#and how he acted with other relatives and would be like. plainly delighted about them following in his footsteps

[cryingalexanders]

Earth One Lex Luthor - Imposing his "legacy" onto younger relatives

Source: Adventure Comics #387

Source: Adventure Comics #397

[the-final-sif]

Okay, so I think I’ve got a solid timeline of events for villain!Katsuki

Katsuki leaves UA just before the provisional license exam, he’s at the point where he no longer things the hero system can be fixed without outside intervention. He’s done with how the media acts, he’s done with the blame being shifted to victims based on their quirks, and he’s done with the lies he’s been fed all his life.

Prior to this he started researching and planning what actual change would look like and require.

He meets up with Dabi, who’d only let the rest of the league know about the bet a few days prior. He was curious if Katsuki would keep his word or not. Dabi prods Katsuki gently, saying he knew the kid took honestly seriously but he’s still kinda surprised to see him go this far over a bet. Katsuki replies explaining it’s more than the bet. He talks about what he’s seen, and the failure of hero society to change. It’s more than enough to convince Dabi.

Dabi brings him to a secure location, then relays information to Shigaraki. Shigaraki is hesitant, he’s surprised Katsuki came back to them, but when Katsuki explains his side of things, and with Dabi vouching for him, Shigaraki decides to let him in. He can understand what it’s like to fall for hero society. He did for awhile too. Katsuki just needed more time on his own to realize that.

There’s an introduction period, the league is still figuring themselves out and most of them are hesitant to trust Katsuki. It’s about a week before he’s properly reintroduced to everyone and gets the sense that they’re not headed in any particular direction.

After that week, Katsuki decides “fuck that, I’m going to do shit, y'all are coming along” and since Shigaraki doesn’t really have anything better in mind, he decides to go along with Katsuki’s plans.

UA started panicking as soon as they realized Katsuki was gone, but nobody really knows what happened to him yet. Since he took all his stuff with him, all signs point to him having run away.

Izuku refuses to believe that, and most of the class holds out hope for awhile, but as no evidence turns up, more of them start to think it might be true and start discovering the amount of harassment and guilt he was facing.

There’s about a month and a half period in which Katsuki focuses on getting the league in shape. During this period, they do a forcible take over of the Shie Hassaikai.

Overhaul is killed, Eri goes under Katsuki’s care, and the league is established as a much more powerful force.

The Hero Commission is starting to get nervous, but not overly so. Not yet.

After this month and a half, Katsuki makes his first public appearance as a villain.

He’s in an updated version of his costume, most of it has stayed the same, but he’s added what looks like muzzle to the costume that covers his mouth. The muzzle actually functions as face shield/oxygen system so he can move at much faster speeds safely.

Katsuki’s villain debut is a full scale attack by the league on the Hero Commission directly. An event meant that the Hero Commission had gathered in a relatively accessible location, and the villains take advantage.

Importantly, Katsuki is enforcing a policy of limiting needless harm or deaths, because it ruins their message. The league reluctantly agrees, so they’re being a bit more careful than they were before. However, they’ve still got a hit list for this party.

The list consists of officials who they have confirmation deliberately manipulated polices or actions of heroes at the cost of people’s lives, all for some private gain. They do a lot of damage, and manage to kill 7 people on their list.

Katsuki’s first kill happens here. Previously, he’d managed to defeat Overhaul, but wasn’t quite able to kill him. He just wasn’t ready.

Shigaraki took care of it for him, and told him it was fine if he needed time to learn to kill. He was kind and understanding about it in a way that was genuinely weird to Katsuki. Not only because this was all about murder, but it was the first time in his life that he failed and an adult supported him rather than punishing him for his mistake.

At this event, one of the people he takes down tries to appeal to him by offering him a position as a hero to save themselves, and that pushes him over the line. He ends it quickly.

The league escape afterwards, and footage plus eyewitnesses confirm Katsuki was there, and he didn’t say a word to anyone he attacked.

UA, the Hero Commission, and the media collectively assume / sell the story of him having been brainwashed. It’s the only thing that doesn’t make them look horrible.

Aizawa has been weighed down by a lot of guilt during all of this. He should’ve done more, should’ve reached out, but he’d been waiting for Katsuki to come to him. He’s tried to find Katsuki, but Katsuki has purposefully avoided facing him in battle as Aizawa is one of the few people he doesn’t feel like he could hurt or allow one of the other villains to hurt.

The attacks start getting frequent over the course of another month, primarily targeting the people behind the scenes of the heroic’s system, with a lot of other targets of corruption along the way.

On his third attack, Katsuki has his first run in with Izuku, the first of any of his classmates to face him in battle.

Katsuki refuses to speak a word to him, despite the fact Izuku heard him giving directions to Toga, and the two clash.

Katsuki manages to pull ahead in their fight, but he’s distracted from their fight by someone caught in the crossfire. He diverts course to protect them. Izuku was so hyperfocused on Katsuki he didn’t notice the person. It throws him off enough that Katsuki is able to win their fight complete his goal.

After their clash, Izuku’s finally realized Katsuki isn’t brainwashed. Given what happened, he can only assume it really is Kacchan making all these choices, which leads him to reflect on why.

 Between slowly uncovering what Katsuki was suffering through, and watching Katsuki’s actions and their very real impact, Izuku finds himself struggling with the idea of heroes as well. Most of Class 1-A and society as a whole really are.

Shouto & Izuku talk, and Izuku confirms that it really is Katsuki. Not a brainwashed version of him.

At the end of their conversation, Shouto assumes that because it’s really Katsuki, they’re gonna go join him. He defects, and is a bit surprised when Izuku doesn’t follow him right away.

Dabi almost has a heart attack over this, but he can’t really judge.

Shouto is accepted into the league after he and Katsuki talk and he apologizes for not having done anything. Katsuki doesn’t blame him for it, as he understands Shouto had no real sense of what was okay.

Eri gains a new older brother, and she could not be more delighted.

During this period, after the first attack, Hawks was sent in to infiltrate the league. Katsuki can smell the commission on him from a mile away, but tells Dabi to kind of let Hawks in anyways.

The league begins slowly working Hawks out of the Commissions control, before finally after about three months, Hawks realizes how shitty they are and defects properly.

A big part of this happens after Hawks finally comes to terms with the fact that Katsuki isn’t brainwashed, and after Hawks meets Eri and realizes how happy and safe she is with her new family vs how he felt at that age with the Commission.

By the end of that three months, a number of other class 1-A kids and a few kids from 1-B have dropped out of the hero course, or in some cases, UA entirely. The public at large has started to become more disconnected from the hero system as they start to see some of it’s major flaws. The Commission comes under more and more questioning and is seriously losing power.

During this same time, you’d expect to see an increase in crime, but you actually see the opposite.

Katsuki has been very careful and forged an alliance with the MLA such that they’ve been able to crack down on certain types of crime (domestic violence, quirk kidnappings, sexual assaults, etc) while also steadily funneling money into getting social services in theses areas.

This means that you start to see less crime, people feeling safer and more secure, even as the hero commission and system is crumbling.

All of this comes together after a year or two of solid in the form of the government submitting to a major reform driven by figure heads planted by the MLA, but only after the league manages to eliminate the last key figures standing in their way.

Since so many heroes have either fallen from grace, stepped back from the system, or been killed in certain cases, Izuku ended up as an unwilling symbol of peace due to his connection to Katsuki.

Izuku is tasked by what’s left of the heroics system with stopping Katsuki from killing the final major figure whose all that’s standing in the way of the reform.

Izuku, in the end, makes the active choice to step aside, giving Katsuki the key he was given to the room so Katsuki can get to the person to kill them.

Izuku finally decided that he’s had enough of this too, and he’s done defending a broken system based on ingrained ideals that don’t add up.

Aizawa is watching inside the room up in the rafters, he’s stayed a hero of sorts but still functions like he did before.

Inside the room, Aizawa had the chance to cancel Katsuki’s quirk and stop him from killing the person. Instead, he chose to close his eyes and let Katsuki go through with it.

Katsuki looks up to where Aizawa is once it’s done, and Aizawa realizes he knew he was there the entire time. He hops down out into the open and speaks plainly as he always did.

“I’m sorry.” Is all he can really say. There’s so much he’s sorry for. For not speaking up. For letting Katsuki be put through so much. For letting him be driven to this.

Katsuki looks at him for a long, long moment, before he finally looks away and shrugs his shoulders. For the very first time in years, he speaks to a hero. To the only hero who ever tried for him, even if it wasn’t enough.

“S'okay. The problem was bigger than you every could’ve fixed.”

“I should’ve tried. I should’ve done more.”

Again, Katsuki needs a moment to consider that.

“Yeah. Probably.”

There’s silence for a few moments, and then Katsuki’s radio crackles to life. Dabi’s calling him back.

They share one more glance, and Katsuki turns on his heel and walks out.

Aizawa watches him go. There’s nothing else for him to do. His right to change this story ended when he failed to speak up all those years ago.

[unohanadaydreams]

forgot to resend it properly! sfw or nsfw relationship headcanons with male!reader x hanataro, ggio, as nodt? thank you~~

I went with sfw since I haven’t touched these characters before and wanted to flesh them out a bit. Personally, it was a delight to fanon-ify As Nodt since his character design is one of my favorites of the Sternritter! <3

Hanataro Yamada:

He’s fun to surprise. Whether you’re playing harmless little pranks or leading him by the hand to a well put-together picnic, he’ll always make a cute scene about it. Loving you makes him gullible. He trusts that you won’t lead him astray or be cruel. So the reveal of a sweetly wrapped lie, especially for romantic benefit, usually does shock him. However, if done too often, he’ll continue to put on an act, but years of awful birthdays—as he was born on April Fool’s day—has made him perceptive.

He needs someone patient to his recurring bouts of self-doubt and loathing. Not many people believe in him and he’s endured many years of getting trampled on in relative isolation. Sweet compliments and tender acts of service help most. His head may speak loudly, but your loving kiss as you steer him toward the warm bath you drew for him helps drown it out. Hanataro has a somber soul when left to stew too long.

Chivalry is dead and Hanataro killed it with a nervous conversation about how he’s capable of taking care of himself. Whether it be figuring out a cross word or reaching a cupboard. Sure, it’s not fair, but neither were the countless years of him being underestimated and treated like an incapable child by so many outside the 4th—and even some within. Give him room to prove himself…to himself. He knows when he’s over his head and rest assured he’ll call on you.

Ggio Vega:

If you’re someone who bows to other’s whims every time, you’ll be Ggio’s footstool. There’s no use being passive aggressive—you’ll just make him snarl what he wants instead of say. The only hint he’ll pick up is one blunt and plainly stated. Ggio knows what he wants and he loves having his way. Welcome to your crash course in keeping boundaries. Even with great boundaries, you’ll find yourself a contestant of Ggio Knows Best most times.

Ggio also hates small kindnesses. Open a door for him and he’ll smack the handle from your grip and call you an asshole for treating him like a child. If you want to help someone that badly, then go find a charity, because Ggio will kick you good and hard for every hand out you offer him. In Hueco Mundo, someone unable to take care of themselves is as good as dead, and plenty of hollows attempted to make him a meal on their false assumptions. Unfortunately, this means Ggio would rather die than ask for help--best to let him yell at you for assisting than watch him struggle.

He knows you love him—who wouldn’t?—but anyone who he feels is better than him is a threat he fears you’ll prefer. If someone is faster than him, he worries you’ll admire them more. Perhaps there’s someone who looks like him, but better. Why wouldn’t you pursue someone better when they’re available? Ggio is one of the best but he’s not THE best. And he genuinely loves you, enough to know you deserve the best. Let him know that’s exactly what he is to you. Big egos need a lot of maintenance sometimes.

As Nodt:

Being attached to you, he grows a new fear. What if you were to die and go to hell? If you’re irreligious, this could be such a point of contention that it might turn into the end of the relationship. Heaven won’t be one without you and Hell would be unbearable knowing you were there, but always apart from him. Don’t worry about the particulars—regular church attendance and such. It would be enough for As that you submit to the words of God and give your after life to him. Divinity is you giving As Nodt both your lives.

