your phone with shock. You know Paul and his wife had been expecting, but had it really already been nine months? Has your life become so monotonous and dull that nine months doesn’t even register for you?

It’s a depressing thought. One you’d rather not linger on. “What was that?”

You scream, though the people passing by don’t pay you any mind, and jump away from Leopold. “Jesus, where the hell did you come from?”

Leopold flinches away from you and his face is just as aghast as yours. “Good heavens, what is the matter with you? Do you respond to anything as a sensible woman might?”

“I resent that.” You tell him bitterly. Though, he does make a good point. You’ve been on edge constantly. You always seem to be more anxious than you are happy. It’s not a good state to perpetually exist in. “I need to go into work.”

You don’t want to outright say that he needs to go back to the apartment. It feels a little mean, but you’re hoping he’ll catch onto your tone of voice. 

His entire demeanor perks up and he smiles at you. “Wonderful, I am dreadfully curious as to what you do.”

You open your mouth to correct him, let him know he’s not coming. But he’s staring at you with such hopeful eyes that you cannot find it in yourself to turn him down. He seems so excited, you’re sure he won’t be when he gets to your cluttered little bookshop. You let out a weary sigh, “Fine. Okay.”

You walk towards the curb, hoping to hail a cab. But Leopold’s hand gently wraps around your elbow and tugs you in the opposite direction. Your eyes widen in response to his boldness. You thought touching a woman he wasn’t courting would cause someone like him to combust. Seems he didn’t mind breaking the rules sometimes. 

You make a mental note of that for later. You don’t know what you’re going to do with the information, but you find it intriguing. Maybe the modern world was rubbing off on him more than he’d like to admit. 

“We should take this,” he stops you in front of a horse-drawn carriage and you immediately begin to shake your head. 

“No, Leopold, these are just tourist traps-”

He doesn’t let you finish, opening the carriage’s door and gently nudging you inside. “Nonsense! This is far more enjoyable than those yellow monstrosities.”

“Taxi,” you correct. You turn towards the carriage driver and give him directions to your bookshop. “Ink and Tea on Fifth.” He nods and the carriage rolls forward with a lurch. You grip the cushioned seats and pray you don’t get motion sickness. 

“Ink and Tea?” Leopold inquires. “Are you a journalist?”

You smile and shake your head. “No, nothing so fancy. I just help take care of an old bookshop. They were supposed to extend the shop when it first opened. They were going to build a space for people to get pastries or drink tea, but it never happened and the owner was too lazy to change the name.”

It feels a little humiliating to be talking about your minimum-wage job to a renowned scientist. He’s invented or is going to, elevators. He doesn’t care about your stupid shop. But he doesn’t look particularly judgy of you. If anything he seems to be endeared to you the more you talk. 

Normally, you’re oblivious to these sorts of things. But it’s nearly impossible for him to hide. He’s not shy with his attraction, never taking his eyes off of you and hanging onto your every word. You’re not used to such outward attention. 

You look out of the carriage, pretending to take in views you’ve already seen a thousand times. “This city is incredible,” he wonders aloud. His awe is palpable. 

Your nose wrinkles and you shrug. “It’s dirty and the people are intolerable.”

“Must you always be so pessimistic?” You snap your mouth shut and feel embarrassment creeping around you. You’ve never had someone point out when you’re being negative, but he has a point. 

You used to view the city through the same rose-colored glasses. Something’s broken inside you in recent years that has just taken the joy out of life. Everything is grey to you now, until Leopold, nothing spectacular has ever really happened to you. 

The carriage comes to a stop outside the shop before you can respond to him. You want to deny what he says, but you can’t. Your attitude is almost always unnecessary. You think sometimes you might just be trying to see if everyone feels as miserable as you do or if there’s just something wrong with you. 

“Come on,” you tell him, getting out and paying the driver. He wanders towards the shop, eyeing the displays in the window curiously. 

“These are wonderful,” he tells you, pointing to the way you’d made the books look like they’re floating above the shelves. It was just some silly little thing you’d tried to get more people in the shop. It’d worked for about a month. 

“I did that,” you unlock the door to the shop and open it for him. But he doesn’t walk in immediately, instead, he lingers in the doorway. He offers you a soft smile and you can’t help but return it. 

“You’re more creative than you give yourself credit for.”

Your eyes widen as you watch him walk inside. He keeps making these oddly astute observations about you and it’s throwing you off your game. You barely know this man and you’ve always been good at keeping yourself aloof and vague. Yet, he seems to read you like you’re wearing your heart on your sleeve. 

“Feel free to…” he’s already made himself comfortable somewhere in the back and you trail off. “Look around,” you finish lamely. His form is lost somewhere in stacks of books and cluttered shelves. 

You know most of the classics and history books are kept towards the back. You wonder if he’s reminiscing or getting a headstart before he gets back to his time. You smile at the thought and walk behind the counter, sitting on the stool and preparing to finish off the rest of the day.

Leopold is still somewhere lost to you an hour later. Occasionally you’ll hear a page flip or the clatter of a book being reshelved, but there are no other signs of life. Not until the bell above the door rings. 

“Clark,” you smile, sitting up straighter as your friend walks through the door. “What’re you doing here?”

He gives you a crooked grin and shrugs. Just over his shoulder, you can see Leopold’s head pop over a shelf, he looks between you both, eyes narrowing with disdain. “Paul told me you’d be here, figured you might want some company.”

“Actually-” you start, but another voice cuts you off. 

“Leopold Mountbatten,” he comes around the corner, hand outstretched as he comes in between you and Clark. “And who might you be?”

Your brows furrow in confusion at the interaction. Leopold seems oddly hostile and Clark looks strangely caught off guard. “Um, Clark. Nice to meet you, man.” He shakes Leopold’s hand but his grip is weak and it only lasts for one awkward half-second. 

It’s uncomfortable to watch them try and interact and it only gets worse when they turn towards you. Clearly, they want you to tell them who the hell the other guy is. But you feel like that might just make the situation worse. 

Besides, you were pretty content with it just being you and Leopold, you don’t need Clark coming in here and riling things up. “You know, Clark, I’m set here. You can just go home.” Your tone leaves no room for argument but you know he wants to. 

“Alright, I’ll just call you later, I guess.” He throws one last skeptical look at Leopold before finally slinking back out of the shop. 

“Neither of you should be alone without a chaperone present.” Leopold bluntly scolds you without even waiting a second before Clark is gone. It catches you off guard and you scoff. 

You motion between the two of you, “We don’t have a chaperone.” 

Leopold shrugs, “Yes, well, I’m not courting you.” It shouldn’t, because he’s right, but that stings. He is attractive, surprisingly so. You have this odd belief that anyone from his century had to be at least a little ugly. But he’s near perfect. 

Hearing him tell you so bluntly that you’re not courting hurts a little. Though, you can’t blame him. You must be dramatically different than the women he’s used to. From your manners to how you dress, you’re practically an alien. 

You stand up from behind the counter and walk towards the cart of books that need to be shelved. “Clark is a friend. Nothing more.” You’ve never once been romantically interested in your friend. He’s attractive, but he’s not really your type.

Apparently, British men from the nineteenth century are. Which does not bode well for your romantic prospects once Leopold is back home. “It is plain for anyone to see how he wants you. Don’t let yourself be blinded by naivete.”

“Naivete?” you scoff and turn around to glare at him. “Don’t pretend to know anything about me, alright? I’m not some maiden in a frilly dress who needs a chaperone.” You can see that your words affect him. He looks a little taken aback by your anger and so are you. 

It’s misplaced. You’re not mad at him, just mad that you even like him. “Just go read or something, Leopold.” You dismiss him more rudely than necessary and hide yourself behind a few shelves. The rest of your workday is spent in a tense silence that makes your stomach churn. 

You’re nearly ready for bed when something slips under your door with a slight whoosh. You turn towards it, frowning when you see a little envelope with a wax seal on the ground. You pick it up and let your finger slip under the paper, opening it to find a letter with your name on it inside. 

The handwriting is impeccable, with a gracefulness to it that you’ve never seen before. You don’t have to read for very long to know who it's from. Leopold writes poetry about the color of your eyes and the way your lips curl when you smile. And then he ends it with a vague, nearly ominous, invitation to dinner. 

You can’t help but smile to yourself, changing out of your pajamas and slipping into something a little nicer. A few minutes later you’re climbing out your window and taking the stairs up the fire escape to the roof. 

You don’t believe your ears at first, thinking the music must be coming from another apartment. But when you make it up to the roof there’s a violin player there waiting for you. He smiles happily at you as you approach. 

You spin in a slow circle, taking in the sheer amount of flowers littered around the roof. You don’t know how he managed to afford all of this. He transformed the barren and empty rooftop into your own little paradise. Candles lit and a live musician playing for you. 

You’ve never had anyone do something like this for you, ever. It’s a little hard to accept that someone would be willing to put this much effort in for you. “I wasn’t entirely sure you would come.”

You turn around and Leopold is waiting behind you, that familiar smile playing on his lips. You aren’t aware of the grin forming on your face in response. You don’t have much control over that when you’re with him. 

“Why wouldn’t I?”

He looks like he wants to respond but at the last moment thinks better of it. He instead pulls your chair out for you, helping you into your seat. “This is nice,” that feels too underwhelming a word for such an incredible gesture. 

You sigh and frown as you try and find the right words. You don’t notice him sitting down across from you. You only look up when you feel him placing his hand on your own. “It’s alright,” he assures you. 

It’s still so odd how he can know you so well after such little time. “This is incredible,” you tell him, undeterred by his attempts to soothe you. “No one’s ever done something like this for me.”

He looks like he takes personal offense to that and it makes you laugh. “You deserve far more than this. Sadly, it seems Stuart’s pockets do have limits and I’m afraid I would have put him into debt if I’d gone any further.”

You have the perfect mental image of Stuart coming back from the hospital only to find his science project has robbed him. It makes you laugh and you squeeze his hand once before drawing it back into your lap. He lets his touch linger on you for a long moment, seemingly reluctant to pull away. 

“No,” you tell him, “this is perfect.” 

You fall into a comfortable silence for a little while. Conversation mostly drifting toward what his life was like as a duke. You don’t have much to say about your own life. It’s been incredibly normal and you’re a little sad to find that you don’t have one good thing to share with him. 

Nothing comes to the front of your mind. 

Inevitably, you drift into the topic you’d both been so adamantly avoiding. “Has Stuart said when you’d need to return?”

Leopold’s grip on the fork tightens and for a moment he refuses to meet your eye. “Monday, I’m afraid.”

“Oh,” your eyes widen and you feel something burning at the back of your throat. Monday, the same Monday that’s two days away. 

“Dance with me,” the suddenness of the demand catchers you so off guard that you forget the tears. He stands, holding out his hand to you. You almost say no, you can’t remember the last time you danced and you doubt it’s going to be pretty. 

But he whispers your name and something about his tone tells you to take the chance while you have it. You slip your hand into his, letting him pull you to your feet. He doesn’t sweep you off your feet and dance the night away. 

Instead, he holds you close and you sway together. Like moving even an inch away from each other would hurt. “You could come with me,” he tells you. And you know immediately what he’s talking about. 

You also know it could never happen. Going to the nineteenth century is insane. Even considering it should be enough to have you sent to a psych ward somewhere. Especially not for a man you’ve known for less than a month. 

You try and tell him that you can’t, but he stops you. “I know, a preposterous idea. I just wanted to think about it.” You look up at him and find that you can’t take that away from him. There’s nothing wrong with imagining what it could be like with him. Even when you know it can never happen. 

You dance like that for a little while longer, swaying against each other while the violin plays in the background. He whispers your name and when you gaze up at him this time, there’s a certain look in his eye that you know is reflected in your own. 

He dips down, lips caressing yours gently before he’s pushing more firmly against your own. The world stops. Cliche, you’re aware. For the first time in years, though, you’re alive. You feel something other than the dull monotony of life. You feel excited and terrified all at once. Because you know you can never have this feeling again. 

You will never meet another man like Leopold who ignites this spark of life and passion within you. Never has a man been able to make you doubt every decision you’ve ever made with just a kiss, but here he is. 

Your arms lift like you might try and draw him in closer. His hands come up, taking yours in his gentle hold and squeezing. He pulls away from you and reality comes crashing back down. You’re not in love, you can’t be. You’ve only just met him a few days ago. 

Yet, here you are, wondering if you might actually want to leave everything behind to be with him like the great romances authors write about. He smiles at you and there’s a bittersweetness to it, a final farewell that you know will break whatever is left of your heart. 

He lifts your knuckles to his lips, pressing his lips against them like he never wants to part. “Goodnight,” he whispers your name and backs away from you. You watch him go, watch him leave, unable to muster up any words for him. 

You can’t think of anything that would ease this gnawing ache inside of you. Nothing to soothe the pain for either of you. You let him go because you know if you asked him to stay he would. And how selfish of you would it be to let history unravel simply because you fell in love? 

Monday. It is Monday. You’ve been coming to terms with that all weekend. You don't want to think about the fact that Leopold will be gone tonight. Your time together was so brief but you feel like you’re never going to get over losing him. 

Before the night was over on Sunday, a note was slipped under your door. This handwriting was messy, it made you think someone other than Leopold had written it down, but you don’t know who it could have been. 

It was a date and time, jump off the Brooklyn Bridge at this time on Monday night. Only an idiot would jump off a bridge because of an ominous note slipped under her door. But you haven’t been able to take your eyes off of it, not since you first picked it up. 

Leopold had invited you to go with him. And while you might not have said no, the insinuation was clear. Your eyes dart to your clock. If you left now, you could still make it in time. What an absolutely ridiculous thought. 

So, why are you running out the door without locking it? Why do you not care who slips into your home now? There’s this sense of finality within you that lets you know you’re never going to see that place again and that’s okay. 

You never truly felt comfortable in your life. You always thought a part of yourself was missing. Or that you were always running late for something. You think you understand what you were feeling now. 

The thing you’ve been searching for your whole life wasn’t halfway across the world, a hundred thousand miles from you. He was on the wrong side of time, or you were, at least. 

You manage to snag a taxi to get to the bridge but there’s a traffic jam. You’re forced to jump out of the car and run through the different lanes of blocked traffic. People shout at you. Your cab driver screaming after you about your fare. You don’t care, the only thing you can think about is the note crumpled in your hands and the clock counting down how long you have to jump. 

You’ll either be on the news tomorrow as an unfortunate suicide. An idiot who accidentally threw herself off the wrong side of the bridge. Or, you’ll see Leopold again. 

You reach the ledge and you can’t hesitate. If you do, you won’t jump in time. You close your eyes, holding your breath like you’re jumping into your neighbor’s pool. Air rushes around you, whipping at your hair and skin violently. 

It’s not until you hear someone shouting down at you that you realize you’re not dead. You’re lying in the middle of a dirt road, a group of people staring down at you with concern in their eyes. 

You only have to take in the clothes they’re wearing to know you’ve made it. Before they can react you’re leaping to your feet and running off. You know you’re near the Brooklyn Bridge, or where it’s supposed to be at least. You know enough about the area to remember where Leopold’s house is supposed to be. 

You’re covered in sweat and red mud. The people you pass by in the streets hide behind their hands and whisper about you. You’re not making a good impression on your future neighbors, that’s for sure. But, honestly, all you care about is making it back to him. 

You see people congregating outside his uncle’s home. You know there’s a party inside, that he’s supposed to be announcing who his wife will be. You barrel through the people outside, shoving through the crowd and running up the steps of the house. 

You can hear Leopold’s voice as you run, “The woman I’m going to take as my wife is-”

There’s a loud gasp as you come panting into the room. You can’t catch your breath long enough to speak but it doesn’t matter. The crowd is parting around you and Leopold is smiling down at you. He says your name and there’s nothing else that matters about the world around you. Not when you finally found each other. 

end. — I do not own the characters or the movie Kate & Leopold, but this writing is my own all rights reserved © not-neverland06 2024. do not copy, repost, translate & recommend elsewhere.

[dinogoofymutated]

SFW!Nightcrawler/GN!Reader - Part 1 - part 2 - Part 3

kdhbcjshbc I know I said I was gonna work on my Wolverine fic rn but I got sidetracked. This was originally going to be one long ass fic but since the first half ended up already over 4k works I decided to split it into two! It's basically a friends to lovers fic and I know the beginning is a bit of a jumpscare but they're both adults by the end of the fic I promise!! Edit: I totally forgot to add!! Another special thanks to @blue-devil-of-the-lord for their help with german translations!

Tws: Mentions of animal cruelty in the circus. The ringleader is an asshole. I might have made Kurt's brother a bit of an asshole too sorry. Kurt's backstory is going to be kinda a combination of all the shit I've read/know so please be patient lol. I'll go back and add more tags if I think of any.

    You were sixteen when you first met Kurt Wagner, although, he went by Kurt Szardos back then. You had never been to the circus before, and you hadn’t really paid to be there anyway. The show had already started when your father had taken you into the tent, sitting you down in an absent seat near the front. You didn’t want to get in trouble, but he had assured you it was fine. He had business to attend to, and told you that his future employer had given his blessing for you to sit and watch as your father handled business. After all, the two of you were a combo deal, and if you were to be working for the circus, you might as well know just what you were getting yourself into.

