#and everyone is just turned around in their seats to watch the kitty and waiting to pet it as it walks by | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

darkhymns-fic · 7 months ago

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give and take, a kiss here and there

Notes: A not-quite-finished radiohusk fic that I'm sharing because it's kiss day. Has sort-of fluff.

On those days when Alastor felt impulsive, he always asked Husk to tag along. Well, ‘ask’ was a generous way to put it, Husk already being dragged by the arm down the street towards his boss’s new fascination.

“Come now, Husker! A night out on the town will do you some good for your constant moping!”

“Why do you think I’m even moping in the first place?!”

It’s expected of Husk to follow wherever the Radio Demon goes—tonight, it’s to some storefront that resembles a speakeasy, in a part of town where Sinners refuse to move on from their date of death. Abominations in clean-pressed suits and thigh-short dresses, in fedora hats and flappers. Otherworldly monsters guffawed their multiple mouths as they gulped down alcohol, all given from straight from the bar tap and its bartender, who used his curved and sharp appendages to feed waiting souls.

Odd that Alastor had taken Husk to a place he would actually like, and not another awful shindig in Cannibal Town again. He wouldn’t complain, already ordering a gin, straight up, and keeping his wings tucked in as both him and Alastor sat on the stools before the bar.

There was live music playing somewhere behind them, on the piano, and the air was filled with noise, smoke, and more drink. It stimulated Husk to a certain point, feeling lighter in his chest as he finished his glass and asked for another. Only a spare glance to his boss who was also downing his drink, chatting it up with the bartender who was very clearly, very not enjoying this part of his job right now.

In fact, he and Alastor were the only ones seated at the bar counter, everyone else at their tables in the room, or further pressed along the walls, gaining as much distance as they could. Yeah, no one wanted to be anywhere close to the Radio Demon—and the only ones who were had no other say in the matter.

Whatever. Meant less annoying drunk assholes to bother him.

And in that odd compromise, he found ways to enjoy his time here, namely in the always filling glass before him. The alcohol went down his throat smooth and warm, making his head buzz. But just as the good part of being drunk was finally setting in, he felt a tapping on his shoulder.

Hard. Urgent. Annoying. He groaned, turning to his right. “What?”

Somehow, he’d forgotten Alastor was still right next to him. The guy had gone quiet when just before he had been droning on and on to a scared employee.

But he was chuckling, his cheek resting against a hand, while the other now tapped multiple fingers over Husk’s shoulder.

Even now, with his vision slightly off-balance, Husk could tell the signs of another fellow drunkard. How much did he even have?

Alastor, with his constant smile, his fuzzy laughter that made Husk’s fur stand, gave him a few more taps before taking his hand away—and to point at his own face.

Husk stared. Huh? He watched that red claw tap gently against Alastor’s cheek, just below his monocle, the smile never letting up.

“Husker,” Alastor said, dragging out his name with a lowered voice. “Give me a kiss.”

Much of that pleasant buzz from before was rapidly fading fast. Husk narrowed his eyes. “You’re kidding me.”

His response was another soft wave of laughter from whatever synthetic voice filter he had on. Still, Alastor gazed at Husk with a certain light in his eyes. “I’m only asking for a small kiss, right on the cheek!” He cemented his statement with a wink. “Or is kitty still too grumpy?”

Husk growled, claws scraping against his glass. “No. Just, we’re not—” He glanced around the speakeasy, demons enjoying their good time, one dropping their glass right on the floor, another their wallet full of cash as others dove straight for it. “We’re in public.”

“Ooo.” Alastor gave another little chuckle. “A shy kitty, then.”

If there was something that Alastor was much too good at, it was getting right under Husk’s own fur and skin. Husk had lost count of the number of times he’d feel his face flush from Alastor’s comments, or how frustrated he’d get that he could barely form a counter back at the other demon.

“Stupid dickhead,” he finally said, and inwardly winced.

“Haha! You’re just adorable!” Alastor said much too loudly, once again laughing, showing off all of his sharp teeth. But just as quickly as he laughed, it faded away, the demon taking some breaths as he continued to stare at Husk.

Husk tried to ignore it, taking another swig of his drink. A kiss on the cheek. How ridiculous.

It was also just, so oddly childish, so oddly tame, in its own way.

He felt Alastor continue to watch him, waiting for his stupid, silly request turn vicious, but it simply hung in the air between them. The noise in the speakeasy continued to thrum around them, and his own head felt loose, as if it would fall off at any moment.

“Just a kiss, huh?” Husk asked.

Alastor didn’t answer, but tapped against his cheek once more. He looked almost hungry.

Husk sighed, pushing away his glass. “Fine. C’mere.”

But even after saying that, Alastor stayed in place, hands now steepled beneath his chin. An ear tuft might have flicked, though it could have just been a trick of the eyes, a result of all the booze Husk already drank.

He looked to his boss, got his bearings. Then, he leaned up to press a tight-lipped kiss against Alastor’s cheek, shutting his eyes as he did so. In reality, it was more like a nudge of his mouth and nose, one that pushed into Alastor very slightly. He had to shift on his stool to do so, hearing the swivel of the cushion, and feeling a little irritated that Alastor didn’t even bother meeting him halfway.

But Husk might have been more drunk than he realized, because his nose slightly moved Alastor’s monocle askew, just a bit. And he pushed into Alastor a little too much, enough that he had to place a hand on the bar counter to keep himself steady.

Then he made the mistake of opening his eyes.

Alastor’s head was lower, fully resting on his hands. His expression looked peaceful almost, with his eyes shut, and his smile…normal looking. There was no display of sharp teeth, no wide manic grin. It was a smile that was filled with content, his mouth closed and his teeth hidden.

Alastor looked relaxed.

Husk lingered. He looked at Alastor, his mind trying to make sense of the sight before him.

Alastor suddenly seemed very cute.

“Oh…”

And yet, when he voiced that surprise out loud, that sudden discovery, that knowledge of something pleasant that might have existed, Alastor would change it.

Eyes opened, bright red. His grin manifested, and even the faint static hummed around them like some broken-down machinery.

And Alastor leaned forward then, finally, just to take Husk’s hand in his own, fingers intertwining. He looked down at Husk, straightening in his seat.

Husk blinked. He would have backed off, but a hand was now suddenly placed against his thigh. Warm, but tight.

Alastor laughed again, softer, and still very, very drunk. He leaned towards Husk with a slightly-open mouth, then started to give a lick. A tongue roved over teeth and lips. He did it slowly. Languidly.

Like he was some fucking cat.

“The fuck you doing?” Husk hissed out, hand still in Alastor’s grip. His tail flicked at the nearness and Alastor’s static-y voice right at his ear.

“Oh? I’m just also giving you a kiss.” Alastor tilted his head, nudging against him. “Returning the favor.”

Husk growled deeply in his throat, vivid flashes of biting Alastor’s throat playing in his head. Until—

“Hey! Get a room if you sexual deviants are gonna be fucking at my bar!”

The noise in the room noticeably lowered then. Another glass shattered. The piano interrupted itself in mid-song, messing up the notes. Oh, Husk knew how Alastor hated a good song being ruined.

His boss turned to the bartender with a sharp crick of his neck. A tint of fiery red leaked from Alastor’s eyes, and writhing shapes from his antlers curled around above them both. “I’m sorry? Did you actually say something to me?”

The bartender, a weird bug-eyed demon with several skittering arms to match, tried to back away. Multiple bottles from the back shelves crashed to the floor from the bartender’s motions, along with a slow, tremulous shaking.

Husk, who really, really didn’t feel like seeing someone die right now in front of his eyes, did the first thing that came to mind. Which, if he was sober, would have probably not have been his first choice.

He leaned up to kiss Alastor on the cheek again. This time, it was more of a kiss, lips pressed against the cheek. And then, to return the favor, a small lick over the skin.

The terrible static storm seemed to fade out immediately. Alastor turned to Husk with widened eyes, still with his grin—and then, once again, devolved into soft, drunken laughter.

“Husker, you silly kitty!” The Radio Demon leaned against him again, still holding tight to his hand, and then nuzzled at Husk’s neck. His laughter was like bits of static electricity against Husk’s fur.

“Yep, that’s me…Your silly kitty.” He sighed. Indignity was easier to swallow when one had a few gins in them.

#hazbin hotel #radiohusk #husk #alastor #fanfiction #wip #this was also inspired by fanart I can't recall the source for right now.. will link when I find it

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volturiwolf · 1 year ago

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Ker si en delček vzela s seboj - Bojan x fem!musician!reader - part 1

A/N: Sentences/words written in italics are in their native languages, or to emphasize a few things.

A/N 2: AI was mostly used to write the lyrics, I changed a few things.

A/N 3: Not everything is accurate/according to what actually happened. Many things are made up, like this story.

A/N 4: This story and the way the characters play out have nothing to do with the real people. This is an imaginary story, in an imaginary world, with imaginary situations.

This series contains explicit/mature/adult content (use of drugs and alcohol, explicit material, swearing, etc).

“But I got my power in my hand / You hold no power over me

And I’ll take my flowers while I can / So let the love shower over me”

Dilja’s song had to be one of my favorite but most underrated songs of this year’s competition. She was not even 21,5 and her voice was pure power. She was performing right after us, so I got to watch her from the side, as soon as we got off stage because I didn’t want to miss a thing.

“Hey, (Y/N). Come on, everyone went back in the box.” Alex nudged me a bit to get my attention.

The ‘box’ wasn’t a box per se; it was a designated area for all the Eurovision acts to hang out during the Barcelona pre-party, surrounded by fans, other contestants, and past contestants. It had soft sofas, and tables full of snacks and drinks. Thank God, because I was already feeling my feet hurting from all the sightseeing we did yesterday.

“Give me a sec. She’s almost done.” I was moving around on my own, trying to be as respectful as I could during Dilja’s performance.

Once she finished, I clapped along with the audience and waited for her as she walked off stage to give her a congratulatory hug. We walked towards the box to meet the others as ‘Wild Youth’ was ready to take the stage.

It was only the first of the ESC Pre-Parties but we were all lucky to stay in the same hotel, so I got to meet the others in the hotel lobby two days ago. Our band, ‘Kitty Revival’, which was representing Greece, arrived a few days before the others, so we had some time to explore the city on our own.

I hadn’t been here in almost 9 years (tomorrow, it would be 9 years actually) and I was excited to see all the places I didn’t get to see when I was here on my last-year school trip.

Dilja and I got along from the beginning and got to do some sightseeing together. My sister also came along as she was the only one who spoke Spanish and I had once promised her to take her to Barcelona sometime in the future. She was only a year older than Dilja so they had a few things in common - more than Dilja and I actually.

Until now, I had met all of the acts at the pre-party, and I had made some friends - mostly Dilja, Mae, Iru, and Joker Out. Most of them were younger than me, but we still had a lot to talk about, like living the whole Eurovision experience - or at least, part of it.

Greece hadn't been participating in the pre-parties, but I really wanted to take the chance. It didn’t only mean song promotion, but also PR and getting to know the other participants. We practically had to beg the Greek delegation to let us participate in the pre-parties because they actually thought we shouldn’t.

As Dilja went to sit next to Mae, I went to sit next to my bandmate, Alkmini “Mini”, but Jan from JO quickly took over the seat. I raised my brow at him, but he just shrugged and pointed towards his old seat, next to Bojan, his bandmate.

I turned towards Mini. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

She simply nodded and I went to sit next to Bojan. The Slovenians had already performed first out of everyone else, so he was now stretching comfortably, but the moment he saw me, he moved a bit to make some space for me. “Thanks”, I murmured, hoping he’d hear it.

“You were amazing out there!”, Bojan tried to speak over Ireland’s song but he ended up screaming a tad too loud, trying to sneak his arm around me. Thankfully, I was used to the loudness and didn’t mind, but his arm made my heart race involuntarily.

I turned towards him to watch him smiling brightly, looking dazed and mesmerized, making me wonder how many drinks he had already. I could already see that Kris - who usually looked very mature for being the youngest one - was on the verge of being wasted already, screaming and dancing around. And we weren't even at the actual party that was gonna be just us.

Bojan was a natural flirt and could mesmerize anyone - I got that from the very first moment we met, and I wasn’t going to deny that he was so good-looking, and how he was slowly but surely making me let my guard down.

I leaned towards his ear. “How many drinks did you have already? We still have a long way to go until the end of the night. We still have an actual party to go to later"

“I had a few. Don’t worry. I can handle my alcohol.” His breath was tickling my ear, and I felt goosebumps as he laughed with himself. I couldn't help but smile at him.

He went on to talk about all the places they visited with his bandmates, the 'Wild Youth' and the ‘Sudden Lights’ guys today; some of which I had already visited. He kept telling me that he was 'too excited' to see all these amazing places and practice his Spanish with the locals.

"Though I wish you could come with us, as well. I mean you…your bandmates and you. Not you, you, as in you, (Y/N). You know what I mean?" Bojan was laughing awkwardly, trying to deal with his sudden embarrassment.

"I know. I wish we could come with you guys, but my bandmates insisted that we had some extra rehearsals for today. It's the first time we play outside of our usual area range, and everybody's kind of nervous about the whole thing. We mostly had people who speak Greek listening to our music and coming to our gigs, so this is totally different."

Bojan let out a giggle that made my heart thrill. "I totally get what you mean. Don't worry about anything. Your guitar skills are magija, magic, and your song is really good. I love hearing it. I love hearing you sing. Even if it's only in the back." Bojan moved a little closer at this point.

I didn't know how to feel about him at that moment. I wanted to lean closer to him, but it felt a bit out-of-character for me, and not entirely appropriate, given the time and place. I gave him an awkward thumbs-up and excused myself before I acted out of instinct that should not come to the surface.

I walked in front of Mini and gave her a signal to follow me. We walked to the bathroom, where it was significantly quieter than the box or the pit. I could think better here where I wasn’t overwhelmed with sounds, feelings, touches, and smells.

“Your cheeks are a tad red. You're flustered. What happened?” Mini had a talent for knowing how I felt without me saying a word, so there was no point in hiding the truth from her. We have been playing in the same band for over a decade now, so it made sense that she learned to “read” me well, even when I wasn’t trying to show any emotion.

“I think Bojan is flirting with me? Or not? I cannot really get him. He seems flirty with everyone - without actually flirting, you know? - but he’s more…expressive to me? He has confused me.” Maybe I was exasperating but the Slovene made me feel…things already, and I didn’t want to be just me, imagining things that weren’t there.

“Well, I do think he’s acting 'flirty' with you. And many others. But he hasn’t been like that with me, or Alex, or Dimi, or Stef. Just you from the band.”

“So? What do you think?”

“I honestly don’t know. Was he like that on the first day? When we went sightseeing?”

I tried to think of yesterday when we got into the mini-tour bus the party organizers booked for us and went around the town with Joker Out, Wild Youth, Sudden Lights, Tvorchi, Iru, Dilja, and Mae. We started early in the morning so we'd have enough time to see everything.

I was supposed to sit with the girls in the last row, but it was already taken by Jure, Jan, Conor, Andrii, and Jimoh. So, now we all had to split.

Iru and Mae sat together, and Dilja sat with my sister; Ed decided to sit next to our tour guide, with Callum and David close by.

I wasn’t annoyed by that; I was going to sit with Mini either way, but, at the last minute, she chose to sit with Dimi, leaving Alex and Stef to sit together. Okay, I would sit on my own - no issue with that.

Okay, I was annoyed; it reminded me of my school years, being the last one to get selected for anything. I couldn’t wait for the bus to start, so I wouldn’t have to think about being alone, not being chosen, and such, even if it wasn't supposed to be for long.

Against my initial thoughts, I felt someone sit next to me. I pretended I didn’t notice, but then they tapped my shoulder and I had to turn to look at them. To my surprise, it was Bojan who sat next to me.

I raised my glasses to look at him better. “What happened? Did your band abandon you, too?”

He looked around the bus, pointing at Kris and Nace who sat diagonal from us, in the front. “You could say that. They sat in pairs and I was left out. I hope you don't mind me sitting with you. I had nowhere else to sit."

So, he didn't choose to sit with me. It was just a convenience. "Yeah, no problem. Don't mind me." I turned around to look outside of the window; I really wished I had my headphones with me at that moment, but I left them in my hotel room.

Part of me was trying to focus on watching the city as we drove through it, but the other part of me was trying to decipher what Bojan was doing right beside me, without actually having to turn around and look at him.

“Hey, um…(Y/N), right?” Bojan spoke up and I had to turn around again.

“Yeah. And you’re Bojan. Bojan Cvjetićanin, right?” I raised an eyebrow at him. I thought he heard my name yesterday when we introduced ourselves to each other.

“Yeah.” He smiled widely. “I didn’t expect you or anyone to remember my last name actually.” He chuckled awkwardly.

“I remember everyone’s full name. Part of having an acoustic encoding and a photographic memory.”

“Oh, nice. So, (Y/N), speaking of photographic memory, do you know where we are going? I didn’t have time to look at our program.”

The program was given to us, specifically to know when and what we would do each day!

"Well, they'll drive us up to Montjuïc Hill first, so we can see the city from above. We'll visit the castle and then they'll drive us to the Botanical Gardens, then to Anella Olímpica, which is actually near the venue where the party with the fans will take place. Then, we'll visit the Spanish Village, then Parc Güell, and then, back to the city center. They'll leave us at Barri Gòtic, the gothic neighborhood and we have free time to visit whatever we want. I'll go to the Picasso Museum, Casa Battló, Casa Amatller, Casa Malagrida, and I'll have to find a way to go to Sagrada Familia, otherwise, I see myself unable to walk in the near future. Lunch is at 5 o'clock. The meeting point is Plaça de Catalunya, which is actually close to where we're having tomorrow's private party."

"Do they say what kind of lunch are we having?"

"They mention 'traditional Spanish cuisine', so I assume tapas, paella, gazpacho, and such."

"Oh, okay. I hope they got the memo about Nace on time."

I thought about it for a moment. "He shouldn’t eat gluten, right?”

“Yeah..? How do you know about that?”

“Because I cannot eat dairy and sugar, so I had to email them beforehand to let them know. So they sent me the menu to choose feasible options and let me know that there would also be gluten-free options for ‘another contestant’ with intolerance, just in case I had any other dietary restrictions. And I actually shouldn’t eat gluten because of my thyroid, but there aren’t enough gluten-free options in Greece, so...”

I just realized I started talking too much again and I stopped before I embarrassed myself more than I had already, but Bojan was looking at me…fascinated. His eyes were on me and he was perked up, waiting for me to continue my narration, but I thought that he hadn’t talked at all yet.

“So, have you ever been to Barcelona before?”

“As a band, no. Only Jure has never been here before. I was actually born here but we moved back to Slovenia when I was little, although I think I know a few Spanish but only now do I get the chance to speak with someone who actually speaks the language, you know? What about you? Have you?”

“Actually yeah, I have been to Barcelona before, but like almost nine years ago. Last-year school trip. We call it ‘triti lykeiou’, the third of high school. So it’s been some time, and even then, we didn’t get to see everything, or at least things that I wished we could see, like the inside of Sagrada Familia or the Picasso Museum.”

We continued talking for most of the time, from the moment we sat together on the bus till the moment we went back to the hotel, as Bojan became one of my ‘fellow travelers’ for the day, along with the rest of Joker Out, my band, and my sister. Bojan turned out to be a very pleasant person to talk to; it felt like I was talking to an old friend - effortless, familiar, meaningful. He was the most sociable and chatty out of all JO members, though, at times, I appreciated Jan’s more quiet company.

“I don’t know. Really. He was talkative, friendly. He may have seemed flirty and all that, but maybe it’s his way of communicating with others. Every time I try to speak with someone, they think I come out as flirting with them when I don’t. Maybe that’s just Bojan.” I shrugged, not caring to talk about it further.

“Okay. So, do you actually want to pee or…? We have been here for some time. The boys will be worried.”

“You can go back if you want. I’ll pee and I’ll be back shortly.”

I was quickly done, but stayed in the bathroom for a few more minutes, going through the photos I took yesterday. Bojan was in at least 90% of the group photos. He was obviously very photogenic, and he looked so smiley and happy. I took photos of every single one of our tour group, but Bojan would constantly find a way to get in, photobombing everyone’s photos.

I caught myself smiling, and I couldn’t deny that he was the reason I was currently smiling and silently laughing on my own. Going to his Instagram, I immediately saw he had uploaded on his stories and I was too curious not to click.

He had mainly reposted some videos from the Joker Out's official Instagram account with today's meet and greet, fans' photos, them getting ready for the pre-party, and a few short videos of them 'partying' before the audience pre-party.

And then, there was a video of my band playing on stage, but going through the video, it was mostly focused on me playing my guitar. It was…different, seeing myself through Bojan's eyes; the way his camera was moving from my guitar to my face, watching my 'concentrated' look.

I felt myself getting hot and my cheeks burning again. I felt a pain in my stomach - not sharp per se, but it was enough to make me notice it, accompanied by a light headache. I was pretty sure that it wasn't because of the few drinks I had; I could only attribute it to the tiredness of the past couple of days. I hadn't eaten well because I was embarrassed to eat in front of the others, and yesterday was slightly too hot outside.

I leaned against the wall, trying to take a breath, but I knew I just needed to sit down and everything would be okay. I exited the bathroom as calmly as I could and went back to the box to find a place to sit.

My seat next to Bojan was now taken by Mae, who was laughing loudly and enjoying herself, sliding her hand over Bojan's toned arm. I felt a bite of jealousy and sadness in my heart. Of course, there would be others interested in Bojan.

Bojan himself was smiling back at her while drinking from his champagne glass. He was having fun, and he seemed as interested in her as she was in him. The pain in my stomach became sharper now, but I didn't want to let others know how I felt, so I quietly took a seat on Alex's lap, as I usually did.