Because of his fear, As Nodt is extremely protective. The world is bleak and full of dangers. The ways to die that are statistically highest are what tear at him the most. His insistence on a heart healthy diet can be cute, but his tries to make you borderline agoraphobic might not be. Go only where and when he can follow and weigh the risks you take with his happiness in mind. Overbearing, thy name is As Nodt. Never before has he been so irrational than when in love.

He delights in indulging in long talks, in tempting you into joining him in experiencing thoughtful media. His mind is vast and crowded. His relationship with death makes him long to know as much as possible before the inevitable. As particularly loves subjects which are morbid or nigh unknowable. If you hate debating or passionate arguments, it’s another something that might turn into the end of the relationship. One of his great joys is hearing a perspective he hadn’t known before or being proven wrong or reaching a conclusion—whether that be an actual conclusion or an exhaustion of the topic. To disagree is to be alive, in his mind.

[ohnobjyx]

Idk much about the c- entertainment industry, so what are the chances that these 2 will actually get to work together again in the future? what with rumours about an upcoming drama flying around and the amount of backlash both have received from their cpf, is it possible that their management would let this happen?

Hi, anon! Wow, this was the first ask I received, but the answer is such a difficult one that I took days to start writing. I’ve thought much about this, but I still think that my answer carries a certain naïveté, because the entertainment industry is a complicated one, much more than we can imagine. I’ll just update this if I get corrected or find out something new that changes the content of this post.

In short: in my opinion, it won’t be soon (if ever). 

(Long answer behind the cut. The longest until now. Happy reading!). 

Disclaimer: while this is not all fake, we are talking about very hypothetical scenarios and in no case I believe them to be absolutely true. Bear in mind that I’m an outsider to the entertainment industry, that my knowledge is superficial and may carry my own interpretation of the industry, which may not be accurate. From here on, I express my opinion, so I may be wrong. 

First of all, it all comes down to money. 

Both of them work for different companies, WYB for YH and XZ for WJJW. It’s been said that these two companies are rivals in every sense of the world in the entertainment industry (I got it from this post), so I think a new collab between them would have to bring them a lot of benefits for them to give it a green light. 

But all the same, while one of them is getting profits, the other one is getting them as well, so it may not be in their best interest to collaborate. Just keep in mind that the c-society is a very competitive one, so I think that just because of this it would be very difficult for them. 

Then how did they film The Untamed? 

They both got their roles by participating in the casting by themselves, without the support from their companies. 

WYB was criticized by his fans for trying again and again for a role in a BL drama, instead of a sports drama. He lost some fans because of this, so I don’t think YH would be delighted by this. 

XZ got his role earlier, but it was all the same trying by himself. I think he said in an interview that he had to get to the site on taxi, paying himself.

Edit: XZ was actually recommended to the producer and the casting chose him because of his smile. He was offered the role and he accepted it (so WJJW still had nothing to do with him getting the role). The thing with the taxi was one of his earlier projects, when he was still relatively unknown. 

But at the time, they weren’t so famous, so their companies let them do as they pleased. In my opinion their reasoning went along the lines of “if it’s successful, it’ll bring us money, and if it’s not, there’s nothing better for them to do”.

That was before, and now things are extremely different. There are more profitable things for them to do, the companies won’t let them “waste” their time in shows they don’t consider as lucrative. Even if they want to collaborate, now their companies are more invested in them, so they aren’t as free as before to choose what they want to do. 

And we have to take into consideration how their relationship is with their company (remember, this is my pov, maybe irl it’s completely different). 

I believe that YH encouraged WYB to look for works as a tv show host and as an actor, as well as producing solo songs, since it was difficult to promote UNIQ in China with the hanliu ban from the government. 

However, WJJW’s CEO did say that they would like to center their employees (such as XZ) in works more related to music, such as boy bands. They don’t encourage the idols to try acting or other works. However, XZ is better known as an actor, not as a singer, so this placed him in a difficult position, from which he tried to get out of (in the trial between XZ and WJJW in May 2019 XZ withdrew the charges and they settled it out of court). 

Okay this was the economy of the issue. Now comes the funny part. 

If they were to collaborate again soon (as in the next 5 years) they would need to settle this: are you two together? And preferably a lot sooner, rather than announcing it with their next drama together. 

If they are cast into a usual heterosexual relationship drama, no matter what role they are cast into, fans are going to ship them together. This could affect the rest of the drama, to the point where I think there’s no exaggeration in saying that the company of the actress may reject the female lead role if these two are in the show. Fans would make the relationship with her as a point of comparison to WYB and XZ’s relationship, and that’s bound to be bad for her. 

If they are cast into a BL drama or a series with no relationships, they are again going to get shipped (it looks like that’s the end point no matter what), and that’s bound to affect their future projects. 

Consider it like this: there are already voices doubting about their chemistry with the female leads in their upcoming dramas (let’s be real, that is a real concern since their 默契 is really something else).

If they announce publicly, officially, that they aren’t together (this would be if one of them got a girlfriend), there’s bound to be disappointment from bxg. They are gonna lose bjyx fans, maybe some of the fans will turn into antis, and they’ll be accused of “leading the fans around”, “playing with them”, and so on (the worst of it is that I don’t consider this unlikely). Collaborating would be difficult, but not impossible, after some time. And probably not in a BL drama, that’s calling for trouble (or maybe they’ll be braver than me and do it, but it’d certainly put a strain in their relationships).

If they are together (hypothetical, remember?), and they announce it as they are now, they’ll never get a decent role again. Sadly, they’ll have this “gay” tag that will affect any role they act in, even though their acting in The Untamed was due to more than just their chemistry together. 

However... if they were to come out after it has been set that they are very capable of acting in heteronormative dramas as well as BL dramas, things may be different. They’d still face backlash, but they’ll have a nice economic mattress to land on, and they wouldn’t be out of projects, probably. Couples collaborating in films and tv series isn’t completely unheard of, but it would be rare and it’d take some time too (we are talking of years here). 

If they are a couple, I don’t think they’d come out completely, not as the lgtb situation is right now in their society. They’d just do what couples do, without ever stating it plainly, because they’d still want to avoid “the big waves”, but it’d be an open secret. 

So for now, I guess they are trying to strengthen, to consolidate themselves in the industry before they do anything, either denying that they are together or confirming the rumours by doing something absolutely telling (even though, for me, this video of sneakers and ice-cream was quite telling).

(By the way, even if these poor people weren’t together, they still wouldn’t be able to deny the rumours right now, even though it affects their upcoming dramas because of 1, backlash from bxg, 2, “of course they’d say that”, “they have something to hide” and 3, there has always been ridiculous pairings in the fandom and celebrities just mostly let them do as they please). 

Just the backlash XZ has received from 227 will make it very difficult for Yu Sheng (The Oath of Love,  余生，请多指教) to air in less than a year. I’d say it’s very probable that The Legend of Fei (有翡, in which WYB is the male lead) will be aired before Yu Sheng, even though they finished filming later. It’d be a disaster for the production if the antis were to boycott the drama, so I’d say that they are waiting for things to calm down before airing it. 

They do have another option... which is let this fandom and the scandal die with time. They’d stop feeding the fandom with kadian and veiled signals, and with time (as in 5-10 years) people will have forgotten all of this enough for them to work together again. Bjyx would be brought up as a thing to gossip about, maybe, but it wouldn’t bring them so much scandal. This is one of the least likely options, in my opinion, because truth is that they have a close friendship, even if they aren’t together, and to ask them to stop being friends is outright cruel, more so in the industry they work in.

As for the rumours... words get carried away by the wind, I really think that the rumours are just that, and that (for now) there’s no project in which they’ll work together. But remember, I may be wrong, and I wish I’m wrong in this. 

[miloqnzh925]

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The set have generated almost 300,000 subscribers, and travelled to Australia in 2017, producing videos along the method (vlog). With over 700,000 You, Tube subscribers, British backpacker Ben Brown has made a profession out of feeding his travel addiction by developing an army of eager followers. Ben has travelled all over from the Arctic to Australia and Africa, shooting in an individual, POV style so that you seem like you're right there in amongst the action and when it comes to his most popular upload, in a vehicle crash!Hey, Nadine! This travel blogger is a water fountain of understanding when it pertains to travel ideas, techniques and hacks, offering up a genuine encyclopaedia of valuable content.

[glbertblyth]

Hey guys! Just posted chapter two, this time it’s Gilbert’s pov!! Really hope you enjoy and please don’t be afraid to leave comments and kudos on Ao3!!

By the time Gilbert Blythe had begun to walk the cobbled pathway that lead up to his home, the sun had begun to creep its way below the horizon. The evening country sky was awash with beautiful hues of reds and oranges. Burnt bright and fiery.

It reminded him of Anne.

Anne Shirley-Cuthbert. The girl with constellations on her skin and cosmos in her stormy gray eyes. The girl who kissed him and left his mind to spin on its axis. The girl who hated him.

He squeezed his eyes shut momentarily, making a poor attempt at banishing the swirling mess of thoughts in his mind.

Anne despised him. Anne despised him and she’d kissed him.

The same phrase had been endlessly looping through his subconsciousness for the better part of an hour now. For all the years he’d known her - for all the times they’d bickered and bantered and fought - never even in his wildest imaginations had he thought he would feel the weight of her lips against his.

Anne Shirley-Cuthbert was something of an absolute mystery to him. And it never ceased to amaze him just how frequently he felt caught off-guard around her.

He never returned Anne’s ill affections. Never hated her. Never wished anything of poor luck upon her life (he knew she’d already been through far too much), but sometimes the words that came out of her mouth felt like a knife being held to his throat. Like- if he made any sudden movements the sharpness of her words would tear into him.

And, god help him, it always thrilled him to no end. To be on the receiving end of her cunning wit and look her in the eye felt much like looming over the edge of a very high cliff. Except, instead of enormous crashing waves or deadly spikes being on the opposing side, it was the ever so intriguing face of one fiery red head.

He absolutely delighted in having the ability to rile her up. To push her buttons. To cause her skin to flush angrily and shoulders to tense and pretty face to squash into a scowl. She probably found herself to be intimidating. And she was to a certain extent... but mostly Gilbert only found the whole thing rather adorable.

To put it plainly: where her rivalry with him was based on hatred, his was based on pure amusement and intrigue. And he was always ready to take whatever punches she threw his way.

Until a few hours before. When oddly enough, he had most certainly not been prepared for her attack. An attack that wasn’t an attack on his character or intelligence, but on his consciousness. On where he thought a line was between them. On everything he thought was capable of taking place.

Because while he didn’t hate Anne, he was never stupid enough to believe that they were friends. He was attracted to her, yes, how couldn’t he be? She was intelligent. Passionate. Beautiful in a way that he could really only describe as being... out of the ordinary. Not in a bad way, but in a way that was quiet. In a way that it was obvious she couldn’t tell exactly how many heads she turned. But she had a fire in her soul that roared against him. A vicious tongue that, at times, could be downright degrading. And a wall towered between the two of them because of it.

So why, after she’d used that exact tongue for something he would have never expected from her, did he have the incredibly disorienting and unexplainable urge to run after her and do it again. Kiss her again. Procure the same tilt-a-whirl feeling in his head that the heat of her lips moving against his had caused.

A feeling that he hadn’t even felt with Win-

He tamped those thoughts off right at the start, giving his head a fierce shake. That was a train of thought better left unridden.

Damn it all, how could one moment in time leave his mind reeling with such a mighty force that he felt like he couldn’t make sense of anything?

“Blythe,” an accented voiced reached out from only a few paces away, and it was in that moment that Gilbert had realized he’d stopped completely. Staring blankly at his front door for the last few minutes, wrapped entirely in his own thoughts. “Blythe you moke, is that you?”

Sebastian Lacroix, Gilbert’s roommate (brother really), stood on the wooden porch of their house. Looking at the boy with a bemused expression and shaking his head slowly.

