#and stickers for my friend that I want to gift to her for Christmas

[drysauce]

can't decide if the english classes made me more or less frustrated lol

[narutomaki]

when a girl asks you to get her the demon core for Christmas you deliver

[maddiethegoodwitch]

🎄 AN ARCANE CHRISTMAS ༄

— summary : basically just what arcane characters are like at christmas

— i missed writing so bad & my caitvi headcanons got a lot of likes and i was like yay!! and since it’s the first of december.. i feel like this was needed. so happy arcane christmas ! also this is an au where vi & caitlyn are together , everybody is alive & they’re all happy and healthy in their respective cities but are all friends due to connections 😝 never done something like this before so tell me if i should do more or quit forever

— mainly includes vi, caitlyn, jinx, ekko sevika, isha, jayce, mel & viktor

— by the way i read @rhiannonsknife ‘s rhiannon christmas headcanons earlier and i thought the layout was so beautiful so that’s what the design is inspired by !! none of the hcs tho from what i remember hahah these r all original (ur writing is so good pls never die)

— tags bc yay @thankynext @tortvredpoetsblog

secret santa!

some people (jinx) complained about getting presents for everybody, so caitlyn suggested they do a secret santa! vi wrote down everybody’s names and they all got folded into a hat, and they all picked one (except isha) bla bla bla u know how it goes . on christmas afternoon, everybody goes over to the kiramman house for christmas dinner , and before the dinner they agreed to exchange gifts. something had gone wrong as sevika ended up with two gifts and jayce with none.. “vi! you put sevika in twice?” - a very angry caitlyn. she wanted this to go perfectly:( “i’m sorry! i don’t think about jayce a lot!” - a stuttering vi trying for an excuse because she feels bad. jayce sulking because he doesn’t have a present but sevika can’t give him one of hers because one of them is arm attachments from jinx and the other is cute stickers for it from mel. isha being sad that she wasn’t included but everybody got her something little and cute so she cheers up. caitlyn pulling jinx’s name and using this to try and repair their relationship, absolutely spoiling jinx with gifts. she even earns a smile :( viktor getting ekko and worrying bc they aren’t that close but jayce helps him.. they all gave jayce their sprouts as an apology and made vi do 50 sit ups (caitlyn suggested it..)

decorating the tree!

christmas for caitlyn is her roman empire. she needs everything to be perfect and she’s not a beige christmas or a green christmas. she’s a white christmas. her tree is white and the baubles are red and silver. the first two christmases after the war, she never let anybody help, but this year she felt festive and like it was an activity they could all do together. however, as soon as isha got anywhere near the tree with her hands covered in chocolate after eating out of a melted advent calendar, caitlyn was done. she gave vi the stern look and vi had to distract isha while caitlyn “fixed” the tree , and instead they all did a silly one at jinx’s place :) nobody was mad at caitlyn because they know how much she loves christmas and she surprised them all with the house being completely lit up and decorated

sevika , jinx & isha

sevika was unsure about spending christmas with everybody , as she wasn’t close with any of them except jinx and isha . jinx was invited because of vi obviously & that included isha too . vi suggested sevika come if she wanted to, and though she’d never admit it, sevika didn’t want to spend christmas alone after the crazy year, so she agreed. isha was just excited for people to be getting her presents… and stuffing her face with caitlyns cooking. caitlyn was actually left to look after isha for a little while & she loved it, isha gets excited when she sees caitlyn now. “i wanted to be the cool aunt..” - a pouting vi watching caitlyn hold isha. jinx felt awkward because she got the “family invitation”, but after a chat with vi & everyone embracing her she was fine and actually loved feeling like part of a family again. sevika was awkward when she arrived on christmas morning but after one friendly chat with vi, she figured she could talk with anybody & she did!

christmas dinner!

the people in charge of cooking christmas dinner were jayce, caitlyn and mel. caitlyn cooked for her and vi every year, and since christmas was at their house, she was in charge by default. mel walked into the kitchen to chat with caitlyn and saw she was struggling, so she called jayce in to help because the both of them attended cooking classes together and were fairly talented at it.. it came out amazing and was gone in about ten minutes. we already know that vi is a messy eater, but after filling her plate and wolfing it down, there was gravy all round her mouth 😭 caitlyn made sure to make a special plate for isha that had things she would like (isha is a picky eater to me..) because vi told her about it. jayce almost burnt the chicken trying to impress mel with drink pouring… ekko , viktor & sevika hadn’t spent a lot of time with the rest of the group so they were cautious about showing their eating habits, but viktor ended up eating copious amounts of cauliflower, ekko eating like half of the yorkshire puddings & sevika eating about 5 whole pigs with the amount of pigs in blankets she ate

caitvi

they both agreed to not get the other anything big or special, but they both did. caitlyn helped vi get back on her feet (i hc vi works at a mechanics now :3) and vi wanted to repay her, probably getting her some jewellery with a cringey engravement on it and she goes red while cait is reading it but caitlyn loves it… 🤗 & caitlyn got vi some boots that they saw in a shop window and vi said “do you think i’d look hot in those” and caitlyn thought yes.

jinx & ekko

so they aren’t dating but they’re like. lowk flirting like hiiii.. and caitlyn picks up on it and tells vi and vi’s like. “nah there’s no way…” but then she trails off as jinx actually laughs at something ekko says.. jinx doesn’t believe she has a crush on ekko but they spend basically all night talking to eachother other than the small conversations with the others .. jinx introduces ekko to isha and isha asks if that’s jinx’s boyfriend and jinx laughs then ekko feels bad ): but jinx makes it up to him by showing him that she actually got him a present!! like some cool graffiti cans or something & ekko loves them

mistletoe

caitlyn ignored vi’s protesting to have no mistletoe and put it up ALL over the house and i mean everywhere.. she was constantly saying “ooooh is that mistletoe i see!” but vi found it cute so she dragged caitlyn under it and kissed her (jinx scoffed..). jinx and ekko ended up under there and after cait pointed it out, jinx snagged it off the roof, threw it on the floor and stepped on it. “what? i don’t want our first kiss to be infront of my sister and her stupid girlfriend.” “stupid girlfriend?” “first kiss? so there’ll be more?” “shut up.” jayce kept trying to get mel under there but she was dodging it , & jayce got frustrated .. “y’dont wanna kiss me or something?” “well..”

mall santa

jinx took isha into the christmas markets like a week before christmas and did not expect to see sevika dressed as santa. isha literally noticed it before jinx. she tugged on jinx’s arm and pointed at sevika until jinx realised and she was like holy shit.. isha still happily sat on santa’s knee, got a picture and a big hug too while jinx was stood there teasing her. “i think isha wants like.. a hextech hoverboard for christmas.. can ya do that, santa?” but after it sevika payed her a visit and threatened jinx if she told anybody.. she still ended up telling people after they ate dinner on christmas LMAO

BONUS

jinx to vi : “ so you like .. live here now? ya fuckin’ priss..”

viktor almost cried because jayce got him like a cover for his cane because viktor mentioned that it had been really hurting his hands recently but he couldn’t get a new one

whenever vi and caitlyn did anything slightly intimate jinx would say “there we go! kiss an enforcer, ruin christmas..”

for some reason vi treated christmas crackers like an olympics game and would use all her strength to pull it so she got the bigger half.. but she just wanted to tell the corny jokes

jayce was super awkward the whole night & started talking to sevika thinking she was scary but they actually had a nice conversation

mel and caitlyn christmas gossiping over champagne and then watching the christmas special of gavin and stacey because i SAID SO and they’re british

vi drinking straight vodka until caitlyn stopped her because isha made grabby hands at it thinking it was water

caitlyn and vi cringe matching pyjamas that say mrs claus and mrs claus.

[onyourfifi]

december 3rd | park jisung

❆ | pairing : crush!jisung x fem!reader

❆ | genre : fluff, shy jisung trying to give you his sweater

❆ | word count : 1027 (queue sticker by nct 127)

❆ | note : haechan and chenle are mentioned as friends

december was quickly approaching. you and your friends were hanging out at a cafe. the frost was creeping at the edges of the window and you could see soft snowflakes fall from the clouds.

"are you guys excited for december 3rd?" haechan asks, giggling.

"wait whats going on?" jisung asks.

"oh he's talking about that one song... how does it go..." you start but you get interrupted by haechan's singing.

"i still remember the third of december, me in your sweater~"

"okay okay we get it, you know the song" chenle says, rolling his eyes.

you all laugh and continue to talk about something else, but jisung stays a little quieter than usual.

▬▬▬

December 3

December 3 is national give your gf/bf/partner one of your sweaters day :)

▬▬▬

jisung has had a crush on you ever since you met. haechan introduced you guys for the first time and he fell for you so hard. you were friendly and energetic all the time. jisung, on the other hand, was a lot more quiet than you. he had a hard time talking to you. he never thought you had the same feelings for him.

all of his friends could notice his huge crush on you. they always teased him about it when you weren't there. when you two were together, they would always try to push jisung towards you or hint at the idea. you never seemed to catch on.

"our baby jisungie gets so shy~" chenle teases.

"jisung you gotta tell her dude. i can't keep seeing you freeze up and panic every time you talk to her” haechan pleads.

"i can't do it, she’s nothing like me. how am i supposed to confess to her. you said it yourself, i can barely talk to her" jisung explains. he truly thinks he has no chance with you.

"don't say that. i'm sure you'll find the right moment, you just gotta be patient" chenle says.

december 3rd was that moment. he knew it.

that's what i should do, ill give her one of my sweaters, jisung thought. but how is he supposed pull that off. he can barely talk to you without blushing let alone give you his hoodie. he was gonna find a way. he was gonna make you his some way or another.

your friends meet up on the 3rd at a christmas market. you guys planned to walk around a bit and buy some gifts for your families. jisung had plans of his own.

"jisung, why do you have such a big bag, what do you have in there-?" chenle asks.

"o-oh it’s nothing, don't worry about it"

"imagine it's a sweater" haechan teases.

"what? how did you- i mean, i don't know what you're talking about"

haechan and chenle locked eyes. they knew exactly what he was talking about.

"heyyy jisung why don't you go see what y/n is up to" haechan pushes jisung towards you subtly.

"wait what no, what are you guys doing-"

as you were looking at the handmade ornaments, you felt a soft bump on your back. you look back to see panicked jisung and haechan and chenle running away laughing.

"oh hi jisung! there you are, i was just thinking about you."

"oh me...?"

"of course you, here wait, look at this pretty ornament, should i get this for my mom?"

"actually i wanted to talk to you about something, can we walk for a bit?"

"yeah of course!"

you start walking down the park. it’s snowing again. you looks over at jisung, his cheeks were flushed with a light shade of pink and small snowflakes were scattered across his hair. you could see him trembling, but you assumed it was because of the cold.

"so… it’s december 3rd," jisung was so nervous. his hands were trembling and his voice was shakey. i can’t believe i’m doing this.

"yeah it is! christmas is upon us!”

"yup." what kind of response was that?? c’mon park jisung, keep it together.

you could feel the tension in the air. he never comes and talks to you alone. he had something planned, didn't he?

you stop walking and turn towards him. you look up. he was avoiding eye contact. he couldn’t say anything. he could only stand there.

