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danganronpa-21 · 4 years ago

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Naegiri Week Day 6 - Date

I did it!! I know I’m pretty late, but hey, Eon said submissions still count so I’m still going lol (thank you for the patience). This one’s a bit on the longer side and contains switching POVs, but it’s pretty easy to follow as each first line introduces either Makoto or Kyoko by name. I’ve been agonizing over it for awhile now, so hopefully you get some enjoyment out of it. If not, at least take some pleasure in the fact that I had to edit out some of my use of the word “smile” from the original draft, for I used the word 13 separate times. This is why we draft, kids. Anyway, no warnings to issue this time around.

I’ll be back to bring you Festival sometime soon. Thanks so much for your support and attention!

______________

“I’m excited for our big night tonight, Kyoko!”

Her partner’s words echoed like a horrid earworm in her mind as she jotted down her most recent case notes. They’d been vibrating around in her head since the moment he uttered them; they plagued her all throughout the car ride to the Hope’s Peak building. Even now, while he was off dealing with a misbehaving teacher case, she could not get his statement to stop pestering her. She had to be the worst girlfriend in the world to have forgotten something so important as to be classified as “big night”. Simply imagining the disappointment on Makoto’s face if she confessed to not knowing the significance of the date made her heart drop. She was never the best at remembering anniversaries and birthdays without much of a reminder; her schedule was far too busy to help her recall every significant thing. What was peculiar about this situation was that Kyoko didn’t even have the benefit of being able to check her schedule. Normally, she marked off all of their important relationship milestones on their calendar so she wouldn’t forget… but for whatever reason, today’s date wasn’t in there. No red ink scribbling circles around sloppily scrawled words, no little star stickers that her boyfriend got her into the habit of using. Just a dotting of blue ink to tell her that she had a dentist appointment the following day. Her past self refused to even give an inkling of a hint.

Still, if there was one thing that Kyoko knew best about herself, it was that she was stubborn. A stubborn detective, at that! There was no way that she would allow herself to be bested by a simple mystery such as this. If she didn’t have any clues of her own to work with, she’d just have to start off somewhere else. Of course, what else was better to start off with than witnesses? That was how Aoi came into the picture.

Well, it would be, if she weren’t several minutes late. The tardiness was admittedly a bit strange given that she had a free period, but it wasn’t super out of character for Aoi. She tended to get so excited and ahead of herself that sometimes she would almost miss work meetings entirely. Kyoko couldn’t count the number of times on both hands that she’d come rushing in to a staff meeting over twenty minutes late. All she hoped was that she would get there sooner than Makoto would get back. To have him catch them in the middle of this discussion could be mortifying. She feared she might break his heart if she let him know that she forgot. A quick and easy bit of advice or clues from Aoi would really be ideal.

She massaged her temples with one hand and leaned over to poke her phone awake with the other. 9:03 A.M. Aoi was officially thirteen minutes late, and in all honesty, Kyoko wondered if she should start to worry. What if Makoto had intercepted her or something? Or was she perhaps the troublesome teacher he intended to deal with? The latter seemed unlikely, but she didn’t want to rule out any possibilities. Ugh, all of this would be so much easier if she knew what Makoto had been alluding to in the first place! If it hadn’t been for Aoi arriving almost as if she were on cue, Kyoko might have given into her desire to bash her head into the desk.

“Sorry I’m late, Kyoko!” The swimmer’s voice was just as chipper as ever, and her forehead just as sweaty. Did her morning jog run long or something? “I got a little caught up. You know how it is.”

Kyoko sighed, doing her best to pretend to be less disgruntled than she actually was. “Indeed, I do. Still, I should thank you for coming on such short notice.”

Aoi’s ponytail swung back and forth as she strutted to the seat across from Kyoko and plopped herself down; the manner of it all reminded her of being told to sit more lady-like by her grandfather. She tried not to scowl at the thought of him. They had been through a bit of a rough patch lately. “Of course! Anything to help one of my favourite girls.”

The taller woman laughed softly, reaching up to brush some stray hands of hair away from her face. “I am quite glad to hear you say that, Asahina-san. You see, I have something to ask you.”

Almost instantly, Aoi folded her arms across her chest. She turned her nose up at the detective jokingly. “You may not ask me anything unless you call me by first name. You know that’s okay!”

She let out a half-amused sigh and did her best not to show her pleasure on her face. “Aoi, if I ask you something, do you promise not to tell Makoto that I asked?”

Aoi’s eyes widened; her body suddenly shot forward with interest. Normally, one might have reacted with a bit of apprehension over being asked to keep a secret from their friend’s paramour, but Aoi seemed to relish it. The smile that spread across her face all but proved it. Figures. Aoi probably expected to be asked about what he was thinking of doing for their next date night or something cute like that. “Ooh! What’s going on? What do you wanna know?”

In any other situation, there would be lots Kyoko could ask. After all, Aoi was their one friend who was not only mutual, but a confidant. She wouldn’t be able to get the same information out of Yasuhiro and Toko that she could out of Aoi, and it was vice versa for Makoto. This wasn’t to say that she begged Aoi to regularly break Makoto’s trust, or that he did anything of that sort to her – it was just that the swimmer could tend to point either of them in the right direction. When Makoto struggled to ask Kyoko for a birthday present, he would tell Aoi and eventually she would tell Kyoko what he wanted. When Kyoko was too embarrassed to confess to her feelings to Makoto’s face, she would tell Aoi and she would encourage Makoto to move in the right direction to get her to open up. It definitely wasn’t a system of broken trust, but a little one that worked for them and kept things moving to their advantage. They could function without Aoi if they wanted to, but she enjoyed helping them along. She was perhaps the person most invested in their relationship apart from themselves… and maybe Komaru.

Kyoko drummed her fingers on the desk absent-mindedly; somehow she found she would rather watch herself move than make eye contact with her friend. It must have something to do with her embarrassment over the whole not knowing the day thing, she assumed. “Aoi… do you know why today is significant in mine and Makoto’s relationship?”

Aoi blinked, pressing a finger to her lower lip. “Ummm… no. Why is it significant? Did I miss something?”

“It is not a rhetorical question. I am genuinely asking. Makoto asked me if I was excited for our special night this morning, and I haven’t the faintest idea what he meant.”

“Oh! Uhhh…” the cogs in her mind seemed to turn slowly; her gaze darting around the room as if she would somehow find the answer there. It was such an artificial-looking thinking process, yet Kyoko found herself holding her breath as she awaited a response. “I… I dunno. He didn’t mention anything to me about tonight being special.”

Kyoko let out a groan, throwing her head into her hands. “What am I going to do?! He’s expecting a perfect night, and I don’t have anything planned.”

“Maybe… um…” she paused for but a second, “Throw on some lingerie and hope for the best?”

The detective scowled at her. “Very funny. You know he and I aren’t… physically intimate.”

“Aww, c’mon Kyoko-chan, don’t feel bad,” Aoi said, her arm darting across the desk to pry at Kyoko’s wrist, “I’m sure there’s gotta be someone who knows what Makoto’s all excited about.”

“What if there isn’t? The last thing I want to do is hurt Makoto’s feelings. I cannot afford to make such a careless mistake.”

“Well how do you know that it was you who made the mistake? Maybe he forgot what day it is, not you!”

Somehow, that didn’t lift Kyoko’s spirits. Mostly because of how improbable it sounded. While Makoto tended to forget more trivial matters like whose turn it was to do the dishes, he never forgot important dates. Especially not when it came to their relationship. Based on what Aoi told her, he bought most of his anniversary and birthday gifts for her over three weeks in advance. Preparedness when it came to their relationship seemed to be his strong suit, quite unlike her. Without anything to show for the upcoming night, she would look like a selfish girlfriend.

“While I respect that you are trying to cheer me up, Asahina-san, I seriously doubt that that’s the case. You know just as well as I do how diligent he is when it comes to our relationship,” her fingers somehow worked their way back to her temples, massaging them almost aggressively, “If anyone has forgotten anything, it is most certainly me.”

Aoi’s eyes glittered with sympathy as she watched her friend, still trying to hold her arm. Kyoko imagined that she was mostly trying to pat her forearm, but had somehow settled for gripping her awkwardly. It was less comforting and more like she’d been caught in a trap; nevertheless, she decided to appreciate the sentiment behind it. “Please don’t be too hard on yourself, Kyoko-chan. Naegi-kun wouldn’t want you to do that, even if you forgot. I’m sure he’ll understand. He’s super sweet like that!”

That is true, Kyoko thought to herself. If anything, Makoto would find it within himself to understand her perspective. Work had been incredibly busy for both of them lately, and they did have a lot of other friendship and familial obligations to attend to… Would it truly be so awful for her to have forgotten one measly little date? She couldn’t have the answer to that question. Nobody could. There were only so many circumstances in which that things could work out for her, and it all depended on how much value the date held. If it was something huge, like an anniversary, she would never forgive herself – even if Makoto did. However, should it have been something small, she figured that they would be able to brush it off and at least try to have a good time. Value determined everything, and of course it was on the list of things she didn’t know. All she had as a clue was that the date was special somehow.

“I appreciate the optimism, but I just don’t think I can go through the rest of today without knowing what’s going on.” She sighed, doing her best to avoid pouting like a spoiled child. While there were several things that she would confess to hating, not knowing important things hung at the top. Probably somewhere around number two on her list of hated things, coming just below coriander. Blegh. “Is there anything else I can do to figure this out?”

Aoi shrugged, still wearing that same signature smile of hers. “Why not try asking some of the others? Komaru-chan should be in helping Fukawa-san, maybe you could ask her for help. She’s his little sister, after all!” The swimmer tapped her chin. “I guess you could try Togami-kun, too, but I don’t know how nice he would be about it. I know you guys kind of like to rib each other.”

‘Like to rib each other’ was a sugar coating of the truth, but Kyoko supposed it encapsulated their relationship nonetheless. Byakuya was admittedly the last person she wanted to go to for help with this Makoto situation, yet the difficulty of it all gave her little choice in the matter. In fact, she considered it to be completely unavoidable.

“I suppose you’re right there. I’ll see about talking to Komaru-chan about it first. If that fails,” one of her hands curled into a fist, “I will bite the bullet and confront Byakuya.”

Aoi giggled softly, finally releasing Kyoko’s arm and hopping to her feet. “That’s the spirit! Now, was that all you needed, Boss?”

For her friend’s sake, Kyoko did her best to grin a little. Though she herself hadn’t been able to help, Aoi provided her own information that would make this anxiety-inducing task much easier. Kyoko surely owed her for that. “Yes. Sorry to call you into my office for so little, but I was getting restless. Is there any way I can compensate you for your troubles?”

Aoi waved it off. “Don’t be silly, Kyoko-chan! We’re friends, I’m here to help you any time you need it,” amusement tugged at her lips, “That being said, though… if you have to compensate me… mind buying me a donut on your next coffee run?”

Kyoko shook her head, trying not to show how much Aoi’s request made her laugh. Of course she’d ask for a donut. “That is… doable, yes. I presume you want the Boston Kreme again?”

The swimmer’s face lit up with glee, her hands clapping together excitedly. “Oh god, please. I haven’t had one in soooo long. They’re so yummy.”

Kyoko could agree with that statement. It hadn’t been until her time in Hope’s Peak that she first tried a Boston Kreme donut, but she found it to be quite a hit on her tastebuds. Definitely on her list of favourites, and Aoi’s too. The girl once joked that that was how she knew that they would be good friends. “Sounds good to me. You are dismissed, Aoi-chan. Have a good day.”

“Thanks, Kyoko-chan! You too!”

With that, the swimmer spun on her heel and wandered towards the door, sending herself off with a wave to her friend before closing the door behind her. God, what relief Aoi’s presence had been. Of course, Kyoko could only notice it now that she had left. Stress settled back into her the moment she departed, bearing down on her like a blue whale. Though she knew she still had the hope of Komaru and Byakuya’s assistance, doubt sprouted in her heart. What if they couldn’t help her? Oh, what would she do?

She squeezed her eyes shut. The absolute last thing she wanted to think about the way Makoto would look when she eventually confessed to being clueless. His normally chipper expression would still remain on his face, but she would see it falter. The corners of his mouth would twitch down for a split second, the joy weakening without actually ever having to disappear. His shoulders would slump, and he would move to push a hand through his hair to make things seem more casual. He would want to show her that he was more relaxed about it than he actually was. She would be able to see the hurt cloud his eyes.

Ugh. She didn’t want to think about that. Stealing one last long look at her paperwork, she sighed and pushed herself to her feet. If she was going to avoid the terrible, horrible fate of disappointing her boyfriend, she had better get a move on in talking to Komaru and Byakuya. The guidance committee’s not-as-problematic-as-stated student situation would have to wait.

__________

Makoto would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried about his fiancée.

He hadn’t been, when he’d woken up this morning. In fact, he’d been pretty excited to spend the day with her. The two of them planned this day for ages. From the blankets they would snuggle up with to the snacks they would eat, the couple made sure everything had its place. Makoto even promised her he’d make his famous popcorn-chocolate-marshmallow bars. It was tradition for their Dead Trial marathons, after all. Kyoko tended to say that it wouldn’t have felt like a proper marathon without them. Good snacks and cozy blankets were the best thing for a day inside watching their favourite show. All they had to do was get through their long day of work. That was how it seemed at the time, anyway. Now, Makoto didn’t feel so sure.

Kyoko’s morning demeanour changed within an instant; the moment he made mention of the day caught her in a loop of seeming unease. Her expression crumpled, falling back into its neutrality. How funny, so many years ago he would never have seen her iron mask as a sign of worry. Just a sign of Kyoko being Kyoko. These days, though, he knew better than to think that. Any emotion she gave him would be better than the cold, hard stare. The mask hid fear, the face showed affection.

His fingers tapped on the surface of the window ledge; eyes fixed intently on the world outside. He could see two students, both girls, hanging out around the fountain on what he presumed to be a date. One with black hair and the other with brown, grinning and giggling together. The dark-haired girl was trying to feed the other a spicy tuna roll, but it dropped from her chopsticks and bounced into the fountain. Her date threw her head back laughing at how clumsy the dark-haired girl was, forcing her face to turn rose-red. At any other time, he was sure he would have felt happy for them. Even if they were skipping class to have quality time, sometimes good romance was worth that kind of thing.

He couldn’t deny that the sight of the girls made him think of Kyoko. At the end of everything, he hoped that the two of them would have a night like those two students were having. His heart ached at the image of the two of them sitting there, a foot apart and not touching at all. No blankets draped over them, no snacks placed in their laps, no emotion as they tried to enjoy their show. He would reach for his partner’s hand but she would scarcely respond, just staring almost blankly at the screen in front of her. Her leg would be bouncing up and down like a basketball, but when he asked, she would deny being nervous. It would be a torturous, awful night; neither of them would enjoy it the way they thought they would. Then, the two of them would creep off to bed, and she would sleep with her back turned to him. She wouldn’t even try to cuddle up in his arms like she usually did.

His gaze flicked down to his watch. 11:49, it read. His little sister was running late. She had sent him a text asking to meet him outside of classroom 8-B, and somehow had not made a point of being there on time herself. He didn’t think it was too much to expect, given that she had been the one to ask that they meet in the first place. In some sense, he shouldn’t have been surprised. It was quite like Komaru to be flaky. Makoto loved his younger sister, he really did, but sometimes the girl was just trouble.

He let out a sigh as he watched the girls pluck the roll out of the fountain’s water, the sunlight beaming brightly on their smiling faces. He leaned on his hand, silently wishing he could be as carefree as they were. The headmaster was leagues away from being a high schooler, but when relationship communication issues like this happened, he felt like he was right back in it again. At the end of the day, he just hoped nothing was seriously wrong with Kyoko. He hated to think that something might be wrong, and she just hadn’t had the courage to tell him.

“Hey! Makoto!”

Finally. Komaru’s voice snapped him out of his worries as he turned his head to look at her coming down the hall. She held a stack of paper in her arms, and her hands were brutally smudged with ink. A pair of glasses rested on her nose. Figures. She asked him to meet her, and then got caught up in drawing her manga. That was so like her. Still, he pushed down his annoyance, cracking a small smile as he made eye contact with his baby sister.

“Hey, Komaru,” he greeted, his hands resting on his hips, “I see you’re running late, as always.”

Komaru’s tongue found its way out of her mouth before her words did. “I see you’re still a jerk, as always,” she huffed, quickly putting her flustered run into a full stop, “Thank you for coming, though.”

“You’re more than welcome. You said there was something you wanted to talk to me about?”

Komaru’s fingers reached up to scratch at her cheek, the smile playing at her lips turning sheepish. Whatever she would say next, he knew he probably would not like it. It was all a sign that Komaru had either already made or intended to make trouble. Trouble that he would likely have to clean up, he might add.

“Okay, so like… I know you’ve told me before that you really don’t want me to meddle in your relationship with Kyoko-”

Makoto closed his eyes, the tips of his fingers digging in to his hips in an attempt to quell his frustration. “I don’t, and I really hope you’re about to tell me that you haven’t.”

The smile grew even more sheepish, prompting Makoto to groan. His palm hit his forehead before he even thought to make the motion himself. Why did she have to do this to him? Why couldn’t she just pretend to vomit every time they kissed, like a normal younger sister?

“Okay so like… I didn’t totally ruin anything or tell her anything bad, but she did come to me asking for advice on something,” Komaru confessed, shrugging her shoulders, “And I thought you should know that she’s worried about something.”

“Do you know what it is?” He asked immediately, his eyes widening a bit. God, he hoped she came to tell him what Kyoko was worried about. It would make things so much easier for them. After all, if Kyoko wouldn’t tell him why she was acting weird, and he didn’t know, then Komaru would be the only bridge between the two of them. It wasn’t like Aoi had had anything to say when he’d initially asked her. He was running out of options.

Komaru tittered awkwardly, clutching her inked papers a little more tightly. One could only hope that the ink was not fresh, lest it stain her suit jacket. It was pressed far too close to her body. “You see, about that, I do, but-”

He blinked quickly, taking a few steps forward. Whatever it was, he needed to know, and he needed to know it well. “What is it?”

She actually cringed as she spoke, wincing like she thought that her brother was going to smack her. “She told me I wasn’t allowed to tell you.”

He hit the window ledge with his hand, wincing as pain shot through it. Maybe not the best idea, but dammit, he was pissed off. How could she give him a flicker of hope, only to take it away a minute later? That was just too cruel. “Ugh! Why would you say anything if you knew I wasn’t supposed to know?”

“I came to give you a hint to point you in the right direction,” she whined, stomping her foot like it was their mother scolding her rather than him, “She said I can’t tell you, but I figured you had a right to know.”

He swallowed thickly, the crease between his brows suddenly feeling as deep as a chasm. His body fell strangely still as he waited for Komaru’s eventual reveal. Though she couldn’t tell him much, there had to be something more to this. Surely, he could ask just a few more questions. “Is it something bad?”

“Well, uh… hard to say. It’s nothing really bad, but it might hurt your feelings a bit.”

To no one’s surprise, that comment did little to soothe his persisting anxieties. If anything, it planted a seed of dread in his stomach. Not only was his partner clearly hiding something from him, she was now confirmed to be hiding something that would hurt his feelings if he knew. He bit his lip.

“How badly, do you think?” His voice left so much weaker than usual; the ache of what Kyoko hid from him this morning digging into his soul. If he thought his palms were sweaty before, they had gained some wetness now. “Like, do you think she’s gonna dump me?”

Komaru shook her head frantically. “Definitely not. In fact, part of the reason why she’s upset is because she likes you so much. That’s the way it seemed, anyway.”

Makoto sighed, his hand reaching to fidget with his watch. “Are you sure you can’t just tell me what it is and I’ll pretend to be surprised if she brings it up?”

“Sorry, big bro. No can do. We both know you’re an awful actor.” A twinge of a smirk pricked her face. “Still, try not to worry too much. I think you’ll be able to get it out of her eventually, she’s just… worried about it, that’s all. I didn’t want you to get too in over your head if you could avoid it.”

��I appreciate that, Komaru. Thank you.” He paused. “Is there anything else you needed to tell me?”

“Just that you’re a nerd.”

“Oh, come on! What are you, eleven?”

“Yeah, an eleven out of ten!” She exclaimed with a snort, incredibly pleased with what was at best a mediocre joke.

Makoto rolled his eyes at his little sister. “It’s like you never left middle school.”

__________

Kyoko wanted nothing more than to repeatedly slam her head into a wall. Step one of her plan, gathering witnesses, had proven itself to be a total bust. Not only had she completely missed with Komaru, who had no idea what she was talking about — but she’d been screwed over with Byakuya, too. He had given her no clear answers about the date, and the jerk actually laughed at her when she confessed to not knowing the significance. Clearly, he wanted to take it as some victory to hold over her head. Proof of his superiority to her or something like that. She honestly didn’t know, and could not bring herself to care. She’d left his office in more than a bit of a huff, plunking herself down in her own chair much too harshly when she finally got back to her own space. It left her with a deep hole of disappointment in her stomach; one that she suppressed all afternoon as she plunged back into her paperwork. She stayed that way until lunchtime, the pit only serving to worsen when her boyfriend wandered in.

“Come on, honey, you really should break for lunch,” Makoto said, shooting her that same smile that won the heart of anyone who saw it, “You’ve been at that work all day.”

Her head flicked up from the boring scribblings of ink, eyes wide with surprise. Sure, she’d half-noticed that he entered the room, but hearing him was a completely different thing. Normally his voice and presence comforted her; it took weight off her shoulders on hard days. Today, on the other hand, made hearing it seem like she was getting smacked in the face with a tennis racket — vaguely painful and incredibly startling.

“Oh,” she paused, blinking at him as if she didn’t quite believe he was real, “That time already, huh?”

The luckster nodded cheerfully, glancing down at the two sleek black boxes he held in his arms. They were stacked one on top of the other, one marked with her initials and the other with his. Same as always, made as sweetly as always. She swallowed hard. Why did he have to be the perfect partner? It would certainly make her mess-ups a little easier to deal with if he would just screw up every once in a while. If he could just screw up majorly on something for once, it would be helpful.

“Yup! Can’t say I blame you for forgetting, though. You almost forgot your lunch at home. Pretty hard to remember to eat without your food, y’know?”

Yes, her forgetting made sense. After Makoto brought up the big night, she lost all focus. From then on, all energy went into agonizing over what she’d been unable to recall. She must have left her bento sitting right on the counter, where he always put it after finishing the preparations.

Kyoko smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I guess it must have slipped my mind, with our big night and all,” it was a ploy for hints, and she wondered if it would work, “I was reviewing our plans so much that I didn’t even think about grabbing it.”

To this, Makoto laughed. “Ever diligent, as always. I hadn’t realized that you had so many plans for it! Actually, that reminds me of something.”

“Oh?” Kyoko feigned innocence, batting her eyelashes at him. “What is it?”

“I was thinking that it might be a good idea to head to the store after work to pick up some stuff for tonight.”

“What kind of stuff?” She asked, knowing that the question would give her a little more without entirely selling her out to him. Minute by minute, she inched closer to figuring this out, and she couldn’t be more thrilled. Relief would wash over her in no time, if he would just be a good witness and comply.

“You know, the usual for the night.” He answered with a shrug, pulling his phone out of his pocket. She could only presume that he was verifying his list. Oh, how she longed to snatch the phone out of his hands and read it all for herself. It was almost as if he was deliberately being cryptic. Her boyfriend was a wiggly salamander trying to slip out of her grasp. “I was thinking about picking up some ice cream for dessert, but I don’t know what flavour I should get.”

Aha! A clue! A cryptic one, but still, it was a clue nevertheless. She fought off the urge to scribble it down on the precious paperwork she’d been buried in only a moment prior. A good detective should be able to commit such a fact to memory with ease, her grandfather told her once. Though she hated thinking about him, she supposed that he was right, especially considering the person she was interrogating was standing right in front of her.

“I’m sure that I could help you with that,” she giggled, giddy from having found a small clue, “I promise not to get stuck between black cherry and pralines and cream like I did last time.”

Makoto shook his head, grinning over the memory. The two of them must have spent an half an hour in that grocery store, bouncing between the pros and cons of each flavour. They had only been intending to pick it up for a simple treat night, yet Kyoko found herself paralyzed by indecision. The two of them had had such a horribly long day at that point, and she’d just wanted to settle down with the perfect ice cream. God, she would kill to have a night like that again. If she ever figured out what their plans were for their special night, she didn’t know if she could enjoy them. After all, she’d expended so much energy on figuring out what the plans would be that she might run out of energy before they even got there.

“I think you probably could, yeah. I’ll meet you here after school; is three-thirtyish okay?”

She nodded. “Sounds perfect.”

“Great! Now that that’s settled, though… wanna go have a picnic in the Garden of Statues?”

That had been where they left it in the office that day, a spark of hope bursting in Kyoko’s chest. Though she hadn’t been able to solve her boyfriend’s surprisingly difficult riddle right then, she was confident that she would be hot on its trail soon. She spent most of the rest of the day scribbling away at her paperwork until he came to meet her at three thirty-two. The couple were a pair of beaming faces, the two of them wandering into the nearest pharmacy/retail store in search of whatever goodies Makoto had on his list. Not that Kyoko knew what they were. In all honesty, she was a little surprised that that was even the place he wanted to go. Still, she appreciated the tip-off that it was not the most formal evening the two of them had ever had. Every hint was one she grabbed at with fervour. At this point, she needed every one she could get. The sand in the hourglass was running low.

Even with the confirmation of the lack of formality, everything he had put in their box didn’t make sense. Salted caramel popcorn, shampoo, sponges, marshmallows, hand soap, tortilla chips, razor blades, hiyoko cakes, headache pills, chocolate, medicinal tea blends, calbee shrimp snacks, pretzels, wasabi peas, tissues… None of these things made any sense together. Separate the snacks from the household items and then maybe one could get something, but Makoto stated specifically that he was buying for their evening. Kyoko pressed her lips together, wondering whether he was just feeling snackish or if he genuinely needed these things. Part of her itched to ask him, but she worried that even that might blow her cover. Instead, she chose to quietly follow behind him, watching him continue to pluck things off the shelves.

“Is there anything you want apart from the ice cream, Kiri?” Makoto questioned, not meeting her gaze as his hands found a bag of pizza potato chips. Her tongue stuck out at the thought of them. They were his favourite flavour of chips, but she couldn’t stand them. Of course, it didn’t bother him any. He didn’t have to share. “You can have whatever you want. Sky’s the limit tonight!”

She forced herself to grin half-heartedly; the muscles in her face protested from the extra effort it took. She hoped he didn’t notice her picking at the studs of her gloves like they were a scab she could remove. “I don’t think there’s anything else I want. You go ahead and pick out whatever you would like.”

It was only then that he twisted his head to look back at her, one eyebrow raised. Uh-oh, she thought. Must have awoken suspicion in him. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Positive. Go right on ahead.”

A frown carved its way into his expression. For a moment he opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, and then closed it just as promptly. He turned back towards their box and rearranged a few things as if nothing was wrong. That alone was enough to make her heart beat faster, and her breathing grow heavy. With how things were progressing, she risked actually managing to tear the silver studs from her gloves.

The silence persisted between the two of them for about a minute or so after Makoto rearranged their items; they wandered down a few more aisles before finally stopping in front of the frozen foods. Shivers shot through Kyoko as they walked. Unfortunately, her pencil skirt left her legs susceptible to the frigid air exuding off the freezers. She pushed herself up against him without thinking, hoping the proximity would allow her to thieve some of his warmth.

“Feeling a little chilly, Kyoko?” He snickered.