Alex wrapped his arms around my waist out of instinct - that's what we always did; that's how we all acted with each other in the band. We were all very open with each other, to the point we would even walk around naked when we were staying in the same hotel room or tour bus or each other's house if we felt like it. It wasn't forced; we were just comfortable with being close and intimate with each other.

They were all currently discussing possible places to tour in the summer if we got good feedback from the competition and the audience.

"What do you say, (Y/N/N)? Where would you like to go this summer?" Alex spoke calmly.

"Ideally, on vacation." Everyone snorted laughingly. "But if I had to choose, I'd say ask the people where they want us and we can go on from there. See if there's a way to arrange something."

"I guess that would be the most fair thing to do. Since we don't know where we stand with the people's view in this competition."

They all nodded, agreeing, before going back to talking about food. I sighed, trying to forget that I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday night, and snuggled my head in the crook of Alex's neck.

"Tough day?" Alex whispered as the others continued talking to each other.

"Tough day, you don't say anything." I was close with all the guys in the band, but Alex was more understanding and easier to talk to.

Alex glanced at me rubbing my tummy. "You're not on your period, right? That was last week?"

"No, it's not that. It's…" I looked towards Bojan and Mae, not so discreetly may I say, so Alex caught up quickly.

"Ha." He paused for a few seconds. "You're jealous. Who is it this time? Bojan or Mae?" I was open to my friends about my sexuality, but I never talked about it to others because I never had to or wanted to explain myself.

"Bojan. I don't know, Alex. I don't want to be just another participant thirsting over another one. Or be one of the people thirsting over him. I don't want to risk approaching him, only to be rejected. I'm tired of that."

Alex kissed me on my cheek and rubbed his nose against it. "I don't want to tell you what to do and what not to do, (Y/N). But I will tell you that we all take risks in our lives. We took a risk by being here, exposing ourselves to millions. If it's a risk worth taking, you should take the chance." He paused for a second. "And for what is worth, I think he may also be jealous now."

"How do you know that?"

"I've been glancing at him this whole time, and he hasn't stopped looking toward us. If looks could kill, I'd be chopped right now."

I turned my head to look at Bojan's side, and I saw he was already looking at us, mouth agape, and eyes wide open. We kept looking at each other for just a few seconds until he stood up and went away, probably towards the bathroom or somewhere else.

Could it be that he thought Alex and I were dating and he got jealous? No, no way. Bojan had a much too interesting life if I were to say so, looking through his social, to even care if I was with someone or not. Every participant was charmed by the Slovenian golden retriever. Everyone loved him. He had too many options to care about me and my life.

And he may have seemed interested yesterday, but today he was talking, drinking, and flirting with everyone like he was in his natural environment. I just had to forget all the things he made me feel, even for a day or two, and continue being civil with him because we had over 1 and a half months ahead of us until all this was over and we went back to our usual lives.

Though it was easier said than done, as, no matter how much I tried to avoid him over the next week during the Polish pre-party - unless it was a group activity or obligation, he always managed to be there somehow.

Was it a last-minute meet and greet with local fans before the pre-party? He somehow was close by, with the rest of his bandmates, probably having 'decided' to make a sudden meet-up of their own in the same area we did.

I tried not to notice how flirty and handsy he was with everyone, especially Noa when she showed up at the Israeli pre-party. She wasn't sent to perform, but as Israel hosted the pre-party, she must have been assigned as our co-hostess and presenter for the night.

I didn't know Noa was Bojan's soft spot, his weakness, until I saw a random post on Twitter, dated 2 months ago. It was uploaded by the official Joker Out account on Twitter, featuring Bojan. Noa was his weakness - his ‘weak point’, to be exact.

Now it made perfect sense why he seemed so infatuated with her and was pretty much following her around the whole night, except for when he had to go on stage and perform. And even then, he personally thanked Noa for her hospitality and how amazing and organized the party was.

I was really trying not to think of all that, not to think that the man I liked was flirting, touching, and partying with everyone else but me. I tried not to think that he could be going to bed with someone else, especially not me.

And then came Jere, going by the alias 'Käärijä'. And he was cute and kind and funny. And they immediately clicked with Bojan and they started spending as much time as they could together. And I would hang out with my bandmates, Iru, and Mae, and now also Alessandra, Alika, Teya, Salena, the 'Vesna' girls, and Elen, who went by the stage name 'Brunette'.

But it wasn't the same as it was that one day with Bojan, and though I was happy for him seemingly having found someone who actually made him happy, I couldn't help myself from wishing I was that someone.

Nevertheless, I tried to have as much fun as I could, without thinking of him or anyone else. And I did have fun, partying, singing, playing guitar, and going out with the other contestants, even Joker Out.

I was acting like nothing bothered me, and I was getting pretty good at it. In public. Because every time we got back to our hotel rooms, I fell into the abyss of my loneliness.

When we had a free day before the Amsterdam pre-party, everyone else went out, getting to know the city by night, but I decided to stay in my room, feeling too tired - emotionally - to have fun.

Lying in my bed, in my short, pink and wine-red nightgown, strumming my acoustic guitar, and humming, occasionally gulping some of the wine Mini bought a day ago, trying to find a new music or line for how I felt at the moment.

It wasn't usually hard to write a paragraph or two because it was usually a collective job, but I wasn't as emotionally charged before as I was now. Though, when I started strumming the chords, the lyrics started writing themselves.

You get on with life as that shy boy,

You're an adorable kinda person.

You like singing and playing hooky.

You like to contemplate life.

But when you start to daydream,

Your mind turns straight to him.

Sometimes I look at you and I look into your eyes,

I notice the way you think about him with a smile,

Curved lips you just can't disguise.

But you think it's singing making your life worthwhile.

Why is it so hard for you to decide which you love more?

Singing or living?

You like to use words about life.

But when you stop talking,

Your mind turns straight to him.

You like to hang out with me.

But when left alone,

Your mind turns straight back to him.

You hate crying and confrontation.

But you just think back to him,

And you're happy once again.

Oh, God. It was as soppy as it could get. But I bet Alex and Stef could probably make something good out of it. I wasn't good at the final editing and corrections, but I was good at laying all my emotions on the table and coming up with a rough layout of a possible song.

A rough knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I checked the time on my phone. 01:36. Oh, no. I must have been too loud and someone got mad and came to complain.

I quickly and quietly tiptoed towards the door, waiting to be screamed at, for playing guitar at that time. I should have remembered that not everyone staying here was a Eurovision participant, and we were randomly put in our rooms. And it was probably late for some people.

Opening the door, I came face to face with a rather distressed Bojan. My heart fell at the sight of him. His hair was ruffled and stuck out all over the place. The dark circles under his eyes were more prominent than before, and his whole face was sunk.

"Hey, Bojan." I spoke quietly, aware now of how late it actually was. "What are you doing here? I thought you guys went out?"

He pointed into the room, and I took it as if he wanted to come in, so I took a step back to let him in. He walked heavily towards the small couch near the window, and let himself plop heavily into it.

We didn't speak for a few minutes, and the room felt heavy with awkwardness. I didn't know if I should speak or let him speak and explain why he was here at that time. I decided to break the tension.

"Hey, Bojan? Do you want me to bring you something to drink? Or eat? I have water, orange juice, cranberry juice, maybe some Greek koulourakia?"

He raised his eyes to look at me. His eyes were literally lost as if he was drinking heavily and managed to drive off somewhere he didn't know how he got there.

I took it as a signal to go through Mini and I's shared suitcase, and pick up a few things: a small pack of tsourekakia, a pack of oregano chips, an almond chocolate, and a can of Greek mountain tea from the fridge.

I placed them in Bojan's lap but he kept looking at me with those empty, lost eyes. "Eat up. You look like shit."

He let out a snort, smirking, as he awkwardly started opening the chips first. He snacked for a few minutes, occasionally closing his eyes, either out of pleasure or tiredness, I didn't know which one.

I looked at him closely, taking in his every perfect, little expression. He looked so small and fragile as he chugged down the oregano chips, like a little kid enjoying his afternoon snack. He saw me looking at him and offered me some of the chips.

"Thank you, but I can't eat them. They have milk powder in them." He shook his head and continued snacking.

He finished up and took the pack of tsourekakia in his hands, carefully examining the pack to understand what those were.

"They're like a small version of tsoureki, a Greek sweet-like bread which we eat as a snack, or sweet, or dessert. These have hazelnut praline in."

He shook his head again, as he opened the bag and grabbed one, throwing one in his mouth. The second he bit into it, his eyes rolled over his head, and I laughed at how much he enjoyed it.

I grabbed the can of tea and opened it before offering it back to him. "To balance the sweetness."

Our fingers brushed each other's, and it felt like it was forever ago when I last touched Bojan. I couldn't help my need to stare at him forever. His chocolatey eyes sparked even more now than they usually did, probably because of the alcohol in the man's system.

Out of a sudden, he grabbed my free hand and pulled me into his lap. I was so shocked and taken aback, that I could only look at him with wide eyes. Thankfully, he didn't spill any tea on us or the couch, because it would have been awkward to explain how the sofa and the rug underneath were stained with cold tea.

I noticed my nightgown had risen a bit, so I quickly pulled it down before my underwear was shown. Bojan wrapped one arm around me, while the other started moving up my thigh and below my nightgown, where I tried to cover myself up. My heart literally skipped a beat under his touch and our close contact.

We could only stare at each other. I was scared of doing anything that he may misunderstand and he was a bit too cautious to do or say anything. Or so I thought because he leaned forward, towards me. I didn't move, partially because I was frozen and partially because I'd been wanting to be in this position with Bojan since Barcelona.

His lips brushed against mine, nibbling my lower lip enough to make my heartbeat skyrocket. I wanted to give in but I quickly realized that Bojan wasn't actually in his right mind and it wasn't okay to take advantage of his loose state. So, I pulled away and pushed myself out of his embrace. He tried to resist but he was weaker in his drunk state.

"Bojan, I think you should go to your room now. You're drunk, you're not thinking straight, and you may start doing things you will most likely regret in the morning."

"I would never regret kissing you. Not in a million years. Not when that's the one thing I wanted to do from the moment I met you." He spoke for the first time tonight, his voice coarse and intoxicating.

I couldn't deny that I thought he was a bit obnoxious at first; he seemed too happy, and excited, and bouncy to be real. But when I actually got to meet and talk to him, he seemed down-to-earth, and lovely, and loveable.

"I'll be honest with you. I wanted to kiss you since that day in Barcelona when we spoke for the whole day. But I know it, and you know it too, that you have to come to your senses, and if you still feel the same, we'll talk about it sometime in the future, okay? Now you'll have to go to your room before our friends come back."

Bojan tried to stand up with wobbly legs but fell back on the couch. I facepalmed myself, knowing that getting him to stand up and go to his room, two floors above me, would be extremely difficult, even with using the elevator.

"What if…", he mumbled, "...I stay here for tonight? Please?" He gave me his best, doe-like, pleading eyes, knowing exactly where to aim to convince me.

I sighed, not wanting or being in the mood to argue with him. I looked at the oversized bed and tried to make some calculations for how we were gonna fit properly.

"Okay, but I won't be giving up the whole bed. I'm older and sensitive. We'll both sleep as far as possible from each other, capisci?"

"Si, signora." Bojan smiled brightly, and my heart beat faster. I swore that man would be the death of me. Was I too old at 26 to die over a younger man?

Bojan extended his arms towards me, expecting me to help him get to bed. I took a deep breath to calm my rising temper and walked over to him. I grabbed him from the waist, slowly pulling him up, and he put as much weight as he could on me.

Lucky for me, the bed wasn't too far away. Because Bojan, though considered short for a man, was about 10 centimeters taller than me, and he was both muscular and curvy, just my type. Pulling him up would be a bit easier if I wasn't feeling under the weather, because of my upcoming period.

I managed to get him to bed safely, lifting his legs to lie down, and pushing him a bit towards the middle, scared that he was gonna fall off at some point. I noticed he had his eyes closed already, and he was breathing heavily, so I assumed he had fallen asleep already.

I went back to the shared suitcase and got some painkillers, then grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and placed them in the nightstand beside him. I personally never had a hangover because I always knew I couldn't handle alcohol at all, so I only drank in moderation. But I knew how awful a terrible headache can make you feel for the whole day forward.

I covered him with a blanket, as it was a bit chilly, even in the seemingly warm hotel. Bojan looked so peaceful, like a little angel, slightly smiling in his sleep. I took a picture in my mind and a picture in my phone, to forever remember that moment.

It was only then that I noticed I had a text message from Mini. I left my phone on silent mode so I never heard the text sound. "We're coming in 20. Do you want us to bring you something?" Sent 12 minutes ago.

It was a bit too late to text them. They would probably not see it on time. I walked carefully and quietly to the bathroom and called Mini from there.

"Ei, (Y/N)! Did you get my message? Do you still want us to pick up something for you?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's all good." I tried to whisper but also make myself audible. "Mini, can you do me a favor? Can you stay with Alex tonight?"

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Ehm, I...have a visitor tonight…"

"Omg, (Y/N)! Did you finally get laid?!"

"Wait! (Y/N) got laid?!" I heard my bandmates' voices in the background, whistling and making too much noise.

"No! No, it's not that. He just came to see me, and he was too drunk to get back to his room."

"Okay, tell me everything or I'll come over to see. Who is it? Is he cute? What does he look like?"

"Mini, I can't tell you who it is. That's…private." Nothing was private with these four, but I couldn't just out Bojan like that.

"Is it Bojan?" Alex spoke clearly on the phone.

I sighed before speaking. "Yeah, it's him. Please don't make it way bigger than it already is."

"That's what she said! But seriously, I'm just messing with you. And don't worry about Mini; she'll stay with me. Maybe one of us will get lucky tonight."

There were a few milliseconds of silence before Alex growled an "Aouts!", probably Mini's response to his comment. I snorted. Alex wasn’t that type of a guy; he just liked to mess up with his friends, and he knew that Mini wasn’t one to enjoy his pranks, so he did it more to her.

“(Y/N)? Where are you?” I heard Bojan whining from the room.

“Guys, I have to go now, okay? I’ll text you if I need anything.”

I got off my phone before anyone could respond, and I walked out of the bathroom. Bojan was lying on his left side, eyes half closed, looking towards the bathroom door. I moved closer to the bed, and he shot me a sweet, yet bright smile upon seeing me.

“Hey, are you okay? Do you need anything?” I wasn’t sure how to approach him or his state; I didn’t want to seem like I was hitting hard on him or that I was looking for any reason to get close to him.

“Can you please come over?” His voice was coarse and it gave me goosebumps.

I slowly crawled onto the bed, moving slowly to keep myself covered. Bojan’s eyes never left mine, as he watched me moving around and getting closer and closer to him.

“Closer. Please.”

I crawled again until I reached him and laid down beside him, facing him. His eyes still held an untold tiredness, but he still kept them open, as if I’d walk away the second he closed them once again. He moved his arms around me, slipping one underneath me and pulling me into his embrace.

His body felt warm and inviting, and I could now smell the scent of his clothes and his body: baby powder, musk, vanilla, and sandalwood, all mixed together in a scent that took over my mind.

His hands were moving up and down my back and arms in a comforting way, and he was breathing a bit more heavily now. I closed my eyes, enjoying the moment, though I knew I shouldn’t be getting that close with someone I had no future with - short-term or long-term.

Either way, we were from two different countries, living in two different worlds, and busying ourselves with different tasks. The only thing we had in common was that we were in a band, each of us representing their own country in Eurovision.

Just the thought of losing Bojan like that, expectedly and naturally, made me tear up, but I quickly forced myself to gulp my sadness and tears down. I didn’t want to upset him. This was a beautiful and emotional moment between us and I would ruin it if he noticed my wet, sunken eyes.

I calmed myself down and tried steadying my breath, though that led to me getting more and more sleepy in Bojan’s arms. And though I didn’t want to disturb his peace by staying there, I couldn’t bring myself to leave his soft touch, especially when Bojan laid his head on mine and started humming a - I assumed Slovenian - lullaby.

His voice, even when he was singing that low, was heavenly. I didn’t know what it meant, but I let myself enjoy Bojan’s rich, deep voice. He was singing and caressing my head, sliding his fingers through my hair and making my being go numb.

It only took a couple of minutes of Bojan singing lullabies for me to fall asleep in his arms.

#bojan cvjetićanin #bojan cvjeticanin x reader #bojan cvjeticanin fanfiction #fanfiction #joker out #jure maček #jure macek #nace jordan #jan peteh #kris gustin #kris guštin

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ladyphoenixfyre · 2 years ago

Text

I consider myself to be OT7.

I’ve been quietly supporting each member as they release their solo endeavors, whether that be an album, a single, a collab, or (what some may consider) an EP.

I watched the MVs, listened to the entire JITB album, and nearly screamed myself hoarse watching Hobipallooza from my room.

I did the same for The Astronaut, even if I could only watch the CP concert the next day from a stream because I was so exhausted from work I fell asleep waiting for it. I loved watching Jin on Youngji’s No Prepare show, cackling and shrieking with laughter through it.

Same thing for Indigo, with Joon’s little concerts. Watched his interview with Pharrell, and other shows he made appearances in (I need to find an upload with English subs for the Dictionary of Useless Knowledge) and listened to the podcast from Art Basel. His appearance on the Pisick Show was fun and funny.

Loved Tae’s version of It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, it’s on a playlist with all the other holiday songs that was playing during the season. I have to find subbed free versions of Jinny’s Kitchen because the little clips and gifs I saw Twitter just intrigued me more.

Same again for Left and Right, Bad Decisions (seriously, ARMY? Meeting up with Benny after a wild scavenger hunt-type thing? Lol), Sexxy Nukim, Crush, Vibe (thank you for the introduction to Taeyang!), On the Street, Smoke Sprite.

And again for FACE, staying up to watch Mimi’s music show appearances, and other show appearances (Radio SBS, PIXID, that fun one that I can’t remember the name of where he kept tossing that one guy into the pool after he figured out what action triggered the seat catapult thing).

And I will do so again for D-3.

And whatever else is released by all 7 members as soloists.

All that being said, my ultimate bias is Jimin, with the other 6 members taking turns being bias wreckers.

I identify more with his dance background than I do Hobi’s.

Hobi is a phenomenal dancer, his fluidity is something else and has made me wonder if the man has bones. Yes, I know he does, but you get where I’m going.

But it’s Jimin’s classical training that got my interest because of my own training.

I’m not a dancer, by the way. I took ballet and those few years I danced were my favorite because of all I experienced in that time frame.

Back to Jimin.

His dance background is what started me really looking into him. His duality (cutie pie one moment, Kitty Gang the next) and professionalism got me next. Then his personality just sealed the deal. His empathy to/for everyone around him, his sincere appreciation of and for ARMY, his politeness and humility around those not just his senior but to his juniors, too.

A lot of the time I want to squish him, wrap him up in a nice soft blanket, and put him in my pocket, away from the haters, antis, toxic solos, and everything bad in the world.

But he is grown ass adult, regardless of the fact that many want to treat him like a child. Yes, I’ll include myself in that group.

He makes adult decisions every day, personally, privately, and also professionally. Especially professionally.

We, as fans and people who don’t personally know him, have no say in ANY of his decisions. Voice your opinion all you want, it will not have any bearing or weight on his decision-making process. The only time someone else would have that impact is if he directly asks someone for their opinion and he decides it has weight.

That applies to ALL the members.

Know your place as a fan. We support the members individually and as a group by streaming the music and MVs they release, purchase albums and singles if our wallets allow, vote when we are able, and trend appropriate, official hashtags.

We have no say on their personal and professional lives. We have no right to their personal time and should leave them alone if they are out and about trying to be incognito.

We are so blessed and lucky that they share as much as they do.

I saw that someone had recently created a Twitter account for posting information about their flights. THAT is crossing a line. THAT is putting the members’ safety at jeopardy. THAT is not how ARMY should be.

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senor-plume · 8 months ago

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My New York Evening

All the cigarettes Have been kind to me And this coffee Cannot be beat While Brian Wilson Sings just for me Tonight

(A serenade of sorts)

I would like Very much To share this Song with my girl But she’s far gone now While I Stare at my new Bass harmonica That shines so nicely Under this electric light Of late November

I take another drag Off my Parliament Light And blow it straight up Into the ceiling fan That spins rather slowly Up there all by its lonesome

It cuts and swirls the Gray smoke And soon it Dissolves Into the air

Poof and gone But so thankful that It was in my lungs For just the Right amount of time Making me happy And so satisfied

Sometimes I feel very sad But tonight Is not a night for The blues

As my female cat Sits so tired at my feet Dressed up with a new Christmas bow Around her neck She looks up at me from Time to time And I smile at her and whisper So softly I love you

Tonight I will Finish this pack And the coffee will run Out as well And soon I will stand naked in this room Without my familiar mug In my hand And I will Grin while looking out the window Waiting for the towns First snowfall

And it couldn’t come soon enough

Around 2 I’ll take a walk Out on my streets All wrapped up in my long Salvation Army Overcoat And knit scarf With my dumb Winter hat with the flaps That comes down To cover my ears And I will Walk a few blocks As the flakes fall

I’ll stop at the store for a Stick of taffy (grape) The Sunday NY Times And a can of Tuna fish for the kitties

Turning the volume up on my iPod I will take the long way home And go back home via The river bank Take a seat for a bit On my favorite Park bench And watch everything Unfold in front of my Four eyes

But time will go by Quickly And I will head off to the house Where I will walk into the living room To find Everyone still asleep And I will hang my coat up on the Antique bulldog hook Remove my boots And sit back down In front of the computer To write another Poem about doing a whole bunch Of nothing

The good kind of nothing That I live Each night Here in my New York City

#tumblr poetry #poetry #alt lit #tumblr poets #creative writing poetry #poets on tumblr

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muddyorbsblr · 1 year ago

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I gotta whip out the bouncy kitty gif again because omg omg omg the way this ended has me incredibly excited about whatever's coming next

I love the development of Elena's story in this and how you're making such a complex character that you can feel is slowly coming to her own simply because there's someone by her side that will listen to her and support her throughout trying to break free from Roper's hold on her via her family. And the way that you can really tell because we know what happens in the series that not only is she in on the mission because she's now Burr's asset, but that both assets (her and Pine) are aware of one another, which gives her another sort of lifeline in this tangled web that Roper's kind of weaved everyone into.

