#and finally on the third writing attempt went with tradition

[imaginespazzi]

Here's To Eternity

Four times Paige brings up marriage and the one time Azzi finally says yes.

(In which an angst writer attempts to write fluff and it takes her far longer than it should have)

Pairing: Paige Bueckers X Azzi Fudd

Themes: mainly Fluff with a little bit of Angst

Words: 8K (I swear it was meant to be below 5K when I planned it)

TW: Implied sexual content, alcohol, swearing

A/N: Hello my lovelies <3. Gonna do this at the beginning instead of the end today. This took years off my life and I still don't fully love it but I'm tired of thinking about it so hopefully y'all still like it. Really quickly, I've never been to Minnesota or the state fair so if you have, pretend you do not see the likely factual inaccuracies. Also feel free to let me know what you don't like because as I've said, I don't really write fluff well so by all means call me out. And finally, I edited this I swear but I'm sure there are still mistakes, so let me know about those too. Anyways, I hope this is a good pre-game read and let's get another W!

i don’t know what love is (i’d learn for you) 

The first time Paige says it, they’re at the Minnesota State Fair. It’s all the way back when they’re just two young girls learning each other, carefree and completely unaware that this will become a tradition. They’ve barely known each other but being with Azzi already feels easy, natural, like home. And she doesn’t really know how she knows it, it’s just a feeling really, but Paige is convinced that Azzi’s meant to be in her life forever. 

They’ve been at the fair almost all day, with members of both of their families joining them here and there. Paige and Azzi had been competing at various arcade games all day, keeping a tally of who won which arcade game. They’d even turned going on rides into a competition of “who could hold in their screams the longest”. Their bickering, while endearing, had earned them more than a few fond eye rolls as their families eventually got bored of being third wheels and went on to find something more engaging. 

They’d intentionally left the pop-a-shot, a basketball arcade game, til the very end, knowing it would be the ideal tie-breaker. And as the day comes to an end, they are in fact very much tied although Paige will tell you, that she didn’t actually scream on the Skyscraper; it had merely been a quiet whimper that Azzi was exaggerating the volume of. And Azzi will tell you that she deserved a re-do on the ring toss because it wasn’t her fault that the wind had decided to pick up on that very moment. Ultimately both of their arguments had fallen on deaf ears when they had appealed their cases to some very exasperated family members. 

“Get ready to lose to the better shooter,” Paige gloats, rubbing her hands together in preparation to shoot. She’d lost two rounds of rock paper scissors to Azzi’s one, meaning she’d missed the chance to go second like she would have preferred but that hadn’t done much to deter her confidence. 

“We’ll see,” Azzi scoffs, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms as she stands back a little bit to give Paige the space she needs. 

Paige smirks at her friend as she shoots the ball, definitely showing off a little bit. The ball arcs in the air before swishing into the basket, all net and no rim. The blonde’s grin only widens as she repeats the motion, again and again and again. She gets eight of them in perfectly, the ninth hits the backboard but rolls in and then-

“You missed,” Azzi yells the minute the last ball is out of Paige’s hands and they both watch, one in excitement, the other in irritation, as the ball falls miserably far away from the net. 

“That’s not fair,” Paige turns around immediately, “you distracted me. That doesn’t even count.”

“Nuh uh, we didn’t set a no distracting rule and I only said something after you released it. I already knew you were gonna miss,” Azzi counters gleefully. 

“Bruh, how could you have possibly known that?”

“Because my basketball IQ is way beyond yours,” it’s Azzi’s turn to smirk as she bumps Paige in the hip, switching spots so she can take her turn. 

“You’re still gonna lose. I made nine, you’re barely gonna make,” Paige pretends to think, “hmm maybe seven”

Azzi doesn’t respond, choosing instead to reply by immediately making her first basket. Her arc is perfect as always, the same shot Paige had been awed by when they’d been at camp for USA basketball. She makes the next and the next and the one after that until she’s at her 10th shot, ready to go a perfect 10 for 10 and beat Paige. Maybe it’s the competitiveness or maybe Paige has lost her goddamn mind, but she barely registers the next words that come out of her mouth. 

“If you make the last shot, you have to marry me,” and it’s supposed to be a threat, a way to stop Azzi from making the last bucket and winning their silly little competition but it comes out giddy and breathless. 

“What?” Azzi asks, eyes wide as she turns around to face Paige and well, she’s said them now, Paige might as well own them. 

“You heard me,” Paige says, cocking her head, the arrogance in her voice a complete contrast to the rapid beating of her heart, “you make that shot, and we’re engaged. Or you don’t make it and you lose.”

Azzi’s eyes narrow, confusion melting away to a familiar fierceness.  The thing is, she knows she could miss it if she wanted to but the thought of losing is somehow worse than being engaged at fourteen. She tries not to dwell on why that idea doesn’t seriously frighten her, telling herself it’s because there’s no way Paige will ever hold her to that. Taking a deep breath, Azzi lifts up her hands and shoots the ball. 

Here’s the thing, Paige likes winning. She enjoys the effort that goes into getting a win and the satisfaction that follows after. But as the ball leaves Azzi’s hand, that same perfect arc, she thinks, maybe it would be okay if Azzi made this basket today. She thinks maybe it would be okay if she lost. Both girls wait with bated breath, as the ball hits the backboard and circles the rim. For a brief second, it seems like it might slide off the edge but it doesn’t. It falls into the net with a swish and Azzi wins. 

The brunette lets out a squeal of happiness as the arcade game lights up with “WINNER”, doing a happy dance and flipping her hair. And Paige is so mesmerized by Azzi’s infectious happiness, the fact that she’s just lost ceases to mean anything. She doesn’t know what this feeling is, isn’t quite ready to understand it, but she knows it’s slowly creeping up her veins and consuming every part of her. 

“What prize would you like honey,” the middle-aged woman running the booth asks, pointing to the assortment of gifts sitting in a booth next to the game. Azzi pulls a still-stunned Paige with her to get a closer look at the prizes, eyes roaming over all the fun things until they finally settle on one of them. 

“I’ll take that packet of rings,” she gives Paige a devilish smirk, "I think I just got engaged.”

Paige gapes at Azzi while the woman fetches the packet of rings that Azzi had chosen. As far as fake jewelry goes, the rings are kind of atrocious. Huge colorful stones are placed haphazardly on a silver ring that looks like it might rust the next seconds. Azzi picks out a pink one and hands it to Paige, before holding out her hand. Still slightly dazed by everything, Paige does as she’s gestured to and slips the ring onto Azzi’s ring finger. And she’s sure she must be going insane because the ugly ring looks quite pretty on Azzi’s slender fingers. 

“You better get me a real one eventually,” Azzi says and she’s joking, Paige knows that but she can’t help the part of her that takes it at face value, the part of her that subconsciously promises Azzi to get her a real one eventually. She’s only fifteen and she’s sure she doesn’t know what love is but standing here in the cool Minnesota summer breeze, getting fake engaged to a girl she feels like she’s known her whole life, Paige thinks, maybe she’d like to learn. 

2. crossing boundaries (taking leaps of faith)

The second time Paige says it, they’ve crossed a line in their friendship and she kind of wants to cross a couple more. By this point, Paige is pretty sure she’s at least a little in love with her best friend. It had been okay when she’d first got to UConn, the distance between them allowing Paige to ignore her feelings that had become unbearably intense over the covid year she’d spent with the Fudds. And then the thing she’d worked her ass off to make happen had happened and Azzi had come to UConn. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy to have Azzi here. With her being injured for most of her sophomore season, there’s no one else Paige would have rather had by her side through it all. It was the playing platonic that drove her a little insane. Because somewhere between the arguing over nothing and the talking about everything, Azzi had stopped being her best friend and had become something more. 

It all comes to a head during a mid-April night at Ted’s. They’re partially still in mourning for their national championship loss and so it’s not really a surprise that the team is perhaps a little freer with the alcohol than they normally are. It’s definitely the alcohol that has Paige seething in jealousy at Azzi nonchalantly flirting with some random girl who had had the nerve to buy the brunette a drink. And it’s definitely the alcohol that makes her march over angrily and squeeze herself between the two girls. But it might be a little much to blame the half a glass of spiked shirley Paige had had for the way she wraps her arms around Azzi’s waist, leaning into the younger girl’s personal space in a way that is decidedly not platonic.

“Hi love,” she whispers, blinking her eyes up at a rather confused Azzi, who despite said confusion, doesn’t push her away. Instead, Azzi’s arms circle around Paige’s neck. It’s muscle memory really. But now they’re far closer than appropriate for two best friends and Paige swears she can make out every detail on Azzi’s face. Her eyes fixate on Azzi’s throat as the darker-skinned girl swallows, a sign of nervous anticipation, and she fights the visceral urge to bite down on Azzi’s neck and leave a mark so permanent, no other girl would ever have the audacity to look at what’s hers. 

“Oh, I didn’t know,” she hears the offending flirt say.

“Well now you do,” Paige replies before Azzi can respond, keeping her eyes focused on the girl in front of her, “she’s not interested.”

The sound of feet scurrying away makes Paige smirk. Azzi raises her eyes but doesn’t make a move to pull away. 

“You looked like you needed help,” the blond lies blatantly, “and I’m nothing if not helpful.”

“Is that what you were doing? Trying to be helpful?” Azzi asks, a coy smile playing on her lips as she presses closer to Paige, “because I could have sworn you were jealous.”

Paige’s breath hitches as she focuses on the way Azzi says those words, the way her lips quirk and her eyes sparkle, because it’s not the alcohol this time, no she’s pretty damn sure Azzi’s flirting with her. The realization sets her heart ablaze and she grips Azzi’s waist even tighter, trying to find something stable to hold onto. 

“And if- if I was-  if I was jealous, then what?”

“I’d tell you, you didn’t really have a reason to be. She wasn’t really my type.”

“Yeah,” Paige can’t help but smirk, suddenly feeling a surge of confidence, “what is your type Azzi?”

Azzi hums, her shy smile a response in itself. They’re so close now, with their chests pressed up against each other, that Paige can hear the erratic thrum of Azzi’s heart beating. It’s comforting in a way, to know that she has the effect on Azzi too, that she’s the reason Azzi’s breathing is so uneven. Subconsciously, Paige leans in, eyes tracing the outline of Azzi’s lips, her entire body wracked with want. 

“Azzi,” she whispers, knocking her forehead against the other girl’s, “tell me to stop.” 

Anticipation burns against Paige’s skin, the feeling of finally racing through her body. She’s hypnotized by the way they seem to be breathing as one. Her eyes close of their own accord and she can almost feel the taste of Azzi’s lips when the brunette presses a gentle hand against her chest. 

“Stop,” Azzi whispers. 

Paige’s eyes fly open. Stung, she lets go of Azzi’s waist immediately, the tears ready to fall. She’d been so sure she’d read the moment right-

“Hey, hey no Paige wait,” Azzi scrambles to grab onto the blonde, fully aware of the panic that has settled into the other girl's bones, “I didn’t- I just- I didn’t mean it like that. I- fuck sorry, I don’t- I want-” she takes in a deep breath, her brain unable to speak her mind, “I want to kiss you, I do- I just don’t want our first kiss to be in front of all these people.”

The last part is a little mumbled but Paige hears it clear as day. She gapes at her best friend, not sure if she wants to shake her or jump her bones (both, definitely both). 

“You couldn’t have just said that?” Paige asks exasperatedly, “I don’t really take rejection well in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I panicked, you were so close and I was distracted,” Azzi rambles incoherently and Paige is so ridiculously endeared by this girl. 

“Azzi,” she says slowly, stepping back into the younger girl's space, and holding out a hand, “you wanna get out of here?”

She’s rewarded with a bright smile and Azzi  grabbing her outstretched hand with no hesitation. As the two of them make their way through the crowd, hands locked together, Paige can’t think of a moment where she’s felt this ecstatic. They stumble through the street towards their apartments, giggling like kindergarteners who’ve just been given a sweet treat. After a year, longer, of holding it in, Paige feels like she’s finally free. 

They’ve barely made it to Paige’s room, before she has Azzi pinned against the wall causing the younger girl to let out an audible gasp. It’s sinful the way she looks up at Paige, as if she’d do anything for her. And god Paige wants to find out just how much she can push that. 

“Tell me to stop,” Paige repeats her words from the bar, her right thumb coming up to  lightly caressing Azzi’s bottom lip. She’s giving her an out, a last chance before they cross a line in their friendship that they’ll never be able to uncross. But her words evoke a new fire in Azzi’s eyes and Paige just knows. 

“Absolutely not.”

She’s not sure who kisses who first, doesn’t really care but she knows she’s never felt anything quite like this. It’s something beyond sparks, something more exciting, yet something ever so calming. All she knows is she wants more. Her hands roam everywhere, moving from Azzi’s neck, to her arms, to her hips before moving even lower. And Azzi fucking whimpers, the sound of it causing Paige to press even harder against her. She pulls away and Azzi chases her lips for a second, before Paige attaches them to the younger girl’s neck instead. 

“Do you know how long I’ve wanted this,” Paige manages to get out, biting against Azzi’s skin. She means to be soft, she really does but all she can think about is leaving a mark, a possessive bruise that would make sure everyone knew not to touch what was hers.

“Not longer than me,” Azzi’s hands are tangled in Paige's hair and she’s putty in the older girl’s hand. Paige could ask anything of her, and Azzi’s sure, she’d give it to her in a heartbeat. 

“I’m gonna make it worth the wait,” Paige pants, moving away from the brunette’s neck to kiss her again, “I promise.”

“Gonna show me what the hype is about?” Azzi says cheekily, as Paige pulls her onto the bed. She climbs on top of the blond, straddling her thighs. 

“Gonna show you even better,” Paige whispers and Azzi shivers at the promise in her voice. And then Paige’s lips her on hers again, desperate and impatient. Her hands work meticulously as she unbuttons Azzi’s blouse, leaving the young girl’s upper body bare. Azzi can't help the insecurity that creeps into her when Paige stares at her like that, like she’s seeing her for the first time. 

“You’re so fucking perfect,” Paige says, erasing away the doubt, “fuck, marry me.”

Paige doesn’t know why that slips out, doesn’t know why it rolls off her tongue so smoothly, doesn’t know why it doesn’t feel like a completely preposterous thing to say at the moment. 

“You say that to all your hookups?” Azzi asks slowly. It’s said light-heartedly enough but the hints of doubt aren’t hard to catch. In one swift motion, Paige flips them so that Azzi’s lying underneath her. Using her elbows, she hovers over the younger girl, making sure she can see the sincerity in her eyes. 

“No, no I don't. And you,” she says pointedly, needing Azzi to understand how she feels, “are not a hookup.”

Azzi smiles, arms wrapping around Paige’s neck, “maybe take me out on a date first and then we can talk about marriage.”

“Yeah, yeah I will but,” Paige grins devilishly, fingers dancing around the waistband of Azzi’s jeans, “I think I’ll fuck you first.

3. on the brink of destruction (maybe you’ll catch me)

The third time Paige says it, she’s desperately trying to save them from falling apart. They’ve always known this moment would come, known it even before they’d known each other. To play in the WNBA had always been the end-goal for both of them and it should be the happiest moment of their lives with both of them being guaranteed first-round picks who were likely to make a roster. But the whole thing comes with the caveat, that for the first time in almost four years, Paige and Azzi will have to learn to live apart from each other. 

Paige hadn’t even considered that it would mean they’d have to break up. The whole season, despite a thousand and one conversations about the draft, the idea hadn’t once been brought up. Long distance would be difficult, Paige knew that, but she’d figured they’d tackle it in the same way they’d faced everything else: together. Apparently Azzi thought differently. Apparently Azzi had been thinking about it for a while and last night, when she’d finally said the words out loud, Paige’s whole world had fallen off balance. She’d tried interrupting but once Azzi had her mind set on something, it was hard to deter her.

It’s been less than 24 hours since and KK and Ice have done everything in their power to distract her but Paige can’t stop thinking about it. If she hadn’t known Azzi for as long as she had, then maybe she would have believed the façade of coldness and practicality that her girlfriend had put on. She had spoken as if she was negotiating the end of a contract, her face set firmly on neutral. But Paige had seen the way she was fidgeting uncontrollably with the hem of her shirt, heard the little crack in her voice when she’d said the actual words out loud. 

“Was she at breakfast?” Paige asks, interrupting whatever spiel KK had been going on. The sophomore gives her a look that veers between irritation and sympathy. 

“Dude, we weren’t even at breakfast. We ate with you up here, remember?”

“Right,” Paige says, mindlessly thumbing at her sheets. She’s in unfamiliar territory, trying to navigate a world without Azzi. She can’t even remember the last morning she’d had that didn’t start with some form of communication with her girlfriend, a good morning kiss or a text or a call. 

“Y’all are being stupid,” Ice supplies unhelpfully. 

“Don’t even start,” Paige quips back defensively, “I didn’t do anything.”

“Maybe that’s the issue,” KK’s report is met with a well-aimed pillow in her direction. 

“Can you guys maybe just take my side for once please?”

“Children of divorce don’t choose sides,” Ice says solemnly. She has the foresight to duck and Paige’s water bottle hits the wall with a resounding thud, “aye no violence.”

“Fuck off and go away,” Paige groans, burying her face in her hands. 

“This is literally my room,” Ice replies and KK snickers. 