She nuzzled his shoulder. “It’s cold here.”

He smirked slightly, pressing an awkward kiss to the side of her head. “I know, it is pretty cold. We should be out of here soon enough, though. Just as soon as you decide what ice cream you want…!”

She groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead.

“You promised you’d help me pick.”

The detective only grumbled in response, stopping to turn to look at her options through the glass door. Her eyes scanned the shelves for anything that grabbed her, not taking notice of the way her partner was watching her as she worked. Her lips pursed as she searched, wondering if any of them were going to jump out at her. Bubblegum, vanilla, strawberry, coconut almond, triple chocolate, green tea, lemon custard…

“Kyoko, are you okay?”

____________________________

Okay, Makoto gulped to himself. The million-dollar question is out.

She turned to look at him, her brows knitted in confusion at the question. Her eyes seemed to be scrutinizing his face, drinking in every last detail. How funny it was that the two of them were spending so much time observing each other to excessive degrees. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve been acting weird since this morning,” he admitted, shrugging his shoulders, “It’s like you’ve been on and off perfectly normal, and then really frustrated. Some of the others noticed it at work today, too. Komaru was pretty worried about you. She said you asked to talk to her about something and seemed flustered. Said she couldn’t tell me exactly what happened, but that you were worried about hurting my feelings. Is something going on?”

His partner cursed under her breath, and for a second he thought he’d heard his little sister’s name thrown somewhere in there. She began to nibble on her lip anxiously, her gaze darting away from him. He probably shouldn’t have brought up that he spoke to Komaru at all.

“Did I do something, Kyoko?”

A balloon of pressure built inside of him as he stood there waiting for her response. His heartbeat danced in his throat. Whatever was wrong with his girlfriend, he was sure that they could manage to get through it, but only if they communicated. Otherwise, they risked never being able to find the right pieces to reach their happiness. Then where would they be?

“It’s…”

“It’s…?” He parroted, reaching out to grab her hand. She moved it away from him almost like she was flinching, sending a pang of sadness through his heart. He really hoped this wasn’t going where Komaru said it wouldn’t.

“It’s not something you did, Makoto, I just…”

His hand moved to rest on her arm, at the very least. Though he didn’t feel he had the energy within him to do so, he cracked a small grin. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. We’re a team. We’ve got to work through this stuff together, you know?”

Kyoko’s cheeks burned like brand-new Christmas lights, her gaze still fixated anywhere else but his face. Her words seemed to catch in her throat as she uttered them, somehow too embarrassed to speak her mind. “Do you promise me that you won’t be upset if I tell you the truth?”

Oh no. Fear settled into him faster than he thought possible. She wasn’t going to confess to having done something totally wild, was she? She hadn’t grown bored of him, or decided she’d be happier with a smarter, better-looking man? He didn’t think crushing his heart in public was anywhere within her character, but she’d surprised him before. Sweat dewed on his palms; he wiped it off on his work pants as best he could. “Uh… I’d like to think I could do that for you, yeah,” he replied, cringing at his anxiety showing in his voice, “So long as you didn’t like… I don’t know, plan to murder me and then decide last minute you didn’t want to go through with it.”

It was a bit of a joke, but neither of them laughed. Not that it mattered. He got the feeling that the two of them just wanted her to spit out her confession already.

“It’s nothing like that, I just…” Kyoko’s hands curled into her fists, her eyes squeezing themselves shut. “Makoto, you were saying this morning that today is such a special day, and that you were really excited about what was going to happen… but I don’t remember why today is important.”

The murmuring of “oh” came out of his mouth before he could process it, blinking slowly as the cogs turned in his mind. So his girlfriend wasn’t mad at him, nor was she leaving him for a superior specimen? She was just… feeling ashamed because of a mistake? Because she hadn’t remembered why the day was important? She crossed her arms over herself for protection, not realizing that a relieved laugh brewed in his chest. Oh, how he’d worried over nothing! He found himself grinning within seconds. Without thinking, he leaned over and pressed another kiss against her forehead.

“Oh, Kyoko. Have you been beating yourself up about this all day?”

“I’m sorry. I’m a horrible girlfriend.”

He laughed and shook his head, giving her arm a supportive squeeze. “No, you’re not!”

“Yes, I am. I completely forgot everything that’s supposed to be important about today, and I tried to ask Aoi, Komaru, and Togami-kun to get them to tell me, but they didn’t know either. I thought maybe by coming here with you and seeing what you were buying would give me some clues as to what our plans are, but I’m just more confused. Half of these are snacks, and the other half are just random items,” she reached into the box and pulled out a container of shampoo, “Seriously. What does this have to do with tonight?”

He chuckled awkwardly. “It doesn’t have anything to do with tonight. We just needed more shampoo. Same thing with the hand soap and sponges and all that. Picking up the snacks was the main goal. I’m going to make those caramel popcorn bars for us to eat, and it’s been awhile since we had hiyoko cakes, and you asked me for nachos when we first planned tonight…”

“But you only ever make the popcorn bars when we have Dead Trial marathons...” She muttered, her eyes suddenly lighting up like she’d struck a match. To his surprise, she actually gasped, taking hold of his arm. They must have looked so silly, grasping onto each other like that. “The new season gets uploaded to Flickies tonight, doesn’t it?! Is that why today is special?”

Finally, he let himself have a full, hearty laugh. “Yeah! Since you’ve been so busy lately, I figured you must have been holding out for it and doing all that work to make sure you could enjoy yourself once it got uploaded. I didn’t realize you’d forgotten about it entirely.”

“So I’m not a terrible girlfriend?”

“Far from it! Just a girlfriend who worked so hard that she forgot about a special TV bingeing night.”

She exhaled with relief, her hand hitting her chest. “I’m so glad.”

“You must have been really worried, huh?”

“Of course I was,” she murmured, rubbing his arm in what he assumed was supposed to be some form of affection, “I was certain that I would be hurting your feelings by forgetting, and I’m sure you know that that is the last thing I would ever want to do.”

“Yeah, I know. Still, Kyoko, I promise I wouldn’t be mad at you if you really had forgotten something important. I know you’ve got a lot on your mind most of the time, and you’re only human. Anybody’s bound to forget stuff. It’s just how people work.”

She blinked softly at him, staring up at him with the most loving gaze that he’d ever received from him. It was as if he could see the stars in her eyes. “Really?”

“Of course,” he assured her, “I don’t need you to remember every little thing to know you love me.”

She sighed, throwing her arms around him and pulling him into a hug. Makoto’s heart began to beat faster as she pressed her face into his shoulder, snuggling in close. He couldn’t stop himself from breathing in her sweet smell, enjoying the cherry blossom-scent. “You’re too nice to me, Makoto, you know that?”

“Well, you deserve it.” He murmured, holding her as tightly as he could manage. It felt so good to be in her arms.

Kyoko snickered. “You’re such a flatterer.”

#naegiri2020 #danganronpa #naegiri #hope arc #kyoko kirigiri #makoto naegi #komaru naegi #makoto x kyoko #naegi x kirigiri #kyouko kirigiri #naegi makoto #kirigiri kyoko

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secondhand-trash · 5 years ago

Text

Dead Romantics

A/N: The idea came before the plot and I’m just writing this because this is a theme I really want to write about but don’t have the outlet for lol Hopefully starting a series out of this

(au masterlist)

Pairing: modern necromancer!Shinsou HItoshi x reader

Description: The young necromancer spent his entire life being all by himself, and now he had no idea what to do when an enthusiatic classmate went out of thier way to be his friend.

Word count: 2618

Playlist:

Apocalypse//Cigarettes After Sex

Your Heart Is As Dark As Night//Melody Gardot

Cherry Wine//Hozier

Shinsou Hitoshi was the first and only necromancer to enroll in UA since its establishment many, many moons ago.

For an institution that pride itself in offering inclusive education to both human and magical children alike, the board of staff sure panicked when they read the boy’s application form. Shinsou remembered the slight awkwardness on the teacher’s face when they stiffly said that there was no curriculum or support for necromancers because, frankly, there never was one. And honestly, he was used to that look, he had got reactions way worse than a brief seconds of silence. Necromancers pretty much isolated themselves from the rest of society and for a good reason. Even after cohesion between humans and the nocturnal had made such progress in the past decades, many still saw those who interfere with spirits as taboo. His parents’ decision to let him go to a ‘normal’ school instead of receiving private tutoring caused quite the conflict in his family, whose bloodline traced all the way back to the first generation of those who communicated with the dead.

Shinsou grew up hearing kids whispering things behind his back like he wasn’t there but the worst part was always the look in their eyes when they knew that he heard everything. It was the look of fear, one that his parents warned him before letting him into the wide world filled with people. Just because he was warned doesn’t mean it hurt any less. There was a time when he would try so hard to fit into other kids, and spent night after night sobbing under his blanket when they still avoided him like the plague. But after many years, he had accepted the fact that people simply don’t want to befriend necromancers, and he had grown to enjoy being alone.

Which was why Shinsou Hitoshi had no idea, absolutely no idea why you were being so nice to him.

You were pretty much a normal average human who did not dabble in magic of any sorts and even if you sat right in front of him, he never expected to come in contact with you in any ways. In all honesty, he did not expect to come in contact with anyone in his class in any ways. He made the effort to occupy the seat far at the back in the corner, that way he could avoid being surrounded by people when they get into groups during break. It was a way of living he adapted, self-alienating was actually pretty pleasant once you get used to it.

So no, he wasn’t even sure why he’s still listening to you rambling on about some weird encounter you had with a ghost in the empty classroom when the rest of the class had gone to the canteen. As he watched your hands flailing in the air while reenacting the whole scenario, he wondered why he even responded to you the first time you turned around and tried to get him to talk.

“Shinsou? Shinsou!” you waved your hand in front of his face, bringing him back to reality. “Are you even listening?” you leaned forward, “you look even more dead inside than usual. Did you even sleep last night?”

Shinsou ran his hand through his untamed hair and sighed, he would have been napping by now if you weren’t here. “No, stayed up all night for some ritual.”

He tried to search your eyes for any signs of disgust, any signal of fear but he saw nothing. If anything, you always looked intrigued every time he nonchalantly brought up his family business to see if it would finally scare you into leaving him alone. “Ah, necromancy!” you tilted your head, “so it’s true that it could only happen at night?”

He only nodded. No one had ever asked him about that, how was he supposed to say that it was mostly for aesthetic purposes nowadays when you looked so impressed?

“You should definitely show me how it works one day.”

“What?” Shinsou choked out in disbelief. He knew that you had no idea how dangerous his field of practice could be but he definitely underestimated your lack of alert.

“It’s almost Halloween and my friend is an actual necromancer, we should have a séance or something. It’s festive!” you said, your excitement completely contrasting to the baffled expression of your friend.

“We’re not... Never mind,” Shinsou was about to reflectively say that he wasn’t your friend when his words were caught at the back of his throat. Something about your genuine goodness made him feel bad for pushing you away, which was strange because he never asked for any of this. He wasn’t going to lie, having an accepting person around for a change did feel nice. “Having a séance without a purpose is dangerous and necromancy is pretty much a ‘no outsider’ type business so there’s no way I’m letting you in on that.”

You let out a dramatic sigh and pouted. Shinsou rolled his eyes and you chuckled. Somehow, he wasn’t as annoyed as he tried to be and it confuses him to no end. He was trying to get you to stop bothering him, why was he still here entertaining you when he could be off doing something else?

Shinsou took a breath and tried to sound as stern as he possibly could, “If you’re not a client or another necromancer and I let you see anything, I’ll either have to kill you or marry you.”

You only shrugged, “Sounds good either way.”

He snorted. And as convincing as he tried to be, he could not even convince himself to ignore that fluster in his stomach.

“Just because you’re a necromancer, doesn’t mean you have a free pass to dig up graves.”

“Actually, it does, it’s in the law. (It actually is.)” He silently cursed himself for being foolish enough to fall for your whines and let you tag alone. To be fair, when you heard that he had ‘somewhere to go afterschool’, you really wasn’t expecting to end up in the middle of a graveyard but a normal person would have left at this point and you were still poking your head around him curiously as he looked around. “Why are you still here? For the last time-”

“Stop trying to convince me that we’re not friends,” you crossed your arms in front of your chest and smirked as you knew exactly what he was about to say, “I’ve been to your house and your parents recognizes me, your cat purrs when it sees me, I still have that book you lent me on my shelf, I actually managed to make you laugh once and I’m literally here to dig a grave with you, we are friends.”

Shinsou groaned and you knew that you had won. He would try to argue that you went to his house because he took a sick leave that day and the teacher asked you to since you were the only person he actually talked to in the whole class. His parents still remembered you because they were shocked when they answer the door to someone looking for their son who said that he had no interests in making friends with people from school. Till now, they would still ask Shinsou if ‘the nice kid he met at school’ would like to come over for dinner or not and he would always give an indifferent mumble to brush it off. The house cat purrs at anyone and the only reason he lent you that one book was because you kept bugging him about it and he wanted a bit of peace. He was only laughing at you because you tripped yourself on a flat ground. Finally, he did not ask you to come to the graveyard with him.

Now that he thought about it, he had been spending an awful lot of time with you recently.

“Fine.”

You gave him a wide grin, seeing that it was the first time he ever admitted it out loud. He tried to ignore you and turned around to look for the items he was looking for, not picking up on the heat concentrating on the tip of his ears. He wasn’t actually digging up a grave this time, a little bit of dirt from the ground was enough for what he had in mind.

“What are you doing with that?” you asked as he kneel down to scoop up a small pile of soil next to a tombstone and put it in a small velvet bag.

“Trying to contact a spirit of some sorts,” he said, carefully choosing his wording, “there are questions I want to ask.”

You nodded and didn’t pry any further. He let out a relieved sigh, because he had no idea how he was supposed to answer your questions like it was nothing when everything he wanted answers for had to do with you.

The clock strike midnight and Shinsou sucked in a deep breath as he stared at everything that was laid out in front of him. He had done this many times and he knew that he would not fail, but some part of him was still nervous to see if this would actually help the million thoughts swimming in his mind at all.

Dusting the soil in a trail to form a circle, he lighted a candle and placed it inside the circle. Closing his eyes, he could feel the way his blood flow in his veins and the sudden chills that spread from his back all the way to the tip of his fingeres. As the numbness retreat and he felt the air circulating around the room, his slowly opened his eyes to see a blurry shadow.

Focusing his gaze on the silvery shadow, the figure slowly morphed and twisted like a stream of smoke before coming to form the image of a man. The man was dressed in a sharp suit with a silk bow and held a top hat in hand, old-fashioned but extravagant no less. His hair was carefully styled and every little detail on his coat was delicately crafted.

Ah great, a romantic.

“You called upon the spirits to get answers on the future I assume. Is that right, young boy?” the syllables rolled off the man’s tongue in a way that sounded tiresome to Shinsou’s modern ears.

“Well, yes, but I might have make a mistake.” This was stupid, how sad was it that he was looking for advice on his own feelings and he could only turn to people who had been dead for decades.

“Oh, a mistake you say?” the spirit looked amused by the clear distress on the necromancer’s face, “We both know that a ritual of that sort summons only the spirit that could respond to the deepest yearning of your heart. So why did you call me here, prey tell?”

“I need help,” he said though his teeth, “with this friend of mine.”

“Is it a friend or is it a someone more?”

Stupid ghosts and their instincts. “The thing is, I don’t know how I feel about them.”

“Ah!” The dandy yelped in excitement, “the dilemma of love and friendship, the problem every young gentleman must face!”

Shinsou paled at the ghost who was so excited in the face of his struggle. “It’s not a dilemma. I just, I don’t know if I even feel for them that way or I’m just getting attached to the first person who showed me a hint of kindness. Because I was still annoyed by them the last time I remember and all of a sudden I don’t even mind being around them and it doesn’t make sense-”

“Sounds like you fell in love.”

“But if that’s so then I’m just messing things up, wouldn’t it?”

The spirit raised a brow, “How is that so?”

“Well,” Shinsou tried to gather his thoughts, “there’s no way someone like them would want to get too close with someone like me.”

The spirit stayed silent for a while and it was like it could stare a hole into the boy standing in front of him, “But they already did, haven’t they?”

“What?”

“From what you said, it sounded like that person actually want to be close to you. Why are you so convinced that they wouldn’t?”

For a while, Shinsou was lost with words. There were many, many reasons he could think of on top of his head on why people wouldn’t want to be close to him. He didn’t talk much, he looked like he hadn’t sleep in 300 years, he went looking for relationship advice from a dead romantic, many, many of them. But as he went through the many reasoning, none of them seemed like they would have work with you.

“Don’t mind me because I’m just a dead old man from the 19th century but perhaps you spent so long wallowing in self-loathing that you ignore all signs of said person fancying you as much you might hope them to be?”

It was nothing new but Shinsou stayed up all night thinking about what the spirit said to him. At heart, he still found it pretty pathetic that he got lectured by a ghost but what he said makes sense and for the first time since he gave up on trying to fit in, he felt extremely anxious while sitting through his many classes at school, knowing that you would most likely be around him for lunch.

As expected, you turned your chair to the back and sat down facing him once the bell for lunch break rang and people started to clear out of the room. “So, any success with the questions you wanted to ask?”

“Yeah, sort of.” he only uttered a quick response and you knitted your brow together.

“Is something wrong?” you asked, slightly concerned.

“Why weren’t you afraid of me?”

He looked right at you in the eyes and it almost pained you to think of what he had gone through to even feel the need to ask that. You could guess that he didn’t have the easiest time around people from how closed off he was before you annoyed him into letting his guard down but you wasn’t expecting the standard treatment he got to be fear.

You gently said, “Why would I be?”

He chuckled and you weren’t sure why it sounded to gut wrenching to you. “Everybody else is.”

“I like being around you.”

His eyes slightly widened, the leaping in his chest speeding up at your earnest. His brain went hay wired when you tentatively reached for his hand and rubbed soothing circles at the back of his hand. He wasn’t even aware that he wanted the contact so badly until his body acted upon him and held your hand in his.

A rush of warmth washed through you as the boy initiated any affection towards you for the first time. He brought his hold on your hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss at the back of your hand, sending a mad blush to your face. You would be lying if you say you never wanted this to happen when you brought up the bravery to talk to the gloomy kid sitting at the back of the room for the first time.

He quietly said in the most genuine tone you had ever heard from him, “Thank you.”

He smiled, and that sight alone made your heart melt.

#shinsou x reader #shinsou imagine #shinsou hitoshi #shinsou hitoshi x reader #bnha imagines #mha imagines #bnha #bnha x reader #mha x reader #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha imagine #mha imagine #modern magic au

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sketchguk · 5 years ago

Photo

Hi, friends! I can honestly say that I’ve been on Tumblr for about 9 years, but only 7 of those months have been spent on this account. Being a part of this fandom means so much to me, and as cheesy as it may be, I’ve never felt so much love from a community like this. I think that I should spread a little love back to everyone through this festive follow forever post in the spirit of the holidays (there’s also a message for my beautiful followers at the very end, so bear with me). Although I may have not spoken to you all personally, you’ve made my experience here amazing!! Whether it’s seeing you on my dash or in my inbox, you’ve all made me smile one way or another!! I’ll admit right now that I’ve sent so many anonymous messages to you all because I’m really shy, haha. Not to mention, I follow so many amazing content creators, gif/gfx makers and fic writers alike, and I want to make you smile as much as you have made me!! Y’all are so lovely, and I’m not totally sure why anyone chooses to interact with me or to follow me nonetheless. Maybe you’ve read a fic of mine, or none at all, I appreciate you all the same 💕 I know some of you may be in and out of hiatus, but just know that I’m thinking of you!! And if this is the first time you’re coming across my blog, I guess this is a good time to introduce myself. Hi, I’m Teresa. It’s nice to meet you 😄

If you’re reading this, hopefully we can chat a little more. I would love to get to know such lovely people 😊 To my beautiful mutuals, I love you all sooo much 💓 I’m not the best at expressing my feelings, but I hope that this is a start! @190713 @95swifi ✩ @alwayschoosechocolate ✩ @aureumjeon ✩ @beebopboobop ✩ @boobearcupcake ✩ @btsaremyfaves ✩ @btssmutheaven ✩ @bwiq ✩ @engeljimin ✩ @ddaengwrld ✩ @emiyooa ✩ @geniuslab 💌 ✩ @gimmeyoon (@gimmeyoon-main) ✩ @girlwiththespecs ✩ @gukgalore ✩ @gukkheaven ✩ @guktwt ✩ @hobimygs ✩ @hoseoknysus ✩ @idiotscalledfriends ✩ @joonary ✩ @kitsutaes (@geniusguk) 💌 ✩ @littlemisskookie ✩ @llsanjoonie ✩ @lovehrs ✩ @magicshop-myg ✩ @map-of-yoongi ✩ @maptoyoongi ✩ @mercurygguk ✩ @minflix ✩ @minlexia ✩ @minyoongsueit ✩ @mygsii ✩ @outroguks ✩ @pjmskosmos ✩ @sdmnluv ✩ @softaellie ✩ @spookitokki (@spookitokkimain) ✩ @starrytete 💌 ✩ @syugasshi ✩ @taesseok 💌 ✩ @tokyoscript ✩ @ve1vetyoongi ✩ @vminary 💌 ✩ @vtbts ✩ @vxngguk ✩ @wthkook ✩ @yourdelights 💌 If your url is bolded, scroll down for some words of affirmation. ✨ If you have an emoji (💌) next to your url, scroll down for a special message. 😇🌟 And here’s a shoutout to some of my favorite fic writers, because you all allow me escape to my happy place !! Thank you so much for contributing to the writing community !! This online space is pretty hectic, especially as of late, but you all make it worth it. Even if you’re taking a break from writing, I am here cheering you on !! And to let you know that I’ll support you no matter what. I hope you never lose your spark for passion and creativity !! Sometimes life gets the best of us, and other times, things are not in our control, but I want to send my love and appreciation to you nevertheless. Your fics have inspired me to try my own hand at writing, and I’m forever grateful ✨ You’re spectacular, every single one of you, so never forget that! Kpop isn’t that serious, but I’ll probably think about your fics until the day I die. @bymoonchild ✩ @floralseokjin ✩ @foreverpark ✩ @geniuslab ✩ @gimmeyoon ✩ @gukgalore ✩ @gukkheaven ✩ @guktwt ✩ @jamaisjoons ✩ @gukyi ✩ @kookswife ✩ @kinktae ✩ @kpopfanfictrash ✩ @minflix ✩ @mygsii ✩ @personasintro ✩ @prolixitae ✩ @readyplayerhobi ✩ @spookitokki ✩ @ubemango ✩ @ve1vetyoongi (yee, you might see some repeats because my moots are super talented) 💖 A love letter from me to you: 💌 @geniuslab Megan !! This might sound soo sappy, but you’re the very first person I followed when I made this blog !! It’s because I’ve read all of your fics (perhaps more than once on my old account), and you inspired me to start writing as well. You have no idea how happy I was when you said you would get back into writing fics. I guess I’ll expose myself right now, but I’ve sent a few anons to you on the matter haha (yes, I am a 7 Chances enthusiast, one of many). You’re so talented, and I admire you so much 🥺 A gif maker and fic writer ?? Nothing you can’t do !! Among other things, you’re such a kind-hearted individual. I’ve read plenty of your text posts, and there’s just something so warm about the way you carry yourself. You deserve the world, and I wish for nothing but the best for you !! I hope you have an amazing new year and that you have space for peace, love, and healing. Please know that I support you through and through, and that you are well-loved ❣️

💌 @kitsutaes (@geniusguk) Yas !! I know we just started chatting, but I love getting to know you !! It’s hard for me to reach out to people because I’m shy, but I’m really grateful that you hit me up 😊 It’s been so nice getting to know you, and I hope we can get closer 💕 I’m already learning so much about you because our chats just flow from one topic to another !! You said you wanna visit new york one day, so I’ll hold you to that 😉 I’ll be your tour guide, and the only exchange I’ll ever need is your friendship !! Some dried mangoes would be nice too 😚 haha jk … unless 😳 I hope you have an amazing year filled with lots and lots of love. May you receive everything you’re wishing for !!

💌 @starrytete Mirelle !! I’m still getting used to your new url LOL. But how could I ever forget you?? You are quite literally the human embodiment of an angel. You’re always spreading positivity, and I adore you with all my heart. I wish that I could be as radiant as you !! All the emojis that I’m using in this post?? An homage to you 🌼☀️ I don’t think I can ever look at emojis the same way thanks to you haha. Sending you lots of love!! I hope we can speak more in the future!! May the new year bring you happiness and good fortune!! Please take care of yourself, ok?! Message me whenever because my inbox is always open 🥰

💌 @taesseok Mia !! I just love seeing you on my dash. I’ll give you a quick run down: Teresa: :[ Mia: *posts* Teresa: :] It’s like the universe knows. You’re a light in this world, and I hope you never lose your spark !! May you smile as often as I do (all thanks to you) 💗 I wish for nothing but your happiness since you deserve it and more. In fact, it’s the world that doesn’t deserve you and your sparkle !! I hope this year was rewarding for you, but I already know that 2020 will be better and better. I’ll be sending you lots of positive energy for the new year hehe 💞 Hopefully we can talk more soon !! I’d love to be friends !!

💌 @vminary Kiara !! I’m so happy that you reached out to me all those months ago because you’ve become one of my closest online friends !! I can’t tell you how much you mean to me because the limit does not exist. It’s so easy to talk to you, and sometimes our conversations are big sis/lil sis -esque (I’ve always wanted a sister lol 🐣). I feel as if we’ve taught one another so much, especially because of our cultural differences and the tiny age gap that we share. I find myself missing you because of the time zones LOL. In the middle of the day, I’m wondering whether or not you’re sleeping well :’) Why do you have to live across the world?? 😔 I would totally send you a package if I wasn’t broke haha. I’m sending you all my love here though, and I hope that’s enough !! 💛

💌 @yourdelights Destinee !! You are SUCH a sweetheart. The messages that you send me are so kind, and I don’t know what I did to deserve you. Do let me know how you stumbled across my blog because I feel like you’re way too cool for me LOL. Your posts are always so hilarious, and the tags have me dying. Your sense of humor >> !! My love for you is immeasurable, and I hope you know that, ahh. I think it was truly solidified when I found out you’re a fan of day6 and the rose :’) I’m not really a multi-stan, but from that moment on, I was sold. That was the only time my instincts did not let me down 🌹💝 I swear I’m getting introduced to new fandoms because of you haha. And when you went on a lil hiatus, I really missed seeing you on my dash !! I hope that you’ll be with us for a long time though !! I really can’t wait for what’s in store for next year, because no pressure or anything, but I’m sincerely excited for your WIPs hehe. I’m rooting for ya, so make sure you make the new year your b*tch !! Lastly, thank you so much to my followers !! I see y’all in my activity, and I wanna let you know that I love you from the bottom of my heart !! At this point, I’m more of an update blog than a fanfic blog LOL :’) And if you follow me because you’ve stumbled through my fics, I just want to say �� what?! It blows my mind that anyone reads my work, let alone enjoys it. I never would have though that I’d find solace in reading and writing considering I’m a full on STEM nerd. In conjunction with that, I literally started writing fiction 7 months ago to this day. I didn’t even realize that it would lead me to such amazing connections. With so many lovely people, popping in and out of my dashboard, inbox/DMs, and activity page, my heart b u r s t s with love!! Your interactions mean the world to me, even the most minute things like reblogs make my heart flutter. I really do check the reblogs to see if anyone has left a tag. Single words and keyboard smashes mean the world to me too !! Before I was a fic writer, I was just a silent reader. I always admired writers for the worlds they craft, the characters they develop, and the plots they devise, all for it to come together in one cohesive work of literature. Now that I have a vague understanding of what that’s like, I know that it’s nothing short of strenuous. Words are so powerful, and although I’m a really sensitive sap, I’ve read so many things that hit me to the core, and now I’m sure to tell the authors how much I enjoy their fics. If they went through hours (perhaps days/weeks/months) of drafting, writing, editing, and formatting, a quick comment from the reader really doesn’t hurt !! It’s the most rewarding thing a writer could ever ask for. As an amateur author myself, being on the receiving end is the thing that keeps me going !! I promise you, I don’t take any of it for granted. Your words seriously resonate with me, and it’s a huge motivator for me !! I hope that in the new year, I can work on new pieces for you all (as much as I don’t want to make up excuses, juggling life is not easy as a student!!) I always say that I write for myself, and as true as that is, I want to share my stories with you lovely people !! I pour my heart and soul into my work, and the build up of excitement is nothing if it means I can’t share it with someone else. So, old supporters, new supporters, look out for new content in the future. I hope you’re as excited as I am for the new year!! Please take care, y’all, and remember that I love you. My inbox is always open 💌 So let’s be friends 😇

#follow forever #mutual appreciation #this banner is so fugly pls don't stare at it for long LMAO #i spent longer than i should have making this @ 3am #went through way too many drafts #but it's worth it if i get to express my love !!#sincerely sorry if i forgot anyone :(( i'm new to this #i wish i could send you all a love letter !!#i would include love to gif/gfx makers but they're gonna see my banner and clown me LOL #happy new year loves <3 #i was afraid to post this bc i didn't wanna be annoying sksks i'm sorry #mutuals

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annteasocial · 5 years ago

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Nagi X Otaku!Fem!Reader

I’M. ALIVE. I managed to squeeze in a bit of time to finally writing this request for a follower. @sparklycupcake56 I’m so sorry this took so fricking long but I do hope you like it ;;. I might open requests for a tiny little bit next week.