She really smacked Pine with that "No feelings" rule that just had me so sad for the precious protective meow meow 🥺 Like it's a little too late for that I'm pretty sure he's been fighting back his own feelings as soon as you walked into his room 😤 And I could really feel her struggle to remind herself of that exact rule when she got the hornies just watching her fake boyfriend run across the beach barefoot and barechested like bestie I just know a tear ran down her leg at that moment because…same 👀

And once again I despise Roper he's the absolute worst but if he dedicates a modicum of his dastardly tendencies to pressure our fake boyfriend into giving us a lil kith I'll allow it. 🥴

But Reader OMG…she was such a badass in that last scene standing up for Caro and doing what she could to put Sandy in his place for being a horny lil scumbag, like I would've done the same 😤 I really felt for Caro in that scene where it's like the color just completely drained from her face. She deserved someone to hold her through it or at least make it known that not everyone would just turn a blind eye to the shameless infidelity and it's such a breath of fresh air seeing YN do exactly that 🥺

I love how the instincts took over and both Pine and Jed decided to stand on YN's side. Like it wasn't just a show of "Okay fine we'll hold her back" but rather a show of "Whatever consequences are coming her way we're going to try defending her from it", and Pine really just led the way there taking over and trying to play the field all in the name of protecting her 🥹

Now…that ending!! omg omg omg that ending had me thrashing around in my seat going "AAAAA HE TOLD HER HIS NAME HE TRUSTS HER!!!" And I can't wait for her to be brought up to speed on what he's doing there and hopefully these two can enter their "fake dating with real feelings and also partners in spying" era because I just know they're gonna be absolutely adorable fumbling their way through a pretend relationship especially when you know they can just play the horny card when they get caught too close to places that they shouldn't be in because they were trying to get Roper's intel *hint hint wink wink* 😈😈

I can't wait to see what's next for these two. You have such an amazing series going with this, bestie AAAAAAAAA 💖💛

How To Fake Date A Spy Part Two

Jonathan Pine x fem! Reader Miniseries

Word Count: 6K

Series Summary: You have to deal with numerous men of Roper's business having a gross interest in you for more than small talk. Going to Roper for help, he offers an idea- pretending to be the date of his newest friend. A handsome sous-chef known as Thomas Quince. Little do you know yet, the man's real name is Jonathan Pine and he is on a mission to take Roper down...

Part One

Chapter Warnings: Reader being thirsty, but no smut (yet). Discussions of depression and suicidal intentions with the character of Elena with a note of hope and good mental health and comforting fluffy fix-it goodness. But if you or a loved one have legit intentions, please get help and tell someone, 988 is the American hotline number in addition to 911. Some angst at the end. Discussions of domestic abuse.

A/N: Shout out to @muddyorbsblr for hyping me up as I was writing this draft!!! It always motivates me !!! Thanks, Bestie!!! I hope you guys like it!

Taglist: @evelyn-kingsley @jennyggggrrr @five-miles-over ) @fictive-sl0th @ladycamillewrites @villainousshakespeare @holdmytesseract @eleniblue @twhxhck @lokisgoodgirl @lovelysizzlingbluebird @raqnarokr @holymultiplefandomsbatman @michelleleewise @wolfsmom1 @cheekyscamp @mochie85 @muddyorbsblr

A03//My Ko-Fi//My Etsy Shop//Masterlist//Wattpad

Why the hell was this happening? Why the hell did you even agree to do this?

Just a few minutes before the cocktail party hosted by Roper. The first time you and Thomas would be seen as a couple in public. That is, a pretend couple. You have taken at least twelve anxiety trips to the restroom in the last two hours. You still felt like any minute you would shit yourself. You kept redoing bits of your makeup because your hand kept shaking. If there was a wrong step, a wrong move, you wondered if something would explode. If someone would either laugh at you or Roper would frown. Then again, this was The Worst Man In The World we were talking about. A frown would be the least of your worries if he wasn’t happy. And Thomas, what was going through his head? It was too long since you dated-really dated. And your heart was racing out of your chest.

You took another look in the mirror to make sure your cocktail dress was right. What would he even think? You wondered. He was probably repulsed by you- he was forced into this too! Now that Elena was your roommate, she was applying mascara next to you. But you could only stare blankly at your reflection. Overthinking and psyching yourself out as you scanned your appearance again.

“Hey Y/N, what's up?” she asked.

“I’m…I’m just…uh…nervous,” you replied. Nothing fake about that statement.

“Nervous? How come?” She began.

She looked around and then whispered. “Are you…are you in danger….did…”

“No, Roper didn’t threaten anything!“It’s just uh…I hope…I hope tonight just…goes okay,”

“Alright. Whatever you say. It’s just a cocktail party. Another party full of boring guests doing boring fancy things.”

“Well, Elena…today, uh, I gotta tell you something- uh-”

Then there it was. The fateful knock against the door. You jumped and let out a small shout of surprise. Elena looked at you with wide, scared eyes. You saw her hand shake with the mascara tube. But you held her other hand.

Then a soft, British voice was behind. You felt the teenage girl relax. You, however, did not.

“Y/N, I’m here. Ready when you are.”

Taking in a breath, you went to the door and opened up. Though you were delighted to see Thomas. The black eye and nose healed nicely. The bruises didn’t seem too obvious with his tanned skin. The sight of him was dazzling- a crisp blue suit that brought out how his eyes were like the spring sky. He looked down and smiled at you. You couldn’t speak at the sight of him. Excitement mixed with nervousness.

“Are you ready, Y/N?” he asked with a warm smile.

You looked back and saw that Elena tilted her head and squinted at him.

“Are you escorting us?” asked.

“Y/N is my date, but I’ll be glad to walk you over too,” he replied with a shrug.

You might have grown feathers and laid eggs before Elena's eyes. Her jaw fell to the floor. Then she looked at the two of you.

“Your date?!” she cried.

“Yeah….Thomas and I are dating!” you announced matter-of-factly. At least, you hoped it sounded matter-of-fact.

You put on a smile that you hoped wasn't too false looking- small and happy. You leaned in a little closer to him.

"Why....uh....congrats!" Elena replied.

"Yes...I wanted to tell you Elena, but..." you began

You felt your hands twitch and you hoped she wouldn’t notice. Then Thomas stepped forward.

"No, it's alright....come join us, Elena. You’re always welcome with us.”

As Elena walked out beside you two. Both of your clicking heels echoed in the hallway. Her dark hair contrasted with the white of her dress. As she got closer, you could hear the guests chatting. Her mother stepped up and opened an arm. She went up and got her mother’s hand and then walked to the party.

You walked beside Thomas, only giving the odd glance at him. You felt your heart pick up as you got closer. You felt fluttery inside. When Elena and her mother vanished into the party, Thomas leaned in towards you.

“Nervous?” he asked.

“Is water wet?” you replied dryly.

"Take my hand," he instructed.

He splayed out his hand before you- large and smooth. You reached yours, then hesitated before touching him.

“Your hand?" you repeated.

"Take my hand, Y/N. It will make it more believable,” he said.

With a deep breath, you took his hand. It still felt warm, warm from the sun that shone on his skin. His own large hand was soft on you again. With his free hand, he touched your chin, his thumb going to the corners of your mouth. It felt as intimate as a kiss on your thigh. You felt yourself take a breath so deep, you got a little dizzy. Then you went up to him. Suddenly, though there was a whole party of people, it felt like you two were the only ones on earth. Though you had more presentation of calm, his voice was doing nothing for your racing heart.

“Now…we have to smile. Just relax. It’ll be easier than you think,” he advised.

You unclenched your jaw at him. Under the graze of his thumb, you felt the corners of your lips twitch up.

“There…there it is,” he said, with a smile that matched yours.

Then use that…like method acting. Y/N you thought.

So then you both walked on and entered holding hands. It was another large group with cocktails in wide glasses and thin stems. Full of light laughter like wind chimes on a summer day. It was thick with every cologne and perfume you could name. There were bright flowers and green, leafy plants everywhere. Waiters in suits walked around serving drinks and hors devours. You felt Thomas squeeze your hand and you walked with a smile.

Just stay by him and hold his hand and smile. It had been too long- why didn't you notice what it was couples did? Your sister draped her arm around Roper's all the time. Caro would give kisses on Sandy's cheek and then his lips.

Yet when you entered, eyes went forward in greedy curiosity. You were recognized. And so was the new man-Danny’s savior. You saw their acknowledgment. The big eyes. The frozen smiles. Some noticed you and then immediately turned to their circle. Then those people turned heads. You couldn't hear a word but you knew they were talking about you.

But best of all were the men’s reactions. When your gross potential suitors turned to you, they saw your hand firmly in Thomas’s. And there were frowns on all of their faces. Then a nod when their eyes met Thomas's. He would nod back. The man who bested them. The man who beat them. Now, for once, you could be at a party of Roper’s and relax.

Well, not entirely. Elena was still with her family. And you made sure that you at least stayed by her side. You wouldn't leave her alone. The thought of what almost happened at her birthday party... made you want to be sick and disturbed you so much that it chilled your body and made you tense. So you kept an eye on her at the bare minimum. Though it seemed by now, she was sitting by Danny as he showed her his books.

"Wouldn't you like something to drink, darling?" Thomas asked, his voice putting a bit more weight on darling.

"I would love a drink" You nodded.

Both of you walked up to the bar. There was already a guy right by you. The guy from the last party who asked about your book- you could feel his green eyes on you and already smell the hair gel on his platinum blonde comb-over. You could see him get ready with a way to hit on you as he sat. But then his eyes turned up to see the intimidating Six Foot Two barricade to get to your panties. The guy shrunk into himself and then turned away promptly. You had to smirk. You knew he wanted to date you. But now it looked like the only date That Asshole would get tonight would be with his right hand.

"Could the lady have a martini, please?" Thomas asked the bartender. The old man nodded and handed you one. Thomas leaned there to watch the bartender make the drink.

Right as you turned, another familiar man from the other day swung by. Mr. Jacobson. He had been pretty persistent and determined last time. Though your body flinched as if ready for a fight, you made yourself still. Part of you didn’t shoo him away because you knew it was going to be entertaining to watch him try tonight.

You saw Thomas turning to watch you two.

"Hey there, Y/N, you look gorgeous again," Mr. Jacobson said, picking at a toothpick between his teeth with the sensual appeal of a patient at the dentist.

You opened your mouth to speak. To say something. A fruitless refusal. It was in your habit to. Then your fake boyfriend arrived. You felt Thomas’s arm reach across your shoulders. A protective half-hug. You could feel the muscles from how well fitted his suit was and you felt your breath flutter in your lungs. Looking up, Thomas gave the man an icy glare.

"I know she does."

The pure threat of it. If you had to be honest, the low growl in his voice…did something to you. You felt yourself clench your legs. Your breath was shallow and sharp You...liked it. Yes, it wasn't the most progressive thing to be a damsel in distress. But with this fine specimen in blue rescuing you, you were not going to complain.

Mr. Jacobson jumped and his face turned pale. He put his arms up.

"Oh, my bad! My bad! I thought she was...single, you know."

"No, she's not," Thomas said flatly. His glare continued right into the eyes of Mr. Jacobson.

“I am so sorry, man. So sorry, I swear…won’t happen! Won’t happen again!” he begged.

"It won't," Thomas replied firmly.

The guy fluttered away to the other end of the room. You looked up and smiled.

"Thank you, Thomas,"

“Y/N!” you heard Jed from across the room. Already in her light blue summery dress. The flowing skirt made her seem like a mermaid as she walked up. Then she widened her eyes at you.

You turned around and went over to give her a hug.

“You look lovely!” she said.

“Oh Jed, stop! You look gorgeous too!” you shook.

“Oh, don’t say that and…is that…is that Thomas!?” she asked.

You turned over. Thomas went up to her and shook her hand.

“Yes…” You turned to her. Trying to ignore how dry your mouth was with the phrase.

“Jed, Thomas, and I are dating now!” you announced. You followed it by sipping your martini.

Her jaw dropped, but she let a smile on her dazzling face and hugged you.

“Oh my god…that’s wonderful! Y/N! Oh, you should have told me the second it happened!”

"We wanted to be private...until we were certain we were on the same page," you lied through your teeth mid-hug.

Then she dropped to a frown and her eyes hardened. She let go of the hug and crossed her long arms.

“My sister is a sweetheart. And you will treat her well. You got it?”

You were surprised, but you took it.

“Yes, miss," Thomas replied.

“I will fight you if you do anything to hurt you,” she added.

“I understand…and I won’t do anything, Jed. I'll treat her well. Promise," he swore.

“Thank you…”

You sighed. Jed was right- he was decent. As dinner arrived, you both sat next to Elena and her parents. You were glad for her being a third wheel. She spoke to you and smiled. You even made jokes with each other. Both you and Thomas were aware of holding each other's hands whenever possible. But it didn't feel too different from just eating next to him anytime. He did flash you a smile and you found yourself smiling back. On instinct.

But…you couldn’t get this too complicated quickly. No, you read enough Romance novels to know where this kind of shit led up to. It wasn't right. You didn't like this...romance was in stories and fiction. Not in the real world. In the real world, where too many men, men like Roper, were just there to assert power and squash the women beneath them to prove a point. You couldn't risk that. Couldn't risk anything. Just enjoy a fleeting fantasy. A pretense. Like being an actor on the stage.

After dinner, he led you out to the balcony. There were a couple of other people out there smoking cigarettes and admiring the view of the city and the ocean at night. Then they began to walk off. You both were left alone. So you squared your voice.

"Thomas, promise me this thing. Don't get any emotions. Because I won't. Let's not get too attached to each other during this. The last thing I need is to actually believe our little game with Roper.”

He leaned over the balcony. A light breeze from the night drifted onto you both.

“What emotions should be involved?” he asked.

You felt yourself cross your arms. Your jaw hung open, but no words formed immediately.

“Um...Just....friendship I guess, nothing more," you answered.

He nodded with a small smile.

"If that is what makes you safe, then I won't mind," he assured you.

You put your forearms on the balcony. You looked out at the moonlight as its reflection still shimmered over the gentle rustling of the sea.

"You’re quite the gentleman," you acknowledged.

“I tried. I saw how uncomfortable they made you, Y/N. I feel sorry you have to go through that… You don’t deserve to feel unsafe," he said.

"Thank you....Thomas, Maybe I should return the favor…Is there anything I can help you with, Thomas?" you asked, turning to him.

He looked at you. Then he licked his lips and took in a breath, ready to say his boon.

"Not really, just this one thing..." he began.

“What is it?”

"If they're going to believe we're a couple...we have to know things about each other. That’s what couples do. They might test us. Especially when we’re alone. That's what couples do.”

You tilted your head.

"Have you been in relationships before?" you asked curiously.

He nodded.

"Married briefly, then we divorced. We were both young-too young to understand what marriage meant. And...there was a woman once but...it didn't work out," he answered.

You heard the wind whistle in your ear.

"Even with those- you learn things about each other. I could tell you my ex-wife liked to paint. Jed could tell you what Roper's favorite color is if you asked her," he pointed out. "You know...hobbies. Foods. Favorite colors. What are yours, Y/N?"

You blinked. Then opening your mouth, you began your answers. “Well, for one, I like to read. I bring books in my purses in case events get dull. Jed would tease me about it. I have her and our mom…but things are complicated right now...”

It felt like some icebreaker activity on the first day of school. But he smiled warmly, nodding. You described what you liked to do. Your favorite foods you couldn't resist. And the colors that you liked the most. Thomas relaxed to a smile and nodded.

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied.

You drummed your fingers on the balcony.

"Do you have hobbies, Thomas?" you asked.

He nodded.

"Yes. I like to read, too. I collect books," he answered. He stood up and put his hands in his pockets.

"Ooo, and your family?"

"Father died. Then my mum. Never had a real family. Just foster homes."

You looked down to the ground.

"Oh...I'm sorry..."

He then took out his hand. He touched your chin, lifting it gently to look at him. He only shrugged with a calm expression on his face.

"Don't be...I only got to have many families. I was with a family who spoke Arabic. Another spoke German. I learned their languages, too."

"Cool! Do you know a phrase you can teach me?" you asked.

He nodded. He looked around, then his eyes met yours again.

"Easily-here's a German one. Die Sterne sind heute Nacht hell."

"And that means..."

He removed a hand from his pocket and pointed at the sky.

"The stars are bright tonight..."

Both of you looked up-an expanse of stars glowed above you. They were so bright they glistened down. Their own light gave his skin a more silver glow to him. You saw he smiled and his shoulders relaxed. He looked beautiful, looking up, admiring the sky.

“Yes…they’re very pretty,” you said.

There was a knock on the glass door and you turned and saw Jed. She signaled to you that the guests were heading out and you had to say your goodbyes. You both flashed a "couple" smile and a brief, half "couple" hug. Especially with her eyes on the both of you. As you headed back inside, she turned to you.

“Well, first you had Danny, now you have Elena, and now Thomas! It’s like you hardly see me!” she teased.

“Oh, by all means- join us in our room, we could get a sleeping bag for you! And don’t pretend you don’t have your own man too.”

She smirked, then gave you a kiss on the side of her head. But as you looked back, Thomas was still admiring the sky.

The next morning, you woke up in your room to the sounds of birds. You listened to Elena snore in the bed next to you. She went on her stomach, and her dark hair splayed across the pillow. It was like the snore of a puppy and it was pretty cute, you had to admit.

She was resting. She was sleeping. She was alive-her inhales and exhales signaled by his body rising and falling softly.

When you went over to her counter, you took note of something you hadn't noticed- prescription bottles. Looking at them, you saw her counselor prescribed her anti-depressants yesterday. You smiled. It did look like she was going to have to take one in the morning. You'd have to remind her. Normally, you’d get water or coffee, but you made a promise not to leave her alone. You would honor it. Just in case she woke up. But as you sat by in the room, you turned your head to the window to look outside. Dear God, You were glad you looked.

Outside, you saw none other than your fake boyfriend, Thomas, running on the beach in dark shorts. No shoes. And no shirt.

You felt the corners of your lips tug up as if a smile was brewing. You felt your eyes glaze over his muscled abdominals- he was lean but you could count the six packs on his ripped stomach. His pectorals bounced with the force of his jogging. All of a sudden, you understood heterosexual men a lot more. He was delicious. His determined eyes shot forward like nothing on earth was going to stop him from getting to the other side of that beach. And that was alluring, to put it mildly. You could have squealed and pressed your face to the window like a fangirl, but stayed put. Savoring each inch of him. From his short hair to the trail of hair on his lower stomach leading you to the center of sin. His muscled arms with bulging biceps moved with each turn of his shoulder per step. You found yourself creeping to a corner. So he wouldn't see. So you could indulge yourself. Oogle him. Even lust after him. He was getting very sweaty and you could feel his breathing with how hard he ran. Then you would be blessed with imagining him taking a shower.

You were tempted for a second to wake up Elena so she could see him too and drool over him. But honestly, it went in a second because you could not take your eyes off of him.

“Holy shit” was the only phrase in your head as you watched him continue to run on. Even seeing how his sweat was hinted at by the glow of the rising sun. His trail grazed the ocean and the water splashed from his running. And his feet weren't the only thing starting to get damp.

You felt warm and tingly as he ran by. Your pussy was beginning to....feel things you hadn't felt in a long while. Then he was gone. You had a good look at his perfect, peachy behind and the back of his muscular thighs in the shorts and then he went on his way.

You swallowed. Pacing the floor, you shook your hands as if to shake the lust from your body. You were a lot more thrilled you had to be a pretend girlfriend to him. All the man on earth and it was him you got to hold hands and sit next to! Any other girl could have him. It was a miracle he didn't have a hundred lovers at this point- but he was yours! All yours!

No-NO! A more rational part of your brain yelled.

Yes, he's hot. But it's fake. Don't let your feelings get involved. He's a nice man. He’s got an amazing body. But he's still a man. Yes, he's hot, but it's fake, Y/N, you reminded yourself that morning.

It's fake, it's fake, it's fake.

That morning at breakfast, you could smell that Thomas had taken a shower. Elena stood by you when he greeted you. He used a soap scented with citrus. God, the fantasy of him taking a shower was screaming in your impulsive thoughts now. He went up to you and smiled. In Boyfriend ™ mode, he gave you a half-hug.

“How are you, darling?” he asked.

“I’m alright. Starving.”

“Then let’s get you something to eat then,” he said as the chef wheeled in omelets and toast for everybody.

You looked over around the table. Then a sight caught you that hit you like a brick.

Sandy and Caro had hired a nanny- a gorgeous young woman hired to look after Sady and Caro's two little boys. But Sandy sat next to the beautiful woman and smiled at her. Not in a way that felt appropriate.

“Why, don’t you look beautiful this morning!? Did you wake up like this?” he asked the lady.

“Oh…yes! Yes, I did,” she replied flirtatiously.

Wait a minute, you thought. How long has she been here? When you counted the weeks, you realized that there was a correlation between Sandy stopping his flirting with you when she first arrived. No coincidence. Your mind spiraled further.

The woman knew he was a married man. It was not stopping her.

Whipping your eyes to the side you saw Caro blink. Her face went pale. Then red. Then pale again. Their boys complained bout wanting pancakes and she would tell the chef to make some batter for them. But Caro didn't eat the rest of her food.

You felt suddenly sick. You gripped your fork in your hand.

“Is everything alright, Y/N?” Thomas asked, his jaw tight but his voice earnest.

“I…I, uh, we’ll talk later. Not right now,” you said.