Gilbert had burrowed himself so far into his own head that he hadn’t seen the rusted old truck sitting in the driveway as he pulled in behind it.

“Hey Bash,” Gilbert returned drily as he forced his feet to move. He climbed the creaky old steps of the porch and skirted around the older man.

Bash followed behind him as he passed through the door and into the cozy atmosphere of the small living room. Gilbert removed his shoulder bag and tossed it onto the fluffy couch as he heaved a sigh.

“I’ve been trying to call you all afternoon. Wanted to see if I should order some pizza for dinner,” said Bash as he clapped a hand on Gilbert’s shoulder.

The boy reached into the back pocket of his jeans and was unsurprised to find that his phone was dead. He held the dark screen up to show Bash just as much.

“You really need to start bringin’ a charger with you if you’re gonna be gone studying long enough to drain the life from your phone,” scolded Bash.

Gilbert merely rolled his eyes, “You got it, Dad.” But as soon as the joke left his mouth, he winced.

The relationship between Gilbert and Sebastian was... complicated... to say the least.

They were family, there was no denying that, but the way they came together as roommates - as brothers - was a rather tedious story.

In the simplest of renderings, it went like this: Sebastian Lacroix had been in Gilbert’s life for as long as he could remember. A constant companion and person to lean on.

At age seven, (eleven years prior) a round faced Gilbert had been told by a young social work intern that his father was dying. It hadn’t been his job, he was merely shadowing the case worker assigned to John Blythe (he’d been sick for a long while with no family able to look after him and his young son) but when it was revealed that John was far sicker than anybody originally thought, no-one had wanted to be the one to tell a child he was going to lose his father. The young man’s heart had hurt for the boy, but had the feeling that he was capable of taking a great deal. That he knew more than what he should have for his young years.

That intern had been Bash.

Sebastian always said that the reason he’d decided to take Gilbert under his wing so fiercely was because of pity. Because he’d felt bad for the scrawny little runt who’d just had the world ripped from beneath his feet. But Gilbert knew the truth. He always had.

Only eighteen at the time, Sebastian had been just as lonely as Gilbert had felt. Young, shunned from his home in Trinidad, and lost in a new country, he’d been in just as vulnerable a position. Just as in need of a friend.

So they’d bonded. Gilbert becoming like a shadow at Sebastian’s side.

When seven years later, Gilbert had held his father’s hand as he passed and he’d been officially dubbed an orphan, Bash was there. Holding his other hand as if to tether him to his spot. To earth. An acknowledgment that, even though Gilbert had lost his last blood relative, he was not without family.

And since that moment, Bash had done everything in his power to prove just as much.

Despite the fact that he was mature well beyond his years even at that age, had Bash not come along with the license to be a foster guardian, Gilbert would have been immediately placed with a random family. He’d had no other extended relatives. Nowhere else to go.

So Sebastian had stepped up. Signed on to be his legal guardian. Acted as an older brother. And then, when Gilbert had finally turned eighteen over the past summer and been freed from the system, as an equal partner.

Though the shades of their skin and chapters of their lives varied, they were brothers. Just as close as blood. If not made closer by the things life had thrown at them.

“So... pizza?” Bash said, interrupting his thoughts once more.

“Uh- yeah. Go ahead.”

Gilbert made his way over to the computer desk along the wall and plugged his phone into the charger. He held it in his hand as he waited for it to light up.

“What’s got you all in your head?” asked Bash as he padded over, feet bare against the carpeted floor. His phone was poised in his hand. Prepared to make the call to the pizza place, “Is it Winnie?”

Gilbert’s lips thinned. The sound of his ex’s name still made him feel tender. Vulnerable.

“Nope.”

“So she’s stopped pestering you then?” Bash raised a thick dark brow, forehead crinkling.

The younger man barked a lifeless laugh, “I wish,” then he lifted his hand and waved his brother off, “it doesn’t matter. Call for the pizza, I’m starved.”

Bash shrugged, “Whatever you say, Blythe.”

Winifred Rose, to put it lightly, had broken Gilbert’s heart.

They’d cut things off only a few weeks ago, right before school had started again. It had been a long time coming, her being in the grade above him and all. She’d graduated the previous year and had planned on going to nursing school in the next town over.

At first she’d been adamant on still wanting to be with Gilbert. Promising that being in college wouldn’t change how she felt about him. And it was fine for a bit. Great even. Couples dated while one was in college all the time. But the closer they’d gotten to the fall semester starting... the further she’d been pulling from him.

And one accidental uncovered text message later, he’d found out exactly why that had been the case. She’d been fooling around with a college sophomore.

Suffice to say he’d cut that shit off right then and there. And she hadn’t stop pestering about a second chance with him since.

At least he no longer had to see her at Dr. Wards office. She’d been interning with the family physician alongside him, but the nursing program for her college courses had been far too demanding to stay on.

The moment his phone blinked to life in his clutch, it began buzzing like crazy. A lump gathered in his throat as his eyes skimmed the various messages and twitter notifications.

Gossip certainly spread fast in Avonlea.

 Moody (7:05 pm): dude

Moody (7:05 pm): did i just hear that you and anne kissed outside of red bird

Moody (7:06 pm): holy SHIT

 Winnie (6:32 pm): you can’t ignore me forever gilbert... will you please just talk to me?

Winnie (7:09 pm): why am i seeing that you kissed another girl all over your twitter mentions

 His jaw clenched. Maybe he’d undersold just how desperate Winifred was being... She’d texted him every day without fail. Making excuse after excuse as to why she’d done what she had. That it didn’t change how she felt about him. That she loved him.

It had only pushed him further away.

After sending a quick and elusive reply to his classmate and friend Moody Spurgeon, he clicked open the thread of messages from Winnie. His fingers hovered over the keyboard.

It had been weeks since he’d replied to her. Was he really going to risk interaction just because of a petty accusation? She certainly didn’t deserve any sort of explanation from him. Especially not about being seen kissing another girl. Not after what he’d found in her phone.

But maybe... a small part of him was still hurt enough to rub the kiss in her face. To subject her to the pain he’d gone through. Did that make him a bad guy? Did he care?

He dropped the phone onto the desk and raked a frustrated hand through his mess of curls. He did care. And he knew it wouldn’t be right.

Sometimes he really did hate having a self-conscience. Sometimes... he wished just once in his life he could be sporadic. Free. Make decisions without mulling over them endlessly beforehand.

Kiss somebody without warrant.

He groaned inwardly as he made his way over to the couch and flopped down face first into the mess of plush pillows. His arm dangled off the side and feet over the armrest.

And there he was. Back to square one. Thinking of Anne and how she’d left him there. Breathless and confused and covering it all up with a smirk. Having to confront the boy behind him that she’d left staring.

It had been ridiculously comical when he’d turned to see who it was she was hiding from. He vaguely recognized him from the hallways of Avonlea High, though he’d only begun seeing him around fairly recently. And by the jealousy that had been written all over his face, he obviously hadn’t been around enough to know that Anne and Gilbert would be the very last two people to ever expect kissing each other.

Whatever that boy had done to cause - no force - Anne to kiss Gilbert... Well, it had to be bad. He hadn’t even minded that she’d used him as a way to avoid the boy. Figured it was definitely for good reason. So when he’d opened his mouth to make a remark, Gilbert had merely gave him a thin lipped smile and a nod of his head. Brushing past him and maybe hitting him with his shoulder a little harder than necessary as he did so.

A ding sounded from where his phone lay on the desk, signifying yet another incoming message. At the very same moment, the sound of Bash’s footsteps could be heard as he crossed through the kitchen door. Gilbert tensed momentarily, and then rushed to sit up.

But it was too late, Bash was leaning over and reading the message on the screen.

His eyebrows shot straight up as he glanced over to where Gilbert peered at him over the back of the couch. The smile on his face was one that surely meant trouble.

Gilbert jumped off of the couch and scrambled back over to the desk, not meeting Bash’s eyes as he snatched it out of his line of sight.

“I’m sorry, did I just read a message saying you were seen kissing somebody?”

Another incoming message chimed, and Gilbert’s hand clenched on the phone. This damned town. You’d think they had nothing better to do than to go spouting every detail that seemed to be out of the ordinary for the entire world to hear.

Gilbert shook his head exasperatedly at Bash’s coy expression, “It’s none of your business.”

“Come on! Eleven years I’ve been in this blasted town and nothin’ interestin’ ever happens. Give your brother a break and tell him the gossip will ya?”

Gilbert released a small bout of surprised laughter, “Not a chance.”

Bash narrowed his eyes at him but turned away instead of questioning him further. As he walked back into the kitchen, he grumbled under his breath.

“Worked my ass off with crazy teenagers every day as a CPS worker just ta’ come back home and deal with another one and he ain’t even got the decency to share the town’s gossip. I swear...”

“I can hear you!” Gilbert called after him, shaking his head in amusion. Bash had a dramatic flare that rivaled that of Anne’s.

Dear god stop thinking about her.

“Wasn’t tryna’ to be quiet!” Bash called back as he crossed through the kitchen and into the dining room, “And you’re answering the door when the pizza arrives. I paid for it!”

Gilbert rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

When he pulled his phone from behind his back to check the messages, the smile dropped from his mouth. One was a reply from Moody, but the other was from Winifred.

 Winnie (7:42 pm): is she your girlfriend?

 Before he could stop himself, he’d typed out an answer and hit send.

 Gilbert (7:46 pm): would it even make a difference

 Her response was immediate. And brought a frown to Gilbert’s face.

 Winnie (7:46 pm): is that what it takes for you to answer then?

Winnie (7:46 pm): wait forget i said that. i’m glad you did.

Winnie (7:46 pm): and in answer to your question... yes. it would for me.

 He hesitated a moment before replying again.

 Gilbert (7:47 pm): and what if i said that she is my girlfriend

 The typing bubble appeared. Stayed there for a few seconds.

 Winnie (7:48 pm): then i would respect that

 Gilbert dropped his phone down onto the desk in surprise. Three weeks. Three weeks had she been messaging him nonstop. And this was all it took for her to take a step back?

He didn’t know if he wanted to release a cry of excitement and relief or if he wanted to curl into a ball in the face of the possibility of things actually being a hundred percent over with the girl he’d dated for a full year.

She cheated on you. It doesn’t matter if it was just a fling or not, it still hurt.

His phone dinged again.

 Winnie (7:51 pm): so?

Winnie (7:52 pm): is she your girlfriend or not gilbert. stop messing with me

 He hastily typed out his reply. But his eyes widened as his thumb hovered over the send button.

Oh, Anne would absolutely murder him. An actual verbal massacre would take place in front of god and everybody.

But... she’d also been the one to kiss him. She’d been the one to need an escape from another boy. This couldn’t be that big of a step up right? Maybe... maybe they could use each other. Team up to get the respective unwanted attention off of their backs.

Besides... Green Gables wasn’t too far from his house. Just a mile or so. He could always stop by in the morning before school, explain the situation, and then take the beating while fewer witnesses were around.

It wasn’t as if he couldn’t hold his own against her anyway. And what had he said about wanting to be more spontaneous?

With the ghost of a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth, his thumb made the final movement to hit send.

 Gilbert (7:52 pm): yes. she’s my girlfriend

+ + +

“Why, Gilbert Blythe! It’s been a long time. What brings you here so early in the morning?”

When the elder woman had opened the front door of her house to find Gilbert standing there, arms nervously crossed behind his back, the surprised smile that had broken across her face was radiant.

“Hello Miss Cuthbert,” Gilbert greeted politely. His hands were ringing themselves, fidgeting where he’d hidden them from her sight, “Sorry to intrude-“

“Oh nonsense, young man. It’s always a pleasure to see an old friendly face,” Marilla interrupted him, “Please. Come in. I have a fresh batch of plum puffs I made just last night.”

He made to interject- to say he only needed to be there a few moments so that he may speak with her daughter- but the older woman was far stronger than she looked. And she’d yanked him in and shut the door behind him before he knew it.