"so, what did you want to tell me"

"oh uh well, y'know how it's december 3rd and uhm, i searched about the date online and saw you had to give your sweater to your partner and well uhm..."

"sungie... are you about to give me a sweater?"

"how could you tell...?" jisung has never felt so warm in the winter air.

"well, you've been a lot more shy around me lately, the avoiding eye contact, your quiet voice, and how could i not notice all the teasing from haechan and chenle" you laugh. jisung tried to cover his face in embarrassment, but you pulled them away. "you're so cute jisung, how could i not like you"

jisung finally made eye contact with you. he couldn't believe what he heard. you loved him too, just like he loved you. he couldn't help but stare and smile.

"sungie, the sweater," you giggle.

"oh right, sorry"

he pulls out a soft black hoodie. you recognized it. it was his favourite sweater.

"it took me so long to pick a sweater for you. i didn't know what you liked"

"if it's from you, then it's perfect."

you take off your jacket and immediately pull the hoodie over your head to put it on. the hoodie dropped down past your waist and the sleeves hung past your hands. it smelled like him, his love.

"you look so pretty..." jisung says without any hesitation.

you laugh, "thank you jisung"

jisung pulls you into a hug, his hands wrapped around your waist. you can feel all his love for you that has been kept inside him drain from his body into yours. he pulls away from you a little and presses his forehead on yours.

"no, thank you."

in the back, you can hear faint cheering from chenle and haechan.

"wah our jisungie is no longer a baby~!"

"oh shut up!"

a/n : first longer fic!! didnt think i would be able to do it but here i am lolz. also, im totally not wishing i get a sweater :D (someone give me one plz).

[eternal-love]

AUSTIN AND ME

“For the last time.”

“Wife to the ‘king’. Icon to the world. Destined for more.”

Summary: At 18 years old, she fell in love with Austin, at 20 years old, she became his wife, by 22, she was his doll. In which Cynthia’s life changed drastically after falling head over heels with a man that promised her the moon and the stars. She takes us down the memory lane of what could’ve been— the perfect marriage.

Inspired by the book: Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley.

I do not condemn any of the portrayals I decide to do about certain people, it’s just fanfiction. And it would be divided in parts.

English isn’t my first language so I’m trying my best!

This one is for my girl @lovemyselfyay hope u like it girl!

The months following my birthday were hectic, with my advanced pregnancy, I was alone once again on my last trimester as Austin was away filming two movies, Dune Part Two and The Bikeriders. I found myself alone but I wasn’t lonely, because I had Lori with me.

Our lives has changed since ELVIS came out, he was an actor on the rise, finally getting the fruits of what he had been working on for a decade. I was an actress but he was more popular than me. I hadn’t worked since 2019, three years. And with a baby, I doubted I would go back any sooner.

By the time he was back home, it was November. And I didn’t expect to go into labor— at home.

I had never been so scared before. We had talked about possibilities of me having a birth at home but I was terribly scared. Even though I had a midwife, a doctor and Austin. It wasn’t an easy birth. I called the midwife a bitch, I think I even gave her another check with the subject ‘sorry for cursing at you, miss’

And after hours of labor, the baby was finally born. I was scared, emotional, in pain, sweaty, and the first thing they did was hand my child to Austin. I glared at the doctor.

“It’s a boy! Look, baby, a boy. Oh, and he has my face!” Austin was enthusiastic, maybe even more than he was when Lori was born.

Once I saw my boy, I held him close to me, the bundle in the blanket, oh, yes, he looked exactly like Austin. Nine months carrying him just so that he ends up looking like his idiot of a father.

But I loved my boy, his light blond hair, his blue eyes. His father’s copy. The same beautiful nose. I chuckled as I held him close. I felt happy.

I received a ton of congratulations from good friends, as well as many visits by Austin’s celebrity friends. I wasn’t in the mood to receive that many people but I tried to tell myself that they did it with their best intentions at heart.

Lori was a bit jealous, she had been crying nonstop at nights, Austin had to hold her and tell her:

“Mommy isn’t replacing you, she’s just taking care of your little brother. Don’t you love him?”

And she would cry louder, she still thought we would forget about her. So every morning, I tried to be the one waking her up. Even though I was sleepless thanks to Sean. I would color with her instead of sleeping once Julian was asleep, or take time to try and bake with her.

Christmas was a few weeks away and we were going to spend it at his grandparents home. They wanted to see Lori and Sean. Wanted to make them experience the Christmas Austin experiences as a kid.

So, we went Christmas shopping. I was one month postpartum but I felt hay I had to look god to be by his side. Because he looked amazing, so I went all out. And Thank God I did. Because some people took photos of us.

But I was more focused on getting everything on Lori’s letter than my facial expressions.

“I swear to God. I have never seen so much pink in my car.” Austin complained as he placed some bags on the backseat. The back of his seat was filled with stickers, Lori’s work. “And they don’t come off.”

“You can thank Lori for that.” I said as I sipped my drink. Getting into the passenger seat.

“You’ll wrap all the gifts, right?” He asked me once he got inside the car. I glared at him. I was taking care of a newborn and a four year old. “Got it. So princess wrapping, right?”

I chuckled and nodded. I was happy that this time I wouldn’t have to cook, or do much.

“We shouldn’t spoil her so much.” Austin said as he drove. “I mean, we got her too many presents this year.”

I didn’t answer, as a child, I was used to getting so many presents. My entire living room would be filled to the brim with presents for my sisters and I.

“Not sure in the right person you want to tell that.” I said, looking out the window. He scoffed.

I had my hair done up all 60’s beauty queen style, I had made the effort and as always, he started sticking his fingers onto my teased hair.

“Stop it.” I tried to slap his hand. Laughing.

“Stop it.” He mimicked my voice as he kept sticking his fingers into my bouffant.

The car then stayed silent after he stop, at a red light, he spoke.

“Callum called me to congratulate me. He said that— he was happy for us. He’ll make sure to make time to visit.” Austin said awkwardly, gripping the steering wheel.

Your friend and wife’s side lad con you on the birth of your child wasn’t something any man wanted.

“Really? He could’ve texted me.” I said, but I regretted immediately.

Yes, tell your husband that you wished your ex-lover would have texted you! Great thinking, Cynthia!

“So, does your grandma like Cinnamon Rolls?” I tried to change the topic to my baking.

“She does. She does.” He nodded, his face now serious.

“It’s over between Callum and I. You don’t have to worry anymore.” I said, looking down on my lap.

“That’s good.” He nodded, his hand rubbing his chin and then clenching his jaw.

Then everything went quiet, only the music he had on played in the background. I was now regretting saying anything at all. Again, someone should’ve slapped my mouth as a child.

The Christmas Day I was all day running around like a chicken without its head. Getting the things ready, my desserts, the kids. I had to bathe the kids, had to dress Lori, dress Sean.

In the end, I did myself. I kept my bouffant, did my makeup, keeping it light. I couldn’t go all out, it was in his grandparents house. And I wore a pink plaid dress, white flats. He wore his usual clothes, a white tshirt, a leather jacket, straight denim jeans and his black cowboy boots.

Once we arrived, he took charge of getting everything inside while I took the kids inside. Lori was so excited while Sean was asleep in my arms.

“Oh, my dearest loves!” Austin’s grandma opened the door, Lori rushing towards her and pulling her in for a hug. “I missed you too, sweetheart. I want to see your brother too!”

The white-haired woman looked at the bundle in my arms. The tiny boy in the blanket moving his head a little, his mouth open.

“Look at you, you’re shining!” Grandma said, making space for us to come in.

We settled down and his grandpa came to greet us, he had been busy with the turkey and the rest of dinner.

They were very loving towards the kids, never I can I complain about them. They did what they could and they loved my kids to the bone.

After helping us unwind, I sat on the old couch, smiling down at Sean.

“You look stunning, dear. Are you sure you just had the baby?” Grandma asked me, smiling at my boy.

“I’ve been holding up lately. Austin got me a cook and a maid.” I smiled.

I had to admit, Austin stepped up this pregnancy because he knew he would be away filming.

“You did good, sweetie.” Grandma patted his leg, Austin smiled with his lips closwd.

“But seriously, Cynthia, you look stunning.” Grandpa complimented me, the old man pushing his glasses up his nose bridge, as Lori sat on his lap.

“Thank you.” I smiled at the man. I enjoyed getting compliments, even more now that I just given birth, my hormones made me believe I was the ugliest girl alive.

“He looks just like Austin. I remember when we first saw him. He was this tiny red thing, he looked like a shrimp!” Grandma joked, laughing.

“I’ve seen pictures. He was so red!” I laughed. For whatever Austin’s faults were, he was a cute kid once.

“I was flushed, alright? Enough laughing.” Austin pouted. He took Sean from my arms, Sean looked very small on his hands.

We were staying the night of Christmas Eve, so after I was finally able to tuck Lori in bed after promising that if she fell asleep, Santa would come to put her presents under the tree. Lori had her own room at Austin’s grandparents house, since she was the only great-grandchild that ever stayed here.

Austin and I had our Sean into his portable crib, as we were in his childhood bedroom, in bed, he was all over me, his lips on mine as his tongue made his way into my mouth.

“So sweet…” he muttered on my lips.

The last thing I wanted was to have sex, but could I ever say no to Austin’s lip? No, I couldn’t refuse him.

“So pretty and all for me now…” He muttered again, chuckling and his thumb caressed by stomach.

I had been self conscious lately. I was trying to get rid of the baby weight, but Austin seemed to like it. He never commented on it. I remembered the time I was pregnant with Lori, starving myself because I thought he would want me always small and lean. He didn’t.

I couldn’t believe we could be fighting minutes before and now we were making out. I hated him but I loved him. I didn’t know what to think. I just hated how many times he had hurt me but I couldn’t stop loving him. Even after I had screwed around another man, no one could compare.

At about 12 AM, we went to the car to take our all the presents and put them under the tree. Austin ate the cookies and poured the milk down the sink.

“Look at this. We’re spoiling her too much.” He whispered as he walked backwards, looking at the present-filled living room. Yes, Lori was definitely the daughter of celebrities.

“She’s been good. And she deserves it. So she doesn’t think we’re forgetting about her and replacing her.” I said, crossing my arms. I yawned.

“Let’s go to sleep. I just know she’ll wake up at seven am.” Austin said, his hand on my lower back as he guided me to the bedroom.

We laid together at bed, I couldn’t sleep without Sean by my side. So I placed him between us. The tiny boy cuddled with me, Austin hugged Sean’s little body.

I was falling asleep after him, he looked so beautiful, they did. A part of me felt guilty for ever thinking of leaving him.

I was being selfish towards myself. That man had hurt me many times. But I couldn’t help loving him.

The next morning, Lori came to wake us up at eight am. Excitedly she pulled my feet and I woke up startled, Austin too, she even pulled Sean’s tiny feet, poor baby, he started crying after she scared him up.

“What is it, baby? Huh?” Austin asked her as he picked her up.

“Presents! Santa!” Lori smiled, nuzzling her face into Austin’s neck.

Once she saw the living room, she yelled excitedly, I watched as she opened her presents one by one, I held Sean on my chest, I couldn’t wait until he was old enough to enjoy Christmas too.

“I got you this.” Austin told me, he held a small box and opened it in front of me. A beautiful ring.