    The circus tent was loud with laughter and the sounds of an awed crowd. It was a little overwhelming, to be honest. There were simply too many voices, too many lights- and yet when you finally set aside your grievances to try and enjoy the show, you still struggled.

    The monkeys were annoyed with their handler, and every shout towards the crowd was an insult. The lion was young, and still afraid he wouldn’t make the jump through that vicious ring of fire- still healing from the burns he earned by brushing against the flames during the last performance. The doves from the magician act were a bonded pair, rejoicing the time and attention they were being given in the spotlight- and yet the male was already dreading their moments after the show and the dark, dirty cage they would kept in. The female was trying her best to cheer him up. Every animal was unafraid to keep their voice down, and you had never heard animals speak so loudly before. Part of you wonders if it was simply because they were so used to being ignored, they had grown used to letting their voice free- speaking from the heart and yet always being unheard.

    You didn’t like this part of the circus much- and although the tricks these animals did were beautiful and amazing, you couldn’t manage to enjoy it like all the others around you did. You were frowning while all others were smiling and laughing so joyously- perhaps that was what drew him to you in the first place. 

    “And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present-” All but one of the spotlights have started to circle around the tent, the ringmaster standing completely within the only lingering light. “Our Flying Fiend… the Daredevil Demon… The one and only, Nightcrawler!” Every moving spotlight lands on a single man standing on one of the high beams. He’s smiling so brightly that you can see it from where you stand feet below him. He’s… strange. Elf-like ears, yellow eyes, and blue skin. A pointed tail sways eagerly behind him, and he takes a deep bow in front of you. His yellow eyes peer open as he does so, and for a moment, you swear he looks straight at you. You’re not entirely sure if he was wearing a costume or not anymore. 

    The performance starts out with one hell of a beginning. Every flip and jump is an incredible act of athleticism- and you find your eyes following Nightcrawler throughout every trick. Two other acrobats join the fray, and yet he’s the only one who catches your eye. At one point, they bring out these long swings- ones that sweep right above the audience with every swoop. There’s one swing for every side of the audience- and the acrobats switch with a dramatic flare every few swings. 

    On the very last switch, Nightcrawler is the one who swings over your seats. 

    He’s much more handsome up close, you realize, blushing even where you are now. You swear with every swing, he’s looking at you. It makes your heart flutter a bit, and on the very last swing of the night, he takes out a rose, pretending to throw it to multiple groups of screaming fans, before he swings again with a dramatic flair. Unlike the other times, he’s holding onto the swing with his feet and tail. He’s so close to the audience without touching a single hair on anyone's head- and then he gets to you.

    You could have sworn that time had slowed, no matter how quickly it happened. The two of you finally lock eyes, and his hand stretches out. The rose falls into your lap, the air whooshing by your face as he’s gone just as quickly. You pick up the flower, a genuine smile finally on your face, and you find that all the other voices of excitement around you have finally drowned out.

    That was the first and last time you had watched the show at Herr Getmann's Traveling Menagerie. After that, you and your father were behind the scenes instead of in the stands. 

    It had been about a week and a half since you and your father had been walking to the circus to work. He knew every path and every road like the back of his hand, insisting the two of you walk instead of drive to save money on gas, and he just so happened to know a few shortcuts through the woods. Usually, you were able to rely on him to guide you, but today you woke up late. Your father had already left without you- which you’re not entirely sure wasn’t intentional. He did leave a note for you, giving you instructions on how to get there on your own. 

    Needless to say, that didn’t actually work out too well. A thirty to forty-five-minute walk had quickly turned into an hour, and then an hour in a half. You were trying your absolute best to follow the instructions, but this was hardly a cohesive path in the middle of the woods. It wasn’t exactly easy.

    You’re beginning to give up at this point, stumbling through the brush as you try to find the general direction you think you’re supposed to be going. Your feet have started to ache and blister, and you find yourself beginning to lose hope.

    “Hello!” If the sound of the voice hadn’t scared the shit out of you, the strange man hanging upside down from the branches of a wild Crab apple tree certainly did. You shriek in terror, your feet slipping as you fall back on your butt. You hold your hands over your heart as the strange acrobat from the circus jumps down in a panic, holding his even stranger hands out in front of him.

    “Oh- Es tut mir Leid! I am so sorry! I had not meant to startle you!” He says frantically, kneeling down to help you up in a very gentlemanly manner. You’re wide-eyed as you look at him, letting him help you up without a fuss. Up close and in broad daylight like this, it was very clear that he certainly was… Blue, to say the least.

    “I-it’s okay.” You stutter. He smiles warmly at you, tail swaying excitedly behind him, and it simply confirms to you that he wasn’t wearing a costume at all. You open and close your mouth a few times, trying to find some words. He blinks at you as you do so, patiently (if not obliviously) waiting for you to speak.

    “You’re from the circus, aren’t you?” Is what you finally land on, still a little startled from before. The acrobat nods eagerly.

    “I am. I'm happy that you remember me! I’ve been told I leave a bit of an impression.” He jokes, and you find yourself smiling again. He was charming, for someone so strange. “The farrier is your father, right?” He asks, taking you by surprise. You didn’t think that anyone had taken the time to notice you, your father’s shadow in every sense of the word. It makes you feel a little funny, but surely he didn’t remember you from that first performance, right? Maybe he’s just very observant of those who come in and out of the circus stables. 

    “Well, yes.” You affirm, starting to anxiously fiddle with your fingers. “I didn’t really expect you to know who I was, to be honest.” He lets out a happy chuckle at that.

    “Of course, I know! A face like yours is hard to forget.” He chirps, sending you a wink. “But I must say, You’re a bit far from the circus, Meine Freundin.” You make a bit of a grimace at that, and he sends you a questioning smile.

    “Yes, well… To be frankly honest, I’m a bit lost.” You admit, eyes locked solely on the ground, taking the time to notice the various fruits that had fallen from the tree and gone bad. You can see the acrobat’s tail swaying in your peripheral vision, and still feel his eyes on you. It makes you blush a little from embarrassment, a little flustered that you had become so lost.

    “I’ll gladly show you the way, I was just about to go back myself.” Your head snaps up to look at him in bewilderment at that, before you realize just how lucky you are to have found him out here. He picks up a basket of crab apples that you hadn’t noticed before, and you offer to carry it for him as a thanks for guiding you back. He won’t let you no matter how hard you try, certainly the first gentleman you’ve met in quite a while. He tells you that your profuse thanks is more than enough for him.

    The two of you get to talking while you make the long walk back to the circus, and he tells you about his mother, Margali Szardos, and how she had asked him to wander over this way to pick the fruit from the crab apple tree for her. She was fairly adamant about him doing so, telling him that it was of great importance, but he didn’t quite understand why fruit could be such a pressing matter. He’s very funny, and you find yourself greatly enjoying his company. The two of you feel like close friends already, and you hadn’t even realized that you didn’t even know his real name until you’ve already arrived at the plethora of brightly colored circus tents.

    “I’m so sorry, I don’t believe I ever asked for your name.” You say, the awkwardness of the question not even registering with how happy you are to simply be in his company. He sends you another dazzling smile before he holds his hand, offering it for you to shake.

    “I’m Kurt.” He tells you. You introduce yourself as well, happy to have made a new friend today. You hear someone calling your name from not too far away, and spot your father waving his hand at you, calling you over.

    “I have to go, but thank you so much for your help!” You say, once again thanking him adamantly.

    “Walking with you was lovely. I hope to see you more often.” Kurt says, right before you go. You can’t help but blush a little, unable to keep yourself from smiling widely. You couldn’t help it! He was just so handsome in both looks and personality, the strangeness of his skin color and three-fingered hands being something you easily begin to care less and less about.

    “Likewise.” You agree, almost completely flustered. Your father calls for you again, and you quickly say your goodbyes before you rush off to him. You find yourself in a rather good mood for the rest of the day, despite your sore and blistered feet from the long journey here.

    Many months flew by very fast while you and your father worked for the circus, and you and Kurt had grown very close. He visited you when he could sneak away from practice and performances, and although you were more concerned about him staying out of trouble, you began to appreciate the company beyond the way a simple friend would, finding yourself blushing and flustered while around him.

    A fact that hadn’t changed throughout your time there was the treatment of many of the animals. All of them had a grievance or problem of some sort, and it broke your heart to have to stand by without the ability to help them. In the eyes of the circus, you were just the Ferrier’s assistant, nothing more. At first, you were, in the very least. Some of the animal trainers had noticed how good you were with the horses, and how even the most skittish of the equine animals would calm around you and let you handle them without any trouble. Things like that don’t go unnoticed, and soon enough many of the animal handlers had heard about your “gift” with the live attractions. Part of this was due to your Father’s constant bragging about your special skill with animals, although you were the only one who knew the truth about it all. After a while, the frustrated animal trainers began to ask you to assist them with the other animals as well, noting how it hadn’t taken very long before they were at ease around you. The size of cages and the attitudes of the trainers were something you couldn’t change very much, but even if you could only help out with a few things here and there, you were happy- and the animals were too.

    Today, you were doing your best to handle an absolute disaster. 

    Tonight’s animal show was a new set, with lots of loud noises and the pops of fireworks launching far, far above the tops of the tallest tent. With so many new lights and colors, they should have known something was bound to go wrong- and boy, did it. The smallest pony in the show was a stunning Blue Roan mare named Bubbles- and unlike many of the other mares in the show, she was very skittish. Her trainers mostly knew to be careful around her, but that consideration slipped under the radar when it came to all the new changes. Her show went by relatively seamless, with only a few issues here and there- but it was enough to put her on edge. When the fireworks finale went off as she was being led out of the main tent, it was just her last straw.

    I don’t like them. I don’t like the loud noises. Bubbles is pacing anxiously in the back of her tiny stable, still having trouble settling down. Every bump or noise from outside and even the neighboring stables sends her spiraling again. You’re standing at the gate, giving her a cautious amount of room to pace and worry so that she doesn’t feel trapped by you. 

    “I know, Bubbles, It’s okay.” You whisper. You’re so concerned for her, and angry with her trainers, too. It makes your blood boil to remember how one of them had gotten frustrated with her tonight, eventually giving up on settling her completely and thrusting her reins at you, telling you to “take this stupid thing somewhere else!”. The lack of patience and understanding makes you rage, but you know you can’t say a thing if you want to keep this opportunity to work with the animals.

    Please don’t be mad at me. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m so scared. I’ll do better, I promise. Bubbles says again. The words almost bring tears to your eyes, hurting for her. You hate seeing her so scared.

“Hey, hey. Easy, I’m not mad at you, I promise. You’re safe with me, okay?” You tell her, starting to slowly approach her as her pacing begins to slow. She whinnies once, huffing as she tries her best to calm herself down. Eventually, she begins to settle, letting you get close enough to reassuringly pet her nose and flank. She leans into the comforting touches, finally beginning to relax after being high-strung for so long. The two of you sit in a comfortable silence for a minute, enjoying each other's company as you hear the sounds of the circus begin to dwindle and die.

     I’m sorry for all the trouble. Bubbles apologizes quietly.

    “You haven’t been any trouble, Bubbles, I promise.” You say soothingly. “Do you want to talk for a bit before I go?” She nods her head, and that’s all the answer you need.

    The two of you talk for a long, long while as you take off her tack and brush her down, pampering her as you ready her for bed. You talk about food, trainers, the new horseshoes she’s getting next week- anything at all. Even Kurt comes up in conversation, eventually.

    I like him. She says decisively. He sneaks me leftover apples. You can’t help but giggle at that, already having a hunch that he had been giving the horses treats while no one was looking. Not that you really mind, it was nice to know that they had someone other than you and your father looking out for them.

    “I agree. He’s very nice.” You say, smiling brightly. She noses you in response.

    I think he likes you, too. You instantly blush at her words, shaking your head at her with a flustered smile. You honestly doubted he saw you as much more of a friend, even if the two of you have had somewhat sensitive moments sometimes.

    “I really don't think-”

    “Guten Abend!” You can’t help but shriek at the greeting, knowing just who it was as you whip around in the stable, spotting Kurt leaning against the gate with a cheesy smile.

    “Kurt! You have got to stop scaring me like that!” You scold, throwing the dandy brush at him. He pretends to be wounded, holding a hand over the spot it hit him dramatically as he laughs.

    “I’m sorry. Seems I couldn’t help myself.” Kurt says, and you lightly slap his arm again for good measure when you can reach him, trying and failing to keep yourself from smiling at his antics.

    “You could have startled Bubbles. It took forever for me to get her settled after the show today!” You scold him again, smile not letting up for a second. Kurt smiles a little nervously at that before he looks behind you to see the completely unbothered Bubbles.

    He wouldn’t have- I saw him come in. She says. You wave her off discreetly. That’s not the point, Bubbles! But even without being able to understand her, Kurt seems to get the hint that she wasn’t even a tad bit bothered and jumps the gate with such ease you can’t help but be a little jealous of his athleticism. 

    “Then I’ll apologize to you too, Bubbles.” Kurt cooes, lavishing her forehead and muzzle with pets and kisses that she happily receives. You watch him with a smile, a warm feeling spreading through your chest. You knew you were absolutely gone on him, this little crush of yours having developed into true and deep feelings of affection. But how could you not? Even watching him right now it’s clear to see the kindness and support he gives to every living thing regardless of status or species. That meant more to you than you think he might ever know.

    “How was it out there?” You ask eventually, leaning against the side of the stable.

    “So-so. The crowds have started to react less to our sets. Mother says that we’ll get better reactions if we change the performance a little.” Kurt shrugs, tail tucked tightly around his own waist- something you noticed he did every time he entered the stables so that he wouldn’t startle the horses with the snake-like limb. You frown, eyebrows furrowing at the news. You knew that they had been trying some new things for the animal shows, but the acrobatics had always been so incredible and immaculate. It’s strange to you that anyone would look on at that part of the show with a straight face.

    “And how does Ringmaster Getmann feel about that?” You ask. Bubbles huffs through her nose angrily at his name, and you join Kurt by her side, petting her shoulder. You can see that Kurt is frowning, not responding to your question as his eyes stay squarely on Bubbles. 

    “...Kurt?” You’re really worried for him now, knowing that the look on his face can only mean that nothing good will come of it.

    “It’s nothing for you to worry over.” Kurt responds after a minute. “He wants us to do riskier tricks, but Mother keeps telling him it’s not the best idea. He’s rather adamant about it though.” His voice is soft while he delivers the news, and it makes you wonder how on earth he’s not angry about the blatant disregard for both his and his adoptive siblings’ safety.

     I knew I had a good reason to hate that man! Bubbles speaks angrily as she flicks her tail, Kurt being the only reason she hadn’t bucked or stopped in frustration. Your worry begins to deepen as you think everything over.

    “I- You won’t get hurt, will you?” You ask, worry clearly spilling into your tone. “The animal injuries are already bad enough, but if he starts risking human lives-”

    “I’ll be fine, Schatz.” Kurt cuts you off, stepping away from Bubbles to take your hands in his own. The nickname had a tendency to make your heart flutter, but right now all you could feel was the anxiety of an impending disaster. “Please don’t worry for me.” He tells you, brushing a lock of hair away from your face. You’re breath catches at the act, and when you look at him there's a fond, reassuring look on his face. Still, it did not ease your worries in the slightest. Kurt takes a step closer to you, his hand cupping your face now instead.

    “I can’t help it. I worry because I care.” You whisper. Kurt smiles softly at you, leaning in to rest his forehead against your own. The two of you sit in silence for a minute, reveling in the fond moment. Still, your lips tingled with how close the two of you are, eyes darting down to the shape of his lips as you ran your tongue across your own. Kurt’s pretty eyes don’t let the action go unnoticed. He begins to lean in to close the gap between the two of you, and your eyes flutter closed as he does so.

    “Kurt.” The voice startles the two of you, separating immediately. It’s Stephan, Kurt’s adoptive brother. He’s not only startled you and Kurt, but Bubbles too. She spooks in the tiny stables, rearing up before you immediately turn to her, doing your best to calm her down once again. She’s breathing a little hard, but she’s not pacing again, which was much better than before, although you were certainly peeved to have backtracked already.

   “You know you’re not supposed to linger around the stables after the show,” Stephan says to Kurt, who only frowns. The two had begun to form a rather strained relationship as of late, but neither of you would have expected him to go out of his way to catch Kurt like this. You glance back at them as you finish settling Bubbles, staying silent as the two of them share a look. Kurt’s tail sways a bit, and you can see Stephan roll his eyes at Kurt before he nods his head to the door and begins to leave. Kurt sighs deeply before he turns to you with a remorseful look.

    “I’ll see you soon- promise,” Kurt says, taking your hands in his own and giving them a reassuring squeeze. You’re frowning, unable to help it at this point due to the moment being ruined. Kurt leans in and presses a kiss to your forehead before he leaves, and you smile a bit. He gives you another quiet goodbye before he jumps the gate again, and follows his brother out.

    You're left standing there with Bubbles, and despite Kurt’s promises, you have an uneasy feeling in your chest. You want to blame it on the disappointment of the night, but you can't help but wonder when you'd actually get to see him again.