Thomas was there, he slipped a hand to hold yours as you ate.

The next day, you took Elena to visit the church before getting some lunch somewhere. It was a blazing day and you were grateful for the coolness of the cathedral. A sanctuary in many ways. The heat. And for Elena. Both of you sat down. You saw her make the sign of the cross and half kneel before sitting at a pew. She was right- this was a safe place. And maybe if Roper was the devil, then he couldn't touch you here. Neither of you.

"How is therapy going?" you asked.

"It's...it's good. Very good. I never listened to someone...as kind as her...I never felt so...so safe. No guards. No Papi. Nothing. She told me all sorts of things. I cry almost the whole time. But she…she listens to me. She believes me. She tells me every feeling and part of life is only temporary and the bad feelings and bad parts eventually go away…"

"That's good. I'm glad. And the apartment search? Have you picked a city?"

"I'd like to live here. It's not too far but far enough. I'm looking at applications...And you- how are you and Thomas?"

"We're...we're good, thank you."

"Just good? How did you two meet?" she asked.

"Well...he rescued Danny. Roper brought him to recover. Got to talk to him a lot. Then he asked me out." So far, so good. You just prayed he would say the same if someone asked him.

"Does he kiss you?"

"Yes," you lied.

"I don't see it. I see your sister kiss Roper all the time."

"Thomas...it's the British in him. Stiff upper lip. He's not the PDA type outside of hands and hugging. That might be pushing it....he kissed me the other night under the stars at the party." you added with a smile. Your memory flashed to Thomas staring up at the sky.

"Huh...nice...but Y/N...I’ve been scared..."

She blinked.

"Will Roper...catch me? Will he...kill me? He's not beneath it. I know he is."

"Why would Roper want to kill the daughter of his lawyer? He'd turn his own ally against him?"

Her jaw tightened.

"He'll see...that I'm not happy...he knows I know the truth about him…"

“Then why hasn’t he done it yet?” you asked.

“I…I don’t know…but I want to get out now!"

"Then..." you turned around.

"Then that means, if you're not happy draining his wealth, then we'll get out of here. Just bear it-be patient, Elena. We have to find you an apartment first...and then we go through the application process."

Her eyes shined.

"Anywhere is better than at Roper''s."

"Okay...we'll take some time here. You can go to the confessional if you want. Whenever you're ready...let's find a place that's leasing. Ask them some questions. See what you might like.”

Elena nodded. After a bit, you saw her go off and have a chat with the other people around the cathedral. Old women kissing their cross necklaces. Tourists taking photos on their phones. Funny...that was the same pregnant tourist she talked to on the first day! Maybe a pregnant Catholic tourist. She went back to you and you gave her a smile as you both stood up and walked down the halls to the door.

You commented "One thing to remember about yourself Elena- you're a good person. You make friends with everyone- no wonder that lady keeps coming back to you! People like you!"

She sighed and her shoulders sagged.

“What is it?”

"Y/N…I feel sometimes I’m…I’m yelling for help to get out, but at my parents, at Roper’s…it’s like no one can hear me. I should be happy. But I’m not…I'm just...just a whining, weak little rich girl..."

Tears were in the ducts of her eyes.

"No, Elena. Don’t discredit yourself. You are going through a hard time. Something happened to you to make you think there was no getting better. And that poor girl may think she has no other escape...but there is...there always is…and you are not alone...”

You turned to her, gripping her shoulders.

“Deaths’ a permanent solution to a temporary problem. You have to remember that. Your problems are real…so are mine! But they are temporary!”

You swallowed, your voice broke with your words yet you spoke on. But you saw Eelena smile despite her sobs.

“You’re already seeking help. And getting therapy and talking. And we’re getting you a new place. Even if it takes a while, you’re going to get out of Roper’s grasp and never look back, and never have to live off of blood money again!! Neither of us will!"

You were crying too.

"I promise you. We will get you to escape. We'll find something- I will do whatever it takes. That little rich girl isn't whiny or weak...she's a brave young woman who looked at death right in its eye and when she was going to cross….she chose life instead. She did the right thing. She's a hero who saved herself and she deserves to be happy."

Crying, she hugged you deeply.

“Oh, Y/N! Thank you! T-thank you-u-u,” she replied, her own voice breaking with tears. But it felt nice. Freeing. Crying released the tension between the two of you. “You’re a strong woman, Elena. I’m proud of you-just for living. Just for surviving.”

After lunch, both of you toured apartments around. Elena lit up and smiled with each bare corner and wall you both saw. As you returned, it was a lazy evening. You were enjoying your reading while lounging at the pool. You saw Thomas walk around and saw Elena chatting with him. Part of you was tempted to be jealous or concerned. But it was alright. There seemed nothing inappropriate between them. Let her make another friend. But Caro only sat by the edge dipping her bare feet in the water. Her face was despondent. Staring at nothing.

There was a dinner the next day. It was no party (Corky was grateful- guests were a lot to keep track of). But it was nice as always. Nice with lobsters for everyone and large glasses of wine for each person. You saw Corky was already on his third one as he dug into his crab cakes and spuds. You had to grin. At least he was off your back when he had a few.

But Jonathan was handsome as ever. In just a dark suit and white shirt, he still appeared like a Greek god in the flesh. Whenever he smiled at you, it was like you had swallowed a bird and it was flying around in your stomach.

"Is there any...dessert you'd like to split?" he'd ask.

"Yes, uhm...how about...uh- a slice of cake- sweetie," you said, adding emphasis on the last two words should anyone hear.

"Cake sounds marvelous, my dear," he said, feeling yourself tingle at the words. Enjoying the fakeness while it lasted.

Elena looked at you and gave a smile over her chicken as she continued to eat.

Yes- eat. Drink water. Sleep. Live, Elena, live, I'll get you out. You’re going to live. You’re going to be happy with your life, I promise...

"Oh, Thomas! One would think you were a nun and a eunuch!" Roper teased.

You shot up. You made a point by leaning closer and holding Thomas’s hand.

“Roper, really…” you said. But you were interrupted.

"Go on, Y/N is as sweet as that dessert, why don't you give her a little kiss on the cheek..."

You looked down, an embarrassed laugh coming out of you. Thomas opened his mouth to speak, but Roper pressed further. He was testing you both and he knew it. Like you were both his playthings.

"C'mon! Just a peck, Loverboy!” Roper pressed.

You glanced at him and he at you.

“Would you be okay if I kissed you, just on the cheek?” Thomas asked.

“Uh, yes. Sure.”

He leaned in close. You could smell the food on his breath and feel warm air from his nostrils, from his breathing. Then he brought his lips to your cheek. They were soft. Gentle. Like a drizzle in April. You felt your whole body get hot. The fact you were kissed in such a spot. It was as chaste as chaste could be. Yet you could have melted from how tender his lips felt against the skin of your cheek. Then he retreated.

Roper smiled and lifted his glass, taking a sip of his chardonnay.

It then struck you. Sandy and the babysitter had been gone. Too long. Suspiciously long. Then, from the hallway, you heard steps. And laughter- both deep masculine and bright feminine voices. The nanny returned first. The nanny was blushing, but smiling as she returned. Then a few minutes later, Sandy walked returned. You saw his shirt looked disshelved and there was a swagger to his steps.

The asshole wasn’t even subtle or secret about it.

Caro looked devastated. Her face was white. She was shaking. Everyone turned their faces away and kept talking as if nothing happened. Even if Caro looked like she was going to break in a hundred bits. You could tell it was everything in her not to cry in front of her boys.

“Well, I hope everyone has room for dessert. Hear the cake’s magnificent! A chef Ludesma signature!” Sandy announced with a flourish of his voice. That stupid asshole. Caro was devoted to him and she loved him. She did everything right- gorgeous socialite mom who gave Sandy two sons to take fishing and to sports games to be more copies of their father. She always got her hair and nails done and her clothes always looked in place. She was friendly and polite to everyone and you never heard of her capable of hurting a fly. Caro never stepped a toe out of line and looked away when men hit on her. And that bastard cheated on her anyway.

She did everything right and she was the one crying. He was having an affair, and he was smiling.

You had had enough. You got right out of your chair. Thomas looked up at you, but his face remained neutral.

You went up to Sandy before your self-control could get you. You took Sandy and looked him in the eye. He went up, wiping his mouth with his napkin- you didn’t see it closely but you knew the nanny wore pink lipstick. Sandy looked up at you with that stupid, shit-eating grin.

"Y/N, how are-"

You slapped him hard before he could finish his sentence. The crowd gasped and chairs squeaked as people got up. Sandy immediately got up, trying to let his tallness and his masculinity scare you away. But you did not back down.

“Y/N, what was the point of-”

Before he could finish that, you gave him a kick in the groin too. He groaned and leaned over in pain, then you grabbed his shirt.

"You stop fucking that babysitter, or I WILL use one of the wine glasses and break it and cut your balls off with it, do you understand?" you raged.

His eyes went wide and he gritted his teeth. You saw his fists curled as if ready to punch you. You took a step back but didn’t stop glaring his eyes.

“Caro loves you and this is how you repay her, you prick?! She doesn’t deserve you. You’re lucky she hasn’t stabbed you!” you continued.

“You little bitch!” Sandy cursed.

But the party already ran up to you. People held both Sandy and you back.

Roper stood up. He went over to Sandy and got him, restraining him from lunging. You felt Jed and Thomas get up and get you, pulling you back. Then you shot your eyes into the nanny to give her a death glare. You would have slapped her too if it wasn't for Jed holding you back.

“! You’re as bad as he is! You KNEW he was married, and it didn’t stop you, you little-”

Jed pulled you away. And you gritted your teeth as the nanny stared horrified, frozen in her seat.

Sandy meanwhile was pointing a meaty, sausage-like finger in your direction.

"Did you see what she did!? She attacked me!” he cried.

"Now, Sandy, don't panic...it's just a scuffle. I don't see a mark on your cheek. Not a large one, anyway." Roper began.

He glared at you. His voice steeled with more venom than you could imagine.

"We know the lowest brothels in Munich and we'll sell you straight to them this minute !" he threatened.

You felt your jaw clench. Terror gripped you and you couldn't move, couldn't think.

“No! Please! Please don’t!” Jed begged, leaning forward.

Then Thomas stepped forward. He replaced Jed's arm around you and then leaned out a hand in peace. Jed ran forward to beg Roper and Sandy not to sell you off as punishment. Could they...could they do that...oh no...what on earth had you done!?!

Thomas however, was still quiet. But he was strong. You found yourself wanting to nuzzle into his shirt. You could smell his cologne subtly applied. He was again...so warm and soft. And safe. He then began speaking with such authority, anyone had to listen.

"Please...everyone...let's not fret ourselves. Sandy has done wrong, and he should acknowledge how much this hurt his wife. Don’t be upset at Y/N, either. She’s fiercely devoted to her friends, especially the women here. She was trying to protect Caro," he reasoned.

He looked down at you. His gaze softened and you felt yourself relax a little near him. His arm enclasped you in an embrace. Youcould feel his pulse in his body. You hugged him back and swallowed hard.

Roper furrowed his brow. He then took a step forward and spoke to your pretend boyfriend giving you a very real defense.

"If she was my woman...she would be off to Germany by now. But she's not. Thomas, you have to learn to control your woman. I do so with Jed. Sandy does it with Caro. Now it’s your turn. Take her to your quarters. Give her a dressing down. Or we will have to do it for you,” threatened Roper.

You felt your heart race inside your ears. This was some real 19th-century bullshit Roper was pulling out of his ass. Would that be…be possible? Now even Jed looked scared. So very scared. And she stopped trying to beg him. Oh god, now it was going to happen to you. Elena and her parents were silent and you saw the teenage girl trembling. She took a step forward out of her seat, but then Roper put an arm up to stop her.

Thomas then put his hand around your arm.

“Here…I will take her to my room and I will dress her down, as we say. Just give us a moment…” he began.

Thomas was a nice man. A docile, polite, quiet, if not slightly mild man when you talked to him. He wouldn’t…beat you. He didn't seem the type. hen again, you remembered a phrase you heard once. It was always the ones you would never suspect. You bit back your bile. Your legs were shaking so badly, you wondered if you were standing.

“Here, Y/N…come with me…” he directed.

You had no choice but to follow as he led you by pulling you with him. His touch felt like a grip this time. You were shaking. Then he led you out. Out of that building. The guards nodded and let him. Out into the cool night air with the crickets and stars. You could still smell the sea too. It would usually be comforting. But this was not usual. You saw his muscles and big hands- he could overtake you in a fight. A blow from his fists would hurt. He could easily overpower you. You should have known. You should have known he was Roper's friend. And friends meant one's future-your sister's future. Yours.

He had a smaller cottage near the property. He took you right inside into the front foyer- a little hall with a kitchenette right there. Then he locked the door and looked at you. His jaw tight. Then he took a step forward. You squeezed your eyes shut and braced yourself.

“Just get it over with, quick!” you insisted.

“Y/N…you're safe here. They would have pressured me to hit you. But I'm not. Not here or anywhere. I’m not going to hurt you…” he said.

You opened your eyes. Your shoulders relaxed though your heart was still racing. He went up to you.

“Thomas, what are you talking about?” you hissed.

He leaned in close. His voice was just a whisper.

“You don’t have to call me Thomas here…you can call me Jonathan.”

“What…you have another name?” you asked, your mind reeling with every word he said.

“Yes-Jonathan Pine.”

#jonathan pine stories #18+ fic recs #sas stories #talented mutuals #amazing mutuals #writers supporting writers

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archived-junkissed · 2 years ago

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campus cat dad

member — uni bf!vernon x reader genre — fluff, humor, college au word count — 1.9k warnings — vernon calls reader his girlfriend but no pronouns mentioned, vernon is precious i’m gonna cry, the cat has the funniest name ever notes — lowercase intended. this is based off an actual club at my university that feeds and neuters feral cats on campus because i thought vernon would definitely be a part of it, he just likes the kitties <3 alley cat allies is also a real organization! if you’d like to help protect cats around the world you can donate here. this post isn’t sponsored or anything just a cute idea :)

thanks to @hyucks-rose for helping brainstorm :D

one reblog = one cat i will personally adopt

“i told you, babe, i don’t have time to join any clubs! i have calculus homework!”

“but vernie, i know you’ll like it! just come to one meeting, please?” you protest, putting on your best pout.

he sighs, giving you a pout of his own. “just because there’s cats doesn’t mean i’ll like it.”

you tilt your head and give him a look.

“okay, okay, fine!” he relents. “i probably would like it. but i just don’t have time.”

“oh, just like you don’t have time to play games with wonwoo every day?”

he glares at you, but you can see the smile in his eyes. “one meeting. that’s it.”

you grin triumphantly. “are you driving or me?”

he grabs the keys from the hook by the apartment door, shoving them in his pocket and holding up a finger. “one meeting!”

“hurry up! we have to make sure they’re still there!”

four weeks (and many meetings) later, you’re being hurried out the door by vernon, on your way to the south end of campus, having received a tip on the club’s website about a kitten sighting.

despite his early protests, vernon has quickly become the mascot of your campus’s chapter of alley cat allies, an organization that feeds and neuters feral cats and kittens before returning them to where they were found or helping them get adopted.

vernon volunteers to drive everyone out for trappings and vet appointments, keeps bags of dry cat food in the trunk of his car, he even helped design club t-shirts for everyone. he dotes on the cats, and the club dotes on him. they’ve never had a member so enthusiastic about… well, everything.

the car rolls to a stop at the dorm parking lot and vernon jumps out, grabbing the traps and blankets from the backseat.

you follow him back behind the buildings, tiptoeing as quietly as you can so as not to startle any kitties you might come across. it's late, later than you've been out trapping before, but vernon didn't want the kitten to spend another night outside.

you yawn and help him latch the trap open, filling a bowl of aromatic wet food to attract the cats before laying it inside the trap, surrounded by blankets. it’s the time of year when the nights start to get freezing, plus covering the trap makes cats less wary of going inside, so he always makes sure there’s plenty of thick, warm fabric in his car.

vernon positions a small camera on the branch of a nearby tree, angled at the trap so you can monitor it from the warmth of his car. some days you’ll be out there for hours, hoping to trap a cat someone reported, but to no avail.

after putting the trap in a secluded spot, you head back to the car. vernon turns the car on and flips the heater on, stretching into the backseat to grab another blanket and stretch it across both your laps.

his phone is set up on the dashboard so you can watch the camera, so you grab the aux cord to plug in your phone to play some quiet music while you wait.

after over an hour and not so much as a rustle on the camera, you’re starting to get tired.

“vernie, it’s late, we gotta go home,” you yawn, shifting in the passenger seat. “we can’t stay here all night. and you told me you have an exam tomorrow.”

“it’s just geography, it’s not that hard,” he says, waving it off. “besides, it’s too close to winter. if we leave them out here they’ll freeze to death. c’mon, please,” he whines. “just a little longer. you can sleep, i’ll do everything.”

you sigh. “fine,” you say, settling in and pulling the blanket up higher around you. “but wake me up if anything happens.”

what feels like only seconds but is probably more like an hour later, you feel a hand gently shaking your leg. “baby, wake up! they’re here! it’s time!”

“who? santa?” you ask groggily.

“the cat!!”

a car door shuts as you sit up, rubbing the little bit of sleep from your eyes after your catnap. indeed, you can hear quiet mews coming from his phone, still monitoring the camera.

before you know it the passenger side door opens, blasting you with cold air. grumbling, you throw your blanket in the backseat and climb out of the car, where vernon is waiting.

carefully the two of you go searching into the trees, walking as quietly as possible until you reach the spot where you hid the trap. and sure enough, there’s a little friend hiding inside.

“hi, baby,” vernon coos, lifting the cage gently to speak to the kitten. “it’s okay now, you’re safe. we’re gonna get you all cleaned up, and some nice warm food, and then…”

he keeps talking but you stop paying attention and the words fade out as you watch how enthralled he is with the kitten. the excited little face he makes and the sparkle in his eyes as he tells the kitten all about the wonderful life they have ahead of them.

he points the cage towards you, bringing your focus back. “this is my girlfriend, and we’re gonna take good care of you, little buddy.”

you giggle and tug on his arm, pulling him back towards the car.

back at your apartment, you take the cage upstairs and carefully transfer the kitten into a cat carrier as vernon runs some warm water to give the little guy a bath.

as president of the club, new cats always stay with you and vernon in your shared apartment until you can take them to the vet to get neutered and given all their shots. despite his calculus homework, he insists on driving you and the kitties to every appointment: the vet, the adoption shelter, the pet store. you always warn him one day he’ll get too attached, but he always laughs and gives you a kiss, telling you he already is.

“can we keep him?”

you look up, your hands still submerged in warm, soapy water.

“vernon, you know we can’t.”

“but why not?” he pouts. “we have to keep him over the weekend until the vet opens on monday, anyway. and you always said you wanted to get a cat together.”

“i didn’t mean right now!”

“at least wait til after the weekend. please? he’s so cute… we can’t just put him up for adoption. who knows how long he’ll be in there.”

you pull the plug from the sink, letting the water drain out as you hand vernon the kitten, where he’s waiting with a big fluffy towel to dry him off.

“he’s a kitten. kittens get adopted fast. if we’re gonna get a cat we should adopt an older one,” you say.

“why not have both?” he grins.

there’s a sudden mew, and you both look down at the kitten. “see, he agrees with me,” vernon says.

you sigh. “we’ll see what happens at the meeting tuesday."

the weekend comes and goes, and vernon spends every second he can with his new friend. you come back from work saturday to see him sitting on the couch on his laptop, the kitten sleeping soundly in his lap.

you sneak a peek at his computer screen as you walk past, and hold in a laugh when you see the pet store website pulled up, browsing collars.

the next time you catch him researching, he’s on your apartment complex’s association website, reading about their rules on pets while he flicks a toy on a string around and the kitten bounces around happily.

when you climb in bed that night, vernon yelps and tugs the blankets from underneath you.

“hey, be careful! you almost sat on vernard!”

you almost spit out your tea. “vernard? are you joking?”

he grins. “it’s cute, right?”

you snort. “no. and he’s in my spot.”

“it’s his spot now. sorry, he claimed it.”

you roll your eyes and pretend to sulk away. “wow. can’t believe i’m sleeping on the couch because of vernard.”

he reaches out, grabbing your wrist before you can walk away. “no– wait! uh… vernard changes his mind. he’ll snuggle with me," he says. "and so can you," he adds quickly.

you giggle and get back in bed, gently petting the kitten now in vernon’s lap. “oh, how very generous, thank you, vernard.”

as usual, vernon drives you to the cat’s vet appointment, but instead of sitting at reception and cooing at the other pets in the waiting room like he usually does, he insists on coming with you, saying “he doesn’t want to leave vernard by himself because he might get scared.”

he’s attached to the kitten, you can already tell; he treats him like his son. and when vernon shows up to the club meeting that tuesday, you know there’s no way you’re putting that kitten up for adoption now.

vernard’s been blinged out, wearing a sparkly black collar around his cone that stands out against his light fur. vernon carries him carefully in his arms and sits at the front near you so you can open the meeting.

instantly the room fills with awws as the members rush to see his new friend. the kitten yelps at the attention, turning its back to everyone and curling into vernon’s arms, hiding its face.

after everyone’s done fawning over vernard and giggling about the little cone on his head, you explain the successful trapping over the weekend, as well as his successful vet appointment yesterday.

unlike usual, vernon’s noticeably quiet the whole meeting, and when you glance over, he’s gently running his finger behind vernard’s ears. he’s purring so loud, you’re sure the entire room can hear.

you clear your throat. “one last thing for today’s agenda. seeing as we’ve become so… attached, to this kitten, i’ve been reading up on our constitution, and there’s nothing that explicitly says we have to release every cat we find. but if we choose to keep the cat instead of putting them up for adoption, we have to go to a vote.” you smile at vernon, who’s beaming proudly from his chair. “i motion we allow one of our members to adopt this cat. can i get a second?”

one of the members speaks up eagerly. “i second the motion!”

you nod. “all in favor?”

every hand in the room shoots into the air. no one would dare ask him to part with his best buddy, and the vote passes unanimously.

you grin. “alright, then the motion has been accepted.”

vernon turns around, waving the kitten’s tiny little paw at the members. “welcome to the family, vernard!”

