#and they did half birthdays for kids whose birthdays were in summer

[florida3exclamationpoints]

New year's eve which means it's almost my half birthday and I get to have a mini half birthday crisis

[nariism]

something borrowed, something blue

pair. itoshi sae x gn!reader

content: childhood sweethearts, angst, angst, angst, NO COMFORT no happy ending i'm warning you, sae leaves for spain much later here, use of y/n once (1), not proofread

synopsis. it's his wedding day.

wc. 2.1k

everything you know about weddings comes from fairytale books.

you have fond memories of the days spent curled up in the lap of a woman whose name brings you to tears with nostalgia, kind and warm as she read to you.

the itoshi brothers' mother was good at painting pictures with words; animating true love's kiss, soulmates, princesses turning into frogs and back again.

even as a tiny child you knew they all ended the same way: wedding bells and happily ever after.

she was a poet in her own right, spelling out for you what love could possibly be. as a naive child, you believed her — put blind faith in the fact that love was always perfection, that it was something easy. it was something that fills you to the brim until you're overpouring, fantastical and rare and beautiful.

she sweet talked you into believing true love is something all people find one day.

it wasn't as simple as the stories she told you made it out to be. ironically, the person who taught you so always sat to her left at the dinner table.

itoshi sae was your first. he was your only. it wasn't a foreign or unknown emotion pounding at the confines of your ribcage every time he would take your hand and drag you along with him and rin to get ice cream.

it was cruelly familiar. an ode to their mother who was waiting on the front porch for them to return home to her. love.

you grew up next door to the itoshis. your most distant memories replay with the sounds of rin's laughter in the background. they were happy kids. happier than they ever would be again.

the window of your bedroom was directly across from sae's. it was there that secrets were whispered, falling on deaf ears to the sleeping world. things that only you and him would ever know. you spent seventeen summers sitting at your windowsill under starry night skies talking about menial things.

you planned your whole lives together at that conjunction of your homes; wooden furnishings in the kitchen with green accents, a garden full of hydrangeas, lanterns strung up amongst the trees. and he promised he would buy you anything and everything you wanted, lavish or not, "just because".

you spent your entire life in love with itoshi sae. with the idea of giving your heart and soul to him. that maybe he would do the same for you if given the chance.

when sae turned eighteen, he received a very, very important letter.

the paper was thick and fancy and lined with gold. there was an official seal at the bottom of it along with a signature he couldn't read.

you remember that day vividly. you'd relived his birthday for as many years as you were alive, after all.

he was sitting in front of his birthday cake with the candles blown out as he read it aloud. champagne popped, balloons flew, people clapped, the whole shebang. you made eye contact with him from where you were sat, directly across the table in your usual seat.

it was then that reality came crashing down on you.

you were always staring at his big back, and not once had he ever turned around. not once had he ever deemed you more important than his dreams. not once did he prove to you that he loved you like you loved him.

you fought that night. he broke your heart over a leftover slice of chocolate cake.

life goes on, as they say. every part of you yearned for sae like flowers wishing for rain. you left a piece of yourself in his bedroom all those years ago, half of your soul that you hoped would always haunt him.

(it did.)

it's a mundane tuesday afternoon when you get the text.

the number was saved on your phone from many years ago, but it's been so long since the chat was active that your previous messages have been automatically deleted.

rin: are you going?

your answer is instantaneous.

y/n: no. why?

it’s a long while before rin texts you back.

rin: mom wants you there

it's all the convincing you need. you would just have to grit your teeth and sit through it, no matter how painful. you don't blame their mother in the slightest; your relationship with sae was your best kept secret, after all. it would have created a mess if you dragged their mom into your fighting.

how could she have known that she was marrying off your one and only love to a complete stranger?

everything about him is beautiful today. he's rented out the biggest venue in the city, strung up with crystal chandeliers and fancy clothed tables. it's uptight and luxurious.

you can't help but realize that it looks absolutely nothing like what you used to talk about as kids.

"the colour scheme clashes with your eyes, you know."

you watch as he tenses up at your voice, eyes drifting from his suit to you in the reflection of the mirror.

"wasn't my choice," he tells you casually, as if nearly two decades of history doesn't exist between you.

"your tie is all messed up."

"it's good to see you, too."

you're quiet in response, sauntering over to him and reaching out to fix the knot in his tie. he allows you to touch him, for old time's sake. your fingers brush against his throat and he swallows.

sae knows everything about you. almost 90% of his childhood was spent by your side. he knows what colours you like, which ones you would have chosen for your own wedding theme. he knows what kind of cake you would have wanted, too.

he did his best to persuade his bride into choosing things that wouldn't remind him of you.

it was a futile attempt.

fate works in funny ways. no matter where he looks he sees you, and his shitty plan to make this wedding the complete opposite of what you would have wanted only made him miss you more.

what do you do with memories of someone who isn't yours anymore? he doesn’t know how to handle memorizing every part of you and not using it.

you were his biggest regret, without a doubt. if he hadn't accepted that team drafting, would you still be together? would you be laughing over chocolate cake and telling your friends how you and him are childhood sweethearts? soulmates?

sae has never been impulsive. he doesn't like to be. there's nothing beneficial about being reckless.

but then he sees you, and it feels like you were never apart. he's afraid he'll wake up only to find out you were just a dream built on distant memories. or maybe he'll wake up in your arms, seventeen again, as if the world never caught up to him.

he loves you and the gravity of that makes him weak in the knees.

his whole life has been carefully constructed, at least that's what most people think. the reality is that it's all a lie; carefully constructed doesn't matter if the house is made of wet paper.

there's something nostalgic about letting you fix his tie. it reminds him of when you were both ten and looked up online how to do a windsor knot, just for the fun of it.

silence fills the room as you fix his outfit, sloppily thrown together because he couldn't care less about how he looks when marrying someone he doesn't want. then he stupidly opens his mouth in a last ditch attempt to make you his, blaming this familiar feeling raging inside of him on the nostalgia you bring with you.

“can we talk?” he pleads quietly.

“what is there to talk about?”

“about us.”

“there is no us.” not anymore. he abandoned that notion many years ago on his eighteenth birthday.

he contemplates you for a moment, just staring at you with a finality in his eyes that you wish was there the night he broke your heart. if it was, maybe the story would have ended differently.

"run away with me. let's go somewhere far from here. i don't care what anyone else thinks anymore. i just need you. i need you."

he never stopped needing you, even when thousands of miles separated you.

you blink at him in surprise. there's consideration in your face as you look at him, completely dumbfounded by his sudden confession.

it's the first time you've spoken in years. in fact, it's the first time you've laid eyes on him since that night. 

he's throwing everything away to be with you. your heart breaks because half of you knows you shouldn’t, and the other half of you screams to take his hand and start new again.

"sae..." there it is. a fondness sweet as honey clinging to your throat when you speak his name for the first time in years. there's an expression cast on his face when you call for him, as if he's been put under a spell, bewitched by your voice. 

for a moment he genuinely believes you'll actually agree to do something so stupid and reckless. just once, pretending like your whole world isn't falling apart around you. hope glimmers in his eyes. but then:

"we can't." he’s too late.

"please," he begs, forehead knocking into yours. you recoil from him so fast that you take his breath and a piece of his soul away with you.

it's been years, yet here he stands with your heart clutched in his palms; greedy fingers digging into the rotten core of fruit. you belong to him — you always will, as sure as the sun rises every morning, as sure as the sky is blue.

he knows it, too. it only makes it hurt all the more.

there isn't a doubt in your mind that you love him still, utterly and all-consuming and never-ending. the very idea of being in love with itoshi sae after all this time makes you feel so sick you might keel over and throw up.

he's just a stranger standing in front of you. your heart shouldn't tug at the sight of his watering eyes.

"shut up and go get married, sae."

you leave him standing alone in that room. he lets you go.

it's not until he's standing at the altar that it dawns on him: sae doesn't know very much about weddings.

the more accurate truth would be that he doesn't know a lot of things outside of football. but he does know one thing: your wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day of your life.

so why does he feel like throwing up?

his bride-to-be doesn’t look at him. doesn’t speak to him. their relationship is obligatory and nothing else. a union rooted in their mothers’ old friendship. sae didn’t put up a fight when his mom called him over to introduce them. he didn’t say a word until they got up to leave.

(if he did open his mouth, he would have choked on his own vomit.

in all honesty he should have, because maybe he would have scared away his bride and this whole headache never would have happened.)

she’s pretty enough. but he doesn’t like her.

there are no feelings of love in his heart, no care for what his soon-to-be wife says or does. he’s surprised she hasn’t left him at the alter yet, considering how little they even acknowledge each other.

it’s a good enough reason to explain the emptiness inside of him; that he’s entering a loveless marriage because of his mom’s social networking. he has other reasons, but none of them mattered until you showed up at the door.

loneliness is a part of sae. something he grew familiar with, something that slept in the same empty bed as he did while he tripped over his own tongue learning how to speak spanish.

he never realized how disgustingly lonely he felt in his own relationship until he saw you again.

he's supposed to be happy. he's supposed to fall in love. but he can't. not when you're sitting ten feet away from him with your fingers clinging tightly to his mother's.

sae meets your eyes only for a moment. eighteen years of his life spent by your side rings in his ears; your laughter, your tears, every part of you painfully ripping through him.

you're his soulmate. it's always been you. there was only ever you. how could it be anyone else?

he swallows and it feels like a thousand nails dragging down his throat. regret melts his brain into mush. he wants to object his own marriage and you seem to sense that, because you give him the tiniest, most subtle shake of the head.

don’t, please. 

sae’s stomach sinks. there’s only one acceptable answer he can give the officiant right now:

"i do."

maybe in the next lifetime.

© ALABOADOA 2023 — please do not translate or post my works to other platforms.