Request: Can you please write a fluff scenario of the reader who is a cheerful and sweet as well as a huge fan of anime, manga, and video games and is also a fan of Nagi and she finds out there will be a meet and greet Idolish7 event there and she goes there. As she's waiting in line for Nagi, she's really excited and when it's her turn to go, she and Nagi greet each other and during their greeting, the reader talks about how much she loves anime, manga, and video games and how she's so happy that an idol is an anime fan and also talks about how much Idolish7 and Nagi's music means to her and how awesome Nagi is and then asks for a hug from him.

Nagi X Otaku!Fem!Reader

“MUM CAN YOU TURN ON THE TV FOR ME PLEASE?!”

“(Y/N) don’t shout from your room!” Your mother scolded you, but turned on the TV anyways. You dashed into the living room and threw yourself onto the couch, buzzing with anticipation. Idolish7 had a live talk show streaming tonight and you were absolutely not missing it.

Bright colours of the rainbow flashed onscreen and you tried to contain your excitement, squeezing one of the pillows next to you.

“Good evening everyone, we are Idolish7!” The members chorused, causing sounds of delight to rise from the audience lucky enough to watch the show live. You watched as the members all introduced themselves one by one to any new viewers who had stumbled upon them.

When it came to Nagi’s turn, you sighed happily, starstruck by his beauty and eccentric personality. Nagi was your favourite member ever since the group had been formed. Both of you shared a passion for anime, and his charming way of swooning fans had captured your heart as well.

“We’re really happy to be here tonight! Thank you for all your love and support!” Riku sang as the fangirls screamed some more. “We also have a special announcement for all of you watching here and at home,” Sogo chimed in.

You felt your heartbeat rapidly increase, drumming with impatience.

“This weekend, Idolish7 will be having a Meet and Greet event with all you beautiful guys and ladies~!” Nagi finished the sentence, standing up dramatically and posing.

You gasped and began to squeal and squeezed the life out of the pillow you were holding, out of sheer excitement and joy. “MUM THERE’S A MEET AND GREET WITH IDOLISH7 ON THE WEEKEND PLEASE CAN I GO?!” You shrieked, causing your mum to sigh in defeat. “You won’t let me hear the end of it if I don’t let you go. Just make sure to finish your homework,” she replied.

You sprung off the couch to give your mum a big hug then rushed back down the corridor to go finish your homework.