[multiplefandomwritings]

self-made now you're self-paid with your own plans

pairing: Charles Leclers x female!storeowner!reader                                

warnings: none really

request by @rebelwrites: Hey hun any chance I can request a fic for Charles Leclerc, so basically the reader is his girlfriend and just a normal girl who runs her own small business but is struggling to make ends meet and doesn’t tell anyone because she doesn’t want the world to know she’s struggling and doesn’t want to people to think she is using Charles. So, she ends up picking up a second job eg parcel delivering or something she can do as a self-employed person and she has little time to breathe let alone fly out to races ect and that’s when Charles realises something isn’t right with his girl so he does something to surprise her once the season is over because he hates seeing her so down and stressed

notes: feel free to leave comments and/or feedback. likes and reblogs are always appreciated! also, feel free to send in requests!

disclaimer: english is not my first language, so please excuse any mistakes 😊

word count: 3.4k

Monaco is a beautiful, beautiful country. You were born and raised in the colorful and busy streets of one of the richest places in the world. Your family definitely wasn’t poor, but you also didn’t play in the league that many other people living in Monaco reigned in. You are not a movie star, a singer, an actress or a star athlete. No, you are just you – and you mean that in a way to put yourself down. You are just unapologetically you, and you are really proud of that.

While most of your friends at the elite school you visited decided to study business or law or finance at some prestige university in Monaco or even overseas, you decided to turn your passion into your profession. While taking some evening online classes on how to open a business, you opened your own little store in one of Monaco’s busy vendor streets. The store combined your many crafting abilities. You offered the materials, but also the finished products. You crotched and sewed unique pieces of clothes and bags, as well as pillowcases, stuffed animals, and other items. Self-made jewelry and hand painted mugs are gracing the shelves of your little store. In one corner, different kinds of flowers are presented from which costumers could decide which flowers they wanted for the little bouquets you loved to make. In short, the store offered everything if one was on the lookout for a special and unique present.

This was also what brought the famous Charles Leclerc into your store. Looking for a present for his mother for Mother’s Day, he had walked into your store. You greeted him with a little paint stain on your cheek and a messy bun, yet he somehow fell head over heels for you. He adored how down to earth and hardworking you were. That day, he left with a present that made him his mother’s favorite child for a while, and your number in his phone.

He insisted to organize the first date and took you out for a fancy dinner. It was nice, to be part of Monaco’s high society for a night, even if it was just for a few hours. But it didn’t matter, because Charles made you feel like royalty, like you were special at any given moment. You didn’t need to be part of high society if you were with him because he treated you like you were a queen.

Of course, you knew who he was, as he was part of Monaco´s finest. For a while, you were afraid that the two of you wouldn’t work out, as your lives were so different, and you were afraid that you simple weren’t enough. But that changed when on your third date the two of you sat on the floor of your atelier for hours, painting on canvases and mugs and Charles not once was afraid of getting his hands dirty. He never did, actually. When he wasn’t away, he even came and helped you out at the store sometimes, standing behind the cashier and advising costumers. One time you came out of your atelier to find Charles gushing to some costumes about your crafts, and it left you with a very warm feeling in your chest.

However, it wasn’t always easy. While most of the other drivers had girlfriends that could made space in their schedules to fly out and visit, you barely could do that. The weekends were essential to your income and being gone from your business for more than two days wasn’t working for you. You still tried as much as possible, sometimes flying out for a day only to see him race on Sundays and fly back home immediately. It made you and Charles equally unhappy, but he understood and supported you, nonetheless. He couldn’t be prouder of you and your achievements that you worked hard for, more often than not working long and tiring hours. He knows that you are not like other wags - that you don’t have as much time to come and visit him at races. Sometimes he selfishly wishes that you had more time, but he knows that he would rip you away from the thing you love the most – your little store and your arts and crafts.

At the moment, it is especially hard. Charles is gone almost every weekend, sometimes not even coming home in between because he doesn’t have the time. You understand that, you really do. And you are also insanely busy right now. Still, it isn’t nice to only see your boyfriend for few days every three weeks. You make it work though, your love and commitment for one another as strong as ever. You call whenever you can, even though there is a time difference in most places where he currently races. Most nights, he is afraid to wake you up, but usually you are still up working, even when he calls in the middle of the night. It worries him, sometimes. But he knows that arguing doesn’t help with your stubbornness, so he usually just asks you to make sure that you stay healthy and get enough sleep. You nod, knowing that you certainly do not get enough sleep at the moment.

Times are hard for your business right now. You feel like just your store isn’t enough anymore, you need an online presence. It is inevitable in current times. You don’t have the money to hire someone, so you decide that it couldn’t be that hard to set up a website by yourself. Turns out, you are naïve, and sleep is overrated. After a week of hard and dedicated work you have managed to set up a website that lives up to your perfectionist standards. You are, after all, an artist. An Instagram account follows soon after. You refrain from following Charles, because you don’t want to appear like you use him for the cloud.

You sadly had to let go of your assistant just recently, as the owner of your building had increased rent. You would’ve looked for another place, but the location of the store was just too good to be given up. Furthermore, the fact that your apartment was located just above the store made many things easier for you. So, you had no real other choice than to suck it up and pay the much higher rent. Letting go of your assistant however meant that your workload increased drastically. You had to take orders over the phone, take care of the deliveries yourself. You still produced most of the stuff in your store yourself, but you had to order materials as well as some products that you offered but didn’t craft yourself. In short, it was a lot of work, and you felt increasingly stressed about it.

The good thing about all of it is that Charles is just as busy as you, which means he doesn’t realize how stressed out you actually are. He usually isn’t there much more than two or three days in between the races, and you can afford to close the store one of these days. The others, you work a little less, only 6-8 hours, not the 16 hours you normally have on your clock on a long day.

Today is an especially shitty day at work. You take a moment to catch your breath. Why on Earth did the elevator have to be out of order in this particular building with 15 stories? And why did your client wanted something delivered to the highest floor? You utter a short but very heartfelt “fuck” when you catch a glimpse of your own reflection. Quickly, you brush the strands of hair that stick to your slightly sweaty forehead out of the way, trying to look somewhat representable after all. You walk to the door of the apartment on the address and wonder for a moment, why everything looks so familiar in this building. You ring the doorbell and when the door is opened, you know why you recognize the building. A soft “oh” escapes your mouth before you catch yourself again and smile at the man before you. “Hey Daniel!” “What are you doing here, y/n?”, Daniel asks you, confusion etched into his features. You hold up the packages in your hand. “Bringing your delivery?”

“That is your store? I never knew, my girlfriend loves your stuff, and some of the best presents I have ever gifted are from there!” You smile shyly. “Yeah, I ask Charles to not tell anyone, I don’t want it to come off as I am using him to push my business!” Daniel shakes his head. “Y/n, you have been with Charles for what now, four years?” You nod your head. “Well, not once have I heard you trying to use Charles for anything, so don’t you worry about that! Especially because you don’t need Charles for that, your store is a fucking lifesaver and just generally amazing!” “Thank you, Daniel!”, you smile at the man before you and then look at your watch, “I would love to chat more, but I need to get back to the store. How about we meet for dinner with Heidi and Charles soon?” “Sounds great, have a good day!” You bit the Australian goodbye and make your way down the stairs.

Later that day, when it is already dark outside, your phone rings. Charles is calling from overseas, tired after a tough day at qualifying. For half an hour you chat until your respective day, exchanging some loving words, just enjoying each other’s presence. “Daniel told me you delivered his order personally today. Is your assistant sick?”, Charles suddenly asks, and your heart drops down your knees. You had prayed that Daniel would not mention it, that he would just forget about it. For a moment you are angry at the Australian, but then you remember it is not his fault. He possibly didn’t have any foul intentions when he told Charles. You take a deep breath. “She´s okay, but I –“, another deep breath, “I had to let her go.” Charles perks up, you can see him straighten out in his chair. “My landlord raised the rent, and I simply couldn´t have afforded the store and my apartment anymore if I had kept her.” Charles brows furry in concern now and your heart drops a bit further down. “Why didn’t you tell me, mon amour?” You sigh, and your face falls.

He doesn’t sound mad; he sounds concerned and worried and a bit hurt. You sigh. “I am sorry, Charles. I just didn’t want to bother you with that, you have so much on your plate already!” “Please, my plate could be filled to the brim and there would always be space for your problems as well!” “Thank you, love”, you tell him. For a moment, Charles just looks at you. “You know that it is okay to ask for help, right?”, he tells you and you sigh. “I know Charles, but I want to manage this by myself.” He nods. “I admired that you want to do this by yourself, I am just saying that I am here for whatever you need me for.” The two of you continue to talk for another hour, before Charles is tired and needs to sleep. You look at the clock and groan when you see, what time it is. You will have to get up in just a few hours, even earlier than normally, to pick up fresh flowers from the market.

The next weeks fly by in a blur. You haven’t really seen Charles for a while now, which is hard. Now, you are excitedly looking forward to the next week though because you had decided to fly out to Charles last race of the season and go on some well-deserved time off right after. It would only be a week and a half, but it was the first time you had some sort of vacation for a long time. And you get to spend that time off with Charles, which makes it even better.

The weekend goes surprisingly good, Charles landing on the podium. You claim it is because he is a great driver, he claims it is because you are his lucky charm. He kisses you in front of all the media and you don’t mind. You keep your relationship private, but not secret. After the race, you join him and the other drivers for the celebrations. You know most of them, you are even friends with a few. You also talk to the other wags, even though you usually feel a bit out of place. It is not like they give you that feeling, it is more because their lives are so different. They are all amazing and talented and so, so good looking. You admire them and have only positive feelings towards them – just sometimes it is hard to find a topic to talk about.

The celebrations run long, and the next morning Charles and you sleep in until midday. He treats the two of you with breakfast in bed ordered to your room, and afterwards you get ready to head back to Monaco. The plane trip is long, and you spend most of it sleeping. The two of you have decided to spend your time off in Monaco, using the time to also catch up with friends and taking out the yacht a few times. Towards the end of your time off, you get a bit anxious, nervous about all the work surrounding your store. Charles picks that up and tries his best to ease you out of it. He gives you a lot of reassurance and takes you for some spa treatments.

You are significantly more relaxed by the end of your vacation, and dread going back to work a bit. However, when you step into the store on Monday morning, you are happy. You missed your store and once again realize that this is your passion. The next week is full like usually, but you have found the fun behind all of this again. Charles keeps you company, sometimes he just sits next to you when you crotched a new stuffed animal. Also, he runs errands for you when you need it and just tries to help where he can.

Which is also why you give in when he asks you to take another day off. He had asked your best friend if she could take over the store for you and obviously, she says yes. Charles and you spent an amazing day – well, an amazing first half of the day until your friend calls you in the late afternoon to tell you that one of the pipes is leaking all over your store.

You almost lose your mind – if the damage would be bad, it would mean your entire store, your entire living was gone. Charles immediately drives you over, parking the car as close as possible. You rush out, and in your panic, you don’t even realize the tables and chairs that surround your store. Maybe a new coffee shop opened next to you? You rush in. The store is dark, and when you turn the light on, it blinds you for a moment. You scan for damage, but instead you are met with an orderly store, so clean it is almost shining. New lights have been put in, perfectly illuminated the different shelves of your store. There are balloons and decorations you haven’t seen before. In one corner, a buffet is built up and you are beyond confused.

Before you can ask Charles a question, someone knocks on the door and enters. You are even more confused when you see Daniel standing there, smiling widely, Heidi right next to him. “Hey!”, the Aussie greets you, “I am sorry if I am a bit early, but Heidi was so excited to attend the event in honor of your Social Media launch!” You are honestly flabbergasted. “Uhm…”, you say, “Welcome guys!” Then you turn to Charles. “Could I have a minute?”

You pull him by the sleeve of his shirt into the atelier of the store and look at him puzzled. “What is going on here, Charles?”, you inquire. He nervously scratches the back of his hand with one hand. “You were so stressed out these past months about your store. When I realized that you made an Instagram account and didn’t tell me, I was worried and confused. Then you told me about the increase in rent and how you were afraid that you wouldn’t be able to pay it anymore. I know you would never accept my money and I admire that, so I came up with a plan: I organized a launch event for you – which by the way starts in 45 minutes – and invited all our friends.” For a moment you debate whether you should be angry at him, but the puppy eyes look he gives you makes you realize that he only tried to help you.

“I… Don’t know what to say…”, you tell him, and he gives you a tiny smile. “I am sorry for not telling you, but you would never have allowed me to do this if I had asked. I just wanted to tell you that it is okay to ask for help, especially the people we love. And I finally want to show everyone how proud I am off you and of what you have managed to achieve. You truly are an artist, and I want the world to see that I have the most talented girlfriend!” His words have brought tears to your tears, which you try to swallow down. Instead of saying anything, you take a step forward and throw yourself into Charles arms. “Thank you!”, you mumble into his chest. Charles pulls away and looks at you. “Anything, and I mean that, anything for you, my love!” He presses a gently kiss to your lips and then pulls you into another hug.

“By the way”, he says when you pull away, “You look absolutely gorgeous, but there is a dress hanging in your bathroom upstairs. Lando is coming to take pictures for your Instagram account, so in case you want to change.” You shake your head and laugh. “Charles Leclerc, you really are incredible!” You race upstairs to change in the gorgeous dress Charles bought you. It is in your favorite color and matches the colors present at your store. It fit you perfectly, and when you came back in the store, Charles eyes were immediately on you. He comes over to pull you in a hug and a sweet kiss and you almost get lost in the morning, until you hear the shutter of a camera click. “Lando!”, Charles scolds the man, and he lifts his hands in mock defense, “We were having a moment here!” You laugh and Charles smiles, so all of you know it is not serious. You move in to hug the man who is your friend as well and are just about to say something, when someone puts an arm around your shoulder.

“I am sorry to interrupt, but Heidi desperately needs your help and guidance with some of your pieces!”, Daniel says and already pulls you with him. You are more than happy to help and immediately engage in a conversation with his girlfriend. Soon after, the store is flooded with people who chatter happily, and are in awe with the store you call your own. You yourself are beaming with happiness, almost flying around on cloud seven. When you check your phone, your Instagram account has reached many more followers, and most of the drivers have tagged your store in their story. People keep on pouring in for hours, until way into the night. By the end, your store looks almost plundered.

Only your close friends are still there, helping you clean up the mess. You look at the empty shelves when Charles finds you, wrapping his arms around your hips from behind. “Thank you, mon amour”, you whisper, gratitude embedded in every fiber of your being. “There is only one problem now: I will have to work on a lot of new stuff the next week!”, you laugh and so does Charles and for now it seems like your life is pretty damn close to being perfect.

[justmeinadaze]

Take It Out On Me Part 23 (Steddie X Plus Size Reader)

A/N: I ended it with angsty fluff instead of angsty angst lol You're welcome!

Happy Halloween🎃

Warnings: Daddy Steve/ Sir Eddie and Sub Fem Plus Size Reader, SMUT, dirty talk, tearing of the clothing <3, and everything else that comes along with these three. FLUFF, they love each other, ANGST, They go to a Halloween Dance and Steve helps Masie with a pushy dude (very brief), at the end the boys talk about something they want but can't have and Y/N contemplates on what they say.

Word Count: 2671

“Your hair looks so cute like this.”, Masie smiles as she finishes the last curl. 

Tonight was the Halloween dance at your college and since you were able to quit your job, you felt more energized to go out. Next weekend was the big move to the house the guys got you so you wanted everyone to really let loose and have fun. Masie suggested since you four were going together, you should all have costumes that matched. 

Currently, Maze was working her magic making you look like Sandy at the end of Grease while she was dressed as Frenchie; pink wig and all.

“I think you look cute.”, you giggle. “The guys are going to flip when they see me in this leather.”

“In a good way or a bad way?”

“A good way for sure especially for Steve. I’m not sure why but he goes crazy when I where anything like this or lingerie.”

“Really, Y/N? You aren’t sure why?”, your friend teases. “Look at you, babe. You are so fucking hot.”

“Thank you.”, you beam up at her as she finishes. “Now you may have to keep me in line because if they are dressed how I think they’ll be, I can’t promise my brain won’t scramble.”

“No worries. I got you.” 

After handing you your pink ladies jacket, the two of you walk out into the living room of the apartment where the boys were waiting. 

“Ladies.”, Eddie grins as your mouth salivates and your eyes glaze over. 

The metalhead had his hair pulled back with a white shirt tight against his chest under his regular leather jacket. Honestly, it didn’t take much of a wardrobe change for Eddie to pull off Kenickie. His blue jeans and boots were all his just adding to your want of throwing him against the sofa and fucking him senseless. 

Now Steve on the other hand, had to go shopping with his friend to get the wardrobe he needed. His hair was slicked back but dangled just so in front of his face that drove you insane. His leather pants and black shirt accentuated his muscles perfectly with the leather T-Birds jacket just adding an extra layer of sexiness. 

“Ok, I see what you mean now. Come back, Sandra Dee.”, Masie scolds as she snaps her fingers in front of your face.

“You look beautiful, Maze. I like the pink hair.”

“Why thank you, Steve Harrington.”

“You to, baby girl.”

Your face turns bright red as you blush and he winks. Glancing towards Eddie, you watch as he sticks a cigarette between his lips and tilts his head to the side as he lights it with his lighter, smirking as he closes it shut. Oh, tonight was going to be harder than you thought. 