[samdeancrimespree]

idk whose post this is originally and i know this moment was kinda played for laughs in-show but like. they are good enough at hunting animals to find and kill food to eat on a new fucking planet.

they are …. So calm in this situation. they each have their tasks and jobs and they complete them in an orderly fashion, barely even having to talk, like they have a routine for being alone in the middle of the woods. we don’t ever see them doing this, but they must’ve done it before.

at which age do you think john winchester decided his sons needed to learn how to fend for themselves in the Real World and left them in the woods with bows and arrows and knives and said “i’ll be back in 4 days.” cause i’m gonna say 10 and 14? dean might’ve been out on his own before that, with the vague excuse of “training” given to sam to explain his brothers 2 day absence. it was a semi-frequent, maybe quarterly thing throughout their childhoods. obviously not on a Schedule so they never knew when to expect it, but they were always kind of waiting for it. it was just A Thing They Did, just like everything else. a way to prove they were retaining all their training. this was the winchester version of a camping trip. for the first couple years, sam didn’t even know this wasn’t what camping normally meant. he just knew he really hated camping.

one time, john got distracted by a hunt and left them in the alaskan wilderness in october for almost two weeks. one time, john forgot it was sam’s birthday and dean spent any spare time he had looking for cool rocks and leaves to give sam, and promised he’d give him his real presents when they got back. one time, dean got attacked by a goddamn cougar in colorado and sam patched him up and wondered what the tentative friends he had made last week were learning in their tenth grade class. and he hated john but almost cried with relief when he came to get them. dean did almost all the hunting because the very first camping trip, sammy shot a rabbit in the leg and sobbed as it slowly bled to death, and dean never wanted to see that type of anguish again. he hated killing the animals too, but he could do it, because sammy had to eat. he knew john would question it if sam hadn’t improved his skills, so they would set up makeshift archery ranges to practice. and in his reports to john, dean would always give half the kills to sam.

over time, as they got more skilled, john would give them less and less supplies, until at the end they only had a couple weapons each, rope, matches, and a first aid kit. and bobby thought when the boys spent one summer building a fort but refusing the tools he offered them, they were finally being regular kids.

[veryace-ficrecs]

Tim Drake & Jason Todd Fic Recs

This list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own discretion! :)

Optimally Sentimental by sprx77 - Rated T

Jason feels the tension fall completely out of his shoulders. Babyest bird is not feeling unsafe, right now; Tim doesn’t get this bitchy around people unless he trusts them. Random civilians and corporate fuckwits, they get soft-spoken, laughing Timothy Drake. Anyone Tim’s not quite comfortable with-- people he has to impress, like the Justice League-- get the world’s most perfect and efficient Robin. Seriously, it’s terrifying. He wears his competency like a sword and doesn’t bother with a shield. So, a snarky Tim-- a Tim who lashes out, without regard for if he’ll be hit back-- is a trusting Tim. A comfortable Tim.

Voicemails About Vital Organs by AshWinterGray - Rated T

Tim's missing spleen comes back to haunt him, and Jason is the only Bat and Family Member available to deal with the problem. There are some realizations, and Tam is just so do with these idiots.

Marlboro Reds and Birthday Wishes by crowclxb - Rated T

Tim can't ever remember the quotes he thinks describe his feelings. Also, everyone forgot his birthday. Not Jason, though. Tim just doesn't know that.

Swaddled in Warmth During Cold Times by melennui (orphan_account) - Rated G

Tim is chilly in the manor, but it's summer and it shouldn't be cold. To remedy this, he makes a hammock and gains a nice moment with his brother too.

i cry with anger / i have done no crime by CosmoKid - Rated M

They replaced him. Talia had told him that, taunted him with the grainy photos of a scrawny little kid in the Robin costume. A tiny little runt of a kid, dwarfed by the looming presence beside him. Fuck, did Bruce just hang around a pre-k and grab the first unfortunate kid whose parents were running late for pick up. Except no, Bruce replaced him with the rich little brat next door. The better, upgraded version of him; the newer, the shinier, the better version. The kid Bruce wanted Jason to be. The Robin Bruce really wanted. Timothy Jackson Drake.

take a chance on me by destiny919 - Rated T

"Hey, Stalker," Jason says without lowering his binoculars. Tim creeps out from behind the air conditioning unit and lets out a put-upon sigh that doesn't really fit a ten-year-old.

bright smile (and they can't see behind it) by AstraEllis - Rated T

Now that Jason's come home and actually spending time with his family, Tim figures his job is done. He kept Batman from self destructing, he was a halfway decent Robin, and Jason's home now. They're whole again, and they don't need Tim. Jason has some things to say about this assumption.

personal space by lawltam - Rated G

Tim gets hit with Ivy's pollen. He doesn't even check who he sent his outgoing help message to until he stumbles downstairs and spots Jason.

Adopt A Rescue! by sardonic_sprite - Rated G

I'm Bean. I'm very shy, but sweet, and I loove snuggles! I get very scared without my big brother, so we need to get a home together!  I'm Hunter. I don't trust very easy, but I'm very smart. We may not be litter-mates, but Bean is my brother and we stick together no matter what!   "Bean" had squirmed back out from underneath "Hunter" and was pawing at the glass again, looking right at Bruce. But he wasn't just pawing at the glass, he seemed to be making a pattern... "Oh, my God."

Breaking and Entering by Terranpheum - Rated T

Tim isn’t having a good day when he decides to use one of Red Hood’s safe houses as a rest stop. Only, the safe house seems a lot more comfortable than normal and isn’t as empty as he was hoping it was.

and i'm so sick of seventeen by Anonymous - Rated T

“You know this is bizarre, right?” “Jason, I’m just asking for a tiny favor—” “Tim, last week I watched you synthesize, in real time, a whole new organic compound for one of Crane’s toxins, on the fly, with half your guts hanging outside your body. How are you failing eleventh grade chemistry?” (Or; Tim gets Jason to help him with his chemistry homework. They bond.)

carry you home in my teeth by windupclock - Rated G

Jason takes his helmet off before he goes to deal with his replacement. He’s not expecting a hug. He gets one.

Only One Thing by Lulu_Rythmea - Rated T

"You're a great hugger, kiddo. 10/10 would hug again." "... you will? Really?" "Yeah, baby bird. Whenever you want." How far was that promise meant to go? OR: The fan-made sequel to destiny919's "Last Request".

hit me like a shooting star (so i can make a wish) by Ms_Trickster - Rated G

“He broke my camera!” Tim wails, incensed. “Not a crack, not a dent; it’s nothing but a pile of glass because he broke it!” “And his ankle,” Robin adds. “And my ankle!” “...I accidentally hit him with my car,” Batman reluctantly offers when Dr. Thompkins raises her eyebrow at him, causing her to choke on her next breath. (Or: One evening while birdwatching, a ten year old Tim Drake gets run over by the Batmobile.)

Whiplash by Lunette3002 - Rated T

When Barbara called to tell Tim that one of his safehouses had been broken into, he wasn't expecting to find an unconscious Red Hood. OR Words like "whiplash" can have two meanings :)

Bridges Not Yet Burned by Kgraces - Rated T

Somehow, they keep coming back to this: Tim, Jason, and a Batarang

Little Overlooked Dreams by Lunette3002 - Rated G

Tim weighed his options. He was alone at night in some alleyway in Gotham. He had nothing except the clothes left on the ground by someone and the cloak wrapped around his skinny shoulders. His camera was nowhere in sight. His backpack was gone too. He brought the device to his ear. “Hello?” Whatever talking had been on the other end of the line immediately cut off at his hesitant greeting. “Who is this?”

[electrospherevaults]

Sorry About The Inconvenience

[Find other stories from the 2024 Friday Writing Challenge here]

The sun went out one day. Woke up one morning and it was nowhere to be found. You would think that the winter solstice would have something to do with that, but it was eleven in the morning by the time you checked again, and there was still no sun climbing over the horizon. The streetlights down the road were out too and everyone was walking about in flashlights and phones. It could not have been a solar eclipse either; there had been no warning for one, and most importantly – they do not last this long.

Maybe it was better to just admit that the sun, simply, had disappeared.

But it is not fair to say it disappeared. Stars go out all the time; such is theorized in deep fields of academia whose job is to look at the stars all night long. “Must be nice for them now,” mom said, “they can work during the day too.” You nodded and got out in the street, because, truth be told, you did still have that telescope stashed away in the garage, under a bunch of cobwebs and cardboard boxes labelled with letters you did not remember writing. It was a gift from her, acquired for your seventh birthday. You liked to gaze the stars that night, and then you kept it as an heirloom of their kindness for the next thirty-forty odd years. And now that it was properly unwrapped from plastic sheets and set up again for the first time in decades, you got it set on the stars blinking overhead, all in an effort to find the star that blinked closest to us.

The neighborhood soon started to gather around. Maurice was there, of course; he always claimed to be an expert in matters of the moon and the sun – neither to be found at the present moment. He chased eclipses around the world, successfully attending several, and he was near certain this was not one of them.

You shrugged. You would hope so. You could not imagine a world without light. You recalled mom’s plant by the windowsill; she had it for eleven years now. She loved her little dude so much. It kept her company as she worked from home on the sunny days and the rainy days and even the stormy ones. Those were the worst as the internet would cut out and make her upset over her inability to understand that you could not, in fact, slap the router to make it work again. Because it did not work like the old boxy cable television. No, a kick worked better.

“And you think we will find it again?”

Old-man Jenkins and his wife, Martha, joined you the next day, who taught in the primary school up until twelve years ago and now tried to enjoy a mostly-retired life. He still carried with him a fascination for space that most old men his age harbored from when they had witnessed the moon landing as kids. It was charming to listen to him talk about the reverence he held and still hoped to pass onto others-

“Also you call this a bean dip? It barely has any BEANS!”

-even if his grumpy ways got worse with his old age. You sighed. The bean dip had no beans because it was not a bean dip. It had lentils. You still could not understand how the old man confused the two.

“I still do not understand why you don’t cook something simple for once,” Jenny, from accounting, added; an old friend, an older crush, and an even older thorn in your rear.

“Well, they are healthier,” you argued, tossing another pistachio shell over the rooftop. Only half the houses now had lights on, even if it was merely noon. The electrical company was reported to have been unable to cope with the sudden demand, and a blackout had been hastily and unexpectedly scheduled. Meanwhile, mom had bought a generator on a whim last summer after that horrid thunderstorm had smitten the neighborhood. This was now the only house with a lamp turned on. And, as an added bonus, it had a premium view to the stars above too.