He ran a hand through his mess of curls awkwardly and shifted his weight from one foot the other.

“Miss Cuthbert,” he began as he watched her flit about the tiny area. She’d grabbed a plate from the kitchen and a pan of pastries from a bar just inside the dining room, her long shawl unraveling from around her shoulders in her haste, “I came here so that I might possibly speak with Anne before we head to school?”

Marilla paused in her escapade, glancing over at where Gilbert stood in the doorway, “Yes of course. I believe she’s still in her bedroom getting ready,” she pointed toward a hallway that was just through the dining room entryway and across the living room, “the very last door.”

Gilbert nodded politely, already beginning to move in the direction she’d pointed, “Thank you Miss Cuthbert. This should only take a moment. I’ll grab one of your plum puffs on my way out if that’s alright.”

“Yes yes, of course. And for heaven’s sake child. You’ve known Matthew and I nearly your entire life. Call me Marilla.”

He flashed her a charming smile just as he was about to disappear into the hallway leading to Anne’s bedroom, “Marilla,” he echoed.

When he reached Anne’s door, he hesitated. He could hear the faint sound of music playing from a phone speaker and her quiet voice happily humming along. And from the looks of how the shadow he could see through the crack in the door was swaying around, she was dancing.

A quiet smile graced his lips before he lightly rapped his knuckles against the worn wood.

The humming stopped and the music paused. When he heard her moving toward the door, he took a slight step backward, “I’m almost ready Marilla. I’ll be out for breakfast in just a-“

The moment the door was open and her gray eyes met his, she stopped abruptly. Mouth snapping shut and face turning the same fiery red as the hair on top of her head.

Her eyes promised his death.

Gilbert grinned at her, “What’s up, Carrots?”

The next thing he knew, her hand was on his arm and he was being jerked into her bedroom.

He found himself intrigued as he glanced around. It was a cute little area with a twin bed in the middle, a vanity along the side wall, and several pieces of art framed and hung all around. No doubt drawn by her friend Cole.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she seethed, pulling his roaming gaze away from the small space.

“You Cuthbert ladies sure have a thing for yanking people into rooms,” he replied cheekily, ignoring the acidic tone in the red-heads voice.

He studied her a moment. Her hands balled into fists at her sides and an angry flush coloring clear down into the neck of her pretty floral patterned dress. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, framing her freckled face.

She was as beautiful as always. As fierce as ever.

And her blue eyes blazed with the same hatred for him that he always knew he could find there.

In the face of it, he couldn’t help when his smile widened crookedly.

She took a deep breath. As if trying to calm herself, “Listen if you came here about what happened yesterday, I-“

“It’s not about that,” he cut her off, “Okay- well yeah. It is. But I highly doubt I’ll be saying anything you expect.”

A repulsed expression marred her pretty features, “I hope you don’t suddenly think I’m going to do it again.”

A small burst of laughter escaped from him, “Trust me. Neither of us want that.”

Liar liar, he thought. Gilbert hadn’t been able to get the feel of her soft lips out of his head from the moment it happened. But he didn’t even want to admit that to himself let alone to her.

Her lips thinned. “What do you want?” she asked warily.

He leaned back casually against her closed bedroom door and stuffed his hands into his pockets, “Who was that boy you were hiding from yesterday?”

Her eyes narrowed, “Diana will be here in twenty minutes to pick me up and Marilla will have my head if I don’t eat breakfast with her and Matthew before I leave so if all you came here to do was interrogate me about-“

“Carrots relax.”

“Stop calling me that!” she snapped shrilly.

He pulled his hands from his pockets and held them up in defense. “Alright alright, I’m sorry,” he said, “There’s a point to me asking this. I promise.”

Anne released a huff. Crossed her arms and jutted her hip out to the side.

“Forgive me if I don’t take any of your promises to heart,” she retorted indignantly.

“Fair enough,” he replied, “But humor me. Please.”

At the last word, he’d looked up at her from his relaxed position on the door through his dark eyelashes. It was a move he knew worked on nearly every female in Avonlea. Except for Anne. The first time he’d tried it on her back when they’d met, he’d been awarded with a very hard textbook to the face. It was the first time it hadn’t worked. Hadn’t charmed the girl into a fit of embarrassed giggles or brought a pink flush to her cheeks.

He did it now adays just to see Anne’s scowl deepen. Apparently he’d grown a liking to flirting with death.

She rolled her eyes at him. Making a small noise of disgust that allowed for an amused smile to play on Gilbert’s lips.

“Fine. Whatever,” she started, “The guy was Royal Gardner. He’s Diana’s cousin. You probably noticed he just started at Avonlea High? He’s in the same grade as us and an absolute pain in my ass.”

Gilbert cocked an eyebrow, “I thought I was the only pain in your ass.”

“Don’t be vain. A lot of boys are pains in my ass.”

His lips twitched. “Is that so?” he asked before he could stop himself.

The punch she threw at his arm was very well deserved.

“You have a death wish Gilbert Blythe. I swear you do.”

Gilbert snorted. It was a bit of an understatement, if you asked him. He sort of felt like he’d traipsed right into a lion’s den.

He cleared his throat, “So if so many boys are already a pain in your ass... Why was this one a cause for you to kiss me?”

Anne looked down shyly. And if Gilbert hadn’t known any better, he might have said that the slight pink that colored her cheeks was from embarrassment and not anger.

It was gone in a flash though. She straightened. Head held high and stormy eyes meeting his in defiance.

“He’d asked me out the day before. Wouldn’t take no for an answer,” she glanced away from him, “I uh, had to tell him I was seeing somebody in order to get him to leave me alone. I wasn’t expecting to see him at Red Bird. And you were there... so I panicked. Seized the opportunity that had revealed itself.”

Gilbert nodded thoughtfully, fighting to hide the smirk that threatened his lips. So, this Royal guy thought he might be dating Anne? The situation was far more perfect than he’d originally thought.

 “I was a pawn,” he replied casually.

Anne rolled her eyes at him. Probably for the millionth time in the span of the five minutes they’d been talking.

“You-“

He pushed on, “Do you remember Winnie?”

Her eyebrows scrunched together, “Your ex-girlfriend? What about her.”

Gilbert paused a moment, steeling himself. When the girl across from him placed a hand on her hip and raised an annoyed eyebrow, he released a breath.

“She maybe, sort of, thinks that we’re dating too. As well. Like- uh. Yeah.”

Anne swore quietly and looked down at her hands where they were fisted in the loose skirt of her dress.

“Why would she possibly think that?”

“Anne. You kissed me. In public. You know how this town is... I’m sure everybody thinks we’re together now.”

She harrumphed at that, and Gilbert couldn’t help but find it a little bit adorable.

Her eyes met his again, “It’s 2019, a kiss does not insinuate dating.”

Gilbert took a single step closer to her and was relieved to find that she didn’t back up. “Did you miss the part where we live in a small town in rural Maine or...”

“That doesn’t mean-“

“What if we let them think it.”

A surprised laugh burst from Anne as soon as the words had left his mouth. But when she looked at him again and saw that he hadn’t been joking, the smile dropped from her face.

“Wait you’re being serious?” she asked.

Gilbert swallowed. Nodded.

She began to shake her head furiously, “No way. No fucking way. I don’t even like you! You don’t like me!”

She stepped away from him and started to frantically tidy up the space around her as if to busy herself. She scrambled to her bed and grabbed the blankets there to fold across the mattress. She fluffed her pillow unnecessarily, causing Gilbert’s lip to twitch in amusement as she watched.

Anne’s voice was an octave higher than normal as she continued to rant and busy herself with the sheets of her bed.

Gilbert stepped forward, not even trying to hide the amusement that was sure to be written all across his face.

“Anne,” he said, “Anne calm down a second and listen to me, will you?”

She spun on her heal to face him, eyes bright with a mixture of panic and anger. Hands clutching viciously to the throw blanket in her grasp.  

“Do not tell me to calm down Gilbert Blythe,” she snapped at him. There it was, the knife to his throat, “You come here to- to suggest what? That we suddenly start dating? I can’t even- We never- I can barely stand to be around you, let alone-“

It was a good thing the knife had never intimidated him before. And it certainly wasn’t now.

“We wouldn’t really be dating, Anne.” He interrupted her with a laugh.

She blinked, “What the hell are you talking about?”

He walked up to her slowly. Grabbed the blanket that dangled from her hands and then set it on her bed. Their bodies were inches apart and it was as if he could feel her there. Feel the heat radiating off of her.

He met her harsh gaze, “What if we just made everybody think we were dating. What if we made Royal think we were dating.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and straightened her stance. But she didn’t back away. Didn’t take a step back like he would have expected her to.

“What’s in it for you?” she asked, voice laced with poison and skepticism.

He shrugged, “I’ve needed Winifred to get off my back for a while. Call it an even exchange.”

“Nobody will believe it. We’ve been at each other’s throats since we met.”

On the contrary, she’d been at his throat. He didn’t have a doubt in his mind that they’d be perfect friends if only she’d let him in instead of wielding her words against him like a mighty sword.

He leaned in a fraction, relishing in the way he heard her breath catch in her throat, “They’ll believe what we make them believe.”

She bit her lip, eyes expressing clear contemplation in the swirling grays and blues of her irises. But then she stiffened, and the shutters slammed shut against him. She moved forward, pushing past and around. Causing him to stumble backward slightly despite her small frame.

He turned to find her paused in front of the doorway with her back to him, fists clenched at her sides and back stiff straight.

“No.” Her voice was flat.

He took a step toward her, “Anne-“

“I said no. It’s a stupid idea,” she placed her hand on the doorknob and twisted. Pulled it open and then stepped aside to make way for him to pass through. She looked over at the place where he stood, a solid resolve in her eyes. “I think you should leave. Diana will be here any minute and now I have to rush my breakfast.”

Gilbert deflated. He was disappointed, but he wouldn’t force her to do something she didn’t want to. Still, he’d already told Winnie... Been so determined he’d be able to convince Anne to take part in his plan.

As he walked through her doorway and past her, he paused a moment. Leaned down slightly so that their faces were closer together.

“Just a few months. We get Royal and Winnie off our backs. And then we never have to deal with each other outside of class again,” he said quietly. He could see his breath move the auburn locks against her face. His eyes flit to lock with hers, “Think about it.”

When her lips thinned and she refused to respond, Gilbert gave a curt nod. Then walked down the hallway, out into the living room and back into the kitchen.

He quickly brandished a wide smile and farewell to Marilla as he grabbed one of her pastries and left through the door. All the while knowing Anne watched through the window as he climbed into his car and backed out of the Cuthbert’s long driveway.

The entire way to Avonlea High, a smile curved at his lips.

[thehuggamugcafe]

Christmas Drabble #1: Hot Cocoa

Winter wasn’t your favourite season.

Sure, it was the most “magical” of seasons when you were a kid, but as you matured—and when you figured out that “Santa’s” handwriting matched your mother’s, the height of irony—the magic had faded away, slowly but surely.

You put up as brave a face as you could, pretending to smile when your younger family members—your siblings, your cousins—giggled, and did their best to try and stay up to catch Santa stuffing presents underneath the Christmas tree each year, red-handed.

Silently, however, you couldn’t help but roll your eyes at your younger siblings’ antics, and your cousins’ glowing eyes. You’d watch as they ogled the Christmas tree like it had appeared from thin air itself, their gaze full of innocence as they snickered and whispered while huddled together, daring each other to pick at the colourful presents stuffed beneath the glittering tree, the golden star twinkling at the top.

You wished you could still look forward to Christmas Eve the way your younger family members did.

You still enjoyed spending the holidays with your parents, siblings, relatives, and your friends.

You still enjoyed gathering around the dining room table at your grandparents’ house, tucking in to a dinner that was bound to leave you—leave everyone who was visiting, including some friends—feeling as stuffed as a turkey.

You still enjoyed indulging in Secret Santa, giving and exchanging gifts with your co-workers.