***

You struggle to keep your hands off them the entire time at the dance, always caressing a leg or an arm. Eddie as always finds it fascinating as he watches and feels you struggle beside him. 

“Sweetheart, you need to calm down. You’re not being subtle.”

“Not trying to be.”, you murmur as your palm glides up his thigh before he stops you. 

“Obviously, but…”, he chuckles. “You have to be patient.” Ignoring him, your other hand runs along his chest but he firmly grabs it, pushing it into your lap as his intense eyes meet yours. “Behave, little girl. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, Sir.”, you whine and he grins as before kissing your forehead. 

Steve hadn’t been listening, keeping a close eye on Masie as she went to grab a drink. He noticed a guy follow her and was now currently exchanging words. Without saying anything, he rose from his seat and headed her way. 

“Hey baby. Everything alright? You’ve been gone awhile.”

Maze’s thankful gaze met his as she wrapped an arm around his waist and he did the same over her shoulder protectively. 

“Hey, yeah. This guy was, um, asking me some questions about my classes.”

“Oh? What kind of questions? I have the same classes she does. What can I say. I’m kind of an overprotective boyfriend.”

“Um, sorry. I didn’t realize she…I can ask someone else. No big deal…”, the man mumbles before quickly scurrying away. 

“Fuck me, Steven. Thank you so, so much. He wouldn’t leave me alone.”

“Not a problem. Do you want to dance to sell the illusion a bit more?”

She grins as she nods and they head both head to the dance floor, slowly swaying from side to side. You take note and yank on Eddie’s hand, wrapping your arms around his neck as you two begin to dance as well.

“Can I tell you a secret, Steve Harrington?”

“Of course, Masie Collins.”

“Sometimes…I get jealous of Y/N and her relationship with you two. I don’t know how much she’s told you but I’ve never had any luck with guys. Neither has she but somehow she found you guys. I just want someone to love me the way you guys love her.”

“I can understand that. I’d be lying if I said I knew how we found each other either. I mean she was a quiet mouse remember? Yet somehow landed her cute butt in detention.”, he laughs at the memory. “If that hadn’t of happened, I’m not sure how we would have ended up together if at all.” 

Steve’s eyes flick towards you, smiling when he sees you hugging yourself tightly to Eddie’s chest.

“Maze, you’ll find your person. I’ve seen how you are with Y/N and any person would be lucky to have you as their girlfriend.”

########## 

As Steve drove the three of you back to the apartment, your doe eyes never left his face as you beamed in his direction. 

“Can I help you, Sandra Dee?”

“No, Danny Zuko. Kenickie said I had to wait till we get home.” Eddie chuckled in the back seat as he blew smoke out the window. “Thank you…for what you did for Masie.”

Steve smiles as he reaches to hold your hand. 

“Of course. She’s our friend to. I’m not going to let some asshole make her uncomfortable. You BOTH are safe with us, honey.”

Kissing the back of his hand, you wait patiently through the short drive back home. As soon as you walk through the door, however, you’re on them, jumping into Eddie’s arms as you impatiently kiss his lips. 

“So fucking…needy tonight…”, he smiles through each breath. 

“You just look…so good…I can’t help…it.”

Hastily, you unbuckle his belt and fall to your knees, wrapping your mouth around his cock as he groans. Ringed fingers tangle in your hair as he subtly guides your movements, holding you tightly as he hits the back of your throat. 

“Fuck, princess, that’s it. H-Hey, Steve, how are we supposed to—shit—to get her out of these clothes? They are just hugging this sexy fucking body.”

“Hm. We can always tear them off or we could cut a hole in her pants. That’s all we really need right?” Their smiles grow when you whimper around Eddie at their words as Steve kneels to balance on his heels till he’s right next to you face. “You like that, don’t you, baby? Us using you for our pleasure?”

Drool dangles from your mouth as you pull yourself back to look at the boy beside you.

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Yes, Daddy, what?”

“Mmm—Yes, Daddy, I like when you and Master use me. I like making you feel good.”, you whine.

Eddie growls as he lifts you into his arms and carries you to the bedroom, tossing you on to the mattress. With amazing strength you’ve always marveled at, he ripped open your shirt and latched his lips around one of your nipples eliciting a loud moan from you as he grinds his hips between your legs. 

The bed dips beside you and Steve taps his friend’s shoulder, handing him a pair of scissors that the boy promptly takes. 

“Don’t move, sweetheart. Wouldn’t want to cut anything you need.”

Gripping the fabric, he cuts small hole before tearing it open his fingers. Tossing the tool out of the way, he climbs up your body, dragging his tongue along your skin as he does. 

“Jesus fucking Christ, you’re so fucking wet.”, Eddie mewls as he drags the head of his cock between your folds. “Do these costumes turn you on that much, babe?”

“W-What…What can I say. Bad boys turn me on.”, you giggle, biting your bottom lip.

“Oh yeah?”, he coos as he leans down to kiss your lips. “Because you like being used?”

You both moan loudly as he slides his length into your core.

“You’re such a bad girl, Y/N. You—fuck—you act so innocent out there but we know what you really are.”

“What am I, Sir?”

Leaning his forehead against your own, his hips slowly begin to pump into you as his cock drags against your walls. 

“Ours.”, he pants. “Our dirty, naughty little angel. W-We didn’t corrupt you did we, baby?”

“No.”

Eddie delivers a particularly hard thrust that had your fingers digging into his shoulders. 

“No, what?”

“Ahhh. No, Sir.”

“God, this pussy feels so fucking good.”, he grunts as his head falls between your neck and shoulder as his pace quickens. 

“Harder, please.”

He doesn’t acknowledge your request but he does roll his hips roughly into yours, abusing your g-spot with his cock over and over as the coil in your belly steadily winds. 

“I love you, Eddie. Please, Sir. Make me cum. I need it so bad.”

Lifting up his head, his lips connect with yours as your tongues mingle together. Your eyes lock with his as your body trembles and you cum hard around him. 

“Fuck. Good girl. Good fucking girl.”, he moans as he fucks into you fast chasing his own release. Groaning, he slams into you a couple more times before you feel him fill you up with his spend. “Fuck…I love you to, Y/N. My beautiful, sexy, naughty girl.”, he pants breathlessly as he playfully spanks you making you giggle.

Turning your head, you find Steve beside you with a gorgeous smile on his face as he patiently waits for you to be ready. 

“Daddy.”, you mewl as you reach out to caress his cheek. “Please.”

“Come here, pretty girl.”

Eddie falls away beside you as Steve flips you over onto your stomach and fully kicks his pants onto the floor before laying his whole weight on top of your back. 

“I’m not hurting you am I?”

“No, Daddy.”

“Good.” Pushing up on one his elbows, he peels your shirt away and tosses it to the ground, placing tender kisses along your shoulder as he lines himself up with your sex. His warm breath hits your skin as he pushes his cock into heat and lays himself against you again, reaching up to thread his fingers between yours. “Fuck, baby girl. You’re so fucking tight. I love you so much, honey.”

“Mmm—I love you to, Steve. Fuck, you’re so deep.”

“Yeah? You like that, pretty girl? You like how deep Daddy’s fucking you?” Rolling his hips in circular motions, your eyes rolled back, practically drooling at how good he felt. “Answer me, Y/N.”

“Y-Yes…Daddy…feel—mmm—feels so good.”

Thrusting into you now at a steady pace, his head fell near your shoulder allowing you to hear his beautiful moans and grunts clearly. 

“You’re ours, baby. Fuck, I can’t wait for us t-to move into this house. We’re gonna take such good care of you, honey.” Steve groans as he feels you clench around him at the notion. “Yeah? Shit, Y/N, I’m gonna cum. Cum with Daddy, baby girl.”

Tears fell from your eyes as you came and as your cunt quivered around him he thrust his release deep within you. 

Steve grinned when he felt your fingers reach behind you to run through his hair before a giddy giggle escaped your lips. 

“What?”

“Your hair is still so greasy. How much gel did you put in there?”

“Enough to get you going.”, he jokes as he falls to your other side.

Extending your arm, your palm gently runs along Eddie’s jaw line. “I like your hair pulled back like this though. I like being able to see your handsome face.”

Scooting closer to you, he places his hand over your own before softly running his digits along your skin.

“You really are beautiful, you know that?”, he hummed in a low, raspy voice that had you smiling. “I wish we could give you a wedding, sweetheart.”

Blinking, you pushed up on your elbows to meet his gaze, completely taken off guard.

“Where did that come from?”

“I think about it a lot especially after getting the house. Steve and I can take care of you and give you everything but the one thing I feel like you really deserve…the one thing we want to… We can’t give you.”

Glancing at Steve, his head was resting on his bicep as his free hand continued rubbing your back. As he gently smiled in your direction, you knew he felt the same. 

“Baby, a piece of paper isn’t going to change how I feel about you two. You both got me this ring and the ones you wear to. I don’t need a whole ceremony to show off or anything. I just want you both.”

“Every girl deserves a white dress and bouquet.”, Steve murmurs.

“To have her dad walk her down the aisle and a badass honeymoon somewhere fun.”, Eddie adds. “Come on, princess. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

That night after they fell asleep, you laid awake thinking about what they had told you. You meant what you said about not needing a wedding or anything like that. Honestly, just the fact that they even wanted that with you at all had your heart soaring. 

As you played with Eddie’s hair while his head rested on your chest, you thought about the boy you met 5 years ago. He was loud, intimidating, and slightly scary but he always had a soft heart. You watched him with the Hellfire Kids and he always seemed to care about them like siblings. That night when Tommy poured beer all over you, he didn’t think twice as he put his jacket over her shoulders and led you inside. Through the years, his eyes were always scanning you, checking, making sure you ok and happy. 

“I never thought I would have a girl fall in love me…”

Glancing at Steve, he had fallen asleep on his side with his hand holding yours. He used to be so angry and those first few months you never understand why. Over the years, he had softened immensely. He still had his moments of being defensive but he would catch himself and apologize. More than anything, you realized his heart was huge and he had so much to give but was afraid of being rejected. His parents did it numerous times as well as people in the town, dismissing him as some dumb jock. Even the day you met him in detention, he told Eddie he left a note for Nancy who (lucky for you) didn’t show up. He was always so protective of you and even Eddie these past few years. More than anything, he made you feel safe and loved. 

“It’s not so much what you’re doing with me but why did you even give me a chance…” 

They didn’t just want a wedding for you but for themselves as well. Even as singular entities they never expected to have one, let alone a happy, healthy relationship for so long. They didn’t just want you have that experience but they wanted to experience it with you. 

The next morning before they woke up, you called your best friend with an idea but you needed help expanding and initiating it. 

“You called the right person, honey. Come over and we can figure some things out.”

#############

@manda-panda-monium @sherrylyn628 @eddiesguitarskills

@needylilgal022 @local-stoner-bitch @katethetank @strangerfreak

@sidthedollface2 @justanotheryn @pedropascalslilbaby

@marsupiooo @mandyjo8719 @bexreadstoomuch

@chelebelletx @perdopascalslilbaby @shayeddie @anaibis

@wroteclassicaly @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes

@siriuslysmoking @raptorbait529 @miarosso @micheledawn1975

@paleidiot @mrsjellymunson @dashingdeb16

[r3medialch8os]

so since u guys liked that i did this with remedial chaos theory i will now also be doing this for epidemiology.

the most incredible thing about this episode is that it is in fact Not merely an homage like most concept episodes are; it actually happens. a zombie epidemic For Real takes place at greendale. it's not a gimmick or a game or a way to frame the plot. the actual conflict is derived from the fact that people are zombies and the study group need to outrun them/turn them back. how often can you say that a sitcom incorporates a storyline like this and sincerely pulls it off? never.

the emotional tension in this episode is framed around troy/abed/jeff and the dichotomy of being a nerd vs. being cool, which respectively get attributed the qualities of caring about the people around you who have turned into zombies or wanting to run and escape from the zombies without trying to help. abed and jeff's costumes are both pointed out in the beginning receiving clear denotations of 'lame' and 'too cool to care' and therefore their positions in the conflict are cemented. the episode has a push-pull with troy being the moving factor, having to decide what he thinks is most important. he gets swayed in the beginning by two girls rejecting him over his costume and jeff mentioning how expensive his suit is. he changes from his ripley costume into a 'sexy dracula'. abed spends the whole episode trying to get troy back to his side, even saying "what defines a nerd? committing to an awesome halloween costume with your best friend?" troy is eventually 'turned back' into his nerdy self (perhaps a zombie metaphor itself, keeping in tone with the theme of the episode) because jeff cares more about his suit getting dirty than surviving the herd of zombies.

a crucial part of the episode is that it is soundtracked by abba music playing from the dean's playlist. now, who would i be if i didn't investigate significant music choices connected to scenes? first up and probably the most important one: s.o.s. is used in the background of a scene where abed confronts troy about changing costumes. troy insults him and walks away. the lyrics are: 'you seemed so far away, though you were standing near. you made me feel alive, but something died, i fear. i really tried to make it up, i wish I understood. what happened to our love? it used to be so good.' next; gimme gimme gimme plays right before the scene where chang and shirley hook up. another insane choice is at the end when troy is fighting the zombies. the whole sequence has mamma mia playing in the background Faintly. then when troy eventually gets to abed and has to fight him, the music comes in much louder with the lyrics: 'here i go again, my, my, how can i resist you?', which i think fits perfectly. the ending song fernando has the lyrics 'there was something in the air that night', both referencing the thermostat changing the zombies back and the fact that it was just an incredibly weird fucking night.

troy is dressed as ellen ripley and also kind of acts as the ripley of this episode. his journey in this as being the sole survivor and the one to eventually save greendale adheres to a common science fiction model where a life-threatening force is faced against the protagonists and they fall off in degrees, resulting in one person being left to mend everything. here specifically, it seems to mirror ripley's journey in alien (1979) as it starts with a crew that eventually gets cut down leaving only her. i thought that was really cool.

more alien tidbits, but the jumping cat scene is also inspired by it. jones the cat is an imporant figure in the first alien movie. in various scenes, members of the crew will go looking for him, then get ambushed by the titular alien and subsequently killed. it is a minor homage to the movie through yet another subtle reference. the bit is also parodying jumpscares in horror movies in general, and how they are used to cheaply amplify the tension. anyways, it's quite the multilayered joke because it also really works out of context as a bizarre comedic moment.

troy and abed's scene in the basement pays homage to princess leia and han solo's scene in the empire strikes back. the conversation in the film takes place just before han is frozen alive in carbonite by darth vader. not knowing if he’ll survive, he kisses leia, only to be torn away from her by stormtroopers. she says 'i love you,' and as he descends into chamber, han replies, 'i know.' an undeniably romantic moment, maybe one of the most memorable ones ever, is applied to troy and abed who have held reign over the emotional core of the plot for the entire episode. it's pretty special that such an iconic moment is given to them, i feel like the creators of the show wouldn't just do this sparingly. it also perfectly resolves their conflict as troy makes such a vulnerable statement and abed assuring him that he already knew, validating their bond once again.

more on troy and abed, it is pretty amazing realizing the emotional implications tied to how dire the situation was. everyone in this episode was under the direct threat of Not Surviving, and still abed sacrificed himself for troy. he knew this was for real. he couldn't be sure if they were going to make it. but i think he had enough faith in troy to aid in his escape. it's very touching. further, it's incredible that troy is willing to fight all the zombies (all his friends) but when it comes time to punch abed, he refuses to do it. he's struck by the force of their friendship, mumbling 'we're friends' defeated before eventually succumbing to his bite.

troy saving the school by controlling the temperature; nicely setting up his further plot with the ac repair school.

him being the one to escape and abed saying 'be the first black man to make it to the end' subverts the common horror trope of 'black dude dies first'. a playful way of keeping up with the horror movie theme of the episode.

also ironically this episode, which features the song mamma mia by abba, sets up a plotline in season two about shirley not knowing who the father of her new baby is, which is functionally the plot of the movie mamma mia!, a musical based on abba's music. probably a coincidence but a pretty funny one.

at the end when the army arrives, they ask the dean about witnesses. when he says he is the only witness, one of the guards reaches into his jacket, suggesting that he's pulling a gun intended to kill the dean and get rid of the witness. when they notice everyone in the school is still alive, they abandon this plan and go for 'scenario b'. kind of dark but i laugh every time that scene happens.

anyways that's all i could pull from my brain crevices for now. this episode is a genuine masterpiece, it will never ever get old and will remain to be one of the most unique sitcom episodes ever created.

[whiskeypascals]

Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy

(not my gif)

pre-outbreak and happy Joel :)

Summary: It’s nearing Halloween and Y/N invited Joel over to hand out candy and have a few drinks after helping him put out decorations, Sarah was out trick or treating with some of her friends and wouldn’t be home until morning and things end up getting spicy between Joel and Y/N wink wink

Warnings: smut, bottom Y/N , alcohol, dirty talk, biting, multiple orgasms, teasing, praise.

———————

It was the Monday before Halloween, 2002 and Joel was excited to say the least, he loved the holiday and he loved seeing the subdivision full of life. He had got an early start on setting out decorations when he noticed that his neighbor, Y/N, was also starting early.

Y/N was chaotically putting out stringy fake cobweb decorations and it looked like he was struggling quite a bit.