“And don’t run in the house!”

~~~

The meet and greet with Idolish7 came around quickly and the anticipation and adrenaline had fuelled your motivation to study. You were standing in line to meet Nagi, holding your merchandise of him and smiling giddily to yourself as you waited.

You could see that there were thousands of other fans bustling around the area, creating a festive rainbow of colour and happy chatter. The line was slowly but surely moving forward, and you could see the bright yellow tent that the staff on site had set up for the 19-year old idol.

“I hope he likes what I’ve gotten him…” you clutched the gift that you had decided to get him for the Meet and Greet, which was a fairly large limited edition Magical Kokona doll. Hopefully he didn’t already have it, since you saved quite a bit of money to purchase it.

It was almost your turn and you could already hear Nagi’s loud, spirited voice from outside of the tent. The last girl came out of the tent and the security guard allowed you inside.

Nagi was sitting behind a table that was quickly piling up with gifts from fans, notably Magikona. You put on a large smile and walked up with your gift ready.

“Oh! Thank you for coming here to see me today, my beautiful lady!” Nagi greeted you with exuberance, standing up from his chair with a grin. “It’s so nice to meet you Nagi-kun, I’ve been such a huge fan of you ever since I started following Idolish7!” You replied, trying to keep yourself from squealing and fangirling too hard.

“Wow, you must have been one of our fans for a long time! May I ask your name?” He asked, reaching out to grab your hand. “A-ah…my name is (L/N) (Y/N),” you stammered with a blush. His hand was really warm, and he was giving you the smile of an angel. “I, um, also brought a gift for you today, hopefully you don’t own one of these already, but please accept it!”

Nagi’s eyes widened as you placed the Magikona doll on the table in front of him, and a wide, silly smile slowly spread across his face. “This is a limited edition Kokona doll! I was going to get one, but they were sold out before I could,” he marvelled, still stunned from your generous gift.

“I’m so glad you like it! I’m really happy that there is a member of Idolish7 who really likes anime! I’m such a huge otaku myself and I love watching anime and playing video games, so when I found out that you shared the same interests as me, well, you just became my favourite!” You giggled and continued to babble on about your hobbies.

“Your music means so much to me as well, it really makes my day whenever I hear you sing since you have such a beautiful voice Nagi-kun.”

“Oh thank you, (Y/N)-chan~!”

The two of you continued to converse about your love for Magikona, video games and Japanese otaku culture, both of you becoming more passionate about your interests. “Miss, your time’s almost up,” the security guard on the inside of the tent said.

“Um, before I go, I have a request for you, Nagi-kun,” you started, awkwardly fidgeting with your hands.

“Yes? What is it?”

“…May I have a hug?”

Nagi looked surprised at first, but quickly relaxed. “Of course, it would be my honour to bless such a beautiful young lady like you with a hug!” You breathed a small sigh of relief as Nagi walked from behind the table to where you were standing.

He happily wrapped his arms around you, spinning you around once before setting you back down. The hug was warm and bright, making you feel fluffy and comfortable on the inside.

“Thank you so much! I promise that I will always support you and Idolish7!” You called out as the security guard ushered you out of the tent. You would treasure this moment in your heart for the rest of your life.

#idolish7 #rokuya nagi #nagi rokuya #x reader #fluff #scenario #mod ann #request

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thdorkmagnet · 5 years ago

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Merry Stump Day, Marco Diaz!

Hey everyone, Happy Holidays, I bring you all a new story of mine to enjoy! This takes place in my Light of the Sun and Stars AU, with Marco celebrating his first Stump Day ever. I know my story on here is running a bit behind so I’m hoping nothing is confusing but I wanted to go ahead and post this one here as my gift to you all! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

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

The snow was falling softly onto the peaceful dimension of Mewni, bathing the world below in a blanket of white, making the landscape look like something out of a fairytale. A peaceful atmosphere and festive spirit seemed to have settled over Mewni, no soul left feeling sad or downtrodden on that of the most joyous day of the year: Stump Day. And it came as no surprise at all that Butterfly Kingdom had gone all out in their celebration, since it was no secret that their rulers adored the holiday. Many Mewmans and even a few Monsters wandered the frost covered streets chatting and enjoying the decorations that seemed to hang from every lamppost and home, everything covered in glowing lights and luminescent crystals, creating a beautiful display of colors and cheer. And at the very center of all the festivities stood Butterfly Castle, the residents inside enjoying the most extravagant party in the dimension as the royal family and their friends were all gathered together in the Great Hall for drinks and stories.

And it just so happened that Marco Diaz was currently listening to one of those very stories being told to him by Star's dad, the stump-shaped cup of hot cocoa in his hands all but forgotten as he listened intensely to the story of the very first Stump Day. His eyes were shimmering with intrigue and his sun cheek marks spun away in excitement, while next to him, Star sat with her head resting against her hands looking equally as engrossed in the story as her boyfriend and best friend was. She had even dressed for the occasion, wearing overtop her usual casual attire of a sea green dress, she was now wearing a red fleece jacket that went down to just below her hips and buttoned with three identical black buttons in the middle. Her leggings were now pure white and instead of purple boots she had swapped them out with black ones that had a reindeer face painted on the front of them. She still wore the horns Marco had given her but her hair had been braided back with red string and tied into a festive looking bow at the end of her hair. Marco kept finding himself staring at his bestie, adoring her colorful attire and he silently wished he had dressed up for the occasion as well. But for right now, his attention and focus was entirely on King River as he began his tale.

“Back long ago when Mewni was still young and the people inexperienced, back before anyone knew of dimensional travel and magic and even basic hygiene, lived the original Mewmans,” the king began, his tone light and cheerful but carrying a weight of importance that seemed to suck you in and left you hanging on his every word and Marco found himself impressed by this ability. Star's dad truly had a talent for storytelling. “Back then, everybody only looked out for themselves, only forming small groups and tribes, while everyone else was there enemy!” As River slammed his hand down on the table Marco jumped, his eyes incapable of growing any larger as he learned more about his heritage. “Fights broke out all the time back then, both Mewmans and Monsters constantly at war with themselves and each other as they tried to gain dominance. Until one day, magic was discovered by the Mewmans and with this power came a battle unlike anything the world has ever seen! The greedy and selfish Mewmans began trying to destroy their brethren, hoping to conquer Mewni for themselves! But as the battle continued, it seemed they were all doomed to wipe each other into extinction instead.”

“What about the Monsters?” Marco spoke up and River looked over at the boy with slight annoyance at the interruption.

“Monsters were smart,” Buff Frog answered from his table, where he and the rest of Marco's Monster family sat listening to the story, Star somehow able to convince her parents to let them be there for the celebration, knowing how important it was to Marco to have all his loved ones around on his first real Stump Day. “They know better than mess with magic.”

River cleared his throat, trying to pull the attention back onto him as he muttered, “Yes well, excluding the Monsters who have nothing really to do with this story...” He took a deep breath before continuing in his usual jovial manner, “Anyways, as the fighting grew worse and worse, a blizzard struck out of nowhere, quickly ending the battle as they were all forced to instead seek comfort from the dangerous cold. But all that fighting had devastated the land and what little was left was blown away by the swift and deadly storm. There was nowhere safe for them to go.” River paused for dramatic effect, looking over the watching crowd. Marco was on the edge of his seat at this point, his eyes filled with fear as he began anxiously biting his fingernails, while his girlfriend just smiled over at his cuteness.

“Until,” River finally continued, causing Marco to let out a loud sigh of relief. “Oh good, there's more,” he muttered and Star had to bite her lip to keep from cooing over how adorable her Marco could be sometimes. “They eventually came across a giant tree that seemed to be at the very heart of Mewni, its wooden frame too strong to be blown apart by the wind and its branches big enough to keep all of them safe and dry. The early Mewmans, although still full of hate, had no choice but to gather together around the tree to stay alive. And after a while, as they stayed huddled together, trying to find warmth, they eventually began to let go of their harsh feelings, forgetting about their differences and hatred as a warmth within them started to grow and fill their hearts with peace instead of sensless violence. Eventually, the storm passed but the time the Mewmans had spent together underneath that tree had left a lasting impression.

“They ended the war that day and from there the Mewmans began spreading out across Mewni, creating an alliance of kingdoms that stood with each other rather than against each other. And at the center of all the other kingdoms, stood the most powerful of them all, the Butterfly Kingdom, set up in the very place the fighting and violence had once taken place, now a symbol of peace across the land. In fact, the very tree that kept everyone alive was cut down and used as wood to make the very castle we sit in today.

“But its the stump that was left afterwards that we honor and celebrate every year on this day for bringing us all together and for reminding us that deep down we are all Mewmans!” River finished his speech, before raising his cup high and declaring, “To the stump!”

“To the stump!” came the replied shout from the crowd, Marco shouting the phrase at the very top of his lungs, before gulping down the soothing hot chocolate along with the everyone else. The minute he was done chugging the drink, he let out a deep sigh, leaning back against the table as he said wistfully, “Wow, that was an incredible story.”

“Yeah but King River always leaves out the rest of it,” Jackie commented and Marco gave her a wonder-filled look.

“There's more?” he asked hopefully and Jackie couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

“Yeah dude, in fact Stump Day is completely different now then it was back in the day thanks to Earth.”

“Wait, really!” Marco gasped in intrigue.

“See, on Earth we have a similar holiday called Christmas and after we became allies with Mewni, the Mewmans started adopting some of our traditions, like giving gifts to show your love and appreciation of each other, rather than just spending the whole holiday celebrating the Stump.”

“Which the Stump wasn't too happy about,” Janna pointed out.

“Yeah but it worked out. Eventually even the Stump had to submit to the power of Christmas spirit,” Jackie replied, clenching a fist dramatically. “It's said that the stump's heart was melted after our guy, Santa Claus, showed him the true meaning of Christmas and he even teamed up with him one year to help bring presents to not just the good kids of Earth... but Mewni too.”

“Wow, Jackie how do you know so much about all this?” Marco asked, looking quite impressed with his friend's knowledge.

Jackie gave him a sheepish grin before admitting, “I learned about it mostly from this old cartoon special my parents and I used to watch back on Earth every year. 'How the Stump Saved Christmas', it was pretty cheesy but it was my favorite as a kid.”

Marco let all this sink in, before exclaiming,“Wow, I can't believe I went all these years without knowing anything about Christmas or Stump Day!”

“I can't believe it either,” Star agreed giving him a sad look. “This is my favorite time of year. I can't imagine not celebrating Stump Day. Did you and the Monsters ever do anything for the holiday?”

Marco shook his head. “No, all Toffee ever did was lay a couple of stumps around the castle and that was it.” He let out a long sigh. “I have so much to catch up on.”

“Well your in luck, Marco,” Star told him, inching a bit closer so her side was touching his, as she put an arm around him. “Because here at Butterfly Castle we go all out for Stump Day. We bring you the works!”

“Yeah!” Marco cheered, pumping his fists into the air. But he turned to her with a confused look as he asked, “What are the works?”

“Well first up is carols and stories, which we just did,” Star explained. “Then we got hot cocoa...” She held up her empty stump cup to show him. “Decorations and loved ones...” She gestured to the room around them, Marco smiling brightly at the familiar faces and colorful decorations that surrounded them. “... the stump of course. And last but not least is-”

“Presents!” Star's dad shouted at the top of lungs.

Moon shot her husband a look, before saying politely to the crowd, “Yes, will everyone please move single file into the throne room so gift unwrapping can commence.”

“Ha ha come on slowpokes, I bet I'll be the first to open a present!” River shouted, rushing for the doors at top speed, yelling an annoying battle cry, the others following suit, though at a much slower pace. All the while, Moon buried her face in her hands at her husband's childish and embarrassing antics, muttering under her breath, “Oh River.” Why did he have to be like this every single year?

…

“Oh wow Jackie, thank you so much!” Marco cried as he ripped the last of the wrapping paper, holding the gift close to his chest while his eyes twinkled in delight. “I love it!”

Jackie smiled at him and said, “Glad to hear it, dude.” She held back a giggle as she reminded him for probably the tenth time, “But you have to open the box to see what you got, remember?”

Marco nodded, a sheepish grin on his face as he said, “Right, right, I knew that.” He had done that so far on every single gift he had been given, just as impressed by the packaging as the actual present inside. Not that anyone minded, it was adorable to see the boy so giddy and joyful at the simple act of receiving a gift from his friends and family that they all couldn't help but stop and watch his reactions all the way through. Marco opened up the box and gasped at what he saw inside, his eyes shimmering with gleeful gratitude as he shouted, “Thanks, Jackie! I love it!” He reached inside and pulled out the blue helmet decorated in cute designs, giving the girl a quick hug from the side. “I'll treasure it always!”

Jackie smiled. “I thought you might,” she said. “I figured this way you had your own helmet to wear whenever you want to go skateboarding with me.”

“Wow that's so awesome of you, thanks!” Marco said gleefully. He paused to set it beside him with his other presents before looking around the room in fascination again. It was hard not to, the big room one Marco had never seen before, a giant stump taking up quite a bit of the space there, which according to King River was the original one brought there by the Butterflys who built the castle. Its long roots looped and branched out across the massive space, creating nice places for everyone to sit as they opened presents, usually sitting in groups of three or four. Marco himself was currently squeezed between Star and Jackie, his pile of presents slowly diminishing until only one remained.

The boy frowned for a moment, suddenly feeling his stomach churning with guilt. Star picking up on the change in her boyfriend's demeanor asked, “What's wrong, Marco?”

“I guess I just feel bad that all of you got me gifts but I didn't get anything for any of you,” he admitted.

Star gently put a hand over his, telling him softly, “Hey, it's okay. Nobody expects anything from you, Marco. We're all just happy you're here with us. Everyone just wants your first Stump Day to be special.”

Jackie giggled slightly as she looked over her shoulder at the large pile of opened gifts and added, “Yeah, hence why everyone went overboard when they heard this was your first time celebrating.”

“Maybe just a little,” Star admitted as her and Marco followed their skater friend's gaze.

The hooded teen let out a deep breath, nodding his head in agreement. “Yeah, you're right, guys. I should just enjoy it,” he said, before flashing them a confident grin and declaring loudly, “And next year I'll be sure to give everyone here the best Stump Day gifts they've ever seen!”

“That's the spirit!” Jackie exclaimed, giving him a quick hug.

“But for now,” Star said with a hinting tone, slowly reaching behind her. “You can... open this present I got for you!” The blond gave her boyfriend the brightest grin imaginable as she held up a bright red present with a pretty green bow around it.

Marco gasped with joy the moment he saw his gift, taking it eagerly out of her hands. “Oh wow, Star. This is so great! You didn't have to do this!”

“What and not get my boyfriend a present on his first official Stump Day?” Star teased, giving him a quick wink, which caused him to blush.

“Thanks, Star,” he said shyly.

“So, what are you waiting for? Open it up,” Star said, quickly losing her patience as she tried to guess what his reaction would be to her extra special gift. Her blue eyes sparkled as she watched him rip off the wrapping paper, not taking any time or care to preserve it, which was fine with her, just discarding it onto the floor without a second thought. He looked the box the bright red box over, his eyes incapable of growing any larger as he turned it around in his hands, observing every inch of the cubed surface. He hadn't even known boxes could come in different colors. “Wow, thank you Star, this is so awesome!”

Star laughed, putting her arms around him in a make-shift hug and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “If I had known you'd like the boxes this much I would have saved you up some.”

Marco grinned goofily at his girlfriend's show of affection, saying brightly, “I guess I'm still pretty much in shock over getting any gifts at all.”

Star and Jackie smiled at him, the skater saying, “Well you deserve every single one, dude.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. But her impatience finally won out as she gave him a tight squeeze and said, “Now hurry up and open it! You're going to love it!”

Marco laughed, saying, “Okay, okay.” he threw the lid off, staring inside at his present, before his smile vanished, his jaw hitting the floor as he gave the object inside a disbelieving look. He was mesmerized, his sun cheek marks spinning a mile a minute as he processed what he was seeing. He looked over at Star with a questioning look, silently asking her if this was really for him and she nodded, her palms pressed together in front of her mouth as she gauged his reaction. The boy quickly looked back at his present before his breath hitched, tears flooding his vision. He reached inside and pulled out the bright red hoodie from within, holding it close to his chest as the box hit the floor with a muted and forgotten thunk.

The material was the exact same as the one he was wearing, soft to the touch, in fact it seemed like almost an exact replica to his favorite choice of clothing. But unlike the identical dozen hanging in his closet this one had festive designs stitched all over it. A stump occupied the center, of course, and below it Star and Marco were holding hands. A set of pretty yellow stars had been stitched in different sections of the hoodie, which he noticed all looked like the ones he had seen topping some of the trees around Mewni. Each sleeve had a green snowflake pattern on it, right at the elbows, and the inside of his hood was lined green as well. “Star, I-I don't know what to say,” the boy whispered under his breath, still struggling to keep his tears at bay. “How did you find this?”

Star held him close to her as she explained, “I had it made for you. I managed to locate the company that made your old hoodies and I asked them to make a specialty one for you. This way, you'll always be able to look back and remember your first Stump Day with me.”

“Oh wow, thank you, Star!” Marco cried, the tears now finally breaking free as they rolled down his cheeks. He hugged her close to him, laying his head on her shoulder as he repeated over and over again, “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love it so much!”

The joy on Star's face was indescribable as she made her Marco happy beyond belief. She loved spoiling him already, adoring the cute little face he would make whenever she surprised him with something. But this accomplishment might have been better than all the others, because she knew she had just made his day and she hoped this would be enough to convince him to agree with her on this being the greatest time of the year. And considering how tightly he was hugging, it would seem she had done just that, the blond royal silently congratulated herself on knowing her bestie well enough to get him exactly what he wanted.

The moment they pulled away, Jackie suggested, “Why don't you try it on, Marco?” The boy didn't even hesitate as he ripped off his old hoodie, Star grabbing it out of the air before watching as he slipped on the new one. He was too excited to even take the time to unzip it, just slipping it over his head and letting it slide down his body before stuffing his arms through. Marco squealed with delight, softly feeling of the fabric with his fingertips and standing up so he could admire himself from every angle. “It fits me perfect!” he shouted, not even realizing the sleeves were just a bit too long and kept falling over his hands. Star would have complained that the makers had gotten the specific dimensions she had given them wrong, but honestly he looked too adorable with sleeves that completely covered his hands. Plus Marco was pleased with it, Star figured she should be too.

Marco sat back down, rolling his sleeves up enough that he had use of his hands, proclaiming to the two girls, “This has been the best Stump Day I've ever had!”

“This is the only Stump Day you've ever had,” Jackie playfully pointed out.

“Yeah but I don't think anything is going to top this,” Marco said.

Star kissed his forehead, making him blush, as she said with a mischievous grin, “Challenge accepted.”

Marco just smiled and laughed, but before he could retort, there was a call across the room. “Star!”

The three looked over to see Moon waving at her, trying to desperately get her attention as River was currently wrestling with one of his Johansen cousins, Rider, to get the mislabeled gift that both thought was addressed to them. Star cringed, before shouting, “Coming mom!” She turned to Marco, giving him an apologetic grin as she sheepishly muttered, “Sorry, duty calls! Be right back, okay?”

“Sure thing,” Marco said, smiling to let her know it was fine. But as he noticed his hood still tucked under her arm, he quickly added, “Oh here let me take that back.”

He reached out a hand to grab it, but to his surprise Star pulled away, frantically shouting, “No, no it's fine. I'll keep a hold of it a little longer. So I can, uh... give it to Sir Lavabo.”

“But Sir Lavabo is off for the day,” Jackie pointed out.

“Well I could at least send it to be washed,” Star quickly countered, her cheeks now coated in a bright blush. “Okay well, I better get going!” she quickly excused herself, running over to her parents.

Marco and Jackie shared a look. “What was that about?” the boy wondered aloud.

“No idea,” Jackie responded, looking equally as confused. But after that, the two let the subject drop, the two settling into a comfortable silence, just watching the others, who were all equally in the festive spirit.

Tom and Janna sat side by side on one of the stumps, the beanie-wearing teen watching as the demon boy opened his gift with a cheerful smile. But it vanished in an instant as he held up the tiny mistletoe in his hands, giving her a questioning look. “Come on, Janna. Mistletoe, really? I thought you would be a bit more clever than that,” he said with a scoff, rolling his eyes. At this point, Tom had been around Janna enough to learn her ways and was almost unfazed by most of her flirtatious charms. Which is why, now she had taken that as a personal challenge, constantly going out of her way with more and more insane schemes to make him blush and lose his cool. But this did not seem to be one of them as she pulled off the oldest trick in the book.

Janna, didn't seem troubled or ashamed though, as she just smirked at him, saying lazily, “Oh Tom, ye of little faith. What is in your hand right now, isn't just mistletoe.”

Tom gave her a stunned expression, asking hesitantly, “Then... what is it?”

“It's a magically infused patch of mistletoe, which makes anyone who touches it have a sudden and uncontrollable urge to kiss whoever is nearest them.” Janna scooted just an inch closer, her elbows resting on her knees as she said flirtatiously, “So Lucitor, where's my Stump Day present?”

Make directed his attention next over to his Monster family who all sat clumped together around their leader, Buff Frog, who waved as he noticed Marco's attention on him. The boy waved back, before pointing to his hoodie and his dad gave him a proud shake of his head and thumbs up. But his attention was quickly drawn back to his rowdy friends, Beard Deer currently getting annoyed with Lobster Claws, who had spent the last minute and a half shaking his present, trying to guess the contents within. The crustacean had a thoughtful expression as he rotated the gift in his oversized claws before giving it another shake, making Beard Deer growl in frustration. “Just open it already, idiot!” the deer Monster shouted.

“Hang on, I like to take my time,” Lobster Claws responded.

“Well at this rate, Stump Day will be over before you get done!”

“Okay, okay, fine,” the crustacean finally snapped, before slowly beginning to peel away the paper, inch by tortuous inch, Beard Deer letting out an infuriated groan, his whole body shaking with mirth.

Marco smiled at his families antics before turning his attention to Higgs, trying not to laugh out loud at what he saw, knowing the consequences for doing such a thing. The redheaded knight and her dad were currently wearing matching green sweaters, Dex grinning goofily while his daughter had her arms crossed in front of her chest, a sour expression on her face. “Isn't this fun, Higgs!” her dad asked with a cheerful demeanor.

“Not really,” the girl grumpily mumbled under her breath.

“What was that, sweetie?” Dex asked, not quite hearing her.

Higgs groaned. “I said this is embarrassing, dad! All the other knights are gonna be making fun of me! I'll be the laughingstock of the castle for weeks!”

“Well I think I you look good, Higgs,” Jak helpfully pitched in.

“I don't need your pity, Jak!” Higgs barked at him.

Dex sniffed, tears filling his vision as he quietly whispered to himself, “Just like her mother.”

“Vioooollet!” a small voice shrieked, gaining Marco's attention as he quickly checked to make sure the twins were okay, but sighed in relief as he saw that Daisy and Violet were still just playing with their new toys together on the floor. The cutesy twin had a set of 'My Little Unicorn's' that her mom had gotten her, while Violet was playing with her new pose-able Monster action figure (a gift from Star apparently). Daisy was pouting as she crossed her arms bitterly in front of her chest. “Stop knocking over my unicorns! They are trying to graze!”

“Yeah well they can't now because a Monster is attacking them!” Violet screamed, before roaring and making her toy stamp around, knocking over several of Daisy's unicorn collection. “Silly unicorns, me smash them with super strong feet!” the girl said in the deepest voice she could, clearly speaking for her action figure.

“That's not fair! You're breaking the rules, Violet,” Daisy whined, pointing an accusing finger her way.

Violet laughed, still speaking in her Monster voice, “Ha ha ha, me Monster, me no care about rules! Now to destroy pitiful horses with my laser vision!” She starting making shooting sounds with her mouth, while her sister just groaned in annoyance.

“Monsters don't even have laser vision,” Daisy pointed out.

“Yeah, well this one does,” Violet told her, breaking character for a moment.

“Fine, than my unicorns use magic to slay the Monster,” the cutesy girl declared, picking up two of her toys and aiming it at Violet's action figure.

“Not if he gobbles them up first!” the creepy kid exclaimed.

“Ha, yeah right, everyone knows unicorns taste bad,” Daisy matter-of-factly stated.

Marco smiled, glad to see the two playing and getting along... sorta. His eyes continued scanning the area looking for their mom, not surprised when he found her surrounded by a large group of guys all craving her attention, which she seemed to be loving every second of. She gasped as she opened up the tiny present in her hands saying in a sugary-sweet tone, “For me? Oh Manfred you shouldn't have” The Mewman in question was smiling ear to ear, a bright blush on his face, while the others were shooting him death glares.

Marco smiled at the older royal, wondering how she managed to capture so many people's attention at once. Everyone always seemed to love her and that was a trait Marco wished he could know more about, since his insecure side still surfaced and caused him trouble every now and then.

The boy let out a deep sigh, letting everything sink in as he just enjoyed the moment. Everything was so wonderful and new and fantastic and he didn't even think he had a word to describe how happy he was to be a part of it. It made him feel special, made him feel like he belonged, like this was where he was always meant to be. He couldn't believe how many Stump Day's had been robbed from him, how many memories he had missed out on due to Toffee's selfishness. But at least he was here now and that was really all that mattered, he realized.

Marco turned to look back at his presents, thinking of how wonderful and incredible his family was, when something occurred to him. Star hadn't opened a single gift. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed, too entranced in his unwrapping frenzy to realize his girlfriend had just been watching him the whole time. He quickly looked around for any signs of Star's presents around the branch they were sitting on, before his eyes scanned the rest of the room, hoping maybe they had all just been misplaced or something. But everyone else was done with their wrapping and he couldn't see a single, unopened box left anywhere in the massive room.

The boy frowned, before turning back to Jackie asking in concern, “How come Star didn't get a present?” He couldn't believe it, if anyone deserved something special on Stump Day, it was Star. She was incredible and she deserved a billion gifts to show her just how amazing she was. How could nobody get her anything?!

“Oh Star usually waits to open up her presents the day after, y'know during her birthday party,” Jackie nonchalantly explained.

Marco felt his heart stop as he screamed in shock, “What?! It's her birthday tomorrow!”

“No, it's today, but she always celebrates the day after,” Jackie replied with a questioning look, taking in the look of surprise on her friend's face. “You really didn't know that?”

The boy shook his head, feeling the color draining from his face. How didn't he know that? Star was his girlfriend and his bestie, if anyone should have known when her birthday was it was him. “Marco,” Jackie's voice softly called, incapable of reaching him as he lost himself more and more to his distressed thoughts. But not only didn't he know it was her birthday, but that also meant he hadn't gotten her anything either. He hadn't gotten his own girlfriend a present on her birthday... which also happened to be on her favorite day of the year! “Marco?” What was wrong with him? He had to fix this! He had to do something for her!”Marco?!” He had to show her just how special and important she was to him! He needed to-

“Marco!” Jackie shouted for the forth time, this time finally managing to gain his attention as he finally met her gaze. The boy noticed the concern in her eyes and the fact he was suddenly feeling light-headed and realized he had most likely just been hyperventilating. The skater gave him a comforting smile, telling him, “Look it's okay you didn't know.”

“No it isn't!” Marco argued, his voice cracking against his will. “I'm her boyfriend, Jackie! How could I not get her anything on her birthday?!”

“Well look, you can just do it next year like we talked about,” Jackie helpfully suggested, but Marco shook his head vigorously.

“No way, this is different,” the hooded teen argued. “I can't be the only one who didn't get her a birthday present. I'd feel awful.”

“Star would understand,” Jackie reassured him.

Marco sighed. “But that's not the point. She shouldn't have to. She is the most amazing person I've ever met, she deserves better.” Marco bit his lip as he tried to wrack his brain for an idea, as he muttered to himself, “There has to be something nice I can do for her.”

Jackie watched her friend closely, judging his thoughtful expression as she realized that the hooded teen wasn't going to give up on this idea. His determination was something nobody could match and once he made his mind up, there was no stopping him. So wanting to cheer up her friend, she helpfully suggested, “Tell you what, how about later we go over to Quest Buy and find something for her. Would that make you feel better?”

Marco's face immediately broke out into a wide grin and he surprised her with a tight hug. “Yes that would be awesome Jackie! Thank you so, so much!”

Jackie giggled and gave him a gentle squeeze back, her heart leaping for being able to brighten the innocent teen's spirits. “No problem, Marco. You know I'm always here for you.”

“Hey guys.” The two pulled out of the hug to see Star standing over them (the hoodie still bundled up in her arms) looking tired but happy and she smiled over to them saying, “Sorry about that. So what do you want to do next?”

Before Jackie could say a word, Marco had grabbed a hold of her arm and loudly exclaimed, “Well actually, me and Jackie just realized that we needed to go do something, so we have to go.”

Star seemed surprised by this, asking, “Now? But the party isn't over yet.”

“Yeah but we really gotta go,” Marco responded immediately, the skater not even having a chance to protest as the boy stood and began heading for the door. He shouted over his shoulder on the way out, “Great party! Had a great time, thanks everyone, bye!”

Star gave Jackie a quizzical look as she was dragged out of the room, but the white-haired teen merely shrugged in reply and gave her a sheepish smile, before following along after the boy, knowing it was pointless to argue with him at this point. Marco's mind was made up, he was getting a gift for Star.

…

Marco and Jackie casually strolled down the bustling streets of Mewni village, dodging joyful peasants that passed by them, all of them in a hurry to get somewhere it seemed. Marco did, however, receive several compliments for his festive hoodie which he just smiled and thanked them for. The streets were crowded with a million things to see and do that day, sellers giving out Stump Day merchandise, decorations and lights that covered every corner of town, and carolers singing traditional Stump Day carols with donations boxes set up to help those in need. Normally Marco would have stopped to enjoy and gawk at all the new sights and sounds, but today the hooded teen barely noticed any of it, he was on a mission and he couldn't afford to get distracted. And so with every step his pace increased more and more until he was almost jogging down the sidewalks, leaving his friend behind in a trail of dust. After a few moments, Jackie called after him with a giggle, "Slow down, dude, you're gonna get run over." "I know, I know," Marco said, himself down enough that he was side by side with Jackie, but the effort left him bouncing up and down with energy and impatience. "But we're so close. I just can't wait to get Star a birthday present. She's always doing so much for me, I really want to return the favor." "And liberating her entire world and then becoming one of her most valued and hardworking members of her commission isn't enough?" Jackie asked in a teasing tone, raising a knowing eyebrow at her friend. "You know what I mean," Marco argued, a grin lighting up his face at her playful demeanor. "This is different from all that. She's my girlfriend, isn't getting her a present on her birthday like one of the requirements of being a good boyfriend?" "You got me there," Jackie replied, shooting him a wink. The two turned to face forward and Marco gasped, his eyes shimmering as the Quest Buy shop finally came into view. "There it is! Come on Jackie, let's hurry!" Marco raced forward, Jackie doing her best to keep up with him, dodging smoothly around carts and passerbys giving them startled looks as they went by. The boy reached the store entrance, Jackie right on his heels, and he slammed the door open loudly shouting, "I'm here to buy the perfect gift!" But he froze as he noticed that the store was completely empty and not just of customers... everything was gone, the shelves empty and the bins picked clean. The only one currently there was a very tired looking sloth, slowly sweeping the floor. "Wh-What happened? Where is everything?" Marco asked looking around the store with a frown. "Uh yeah, we sold out for the day after our Stump Day 99 percent off sale," the sloth explained in an unenthusiastic voice. "Sold out!" Marco whined, putting a hand to his head. "But now how am I gonna buy Star a birthday present?" he asked worriedly. The sloth shrugged. "I don't know. Not my problem." Jackie however was deep in thought, finally saying enthusiastically, "Luckily, I may know a way."