“I’m so glad my misery amuses you guys.”

Before either of the two underclassmen can reply, a familiar voice resounds around the room and Paige’s heart almost beats out of her chest. It’s been less than 24 hours but fuck, she’s missed the sound of it.

“Ice do you have- oh.”

“Hi Azzi,” KK says enthusiastically and Paige can already picture the forced smile Azzi gives her. She hates that stupid smile. 

“Hey KK. I- uh, Ice I was looking for the  necklace you borrowed. I- uh wanted to wear it with my dress for the draft, but umm- it’s- it’s fine. I’ll come back later.”

Paige scoffs, suddenly annoyed. She lifts her head from her hands and Azzi’s already looking at her but the minute their eyes meet, she looks away. It only irritates Paige further. 

“It’s fine Az. I can get it for you now,” Ice says, hopping up and rummaging through one of her. 

“No it’s fine, I should go. I have to go do…something.”

“You’re such a fucking liar,” Paige says before she can stop herself. The awkwardness in the air changes to a sinister tension. KK and Ice wear identical expressions of shock and worry, looking back and forth between Paige and Azzi.

“Excuse me?” Azzi says eyes narrowing dangerously. 

“All that bullshit you said last night. You said we’d still be friends. You said it’d be like we used to be before. You said things wouldn’t change that much and this would be for the better. You said we’d be fine. But fucking hell Azzi, you can’t even stand to be in the same room as me right now,” tears prickle in her eyes and she can’t tell if they’re from anger or pain or frustration. 

“I-It will be okay. We’ll be fine, eventually,” Azzi pauses, struggling to get the words out, “I just- we just- we need time to learn how to be just friends again.”

“I don’t want to be just friends Azzi,” Paige spits. 

“Neither do I,” Azzi bursts out, hands clenching, “but we have to try.”

“Oh-kay,” KK cuts in, noticing the rise in voices, “just because Ice and I call ourselves children of divorce, doesn’t mean y’all have to act like an actual divorced couple. All this yelling is not good for my heart.”

“Shut up KK,” they snap at the same time, and KK immediately raises her hands in surrender. 

“Why,” Paige turns her attention back to Azzi, “why do we have to try? You don’t want to be just friends. I sure as shit don’t want to be just friends. So what’s the fucking point? When neither of us want this, why are we fucking doing this?”

“Because I’m scared okay?” Azzi yells, her eyes widening as the truth slips out. She immediately cups her mouth, her anger fading away. Tears pool at the corner of her eyes, as emotions she’d been trying so hard to push down, bubble to the surface. She sees the way Paige eyes soften, can feel the sympathy in the way KK and Ice are looking at her, but before any of them can say anything, her feet are moving, desperate to get away from them, from Paige. 

“Paige,” Ice hisses when the blond stays rooted in place, “move.”

It does the trick, shaking Paige out of her trance. She doesn’t need to be told twice. When she gets to Azzi’s room, she stops outside the door. The goal is to fix things but she’s so scared of damaging them further. Taking a deep breath, she lets herself in and is unsurprised to find Azzi pacing the length of the room. 

“You have ‘got to stop running away from me. I’m not as young as I used to be,” Paige jokes. She’s not expecting a smile in return, the situation is far too tense, but when Azzi looks at her with nothing but sadness, all the humour leaves her body. 

“Please leave me alone,” Azzi whispers,  “please don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

“You’re the one making this harder Az. We don’t have to do this,” Paige takes a step forward, groaning when Azzi immediately takes a step back. 

“We do because otherwise we’re gonna fall apart. You don’t see it but we’re gonna end up resenting each other because we miss each other so much,” Azzi says miserably, the tears freely falling now. 

“You think I’ll miss you less if you’re not my girlfriend? You think breaking up is going to stop us from falling apart?” Paige asks incredulously, “you know you’ve had some stupid ideas before Azzi, but this, this one might be the dumbest yet.”

“Well, do you have a better one?” Azzi asks, throwing her hands in the air. 

“Yes, let’s just get married instead! Then we’ll have to be stuck with each other for life and you can stop trying to break up with me,” and maybe it’s somewhat of an irrational thing to say but Paige finds that she means it.

“Paige,” Azzi grits out, “this is serious.”

“I’m being dead serious right now actually.”

“Marriage is not going to stop us from being drafted to different teams. It’s not gonna stop us from having to live in different states.”

“Neither is breaking up,” Paige yells. Frustrated, she marches over to Azzi, encircling her arms around the other girl who immediately struggles against Paige's hold but the blonde is in no mood to let this, whatever it is, go on any further. 

“Let me go-”

“No. It’s my turn to talk okay,” Paige says, tightening her grip, “get this through your head, we are not breaking up.”

She pinches Azzi’s waist when the younger girl tries to protest. Her girlfriend is nothing if not stubborn but so is Paige. 

“You know I barely slept last night? I’ve been so fucking miserable all day. I’ve spent every minute thinking about you, every minute missing you. And if we do this, that feeling of missing you and knowing I can’t have you, is how I’m going to feel for the rest of my life. And that, that might kill me. I know you think it’ll be easier being friends or whatever but I can’t do that Azzi. I can’t be your friend. I can’t be near you and not kiss you. I can’t call you and not tell you I love you,” Paige’s voice breaks near the end as tears begin to stream down her face. 

“I’m scared. I’m so scared. I don’t want to lose you,” Azzi confesses in a whisper and it’s heartbreaking how vulnerable the darker-skinned girl sounds. 

“Then don’t. Keep me and let me keep you. I know you're scared baby but,” Paige presses her forehead against Azzi’s, “but trust me Azzi, we’ll make it work okay. I need you to believe that. I need you to believe in us. Please Azzi, please.”

Azzi closes her eyes and Paige can almost see the cogs turning in her brain. Waiting for a decision is excruciating and the silence feels deafening as Paige’s intrusive thoughts drive her a little insane. 

“Okay,” Azzi breathes out finally, “okay we’ll try it your way. But if it doesn’t work-”

“It’s going to work,” Paige says determinedly. And finally, Azzi smiles, the real one that Paige loves. 

“It’s going to work,” she repeats back, leaning up to kiss Paige and letting out an ungraceful squawk when Paige dodges her lips, “excuse me.”

“You don’t get a kiss,” the older girl replies, moving out of reach and crossing her arms, “you just tried to break up with me. Twice.”

“I’m sorry,” Azzi whines, “please, I haven’t kissed you for hours.”

“And whose fault is that?” Paige accuses but there’s no true anger behind her words. 

Azzi pouts for a second before it’s replaced by a mischievous smirk. Before Paige can react, she jumps onto the blond, wrapping her arms around Paige’s neck. The impact of it causes Paige to stumble back a little bit before her hands settle on Azzi's hips to keep them both stable. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Azzi babbles, kissing every inch of Paige’s face. 

“Okay, okay, okay, you’re forgiven.” Paige laughs. She’s never been particularly good at staying mad at Azzi. The knot in her chest, which’s been pressing against her ribcage since last night, finally unravels as Paige tugs Azzi closer, finally pressing their lips together in a passionate kiss. A low wolf-whistle from the doorway breaks them apart far sooner than they’d have liked. 

“Y’all didn’t even last a whole 24 hours,” KK’s voice is amused but there’s a hint of relief hidden in it. 

“Should’ve closed the fucking door,” Paige grumbles as Azzi giggles into the crevice between her head and her neck. 

“That’s gotta be a record for shortest breakup ever or something,” and there’s Ice, looking equally as amused. 

“You know what that means though, parents are back together and,” KK smirks at Ice and Paige looks between the two of them questioningly, “you owe me 50 bucks.”

“Excuse me?” Paige asks with a raised eyebrow, although she’s pretty sure she already knows. 

“Ice said y’all would be broken up for a week. I gave y’all three days,” KK grins triumphantly, despite Ice giving her a dirty look. 

“I can’t believe you guys would bet on us,” Azzi shakes her head disapprovingly as she lifts her head, “actually no scratch that. I’m not surprised at all.”

“We were too generous with it though,” Ice gives them a knowing look, “can’t believe y’all thought you could survive for years.”

“Not y’all,” Paige corrects, “just Azzi.”

Azzi groans, “you’re never gonna let me forget this are you?”

“Nope,” Paige says happily, pressing a kiss to Azzi’s temple, who immediately grins. And everything in the world is right again. It’s not going to be easy being god knows how many miles apart, but Paige knows they’ll be fine. They have to be. She won’t let them be anything else. 

4. the high of it all (as long as you hold me)

The fourth time she says it, Paige doesn’t even fully remember it the day after. She won’t find out exactly what she’s said until a couple of years into the future when Azzi tells her the story with a fond look in her eye. It’s a month or so into their rookie seasons when their respective teams meet: the Lynx vs the Mystics, funny how that had worked out. So far, they’d both been doing well, locked in a competitive race for rookie of the year. As a result, their matchup is well-hyped, but no one’s more excited for it, than the two of them. 

The game ends with the Lynx winning and Paige shoots Azzi a victorious smirk which earns her a familiar eye roll. She loves winning always but this time there’s the additional reward of having her girlfriend back in her bed for the first time in weeks. The anticipation of it has her running her tongue across her lips, and with the way Azzi’s eyes glaze over, it’s clear they’re thinking the same thing. 

A couple of hours later, the Lynx team is spread out across one of the bars near their arena and Paige is definitely teetering on the edge of being drunk. She’d been a lot more reserved the other couple of times they’d done this, not wanting to take the chance of potentially embarrassing herself in front of her older teammates. But she feels freer tonight and the reason for it hasn't walked in yet.

“You two haven’t changed at all huh?” Dorka laughs, as she watches Paige pouting at the door. 

“Hey,” Paige whines, “I haven’t seen her in months! And now she’s taking too long.”

“One month,” Dorka corrects, shaking her head fondly, “and you talk to her every other hour.” 

“Same differ-”

“Hi,” an unfamiliar voice cuts Paige off, an auburn haired girl sliding into the stool next to her, “you’re Paige Bueckers?”

“Last time I checked,” Paige replies goofily, eyes still fixed on the front door. 

“I’m Shay. I’m a huge fan,” the stranger gushes, her smile radiant, “could I maybe get a picture?”

Never one to disappoint, especially not when she’s a little out of it, Paige nods. She wraps her arm casually around Shay’s shoulder, and makes a peace sign with her other hand as the other girl takes a selfie. 

“Thank you,” Shay takes a deep breath, “I uh, I was wondering if I could maybe get your num-”

“Babyyyyyy,” Paige lets out a shrill squeak as she spots her girlfriend finally entering the door. All else seems to fade away as the blonde practically skips towards her girlfriend. Dorka, who’d been watching the previous exchange, can’t help but give a very shell-shocked-looking Shay a sympathetic smile. 

“Hi babyyyy,” Paige croons again as she throws her arms around her girlfriend's neck, burying her face contentedly into Azzi’s neck. It doesn’t matter that she’s an inch or so taller than the younger girl, she fits in Azzi’s arms pretty perfectly. 

“Hi drunkie,” Azzi says fondly, brushing her hands through Paige’s hair and eliciting a happy sigh from the inebriated blond in her arms, “started without me I see.”

“You took too long and I was bored,” Paige says, snuggling further, her breath tickling against Azzi’s collarbone, making the younger girl’s breath hitch. Smirking, Paige bites down gently, knowing the exact effect it’ll have. Almost five years together, and the idea of marking her girlfriend still drives her a little insane. 

“Behave,” Azzi warns, her voice breathy, “we’re in public.”

“Then let’s get out of public,” Paige whispers as she caresses the mark she’s just left on Azzi’s throat with her tongue, clearly proud of her handiwork, “let me take you home.”

“I just got here babe,” it’s a weak response, they both know it. 

“So what?”

“I-,” Azzi stutters as Paige continues to pepper kisses into her neck, one of her hands sliding down to brush against Azzi’s exposed navel, “I haven’t even said hi to anyone else.”

“Are you here for anyone else? Or are you here for me?” 

It’s a blur how it happens, but one minute Paige is tucked under Azzi’s arms, the next Azzi finds herself pressed against the bar, Paige's hands barricading her. It's too dimly lit for anyone to be fully aware of what’s going on but Azzi desperately tries to stifle a moan when Paige shifts so that she’s filthily grinding against one of Azzi’s thighs, lips still attached to her neck. 

“Gonna make you feel so good baby. Gonna give you whatever you want. Gonna give you everything you need,” the blond promises, knowing, when Azzi’s eyes involuntarily close, that she’s close to getting what she wants, “just let me take you home.”

“Azzi!” The feeling of getting her way is short lived as Dorka’s voice echoes around them. Paige groans as her girlfriend’s eyes immediately fly open and she ducks under Paige arms to hug their old UConn teammate.

As the two other girls meet, Paige downs another drink, mumbling about “fucking Hungarians.”

“Ignore her,” Azzi rolls her eyes, still hugging Dorka, who lets out a laugh. 

“Alright that’s enough,” Paige frowns, pulling Azzi back into her so that her back is pressed against Paige’s chest, “go find your own Azzi to hug, this one’s mine and we’re leaving.”

Sober Paige does not get testy when Azzi hugs other people, especially not old teammates and friends, well not a lot anyway. But drunk Paige doesn’t like sharing her girlfriend, no matter how platonically that is. 

“Always so possessive Bueckers,” Dorka teases, but she complies  “it was good seeing you Az. Don’t be late to practice Paige.”

The blond point guard lets out a satisfied sigh, lacing her hands with Azzi’s, “see you’ve met people, now can we please go?”

“I’ve met one person,” Azzi rolls her eyes but doesn’t put up a fight as her girlfriend begins to pull her out of the bar. 

The uber ride back to Paige’s apartment is relatively silent with Paige tucking herself into Azzi, who can tell that despite her previous eagerness, her girlfriend is pretty likely to pass out the minute she lies down. It doesn’t matter really. Cuddles. Sex. Whatever. As long as it’s with Paige, Azzi loves every minute of it. Besides, there’s always tomorrow morning. 

“M’sorry, m’so tired,” Paige mumbles as she does exactly what Azzi had expected by flopping onto the bed the minute they tumble into the bedroom, “make it up to you tomorrow. I promise.”

The brunette shakes her head with a smile, taking both their shoes off, before lying down next to her girlfriend, who immediately curls into her, wrapping her arms around Azzi’s torso. 

“I’m glad you’re here. I missed you,” she whispers into Azzi’s skin, eyes closed. 

“Missed you too baby,” the darker skinned girl pressed a kiss onto her girlfriend’s forehead, squeezing her arm gently. 

There’s a pause and for a second Azzi thinks maybe Paige has fallen asleep until the next words come out her mouth and steal Azzi’s breath away. 

“I can’t wait to marry you,” Paige confesses in a whisper, “you’re gonna make the prettiest bride. We’re gonna have such a beautiful wedding. Outside. Maybe on a basketball court.  And Coach is gonna officiate it and everyone’s gonna be there. Our family, our friends and it’s gonna be wonderful. The best ever.”

Azzi can’t bring herself to speak, the emotions suddenly becoming a little too strong. She knows Paige is drunk but the words are so sincere, like they’re things Paige has been thinking about for a long time. 

“Gonna have two kids,” Paige smiles as she continues to babble, unaware of the effect that has on Azzi, “a girl and a boy. They’re gonna be the most loved kids in the world. And we’re gonna teach them basketball. And they’re gonna be perfect, just like you. Just like us.”

In the silence, Azzi listens to Paige’s breathing even out, a sign that the older girl has drifted into sleep. And she lets herself imagine the picture Paige had just painted for her. As she holds her girlfriend closer to her, she knows she wants that life too. The wedding. The kids. The perfection of it all. She falls asleep dreaming about it, unaware that hidden in the drawer right next to her, is a ring that has her name on it. 

5. finding forever (the inevitability of us) 

When Paige finally proposes, they’re back at the Minnesota State Fair. She’s had the ring for a couple of years now, waiting for things to fall into place so that they could finally play on the same team and actually be together. That hadn’t been an easy process and of course, they’d argued about it, perhaps going a little too far at times. But now, when she finally gets to wake up to Azzi’s peaceful sleepy smile, every single morning, it all seems worth it. 

The proposal, if Paige is honest, is just a formality. In her head, she’s been a married woman for a long time. Whatever ceremony they’d have, whatever papers they’d sign, wouldn’t do much to alter their already domestic lives. But she wanted that celebration, the moment with her family and friends where they’d become bound in the one way they weren’t yet: legally. And this proposal was the start of that. 

The list of ideas she’d planned out and discussed with their family and friends was long and had earned her plenty of sighs and eye rolls. Nothing had seemed quite right until she’d whined about it to both their mothers. They’d said to go back to the beginning and it had all clicked into place. 

As they have every year since they’d started coming to the state fair together, they’re engaged in a competition again. Every year, they get a little bit more competitive and every year their families' sighs get a little heavier. Something about it, makes the two of them reverse back to being fifteen. The ridiculous trash talk, the sticking their tongues out at each other, the exaggerated pouting when they lose, it’s all further proof of them still being children at heart. Except now, when Azzi pouts, Paige gets to kiss it off. 

They’re tied again this summer, as they seem to be most years. Though this year, there’s been a little bit of planning on Paige’s part. 