Joel laughed to himself, noticing how Y/N kept getting his fingers caught in the fake webs and started to walk over to ask if he needed help.

“Hey! One second I’m almost…Fuck.” Y/N said before getting the decoration caught up by his shoulder somehow.

“Must’ve caught a thread, here, let me get it.” Joel offered up, reaching up to Y/N’s shoulder to grab the string. He pulled it off of his shoulder and handed it to him.

“Thanks, I can’t believe I’ve lived here for almost three months and never got your name, I’m Y/N.” He reached out his empty hand.

“Joel,” He smiled and went to shake Y/N’s hand, “Hey uh, I’m almost done over at my place if you need a hand.” he offered up.

“Oh, that would be really nice” Y/N smiled back at Joel.

The pair finished right as it was getting dark and after Y/N reached down to plug in the purple and orange lights, the two simply marveled at the decorating job they completed.

“Thanks Joel, I appreciate it.” Y/N rolled up his sleeves and looked over to the man next to him before speaking again.

“Hey, would you like to come have a couple drinks on Halloween and hand out candy? I mean it’s only fair because you helped me do all of this.” He motioned to the decorations.

Joel looked over at Y/N and thought for a second before replying with a simple, “Yeah that’d be nice”.

Flash forward to that Thursday and Y/N was sitting out in his driveway in a lawn chair watching Joel say goodbye to Sarah.

“If you need anything you tell Veronica’s mom to call me alright baby?” He said going to hug his daughter.

“Okay dad, love you!” She said turning to run towards her group of friends huddled on the street.

“Love you too baby! Have fun!” He yelled as she crossed to greet her friends.

Y/N noticed Joel run back inside his house and for a split second thought Joel had forgotten about their plans but then a group of trick or treaters started walking up his driveway and the thought slipped his mind.

Inside, Joel was running around his house finding all of the pieces for his costume, he dressed up every year and since Y/N had just moved in in July, he’d never known about Joel being one of the only adults on the street dressing up. He found all the pieces of the set as quickly as he could and looked in the mirror after he put all of it on. He smiled to himself and grabbed his cell and went outside.

Y/N was still sitting out in the lawn chair set up in his driveway when Joel walked over, “Hey Y/N sorry if I’m late at all, had to change real fast.” He smiled.

Y/N was absolutely awe struck. Joel was dressed up in full cowboy attire, decked out with a bandana around his neck and a leather hat on.

“No it’s all good Joel, there wasn’t any rush or anything. It’s still pretty early.” He said standing up to go grab a second chair so Joel could sit.

Joel found two cans of beer, one unopened and he assumed it was for him, but didn’t want to make himself too much at home and waited to wait til Y/N got back to ask to drink it.

Y/N came back with Joel’s chair in his arms and unfolded it so he could sit down.

“So, I’m guessing you dress up every year?” Y/N asked as he sat.

“No these are my normal clothes, is there something wrong with them?” Joel asked looking down at his clothes, looking up at, Y/N and laughing.

“You look nice Joel.” Y/N smiled.

“Oh, I almost forgot, here’s the drink I promised, we could always go inside and get more later if you want.” Y/N said, grabbing the can next to his own and handing it over to Joel.

“Thanks.” Joel grabbed the beer, opened it, and took a drink.

More kids came and went and then came and went again before Joel’s phone started ringing. He answered and talked for a few minutes before hanging up. Y/N glanced over at him while he was putting his phone back in his pocket, Joel looked over at him and started explaining the call.

“Sarah’s staying at her friends house tonight, so if your offer from earlier is still up we can go on inside.”

Y/N nodded and smiled “Yeah, we can go”

The pair stood up and Y/N got the chairs while Joel got the nearing empty cans and the candy bowl with about a handful left of candy to the front door and they went inside.

Joel was met with a pleasant smell as he walked in, Y/N’s house was beautifully decorated and incredibly clean. Joel thought back when he remembered that he has never seen a kid or another adult come in or enter and it hit him that Y/N lived alone.

“It’s uh, nothing special.” Y/N said noticing Joel looking around like he’s never been in a house before.

“you have a nice house, Y/N.” Joel said following the other man into the kitchen area.

“Are you a whiskey and coke man?” Y/N asked

“Take a look at me.” Joel said sitting down at the bar.

Y/N chuckled and grabbed two whiskey glasses and opening up the fridge to grab a two liter of coke. he brought the glasses and soda to the bar where the bottle of whiskey was sitting.

Joel was still sat in his costume, he took off his hat when he sat down but kept everything else on. Y/N couldn’t help but smile as he poured the drinks, Joel took a notice and smirked at the man in front of him.

Y/N finished pouring and scooted one of the glasses to Joel and watched as he took a swig. He swallowed thickly and felt the burn he’d grown to love go down his throat. He set the glass back on the table and raised both of his eyebrows

“Goes down smooth.” He said as Y/N finally took a drink, who nodded after putting his glass down next to Joel’s.

A few drinks later, almost half of the whiskey bottle was empty and Y/N and Joel were sitting on the couch watching a movie that Joel insisted was ‘the best thing to come out’. The first two buttons on Joel’s shirt had come unbuttoned and the bandana he had around his neck had disappeared. The two men had a very pleasant glow inside of them from the drinks.

Out of seemingly nowhere, Y/N had gotten hungry and remembered that he had bought cereal the day before and got the best idea on the planet.

“I’m gonna get some cereal, you want a bowl?” he got up to go to the kitchen.

“I’m good.” Joel replied from the couch.

Y/N saw out of the corner of his eye that Joel stood up and started walking over to him.

“You need something Joel?”

“mm-mm”

Joel sat down at the bar again and just watched as Y/N made his cereal.

“You sobering up?” Y/N asked, he was himself so he was curious about Joel’s state.

“Yeah.” he said.

His voice was deep and it sounded like he was tired, Y/N found it incredibly attractive.

Y/N sat his bowl down on the bar in front of Joel.

“Your costume looked really good tonight Joel.” he said not trying to hide that he was eyeing the man across the bar up and down.

Joel was taken aback by the sudden change in Y/N’s demeanor, he went from an awkward dude who kept getting stuck in fake cobwebs, and now he was talking him up.

It wasn’t a bad thing to Joel though.

“I bet you’d like it better if it was off, huh?”

Joel smirked and stood up

Y/N was suddenly speechless.

“Can’t be all quiet now, Y/N.”

Joel walked his way around the bar and stood in front of Y/N, who swallowed just as thick as Joel when he took the first drink of whiskey a few hours prior.

“Saw you eyeing me up all night pretty boy.”

Y/N said nothing again.

It was his turn to be shocked, he had never thought that Joel could get like this, but he could honestly get used to it.

“Joel are you completely sober.” it was less of a question and more like a demand to know.

“Yes Y/N, swear.” Joel replied.

“So you won’t regret kissing me?”

“Will you regret letting me kiss you?”

Y/N shook his head no and Joel leaned in to kiss him. As he deepened the kiss, Joel pushed him back to lean against the counter top. His arm snaked around Y/N’s waist and he took a sharp breath in through his nose.

Y/N was the first to pull away, but he took one look at Joel’s lust filled face and went right back in for another kiss. This one felt different from the other, there was a hunger in it. Both men knew that this wouldn’t be a kiss that lead to nothing.

Joel pulled away first this time.

“You tell me now if you don’t want this to go any further.” He said, he could one hundred percent tell that Y/N wanted to go further but he just wanted to make sure.

“I want to Joel, please.” Y/N whispered.

Joel moved off of Y/N and let him lead the way to the couch.

Y/N sat down and took off his thermal shirt and Joel un-buckled his belt and pulled it off before sitting down next to Y/N.

“How do you want to do this?” Joel asked looking over at Y/N.

“Can I sit on your lap?”

Joel nodded slowly and smirked once again as Y/N threw his legs over his own thighs. Y/N put his hands on Joel’s shoulders and pulled him in for another kiss.

Almost immediately Joel’s tongue prodded ad Y/N’s lips, he turned his head to the side a little bit to get a better angle to be able to let Joel into his mouth.

After the kiss, both were left breathless.

“If you keep smirking like that I’ll explode.” Y/N said as he panted slightly. Joel chuckled in response. He said nothing as he shrugged Y/N’s hands off his shoulders and leaned forward. He put his arms on Y/N’s hips to hold him in place and went straight for his neck. He kissed lightly at the space where Y/N’s shoulder and neck met. Y/N gasped as Joel bit down, it wasn’t hard enough to draw blood, but it was hard enough to make Y/N buck his hips up towards Joel.

Between Joel’s mouth and the friction in Y/N’s jeans, he let out multiple small whines and pleas. Joel pulled off of Y/N and looked at his neck, admiring the red blotches and bite marks on it.

“Joel please do something!” Y/N begged, grinding his hips down onto Joel’s, feeling everything in the process. Joel groaned at the friction that he caused between them.

“Fuck.” is all he said in response.

Joel reached down to un-button Y/N’s jeans as fast as he could. When he got them undone, he pulled the band of his boxers down and let his dick spring free. he spit in his palm and finally gave Y/N what he wanted the most.

Y/N’s head flew back as he let out a groan, his eyes screwed shut and he furrowed his brows.

“Look at me, Y/N.” Joel demanded, stopping his hand right at Y/N’s base.

Y/N pulled his head back up and opened his eyes, “Joel, please. Please don’t stop.” he whined.

“I don’t want you cummin’ yet baby,” Joel took his hand off of Y/N, “I want you comin’ completely undone with me inside you.”

Y/N was speechless for the second time tonight.

Joel leaned in to whisper to him, “Get up and take off your pants.”

“I know you’ve got lube and condoms around here somewhere, go get ‘em.” Joel said.

Y/N nodded and Joel watched him turn away and almost sprint to his room. He got everything and went back into the living room and saw that Joel had rid himself of his tight jeans and was slowly stroking himself with his head leaned back. Y/N tossed the lube and condom onto the couch cushion and finally got a good look at Joel’s dick. He for sure thought he would start drooling if Joel didn’t snap his head up when he heard the items hit the couch.

Y/N got back into Joel’s lap and went in for another kiss, after they pulled apart, Joel grabbed the lube from the cushion beside them and opened it up one handed. He squeezed a little bit onto his fingers and rubbed them against his thumb to warm up the gel. He decided he wanted to start slow and reached around to prod at Y/N’s entrance, maintaining eye contact with Y/N the whole time.

“Joel please stop teasing me.” Y/N’s hands ended up on Joel’s shoulders again and he dug his nails into the skin there.

Joel fit his middle finger next to his index and started scissoring them to stretch Y/N out. He writhed as Joel kept his movements at a steady pace.

“Joel ‘m gonna cum.” Y/N said as white hot pleasure took over his body.

He came with a long stretched out moan and Joel pulled his fingers out.

“D’ya think you could give me one more babe?”

Y/N nodded and looked down to see Joel’s dick leaking pre-cum onto his stomach and reached to wrap his hand around it. and Joel hummed in satisfaction.

“You’re being so good for me.” He said as Y/N picked up his speed.

Y/N stopped his hand and reached over for the condom. He opened it and started to roll it out onto Joel. The condom itself was pre-lubricated and there was still lube on Y/N’s hole so after it was rolled all the way on, Y/N lifted himself to give Joel room to reposition himself.

Joel held his dick in place as Y/N sat himself on it. The both of them groaned as Joel bottomed out.

“You’ve done this before, huh?” Joel asked moving Y/N’s hair off of his sweaty forehead.

“Mhm.” he nodded.

“So ya know how to ride?”

“Yeah.” Y/N breathed out heavily.

He put his hands back on Joel’s shoulders and used his arms to help himself lift halfway off of Joel and pushed himself back down with a whine, he kept us this rhythm for a couple minutes before Joel took his hand down to wrap around Y/N and stroke him in the same rhythm as his bouncing.

Y/N was squeezing around Joel’s cock and his jaw dropped to make an ‘o’ face.

“‘S so good keep goin’ baby” Joel’s hand had moved to Y/N’s waist and his jaw had tightened.

He thought for a second before slamming Y/N down onto himself and fucking up into him.

Y/N let out a stream of curses and Joel’s grip only got harder as he relentlessly slammed into him. Y/N brought a hand to his dick and started stroking with Joel’s thrusts. He let out one final ‘fuck’ as he came into his fist.

Joel didn’t stop though, “I’m almost there baby, c’mon.”

He let out a grunt when Y/N started grinding down on his dick. Small chants of ‘ah’ left his mouth as the man on top of him kept going. As Joels thrusts got sloppier and his grip on Y/N’s waist got tighter, Y/N knew he was close.

Joel came into the condom mere seconds later, “Fuck Y/N.” He panted.

Y/N got up off of Joel with minimal struggle, both of them were sensitive and neither wanted to hurt the other, and Joel pulled off the condom, tying it off and going to the bathroom to throw it away.

“Do you want to stay the night? It would be rude of me to tell you to go home.” Y/N said, grabbing his pants and boxers to throw them in the dirty laundry bin.

“Yeah, if it’s not too much trouble, can I shower though?”

Y/N nodded and brought him to his bedroom to shower in the en suite. He got into his dresser and got out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt for Joel to put on after he got out and laid it on the bathroom counter.

About ten minutes later, Joel left the bathroom in the pajamas Y/N had put out for him and saw that he was already in bed.

Joel got into the bed on the side that Y/N wasn’t on and got under the blanket. Just as he went to close his eyes, he remembered.

I have work tomorrow.

“I’ll call in sick.” he said to himself, seemingly forgetting he wasn’t alone.

“Hm?” Y/N asked, his voice filled with sleep.

“Nothin’,” Joel scooted closer to Y/N and closed his eyes “Goodnight.”

“Night Joel, thank you for staying.”

“‘Course.”

[ofmdrecaps]

08/16 - 17/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Taika Waititi's Birthday!; David Jenkins; GalaxyCon San Jose: Vico, Con, Nathan, Kristian; David Fane; Samba Schutte; Madeleine Sami; Nat Torres; Erroll Shand; Cohen Holloway; Love Notes;

== Taika Waititi ==

Okay so I'm drastically late because yet again my life has become nutzoid, but Happy VERY belated birthday to the main man Taika Waititi! His birthday was August 16th, and he spent it with lots of friends and loved ones <3

Lots of videos! I couldn't include them all here, so you can see them all in one place on the Repo.

Sources: VasJMorgan's / Rita Ora's Instagram

== David Jenkins ==

David shared a tattoo that one of our crewmates shared his way!

Source: David Jenkins Instagram Stories

== GalaxyCon San Jose: Vico, Con, Kristian, and Nathan ==

Since there was so much footage, I'm going to try and break this up into two parts so I can fit in some other news!

Our friends over at @adoptourcrew were kind enough to live tweet the panel, here's those tweets below:

As you can see there was some clowning going on as well! Next up is fan shots shared on GalaxyCon San Jose or the cast member's instagrams! I'll try to get the original photo links in but if not I apologize! Let me know if I need to update them!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Visit San Jose (@visitsanjose)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GalaxyCon (@galaxyconlive)

And Nathan was out with Con on his birthday!

Source: Galaxy Con San Jose's Instagram / Nathan/Con/Kristian/Vico's Instagrams

== David Fane ==

It's been a busy week for David! So glad to see him smiling!

Source: David Fane's Instagram

== Samba Schutte ==

Samba met up with his first drama teacher and sent a lovely message!

My very first drama teacher, the man who gave me the confidence to give my dream a shot, who helped me believe that I have something to offer as an artist. I owe him a lot, the ground that helped my seeds grow into a garden, and an amazing human and humanitarian to boot. So lovely to see you again, my dear Eugene van Erven. Check out his books! 23 years and going❤️✨🙏🏾

Source: Samba Schutte's Instagram

== Erroll Shand ==

Erroll is on Episode 5 of The Clearing, playing Henrik! You can check it out on DisneyPlus in Australia-- I tried looking for it on Disney Plus US but no luck. If you know of a better way to watch please let me know!

Source: Erroll Shand's Instagram

== Nat Torres ==

One of our fantastic writers, Nat Torres posted some quick pics for the end of summer. I had to get their dogs in there because of reasons.

Source: Natalie Torres' Instagram

== Madeleine Sami ==

Mads and her Co-star of Double Parked, Antonia Prebble talking life <3

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Breeze Auckland (@thebreezeauckland)

Source: TheBreezeAuckland Instagram

== Cohen Holloway ==

Pop Pop pops up so irregularly, so I had to share him being mentioned in this post by Costume Designer: Lissy Turner, tagged for a BTS picture of the film Lowdown Dirty Criminals.

Source: Cohen Holloway's Instagram

== Love Notes ==

Okay Lovelies, apologies, gonna need to have the fan spotlights in the next post because there was just so much going on with the Cast and Crew these past few days! There's still more to show, and I'll work on getting tonight's recap up as well here in a little bit. I truly hope you're being kind to yourself this weekend lovelies. It's been so busy lately, and I know sometimes life like to pop up and kick us in the tush and make things harder -- so remember that you're doing the best you can with what you have. There's enough shame in this world, try to remember not to add to it for yourself, because you deserve grace, especially when things continue to be tough. Sending so much love crew.