…

Marco stood open-mouthed, staring in wonder at the giant store before him the second he stepped through the portal. Jackie appeared right behind him, before sealing the dimensional tear back up with her pair of scissors. Marco, meanwhile, had yet to blink, afraid he would miss a single fantastical sight from the new world before him."Wwwwhhhoooaaa!" The boy whispered in amazement. The building looked more like a labyrinth than a store, endless rows filled with every item known across the multiverse which seemed to stretch outward into infinity. Marco could see several sloth workers restocking shelves or answering customer questions. He also spotted a large map, or he thought it was a map, it looked more like an ancient code that he wasn't even sure was decipherable, but he was grateful to see it all the same. A giant sign hung above the whole store, reading 'Quest Buy.' "Pretty cool, huh?" Jackie asked, seeing the joy and astonishment written all over the boy's face. "This is the original Quest Buy, everything from our store and then some is here, which means we shouldn't have any trouble finding Star a present." "I'll bet!" Marco exclaimed. “It's so huge! I-I can't believe a place like this even exists." "Well its real, all right," Jackie replied with a chuckle. She gave her hooded friend an eager grin as she added, "So how about we start looking for that present?" "Yeah!" Marco cried, pumping both fists into the air in excitement. He gasped as something caught his eye and quickly latched onto Jackie's arm, shouting, "Ooohh what's that? Let's start over there!" Jackie held back her laughter as the boy dragged her around the store, freaking out over something every couple of seconds. After about half an hour of exploring the store, Marco started to get serious and doubled down on his gift getting mission. That was when Jackie discovered that the hooded teen was a very picky shopper, at least where Star was concerned. Nothing seemed to be to the boy's liking, developing a very critical eye toward the wondrous items from across the multiverse. At some point, Jackie started pitching him suggestions, which didn't seem to help all that much.

"What about this?" Jackie suggested, holding up a pair of star earrings. "I bet Star would like these." Marco gave them a frown, before shaking his head. "Mmm, nope. I can do better for her than that." Jackie nodded and set them back. "Fair enough." The two continued on a few feet, before the skater suggested, "How about a wand charger, she can always use one of those?" She pointed down the aisle where a large selection of charging devices were. "Too formal," the boy replied. "Oookkkayy," Jackie said thoughtfully. "How about this?" The girl gestured to the device. "Its a device that can braid your hair in ten seconds or less guaranteed!" "So can Star's wand," Marco pointed out. "Hadn't thought of that," the skater replied.

“Well what about this?”

“No.”

“Or this?”

“Nope.”

“This?”

“Um, is that box supposed to be buzzing?”

Jackie screamed and quickly threw the box of insta-kill bees back up on the shelf. “Why do they even have that here?” the skater asked, wiping her hands on her pant leg.

Both teens looked around at the massive store filled with a billion items, none of which seemed just right for Star, and they sighed. This was a lot harder than they were expecting.

“Are you in need of assistance?” a mechanical sounding voice said behind them and the two screamed and turned to see a large creature, its body made out of electricity with a large green eye that seemed to make up its entire face. The eyeball blinked red every couple of seconds as it stared at them with a dead look, making both of teens skin crawl.

“Um, who are you?” the boy asked, resisting the urge to hide behind his skater friend. He didn't like the way this thing was looking at him.

“I am Quest Buy's first customer service bot,” the thing explained. “My function is to help our customers find a purchase that is to their satisfaction. Now then, are you in need of assistance?”

The two shared a look, before quickly shaking their heads, Jackie saying, “No, no that's okay. We're good.”

“Yeah, you can go help someone else,” the boy added, hoping he didn't sound too desperate to make the thing leave.

“I'm afraid I cannot do that, my systems have picked up unhappiness from you two and I am unable to leave until you are satisfied with your purchase.”

“Great,” Jackie muttered under her breath. “So now we got a tin can following us around and monitoring our every move.”

“I am not made of tin, I am made of ionized plutonic energy cells which are located in my core processing center, which is stored in my retina chip,” the service bot explained.

Marco gave the thing a long lost look before asking in confusion, “Um, what?”

“Her eyeball powers her face,” Jackie translated.

“Ooohhh,” the boy said, sorta understanding what all that mumbo-jumbo she had been going on about was.

“Yes, that is a more simplified way of putting it,” the service bot agreed. “Now then, is there anything I can do to make your shopping experience easier, I could perhaps give you directions to a section of our store, or read you off some deals we have going, or I could get you set up with our membership program-”

As the bot continued to list off more and more options, Marco and Jackie tuned her out, turning to each other as they began whispering amongst each other. “Well looks like we're gonna be stuck here a while, dude,” Jackie pointed out.

“Yeah I know,” the boy sighed. “Man, why is this so hard? I know Star better than anyone, finding her a gift should be no problem.”

“Well, what do you think she would want?”

The boy shook his head. “I'm not sure, there's just too many options in here, I can't think straight.”

“There has to be something in here she would like?”

“Yeah, but I don't want it to be just any old gift, I want it to be perfect.”

The service bot's voice instantly stopped and the two turned to the machine, giving it quizzical looks. Its eyeball was wildly blinking red and before either could question what it was doing, it simply stated, “Request acknowledged.”

There was a bright flash of light, as it shot a beam directly at Marco and Jackie, who screamed and held onto each other, fearing for their lives, clenching their eyes closed. The hooded boy's life flashed before his eyes and he wondered if this was really the end for him and his friend. But after a few seconds without blinding pain, the boy decided to risk peaking open an eye. The two were now in a giant empty room, their ragged breath echoing off the walls of the open space. Hovering over them was the service bot, who gave them the same empty look as before, though now the blinking red light was gone at least. “Hey, um, Jackie I think we're alive,” Marco told the girl and her eyes flew open as she looked around the room in confusion.

“Where are we?” she asked.

The service bot was quick to answer, saying, “The Wishing Room. A coming attraction to the Quest Buy store opening up to the public sometime next year.”

“Wishing Room?” Jackie repeated skeptically at the same time Marco nervously questioned, “Are we even allowed in here?”

“Yes, I have granted you both temporary access in response to your request,” the bot answered.

“My request?” the boy asked, raising a confused eyebrow.

Suddenly, the bots eye lit up red again, this time Marco hearing his own words and voice being repeated back to him, 'I don't want it to be just any old gift, I want it to be perfect.'

“Okay, that's creepy,” Jackie said, shuddering as a chill went up her spine.

Marco was inclined to agree, but he pushed this frightening moment aside for the more pressing concern he had. “So this room... it can help me get the perfect gift for Star?”

“Yes,” the service bot replied simply. “The Wishing Room can create anything it is you desire.”

The boy smiled and eagerly asked, “Okay great, how does it work?!”

“Whatever you think of will appear here,” the service bot explained.

“Wow, that seems so simple,” Marco gasped in shock. He had thought it would be much more complicated process that that.

“We are designing it to be user friendly, once we work the last of the bugs out.”

“What was that last bit?” Jackie questioned skeptically.

“Nothing to concern yourselves over, the safety of our shoppers at Quest Buy are our top priority,” the bot recited, her monotone voice sounding almost as if she was reading off of a script.

“Okay then,” Jackie said, slowly raising an eyebrow before turning to the hooded teen. “Go ahead and give it a shot, dude.”

“Right,” Marco said with a confident nod. He took a step forward, closing his eyes so he could concentrate on what he was doing, before saying loudly, “Okay room, please give me what Star wants most!”

The boy heard a poof sound and he smiled opening his eyes, expecting to see something amazing in front of him, but he could only gasp and stare open-mouthed at what had been created. Standing before him was a replica of him, except for his mole being on the wrong side, his cheek marks were dull and faded, and wearing a blue hoodie instead of his typical red. “Wh-Who are you?!” Marco asked in shock.

The boy smiled and stated plainly, “Oh I'm Marco Fresh, the new cooler version of you, who is gonna sweep Star off her feet-”

“Nope!” Jackie shouted, waving her hands in front of her and making the fake Marco vanish from sight. “That is not what we wanted!”

Marco just continued to stare blankly ahead, his eyes wide and full of confusion, “D-Did I just make another me?”

Jackie sighed, before telling him, “That must have just been one of the glitches, try again Marco.”

The boy nodded, still looking slightly startled, before he took a deep breath and tried again, trying to concentrate on something Star would like. The blond liked a lot of thing, rainbows, narwhals, that old band Love Sentence she and he had listened to a couple of songs from. Let's see what else? Puppies, sunsets, her home and family, making people smile which always seemed to just make her whole face light up in the cutest way... okay, focus Marco. What was the thing she loved the most in the world?

He heard another poof sound and his eyes snapped open only to see nothing before him. He frowned and looked around a bit, till he eventually found his newest creation sitting at his feet. It was a miniature version of him, wearing only a diaper, with its mole and cheek marks looking the same as the last fake him. Only this time, it had red wheels on its feet. It smiled up at him, before saying, “I'm Baby Marco and I have wheels for hands, Whhhheeeee!” It skidded away, leaving a dust cloud behind it as the two teens could only gap in disbelief at what had just occurred. The two shared a quick look before Marco suggested, “Never speak of this again?”

“Agreed,” the skater said instantly.

“Okay this clearly isn't working,” the hooded boy said with a disappointed look. “Maybe we should just go back to searching the store.”

“Yeah, I think this room is either broken or buggy,” Jackie concluded, her hands going to her hips as she looked around the large space skeptically.

“The Wishing Room is fully operational and had encountered zero glitches in-24- days,” the service bot replied, pausing as her voice changed when stating the number of days.

“Then why isn't it working?” Marco asked, growing quickly frustrated. “Why can't it just do what I asked and make the one thing Star cares about most?!”

The boy looked away from the machine sadly, his gaze connecting with a mirror that had suddenly appeared next to him. He stared at his dejected looking reflection for a few moments before he sighed, squeezing his eyes shut as he asked softly, “Why don't I know what Star wants?”

Jackie the whole time was giving him a thoughtful expression, when suddenly the answer clicked in her mind and a smile lit up her face. She walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder as she gave him a cheerful look with her pair of bright eyes, “Maybe you do.”

Marco gave her a perplexed look. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, maybe the answer is right in front of you,” Jackie explained, gesturing over to his reflected image.

The hooded boy followed her gaze, before cocking his head quizzically to the side, as he asked, “A mirror? But she already has one of those.”

“No, not the mirror,” Jackie replied, with a slight giggle at the boy's cute naivety. “You.”

“Ohhh,” Marco said, finally nodding in understanding. He looked back over at his reflected image, a smile lighting up his face, asking softly, “You really think it's me?”

“Well yeah, I mean what does Star care about more than you,” the skater replied.

“Awwww,” Marco said, his cheeks lighting up with a blush and his eyes shimmering with affection. “That is so sweet!”

Next to them, though, the service bot was starting to act weird, its body twitching and its eye flashing bright red, along with the rest of its electrical body. The two noticed this and Marco asked his friend in concern, “Um, what's it doing?”

“Uhhhh-” was all Jackie got out before it interrupted her.

“Error, error, error!” it began screeching, making the two cover their ears at the loud, obnoxious noise. “Item not found in Quest Buy's inventory! Request unable to be complete!” All the while, its body began shuddering more and more, until it was simply repeating the same phrase over and over, “Item not found! Item not found! Item not found!”

Finally, much to the two's surprise and dismay the machine exploded into a ball of flashing lights and electric currents, the two shielding their eyes from the bright burst of heat. After a couple seconds, the two slowly moved their hands and opened their eyes, seeing a singed and broken patch of ground where nothing remained save for a green card with an eyeball on it. The two just stared at it for a few moments, completely speechless after what had just occurred, until finally Marco asked, “Sooo, are we gonna have to pay for that?”

…

The two were giving the sloth worker sheepish smiles and shrugs as they watched him clean up the last of the mess that the destroyed bot had left behind, shooting them very unhappy glares as he did so. Lucky for them, Quest Buy wasn't making them cover the costs on their one of a kind robot, after they had explained the story to them, since it seemed more due to bad programming then their fault directly. Still, that didn't stop the two from feeling guilty for breaking it but there was little they could do about it now, no sense dwelling on it.

Besides there was still the task at hand and now that that fiasco was over, the two's mind drifted back to their mission as they followed the sloth out of the back room. They watched him as he grumpily stormed away, before Jackie turned to her friend and asked, “So Marco have you figured out what to get Star?”

The boy shrugged, saying, “Not really. I mean it's cool that I'm so important to her but it's not like I can exactly wrap myself up to give to her.”

“True, but on the bright side whatever you get her she's sure to love because it came from you,” Jackie pointed out, elbowing him once in the shoulder.

Marco contemplated that for a few moments, biting the inside of his cheek in thought. He knew that was true that it didn't matter what he got her she would be sure to enjoy, but he still didn't want it to be just any gift, he wanted it to be special... like the hoodie she made for him. It was amazing not just because it had come from Star but that she had put so much care and thought into getting him exactly what she knew he would love. So the big question was, what could he give her that could compare to her amazing present?

That was when it hit him, the answer that had been right in front of him the whole time. How had he not thought of it sooner? It was perfect and he was sure it was exactly what she would want. A smiled brightened up his face as he slowly turned to Jackie, who gave him a curious look seeing the excitement written all over his face. “What? Did you figure out what to get her?” she asked, pretty sure she already knew the answer (if his cheek marks which had turned into flashing light bulbs were any indication than the answer was definitely yes).

The boy nodded, confirming Jackie's suspicions, as he proudly declared, “Yeah, I think I know what she wants.”

“Great to hear, Marco,” the skater said with an encouraging grin. “But we better hurry and get whatever it is though. Quest Buy closes soon.”

The girl started to run ahead, but came to an immediate stop the second she heard her friend say, “Actually...” She turned back to him with surprise. “...it's not in Quest Buy.”

Jackie raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for further explanation, before he added mysteriously, “In fact, we've already got everything we need.” He put his hands on his hips, the knowing smile on his lips never wavering as he just stared ahead with a confident look gleaming in his eyes, until finally his friend asked, “Sooo are you tell me what it is or-” The boy gave her a sheepish look, saying quickly, “Oh yeah right, sorry.”

…

Night set on Mewni, bringing Stump Day ever closer to an end for the year and for most in Butterfly Castle, they spent that night in blissful sleep, unaware of the world turning. It was silent and peaceful in the castle not a creature stirring not even a gobblemouse, which could be quite the pest this time of year. It seemed nothing could disturb the calm silence of the quiet evening as a gentle snowfall continued into the late hours of the night, not even a gust of wind had blown through to disturb the dream-like state that had fallen over the kingdom.

Star was asleep in her bed, enjoying the quiet as visions of sugar plums danced through her head. The girl let out a deep sigh and licked her lips, muttering groggily, “Mmmm, delicious.” She pulled her arms a little closer to herself, bringing the bright red hoodie right up to her nose and she subconsciously took a long sniff, feeling calmed by the smell of her Marco, a smile appearing on her face as she fell into an even deeper state of slumber.

The door to her room slowly creaked open, Marco cringing as he feared the loud noise would wake her up but Star made no movement from her bed and the hooded teen breathed a sigh of relief. He carefully tiptoed his way over to her bed, making sure to avoid tripping over anything in the dark and, once he made it to her bed, he simply watched her sleeping form for a moment, mesmerized by the rise and fall of her chest as she snored softly. He noticed his hoodie held tightly in her grip and he felt his cheeks flush, causing his cheek marks to spin, and a grin light up his face. It looked like the same one she had at the party and he couldn't help but wonder if she had carried it around with her all day. He imagined she had, she seemed quite attached to it in sleep.

“Star,” he softly whispered, trying to keep his voice low, despite the eagerness and impatience he felt building up inside his chest. He put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle shake, saying, “Wake up.”

The girl groaned, mumbling incoherent things in her sleep while she scrunched up her face, making her resemble and a cute, little rabbit Marco observed. Finally, after a bit more prompting from the boy, Star raised a hand up to her face and lifted her sleeping mask up enough so that she could peek open an eye and see who was disturbing her slumber. “Marco?” she groggily murmured, sitting up some, before letting out a loud yawn. But as she did she realized the hoodie was currently laying against her chest and she quickly tucked it underneath her pillow, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink, hoping he hadn't noticed it. “W-What are you doing here?” she asked, sounding a bit more awake than before, even though her face told him she was still half-asleep.

“Well it's midnight, so I just wanted to be the first to tell you...” the boy began slowly, before exclaiming loudly, “Happy Birthday!” He surprised her as he threw his arms around her in a tight hug making the blond giggle and beam ear to ear as her favorite person in the universe held her in a close embrace.

“Awww, Marco,” Star cooed, finding him just as adorable and enduring as ever. “You're the greatest!” The girl adjusted her position enough so she would give him a quick kiss on the cheek, reveling in the happy laughter that followed from her sweet Marco.

After another minute of just holding her close, the hooded teen finally pulled out of the hug, saying, “So, did you like my surprise?”

The girl nodded, giving him a loving grin. “Yeah I did.” She sighed, starting to lay her head back when Marco suddenly exclaimed, “Great, because that isn't the only one!”

“Oh really,” the blond royal said, raising a playful eyebrow.

“Nope, which is why I need you to come with me so I can show it to you,” he said, grabbing her arm trying to drag her out of bed.

Star paused, having a sneaking suspicion that he was going to lead her to a waiting surprise party and she debated for a moment on asking him to wait till morning. She could use the sleep... but seeing the look of excitement on Marco's face as he practically bounced around her bed, his body incapable of holding still making him look like an adorable little kid, she didn't have it in her to say no. So she just smiled and threw her covers off, revealing her pink bunny onesie she had gone to sleep in (a gift from her mom), before rising up out of bed. Marco waited patiently as Star took a quick second to stretch before following after him, though he never once released his hold on her arm as she did.

The boy did his best not to completely drag Star as they descended the steps to the bottom floor of the castle, wanting so badly to run the rest of the way, but he fought the urge back, continuing on at what felt to him like an agonizingly slow pace. The moment they reached the bottom steps, Marco released her hand maneuvering himself so he was behind Star, putting his hands over her eyes. “Marco, what are you doing?” she asked with a playful edge to her tone.

“I don't want to spoil the surprise,” the boy replied, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. He couldn't wait to see Star's reaction.

Star just laughed and said, “Okay then, lead the way Marco.” The hooded boy obeyed guiding the blinded girl down the hall and into the throne room, where the gathered crowd quickly held their breaths waiting for their cue from Marco. The teen brought his blond bestie to a stop, keeping his hands in place as he said in a sing-song voice, “We're heeerree.”

“So then can I open my eyes now?” the girl asked, all this anticipation and build up causing her own excitement to grow despite already knowing what was coming, recognizing the path they had taken by heart and picking up the hushed breathing around her. It was pretty obvious her original suspicion was correct, but that still didn't mean she wasn't looking forward to it. Besides, it was hard not to want to join in when your bouncy, innocent boyfriend is helping hype you up with his own one-of-a-kind enthusiasm.

The boy instantly removed his hands, his eyes remaining implanted on Star as he shouted, “Okay, open 'em Star!” The blond did just that, blinking her eyes open at the same moment a chorus of cheers rang out around the room, all simultaneously shouting, “Happy Birthday, Star!” The girl gasped, a hand flying to her mouth, as she took in the scene before her.The throne room was now covered head to toe in decorations the time and care put into hanging each and every balloon and streamer apparent just from looking at it, even though most of it seemed to be recycled from the Stump Day party. A pile of presents was stacked neatly in the corner and a massive rainbow colored cake the size of the Star sat a short ways away from it on a table with a fancy white tablecloth. It was beautiful and delicious, just looking at it making Star's mouth water and she recognized it instantly as Kelly's work, especially as the green-haired girl only stood a short ways away, admiring it.

But none of this was what really had left her awed and speechless. That honor went to the group gathered there to greet her, consisting of not just the set of her close friends like Jackie, Janna, Tom, Pony, and so on that were to be expected... but also the smiling faces of every single orphan who had ever lived in the castle before, who she considered to be just as much family as her own flesh and blood.

“Oh my gosh, what are you all doing here?!” she asked in disbelief, looking around at the large crowd before her, misty-eyed.

“Me and Jackie invited them,” Janna explained her arm leaning on the skater's shoulder, who shared the same pleased smile at invoking the reaction they got from their friend. “It was Jack's idea actually.”

“Yeah, we figured you'd want everyone here to celebrate,” Jackie said, her eyes shining with bright enthusiasm. “Just consider it my birthday gift to you.”

“Our birthday gift to you,” Janna blurted out, raising a finger in the air.

Star let out a long breath, fighting back tears as she choked out, “I-I can't believe you all made it!”

“Of course we did, you really think we'd miss out on our favorite person in the world's birthday?” Oscar spoke up, giving her a pleasant grin that made her heart fill with warmth.

“Thank you all so much,” she said, her voice cracking a bit and the others all let out a collective aww, before racing over to envelop her in hugs, Starfan13 beating all of them to the punch.

All the while, Marco was just watching his girlfriend's every move with glee, overjoyed to see her so happy and carefree over her surprise as she hugged each and every one of the orphans, laughing with contentment. He couldn't help but feel his heart soar, the extra thumping in his chest filling him with pride for helping put such a beautiful smile on his Star's face. And he hadn't even gotten to the best part yet. Once Star had given out the last of her hugs to the others, Marco turned his attention over to Jackie, who gave him a nods and an encouraging thumbs up to tell him it was time. The hooded teen nodded before sucking in a deep breath, pulling the small, neatly wrapped gift from his pocket as he made his way over to Star.

“I can't believe you all did this for me!” Star shouted, her eyes shimmering with joy and affection for her little family, a hand over her heart. “This is just so... incredible!”

“So then, I'm taking it you liked the surprise?” Oscar asked, jokingly.

Star laughed. “Yes I did.”

“So then, think you feel like getting one more?” Marco asked, offering her his present with one of his cute, signature smiles.

The girl stared down in shock at the gift in the boy's hands for a second, taking in the perfectly folded pink wrapping paper and dark pink bow, before her eyes caught Marco's and Star felt her cheek marks beat once against her will as she felt her face heat up with a familiar blush. Finally she regained control of her senses, saying sweetly, “Oh Marco you shouldn't have,” before taking the present from him.

“Well I wanted mine to be the first one you opened, since I think you're really gonna like it,” Marco said, practically squealing with joy.

“I'm sure I will,” Star said, giving him an affectionate look, while her hands fiddled with the bow, trying to find the best way to open it without making too big a mess. The while time, Marco seemed to be getting more and more eager and impatient for her to open the gift, his eyes darting back and forth wildly and his body beginning to shake with anticipation.

“You should really hurry up and open it, Star,” Janna spoke up. “I don't think Marco can wait a minute longer.” The girl followed her gaze and held back a laugh at her boyfriend's adorable jitteriness, his face turning slightly pale as he held his breath, looking like he might explode if she didn't see what was inside soon. So, not wanting to waste another moment, she ditched the delicate approach as she yanked the ribbon free and then preceded to tear through the wrapping paper in the span of a couple seconds.

The moment she got a good look at her gift she froze, staring at the small strip of cloth speechless. It was a piece of Marco's hoodie, no bigger than her hand, the soft, red material unmistakable from anything else, she had become quite familiar with it over the months she had been with Marco after all. It had been cut off into a circular shape, before being stitched along the sides to hide the jagged edges and Star didn't have a clue who had enough experience there to do such a thing. But even more impressive than that was the pink outline of an octopus, an exact replica to the one on the front of her favorite dress. “Wha- Bu- How?” was all she managed to gasp out, running a finger along the soft cloth as the scent of Marco drifted up to her nose.

“Well I noticed you seemed pretty attached to my hoodie back at the party,” the boy began, making Star blush, but he didn't even notice too busy glowing with pride and joy for his good guesswork. “So I figured you must really like it like me, so I cut out a piece of one of my hoodies for you. The sewing was the hardest part but I-” The boy stopped himself looking over at his friend Higgs, who had been the one to show him how to sew it under the condition that he didn't tell anyone about one of her hobbies, and he quickly corrected himself before he accidentally gave it away. “-figured it out. Its small enough that it can fit inside your purse,” the boy continued. “So that way, you'll always have something to remind you of me, even when we're apart.”

The girl stared at him for a long time in silence, her eyes jumping back and forth from her boyfriend's smiling face to her gift, her throat closed up making it impossible for her to speak at the moment. “Do you like it?” he asked, his patience growing thin as he waited for Star's answer.

The girl nodded, swallowing down the lump in her throat, before squeaking out, “I love it! Thank you so much, Marco!” Then, unsurprisingly, she pulled him into a hug, squeezing him tight as she whispered into his ear, “I can't believe you really destroyed one of your hoodies, just for me.”

“Well of course I did, your amazing Star and I wanted to give you the perfect gift,” the hooded boy clarified, not sounding at all upset or worried that one of his favorite possessions was ruined. “Besides, I do still have twelve others and you did just get me a new one, so it's not like I really sacrificed anything...” the boy sheepishly added.

Star shook her head, still never breaking her hold from her Marco. “Doesn't matter. It was still very sweet of you. I couldn't have asked for a better present from my amazing bestie,” she softly cooed, finally pulling out of the hug to stare deep into his eyes.

“Soooo, what your saying is my gift was... perfect?” the teen slowly asked, looking excited for the answer.

Star nodded, trying to hold back her laughter at her boyfriend's naive cuteness. “Yes, it was perfect,” she agreed, before leaning closer and giving him the gentlest kiss on the lips. Marco reveled in the kiss, before deepening it himself, moving his lips softly against hers, one of the very few times he had taken the initiative where their kisses were concerned. Meanwhile, the others were just watching them in silence, all of them having to hold back their want to gush over the adorable couple, most of the orphans there never getting to actually to see them acting lovey-dovey around each other, since their last time around the two had been before they had started dating. All of them had known that Star and Marco had feeling for each other, but it was another thing to see them actually expressing this in such a way and not a one of them could hide their joy over seeing both teens truly happy.

Finally the young couple's lips parted, staring breathlessly at each other as their eyes just shined with love and affection, brown and blue meeting in a beautiful dance of shimmering pupils. Star looked slowly back over at her crowd of friends watching her every move and felt a small blush light up her cheeks. She had forgotten they had an audience. But she swallowed her embarrassment, saying, “Well then, I guess all that's left to do is get this party started.” The others all let out a cheer of delight, before Star and Marco shared another smile, looking so happy and content just being in the other's arms.

Pony, as soon as she heard her bestie's declaration, she suddenly blurted out, “Okay but first, could someone please turn on some heat, it's freezing in here?” Her teeth were chattering and her whole body was shivering to show just how miserable she was.

Jackie noticed this and quickly nodded, reassuring her with a simple, “I'm on it,” before going over to the fireplace. As she did, Tom gave his friend a skeptical look, saying, “I don't know what your talking about, P. I feel just fine and I literally live in fire.”

Pony just rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Well yeah you think that, you can also light yourself on fire,” she snapped.

“Then maybe all we need is Tom to stay warm,” Janna suggested, wrapping her arms around her crushes neck, the boy giving her an odd look.

“What are you-” Before he could even finish his sentence, Janna had leaned over and given him a kiss on the cheek, causing his hair to erupt into flames, while he himself froze in place with a goofy, surprised smile.

“See, told you. He's the best heat source there is,” the girl smugly said, her arms never breaking hold of his neck.

Jackie, meanwhile, was busy examining the fireplace with a frown. It had somehow gone out during the night and the girl didn't understand how or why such a thing could happen, especially when they were using Phoenix Embers which were supposed to burn for twice as long as wood or coal. And yet, the half-burnt chunks of charred rock were proof that they had once been lit but somehow gone out, no sign of how such a thing could have come to pass. Maybe one of the others had put it out, Jackie thought. But that was unlikely. She leaned down, to try and restart the fire, when she felt a few specks of dust land in her hair and she looked up the dark chimney in surprise. She gasped, her eyes widening in shock, as she quickly stood back up, calling over to her friends, “Uhhh, hey, Star, Marco! You might want to come over here!”

The two gave her an odd look before obeying, running over to join her at the fireplace. “What's up?” Star asked.

“Well you might not believe this but there are a bunch of presents stuffed up the chimney,” the skater said.

The two blinked in disbelief, before Marco asked, “Huh?”

“You know what, think it's better if I show you,” Jackie said before going over to the fireplace and slamming a hand into the brickwork as hard as she could. Instantly, a pile of presents came tumbling down, falling into a pile on the floor, making Star and Marco just gap open-mouthed. It also attracted the others attention, all of them staring over at the three in confusion.

“Whhhoooaaa,” Marco softly whispered. “Who are all these presents for?”

“No idea,” Star said, before walking slowly over to the gifts, examining them closely. “But there has to be like, at least thirty gifts here!”

“The bigger question is, how did they get here?” Jackie asked, before her and Star locked gaze, the two girls both coming to the same realization. “You don't think-” Jackie started.

Star nodded, her hands to her hips. “How else do you explain all of these presents just showing up in our chimney?”

“Good point,” Jackie agreed.

“Hey guys look, a note,” Marco gasped, picking up the small slip of paper lying on one of the gift boxes. The two girls moved so they could look over his shoulder at the light red parchment, while the others leaned forward hoping to satisfy their own curiosity over the mysterious letter. Star asked her boyfriend, “What's it say, Marco?”

The boy frowned in concentration as he slowly read off the poem written in delicate cursive on the page. “For the boy who helped spread the message of equality and peace, with his joyful enthusiasm that never does cease. With his kind acts of bravery and heart filled with light, he ended the violence and ceased the big fight. And although growing up he wasn't taught of this day, the spirit was in him in its own special way. And since none deserve better and his good deeds have shown, a lifetime of presents for every year he has grown.

Merry Stump Day, Marco Diaz.

Signed, SC and S”

An audible gasp and soft murmuring came from the others the second the boy was done reading, while Marco just let the paper in his hands go, numbly watching it flutter to the floor, before looking over at the presents in shock. After a moment of just silent contemplation, he turned to Star and Jackie, who both just stood there completely speechless. “Who's SC and S?” he asked them in confusion.

“That would be Santa Claus and the Stump,” Star explained, still looking amazed by this fact. “I mean, if you think about, it all adds up.” She gestured over to the pile of unopened presents.

“Huh, well how about that, dude,” Jackie said, giving Marco an encouraging grin. “Looks like you just brought the Stump and Santa together.”

Marco gasped, his eyes filling with joy, as he whispered in pure delight and wonderment, “Like in your cheesy Christmas specials?”

“Yep, exactly like that,” Jackie agreed with a chuckle.

“It's a Stump Day miracle!” Starfan13 suddenly shouted out and the others all released a loud cheer.

Tom, however, could only stare wide-eyed, before he blurted out, “Wait, so you're saying their actually real! I always thought they were just kids stories!”

“Of course they're real,” Star firmly stated, crossing her arms and shooting him a glare for ever doubting the Stump. Didn't he know how dangerous that could be?

“Besides you can literally light yourself on fire,” Janna pointed out. “That's honestly one of the least crazy things that's happened to us this year.”

Tom opened his mouth, looking like he was on the verge of arguing but seemed to think better of it, shrugging and saying, “Good point.”

“Soooo,” Marco's voice cut in, bringing all the attention back to him as he looked down at the gifts longingly. “Does that mean these are all for me?”

Star put an arm around the boy, telling him in a sweet voice, “Yep, apparently Santa and the Stump recognized just how special and amazing you are! Just like the rest of us all know.”

The boy blushed, before asking delightedly, “So I get to open all of these?”

Star giggled, before kissing his cheek, “Yep, go ahead. You earned it, Marco.”

“Yeah and you better get started, you've apparently got fourteen years worth to get through,” Jackie added playfully.

“Okay!” the boy yelled, before joyfully diving for the nearest present, not wasting a second as he ripped it open. He gasped, before shouting in pure elation, “Oh my gosh, it's a box!”