You still enjoyed partaking in baking Christmas treats with your grandmother, having a particular weakness for her famous banana custard pudding.

You still enjoyed waking up on Christmas Day, being jostled to a dopey-eyed state of awareness, sleep crusting to your eyes as you blankly stared up into the faces of your siblings and cousins.

Unlike most adults your age, you didn’t spend hours upon hours of waiting in line, waiting to pick up a pre-order of the newest coffee machine, or impatiently awaiting the arrival of the latest smartphone by snail mail.

Every year, you made sure to get your Christmas shopping done in November, ignoring the price tags that almost made your eyes pop out of their sockets.

Unlike most adults your age, you didn’t walk into liquor stores to buy champagne, vodka, or any other alcoholic beverages.

You made sure that any alcohol you consumed was done in the safety and comfort of your home, and on New Year’s Eve.

Unlike most adults, you didn’t stand out in the freezing cold, waiting to watch the display of fireworks in the midst of a small ocean of citizens.

You were quite content to see the fireworks display on a live TV broadcast, watching the crowd as they welcomed in a new year while they clapped, cheered, hollered, hugged, kissed, and took pictures or recorded the event on their cell phones.

However…

Christmas in Japan was celebrated differently than how it was celebrated back at home. To say Japan’s culture, and how certain holidays were celebrated in contrast to the West surprised you was putting it nicely, and very nicely at that.

In Japan, Christmas Eve was generally spent with your significant other, provided you actually had someone to call your own.

Other than the various things that actually made you look forward to winter, and Christmas in general, there was one more thing that made you glad about the holiday season—well, one more person, actually.

Your live-in boyfriend, Akira Kurusu.

The chilly early evening air gently nipped at your cheeks, disturbed your hair, and tussled the collar of your parka as you and the frizzy-haired, bespectacled barista walked down a sidewalk that was bare of snow.

Surprising, considering it was the beginning of December, but it wasn’t an unwelcome sight.

Honestly, you fancied the thought of not having to trudge your way through ankle-deep—or even knee-deep—snow for once. To not have your pants soaking wet and cold, and to not have to stomp the soles of your snow boots as you entered a brightly lit grocery store, or you were lured into a sweet shop.

Even if there wasn’t any snow on the ground, or any icicles dangling off of the windowsills of houses, glistening as colourful Christmas lights hit them and making them shimmer with every festive hue, there was a gentle flurry of snow being tossed around in the wind.

A few snowflakes hit your forehead, your cheeks—coloured a rosy red from the wintry air—and a few floated before you, dancing in front of your eyes as you stared, totally mesmerized. In truth, you could be seen the way a child would with their face pressed to the cold windowpane, staring into a toy store and ogling all the shiny trinkets, or watching as mouth-watering holiday specials were prepared right in front of you in the front window of a bakery.

At last one single stray snowflake touched your upper lip, and before you could stop yourself from doing something that reminded you of your childhood, it was too late.

You had already leaned your head back, eyes looking up into the clear evening sky; the clarity of the nocturnal horizon was broken only by the faint twinkling of distant stars, and the dim shimmer of a quarter moon as it peeked out beneath a thin veil of clouds.

The familiar flash of pink was clear as your tongue was cooled by the wintry air, and the moist mouth organ remained out as snowflakes fluttered in the wind, descending down to land on your tongue.

The display of immaturity earned you a few odd looks, muttered comments, annoyed clicks of tongues, and several visible (and hidden) eye-rolls, but there was one person who didn’t look irritated, one person who didn’t show any annoyance at the way you were acting.

Your boyfriend, Akira Kurusu.

He smiled, onyx irises twinkling as his gaze remained locked on your form; the black-framed glasses he was oftentimes seen wearing, fake black-framed spectacles, were nowhere to be seen.

It was only a matter of time until the wintry air may as well be knives that cut across the bare skin of your cheeks, painting them an even deeper rosy hue, and nipped its way through your wool gloves to chill your fingers.

“My, you’re shivering. You could do with a bit of warming up, Treasure.”

That was what Akira whispered in your ear, draping an arm over your shoulder as he took your state of surprise—mild surprise, but your light disadvantage was useful—to press a kiss to your cheek.

The contrast between your boyfriend’s soft, warm lips and the crisp evening air was clear, and as obvious as the dawn of a new day; the telltale feeling of heat crawling up your neck to shamelessly burn your cheeks with a soft rosy hue was nostalgic, painfully familiar.

You watched as a smirk danced on Akira’s lips, watching your blushing, doe-eyed visage, watching as your mouth curved to a perfect o as you stared up at him.

“Well… You aren’t wrong,” you admitted, a puff of white leaving you as you laughed.

“I can help you with that, you know. I can keep you warm tonight. Always,” he said, his onyx eyes twinkling as he talked.

“Or,” you replied, lazily drawling the word as you looked up at him. You paused to deliver a slow jab, the curved joint of your elbow digging into the onyx-eyed demon’s side as he chuckled, obsidian irises swimming in amusement. “You can buy me some hot cocoa instead.”

Surprisingly, he relinquished to your request without a single complaint.

“As you wish, kitten.”

Air left Akira’s lips in a misty white cloud as he chuckled, leaning down to bless your cool forehead with a kiss.

As fortune would have it, there was a decent-sized crowd gathered around a food truck parked outside a few businesses. Your mouth started to water right away, taking in a slow, deep breath. You took in the scent of sweet cocoa, melting cheese, sizzling butter and meat patties, and various pastries. You reached for money in your left-hand coat pocket, sandwiched between your debit card and some gift cards you saved from the previous holiday season, but a hand gently rested on your wrist, halting you from the intended action.

You blinked, bumping up your chin and locking eyes with Akira’s onyx stare.

“Akira…?”

“I’ll pay, dearest. What do you want?”

Before you could open your mouth to reply, to tell your frizzy-haired boyfriend that it was fine and that you could pay for whatever tickled your fancy, he shot you a look. It was a look that quietly, but plainly, told you that he wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.

“Fine, fine. Whatever you say, my gentleman,” you said, laughing as your hand dropped from the pocket your money was in.

“You have my thanks, my lady,” he replied, cooing the word “lady” as it left his mouth. To you, it sounded like the words “my lady” had been dipped in warm, melting sugar…

It took you five minutes for your sweet tooth to latch on to a drink that caught your eye, and when you selected it, eyes twinkling like a child standing in the middle of the world’s largest candy shop, Akira laughed.

“Thank you very much. Please come again,” the server said, sliding a medium-sized Styrofoam cup towards you. The tab was quickly pried off, and you wasted little time in taking a sip. You could almost feel the happy glow pouring from your eyes; a matching grin curled your lips, showing a hint of teeth. The contrast between the smooth cocoa-flavoured drink and the fluffy whipped cream was clear. It was a parallel that you delighted in; you didn’t even care that a line of whipped cream lingered on your lips. Hot cocoa was an all-time winter classic, a favourite drink of yours ever since childhood.

A chuckle from your frizzy-haired significant other made you look at him, brow raised as a smirk teased the corner of the incubus’s lips.

“What?” you asked, blinking as you ogled Akira’s expression.

You weren’t sure what to make of that mischievous glint shining in his eyes, his irises that shone like obsidian jewels catching a cold glare of silver moonlight.

Your answer didn’t come in the form of a verbal reply, no.

Instead, what you felt was a forefinger and thumb swiping over your lips, catching some of the whipped cream that coated your rosy mouth. You watched as the cream-covered fingers were raised to his mouth, doe-like gaze glistening with childish wonder. You watched as the same digits coated in thick white were slowly inserted into his mouth, delving past his lips and into the warm, wet darkness between his cheeks.

And the whole time your eyes never left Akira’s, not for a moment; his eyes never strayed from you, watching as a flash of pink licked up the creamy mess, slowly. To polish off the public display of teasing, Akira intentionally made a slurping noise, finishing with a slow, dreadfully slow show of licking his fingers, coating them in a generous layer of saliva.

“…You had some cream on your mouth. I was merely helping you clean up, love,” Akira said while lowering his spit-covered fingers. He breathed a laugh as you narrowed your eyes.

“Is this really the time or the place for this?” you asked, darting your eyes around erratically, staring at the clusters of citizens.

Even if they had seen anything—and judging by the looks you both were getting, looks of jealousy from men and women alike—you doubted Akira gave any wandering or curious looks a second thought. Your suspicions were confirmed as he simply looped an arm over your shoulder, bringing you close to him. He had all but waved off your concerns, not sparing the other humans a moment’s glance.

“You speak as though I did something inappropriate. You know I’d never be that affectionate in public, darling,” the frizzy-haired demon said, blessing your cold, rosy cheek with a kiss.

“Merry Christmas, my Treasure.”

You smiled; soft, barely-there, but it was present. He was a daredevil hellion to be sure, but he was your willing to please hell raiser.

“Merry Christmas, Akira.”

[minijenn]

In More Ways Than One (Commission Oneshot)

AN-Heyyoooo! Finally finished my first writing commission! And boy I really loved working on this one. It was SO much fun and honestly its a huge fluff fest. Just so you know going in, this is a Poly MK oneshot, so if that’s not you’re thing then you may not be into this. Either way, I’d like to give an anonymous thanks to the person who commissioned this! Like I said it was a delight to write. So... enjoy!

***

“Alright, everyone. I’ve gathered you all here this afternoon for a very important matter,” Ford paused, taking stock of the aptly concerned expressions his brother and the Gems were sending his way. “I have reason to believe that something… might be wrong with the children.”

A beat of silence followed at this, the gathered group exchanging brief, bewildered glances before Pearl finally cut in with a loud sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness, I’m not the only one to think the same thing! The four of them have been acting strange for weeks now! Please tell me you three have noticed it too, haven’t you?”

“Eh, normally I’d think you and Sixer are being paranoid, as usual,” Stan remarked, crossing his arms. “But those kids have been more out there than usual lately. Heck, just the other day I saw Mabel knitting a sweater-”

“That’s hardly out of the ordinary, Stanley,” Ford noted. “Mabel knits sweaters almost constantly.”

“Yeah, but when does she ever knit a sweater like this before?” Stan held up said sweater, clearly larger than the articles Mabel usually knitted for herself, though what was by far the most peculiar thing about it was the large heart stitched onto its center, a bold ‘S + M” carefully embroidered right over it. “If this doesn’t prove who Mabel’s latest crush of the week is, then I don’t know what does.”

“Oohhhhh man…” Amethyst looked genuinely anxious as she stared at the sweater. “That’s… gonna be pretty awkward for Mabel, especially when she finds out about Steven and Connie…”

“Why?” Pearl asked, confused. “What’s going on between them?”

“Uh, isn’t it obvious, P? They’re totally nuts for each other! I didn’t wanna say anything, mostly cause I don’t really like getting into Steven’s personal biz like that, but yesterday I saw Connie give him a kiss on the cheek! The cheek, you guys! That’s like, something I thought was gonna happen forever ago, but hey, at least its happening, even if they are pretty late to the party…”

“Oh, Amethyst, don’t be absurd!” Pearl huffed, doubtful. “As… admittedly adorable of a couple as Steven and Connie would make, a-and Steven and Mabel for that matter, I’m afraid its just plain to see that he’s not interested in either of them that way,”

“Oh yeah?” Amethyst challenged. “Then who is Steven crushing on?”

“Dipper, of course,” Pearl concluded, firm in her answer.

“What?!” Amethyst, Stan, and Ford exclaimed in surprised unison.

“Oh come now, don’t tell me none of you have noticed the obvious attraction between those boys,” Pearl frowned. “The sheer devotion and dedication Steven and Dipper consistently show for each other should be proof enough alone that their feelings towards each other are more than merely platonic. But there’s even more to it than that; last week, I happened to walk in on them forming Stepper sheerly for the sake of their own enjoyment. They tried to play it off as more than that, but I could tell by the look in Stepper’s eyes that he was loving every second the two of them were together.”