The balcony was spacious enough to hold a black metallic table with a white marble top and some fancy black metallic chairs (a gift from Grandma Nia that your parents could not keep in their tiny apartment anymore). It had to be pushed back to the wall, and old-man Jenkins and his wife, Martha, sat patiently, waiting for their turn to look through the telescope. Jenny was the one using it now. She looked curiously, her eyes filled with wonder; it had been long since a genuine smile like that had been painted over her face. And one of frustration too; the big guy was nowhere to be found. She argued you had not set the telescope right. She left after she stole a platter of bean dip with her, which you still argued was made of lentils and should not be called one.

She would be back the day after tomorrow as it was now the weekend and the sun was still to be found. Old-man Jenkins and Maurice had been exchanging theories all night long – a considerably longer time than one would believe given how long this night had already lasted. Once the battery drained out, they would pop in a new one with their freshly brewed coffee and exchange more ideas on what happened to our sun. Maybe it was stolen actually, and aliens held it hostage. Maybe it blew up and this was the afterlife. Maybe it just dimmed.

“Why would it dim, dimwit?”

“Well,” Maurice argued back, sipping his espresso, not realizing the clock said it was supposedly two in the morning, “ever heard of a white dwarf?” Old-man Jenkins nodded. “Ever seen one up close?” Old-man Jenkins now shook his head. “Me neither! So we COULD be witnessing a white dwarf now!”

Old-man Jenkins delivered a slap to Maurice’s head. It landed with the same thud Maurice dropped his piece of wisdom – very loudly, and without a hint of intelligence behind his actions.

“And you’re telling me these two come and bicker every day at your place?” Jenny asked bemusedly.

“Yep.”

“Are you that starved for miscommunication?”

“Beats thinking about anything else, really.”

She sipped on her cup of tea and nodded. It had not taken too much fiddling to position the telescope right actually back on the first day, nor did it take too much guesswork to realize where it should have been pointing. A hazarded guess was that the sun would actually still be out there, but that it just happened to be completely dim.

Instead, there was nothing to be found, no matter the time of the day.

You sighed as you leaned over the edge, letting the nightly breeze wash over you once more. A lone telephone pole stood across the street, and a single light was open. People walked around with flashlights on; from phones, from torches attached to the belt or the hat. Some braver ones attached them to their front pockets of their shirts, but soon realized that they were too small and would fall on the ground. One such pocket torch fell with a particularly loud crack, like a mirror shattering. The expletives were plenty. Jenny chuckled as she slid next to you.

“At least,” she said, turning herself around and looking back up to the night sky, “it is pretty.” You turned to look with her. Thousands of millions of billions of stars overhead – all blinking in and out of existence.

You blinked back to earth. There was a man in an ill-fitting orange jumpsuit standing underneath the telephone pole. He carried a briefcase. He kicked his feet on the ground and he started walking forward, crossing the street and making his way to the other side.

To your house.

To your door.

The man in the orange jumpsuit arrived at the front door. You all watched him from the balcony, ringing the same bell that had a clear label stating it was out of service repeatedly.

“Think he wants you?” your mom asked.

“I mean,” you replied, “nobody else lives here. Would be weird if he rang the wrong person.”

“Should we go downstairs about it then?” Maurice asked.

Old-man Jenkins slapped him on the back of his head again. “What, you eager to be on the headlines first thing in the morning tomorrow? Local dumbass opens door to stranger, six dead, killer at large?”

You shrugged. “Beats staying in the dark about it.”

“EXCUSE ME!”

Everyone looked down. The man in the orange jumpsuit had a longer face than you would expect one man to have. “Will you let me in?” he asked again, gentler this time.

“Why?”

“I am a representative of the Sunlight Company!”

“The what?”

“He means the electrical,” mom explained.

You turned back again down. “I paid it yesterday!”

The man checked again. “No, it says you have not.”

“Are you sure you got the right building?”

He looked around, without a flashlight. He seemed to know what he was doing. “No!” Evidently, he was not. “Everything looks the same to me.”

“You’re not from around here, are you?”

“No.” He looked again back on his paper. “Are you Mister Jonathan Harry Klinger?”

“Th-the President? No, he’s at the capital!”

“Well… This is addressed to you still, sir.”

“Are you sure you’re not pulling our leg?”

“I… cannot? I am on the ground and you are upstairs.”

You took a step back. Everyone followed suit. You stared at each other, looking expectantly at one another for answers.

“I think we should give him a chance,” mom argued. You turned to look at her with a side-eye. “He looks like an honest young man, but just a little confused.”

“You do not look human,” mom said later as she opened the front door. You held a rolling pin, whilst Jenny held a pitching fork. Maurice had grabbed a frying pan. And old-man Jenkins had his revolver on hand; his wife, Martha, carried it for him in her purse.

The man in the orange jumpsuit grabbed his face in a moment of panic, fixing up a wrinkle in a hurry. Had you seen him, you would have believed he had left his zipper down. “I am sorry about that; company policy, but they do not invest in proper critter generators.”

“I understand,” you lied through your teeth, loosing the grip on your rolling pin. There was a hint of truth, however; you had done customer support in the past, you can relate to a man struggling with a confused customer that made contact with a piece of technology they had no interest in understanding.

“So,” the man in the orange jumpsuit began. “Your planet has been overdue in its payment, so we had to turn the lights off.”

“And how much is the damage?”

The man in the orange jumpsuit who desperately tried to keep his legs straight and together looked back into the piece of paper. He turned to look back to you. “Oh I assure you, there is no damage! The star has simply been stored in a temporary pocket dimension until the rent has been paid back in full, along with interest. Thusly,” he took a breath and a quick glance on the paper; old-man Jenkins, who had graded many students in the past, would have failed him. “You owe the Company 314’496 Units.”

“Oh, that does not sound good dear,” your mom said as you ruffled through your wallet. Instead, all you had was a couple dollars and a dollar store coupon.

“How much is that in human money?” you said as he took a fancy calculator out next.

“What is your currency called?” he asked you back.

“Dollars.”

The man in the orange jumpsuit sighed with a gravelly voice; if you had not been observing his mouth, you would easily think it was a lawn mower revving up to go at full speed for an early and refreshing five in the morning lawn mowing that was specifically aimed to get you up and running on a Sunday. “There are twenty-five types of dollars in your planet.”

“American,” Jenny added.

The man contorted his face into a smile now. It seemed genuine enough for you to return the gesture. He seemed pleased with himself for getting the expression right this time. He pressed a few more buttons, and a few more raggedy clanking sounds came out, and the calculator spat out a piece of paper; a receipt that the man in the orange jumpsuit handed to your hands.

“Your rent is 78 cents in American Dollars, sir.”

You stared back at the man in the orange jumpsuit. You reached into your pocked and picked up some spare change you still happened to have from the kebab shop you visited earlier. You handed them over to him without counting. He was surprised, astounded even, much like a child whose father shows him how multiplication works.

“We are terribly sorry about the inconvenience,” the man in the orange jumpsuit added, handing you back the leftover change. You insisted on him keeping these coins, for his hard and meticulous work. You hazard, at least, that such work is hard and meticulous, and possibly arduous. “Your star will be back tomorrow.” The man in the orange jumpsuit left. You all turned to look at each other in disbelief, and next thing you know he was truly gone. He could not have turned right nor left without being still visible. Maurice sat down by the nearby chair.

“Screw the sun,” he said, plucking out his pin from his jacket. “Aliens are real…”

He departed soon thereafter, after old-man Jenkins and his wife, Martha, had left first. Jenny was the last one left. “You think this man in the orange jumpsuit was honest?”

“Well,” you said, “he only cost me eighty cents or so.”

She chuckled. “See you tomorrow morning.”

You went back to sleep. It was four in the morning.

Three hours later, sunrays hit your eyes through the blinds – and you had to wake up for work.

[luminousvision]

Maple Court

JJ, the 1st grader next door, taught us the compendium of four letter words far ahead of schedule. Where did you learn to say that, his older brother Danny asked in Spanish, only half-shocked. Jessica, our token white girl, was the only one who didn’t think it was funny. It was bad influence on Meghan, the shy Filipino kindergartener whose parents spoke even worse English than the rest of ours.

The gregarious sisters Britney and Kiana lived outside Maple Court but we still called them family. They knew no fear of adults. They’d knock on our door and ask my parents if Henry and Vivian could play. Yes, of course our homework was done, we’d say in a snippet of Korean that the others soon picked up. We’d march over to Wanda’s and repeat, except that house ran in some other Spanish that JJ said was wrong. We never knew who we’d get, because even though Wanda was an only child, she had about thirty cousins, and some permutation of them would always be there, ready to play. At her ninth birthday party in the backyard, I asked if all Mexican families were this big. Of course, she said. The more the merrier.

We all agreed. We cheered when Sarah solved the mystery of who-lived-in-that-blue-house by moving into it. She taught all of us True Americana with its Bratz, Wonderbread, and Chevy-Truck dad who never moved anything bigger than the grill for their hotdog and hamburger parties. It was good to have more than one white kid, we would realize a year later, when Jessica packed her adorable white rabbits and left. We technically got two, if you count Sarah’s older brother Dalton, but he was so glued to his XBox that we only saw his pale, muscle-less figure when his dad forced him get off his ass and fetch the mail. Even big seventh-grade Chanho couldn’t make him leave the house, so he just went to Dalton’s to play XBox together.

We invented the greatest games. We played kickball using lampposts as bases until Danny sent our best ball sailing over the fence at the end of Maple Court and into the angry man’s backyard for the third time. Not even Britney could negotiate this hostage recovery. We played clever variations on tag to make sure even Meghan and JJ could get out of being ‘it’. We’d always try to have two people be ‘it’ and the space we could run in was based on how old they were. Even the older Jessica and Chanho would run around with us. In the summers, we’d walk to the neighborhood pool together. We went fishing in the lake with Sarah’s dad who eagerly offered tips but didn’t catch anything bigger than we did. Every August we’d compete to catch the most butterflies and then free them all at once like one reverberating kaleidoscope.