“Austin, you didn’t have to-“ I said, I was very excited. A new ring, from him! I didn’t know how to feel but my heart softened, I appreciated the thought so much. Very much.

“I has our anniversary date carved on the inside. So you have me with you anytime. Like you already do with the locket.” He caressed my cheek with his thumb before kissing my lips softly.

Afterwards I sat down to see Lori putting together some of her toys while I was playing with my new ring, just watching Lori made me smile. She was the reason I stayed with Austin, she was the reason I had out up with so much. She was the reason I was still trying to make things work with Austin.

And I thought. I really thought that things were starting to work out once more. Specially once we had breakfast all together.

After the breakfast, I was in the bedroom, tidying everything up. Until Austin’s phone vibrated a shit ton of times. I didn’t mean to be nosy but I was just curious so I grabbed it. Text messages from Kaia Gerber.

‘Merry Christmas baby💋’

‘I hope we can see each other so I can give you my present ;)’

‘I’m sure Cynthia wasn’t able to give you one anyways.’

I thought I could trust him once more. But I had forgotten how secretive and how low key he could be. I thought they were just mutual friends. I had been pregnant with his second child this whole time.

This was the last time I was trusting him.

Motherfucker.

[boldlyvoid]

Home Alone...

Aaron Hotchner x Male Reader (he/him pronouns) | CM/911 crossover

Summary: it's Aaron's first Christmas with Jack away at college.

Warnings: May Grant/Jack Hotchner, Aaron misses his son, first angst with a happy ending, reader loves him so much he'll do anything for Aaron, food mentions

Word Count: 2.9k

Jack called him on the 18th, his plans for Christmas had changed. 

Originally, he was going to get on a plane on the 22nd and make his way from LA to DC where his dad would pick him up. They’d spend his break together and he’d head back to school on January 2nd. He was worried about his final projects, being away from his new girlfriend for so long (under 2 weeks) and he was worried that it would snow and he wouldn’t get back in time for class on the 5th. 

All this anxiety caught up to him and ultimately, he cancelled his flight. 

“Bobby and Athena said you can come to California and have Christmas here? They have lots of food, they feed a literal army every year,” Jack explained, trying to make him feel better. 

“That’s okay,” Aaron assures, smiling at him through the FaceTime camera. “All that matters is you feel okay, I’m sorry you felt so stressed out.” 

“I just hate leaving you alone this year,” Jack worries.

“Hey, I’m not really alone, Y/N will be here,” he reminds him. “We’ll be fine… but tomorrow I’ll send your gifts out, I’ll expedite them so you get them in time.” 

“Even if I don’t, I’m still thankful,” Jack smiles right back. “Thank you for understanding.” 

“Your first Christmas with your first real girlfriend is a big deal… I remember how pissed my mom was when I was with your mom for the first year and we just lived down the road. I’d never want you to think I’m mad at you for doing what you want to do.” 

Jack smiles, “thank you for being so cool.” 

“thank you for being even cooler,” Aaron teases him. “What did you get May for Christmas?” 

“A new laptop bag and some perfume,” he shares. “I think she’ll like it, she’s been obsessed with that blueberry milk trend, it’s like a muted baby blue colour and her current cover is clear with stickers on it… and then I got her that daisy perfume just cause it’s a cute bottle and it does smell like something she’d wear already.” 

“That sounds really thoughtful,” Aaron swoons. His little boy was growing up way too fast, but at least he was a gentleman. 

“And I got her mom a necklace, I’ve noticed she wears a lot of jewelry when she’s not on the job so I thought it would be nice,” he explains with a little proud smile. 

“That’s so sweet of you,” Aaron cheers him on. “And for Bobby?” 

“That’s harder to do… he’s a chef but he has everything he’d ever need and he doesn’t drink so a lot of dad gifts aren’t up his alley so I’m still trying to figure it out,” Jack slumps in his seat. Defeated a bit. “And when you google gifts for firefighters everything is alcohol-related too, or like an engraved axe that he doesn’t need.” 

“He seems very practical from the way you’ve explained him to me… maybe get him something for the house like a good flashlight for the earthquake kit or a new first aid kit for his car?” Aaron suggests. 

He nods, “Yeah… he was saying it’s almost time to renew the earthquake kit and make sure it’s all stocked up.” 

“You can go to any store that sells camping goods and get dehydrated meals which last a while and batteries are always a good thing to have lots of,” Aaron explains. “He’ll love it. He’ll know you care about his family as much as he does and it could bond you two a bit better.” 

He nods along, “Thanks, dad. May can’t wait to meet you too, you know?” 

“Yeah?” He smiles. 

“Her moms heard of you, you’ve helped her detective friends with cases but she’s a sergeant so she hasn’t had the chance to meet you either, but they think you’re cool.” 

“I’ll try and get out there soon,” he assures. “I miss you a lot, buddy.” 

“I miss you too, Dad,” Jack solemnly smiles. “Seriously though, you could come out here… We can get you somewhere to stay, you can come to Christmas at Mays and I can show you some of my favourite places?” 

“I’ll talk to Y/N and see what we can do,” Aaron smiles, knowing it probably won’t happen. 

—

When Y/N gets home from work, he comes right over to Aaron's house instead of going to his own apartment. They’ve been doing this for a while now, he honestly might as well move in at this point. So much of his stuff is at Aaron’s, they’re happy this way, and this is their 3rd Christmas together so it’s really about time they make the jump to something more. 

He puts his things down, kicks off his shoes and makes his way to Aaron on the couch. “Hello, handsome,” he leans in for a kiss. “How was your day?” 

He shrugs, “Not that bad… but Jack isn’t coming home for Christmas anymore.” 

“Oh no,” his heart breaks for him. “Baby, I’m sorry, what happened?” 

“He’s just so anxious about the snow we're expected to get when he has to go back and if his flight gets delayed then he won’t make his class in time and you know him,” he explains. Jack is just as time-sensitive as his dad. 

He pulls Aaron in for a hug, holding him close, “It’ll be okay, we’ll get to see him soon. We’ll find a way to make it good here with just us.” 

He nods, “I know… it’s just weird.”

“He’s your baby,” Y/N sympathizes. “I’m so sorry… did you want to go out there this year?” 

He shakes his head, “I don’t want to intrude.” 

“Did they invite you?” 

He nods, “Yes, but—

“Come on, we can go?” He encourages. “It’ll be fun. We can get a nice hotel or an Airbnb and after Christmas, we could go to the beach and have like a real vacation for once.” 

Aaron sits back and sighs, “Maybe.” 

“What is it?” He pries. 

He shrugs, “I don’t think I want to meet her family yet. I’m not sure I’m ready for all that. I liked it more when he wasn’t dating and I didn’t have to think about him getting married one day and moving away and being in California all the time.” 

“You don’t have to stay here,” Y/N reminds him. “You can leave whenever you want, you’re retired and you have the money to relocate, you can go wherever he goes.” 

“But I want you with me,” he whispers, pulling him in closer. 

Y/N straddles his hips and cups his cheeks, “yeah?” 

He nods, “I don’t want to go anywhere without you, my love.” 

He swoons, “I can come. I can put in for a transfer and we can go to LA or Orange County or something-- hell, we could go to San Fransisco and it would still be so close to him.”

“I love you,” Aaron smiles. “I love you so much.” 

“I love you too… and I was thinking, since we’re on this topic—

“You can move in,” Aaron knows what’s coming. “I never want you to leave. We can put all your things up here, you can make this place yours and you can put your work stuff in my office since I don’t even use it anymore.” 

He smiles. “I’m going to start packing soon… but right now I have some cheering up to give you.” 

—

The tree lights are on, and they have matching drinks of half coffee half hot chocolate and store-bought cookies… his lover is cuddled into his side while they watch a random Christmas show on Netflix. He’s happy, but he’s sad at the same time. 

“you okay?” Y/N asks. 

He nods, leaning in to share a quick kiss. He smiles against his lips, “Thank you.” 

“You miss him?” 

Aaron nods, “I do… it’s been 3 months. I haven’t been away from him this long since he was in WITSEC.” 

“I know baby,” he rubs Aaron’s arm with a slight pout, feeding off his unhappiness. “We’ll see him soon. We can go out there and visit at any time.” 

“I know…” he leans back against the couch and sighs. “I’m sorry, I’m ruining Christmas.” 

“No, you’re not,” he assures Aaron. “Here,” he reaches out for his phone and googles something. He spends a couple minutes tapping around and then shows Aaron his phone. “We leave at 2am, we can sleep on the plane. Come on, let’s go pack.” 

“What?” Aaron can’t believe it. 

“I’ll explain in the bedroom,” he instructs, hauling him off the couch. “We have bags to pack and then we need to head to the airport. I should have an Uber come here…” 

“How did you—

“You’re not the only one with connections, hot stuff,” he teases.

Aaron pulls him in for a kiss, holding him close to his chest, he breathes him in deeply. When they pull back there’s an audible smooch sound and they break into matching smiles. “I love you.” 

“I love you,” he reminds Aaron. “Now come on, let’s get you to your boy.” 

—

The flight isn’t too long, it’s pretty packed but they had decent seats. There weren’t any crying babies or complaining older women, so they managed to sleep pretty easily. The landing was… not as smooth as Aaron was used to when he was at work but, they got there in one piece. 

He has Athena's phone number in case of emergencies, like if another earthquake hit LA and he couldn’t get ahold of Jack… He’s not sure if she wants casual calls, but he takes the risk while waiting for their rental car to be brought around to the front, he dials her number and he waits. 

“Hello?” 

“Hi, this is Aaron Hotchner, Jacks dad…” 

“Oh, hello, what a pleasure to finally talk to you, how are you?” She asks, kind as ever with the sweetest slightly southern accent. 

“I’m good, uh, me and my partner are here in LA we—

“You decided to come!” She cheers. “Do you have a place to stay?” 

“We do, we got a hotel last minute,” he can’t help but smile. “I just wanted to make sure we were still invited to Christmas?” 

“Absolutely! I can text you the address and you can come over as soon as you’d like. We’re having a little bit of everything for lunch soon and then dinner is at 6,” she explains. “Does he know you’re here?” 

“No, we’re going to surprise him.” 

“He’s still in bed— he’s in my son's old room, don’t worry. But I’ll keep this a secret for you,” she assures. “This is going to be such a wonderful surprise.” 

“And you’re sure it's—

“No intrusion at all, agent,” she teases him. “It’ll be lovely to have you.”

He manages to laugh, “I can’t wait to meet you, thank you again for the invite.” 

“You’re welcome here anytime,” Athena assures him. “See you soon.” 

“Bye,” he smiles as he hangs up and waits for a text with the address. “Thank you,” he looks to his boyfriend. 

He smiles and wraps his arm around Aaron, “Anytime my love.” 

—

It doesn’t take them long to get their things set up at the hotel and then head over to the Grant-Nash household— but not before getting something to bring to the party. 

Aaron knows from Jack that Bobby, May’s step-dad, is a recovering alcoholic and that while he’s not tempted to drink when his wife has wine… Aaron just rather not bring that into the house. So, they opt for a dish. They stroll around a Whole Foods for a while, thinking of what could be the perfect thing when they stumble across cheese and tomatoes in the shape of a candy cane with balsamic glaze on top and a loaf of fresh bread. It’s perfect. 