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A post shared by REALEST® (@realestintentions)

[asksythe]

I'm venturing into making homemade merchs. Behold! My first attempt!!

Haha! I'm sick... again... so slow with writing. Also I have another story idea!

I want to write a crack fic featuring Ritsuka dirty talking Oberon for months on end without realizing what she's doing.

Hahahahaha! Hear me out.

Intrusive thoughts. How weird they can get. Like people sometimes out of nowhere wonder what it's like to kiss complete strangers they just meet. Stuff like that right.

Do they fall into the purview of Fairy Eyes? Can Oberon's fairy eyes see Ritsuka's intrusive thoughts and spontaneous daydreaming as they take place?

Here's another thought. What if intrusive thoughts are strictly a human thing? Fairies don't do intrusive thoughts. So servant Oberon would be completely unused to the experience of watching intrusive thoughts.

So let's say, the story goes like this. Riri goes about her day as usual but now and then she would have intrusive thoughts about Oberon. Tsundere, weirdly complimentative, wildly inappropriate trains of thoughts. Like this:

'Haaa, as usual Oberon is prickly and hard to please. Did he have to open his mouth and let out thy pretty, barbed tongue?'

'He's like a giant grumpy cat! His hair is even smooth and soft like one of those prissy, expensive pedigree cats from Britain!'

'Cat Oberon. Kitty Oberon. Kittyberon! Hehehehehe'

'I wonder how it feels if I pet him. Cat bellies are nice and soft and tempting. I always want to rub my face into a cat's belly. Can I do that to Kittyberon? Rub his tummy with my face? Would he yowl or would he purr?'

Imagine Ritsuka thinking that while in line to pick up lunch in the cafeteria, with none of it showing on her face. And Oberon in the same cafeteria growing increasingly flustered but can't do anything about it.

Or how about when the fairy summer event rolls around with the two Oberon summer costumes? Maybe she would think something like this:

'Oh man, I wonder where those abs come from. He didn't look like he's that packed under the clothes.'

'Are those abs fake? Did he paint them on like he painted the whole refreshing summer prince persona on? Does it rub off? Is it waterproof? Is that why doesn't get into the water? Cause them abs wash off?'

'Hmm.. I wonder how far down he painted. Would he be like a spitting mad cat if I try to examine with my hands right now? Would that smear the ink?'

'Hehehehe, spitting mad Kittyberon!'

And what about the gloomy Summer Oberon costume?

'Wahahahahaha!! He looks like a college dropout who works at the local gas station convenience store! Gehehehe! A sad hikkikomori who just can't help himself! His room even looks like it and he has a forever crush on a 2D girl!'

'Mm-hmm! Hey, isn't that the setting of a bunch of different Ecchi manga and eroge games? The protagonist is some shut-in who hasn't been to school for years, and his only contact with the outside world is the persistent childhood friend who won't leave him alone! She goes over to cook for him, clean up after him, and look out for him every day!'

'Like a persistent little sister! Always yelling for Oberon Onii-chan to get up, it's the middle of the day already!'

'Hmm? Come think of it, isn't that what I already do for him this summer? Coming over to clean up after him and dragging him out of his depressed hole? Huh, I wonder how he will react if I come up and call him Oberon Onii-chan to his face! I know! He will do the whole jeering, barbed tongue prince again and call me an idiot with nothing good to do with her time. Typical Oberon! Always a depressed downer! No wonder he's always abyss this, the end that! Oberon Onii-chan is super lame! Hehehe!'

'And if we are going with eroge game story, then one fine day the childhood friend will just have it and kabedon him! And ravish him because she just about had enough with his obtuse way! Like that game Private Nurse, the protagonist ends up getting chased around town in an embarrassing outfit! Hahaha! Oberon Onii-chan, what are you to do if something like that happens to you? Hahaha!'

And how does Ritsuka have all the patience in the world to deal with Oberon's snarkiness? Maybe she just superimposes Kittyberon on real Oberon the entire time. Imagine Oberon being snarky as usual and Ritsuka looking at him and seeing a hissing kitty, and, in her head, imagining all kinds of scenarios. Petting him like a cat, snuggling and kissing him and annoying this grumpy kitty with smooches and whosagoodkitty! You are! Yes you are!

Or if she's feeling frustrated with him then in her head she's thinking: 'Bad kitty needs a spanking and no melon snack for you until you properly apologize by cutely meow meowing at me!'

And so on...

Hmm hmmm. So this story would effectively have two parts I think. The first part is just all the slapstick, wacky intrusive thoughts in Riri's head. The second part is Oberon finally snapping and acting out some of the intrusive thought scenarios in Riri's head on her, much to her mortification.

Imagine that scene!

Oberon meow meowing in that prissy princely British manner at Ritsuka while reminding her of the dirtiest, most inappropriate thoughts she hashad about him in the weeks prior to her face.

'Hmm, how is Kittyberon today, Master? Is this enough for you to forgive me yet?'

'Didn't you want to rub your face in my belly and find out if these muscles are painted on or not?'

'What were those eroge scenarios in your head again?'

'Depressed shut-in onii-chan being kabedoned and ravished by the childhood imoto was it? Or was it the other way around?'

'Master, won't you call me Oberon Onii-chan. You always wonder how I would react, don't you? Here is it. Call me. O-Nii-Chan.'

Until Riri wants to run away, but she's locked in with him.

Hahahhaha. And then the ending, I'm thinking. Riri is all sore and tired the next day after having paid the price for her months of dirty talking Oberon without realizing it. She thinks she's got to be careful now where her thoughts lead. No more intrusive thoughts about no-good, very-bad, should-definitely-be-punished Kittyberon!!

And there is the punch line of the joke. Ritsuka realizes that oh crap, she can't help it. Cue Oberon looking at her from across the cafeteria with a look that promises 'You are going to pay for this later.' And Riri meeping and running away.

Hah!

[squirting-sub]

Halloween with my dom

We were invited to a queer Halloween party and prepared costumes. She went as the devil and I was her little angel. Of course it was a little kinky, as I was wearing the choker she made for me and fishnet stockings. She was wearing her leather chest harness. My best friend spent two hours doing my hair and make up and I ended up wearing red lipstick. I didn't tell my dom that my lipstick is not transfer proof and had a good laugh when she picked me up and kissed me.

At the party we couldn't kiss due to the lipstick, which made the tension between us grow. Lots of intense eye contact. There were lots of moments where she pulled me close or had me against a wall and we were about to kiss. Our lips almost touching. Her kissing my neck instead. After touching up my lipstick, I kissed her neck to mark her with my lipstick. Seeing my mark on her turned me on the whole night. The deep red lipstick on her neck also looked great with her all black outfit.

After three hours she couldn't take it anymore and ordered me to go remove my lipstick. When I got back, she immediately pulled me close and kissed me hungrily, her hands roaming over my body. We spent a good while just making out in the corner of the dance floor. Later we ended up making out in a bedroom when she suddenly said that we're going to her car. "Are we?" "That wasn't a question." In the hallway, she decided to pull me into the bathroom instead though.

After locking the door she pushed me against the wall, pushed my dress up and fucked me. It didn't take long for her to have me kneel and drop her pants. Her hand in my hair, she pulled my face against her crotch and had me eat her out. Loved her grinding on my tongue and hearing her quiet moans. "Fuck.. Look at you. Kneeling on the dirty floor to please me while there's people right outside this door. The thought of getting caught just turns you on, you little slut." She pulled me up, kissed me, then wiped my chin and mouth with her thumb and told me to fix my hair.

I also spent the whole night serving her. Getting her drinks and food. One time she ordered me to get her phone and the person we were talking to couldn't help but smirk, obviously having caught onto our dynamic, telling her how nice it is to have that. My friend who invited us said, with our costumes it's quite obvious which one of us is the subby one.

We had a really great night!

[pepa-brainrot]

Encanto Oc Appreciation week two! Relationships ✨️

@encanto-extended-edition

It's my beloved sunshine trio! I finally drew all of them together (took me long enough I know)

Some more of Armida's relationships summarized below the cut 💛

(I am so terribly bad at summaries Im so sorry- If I could write out the extent of all of their relationships I would- sadly I dont have the time..)

Alma: Her relationship with Alma pre movie is strained- mostly because she fears the older woman. Armida is riddled with anxiety and intrusive thoughts over what her mother in law may think of her, and often fears Alma thinks she got into the way of her daughter's relationship- or that she isn't a "real" madrigal. Basically.. it's a lot of assumptions on how Alma feels about her.. but they are not always truthful.

Armida also tends to disagree with Alma's ways. But between her being passive by nature and having a fear of speaking up, she never says anything. Rather she does her best to help by being there for other family members the best she can be.

Julieta: She was the first of the triplets that Armida became close to. Armida had visited her stand often, and at first Julieta thought the younger woman was accident prone like Agustín.. Over time it became clear that wasn't the case, but Armida was always super polite- despite lying about why she needed to be healed. She always made sure to thank Julieta - not just for healing her but for everything she does. After that it was surprisingly easy for the two of them to talk- and making friends with Julieta naturally got Armida talking to Bruno and Pepa. Although out of the triplets Armida is the least closest to Julieta now, she still feels incredibly safe with the woman. Armida is set trying to lessen Julietas work load. The only issue being- she really can't cook- all she can really do is help with preparation when needed. So instead she settles with going out to town when Julieta needs anything. It's not a lot, but it's something at the very least, and it's appreciated more than Armida will probably ever realize. 

Bruno: While obviously Armida is closest with Pepa and Félix, she also shares a really close bond with Bruno. The both of them being pretty bad insomniacs, they bonded a lot over sleepless nights- She'd tell him about the stars if the sky was clear enough and he'd talk about his rat telenovelas or sometimes about his gift- and she'd comfort him. She's a fan of his telenovelas- she loves the rats, and he's actually a really good writer. She offers to help make small costumes and even jokes about background music for suspense. All and all their relationship is very cute- I like to say they are like platonic soulmates. Obviously after Bruno disappears and comes back things aren't the same.. while he was in the walls some nights she'd sit and talk with his door instead, not knowing he was actually listening. Things are a bit awkward when he comes back- Armida having a lot of feelings about him "leaving" when he hurt his family so badly, but in the end she understands his motivation. 

Isabela: When Isabela was little, the girl loved getting her hands dirty. so naturally - Armida loved taking the girl out with her in her nature walks, because even at twenty seven she herself still loved to explore. It was something they bonded over, Dolores never really being as interested. But of course fell apart after Isa was pressured into being the golden child. Now they aren't nearly as close, but the both of them still remember digging for worms near Casita, or going looking for different types of plants in the jungle. Sometimes Isa still takes walks- taking the same paths they used to when she was little- when she knows no one is looking for her. It helps clear her head. Of course after the movie the two begin to grow close once more, Isa being quite excited to show off all the new plants to her supportive tía.

Dolores: I think the majority of the fandom has agreed that Dolores is a daddy's girl- and I completely agree. However she of course loves each of her parents. Mida specifically doted a lot on her when she was younger- having been their first child. She'd often sing to her- writing her own little songs for her daughter. After Dolores got her gift it was a nice thing for the young girl to focus on- her mother singing. Unfortunately getting her gift, like with many of the madrigals, forced Dolores to grow up too soon. She's often a bit protective over her mother, due to things she's heard over time. Armida mostly dislikes the fact that Dolores feels the need to protect her- as she should be the one protecting her.

Little bonus- Armida despises Mariano at first. She disliked him when he was with Isa, not because she knew Isa didn't actually want to marry him (though she has suspected maybe something was up, if she had known that straight up I don't imagine she'd be able to keep quiet about it.) She's- in general- overprotective when it comes to any of the kids dating. She does, however, come around to him. 

Luisa: With Luisa there isn't too much to say. Like Pepa and Félix, Armida treats each of Julieta's girls like her own kids,and Luisa is no exception. She used to read or sing to her each night as a kid, as she did with all of them. Each grandkid grew up with at least one song or story before bed, and sometimes even as adults or teenagers they still request it. But as with most of the kids, as Luisa grew up she stopped having time for things like that. Still Armida is always ready to sing or read to her once again- no matter how old she is.

Camilo: Camilo and Armida have very similar senses of humor at times, which means they make for quite the pair. The two of them sometimes pull little pranks around the house, nothing too much of course- after all she's still his mother and won't let him get away with everything, but he still gets away with more with her then he does with Félix or Pepa. Though being fifteen he doesn't spend as much time with his mom as he did at one point in his life- he still won't deny he loves her very much.

Mirabel: Pre movie, Armida would try her best to make Mirabel feel just as special as the rest of the family, but being busy and slightly stressed she could only do so much for the girl. Still, she did what she could when she could. She started to teach Mirabel embroidery after her failed gift ceremony to try to distract the little girl and make her feel better, she didn't expect her to pick up on it- but she's very proud of how far she's come. She's quite proud of the young woman in general.

Antonio: the baby of the family, he is absolutely Armida’s weakness. She has the hardest time saying no to him, much like others in the family. The fact that he looks so much like Félix really does not help- luckily Pepa and Félix are a bit better with saying no to him. She worried a lot about him, and his gift. Part of her had hoped that maybe he wouldn't get a gift, since she's seen how sometimes the gifts the family have can really feel more like curses, and he's only five- but luckily he gets a gift he really enjoys, one that she herself had wished for a lot as a child, one that doesn't seem like it will put immense amount of pressure on her baby boy. She enjoys learning what some of his animal friends are thinking, and reading them all to bed. (Sometimes she spoils some of his animals.. she can't help it)

[littlechaoticwitch]

Winx Club Rewrite: Season 5/Final Season

I understand this is me being very late to the party, but that's pretty on-brand for me at this point lol

A few years ago, I started to work on a possible rewrite for Fate: The Winx Saga but it soon became this monstrous project of rewriting the entire franchise. Because while this series is one of my beloved childhood series, it is also very messy with its world-building and plotlines, as well being done dirty over and over again by its countless reboots. As much as I would have loved to create a full-on alternative universe like the ones I've seen on tumblr for years, it just took up so much of my time that could have been spent on other projects and it was starting to feel more like a chore than anything else. Eventually, I did create some fashion boards for how to translate their outfits from the show into real life, and wrote up some concept ideas for their live-action costumes, which led to me just writing up the notes I had for the rewrite to share them with y'all.

Some of these ideas were inspired by other people's rewrite of the series, some of these ideas came to me while writing this up, and a lot of these are my attempt to make sense of Winx Club's fucked-up lore. While these were originally written with a live-action reboot in mind, these could also work for an animated reboot targeted for teens/young adults.

This is probably the extent I'll do for any sort of Winx Club rewrite, but it was still fun!

-The Shadow Phoenix is an ancient creature, born the same time as the Dragon Flame to act as its natural opposite. One cannot exist without the other, and even when the Shadow Phoenix fled during their last battle, its presence lingers with the creation of the Ancestral Witch. In the end, despite being released from the box to possess a suit of armor, the heroes are able to defeat it by using a convergence spell which destroys the armor, before using a spell of holy magic to burn the Shadow Phoenix's essence away. Even after being defeated by the Winx Club, it is mentioned by Daphne how it can never truly be destroyed, only disappearing for a long time and letting its essence roam the galaxy once more. She also mentions how they are lucky he used an empty suit of armor for his "body", as a vessel made of flesh and blood would have been impossible to defeat….

-Beatrice returns, with the mysterious box from two seasons prior, which contains the essence of the Shadow Phoenix. After killing Eldora and stealing the Legendarium, she uses the book as a way to distract the Winx Club long enough while she finds the pieces of Lord Andreas' armor for the Shadow Phoenix to possess. In the end, she is killed by Bloom but shows no remorse for her crimes.

-Instead of being a villain, Selina is an anti-hero who wishes to get the Legendarium back. Her and Roxy were close friends growing up, to the point they even had the same babysitter whenever their parents were at work. But the two had a falling out before high school, so Selina further isolated herself into studying witchcraft. When the Winx came to Earth to find the last fairy, the two old friends briefly run into each other, but Selina ran away before anything could be said. In that moment, she learned Eldora had been found dead and the Legendarium had been stolen, so Selina vowed to find the murderer. At first, she refuses the Winx's help and acts cold, often preferring to work by herself; over time, the Winx are able to convince her to let them help out, where she decides to repair her friendship with Roxy.

-Fun Facts about Selina: Her mother was the last guardian before disappearing, so she resents the book for being forced into this role. She is a follower of Loki, and like most witches (both on Earth and in the Magical Dimension), her magical abilities are not easily defined (she is technically a Green Witch who dabbles in shadow and literary magic, but she is open to all forms of witchcraft). Her family is from Ireland, she is three years younger than Bloom, and she has naturally blonde hair, but it becomes green when she transforms.

-Eldora was a witch who babysat both Roxy and Selina when they were younger, but since Roxy's magical core had been hidden by her mother, she sensed the magical potential in Selina instead. The two had a close bond, with Eldora filling in the space left by Selina's mother, but she was murdered when trying to keep the Legendarium from falling into the wrong hands.

-The Legendarium is a powerful artifact, one from Earth's past life as a realm full of magical beings and mystical creatures. Created by a family full of witches, the tomb was meant to capture and seal away all the evil creatures which threatened humanity. Despite going into hiding when the Hunters began their attack on all magi-users, the family was able to keep the Legendarium out of their hands, passing the book down through the generations.