The others just watched as the adorable teen opened present after present, oohing, awwing and showing off each and every gift, re-experiencing the joy of Stump Day all over again. Star just smiled and laughed at her boyfriend's joyous reactions, grateful with each new thing he received no matter what it was. She was so enchanted by the hooded teen in fact, that she didn't even realize Janna had snuck up behind her until she was speaking from right next to her, causing the blond to jump slightly. “You know it doesn't seem fair,” the beanie-wearing teen observed and Star gave her a questioning look.

“What doesn't?” Star asked, an eyebrow slowly raising.

“That they didn't get you anything,” Janna said simply, her hands sliding into her pockets. “I mean sure, I get what they were going for, giving Marco enough presents to make up for never getting to celebrate Stump Day before. But what about you? You helped bring peace to Mewni, too. They couldn't have sent you a card or something. Geez, how cruel is that.”

Star considered this for a moment, as her hands began fiddling with the small patch of Marco's hoodie. She couldn't help but grin down at it, still touched by her bestie's thoughtfulness. She couldn't have asked for a better gift for him, the idea of carrying a piece of Marco around with her everywhere filled her with so much joy she wasn't sure their were words to describe such a feeling. And as she slowly looked back up at Marco, seeing the joy and happiness spread all over his gaze, she felt her heart swelling in a way that only her Marco could cause, her crystal eyes shimmering like a thousand diamonds.

Star's face softened into a loving glow as she watched her pure, sweet Marco enjoying his very first Stump Day, every ounce of unparallelled delight and merriment on his face making Star's heart leap. Just getting to see him smile like that, easily made this the best birthday she had ever had, as her boyfriend was rightfully spoiled yet again. Which was why the girl couldn't help but chuckle softly to herself, her eyes never once leaving Marco as she told her friend in a tender, whispered tone, “It's not cruel. They knew exactly what to get me.”

#Star vs #Star vs AU #My Writing #Light of the Sun and Stars #Starco #Jantom #Starcember #Not sure if this counts but what the heck

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hunnywrites · 5 years ago

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Arcade Dreams: Chapter One

Summary: There’s a new girl working at the Palace Arcade and Hawkins’ Family Video. Billy can’t stand her, and the feeling is mutual. No matter what everyone else seems to think.

Pairing: Billy Hargrove/OFC

A/N: When being introduced to the Midnight overlaps with the third season of Stranger Things being released, you write a Billy Hargrove fic. He’s trying his best to become a soft boy, but instead you all get this mess of a slow burn fic.

Christmas break was surprisingly more lively in Hawkins than Teddi had anticipated. The Hawkins Family Video store and the Palace Arcade were always pretty popular during weekends, sure, but in the few days since school had let out she had found herself bouncing back and forth between the two shops because she and Keith were seriously understaffed. She didn’t mind it. Everyone in town was surprisingly nice, and a lot of the kids that stopped into the arcade were pretty entertaining. There was one group she had taken a liking to. Max Mayfield and her gang always managed to make a shift more exciting, and she loved helping them give Keith grief.

She had popped into the arcade about twenty minutes ago and found them spread out among the games. Max seemed to be missing, but there was a new girl that had tagged along the last few nights. Apparently Chief Hopper had a daughter she hadn’t known about. Not that that surprised her. As of that week she had only been in Hawkins for two months. Her family had moved there from upstate New York after her dad had been laid off. Now they lived in a really crappy place that seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere even for Indiana. It was why she had taken the video store/arcade job to begin with. There was no way her parents would be able to pay for college now. So now she was desperate for as many shifts as she could get from Keith on top of looking for a second job.

Since the arcade seemed to be relatively peaceful for a Friday night, she was focused on the video store now. Keith was forcing her to play that god awful animated Rudolph movie on repeat to get customers into the Christmas spirit. If she had to listen to that elf talk about how he wanted to be a dentist one more time, she might actually lose it. She was bouncing back and forth between the register, restocking and organizing shelves and rewinding tapes people had returned. She was so busy that she had managed to drown out those awful claymation characters and the sound of a roaring engine outside. She threw a “Welcome to Hawkins’ Video!” over her shoulder when she heard the bell on the door jingle as it opened.

She was tidying up the holiday display when someone’s shadow loomed over her. “You work here?” a gruff voice asked. Teddi looked up, eyebrows together in confusion as she tried to imagine what this guy could possibly be so huffy about.

“Sure do,” she said as she stood. She was immediately met with the smell of cologne, cigarette smoke and spearmint. “What can I help you with?”

Teddi vaguely recognized him after a few moments. They went to the same school. She didn’t entirely remember his name, but she knew he was kind of a dick. Very, very cute, but kind of a dick. “I’m stuck watching my lame ass step-sister while she’s grounded. Her mom told me to rent some videos to keep her occupied over the weekend.” he said rolling his eyes.

“Oh! Well, that’s actually pretty sweet of you. I mean I’m an only child so my mom always just threw me in front of a TV while I was growing up…” she trailed off. It was obvious he didn’t care. Teddi cleared her throat. “Sorry. Um, so what’s she into?”

He raised an eyebrow, looking at Teddi like she had grown a second head. “How the fuck should I know?”

“Isn’t she your sister?”

“Step sister.” he corrected shortly.

“Right…” Teddi pursed her lips while she thought of a suggestion. Cute but dickly blonde boy shifted impatiently. “Chick flick?” she asked. He made a face.

“Jesus, no. She’s not into all that girly shit.” he paused for a moment. “I don’t know, she was Michael Myers for Halloween. You got anything like that?”

Teddi perked up. “Oh, totally! Here, follow me,” she waved at him and took off towards the horror section. She glanced over her shoulder quickly at him. “...You go to Hawkin’s High, right? You’re on the basketball team? I’m Teddi. I just moved here so you’ve probably haven’t seen me or anything…” she was rambling again. She always did that when things were quiet. She hated quiet.

“You’re the weird girl that argued with the science teacher for like half an hour over crystals.” he said bluntly. Teddi let out a nervous laugh. She had to admit, it was a little embarrassing to remembered by cute but dickly for arguing that crystals did in fact have healing abilities, and no it did not have anything to do with the movie The Dark Crystal.

“Yep...yep. That was me…” she was fairly certain she heard him let out a faint chuckle. “So uh, keeping in tone with the whole holiday horror she might like this one,” she plucked a copy of Black Christmas off the shelf and handed it to him. He gave it a quick look over and gave an approving nod. “And these are just some really good ones. You can’t pass them up.” she handed him Sleepaway Camp, Alien and Carrie. She hoped it would be broad enough range to keep his sister occupied and happy.

He scanned each VHS quickly. “Right...thanks. Hopefully this’ll keep the little shit happy.” he muttered.

“It’s no problem. If she likes them there’s plenty more where those came from.” she said leading him back to the front counter. While she was checking each of the movies out she was completely oblivious to the fact that cute but dickly was now aware that his focus was no longer on renting movies and that Teddi was a girl. A cute, but weird, girl that he had yet to put the moves on.

“...I’m Billy, by the way. I forgot to introduce myself earlier.” he grinned, leaning against the counter and turning on a sudden charm he definitely hadn’t had when he first walked in. Teddi had bleached blonde hair that was cut into a bob that just barely reached her shoulders. Her lashes were so long and thick that he couldn’t tell whether they were real or fake. Freckles speckled her nose and she had a metal hoop in her right nostril. She was also wearing glittery lip gloss that managed to sparkle even under the fluorescent lighting of the video store. He barely got to get a good look of her “Hawkins’ Family Video” shirt that was about two sizes too small and black cut off shorts before he was caught.

“Oh, it’s fine we were bus-...what are you doing?” she raised an eyebrow at him.

Billy stood up straight, his grin fading. “...What do you mean?”

“You were just looking at me like I’m like a cheeseburger or something,” she snorted. Billy looked at her like she had grown another head yet again. “Does that actually work?” she asked, her nose scrunching just a little.

Billy clenched his jaw, resting both of his hands on the counter. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he spat. It only made him more annoyed when Teddi let out a giggle. If it was one thing he hated, it was being laughed at.

“Nothing. Forget it,” she slid the tapes towards him. “Ten bucks. They’re due back Monday.” she said with an amused smile. Billy only muttered, reaching into his back pocket and digging his wallet out. He tossed a ten down on the counter and snatched up the tapes. “Enjoy the movies!” she said sweetly.

Billy rolled his eyes and nearly stomped back out to his car. He hated Hawkins. He hated how cold it was. He hated how festive everyone got around Christmas. He hated that he was stuck at home with Max all weekend, and he hated that Teddi had embarrassed him. Fuck Hawkins, he thought as he slid into his Camaro.

“Took you long enough,” Max muttered, crossing her arms. Billy ignored her and tossed the tapes into her lap before throwing the car into reverse. Max silently studied each of the movies. “These look pretty good...you picked these out?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Billy fished his cigarettes from his jacket pocket and placed one between his lips. “The girl that worked there picked them out,” he mumbled before lighting it. “I told her you liked Halloween.” for some reason that excited Max.

“Teddi?” she asked, turning to face her step-brother.

Billy cast a sideways glance at her. “Yeah...you know her?”

“She works at the arcade too. She’s really cool.” Billy scoffed. What did Max know about cool? He supposed to a geek like Max and her friends that maybe Teddi seemed cool. He sure didn’t see it.

“She’s weird.” he argued curtly.

Max gave him a knowing look and smiled. “You asked her out didn’t you? She said no didn’t she?” she asked excitedly. Billy gripped the steering wheel tightly.

He bit back his initial response. “She’s not my type.” he said simply.

It was Max’s turn to scoff. “You don’t have a type. Girl is your type. She’s too smart for you anyways-”

“Max, do you ever shut the fuck up? It’s bad enough I have to spend the weekend with you. Do you really think I give a shit about what you have to say about some freak that works at the video store?” Max only rolled her eyes. Ever since the night Billy had come to find her at the Byers’ house things with Billy had been slightly better, but not great. Her step-brother was stubborn. And while she was sure she had put the fear of God in him that night, Max was sure there was nothing that would be able to match his attitude.

Billy leaned forward and flipped the radio on to signal he was done with the conversation. He drummed his fingers against the wheel in sync with the beat and pretended Max was no longer there. But still, the fact that he had actually tried to find movies she’d like instead of grabbing whatever was closest let her know he didn’t completely hate her. If anything he was crabby because his ego was bruised from whatever happened between him and Teddi.

Max was positive Billy had tried to ask her out. Lucas and the guys all had a crush on her. She was into all the same stuff they were, and she was nicer than Steve. Max had found herself wishing a few times that Teddi could be her step-sister rather than having to stick around Billy. Or at the very least she wished that Billy wasn’t such a jerk and that Teddi would want to date him. Maybe make him chill out some.

Max’s mom and Neil weren’t home when they pulled into the driveway. Usually on the weekends they went out and she and Billy wouldn’t see them much if they were home. Which wasn’t often. Both Billy and Max liked to avoid being home as often as possible. Max followed Billy inside and kicked off her snow-covered boots, hanging up her coat and rushing over to the TV. Billy tossed his leather jacket onto the back of the couch and headed for the kitchen. Max heard the pop of a beer can being opened.

She decided to watch Black Christmas first. She popped the tape in, settling own on the floor to watch. She barely even noticed Billy standing awkwardly in the doorway. “...You want popcorn or something?” he finally asked. Max tried to mask her surprise, instead smiling and nodding. He disappeared into the kitchen once more, making sure to slam cabinet doors and the microwave as if he were being forced to cook up popcorn.

Billy returned a few moments later, plopping down on the couch and setting the bowl on the table in front of him. Max moved from her place on the floor to the couch as he kicked off his boots and leaned back into the couch. He rolled his eyes as she gave him a happy smile, grabbing the popcorn bowl and settling into the couch herself. While he still wished he was out with some girl he could pick up at work, Billy supposed this wasn’t the worst way to spend the weekend.

#billy hargrove #billy hargrove fic #billy hargrove x oc

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alfredosauce50 · 6 years ago

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Who’s the bad guy? (1p + 2p America x reader) 8

Wordcount: 2,953 The reader is referred to as she/her

"We're gonna go crash Alfred's."

A mushy, cookie-dough-like substance began falling out of the blonde's mouth as it separated wide open to gawk at Allen. Falling onto the marbled counter like wet sand, you were also too shocked to even realize the mess he was making. Allen approached this situation so calmly that it was odd, but the pain that was bleeding out of his eyes was so clear. He never meant for this to happen, he would rather die than let this event take place on his timeline. Unfortunately for him, you would be in imminent danger if he wasn't around to protect you. A tense silence fell around you three after his bold statement, but it was Alfred's explosion of excitement that finally crushed the ice that had formed.

"We are?" He started with uncertainty. Azure eyes wide with disbelief, they melted into a luminous shine of joy when he watched his cousin nod slowly. "Holy shit, we are!" Alfred then exclaimed, spinning on his heel to spit the remainders of chewed up cookie-bit in the bin. Thrown into an overdrive of euphoria, he could feel his wounds pound to the rhythm of his speeding heart.

Shrilling like a child, he hopped off the chair and started dancing all around you two, his contagious energy feeding off to you and spreading a beautiful smile on your face. Soon, the two of you were jumping on the spot and squealing like a bunch of children, much to Allen's displeasure.

Alfred couldn't even begin to start on the thoughts that were running through his head, picturing the millions of perfect dates he could take you out in the city. This was the perfect, golden shining opportunity to sweep you off your feet again with his riches, and to hopefully make up for the stolen kiss. As he was squeezing the life out of you to where you enthusiastically returned the favor, his thoughts then drifted off to the redhead staring at them with a tensed expression. He loved what was going down and had to thank Allen for this, but he had to ask, why? Allen suddenly sprung up with a drastic change of plans, to bring the party over to Alfred's place. Aligning perfectly with Alfred's wants and needs, it was the absolute opposite of what he'd want, but he still insisted.

Allen was brought up in the dirty slums of New York, the only luxury being to have you. If he moved to the towering skyscrapers where Alfred lived, even temporarily, Alfred would be granted a major advantage on his turf.

Those best friend privileges wouldn't even be up to par with half of what Alfred had to offer.

On the other hand, you were consumed entirely with excitement, the mere idea of visiting the lavish world you never thought you'd ever see making you shake with anticipation. You've never really left this small microcosm of a city let alone rise from the chains of poor financial standing, and now you were just slapped with the face with an opportunity too. Blessed with the best tour guide there was to offer, a door just opened up for you to infinite possibilities. Your head was even beginning to hurt with all the places you wanted to see.

You felt like you could do anything with Alfred.

After the ruckus simmered down, you insisted for him to visit the hospital. The effects of uplifting plans lingered its hands over the two of you, however, and he shot down that offer with an ear-to-ear grin. "Haha, fuck that. We have something to plan!" He sang.

You couldn't agree more. Nodding whimsically, you let out another contented sigh. "Yep! I can't wait to go to your place!"

Those were the words he needed to hear to confirm that he had in fact won- and that Allen had lost. As the two of you basked in high spirits in the living room, Allen's soul was sucked out of his body. He grit his teeth and left, storming to his bedroom and slamming the door behind him. It sent the whole house shaking in a rattling tremor, and the two of you could feel the strong vibration pound against your feet. Your heart sank and you flinched at the explosion of noise that just made your eardrums burst, jolting to the door with a weary expression. "Oh-" You uttered out, "That scared me..." You lingered your gaze over the door for a moment.

All the festive mood was gone in a bang, but Alfred thought otherwise. Turning you to face him, he shot you a bright smile with his hands rubbing soothing circles on your shoulder. Even with his face bruised in blotches of black and blue, you could only see his dazzling, million dollar smile and shining cerulean eyes behind his glasses. "He can be loud sometimes, can't he?" He laughed, licking his lips. "He's really wild."

You managed a soft smile. "Yeah, that's what I love about him..."

You sighed almost dreamily. That was a heavy understatement; absolutely crazy for his unpredictable and fierce personality. Impulsive but wild at heart, you really couldn't tell at all what was going to be held in the future for you two. Yes, he was your best friend whom you loved dearly and his antics were to die for, but there were still such things like boundaries existing. Him lashing out on Alfred was way past the line.

"... But... What he did to you was way far out of line. I really think he would have killed you if I hadn't stopped him..." You whispered. "I just can't believe it."

Sniffing a little, you kept your head low.

"... Yeah... I can't believe him either." Alfred admitted. Was his jealousy that intense that it sparked such rage to consume him? "Maybe he just got really mad when I... You know..."

The both of you lit up in a glowing red blush like Christmas lights.

Coughing awkwardly, you glanced away from him. "Uh... Yeah... I don't know why he turned out to be that angry..."

Although you were oblivious, the blonde was aware of Allen's feelings for you.

"And I think he still is..." Alfred sighed. "He's probably breaking shit inside."

You frowned, facing the door that just radiated waves of dark energy.

"... Oh dear..." You swallowed thickly. "I think I might let him cool off for a bit. You wanna go watch something on Netflix?"

"Sure!"

Allen's P.O.V:

Reducing to tears faster than he ever could imagine, he ran over to his dresser with his hands ready to wreck havoc. He shot them out quickly with a flaming hot face trailing with tears, ready to push everything off onto the ground. Before he could even lay a finger on anything, he stopped himself abruptly. Allen almost forgot that you were still sharing the room with him; it flew right past his head after witnessing the horrors of you being happy with another man.

He resorted to strings among strings of curses, struggling to keep his voice down with the fury licking around inside him. Overwhelmed with grief, rage and stress, he fell on his bed hunched forward to let the fat balls of tears dot the carpet. His world had just crashed at his feet. He should've known to not speak of Alfred's name. Now you were all over him for the millions he could offer that Allen couldn't.

That night, he covered himself up in the sheets and turned off the lights early. You joined him a little later with a soft smile dazzling on your lips, but at the moment you stepped into the room it faded. Slipping into the bed, you slept on the other side with a considerable amount of space separating your two bodies. Still weary that Allen might be fuming, you kept your distance with him just in case he snapped again. As much as you wanted to tap him lightly on the shoulder to wake him up, you held back that urge and just waited.

A line of cold formed in between you two, no man's land, a place where neither of you dared to cross. The silence in the darkness was almost sinister, and as if to taunt him even more in the predicament he caught himself in he could hear the quiet's deafening shrills of laughter jeering at his misery.

Facing away from each other throughout the night, his body was aching to touch you. Your soothing, soft skin that he could embrace for hours on end and not let go.

Why were you just laying there, instead of sleeping inside his arms like you usually would? Unfortunately, the tense ambience was too hard for you to even try to get close.

How did it end up like this?

Forcing himself to fall asleep, he wasn't prepared to face the manifests of his inner consciousness. Blinking his eyes open that were coated with a layer of rust, the rumbling of motorcycles and distant shouting buzzed in his ears. The soft ring of the doorbell faded as the glass door closed, one of the regulars leaving with a satisfied expression with his usual bag of dog pellets. Standing in front of him was you, in the flesh with a comforting smile dancing on your lips.

"Allen, are you okay?"

Your sweet voice called his name so tenderly. Biting his lip, he rested his hands on his hips and scoffed. "Yeah, I'm great."

Narrowing your eyes with a skeptical glint, he watched you with awe as you walked up to him and patted his back. Peering up at him with a softened gaze, he melted into your warm eyes. "Come on Al, just tell me what's so spiteful about him. I'll help you out."

He flickered his eyes over to you and the intimidating glare engraved in his features faded. Fixated with your beautiful face, everything around him disappeared into a blur of color. "My cousin's getting the upper hand. I'm scared, (F/N)." Allen whispered with trembling lips. "He's going to steal you away. He's going to give you things that I can't give you."

You smiled at him sadly and took his hands, swaying him gently from side to side. "Oh, but Allen... You're my best friend. Nothing in the world can replace you."

Shaking his head furiously from side-to-side, he stared at you desperately with red irises glazed all over. "No, baby. Alfred can. You don't want me anymore." He murmured with shaky breaths. Allen couldn't even see you anymore, but the blurred blotches of color and an outline of your form. Swallowing thickly, he hung his head low. "... I'm only going to hurt you if I stay. I'm violent, I'm angry all the time, I'm a freak."

His heart sank when he felt your fingertips brush against his cheek.

"Because of the shit I do, you're gonna get hurt. I'm so sorry, baby." He continued airily, shaking his head. "Luciano's on the hunt for you because he knows that I love you."

You chuckled softly, wiping away the single tear that trickled down his face. "Then that's why I need you."

Allen couldn't control the endless stream of tears running down his face. "(F/N)..."

"Protect me."

Jolting awake with a gasp, his pupils dilated as he shot up from the bed. It took him a while to realize that it was nothing but a dream, hitting him with a sharp pang of disappointment. They say you would forget around ninety-percent of your dream, and he did. It drifted out of his mind as he slowly gained back his orientation, but that sensation of melancholy still remained to loom over him like a dark cloud. Rubbing his eyes roughly, he glanced over to his side to see your sleeping form and back rising and falling at a steady pace. The way how peace would settle on your features was angelic as you slept. Allen just couldn't pass up on the chance to give you a good morning kiss.

"Good morning, dollface..." He cooed softly, leaning in to press his mouth to your forehead with longing.

His lips that grazed so lightly over your skin caused your eyes to flutter open. You met with him smiling down at you, his strong and tanned arms decked with tattoos thick with muscles as they supported him on his side. Shifting on the bed to inch closer to him, you nuzzled into his chest and wrapped your arms around him much to his surprise.

"(F/N)?" He whispered huskily.

"Mhmm?" You hummed.

You continued to press your face into him, making his heart flutter at how adorable you were acting. "What are you doing?"

Rolling your eyes up to him, you smiled. "I'm hugging you, dummy."

Why?

"... But aren't you mad at me for what I did yesterday?" He asked.

You scoffed. "Of course I am, idiot. You nearly killed Alfred."

The redhead smirked and lowered his hands to your back, caressing it gently. "Aren't you glad that I didn't?" He spoke lowly. He was mentally slapping himself from keeping up his smug attitude instead of an apologetic one. Sweat consumed his forehead as he dreaded your response to his antics once again.

A sigh left your lips that were upturned in a smile. "Yeah, I am. I hate myself for not being mad at you."

Allen felt a rush of relief to come flowing in at your smile. "That’s because you love me too much to stay mad at me." He chuckled.

"... I guess that’s true." You murmured, much to his delight. You also wanted to add in how much you missed him, but you thought that he didn't deserve all of your forgiveness, not just yet at least.

You pulled away from his hold, turning your back on him to go over to your pile of bags sitting in the corner. He watched you from the bed, laying on his side with his muscles popping due to the lack of a shirt. As he admired you bent over to tend to the bags, he couldn’t help but lock his eyes on your behind. "Heh..." He breathed. "Whatcha look’n for in your bags?"

You zipped everything up and looked at him. "I’m not looking for anything. I’m just making sure that I have everything."

"For what?"

You rolled your eyes. "Alfred’s place? Did you already forget?"

He inhaled sharply with widened eyes. "Shit fuck- I totally forgot!" He hissed, throwing the blankets off of his legs to go charging at his dresser. You could only cackle at his forgetfulness, calmly tending to your belongings as he ripped open one compartment after the other, salvaging any clothes he came across. Chucking them into a large duffel bag, he finally finished when you popped out of the bathroom.

"You all set?" Allen asked, sitting on the bed like he had been waiting there forever.

Your lips stretched into a smile touched by excitement.

"Let’s hit the road."

***

Once you stepped into the polished Cadillac that was set alight under the hot orange sunrise, you knew you were be going in for an adventure for a lifetime. The scent of leather immediately overwhelmed your nose, the backdrop noise fading away into the faint beeping of the car. After buckling on your seat belt, you were absorbed with the wonders of the vehicle's inner works with fascination swirling in your eyes. You've never seen, let alone touched something so luxurious. You traced your fingertips along the window, completely captured by every little detail of everything, all the way down to the little sockets that were supposed to hold miscellaneous items.

The whole vehicle dipped to the side when your travel-buddy entered the car. Allen scooted next to you and clicked on his seat belt, leaning back to cross his arms with closed eyes. Even though all he saw was black, he could imagine the expression radiating off your face as vivid as a dream. "First time riding first class?" He chuckled.

You nodded with a wide smile. "Yes... This is amazing." You whispered, your attention snatched by something, or someone, who was worth millions more than the Cadillac itself. With some special cream and medical attention flown in from his private jet, everything successfully healed and the bruises faded away like magic overnight. Climbing into the driver's seat, he flicked on his black shades feeling his lips stretch into a wide smile. A classic American one. "Are we all ready to go?" He asked, fixing his rear-view mirror.

Poking your head out of the window for one last time, you met with the striking red irises of your blonde friend. You stuck your hand out and waved at him. "Bye Flavio! Thanks a lot for volunteering to keep my store open by the way!"

He shuddered and waved you off. "More like threatened." Darting his eyes over to the auburn-haired male sitting comfortably beside you, he clicked his tongue. "You're lucky I like animals..." He scoffed.

Allen coughed and rolled up the window. "Yeah, hit the gas."

Alfred hummed.

"Okey-dokey. Strap in and get comfortable, lady and gent, cuz' this is gonna be a long ride."

Allen guessed that he could put up with his cousin for a while... Only for you of course, because he knew that moving to his place for a while would provide you with some refuge from some lethal troublemakers in the dark. Leaving behind the ghetto Allen and you called home, the two of you were ready to forget the past and see the future - the towering skyscrapers and blinking lights in your wondrous irises.

#hetalia #hetalia x reader #fanfiction #hetalia fanfiction #aph #aph america #aphamerica #2ptalia #2p!talia #2ptalia x reader #2p!talia x reader #2p!america #2pac #2pamerica x #2p!america x reader #alfred f jones #allen jones #Axis Powers Hetalia #Axis powers ヘタリア

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just-another-busy-fangirl-writes · 6 years ago

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December 22, 2017 - Holiday Edition

I am reposting old fic rec lists. Unfortunately some of the blogs/stories have been removed, but I am still going to list them for historical reference.

Feel free to tag me in ANY fics you post, and see previous weeks’ fic recs HERE

Hopefully this list helps those of you (us) who want to get away from our families for at least an hour or two over the holidays. There’s quite a bit of fluff on this list, so hopefully these awesome fics put a smile on your faces! There were a million more holiday stories that I’ve read the past few weeks, but I tried my best to spread the love to as many authors as I could. Make sure you check out everyone who’s tagging Kari (@thing-you-do-with-that-thing) and Ida’s (@like-a-bag-of-potatoes) 12 Days of Christmas Challenge, cause a lot of writers are doing that!

Happiest of Holidays to all of you beautiful people!

SMUT

Santa Baby by @impala-dreamer Dean may not be the Christmassy type, but he sure will try for Y/N…

Let’s Stay Home Tonight by @impalaimagining You’ve done enough Christmassy crap by yourself, and all you want is your husband to come home. When his flight is delayed and you have a little more time to yourself, you decide to make his wait worth your while.

Sparkling by @kittenofdoomage Fighting a Krampus was not how you wanted to spend Christmas, but at least you’ve met your soulmate. Even if he is a little… tied up.

Home for the Holidays by @luci-in-trenchcoats After his flight home is cancelled, Jensen decides to spend Christmas with his co star and long time crush…

Santa Baby by @queen-of-deans-booty You’ve been waiting all year for this to happen. You got your favorite sexy Santa lingerie and you just know Dean is going to love it on you.

The Bell Still Rings by @sp-oops Set after 11x09 (and ignores the rest of the season). Just weeks after the Cage fiasco, Jody Mills gets TFW & co to Sioux Falls for some much-needed time off. Sam’s hurting, but man, is he happy to see you. So happy that you’re starting to think your longtime crush on him may not be as one-sided as you thought. Here’s hoping for some strategically-placed mistletoe.

We Love Anyway by @sp-oops Set after 12x08. So you busted Sam and Dean out of federal lockdown and then skipped town. But now that the holiday weekend is here, and you’re lonely for them. Lonely for Dean. When Donna calls to invite everybody to her Christmas Eve wedding, you head north in a heartbeat. But when you get there, immersed in all the lights and splendor, it’s soon obvious that you’re not the only one pining for someone you didn’t think you could have. Will you have the guts to make a move?

The Cozy Christmas In by @whispersandwhiskerburn You and Dean are snowed in.

FLUFF

First Christmas by @atc74 Rob and his new wife prepare for their first Christmas together.

Christmas Traditions by @crispychrissy It’s the Holiday Season and you’re stuck in the bunker with a broken leg. Dean and Sam plan some activities for you after learning about your family’s holiday traditions.

Anything for You by @d-s-winchester Your ex will be at the Christmas party your office is hosting. Instead of you going alone, Matt offers to pose as your boyfriend.

It’s Cold Outside by @docharleythegeekqueen Christmas music helps set the mood as Dean and Cas spend the evening with their girlfriend and son.

One Horse Open Sleigh by @docharleythegeekqueen A Christmas date you’re hoping is leading to a proposal goes in a completely different direction.

All You Want for Christmas by @evansrogerskitten Jack is excited about his first Christmas as you teach him the holiday traditions. The special day also brings a surprise for you as well.

What You Always Asked For by @imagineteamfreewill The reader is one of Santa’s elves that travels to a new town each year to make sure even the poorest of children can have a good Christmas. When the boys find a case that links her with a string of recent murders, however, she has to team up with them to help save the children she’s been tasked with watching over.

All I See by @impalaimagining Jared and reader have been together for a while and decide to spend this Christmas alone in a cabin in Colorado.

What’s Your Hurry by @impalaimagining You and Jensen host a Christmas party, and before too many guests arrive, Genevieve asked you about your future.

Little Drummer Boy by @jpadjackles Louden Swain decide to host a small Christmas live stream for their fans. Rob invites a special guest to sing a song with him, and everyone can see the chemistry between them.

Mistletoe Surprise by @just-another-winchester Dean plans a little surprise for you to show you how he really feels about you.

Cancelled Plans by @katymacsupernatural Driving through a huge storm, you get Dean to pull over at the next hotel where you are snowed in.

Crackling Embers by @katymacsupernatural Jared surprises the reader with a trip to a winter wonderland.

Cabin Fever by @luci-in-trenchcoats The reader and the boys take a break from hunting for the holidays to head up to an out of the way cabin to meet up with some friends and have an old fashioned Christmas together…

Meeting the Parents by @luci-in-trenchcoats You invite your boyfriend, Jensen, to spend Christmas with you where he meets your family for the first time…

A Very Supernatural Hanukkah by @saxxxology When Sam finds out you don’t celebrate Christmas, he makes it his goal to make your next Hanukkah the best one you’ll ever have.

The Christmas Con by @whispersandwhiskerburn Dean explains to you why Christmas isn’t for hunters.

The Gift Box by @whispersandwhiskerburn Dean has to stay back during a hunt and stare at his Christmas present from Y/N the whole time.

Mistletoe Trap by @whispersandwhiskerburn Why is there mistletoe everywhere?

Beware the Office Christmas Party by @winchesterprincessbride It’s that one event of the year that you truly dread: The yearly Sandover Christmas party. Last year was a disaster, and you are determined to avoid it at all costs. But your BFF Kate is forcing you to go, and the only saving grace is the chance you might run into your office crush.

The Elf on The Shelf Can Kiss My Ass by @winchesterprincessbride Your daughter convinces you to get an Elf on the Shelf.

You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out, Dean! by @winchesterprincessbride You introduce Sam and Dean to a Christmas movie that’s old to you but new to them.

ANGST

I’ll Be Home for Christmas by @impala-dreamer Problems on set and two thousand miles of snow and ice between them means Jensen may not make it home for Christmas this year…

Pre-Christmas Catastrophe by @jpadjackles Y/N is out finishing her Christmas shopping on one particularly snowy day. It’s smooth sailing until she’s coming home when her car slips on black ice. Luckily for her, she’s got an ambulance officer as a fiance who just so happens to be working that night.

It’s a Terrible Tree by @whispersandwhiskerburn Sam Wesson is getting a bit tired of his job, but Y/N is the best part of his day. Can he get their place ready for Christmas dinner with her mother?

SERIES

The Emporium of Christmas Enchantments by @almaasi (on AO3) Every night when the clock strikes twelve, all the toys in the toymaker’s workshop come to life. Dean is a little wooden soldier, so easily distracted by the pretty dolls. However, in the nights leading up to Christmas, he feels drawn to a very different kind of toy: Castiel, a kindhearted cowboy displayed on the other side of the store. Dean and Castiel spend all their time together, spreading joy and festive cheer throughout their miniature community. But once the Christmas rush comes around, will fate allow them to stay together? (Perhaps… with a little sprinkling of Christmas magic, even the wishes of simple toys can come true.)