They grab some sparkling cider and a bouquet of flowers for Athena and then they’re on their way officially. He’s a little nervous, his leg bounces while Y/N drives and he reaches over to place one hand on said bouncing leg. He rubs him with his thumb and gives him a quick smile before returning his attention to the road. It’ll be okay, Aaron knows that. 

This is just such a big step in a person's life. Not only is Jack's girlfriend meeting his family, but both families are going to be in one room at the same time. They’re all meeting. This can make or break a couple… and he hopes to every force or earth that it just makes them stronger because Jack is so, so happy.  

When they arrive, they have to park on the road as there are so many cars already in their driveway, they really weren’t kidding about it being a big party. 

He holds the flowers and drink, Y/N has the dish they bought and they walk up the long driveway to the most beautiful little bungalow in all of California. He knocks 3 times with a bit of hesitation and it takes all of 20 seconds for someone to answer. 

And to their surprise, that person who opens the door is May. 

“Oh my god?” She bounces with excitement. “You made it?!”

“Hi,” Aaron smiles, instantly all the anxiety leaves his body with how happy she is to see him and his partner. “It’s lovely to finally meet you, May.” 

“come in,” she steps out of the way and lets them walk right in. “Let me take that, you can take your shoes off if you want but we don’t really care. The party is just down the stairs here.” 

“Who was it?” Another woman asks while walking around the corner. “Oh, Aaron, hi,” she lights right up as she climbs the stairs to meet them. 

“Athena?” He confirms before going in for a hug and she smiles. 

“The one and only,” she teases as she wraps him up. “It’s so good to see you, Jack was worried about you having a Christmas alone.” 

“It was his idea,” he says as they part, pointing to his partner, “this is my partner, Y/N.” 

“Jack has told us all about you,” Athena assures as she goes to give him a half hug and then she takes the dish he was carrying. “Come on down and meet everyone, Jack's out in the garden with Bobby making the turkey.”

“He said he’s never seen someone deep fry one before and he’s intrigued,” May teases. “Actually, hold on, stay here,” she insists. 

She heads over to the back door and leans against the post, “Hey Jack? Can you come here for a second?” 

Athena puts the dish down on the table and rushes to the door, “Bobby, you too. Leave the turkey with Hen, she can handle it for a moment.” 

They come into the room with the same expression, confused as to why they’ve been called in and then Jack sees him. 

“Dad?!” His jaw drops and his eyes grow 10 times the size they were before and within seconds he’s rushing to his dad and wrapping him up in the biggest hug. 

Aaron holds him so close, he hasn’t seen him since August and that felt like 6 years ago. This one hug makes up for all the time passed, he kisses him on the temple, unable to believe how much taller he’s gotten. Before, this same kiss would’ve been to the top of his head… he pulls back and cups his face in his hands, “When the heck did you grow up on me?” 

“I ask myself the same thing every day,” Bobby teases, stepping forward to shake his hand next. 

Jack gives Y/N the same big hug as he gave his dad, it’s cute how much they love each other too. Aaron shakes Bobby's hand, it’s big and rough and he can sure tell he’s been a firefighter for years… and he’s handsome. Really handsome. 

“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” Aaron manages to say. “Jack talks about you and Athena all the time, I’m so grateful for you taking him in while he’s been out here.” 

“He’s been a joy to have around,” Athena assures. “With my son in Florida with his dad, it’s so nice to have another boy in the house.” 

“I was making too much food for just the 3 of us, I wasn’t used to it,” Bobby teases. “He’s helped a lot.” 

“And I love taking home leftovers,” Jack teases, still holding onto Y/N around his middle. “This is such an amazing surprise dad, when did you decide to come?” 

“Last night,” he admits. 

“He was so sad,” Y/N shares. “I hated knowing how much he missed you so I impulse bought two red-eye tickets.” 

“Well, we’re glad you could come,” Athena assures. “I’m sure you’re hungry, come eat, we’ve got enough for everyone.” 

“Come on Dad, you’ve gotta try Bobby’s Caesar salad dressing,” Jack all but drags him to the table with the biggest smile he’s ever seen on this kid. 

Seeing him this happy is all he wanted for Christmas, and boy, does he hope that this happiness— this new family he’s found, lasts forever. He deserves nothing but the best, and this group he’s been brought into, they’re just that. 

General Taglist 

@ncsls0515 @stevesmunsons @reidsbookclub @sweetyyhippyy @manuosorioh @mrs-dr-reid @k-k0129 @squishyturtle @katsukis1wife @buckleyhans @mrs-ssa-hotch @ssavanessa22

[sibillascribbles08]

Mornin Jasonnie squad ! This one is for @mossscribble ! He asked for Jason and Donnie's first christmas together for our holiday exchange, so here's these nerds.

“Do you celebrate Christmas?”

“I mean, not a lot? When I still lived with my mom we usually did something but nothing all out. And now that it’s just me and my dad it’s even more lowkey. We’ll get each other like, a small gift, but most gift things happen for new years and birthdays. What about you guys?”

“Not that different, in fact. Father always used to get us things when we were little, mostly because we saw it happening on movies and Mikey was dead set that Santa was real and then he got really into Christmas cookies. I think we make more food than we give gifts at this point. We all get something for April though, since she celebrates. She can’t visit the day of, since she’s with her parents, so we meet up on the twenty-sixth.”

“What about Comet?”

“Oh, they are very excited for more presents.”

“Did… you want to do something with me? Is that why you’re asking?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure if you’d be busy so…”

“On Christmas Day? Maybe. But we could do something on Christmas Eve.” 

They had that conversation over a month ago. Now Jason sat in his living room by himself, waiting for Donnie to arrive. 

His father evidently didn’t do much to decorate, as Jason learned last year, but the little rainbow christmas tree in the living room was always a nice touch. The man even decorated it with little photos of his friends and partners. 

And that was fine, because Jason wasn’t crazy about the holiday for a number of reasons. Overblown, overhyped, and he had zero attachments to the religious connotations, or what little remained of them. 

Still, celebrating with Donnie would be fun. First time they would be since they started dating. Donnie said he’d bring over dinner, they could swap presents, and then wander around the city looking at lights among other things. 

And Jason’s father planned to be at a Christmas party all night so…

It’d be nice.

But right now he was bored, and hungry, seriously it was almost seven. Where the heck was Donnie?

Finally, the doorbell rang.

Jason groaned, in a mixture of frustration and relief, and got off the sofa. He hoped it was Donnie and not some last minute package delivery. Surely he and his father weren’t waiting on anything. 

Jason opened the door, more than glad to see his boyfriend standing there, grinning at him. He wanted to take a second to admire the turtle’s makeup, and the amount of gem stickers lining his eyes, but his gaze couldn’t help but move down.

“Donnie?” Jason said.

“Yes?”

“Why do you have two buckets of KFC?”

Evidently that wasn’t even all given the brown bag also tucked under Donnie’s arm, but the buckets were impossible to miss with that bright red. 

“Christmas tradition, obviously.” Donnie straightened up and walked inside.

Jason let him, closed the door, and then followed. “Tradition? For who?”

“From Japan, actually.” The softshell went to the kitchen to deposit the food on the table. “That’s what Papá always said, and then I actually researched it when I got older.”

Jason squinted, having a lot of trouble believing that, but it couldn’t hurt to look it up himself. He rapidly tapped through the letters on his phone and stared at the browser window as everything loaded in. Huh, that was a lot of results. He combed through a few of the pages, which more or less confirmed what Donnie said.

“That’s almost wild to think about.” Jason muttered.

“Well, what do you eat for the holidays?”

“Honestly, Dad and I just hit up a local Chinese place.” 

“Oh that would be good.” Donnie tapped his chin and then shook his head. “Too bad, we have two buckets of fried chicken to eat now. Plus sides.” He pointed at the bag.

“Two buckets?” Jason almost shouted. “Donnie, how much do you think I eat?”

“More a question of how much you need to eat.”

“If I try to eat that much chicken, I’m going to puke.”

Donnie grinned and grabbed Jason’s face. “It’s the holidays, we’re going to try anyway. Now one thing I did not buy is drinks, so what do you have?”

The pair of them picked out a few cans of soda and then took everything to the living room along with a bundle of napkins. Jason cleared off part of the coffee table so they had space to eat, then flipped on The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. 

“This isn’t even a Christmas movie.” Donnie mumbled as he curled up on the sofa.

“It has Santa in it, it counts.”

Jason grabbed some food, knowing he at least needed to try and put a dent in it before Donnie complained. But only a few minutes in, he swiftly realized he’d never seen the softshell eat fried chicken before. 

The terrifying snap is what drew his attention in the first place. Donnie held nothing more than that nub end of a drumstick in his hand as his teeth crunched through the rest of it, gaze fixed on the television. Then he tossed the last bite into his mouth before grabbing another. 

Jason squinted. “Donnie, what the fuck?”

He glanced over, brow raised. “What?”

“Are you eating the bones?”

“Waste not.” The turtle stuck his nose in the air. “My brothers and I are more than capable of chewing through bone, though Leo despises the sensation of it. Besides, it makes eating this stuff much faster.” He held up the thigh with both hands and bit into it with his incredibly sharp teeth. 

Jason very briefly had the passing thought of, “God I wish that were me,” before he shook his head and tried to focus on eating. 

He only made it through four pieces—plus sides—before he had to quit. One more bite would probably have him puking. He didn’t dare touch another sip of soda either for a few minutes. 

Donnie tried to insist he eat more, so Jase glared at him until he shut up. 

When the movie ended—and Jason’s stomach didn’t feel like it’d implode if he rolled in the wrong direction—they cleaned up any trash and left the leftovers in the fridge for Donnie to take home later. 

“So, do we wanna do gifts before or after we go walking around?” 

“Before.” Donnie grinned and tapped at the gauntlet on his arm. “I can’t wait for you to see this one.”

Jason refrained from rolling his eyes. He thought about the custom keyboard that sat in his room and worried about what his boyfriend decided to pull this time. “Did you even bring it with you?”

“No, it would have been a hassle to carry.” The turtle waved a hand. “Shelldon will deliver it momentarily.”

A hassle to carry? Just how big was it? Jason really hoped it wasn’t some kind of vehicle because he did not have a license nor did he plan to get one anytime soon. The tank driving lessons were only done in case of emergencies. 

Well, if they were waiting on Shelldon, Jason might as well go get what he made for Donnie. He signaled for his boyfriend to wait downstairs and then headed up to his room. He’d kept the box wrapped and under his bed for the past week. Not really christmas paper—he and his father never wrapped presents—but a bunch of rainbow dots were festive enough. 

Just as he walked down the steps, the doorbell rang. Donnie hopped a couple of times before rushing over to answer it.

Thankfully Shelldon hovered on the other side, a rather tall box just below him. The droid smiled at Donnie and then flew inside, twirling around Jase a couple of times.

“Heya, Jase.” The droid stopped in front of him. “Happy holidays.” 

“You too.” He reached up to scratch under one of Shelldon’s ears. “Donnie got you something nice, I hope.”

Shelldon rolled his eyes. “Nah, he insists I don’t need presents.”

“You don’t.” Donnie barked. 

“Give me my flamethrower back.”

“No!”