-Bloomix's new name is Mythix, which is a reference to the fairy-tale theme of the final season, the mythical power of the Dragon Flame, and how each girl performs an act of mythical standards. For the most part, each girl keeps their canon design but there are a few changes: Aisha's form has more a green hue with silver accents (with her having long, dark brown loc'd ponytail somewhat similar to her canon Mythix hairstyle), Tecna's form is purple with powder blue accents, Musa's form is a deep red with gold accents, Flora's form is pink with green accents, and Stella gains the high, wavy pigtails Aisha has in her canon Bloomix design. Each girl earns Mythix in a way that is befitting of a mythical story, though Bloom is an exception, since she was not hit with the attack that cause the others to lose their magic. But she did give up a piece of the Dragon Flame to her friends, causing her to slowly lose the ability to transform, and she soon becomes weak, as the Dragon Flame was a part of her soul; she earns her Mythix by saving Icy when she is thrown into the Vortex of Flames, which was seen as the greatest punishment on Domino. Musa earns her form by stopping the Fossegrim from taking over the Golden Auditorium, Stella earns her form by embracing her moon powers to fight off the Children of the Night, Aisha earns her form by stopping the Dark Sirens from corrupting her mother, Flora earns her form by keeping back the frozen curse sent by the Ice Queen, and Tecna earns her form by stopping Frankenstein's Monster from shutting down Zenith's power core.

-The girls do not go into the Legendarium World, but they can defeat the Shadow Phoenix by repairing the Ancestral Wand (which once belonged to the Ancestral Witch before she was corrupted by dark magic)

-Icy returns, with her dreams of possessing the Dragon Flame being a thing of the past. She has one last conversation with Bloom, admitting she only sought power to undo the pain she felt at seeing Aster Dell fall before her eyes, and she apologizes for causing Bloom so much pain back during her first year. With Jade once again the crowned heir, the two have finally entered a relationship (despite Jade's parents being against the union) and the two plan on turning Eraklyon into a safe, warm kingdom in honor of Domino's memory.

-Darcy and Stormy also have returned, with the former starting a healing practice back on Melody, while the latter is helping out with dance classes on Andros.

[hufflepuffsandghosts]

The Costume Contest

Plot: Garcia has made plans to host a Halloween party at the BYU office after a stressful mission. Little do you know that you and your best friend have the same plans in an unexpected way. (Friends to Lovers, Fluff)

TW: slight mention of alcohol

The streets of Quantico buzzed with excitement as Halloween approached. Agent Spencer Reid couldn't help but feel the festive atmosphere of the crisp cold air and the smell of stale leaves. He normally found himself buried in case after case at this time of year, however, his good friend Garcia and Y/N had managed to convince him to attend a Halloween party at the office after a case. “And remember..” Garcia said, sternly, “…you HAVE to wear the costumes that will be provided by either myself or Morgan.” She gave a wink to the both of them, Their faces blush with anticipation as to what they might be.

As Halloween night arrived, Spencer found himself in front of BYU, nervously adjusting the costume that Morgan had him put on and making sure not to ruin any of the makeup Garcia did. Morgan chose Victor Van Dort, from Y/N’s favorite movie “The Corpse Bride”. They watched it together almost every Halloween, it was almost tradtion at this point. But surely a change might be good for both of them, especially after the case the crew just worked on. A typical serial killer basing her kills off of Michael Myers. Which took hours of work on all fronts in order to bring justice to the lives that were lost. As Spencer glides into the building he sees the big gathering in the office and stops. Time seems to slow down at the sight of Y/N, Her makeup done to resemble a blue corpse, with stunning Fx’s and a torn-up white bridal gown, dirtied with mud and coffee stains to make it seem older. She was Emily, his Emily. As the rest of the team look they are greeted with admiration and applause for their perfectly coordinated costume.

Y/N smiles, walks up to him, and holds out her hand. “Looks like we make a great pair, don't we?”

Spencer Chukled nervously, “I guess we do.”

The night was filled with laughter and joy. They danced, played games, and enjoyed each other's company like they always have done. They were, as always, in perfect sync, easily understanding each other in games and humor.

At one point, Y/N excused herself to get some drinks for the two of them, leaving Spence to talk to their other colleagues. As she walked to the bar she overheard two other people dressed as Barbie and Ken.

“My money’s on them becoming a real couple by the end of the night.”

Y/N blushed. There’s no way Spence would reciprocate her feelings right? What they had was something special, sure, but there was no way that she would want to ruin their relationship.

When she returned to Spencer’s side, she noticed he was engrossed in a conversation with another agent and dear friend, Derek Morgan. Spencer appeared somewhat distracted, but as soon as he saw Y/N, his eyes lit up.

‘Hey, you,” he said, smiling.

“Hey,” She replied, trying to ignore the flutter in her stomach caused by his smile.

Eventually, the party’s host announced a couple's costume contest. Spencer and Y/N exchanged amused glances. They hadn’t really planned for this, but now they were unexpectedly part of the contest.

Y/N started to fidget a little, and with Spence noticing he leaned and whispered. “We don't have to do this if you don't want too, sugar.” Y/N looked up and blushed, noticing how close they were to each other faces, She smiled softly. “Why not? Could be fun.” He nodded, both their hearts fluttering with anticipation.

They stepped onto the makeshift stage, and the crowd cheered for them, standing together, shoulder to shoulder, hand grazing each other until Spencer held Y/N’s hand gently. When it was their turn to present themselves, Spencer couldn't help but get caught up in the moment.

“Hello, everyone. Sorry about this but I would like to make a small speech.” he paused, looking at Y/N before looking back out to the crowd. “Tonight, we honor the spirits of the past and I could of think of a better partner to do that than with Y/N,” he said, his voice sincere and filled with kindness.

Y/N eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. She kept our composure and added, “We may not have planned this, but sometimes life surprises you with the best of partnerships.”

The crowd erupted into applause, and Spencer and Y/N won the contest hands down. They were awarded a cute trophy, which they shared as they posed for pictures together.

As the night wore on, everyone ended up sharing ghost stories and Spencer, in his natural enthusiasm, explained some historical context behind the tales, captivating everyone in the room. After the party ended and they all said their goodbyes, Spencer walked Y/N back home to her apartment. Hand in hand, still basking in the glory of the evening. Underneath the full moon, they shared a few lingering glances and smiles that spoke volumes. When they both arrived at the doorstep, Spencer hesitated for a moment before speaking. “You know Y/N…I didn't realize how much I truly enjoyed your company, and just how special you are to me,”, he admitted, cheeks flushing.

Y/N nodded, her heart now pounding. “Spence, you are so incredibly special to me too. More than you know-”

Before Y/N could finish her sentence Spencer leaned in, their lips meeting in a tender kiss. It was a sweet, tender moment. Y/N pulled back a bit, smiled, and asked “Do you want to come in? Watch some corpse bride with me?”

Spencer grinned, “of course, I would love that.”

All content © hufflepuffsandghosts 2023. Do not repost, modify, or claim my work as your own.

[thinkpink212]

A life update

The summer started out with lots of rain, a new job at a museum where I get to work with crystals, cool books, butterflies and just an overall gorgeous environment. I quit from my massage job after they played one too many times in my face — long story short, I was being overworked despite protest, had immature colleagues with conflict resolution issues, incompetent employers and just not enough pay. Gave up for a while on the idea of opening up my own massage place due to how expensive it can be to rent a place. Eventually my birthday came around, tears were she’d, laughs were had. Managed to read 14+ books at this point (on book 17 now) and a week later my roommate tells me she’s convinced her boyfriend to move in, so I have to move out. No thoughts were put towards me so I have till end of august to be out, which broke me but after a good cry and some slandering to friends and family, I’ve calmed down and am actively searching for a new home. I realized I’d asked the universe for a new place to live after realizing just how dirty, inconsiderate and just overly unpleasant it was to live with this girl, to show me a new way, bring me a new home. So, looking at it all with newfound optimistic eyes. It’s still unsettling and nerves wrecking, I have moved 13 times now and you can imagine a girl is tired. But no more shitty roommates, no more unfortunate situation. I will find my home soon. With dreams of finding my own place, studying next year (Fall start) and writing a book, I have loads on my plate. Being busy feels nice but I’m still working on tweaking the perfect schedule for myself so I can do it all. I was ready to give up on opening my own studio, but after announcing to my #1 loyal costumer it was my second to last week, he offered helping me with guidance, website, taxes etc setups as he’s a seasoned entrepreneur (and has helped many). His enthusiasm and encouragement relit that fire and I thought ‘yeah, why not have it all?’

By the end of 2024, I will be a business owner (part time), have my own apartment, have finished my 1st draft and glowed up to levels beyond my imagination. And next year, I’ll have finished my book and started on the sequel, been accepted into University, have a booming business and continue to thrive! never give up never what, NEVER BACK DOWN! hope you’re all doing well, hope this was a bit of a motivator. Life will have its upset and downs, so please don’t give up. Step away and take everything in shorter strides. You can and will have it all, if that’s what you desire.

Xo Thinkpink

[something-special-you-are]

yahh this is my ch1 of my first nellfia fic. it's a modern art student au set in the darkroom. go read it babay!!!! pasting it onto tumblr for convenience if u like.. feedback (or reading it at all) is appreciated so much.. i love u

Chapter One:

dead art/impossible things

Nell cursed herself.

She had a free afternoon, and owed Charles a favour - never, ever a good place to be. They were both Foundation students at Broadwater School of Art in Tottenham: old friends from the same year, though rather different disciplines. After a darkroom-related incident that he refused to dig into the details of, he had found himself in Sofia Blancheford's bad books - arguably an even worse place to be. She took rules and regulations very seriously, and though she didn't technically hold any power over what Charles did with his life, the lab was essentially her domain.

"You're not scared of her, are you?"

"Yes! Yes, I am. Please, Nelly, she likes you."

"No, she doesn't."

"Well, she tolerates you a little more than she tolerates me. Which is a big deal."

"Get Amadin to do it, she actually likes him."

"He's a busy man, Nell, and he hates conflict, you know this."

"What, and I love it, do I?"

Claiming pitifully to be banned, he had sent her downstairs to print the photos from a black-and-white fashion shoot of his, tooled with a thin plastic wallet containing the strips of negative film, a contact sheet with the best photos circled along with some numbers, and clear-ish instructions. Holding the sheet up close, they were lovely photographs, Nell thought - they displayed some of the elaborate costumes that Charlie had been crafting over the past couple of months. He was currently upstairs in the main studios, absolutely going to town on an embroidery hoop, desperately trying to finish the details of some decorative garment before the fashion crit next week - meaning he was especially grateful for her help.

The sculptor herself hadn't been in the laboratory since last year, and found it a generally disorienting place, smelling too strongly and all decked out in old, heavy, menacing equipment.

Unfortunately, she was a good friend - and since she rathered Charles not be killed, she stuck by her favour. Hopping down the stairwell, she passed the entrance leading out to the sculpture yard, where early March sunlight and fresh air pooled into the building. Clay dust floated from her jeans to swim around in the pale rays, and she walked a little slower. She turned the corner onto a hallway she rarely came by. The lightroom door was invitingly open.

As soon as she walked in, the harsh vinegar-like smell filled her lungs, and she grimaced. She'd reek by the end of the day. It wasn't a tiny room, but it was packed full; a chemical-stained metal basin stretched the length of the wall, which displayed dozens of safety information sheets, and grids declaring measurements; strings hung from the ceiling, dotted with paper hanging from wooden pegs; plastic equipment that Nell couldn't identify overflowed the shelves above the counter opposite. The door to the darkroom stood to the left, heavy and foreboding and plastered with warnings that Nell didn't bother reading.

She pushed it open and let it click shut behind her, allowing the pitch black to swallow her. Memories of a short, dark corridor returned - there was a second door up a few yards ahead, and all Nell had to do was find the handle - easy enough, but the consuming darkness disoriented her slightly. Fumbling with the final door, the dull red lamps that lined the darkroom ceiling were revealed, along with the quiet, albeit spooky whisper of running water. The light blue trim of her dirty white t-shirt turned grey. It was like stepping into another dimension. She knew the enlargers she needed stood against the walls, so clutching her materials, she moved blindly, and a little too confidently, away from the door - it was not as straightforward as that. She made it not two paces before colliding with an inky, fluttering shape that materialised in the middle of the room. Nell jumped and scrambled to get out of the way.

"Jesus Christ!"

"Watch yourself! And knock, please," they replied indignantly, clearly ruffled.

"I can't see a bloody thing! I thought I was alone in here, you scared me!" Nell protested, then regretted it slightly, because she had no way of knowing who she might be arguing with.

Squinting to adjust her eyes, she made out a dark head of hair and a sharp, cross little face. It was, indeed, Sofia Blancheford. She was not so lucky to have the lab to herself. They were classmates, and vaguely knew each other through Amadin and Charles, but rarely crossed paths - mainly because Nell was usually out and about in the yard, or bouncing around the studios, and Sofia was usually locked up in here. Nell had seen her work during crit; she was a fantastic student. She probably knew more about the darkroom than the technician did. As well as this, she was also reserved, aloof, and a little moody - not unkind, but no class clown, indeed. And now, Nell Trotter had waltzed into her domain and almost knocked her right to the ground without so much as a hello, how are you.

"It says 'knock,' in big red letters on the door," she snapped.

"Right. Well. Sorry. I'm not a big reader," Nell offered, somewhat sarcastically, somewhat flustered. Sofia gave a sigh of exasperation in response, and mumbled something about how it's a good thing I wasn't holding anything dangerous, strutting over to the basins to continue whatever sorcery she was up to. Nell rolled her eyes under cover of darkness, and located an enlarger to work on.

It was time to dust off her photography knowledge. According to her expertise, there was one thing she would need for certain.

"Um, where's the paper?"

There were a couple seconds of silence following Nell's sheepish request, before a curt voice crossed the room in response.

"In the fridge."

Low humming suggested the refrigerator running gently in the corner.

It glowed crimson on the inside to match the rest of the room, and was stacked with boxes of paper and film. She browsed the labels, and made the brave choice to crack a joke.

"No chance of me getting to store my lunch in here, is there? Only, the shared fridge is-"

"No," came the voice again.

Nell smiled to herself and picked the most familiar A5 package, and retrieved a few sheets. They were nice and cold on her fingertips. She inspected them as she sauntered away.

"People keep nickin' my sausage rolls, see," she lamented, to a resounding silence, and arrived back at her station.

Zoning back in, she fiddled with knobs and buttons until she felt confidently refamiliarised, and set to work inserting the first set of slides into the top of the enlarger; she adjusted the size and position, then happily lined up a sheet of paper under the projection, ready to print. She began to feel quite relaxed. The darkroom disoriented her at first, but the ambience of the low light, the gentle hum of electricity, and the soothing, aquarium murmur of the waterbath brought her peace.

She couldn't get too comfortable, because just as she was about to slide away the red filter and expose her paper to white light, Sofia broke the silence once more.

"Is it in focus?"

She was back at her own station, just a few paces to Nell's right, and poked her head around at her classmate's hasty setup.

"Huh?" Nell replied astutely.

"Your slide, is it in focus?"

Before she could protest, Sofia had already floated into her personal space, holding what looked like a little microscope.

"Is this Charles' work?" she interrogated, more than asked.

"I'm doin' him a favour."

Sofia hummed in response.

"Interesting," she muttered, in a way that made Nell wonder why it was interesting at all. "The paper's upside down."

Nell cringed at Sofia's blunt observation, and shamefully flipped it right-side-up, the shiny, light-sensitive layer revealing itself. The shorter woman leant over the paper, placing down her little tool and scrutinising it through the lens.

"It's not in focus. It's blurry," she confirmed, and twisted a little knob around in minute adjustments. For all her proud independence, Sofia was certainly a busybody.

"There. Look now," she ordered, and Nell peered through the little magnifier the same way her classmate did. She saw crisp shapes, the finest grains of the film emulsion. Not really caring, she stood up straight and attempted to shove the tool back in Sofia's direction.

"Right. Thank you. I can get on with it now, if that's alright," she dismissed, eager to be left alone, but Sofia was occupied by squinting at the numbers lit-up on Nell's equipment.

"You're going to overexpose this, surely?"

Nell sighed and shrugged, not really sure how to respond.

"Give me that," Sofia gestured at the contact sheet, somehow making it sound polite. Nell surrendered it reluctantly, and she scanned the digits Charles had scrawled.

"He's written them down, and everything, it's right here," Sofia uttered with confusion. It made Nell feel stupid. There's no reason why she should know what those numbers mean.

"They're his photos, I don't know why you care."

"If you're doing a favour, do it properly. I'll set the ISO and exposure for you, and you can print the rest," she announced decisively.

Nell threw her hands up, because she knew saying 'whatever,' out loud would earn her a nasty glare. She watched as Sofia turned a numbered wheel at the top of the enlarger. The image below got dimmer. She then adjusted the little control panel on the desk, decreasing a digital countdown timer from twelve seconds to four.

"There."

Nell mumbled an ungrateful thank-you, but it was clear Sofia didn't really care whether her help was appreciated or not. She was already busying herself on a different enlarger, once again consumed by her own work.