“Pop-a-shot it is,” Azzi sighs, “even though you absolutely cheated on that last hole in mini golf,” she turns to their families, who normally would have left by now but have stayed back today, with a dramatic spin, “and I can’t believe you all saw it, but you’re taking her side.”

“Not me Azzi, I’m on your side. I know she cheated,” Drew, the traitor, chirps with a smirk and Paige glares at her little brother whose loyalty to her girlfriend never wavers. 

“Thank you Drew. The only person who loves me for real,” Azzi puts one hand to her heart, and ruffles the younger boy’s with the other. 

“Save the dramatics for when you lose babe,” Paige says, rolling her eyes, “alright rock paper scissors.”

They play best of three as they always do. Paige wins the first round. Azzi wins the second. There’s momentary panic when Azzi technically wins the third because well, Paige sort of needs to be in control if this is going to work. The thing is Azzi likes to mix up whether she’ll choose to go first or second, according to her it keeps Paige on her toes. But today Paige really needs her girlfriend to go second. 

“Oh Az no cheating,” Tim cuts in, coming to the rescue, “you waited to see what she’d do.”

“WHAT?” Azzi squeals, “I absolutely did not.”

“Oh honey, I think you did,” Katie sends Paige a wink and she can’t help but smile at the family she’s found. 

“You’re not serious,” Azzi says with a betrayed voice, squinting at her parents, before turning to Paige’s mom, who gives her a consoling pat, “please adopt me.”

“Oh quit whining cheater,” Paige teases, “I’m going first.”

She steps up to the line for the game, feeling more nervous than she ever has really because this is it. There isn’t really a world in which she thinks Azzi will say no, at least not one where Paige continues breathing after. But she needs this to be perfect. Bouncing the ball for a second, she takes in a deep breath before raising her arms and shooting. It goes in, barely touching the room. So does the next. And the next one and the next one, until Paige has gotten nine shots in. 

As she goes to shoot the last one, Azzi's voice echoes around her, “miss it for me babe.”

And she does. It’s probably one of the weakest shot’s she’s ever taken in her life, the ball falling far below the basket. Behind her, she can hear their brother’s snickering. 

“Damn someone should send that to Coach,” Azzi teases, hip-checking Paige as she comes to take her spot, “better luck next time baby.”

“Yeah, yeah let’s see you do better,” Paige replies cockily, but her hands are sweating with nerves. 

“Oh you know I will,” her girlfriend responds with a grin, as she makes the first basket, that same perfect arc as always. Paige holds her breath on every shot, as the ball goes in flawlessly every time, their families cheering loudly for each one of them. As the last basket gets closer, Drew gives Paige’s hand a tight squeeze and gets a grateful smile in return. 

Taking a deep breath, as Azzi gets ready to take her last turn, Paige repeats the same words she’d said, the first time they’d been in this situation, “if you make the last shot, you have to marry me.”

“What?” Azzi whips around immediately, her eyes bright with confusion. Tongue-tied, Paige only shrugs and smiles, watching closely as Azzi lets the words sink in. A determined look crosses her face, followed by a mischievous smirk, and Paige’s heart swells. She knows the ball is going in the hoop even before the other girl's arms are in shooting position. And she’s right. The ball arcs in air and falls through the basket. And instead of the patent WINNER that normally lights up when someone makes the 10 shots, a new phrase appears on the dashboard. 

MARRY ME

Azzi gasps, hands flying to her mouth. When she whirls around, Paige is already on one knee and their families are watching with the biggest smiles. 

“I knew you lost on purpose,” Azzi breathes out, “you’ve never taken such a shit shot like that last one in your life.”

“Seriously,” Paige gapes up at her, “that’s what you get from this.”

“Babe, you hate losing,” Azzi emphasizes as if that explains everything and well, maybe it does.

“Yeah, yeah I do,” Paige nods, reaching in her back pocket to pull out the ring, “but if you say yes to me today, then it doesn’t matter if I win or lose in a stupid arcade game, or on the court or anywhere, if you say yes Azzi, no matter what, I’ll always be a winner because I’ll have you. And I had a slightly better, slightly longer speech planned but it’s kinda all gone from my mind now, so I’ll just get right to it,” she manages a watery smile in response to her girlfriend’s tearful laugh, “Azzi, my soulmate and the love of my life, will you marry me?”

“Yes. Oh my god yes, of course, yes,” Azzi manages to get out, before she falls to her knees and into Paige’s arms, pressing her lips fervently against the blonde’s, their happy tears mixing into each other. Behind them, their families burst into cheers, hugging one another in congratulations.

“Wait, wait,” Paige pulls away, her smile stretching across her whole face, “I need to put the ring on you.”

She opens the ring box, to reveal a silver band that’s designed with a large diamond in the shape of a heart in the middle with two infinity shapes made out of smaller diamonds on each side of the heart. Azzi holds out her hand, eyes shining as Paige slips it onto her ring finger. It sparkles underneath the glow of the moonlight. 

“You finally got me a real one,” she whispers, continuing to admire the ring, “fuck, Paige it’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, yeah it took me a couple of years but I always knew I would. Look at the inside,” Paige nudges and Azzi squints to see the inscription on the inner edge of the ring. 

Since Always

The meaning of it is clear and Azzi lets out something in between a sob and a laugh before throwing herself back into Paige’s waiting arms. 

“I love you,” she whispers into her girlfriend’s, no, her fiance’s ears, “I can’t wait to be your wife.”

Paige’s arms tighten around Azz as she repeats it back, the word wife, evoking a newfound feeling she doesn’t quite know how to put in words. Their families begin to crowd them, until they’re all just a heap of bodies, likely earning some odd looks from passers-by. But it really doesn’t matter. It’s odd to think there had ever been a time when Paige had stood in this same cool Minnesota summer evening breeze and not know what love was, not known who Azzi was. Because this right here, with her fiancé in her arms, and their family all around them, this, she thinks, is the definition of love.

[laroserie]

— character : Tim Drake

— content : x gender neutral reader - reader is referred to as 'you', tim confessing multiple times and failing, reader is ... dense.

— authors note : as i said - i want to write for each weeks of december ! and today is the 7th so my deadline. this is short but sweet :)

— The first time Tim Drake, told you he loved you was the 7th of december a few years back. It was a regular day, nothings out of the norm expect for the fact that it snowed, when the weather forecast said it couldn't.

You took a moment to react, looking at your friend dumbfounded. You were both sitting at a table, at a coffee shop, you were sipping yours and had to put it down. Not sure how to react you simply laughed.

''Well, I like you too Tim? You are a great friend, but you caught me off guard with ... that.'' You told him after you finished laughing.

He sighed and shake his head, he seemed that he wanted say something else but Tim changed subject, talking about a new novel he was reading.

The second time Tim Drake told you he loved you was the next year, the 7th of december once again, this time you were watching a movie. It was just a cheesy regular christmas movie that you put on because you didn't know what else to watch - both of you were not paying attention to it. You were sitting next to Tim, your head was lying on my shoulder and your hands were intertwined. He wasn't sure how he kept his calm to be honest, his mind was racing and once again he just blurred out a 'i love you'. Not hearing any response from you after a few minutes had passed, he looked at you, to see you asleep. He sigh - once again his confession failed.

This time, he didn't care too much, 'I always have next year to tell them' he thoughts. He watched your sleep so peacefully and couldn't help but smile. Then his gaze lower to your hands holding each others and lightly squeezed yours. He didn't mean to but that woke you up, he let out a small laugh seeing you suddenly jerk up, asking for how long you were out.

The third time Tim Drake told you he loved you, was once again the 7th of december. He had decided to make it his habit, he could confess to you every 7th of december until you gave him an answer. This time you were both walking in a mall, looking at the decorations. It was his idea, he wanted this to be a somewhat romantic hangout and take it as an opportunity to confess but he gave up momentarily seeing how into the decors you were. At some point, you both arrived near the center of the mall, here the malls Santa was. You turned to him and looked at him without saying anythings - Tim understood nearly immediately what you wanted to do. He looked at you back for a while, before sighing and nodding his head. And there you went, getting in line to take a picture on this Santa laps, with Tim by your side, as you obviously dragged your best friend along. When it was finally your turn, he stayed on the side, like a parent do for a kid, while you went and sat on the Santa lap and took a picture. You jumped off the Santa lap and walked to Tim with a grin on your face - he couldn't help but smile lightly and whisper 'i really do love you'. You didn't hear that - but once again. Tim didn't care that much, - he knew he always had next year to tell you that.

The fourth time Tim Drake told you he loved, was the 7th of december, it was been now four year that this little tradition of his was going on. You didn't know about this one, you thought your tradition was to hang out every 7th of the month, which was the truth but not the entirety of it.

This time you both were baking gingerbread over at your house - well you had already finished baking it, it was currently cooking in the oven and you were cooking the mess that had became the kitchen. Tim did understand now why Alfred banned him and most of the residents in the manor from attempting to cook.

While he was washing the dishes, you were cleaning the counter. He quickly finished the dishes and went to help you clean it. 'Accidentally' getting a bit too close to you and brushing your hands against each others.

Once you finished, Tim and you sat on the floor in front of the oven to wait for the gingerbread to be done. While you were staring focused on the oven, he turn to you and blurred out, - once again.

"I love you." He was expecting you to laugh, give him a little punch on the arm and tell him you loved him too - because he was your friend. But you didn't. Still staring at the oven, you swallowed and responded "I love you too Tim.", he took a moment to register your words but he decided to hold back his emotions.

"You know I don't mean it in the 'I love you' like a friend way right ?" He asked. "Hmm I know. I didn't mean it in that way either." You answered, turning to face him.

"Oh. I'm glad to hear that … Can I ?" Tim asked, leaning closer to you. You nodded and he leaned even closer until his lips were on yours. The kiss was short but sweet, once he broke the kiss he whispered "You have no idea how long I wanted to do that …".

[lotusflowerbreakingthesurface]

[𝐏𝐗 𝐅𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐜 𝟏𝟏𝟔] 水下三十米 𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐠

✧ 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Thirty Meters Underwater

✧ 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: Zhang Qiling/Wu Xie

✧ 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞: PingXie

✧ 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: M/R

✧ 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬: Complete + Extra

✧ 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞: Traditional Chinese

✧ 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡: 29 Chapters + 2 Extras

✧ 𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐬: AU Setting—Fantasy/Mythology, "禁公" Forbidden Man Xiaoge × Treasure Hunter Wu Xie

✧ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐜: Third Person POV, Horror/Supernatural, Attempted Imprisonment, Dub-Con, temporary BE (there's a sequel below)

✧ 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: There is a what-if situation where Xiaoge's father is an unknown member of the Zhang family and his mother is a Forbidden Woman "禁婆"

✧ 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐜:

Wu Xie is a rookie treasure hunter who works for Coral, a foreign treasure hunting company. One day, his team went to an underwater tomb in Hainan. Unfortunately, he got separated from the others and trapped alone somewhere in the tomb. He met a Forbidden Woman but he got away safely only to be captured by the Forbidden Man.

✧ 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧:

The narration is really unique and refreshing (⁠*⁠´⁠ω⁠｀⁠*⁠) There are dark themes such as imprisonment and the like, but the overall atmosphere of the fic is pretty light, almost like a crack fic (maybe it is lol). Even so, I like this writing style very much, it can lighten the mood but also deepen the feeling...

✧ 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: Baidu Tieba | Lofter (compilation of AO3 links) or you can go directly to bonepig

[𝐏𝐗 𝐅𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐜 𝟏𝟏𝟕] 陸上三千里 𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐠

✧ 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Three Thousand Miles on the Land

✧ 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: Zhang Qiling/Wu Xie

✧ 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞: PingXie

✧ 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: M/R

✧ 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬: Unfinished + Extra

✧ 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞: Traditional Chinese

✧ 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡: 62 Chapters + Extra

✧ 𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐬: AU Setting—Fantasy/Mythology, "禁公" Forbidden Man Xiaoge × Treasure Hunter Wu Xie

✧ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐜: Third Person POV, Treasure Hunting, Action/Adventure, Developing Relationship

✧ 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: There is a what-if situation where Xiaoge's father is an unknown member of the Zhang family and his mother is a Forbidden Woman "禁婆"

✧ 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐜:

After escaping from the underwater tomb, Wu Xie was found by a local villager on the beach. Several days had passed but he was reluctant to leave Hainan. Little did he know that his "heart" was still in the thirty meters below the sea.

✧ 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧:

This one is the continuation/sequel of 《水下三十米》. In this fic, their relationship is finally established. Most of it is about them getting used to the new way of living (especially for Xiaoge) and getting to know each other more deeply, working travelling together. Still with the unique and refreshing narration which is quite amusing, but can also be very touching at a certain scene. Sadly, it's not finished yet or maybe it's an abandoned fic QAQ

✧ 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: Lofter (compilation of AO3 links, the writer didn't put them in one series so it's a little difficult to find)

[queen--kenobi]

OC: Tymon Lannister

(Art by @sleazyjanet)

GENERAL

Name: Tymon Lannister

Age: 19

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Straight

Faceclaim: Brandon Sklenar

BASICS

House: Lannister

Other names: N/A

Family: Jason and Tyland Lannister (Brothers), Regina Lannister (Wife)

Tag for additional info about Tymon is “OC: Tymon Lannister”

I would also recommend reading Elayna Reyne's page as well since their stories are so intertwined.

(Also, want a fun AU? Check out the Western AU I’ve started)

HISTORY

Tymon Lannister, the third son of Ceira Lannister, was born in 110 AC on the 3rd day of the 8th moon. He is much younger than his older brothers, twins Jason and Tyland Lannister.

In 121 AC, Tymon met Elayna Reyne when she was Warded to the Lannisters. He was instantly smitten with her. Over the course of three years, Tymon attempted to court Elayna. At first his efforts were successful but due to unknown reasons, they stopped working. However, this did not deter Tymon, who was convinced he was going to marry Elayna.

In 123, Tymon begged for his older brother, Jason, to write Alon Reyne, Elayna's father, and convince him to betroth him and Elayna. Alon refused the betrothal, much to Jason and Tymon's surprise. No one knows what was said between Jason and Alon. Tymon, angry at being denied what he wanted, began a campaign of convincing Elayna he was her only option and that no one else would love her like he did. This psychological warfare lasted over a year until Elayna was called back to Castamere to be with Alon in his presumed final days.

When Alon recovered, instead of sending Elayna back to Casterly Rock, Alon sent Elayna to the Red Keep to be one of Princess Helaena Targaryen's ladies-in-waiting. Tymon was not informed of this until Elayna had completed the trip to the Red Keep. His older brother Tyland, the then Master of Ships, sent word back to Tymon. It is said in his rage, Tymon made all sorts of threats to House Reyne. It was only when Jason read aloud the final words of Tyland's letter, which encouraged Tymon to come to Court, that Tymon began to calm down.

Tymon Lannister arrived at the Red Keep three months after Elayna. Many noted that Elayna had an air of nervousness about her as soon as Tymon arrived. The nerves only seemed to disappear when she was with Prince Aemond.

Tymon managed to charm most of the people at Court. Most did not believe the rumors of his cruelty to Elayna. It must be noted Tymon often found himself in disagreements with those he deemed to close to Elayna. He even accused his own brother, Tyland, of attempting to seduce Elayna and take her as his own bride. While many dismiss these as Tymon's protective, perhaps obsessive, nature, several accounts do seem to suggest Tymon may not have been wrong.

In 126, Tymon received word from Jason Alon had fallen ill once more. Tymon went back to Casterly Rock with a plan. He would wait until Alon died then ride to Castamere to comfort Elayna. While there, he would ask Seban to betroth him to Elayna. Seban was a good friend of Jason's so he would not think ill of Tymon.

A fortnight after Alon died, Tymon and Elayna were betrothed. Two days after the betrothal, Elayna disappeared. Tymon insisted that Elayna accompany them back to Casterly Rock. While at Casterly Rock, Elayna attempted to escape and get back to the Red Keep. This caused Tymon to move the wedding date up.

On the 12th day of the 6th moon in 126 AC, three days before Tymon and Elayna were to be wed, Prince Aemond arrived at Casterly Rock. Tymon was clearly displeased. He made multiple attempts to find out who told Aemond. Before Princs Aemond left to see Elayna, he informed Tymon that Tyland was the one who him of the upcoming wedding.

The same night, Prince Aemond and Elayna flew from Casterly Rock to the Red Keep where they eloped. Tymon did not need the letter from his brother to figure out what happened. In the field where Vhagar had waited, Tymon found a hair comb made of gold with rubies and pearls on it, a traditional Westerland gift given to brides when they accepted a courtship or betrothal. It was the clip he had given Elayna.

In 127 AC, Tymon attended the wedding festivities of Prince Aemond and Princess Elayna. He took part in the tournament in their honor. Tymon made it to the final round of the tournament where he faced Prince Daemon Targaryen. During the joust, the Rogue Prince not only knocked Tymon Lannister off of his horse, he stabbed Tymon in the shoulder, missing his neck by an inch. Thoroughly embarrassed, Tymon retreated to Casterly Rock until 130 AC

In 128 AC, Tymon married Regina Reyne, Seban Reyne's daughter and Elayna's Targaryen's niece. While it was never acknowledged, it was understood Tymon only married Regina due to her resemblance to Elayna. Many suspect this also played a role in her death. In 130 AC, after the news of Prince Aemond's death reached Casterly Rock, Regina Lannister was found dead in a burnt field. This same field was the one in which Aemond and Elayna left on Vhagar and rumored to be the field they shared their first kiss.