Jessica was the first to get busy with school and stop coming out to play, even when Kiana begged her mom at the door. We didn’t even realize she had moved until we took a chance one day but instead met new white parents who brought infants, not kids. Danny and JJ left a pink house that bleached fully by the time an old white family replaced them with their kids off in college. Baby genius Meghan graduated from Maple Court knowing all her four letter words and was replaced by Lizabeth and her aunt who brought a Mexican family almost as big as Wanda’s. The short-lived abundance of Mexican kids ended when Wanda left. In her place, we got Amber, a cheery only-child with a single mom whom I only ever heard yelling. Even Britney and Kiana moved when their dad lost his job. We each put our scooter handles at half mast when we heard the news. Who would go door-to-door to drag the kids out to play?

Sarah started to spend more time at the mall, hanging out with her cool friends. She’d still play with us, but would roll her eyes every time Austin and Dakota joined us. The two, still in elementary school, had just moved in with their aunt and uncle. My sister said their parents kicked them out of Texas for how annoying they were. Amber and I laughed.

She and I would bike around the neighborhood, past the hallways of cookie-cutter suburban homes. We’d venture farther than either of our moms allowed and lie about it together when she sometimes ate dinner at our house. We had a bench at our favorite park where we’d watch the older kids play basketball. Here, Amber shared the abrupt dating stories of her middle school friends. I told her about my crush on a cute Chinese girl in my class. She asked me if I knew what periods were and laughed at my horror, explaining it was normal for girls to bleed down there. Amber’s green eyes sparkled against the sunset and her brown hair waved playfully in the wind. She asked me if I’d go to the school dance. Not with her, of course. Dancing? I didn’t like dancing.

By the time Amber moved, my sister and I were fighting high school, while Sarah was trying to keep her parents together. Austin and Dakota were shipped back to Texas. Nobody laughed when someone joked they were too much for their aunt and uncle. Lizabeth went back to live with her mom. Chanho left for college and Dalton bought an XBox 360.

The house at the mouth of Maple Court now sported a middle-aged man enjoying his daily cigar from a plastic folding chair next to an enormous RV. This sparkling trophy ate the whole driveway and never moved. Austin and Dakota’s uncle expanded his shiny car collection to five. On many of the evenings I came home from SAT tutoring, the two men would talk at each other, shouting, across the street, sitting in their respective pristine lawns. They were much louder than the two kids from Jessica’s old house who were now big enough to play. The two kids silently rolled marbles on the ground, helicoptered by six retirees who fulfilled their dream of adventure by sitting in plastic folding chairs around a charcoal grill.

I would soon leave for college. My sister was buried in schoolwork. Sarah with dark circles shrugged when I asked about her future. She’d study at community college to be a vet or work at a hair salon. Sarah moved the week before I left, when her parents decided that neither of them would get to keep the house. My Mormon high school principal took it instead, armed with six toddlers including triplets. On my last evening in Maple Court, I looked out my window to see eight white kids sitting, piled up on the asphalt. Their white parents encircled them in plastic folding chairs, smiling with glasses of champagne.

[unkat]

Okay, im doing it.

Name: Al

Age: 52

Pronouns: He/Him

Ancestry: Mark of Healing Halfling

Class at level 20: 18 Grave Cleric/2 Divination Wizard

Alignment: Lawful Neutral -> Lawful Good

A short halfling walks in through the front gates, hefting a rucksack with delicate needlework on it, in the shape of bright turquoise, scarlet, yellow, and violet flowers. A feminine figure is half sewn in bright white thread, finishing an unraveling greyed out design. He wears a long leather duster, belted shut and covering old but well-maintained black vestments with similarly bright embroidery around the collar. Looking up, he frowns at the brightness of the summer sun.

"I wander. Help where I am needed. I have heard this is a place where help is needed. Some might even say it is fate that I heard about this place. What brings anyone to where they lay their head?"

------------------

A world-weary man looking for death, and until then to pay back the world for his sins. He is an enemy to lawbreakers, those who create and use the dead with necromancy, and evil in general-- mostly in that order. He is not one to intervene in the goings on of kingdoms whose laws he finds disagreeable, and he is not one to indulge in any of the comforts of the mortal flesh (food, drink, friendship, and other mind-altering substances open one up to temptation and manipulation).

I really loved playing Al-- there's something about emotionally constipated old goths that really resonates with me. His story was one of self-forgiveness and acceptance, reconnection with his roots, and fumbling his way very autistically into having friends. He ended up marrying Blue the firbolg wild magic sorcerer, my then crush and later girlfriend's character, which makes them extra special for me.

IMPORTANT BITS:

He always takes everything very seriously. This leads to a lot of awkwardness, including taking jokes seriously.

One in particular was staring at a woman intently because she resembled (and was related to) an NPC they were looking for ending in him blurting out "I'm Gay!" and walking away, understanding that this conversation is irredeemable.

His patron was the Morai, the three fates, and he made his own vestments, embroidering tiny skulls on them as meditation and memoriam to his successes and failures.

His full name is Alitti Bitty, two family names he hated as a kid because he was already so small.

He had two full sleeve tattoos and a thick scar in a T shape from collarbone to pelvis. After the game, this expanded to his back as well.

He refused to call anyone his friend for months, and it made everyone annoyed at me personally.

One of my uncrossable lines with him was that if he died, he would not choose to come back. Which lasted until he fell in love with Blue.

When I finished fleshing out his backstory, I said "Oh no, I've ruined him."

(Speaking of which)

BACKSTORY

Trigger warning: necromancy, death, dangerous surgery, substance abuse, toxic relationships.

Al was born into a small country town as the second of three sons to his parents. He never took to the quaint life or his family's magic, being the last of his brothers to learn how to heal and never following in his parents' footsteps of farmer and brewer. They never treated him poorly, however he was very aware that despite their cheer they were disappointed in him. His birthday, in the dead of winter, was always celebrated as one of the few reasons to be particularly merry within the village. He hated all of it and drifted towards jobs that did not require him to be social.

Al was initiated into the Order of the Moirai when he was a teenager, fascinated with the art of undertaking and necromancer hunting. He began training by helping manage the graveyard in town, which is where he met his first boyfriend, Calcifer. He was the first person who Al enjoyed spending time with (they left his birthday party to make out in the woods).

Calcifer was as odd as Al felt, and they intended to run away together on Al's 20th birthday. Which is sidelined when his parents beg him to stay for a few more months. Calcifer, bitter about this, vivisects Al and cuts out his heart before reviving him, and then uses him as bait to lure out his family and kill them. They come back as undead, and together with Calcifer destroy the rest of the village. Al and Calcifer blame Al for this. Calcifer then escapes the carnage, the Order of the Moirai arriving too late to catch a trail, and with very little sympathy for Al in light of his mistakes.

He spends years hunting budding necromancers afterwards, always finding the bar before and after his missions. Lonely and drunk, when he runs into Calcifer ten years later his resolve does not last very long and he sleeps with him. He travels with him for about a month before reality sets in that Cal is looking to do the same to another village as he did to his own. Al finds and eliminates his undead father, and Calcifer's hoard becomes uncontrolled, preventing Cal from being as deadly.

He gets kicked from the Order for his steady decline, and Al vows to never let this happen again. He leaves the region and continues his work, but with more rules, more oversevere self-control. He works based on the regional laws rather than his own moral code, even if that means protecting people he hates because the law does not permit their mistreatment. By the time of the campaign, he protects Calcifer's younger sister from a mob in town who have no lawful justification for their actions.

He allows himself to enjoy food, drink, company, slowly and not without immense feelings of guilt. Al befriends Blue, a fellow 50+ year old gay man pining for a friend. Then he burns down his cabin. It's the start of a beautiful friendship.

I started the story assuming that Al would have a crisis of faith and leave his religion. However, the longer the story went the more I realized that Al leaned on his faith for comfort and purpose, something that never changed even when others who disliked religion spoke negatively about it. His faith was integral to his survival, not just as his source of clerical power. After he dies after the post-game epilogue seen below, he becomes almost akin to an angel of death, a messenger of his goddesses for souls in need of aid after their death.

---

Al continues to have an abnormally long life, shared with his soulmate, Blue, and possibly influenced by the wild magic that desired to keep him by his side. They marry quietly after a couple of years together with only their friends and family invited.

Al cries at the proposal, but Blue cries at their vows. Henri is the proud officiant.

They build a life together, updating and renovating the garden home into one that not only has a wide open space for Blue, but smaller ones for Al. Instead of stepladders littering the house, enchanted floorboards and rugs are used to lift the shorter residents to arms-reach of necessary cabinets. An indoor balcony for Al to speak to his lover from on the side of his private spaces- a workshop for his tailoring, and the place he worked on recreating his father's brewing recipes. At least, until their first child.

Al and Blue raise four daughters, fostering many others in their times of need and sending them to new homes. Al's workshop was the younger ones' playground, Holly never outgrowing its short ceilings, and Al their "Da," while Blue was "Pa." The brewing workshop was dismantled by agreement, both Al and Blue putting their equipment behind a locked door, to stay that way until someone learned to pick it.

The eldest, Holly, is a halfling who lives up to the race's mischievous and lively reputation. Euphemia, a goliath, is quiet and learned, eventually running a mage's library herself. Cassandra, a human, never seemed to outgrow her temper and moodiness, running away from home after a fight, but returning a few years later, asking for their blessing, and to walk her down the aisle. Finally, Za'lia. Taking after her Pa, the half-elf excelled in fey magics, and wielded her own wild magic. After their youngest left, the house felt too big, too empty, and Al's joints ached going up and down the stairs in winter. They pass on the house to Holly, their eldest, and move into the country. Funnily enough, Al's final home is built nearly on the grounds of Blue's old family home. They grow an orchard together to keep busy, and never are bereft of visitors in the form of friends and family.

Despite his abnormal longevity, Al does slow down and grow silver around his temples that eventually turns him from salt and pepper to all salt, as if he was not salty enough. He matches Blue in manners, but while his lover never stops looking like a young man, Al becomes middle aged and then old. He still wakes early in the morning to say his morning prayers, just kneeling closer to a table or chair to prop himself up with so it is easier to get off the floor afterwards to make breakfast.

His favorite times are when he is sitting under he and Blue's favorite tree from the orchard, an old apple tree that lives long after all the others bear their last fruit and are replaced by their descendants. His fingers are too shaky to embroider the beautiful pieces he worked on in his younger years, but knitting needles replace the embroidery needles and nobody leaves without a new hat, gloves or scarf.