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jessamine-rose · 2 years ago

Note

Hello! i think u wrote somewhere in ur blog that all the genshin yanderes fanfics r in the same universes right? :o If u dont mind me asking, what do u think would happens if the darlings meet? I hope its ok to ask this <3

Read my Yandere! Harbinger fics first!!

Read the second Darling Crossover here~

Aahhh thank you for asking this, Anonie!! I had originally entertained a darling crossover, but I never got to it lol. It’s much funnier to imagine the Harbingers comparing each other’s relationships xD

Here are some bullet points on the darlings’ dynamics!! I also wrote a short drabble featuring some special info ;>

✿ Damsel/ Capitano’s Darling ✿

♡ Damsel is the newest and most “mysterious” darling. She doesn’t really care about the other darlings and only treats them with basic politeness. After a few words of acknowledgement, she avoids further socialization by reading her books or sticking to Capitano’s side -.-

♡ She isn’t fond of Kitty’s attempts at socializing, but at least the latter respects her comfort zone. After Kitty loses her Vision, Damsel can only pity her…..but then again, doesn’t she look more happy and at peace? It is better if they resign themselves to their fates.

♡ She is absolutely afraid of Dottore and his Assistant, so she often avoids them. She is unnerved by how the couple interacts with her, almost as though they are analyzing her. It is a shame given Assistant’s knowledge on plants and ancient literature.

⬩ Kitty/ Pantalone’s Darling ⬩

♡ Kitty is the friendliest darling among the three. As a Harbinger’s spouse, she finds it important to establish social connections with her fellow darlings. It could potentially benefit Pantalone’s relationship with his coworkers, after all >:’0

♡ She has a hard time interacting with Damsel because of their stark differences. Extrovert vs. introvert, sheltered vs. independent, wealthy vs. commoner, craves attention vs. keeps to herself……at least Damsel seems nice and unproblematic.

♡ She has a better relationship with Assistant. On the rare chance that they meet each other, it is the latter who initiates a friendly conversation. She is envious of the fact that Assistant can directly work with Dottore and see him everyday.

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ Assistant/ Dottore’s Darling ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ

♡ Assistant is the oldest darling among the three. Given her Fatui position and individual accomplishments, she finds it interesting to think about the other darlings’ passive roles. Upon hearing about their marriages, she considered asking Dottore for a change in their relationship status <3

♡ She, like everyone else, is curious about Damsel’s melancholy countenance and obscure background. She promptly began to dislike her upon realizing the former’s nervousness around Dottore. She is just another simpleton who doesn’t recognize Zandik’s greatness.

♡ Her slight fascination with Kitty stems from Dottore’s assistance in Pantalone’s relationship. She was the one who helped the Doctor create the catnip-scented perfume and flammable uniform, after all~ The change in Kitty’s personality since her Vision loss is proof of a successful experiment.

⚘◈♡

“Hey, how long until the Harbingers’ meeting ends?”

The Fatui guard remains silent. Assistant adjusts her mask, turning to their coworkers.

“Why are there so many of you, anyway? Do we require that much protection? I don’t know about the other two, but I can take care of myself.”

She glances at the other two guests. Kitty is watching her from the sofa, waiting for her to come back and resume their earlier conversation. Damsel is seated by the window, absorbed in yet another fantastical book.

Her voice lowers to a whisper. “Or are you here for surveillance? Ensuring that we won’t plan a joint escape, perhaps?”

What a ridiculous thought. Why would any of them want to leave their lovers?

No response. She sighs and walks over to the far corner of the drawing room.

“Can any of you play chess?” she asks. She takes out a chessboard and sets it on the coffee table. “If only ______ were here. She is quite the formidable opponent.”

And an interesting specimen if she were allowed to say that.

Kitty tilts her head, cat ears twitching. “______? Who is that?”

“Oh, you don’t know her?” Assistant sits on the sofa and begins arranging the chess pieces. “I suppose that makes sense. She is rarely allowed to make a public appearance, after all.”

“Are you referring to the Jester’s lover?”

When did Damsel listen in on their conversation? She looks up from her book.

“Do you know her?” asks Kitty.

She shakes her head. “Capitano only mentioned her to me once.”

The Fatui guards remain silent, but their subtle movements expose their own curiosity.

Assistant smiles at them. “Well, she is a lovely conversationalist if I do say so myself. I wonder if she gets bored staying at home all the time.”

What time is it? The Harbingers should be returning for their darlings soon. Then they can all go their separate ways and continue their blissful lives.

She holds up a white pawn, observing it under the artificial light of the room.

“Who knows? If you are lucky, you may meet her someday.”

♡

Aaahh my babies!! To think that I’d reach the point where I have three darlings with their own distinct nicknames, personalities, and twisted stories. Sadly, because of how broken and different they are, plus the rarity of their meetings, this is the closest we have to a crossover between them ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ

And yes, I just dropped a teaser for my next yandere Harbinger fic!! I hope you’ll enjoy my next darling when I’m able to write her story~

Also, I’ll use this post to inform y’all that my AUTHOR’S NOTE for Chemistry was recently posted!! Do read it if you’d like to know the details of my Yandere! Dottore’s fic~ For some reason, the post won’t show up in the tags -.-

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lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks · 3 years ago

Text

Grabbing Smoke

As much time as Sam spent with her best friends, sometimes she enjoyed a little bit of time alone.

Tucker was helping his mother bake cookies for some kind of fundraiser for the hospital, and Danny was busy visiting Pandora for fighting lessons. Apparently they were using swords today.

As fun as it sounded, Sam opted to stay behind, it had been a while since she'd been down to the park to feed the ducks. She didn't get quiet moments like that very often any more.

There was an uncharacteristic skip to her gait as she walked to the park, a canvas tote bag swinging from her arm.

Living in Amity Park, and especially hanging around with Danny, gave her an eerie sense to when something was amiss. Nothing quite like Danny's ghost sense, but she'd learned to detect a particular chill to the air, a prickling at the back of her neck. It could easily be mistaken for a chilly breeze, but Sam knew better. The crunch of gravel under Sam's boots was the only sound permeating the still air, not even the trees were rustling.

She continued her walk through the park, past the wishing fountain and through a trail where the trees grew slightly more dense.

The trail opened up to a large pond, it wasn't anything especially picturesque, the reeds were a little overgrown, the ground was muddy, but there were a few simple weather worn benches by the path that looped around the water.

Sam took a seat, pulling out a bag of frozen peas. She opened it, tipped a few into her hand and tossed them into the water.

The ducks immediately sped across the pond toward her, fighting for the peas that the turtles hadn't already gotten to.

Instead of grabbing another handful, she held the bag out to the empty seat to her left, waiting for a moment before shaking the bag impatiently.

A green hand slipped into the bag, pulling out a handful of peas before tossing them into the water.

"How'd you know I was here?" Kitty asked, now sitting visibly on the other end of the bench as Sam poured out more peas for both of them.

"I have my ways." Sam smirked. "What I want to know is why you've been following me all week."

"You knew for that long and you didn't say nothin'?" Kitty huffed. "Damn, I gotta up my game."

A duck waddled up and nibbled on her boot.

"Alright alright, ya hungry little doofus." Kitty lowered a hand full of peas and cooed as the duck happily ate from her palm. "Aww these guys aren't shy at all, do you come here a lot?"

"When I can." Sam tossed a few more peas into the water for the turtles. "So why are you following me?"

Kitty sat back and pressed her lips together, thinking.

"Look it's just... I don't remember much from when I was livin', you know? It's all sorta grey and fuzzy, I can't remember what anyone looked like, except Johnny." she tossed some peas to a smaller duck at the back of the group. "But as soon as I showed up here in town and I saw your face, I thought I felt... I dunno, somethin'. Like I'd seen you before, or maybe you just reminded me of someone, but I can't remember who, it's like grabbing smoke."

She lobbed a few peas a little harder than was necessary at the water. The turtles sucked them up greedily.

"So you've just been following me hoping you might remember something else?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Kitty sighed. "But it's not working."

Sam swung her foot idly between a pair of scuffling ducks, splitting them up before tossing out some more peas.

"Maybe I'm related to someone you knew. Where did you grow up?"

Kitty frowned down at the water.

"I... I don't know." she said, deflating somewhat. "I didn't even realise I forgot that."

Sam couldn't help but feel for her, Danny had told her that ghosts would often forget things from their past, especially once they'd been dead for longer than they'd been alive. Somehow she had never really considered how terrifying that must be.

"You know..." Sam started carefully. "I could show you some old family photos. Maybe you'll recognise someone?"

Kitty looked up, eyes shining brightly.

"Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Why not?" Sam shrugged. "If you were here to cause trouble you would have done it by now."

"Aw, I never thought you'd wanna do something like that for me." said Kitty, smiling brightly. "You always seemed like such a bitch."

Sam laughed.

"If you'd spent a week being someone that wasn't Paulina, I would probably have seemed like less of a bitch."

"So you guys are big rivals or somethin'?" Kitty asked, grabbing some more peas and giggling as three ducks tried to eat from her hand at once.

"It's more that we have... conflicting ideologies. She thinks that appearances and reputation are the most important things in life, just like my parents." Sam lobbed some more peas into the water, they both watched them disappear as the turtles quickly snapped them up. "It's shallow and stupid, and I don't get why they have to push that shit on everyone. I don't care what people think, I just want to be whoever the hell I wanna be without having to fight for it all the time."

Kitty's face turned contemplative as she tapped her nails on the back of the bench.

"I think... I was like that." she said, slowly. "I wanted to feel fun and exciting, but my parents..."

She trailed off, frowning.

"My parents... I didn't like them. They didn't like me bein' the way I was, I can't really remember why."

Sam emptied out the last of the peas and scattered them over the ground, she scrunched up the empty packet and shoved it back into her tote bag.

"You know, if we went to school together we would probably have gotten along." said Sam as she stood up, gesturing toward the path. "Let's go check out those photos."

Instead of floating invisibly behind, Kitty walked by Sam's side as they headed back to her house. She idly waved at people as they drove past, grinning when someone stared a little too long and almost ran a red light.

"You know, it's nice bein' able to walk around in the day." Kitty said, skipping a little. "Wish I could do it more often."

"What's stopping you?"

"What do you think?" Kitty's lip pulled up in disgust. "Any time I show up your dumb friend sucks me up in his stupid thermos. Only reason I can walk around right now is because I got you as my get out of jail free card."

"Danny doesn't care if you just want to walk around." Sam scoffed. "He lets ghosts wander around town all the time, he only gets involved when you start breaking things."

"Uggghhh but just walking around is so boring." Kitty pouted. "I mean yeah it's nice and I like it but it gets old real quick."

"Then you'll have to get used to getting tossed back in the ghost zone. Do not pass go, do not collect $200."

"Don't you ever get sick of his goody goody attitude?" Kitty asked. "I mean you and I aren't so different right? You're all about the rebel gig, don't you ever feel like keyin' some asshole's car, or takin' a baseball bat to some mail boxes?"

"Only if they deserve it." said Sam with a smirk. "But I feel like you aren't especially picky about whose stuff you're breaking."

They approached the door to the Manson mansion, Sam hopped up the steps and stuck the key in the lock. She touched the mezuzah on the doorpost without a second thought before opening the door and standing aside to invite Kitty in.

The ghost stared up at her warily.

"I can't get past it."

"Past what?" Sam asked.

"The mezuzah, it keeps me out."

"What?" Sam frowned. "It hasn't stopped other ghosts from getting in."

"Well it stops me." Kitty insisted. "I think it's got somethin' to do with what we believed in when we were alive. I haven't got a problem with churches but when Johnny tried to ride his bike through one he couldn't get in. His mom raised him Catholic, he says he doesn't believe in any of that stuff, but I think he still does, deep down."

"So does that mean you were Jewish?" Sam asked, smiling curiously.

"I AM Jewish." Kitty crossed her arms. "Bein' a ghost hasn't changed that, it just... means that we got a few things a little wrong."

Sam thought about that for a moment, before stepping aside and gesturing toward the door again.

"Well, if you've been invited and you're not going to cause any trouble, then I don't see why you shouldn't be able to come in."

Kitty climbed the steps slowly, fingers reaching out and cautiously brushing over the mezuzah, she didn't feel anything unusual, no zap or burn or pain. She took a step through the doorway and passed the threshold without issue, no invisible force or barrier like the last time she tried to follow Sam inside.

"Well, what do you know." she said, grinning.

Sam lead her into a large, open planned kitchen and dining area, the tiles were bright white save for the specks of mud Sam's boots tracked through the room. The decor was minimalist, the atmosphere bland and sterile, she could smell some kind of citrus surface cleaner.

The back wall was all windows, leading to a patio surrounded by perfectly trimmed grass. As they approached, Sam turned, heading towards a door to their right.

The next room felt a lot more friendly, it was full of bookshelves and red tones. The lounges looked soft and inviting, a fireplace sat cold and empty against the back wall, but Kitty didn't have to try hard to imagine it roaring to life, filling the room with its warm glow.

"This is basically my Grandma's part of the house." Sam informed her, voice low. "Her bedroom is just through there, she's usually napping around this time of day so try not to make too much noise."

Kitty slipped off her jacket and laid it over the back of the lounge, already feeling at home in the cosy little room. She looked over the books as Sam fussed around some kind of large ornate chest.

"Here it is." She hefted a large photo album from the chest, carefully closing and latching it again. "Let's see if you recognise anyone in here."

Kitty sat down beside Sam as she opened up the pristine book, the outer cover was beige with the name Manson inscribed in golden cursive on the front. The first page was full of old faded photos, in greyscale or sepia tones.

"Ugh, I'm not that old." said Kitty, flicking ahead a few pages.

The pictures were colourful now, but still grainy, there was a young blonde boy in seventies style jeans leaning casually against a Chevrolet.

"Wait hold up," Kitty pointed at the boy. "Him, I feel like I've seen him before."

"That's my dad." said Sam, surprised. "His name is Jeremy, did you know him?"

Kitty hummed a little, gently tracing a finger over the picture.

"Jeremy... Jeremy, I'm not sure," she frowned. "But he definitely looks familiar."

They continued through the book, when suddenly Kitty slapped her hand down roughly on a photo of a pair of young women.

"Her! I know her! She was a mega bitch!"

"Shhh keep it down." Sam hissed.

"Sorry," Kitty pointed to the blonde girl in the photo. "That one! I don't know how I knew her, but I definitely knew her. She was a total brat."

Sam slipped the photo out of its sleeve and read the neat cursive on the back.

"This is... my Aunt Caroline, in 1985. She's my dad's sister." Sam looked up at Kitty, amused. "I can't believe you had beef with my family."

"Your family are snobs." Kitty sniffed. "Carrie was such a ditz, she thought she was sooo bitchin' because her daddy bought her a Mercedes."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Sam grimaced. "Did you guys go to school together or something?"

"Maybe..." Kitty took the photo from Sam's hand, staring intently. "I'm pretty sure I skipped school a lot, I hated it there. It was a private school, we had to wear uniforms, barf."

"I would never have guessed you were a private school kid." Sam shook her head. "But most people would say that about me so it's not like I can judge."

"You went to private school?" Kitty asked, "How'd you end up in that Casper High dump?"

"Got myself expelled." said Sam, voice thick with pride. "Elementary, middle and high school, got kicked out of all three."

"Damn, you're good."

Sam grinned, slipping the photo back in its sleeve and continuing to the next page.

Kitty pointed to a few other photos, remarking on their familiarity, but not quite able to grasp how she knew them, the memories only flickered in her periphery.

"Wait," Kitty whispered, fingers brushing over a polaroid containing three people. "This is..."

The picture looked as though it were taken at some kind of party, a man and a woman faced the camera, each with a glass of champagne raised in their hands. The woman's other hand rested on the shoulder of a teenage girl with auburn hair, pulled into a tidy braid. She stared glumly at the camera.

"That's Katherine." Sam said, pointing to the girl. "She was my dad's cousin, but she got hit by a car when she was-"

Sam paused, looking over at Kitty's wide eyes and then back to the photo.

"Noooo way." Sam pulled the photo out of the sleeve. "Is this you?"

Kitty took the photo in trembling hands.

"I... I forgot I used to look like that." she fiddled with a lock of her green, teased hair. "I remember this party, I didn't want to go but mom and dad threatened to take away all my records and cassettes if I didn't."

Sam stared at Kitty, mouth agape.

"You're Car Crash Katherine?! My dad talks about you all the time! He always told me about the shit you used to get up to, he'd tell me that any kind of 'rebellious behaviour' was a slippery slope to 'dying on the back of some delinquent's motorcycle'." Sam put a hand on Kitty's shoulder. "You were my bad influence role model."

Kitty's red eyes shone with tears, photo still in hand, she wrapped her arms around Sam.

"This is majorly wicked! My legacy lives on! Corrupting the youth from beyond the grave!" Kitty laughed. "My parents would go totally mental."

She stopped laughing, her face turning forlorn as she drew back from Sam and stared down at the picture.

"Are they still alive?" she asked, a tremble in her voice.

"Yeah..." said Sam. "They live in a retirement home in Florida. They don't come around very often."

Kitty traced a finger over their faces.

"I wonder if they miss me." she said quietly. "Or if they were glad to be rid of the family embarrassment."

Sam didn't answer, she had wondered the same thing herself, if her parents would even care if she died. They hadn't given her a lot of reason to think they would.

She rested a sympathetic hand on Kitty's arm.

"Oh, you have a friend over bubbeleh?" a croaky voice spoke from the bedroom doorway.

Sam and Kitty both turned to see Ida Manson shuffling into the room, cleaning her glasses with her sleeve.

"Sorry Grandma, we didn't mean to be too loud." Sam apologised. "This is my... um, friend, Kitty. Kitty this is my Grandma Ida-"

"Ida?!" Kitty shot to her feet, staring in shock at the old woman. "Aunt Ida?!"

Ida squinted at Kitty, before quickly setting her glasses back on her face.

"Well as I live and breath, is that you Kathy?"

"Oh my god this is getting super weird." Sam whispered.

Kitty leapt over the ottoman to wrap Ida up in a tight hug, the old woman was surprised for a moment, but held her warmly in return.

"It's me Aunt Ida! Not really living or breathing but it's me!" Kitty laughed breathlessly.

"Oh my goodness, when all the ghosts started showing up all over town I wondered if I would ever see someone I knew." She rubbed comforting circles on Kitty's back as the ghost choked on a few sobs. "It's good to see you again Kathy."

Ida pulled away and wiped a tear from Kitty's face.

"And I'm so glad you aren't stuck wearing what your parents buried you in."

Kitty couldn't help but laugh through her tears.

"Let me guess, it was that putrid blue dress, wasn't it?"

"The dress wasn't nearly as bad as what they did to your hair." Ida snickered, patting Kitty's hand. "It had little ribbons in it and everything."

"I almost forgot you." Kitty placed her palm gently against Ida's face. "You were the only one in the family who ever loved me for being me, and I almost forgot you. I'm so sorry, I should have come to find you sooner but I just-"

"Shhhh, it's okay bubbeleh." Ida grasped her hand tight. "I think being dead is a pretty good excuse for forgetting a few things."

Sam stood beside the lounge, watching the two in shock, she wasn't entirely certain whether or not to intrude. Whatever she had been expecting to discover with Kitty today, it certainly hadn't been this.

Though in hindsight, it did explain Kitty's familiarity with Sam, people always said she had taken after her Grandma.

Ida let go of Kitty and hobbled over to the photo album still sitting on the lounge.

"Oh you don't want to look at that album." she said, as she shoved it onto the coffee table. She wandered to the other side of the room and began rummaging around in a small cupboard. "You want this one."

She pulled out a book with well worn, peeling edges. Pieces of the plastic sleeves had cracked off and crumbled away. It was old, and weatherbeaten, it was obvious that Ida had looked through it many many times.

"Here we go." she sat down in the middle of the lounge, gesturing for the two girls to come sit beside her. "These are the forbidden photos."

She opened the pages, the photos inside were entirely different from the 'official' album, there were no perfectly poised, prim and proper photos of people in nice, presentable clothes. They were all candid shots, people in the middle of eating or laughing, some were stumbling around blind drunk, a few were smoking joints. There were pictures from parties and protest rallies, in backyards and drive ins.

There was a picture of Jeremy as a young boy, grinning with one of his front teeth missing and grass in his hair.

"Only in this family would losing your baby teeth make a photo 'unsavoury'." Ida grizzled as she continued through the album. "I saved so many pictures that my husband would have thrown out otherwise."

"Ugh, Uncle Peter was such a prude, he wouldn't even let me in the house if I didn't have my shoulders covered up." Kitty rolled her eyes.

"He used to be so much more relaxed when we were young." Ida sighed. "He changed when he inherited his father's business, he forgot how to have fun."

A few pages later Kitty squealed in excitement.

"Oh my god! That's Frankie! She was my best friend, we used to do everything together!"

The Kitty in the photo looked far more like the Kitty Sam knew. Her hair was teased up, and she was wearing a crop top and a miniskirt. The other girl, Frankie, had short curled hair and a leather jacket. They each had an arm around the others' shoulder and grinned wildly.

"I love this one." Ida smiled as she pulled the picture out of the sleeve. "That was the night I gave you a lift to that concert."

"Oh that show was sooo good! I got my nose pierced there! It got so infected, Mom grounded me for a month." Kitty laughed.

"Man, and I thought I was cool for skipping school to go see Circus Gothica." Sam grinned. "I'm gonna have to come home with a tattoo next time."