Tymon made his way back to the Red Keep in 130 AC, two months after Regina's death. It is believed he left due to the rumors surrounding his former wife's death. When Tymon reached the Red Keep, King Aegon II and Queen Elayna were there. Tymon was just in time to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elayna and the celebration of their wedding, despite it happening on Dragonston a mere month prior.

Tymon stayed at the Red Keep. After the death of Aegon II, Lord Lannister became more antagonistic of the Dowager Queen Elayna. She would not stay alone with him in a room, often using the new Lord Hand, Tyland Lannister, as a buffer. This did nothing to dissuade the rumors that Tyland had wished to marry Elayna.

In 133 AC, a hired sword attempted to take the eye of Prince Reynard Targaryen. Dowager Queen Elayna blinded the man instead and had him tortured and killed. While she never outright stated it, everyone knew she suspected Tymon of hiring the man.

As the years went on, Lord Tymon Lannister began to sew doubt into people's minds. Oftentimes he used the Dowager Queen's now open history of violence and the actions of her first husband, namely his burning of the Riverlands, to turn people against her. Many stayed loyal to Elayna, but the rumors could not be quelled. Some even accused Elayna of killing Witch Queen Alys Rivers, a supposed mistress of Aemond Targaryen.

In 141 AC, after an argument in the Throne Room, Tymon Lannister stabbed Queen Elayna to death. He stabbed her three times in the gut in rapid succession. Queen Elayna placed her hand upon the wound. She covered her hand in blood and placed it upon his face. She is rumored to have said "Thank you. For proving me right."

After the death of Queen Elayna, Lord Lannister was forced to go into hiding. His family was able to use their gold and influence to hide him. They also attempted to turn the tides against Elayna, even after her death. The common folk were swayed, but many of the lesser and Greater Houses remember both their names.

[libraryofcirclaria]

02 April 1250

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Three: Koby Breen

I've never been inside the main chamber of the Office of University Affairs before, but its interior is one of a serious undertaking. A dark blue carpet lines the entire floor with the exception of the Dais up at the front, where stands the large table for the Panel lined with five great seats, each reserved for one of the Head Mediators. The walls and ceiling are that of white rough marble, but the entire Chamber is dark, for in between the pillars lining the walls hangs dark blue curtains. None of these are decorated. However, on the wall behind the Panel hangs the official University Seal bearing the Stag.

The rest of the floor is lined with seats on one level, enough to seat about 500 people. And apparently, that was not enough. Our organization has grown more popular than I would have imagined. And when news spread of Cross' ultimatum, and mind you it did spread quickly, many turned out for the spectacle so that capacity was a concern.

The hearing began with my opening remarks. I stated with great honesty that Cross' ultimatum impedes on the freedom for the Society to exist as an organization. Many want to be part of it, in spite of our recent shortcomings, and many want the organization to be left alone. I even went so far as to state that Martin Cross' attempt to evict us went against the democratic principle of the University itself. Cabotton University, afterall, was initially founded in the wake of a student-led uprising against a top-down administration; and Cross' decision, as well as his whole policy of traditional curriculum reform, put this principle in jeopardy.

I finally stated the dangers of abolishing the Third Level Society, including that it would lead many to turn to the old game of TableQuest as an alternative, despite the treachery. This would lead to a rise in crime, posing both a threat to Cabotton and ultimately, the rest of the world of Circlaria.

Headmaster Cross argued that his decision did not, in fact, impede on our freedom to exist, claiming that there were safe alternatives to our agenda as a Society and that dymensional plane technology is quite dangerous. He repeated the statement he had been announcing to the University Council since he started his tenure, the statement that every organization within Cabotton University must have solid governance from a member of University faculty, and that such absence of this in the Third Level Society was quite a concern. He also argued against my notion that his decision placed the University democratic principle into question by stating that he was, in fact, elected to the Headmaster position by the student body, and that the University Council, consisting of elected members, voted democratically in favor of his traditional curriculum policies; thus, according to the Headmaster, his policies are ultimately what the student body majority wants.

He then proposed to establish a "Reformed Third Level Society," headed by a faculty member and carrying out questing and worldbuilding via only pen and paper, rather than a dymensional plane. The Headmaster promised, in that case, to establish rules to prevent the treachery within traditional TableQuest sessions, and to write a letter of endorsement to the Retunian government in the Basin District to enact economic policies eradicating TableQuest-related financial incentive to ensure that people do not abandon the pen-and-paper model for the dangerous TableQuest sessions of the past. What those policies would be, Cross did not say.

I have a feeling that I know which side the hundreds of attendees favor, but it is ultimately the Head Arbitrators who get to decide. However, I was actually able to get in touch with former Dungeonmaster Ivella Ogden, who had additional insight about the history of the original Algorithms Book and the Project in which Cross and Snow partnered. I am about to meet with Zachary Landon and will be contriving of a sound counter-argument to deliver tomorrow.

<- 18 March 1250 <- || -> 03 April 1250 ->

[nade2308writes]

Jacob “Jake” Cohen

Jacob is 43 years old, and he works at a library that's close to the Third precinct. He wasn't always a librarian, but he discovered it was what he wanted to do the most, because it relaxed him. He holds a Masters in accounting, and worked as an accountant at various companies until he decided he found his calling when he applied for the librarian job on the whim. He was 40 when he started working there, and for a while everything was good. That was until a patron of the library started harassing him. He basically stalked Jacob, and one day it escalated in an attempt to force Jacob to have sex with him. Jacob then got out in the rain and ran all the way to the Third precinct where he decided to report the whole thing, before he got too scared to do it. Emilio took personal interest in the case, and thanks to him, the guy following Jacob was arrested.

They started a friendship, because Emilio would often swing to the library, bring food and coffee for Jacob, and generally be nice to him. Eventually that friendship blossomed into something more.

Jacob is Jewish, and his family was traditional enough to send him to study Hebrew as a kid. They were also obsessed with him being left handed, so his mother used to beat him to start using his right hand, whereas both of his parents would hold his left arm behind his back to force him to write with his right when the beatings didn't work. Often they would tie his hand by the wrist, which left a permanent scarred surface on his skin. When Jacob finally got out of their house and started living on his own, he went back to writing with his left hand and covered his scar with a plastic wristband.

When he and Emilio get together and he tells him the history behind the scars, Emilio suggests that Jacob get a tattoo, to own it.

Face claim: Jonathan Togo

[bylightofdawn]

WIP Sunday

I didn't get TOO much writing done today. I kinda got wrapped up in this ridiculous nail art attempt which took almost 3 hours. And rest of the day was wrapped up with errands and watching more Devil Judge.

But I DID manage to write about 1K words. I think having the laptop in the front room is helping with my focus. Problem is I need to get a wrist pad or something because the edge of the desk is digging into my arms no matter what position I have my laptop or desk height at. So that's a work in progress.

Not a whole lot of context is needed for this snippet, it's Seph and Lazard's first meeting essentially. I'm definitely struggling with finding Sephiroth's voice since he's not full on cray cray mode at this point and I'm trying to draw a distinction between that and his later unhinged mental state.

“Ah, Sephiroth, please come in.” Lazard called in greeting as the silver-haired man stepped inside his office.

The first thing Sephiroth noticed was that he’d redecorated. The heavy, traditional furniture which had given the office a stately and almost oppressive air was done, replaced with sleek lines and a surprising amount of displays offering a constant flow of information.

Lazard clearly preferred to be kept in the loop which might present problems later down the line depending on how things went. His predecessor had maintained a certain level of plausible deniability and willful turning of a blind eye to what happened with the war.

“Can I offer you some refreshments? Something to eat? I understand you SOLDIER types need to maintain a high caloric load.” The blond man offered solicitously and Sephiroth felt his eyes narrow suspiciously.

Long experience with Shinra Executives had taught him to watch for the knife wielded in the hand opposite to the one being offered in friendship. Though perhaps his fatalistic viewpoint had something to do with the fact that the majority of the leadership he dealt within Shinra tended to be Scarlet, Heidegger and a rotating series of SOLDIER directors.

“I’m fine.” Sephiroth finally said tersely. “What did you want to speak with me about, Director?”

“Please, call me Lazard when we’re behind closed doors. The two of us will be working together closely from here on out and I would like us to be comrades.” Lazard waved Sephiroth towards one of the chairs in front of his desk as he settled into his own identical chair.

The SOLDIER couldn’t help but note that curious detail. Was he putting on a humble facade? Trying to subconsciously plant the seed that he was on the same footing as those he entertained?

“I don’t believe that would be proper, sir.” Sephiroth shot down that idea quickly. Not because he was opposed to being on a first-name basis with a superior officer but because he didn’t trust Lazard’s offer of familiarity.

If the other man was offended by his brusque denial, he showed no sign of it on his face and simply folded those white-gloved in front of himself on the desk and studied Sephiroth silently for a moment. The SOLDIER met the man’s gaze flatly, knowing how unnerving his freakish Mako-enhanced eyes could be and how it almost always forced the other person to break eye-contact out of sheer discomfort eventually.

To his credit, Lazard was made of sterner stuff and managed to hold his gaze longer than most. The blond seemed to recognize this was a power-play on Sephiroth’s part and did not appear eager to give the silver-haired man the pleasure of one-upping him.

Unfortunately, their staring match was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and that same Third Class soldier from before came in bearing a stack of rolled up maps.

Lazard looked away to acknowledge the man. “Set them down on the table. Please ensure we’re not interrupted from here. The General and I have sensitive matters to discuss.”

“Yes, sir!” The SOLDIER snapped to attention and beat a hasty retreat.

Sephiroth briefly glanced over at the battered-looking maps.

“Maps of the Wutai region, I requested them from the archives. I’m sure they are horribly out of date but since you have a lot of first-hand experience with the region, I was hoping to get your insight on what’s relevant or not.”

“Why not just make use of the existing maps we have uploaded to the network?”

“Because those were written by Shinra surveyors. These are extant Wutaiian maps that document all the local villages and, hopefully, their trade routes. From there, we should be able to extrapolate where their supply lines might be flowing.” Lazard explained as he climbed to his feet so that he could start to roll out and pin down the edges of the first map carefully.

He was loath to admit it but Sephiroth was actually impressed by the man’s logic and found himself intrigued enough to follow him over to the table.

[roseblancheenfleurs]

https://www.tumblr.com/mysteriousreader4/742305353620996096/yandere-enigma-x-female-reader-beta?source=share

Part-1, Above Link

Yandere Enigma X Female Reader Beta

Part -2

Tags:#Yandere #omegaverse #nsfw #straight

Warning ⚠️⚠️⚠️

NSFW content, straight Omegaverse, slight degradation, general yandere behaviour, fluff, dark, lying, breeding kink, kidnapping, mention of suicide a bit.. probably will edit later while writing

Recommended to read at late night away from parents eyes thank you 🙇🏽‍♀️

You still remember, just somedays ago reading a abo universe novel about the anti hero Lucifer De La Cruz who went crazy after losing his lover Y/n who had same as you to death and burned the world to death in the end. Pretty messed up.

But the math ain't mathing.

Because you are y/n dating Zen a normal person not some bigwig like Lucifer De La Cruz, Enigma.

So what's exactly happening here? There are someone else with the same name , but this is not reality so the theory is not that convincing though or but you are alive and the Enigma should appear after your death the only one existing Enigma.

"I guess I am finally crazy" You exclaimed thinking all that on half way to feed yourself a spoon of scrambled eggs.

"you were one from the start" Your bestie says while eating her third serving.

Suddenly....

The Chief Director comes in cafeteria and announces that the new president will be visiting them.

"Wow! Girl we can now see an real life Enigma" She jumps in excitement.

But it worries you because you are not that aware of the plot.

The novel was given to you by the librarian who shared the ending spoiler with you that the Lucifer destroys the whole world with himself mourning for his lover.

And you have only read the first chapter which was all about y/n's funeral.

And in the novel world there is always one person with one name unless the author mentions and there was you .

"Shit", You cursed under your breathe, what if it was like you caught Lucifer's eyes who snatches you from your boyfriend and then you ended yourself due to his sick obsession. Somehow you managed to gulp down a lump standing in the front row to welcome the new president.

You are on the highest post just after the Chief and your bestie the assistant.

You tried to lower your head as low as possible not let him see your face as you heard the strong footsteps of the leather shoes. The sound grew louder and closer.. then quieter and further" nothing happened!" You thought.

For the rest of the day, really nothing happened like always you worked on your assigned project and at end of the shift you were on the way to home.

Not wanting to go back. The way he acted today and yesterday was giving a slight suffocation to you.

You changed your route. Instead going to the apartment you went Tara's home to freshen up a bit and texted your boyfriend about not coming back and staying at your friend's today. It was instantly read but not replied back he left you on seen for the first time.

"Everything is weird today ", you mumble out .

Time skip

You don't know how did you end up here?

In the club wearing super hot outfit making everyone else checking you out.

High split, Maxi completely backless you felt exposed.

Image doesn't belong to me

Accustomed to dress like a traditional nerd, it feels really weird.

Half an hour ago, you reached at your bestie 's apartment who dragged you to club in attempt to make your boyfriend jealous. She also sent him your picture in that outfit.

You continued to act to sip the daiquiri which not even touching your lips.

You glanced at your watch, she has told you stay here atleast for 2 hours then she will take you to her house.

There is still 15 minutes left, you sighed.

Tara came jumping near you "are you having fun?"

"You think so" You look at her with a worn out face you extrovert battery is going down.

You turned away your face again sipping on the glass.

"Damn, look that guy is hot!" She exclaims

You were not interested a bit. So didn't respond .

Until she grabs your face and makes you look at the person and your eyes felt like rolling out of your socket.

Griseous Hair tied in a loose tail, dressed in all black

3 buttons of the upper part open explosing the hard chest it was... It was...

"ZEN!" It's your boyfriend leaving his house husband get up today it's his mood to knock off people by his hot look.

Your scream managed to get the attention of the whole room he made his way towards you .

"Damn I would have believed you to be joking if he had not made his way towards you."She says in an awe.

He stood infront of you with a smile that you have been missing from past 24 hours.

He take your hand in his attempts to place kiss but gets flicked on the forehead.

And you got pulled in a hug. It's Tara hugging you possesively telling your boyfriend

"I don't intend to leave girl in the hands of an idiot who doesn't give attention to his girlfriend"

You eye her to stop, who listens anyway.

"You didn't even explained yourself when my bestie asked you acting like those bitchy concubines of the Chinese harem dramas" now you regret telling her about last night.

If only you could dig hole and hide yourself.

You grabbed her mouth before she could spout more nonsense.

And your too good boyfriend seemed to didn't mind a bit instead he just laughed it off.

"I know how much of bad boyfriend I am that's why I came here to take any punishment and spend time with my girlfriend"

"Isn't his smile too suspicious" you thought

"Nah not buying it my dear ex brother in law, I am finding a new fine one for her because her current one is too old, rusty" She managed to take of your hand.

"How about we do a give and take deal, I give you my friend to be your tonight's date and you give my bun back" He talked like a professional business man .

"Nah still not, we have motto sisters before bastards" She turned away her face.

"First take a glance of him" He signalled for a guy with a tanned skin and black hair a little more buff than him.

"I am sold, she flat for these type of guys" you waited for your bestie 's awaited betrayal not feeling yourself in the hug anymore.

And your boyfriend standing smirking.

"So what about now sister in law?" he emphasised the last part.

You took a glance at your bestie who was suffering the side affect of being single for too much of time, she was drooling.

"Um I said bastards, if he is your friend then he is certainly ... Not one, may I borrow him? "

"Yah sure he is yours tonight"

You saw that traitor going round and round with her boy who responded just the way she likes forgetting you here.

This time your boyfriend tried to start a conversation and you avoided it in anger.

After sometime as 2 hours ended you went out by yourself gulping down the full glass of the drink ignoring your boyfriend who followed behind.

Again another silent night passed you skipped your breakfast by going out in early morning.

Again sitting at your desk with Tara you are confused.

Today is your doctor's appointment?!

Hey guys this is Ira/Irene I thought to end it by two parts by it's not ending though, trying 🙂,may be it would end in 4-5 parts.

Don't be shy to comment and critique but please be a bit mindful about the words.

Comments are necessary for me to improve more as I am new at it.

Love ya all .