Before he dies, he never feels unloved, or alone. Blue is doting and careful, even as Al teases him for loving a crabby old man ("You were never anything but, Weaver." He teases back). He passes of old age in their country home, with those he loves, and Blue buries him underneath the big tree.

I think im gonna do a post about my dnd characters one of these days. scream my blorbo feelings into the void a bit.

[landothemuppet]

Far Longer Than Forever (p.p)

Word count: 4737

Pairing : peter parker

Request: YES! ANON I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. The Swan Princess is one of my childhood movie and this was so fun to write. I can’t stop listenning the soundtrack now ! I’m so sorry for the time i took to write this, i had so much work to do with school. But it’s over now and i hope you will like this ! 

N/A:  First, gif not mine but i don’t know who i’m gonna credit on this, i have no clue...This is my first Peter Parker x reader and i hope you all will like it! As always, I remind you that English is not my native language. Don’t hesitate to tell me what you think of the fic! Like, reblogs to support. You can Love you all! xx

Taglist: @angeliquekalampoka @harryhollandsgirlfriend @cedricdiggorysimpp​ - if you want to be notified of all my future writings you can add yourself in my taglist : here

______

As far as you can remember, you've always hated summer. Well, it was partly a lie. You loved the sweltering heat of Queens, the cherry popsicles from Delmar's, not having to worry about what time you had to get up. You liked it but hated the idea of ​​the last two weeks of August.

 This year was no exception. You looked at your half-finished suitcase, a grimace on your face. August still meant the same thing, the same routine: having to spend the last three weeks of his vacation with Peter Parker.

summer 2009

Peter Parker had lost his parents very early on, two years ago. He had lived since then with his aunt May and his uncle Ben. It was your mother's idea to introduce you to each other. Aunt May and your mom were friends from college and luckily, they lived in the same neighborhood. Your first meeting with the one who, many years later, would become Spider-Man, took place on his eighth birthday. You were invited to the party when you weren't even at the same school. Aunt May had simply shared his fears about Peter's difficulty making friends after the trauma he had experienced. Your mother, as the perfect friend that she was, had suggested that Peter and you spend time together.

 There were 3 kids in total at that birthday party, you, Peter - obviously - and a boy from his school whose mother had forced him to be there, too. It was a fact; you were the only girl and you didn't know Peter at all. Your mother walked up to you, got up to your eye level and whispered

 "Can you be nice? May told me she invited Peter's whole class and only this boy came"

 You wanted to please your mother so you nodded before approaching the two boys. Peter and his friend were in the corner of the room, their backs turned to the adults. When you tapping the young boy on the shoulder to make you notice by him, he turned to you with a guilty expression. He had buttercream all over the corner of his mouth and he was holding a cupcake in his hand that looked delicious.

 “My Aunt May tried to bake a cake, but Uncle Ben bought some cupcakes in anticipation. Do you want one?” Peter asked you in a friendly voice

“Why? Is May's cake not good?

“Uncle Ben says that she is not very good at cooking.”

 You let out a little laugh and nodded your head before grabbing the cupcake with a smile. You thanked him and began to taste the little pastry with envy. It was so good! The buttercream was lemony, the cupcake was slightly lemony too but there was a taste you couldn't recognize. You were almost sure you had tasted it before, but you couldn't tell what it was. Peter and the other boy suggested that you go to Peter's room. He wanted to show you the LEGO set his uncle Ben had given him ahead of time and you followed them even though you weren't more excited about the idea.

 And you were right. For several minutes, you were pushed aside while the two young boys spoke spiritedly. You complained several times that you wanted to do something else but Peter didn't seem to listen to you, too excited to finally be able to chat with someone who appreciated Star Wars as much as he did.

 So you were annoyed and slightly angry with Peter but what broke the camel's back is that you started to not feel so good. Your throat was itching and you felt like your tongue was taking up a lot more space in your mouth, getting drier. Peter gave you a distracted look before his eyes widened. He let go of everything he had in his hands before running to his aunt.

 "Aunt May, Aunt May! Y/N's tongue looks like a big, desiccated steak!"

"Peter, don't be rude!" she exclaimed, shocked by her nephew’s words

"No, no come see, she has a huge tongue! I think something is wrong"

 Meanwhile, you ran into the bathroom at Peter's reaction. You weren't sure why he had looked at you like that, but you felt that a few things were wrong. In addition, you were more and more thirsty, your eyes also hurt. And that's when you saw your reflection. You were puffy, your tongue had tripled in size, hence this feeling of dryness and discomfort. It was the same with your throat. You started to cry and when May called you through the bathroom door, you fervently opened it.

 May and your mother's expression of horror was instantaneous and your mother knew exactly what was causing your condition.

 "What did she eat?"

"Nothing..." he tried to escape from being grounded

"Peter, this is very important. What did you eat?"

"We just ate the cupcakes Uncle Ben brought back"

 Ben looked at May with guilty eyes. May had put so much effort into Peter's birthday cake and she felt hurt that they had bought some pastries in anticipation. Your mother was impatiently stamping her foot. It was important to know exactly what you had eaten and above all, you shouldn't waste any more time. Peter felt completely helpless. He had only given a cupcake to his guest, that’s all. What was wrong with giving someone a cupcake?

 "What were those cupcakes flavor?" your mother said impatiently ...

"With lemon and almonds." he said in a very small voice.

 You were panicked. And the eight-year-old that you were was not coping well with stress. Plus, your feeling of being sidelined by Peter and his friend made you feel even worse. So you frowned. You couldn't see a thing but you could feel the torrent of tears escaping your cheeks. You pointed at Peter with rage

 "You tried to kill me !!!" you said somehow with your tongue as big as a little tangerine.

"It's not true!"

"Yes! You are a murderer"

 And you cried even more before your mother takes you to the emergency room as quickly as possible, apologizing for the scene.

 The week later, May forced Peter to apologize for giving you a cupcake, while justifying that he didn't know about your allergy. Your mother forced you to apologize for insulting Peter "a murderer" and accept his apologies.

 But you spent the rest of the vacation arguing with the little guy. After all, you didn't want to be friends with a murderer.

 Summer 2013

Aunt May and your mom didn't let go, however, and every summer you spent three damn weeks with Peter. The summer of your twelve years, you did not thus escape this eternal masquerade but this year, the tide had turned in your favor.

 From the start, you never liked Star Wars. It really wasn't your world. You had always preferred Harry Potter and although Peter had read the books and enjoyed them - which he would never admit to you as that would amount to listing the commonalities you had - he was much more invested in the galactic universe. But on that day, Peter had particularly bothered you. He had first replaced the sugar in your hot chocolate with salt. He kept chanting silly nursery rhymes about you and the downstairs neighbor, insinuating that you were in love: which was not the case. Yes, Peter had been extremely annoying. This time Peter was getting on your nerds by bouncing a small ball against the ceiling as you tried to read your book. Uncle Ben was in the living room watching the sport - you weren't sure exactly which one since it didn't matter to you - so you couldn't go anywhere else to be quiet.

 "Peter, stop it."

"Stop what?" he asked by bouncing the ball once more off his ceiling. You could even make out the smirk on his lips.

"That. Stop it! I can't read."

"This is nothing new."

 You threw him the first thing you found on his desk, c.e, a banana, which he easily dodged. You groaned in frustration. May and your mother didn't understand when you talked about Peter's attitude towards you. He was a calm child, far too shy at school and interested in everything, especially science. He was looking forward to entering Midletown High School in two years. You hated that nerd side about him. Secretly, you were a little jealous of him for being the smartest in the room.

 “I'm gonna hit you so hard you won't know your name anymore”

“ try me, dumbass.”

  A few minutes later, he had finally stopped throwing that damn ball, but obviously Peter's boredom was driving him to find everything the most boring thing than the previous one to drive you crazy. This time, he had simply taken his favorite lightsaber - because he had several - and he was poking your shoulder to get your attention.

 "Parker, stop!"

"Don't you want to drop this book and watch a movie?"

"What do you want to watch? Star Wars? No thanks ..."

"Oh come on, Y / N! I'm sure you'll like it!"

 He patted you on the shoulder once more with his lightsaber.

 "Do you want to play this, Parker?" you said before grabbing one of his other lightsabers

"What are you going to do? I'm sure you don't know how to fight with" he mocked.

 You have lit the glowing plastic stick and you are placed in the guard position.

 "Do you want to bet, knothead?"

 He smiled at you and attacked you first. Strangely, this is what most resembled a moment of bond between Peter and you and deep down, you appreciate it. But you also appreciate that possibility of kicking his ass after he's been so irritating. You responded to his lightsaber attacks with ease and joy. It was playful, childish, but it was one of the few times you had fun with Peter. And you really appreciate it. Your two laughs mingled, echoing in the room.

 But suddenly, as you were trying to dodge an attack from the brunet, your elbow made contact with his face. Peter's muffled cry of pain echoed and you froze. He was holding his nose with a grimace and when he took his hand away you both noticed in horror that he was bleeding.

 "Fuck…"

"Pete..." you started talking

"You blew my nose!" Peter shouted

"I did not do it on purpose!" you defended yourself.

"Of course, you do! You fucking blew my nose!"

"Peter, I swear ..."

 But Peter interrupted you by rushing out of his bedroom looking for his aunt who was in the office as she tried to file the important papers, that Ben and her had received this week. You were livid. First, because you didn't mean to hurt Peter on purpose. Second, you couldn't stand the sight of blood and it was literally everywhere. Peter was leaving trails of droplets on the floor of the apartment.

 "Aunt May?!? Y/N blew my nose! Damn, I'm bleeding!"

 After a brief stint in the ER, the rest of the stay was peaceful as you and Peter avoided each other until the end of the summer.

 Summer 2017

Peter was not the Peter you had always known.

 Since the death of his uncle Ben, the young man had closed in on himself and was even further away. Always so intelligent and discreet but much more distant. He had stopped teasing you or doing things that got on your nerves. He was minding his own business. And even though you had tried to be there for him, not denying him any of the offers he made to you during your stay ... you found him really ... overwhelmed. Which was still understandable.