"I can't believe I forgot about Frankie, I can't believe I forgot about all of this." Kitty held the photo close to her chest, a few tears running down her face. "I'm so glad it's not gone for good."

She kept the photo in hand as they looked through the rest of the album. There were many pictures of Ida, all of them with other people of all walks of life.

"Oh this was when you took us to that pride parade!" Kitty smiled. "You made Frankie so happy, and you knew a lot of the drag queens there, like a LOT."

"Grandma took me to a drag show when I was 10," said Sam. "Even took me backstage to meet them all, my parents thought we went to the theatre to see Romeo and Juliet."

"Oh I have photos from that." Ida flipped through the pages, getting closer to the end of the album. "Here we are, oh Evelyn just LOVED you."

Sam looked at the picture of Evelyn, frowning slightly.

"Oh weird, she kinda looks like Mr Lancer's sister, he keeps her photo on his desk..." Sam paused as she processed what she just said. "That's not his sister is it?"

"You probably shouldn't bring it up." said Ida gently. "Teachers can get in trouble for associating with this sort of thing."

"That's so bogus!" Kitty cried. "I really thought this kinda stuff would be better in the future!"

"It is," Ida assured her. "But we're a long way from perfect."

Ida flipped back through the album, searching for more pictures of Kitty and Frankie. There were a good few of them, each one Ida pulled out and passed over for Kitty to look at and hold onto.

"Oh woah, is that Johnny?" Sam pointed to a picture of Kitty sitting on the back of a motorcycle with a blonde boy. "He looks exactly the same, just a little less pale."

"Oh, did Johnny come back as a ghost too?" Ida asked.

"Yeah! We've been together all this time, in sickness and in death." Kitty beamed. "Mom and dad blamed him for everything I did, even if he wasn't around when I did it. They said him and Frankie were 'corrupting' me."

She rolled her eyes.

"I bet they blamed him for my death too. They'd be so mad if they knew we were still together."

"Just goes to show they had no chance of keeping you two apart." Ida said. "Not even death could do that."

Kitty held the photo tight in both hands, her shoulders began to shake slightly.

"It was my fault you know." she said with a trembling little giggle. "Funny huh? My parents always blamed him for everything, but in the end it was my fault we got hit. We were havin' a fight over somethin' stupid and I distracted him-"

Ida wrapped an arm around Kitty, patting her head comfortingly as she laid it against the old woman's shoulder.

"I think you're being too hard on yourself bubbeleh." Ida whispered gently into her hair. "It was raining, the truck that hit you was running a red light, the driver was charged for both your deaths. Even if you did distract him, you weren't the only card at play that night."

She gave Kitty a light shake.

"And don't think I didn't see the way Johnny used to drive that thing, he was reckless. I have no doubt that he wasn't paying as much attention as he should have been." She placed a kiss on the girl's forehead and squeezed her tight. "It's not fair to hold all of that responsibility on yourself, even if you both did everything right, that truck still would have run that red light, it still would have been raining. It was just pure rotten luck."

Sam had never heard a ghost talk about their death before, even Danny didn't like talking about his accident, and asking about it was incredibly taboo. Sam had been pushing her luck earlier just by mentioning the car crash.

It said a lot about Kitty's love for Ida that she chose to open up about it. Sam couldn't say she was surprised, her Grandma had always been like that. Never anything but an endless well of love and support, and the occasional kick in the pants if you needed it.

"Johnny's always had rotten luck." Kitty sniffed. "Follows him like a shadow."

"Literally." Sam snorted.

After a few more moments, Ida pulled herself away from Kitty, she got up and began rooting through the cupboards, muttering to herself.

"Aha, here it is."

She brought over an empty photo album, it was roughly the size of a small pocketbook, containing only one photo sleeve per page.

"I meant to fill this with photos for Sam to keep." Ida admitted as she shuffled back over to the girls. "But I don't think she'll mind donating it to a good cause."

She winked at Sam, who nodded back.

"Here," Ida pressed the little album into Kitty's hands. "Memories are a fickle thing, but photos are forever."

"I can't take these!" Kitty insisted, pushing the album back. "They're your memories too!"

"Oh my god you're both so old." Sam laughed, "Dad has a printer/scanner. I can make copies."

As Sam took the polaroids to her dad's office, Ida and Kitty pored over the rest of the album, Kitty picking out more photos to copy. She chose a few of Ida and Sam, and even one of Carrie.

"She was a total loser and I hated her but I don't hate remembering her, you know? I want to remember everything, even the bad stuff."

She took a photo of her parents, just one.

When Sam came back with the last batch of photos, Ida finished slipping them into the little album.

"There's still a few sleeves left." Sam pointed out, holding up her phone with a smile. "We've got room for a couple of family reunion pics."

The two girls squished up against Ida as Sam snapped as many shots as she could. Ones where they smiled, ones where they laughed, ones where they laid haphazardly across the lounge together.

Then Sam took a few candids of just Kitty and Ida, as they looked through the new album they'd just made together. Capturing Kitty laughing at something as Ida looked at her with a soft, loving smile.

Kitty clutched the album to her chest as she gave Ida a long, drawn out hug.

"Thank you so much." she said, her voice thick with gratitude. "It's like I can see my life in colour again."

She left the house with the assurance that she would always be welcome back, at any time, and a promise that she would always be looking out for her 'new favourite cousin'.

Sam flicked through the photos she took on her phone, she would have to make sure to have copies printed by the time Kitty returned to visit.

She knew Kitty coming over regularly was going to make things complicated, her apparent newfound protectiveness over Sam could potentially backfire in many spectacular ways, she was petty and troublesome when in the right mood.

But then again, so was Ida, and so was Sam.

At least she had better things to do now than beat up strangers' mail boxes, Danny was certainly going to be glad to hear that.

#lula's fanfics #danny phantom #danny phantom fanfiction #kitty #sam manson #ida manson

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scorpiwrites · 3 years ago

Text

First off, my darling Anon you are a cruel one to challenge me this early into the year to write a fluff. But, I'm not gonna let you down and I'm going to try to do this BUT I'M SORRY IF IT'S NOT SATISFACTORY, LOVE. And thank you for sending a request <3

𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 | 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑃𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

It was a rowdy night, and everyone was high on firewhisky and probably the blunt that Remus brought in earlier.

The Gryffindor team just won another Quidditch Cup this year. And as it was their last year on Hogwarts too, they wanted to spend as much as they could having fun and wrecking havoc undetected ofc bcs who tf had the audacity to sabotage their chance of winning their very last House Cup? Well, you being you felt like all these celebrations were slowly becoming too much for you to handle, so you decided to snuck through the Lady Portrait and tip-toeing your way down to the kitchens.

It was very weird, walking through the halls at night. There's these indescribable feelings of melancholy and also sadness that crept inside of you. These walls… they held stories of the old days, decades and even centuries behind them. And sometimes it felt really surreal that you were there, standing between those walls, you made a name for yourself, being a part of the history that was written there. It was all like a dream. But it's all coming to an end, as it was 5 months away from your graduation day.

As you were passing by one of the large windows, you had to stop for a second and stare because there he is, James Potter. He and you have always been friends with each other. Sure, you're not as popular nor outgoing like all of his group of friends, and that fact always made you wonder but he would always reassure you that it was okay and he doesn't care, he only cared about being friends with you. So here you are, confused as to why this boy isn't mingling with the crowds upstairs, but instead sitting here in the dark all by himself.

"Jamie?" You whispered, silently hoping that it was loud enough for him to hear, but not too loud because you didn't want to surprise him. He perked up at the sound of your voice and he turned his head to you, "Hey darling. Fancy seeing you out here, hm?".

You just fondly shook your head and decided to sit next to him. And as natural as it was, he moved his arm to put it around your shoulder and you just snuggled closer to him in response. "Whatcha doin here, Jamie?" you whispered to the fabric of his clothes. He just quietly hummed to the crown of your head and held you closer.

It's time like this, you were left wondering about what you had with him. Sure both of you could be seen together from time to time, not as much as he was with the boys no. But you were friends as long as he was with them, too. And lately he's been very affectionate with you. Not that he wasn't before, it's just that… usually he only does that when there's only two of you. But now it's gotten more open and your friends have been asking you questions that you were really not sure how to answer either.

You've no idea how much time the both of you had spent just sitting there, watching the stars. It was all so calming. The gentle breeze that would occasionally caress both of your hairs, the gentle hum of hopelessly devoted to you that emitted from his chest vibrates into yours, and the little light that slowly flickered on the corridor— wait? Oh sHI—

"STUDENTS! STUDENTS OUT OF BED!!"

James and you immediately stumbled out of reverie and scrambled out of your seats to run away from Filch and his little kitty cat. Not caring about the consequences, both of your laughters rang throughout the whole corridor as you ran. But once you reached the moving staircase, instead of jumping to the one that would lead you to your common room, James dragged you to the one that would lead to the west wing of Hogwarts. But you just went with him, thinking that he would just take you to Astronomy tower.

But your assumption has proven you wrong once James stopped in front of an empty wall across the painting of Barnabas the Barmy. You just looked at him in confusion and asked, "Jamie, why'd you take me here?" James turned his body to you and grabbed both your hand in his,

"D'you trust me?" You raised one of your eyebrow up and tsked, " Does the centaur live in the Forbidden Forest? Does Sirius love Remmy? Does it hurt when I crawl my way up from hell? Jamie love, you're asking me a silly question. Of course I do" and in response, he conjured a little black satin eye cover and made a gesturing move towards your eyes. You just snorted nervously and playfully push him back, " 'm not into that kinky stuff like Sirius does, J" which caused him to just grin and peck your cheek which left you frozen on the spot.

"C'mon bunny, where's the Gryffindor courage hmm?"

And in that moment of euphoria his kiss left you, you decided to throw all cautions to the window and,

" Y'want some Gryffindor courage hm? I'll show you some courage"

Both of you knew as James reciprocated your kiss, that this is it. This was the thing that both of you have been waiting for for years. Each time spent together, each kisses left on your temple, his jaw, your cheeks, his forehead, has led to this singular moment that would be captured in time inside the walls of this castle.

And as those words left your lips, you grabbed the collars of his white button up shirt and dragged him to your height only to smash your lips together.

But the moment was ruined as a flash and a click of a camera was heard. You stumbled back as James tried to steady you with his hands on your hips. Both of you heard Sirius before he even made an appearance as his chuckles echoed on the empty corridor.

"Hey Blossom, thanks for the honorary mention of my love for moony, but CAN'T YOU JUST WAIT FOR A SECOND FOR THE KISS?? WE'VE BEEN SLAVING OURSELVES HELPING PRONGS TO GET THE ROOM READY AND Y'JUST—"

His tirade then just got cut off short to the courtesy of Remus who just dragged him into a full blown snog against the wall. Your eyes widen as Sirius' words register in your brain.

"Jamie? What room is he ta—" all the words left your mouth as you see James standing there in front of a beautifully decorated room that clearly wasn't there before. James just chuckled lightly seeing your face and asked, "well, would ya like a dinner with me, then bunny?" with his puppy eyes that you could never resist.

"Well, if you insist then, My dear Jamie" you grinned up at him. He then linked your arm with him and led you to the center of the room where there stood an elegant dining table with candles surrounding the area. And as you took a glance at your James, you knew at that moment that you're going in for one hell of a ride, with this young man. But there's nothing in this world that would change your mind about choosing him. Ever.

☼︎𝒇𝒊𝒏☼︎

#scorpi.blurbs #scorpi.fluff #marauders era #james potter #james potter imagine #james potter fanfiction #james potter fic #james potter fluff #james potter x reader #james potter x you #marauders era fluff #marauders era imagine #scorpiwrites

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apricotgojo · 4 years ago

Note

felix and luka ( separately ) with a fem! s/o who has that pastely soft aesthetic and has the matching personality to go with it ! ( naive , kind , caring etc etc ) but can get very very bitchy when angry!

HELLO! I’m super sorry about the wait but here it is hehe <3 i tried to make it as accurate as possible so i hope you like it !

Pairings: Luka Couffaine X Reader , Felix Graham De Vanily X Reader.

Warnings: swearing!

Felix

Felix Graham de Vanily has never imagined the day when he would be actually in love - but it actually happened and he wasn’t even prepared for it.

Needless to say, it hit him like a truck and sent him to heaven.

This was his heaven, being on a big bed with you and playing with your hair while you watched your favourite show on Netflix.

“I told you he was going to be the bad guy! I knew it all along!” You exclaimed and jumped up, startling him but ultimately, making him smile.

“It was quite obvious my love.” He chuckles and you pout, crossing your arms while you plop back down next to him.

“But he was my favourite character Felix! And he’s probably going to die now too.” You look up at him and he can’t help but smile at your adorable, pouting face.

He cups your face in his hands and you instantly smile when you see his smile. It was contagious. He rarely smiled so you just feel so much joy bubbling inside of you when the blond smiled at you and you couldn’t help it.

He quickly kisses the tip of your nose and you giggle before crawling on his lap, peppering his face with kisses and completely ignoring the show you were watching.

The room was filled with little kissing noises and giggles coming from both of you.

His hand moves from your waist to your thighs, caressing the fabric of the white thigh high socks you were wearing beneath your pink tennis skirt.

His touch comforted you and you close your eyes, resting your forehead on his and humming gently.

“You’re so beautiful.” He whispers out of the blue and you gently open your eyes, staring right into his.

A blush creeps on your cheeks and you part your lips, inching closer to his face to kiss him.

A thought bursts through your head move your lips could touch and you smile brightly.

“Can we go feed the ducks again?” You ask him, your eyes bright and excited at the memory of the last time you went with him.

He took you to the park last time and you fed the ducks together because it was something he enjoyed doing as a child with his nanny. You didn’t know that such a simple activity could bring him so much joy and you were looking forward to the next time you two did it.

His face lights up and he nods, “Of course darling.” He replies and you excitedly hop off of his lap. “Wait you meant right now?” He asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

You were already lacing up your boots so you look at him over your shoulder and pout. “Yes?” You question.

“I thought we were going to..you know..” He looks away sheepishly.

You smirk at him. “Don’t worry Felix, you can have me all to yourself later, I promise.” You say and finish with a wink.

He nods and blushes, letting out a small chuckle.

You finish up putting on your boots and wait for him to get ready before the two of you head out of his house hand in hand.

You two walk through the park, his hand in one of your hands and in the other hand you held a small paper bag full of bread for the ducks.

Children were playing all over the park and people were chatting around you. It was nice to get out of the house with him sometimes, even if he does prefer staying at home.

“Oh look it’s Felix.” A male voice said which was followed by laughter.

You feel Felix tense up and he freezes.

You were quite confused as to what was happening so you decide to turn around and see two guys around the same age as Felix and you.

“Please ignore them my love, let’s go.” He whispers to you and you furrow your eyebrows at them before nodding to Felix.

“I see you got yourself a little girlfriend.” They speak again and you can hear their footsteps behind you. “You’re making a big mistake dating that little pansy babe, come with us and we’ll show you what a real man is like.”

You were livid.

You couldn’t control yourself so you turn around, letting go of your boyfriend’s hand.

“A real man huh?” You say and cross your arms over your chest, walking up to them. “I’d rather die than date one of you hideous mother fuckers.”

They were taken aback, wide eyed, probably not expecting you to talk back.

“Felix is more of a man than you ever will be.” You stare right into the bully’s eyes. “When was the last time you ever got some huh?” your lips curl into a smirk.

“I-i…uhm, well..” he stutters and the other nudges him, mouthing something.

“That’s what I thought.” You say and turn around. “Don’t ever come for my boyfriend again.” You state and grab felix’s hand, looking up at him.

His face was beet red, his eyes were wide and you couldn’t help but grab the back of his head and kiss him right then and there.

He smiles against your lips and you pull away before the two of you walk away from them.

“That was..” He clears his throat. “hot.” He blurts out.

You cover your mouth with your hand and giggle.

The two of you continue your day near the lake, laughing and throwing bread for the ducks to eat.

He made you feel safe and now you were at peace knowing you did the same to him too.

Luka

You’ve been waiting for this night for a long time.

Your boyfriend’s first opening gig with his band.

It wasn’t something grand and big – I mean, it was just a small pub downtown but you knew this was a big night for him and so it turned out to be a big night for you too.

You were ready to show him all your support and love, wearing your favourite flowy dress and his lucky guitar pick hanging on a silver chain around your neck.

Your friend Marinette was by your side, she even designed the costumes for everyone so both of you were super psyched for what was happening.

You made your way to the back stage and saw your boyfriend, Luka, sitting down on a chair and tuning his guitar, nodding his head to the beat.

“Luka..” You whisper and tap his shoulder.

He opens his eyes and looks at you, a smile instantly making it’s way on his face.

“There’s my favourite girl.” He says and gets up, hugging you tightly while you giggle. “I’m so glad you could make it.” He says quietly.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” You say and kiss him on the cheek.

He kisses you on the forehead and pulls away from the hug, wrapping an arm around your neck.

“Hey Marinette.” He says and smiles at her.

The bluenette grins at the two of you. “Are you excited?” She asks.

“More like nervous.” Luka replies and let’s out a heavy breath. “I’m not usually this nervous but damn, I can’t believe we finally got a gig.”

You look up at your boyfriend with adoring eyes. “Don’t be nervous Luka, I know it’s going to go great.” You reassure him and he smiles down at you, nodding.

Luka is a really calm person so seeing him nervous means that this really means a lot to him. He has been practicing for weeks and you couldn’t be more proud of how far he’s come.

You gasp at the sudden realisation of something and move away from his grasp, rummaging through your little back pack.

“A-ha!” You say and pull out a blue bracelet that you made yourself.

You look up at Luka and smile before handing it to him.

“I made this for you and I want you to wear it tonight for goodluck.” You say, your cheeks heating up when you look at him as he stares at the bracelet you made. “Since you gave me your lucky guitar pick for me to wear, I thought I should give you some luck of my own.” You look down at your shoes sheepishly.

“You’re an absolute angel, have I ever told you that?” He says and grabs your hand, making you look up at him.

You glance down at his wrist and see that he already put on the bracelet.

You get on your tip toes and give him a small kiss on the lips.

“Thank you.” He whispers and tucks a strand of your hair behind your ear.

“Guys get ready in 5” Someone says from the curtains and Luka instantly stiffens up.

You give him one last kiss on the cheek before walking next to Marinette.

“Goodluck.” You say and give him a reassuring smile as you wave at him.

He nods at you and runs a hand through is hair before grabbing his guitar.

You and Marinette leave back stage and make your way to your seats.

The pub was small so it easily got crowded with people.

You sigh and play with your hair. “I’m so nervous for Luka, Mari.” You tell Marinette.

She rubs your shoulder to calm you down and shakes her head.

“He’s going to do just fine girl, you’ll see.” She says and gives you a bright smile which comforted you.

The background music playing in the pub fades away and the lights start to dim.

“La bulle proudly presents, Kitty Section!” A voice says over the speakers and whistles and claps fill the room.

The curtains open and it reveals the band in their designated places.

You glance at Luka and smile at him before the music starts.

Rose was in front, singing her heart out to their original song and Luka was behind her, nodding his head as he played the guitar with passion.

You admired him and his talents, he used to write and sing so many songs for you, little did you know that one day he would actually be performing in front of a real audience.

Luka was vocalising to the chorus with rose and his eyes suddenly find yours.

He looked amazing.

The clothes that Marinette styled them with, his skin glistening under the lights and a few strands of hair stuck to his forehead because of the sweat.

You bit your lip as you kept looking at him. He was so into the song, so immersed in everything and it was so fucking hot to you.

He noticed this and his lips curled into a small smirk.

“Wow.” You breathed out quietly.

Marinette was beaming at the band and clapping. “I know right!” She laughs happily.

You grinned and sat up as they ended and clapped.

The whole pub was clapping for your boyfriends band and you were so happy for them.

Everyone was walking to talk to them of greet them and all you had on your mind was Luka, you just wanted to hug him and congratulate him and maybe even make out with him in the bathroom.

“Excuse me.” You mutter as you try to make way towards him.

Your eye catches a blonde girl in front of him, talking to him and laughing.

You freeze and something bubbles inside of you.

Jealousy?

You weren’t the type to be jealous but you couldn’t help the feeling.

You decided not to think much of it and gulped, continuing to make your way toward them.

“Can you like, sign my boobs?” You hear her say and giggle.

“Pardon?” Luka blurts out, looking at her with wide eyes.

Nope. That was it.

You quickly move between the last few people and walk up to them.

The girl started to unbutton her shirt and you furrowed your eyebrows.

Before anything else could happen you made your way to Luka and grabbed his shirt, kissing him.

The girl stopped her movements but held her hand on the buttons of her shirt.

You pull away from Luka and watch him as he blinks a few times, dazed as to what just happened.

“go show your boobs to someone else you skank.” You spit out, narrowing your eyes at her.

She scoffs at you and flips her hair before walking away from you guys.

You clench your jaw and Luka grabs your hand.

“Hey, are you okay?” Luka says and you huff.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You look away from him and frown.

“You know, I wasn’t going to sign her boobs.” He says and shrugs.

You look at him and roll your eyes. “Yeah.” You murmur.

“Didn’t know you could be so jealous.” He says in a teasing voice.

It was your turn to scoff and you look at him. “I wasn’t jealous.”

“Uh-huh.” He says and you stare into his eyes for a moment.

He was smirking at you, so calm, while you were red and angry inside at the thought of some bitch showing her boobs to your boyfriend.

Next thing you knew though, you were sitting on the sink of the pubs bathroom, making out with your boyfriend.

#mlb #miraculous ladybug #felix graham de vanily x reader #felix graham de vanily #luka couffaine #luka couffaine x reader

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talesofstyles · 4 years ago

Text

Drs Styles

paediatric heart surgeon harry, husband harry and dad harry. honestly the holy trinity.

warning: they did it in the car. bloody animals.

Harry

“Move your car, please!”