[ethernetmeep]

03:10 — early morning/late night. i can hear water dripping, quiet sleeping. on couch— rather gratuitous to hog someone else’s bed for the first ever visit. partner’s cat is awake, too. she is very sweet, albeit a bit clumsy. she will almost fall off or fall to the side of where i am holding her many times. i will never let her get hurt, of course. called ‘he’ earlier, around 22:00-23:00 (10-11) ish. i forget he sees me as who i want to be seen as, sometimes. like i said, he’s sleeping. hopefully. i do not wish to wake him

i will now attempt to write out the events that transpired across the ten hours we spent:

13:00 (1PM) — around the time we see each other. gifts all around; shark tooth, shell, & squid plushie. he gifts me bracelets made by hand & a bag from his deceased grandmother. i am still wearing one of these bracelets. it is blue & it has fish beads. the bag is something i treasure deeply, and i tell him so. we are both giddy with glee. conversation is continuous, constant with new information or topics— it doesn’t feel forced, nor does it feel awkward. i tease him about his driving skills & discuss the physics of how when you run over another person in fortnite with a car & they’re running they get ejected into the air. very comical. 

the date itself spanned on for several hours, albeit hard to know when it exactly stopped. the pottery glazing went swimmingly. i chose a mug & painted one of his hamsters & him & i on it. i also painted two tiny little figures. i won’t show the personal side, as that is both a bit too intimate when it is someone elses affairs + he does not have good memories with others taking pictures of something related to him & sending them to a random third party place. i get it. i will show the side with the two critters, though. takes 5-7 days to fire & become shiny. he made a jellyfish mug. i love it. ultimately i would say we spend four hours there, half talking & half silence. wicked theme for school break. mention the post about goodnight moon being better than the very hungry caterpillar. if it wasn’t obvious, i find that retweet very funny. they had lemonade & popcorn out— lemonade was.. mediocre at best, popcorn a fascinating peppermint. never saw peppermint with popcorn before. not bad. not bad at all. we had fun. i liked meeting the couple who was painting a dragon… one was, other on his computer. had a highland cow & ‘save the bees’ sticker & a sticker for an oceanographic institute i adore. green keyboard…. neat. the place was also playing musical songs. some from six, mostly wicked, some hamilton & one the greatest showman. also sing, apparently. 

afterwards, around 17:00 (5PM), walk past stores. get stopped quickly by panera. i have a panera card, i tell him. fish it out of my wallet. it can finally be used! go inside for what is in my memory the first time, although i know there is probably one from  childhood buried under amnesia of wanting to forget. order two chocolate croissants, a sourdough bread bowl with macaroni in its center & try a pomegranate hibiscus tea. he gets an everything bagel with cream cheese. tea isn’t bad, just profoundly… water. the only real taste for me was the pomegranate & a mere hint of hibiscus. a nice crimson color, though. drank it. wouldn’t order again, but good to try. did not finish bread bowl. amusingly, cyber was written as ‘cybra’ on the receipt. i don’t care, my ego isn’t so fragile that a misspelling would leave me squabbling like a puzzled parrot— amusing more than anything. i enjoy human error when it is not something science related & is something like orders. might cut out the name & put it in my trinket box. 

after eating we walked to other places, some more meaningful than others. thought a store had a blahaj; just a regular shark. still, went inside. considered getting my cousin a small dinosaur until i remembered he just got a ton of toys for christmas so really its okay. as per tradition with friends, calico critters were bought. pulled from back, but not very very back either. the new baking blind box. one for each of us & a tiny ladybug toy that was six dollars. didn’t take cash, although it was twenty bucks so it wasn’t like it wasn’t enough. strange. partner paid with card, gave him money in return. sat on bench outside the store, opening our little bags. helped open mine with his keys (misspelt as ‘eyes’). he got a small cat with a strawberry dress; i didn’t know what i had gotten yet & simply said “aw look, we match!” it was pretty cute. i ended up getting the chaser, something that’s never happened before. husky with strawberry attire. it really is sweet ours match.. a coincidence or fate, none of it is for sure. happy either way.

we also visited the post office… he humored my excitement for stamps. i hadn’t been in a post office in a long time. didn’t see any, although there was also a whole other room to be entered. didn’t want to intrude if not meant to be there. soon after that we walked past several other stores, all a bit preppy by nature & for people with money. i do not have that, or if i do i do not want to spend it in said places. all very massachusetts in nature. saw big ass ornaments.. big balls, if you must. amusing. 

last stop was a candy/ice cream store. got some chocolate for my mother, one ice cream bought meant another was free. partner didn’t want any, so obviously i got two for me. he said no, so why would i force it? as we walked back to his car, talked about how his friend loves salt. for every sugar lover, there is one salt lover to counteract the effects. his car is quite nice, although it isn’t technically ‘his’. he has a cute flower freshener for it. 

(unrelated— it has reached 04:04! jolly times.)

regardless, he stopped by my house & we continued discussing things over hot chocolate. showed him the sawdust story that still boggles my mind. didn’t want to force him to watch anything he didn’t want to see, though. watched one episode of skin wars first, then moved to some youtube videos.. first time i really used the television, the new one. the amount of ads on television is egregious. if i were just a bit more stupid i would most likely fall for them. i still don’t really use one much though, but it doesn’t mean im exempt from the commentary about TVs either. he offered me to stay the night at his house. after packing, i obliged. a lot of driving, felt a bit bad about using up so much gas. at one point during the night (albeit unable to place when) he saw a raccoon. i missed it, which obviously made me a bit upset. laughed it off. he also didn’t know when there was an ambulance passing, albeit their lights weren’t flashing red & blue (?). using amusing terminology, i had about three jestian slips over the course of 10 hours (3/10 • 100… but then that assumes it is for three hours straight.. 60 • 10 -> 600 -> 3/600 -> 0.005 • 100 -> 0.5) so that would be, generally, 0.5% out of 100% (99.5% other things.) i think thats good odds. definitely under three minutes total. it was balanced, though— heard my partner talk about his old friend who would punch him in the stomach as a joke. no, genuinely, for real. he got upset talking about it, but not upset at me, more so at the person & the situation. i’m glad he was able to vent.

when we got to his place i also watched rupauls drag race for the first time. seen clips, but hadn’t actually watched an episode. thought we’d get insight on the costume building, but apparently not as much. either way, intriguing. i like drag queens. of course then there is the customary brush teeth + change into pajamas + sleep affair. only have gotten two hours, since i spent this decent amount writing. other time was spent petting his cat. in the background i have heard his little hamster run around in his wheel various times..

anyway, i guess i write this for the reasons i always do; documentation & appreciation. i have never been in another house before & felt at home. i feel loved, which is bashful to say/write & a bit embarrassing, but i am glad. i really am. im quite happy

i have a blistering headache but at least i had a fun time talking with my partner

[doueverwonder]

PoLiet week, day three.

Prompt: Tradition

No tw's

"Makowiec?" Tolys asked, confused, he knew what it was of course. Feliks made it every Christmas, and as it was getting towards that time of the year he shouldn't be surprised. He had never asked Tolys to make it with him before; cooking is an art, baking is a science, and Tolys was terrible at science. 

"Yeah! It'll be totally fun!" Tolys wanted to say no, he really did. The concern of just messing up his best friends... or, boyfriend? Honestly he wasn't sure about titles they hadn't discussed it. Sure, they had been to dinner a few times in a more than friends way, and yeah, they had stayed the night with each other more than once, and of course they started keeping each other's favorite foods stocked, and sides of the bed had been claimed but... that doesn't mean you are dating. And either way, Tolys didn't want to mess up one of Felik's favorite foods. 

Yet he sighed and shook his head, "Do we need to go to the grocery store?" 

"Nope! I have everything, except you" the Polish man winked, and Tolys tried not to laugh too hard at how exaggerated the gesture was. 

"Can I change so I don't get anything on my nice shirt?" 

"Nope! No time! Only Makowiec!" He went to protest saying that didn't even make sense but Feliks was already gone heading into the kitchen, expecting to be followed. Tolys huffed, and followed rolling his sleeves up as he did. 

"Feliks how long is this going to ta–" He wasn't able to finish his sentence as he was hit with a handful of still gooey dough. Hearing nothing but laughing coming from the other, who was standing at the counter, pieces of the dough still stuck to his hand. 

He was still laughing as he responded back "Not long, I..." he trailed off laughing harder again, his words barely making it through "I set the dough to rise a few hours ago" 

Tolys wasn't even sure what to do, part of him wanted to retaliate, but how? The other part of him just wanted to get the sticky substance off of his shirt. "What am I supposed to do about this?" 

"Take it off?" Feliks shrugged, turning and standing on his toes to look for something in the cabinet behind him. 

"And just walk around without a shirt?" 

Felik's flipped around, no longer interested in whatever he had been looking for, "I was going to suggest you like, borrow one of mine but... I wouldn't mind that" 

"What?" Tolys asked, of course he had heard what the other said. It was processing it he was having a hard time with, neither of them had gotten to openly expressing being well... attracted to each other. So far it had just been a quiet truth that they both knew was there. Even when they had been married they hadn't, they had never said things like that. 

Feliks showed a very rare emotion for him, embarrassment. "Nothing, just use a rag to get it off for now" He turned again quickly, going back to digging through the cabinets. Tolys walked over to the sink doing his best to pull the sticky blob off him, dropping the pieces of it down the sink not really caring that it might clog the drain. Feliks was between him and the trashcan and he didn't want to have to look him in the eyes yet. 

An awkward silence persisted for too long. Neither wanted to say anything not yet. It was stupid almost, they both thought it. Of course they had both seen each other with much less clothing than just a missing shirt, whether it's political or not you don't marry someone without it happening. This time somehow though it was... it was different. 

Feliks cleared his throat, "Do you still want to help with the filling?" 

"Of course, I–" Tolys stopped as he turned to see Feliks with a spoonful of something black, aimed right at him, a mischievous smirk on his face. 

Tolys tried not to sigh too loudly, he was starting to think getting covered in makowiec ingredients was going to be a new part of the Christmas tradition.

@polietweek2022

[preciousprentiss]

Prompts of Hotchniss - Chapter 16

Prompt: Person A and Person B finally get married.

My beautiful bride.

Running her thumb over the writing on the front of the envelope she was holding while sat on the edge of the bed in her hotel room, Emily worried her bottom lip with her teeth in an attempt to keep herself from crying and ruining her mascara. She had already cried four times that morning, leaving Pen to have to clean her up and apply another coat every time, and the technical analyst told her that she would kill her if she had to do it again. 

She tried to blame her emotions solely on her raging hormones, but she hadn’t been fooling anyone and she knew it. She was an emotional wreck because after four years, four incredible years with him, she was marrying her soulmate.

In just under three hours, Emily Prentiss would no longer exist and she would be known henceforth as Emily Hotchner.

Just the thought of that was enough to give her butterflies.

She was reminded of the envelope in her hand when one of the boys kicked and pulled her from her thoughts, a sigh leaving her as she rubbed her bump through her dress to calm him. Her mom, Pen and JJ had taken Soph to the park across the street so she could have some time to herself and read Aaron’s letter without any distractions. It was a cute little thing they decided to do weeks ago since the two of them were sticking to tradition and keeping from seeing one another until Dave walked her down the aisle.

She wrote the soppiest stuff in hers, but she knew he did the exact same thing.

Deciding she should probably start reading before the girls got back, she took a breath and opened the envelope before unfolding the letter and grinning like an idiot as she began to read.

-

I knew this was going to happen.

This is literally my third time trying to write this stupid letter and I know what I want to say, but no idea how to write it down and so I think I’m just going to wing it like I did the proposal because that went well enough. I mean, I wouldn’t be writing this right now if it hadn’t gone to plan. 

All right, here goes.

You have no idea how obsessed with you I am. How much I love you. 

You can stop shaking your head at a piece of paper, Em, because I know I’m right. 

Yeah, I tell you I love you all the time and I buy you stuff to remind you of that on occasion, but I’ve never actually told you just how much I love you because there isn’t a word suitable enough to describe it. Like you, the love I have for you is so unique and just impossible to define. I’ve loved before, you know that and I won’t pretend I haven’t, but the love I have for you is entirely different to that.

I remember waking up with you after our first night together and not believing it because I thought I dreamt the whole thing. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed lying there with you in my arms while you slept, but I honestly believed it was a feeling that would pass the more you stayed at my place. Well - and you are so gonna love me for admitting this, I know you are - I was totally wrong. It’s been four years and you being there is still the first thing that makes me smile every day.

Not only do I love lying there with you and watching you sleep because you do that adorable little nose scrunch thing (I can call you adorable because you can’t punch me, but you’ll probably get around to it later anyway) but also because I get to feel the boys move since both of them are early risers like me. Em, I mean it, I have no idea how you sleep through all that kicking. I thought Soph was a kicker when you were pregnant with her, but she was nothing compared to them.

Speaking of our kids, the four of them are just another reason why I can’t wait to marry you. I want to prove to them that I’m serious about you and I don’t want anyone but you. When we first got together, Jack worried we would get bored in time and break up and he would have to get used to having somebody else in his life. It hurt me to hear him say it, but it made me see he needed me to prove to him I was crazy about you and you wouldn’t be going anywhere. Us having Soph was the first step, but I think it took us getting engaged for him to be sure.

I know Soph won’t remember anything about today, but it’s still important to me that she’s there to hear us say our vows. I promise I’m not going to just say mine and forget about them in a couple days. I’m going to remind you of them all the time and I’m going to make sure I take every opportunity to kiss and hold you, no matter if the kids are there or not, because you really need to know how I feel.

I love you, honey.

Not just today. Always. 

This letter is getting stupidly long, so I think I’m gonna leave it here because the longer it takes you to read it the longer it’ll take for you to walk down the aisle and I’m enough of a nervous wreck as it is. I don’t need your tardiness making it any worse.

I’m so excited to see you walk down the aisle. You’re going to look so gorgeous.

I’ll see you later, Mrs Hotchner-to-be.

Aaron.

-

Folding the letter back up with trembling hands and pushing it back inside the envelope, she put it down on the bed and stared at the ceiling in an attempt to keep the tears in her eyes from falling. Up until now, she thought she couldn’t love that man more than she already did. She thought it was impossible, but he’d just gone and proved her wrong. That letter of his was the most beautiful, heartfelt thing she had ever read and she was in no doubt of his love for her.

He was always complaining to her and others that he didn’t have much of a way with words, but he was wrong and she would kill him if he dared say that again.

She was just starting to pull herself together when she heard a gentle knock on the door. Expecting it to be the girls back from the park, she got up from the bed and walked across the room before opening it to see Dave standing there. “Oh, wow...” She breathed as she looked him up and down, admiring the suit he had on before looking him in the eye and noticing he was blinking back tears. “No! No, you can’t cry. If you cry then I’ll cry and then my mascara will go everywhere and Pen will kill me. I’ve been a mess all morning, so please keep it together.”

Taking her face in his hands beneath her veil, he stepped closer to her and gave her a kiss on the forehead before drawing back again and brushing his thumbs against her cheeks. “You have never looked more beautiful.” He told her quietly.

“Not helping, Dave...” She teased. “You coming in? The girls took Soph out.”

“Sure,” He nodded before letting his hands fall from her face so he could follow her into the suite. “How are you feeling?”

“Nervous,” She admitted. “I could do with some Dutch courage, to be honest.”

He smirked. “And how are my beautiful little nipotis doing?”

“I was a bit worried because they hadn’t been moving around as much as usual, so Aaron called my OB and she managed to squeeze me in,” She said. “She told me everything is fine with both of them, they just haven’t got that much space in there now and so their movements are limited. It also doesn’t help that Rowan is such a chunk and Ryder is so tiny because Rowan’s taking up the room there is and Ryder is a little squashed. Not much longer though, thankfully. Two months.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa...” He held a hand up while she sat. “Rowan and Ryder?”

She laughed at that. “Aaron and I were flipping through a book of baby names to get a little inspiration the other night and Jack found us. When we told him what we were doing, he asked if he and Soph could pick the names and we thought it was a good idea. We sat them down and even though it was a risk, we promised we would go with the names they picked out. Because he’s older, we let Jack go first and he chose Ryder because it means ‘mountain warrior’ and he thought it sounded super cool. Aaron and I love it too because he’s so small but so strong. It was just luck that Sophia picked out the name Rowan really.”

“You excited? It must feel more real now.” He sat down in the chair opposite her.

“The two of them are all I can think about at the minute,” She told him, running a hand across her bump, her gaze falling to the proof of her babies for a second before she looked at him again. “My OB says Ryder has put on weight since the 4D scan and she’s pleased with his progress, so it’s seeming much less likely they’ll have to be delivered early and spend some time in the NICU. He’ll still be smaller than Rowan at birth, but it shouldn’t take him too long to catch up with him. Knowing all that has changed a lot, so Aaron and I did some shopping and we found Moses baskets for them. They’re already up in the bedroom.”

He chuckled. “He’s not stopped going on about the three of you all morning.”

“Is he doing okay?”

“Yeah, he is. Nervous, obviously, but I have never seen him so happy before.”

“That’s a relief. Not changed his mind yet then.” She joked.

“That man wouldn’t change his mind if you beat him with a brick.” He scoffed.

“Don’t give me ideas, Dave,” She smirked at him. “That might end up being my go-to if he winds me up while we’re away.”

He snorted with laughter at that, but her phone beeped before he had chance to say anything else and she got up from the bed to walk over to the dressing table. “Mom says the cars are outside. Soph’s legs are hurting, so they’re gonna head to the house because they don’t want to drag her up here just to take her back down again. I’m glad of that though, she’ll get to spend some time with the boys before the ceremony and that should keep her quiet,” She glanced at him before responding to her mother, turning her phone off and putting it in her clutch bag. “I guess we should take that as our cue to get going too.”

“Let’s wait ten minutes,” He told her. “Be fashionably late. Make the man sweat.”

“That’s so cruel,” She feigned shock. “I like it.”

“So, ten minutes?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Ten minutes,” She nodded. “Ten minutes...”