Jase chuckled and put the gift on the floor so he could hold Shelldon in both hands. “Aw, come on Donnie, look at his face. How could you leave your son presentless?” 

“Yeah!” Shelldon said.

“Besides, you could at least give him a fresh polish. Or maybe a new game.”

Donnie kept working on getting the box inside the house. Evidently it wasn’t that heavy to the softshell, but the shape made it a bit awkward. “He can already download almost any game he wants.” 

Jason shook his head and held Shelldon against his hip, scratching the drone once more. “Not helping your case, Donnie. You ask him to deliver that giant box and you’re not getting him a present?”

“Ugh! Fine.” Donatello managed to push the box close to the stairs. “I will think of something to get him by tomorrow. Happy?” 

Shelldon chuckled and flew out of Jase’s grip, swirling around his head again. “Thanks, Jase. See you nerds later, I’m headed back.” 

Jason gave him a wave as Shelldon rocketed out of the house. Donnie frowned and walked over to the front door to close it.

Jason couldn’t help but shake his head again as his boyfriend approached. “Cannot believe you don’t get your drone a gift.”

“I didn’t think it was necessary!” 

“Cruel, cold, heartless—”

Donnie lightly jabbed him in the side.

Jason bit his lip to keep himself from laughing as he jumped back. 

“Now, if you’re done criticizing my relationship with my sort-of invention, sort-of child, sort-of sibling, open the box.”

Jason knew he should shove Donnie’s gift into his hands, but the turtle probably wouldn’t quit pestering him until he opened this thing. So he approached the cardboard, noting it was only a few inches shorter than him, and pulled out his multitool to cut through the tape.

Donnie practically vibrated next to him. 

Thankfully, his boyfriend did not structure this container so that you had to pull something out from the top. After cutting through a few rows of tape, the side simply fell to the floor, and one more cut had the rest collapsing as well. 

In the center of it all was a chair. 

A desk chair, from first glance, but of course it was purple. And judging by the line of buttons on one of the arm rests it had a number of features.

“Isn’t it awesome?” Donnie rushed behind his creation—because there’s no way he didn’t build this—and clung to the headrest. “Not only is this thing designed for good back and shoulder support, but I’ve decked this thing out with massage features, self heating, and a few customizable buttons if you want to attach it to devices. You could start the kettle from your room.” 

Jason walked around it as his boyfriend rambled, noting the rather large compartment in the back. “What is that?”

“Oh, the ice maker.”

“...Why does it have an ice maker?”

Donnie’s eyes went wide, staring at the wall. Then he blinked a couple of times. “I… am not sure. I don’t remember why I thought that was a good idea.”

Jason couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, I bet I’ll find a reason for it.” He stepped over to actually run his fingers over the softer parts of the chair. He wasn’t sure if it was real leather—probably not—but it felt that way. If he pressed down hard enough he could feel the harder components for the massage features. 

Still, Jason glanced up at Donnie. “You really want me to take better care of my posture, huh.”

“Well obviously.” His boyfriend huffed. “Did you feel how stiff your shoulders were for that last massage? You’re going to wreck yourself doing that. You can say, ‘thank you for saving my shoulders so much horrible pain, Donnie,’ whenever you want.” 

Jason rolled his eyes as he smiled. Yeah, no way he was saying that. But he still tugged his boyfriend into a hug. “Thanks Donnie, this is awesome.” Then he leaned back. “But for the love of god do not start replacing all the furniture in my room.”

“Really?” Donnie frowned. “Because I have some new ideas for bed frames and—”

“Open yours.” Jason immediately cut off that train of thought before it went anywhere else. He darted over to the box he left on the floor and turned to hand it over. 

Donatello went through the mildly frustrating ritual of shaking the box a few times, clearly thinking long and hard about what it might be, and then carefully popping all of the tape off the paper instead of just tearing through it. 

Jason heard about this behavior from Leo. The slider was certain that Donnie just did it to aggravate everyone, not because he actually cared about saving paper. 

But Jason left him to it, because it’s not like revealing the box would do much. It was a plain box meant for wrapping clothes in.

But the interior was filled with little, purple, cubic pieces. 

Donatello tilted his head. “What is this?”

“Puzzle.” Jason crossed his arms as he smirked. “3D puzzle, to be exact. Modeled it and all the pieces myself.” 

Donnie’s face brightened. “Really? What’s it supposed to make.”

“Figure that out yourself, genius.” He stuck his tongue out.

“Huh? Come on, Jase, you have to give me some kind of visual to work off of here.”

“Nah, I think you’re smart enough to work it out.” Jason was not about to spoil that when all the pieces were together, it’d make a smaller model of Shelldon. The droid even volunteered to let Jason do a model scan of him to get all the details right. Mapping out all the individual pieces had taken hours, though. 

Donatello shut the box again, making sure it sealed tight. “Very well, I’ll have it finished within the week, you’ll see.” 

“I look forward to it.” He glanced at the chair. “Now how are we getting this up to my room?”

“I got it.” 

Jason let his boyfriend heft the heavy looking chair up the steps and into his room. 

With that taken care of, they got ready to head out. Jason didn’t need to bundle up much, but he made sure to get one of his heavier jackets and a scarf. He was shocked to see Donnie came well prepared, with a thick jacket, pants, boots, and even a fur lined hat. In fact, the turtle complained about his lack of winter wear.

“I’m warm blooded.” Jason grabbed his house keys and opened the door. “Now come on.” 

Donnie couldn’t really fly them anywhere with his coat on, which was ultimately fine. All of the cold air blasting against his cheeks probably would have made Jason second guess dressing this light. Instead they walked to the nearest train station. People in the subway almost never gave Donnie more than a single glance, so they had no trouble getting in and out. 

When they reached the Rockefeller Center, it was just about as crowded as Jason expected for Christmas Eve. If people weren’t walking around to marvel at the massive tree or the lights, they were skating in circles on the ice. 

Donnie held Jason’s hand as they walked through the crowd. He spared most of the lights a quick glance, but they did come to a stop near the tree to take a few selfies, pointed upwards with all the lights in the background.

“Hang on, I have to adjust these settings.” Donnie tapped on the screen. “Those lights are making us blurry.” 

“I dunno, the one that makes it look like you dropped your phone is pretty funny.” 

After a few more decent looking shots, they started to wander again.

“Anything specific we should do here?” Donnie asked. “Do we want to do any store browsing?”

“Well, there is a toy store around here.”

“The toy store!” His boyfriend immediately grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him off. “Let’s go!” 

The store itself wasn’t any less crowded than the plaza. Dozens of parents and even plenty of children were running around the interior trying to look at everything on the shelves. Donnie wasn’t much better than the toddlers as he went straight for a marble run display.

“You know, I used to have one of these when I was little,” he began to ramble. “Father happened to find a box next to a garbage bin and brought it home for us. I spent a lot of time finding different combinations of pieces.” 

Jason had an easy time imagining that. “Do you want a new set?”

“As delightful as it would be, I think I should just make my own. It would tower over everything else. A marble run that could last thirty minutes.”

He snorted. “You’re gonna watch a marble for thirty minutes?”

“Don’t act as if you wouldn’t.”

Yeah, he probably would. 

They kept browsing the shelves. Sometimes they’d talk about toys they used to have, things that they missed, and occasionally even stare in confusion at something they’d never seen before. Jason wanted to judge the strange things kids played with these days, but it probably wasn’t that much stranger than anything from the 2000s. 

Eventually they left the store, less because they ran out of things to do and more because Jason could see the way his boyfriend would flinch anytime a young child screamed in excitement or started crying. 

Jason gently led him out of the store, which was only so much quieter, but at least the sounds of kids lessened. 

Donnie muttered out a thank you, hand sometimes pressing against the side flaps of his hat. Did he have his goggles on under that?

“Going to buy you earmuffs next year.” Jason nodded.

“Those won’t fit over my goggles.”

“Wear your goggles less often then.” He glanced around the plaza. “Did you want to check out another store?” 

“Why don’t we try some ice skating?”

Jason groaned. “No thanks, I don’t know how.”

“Huh? You’ve lived here for how long and you never learned?” Donnie held out a hand. “Come on, I can show you how.” 

“So I can fall on my ass a dozen times? No thanks.” 

“Come on.” His boyfriend waved his hand but never actually grabbed Jase’s arm. “Just try it?” 

Jason sighed. He could already feel the pain in his legs, his hands and his butt, but let his boyfriend drag him towards the rink. It took a few minutes for them to even be waved in, limits on people in the rink and all that. As they waited Jason blew warm air on his hands a few times, his knuckles finally feeling the bite of the cold air. 

“See, you should have worn gloves.” Donnie nudged his side. 

“I’ll be fine.” He put his hands in his pockets. “How are you holding up?”

“More than alright since I came prepared.” 

Jason just rolled his eyes and kept waiting for their turn.

He thought on a loop of what a terrible idea this was as he fitted on the ice skates and barely got on his feet. Donnie held onto him, with one arm around his waist, and carefully pulled him out onto the ice.

Which made it even harder to keep his balance. The second both of his feet touched the ice, the skates tried to slide forward. He would have fallen on his back if Donnie didn’t hold tight.

“Here, just hang on.” Donnie tugged him up straight. “You taught yourself to dance with me, so this shouldn’t be too difficult.” 

Jason trusted his boyfriend, but this didn’t feel the same as dancing, mainly because they were facing in the same direction. He managed alright with going straight, but the minute his boyfriend would try to turn a corner Jason would keep sliding in the wrong direction. His attempts to correct it had him either almost hitting the ground or just slamming into the wall. 

Donnie laughed. 

“Shut it.” Jason mumbled, but let his boyfriend keep dragging him around the ice. “How did you even learn to do this?”

The turtle hummed. “Truthfully, Cassandra made us all learn after we became friends. At first she just challenged us to a hockey game and then found out only Mikey knew how to ice skate so…” 

“Bet she makes a fun teacher.”

“If you can deal with the volume of her voice, she does quite well actually. Besides, I found it all rather fun. Just a new way to dance.” Donnie drifted toward the wall and took Jason’s other hand, placing it there.

Jason held on for dear life, because the second he grabbed the wall his boyfriend slid away without him. There wasn’t exactly a ton of space on this crowded rink, but just enough in the center for Donnie to drift out and start swirling in circles. 

Jason straightened up, just to get a better look at his boyfriend grinning ear to ear as he twirled. A few children that he spun past gasped and clapped their hands. 

Jason became so enamored that he foolishly loosened his grip on the wall. One of his feet moved and that was all it took for him to slide out of control. He failed to catch himself on the wall properly and his chest slammed against the ice. He tried to shove himself up, but when he opened his eyes he realized his glasses fell off in the process. What if someone—

“Are you okay?”

A woman and her child came to a stop next to him. From this close he could see his glasses in the child’s hands, so he gratefully took them and put them back on his face. 

“Yeah, I’ll be okay.” He wheezed out. “Thanks.”

“Jase.” Donnie shouted as he skated back over, weaving around the mom. “You were supposed to hang onto the wall.”

“Yeah, well, that didn’t work out.” He tried to use it now to pull himself up, but Donnie practically lifted him off the ground. 

The mother flashed a smile and tugged her daughter along back into the moving crowd.

“Can we be done with skating now?” Jason sighed. 