 But this year was worse than the last. May told your mother that last year Peter got an internship at Stark Industry and attended a seminar in Germany but came back with a black eye. He had been acting most weirdly ever more since then. And you could have witnessed it. In the afternoon, when you were busy, and when it was too hot, when you tried to rest, Peter would disappear for hours. When you caught him sneaking back several times, he made you promise not to tell Aunt May.

 And you were starting to have theories about his nighttime getaways. After all, you were 16 and you too had started dating a few boys. But it never really worked. who knows why?! And when you wondered if Peter had a girlfriend, and who she was - he had to have one in view of all his sneaking out - your stomach twisted in a strange feeling. You didn't understand why the thought of Peter having a girlfriend bothered you so much. Over time, you had learned to be friends. It still happened sometimes that you quarreled but the events of the life made you grow up. Your parents had divorced, Peter had lost his uncle. You could tell yourself that you both had grown.

 And it was one night when Peter was sneaking back in again that you discovered two secrets.

 The first one: He was Spider-Man.

 It was around midnight when you heard the sound of the window opening. Since your childhood and this Machiavellian plan of your mother and Aunt May, you had always slept in Peter's room during holiday and more recently in his bed. The noise alerted you and you got up in a sitting position. But the only thing you saw was a foot, placed on this said window, closing it gently. How the hell was that possible?

 You were ready to scream but your gut told you to look up at the ceiling. A figure hung on it and you were paralyzed. Were you having one of those weird experiences called sleep paralysis? Delicately, silently, you grabbed the first blunt object within reach. A chemistry book that Peter seemed particularly fond of. The figure stepped on the ceiling as you were paralyzed. The form turned to land on the ground and then stood up, still with its back to you. You got up gently from Peter's bed and walked over. The man in the suit whose color you couldn't see took off his mask and you hit the air in an attempt to shoot him down. Peter turned around so quickly and blocked your gesture easily, like a reflex.

 "What the ..."

"Bloody hell".

 You both said at the same time. Your big surprised eyes mirrored Peter's. The curly man let go of your hand with an apologetic expression as you walked away from your friend. You turned on the bedside lamp before you discovered his blue and red costume. A very recognizable costume since it was that of Spider-Man. You winced, a look of judgment and incomprehension on your face. Not bothering to look at his face covered with bruises and traces of blood.

 "What the ... are you sneaking out to go to a costume party?"

"What?! No…No Y/N I’m…”

“Spider-Man? Great costume by the way” you joked.

 For a moment, you completely forgot that you just saw your friend glued upside down to the ceiling. Peter looked at you a little jaded, by the tone of your voice your guess was far from a sincere question but more of a mockery. And right now, the young man needed to be honest with you. He needed you.

 "But, I am."

"Yeah that's it. And I slept with the Winter Soldier. You can't imagine what he can do with his metal arm."

 Peter cut you off by pulling a web with his web shooter, tying your hands. The feel of the canvas was unpleasant, sticky but above all resistant. You let out a little cry of surprise, not powerful enough to pass the walls of Peter's room. Your eyes looked like two big golf balls, realizing that your friend was telling the truth.

 "Omg, You're Spider-Man" you almost spoke too loud.

"Yes and don't make me web your mouth. May doesn't have to know"

"damn, peter. What happened to your face!"

“yeah about that…I need you Y/N, please…”

  And without warning, Peter squeezed the spider in the middle of his costume, at chest level. He winced at the action revealing his bruised chest. He staggered a bit from the action, unsure of his legs and the pain in his sides fierce. You might see several bruises and cuts on your friend's body. You were having difficulty swallowing before you told him you were going to the bathroom to get what you needed. Before leaving the room, he made you promise to be discreet and not tell May anything if she ran into you. When you walk back into Peter's room, he's sitting half-lying on his bed, grimacing. You sit next to him, your heart pounding. You never noticed that he was so built. After all, as a superhero, he had to keep fit. But you couldn't deny that it intimidated you. Your cheeks were burning with embarrassment and a desire you never knew before. He had his eyes closed, as if trying to make the pain go away. And there, looking at him, you found him pretty. he was so cute that you couldn't help but run your hand through his curls to signal your presence and soothe him a bit. But Peter already knew you were there. He had heard your footsteps, he had smelled your scent, a sweet scent he had grown used to in his later years. He sighed softly, more relaxed. You started to clean the few shallow wounds.

 "Does it hurt?" you asked quietly

"Mhmm no, not really."

"Did you win?"

"Ouch..No. Not tonight."

"Sorry." you said more for your gesture rather than the fact that he didn't win the fight against the bad guys.

"No, it's perfect ... it's just a little sensitive"

 You smiled but something was wrong. A feeling you've never felt before. You've finished cleaning up Peter's wounds, but your gaze has darkened. As you were about to get up, the brunette gently grabbed your wrist to hold you back. He could hear your calm breathing and yet your heart was racing. He could feel the heat on your cheeks. He too felt that the tension was at its height. Your mind was muddled, he didn't know why, he wasn't a telepath, but he could see it, feel it. Your body betrayed your mind.

 "Y/N, what is it?"

"I..I don't know." you lied.

"You can tell me everything."

"I ... Well…Seeing you like this ... makes me ... makes me realize that I ... I'm afraid of losing you."

"You won't lose me ... I promise"

 You are ashamed of your vulnerable state. How did you go from hating this boy to having an overwhelming fear of losing him? You looked at those chocolate eyes in confusion and distress. You were now fully aware that the little neighborhood spider was none other than your childhood friend. The one you once loved to hate, tease, fight with over trivia. He was also on the youtube videos, who stopped cars with his bare hands.

 “Y/N… you won’t lose me, I promise.”

 Peter dared to walk slowly towards you and in a surge of courage, one of his hands circled your burning cheek, his lips rested on yours. The brunette had always had a crush on you without actually admitting it. After all, you had known each other since you were children but... your relationship had been rather confrontational. But for two years now, everything had changed for him. He appreciated more and more your little arguments, your teasing. His thoughts would sometimes turn darker when you lick your lips or when your fingers scratched that point behind your ear, when you were a little stressed.

 Your lips moved between them in a harmonious dance and you were now clinging desperately to Peter's slightly sweaty brown curls. Your heart was pounding at a speed close to the point of no return, reluctant to stop suddenly in the face of this overstimulation. But all good things came to an end and you slowly walked away. You bit your lip to get the taste of Peter's back. Your mind wandered, lost in the haze of rushing feelings.

 "You..you should rest ..."

 You ended up pulling away, swallowing hard. That night you didn't sleep. You have studied every facial feature of Peter, thinking of every event since your friendship. The next day, you fooled that nothing had happened. Too scared of what that kiss meant to you.

 Summer 2025

It all happened so quickly. After that summer, the summer of your kiss, you promised yourself that you understood your feelings towards Peter. You weren't going to the same high school and even though you were both on social media, you never dared to contact him. You needed time.

 But you haven't had this time. Peter became full-time Spider-Man and then the aliens came to earth, again. The threat of Thanos hovered and within moments, days, hours ... you were gone under his snap.

 When you returned to your childhood apartment, you were alone. Well, alone in front of the family who lived in this place now. The man in his forties simply believed you were a drug-hunting teenager squatter. Five damn years had passed. 5 years where your mother had a new life when you had been eclipsed. You were distraught, alone and it was by happy coincidence that you found May at the F.E.A.S.T project. It was a relief for you to find a familiar face again. She had suggested that you come and live in her new temporary apartment, allowing you to finish high school without having to move to the other end of the United States, with your mother. You declined your offer. You wanted to fend for yourself. And surprisingly, you did pretty well.

 To be exact, Mr. Delmar was looking for a student to work in his store and was kind enough to greet you in the bedroom of one of his daughters who had gone to college. By the greatest of luck, you've never seen Peter. Or rather, you managed to avoid it for an entire year. You had caught a glimpse of him one day, trying to speak Italian to get a travel adapter and a dual headphone adapter. Did you feel foolish thinking that after so long - could we consider those 5 years to be 5 concrete years? - would it still focus on the kiss you shared? After all, you got away from him after that. And then, everything went in a state of madness.

 Every time you turned on the television, you learned that elemental monsters had attacked a different country. They had first started with Mexico and then moved to Europe. Italy, Prague and then London. A certain Mysterio seemed to be taking care of this matter, but you couldn't help but think of Peter. May told you he was supposed to go to Italy. In fact, every time she went to Delmar's for a sandwich, she gave you an update on her nephew's trip. But it wasn't the craziest.

 Upon his return ... Spider-man's identity was revealed. You had watched in horror the video of Mysterio, which appeared on the Daily Buggle newspaper, accusing Peter of wanting to be the new Iron-Man. You were listening to J. Jonah Jameson falsely accusing Peter of being a murderer. You knew Peter, and there was no way he had done such an act. The video was bogus, you were sure. When you tried to reconnect that summer, you noticed Peter's girlfriend. Michelle Jones and ... and that's what kept you from approaching him. He was already supported. He had his best friend, Ned. His girlfriend, MJ. And he had May. It was enough, wasn't it?

  It was the following year, after a new incredible adventure that you met again.

You worked at the store in the evening. Mr Delmar had asked you to help him out urgently because his youngest daughter had a health problem. You accepted with pleasure. You had offered to babysit his daughter but the loving father he was wanted to be with her. And it was precisely this evening that a thug decided to steal the fund from you.

 You were at gunpoint with your hands up in the air when you saw a red and black mass fall behind the thug.

 "Hey buddy, I think the bank is across the street"

 Spider-Man tapped the thief on the shoulder and dodged a punch.

 "But I think I'll arrest you anyway if you went to the bank. You don't seem like a nice guy." Peter joked.

 You were paralyzed as your friend, your best friend if you were honest, chained or avoided them with agility. You swallowed hard, unable to move or run away. A gunshot rang out and you smelled a scared little vintage. Peter squeezed the barrel of the gun in his hand, deviating from his course. It made sense now to say that he had simply defended himself against the assault. After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, Peter stared the offender against a fridge door, immobilizing him. He then turned to you, oblivious to your identity at the time.

 "Are you okay there?"

"Peter!"

 You didn't give him the chance to realize and you rushed into his arms, hugging him so tight to feel the comfort of his body against yours.