----------

She barely had time to drink her water and put the glass on the side before the music she and Aaron picked for her to walk down the aisle to - the instrumental version of Songbird by Fleetwood Mac - started playing, her heart racing as she walked over to Dave before taking his arm with a trembling breath. “You good? You can take a minute if you like, he knows you’re here so no need to worry.” She heard him whisper while he brought his free hand up to give hers a stroke.

“I’m okay,” She assured him. “Well, I will be once I’m down there with him.”

“In other words, you want me to just shut up and start walking.” He translated.

“Yeah, pretty much,” She beamed. “Thank you for filling in for my dad. You don’t know how much I love you for it.”

“And I love you,” He kissed her on the cheek. “Now, let’s get you down there before Hotch sweats through his shirt.”

The two of them shared a smile before she tightened her hold of his arm, her other hand tightening its hold of her bouquet of flowers as she allowed him to lead her through the French doors that opened out into the back garden. Before she had even made it off the patio, the guests had risen from their seats and turned to watch her walk down the aisle. She was grateful to them all for coming, of course, and she managed to give the odd person a smile when she caught their eye, but her main focus was on the handsome man waiting for her under the wedding arch. He had told everyone that he wasn’t going to cry at the wedding, but she could definitely see tears rolling down his cheeks.

She would tease him about it when they were on their honeymoon, but for the time being she would simply enjoy it.

It took less time than she had thought it would to make it down the aisle and join Aaron beneath the arch, and once she had dropped Rossi’s arm and handed her bouquet of flowers to Garcia she turned to face him with a soft smile. “Is it too early to kiss the bride?” He teased, moving her veil out of her face with his fingers. “You look so beautiful.”

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” She reached up to brush the tears from his cheeks. “You ready for this?”

“Definitely,” He nodded. “You?”

“More than ready…” She assured him, taking his hands in her own. “Let’s get married.”

The two of them turned to Richard, the officiant, then and the smile he gave them told them he was ready to begin. “Dear friends and family,” He addressed the guests. “We are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of Aaron and Emily. In the years that they have been together, the love they have for each other has grown, turning them into the couple standing before you. Now, they are ready to spend the rest of their lives as husband and wife. A true marriage starts well before the wedding day, and the efforts of marriage continue long after the ceremony. A brief moment in time and the stroke of a pen are all that is needed to create the legal bond of marriage, but it takes an entire lifetime of three things – love, commitment and compromise – to make marriage durable and everlasting.”

He cleared his throat before continuing. “Emily and Aaron are here today to marry each other. No one else’s will can create such a union. It is their words, their intentions, their vision, that must define and shape their marriage. So, I call upon them both now to state their promise before this group: the pledges that will bind them together.” He fell silent once he’d said his piece and handed the microphone to Emily, clasping his hands as he stepped back slightly.

“Here you are.” Garcia whispered as she handed a folded-up piece of paper to her.

“Thanks,” Emily smiled before dropping Aaron’s hand in order to unfold it, the look on his face causing her heart to race when she took his hand again and squeezed it before looking at the words she’d written. “Aaron, I’m so proud that today I become your wife. I love you. I love the way you act like an idiot to make me laugh whenever I’m having a bad day. I love how you have to push my hair back when it’s in my face and I love how you take the opportunity to kiss me whenever we’re at a stoplight on our way into work,” She couldn’t help but laugh when he chuckled quietly.

“Today, I want to make promises to you that I promise I’ll always keep. I promise to never stop holding your hand, I promise to give you the same love and support that I give to our children, I promise to stand by your side when you face the world and listen when you have something to say and I promise to grow alongside you but never grow up. More than any of that though, I promise to love, respect, protect and trust you, and give you the best of myself, for I know that together we’ll build a life far better than either of us could imagine building alone,” She paused for just a second as tears blurred her vision. “Today seems like it’s the start of a new journey for the both of us, but I already belong to you. Falling for you wasn’t falling at all, it was just walking into your life and knowing I was home.”

Looking him in the eye again once she had finished reading her vows to him, she took a step closer to him and ran her thumb across his knuckles as she watched a tear roll down his cheek. The two of them looked at one another in complete silence for a time, nothing else mattering but them, before he reached for the microphone and cleared his throat. “There’s no way I’m going to top that, but let’s see how this goes,” He chuckled, making her and the guests laugh. “Em, I love you without knowing how, or when or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without any pride or complexities. Loving what I know of you and trusting what I don’t yet. Home, in my opinion at least, is wherever you and our kids are. I love you not for what you are, but what you are when I’m with you and that’ll never change.”

Even though there was a lump in her throat and she was fighting back tears, she still managed a quiet: “I love you.”

“And I love you,” He ran the back of his hand down her cheek, brushing his thumb against her hair. “So much.”

When Richard moved closer to the two of them once again, Aaron handed him back the microphone before slipping both hands into his bride’s again and smoothing his thumbs across the back of her palms as they both took a deep breath. “I think the fact that I can’t see a single dry eye says more than I ever could about those vows,” Richard said as he looked out at the wave of guests for a second. “Now, it’s time to move on to the declaration of intent. Do you, Aaron, take Emily to be your lawfully wedded wife, to share your life openly, standing beside her in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in hardship and in ease, to cherish and love forever more?” He inquired, looking at him.

“I do.” Aaron replied without hesitation, nothing but love for the beautiful woman standing before him in his eyes.

“And do you, Emily, take Aaron to be your lawfully wedded husband, to share your life openly, standing beside him in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in hardship and in ease, to cherish and love forever more?” He asked.

“I do, I definitely do.” Emily nodded, not caring in the slightest that her impatience was showing through.

“That’s excellent,” He smiled. “Now the rings, please.”

Aaron and Emily both turned their heads in order to watch Jack walk towards them with their rings on a pillow, their pride in him evident on their faces when he came to stand beside them and held the pillow up a little. “Now, Aaron,” Richard continued. “Please take the ring you have selected for Emily. As you place it on her finger, repeat after me” He watched silently as he took the diamond ring from the pillow and eased it onto her finger. “Emily, I give you this ring as proof of my love. I ask you to wear it as a sign to the world that you are my wife. With this ring, I thee wed.”

Once Aaron had repeated what he had said and settled the ring neatly at the base of her finger, he turned to Emily. “And Emily, please take the ring you have selected for Aaron. As you place it on his finger, repeat after me,” He told her before watching her take the other ring from the pillow and gently place it on Aaron’s finger. “Aaron, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. I ask you to wear it as a sign that you are my husband. With this ring, I thee wed.”

Emily repeated his words perfectly as she slid the ring down his finger, and Richard smiled as he watched them take each other’s hands again. “In so much as the two of you have consented together in matrimony, and have witnessed the same before this company, by authority vested in me by the State of Virginia, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Aaron, you may kiss your bride!” He announced, stepping back when Aaron pulled Emily into a soft, deep kiss.

Wrapping her arms tight around his waist as the guests clapped and cheered, Emily couldn’t help but smile against her husband’s lips as she felt him pull her closer to him with the hand pressed into the small of her back. “Well, Mr. Hotchner,” She murmured between kisses, grasping the back of his shirt in both hands. “You’re stuck with me now.”

“Am I? Good,” He smirked. “Because that’s all I’ve ever wanted…”

----------

From where he was standing in the corner of the garden with a can of beer in hand, Aaron smiled as he watched his girls pose together for a picture. All the pictures that the two of them had been serious about having taken with the kids, the wedding and the maternity ones, had been taken hours ago and so they were only messing around, but he knew that that was one picture he was going to keep so that he could have it on his desk at work. Emily and Sophia were standing together in the shade of the huge oak tree, his wife with one hand on her back and the other running down their little girl’s cheek as her lips were pressed to her bump and her tiny hands were cradling it at either side.

It was such a natural and beautiful picture of the two of them, one he knew would always make him smile no matter the day he was having at work, and he couldn’t wait for it to be developed. Once the picture had been taken, Sophia took a step back from her mother and giggled before Emily cupped her cheek in her hand and she nuzzled instantly into her palm, the love he had for the two of them deepening as he watched the little scene unfold. His wife was the most natural mother he had ever seen, she truly was. Her mother had barely been around when she had been little, meaning that she’d had no example to follow when Sophia had arrived, but she needn’t have been worried about it.

Like he had known she would, she had found her own way and she had astounded him with the little things she had done when they had brought their daughter home for the first time. She had been a multitasker, able to hold her in one arm while doing laundry or pouring Jack a bowl of cereal at the same time, she had known exactly how to settle her whenever she had cried, she had known which lullabies had comforted her the most and he had been so proud. Things were going to be a little different this time around though, he knew that. Unlike their sister, the boys would be delivered via C-section and he knew that it would be weeks if not months before Emily would be back to normal.

He was going to have to pull his weight big time, getting up with the boys in the night along with making sure Jack got to school in time in the mornings and Sophia was kept entertained throughout the day. It wasn’t going to be an easy task and he was going to be permanently exhausted, but the thought of such things didn’t bother him all that much. For the past seven months, his wife had been eating for three and sharing her body with two crazy little boys who kicked her all night and played with her bladder all day. She hadn’t had a moment’s peace since she had found out she was expecting them, so he was looking forward to taking them off her hands for a while so she could sleep.

Besides, how much trouble could two newborns actually be?

Jack and Sophia had both been a breeze.

“Dada!” His sweet little girl’s voice pulled him from his thoughts and he set down his beer the second he caught her toddling towards him, warmth pooling in his chest as he got down to her level and opened his arms to her. She ran the last couple of steps, eager to get to him, and buried her face in his chest when he caught her in one of his bear hugs, her peals of laughter only making him love her more as he tickled her sides while getting back to his feet. He perched her on his hip once he was upright again and kissed her chubby cheek, lingering for a moment longer than necessary to breathe in her scent before pulling back to watch his wife walk towards them as she rubbed her bump.

“You might have to be the one to take her to the park for the foreseeable,” She puffed. “I can’t keep up with her.”

He chuckled, wrapping an arm around her waist once she had reached him and drawing her close with a kiss to her temple. “Does this mean that my days are going to be spent fetching you chips and soda while you sit on the couch watching Doctor Phil? Don’t get me wrong, I loved doing that when you were pregnant with this little one, but if you could just let me know what I’m in for then I’d appreciate it.” He teased, amusement in his eyes as he looked at her.

“Mmm…that sounds nice,” She smirked. “My ankles are a bit swollen as well, so you could massage my feet for me.”

“Who do you think you are? FLOTUS?” He asked.

“Please…?” She pouted, cuddling closer to him.

He feigned a sigh of exasperation. “Fine. I guess I am partly responsible for your swollen ankles and mad cravings.”

“I am so in love with you,” She laughed, nudging her nose against his. “You mean absolutely everything to me.”

“And you mean just as much to me.” He smiled.

He leaned in to steal a kiss from her, but a soccer ball hitting him in the leg prompted him to pull away from her at the last moment and he turned with a frown before sighing as he watched Jack approach them with a sheepish look on his face. “You and I have been over this, buddy. You shouldn’t be kicking your ball around Emmy or your sister.”

“Sorry, daddy, I was supposed to kick it to Henry but it went the wrong way.” Jack explained, playing with his hands.

“Sounds like you need a little more practice,” Aaron told him, hoping the smile on his face would tell him he was no longer upset. “How about a little one-on-one when Emmy and I get back from our trip? I’ll give you some pointers.”

Jack’s eyes lit up. “You mean it? Really?”

“Really,” Aaron nodded. “Why don’t you leave the ball for the time being though and take Sophia to get some cake?”

“Cake! Cake!” Sophia squealed, clapping her hands together with glee before her father set her down on the grass.

“Emmy, I’m sorry about the ball. Can I have some cake as well? Please?” Jack asked with hope in his eyes.

Emily sighed. “Sweetheart, it was an accident. You were only playing. Of course, you’re allowed to have some cake.”

“Thank you! You’re the best mom ever!” He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug before taking Sophia’s hand in his and hurrying to the desserts table with her, Emily watching them go with tears of happiness in her eyes.

“Did you, um…” She stumbled over her words as she glanced up at her husband. “Did you hear what he just said?”

“I did.” He brushed a dark curl back behind her ear.

“He probably doesn’t even realise he said it,” She shrugged. “I shouldn’t get too excited.”

“Don’t think of it like that. Think of it as a step forward,” He shook his head. “It proves he sees you as a mom, Em.”

She smiled to herself. “He’s not mine, I know, but I love him just as much as I love Soph and the boys.”

“I know you do,” He rested his chin on her head, casting his gaze over at their beautiful children. “I know you do…”

----------

Running the back of his hand down the side of her face as he held her in his arms that night, Aaron felt nothing but relief when he felt Emily settle against him and heard the slightest change in her breathing. She was actually asleep. It had taken hours to get to this point and he had to admit that, for the first time in quite a while, he was genuinely annoyed with her. All afternoon, she had been dancing and chatting away to everyone as though she had been fine, but the fact of the matter was that she had been far from it. Her back had been in two and her feet had been killing her, but he hadn’t known a thing about it until she had burst into tears once the final few guests had headed home.

When he had been holding her on the couch and massaging her back in an attempt to help ease the pain a little, he had asked her why she hadn’t told him sooner and all she’d said was that she didn’t know. He adored her. He loved her more than she would ever know, but there was one thing he couldn’t stand about her and it was how she would keep him in the dark about things if she thought there was the slightest chance of it hurting him. He needed her to start opening up to him about things, but he also understood why that was such a challenge for her. She had never had someone to talk to about her issues before. No one had cared. No one had listened and she’d grown used to it.

She was the bravest woman he knew, but her past had damaged her severely and it would take time for her to heal.

When he had helped her upstairs after she had sat with a hot-water bottle pressed to her back for a good half hour, their wedding night had been the furthest thing from his mind and he’d been relieved that it been the furthest from hers as well. It would have killed him to push her away if she had made advances, but he would have forced himself to do it because it wouldn’t have been right. To do that to her in the state she had been in would have been selfish. He would have seen it as taking advantage of her and that was one thing he never wanted to do. He cared about her far too much. “You are an absolute idiot sometimes, Emily Hotchner,” He sighed into her fringe. “But I still love you.”

Despite his frustration, he smiled when she stirred in her sleep a couple of minutes later and murmured something incoherent before brushing her hair out of her face and settling down again once she’d cuddled up to him. She was something else, his wife. She was so unique, so different to any woman he had ever met, and there was no one way to define her which was one of the things he loved her most for. When he had been saying his vows earlier on, he’d told her that he loved everything he already knew about her and that he trusted everything that he had yet to learn and he’d meant it. There were so many layers to her, it would take forever to peel them all back, but he would do it.

He would eventually learn everything there was to know about her.

And he would surely love her all the more because of it.

[screamin-abt-haikyuu]

In which Yachi avoids Death several times

Genre: Crack Warnings: Mentions of death and possibly dangerous scenarios but nothing actually happens lol. A/N: Happy Birthday to the sweetest, cutest and one of the most underrated characters in Haikyuu! When I was writing this, at first I thought that I was probably overexaggerating Yachi's panic but I went and watched compilations of her on YouTube and...yeah this seems pretty in character lmao.

I wrote this in an HC-type format because it wouldn't fit well in any other type. Please also enjoy a photo collection our beloved Yachchan freaking out.

➾ It was New Year's and Hinata convinced all his fellow third years to visit the shrine with him.

➾ "It's what all our Senpai did before their important matches and we should honor that tradition."

➾ Tsukki only came because Yamaguchi forced him to.

➾ After praying, everyone decided to pull O-mikuji fortune strips.

➾ "Ooooo I got a good one! What does yours say, Yachi?" Hinata asked.

➾ "I- I- I- IT SAYS I'M GOING TO DIE!!!!!!"

➾ Hinata and Yamaguchi panicked. "WHAT?! Does it really say that??"

➾ It turned out Yachi had pulled "Great Curse", the worst result one can get.

➾ To her, that meant she was going to die.

➾ You know, the logical conclusion.

➾ After a lot of futile attempts to console her, Yamaguchi decided to go a different way. "You know, Yacchan, these are daily O-mikuji. They only tell you how your day is going to go, you have nothing to worry about. You just need to survive the next 24 hours."

➾ A confused Hinata started to counter Yamaguchi, "I don't think that's corr- OW! Kageyama, what did you do that for?!" Hinata asked Kageyama, who had just elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up. Realization finally dawning on him, he continued, "Yes, Yachi, Tadashi is right. The curse will blow over soon."

➾ "THAT MEANS I AM GOING TO DIE IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS?! I AM TOO YOUNG TO DIE," Yachi started bawling.

➾ "No, no. That's not what I meant! You won't die. Look, we all pulled blessings. That means whatever we do, we will succeed in it. We will stay with you and protect you, all right?"

➾ The four of them spent the entire day "protecting" Yachi from then on. It was really good they did because she did have several near-death experiences (/s) -

She clung to the shrine railing, refusing to go down the stairs because she was afraid she would trip and fall and crack her neck.

Hinata and Yamaguchi had to half-drag, half-carry her.

She wouldn't get in a cab because, you know, car accidents.

So, they opted to walk to places instead.

They walked in a formation. Tsukishima rolling his eyes at the front, Kageyama at the back, Hinata and Yamaguchi on the sides, and Yachi in the middle.

Hinata called it the ✨Blessing Shield✨.

Crossing the roads was exceptionally embarrassing, though.

"How about we go and get something to eat? I'm starving," Hinata suggested.