“For tonight, maybe.” Donnie led him along the skating path. “I am now determined to teach you.”

“Not sure why that’s necessary.”

“Maybe I’ll just hand you off to Cassandra.”

Ugh.

Jason refused to quit arguing about it. They filed out of the rink and got their shoes back, moving through the plaza once more. Jason let his gaze linger on the lights again and he almost missed something tiny fluttering through the lights. A lot of them. Almost like dust in sunlight, but with a bit more sparkle to them.

Now his gaze moved up, seeing the flurries much clearer from this angle. “Ah, there’s the snow they mentioned on the forecast.” 

“Oh? I didn’t realize we’d get a white Christmas this year.”

“Assuming it sticks. They said it might not.” Jason shrugged and turned to look at the tree again, watching the snow dance in front of it. “Still looks nice, at least.” 

Donnie hummed in agreement, and for a few minutes they just stood in silence, watching. Jason wasn’t holding onto his boyfriend, but he still stood close enough to feel the faintest movement when Donnie shivered. 

“Cold?” Jason asked.

“I’ll be fine.” His boyfriend’s shoulders raised up as he pouted. “But it may be wise to avoid staying out much longer.”

Jason reached out and tugged at the collar of Donnie’s coat. “Unzip your jacket for a sec.”

“Huh?”

“Just do it.”

Donatello did, and the minute the thing was open, Jason pressed himself against his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around his back underneath the coat. 

He glanced up at the turtle. “You’re cold because you’re an idiot who doesn’t wear a shirt under this thing.”

“The layers would only do so much.” Donnie snapped, then tugged his jacket all the way around Jase before zipping it back up. “Hah, now you’re trapped.”

“Oh no.” Jason gave a fake whine. “Whatever will I do?” 

Donnie chuckled and nuzzled his nose into Jase’s hair. 

Once again the pair fell silent. Jason even let his eyes close, just focusing on the sensation of his boyfriend’s slow heartbeat and the occasional kiss of a snowflake on his cheeks or his ears. 

“Feeling warmer?” He mumbled into the turtle’s chest.

“Yes, but we still shouldn’t stay out much later.” Donnie kissed his head. 

“Wanna just head back and warm up?”

“Oh?” Donnie let out a faint growl. “What did you have in mind?”

Jason snorted. “Probably what you’re thinking, but we can also just get some hot chocolate and watch another movie.”

Another kiss. “How about we warm up first? Then get some hot chocolate.” 

Yeah, Jason would be more than fine with that, but he didn’t make any effort to free himself and start walking. “Donnie?”

“Yes? Are you asking me to free you?”

He cracked a smile. “Nah, I just wanna say that I’m really glad you’re here. First time in a while that I’ve enjoyed this holiday.” 

His boyfriend hummed. “I hope I can make it enjoyable every year after too.” 

Jason returned the hum and finally straightened up. “Alright, let’s get walking before I just fall asleep in here.” He tried to wiggle free, but that didn’t work with how tight the jacket was. “Donnie, unzip this thing.” 

“What if I just leave you trapped there forever, hm?” Donnie laughed and then tried to take a step forward, only to stumble when their legs bumped into each other. Thankfully he didn’t crash into the ground because Jase did not want to do that a second time.

“Just let me out, you idiot.” He laughed. 

“But it’s gonna be cold,” the turtle whined.

“Not for long.” Jason tilted his head to kiss Donnie on the throat. 

Now his boyfriend scrambled for the zipper, almost knocking them both over a second time before finally freeing Jase. 

Jason laughed again and waited for Donnie to close his jacket. Then he took his boyfriend’s hand and led the way to the train station.

[txemrn]

From what I've seen, there's like a trend now, of parents making baskets full of little trinkets and goodies (mostly small things or things from the dollar tree) for theirs kids, like in Easter, valentine's day, or another special occasion/holiday. Do you see your pairing doing thinks like that?

Hey, anon! Thank you so much for sending this Ask my direction! I don't know if it's the same thing, but I see a lot of gift baskets for kiddos for the other holidays outside of Christmas, which has the little trinkets and less expensive things (which I love!). I've also seen a lot of my friends recreate Advent Calendars for other holidays (one of my sweet friends is doing a Ramadan calendar on youtube!), which I think is an adorable way to bring in a holiday, especially if you are trying to teach children a significance behind the holiday.

Ethan and Tatum are all about creating special experiences for Cord rather than just buying gifts (they've never been big on giving each other gifts anyway... and that's not to say that gift-giving is bad. Tatum is beyond generous and the ultimate gifter when it comes to her coworkers and friends). Cord will no doubt be very privileged, coming from a very wealthy, very intelligent, very good-looking set of parents, but since both Ethan and Tatum came from very humble beginnings, I think they really want to instill in their son the need to appreciate what he has, and not only that, but that he has a HUGE opportunity to make an impact on the world because of what he has.

But you didn't exactly ask all that... whew, rabbit hole!

Building baskets? Ehhh... while it's adorable, I don't really see Ethan and Tatum doing that. BUT I could totally see them getting a trinket or two to celebrate special occasions (ie stickers, candy, toy cars, etc).

This is random, but in my HC, Tatum will take Cord to the Dollar Tree after a long day of running errands, and tells him he can pick out 1 thing. 🤣

Thanks again for the Ask! *hugs*

[cherriebbyyyy]

Santa's Single Social

 Carlos SainzxFernando Alonso /850 Words Winter Warmers 2024 Day Twenty-Three Prompt: 🧣 Singles Holiday Party 

Carlos wanted to bang his head against the wall, his friends had signed him up for a Holiday Mixer saying that they just wanted to see him happy. He wasn’t really lonely just getting his footing moving to cold England, it was just a different culture that he was getting used to it didn’t help that his best friend Charles was a serial monogamist that thought Carlos’ 8 months of bachelorhood was a nightmare and spent his free time trying to set Carlos up with any single girl he knew claiming every time “You're going to love her.” This was the cherry on top, a singles party right before Christmas at a bar by the law firm they worked at, what he thought was going to be some holiday drinks was Charles opening the door to the bar pushing Carlos is and running away leaving Carlos dazed and confused at the small registration table. 

“Hi Welcome! What’s your name?” the very pretty blonde man asked him

“Uh Carlos….but I don’-” Carlos started as he turned to see where Charles had run off to

“Sainz? I see your name here, what color band are you going to wear?” The blonde man said pointing to his clipboard that read ‘Santa’s Singles Social!’  with his name and what looked to be Charles’ phone number registered as the number for RSVP. He took a big sigh and looked down at the colored band which had a Pink Band if you were looking for women, Blue if you were looking for men and to take both if you didn’t mind either. 

He grabbed both colors and took the sticker from the pretty blue eyed worker that said ‘Hello my name is CARLOS” 

“Thank You …Nico” he sighed as he put on the rubber bracelets and made his way towards the bar, might as well get a drink before he heads back home. 

“Hi I’ll get a tequila soda” Carlos says leaning on the bar counter 

“You don’t seem too chuffed to be here mate” The bartender comments as he hands Carlos his drink. 

“Ah well I was tricked to be here.” Carlos says starting to pull his card out 

“Aw drinks are covered mate by the entrance fee, so maybe the night won’t be too bad, plus you have double chances” the bartender said nodding to Carlos’ wrist. 

Drinks included he wondered how much money Charles had wasted, Carlos didn’t even drink that much anyways. Ugh he was glad it wasn’t speed dating that would have been worse. He suddenly felt someone move the sleeve of his shirt up. He tried to move out of this bold stranger grip when he looked up to see a face he hadn’t seen in years.   

“Fernando?” Carlos was in shock, he remembered when his father had taken Fernando under his wing always over at the Sainz house. He had always had a small crush on the man and seeing him here aged like fine wine, he is shorter than Carlos remembered from all those years ago when he used to look up to him. 

“Carletes? I thought that was you. Como estas?”  the man said grinning. 

“Good just moved here a few months ago working for the Vowel Firm.” Carlos said in awe.

“Ah how nice and how you have grown into a handsome young man.” Fernando says hand moving over clapping over Carlos’ shoulder, Carlos also noted that he had on a blue bracelet. Carlos wanted to lean into that weight. He didn't even know that Fernando was into men, this night was starting to feel like one of the wet dreams he had as a kid, Fernando was here talking to him and taking him seriously not shrugging him off as his Boss’ annoying son.  

Maybe Charles’ scheme wasn’t so bad. He spent the rest of the night catching up with Nano, hoping that he wasn’t just being friendly but also interested in Carlos as well. Hopefully he wasn’t reading into the fact that Nano’s hand had moved to his waist and the fact that the older man would often lean in Carlos’ space to make sure he was heard. It was also so nice to hold a conversation in Spanish in person. 

“Yes and after that case, Lawrence gifted me a Valkyrie, my dream car …. actually I drove it here. Do you want to see?”  

“Si Vamos” Carlos let himself be shepard towards the exit by Nano’s hand on the small of his back. Feels the cold air hit his warm face, not realizing how warm it was inside, seeing the cloud of his breath. 

“Cold? Here.” Fernando said as he wrapped his scarf around Carlos’ neck and wrapped a hand around Carlos’ waist leading him to a green frog looking car parked a few paces down from the bar. 

“Wow. Que Chulada Tio” Carlos said admiring the car, this was something he did know about as his father always had a nice collection of cars at home. 

“Let me give you a ride” 

“In the car?”

“Si amongst other things” Nano says smirking.

[ophelia-isla]

My childhood home 

By Ophelia Islao  

Most people would say that their childhood home was their house they grew up in. But not me. I grew up with a bed that had wheels and machines that were connected to me and that would sometimes be deep in the middle of the night scaring me, with a nurse coming in to check on me every 2 hours. I grew up having lung issues. I was in and out of the hospital for weeks at a time.  

My dad panicked one night I could not breathe. With no hesitation he was in sweatpants and a black T-shirt, threw his shoes in the truck and took me in his arms, put me on the front seat of his green ford truck and drove to the children's hospital of El Paso. On dad arms, a man saw my dad carrying me into the ER and grabbed me from him. Take me in quick. Later another nurse came in, she looked young wearing a royal blue scrub, black sweater with a very high ponytail. I can tell she was panicking; she was very worried. She tried to put an iv on me but couldn't find my vein. She panics even more moving the needle in arm around in circles, hurting me a little. But was so used the process was not the first time me being here. I looked at her and with the little breath I had I told her “Try the vein on my hand”. She looked like she wanted to cry, and she got it. Then they place these white stickers with wire all over my chest area. And place a clear mask over my mouth and nose. “Big deep breathe honey” the girl from earlier tells me. She looked more calm relief that I was not dying.  They were able to control my breathing.  