Celebrate Me Home by @callmesweetheartifyoumeanit A Dean Winchester Holiday//Daddy//Bookstore!AU - After having a traumatic experience back home, the reader climbs into her car and begins driving with no place to go. She ends up in a small town in Vermont where she finds more than she bargained for.

12 Days of Dean and Donna: A Christmas Story by @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog Christmas has become just another day for Dean, not worth celebrating. Donna, on the other hand, loves Christmas. Can she instill him with the Holiday Spirit by Christmas Day?

Another 12 Days of Dean and Donna: Christmas at the Bunker by @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog Dean invites Donna to spend Christmas at the Bunker.

A Winmills Christmas by @ilostmyshoe-79 Follow Sam and Jody through the holiday season.

12 Years of Christmas by @sis-tafics Dean and you go back further than your first night together. Actually, Dean’s had his own little secret for years. Told from Dean’s POV

#laura's fic recommendations

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eerythingisshaka · 7 years ago

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The Coffee Prince Pt. 3

(T’Challa x Reader)

*Part 1* *Part 2*

Word Count: 4.8k

Plot: Stuck in your ways of living, one day at the coffee shop, you run into a tall dark roast that threatens to wake you up from your romantic hibernation.

*Previously*

Hi, I hope this is the right number. (Y/N), I’m just calling to see if you would come with me to the music festival this weekend. I don’t know if you heard about it or if it is your thing, but it sounds like a nice time. We could just walk around, enjoy the sounds. Uhh, just let me know when you get the chance, or I may see you at our favorite place. (laughs then clears his throat) Umm, but yeah, sorry for the long message. This is T’Challa by the way. Hope to hear from you soon.

Your phone prompts you to save or delete the message and you carefully save it before you listen a couple more times. Putting your phone away you turn on your side, squeezing your legs together to bring yourself back down again. You remind yourself that this is still just nothing more than two people meeting up at a public place with a bunch of other people. No one has claimed nobody yet. But like Tavia said, gotta milk it for what it’s worth, and how you feel right now is pretty damn priceless.

You had today on your mind every minute up until now. When you woke up for work, you felt fully rested and eager to get through the day. Not even the worst attitudes from customers could dampen your high from getting that call from T’Challa. What a name, a melody of possibility in your head whenever you thought about him. You purposely avoided the coffee shop just to make sure to keep anticipation at its peak. You felt so silly thinking about it. Tavia told you not to get too excited because it could still not count as a date yet. The music festival was a 3 day bender, with hundreds of people attending. She thought something so large and public wasn’t something a dude would choose if he is trying to choose you, in her nicest opinion. You took her advice with a grain of salt, but one thing that couldn’t be denied is that he wanted to spend some time with you and that’s that on that!

The day of your date, you put yourself through nothing but self-love and self-care to get yourself in the right mindset. Your playlist of bops hype up your spirit as your Aztec healing clay mask dry whilst you diy’d a mani-pedi for yourself. Rinsing your face of the dried clay, you feel reborn, giving yourself kissy faces and posing to the beat of your jams. For your hair, you had to go back and forth with yourself on what to do. Your hair was currently in two-strand twists, so should you let them down, showing off all you defined curl beauty? But it’s hot, so maybe a top bun or a faux hawk type of style could fit the festival vibe. Or maybe save some time and step up the glam with one of your colorful headwraps. Would he be offended, like you’re trying to be too into his culture or…

You decide to go for a half up, half down do. Taking down your twists you pony your hair right on top of your head, spreading your curls out, leaving the other half to flow freely down the nape of your neck. You put in some hoops, and some shorts to show off your most prized possessions. You thank God and your mother for your gams. A cool patterned tank and your gold gladiator sandals, you feel about ready, taking a glance in the mirror. Your curves looked more ready than you felt as you checked the denim hugging your hips, the glint of your epidermis taking up all the attention. You were a little self-conscious about having your thighs rubbing together or the shorts riding up, but those thighs were getting some attention today, so to hell with that! Your tank was loose with large holes for the arms so your bra showed in places, which you loved cuz it was a cute one and them titties were sitting proper. Your phone notifies you of your Lyft outside. You get your crossbody bag and head out.

Closing your bedroom door Tavia sitting in the living room in a big old t-shirt and bonnet, eating some hot chips, watching the TV.

“Hey girl. You look dope, wow.” Tavia said deadpan, without even looking your way.

You click your tongue, “Why you playin? You didn't even check me out. How I look?” you say with a twirl.

Tavia looks back at you. “Mhm, definitely catching somethin. You shave?”

“Yeah, moisturized, the works.” You say looking your legs over.

Tavia waves her chip at you, “Nah, nah. Did you SHAVE though?” She asks, wide eyed, sucking the hot red dust off of it comically.

“Girl! Ain’t nobody tryna smash tonight! What’re you taking me as?”

“Well damn, why not? Listen, you walk through here with some carnival game prize bigger than the door, imma assume he got some head.” Tavia says.

“Shut your ass up! I’m gone. I’ll text you the danger phrase if this goes awry.”

“That’s mama’s baby! Good Night!” Tavia says throwing up the peace sign as you walk out.

The ride to the festival felt like a cross country journey. You took the time to recheck your make-up, fan yourself from sweating since the driver seemed to not believe in A/C. You went through different scenarios of greetings. Hey! Wassup? Hi, how are you doing? Funny seeing you here! You fan yourself again trying to calm down, feeling idiotic with every minute. Maybe it wasn’t the lack of air that was the issue.

Your phone beeps, probably Tavia hyping you or humbling you one last time.

I’m here, outside the entrance when you get here :9

The symbol at the end of the text message was not something you were familiar with, so hopefully it's not a blatant sign for something. But you hopped in your seat a little. ecstatic at the message. T’Challa was early, AKA on time and waiting for you! God, what better way to have a man: ready and waiting. And the only acceptable occasion for them to come early.

The car pulls up in the parking lot a few yards from the hoopla and you thank them as you get out. Rows of cars lined the lot and the makeshift grass-converted parking area. The cacophony of noise you here from the distance welcomed you as you walked down the sidewalk toward the welcoming banner until you saw him. T’Challa paced slowly to and fro, looking up towards the sky, hands behind his back. He dressed very comfortably, in a dark green buttoned down short sleeve shirt with some embroidery design on the front, accentuating his ample shoulder span. T’Challa’s forearms were reporting for that duty, with biceps on deck. Your pace feels slows as your feet become weights pounding the pavement. Your nerves get to you as your mouth dries out. Mixed with the summer heat, and you were officially the epitome of thirsty. You try to have a proper strut down before he notices you: confident, bouncy, baddie.

T’Challa glances and finally sees you and a smile appears instantaneously on his face as he freezes in place to observe you coming up. You try to hold your smile down as much as possible. You don’t want to give him the upperhand of seeming too eager but damn, he looked fresh. Within talking distance, you exchange greetings.

“How are you, (Y/N)?” T’Challa asks pleasantly.

You nod humbly, “I am great, thanks. How about you?”

“Much better now. You look amazing this evening.” T’Challa says with a quick glance over you. Not even in a sleazy way, just like he truly appreciated your style, the apples of his cheeks practically popping off his face.

You start fanning yourself, giggling almost uncontrollably. “Aww, I know I look a lot different outside my work clothes. I can’t compare to these arms you decided to let out the house today. Where you been hiding them?” You say, turning up the flirt a little so he knows it's real.

T’Challa chuckles at you boldess, “Ahh, stop it. My sister suggested this shirt. I wondered if she was setting me up for something.”

“Mhm, for a thirst trap definitely. But it’s great.” You’re so starstruck. “Uh, your text had an odd symbol at the end of it. What does it mean?” You pull out your phone and show it.

“Ahh, I meant a smiley face. I;m not the best texter unfortunately, so typos will happen.” He puts his hands in his pockets anxiously. “Are you ready to go in?”

“Yup! Let’s hit it!” You say excitedly. T’Challa gives the ‘after you’ motion with a wave of his hand. Once y’all make it inside, you feel overwhelmed with the crowds of people walking through, dancing, talking. You get caught up in the scene, your mind fades out not sure what to tackle next.

“Do you want to walk around?” He asks over you.

You turn to see him waiting on your answer. Your introversion was coming back strong.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry, let’s walk.”

Walking down the way you pass through see a couple acts performing. Nothing really bumping in the section you guys are at. You check T’Challa in your peripheral and he is just looking around, not saying anything. There is so much you could say but you don’t know the precedence to say it in. The worst thing about dating for you was the talking and getting to know each other.

“Do you know any of the acts that were performing today?” T’Challa asks you.

Shit, you thought. You didn’t even research anything about this festival. That would’ve been a great ice breaker.

“Uh...no. I didn’t. This could’ve been a country music hoedown and I’d be none the wiser.” you say pitifully.

T’Challa nods, “So, not a fan of the twang vocals of cowboys and saloon girls? What music do you listen to?”

You shake your head smiling, “Not ‘cowboys and saloon girls’ though! But those kinds of questions are too hard to ask! I listen to so many kinds, I can't devote myself to a genre. Even country sometimes, even though I lowkey trashed it just now. It has to be done right, white people always take it and bastardize it.”

“Blues, jazz, rock n roll…” T’Challa lists.

You say with a clap, “Exactly! We get stuck with the short end of the stick, erased from history.”

“I feel similarly. I am spoiled by my country’s sound. I have other artists that I enjoy but I stick to a certain group of them.”

“Any that I heard of?” you ask.

He thinks a moment. “That's the thing too, I'm not good with names! I enjoy the art and almost entirely ignore the person creating it.” You look at him incredulously. He puts his hands up in surrender. “It’s bad, I know. But I enjoy a lot of old school acts, R&B, soul. And of course local bands from Wakanda.”

“You will have to let me listen to some of your music then.” You say, suddenly shy again. Did that come off too strong? Too eager, as per usual.

T’Challa makes a subtle grunt noise, stopping next to you, “Oh, so you definitely want to see me after this, eh?” l

You smile as your stomach does NOLA bounce routine. Trying not to answer right away, you fake a thinking pose, “Slip of the tongue, but we will see how the night goes.” you say teasingly.

You guys walk past concessions and T’Challa offers to buy.

“What do you desire?” he asks.

Looking over the menu, you really hadn't worked up an appetite yet but you sure as hell was hot in the unforgiving humidity.

“Just a slushie, please.”

“Good choice. What flavor?”

“Red.”

T’Challa looks back at you confused, “And by chance, what flavor is red?”

You roll your eyes, “Are you pushing your respectability politics off on me? Red is red, I said what I said.”

T’Challa laughs at your antics, placing the order with the cashier. He gets one too, in blue. You both walk down the way, enjoying your treats.

“Mm, this is so good. Thanks for buying.” you say as you eat the sugary ice. The coolness radiates through your body against the evening heat.

“You don’t have to thank me. You’re too polite; I’ll have to fine you for your courtesies.”

“Nooo, I’m poor, please!” you look to him with puppy dog eyes for forgiveness

T’Challa sips from his straw as he mulls it over. “I’ll let you off with good behavior, for now.”

“Too kind, my good man.” you say before sticking your red-dyed out at him in jest.

T’Challa laughs at your action, “Your maturity is unmatched.”

A bell dings nearby and a crowd erupts. One of those strong man meters is set up and is obviously a crowd favorite.

“Hey, you think you could do work on that over there?”

T’Challa checks it out shaking his head slightly unsure, “Ahh, I haven’t been to the gym in a while, I don’t know…”

You look over at the worker passing a teddy to the patron, “Well, I want to at least get a consolation prize. I’ll give it a go. Hold this.” You hand your empty cup to T’Challa, strolling over.

“Madam, would you like to take a crack at it?” The candy striped worker said, handing the mallet your way.

“Damn right!” you say confidently.

“You can do it!” you look behind you see T’Challa, beaming, holding up both cups. You square up and take a swing. No bell rung, and it didn’t make it past wimp, but the thrill was nice as you came out of your shell a little more.

“Nice try, young lady, nice try. But no one goes away empty handed. For you!” the candy striped man gives you a mini plushie duck fitting the palm of your hand.

“Thank you! It’s so cute,” You say, walking away smiling at the cute animal in hand.

“Maybe it’d ring if she sat on it.” a nearby voice said.

A white guy red as a beet sneers as you catch his eye, sipping his beer. You feel your good vibes disintegrate as he smiles pridefully at his joke, you. One thing that you haven’t been able to shake yet is how hurtful comments to your face about your weight can be. Remnants from your childhood made for a shaky foundation in your establishment of your worth. You knew these crowds would be an issue eventually.

“You sir, you’d like a shot?” You didn’t even notice until he had the hammer in his hand, but T’Challa was at the game getting ready to swing down. The ball shot up the column, rang the bell like a thunderclap, and knocked the dome clean off of it.

T’Challa looked over to the man in the crowd pointing the hammer his direction, “If you can only find confidence in talking down to others, I would suggest you lay your head right down here next time, so I can drum some sense into your brain, eh?” The white man was wiping his shirt, looking back at T’Challa all shooketh. He must’ve jumped out of his skin when T’Challa brought the hammer down.

The candy striped guy picked up the dome of the bell, “Uh, sir, did you want your prize or…”

T’Challa lays the hammer against the game, “Yes, my good man.”

The worker handed T’Challa a large, plush black cat. T’Challa took it, striding over to you. Your heart swelled with delight as he handed it to you. Not been to the gym in a while, my ass!, you thought. Those arms, back, shoulders, with some thigh assist didn’t lie though. You hugged your prize close.

T’Challa stood in front of you with concern, “Are you ok? I’m sorry if I acted out of turn.”

You looked at him shaking your head, “Don't apologize, or I’ll have to fine you!” you say with a wag of you finger.

“T’Challa smiled with relief, “He had no right to speak to you like that.”

You sigh, “I’ve heard it before, and I’ve heard even worse.” You start to walk on as T’Challa followed. “It was hard for me to fit in growing up at first because of my size, so I was bullied early on. But I started beating people to the punchline and the bullying soon stopped.”

“Do you ever believe the things people say?” T’Challa asked.

“No, not all the time anyway. It’s gotten better since college. I look at a lot of body positive people online and learn some tricks to cope.”

“(Y/N), I won’t tell you how to feel but anyone that talks about you with ill intent is either insane or not completely right up here.” He says pointing to his head.

You gained comfort from the respite T’Challa gave you. “I know, and sometimes it's not even them. I can be my worst critic. But I know not to fall for the smooth talking Negros that like to prey on the vulnerable too.” you say pointedly.

T’Challa looks to you mouth agape, “I don’t consider myself a smooth person, so I won’t take that as a warning to me.”

“Oh please! You waltzing over to threaten the guy in my honor? Smoove. Buying me a water a while back to soothe my scalded tongue? Smoove. The fact that you even got me to talk to you? Smoover than smoove.”

T’Challa laughs, “All right, enough! It’s not on purpose however. Certain traits become exemplified when I’m around certain kinds of people.” He looks at you smiling before looking on. You hug your cat tighter. Which cat you ask? WELL......

T’Challa goes on, “and I'm no stranger to bullying myself.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, I have a very smart alek, very calculative jester for a little sister who has no end to calling out my uncool ways.”

You laugh, “Little siblings are the worst. I know, cuz I am one, and we have that right!”

“Bast, when will the tyranny end!” T’Challa calls to the skies.

A stage nearby lights up with low glow blues and purples, yellows and greens. The a crowd erupts as the act is about to start up and you hear something familiar.

“Oh my God.” You freeze in your place.

“What is it?” T’Challa asks worrisome.

“Do you know them?? Oh my God!” You say without anything else, running into the crowd as the act steps up to their mics.

T’Challa trails you until you reach a stopping point.

“Oh my God, The Internet! Syd! Oh my GOD!!” You scream waving around your plushie.

Syd tha Kyd steps to the mic, crooning the crowd with her soft falsetto. You sing along right with her, enamored by the surprise. You look to T’Challa in all the excitement and you catch him smirking at you, nodding along to the music. You take his hand and raise it up to sway side to side on the track, the electricity you felt being a mix from your idols and the foine dime to the side of you. You booty bump him playfully to get him loose, he bumps you back. All worries are cast away as the songs envelope you both, each one drawing you nearer to him, hands clenched the entire time.

Their set wasn’t long, but you guys stayed for the entirety of it as the night sky cast over the park, stars decorating the sky. The temperatures became bearable as the sun finally fell. Torches lit the way for you all to see and walk around. Once The Internet finished their set and the crowd dispersed, you and T’Challa start scoping for some grub.

“Do they have any wings around here or cheese fries, or somethin?” you ask out loud.

T’Challa looks over the vendors signs and points, “Ahh, your wish is granted! I’ll go ahead and order.”

“Wait! I can’t eat wings AND cheesy fries, I was just playing!” You weren’t but you wanted to be a lady.

“It’s ok, I’ll get both and we can split. I’ll be back!” Breaking from you, he walks on.

You hold your plushie close to you as you wait. Looking around the park you think this would be a perfect picture moment for the gram. Pulling out your phone you see you have a text from Tavia.

Ummm, what happened to texting me to make sure things were good though, like….

You text her back. I was supposed to let you know if things are BAD. No news is good news right?

Going to the camera, you shoot some scenery shots. Looking over your options, Tavia texts back. Well my bad! Ok, keep doin you boo!

T’Challa comes back with wings in one hand, cheesy fries in the other. God, you didn’t know what looked better: the food or him. And you were hungry regardless.

“I got some waters too.” He said, handing you the fries so he could get the waters from under his arm.

“Ooh, good thinking. Let’s find a spot to sit.” you say as you take down a fry. Walking into the park you find an unoccupied bench and sit. The faded music in the background was very chill, setting the mood. T’Challa takes a wing, eating the meat off. You absentmindedly watch his mouth chew as he ate. The muscles of his jaw masticating, his concentration to get every bit off the bone.

T’Challa wipes his hands and looks to you, “You were amazing back at the stage.”

You snap out of your trance, thinking over what he said, “Listen, I didn't do anything. Syd and them, were going off and they haven’t made a bad track yet. I’m only a fan.”

“It was pretty cool to see you so free spirited. And I heard you a little. You have some singing in your background, eh?”

You make a so-so motion with your hand, “I mean, a little bit. I’ve never done it for an audience but my shower is a long time fan of mine.”

He laughs, “It’s really captivating to watch. I wasn’t sure how comfortable you were here, but the music brought out another side I really enjoyed seeing.”

“Right! I appreciate you noticing that. I wasn't sure either cuz I’m such a homebody and then that guy. I still can’t wrap my head around you standing up for me that way either. I never had that happen for me.”

“Oh, Bast! I haven’t had someone so endearing to do that for. He doesn't know anything about you, otherwise he would’ve dusted the ground for you to walk.”

You laugh with your hands on your hips mockingly, “Well you haven’t even done that!”

“I can't defend the Queen and clean the quarters!”

You dismiss him with a wave of your hand. “By the way, I heard you say that before. What is ‘Bast’?”

“Where I'm from that is a religious figure that some follow. A panther God.”

You cock your head to the side in curiosity, “Ohh do you have rituals, symbolism, and things around it?”

“Of course! Chants, dances, the works. Every religion just about does. Do you follow a Christian God?”

You nod. “Mhm, Team Jesus right here.”

T’Challa smiles, “Well, we have similar teaching just the practices stray off.”

“I always wondered about what religion I would have, had it not been for, you know.”

“Luckily my family does not know of that life, but I understand. God is all around us, comes in many forms in my opinion. I try to give honor wherever I am that things still grow, the earth still spins, things like that.”

You look up at the sky overwhelmed with the sensations of a successful evening, “God, it’s so beautiful out.”

He looks up. “The city sky does not compare to a Wakandan one, for sure.”

You look at him, his neck stretched back wanting to touch it, “Tell me about it. Your home.”

He leans back, resting his arm across the back of the bench. “Words couldn't do it justice. But just think about the most beautiful scenery you can imagine from nature shows, or pictures in a magazine. Then amplify it by one hundred.”

“You still have family there?”

T’Challa smiles to himself, “Yes. Mother, sister, and a bunch of people I consider family. It’s a close knit community”

“Wow. Do you miss it?” you ask.

“I do, all the time. But I haven’t thought about it once tonight.” Looking up to you, his eyes trained on your face. He says tossing a wing to the side, looking away in the distance again; clenching his jaws, resting his hands on his thighs. He looks nervous.

While studying his face you notice a unique detail to his hairline. “You have the most adorable widow’s peak. Just look at that.” You reach over, stopping midway as he looks at you expectantly, “Do you mind?”

He shakes his head. You lightly feel the curls that bunch to form this hereditary marvel.

“I wish I had one. It adds so much character to one's appearance. Like you need any but it’s like a little treasure.” you say smirking as his curls tickled your fingertips.

While touching it, you look at T’Challa who is focused on you, not saying a word. Mouth slightly agape, his eyes look to your mouth then back at your eyes. If there was ever a chance to kiss him, this was probably it.

“Uhh, did you hear me, or…” you say trailing off and chickening out, moving away a little to ease the building arousal between you.

“I want to compliment you now.” He says reaching for your hand, holding it. “Your eyes have an innocence that makes me feel unworthy to hold your glance. But I can’t help but to not look at you. You remind me of every beautiful trademark that makes a woman special. I could go on, but I don’t want to offend you. But I hope I can get to know more of you, so I can verbalize it properly.”

You look down at his long, knuckley hand holding yours. “T’Challa I don’t want you to talk about me anymore.”

T’Challa looks concerned, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

You stomach trembles inside as you try to find the words, “No, I know what you mean. But this is a lot for me to take in. I’ll say it’s been a while since I’ve been paid attention to like this, so it’s kind of overwhelming but…” you move his hand and inch closer. “I’m not a big conversationalist so I just want to...”

Your lips find each other, softly embraced in a kiss made for fairytales. But you felt so much more than what the kiss portrayed: excitement, joy, aroused at the fact that his face meshed with yours so perfect. His hand found the small of your back as your hand caressed his face gently to ensure the reality of it all. Breaking away slowly you both stare into each other, high off on the clouds of infatuation.

“Man, I dig you.” You say trying to break some of the romantic tension.

He smiles, “And I dig you, umhle.”

You smirk, “What that mean?”

“Something you should be very familiar with: ‘beautiful’”

“I could get used to that definitely.” you say, embracing him once more.

As much as you could stay on that bench forever, it was getting late and the mosquitoes were being disrespectful. T’Challa offered to take you home when the time came, but you needed a break or you might invite him up. You car arrives and you hug him goodbye. His hands wound around your back firmly, you securing yourself around his shoulders you take a mental note of his frame, so comfortable and meant for you.

“I had a great time, T’Challa,” you whisper in his ear.

“The pleasure was mine, (Y/N). Let me know when you’ve arrived home safely?”

You nod, giving him a peck on the cheek for good measure. You get in the car and he closes the door behind you, seeing you off. You hug your panther plushie tight to your face as you recap the evening. You were practically buoyant as you rode home, petting your prize tenderly, wishing it was T’Challa in your lap.

Making your way to your apartment, you open the door to see Tavia knocked out on the couch, and even bigger mess of snacks surrounding her and the table as she snores. You slam the door to wake her up.

She startles awake, looking at you squinty, “Well damn, What time is it?”

“Maybe, midnight by now?”

“Mm, decent hour, must not have given up the draws. Well go on and tell me about it” She wipes her eyes, getting a better look at you, noticing your plushie. “Uh-uh! You got a prize!! What did I tell you!”

“Bitch, I didn’t suck his dick. I’ll talk to you in the morning.” you say feigning tiredness.

“How fucking dare you! I aint get no sleep cuz of you, you aint gettin none cuz of me!”

“Girl, you were just knocked out! Go to bed.”

“But-”

Good night Tavia!”

You close your room door, tossing T’Challa Jr. on your bed. Kicking your shoes off, taking your hair down, you pull out your phone.

Home safe! You send to him. You put your phone down and unclothe to get comfortable. Suddenly a ding sounds and you dive for your device.

Glory to Bast. Sleep well, umhle.

You read it a couple of times before setting your phone back down. Laying down, you clutch your prized possession T’Challa won you to your chest as the day’s event float in your head: euphorically exhausted.

Part 4

Other Works

King Kil’mawalls

T’akia

N’Jadaka’s Helpful Hands

Some Weeks Are Better Than Others

Commencement Day

Song of Stevens

My Ragtag

@sweetpeachjones@scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade@hairhattedghooligan@universalbri @therevolution-willbelive@you-like-this-chain @sarcastic-sunshines @airis-paris14 @afraiddreamingandloving @kreolemami

No mans land Tags

afraiddreamingandloving groovybbyy and nyeebey, yall here too! I just can’t tag you for some reason <3</p>

#tchalla #t'challa #black panther fanfiction #black panther fanfic #marvel #marvel fanfic #t'challa x reader #tchalla x reader #t'challa x you #black panther au #marvrl au #t'challa fanfic #fanfic

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amyothername · 2 years ago

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@chopperpirate

Understanding that these holidays wouldn't stop, Chopper smiled wider as he prepared himself for the festivities of December. Despite Christmas Eve being his birthday, he had never heard of Christmas before now. This year was certain to bring him tons of smiles. To make up for all the years that he hadn't known about Christmas, he decided to make some gifts in order to make new friends!

The anthropomorphic reindeer pirate wasn't wearing his normal attire. Instead, he wore a red and white coat with a santa hat. He didn't know much about Santa, but he thought the outfit was stylish and cool! Either way, it was certain to help let anyone who found his appearance suspicious know that he was not a threat to their safety. His intentions were benign.

A squeak emitted with each step of his hooves, already alleviating most tension caused by his appearance. Upon spotting an adorable young girl before him, he grinned wider, rushing toward the female. She seemed harmless enough to befriend! He hoped that she would appreciate a random gift from a stranger

Stopping himself in front of the girl, Chopper reached behind his back and pulled out a lovely gift-wrapped box, cheering out to the girl. "Merry Christmas to you~!" His smile and tone hopefully infected her with the same optimism and joy that he felt.

Despite her being technically a ‘witch’--don’t get her wrong, Halloween is very fun and all-she loved Christmas out of the other holidays the most. It wasn’t just because she joyed receiving presents and even more so spoiling those close to her. She couldn’t explain it but for some reason, this holiday season really got her even more cheery than usual and made her super excited. While she does see why it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea, it really made her happy and got her into the spirit.

It even made her want to bake more than she usually would. She made so many sweets that she had to give some of it away. So that’s what she did. She used some cute decorative treat bags and put her baked goods in them to hand to random people she met. Of course she put some on the side for her friends but it wouldn’t hurt to spread the holiday cheer around would it? “Here you go and Merry Christmas!” The pink hedgehog said to the other person before they headed off with their bag of goods. Amy smiled as she saw them off, hoping they enjoyed the stuff she made.

Then she saw someone come her way. As whoever or whatever it was coming closer, the visage became clearer: it seemed to be little reindeer that had tradition attire that someone trying portray ol’ Jolly Saint Nick himself. Minus the beard. It was so cute!

Amy couldn’t help but smile as she was approached by the other. When she was given a gift from him, her frame slightly buzzed with mirth as she looked at the present.

“Oh my! What a delightful surprise!” She took the presently gently as she wondered if she should open it right away or not. While she was debating, another idea popped up in her head. The pink hedgehog pulled out a bag of treats she has been giving out. While it couldn’t possibly equal to whatever is in the box, it was thought that counts right? “Here you go! A gift for a gift!” She handed to him.

#chopperpirate #v; undecided

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thezodiaczone · 6 years ago

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August Forecast for Capricorn

Stay centered, Capricorn. Your energy could come in waves this month, spiking to a high-pitched intensity one day and dropping into the depths the next. The Sun is taking its annual plunge in Leo and your eighth house of intimacy, merging and transformation, a time when you’ll crave more privacy and one-on-one encounters. Skip the huge crowds that make you feel overwhelmed. You’re an emotional sponge and could soak up everyone’s feelings; or you might just have your mind on one specific matter during this tunnel-vision transit, and it will be hard to engage in lighthearted small talk. With the Sun heating up your erotic eighth house, this could also be one steamy season—hello, sizzling summer escapades!

But be careful where you aim that concentrated Capricorn power, especially when the emotional thunderclouds gather. Communication planet Mercury is retrograde in Leo and this potent zone from July 26 to August 19, which notoriously mucks up communication, technology and travel plans. With Mercury awry in Leo, a problematic ex may resurface, along with some old trust issues or unhealed wounds from a past betrayal. You might be unsure of someone’s true motives and whether they’re being above-board with you.

The eighth house rules joint ventures and shared finances, so money matters could be lit up with both opportunities and complicated entanglements in August. While Mercury is retrograde, go easy on the spending, especially with your credit cards (lock them up—or cut ’em up—if you can!). Guard against identity theft by strengthening passwords and deleting anything in a social media feed or in your email that could potentially be compromising. Better safe than sorry. Watch where you send those racy texts and DMs—during Mercury retrograde, they could end up in the wrong person’s feed. Oops!

The fiercest day of the month arrives August 11, when a Leo solar (new moon) eclipse beams into your alchemical eighth house, bringing a supercharged fresh start to your most intimate ties and financial endeavors. You might receive a windfall through a loan, grant, commission or inheritance or have a chance to buy or sell property or renovate your home. An exciting opportunity to merge your powers for mutual gain may come out of the blue. The eclipse could also bring a soulmate encounter (with steamy benefits!) or unexpected news of a proposal or pregnancy (yours or someone close to you).

In astrology, solar and lunar eclipses are harbingers of change. They push us off the fence if we’ve been procrastinating or wishy-washy, and force events to culminate quickly. While that pace can be jarring, once the dust settles, everything starts to make sense. This is the second-to-last eclipse in a series that’s been touching down on the Leo/Aquarius axis since February 2017, bringing waves of change to your self-confidence, work, money management, living situation and daily habits. One final eclipse will arrive here in January 2019. Anything you invest in at today’s eclipse could start to show returns—or at least let you know whether it will ever pay off—by early next year.

You’ll be glad to let the drama (hopefully) simmer down starting August 7, when combustible Uranus starts a five-month retrograde. Since May 15, Uranus has been in Taurus, causing sweeping change in your fifth house of passion, self-expression and theatrics. This is Uranus’ first visit here since 1942, a once-in-a-lifetime transit for many Capricorns that will last until April 2026. If your love life has suddenly become spicy—or wildly unpredictable—that’s the side-spinning planet playing the role of a quirky Cupid.

The first four months of Uranus’ retrograde could slow down some of the curveballs—or possibly bring the return of an ex, since retrogrades rule the past. You might also decide to get a little experimental in the boudoir or to date someone who’s a dramatically different “type” than the usual. Uranus in your spotlight-stealing fifth house may have brought fame or increased attention. Has it gone to your head a little bit? If you’ve been playing the diva role, Uranus retrograde will remind you to keep it humble. On the other hand, if you haven’t been speaking up for yourself and your ideas, you could work through old confidence issues, perhaps with some mentorship or training. Steady Capricorn, have you become a little fickle? Rambunctious Uranus can make you run hot and cold, so be mindful not to lead people on.

You’ll get another chance to self-assess starting August 12, when energizing Mars plows into Capricorn for its second visit this year (its first trip was from March 17 to May 16). While this would normally give you a jolt of inspiration and sexy magnetism, Mars will be retrograde until August 27, which could cause you to come on way too strong or hit a sour note with people. The silver lining: From August 27 to September 10, you’ll have Mars moving full steam ahead through your sign. Your confidence and charisma should rocket off the charts—and others will surely take note!

This will only accelerate starting August 23, when the Sun starts a month-long visit to Virgo and your expansive ninth house. Adventure, travel and endless possibilities spread out in front of you as you emerge from that emo cocoon. And when the Sun snaps into a rare and harmonious grand trine with radical Uranus in your passion sector and your ruling planet, structured Saturn, in Capricorn, some of those starry-eyed visions could turn into tangible reality. The caveat? You’ll need to ditch some (not all!) of your trademark caution to seize this moment. An opportunity for love, fame or a chance to spread a powerful message could arise. Make sure you’re at your glamorous and charismatic best! (Every Cap we know has secret “stage presence,” even if you only pull it out for select occasions.) You could multiply your fanbase and following…or follow your heart with a love affair, whether that’s a romantic adventure with your one-and-only or a far-flung fling with someone wildly different than your usual type.