This sounded like a good idea to Yachi until the server put the food in front of her and she didn't touch it because she did not want to die of food poisoning.

Yamaguchi suggested going to his place where he could cook something but he was shut down because he lived too far away to walk there.

She finally agreed to eat chips after checking the expiry date 50 times.

"Yachi, are you okay? You've been chewing on a single chip for the past two minutes."

"Yes, I'm just making sure to crush it properly before swallowing. I don't want it to accidentally get lodged in my throat and make me choke."

"Oh."

It took her more than an hour to finish the entire packet.

They decided to walk to a nearby park and sit there until it would be time to go home.

On the way, Yachi was approached by an old lady.

"Sweet child, could you tell me the directions to th-"

"I'M SORRY."

"Huh?"

"I'M SORRY. I DIDN'T STEAL ANYTHING FROM YOU, PLEASE DON'T BEAT ME TO DEATH WITH YOUR WALKING STICK."

"What the-"

Once the boys had helped the lady and calmed Yachi down, they started walking towards the park again.

They stopped at a public washroom on the way.

Yachi wanted to go really badly but was afraid to enter. "I will be alone in there. What if I slip and fall and break my head? What if I catch an infection? What if the toilet overflows and floods the entire restroom and I drown? WHAT IF A CRIMINAL IS WAITING IN THERE WITH A KNIFE TO ROB AND KILL ME?"

"All right, that's it. I'm calling for help," Tsukishima said and whipped out his phone. He spoke to someone for two minutes and handed Yachi the phone. "Here. It's Shimizu Senpai."

After talking to Kiyoko for a few minutes, Yachi came back with a smile on her face and handed Tsukki his phone back.

"I'm good now. Kiyoko senpai made me realize I was worried for nothing."

"Th-that's great. So, you're not afraid of dying, anymore?"

"In the future? Yes. But today? No."

The boys heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for protecting me. All of you."

"Of course. Anything for you."

Hope you enjoyed! I really love Yachi and that's why I had chosen to write for her in @meiansmistress's collab event and what better occasion to post this than her birthday?

MASTERLIST

Buy me a Kofi! <3

[wing-ed-thing]

Mob Wife (Kakuzu x Reader, ft. Hidan) Part IV

Synopsis: The Akatsuki are in emergency mode. Kakuzu leads Hidan to the only place he knows for sure is safe to regroup.

Word Count: 

Warnings/Tags: Violence, Blackmail, Language, Fem!Reader, HouseWife!Reader, Moll!Reader, Attempt at Humor, Ceremonial Drinking of Sake, Traditional Wedding

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Finale

Notes: It’s back. Writing Hidan has got me feeling a certain way rn

It rained on your wedding day: weather fitting for, and not minded by, a criminal and a deserter. As you approached the temple, he tried to tell you many times that you were going to be turned away, but as you spoke to the shrine masters, you were greeted warmly and welcomed. You were young with a warm face that offset Kakuzu’s intimidating exterior. Everyone always loved you right away, a way about you that Kakuzu could never begin to consider replicating. With your open heart, you brought a foreign concept into his world: acceptance. The few priests and priestesses at the temple on the border of the Land of Stone looked upon you kindly, a kindness that you and Kakuzu continued to repay years later. The small village of a few hundred that housed that shrine would never see a shinobi attack. Now, only you continue to repay years later.

You could tell that Kakuzu didn’t like being in the temple in the slightest. He had never been one for religion or structure or ceremonies, so you tried not to laugh the first time you saw him in his montsuki haori hakama. You wondered how much grumbling went into getting Kakuzu in such formal attire with a goofy, lopsided grin. Even as he gazed upon your amused, upturned lips, his infamous temper laid unusually dormant. Kakuzu never thought that he would see his own wedding day. Being the kind of man he was, he never thought that he’d have one. He didn’t think that he deserved it, but for once as you stood in front of him in your shiromuku, all of his jaded thoughts seemed to fade. Of course with you, all doors opened.

Kakuzu knelt next to you at the shrine, ever stoic. He put his hair up before the ceremony and secured it neatly behind his head. You remembered it when it was short. As the priest announced your marriage to the gods, you couldn’t help but glance at Kakuzu out of the corner of your eye. He held himself together better than you imagined he would.

“Well, yes. I am an adult,” he would tell you later.

But at that moment, he received the first sakazuki. The priest's vessel tipped over the small cup two times before pouring. Kakuzu brought the dish up to his lips and took three sips: pointless seeing that neither of you had parents, but traditional nonetheless. You were taught to always honor your ancestors, but you doubted that Kakuzu felt the same. You received your cup and the same sake, taking the same three sips and the ceremony went on. The second sakazuki represented your vow to care for each other. You received a slightly larger cup and once again, you each touched the sake to your lips three times. The third represented fortune and fertility.

The Heavens, the Earth, and the People.

You offered Kakuzu a light smile as you moved to the next part of the ceremony, a gesture to assure him that it was almost over. He would have rolled his eyes in any other setting, but Kakuzu didn’t even have to speak for you to know exactly what he meant. You knew that more than anything, he was happy to be with you. Out of all the things that he had done as a shinobi, he could handle a stuffy ceremony.

“I thought you liked stuffy things,” you teased him later, parts of your robes slung over forearms and shoulders for better mobility as you walked through the gardens. Your hand rested in his as you balanced yourself on some raised, rock ledges. His expression could have easily been mistaken for exasperation as he scoffed, but you knew better. He looked happy. “You’re a shinobi. Now that’s stuffy!”

The priest had you stand and you received a flowering branch to offer to the gods. As you held the sprig in your hand, you glanced at Kakuzu. His eyes met your own and you quietly prayed over your offerings before presenting them together, stem first. You bowed together, the rituals vaguely familiar to you as you performed them.

With the blessings of the gods, you had received your rings. Your thumb ran over the skin of Kakuzu’s hand. They had a familiar gruffness to them and held smooth bumps from old scars. His fingernails were short. You slid the band onto his ring finger. The black suited him. He squeezed the fingers of your other hand. The space behind your eyes stung as you held back tears watching as he placed the ring on your hand.

Neither of you had family, so you thanked the shrine priests and priestesses and enjoyed their hospitality. You took a single picture. It was the same frame that you held in your hands now.

Kakuzu walked out a few hours ago, taking Hidan with him. Your kitchen was, for the most part, wrecked. Your doing. Your tears had since dried up and your trembling was beginning to fade. With a shaky breath, you brought yourself to your feet. You placed the picture face-down on the counter and reached for the broom in the corner. Your heart hurt, but the world continued on. And if the world continued on, so should you.

***

You didn’t want to eat, you didn’t feel hungry, but you stood over the sink anyway biting into whatever you could pull from your fridge. You cleaned up the kitchen to the best of your ability. Trash piled up in neat bins outside: splintered wood, broken plates, and any other particles of dust that you managed to sweep up. You could handle it later. At least the rest of the kitchen was spotless. You glanced down at the thick wedding band that sat in your hand. Twirling it between your fingers, you bit into your bell pepper like an apple. That was the kind of night you were having.

A harsh pounding came from the front door and for a split second you wondered if your husband came back. Ex-husband. You didn’t think so. You kept your eyes on the kitchen window but the pounding continued adamantly. A slight shiver went down the back of your neck. The next farm wasn’t for miles. That was definitely not Kakuzu.

You put down your pepper and rolled out your utensil drawer. Your fingers danced across the kunai strapped to the bottom as you silently hoped that your training hadn’t worn off too horribly. The banging ceased as the doorknob began to rattle. The door swung open and you launched your kunai with immense velocity and precision. It was snatched out of the air.

“Fuck! That hurts like a bitch!”

Hidan stood in the entryway with his hand still held up and wrapped around your weapon. Blood dripped onto your floors as the kunai clattered to the ground. He shook out his palm, now sporting a deep gash. All you could do was stand and blink, wondering why he was there and if Kakuzu was with him. Hidan threw his cloak onto the rack. It slid, hardly staying on as he marched over to you. The door didn’t fit into its frame the same as it did before and there was no sign of Kakuzu.

“Can you patch me up, lady?” He looked around your kitchen for somewhere to sit, but found none. He dripped more onto your floors. You quickly guided his wrist over your sink and looked up at him. Beads of water fell down his face. You didn’t even hear the rain outside.

“What happened?” you asked sternly, your voice cracking a bit with worry. Hidan groaned.

“You fucked up my hand, can you at least fix me? I’m traumatized over here.” You sighed, yanking him forward before turning the running water on over his hand. You held it there for a second as if telling him to keep it there before running off to get your medical kit.

“Hidan, you have to tell me if there is an emergency,” you said as you heaved the box onto the counter from your spare room. You cleaned his palm with soap and disinfectant before applying pressure. While you didn’t have to worry about blood loss with Hidan, you also didn’t want him passing out on your kitchen floor either. That would make one more thing to clean up. “Hidan—” You pulled the gauze extra tight. He didn’t seem to be listening to you. —“Is there an emergency?”

“No, lady, it was just cold as fuck and Kakuzu’s got a stick up his ass that’s worse than usual. But you already know what that’s like.” The atmosphere stood still at the mention of Kakuzu’s name.

You knew that you shouldn’t worry about him. As far as you were concerned, he had just divorced you a few hours ago, and even if he hadn’t, you were certain that he could take care of himself. You apparently didn’t do a great job at masking your worry.

He usually didn’t care about the effect of his words, but as you frowned to yourself, Hidan couldn’t help but consider how sad you looked. He pursed his lips, never one for comforting others. For a split second, he wondered whether or not he should have brought up his partner at all. Two fingers gently bumped the bottom of your chin and you looked up at Hidan.

“Don’t look so down. It doesn’t look good on you.” He hesitated. “He’ll come back.”

You dropped his wrapped hand, not noticing that you’ve been drawing loops around his knuckles with your finger.

“I don’t know. He’s usually pretty certain about things and I can’t dwell on that.” You shook your head, turning the water back on to wash your own hands. “You have to go. I know that you have things to do and my— and Kakuzu won’t like that you’re here.” He pouted as you moved around him. You had blood to clean up.

“But it’s raining…” he pouted, expression falling in your peripheral. “And he’s miserable right now which means I’m miserable. C’mon let me stay, I’m miserable.”

“Hidan.” You turned to him and leaned on the doorway from your kitchen to your small living area. “Your partner doesn’t live here anymore.” You flicked on the entryway light, your bucket in hand. Hidan followed behind you, now taking your spot in the doorframe.

“But that doesn’t mean that I have to leave. You know he’s being stupid, but that doesn’t mean that I need to suffer out in the rain because Kakuzu’s a crotchety, old bastard.” You sighed, resting on the handle of your mop. You shook your head.

“I’m sure by the time you get to town the two of you can find somewhere to stay.”

A silence overtook the house again, full of raging, but unspoken thoughts. You squeezed out the yarns and tended to the floors. It, at the very least, gave you something to do. Hidan’s blood already dried part way and you scrubbed harder, but not before it was snatched out of your grip. Hidan shoved you over to take your place. The backs of your knees hit the armrest of the modest couch that you almost toppled down onto. He took to scrubbing.

“So what happened?” he asked.

“Sorry?” Hidan peered at you with his bright violet irises.

“I’m trying to be nice and ask you about your problems, so you better start chatting before I lose interest.” The mop splashed back into the bucket. “Who else do you get to talk to?” You pursed your lips. You knew that he was biding his time to wait out the rain, but his words weren’t wrong. The hurt still felt fresh and perhaps you were feeling a bit desperate to get it out of your system.

“I’m not sure what happened. I asked, but, well, you know how my… how Kakuzu is.” And you found yourself retelling the entirety of what happened: the argument, the ring, Kakuzu’s misplaced comments about children. You left out the part about the wrecked kitchen. “And then he said something about ‘now letting this happen’ which had to be the last straw for me.”

“Did you want brats?” Hidan had since stopped his cleaning. Surprisingly, he listened intently to your rambling as he propped himself against the wall. You swung your feet back and forth over the side of the couch.

“I never really thought about it before and Kakuzu and I never talked about it, so I don’t know why he brought it up.”

“Because he’s a dumbass who thinks too much. I never know what’s going on in that fucked up head of his. If I had a home to come to like this with a cute little thing in an apron—” Hidan scoffed. —“Fuck the Akatsuki. I wouldn’t be hiding you out here because of some band of losers in capes.” That made you laugh.

“You’re in the Akatsuki,” you giggled and Hidan raised a slender eyebrow.

“So? I’m the best one out of all those guys.”

“The best out of some band of losers?” The corners of Hidan’s lips turned upwards into a brief smile as he rolled his pretty irises.

“Listen, I got my devilish charms going for me which is better than Ragdoll. He looks like a fucking pin cushion.” Your hand came over your mouth as you laughed. Hidan looked down at where you sat, pride swelling in his chest at the prospect of cheering you up. But your face quickly morphed into something sentimental.

“Aw, but he’s a cute pin cushion…” Your bottom lip curled into a pout, but at least you didn’t look quite as sad as before. Hidan leaned a bit forward.

“He’s a little over a hundred-eight centimeters tall and has a big-ass nose.” You let out an amused breath. “I’d hardly consider that ‘cute’.”

“But it’s a cute nose. It’s slender and has that cute little bump in the middle.” Your voice grew quieter. Another silence, the third of Hidan’s visit.

It all felt too confusing for you. Maybe Kakuzu was never that interested in you in the first place. You shook your head then and there, much to Hidan’s confusion. Despite Kakuzu’s attitude towards most everything, you knew that he cared deeply about you. Perhaps he had grown bored. Despite ninja work not being of interest to you, you knew that many found the profession very exciting. You ran many profitable operations in the surrounding area, but more money could be made elsewhere, you knew that much. Your lifespan was nothing compared to Kakuzu’s nearly a century of living. He had done everything in life that he had wanted to do and all you had little to show for your existence.

You kept replaying his words about the time that you had. That you had enough time to do more. But if you really thought about it, you were content living the way you had been. You were happy and for a split second you considered whether or not Kakuzu actually saw himself as worthy of you. You shook your head for the second time. No, if anything, you considered it the other way around. You’d imagine that you would come off as boring and childlike to an immortal.

“That’s a lot of thinking.” Hidan had taken to wandering around the room. You hadn’t noticed. “Fuck thinking. You deserve better than taking care of some place in the middle of nowhere and running numbers on boring-ass shit.” You smiled again to yourself, something else that you didn’t notice.

“I actually like it here,” you mumbled. Hidan yawned.

“Can I stay now?” You deliberated to yourself before grabbing the bucket and the mop away from him. He didn’t do a great job, but you found yourself relatively uncaring at the moment.

“Yes, you can stay,” you sighed. Hidan was already halfway down the hall by the time you finished your sentence.

“Good because I was going to crash here anyway.”

@brokennerdalert @unsatisfiedanddisappointed @krispypotato @meme-queen-1999​

Notes: Reader and Kakuzu had a Shinto wedding if anyone’s interested. 

Thank you to all who liked, reblogged, followed and otherwise supported. Your support means so much and is greatly appreciated.

[obsessivedino]

movies and cuddles

Pairing: Elliott/Sunshine

watching one crappy Christmas movie after another with your best friend, you couldn't ask for more.

[Read on AO3]

For @helloatomicshadow

Thank you @the-sugar-crash for hosting Redacted 2021 Winter Gift Exchange. This was really fun to write.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s a mystery when this first started or how for that matter, but it has become a seasonal tradition for you and Elliott: nestled snugly together on the couch watching one crappy Christmas movie after another, but here you two were doing exactly that. With his arm draped loosely around your shoulder and your whole body leaned onto him, the credits for Love at Rose Point Inn started to roll.

“Please tell me the next one is better, Sunshine.” Elliott groaned; his weight began to press onto you, incidentally toppling you over onto the plush surface. You swore he did it on purpose, and as you were about to protest, his whining continued, “I don’t know how much more pining I can handle."

You rolled your eyes at his dramatic antics that were accompanied by a light chuckle. But despite his distaste for these cheesy romance movies, the notion of stopping hasn’t crossed his mind yet which you are grateful for.

“It wasn’t that bad this time.” You tried to prop yourself up but to no avail, your back was pressed firm onto the couch. “Sylvia held her ground as she should and if Finn wasn’t that stubborn and actually agreed with her, they could’ve gotten together before everything went to shit. And don’t lie; you like pining.”

Elliott scoffed and noticeably didn’t move. In fact, his arms found their way around your body. “Just because I could have confessed my love for you much earlier than I did doesn’t mean I like pining, you know.”

This time it was your turn to scoff but as an attempt to ignore the heat rushing to your cheeks at the memory, and the tangled fleece blanket around you both definitely did not help.

“Come on. Get off, so I can check what’s next.”

Elliott hummed in fake contemplation, “I dunno, I kinda like this position. It’s comfy.” His head was now resting on your chest to make the point that much more clear. “You’re comfy.”

Throwing your head back in defeat, you groaned. Sure, you could lightly swat him off or flip him off the couch, but you decided against it. Perhaps you too liked this position; though, you won’t admit it.

Besides like this, every breath you took you were able to watch Elliott’s head rise and fall along your chest in a steady rhythm, his eyes closed and a content smile formed. The commercials playing in the background tuned out from your mind as fingers made their way into his hair, mindlessly curling the soft strands. You could almost hear purr from him.