“What are you going to do? Write me a ticket?”

“This is in the interests of safety for the children!”

I look at the time in the car. I’ve still got about twenty to twenty-five minutes to watch this drama unfold at the school gate. I just wish we had popcorn because drop-off and parking situations at the school gates are always more entertaining than Good Morning Britain.

The school gate is a strange social scene, and honestly, I don’t blame my wife for trying to avoid it like a plague. Sometimes, you don’t even have to talk to these people to know everything about their lives and more. I swear there are more gossips in the class WhatsApp group and daily playground chattering than in the copies of The Sun and Daily Mail combined. You know who’s married, who’s getting a divorce, whose husband shagged the au pair again, whose party you haven’t been invited to, even who’s looking for a builder.

I see the school caretaker chuckling to himself as he sweeps the autumn leaves off the pathway, no doubt also enjoying our morning entertainment.

“Why is Mrs Chambers screaming like that?” Alma, our eldest daughter, asks from the back of the car.

“Because that man parks his car in a drop-off zone,” I reply, still watching him as he removes a child from his car seat. “Do you know who that is?”

“I think the boy is your classmate,” Alma turns to her sister.

Fiona, our youngest, peers over to inspect. “Oh yeah, that’s Rufus and his dad.”

“Do we like Rufus?”

“Not unless we like boys who pee down the slides,” Fiona scrunches her nose up. “He stood at the top and peed down like a waterfall. I haven’t gone down the slide ever since.”

I shake my head and let out a chuckle. “M’sure they’ve cleaned it up since, button.”

Did you know that choosing a school for your child after nursery can be a head-throbbing, stomach-twisting, heart-pounding experience? Well, it can. How is one supposed to choose a school anyway? According to the proximity? Leavers Results? Adorable uniforms? Parents’ agendas?

After many, many discussions and visits through more schools than I can count, we ended up with Thomas’s Kensington. It’s a great school, and only ten minutes away from our home, making school runs easier. The downside of this school is the fact that it costs us an arm and a leg and that they’re always trying to rip us off any chance they get. Also, they only take the kids until 11, so after that, we’ll have to look for other schools again. But since our girls are only seven and five, we can worry about that later.

There’s a strange mix of parents at this place. I went to school up in the North and the school gate scene is nothing like this. Here there are more au pairs, fancy cars, nicer clothes and people coming with impressive tans from their last weekend break in Antibes. The kids here are suited up too: the PE kit is the size of a small weekender bag, and we put them in uniforms that make them look smart, hoping that will increase the size of their brains. A child walks past our car with a cello case, another with a hockey stick. It’s a different land here. One that my socialist in-laws constantly tease us about and one which my mum was hysterical about because she was scared her grandbabies would be little Tories. I promised her I’d keep them grounded by only giving them plain hobnobs. None of those luxury chocolate covered ones.

Jokes aside, my girls are happy here. They’re thriving. They learn French and Spanish and Mandarin, even if they share a class with kids who have ridiculous names like Kitty and Archibald.

A knock at my window calls me to attention. I wind it down.

“Are you Fiona’s dad?” A mum asks me.

“I am.”

“It’s about Ophelia’s riding party this Saturday at the riding stables.”

Like I said, it’s a different land here.

“I thought we RSVPed to that?” I look at her in confusion.

“Yes, you did, but we have to change the food options as one of the partygoers is allergic to nuts. I’m making everyone aware and we need to let the guests know that they can’t bring any nuts on the day.”

A dirty joke is right there on the tip of my tongue and I’m trying my hardest to keep it in. My wife would definitely find it funny though, I’ve got to remember this and tell her later.

“Noted,” I mean, I wasn’t going to send my daughter to a party with a packet of cashews anyway but I nod politely.

“And just gift vouchers for gifts please. Smiggle, if you can.”

Again, I nod, biting my tongue at the presumptuousness. But then I suddenly panic, because we haven’t entered the realms of pony riding just yet. Do I have to buy jods and boots? If I don’t, will my daughter be the odd one out? But Ophelia’s mum saunters off before I’ve got the chance to ask.

“Do I have to go to that party, daddy?” Fiona asks.

“Well, we’ve already replied, poppet,” I tell her. “Did you not want to go?”

“I’ll go if I have to.”

I don’t answer because I get distracted by a vacant space. I edge the car forward so my girls can hop off.

“I love you both. Have a good day, make good choices.”

“Bye daddy! We’ll see you after work!”

***

Evelina London Children’s Hospital is our second home. Of course, as a children’s hospital, we try to make the place as fun as possible as not to freak those little patients out at being ill. It is bright and primary coloured, and each ward is decorated according to its own theme with different colours and lovely artworks. There are televisions and toys almost in every corner. We have a giant slide on the ground floor, and even the bins are shaped like red London buses. The aim was to help the children to forget that they’re in a hospital and take their minds off their sickness.

Since my wife and I are in the same department, our offices are next to each other, both overlooking the Thames. It’s nice up here. Would’ve been nicer if we could sneak in a quickie, but that’s practically impossible with our shared secretary’s desk sitting literally in front of our doors.

Speak of the devil.

“Good morning. Here’s your tea,” my secretary follows me into my office with a cup of tea and a tiny plate with a couple of rich tea fingers. “Clinic until 3 pm, scheduled PDA ligation in the laboratory for 4 pm and then evening rounds on the wards.”

“Mornin’ Rhonda, you look lovely today,” I greet her cheerily. She’s a stern-looking woman who definitely likes her tea as strong as tits and who has probably never cried in her life. With such severity, she runs a tight ship, but she secretly has this affectionate side in her too. Not only is she a great secretary, but she also takes care of us in a way as a grandma does. She makes us tea, feeds us in between surgeries with biscuits or nice baby cheeses and crackers just so we wouldn’t starve.

See that sofa over there in the corner of my office? Rhonda got me that. It was around the time when I had just become a new father with the sweetest, most gorgeous little baby who did not sleep. Alma wasn’t a fussy baby though. For some reason, she just wouldn’t go back to sleep after her midnight feed for months. Believe me, I tried everything. I changed her nappy, I swayed and jiggled and rocked and sung her to sleep. Odd nonsensical songs like, ‘Alma darling go to sleeep. Sleepy sleep sleep. Pleeeeease. I’m so tirrrred. My eyeballs may actually exploooode. I don’t want you to see thaaat.’ And she would just look at me all wide-eyed like I’d lost the plot. Those were song lyrics? That was rubbish. Please don’t give up your day job. Also, it’s not sleeping time. I’m awake. I’m ready for life. Come on, entertain me, old man. Isn’t this nice, just you and me? Tell me everything you know. EVERYTHING.

Except of course she didn’t say all that. She would just stare at me and I had no idea what was going on in her little head.

I took over my wife’s patients at the hospital during her maternity leave, so I had longer hours at the hospital. One day Rhonda found me napping on the floor between surgeries, so she sweet-talked some porters into looking for any old sofas on the go and paid to have this one reupholstered. She even bought me a fleece throw for it too. We really don’t deserve her.

“You hittin’ on me?” She deadpans. “Yer wife not doing it for you these days?”

“It’s the blazer. I’m a sucker for a blazer.”

“If I’d known, I would’ve worn it more often,” she replies. “Did my nice dress yesterday not give you the fanny flutters?”

“It’s schlong shiver for me,” I roar with laughter. “And it’s the tartan, makes you look well old.”

“YN, yer husband’s a bloody git, did I ever tell you that?” Rhonda says loud enough for my wife to hear, and I can hear my wife’s laughter from her office next door. “Drink your tea. Your first clinic appointment is in twenty.”

“Yes ma’am,” I salute her.

***

The Arctic ward in the Evelina is home to many of our imaging, heart and kidney services. The name is probably giving it away, but everything is decorated in blue and white to go with the theme. We have several zones, and since paediatric cardiology clinics are held in the Walrus zone, I spend a great deal of time each day looking at walrus and snowflake decals.

“Doctor Styles!” I hear a little voice shouts in excitement as I walk towards the waiting room in the outpatient ward. I smile, because I recognise that voice even before I see the little person.

The waiting room is very open here compared to other hospitals. There’s a sea of noise, snacks, tiny juice boxes and colouring pages. There’s also always a look of expectation, judgement on the faces of parents and guardians every time I walk in. They want to see if their doctor is old or qualified enough to see their children. There’s always one child who has the whole gang with them; parents, two sets of grandparents and even several aunts and uncles, and there’s also at least one child running around in circles out of boredom.

This little lad bounces off his chair and hurls himself at me in a way like a little puppy would when its owner comes home from work. I put an arm out, hoping that he’ll apply the brakes but no such luck and he bundles himself into my arms. “Nice to see you, mate.”

His parents smile as they watch their son’s antics, who then runs off as I shake their hands. I turn around to see what caught his attention, and I can’t help but chuckle when I realise it’s my wife.

“Doctor pretty Styles!” He exclaims excitedly as he bundles himself into her arms. She gets a mouthful of curls in the process.

“Hi Rory,” she greets him as she runs her fingers through his curly mop.

“Oi,” I pout as I walk towards them. “You don’t think I’m pretty?”

“Your wife is prettier,” he says with a shrug, his tone matter-of-fact.

She laughs and gives him a high-five. “Rory, you are officially my favourite patient.”

She is right. Rory is one of our special patients for sure. We’ve both known him for about six years now, ever since Rory’s mum gave birth to this tiny human next door at St Thomas and his heart was literally broken. I remember watching proudly from the theatre when my wife replaced two of his valves when he was born. It was in our early years of training. Long time patients like Rory almost always feel like family. We’ve seen all their parents’ tears and watched over their children throughout the years. They send us cards and wine every Christmas and despite all attempts to keep a professional distance, their kids do feel like our own.

Rory shrugs off his dinosaur rucksack and unzips it, pulling out a drawing of a blue whale and an opened packet of KitKat. I like that the whale wears a top hat and appears to also don a moustache.

“I drew you both a picture. Only one though, because I figure you can share,” he says with a big toothy grin and hands the packet of KitKat to my wife. “And I’ve got half a KitKat here. Do you want it?”

“I’m good for now. Keep that KitKat for later on the tube,” she smiles and waves at Rory as she begins to walk away towards the fetal cardiology ward just down the hall. “Bye Rory, thanks for the picture.”

“Bye doctor pretty Styles,” Rory replies, making my wife laugh as she walks away. I give her a wave and a wink.

“Hey Rory, did you know a blue whale has a heart the size of a small car?” I ask him and his eyes widen.

“No way! That’s mega!” He exclaims. “Do you think you could operate on a whale heart?”

“I would need a very big ladder,” I tell him. “And a wetsuit. I’d give it a go though.”

A senior nurse from the outpatient ward, Florence approaches us with a junior nurse trailing behind her. “Dr Styles, always a pleasure.”

I smile at her. “Florence. How are we today?”

“Busy as usual,” she replies. “We’re about twenty minutes behind I’m afraid. We had Dr Goodridge in this morning and you know he likes to talk.”

“He always runs over,” I chuckle. “Well, don’t worry. I’ll skip lunch and get us back up to speed.”

“I’ll make sure to send some snacks for you. Here’s your chart, your files are already in your office. And this is Alice, your nurse today. She’s newly qualified so might need some instructions.”

The new nurse looks terrified so I smile at her to try and calm her fears. I totally get that. When you work in medicine, unfortunately, you’ll realise that there are a lot of rude self-important wankers.

I look down at my chart and find Rory’s name on the top of the list. “Well, look who’s coming with me to the exam room.”

Rory reaches out to hold my hand and we walk towards the examination room. His parents follow us closely, carrying the usual coats and devices that people do when they know they’re bound for a hospital waiting room. I see them inside and sit behind the desk.

“So, young man, I hear we’ve had a touch of drama with you. Can you tell me what happened?”

I’ve actually already got the information in the file, but I like the way this kid tells a story. He reminds me of my youngest.

“So… I was at school and we were doing PE and I wasn’t really feeling it because it was cold and really we should have been inside but Mr Witter makes us go outside because he used to be in the Army apparently and he says we should get used to the cold but that’s what they do in prisons.”

I smile. “Go on.”

“And then my heart started running.”

“You mean racing?”

He nods firmly. Racing isn’t even the word. It sprinted to the finish like Bolt at 252 beats per minute, three times the speed it should.

“It felt like bubbles in my chest and then the school went crazy panicky and they called the ambulance and they brought me to the hospital but not this one, it was another one and it wasn’t as good because you weren’t there and they had really bad biscuit.”

His mum adds. “And they gave him some drugs to bring it back to a steady rhythm; they were close to shocking him.” Her voice trails off and both parents’ faces look drawn and pale remembering the incident.

Rory looks absolutely unbothered by this. To be fair, we have put this little man through everything. We’ve cut his chest open more times than is necessary for someone so small, we hook him up to machines and put him on treadmills. His resilience and character amaze me, and I really can’t imagine what it feels like to see your child so vulnerable and helpless, to be paralysed and weighed down with such worry.

“Alright then, little man, we need to make sure that your heart is working as it should. This is Alice, and she is going to take you over for an ECG and we just need to make sure your tick-tock is in good shape.”

Rory nods and jumps off the chair. His dad offers him a piggyback, and his mum smiles at them. I can hear Rory offering that half KitKat to Alice as they leave the room.

His mother turns to me as the door is closed, her shoulders relaxing, allowing herself to breathe. “And how are you?” I ask her.

“You just think it’s done and then something like that comes along to scare you,” she says with a sigh.

“Let’s have these tests and then see if it’s anything major to worry about,” I try to calm her. “Episodes of rapid heartbeat is quite common in Rory’s case, and we can look into drugs to remedy that if necessary.”

She smiles, nodding.

“Did you have any other questions for me?”

She studies my face for a moment too long. “I… well, it will show up in Rory’s records soon, but my husband I are… I mean we’re getting a divorce.”

I pause for a moment. Of course, I know these things happen in life, but I’ve known this couple for years. I’ve seen them at their lowest ebb, bound by friendship and their love for that boy. I really do feel sorry for them.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I mumble.

“We just… we’re terrified about telling Rory.”

“He doesn’t know?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “We’re scared of breaking him. I mean, look at him. All of this stuff he’s been through and he carries on like nothing has happened. We don’t want to upset him.”

“It took a team of us the best part of six years to build Rory’s heart. There's a warranty on that workmanship,” I reassure her. “Have that chat with him. He’ll be fine.”

***

“Have we got time for dinner first?” I turn to my wife as we walk out of the hospital. We don’t normally have the luxury of ending our shift at the same time, but today is exceptional. We have parents’ evening at the girls’ school so Rhonda made sure to clear up our schedule after our evening rounds at the ward.

“No, but we can raid M&S and eat in the car?”

I’m starving and I almost cry with relief at the suggestion. “Always knew I married the right woman.”

She chuckles. “Damn right you did.”

We leave the car at the hospital and she drags me along the walkways to Waterloo, the breeze biting at our cheeks. I pull her into M&S, dodging the marching commuters and grab a basket.

“I’ll look for some wine,” she says before she saunters off. “Oh and I want sushi. None of that crap with the mayonnaise please.”

“Alright.”

I skipped lunch today so the whole place calls to me. I start taking very random things off the shelves: a packet of raspberry iced buns. That’ll do. I also take some hummus for my wife because she bloody loves hummus. I’m not even joking, I’ve seen her down a whole pot of it. Then I take some sushi as requested, some coleslaw, a family bag of mature cheddar and red onion crisps and a trifle. I hope I don’t bump into Rhonda. Next are cheese twists, noodle salad and cocktail sausages.

It takes me a while to notice that there is a man right next to me with a roll of yellow stickers in their back pocket. Hello there, you are one of my favourite people tonight. Have I managed to find that sacred hour when all the food is being marked down? He labels some prawns with dip and even though I get a little squeamish about eating fish near its expiry date, I put it in my basket. I then follow him around the corner. Now, this is dinner. I put all sorts of random food in my basket and smile at the thought.

Ooh, knockdown pizzas. I should get a pizza. That’s tomorrow’s tea sorted, the girls will love it. Although I can’t help but wonder, what’s the limit for us to feed our daughters frozen pizza in a week before they get taken away from us? But eh, we might be able to get away with it if we give them frozen peas on the side.

“Look at you,” says my wife, depositing two bottles of red in the basket.

“Yes, it’s me. I’m the yellow sticker bitch.”

She snickers as we turn to head for the tills. “Excellent work.”

***

“Mr and Mrs Styles, welcome.”

“Mrs Ebner, always a pleasure,” I shake the headmistress’ hand who’s standing at the door.

“Busy evening?” My wife asks her as she shakes her hand next.

“Always,” the headmistress replies with a smile, then proceeds to speak like she’s reading out of brochures. “But such a wonderful opportunity to connect with our parents and build on the special relationships we have with our school community.”

Two uniformed minions appear.

“Lewis, Maggie, could you please show Mr and Mrs Styles through to the drinks reception?”

They both nod in unison. The boy holds his arms out like a waiter showing us to our table. We follow them through the school’s grand corridors to the main hall. It’s the one thing I like about this place. It’s very Hogwarts-like with hefty engraved name boards and sepia photos of successful sports teams. In the hall, a throng of parents mill around waiting to see respective teachers. It’s the same every year. We all dodge the people from the PTA trying to sell us quiz tickets, and the bowls of crisps out of hygiene concerns.

“Red or white?” Asks a lady in an apron.

This right here is the very reason we get through parents’ evening. From the look of the bottle, it’s decent wine too. I think that’s where a good proportion of our fees is going.

“Red, please.”

We both take our glasses and walk to the corner of the hall. It’s essentially a holding area without the background music. The idea is that all the parents will get on and create a party vibe but it just becomes a strange family gathering. As terrible as it sounds, it’s sorted into cliques: parents who know each other via NCT groups, the international expat brigades who keep to themselves, the parents who’ve ostracised themselves by gossip, the ones who you know regularly brunch and ski together.

The boy from earlier suddenly appears in front of us. “Mrs Hughes is ready for you.”

I put my hand on the small of my wife’s back as we walk towards the classroom. Fiona’s teacher first and then Alma’s straight after. Right, we can do this.

“Mrs Hughes, we meet again,” I shake her hand. I’ve got no qualms about Mrs Hughes. She’s a seasoned teacher who likes a slack and sensible moccasin and we’re familiar with her since she taught Alma two years previously. When we enter the classroom, Lewis bows in reverence, taking his leave and I wonder whether to tip him.

“It’s always lovely to have another Styles girl in my classroom. Fiona is a particular delight.”

My wife and I smile proudly. I’m sure Mrs Hughes says this to every parent here about their child, but that’s always nice to hear.

“She talks a lot about you,” my wife says. “She seems to have settled in well.”

Mrs Hughes opens up a couple of books and it’s classic Fiona. Alma is ordered and neat—if she makes a mistake then she erases it completely and she underlines things with a ruler and listens to instruction carefully. She gets that from her mum. Fiona though, on the other hand, she’s all me. She has more wild abandon about her; no rulers, no rubbers. She puts giant crosses through things that don’t work and likes her bubble writing decorated with doodles of many, many cats.

I glance around the classroom as Mrs Hughes talks to us about standardised scores. The theme of the school is to show you how smart and educated these children are. Look at the copperplate handwriting, their reproductions of Van Gogh and our languages corner where they’ve all had a go at telling us what they like in French. I spy a contribution from my girl. J’adore les chats et le gâteau au chocolat.

I’ve lost track of the conversation so I try to catch up.

“So to push Fiona into those top scores, perhaps we can look into tutoring? For maths, in particular, so she can grasp some of the concepts a little more tightly,” says Mrs Hughes.

My wife and I look at each other confused. “Uh, I don’t think there’s a need, right? She’s only five.”

“It’s never too early,” replies Mrs Hughes. “We run an after-school tutoring club on Tuesdays that would help.”

Back when I was a youngster, clubs were fun endeavours that involved matching baseballs caps or were a chocolate biscuit that you had in your lunchbox. Maths tutoring session was not a club.

I ask her. “Is it free?”

“It’s fifteen pounds per session.”

See? My point being this should be a parents’ evening, not a sales session.

“Well, then it’s something to think about,” says my wife. “It could be that Fiona catches up with people throughout the year.”

“Possibly,” Mrs Hughes nods. Still, though, she proceeds to go into her folder and passes me a form. Sneaky. “Fiona has also shown great interest in languages and art. Her pictures have been a joy.”

Mrs Hughes goes to a file and pulls one of Fiona’s drawings. I glance down at it. It’s a standard child piece of art. The grass and sky are strips of colour to the top and bottom. It’s a family portrait, and we are as tall as the broccoli style trees. Wait, hang on a second. I count the number of people in the picture again. Is that-

“And Mrs Styles, I gather congratulations are in order,” she says with a smile. “Such lovely news.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Fiona told me it’s a boy,” she adds, and the sheer terror on my wife’s face at the realisation is priceless. “You must be very thrilled.”

I study the picture. There’s a house in the middle, and standing in a line in front of the house is our family. The one slightly taller than the broccoli tree is me. I’ve got my white lab coat, and I look like a serial killer because I’m holding a scalpel with the size of a butcher’s knife. Next to me is my wife, also with a white lab coat, but instead of a scalpel, she’s holding a very chunky baby who rather looks like a basketball with a head.

“Oh dear,” I chuckle. “Guess now we know what she’ll ask for Christmas.”

“Yeah,” my wife shakes her head. “We’re not expecting.”

“Oh, I apologise,” Mrs Hughes says with a sheepish smile.

“No worries, Mrs Hughes,” I tell her. “So, what else has our girl been up to here? Besides gossiping of course.”

Mrs Hughes laughs under her breath. “Well, in class, Fiona is attentive, bright and very helpful. She is a credit to you both.”

***

“I swear your daughter, Styles.”

We’re sitting in the car now. Finally done with parents’ evening, still laughing at the slightly creepy, chunky basketball baby in Fiona’s picture and the fact that three people, including Mrs Hughes, have congratulated us for the ‘baby’.