“Well, if your… theory is correct, Pearl,” Ford said, clearly uncomfortable with so much discussion of a topic like romance. “Then what of Mabel and Connie?”

“Well… who’s to say they don’t feel the same way towards each other?” Pearl shrugged. “They have been spending much more time than usual as of late anyway. And there’s no denying they have, what humans typically call ‘biology’ with each other.”

“You mean ‘chemistry’?” Stan corrected, dryly.

“What? No. That doesn’t make any sense, people can’t share chemistry, most chemicals are typically dangerous to humans anyway, right?”

“Anyway,” Ford interjected. “Speaking of chemistry—or ‘biology’ or whatever you’d prefer to call it, if any of the kids shares that sort of compatible dynamic, then clearly its Dipper and Connie. As respectably intellectually minded as they both are, they’d easily make a perfect pair.”

“So what, you’re saying they belong together cause they’re both huge nerds?” Stan asked, sending his brother a critical look.

“N-no!” Ford quickly backpedaled, flustered. “I have proof; a few days ago, I saw the two of them… w-well, they were—ugh, I suppose the only way to say it as that they were ‘holding hands’ as they walked down to the house from the temple. Just the two of them. Alone.”

“Pfft, so? That doesn’t prove anything!” Amethyst scoffed.

“I-I’d say it proves quite a bit!” the author exclaimed defensively. “Its further than I ever got with a girl, after all.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’ve got no charm, Ford,” Stan remarked, sending his brother a playfully teasing jab. “Then again, Dipper doesn’t really make much charm either, which it’d be an easy bet that both you and Pearl are wrong about Connie or Steven bein’ into him.”

“Well, if that’s the case, then your idea of Steven and Mabel being an item is every bit as preposterous,” Pearl remarked. “They’re close, yes, but Steven and Dipper are much closer.”

“Uh, no, Steven and Connie are, duh,” Amethyst cut in.

“But that doesn’t work because Connie’s already with Mabel!” Pearl countered, hands on her hips.

“Who, might I remind you, is actually with Steven,” Stan pointed out, exasperated.

“Which is fine because Connie and Dipper are both speaking for each other anyway,” Ford noted, resolute.

“You mean they’re spoken for, poindexter,” Stan corrected once more. “Geez, you nerds don’t know anything about this whole romance thing.”

“Well, then why don’t we ask someone who does?” Pearl retorted, turning to the sole member of the group who had yet to weigh in on the matter. “Garnet, what do think about all this?”

So far, Garnet’s expression had remained largely neutral as ever as she sat apace from the others, apparently not interested in engaging in on the conversation whatsoever. But as she finally turned to Pearl to give her thoughts, she was unable to keep her reaction to their ongoing speculation in any longer. A reaction that was, at least as far as the others were concerned, the very last thing any of them could have expected.

She laughed.

In fact, she laughed so hard that she was practically hysterical, a fact that genuinely unnerved the others as they were so used to the Gem leader’s steady sense of calm. Which was why, as baffled as they all were, they quickly pressed for an explanation behind it.

“Hey! What’s so funny, shades?” Stan asked, somewhat cross.

Garnet didn’t answer right away, instead slamming her first down on the table as she laughed even harder. When she finally did regain her composure enough to respond, she was still chuckling to herself all the while. “You’re all wrong.”

“What do you mean, we’re wrong?” Ford scoffed, aptly confused.

“Yeah, what are you saying, G, that none of the kids are into each other?” Amethyst asked, not following.

“Because I find that incredibly hard to believe, all things considered,” Pearl added, shaking her head.

“No,” Garnet said, still laughing. “Its exactly the opposite, really.”

“…Ok, now I really don’t get it,” Amethyst said, exchanging a lost glance with Pearl, Stan, and Ford. “G, what are you talking about here?”

“It’s actually really simple,” Garnet smiled brightly, clearly elated over something, even if none of the others knew what that something was. “Which is why I should let them explain it for themselves.”

The Gem leader nodded over to the shack’s front door as it opened at that exact moment, all four of the kids entering in. None of them apparently knew of the company gathered in the den as they conversed casually, a conversation that, when paired with their clear body language, provided more than enough of an explanation as to exactly what was going on.

“You know, we really should think of how we’re gonna break this to everyone…” Dipper noted with something of a worried frown.

“What, you mean the whole thing about the four of us all dating each other?” Steven asked rather bluntly and blatantly. “Because I think we should—oh….”

The young Gem immediately stopped short as all four of the kids noticed they had a captive audience in the den listening in. As if plainly stating it wasn’t enough, their relatively new interconnected relationships were all but proven by just how closely they all lingered to each other. Mabel was holding hands with Steven’s, his free arm resting on Connie’s shoulder while his fingers were interlaced with Dipper’s, who also had an arm wrapped around Connie as she did the same for him. Their expressions were awash in the same sort of mutual surprise that the adults in the room all shared, save for Mabel, who simply shrugged in blithe acceptance over being discovered like this.

“Welp, I guess this is one way to tell ‘em, huh?” she said, grinning over to her brother and her partners.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” Pearl cut in before any of the others could, getting up from her seat to approach the kids. “You four are actually…?”

“Um… yeah, we sort of are…” Connie admitted, shifting nervously a bit. Even so, both Steven and Dipper quietly steadied her, their respective grips on her tightening protectively ever so slightly.

“And this has been going on for…?” Ford trailed off, aptly curious.

“A few weeks, at least,” Steven replied, unable to hold back a fond smile as he glanced over at Mabel, Connie, and Dipper. “Though I guess we always kinda felt this way deep down…”

“Ok, am I the only one who has about a billion questions about… all of this?” Stan said, generally gesturing to all four of the kids.

“Yeah, we… kinda figured you guys would,” Dipper remarked with a plaintiff shrug. “Which is sorta why we decided to not tell any of you about it until we figured out the best way to.”

“But now it looks like we don’t have a choice!” Mabel quipped, clearly more excited that they had been found out than the others. “So… fire away! Who’s up first with question number one!?”

“Uh, I guess I am?” Amethyst raised her hand. “What I wanna know is just how the hey all this happened? What made you guys decide you wanted to, ya know, make it official?”

“Actually, its kind of a crazy story,” Connie said with a somewhat forced laugh. “We all kind of realized our, uh, feelings for each other at different times and in different ways…”

***

Connie sighed contently, basking in the warm sun reflecting off the lake as Steven finished off the last few notes of a peaceful ukulele tune beside her. Rare was the moment shared between just the two of them, but she was grateful for this moment all the same. Especially one as blissfully sweet and calm as this.

Even so, she did sit up a bit when the young Gem’s simple song came to an end. “That’s a new one,” she noted with a smile. “Did you write it yourself?”

“Heh, yeah…” Steven glanced away, somewhat bashful. “It’s just… something special I’ve been working on for awhile now for, uh… for someone.”

“Oh?” Connie asked, intrigued. “For who?”

“Oh, uh, y-you know,” the young Gem shrugged. He hardly ever got this flustered but it was clear that was the case now, much to Connie’s growing confusion.

“Um, no, I don’t know,” she chuckled. “You haven’t told me that part yet, Steven.”

“Oh, right…” Steven laughed as well, albeit a bit forced. “Uh, a-actually, Connie, I…  I wrote that song for… I-I mean, I wrote it as… k-kind of… a love song, I… I guess.”

“A love song?” Connie raised an eyebrow at this, not sure of what to make of it. Though for some reason, unknown worry and excitement rushed through her all at the same time. “W-well, who’s the lucky, uh, girl?”

Steven hesitated, deeply blushing as he glanced away from her with an anxious, yet elated smile. Connie jolted in surprise as she felt his hand lightly skim over hers. Time seemed to stop as he leaned in closer to her until, both very suddenly and incredibly slowly, their lips met at the exact same time. The kiss only lasted for the briefest of moments before they both parted out of nerves alone. Even so, neither of them could back out of it without wearing the largest of smiles over the line they had finally, finally crossed.

“T-think you can take a guess?” Steven asked quietly, leaning his head against Connie’s slightly.

“Yeah…” Connie’s smile deepened as she stole another kiss from him, this time on the cheek, though it was no less sweet and satisfying then their first. “I think I can.”

***

It wasn’t a rare occurrence for Dipper and Connie to practice their sword fighting together outside of their weekly lessons with Pearl. The two would often head out to an open, yet private clearing in the woods, to go head to head against each other in friendly spars to sharpen their skills. Though lately, their training sessions had shifted focus somewhat. They would spend about an hour or so clashing their blades, though they’d pass even more of their time together simply sitting within the peace of the forest engaged in deep, but pleasant conversation. Today however, they had agreed to focus their efforts on their training, their swords clanging in a constant rhythm as they did their best to outmaneuver each other.

“Remember what Pearl keeps telling you, Dipper!” Connie called with a playful smirk as she came in for another broad swing. “You gotta keep yourself covered!”

“Oh, I’ll keep myself covered,” Dipper taunted back just as wryly. “As long as you keep your footing steady.”

Connie noted his attempt to knock her down by sidestepping out of the path of his sword before going in for another attack. “Uh, speaking of steady….” She began a bit leadingly as their swords clanged. They kept on each other, pressing against their respective swords as their faces drew in close amidst the tension. “I was wondering…”

Dipper easily caught her drift, his cheeks suddenly lighting red in as his pressure wavered somewhat. “O-oh yeah? Wondering what?”

Connie took the opportunity as she saw it, elbowing him hard enough to send him plummeting hard to the grassy ground. Dipper flinched as her sword slammed into the ground right next to his head as she leaned down over him, smirking with both confidence and apprehension at the same exact time. “I-I was just wondering if you’d like to, uh… go there. W-with… with me?”

For a moment, the most Dipper could do was stare up at her in shock as she continued to hover over him. But then, acting on a burst of boldness that was far more than the kind he usually carried, he leaned upwards, giving her a small, short, but soft kiss on the cheek. “Of course,” he said with a joyous laugh he was powerless to contain. “Of course, I would love to.”

“And I’d love it if you did that again,” Connie grinned just as warmly.

“Well, since you won this round, how can I say no?” he complied, meeting her halfway as they came together in another kiss, equally matched in both their skill with a blade and their affection for one another.

***

“Ok, Steven, are you ready for… the lightning round?!” Mabel asked with daring grin.

“Lightning round?” the young Gem asked, intrigued. The two of them had spent the past several hours engaged in a rousing game that they had come up with all on their own. It didn’t have any official name, but the basic rules involved going back and forth on cards of personality-based questions they had come up with earlier. They were randomly selected, which of course, added another layer of fun and excitement to an already unpredictable game as it was.

“Yeah! No thinking about your answers, you just gotta blurt ‘em out as soon as you hear the question,” Mabel explained. “Are you game, Universe?”

“You bet I am!” Steven grinned enthusiastically as he drew the first question card. “Ok, you’re up first. If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be?”

“Easy, Belgium, I heard their chocolate is the best, ever!” Mabel took another card to pose a question to the young Gem. “Who would win in a fight, Lonely Blade or Tiger First?”

“Tiger Fist! He’s got punches to spare! Next question, who do you have a crush on?”

“You!” Mabel gasped, realizing that she truly had answered the very question she had written without a single thought whatsoever. Which, of course, was why she immediately attempted to backpedal out of embarrassment alone. “I-I… I mean-”

“Wait… really?” Steven asked, putting his card down as he looked to her with wide eyes. “Mabel, y-you… have a crush on me?”

Though her hands were still tightly pressed against her mouth, Mabel nodded, feeling as though her heart was crashing and burning at an alarming rate. For so, so long now she had done everything she could to keep her feelings a secret from the young Gem. But now that she had voiced them aloud, however accidental, there was no taking them back.

“S-since… when?” Steven asked, still trying to wrap his head around the idea.

“Since the first time we formed Maven,” Mabel admitted with a long, relenting sigh.

“That long? W-well… why haven’t you told me until now?”