“You can’t do this to me, Sunshine.” Sleepiness started to ooze with every word. “I’ll fall asleep, and miss whatever shit Hallmark movie is next,” he chuckles, “and who knows, maybe create a much better one in dream, and then experience it for ourselves.” His eyes now met yours in expectation and hope.

“You writing better movies than these paid professionals? I don’t believe it!” A smile crept across your feature knowing full well what Elliott is capable of when dreamscaping, and it really wouldn’t take much effort to pass that low bar.

“Give me more credit, Sunshine. I could do it in my sleep.”

At this, those tiny snickers burst out; it really wasn’t that funny but you couldn’t help it. Perhaps it’s that Christmas spirit these movies keep referring to, or more realistically you both are finally losing it after the third one in a row and the fourth one playing in the background.

“That was so awful. You know that, right?”

“And yet you’re laughing, so it can’t be that bad.” His brow arched as to suggest he’s right, but obviously Elliott didn’t believe it himself when he could barely stifle his laugh.

“No, it really was that bad.”

“Yeah, you’re right. But hey, I was serious…” His eyes lowered, voice trailing into a soft whisper, “we can experience one for ourselves instead of just watching them, our very own Christmas movie.” He met your eyes; in doing so, that giddiness in your chest died down, and your breath hitched.

“Sleep with me?” A simple request that always gets your heart fluttering.

“Of course.” You replied back just as low, his cheek soft against your caress, and pulled him into a kiss, tender and sweet yet eager. You could feel a smile on his lips and you too formed your own.

“Come on, let’s cuddle.”

In silent agreement you both shifted positions. Elliott pressed into the couch with you in his arms and the blanket tucked close to your chin. With his breath on your hair and your hand on his chest, your eyes felt heavy, feeling him and his warmth wrapped all around you. This is wonderful.

“I’ll see you on the other side, Sunshine.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[plaidbooks]

Cabin Life - Whittling Roses

A/N: Hello, I have lost complete control of myself and just keep writing this AU. I blame @berniesilvas, but I also love her and this AU so much. For now, this was all the concrete ideas I had--everything else is vague ideas that I don’t have a fic plotted for yet. I hope you all enjoy!

Tags: just fluff, the briefest mention of smut (only one line), and a little bit of a make-out session

Words: 1857

Taglist: @witches-unruly-heart  @beccabarba  @thatesqcrush @itsjustmyfantasyroom @permanentlydizzy @ben-c-group-therapy  @infiniteoddball @glowingmess @whimsicallymad @lv7867 @storiesofsvu @cycat4077 @alwaysachorusgirl  @glimmerglittergirl  @reading--mermaid  @averyhotchner  @mrsrafaelbarba @detective-giggles @crowleysqueenofhell @dreamlover31

As predicted, the snowstorm blocked off contact between you and Sonny for most of the winter months. As soon as the snow started to melt, it would snow again, causing a bigger buildup. He texted you when he could—when the cells had connection—but otherwise, he was confined to his cabin, as you were to yours.

He never once stopped thinking about you, especially when he was huddled in a pile of your blankets, the fireplace happily crackling in front of him. He remembered the night he made love to you right there on the floor, and he wished he could do it again, in his bed this time. Even the thought of your body in his embrace, your warmth and scent surrounding him, was enough to make his body flush with desire.

To help take his mind off you…well, to help control his thoughts—there was no “not thinking” about you—he took a block of wood inside, his whittling blade in hand. When he looked at that block of unimpressive, plain wood, he could clearly see what he wanted to make. But even with his skill, it was a complicated task. At least he had months to work on it.

He spent most of his time whittling. He only took a break to cook, eat, maybe watch tv if he could get a signal in the blizzard. He also brought in a separate piece of wood, to practice different techniques on; he wanted his gift to you to be perfect, to show his love for you.

Sonny let his mind wander as he whittled—as long as he paid attention to the details. His mind irrevocably went back to you every time. He wanted to ask how you felt about kids; though you had mentioned wanting them before, he wanted to see if that was still true.

Eventually, his mind wandered to him marrying you. He wanted to propose, with rings and everything, have both your families there. Maybe he could build an archway to go in that meadow or something, cover it with flowers. He was already building a bridge to go across that creek by his place. An archway shouldn’t be too hard.

Then he smiled as a thought struck him; what if he whittled the wedding rings? He’d have to get better, perfect his craft before he even attempted at something so important. He’d have to talk to you about that, too, make sure you were okay with it. He had enough money to buy a traditional ring, if that’s what you wanted.

 ***********************

About a month into his project, he finished the first of what he hoped would be a dozen roses. He gazed intently at the bud, the petals. Then, his eyes travelled down the stem to the leaf, the veins carved into it. Was it the best rose ever made? Absolutely not. But it was a rose, and it would be perfect for you.

It had taken him much longer than he had anticipated to make one rose. He had stopped frequently to practice petals and veins, though, which had taken up time. Still, he was afraid he wouldn’t finish them quick enough; he had never spent a winter in the cabin, and he didn’t know how long the storms lasted (he had to make a call to the Willis’s for how to cover his gardens). So, while he felt jubilation at finishing one rose, he didn’t celebrate, instead getting right back to it.

The second rose only took him two weeks, and the third, a week. Now that the stems were done, he was getting faster at doing the petals and leaves. He still took his time, made sure he didn’t mess them up, but he was improving. Some of them, he left as bulbs, the petals just opening, while others were in full bloom. He debated painting them, but he wanted to make his own dyes, and he had no idea how to do that. Plus, he kind of liked the light, wooden color.

Once he finished, he fought the urge to continue working on them. He did go back and fix up some details in the first flower that he learned to deal with by the tenth. Now came the question of what to put them in. Does he get a fancy ribbon and tie the stems together for a bouquet? Or should he whittle a vase for them? It’s not like they needed water.

Outside, the blizzard raged on. So, Sonny figured he could make a vase, and if he didn’t like it, he could toss it in the fireplace. Taking yet another block of wood, he got to work. This project, he had a little less of a vision than before. He thought about it as he pulled the roses together, measuring how big of an opening he needed on top.

Slowly, a shape began to form in his mind’s eye, and he started cutting. He wanted a long, skinny neck on top, and a wider base. He wouldn’t have to hollow the inside, only the top part enough to hold the roses. Still, he was doing it by hand, and it took him another month to have just the basic shape done. But he wanted to add details.

Taking his smallest whittling tool, he went to work on the design. Maybe it was corny, but Sonny was a corny guy. He carved apples and his best attempt at lavender flowers, the two things that drew you both together. And in the middle, he carved out a heart, both of your initials inside. He smiled when he was done, knowing that you’d love it regardless; it came from him.

He collected all the wooden roses and rearranged them in the vase until they were how he wanted them. He smiled proudly at the sight, and he wished the snow would stop so he could give them to you now.

 **********************

He only had to wait another two weeks before the snow finally let up enough for him to visit you. The sky was a bright blue, the sun making the fallen snow blinding. Sonny texted you that he was coming over, asking if you wanted to go with him to the local shops to restock on some food. You agreed, and he was instantly on his ATV, the roses zipped up protectively in his jacket.

Sonny parked, then came up to your front door, vase in hand. He knocked and then was suddenly worried that you’d hate the roses, that you’d think him childish. You had given him blankets, something useful, while all he made was wooden flowers—

You opened the door, smiling brightly when you saw Sonny standing there. You had missed him deeply, and you were happy to see his hair and beard longer. Then your eyes flicked down to the wooden vase clutched in his hand.

“What’s this?” you asked, voice hushed in awe at the bouquet.

He swallowed hard. “I, uh, I made ya these fer ya…. I thought, ya know, that I should get ya flowers. But they always wilt and die, so I thought if I made them outta wood, then….”

“You—you made these?” Your eyes tore from the roses to lock to his blues.

He slowly extended his arm, holding the vase out to you, and you took it, marveling at the details in the leaves and petals, then the vase itself. You chuckled as you recognized the apples and lavender, and you had to blink away tears when you saw the heart.

“Sonny, I love them. Thank you so much,” you breathed, smiling up at him.

He grinned nervously, shifting from foot to foot. “Ya do? I was afraid that they weren’t useful—”

“Of course, they’re useful,” you replied, and he tilted his head, brow furrowed. “They show me how much you love me, even when you’re not here to tell me yourself.”

The brightness of his smile could match that of the sun. “Plus, they’ll never die, like my love for you.”

“You sap,” you said, giggling. With your free hand, you grabbed his jacket and pulled him to you for a sweet kiss. His nose and lips were chilled from the wind outside, but you didn’t care. Besides, his lips warmed quickly enough against yours.

“Come on; let’s head to the market so I can get ya home ‘fore the snow starts back up,” Sonny muttered against your lips.

You snuck another kiss. “Why bring me home? Why not just take me to your place? I know we could keep each other warm”

He let out a low growl, kissing you deeper, his tongue in your mouth. Your bodies were magnetic, drawing each other closer. It was a struggle to pull away long enough to place the roses on a table before you were back, body melding to his, hand going to his hair. He pushed you against the doorjamb, hands exploring under the hem of your jacket.

Your father cleared his throat from inside the house, and Sonny sprung off you as if you had shocked him. “S—sorry, sir—” he stammered, face turning a bright red.

Your father crossed his arms, giving him a hard look. “Just close the door; you’re letting the heat out.”

You gave Sonny a sheepish grin as he came inside, closing the door behind him. You told him you needed to pack some things, and you took the vase, heading for your room, leaving Sonny and your father alone.

The latter studied Sonny intently, gazing at him from over his spectacles, and Sonny tried not to fidget under his scrutiny.

“I intend to marry your daughter,” he blurted out. He winced internally; why the fuck did he say that?! But now that it was out there, he was prepared to defend it to the death. He kept his face a mask of stone, not letting your father see his fear.

He continued staring at Sonny, weighing his words. “Does she know that?”

“She does; I told her last time she was over. From the moment I saw her, I knew that I wanted nothin’ more than to marry her.”

He nodded lightly; just a jut of his chin. “Have you proposed? Do you have a ring?”

“It’s only been a few months; I wanted to wait a lil, make sure it’s what she wants, too,” Sonny explained.

“Just don’t wait too long; I don’t want you leading her on or hurting her.”

Sonny’s eyes widened in offense. “I would never—”

You came back right then, a duffle bag in your hand, and glancing nervously between the two men. “Whatcha talkin’ about?” you asked uncertainly.

“Nothing dear. Have fun and stay safe,” your father said, and he came over, kissing your cheek, then headed to a different room.

You cocked an eyebrow at Sonny, but he just shook his head, moving to hold the door open for you. Confused at the tension, you went out into the crisp, winter air, taking a deep breath. You were sure Sonny would tell you the whole story later.

[courageous-she]

Letters to Luke- Luke Patterson

A/N: I’ve had this idea for a while and I finally had the motivation to sit down and write it. I hope you enjoy :)

Summary: Reader was dating Luke when he passed away and she and her family visit the Patterson’s each year to celebrate his birthday. This year she leaves Luke her letters to him she’s written over the years.

Word Count: 1481

It had been 25 years. 25 years since the love of her life, her soulmate she was convinced, had died. Eating a damn hot dog. She’d told him how bad those street dogs were, too. But Luke never listened, wanting to live life on the edge. Always convincing her that if you didn’t do at least one crazy or risky thing a day, then what was the point?

She had been so excited to see him and the rest of Sunset Curve play the Orpheum that night. In fact, she’d been in her room getting ready for their debut, listening to their demo album when her mom knocked solemnly on her door. That night, her whole world shattered.

She’d finished high school, quickly being known as the girlfriend of the dead guitarist. One by one her friends became more distant, not even her best friend hung around, not wanting to continuously be bummed out by the girl. The girl couldn’t even look at Bobby, the only remaining member of the band, without getting angry that he was the one to survive. Not that Bobby was a bad guy, but why was he the only member spared and she was left to suffer alone without her soulmate.

But life moved on. Life without Luke moved on and she continued the path she had planned out together with him. She went off to college, choosing to go out of state in a somewhat hopeless attempt at detaching herself from those memories. But she couldn’t detach herself from Luke. Luke Patterson was the only person who would truly ever understand her. So, it was there, in her freshman dorm room, miles away from home that she began her letters. Her letters to Luke.

She filled journal after journal writing letters to Luke. She told him about her crazy roommate freshman year who showered only once a month and never left the dorm for anything. She told him about becoming an RA to save money on college. She told him about graduating and pursuing grad school. And although she was hesitant, she told him about Nick.

She’d met Nick during grad school, the two of them clicking almost immediately. She was hesitant and nervous to fall in love again, but with Nick it came naturally. He made her feel safe and loved and appreciated. She eventually opened up to Nick about Luke and the fact that she wrote him letters. She expressed the comfort she found in writing those letters to her high-school boyfriend, her soulmate. She’d used that term when talking to Nick, and the boy only emphasized how if she enjoyed writing those letters, he wasn’t one to stop her. He also told her that he believed everyone had a soulmate in life, and maybe some people had more than one. The two agreed that Luke would be okay with her moving on and being happy.

She wrote to Luke on the day of her wedding, expressing how although she wasn’t marrying him, she knew he’d be there to walk her down the aisle and give her away. She wrote to him when she became pregnant, and the day she’d had her daughter; Luca Jane. She wrote to him on every birthday, expressing how much she wished they could bake his birthday cake together.

After college, the young couple had moved back to her hometown, understanding how much meaning the place held in her heart. That’s where they began their family, and where every year she went to the Patterson home to celebrate Luke’s birthday. Emily and Mitch became a third set of grandparents to young Luca, honored that the girl was named after their son. It meant a lot to them that the girl who’d made Luke so happy was still in their lives. She became a daughter to them and they were so grateful for that, for the chance to be grandparents.

On this particular birthday, Luke would have been turning 42. The little family made their way to the Patterson home, as had become tradition. Luca, now 15, almost the age her namesake was at the time of his passing, understood more deeply the meaning behind these visits. The young teen had taken to listening to rock music, finding comfort in the Sunset Curve demo. She was dressed clad in black skinny jeans, a band tee, and black vans, and the girl knew that Luke would be proud. She never mentioned to her daughter that Bobby had stolen the band’s music, she wanted her to like Luke’s music for what it was and not the altered versions it became famous for.

Little to the girl’s knowledge, Luke made an appearance at this particular birthday celebration. He’d been sitting on the counter, hugging his knees into his chest as his mother pulled the chocolate cake from the oven. He’d watched his parents move about the house, finding comfort in their daily routines. It wasn’t until he heard the door click open that his nonexistent heart stopped in his chest. There she was, as gorgeous as ever, standing in the doorway with a man he didn’t know and a girl who looked like the female teenage version of himself.

He’d later find out that this was her husband and daughter, happy that she’d moved on and done the things they’d talked about as kids. He’d held back tears after hearing the young teenagers name and understanding completely that it was after him. He was still a part of her life after all these years, she never forgot about him. As the two family’s became one in the Patterson household, Luke never left her side, longing to reach out and hold her hand. He watched as she, Emily, and Luca frosted and decorated the cake, lighting a single candle.

The group sang for him, and he made sure to blow out the candle prematurely so that they’d know he was there. He watched as the girl laughed, tears welling in her eyes before relighting the candle and starting the song over. Luca blew out the flame and the group gathered around the table, talking about Luke and eating his favorite cake.

They’d stayed until the early evening, the two fathers and Luca retiring into the living room to watch a movie. Luke stayed by the girl’s side as she and his mom had a cup of coffee at the kitchen table.

“I still write letters to him you know” she spoke, voice lower due to her older age.

“Yeah, I figured” Emily smiled reassuringly. Luke wasn’t sure what the two women were talking about, but he didn’t mind. He’d always liked their relationship, that they were friends. His attention turned to the girl as she reached and grabbed three journals from her bag.

“He’s been apart of my life for so long, it just felt weird to leave him out of all the milestones. And I guess I just continued because I thought if I didn’t, I would lose him. Sounds silly…” she said, placing the three notebooks on the table. Emily smiled and grabbed her hand comfortingly.

“It’s not silly. I talk to him every day. About silly things too, like how Maggie up the street bough a security camera but doesn’t know how to use it. Things he’d get a kick out of” The two girls chuckled remembering the strong personality of the boy. But the boy wasn’t paying attention, instead he was staring at the three notebooks sitting on the table. The three notebooks filled with letters to him.

“Emily, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to leave the books here…. For him” the girl said softly, placing a gentle hand atop the journals. Emily simply nodded, and with that, the girl grabbed the journals and made her way down the hallway leading to Luke’s room. Luke simply followed, curious by her actions.

When she’d opened the door to his room, he saw that nothing had changed. It looked exactly how he’d left it, minus the neatly made bed in the corner. Unopened Christmas presents sat collecting dust in the corner and his heart winced at the idea of his mother placing these in his room with the hope he’d return home. He watched as the girl sat on the edge of his bed, gently sitting beside her and watching her with wide eyes.

“I like to think you come back here sometimes, bub. That you forgave your mom and you come back to check on her. She misses you. I miss you” she whispered the last part, “These are for you, Luke. I love you” And with that, the girl left the room, gently closing the door behind her.

But Luke remained motionless on the bed, staring at where she’d left the journals. He picked up the first one labeled 1997-2001 and began reading.

“Dear Luke…”