The Dr. comes into the ER and my mom rushes in behind him. She was wearing a black suit with a neon pink shirt, probably coming from the dinner she had with her friends. They wheeled me into a very big room, the room had two bunk beds. I was going to have a shared room but due to my condition I couldn’t be around another sick kids.  I was just in my dad's arms as they changed my Bratz Pj into a hospital gown. I hated how they fit me always big, and blue nor white was not my favorite color. The dark blue wheelchairs were so big that probably two of me would fit and still have space, and a girl with beautiful long blond hair wheeled me towards the end of the hall. My dad was there standing with a man wearing light blue scrubs, they open the door it was an all-white room and in the middle was this big tube machine with a bed in it. They laid me there. “Hold still”, he tells me “I need a good picture of you.” I did as he says so. In goes to the bed I was laying into the big tube. It fell very tight in there and I was trying not to panic but I started to breathe heavily, then the machine started to spin all round me 5 seconds was in there when and I wanted to move so badly. I yelled “papa get me out por favor.” the mix of the panic and having my lung issue, I started to having short of breath. The male nurse calls the nurse who had taken to the room. She put an oxygen mask on me. She wheeled me down the empty hall back to my room.  A few days after they moved me rooms. 

I spent days in a room that had stickers of flowers on the walls trying to distract you from the fact that you are sick. Although I didn't have my usual toys and coloring books, spent the next 7 days watching tv. The tv in my room had Disney channel. Channel 66. Back at home we didn't have luxury to have a tv’s in each room, only one tv in the living room with the news channel always on.  The tv was perfectly place in front of my bed. 

 A knock was at the door, it was my mom's friends bringing toys and coloring books. I didn’t realize how close we were to Christmas until my mom’s friend’s gift bag was a Santa Claus putting gifts under the tree. With a purple ballon that said, “best wishes.” 3 days later came around. I was still in the hospital and Christmas was 2 days away. I got sad because my mom loved Christmas and if I did get better in time, she was going to miss Christmas with my other two siblings. They were underage so they could not go into the hospital room. At the end of my room there was a window, I would sometimes go near and stare outside. I saw the snow fall very slowly hitting the ground and kids playing outside with their family and friends, throwing the snow at each other, running away from each other.  I couldn't do that at least not another 2 more week for my lung to get strong. It wasn’t so bad at the end because Santa came to see me at the hospital along with some police officers that gave me some gifts. Although it was fun, I wanted to go home. My iv was on the right side of my hand. As always been a crazy sleeper I would move a lot. I didn't know moved so much for even the needle of my iv to get pulled out as I slept. I woke up with a puddle of water on me. My mom noticed and called the nurse. She told me “Going to hold off on putting another one needle in your hand” My dr. comes in as if he was an angel coming in. He told us “You are free to go home but stay off the cold weather and no heavy exercise at school. You still need your rest, but you can get that from home.” My mom was over the moon after a week and half I was finally going home. 

 I wish I could say that was the only time I was in the hospital, but I was there 6 times in 4 years.  After turning 12 I was good and never had to go back for this issue. But being in that environment made me realize I did not want to be Dr or nurse; I was so over being in hospital. Even though i was not in hospital much I was still going to the Dr for checkups where they had me in a room full of stickers with Disney princesses and Disney characters that became also one of my homes. Dr. Canales office and Children's hospital of El paso were my childhood homes.  

[help-help-i-need-an-adult]

I’m glad you like them.

But

but I work remotely, and the part of this meeting that matters could have been an email, and they had some dumb wardrobe requirement that I had to go shopping for beforehand because just business casual isn’t good enough when we could all be wearing white shirts and denim jackets, and I drove 2 hours to be here and will drive 2 hours back home, and I’m not getting any actual work done so I have to work harder tomorrow to make up for it, and they brought food options I’m allergic to AGAIN. And all the stickers are pink and cutesy AGAIN. And the music they’re playing is basic white girl music AGAIN. And they’re making us pose for a fucking awkward family group photo AGAIN!

Sorry. Im gonna be a party pooper.

Enforced fun isn’t fun for me.

Also, would it kill my boss to find one goth sticker?

Would it kill my co-workers to make my winter holiday gift NOT Christmasy as I’ve stated multiple times that I’m not Christian and HATE CHRISTMAS? Get me black socks instead of red and green. Please, for the LOVE OF THE GODS.

Would it kill my boss to make a playlist of calm instrumental music that we can hear her over instead of Taylor Swift?

Would it kill them to set a room up so I can sit somewhere where my hearing disability isn’t going to make this harder and more exhausting?

I’d hate the “get to know me” bs games less if they actually retained any of it. If they actually listened to the “no citric acid” food requirement they asked for in an email a week prior. If they put ANY of their money where their mouth is.

So yeah. I’m gonna sit there and let Whitney flounder as I sip the lemonade hoping it cases me to throw up and become her problem too.

Please don’t berate the rest of us who don’t want to be there. You being excited and having fun tells me you’re just a person having a good time. You trying to force me to have a good time when this has been designed against me every time for the last 6 years is what makes you a brown nose.

I want it noted, that I love my job and I love the team I work with. But I love these things as a job. I love my team being my co-workers because we get shit done and we do it well. We’re friends enough without needing to see how many Disney songs we can name before the other team does.

I knooooow I look like a teacher's pet I knoooooooooow I look like a brown-noser and a suckup but I can't help it I genuinely enjoy team building exercises and get-to-know-you games, I love going to work parties and solving riddles and learning about my coworkers it is enrichment for me

[lifeofagirlnameddan]

This Life (Prt 4)

August came and we both enrolled for a volleyball camp in school. On the end of the first day, he and I were waiting for my ride home. He'll be visiting my house for the first time. He ate lunch with us here at home, and we built some gundams (He bought it for me but I had no clue on how to build it) Soon he had to leave, so I walked him down the stairs... We stopped at the middle of the stairway, I gave him a hug as I said goodbye, I'll see him after the next day, and right before that... he leans us against the wall, inches apart... closing the gap.... for only a split second! That was my first kiss! And I honestly loved it... It was so soft...so quick and the feeling was electrifying. I walked him out the gate unable to look him in the eyes, for every time we looked at each other our faces plastered with two huge goofy ass grins. He left and I ran back to my room squealing. Right after that the next time I saw him, kisses were now unlocked and that move is clearly a favorite. After August, school was starting once again. But there was an event, a school anniversary fair, so I invited him and we attended it on a weekend. It was fun, we ate, saw friends, and we did...kiss a lot more too, and we went out to eat ramen. He and I were having a blast, but for some reason a pang of guilt hit me as I never told my family about this... Knowing my mothers refusal to any relationship, I told S about my concerns, deciding if we were to break it off amidst the happiness. I was going to...but then I stopped, I didn't go through with it because I wanted to be happy with him and I deluded that perhaps mom will understand and let me have this? Besides it was his birthday the next week so it would be cruel to do that to him! By his birthday we went out with his friends, I only came for a moment but it was worth it while it lasted. I met his mother, I fumbled a bit since I wasn't wearing my glasses I didn't recognize her face so it may have seemed like I was ignoring her. I wanted to clear that up so badly. Eventually October and November came, and we would meet through hangouts with our other friends, go on double dates with his best friend and his gf. By a week before Christmas I invited S and another friend of mine (CC) to bake cookies together. Oh it was fun, being a little sneaky with S in my home, hiding away from my little sister and little cousins. And it was all fun and games really, we played Monopoly and had a lightsaber battle. CC left early and S stayed until 11pm. Often times, when he's free or around the area, S would come to visit my house and bring me gifts. Honestly he is so sweet. I gave him a jacket, pins, stickers, a sword, a plushie, and other hand crafted things. He'd bring me candies and snacks when I least expect it. He'd visit me in school as well, although I have to race down against his group of friends. Honestly dating him was like sharing him with the boys HAHAH. His friends are amazing, they've got genuine personality, deranged, insane, fun and drama-free. I find myself naturally accepted by them, me and all our friends combined makes just a big group of people who like and share similar interests, love of food, and harmonized interactions. I was so lucky to have met S, so lucky that I haven't felt depressed in so long, I learned to love without being so needy and I learned to put myself first and make boundaries even in a relationship. S helped me love my country, love my life and wanted to work hard for my future. And S told me that being with me brought back the light in his eyes, and his friends would say he's become a better person ever since then and I honestly have fallen in love with him...

January came, I didn't think we'd see each other at the start of 2024. But he showed up January 3, at my house to greet me. Honestly how dedicated are you???? We went on a date a few days after. I had my school sports fest at an arena far off, at first I didn't want to join but I heard S was going (Why? Even if he's no longer a student, it has perks to have a younger brother who is still in the same school as me) So when I heard he was attending, I showed up last minute to surprise him. Honestly I thought he was mad at me! He refused to look at me and talk to me after I surprised him, I became salty...Turns out he was just trying to contain his excitement...

February, my birthday, He showed up a week before to see me. Then my plans for my 18th birthday was to go on a trip with friends, an overnight at a mountain resort. It was an amazing experience, he was amazing, and it was so fun. We went on a sky bike together, crossed a bridge, went swimming, went on a sky swing together... Then we played video games, card games, ate lots of food, and his mom and dad treated me to dinner. (The only thing I wish didn't happen that time was me falling off a roof as the first time for me to meet his dad...) The day was so fun...and at night... well we'll skip that blissful night's details... By the next day we had one last activity before we leave, I rode in his van apart from my family, I fell asleep on him.. ehe...

March and April consisted of movie and mall dates, it was getting harder since our school requirements were piling up....

May 2, 2024

I went out to meet S in a cafe, it was a quick meet just wanting to catch up... We had a date set for the next day... As I left he gave me a kiss and kissed my cheek goodbye, something felt off this month...

May 3, 2024

I knew it, my mother found out about us and told me to come home. I'm not allowed to go out or commute anymore, and she'll be driving me in and out of school again... She spoke to me about it, she's not against S himself, she just said it wasn't the right time... She told me he was a good person and that I should keep him as a friend, but I should stop the relationship. Oh how I cried... I miss him... I love him, how can I break his heart like this? I followed her either way, and S understood... it took us a day of crying to talk again, he said we'll stay friends and that he doesn't resent me for this and that he's willing to wait. I love him for that, I'll wait for him as well. Up until now we have still been talking to each other daily, the only thing that every stopped was the affectionate words, physical touch and random gifts.

May 23, 2024

My my, it the present already... It's been my finals week and I have been stressing out my life, but S has still been there all this time. I'll see him tomorrow, we're going out with our friends for the first time in so long now to watch the Haikyuu: Dumpster Battle at the cinemas. This loop in life... is it different now? Is S the path going straightforward? I'm not just going in circles am I?

this is the update of the life of a girl named dan...

[loudestcloud]

💥 Fandom battle jacket tour 💥

👇🏻Explanations and details👇🏻 please forgive spelling mistakes, it's midnight n I'm tired n need to be up at 6 tomorrow

The back is a custom t shirt I ordered of official Pokémon card art of my top favourite Pokémon. Doduo, Sandile, Aipom, Sandshrew, Heracross and Pichu but specifically THE brothers. My Doduo are always called Finn-lee and my Sandile is Harrison Wells.

The blue numbers side is full of things that I can talk about for days on end / talk about a lot on here, more of a super fan side. 1: Official button of Yuu Kamda from D.gray man. 2: Thousand sunny from One piece pin brought at an irl shop. 3: Pride pin brought at my first pride years ago. 4: Official Tumblr pin I brought when looking at the store while getting my free One piece stickers. 5: A light house pin I brought at a museum, this one represents my favourite game To the moon although I am a huge fan of the museum I got it from. 6: The love of my life A bootleg Sanji from One piece pin I brought from AliExpress because I wanted to see how bad they are to talk about the differences honestly. 7: Franky from One piece pin, also from the AliExpress test. 8: Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist doing the rosie riveter pose?, idk why maybe it's like 'disabled ppl can do it too'?, I got him in a give away from The Fullmetal. I misplaced my Bakugo pin but he'll be on that side alongside my huge funko pop Kirishima, I may update this as it goes along.