“You haven’t called me Styles in years,“ I turn to her with a grin. “Not since medical school.”

I can’t help but flashback to the good ol’ days when we had matching university hoodies and we’d test each other on the parts of a kidney whilst walking into lectures, sitting next to each other, sharing pens and cans of Lilt.

“Well, after that I became a Styles too,” she chuckles. “Would be confusing then, wouldn’t it?”

“True,” I laugh under my breath, then I grab her hand and pull it to my mouth so I can kiss her knuckles. “Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For being a Styles.”

“Aw, aren’t we soppy tonight?” She smirks. “Alright, stop the car.”

“What?”

“There,” she points to a dark empty spot and I oblige.

Then, before I can even ask her why, she reaches over and grabs me by the collar. Pulling me close to her and gives me a kiss. I kiss her back, and I smile when she bites gently on my bottom lip.

“Oi, oi. Something’s got you randy.”

The next thing I know, she undoes her seatbelt and then rolls her trousers down her legs along with her knickers, fumbling and giggling at the awkward movement. I push my seat back and pull my trousers down.

“Don’t fall on gearstick now,” I joke as she climbs over to straddle me. “Well, unless you want to, of course…”

She laughs as she lowers herself over my lap. I really can’t believe what’s happening here.

“Mrs Styles, we’re about to have sex in a car. Around the corner from our daughters’ school.”

“I know,” she says with a smile before she runs her tongue along my neck. “Not our first rodeo though.”

“Oh right, we did it in our Volvo years ago, didn’t we? Thought the suspension couldn’t take it.”

“And it turned out fine. Told you that you needed to have more faith in the Swedes, they’re a reliable breed.”

“I love it when you talk about Sweden.”

“Ikea.”

“Fuck.”

“Meatballs.”

“Billy Bookcase.”

She throws her head back in laughter and I take this as an opportunity to run my tongue along her collar bone. She gasps. I reach down to lift her before I slowly lower her over my cock. We both sigh as I enter her, a long exhalation with our lips barely touching.

“Viggo Mortensen.”

“Isn’t he Danish?”

“Tomato, Tomahto.”

I smile at my wife and push my hips up, silently telling her that we don’t need to talk about Swedish people anymore. She grabs onto the car seat and levers herself up and down. I look at her in the eye, a goofy smile still plastered across my face.

But then I squint. Light. Bollocks, what’s that? Where’s that light coming from? Crap, that’s bright. Shit. I see the flash of a hi-vis jacket, a knock at the window and someone shaking their head.

Oh sodding fucking bollocking shit wank.

#harry #harry styles #harry styles fic #harry styles one shot #harry styles fics #harry styles ff #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles smut #harry styles fluff #harry styles au #dad!harry #husband!harry #doctor!harry #surgeon!harry

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daddysfangirls-anime · 4 years ago

Text

Young Aizawa

summary: my hero academia One shot where Aizawa brings his 3yrs old kid into school and hangs out with 1-A? cute moments with Todoroki and Bakugo?

As Class 1-A stood in formation in front of their teacher the one thing they were all thinking was. Who’s the kid? They could already guess that the child had some relation to Aizawa the dark hair, sleeping bag, and tired ‘I’d rather be sleeping than here’ look. Heck the kid was almost a carbon copy of him the only things telling them apart was their clothes he was decked out in black she looked like a kitty cat rainbow threw up on her.

“Everyone listens up, I’ve got a little class project. Really this is a project for Todoroki and Bakugo but I want the rest of you to assist them if needed.” Bakugo was a bit irritated right now he had planned to spend the day training he hoped whatever this was would go by quickly so he could get on with his training. Todoroki didn’t really care he didn’t have plans for the day.

“As you failed the second half of your pro-hero licensing exam due to your inability to work in teams and interact properly with civilians. This is for you two. This is my three-year-old daughter (Y/n). Your assignment watching her for the day.”

“WHAT?!”

The entire class screamed they were shocked one that Aizawa actually had a child and two that they’d have to be watching her for the day. They had a million and one questions but Aizawa wasn’t up for answering them looking at his daughter he looks her up and down then looks back at the class.

“Good Luck”

And with that Aizawa quickly left before his daughter could fully comprehend what he said or done. While she was trying busy comprehending the class was busying arguing about their teacher dumping a kid on them.

“Everyone calms down, we can handle this” Iida said trying to calm everyone down.

“We?!” Bakugo says “ Aizawa gave her to us we’ll handle the brat the rest of you can go to hell.”

“AAAAHHHHH” Midoriya suddenly screamed rushing to the door. It was then that everyone realized that while they were discussing (Y/n) she walked right out the front door.

“W-where are you going?” Midoriya asks a bit panicked but trying to stay calm.

“Daddy” is all she says as she continues walking down the sidewalk where she thought she saw her father walk off too.

“um... w-well-”

“Oi brat your old man is gone he left you here,” Bakugo says as he takes her hand and leads her back towards the dorms.

“Why?” she asks

“Because he had some important stuff to do, I don’t know.”

“he comes back, right?”

“he better I’m not spending the night taking care of a brat.”

“who’s a brat?”

“you’re the brat”

“oh...sorry “ she pouts.

The females in the classroom were not having this separating (Y/n) from Bakugo they began to scold him for being mean to him. And telling him how he should treat her.

(Y/n) stood off to the side not really knowing what to do. “ He means well he’s just... a bit rough” Todoroki said as he squat down next to her “ do you want a snack?” she nodded. Taking her hand Todoroki led her to the kitchen for some ice cream no one even noticed the departure.

“This is coming much don’t you think” Midoriya said as he sat between (Y/n) and Todoroki eating his own ice cream as they sat on the floor watching Bakugo argue the girls in their class. This had been going on for the last 10 minutes. Just when they thought it was over Bakugo would say something and the argument would start up again.

“Why is he so mean?” (Y/n) asked

““Bakugo isn’t -he’s not....I don’t know” Midoriya said he really couldn’t defend his friend when he was acting like that.

“Enough” Iida said stepping between Bakugo and the females in the classroom. “ we are setting a bad example for Young Aizawa.”

Everyone turned to look at (Y/n) who was sitting on the floor eating ice cream with Midoriya and Todoroki. She was making Todoroki taste her ice cream tell him hers was better than his.

“Sensei has left us in charge of her so we must treat her with the up most care.”

“You’re being a bit dramatic” Denki said a few of them sweat dropping at Iida over exaggerated hand movement, more exaggerated than usually at least.

Ochaco walked over and kneel in front of (Y/n) “ Hi-” Before she could even get a word out Bakugo walked up and pushed her out of the way.

“Oi, what do you want to do?” he asked

She thought for a moment looking at her melting ice cream. “ Sleep”

Everyone sweat drop she was so like her father. With a nod Bakugo left the room a moment later he returned with a sleeping bag “Here” Shoving the last bit of her ice cream in her mouth she takes the sleeping bag and hops in. (Y/n) then flops on the floor and caterpillar crawls until she is underneath the coffee table where she stops.

The class sweat drops as they hear her light snoring. She’s just like her father.

“Do we just leave her there?” Ojiro asked a bit concerned for the child sleeping under the table in the middle of the room.

“I don’t think that’s safe” Momo says

“Maybe we should move her”Midoriya comments

“OI SHUT THE HELL UP SHE’S SLEEPING” Bakugo shouts he takes a seat on the couch and turns on the TV turning the volume very low. He hears whispers he turns around glaring and growling at them everyone shut up. And for the remainder of the day no one spoke above a whisper.

“YO” Mic stepped into the dorms with Aizawa and All Might his shouting was followed up by a book to the face and a very loud ‘SHHHHH’. Everyone pointed to the Coffee table stepping forward Aizawa sees his daughter sleeping underneath the table he sighs.

“How long has she been asleep?” he asks in a whisper Todoroki ignoring Bakugo’s heated glare.

“Since you left. I gave her some ice cream, I hope that’s okay, Bakugo gave her a sleeping bag and she crawled under the table. She’s been asleep ever since. “

“Bakugo has threaten to kill anyone who’s voice goes above a whisper. It’s been pretty quiet.” Denki said Bakugo threw a book at the back of his head. He was too loud.

“Thank you for watching her for the day. I’ll take her now” Aizawa said as sqauted by the table and began to poke his young daughter “ Wake up, sweetheart, time to go home.”

“Daddy no” Shew whined as he pulled her out from underneath the table she cringed at the bright light and pulled the sleeping bag over her eyes.

“Yo mini-Aizawa” Mic said recovering from his assault.

“lower your freaking voice” Bakugo said, very loudly at that.

“I am elder, I am your teacher you should respect me.” Mic said poking Bakugo’s forehead. Bakugo picked up a book and he flinched “ You can’t assault a teacher”

“Then learned to lower your god damn voice. You’re going to wake her up. Teacher or not Who ever wakes her up is dead” Bakugo threaten sending a shiver down Mic’s spine having him retreat behind All Might. Who was just watching the scene unfold.

“Aww, I think young Bakugo has grown a soft spot for Young Aizawa” All Might teased watching a light blushed dusted the boys cheeks. He threw a book but All Might dodged it. With a growl Bakugo stomped off.

“Thank you, again.” Aizawa says pulling (Y/n) out of the sleeping bag and into his arms “ Maybe I’ll let you guys babysit again”

“I thought this was an assignment” Iida said. Aizawa gave him a look that translated to ‘ you actually believed that shit’ before completely ignoring him and waving goodbye and walking out.

It wasn’t until he was a good distance from the dorms that he spoke up.

“What was that? You were suppose to give them a hard time.”

“I’m sorry daddy. They were so nice. Todoroki gave me ice cream. And Bakugo gave him a sleeping bag it was real comfortable. I fell asleep.” (Y/n) said as she looked at her father. Today’s plan was for her to wreck havoc on the dorms and challenge the student you know being a typical brat and messing things up. But (Y/n) was just an angel and couldn’t find it in herself to be a bad girl.

“So precious” Mic gushed

“It’s okay. You did fine. Did you have fine while you were wake at least?”

She thought for a moment tapping her chin cutely “Midoriya cried. Bakugo’s loud but funny. I’m going to marry Todoroki.”

“That’s nice” double take “wait ....What?!”

#my hero academy fanfiction #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bnha fanfiction #bnha #mha fanfiction #mha #fanfiction #class 1a #aizawa shouta #eraserhead #boku no hero #child #x child reader

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lillywillow · 3 years ago

Text

Birthday Wishes

Summary: Bucky wants to plan the best party ever for his young daughter

Word Count: 2430

Square Filled: Free Space

Pairings: Singledad!Bucky x Female Reader/ Steve x Peggy

Warnings: None really

Written for @star-spangled-bingo

Ever since the mother to Bucky’s daughter passed away when she was a baby, he had been totally devoted to her and every year on her birthday, he went all out trying to make it the best one ever.

About a month ago, Tony’s daughter Morgan had a mermaid themed party; complete with a woman dressed as a mermaid. Bucky’s daughter Rebecca had totally raved about it and with her own birthday coming up, he made a note to take one of the business cards with him.

...

The moment Bucky walked into the building, he was in awe. The front of the store was full of costumes, dolls, plushies, pirate treasure chests, fairy wings and wands... every kind of fantasy item a child could possibly want and a lot of it looked handmade. Out the back, he could hear squealing and laughter. A party in progress, perhaps?

“Good afternoon, welcome to Childhood Dreams. How may I help you?” the receptionist asked.

“Hi. I’m looking to book a party? It’s for my daughter...”

“I see. Well, before booking a party, you’ll need to make an appointment with Y/N. She likes to customise her parties to the client. She’s currently doing a performance but if you’re happy to wait, she’ll be done soon...”

“I can wait...”

“Great. Follow me please...”

Bucky followed the receptionist into the back. There was a pirate party taking place with all the children dressed up as pirates. There were props and decorations keeping in tone with the theme and an incredible cake. On the stage up the front was the same woman who had played the part of the mermaid at Morgan’s party, this time she was a pirate, enacting a mighty swordfight with another actor. She really put her all into the performance.

Bucky watched her for a moment before the receptionist pulled him along and guided him to an office along the side. The inside of the office was just as cheerful and childlike as the rest of the place. The desk was lined with small trinkets. Along the walls were various photographs of the woman in different costumes. A princess, a fairy, a friendly witch... there was a costume for every occasion. Bucky was in the middle of admiring them when the door opened and the subject from the photos stepped in.

“You must be the gentleman wanting a party,” she smiled, taking off her hat and eye patch before sitting at her desk and encouraging him to take a seat. “I’m Y/N.”

“Yes, that’s right. My name is Bucky and I’m looking to do a birthday party for my daughter Rebecca,” he said, getting his phone out to show her a picture.

Y/N smiled at the photo of the little girl who was dressed as a princess.

“Tell me about Rebecca. I take it she’s a princess fan?”

Bucky’s face lit up as he spoke about his little girl. Everything that she loved about princesses and fairytales, down to her favourite colours, animals and mythical creatures.

“I’m probably rambling now...”

“No, no, I think it’s sweet to see a father so dedicated to his daughter. Let me show you a few of our packages,” she smiled.

Y/N logged into her tablet to show him a few of the princess themed parties they offered. Bucky looked through the options before deciding on a fantasy type one with princesses, wizards and all things in that vein.

“Will you be having the party here or elsewhere?”

“I think home would be best... unless... here would be better? I don’t know...”

“Some children feel more comfortable on home base and some like going out. It’s really up to you. My job is to give your child the best possible experience...”

Bucky nodded slowly and thought.

“She might like a party in her own backyard...”

“That’s totally fine. I’ll need to visit ahead of time just so I can work on a setup. Now, will you be providing your own cake? If not, I can recommend an excellent bakery.”

“A family friend agreed to make the cake,” Bucky replied.

Y/N nodded and jotted down a few notes.

“What about food?”

“Yes, we’ll be making our own food too.”

Y/N nodded again and wrote down a few more notes. After agreeing on a price, a date and time to meet, his address and the date of the party, Bucky started heading out the door.

“One more thing...”

Bucky turned to look at her.

“I like to ask our clients how they found out about our business...”

“A while ago, you threw a mermaid party for a friend of mine’s daughter. Rebecca couldn’t stop talking about it for days after that...”

Y/N smiled fondly.

“I see... well, I guess I’ll see you when I come to do my inspection. Goodbye, Bucky.”

“Bye.”

As Bucky left the office, he could feel his heart fluttering like it hadn’t done in a long time. Ever since his wife’s passing, Bucky hadn’t even looked at another woman. Well, he had looked but he had always been so busy taking care of Rebecca, he didn’t really have time to be pursuing women. Sure on occasion, he would go on a blind date now and then and Steve would babysit but that would be the extent of it. Bucky thought for sure his dating life was over but talking to Y/N just now... it gave him a lot of hope.

...

Time went by and eventually the day arrived when you went to meet Bucky at his place. Bucky greeted you at the door with a smile and ushered you inside. Smiling, you looked around the place. Pictures of Bucky’s life lined the walls and shelves. Photos of him with friends but most of them were of his little girl. One thing you noticed was the lack of pictures of the girl’s mother. There were a few of her before having the child but not many after.

“So, um... what do you need to see?”

“You mentioned a backyard?” you said, referring back to the interview you had a few days ago.

Bucky nodded and showed you the way. First, you scoped out the best place to conduct your performance then took out your measuring tape to size up the props you might need. As you worked, Bucky could see the gears turning in your head.

“Do you go out to different locations a lot?” Bucky asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

“Not a lot but it’s always fun when we do.”

“How long have you been in business?”

“It’s taken me about ten years to get it off the ground. It’s only been gaining popularity in the last year or so...”

“Wait, so you own Childhood Dreams?”

“Sure do. You see, I always believed childhood should be about fun and games before going onto the drudgery of adulthood. And I help out local business in the process. Most of the items available for purchase were made by local artists. I’m always willing to lend a hand when they need it. That’s why I ask about food. There’s a small bakery a few blocks from the building we’re located who does the most beautiful cakes...”

You suddenly were interrupted by something brushing up against your leg. Looking down, you saw the most adorable white cat.

“Why, hello there. Aren’t you a cutie?” you cooed, bending down to pat the snowy feline.

“This is Alpine. Rebecca is just crazy about her. She’s been a really big help ever since...” Bucky paused, feeling a lump in his throat and tears well up in his eyes.

Alpine trotted over to him and purred as he picked her up.

“Sorry. It’s just... ever since my wife passed when Rebecca was a baby; I’ve wanted to give her the best life possible. I try to give equal amounts of time between her so she can look up to me and work so she has the best things in life...”

You went over and gave him a hug.

“You’re a good man, Bucky. I’ve been in this business long enough to tell the devoted parents from the off-standers. Just by spending a few minutes with you, I already know that you love your daughter and think the world of her. Just make sure you spend a few moments taking care of yourself, okay? It doesn’t have to be much, just enough so you feel good too.”

Bucky gave you a soft smile, knowing that you were right. Everyone had told him as such but sometimes, it’s harder to take advice from the people closest to you.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” he offered.

“Actually, I should get going. I’ve got a children’s charity event I need to get ready for. It’s been really nice seeing you again, Bucky. I guess the next time I see you will be for your daughter’s party.”

“See you then,” Bucky smiled.

He couldn’t wait for the party.

...

Finally, the day of Rebecca’s birthday arrived. Bucky had spent the night before busily transforming his humble home into a castle fit for a princess. He wanted everything to be perfect for his little girl’s special day, buying the most glittery, ruffled princess dress for her to wear, complete with a sparkly tiara. Bucky himself hired a prince costume and even managed to obtain a kitty sized dragon costume for Alpine.

Bucky spent the morning cooking, starting with a plate of pancakes for breakfast before moving onto the finishing touches on the food for the party. He had most of it prepared already but some of it needed heating.

The first to arrive was Wanda with her twin boys who were both in costume. The boys instantly ran over to play with Rebecca while Wanda was left holding the cake she had made along with her purse and the present she had bought. Bucky rushed over to help her with the items and after exchanging greetings and pleasantries, she showed his the cake.

It was everything Bucky could have ever hoped for and more. The cake was purple with ice cream cones decorated like castle turrets, topped with little princess and unicorn figurines and the words ‘Happy Birthday, Rebecca’ written in icing along with the age she was turning. Little pink flowers were piped along the sides.

“Thank you so much, Wanda. Becca’s just going to love it.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiled, giving him a hug.

Soon after Wanda’s arrival was Steve and Peggy with their child followed by Tony, Pepper and Morgan, Sam with his kid and it wasn’t long before all the party guests had arrived. The adults all mingled while the children played together happily. Right on time, Y/N arrived with her scene partner in full costume. She was wearing a knight costume while her partner (whom she introduced as Phil) was dressed as an ‘evil’ wizard. Bucky settled the kids in front of the makeshift stage and let the performance begin.

Y/N started by introducing herself as a knight dedicated to Princess Rebecca.

“That’s me!” Rebecca squealed in delight, jumping to her feet and clapping.

Y/N knelt down to be level with her, crossing her right arm over her chest in a salute.

“I vow to protect you from the evils of the kingdom.”

Suddenly, Phil jumped out of his hiding place.

“Mwa-ha-ha! I am an evil wizard and I am here to change all the cakes into broccoli!”

Bucky thought he was laying it on a little thick but there was a wave of horrified gasps from the kids.

“Not so fast, evil wizard! We will defeat you! Kids, if I’m going to beat him, I’m going to need your help...”

Y/N and Phil made an amazing pair. While Y/N encouraged the children and even a few of the parents to join in, Phil played off their reactions until he was ‘defeated’.

“You win! I will change my evil ways and use my powers for good!” he dramatically cried.

The children all cheered and clapped. The two actors took a bow and started to pack up as Bucky announced it was time for cake. The kids all raced over to where the cake was being brought out.

“Would you two like to stay for cake?” Bucky offered.

Phil looked at Y/N for permission, a hopeful glint in his eye.

“Sure. We have some time before our next appointment,” she smiled. Phil gave a big, childlike grin.

Once everyone had sung Happy Birthday to Rebecca and she had blown out the candles, the cake was served out. Steve approached Bucky.

“Hey, man. How are you doing?”

“A bit tired but seeing the smile on that little girl’s face makes it all worth it,” he softly sighed.

Steve followed Bucky’s gaze to where Rebecca was talking animatedly to Y/N. He could tell the smile on her face was genuine and not just for show. This was a person who loved their job and loved children.

“Is that the same Y/N you’ve been going on about all week?”

“I haven’t been talking about her that much...”

Steve gave him an incredulous look.

“You know, it’s okay to like her. Why don’t you ask her out?”

“What about Rebecca?”

“Peggy and I can look after her while you go out on date. You deserve to be happy too...”

Bucky thought about it for a while and headed over to Y/N and Rebecca.

“Daddy, daddy! Y/N was the mermaid at Morgan’s party! She’s magical...” Rebecca was absolutely smitten with the woman.

“I see... Can I talk Y/N alone for a minute? Then you can open presents,” he smiled.

Rebecca giggled and hugged his leg before running off to play with her friends.

“She’s a darling,” Y/N warmly smiled.

“She is... Listen, Y/N... I was wondering... if you’re not busy tomorrow night... if maybe you’d like to have dinner with me...”

“Like a date?”

Bucky’s face flushed.

“I mean, if you want it to be...”

Y/N kissed his cheek.

“I’d like that. How about 7:00 at the restaurant around the from the Childhood Dreams building. They do an amazing meal...”

“Sounds perfect,” he smiled.

This was one the best days of Bucky’s life. Not only did he pull off the perfect party for his daughter but he took a step back into the dating world with an incredible woman who somehow stole his heart.

#ssb2021 #Free Space #Birthday Wishes #Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #single dad!bucky #Rebecca #Children's birthday party #Acting #phil coulson #Steve Rogers #Friends #Fluff #Alpine

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