 "Uh, yeah, you're welcome. Cuddles are nice but ..."

 He paused for a moment and his automated eyes widened. He knew his perfume. The flowery, sweet scents that he had missed so much. Is this possible?

 "Y/N?"

 You let go of him and immediately put his mask back on. Adrenaline was controlling your actions and god damn it, you needed that touch. You kissed him, bluntly. Your lips crushed against his in impatience, in ardor, but too bad. You needed to feel it against you, to regain the feeling that you had felt, years ago. After a few seconds, you felt Peter's hands encircle your waist, pulling you closer to him. Your heart was exploding, the ardor was present in your kiss. You were even frustrated that you couldn't grab her brown curls with full hands, settling for only the base of her hair. You let out a moan before pulling away abruptly. He had a girlfriend.

 "I… I'm sorry. I… Sorry, I didn't mean… MJ… and… please don't blame me."

 Peter silenced you with another kiss, shorter this time but so good.

 “There is no MJ .... Just you and me ... Far Longer Than Forever”

 You looked at him hopefully and then burst out laughing after his words.

 "I didn't know you were so romantic, Parker"

"Shut your mouth."

"Make me"

"You are impossible."

"But obviously, you like"

 He was going to say something to nag you, he was looking for it but you caught him off guard, placing your lips on his again. You could feel his smile in the kiss and you couldn't help but do the same. Anyone living in the neighborhood present in the street would have a view of Spider-Man kissing the student cashier from Delmar. But you couldn't care less. You had waited too long and the joy you were feeling now was so intense, you didn't want to stop feeling this. It is reluctantly that Peter moved away from you apologizing for the fact that he had to go on patrol again.

 "Go save the Spider-Man neighborhood"

"Only if you promise me you'll be there when I get back."

"I was thinking of going to say goodnight to May instead ... But if you want, I have a sleeping bag in the storeroom."

"You are incorrigible .... See you later ..."

"See you later."

 You smiled, in a misty state of bliss as Peter disappeared from view. This time, you weren't planning to escape, you wanted to fall into the webs of Peter Parker. You closed the store after the police visit and headed to May's flat. It was late but with her kindness she welcomed you with open arms.

 This summer ... was the best in years but the others to come were going to be even more wonderful.

[anikasenkujo]

Welcome to my World!

Introduction (as of 12th June, 2023)

Name: Anika Sen Name in Kanji: セン アニカ (Romaji: Sen Anika) Namesake: Sushmita Sen (Bollywood Actress) Nickname(s):

Ani (daak naam or household nickname) (by parents),

Ani-chan (Holy & Jotaro),

Nika (by Antara, Shaan & Rhea),

Kanika Sane (to confuse Enya),

Anoka-san (by Jolyne),

Aai (Marathi word for mother) (by Jovita),

Bhidu (Marathi word for bro, in a friendly way) (by Karan)

Age: 17 (SDC) • 27 (DIU) • 30 (GW) • 40 (SO) Gender: Female [she/her] Orientation: Straight DOB: 16th December 1971 Personality Type: ENFJ, 2w3 Height: 5’6” / 168cm | Eye Color: Dark Brown | Hair Color: Dark Brown with red highlights Blood Type: O+ Nationality: Indian (Half-Bengali, Half-Marathi) Hometown: Calcutta, West Bengal, India Known Languages: English, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Japanese Affiliation: The Speedwagon Foundation, Stardust Crusaders, Morioh Warriors

Stand:  「 Dangerous Woman 」 How was the Stand Acquired: Stabbed with the Stand Arrow by DIO, along with the whole family and best friend. Occupation(s): Student (in SDC) • Audio Engineer at Dawn FM Records (in DIU) • TBD (in Stone Ocean) Hobbies: reading, singing, musical Instruments (tanpura, guitar (acoustic and electric)), dancing, sports(playing basketball, soccer and cricket, watching the same and pro-wrestling (WWF/WWE), Cooking; Poetry; Riding motorcycles, skateboarding, Working Out;

Color: All shades of Red & Black Food: Mishti doi (Sweet Curd), Aloo Gobi (Stir fried potatoes and cauliflower) and Khowsuey (a Burmese noodle dish) Drink: Red Wine, Chai, Ginger Ale Scent: Rain, Mehendi, Cheese Artists: Sonu Nigam, Alisha Chinai, Bryan Adams, Guns N’Roses, Backstreet Boys TV Show: F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Doctor Who Movie: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Forrest Gump Type of Weather: Rainy Weather that does not translate to thunderstorms

Likes: MMA, Music, Motorcycles (especially Royal Enfield), Skateboards, Basketball, Soccer, Pro-Wrestling (WWE), STEM

Dislikes: Bullies, Those who abuse their authority, Misogynists/Chauvinists/Incels, her ex-brother-in-law, very very hot summers (she gets sun strokes with them), too spicy food (her spice level is 7/10)

Relationships:-

Father: Prabir Sen [b. 1936]

Mother: Swati Sen [b. 1936]

Sister: Antara Sen [b. 1963]

Brother-in-law: Shaan Majumdar [b. 1963]

Best friend: Karan Bose [b. July 31, 1971]

Husband: Dr. Jotaro Kujo

Parents-in-law: Sadao Kujo, Holly Kujo

Notable in-laws: Joseph Joestar, Josuke Higashikata, Giorno Giovanna

Daughter: Jovita Kujo

Stepdaughter: Jolyne Cujoh

Anika Sen is an Indian Stand User, having been born in Calcutta, in the midst of the tensions between India and Pakistan, leading to the Indo-Pakistan War in 1971. In fact, she was born on the day India won against Pakistan in that war. So, her birthday was considered a miracle by her family members.

Her father, Prabir, a businessman, is a Hindu from West Bengal, and her mother, Swati, a self defense instructor, is a Christian from Mumbai, Maharashtra. As Prabir’s ancestors were radicals and thus opposing of her parent’s marriage, they escaped to Mumbai for protection.

She has an elder sister named Antara who is eight years older than her and is very close. She’s gotten married twice, and her second husband, Shaan's been a blessing in disguise, with them eventually having a son, Shaurya.

Her best friend is Karan Bose, whose father met Anika’s father, and they became friends-colleagues-business partners in the oil industry. Karan and she have been friends since they were born and were considered to be inseparable as kids.

Anika’s been a victim of bullying as a result of a couple of incidents and it’s because of this, she never wanted to feel helpless again, so she decided to learn MMA from her mother.

How Did They Get Their Stands?

To celebrate her arrival back to Calcutta and the fact that Anika and Karan scored well in their board examinations, Karan’s and Anika’s family traveled to Egypt, only to find DIO’s minions kidnapping Anika's parents.

Karan, Anika, Antara and Shaan ran to find them only to find DIO having shot arrows at her parents, that’s when they ran to protect them, thereby all of them gaining what they thought were evil spirits, but what is now known to them as Stands, the manifestation of our souls.

However, her father became sick, because he was a gentler soul, which if not treated, could cause him to succumb to the sickness. At the same time, a flesh bud was planted on Karan for sinister reasons.

All of them then started their training to use their Stands to great extents, that's when her mother told her about their long-term association with Mr. Robert E.O. Speedwagon and the Speedwagon Foundation. Speedwagon was friends with her great-great-grandfather, who helped him build the foundation and her grandfather helped in growing it the way it was today.

That's when they heard stories of the Joestar clan and how DIO was initially Dio Brando, Jonathan Joestar's adoptive brother, but they ended up being opponents once Dio stole a stone mask and turned into a vampire. They were told that Jonathan was then trained in Hamon and seemed to have been victorious over Dio, until 100 years later when a coffin was found from deep underneath the sea, causing the renamed DIO to escape, develop a Stand, and hire others, possessing them with flesh buds, to exterminate the existence of the Joestar clan and those willing to stand alongside them.

They then established contact with Joseph Joestar, Jonathan's grandson, who told them that his daughter, Holly Kujo also developed a Stand, but the Stand is acting upon her, causing her to fall ill the same way her dad fell ill. In fact, DIO's head now possessed Jonathan's body, so when DIO activated his Stand, the Joestar clan activated their Stands too, including his grandson, Jotaro Kujo.

Join Anika as she takes revenge on Dio, joins the Stardust Crusaders, learns about the potential of her Stand, gets over the skeletons in her closet, and hopefully, along the way, fall in love with a certain someone.

[svtkillua]

milk and tea > 1

rating: [pg-13 / angst] genre: soulmate au pairing: todoroki shouto x reader warnings: cursing, heartbreak, angst! word count: 5k

listen while you read here! join the discord!

chap 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 [final]

Some people related gold to beauty, to the shade of the sun when it reflected off of water in the summer. They associated the colour with the way the wind blew the warm toned leaves off of trees in the fall, pictured sunlight peeking through scattered blooming branches in the spring. Gold was the tone of wealth and wonder, a shade so beautiful that it was coveted as royalty, as otherworldly in design. It was the shade that flickered in the middle of a fire, it emitted the feeling of whimsy, of something bigger than it appeared. For you however it made your heart sink, the colour that filled your gut with dread and turned your blood to an icy sludge. You’d liked it at one point, had admired the way the tone shined in a straight line from the base of your palm straight up to the tip of your middle finger. But now it made you feel alone, hollow, like a constant shimmering reminder of the life you were meant to live, completely by yourself.  

A reminder that while the rest of the world had a soulmate, you had no one. 

It was funny how something you’d loved about yourself when you were younger had become the glaring marker of things you disliked now. The golden slash on your palm had been something you showed off to friends, comparing soul marks with the other kids on the playground, giggling about the possibilities of who you could match with. You used to all day dream about it, if one of you would pair up with the prince or princess of a country, if one of you would marry a celebrity and become a famous duo. The magic around it hadn’t begun to fade until your friends all got paired off one by one, birthdays starting to fill you with pain rather than the giddiness of a child. Looking at your palm was like staring at a ticking clock, one counting down to the moment everything you feared became the truth, the moment your twenty second birthday started and any chances of finding your soulmate were gone. 