“B-because!” Mabel huffed, throwing an arm over her eyes as she flopped back onto the couch. “I didn’t want it to ruin everything! I mean, you’re probably the first guy I’ve ever really really liked! All of those other boys were just dumb flings that I tried to distract myself with but you’ve always been different! Y-you’re… your special. But now that you know…”

“Now that I know,” Steven caught Mabel by surprise taking her hand and offering her a bright, reassuring smile. “I think its time you knew that… I-I think I feel the same way.”

Mabel froze, as if her entire world had been turned upside down at this news. In all the best of ways. “W-what?”

“Yeah, of course, I do!” Steven said, still beaming. “We have so much in common, and you’re always so much fun to hang out with. Not to mention you’re already one of my best friends, so who says we can’t we be more than that if we want to?”

“Y-yeah,” Mabel happily agreed, still in a state of delighted disbelief as she found herself falling into Steven’s open arms. “Who says we can’t?”

***

Due to Connie’s somewhat sheltered upbringing, she hadn’t had the chance to see too many “classic” movies, which was why Mabel had decided to make it her responsibility to introduce her to all of her favorites. They had dubbed the new tradition “Movie Mondays”, and on a rainy, dour Monday like this, staying in with warm blankets and a sweeping romantic comedy, it was a perfect way to pass the time. But what neither of the girls had been expecting was for this particular film to strike such an emotional cord with both of them.

Connie found herself tearing up as the couple on screen confronted each other in the rain, the dramatic orchestral score saying far more than mere words ever could. However, as the pair raced towards each other in a deep, loving embrace, she found herself glancing over at Mabel instead. She was, simply put, weeping, her sobs soft and deeply impacted as she burrowed her face into the collar of her sweater. For a moment, Connie watched her, dumbfounded, until, acting on impulse alone, she found her own hand slowly gripping Mabel’s beside her.

And from there, the girls’ attention turned away from the movie… and towards each other instead.

As soon as their eyes met, that was where they stayed: solely on each other and nothing else. Maybe it was the gentle pattering of rain on the shack’s roof, maybe it was the movie’s romantic music soaring to a triumphant peak, or maybe it was something else entirely. But, as if pulled by magic or magnetism or something else entirely, they came together in a kiss, soft, slow, and so, so sweet.

And when they finally parted, they were equally matched in satisfaction and confusion.

“M-Mabel…” Connie whispered, skimming her own lips with her fingertips. “Y-you… I didn’t know you were… o-or even that I was-”

“M-me either…” Mabel blushed deeply. “W-what a way to find out, huh?”

“Y-yeah, but… I don’t know if I really understand. No offense, but you’ve had so many crushes before, s-so… why am I the one who… y-you know.”

“Gosh, there’s so many reasons, where do I even start?!” Mabel smiled brightly, warming Connie’s heart even more than it already was. “You’re so smart and brave and pretty and like, a million other great things! Yeah, I’ve had a lot of crushes before, but none of them have been anywhere near as amazing as you are, Connie!”

“N-no one’s… ever… I-I’ve never…” Connie stopped herself, far too overwhelmed by joy and affection to really say anything else. So instead, she decided to let her actions do the talking. She took both of Mabel’s hands this time, offering her the happiest smile she could muster before pulling her in close. Mabel reciprocated by tossing a nearby blanket over them both, shrouding them in warmth and comfort as they drew to kiss once more.

They all but missed the end of the movie, but neither of them minded. After all, they had just found a much better pastime to enjoy together instead.

***

“I’m so glad we decided to do this more often,” Stepper smiled as he settled into his fused form, reclining out on the grassy ground to watch the lofty clouds above him. “So am I, being together like this feels… so nice. Yeah… it really does…”

The fusion sighed quietly, closing his eyes to enjoy the warm peace of the afternoon. However, that peace was soon broken as both his birthmark and gemstone flashed with a single, simple thought that both of his halves happened to share with each other at the exact same time.

“I wish we could always be together…”

Stepper darted upright with a gasp, his face warm and his heart and mind both racing. And yet, somehow, despite his shock, he remained, Steven and Dipper still united by their mutual apparent affection for one another. “I-I… you really feel the same way? You really feel the same way!” As torn between dumbfounded and elated as the fusion was, he couldn’t hold back a small, tight laugh as he ran a hand through his hair.

“I-I mean…. I’ve I think I’ve been feeling it every time we fuse…” he said to himself, his lower arms holding him in a lose hug of sorts. “So have I. Its… warm, and bright, and… amazing.”

Stepper lay back in the grass once more, his upper arms returning the very same hug his lower arms were providing him. “If we really want to stay together, then why don’t we? Even when we’re apart? Wait… do you mean…? Yeah, I do…. I-is that ok?  No, its even better than ok,” He paused, practically brimming over with far too many wonderful emotions to even count, all of which sustained him, steadied him, solidified the strong bond that composed his very being.

“For the longest time I-I didn’t want to tell you about this because I had no idea what it even really was….” Stepper closed his eyes, savoring this moment for all it was worth and wishing that it would never have to end. “But now I know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, exactly what this feeling is. So do i…”

His gem and birthmark shimmered once more as the fusion spoke, both halves of his whole confirming exactly what they were to each other, and all that entailed. “It’s love.”

***

“And from there, we just figured we all might as well just be together,” Connie finished off the lengthy round of romantic anecdotes. “That’s not… weird to you guys, is it?”

“B-because this really is how we feel about each other!” Dipper interjected almost defensively. “Yeah, its… sort of unconventional, but… it just… works for us.”

“And we’re loving ever second of it!” Mabel grinned, raising her and Steven’s held hands up high.

“And… we’re hoping you guys will respect that,” Steven said as he looked to the adults hopefully. “So…? What do you think?”

At first, none of them said a single word, all of them looking to the kids with rather unreadable expressions. Though at last, Pearl spoke, breaking the heavy silence. “Well… you’re not wrong about it being ‘unconventional’…”

“But who cares?” Amethyst asked, reclining back in her seat. “If it makes you dorks happy, then hey, why not go for it?”

“Yeah, exactly,” Stan agreed with a bit of a grin. “You runts are always together anyway, might as well be together together, you know?”

“Yes, I suppose there’s no harm in it,” Ford smiled with a supportive nod. “After all, the bonds between the four of you are quite admirable. Though, um… Dipper, Mabel, isn’t it a bit… odd for you two to be sharing the same significant others like this?”

“Eh, we’re getting used to it,” Dipper shrugged.

“It’s not like there’s plenty of both Steven and Connie to go around!” Mabel quipped, sending a fond smile towards the pair, which they readily returned.

“Well, as long as you kids know what you’re doing,” Pearl concluded. “We wouldn’t any want you to get hurt if… if things go wrong.”

“I don’t think that’s something they’ll have to worry about,” Garnet said, offering the kids a profoundly proud smile. “After all, when love is as strong as the kind they have for each other, it always finds a way to survive. I know that from experience.”

The Gem leader lowered her shades, winking her third eye at the kids, filling them with all of the mutual hope they could have needed that their newfound interconnected relationships with each other were destined to last. Now that everything was out in the open, a bit more casual conversation over said relationships continued, though the support towards them on all sides was quite clear. With their worries of rejection and disapproval cleared away, the kids were able to slip away from the impromptu meeting feeling a shared sense of happiness and relief, one that wasn’t bound to fade away too quickly.

“Well, that went way better than I ever thought it would,” Dipper noted as the four of them lay down together on the attic floor later on.

“Yeah, it did….” Steven smiled. “See, I told you guys that it would all be ok when we told them!”

“Heh, you did have a point,” Connie smirked as she stole a small kiss on the cheek from him.

“So…” Mabel chimed in with daring grin. “When do you think we should tell them that we’re all dating Pacifica too?”

“Uh… maybe let’s save that bombshell for after the dust from this one settles,” Dipper said, somewhat apprehensive.

“Still, for now, everyone finally knowing about us is… really nice,” Steven sighed contentedly, feeling Dipper and Connie’s respective grips on his hands tighten as Mabel sent him a flirtatious wink. It was as though the sheer amount of love and devotion shared between all four of them (technically five of them) couldn’t be contained. And for Steven, Mabel, Dipper, and Connie alike, that was just fine. “In more ways than one…”

[maizehartwig]

Get Ex Back From Rebound Relationship Stupendous Unique Ideas

After you have to be the person that you look and carry on when the break-up occurs.She said that he needs to start pursuing you. At this point, is to stick to the guy that you might find somebody that knows both you and your ex go and get him back but it might be playing hard to make up smudged down your face from crying, I can agree that breaking up also.Besides, many guys who want to know whether this system is for sure your ex back, then your ex away.

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Ex Trainee Back To Japan With Working Visa

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How To Get Respect Back From Ex Girlfriend

[fromthedeskofelizabeththird]

Bewitched, Body and Soul 2/5?

Areum is under the care of the loathsome Jumin Han. At the last minute, she is invited to a dance at Shoreditch.

The story so far...

Intro - If You Go Chasing Rabbits

Jumin Route - Bewitched, Body and Soul - Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Mr Han spoke only briefly on the road to Shoreditch.

"Miss Areum, the people at this gathering will almost certainly ask you for more information about your lineage. It is imperative that you tell them we are related on my mother's side and not my father's."

"As you say."

And right there and then, the conversation was over before it had even begun. Areum presumed that he meant to resolve any potential controversies before they arose, though it only left her with more questions.

“And what shall I say to them?”

“Pardon?”

“When I introduce myself as some relative of your mother’s,” she said. “Presumably they shall ask after her health or in which manner I am related to her. What shall I say to them?”

She did not mean to be intrusive, though she understood how it might be seen in such a manner. She certainly did not question how it was Mr Han seemed to think so.

“Ah,” he said. “In that case express your gratitude, explain that you are my second cousin and tell them...tell them that she is better.”

As it happened, the town hall was every bit as overwhelming as the one that existed in her imagination. As she climbed out of the coach, she was practically aghast at the number of people in equally expensive dresses, proclaiming all manner of hopes for the evening that made little sense to her. She knew not one of their faces, nor any of their motivations and as she took Mr Han’s arm, it was oddly comforting.

A stout gentleman by the name of Mr Hartley greeted them at the door and from the casual manner of his greeting, she took them for old acquaintances, which as a matter of fact they were.

Up until only recently, Mr Hartley had been swallowed up in fog of despair. So much so, in fact, that most of his remaining friends and relatives were growing tired of his endless parties and dances. Barely a month passed that he did not demand some sort of gathering to distract himself from what he considered to be the painfully obvious emptiness in his life. In truth, he considered himself robbed, though not of any wealth or riches or even of a family member. No, Mr Hartley’s grief was far, far worse.

As a young man, Mr Hartley and the previous Mr Han studied together at the same boarding school and grew to be lifelong friends. When that same dear friend passed away only a little over a year beforehand, he was unable to accept it for a fact. How does one mourn a friend? They were not family, not members of the same household, and every ounce of etiquette commanded him to act as usual. Mr Hartley wanted to wear black for the rest of his days, to retire into his house and never speak to a living soul, but instead he settled for going out of his way to extend the hand of friendship to Mr Han’s only son.

“I did not think you would come!” He said, clapping Mr Han on the shoulder. “It's been so long since you've left the north.”

“I can assure you that it was not an intentional avoidance on my part,” said Mr Han. “Of late my affairs have been...complicated.”

And as is so often the way between old friends, Mr Hartley and Mr Han said nothing more of the matter though exchanged the darkest of looks as if they meant to say a good deal indeed.

“I’d like to introduce you to my cousin,” said Mr Han, with an intent to change the subject. “She's new here in London.”

Areum feared the man might look into her face and see her for her backwater upbringing as the Finchley girls so commonly believed that they could of other people. A slightly extended nose or freckle in the wrong place was enough to leave them conspiring into the night, though the fault was not entirely theirs. They were not the ones to burn Areum’s workhouse clothing, nor scrub the stink and dirt from her body before she was permitted inside.

As it was, Mr Hartley appeared only a little confused before taking her hand and kissing her knuckle through the glove.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, my dear,” he said. “How do you find London so far?”