The next day, August 26, the year’s only Pisces full moon spotlights your communication house, bringing exciting news or long-overdue dialogue. At last, you’ll get the answer you’ve been waiting for, and you can proceed accordingly instead of staying stuck in limbo. Local events could turn up kindred spirits and great conversations that lead to more. Hit the street fair or late summer festival or host a gathering at your favorite hotspot where you can play superconnector and introduce your savviest friends. Don’t be afraid to “go there” in your conversations—move beyond small talk and voice your opinions and ideas. When sizzling Mars ends its two-month retrograde on August 27 and speeds forward in Capricorn, there will be no holding you back!

Love & Romance

Time to set some love #goals, Capricorn? On August 6, Venus pings into Libra and your tenth house of career and long-range planning for the first of two trips this year. You may get suddenly serious about the future, both in terms of your profession and your relationship. If you’re in one, you might find yourself initiating conversations that begin with, “So, I’ve been thinking about our holiday plans,” or “Next summer, I’d really like to…” Single? Stay open to people you meet at work or industry events. As long as you’re not breaking company policy, consider them fair game.

Keep in mind: Venus will be retrograde for its second trek through Libra, which is from October 31 to November 16. New relationships may hit a speed bump, or issues that you’re working on might take a sideways turn. Here’s where that famous Capricorn patience will come in very handy! An office romance could sour when Venus makes its U-turn later this year, so be very sure you’re both mature adults who will handle things with civility if things don’t work out.

With Mercury retrograde in Leo and your erotic eighth house until August 19, you might be tempted to hook up with an ex or go down a clandestine rabbit hole that’s a clear dead end. What do you really want out of this? Be sure you can answer that before you get entangled emotionally or sexually. For couples, this could be a powerful time to work through a thorny issue, perhaps with a therapist or healer to mediate. Money matters could be a source of tension, but the hidden blessing is that you’ll actually start talking about them—and all the embedded feelings of pain, shame or old baggage that might be underlying those power struggles. If you’re splitting up, you might need to have a painful conversation about how to divide up the shared property.

An especially potent day for building security and having a serious talk about the long term comes on August 7, when cosmic lovebirds Venus and Mars form a rare, harmonious trine (120-degree angle). Attached? Do something luxe and upscale to celebrate your couplehood. Singles should raise your standards and keep the bar high. Skip the local dive bar and go somewhere you have to dress up. That alone could help you meet a successful someone who’s got their life together.

But careful where you cast your charms. Mars is retrograde from June 26 to August 27. It’s been back-pedaling through Aquarius and your zone of career and money, which may have ramped up work stress that cut into your relationship or given you a few waves of anxious insecurity. On August 12, it will back into Capricorn for the duration of the retrograde, which could leave you feeling intensely self-conscious. During this signal-scrambling transit, your message might be lost in translation. Rather than assume everyone knows what you’re saying, make a point of being simple and precise. As a backup, get assurances that people heard you loud and clear.

Key Dates

August 9: Venus-Saturn Square Second thoughts? Cautious Saturn slams the brakes on dreamy Venus, who might be getting a little carried away with romantic pipe dreams or plans for the future. Make sure you both want the same things for the long haul before you start picking baby names or china patterns.

Money & Career

Balance those books, Capricorn. This is one of your annual “money months,” as the Sun visits Leo and your eighth house of property, long-term wealth and shared assets. With an August 11 Leo solar eclipse shaking up business as usual, you might start looking at your personal financial model through a new lens over the next six months. An exciting opportunity to multiply your moolah could arrive unexpectedly—and you’ll need to adapt fast! Keep a keen eye on every transaction while Mercury is retrograde in Leo from July 26 to August 19, which can cause technological glitches, erroneous charges (read those monthly bank statements) and risks to sensitive data.

Another reason not to rush into anything? Hasty Mars is spinning backward for nearly the whole month, which could cause you to miscalculate. Mars has been retrograde in Aquarius and your money house since June 26, which may have heaped on some financial stress. While Mars won’t straighten out until August 27, it WILL leave your money sector on August 12, which could lift some of the tension around work, bills and budgets. Stressful assignments, unexpected expenses and demanding clients may have left you hustling through the summer, and at the same time, colleagues’ tempers could have been short.

You’ll be happy to see Mars go, but unfortunately it will back into YOUR sign for the duration of its retrograde, from August 12 to 27, joining structured Saturn and power-tripping Pluto, which are both retrograde in Capricorn. Whew! If you have any vacation days, take them now. Otherwise, keep a very low profile and work behind the scenes. This is an excellent time to finish a project you started a while back. But hold off on any splashy launches until next month if you can—when Saturn straightens out on September 6, your ideas will have velocity AND staying power.

Key Dates

August 10: Mercury-Jupiter Square When supersizer Jupiter flashes its high beams at a retrograde Mercury, you or someone you work closely with may present an outsized dream but not have any idea how to pull it off. Nip it in the bud before you waste precious time, money or other resources trying to develop this. If anything, this is a good day to revisit an idea and see how much you can scale it BACK.

Love Days: 4, 9 Money Days: 15, 24 Luck Days: 12, 22 Off Days: 6, 11, 19

#capricorn #monthly forecast #astrology #horoscope #horoscopes #capricorn monthly

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woobaejin · 7 years ago

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Daehwi — Christmas Spirit

Wanna One X Mini Winter / Christmas Series

December 23, 2017

Daehwi X Reader

Word Count: 883

“WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS WE WISH YOU A—”

“DAEHWI SHUT UP!”

You snapped at him inside the classroom, catching everyone’s attention, yet it didn’t phase him one bit. He still walked around trying to spread the Christmas joy, but you weren’t fond of the holiday and hated this time of year. Your family never celebrated the festive holiday, and your parents’ hatred for it rubbed off on you immensely.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“She hates Christmas and no one understands why.”

“A loner and a hater wow.”

It all started when you came back from kindergarten crying. Your friends were talking about all the toys they wished for, and the excitement for Santa to come visit their home at night. This left you so confused and sad for not understanding what everyone else was talking about. Your parents were very frugal and told you that it was not worth celebrating Christmas and that you didn’t need Christmas and to kill it all, told you that Santa wasn’t real.

Fast-forward to your second year in high school, everyone was exchanging presents and talking about their plans for the holiday weekend. You, on the other hand, was probably just going to be in your room and binge watch Netflix shows instead alone.

Daehwi finally sat down right next to you and grinned. “Do you have any Christmas plans this weekend (Y/N)?” You rolled your eyes at your seatmate and slumped back against your seat.

“No, I don’t. Haven’t you heard everyone talking? I hate Christmas.” You glared at the boy.

“No one really hates Christmas, (Y/N). Are you free after class? Do you want to go Christmas shopping after school? I need to get some more presents.” He poked your arm and grinned widely.

“I’m busy doing nothing.” You said coldly and swatted his finger away, and for the entire time, you didn't answer and tried your best to him. You couldn't understand why he was so persistent in wanting you to see the joy and excitement of the holiday. It just made you hate it even more.

Once school was out, you quickly packed your bags and dashed for the door only for Daehwi to make a run for it and catch up to you. "Let's go shopping!" Daehwi grabbed your arm and pulled you over to the bus stop. "Daehwi I don't want to go. How many times did I tell you." You tried your best to break free, but in the end found yourself sitting next to the overly excited male, which really irritated you.

"We're going to go to Myeongdong! There's a lot of sales going on right now, so it's perfect. Hopefully, we beat the crowd of people that's getting off work." You sat there in silence until the bus finally arrived at the destination and you followed him out.

"Did you ask for anything this Christmas, (Y/N)?"

"No, I didn't. I never ask for anything. Daehwi I don't celebrate Christmas okay. Can we go home." You let out a frustrated sigh.

"Does that mean you've never received a gift?" His eyes widened in shock as you nodded. "Can you just get your gifts so we can leave. I really don't want to be here." You pleaded and eventually, the two of you went through countless of shops. Daehwi wanted to stop by Style Nanda to get a gift for his cousin and told you to browse around as the store associate went to look in the back for a specific size.

You walked over to the shoe section to which you picked up a pair of block heel boots. They were eye-catching and fitted your style. You put them on and looked at the price, only to put them back on the shelf with a sigh.

You waited upstairs at the cafe for Daehwi and wondered why he took so long just to purchase a shirt. Eventually, he came up with two bags and the both of you left the store.

"I know I kind of forced you to come with me today, but I hope you kind of felt the Christmas spirit through shopping and the decorations around the stores." You appreciated Daehwi for trying but your thoughts forward the holiday didn't change. You both got onto the bus, and let him continue to talk about whatever he wanted until the vehicle came to a stop in front of his complex.

"I'll see you in class tomorrow and.." he immediately threw one of the Style Nanda bags onto your lap and made a dash for it out the bus. You were left confused. The bus door closed and the boy waved before heading back home.

Walking up to your room after the mini shopping drip with Daehwi, you closed the door and sat on your bed. Opening the bag, you pulled out the box and was shocked to see the pair of boots that you were eyeing earlier at the store. A folded paper caught your attention and immediately, you couldn't help but tear up.

Hi (Y/N)!

Thank you for coming with me today! You know, it made me really curious to wonder why you hated Christmas so much but that's okay. You are free to you know... dislike whatever you want right? I wanted to get you a little something for coming with me today and as an apology for annoying you and for being stuck with me as your seatmate for the entire year. I hope you'll accept these and just know that I hope we can become closer this year. Merry Christmas and I hope you'll wear these when we go out again!

Your good friend,

Daehwi

You felt touched by his efforts and wiped your tears away. Grabbing your phone, you immediately went to your SNS account to thank Daehwi.

I’ll see you in class tomorrow Daehwi. Thank you for the gift! I love it a lot. You can sing Christmas songs again tomorrow. I promise to not tell you to shut up anymore.

You were going to regret this tomorrow.

#daehwi #lee daehwi #wannaone #wanna one #wanna one imagines #wanna one scenarios

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thepermanentrainpress · 7 years ago

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THE PERMANENT RAIN PRESS INTERVIEW WITH JOHN O’CALLAGHAN

“You can get so used to being in a bus and being in a band that brings people to shows – but it’s always just as easy to remember the times you didn’t have that stuff. I think that’s what is important to remember, for our sake. To stay humble, and at least stay hungry.”

It was one of several notions John O’Callaghan shared just a few minutes into our interview, and a few hours before he and the rest of The Maine took to the stage in Vancouver—their first time in nearly three years. “The shows are always sick,” he says, noting that while the movie theatre seats of the venue they’ve played on their past few visits impede the punk rock spirit, they welcome a greater challenge in engaging the crowd.

His only other recollection of the city? “I remember watching Interstellar for the first time,” he laughs. “That was a good film.”

For O’Callaghan and The Maine, longevity has served them well; an eleven-year tenure has seen the band traverse the globe and branch into other avenues of content creation. They recently celebrated the first anniversary of their latest record, Lovely Little Lonely. In contrast to past releases, its framework came together on O’Callaghan’s computer versus the piano, guitar, and voice memos he so often recorded on his phone. “I got Pro Tools and a bunch of the necessary materials in the digital world to make songs sound like songs, and not just a dude in a garage playing on the piano and recording it on his phone,” tells O’Callaghan. “I feel like there were a lot more structured ideas coming into the process.”

While the group has toyed with instrumental transitions in the past, LLL is their first album to incorporate formal interludes. The intoxicating “Bad Behaviour” falls into a placid “Black Butterflies and Déjà Vu” prelude; “Little” into deeply nostalgic cut “Sound of Reverie.” Sustaining that fluidity was a conscious effort on their part and, like the draw and release of a single breath, the record truly feels like less of a compilation and more of an experience.

Already in the planning stages of their next record, O’Callaghan assures new concepts will once again be brought into the fold. “I think it’s really important to change the process up every time… you’ll get too complacent if you don’t.”

At the time of this interview, the Fry Your Brain with The Maine tour had kicked off a week prior. And after each show – much like every show of past tours – they stay long after to interact with fans before retiring to a bus in which life is much less glamorous. “I got my first shower yesterday, which was nice,” says the frontman, adding that most venues don’t have the amenity. Hotel rooms are for the occasional day-off and primarily hygienic purposes; most days, like today, are spent in cozier quarters—"getting each other sick.”

Style and sound evolve, but the band’s passion for music remains constant—something they attribute to an earnest fanbase and staying true to themselves. “With art in general, I think you should be creating what it is that you’d like to see created,” O’Callaghan says of striking a balance between challenging oneself, and not trying too hard to be different. “We have the luxury of having a dynamic that won’t allow it to sound like something it’s not; we’re constricted and constrained by our abilities and our talents within the five of us. We can’t manipulate the guitar any other way than the five of us can, collectively. I can’t sing any better than I can actually sing.”

“That’s why we’ve always looked up to bands like the Rolling Stones – and I personally look up to Neil Young and Mick Jagger and Tom Petty – because there’s a big difference between a singer that hits all the correct notes and a singer that does what they can with what they have, and makes it their own,” he continues. “That’s not discrediting their talents or their abilities. But I mean, Mick Jagger… he doesn’t have a good voice.” [laughs] “He doesn’t. But he has an incredible voice because it’s so unique. I think that we’re in a position now where we won’t let it go to a place that doesn’t feel genuine and that doesn’t feel like us. That’s hopefully what people have respected about the process and attached themselves to.”

And what people have connected with is more than a band, but a community. Their self-run label and management team, 8123, supports volunteer initiatives prior to select show dates; Garrett and Pat host a podcast in which they talk to friends in the industry—or family, in the case of Pat’s mom. The Maine is the first serious band O’Callaghan has been a part of, with camaraderie dating back to middle school in Tempe, Arizona. “Jared and I had science class together… we’ve always felt that sense of community with one another,” tells O’Callaghan. It only made sense to extend that energy to their fanbase. “We are in such a position of privilege as opposed to other bands because we don’t just live and die by The Maine. The message is bigger than we are, and people are creating it as we’re going. It’s really cool to see it spread and go from a couple of guys smoking cigarettes on a parking garage to people all over the world, keeping that spirit alive.” He pauses. “Not the cigarette thing—don’t smoke cigarettes.” [laughs]

Following a quick stint in Europe, the band will be walking the line, slinging CDs all summer long on Vans Warped Tour.

Oh—and playing one of the main stages, too.

“Before I even had anything to do with music, I was a baseball player. I was just a cat in high school, listening to music first and foremost. That’s what I am – just a fan of music in general.” Even as the Arizona natives ascend in festival billing, they never veer from taking advantage of what it represents: an opportunity to spread their noise to crowds willing and eager to listen.

With their matching attire and ‘why would you pay money to meet a human being?’ tent turning heads in 2016, one wouldn’t expect anything less for this final cross-country run. “It’s this weird line… we don’t ever want to be pretentious, but we’re just so ‘meh’ about so many things that it’s important for us to make it known we’re comfortable with what we’re doing, and not affected by all of the other stuff,” O’Callaghan says. “So I think we’re just going to drive home that point and be bratty, but hopefully in a non-confrontational way. I’m sure it will be fun—we’re going to at least have fun.”

O’Callaghan has another project, John the Ghost, with a new book coming out in June. A Thought a Day is a year-long companion; 365 @johnmaine tweets, hand-picked and rooted in personal disposition. “I’m usually talking to myself when I’m tweeting, so it’s really important to have those to look back on for myself,” shares the frontman. “Nick Santino helped me design the inside and the cover, so it won’t be just a boring flip-it-and-there’s-text. I’m excited for people to see it.” As his stirring one-liners continue to amass thousands of ‘likes’ on Twitter, it felt appropriate to gauge his thoughts on the rise of the Insta-poet: commended for its unfiltered honesty and accessibility in today’s generation, others mock and critique the compositions for those very reasons. “It’s as simple as, turn it off if you don’t want to see it,” says O’Callaghan, voicing his support for the budding artist. “When I was growing up, that shit was just called being mean. If people are listening, keep doing it. Don’t be apologetic.”

For our signature ice cream question, O’Callaghan chooses butter pecan—a flavour he didn’t enjoy in his youth but has since warmed to. “It’s kind of like those old platitudes. You don’t think they make sense, or you think they’re corny ‘cause everybody says them, and then as you get older it’s like wait a second, there’s a reason this shit has been drilled and drilled into my head,” he tells. “My dad always loved butter pecan ice cream and I was like ‘ew, butter and nuts? You’re crazy.’ And then as I got older, I got over it.”

In many ways, The Maine is the same band they were eleven years ago—the same five guys, gripping guitar hooks and lingering nostalgia. But a natural progression in sound has given them a deep back catalogue to work with, their set list later that night ranging from 2008 ballad “Whoever She Is” to LLL’s breezy anthem “How Do You Feel?” O’Callaghan gave a couple shout-outs to concertgoers celebrating a birthday, and the band even improvised 20 seconds of the elusive, never-to-be-played-in-full-again “Give It To Me.”

There was no encore—unsurprising for a group that continues to challenge the norm in their laid-back interactions; charismatic live experience cherished as much by the band as it is by their spectators.

Reciprocity at its finest.

Written by: Natalie Hoy Photographed by: Jade Kenny

#John O'Callaghan #The Maine #Fry Your Brain with The Maine #Vancouver #Fry Your Brain with The Maine Tour #Lovely Little Lonely #Natalie #interview #music #feature #John the Ghost #Black Butterflies and Déjà Vu #johnmaine #Vans Warped Tour #Warped Tour #themaine #8123 #A Thought a Day #The Permanent Rain Press

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blatherin-blatherskite · 7 years ago

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Merry christmas @atruedonaldist! I’m your secret santa!! I hope you like it, i wasn’t really sure what do write,so I just kinda went with some christmas fun stuff with the kids and Paperinik (since he’s your avatar)! It’s about 3,000 words long, so I hope you like to read! Merry Christmas!

The idea started with Dewey over hearing an argument between his uncle and the newest intern at the Money Bin. He had just left a conversation with the other kids in the mansion, a sort of secret meeting where they discussed what to get everyone for Christmas this year. Considering this was the first year they'd be together as a family, the kids had decided to go out of their way to make the day extra special. They'd decided to all come together to get gifts that would be perfect for all the adults in their lives – deciding to get Scrooge a new compass, Launchpad an aviator cap and goggles, and Mrs. Beakley an all-expenses paid trip to the spa (The boys were worried that this wouldn't be enough for the woman, but Webby whole-heartedly assured them that after they had moved in, her grandmother needed to take a day off.) This just left their Uncle Donald. Uncle Donald was a very simple duck, he didn't want much. He claimed all he needed was a roof over his head and his three boys and he'd be happy. In fact, he had purposely told them that he didn't want a present this year. That being said, the ducklings didn't want to leave him out of the festivities so they all decided to get him something anyway. As Webby so aptly put it, "That way it'll be more of a surprise!" Shortly after her astute statement, however, they found themselves stumped. After a thirty-minuet brainstorming session that resulted in nothing, they decided to split up and brainstorm on their own. That's how Dewey ended up outside the door to a storage room, in the perfect place to overhear an argument.

"Listen, Donald, with much do respect, Gizmoduck is the better hero!" Fenton sighed as he continued to shuffle about the room on a quest to find some spare part or another that Gyro needed. Dewey was stopped outside the door and he positioned himself to where he could see into the room but hopefully the other two ducks couldn't see him. Fenton was busying himself with lifting boxes and shuffling their insides while Donald had seemingly anointed himself to supervisor and was perched on top of a table.

"How so? Paperinik has none of the toys Gizmoduck has and still wins." Donald defended passionately but Fenton just shrugged it off.

"You make it sound like Paperinik is on the same level as Darkwing Duck. He can fly, can't he? He has super strength and super speed as well. He's not exactly unequipped."

"But he doesn't have metal body like Gizmoduck – he's way more likely to be injured!"

"Gizmoduck can get hurt too you know!" Fenton grunted, gripping something in a small box and tugging hard. "It's not like the suit is lined with goose feathers or anything." He pulled again and fell back on his bottom, item secured in his grasp. As he stood up and dusted himself off, he looked at Donald quizzically. "Why do you even care so much? Paperinik is such a low-key hero, I'm surprised you're so passionate about it." Donald entered a rare moment of quiet as he thought about how to respond.

"I guess I just really admire the guy, you know."

"Ah. Well, I get that. The hero life seems pretty glamorous. Come on, help me find my way out of this labyrinth of a mansion. Gyro wants this piece quick. It's for some new toaster or something."

"Oh cool." Donald replied, sounding less than enthused, but he listened to the other duck anyway as he led him out, neither noticing Dewey crouched by the door, a huge grin spread across his face.

***

"Listen, I say we get him a pair of leather gloves so he can grip onto things better when he's fighting bad guys and flipping over bannisters!" Webby pitched enthusiastically, adding a few flying jump kicks for good measure, but Louie rolled his eyes at her.

"Webby we told you, No adventure things! Uncle Donald doesn't like that kind of stuff!" Webby frowned as she went back to crouching on the floor, trying to think. Then Louie chimed in.

"Hey, what about oven mitts? He loves to bake, right?"

"Louie, we got him oven gloves last year." Huey pointed out, but as Louie pointed out those had already been burned up. This caused Huey to point out that the incident that caused them to exist no more was when Uncle Donald officially gave up baking for good and the room was silenced once more.

"Hey guys!" Webby popped up again. "What about a light weight flash light slash baton!" There was a pause as Louie and Huey stared at the girl before she decided to continue. "What? Grandma says you can never go wrong with a flash light." There was another pause.

"We'll put that down as a maybe." Huey said as he whipped out his notebook and scribbled "Flashlight / Baton" underneath "Fruit Cake" and "A new sailor suit". The room had plunged into silence once more before suddenly Dewey bust in, screaming.

"GUYS I HAVE THE PERFECT IDEA!" Three pairs of eyes looked at the out of breath spectacle before them, waiting for the duckling to catch his breath before asking him what was his perfect idea. He didn't wait until he had caught his breath, however, and just jumped straight in.

"LISTENWENEEDTOHUNTDOWNPAPERINIKANDGETHISAUTOGRAPHITSTHEBESTIDEAEVE-"

"Dewey. Breathe." Huey approached his excited brother as Dewey gasped for breath. "Come on breathe with me. In and Out, In and Out." Once Huey got Dewey's breathing back to normal he let his brother continue.

"We need to hunt down Paperinik and get his signature! Uncle Donald would love it!"

"Paperinik? Like the super hero?" Louie asked quizzically and Dewey nodded.

"Apparently Uncle Donald LOVES him! He's a huge fan! And Paperinik is so hard to find, an autograph would be SUPER rare and special."

"Okay, one flaw – you just said he was hard to find." Huey pointed out. "How are we going to find him?" This time it was Webby's turn to speak.

"Simple. We draw him out."

"What?" Both Huey and Louie said at the same time. Dewey smiled though. "I like where you're going with this! We can split into two teams – one to lure him out and one to corner him!"

"I wanna be on the team to lure him out!" Webby extatically cheered.

"Same!" Louie seconded, and Huey shot him a wounded look. Louie responded with a shrug. "What? If we're doing this I might as well utilize my talents."

"But who said we were even doing this?" Huey asked. "Paperinik may be a hero, but he's still dangerous! If he thinks we're actually villains, he's not going to hold back!"

"Oh Hubert, my dear worrywart of a brother we'll corner him before he even gets a chance to hurt the other two!" Dewey swung an arm over Huey's unsuspecting shoulder and Huey went stiff.

"But what about the flashlight? I like that idea let's do that!" But it was too late, the other three had already started planning out their mission. Huey sighed and pulled in closer, knowing that someone had to be the brain of the mission and he just knew it was going to be him.

***

Donald sighed as he stood in an alley, clothed in his full Paperinik regalia. It was December 23rd, two days before Christmas, and some hoodlums had decided now was the perfect time to start causing chaos in his town. Normally the actions that were occurring were far below his hypothetical paygrade, but as there was no Gizmoduck to be seen and they really were starting to become a nuisance, he figured he'd step up and handle it. Call it misplaced Christmas spirit. He'd rather be at the mansion with his kids but his city needed him! And since his kids lived in that city, he could justify spending some time cleaning it up before Christmas. A crash to his left jolted him out of his mental dialogue as his attention was drawn to the metal trashcans to his left, now completely riddled with bb gun pellet dents and some rocks that were most likely slingshot over. He looked in the direction that the shots had come from and saw two shadows running down an ally across the street. Two crooks, minimal arsenal, and they escaped on foot? This would be a sinch.

***

The plan was fairly simple, Huey thought. A couple of days before Christmas start causing chaos around town. Minimal chaos, but chaos all the same, and hope for the best. After they got confirmation that Paperinik was on their trail, the two chaos makers would disband and lead Paperinik to an intersection that they found where they could corner him and (hopefully) not be murdered.

They all had walkie talkies on their person and they all wore disguises as to all blend in together. The first night he had to admit, he was excited. Optimistic even. That is until he and Dewey had to spend five hours in an alley doing nothing together. And another five hours the next day. And another five hours the next day. When it had gotten to be the 23rd, he'd almost told Dewey that they'd have to wrap up this little attempt – clearly they weren't threatening enough for Paperinik to appear – until for the first time in a week the walkie talkies crackled to life.

"We have a go for Paperinik!" Webby practically shouted over the walkie talkie.

"Or at least a guy vaguely dressed up like Paperinik who can also fly." Louie joked. Huey could visibly see Dewey light up as he flipped up his hood and grabbed his bag with his camera in it. He was ready. Huey took a couple of deep breathes before flipping his hood up as well and prepairing to run. He was, in a word, terrified. But this was for Uncle Donald. He'd do anything for Uncle Donald, especially after all Uncle Donald did for him.

"Okay Huey and I are about to run. You guys still remember the plan?"

"Yep." Was Webby's one-word answer.

"Of course!" Louie laughed.

Huey and Dewey made eye contact then began to run, the adrenaline beginning to make Huey's fears fade. Maybe this would all work out.

"We're off! See you in five!"

Yeah, this was great.

***

As Donald flew above the alley way he was confused, suddenly it seemed the perps had doubled in size, as there were shadows darting all around the alleys. He didn't know which one had been the one to shoot the trash cans nor did he want to attack someone who wasn't a part of this – it'd be bad press. As he watched all the shadows dart in and out of alleys and run around buildings, he happened to catch one of the shadows drop something. As he flew in slightly closer he saw that the item was in the distinct shape of a slingshot. Bingo. That's the shadow he'd follow.

Now his intent wasn't to harm whomever was attacking Duckburg's trashcans in the dead of night as it wasn't really a crime. Whoever this perpetrator was seemed young and in need of a good scare to set them on the straight and narrow. As he sped up his flight he noticed the duck was short, almost duckling stature, and talking into a walkie talkie. He didn't have super hearing unfortunately, so he couldn't tell exactly what the duck was saying, but he assumed it was something along the lines of making a rendezvous. He sped up a little more and heard a distinctly feminine voice breathlessly but triumphantly state, "I'm almost there!" He figured now would be as good a time as any for a dramatic reveal.

"Are you now?" He deepened his voice and the duck twisted around, hand to her belt immediately to grab her slingshot that wasn't there, she squeaked as he drew closer, puffing his chest to seem bigger than he was. This kid was no more than just a kid. He didn't think he'd even have to haul her in judging by her size, he figured he could just give her a lecture and let her be on her way. He closed the gap between them quickly as she continued to try to walk backwards, head darting around trying to find an escape route. Before she knew it, however, Paperinik was in front of her.

'Wait, is that Webby?' Donald thought to himself as he stared at down at her, her eyes defiant as she began to talk.

"Hi, Mr. Paperinik, I need a favor from you!"

"A favor from me?" He responded, almost forgetting to deepen his voice. This was just getting stranger.

"Yeah, I mean, If you're not to busy that is. You know with your holiday prep and such. Actually, do super heroes celebrate holidays? Or are you Jewish? Since Chanukah is already over, I guess that'd mean you'd be free to like fight crime and stuff. I mean -"

"Kid!" Paperinik interrupted the rambling girl quickly, knowing that if he'd let her keep talking she'd never stop. "How I celebrate the winter season is none of your concern. What I want to know is why you're out here instead of safe in bed."

"Well, Mr. Paperinik, that's what I'm trying to tell you. I need a favor." She paused for a moment studying his features before asking, "Do I know you? You seem very familiar. I guess if I did know you I couldn't know I know you, cause then I'd be a liability but still - "

"WEBBY!" A young male voice cut her off and Paperinik quickly looked around the girl to see something even more bizarre than Webby out at eleven. It was all three of his boys, who he knew he put to bed about four hours ago. Fortunately, before he had the chance to blow his cover, the three kids ran to their friend and surrounded her, Dewey in front.

"Don't hurt her!" He sternly told the hero standing before him, arms spread out to protect his friend. At this point Donald was near heart attack. Is this how his kids approached danger? What if he had been a villain with harmful intent? On one hand he was proud of his boys for protecting their friend, on the other he was going to have to have a long talk with Scrooge about what he was teaching the boys on their little "adventures".

"Dewey, don't worry, I don't think he's going to hurt me." Webby's voice assured her friend from behind him, and Dewey dropped his arms a bit. But only a bit.

"So, you're the mythical Paperinik, huh?" Louie chirped up from beside Webby. "You're kinda... short. You know, for a superhero." Paperinik turned red. He knew he'd raised these kids better than that. Huey seemed to blanch at Paperinik's rising temperature however and began to speak up.

"Um, Louie, rule 326 of the Junior Woodchuck handbook says "Angering potentially dangerous people can have potentially disastrous results – especially unknown or mysterious people."

"Ah Huey, lighten up. I can so read this guy." Louie waltzed past Dewey to stand directly in front of the hero and grinned. "You wouldn't hurt us right? We're just kids!"

"No, but I would tell your parents that you're all out way past your bed times. Then they might kill you." Paperinik stated with a sense of finality and all four ducklings stiffened at the thought of their prospective guardians discovering exactly where they were currently. With that Donald had felt he'd intimidated his kids enough and he turned to fly off, but before he could he heard Dewey shout after him.

"WAIT HOLD UP!" Paperinik turned.

"What?"

"We lured you out here to ask you a favor." Oh yeah. Webby did mention needing a favor. He proceeded to turn all the way around to face his kids and crossed his arms, trying to think of any favor they could need that they couldn't just ask him for at home.

"What do you want?"

"Could we please get your autograph?" Scilence.

"Wait what?" Paperinik was confused. "Why?"

"Well you see, our uncle is kinda a big fan." Huey explained before Dewey interrupted him.

"Our uncle is your biggest fan! He loves you!" Paperinik could barely restrain his laughter, If only they knew how big a "fan" their uncle really was.

"And so you want my autograph for your uncle."

"Please?" Dewey pleaded while retrieving his pad and pen from his bag. "It's for Christmas. This is our first Christmas with our Great Uncle and our uncle and we really want to make it special for them."

"Yeah, your autograph would be perfect for him!" Louie added. As Paperinik stared at the faces of all of his kids he couldn't resist. He told them not to get him anything and they went out of their way to get him something they thought he'd love. Sure, they'd broken like a million rules but it was for him. He was touched.

"Sure, I'll sign something." The kids cheered as Dewey handed over his note pad for the avenger to sign. He quickly doodled something onto the pad and tossed it back to the group. They all were grinning like mad with success and he was grinning too, more at the bizarreness of the situation than anything.

"Now you all get home. You don't want your uncle to be mad at you, do you?" Paperinik told the group, cringing at the after-school special sound of what he just said, but the uncle with him absolutely meant it. The kids words scrambled over eachother in agreement and thanks before they took off down an alley back to their home. Then he took off back to their home as well, wondering if he should let them beat him back or not. Call it misplaced Christmas Spirit, but he did.

***

Two days later when Donald opened his present he feigned surprise and awe at his own signature. When asked where they got the signature, the kids stammered over themselves with excuses before settling on buying it off ebay, then when asked where they got the money for it they stammered some more. Liars, his kids were not. Still, he’d gotten a good laugh about it, and when they saw he was just messing with them they laughed it off too. And the reaction the kids had to being able to give gifts that everyone loved was honestly half the gift for him. For their first Christmas together, Donald thought they’d done pretty good.

#ducktales secret santa #i really hope you like it #it took me like five hours but it was worth it.#paperinik #ducktales 2017

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