Turning back to the paper in front of her, Nell decided to just get on with it. She turned the projection off, removed the filter, and pressed a button, and it came back on in pure, gentle, white light. After four seconds it automatically shut back off with a pleasing click, and Nell whisked away the paper, satisfied.

Both students approached the basins with a piece of paper each. The station was a metal rectangle that jutted out at least ten feet from the wall, and was divided into three sections - two long, shallow troughs than ran side-by-side, and the waterbath, which took up the outermost end. The two dry areas had three labeled trays in them each, likely leftover from a workshop, and a tap and drain against the wall. There were pairs of metal tongs in each tray. A handy glow-in-the-dark clock overlooked it all, second hand turning, and a poster listing development times was displayed alongside. Sofia submerged her paper into the first tray, opposite of Nell, checked the clock, and began to tilt the liquid back and forth. Nell did the same, into the tray labeled 'DEV' - she was to leave it in there for sixty seconds, according to the poster. As time ticked by, she watched the magic happen before her very eyes. Under the shimmering reflections of overhead light, the paper at once went from pure white, to clouded with faint grey, to painted with deep, varied tones as the image shyly revealed itself.

"Holy shit," she muttered to herself in awe, and Sofia concealed a genuine smile.

Sixty seconds passed, and they transferred their prints to the trays labeled 'STOP'.

"Yours is dripping everywhere, let the developer drain off a little first. You'll dilute the other trays," Sofia nitpicked.

"Yeah, yeah."

Ten seconds passed in the stop-bath, and Nell scooped the photo up between the tongs.

"Try it this time, don't make such a mess."

Nell rolled her eyes, but did as she was told, and transferred the paper neatly to the final, stronger-smelling tray, labeled 'FIX'. Two minutes would pass in this one, and they passed without words. Sometimes Nell would glance up at Sofia, watching her waiting, and sometimes Sofia would glance back. It didn't really feel as awkward as it should have. Nell lost track of the clock, and snapped back to the task when Sofia moved hers into the wash. They mirrored each others' actions the whole way through. Nell drained hers properly before plunging it in, and they stood at the end of the station, looming over the inky water. Both prints spiralled around in the current amongst other unclaimed pieces.

Nell's (or, Charles') photograph had come out beautifully. The scribbled numbers were correct, and Sofia had adjusted the settings perfectly - the image appeared in sharp focus, with intense tones and exact contrast. She felt a subtle buzz of relief that she might not fuck up the entire batch for him.

The constant water flow babbled over the silence. They lingered there, watching the intricate, mottled images as they somehow contained themselves into neat little squares and swam hypnotically through the blackness. Sofia looked down at them fondly, before delicately rolling up her sleeves and dipping her hand in. The nebulous reflections on the water's surface scattered at her touch. Nell had a feeling that she might react similarly, in its place; Sofia's hands were fine, but agile, and professional in everything they did; they were tools of creation, or magic, or whatever you wanted to call it, and they were at work. She fished out her newest piece, after dragging it to and fro a couple of times under the surface to ensure the chemicals were washed away. Nell instinctually copied her, and the cold water felt good as it swallowed up to her wrist. Her own hands seemed rough and clumsy in comparison. Sofia made a habitat out of the lab; she belonged there, she suited it, in all her witchy, gossamer mystique. They were symbiotic. The woman's probably got night vision.

They inspected the prints together. Some kind of wispy double-exposure shimmered between Sofia's finger and thumb. Nell saw a drapey figure, barely there, disappearing into itself amongst the various other ethereal shapes. Most of it looked like fabric, a spectral veneer of some sort that gathered and stretched, and it glowed. A light source - a flame, maybe - made its way up the composition. The black space was minimal, but it located the subjects in an otherworldly, all-consuming nighttime.

Nell clutched a nonspecifically historical-looking portrait of Charles. Half of his monotone, made-up face was hidden by both a large, ornate fan - cradled in a silk white glove - and the shoulder of an absolutely huge velvet coat, the texture of which had been captured in soft, minute detail. Embroidery, feather trims, buttons, novelty seams, decorative tassels and lace all made for a display of delightfully handcrafted camp. His mouth was hidden, but his eyes smiled coyly at the camera - there was no trace of satire in his expression, or his pose. He might have been in character. He was elegant, feminine, sincere, and squinting in a manner she could recognise anywhere, from behind any outfit - for all of his elaborate, transformative costumes - to Nell, Charlie was distinct.

"He looks quite pretty," Sofia remarked. Nell smiled back at him.

"Yeah, he'll be thrilled to bits with these."

She looked back over at Sofia's work, struggling to find words for the deep, vague mourning - the intense feeling that she is missing something, that an opportunity has been left behind, that the past is running away from her faster than she can catch up with the future - that the picture brought onto her. Water trickled down her forearm and sank into her t-shirt.

"What's, um, your project about?" she asked, rather plainly.

Sofia's eyes flicked between Nell and the photograph, then tilted her head thoughtfully.

"I'm interested in impossible things."

Nell wasn't sure what she as expecting, but the answer intrigued her.

Sofia continued - "Imagine going back in time three hundred years, and showing this to someone. They wouldn't believe it. I can barely believe it. I'm interested in what we don't believe in - the supernatural, if you can call it that. Three hundred years ago, they would hang me for witchcraft, because they wouldn't believe this to be possible without witchcraft." She laughed, even at this morbid thought, without sarcasm; Nell couldn't help but smile at the usually no-nonsense woman's passionate affection for her work.

"I like the idea of comparing traditionally inexplicable myth and legend to the mysteries we've now since solved, and the technology we have today. We're always trying to rationalize things - I mean, analogue photography itself: we can study chemical reactions all we want. We can explain it and write research on it 'til our brains melt. It will never become simple, or dull, or earthly. Just because we understand it doesn't mean it isn't magic."

She looked up at Nell, in a genuine search for connection. She spoke every word like it meant the world, and to her, it really did.

"People can get focused on the most efficient way to get the most predictable end result. They look for corners to cut, control, replicability - making these reactions happen by hand is the antithesis of that. They treat it like a dead art. I love the process. I need the magic."

The whimsy her words held was like nothing Nell ever would have expected from Sofia Blancheford. She watched as those glittery eyes drifted gently back down to the print. Her hands and face were hazy and velvet in the crimson glow of the safelight; there was a mole under her lower lip. A halo of downy black hair incandesced in a similar hue above her head. Nell realised she must have been staring, and felt her own face turn a deep scarlet to match the party - she hoped it camouflaged well. She cleared her throat.

"Well, you're very smart, and the pictures are really good. I hope you write all that down. Very handy for evaluation."

Sofia smiled at her shyly, appreciating even the bluntest of praise. Nell dunked her print back into the cold water.

"I'd better do the rest of these bad boys. Thanks for fixing my stuff."

With that, she turned away briskly and attended to her station. The time passed rather smoothly after that - Nell fell into a peaceful, focused rhythm of work, and Sofia nursed her own creations a couple of enlargers away. Every so often, Nell would crack a joke into the comfortable silence, and Sofia would either ignore her, or crack a funnier one back. If she ever actually laughed, she did it very quietly. To begin with, the company was disappointing at best, and intrusive at worst, but now Nell found herself feeling content to work alongside Sofia - that was, when she wasn't being told off for something inconsequential. Gradually, she hated Charles less and less for getting in trouble and putting her into this situation.

There were around a dozen chosen photos he had circled, and each one was a treat, so it didn't feel like much work at all. He wanted to work in theatre, making costumes and puppets and the like, and his portfolio agreed with him - in the second, he wore a bandit's mask around his eyes, an excessively feathered hat, and a very meek pencil moustache.

In another, he wore a huge, cascading cloak of some sort, patched and quilted and embroidered with dozens of images, flora and fauna and people - a testament to his patience, it seemed. He looked away from the camera, and the garment took up most of the image. It was more of a textile artwork than a functional costume.

Someone lay on the ground in a landscape composition, crowded with faux-fur and other heavy textural materials. It could have been Charles under there, but it was impossible to tell. From the shoulders up, they were obscured by a large sculptural boar's head; it was papier-mâché - Nell had seen it before. It lay there as if dead; it was weathered and off-putting, but Nell's favourite of the bunch. Its monstrous nature, and the ambiguity of the wearer underneath, recalled ritual folk costumes depicting spirits and the like, blurring the line between man and beast. Things like this had interested her for a while. She supposed it wasn't all too different from Sofia's proposal - a deep fascination with the far-fetched - realizing all the wild, inconceivable stories that people must see to believe, and once they believe, they go in terror of.

"Very interesting work," came a voice in her ear.

Nell almost leapt out of her skin when she noticed Sofia peering at the photos from over her shoulder. She hovered like a phantom, wispy hair brushing against Nell's cheek; she didn't seem to care a bit that she had almost stopped the taller woman's heart, and just frowned at her.

"No need to be jumpy. There are only a few vengeful ghosts living down here."

Breezing behind Nell with a dry tray in her arms, she began fishing out the other prints floating about.

"I don't know why you decided to help with Charlie's stuff, if you're so annoyed with him."

Sofia cocked her head innocently. "Why would I be annoyed with him?"

The rather cutthroat photographer wasn't one to hide a grudge, and Nell wondered if she had gotten the story mixed up. Before she could ask any further into it, Sofia gestured to the small pile of wet papers.

"I take it you're all finished? Are you coming to dry them off?"

"Yeah, alright, don't rush me," Nell replied, and deposited her handiwork into Sofia's tray, who waited impatiently by the door for her protégé to gather her other belongings.

"Thanking you kindly," Nell bowed as she passed through the first door that Sofia held open considerately, but was called back with a sharp, "Wait," quicker she could rush to open the second, risking flooding daylight into their little liminal realm.

"Always wait for this door to shut. You could ruin someone's work. It's also why you knock," Sofia ordered.

"Right, wonderful. Well, to my knowledge, literally nobody is in there. Unless they've been extremely quiet."

"It's about the habit," she insisted. By now, the interior door had long since shut and they were arguing in pitch black. Nell didn't care to stay longer than she needed. She swung open the entrance to the lightroom and squinted at the sudden contrast.

"Christ alive, it's like coming out of a casket."

She turned to see Sofia emerging from the gloom - dressed in practically mourning clothes, long hair matching the tone, face as pale as a vampire.

"Explains a lot, actually."

Sofia looked up from the tray, not listening.

"What?"

"What are we up to, then?" Nell diverted, coming to stand annoyingly close to the other artist's side. She hadn't yet seen her under proper light that day, away from the dreamy veil of the laboratory, and gave her a once-over. She wore black, corduroy trousers, that flared slightly over equally black, practical boots. In a tasteful shade of very dark charcoal, she wore a thin, long-sleeved black top that came up high on her throat. The bright blue lanyard almost spoiled it. You'd think she was trying to camouflage in there. No wonder I knocked into her, Nell thought, wear a bloody hi-vis next time.

Sofia didn't care enough to budge, and instead handed Nell a small stack of prints.

"Peg these up, for now."

She turned on a rather loud drying machine and began to feed some photos through; Nell turned to the basins, where strings were suspended wildly from above like vines. They fell into another comfortable silence, facing opposite walls, and the clock ticked closer to the end of the day.

Eventually, Sofia turned the machine off (its absence was noticeable), and she came to busy herself alongside her classmate with a few contact strips that were too small to go through. After a minute, she glanced over at the taller woman, diligently working, and turned thoughtfully to face her.

"You've got a striking side profile," she casually commented. She reached up to Nell's jaw in her fingers and tilt it for a better view.

Nell felt her insides scattering and turning over themselves, like those silvery reflections in the waterbath. She was taken by surprise, but barely thought twice about letting the smaller woman pose her around like a show pony - before she came to her senses and batted the hand away.

"Buy me a drink first, yeah?"

Sofia didn't dignify her with a laugh.

"I don't do many portraits, but I should have you model for me."

She didn't really phrase it like a question. That was the thing about Sofia - she didn't need to speak in hypotheticals. She had that sure-of-herself, naturally commanding presence that seemed to come with being a bit posh.

"Not in a million years, sweetheart."

"I remember when Charlie swindled you into it. You're a bit of a natural. I'd put my own spin you," she reasoned, as if it were an offer she couldn't refuse.

Nell remembered that shoot too, from a few months ago, though fuzzily - it gave her feelings, ones she couldn't place. Sofia was there, to help with the setup, and so was fashion student Polly, as another model. The work was fantastic, but for all of Nell's can-do attitude and brash personality, she was implausibly camera-shy.

"I owed him, again."

"Then I'll have to find you in my debt, somehow."

Again, it came with being posh - but Sofia's intonation did make it sound slightly flirtatious. Nell stood her ground.

"Not happening."

Sofia placed her hands on her hips thoughtfully, narrowing her eyes at her stubborn classmate.

"I have given you my time this afternoon."

"I never asked you to. And that weren't for my benefit, it were for Charlie's."

"I could just as easily have left you to figure it out on your own. You'd have been here 'til dusk."

She raised an eyebrow. Nell squirmed under Sofia's persuasive gaze.

"Let me pick my clothes," she bargained, "And I'll think about considering it."

She held out a handshake, which Sofia suspiciously, hesitantly, reached for. A mistake - Nell, like obnoxious lightning, yanked it out of the way and ran a hand through her hair instead. It was an admittedly smooth execution. She sucked air through her teeth awkwardly as if it were an accident, and grinned mischievously at Sofia.

"Ooh, I ain't that easy, love. Cheers for the science lesson, though, yeah?"

Sofia did not smile. She very clearly seethed, but spoke calmly as ever.

"You are insufferable."

"Good one. I'll see you around, Sof."

The clock struck four. With a suave wink and click of her teeth, Nell took her folder (and blinding grin) and bounced out of the department door, disappearing out of sight - leaving Sofia alone with a flush of furious embarrassment and the familiar notion that something important had slipped through her fingers.

[densi-mber]

Rushing Home with their Treasures

“Ooh, what about this?” Deeks asked, holding up a tiny green and red elf costume.

“I don’t know,” Kensi said, rubbing the fabric between her fingers. “It’s cute, but also kind of ugly.” She rested her hand over her stomach, absentmindedly rubbing a few times. “Those dresses are really cute, though,” she added.

Deeks followed her gaze to the smallest imaginable velvet dress with a poofy skirt.

“That is adorable,” he agreed. “We could get it.”

“But then we’re going to end up with three possible sets of everything to cover all the possible girl/boy scenarios. Besides, we’re supposed to be getting gifts for family and friends, not the twins.”

They’d taken advantage of a afternoon when neither of them had any appointments or work to knock out some of their holiday shopping. The giant display of baby paraphernalia had sent them on a half hour detour.

“Ok, where do you want to head first?”

“Well, I thought since Rosa’s gift is probably going to be at least partially custom-made, we should probably get that taken care of before it gets too busy,” Kensi suggested.

“Sounds like a plan.” He saw Kensi give the baby clothes another look before finally turning in the direction of the jewelry department.

“How can I help you today?” the assistant at the jewelry counter asked as they approached. “We have some lovely pieces on sale today and all earrings in this display are 50% off.”

“Thank you, but we’re actually looking for a pendant for our daughter,” Deeks explained. “This is what we had in mind.”

An hour later, they walked away from the counter with pamphlets, paperwork, and the promise of their personally designed necklace in a week’s time. In the end, they’d settled on a design a series of interlocking hearts that incorporated each of their birthstones, with space to include the twins’ once they were born.

To some, it might sound slightly cheesy, but Rosa valued anything that linked her to her found family. From the pictures spaced throughout the house, to Deeks and Kensi’s names on her school forms. The necklace just happened to be a very purposeful and more extravagant addition.

“I think she’s going to love it,” Kensi said, examining the example pictures they’d been given. They strolled past a couple food vendors on their way out and she inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. “Mm, cinnamon rolls.”

She gave Deeks a sly look, and he chuckled, veering off towards the Cinnabon. “C’mon, we can’t let you and the Pastry Babies starve. Especially when there’s literal pastry to be had.”

Kensi looped her arm through his, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I love you.”

“So, where to next?” Deeks asked once they both had cinnamon rolls the size of his head in hand.

Peeling off a strip of glaze-covered dough, Kensi slowly at it while she considered his question. “That boutique Anna likes is across the mall, we’re getting Rountree and Fatima’s gifts at the Christmas market, so maybe your mom’s?”

“Sure. Though we are definitely not getting items 2, 3, or 7 from her wish list.”

“Oh, you mean the lingerie, dirty truth or dare game, and aphrodisiac gift basket?” Kensi said, licking icing off her finger. “Yeah, I’m thinking we need to pass those on to Arkady.”

“Ew,” Deeks commented, giving a full-body shudder. “Ok, you want to meet up in the accessories? I’m gonna grab some coffee to wash down the sugar and hopefully burn the thought of aphrodisiacs, my mom, and Arkady from my mind.”

Snorting, Kensi leaned in for a kiss. “See you in a few.”

Deeks joined the line for one of the many coffee shops sprinkled around the mall’s main floor. When Kensi was out of sight, he ducked out of line, making a beeline for the baby department. It only took a few minutes to locate the racks of Christmas outfits they’d looked at earlier.

He grabbed the tiny green dress, smiling as he headed for the register.

***

A/N: So much fluff this densimber! And yes, I’m still manifesting twins all day, every day.