The red side is more of a chill vibes side, I love the content, they did change my life a lot but like, I couldn't tell you much about the actual fandom and the inside jokes or whatever. 1: This is the exception to the rule, Lenalee Lee from D.gray man badge. She's on this side because I am new to the fandom but also I have made edits for Kanda and she's only partly on one edit not about her. 2: This is not a fandom, this is an anti diet culture pin that says 'Donuts forever, Diets never', I got it from Candy Doll Club along with the same pin but in brown for my Katakuri jacket. I am very anti diet culture, even more so now that I have been on one and GAINED ON IT?? anyway. 3: Stranger things Hawkins High badge I bought in 2017 at an irl shop & 4: Stranger things Eleven Eggo pin brought for me as a gift from a family member I no longer speak to. 5: Official Tom Nook from Animal crossing pin! It came with my siblings pre order of New Horizons & I love and care for him still to this day like he is a medal. 6: Anxious the Elephant from the Haven Holidays mascot team. Like I said yall, I was a Holiday park kid and I stan my girl. 7: A Slush puppy pin from Candy Doll Club, on this jacket to represent Heathers the musical. I do like the movie but the musical was my everything as a young teen. 8: The danger days spider from My Chemical Romance. Bro is my favourite album, has been since a young child but I cannot tell you the law around it.

Lastly we have a Fairy tail necklace charm on a keyring loop, specifically Gray's guild mark, this pocket is on the 'blue' side. A clown a friend got me for Christmas because I love silly little guys, on the red side because he isn't anyone, he's just fun. Ace from One piece, blue side obviously and lastly this hidden Big foot, temporarily representing The Adventure zone: amnesty because I do own the patch and that will be going under the gap, i think I'll probably move Big foot over to the red side when that happens cos i know jack shit about actual cryptids.

[upthetracks]

1/1/24 - After June

June I was sitting with her watching her childhood cat take its last breath and crying and loving her just as much as always. Eating a can of mandarins by the river with the gnats crowding in, quickest thing I could grab out the pantry after I heard her laughing with someone I once hoped to love, delirious in the heat and the hunger. Sitting in one of the back pews of a tiny church, white in all black in a sea of black family in baby blue - they'd invited me but I didn't hear about the dress code - wiping tears and snot on my sleeve after seeing my full-of-life friend dead and still in the casket.

And June is the month I met my friend from Georgia who I been clinging to ever since. We started feeding people on a hot August day and haven't stopped. Made a pot of stew just two days ago to hand out. Same month I had a 3 day romance, last week back home for christmas I had my first gay hookup. In October, went to a trans celebration and won a vial of T, saw my friend's set up for diy hormones, tried dmt. Made a couple things I'm proud of - big back patch for a Palestine march, a t-shirt design to fund raise for the Atlanta community bail fund, 100 stickers against the cpc up the street. I've been learning how to be a better listener and friend to the kids at work. I've been laughing often. My weeks are often full. I sat in on a mutual aid teach in recently, and met a black organizer who makes me feel like there's work in this city that is actually meaningful and direct. There are some folks around me with passion who I feel I could learn from. A friend saved up a whole pile of bread tags for me and gave em to me as a Hanukkah gift, one of the sweetest things someone's done for me in a while. I feel like I'm better with people than I used to be, like I can sit and chat with anyone if I gotta. Makes me less scared to be around new folks. Watched some John Waters movies with my ex-lover. We spend a lot of time together still, I'm grateful there's still love and friendship between us. I think I've learned how to be there better for my friend that has panic attacks and spirals. I feel like I'm a better cook than I used to be. I feel a little older, a little more steady on my feet. Mostly I am ashamed of myself, but sometimes I catch a facet of myself reflecting some light back. I stand taller. The fog is less constant. There is more sharpness and motion and change. The months do not bleed into each other so much. I feel more. I think more, want more. I feel like I am living a sad small life, but a life.

This year I want to be more dependable, committed, autonomous, skilled. I want to build this distro up strong and right, I want to grow bolder and less afraid. I want to make art, read, learn, be curious, be spontaneous, fluid, quick to spring and do on a whim. Less lethargic, less trapped by inertia, indecision, comforting numbness. I want to laugh with friends, grow closer, kiss lovers, text back, climb trees, get hurt, get up, get to work. Be honest, be blunt, be open. Desire, want, hunger, plan, enact. Stick with it. More life, more life.

You will be ashamed, you will feel alone, you will feel lost, impotent, cowardly, stupid, stuck, stagnant. And you will wake up. And you will try just a little bit, and it will feel like an unfurling. And you will forget again, and when you feel it again it will be familiar. And then more familiar, less impossible, more reflexive, more matter of habit. Maybe one day you will have teeth and be free. More life, more life.

[ethernetmeep]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[bunnys-babies]

Celebrating Your Birthday

AOT x gn!reader

warning(s): nada :)

a/n: I believe this was an anonymous request for just Jean and hc’s about celebrating his s/o’s Bday - but I’ve expanded it to a general AOT HC post for more peeps to enjoy :) - I hope you guys like!! mwah

characters: jean, eren, armin, porco, & connie

Jean

not one to necessarily go all out theatrics wise, but he definitely cares about it being meaningful

He gives you two cards every year, one to open up in front of friends and family that’s usually just a simple one that goes along with the actual gift (something very basic and probably a little silly lol)

But the second one has a handwritten note that’s a lot more personal and sentimental, definitely the kind of emotional letter that needs to be read in private for his emotional sake and yours

And you truly do get one every year

It’s about his favorite moments he’s had with you that year, his favorite moments to come, anything new he learned about you that he never wants to forget, etc. it’s honestly something he looks forward to writing you every year

Expect flowers and a little cake just for you in the evening - he doesn’t like making too big of a show of things so he waits until it’s just you too to give them to you. Or he’ll drop them off at your house in the morning as well

Dinner is also ALWAYS on him - whether it’s home made or y’all are going out, you better be sitting tf down while he treats you

And similar to the card, you usually get at least two “bigger” gifts from him

One just being a simple gift card or pair of shoes you’ve been eyeing

But the other is a little more personal; like a necklace with your’s and his own birth month flower pressed into the small pendant (very very cheesy man indeed)

Or a framed picture of what the stars looked like on the night of your first date

BASICALLY he’s a sentimental mush who is completely enamored with you point blank period <3

Eren

You get a cheesy hand made coupon every. Single. Year.

It varies from “one free hot steamy make out sesh ;)” to “one free ‘stfu eren I’m begging you”

And he has no shame - you get these in front of everyone cause he likes how embarrassed and grumpy you get when everyone starts giggling about how “silly and cute you two are”

You’d think it’s his birthday with how giddy he is all day

Like I mean allllll dayyyy

He wakes you up with the cutest little smile and messy bun (he kind of looks like a toddler who just woke up on Christmas morning - it’s very endearing so you look forward to it) and presses all kinds of kisses to your face telling you it’s your birthday like you didn’t already know

Not too big of a social media poster but he never fails to post a simple “happy birthday :)” under a pic of him giving you a kiss on the cheek while you were still in bed that morning

He gets his mom to make a big deal out of it too (as if she wouldn’t on her own) - she arranges you flowers out of her garden and makes sure to give them to you herself with a little piece of string tied around it with a little note attached

If your family is a big party thrower for your birthday you can bet your ass he’s coming with his mom and having sm fun with them and you

if they smush your face in the cake he tries really hard not to laugh but he can’t help it sowwy - makes up for it though by helping you clean up and discreetly letting you do the same to him (he likes to let you think you snuck up on him)

Armin

“Oh my goodness, is that the birthday baby?”

^ says this literally every time he sees for the first time, every year. Doesn’t matter if you find it cute, embarrassing, cringey, he WILL do it. And in a little mocking baby voice, too.

But he always gives you a hug afterwards so it’s worth it

“I got you ~something…”

^ says that too LOL

He gets you the most random shit you’d never even think to ask for but yet it’s something you want or enjoy every time

He gets very creative with the wrapping too - he’ll fill the bag with sticker flakes too as a fun surprise (and it’s purely for himself cause he has an addiction with buying stationary he doesn’t need and this is how he tells himself it’s okay)

Expect breakfast brought to you as well, doesn’t matter if you’re at home, work, class, he’s bringing you a little sweet treat cause he cant help himself

He’s very touchy and affectionate all day, more than usual, cause something about it being a special day for you just makes him all excited

Lots of handholding and little secret kisses while you’re out with your friends

All in all he’s very attentive and it’s really cute :)

Porco

Let me say this first, he has intentionally acted like he didn’t remember it was your birthday ONCE and it backfired and he felt like a complete asshole

Did he think it’d be silly to be like “hmmm is today important or something?” Yes. Did it come off that way? Not in the slightest and he’ll take it as one of his biggest regrets all the way to the grave

Moving on

He actually does really care about your birthday LOL

Even if it’s not a big deal for you he just can’t grasp it

In the most loving way, he will tell you it’s the stupidest thing he’s ever heard if you were to tell him “it’s not that big of a deal Porco!”

He can’t fathom why it wouldn’t be that big of a deal - “it’s your fucking birthday so shut up and let me pamper you >:( 💝”

On top of the usual things, y’know dinner, presents, friends, family, etc. he’s really into making cute little relationship goals with you??

Like getting out a jar and putting things you want to do with each other over the next year in them on little pieces of paper

The plan is to pull them out at random over the course of the year and keep the slips of the ones you completed

But even if you do literally none of them its fun to dump them out the following year just to see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same

He’s planning for the long term always

Connie

He knows your birth time and makes sure to freak tf out when it hits and be like omg it’s ~officially your birthday 😏😌

It doesn’t matter if it’s 4 am he will call you or wake you up himself just to tell you happy birthday

One of his toxic traits honestly

If you work or have class that day he IS expecting you to skip if you don’t have it off already LOL

he won’t make you but he will be surprised you actually work

He believes that you shouldn’t have to do a damn thing on your birthday cause you’re his angel and how dare they make you actually do things.. appalling (although he doesn’t feel the same way on his own birthday - he actually gets pretty bashful when you make a big deal out of it, it’s really cute I promise)

Expect an onslaught of embarrassing photos of you to be posted online - which you’re tagged in all of them - with some embarrassing little caption like “happy birthday my little Weiner 🥺☹️”

Also if ur even a day older than him he makes sure to bring that up every year and call you a cradle snatcher - sorry not sorry

ANYWAYS

He’s also really sweet when you first see each other that day though

You get a sweet kiss on your cheek and a whisper in your ear, “happy birthday”, swaying back and forth gently with his arms around your waist

It’s a little embarrassing sometimes cause it feels so intimate if it were to happen in public, but he doesn’t let it last long enough to garner attention

Afterwards he always makes sure to give you a bone crushing hug and your “birthday punches” he said spankings once in front of his mom and he almost threw up

If you plan on drinking on your birthday too he’ll always be your designated driver for the night, making sure u get home safe and allll that good stuff <3

——————

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