She took in her surroundings: the faces she did not recognise, the uncomfortable dress she had had no choice but to wear and Mr Han’s expectant silence beside her. Mr Han who believed her to be a thief and worse, yet was introducing her as a cousin.

“It is not what I am used to,” she said.

“We shall stay here for no more than three hours,” said Mr Han as they entered the hall. “Now that we have made our faces known, Mr Hartley can only claim offence at an early retreat, but given the size of this gathering, it is unlikely that he shall be able to keep a proper track of the time.”

Areum barely heard a word that he was saying, she was too busy watching the careful way the serving staff delivered food out onto the dance floor. They were elegant in ways that she had never before seen, weaving in between guests like minnows in a stream.

To their immediate left, there appeared to be a large crowd of particularly boisterous women, all crying out in despair or glee at once over a particular person at the center.

“Now, sweet ladies,” said someone she recognised, “do excuse me a moment.”

It was Zen, the extraordinarily handsome gentleman from the previous day. He had on a shirt of bright peacock blue and several of his admirers appeared to have given him treats in the shape of earrings, bracelets or just plain foodstuffs.

“My dear Miss Areum,” he said with a smile and she knew without having to look that their eyes were upon her. “You're magnificent this evening.”

He reached out for her hand and she accepted the gesture, turning away from the icy glares of both his admirers and Mr Han as he planted a kiss on her knuckles.

“I did not know you would be coming,” she said, the delight in her voice completely genuine.

“Zen here is a socialite,” said Mr Han. “If you class such a thing as an honest form of employment, then one could say that it is his job to be here.”

“And, pray tell, Mr Han,” said Zen, “how does your employment compare to mine?”

Areum had the feeling the debate could go on for a while and watched Mr Hartley on the other side of the room. His greeting to each new set of guests was the same: a raucous laugh and question of health, followed by a gesture to enter into the hall without truly waiting for an answer.

And it was at that moment her blood ran cold, for Mr Hartley welcomed a number of faces into the room that she recognised and it did not ease her nerves one bit. As Mr Finchley shook Mr Hartley’s hand and each of his daughters bobbed down into polite curtsies that gave off the illusion of fine breeding and good manners-only half of which was true- she was half tempted to run in that direction, explain her circumstances and beg for forgiveness, though she knew better than to risk such a venture. Lord Finchley, his wife and all four of his daughters might have been sympathetic to her situation were she not plainly in an expensive dress, accompanied by Mr Han.

“I-” She said, gripping onto Mr Han’s arm and wondering what to do.

“Miss Areum?” He said.

She wondered if she ought to tell them that that was her family, though in the end she did not get the chance. Mr Hartley, in his greeting to the Finchley family, did the honourable thing to a man with so many daughters and pointed out the richest man in the room. Mr Finchley might have been able to pass such an opportunity by, but Lady Finchley certainly could not.

Areum was not a proud soul, nor inclined to ambition, but her heart had skipped a beat the first time Lady Finchley ever spoke to her. It happened so very rarely and Mrs Ridgebit made it quite clear that they were not to expect praise, that on the one occasion the Lady glanced up into her face and, smiling, told her she was really quite pretty, she found herself turning into a babbling fool.

The opposite occurred as Lady Finchley approached on that evening, however and took her hand without an ounce of recognition.

“My dear,” she said. “I’ve heard that you are new in London. Perhaps you might enjoy the company of my daughters?”

Areum remained stiff as a board, watching as Lord Finchley introduced Mr Han and Zen to Charlotte in her favourite pink ribbons, Margaret, who was already huffing and puffing about some injustice or another, Annette, who took one glance at Areum and proclaimed that that was exactly the dress that she had wanted and Rebecca, who picked her nose and did not seem to realise she was being introduced to anyone, let alone two handsome strangers.

She wondered if there was a polite way to say that she would rather die.

“I should like that very much,” she said, knowing of course that if she went to tea with the Finchley girls she ought to consider death and dismemberment a genuine possibility.

Somewhat luckily, however, they all seemed to be distracted the dancefloor.

“Look!” Margaret cried out. “Effy’s here!”

In the chaos of everything that had happened, she had all but forgotten poor Effy. It had not occurred to her that she ought to be worried about Annette’s rotten scheme and in amongst each of her individual worries about Mr Han’s strange house and whether or not she would have a home to return to, there was no room for concerns about the switching of the letters.

The realisation must have left her looking rather shocked, for Lady Finchley apologised for their spirited ways as they dashed across to the dancefloor. She stared, unabashed, at Effy in the distance. Effy who, by rights, ought not be there, and certainly not with such a bright smile. The truth was clear to her even as she watched Annette pull an envelope from the seam of her dress.

And right there and then, Areum realised the truth of it; that the Finchley girls had not been finished in their conspiracy when she left them and now they had something far worse in mind. Doubtless they still meant for Effy to pass on the note to Dr. Ingram and perhaps they had even convinced her to leave the note in their safekeeping to ensure she did not change her mind on the matter. However, this time around, it seemed they meant Effy's humiliation to be far more public, in such a manner that no one would suspect they had more than just a supporting role.

In about the same moment, Areum realised her tremendous good fortune. If the Finchley girls had continued in their original plan, they might have succeeded; as a maid, she was divided by several layers of social class and etiquette and had no power to interfere beyond the manner they instructed her to. As Miss Areum, the newcomer to London and sweet relative of Mr Han, it was not only expected of her to involve herself in such delicate matters, but she had the power to ruin their plans in an instant if she only considered her options carefully. She did not wish to make an enemy of the Finchley girls by drawing attention to herself, nor did she wish to cause a conspiracy, which would almost certainly lead people to unearth the truth that she had no real family ties to Mr Han, which would almost certainly cause a scandal.

She could not allow them to ruin sweet Effy, who had always shown remarkable kindness on the few occasions that she had actually seen her in person. Effy was a gentle sort, but never seemed to have realised that every cup of hot tea accidentally poured down her front, every accidental nudge that sent her stumbling, every piece of gossip accidentally misinformed was in fact no accident at all.

“I think that I should like to dance after all,” she said, turning to Zen and Mr Han the instant Lord and Lady Finchley found some other person to greet. “Would either of you care to join me?”

Zen beamed at the opportunity, though Mr Han’s expression did not flicker.

“Do not forget your place, Miss Areum,” he said. “You are not here to enjoy yourself. You are here because I do not trust you enough to leave you in my home.”

“Miss Areum is your sweet cousin and new to London, remember,” said Zen, linking his arm through hers somewhat forwardly. “It will raise far more questions if she does not share a dance or two.”

Mr Han glanced from Zen’s arm in hers to the dance floor and back again and seemed to come to a conclusion of sorts.

“If you wish to undertake in such vulgarity, I shan’t stop you,” he said. “But I will be watching.”

“Don't think too much into his words,” said Zen as he led her to the dance floor. “Don't tell him I said it, but he's mostly all bluster.”

Somewhat understandably, he had interpreted her quietness as offense at Mr Han’s comments. In truth, however, she examined the room for Effy and the Finchley girls, regretting her plan almost instantaneously. She had never seen Dr. Ingram before and there were so many nearly identical people in the room that she could not pick out one face or waistcoat from the next.

“You must know everyone in this room, Zen,” she said, the scheme coming together as if by magic.

“I do,” he said, proud in his knowledge, “why just over there is dowager Thornton. She has eighteen children and all of them are feline….The aromatic gentleman beside her is Mr Chalk: a man of fine breeding, but unfortunate biology.”

“Unfortunate...biology?”

“The man suffers from excessive flatulence. He has a shocking amount of money and a soft heart for the problems of fair maidens, but no one has ever been able to tolerate being in his company for longer than an hour at most.”

Areum tried to hold back her laughter, but found that she could not. To think that this was the wonderland the Finchley daughters dreamed about!

“And what about that gentleman over there?”

She had spotted Effy a little while beforehand, blushing in the presence of a man with sharp eyes and hair that lay on soft amber curls.

“Dr. Ingram,” said Zen. “Currently head over heels with Miss Euphemia, so if he’s your type, I should cut your losses now.”

“Not a problem,” she said. “Believe me.”

She wondered how events might have transpired if she had actually met Dr. Ingram, as opposed to only hearing about his jawline and strange way of speaking as she dressed Annette and her sisters. If she truly had been born the blood relative of Mr Han, might she have felt differently about the plot to unseat Effy?

It was too late for sentimentality, however, for she saw Effy pass the envelope to Dr. Ingram. She knew she had to intervene before he opened it and the current dance everyone was enjoying gave her an idea.

“Miss Effy!” Areum cried out, all but dragging Zen towards her and taking her by surprise. “I did not expect to find you here.”

Effy did not recognise her, but reached out to embrace her anyway.

“We met at the Wintersend dance,” said Areum, surprising even herself with how easily the lie came to her. “It was only for a moment, so I can't imagine you'll remember me. I'm Areum, here with my cousin Mr Han.”

She remembered dressing the Finchley daughters for the Wintersend dance and also their commentary for several days afterwards. Effy had most certainly been there and would not risk offense by admitting to the gap in her memory. As expected, her reaction was to feign familiarity.

“Miss Areum, it's so good to see you again!” She said. “I was just telling Dr. Ingram how much I was hoping to speak with you.”

Dr. Ingram was far too well mannered to express any sort of genuine confusion, just as Zen was too polite to acknowledge the lie. As it was, the men only pretended to understand both sets of falsehoods.

“Zen and I were just about to share a dance,” said Areum. “Would you care to join us?”

She was far from eager to join in the complicated display of outstretched arms and turns, but it was her best chance at getting close to Dr. Ingram while also avoiding his line of sight.

“I’d love that!” Effy squealed. “Oh, it shall be just like Wintersend all over again.”

As they approached the dance floor to wait their turn, Zen leaned across to whisper in her ear.

“What are you doing?”

Areum watched Dr. Ingram tuck Annette’s letter into the pocket of his jacket; a jacket meant for decoration far more than any sort of practical use, leaving the letter visible even after he reached for Effy’s arm.

“I'm fixing a mess,” she whispered to Zen. “I'll explain it to you later.”

After everyone had applauded the band, the next dance began. Areum’s initial steps were clumsy, taking one step towards Zen, then crashing into Dr. Ingram when she stepped backwards instead of swapping places with the person to her immediate left. She smiled widely, as if in bashful embarrassment and then readied herself for the second chorus. The next time around, she had a better idea of the footwork and slipped her hand towards Dr. Ingram’s pocket as she passed him, snatching the letter clean out of his pocket without him noticing.

Her terrible dancing had caught the attention of Zen’s admirers and they clamoured around the edges of the dance floor, waiting to ask him for the next dance. As everyone else turned to applaud the flutist, she slipped in amongst their ranks, leaving them to distract Zen and give her several minutes of solitude.

What a delight it was to be free again! Free to dart in between the strangers at the dance without a care who glanced in her direction. This was a dance that did not confuse her; dodging the drunk and the wealthy so nimbly that she was out of their sight before it occurred to them that she had crossed their paths at all.

She cast the letter into a fireplace and felt a strange sense of self satisfaction as she watched it burn. Effy would never know how close she had come to ruin. With a bit of luck she might-

Areum’s heart skipped a beat as someone placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned away from the fire and found herself looking into the expressionless features of Mr Han, who in all of the excitement, she found that she had forgotten.

“What brings you over here?” He asked and she glanced across at the charred remains of the letter. She wondered if she ought to tell him the truth about Effy, though decided against it. It seemed the sort of indelicate affair that would only further tarnish whatever terrible impression he already had of her.

“M...my hands were cold,” she said, feeling quite the fool for saying so, considering she wore gloves.

Mr Han considered her answer and for a moment she was certain that he had seen her untruth, though he did not comment on if he did. In the end he reached for her arm and led her back through the hall, all of the while complaining about Zen and his love for pretty faces and saying nothing of Areum’s taciturn silence, nor her backwards glances at the burning letter on the fireplace.