Soulmate marks didn’t do much, almost serving like a tattoo you couldn’t get removed or cover with makeup, the skin varying in pigments and shapes from person to person. You didn’t taste what the other tasted, didn’t feel what they felt or know what they were thinking, you just saw them, matched their mark, and knew. Everyone spoke about feeling like they’d been hit by a tidal wave of emotions the first time they saw their other half, like the world stop spinning and all the things that didn’t make sense before suddenly had answers. You didn’t know how it felt, to meet your soulmate for the first time, to see them and feel that gush of emotions everyone spoke about so vividly it made you desperate to find it. You thought you had once, imagined for a few seconds that the way your heart started pounding and throat caved in that you had found him, the person made for you. 

He was beautiful, his duo-coloured locks a complete mess as the wind blew straight through the sweater you’d tossed on that morning. He’d spilled his coffee all over you as you both dashed through the park to get to opposite trains, his eyes wide when you looked up into them, lips parted and ready to spew out agitated jabs, but they’d never came. You thought you’d found it, tasted the possibilities of where things could go next, pictured yourself tracing your fingers over his pale skin as he stared right back at you and the noise of the park fell silent. You let yourself imagine a future with him, one where you’d finally get to be the friend that told everyone you’d found your person, your soulmate, the one who made your lungs give out and pulse pound so hard it bruised and broke apart your rib cage.

But then you saw his palm, his mark not golden but navy blue, the shade just slightly darker than that of a bundle of blueberries. His mark was not one line but one with multiple added on the sides like a tree spreading it’s branches out to each finger tip. It was it the same place as yours, the same straight edges. It was similar to yours, yes, but not the same. 

He was meant for someone, just not for you. 

Looking at him now you could still picture him from three years ago, could still feel the way your heart sped up just staring at him sleeping on your bed like it’d done the day he poured coffee all over your front. He wasn’t meant for you and yet your soul still breathed for him, he wasn’t designed to occupy your thoughts and despite that he was all you ever dreamed about. He was the thing that kept you up at night and greeted you when you fell asleep, the person that gave you even the smallest taste of what it could feel like to be someone’s something, even if all of it was only in your head. 

Shouto Todoroki. 

His hair was draped across his forehead as he mumbled into the pillow bunched up beneath his temple, lips apart as a breathy sigh fell from them while his knuckles bent, fingers digging into the duvet. The moonlight shining brightly outside casted through the windows and onto the planes of his face, accentuating the way his chest rose and fell like the weight of the world was, for once, not on his shoulders, the gentle pitter patter of rain meeting your eardrums and melting into the somber sensation in your veins. It wasn’t fair that he wasn’t yours. It was cruel that you got to be so close to him but didn’t get to love him freely, that your birthdays ticked by year after year with no soulmate in sight when someone so perfect was close but off limits. 

You had to meet them before you turned twenty two, that was the rule with soulmates, the reality not many had to face. If you didn’t meet your someone by then, you didn’t have one. It didn’t happen often, the cases of it far and few between, but still prevalent enough for facilities to offer counselling for people like you. People who were meant to be alone, people destined to spend forever without someone there next to them in the mornings when they drank their cup of coffee. People made for no one but themselves, left to wonder what exactly they were worth if they weren’t worth the universe giving them someone to love. 

Todoroki had come over because he knew that even if you kept insisting you were fine you weren’t, that the minutes ticking by that day weren’t like the normal ones because they were the last ones you could spend with an ounce of hope left. It seemed almost fitting, that you’d be alone when the clock struck twelve, that the sky would have opened up and started pouring buckets just a few minutes before your birthday officially began. Your time was about to be up, the digital clock on the bedside table glaring a bright red 23:57 at you when you took another glance at Todoroki, whose arm had sprawled out and now hung slightly off the too large mattress. 

You two had gotten lunch that day he crashed into you, neither of you mentioning the solid minute of silence that had passed after you laid eyes on each other in the park, pretending that neither of your chests had deflated when you looked at the other’s palms and weren’t met with the mirror of their own. He’d insisted on paying you back for the sweater and after some convincing you let him, that apology lunch turning into another, and another, until eventually you found yourself calling each other at two am to talk about how confusing life seemed to be. You felt connected to him, attached almost from the second you first heard him speak, like your heart had decided it belonged to Todoroki even though it wasn’t supposed to be. He’d become your constant over the past three years, your best friend and the only person who ever filled your day dreams, the one who was proving to be your ‘almost’. 

You two spent all your time together, it was almost like you wanted to make yourself hurt, like you adored to make believe the two of you could have a happily ever after when it wasn’t ever going to happen. For a while you’d grown selfish, thinking that maybe neither of you had a soulmate and in turn you could become each other’s, pretending that the stares you’d catch him sending your way meant more than the friendly half smiles that followed. You’d wondered if maybe he was silently wishing for it too, hoping that the universe had made a mistake and not made your marks match. That perhaps you’d end up together after everything was said and done and the pain of thinking you’d end up alone would have been worth it, because you would have had him. 

And then he’d met her. 

His soulmate. 

Your eyes fell shut at the thought of her, body shifting back towards the large-paned windows of your apartment as the rain splattered against them, oxygen leaving you in shaky puffs of held in emotions. You never liked to think about her, didn’t want to focus on the girl that was allowed to love Todoroki in ways that you weren’t. You couldn’t hold his hand, couldn’t touch him in public past pats on the arm or brushes when you passed each other in a crowded hall. You didn’t get to hold him at night or whisper quiet ‘I love you’s’ that made his thin lips spread into dazzling lazy grins. You didn’t get to love him and she did, and you hated how angry you were at the girl when you’d never even spoken to her, despised that you weren’t happy for your best friend like you were supposed to be. Just because you were meant to be alone didn’t mean he had to be, and yet in the bottom of your heart it didn’t feel right, like you’d spent so long convincing yourself maybe you could have each other that reality was a pill too tough to swallow. 

Momo Yaoyorozu was stunning. The midnight black hair that cascaded over her shoulders when she walked, a delicate smile that looked like that of a doll’s, a pleasant voice that flowed like a feather in the breeze. She was beautiful, and from the few bits Todoroki had told you about her, she was incredibly kind and smart, finishing up a degree in teaching so she could work at her own preschool someday. Her family was wealthy, about as wealthy as Todoroki’s was, and it was almost laughable that he’d end up being meant for someone so cookie cutter perfect for his parent’s standard.

Todoroki and his family hadn’t always harboured the best relationship, the family focused more on how things looked than how they felt, caring more about Todoroki’s potential future and life than his now or his heart. Maybe they had good intentions, deep down, just wanting their son to live a safe life, one with stability and comfort rather than hard work, freedom and passion. They wanted him to go to college and he decided not to. They pressured him to become a hero like his father. They pushed and he pulled back, a constant cycle of a someone trying to grow but being shoved back to the ground, like a flower in a garden trapped under a rock. 

You were someone they’d never cared for, not since the first time the pair of you bumped into them at the store during your lunch breaks from work. His father had shook your hand with a smile that turned stiff after a once over, your ears picking up on his mother’s not so subtle ‘you should stay away from her, people will get the wrong idea‘ as you excused yourself to finish shopping. Todoroki hadn’t listened, clearly, filling his afternoons and evenings with you most days, the pair of you near attached at the hip.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” 

His voice made you jump, eyes peeling open but body not turning as his fingertips skimmed the edges of your elbows, tone raspy from the sleep still thick in his throat. It made your stomach twist, feeling the heat of his body so close, his thin white shirt doing little to prevent it from radiating out of his chest. He was always hot, like the sun that kissed his skin was living inside his body, pouring out warmth and life that made you revolve around him like he was the center of your universe. 

“Why would I have woken you up?” 

“Because it’s your birthday.” 

Your head turned slightly at that, eyes focusing on the digital clock now blaring a bright red 00:04 that reflected off the glass topped table while you shrugged. He was staring at you, you could feel the way his eyes followed yours when you turned to look back out the window, focusing on the beads of water rolling down the damp panes rather than how delicate his touch was as his palms encased your folded forearms. You wanted to melt into him, wanted to fall back into his chest and savour the feeling of him so close to you while you could. You were silently desperate to pretend that he was your soulmate, that when you woke up in the morning he’d still be there in the bed next to you and not back at his house with her. 

“Happy Birthday.” He was being quiet, like if he spoke too loud you would crumble to pieces, his arms inviting themselves to snake around your waist and pull your back into his chest when you hesitated to do so yourself. His hair was tickling your cheek as his chin dipped down to rest on your shoulder, your lashes fluttering as your lids clamped shut and lungs deflated, memorising the way his heartbeat faintly pounded against your flush skin. It felt like a gentle melody, like a soothing thumping that reminded you he was real and not just a perfect mirage in your head. 

It was intoxicating, being in his arms, feeling the heat from his skin spreading through his shirt and into you, aware of his breathes as they barely skimmed the side of your cheek and neck. You wondered if he could tell how rapidly your pulse was pounding, if he knew that even when the world felt dark he was like the lone candle still flickering on, refusing to go out and plunge you into an abyss. You questioned if he knew just how much he meant to you; if he knew just how completely in love with him you were when you’d never uttered a single word about it. 

“Thank you.” You mumbled, hands raising to just barely skim his knuckles before you were pulling from his grasp, taking a few steps away from the window to sit down on the edge of your bed. You looked at him finally, focusing on the way his chest rose and fell while he followed you over to the mattress, his body sinking down beside yours and making the bed dip, your thigh scooting flush into his from the gravity. “I don’t know if I’d exactly call it happy though.” 

“I know.” He sighed and flopped back onto the mattress, hands resting on his lower stomach as his shirt bunched slightly. You looked down at him, admiring the way his hair fell off his forehead still messy from sleep as it fanned just barely around his ears, watching his jaw clench and relax as his mind worked languidly, taking yet another note of the scar that donned his left eye. The rain was creating odd shapes on his front, like moving shadows that couldn’t sit still, creating darkness on his light in its stagnant state, his body a canvas for the night sky to paint upon. 

He didn’t like to try and comfort you with words, usually, never forced out vague reminders that everything would be okay even if you didn’t have a soulmate. He knew that you loathed it, that the pity filled glances of people watching you grow to be alone made your skin crawl with frustration. Todoroki never babied you, never forced out whispers that he knew how you felt when in reality he never could. He still was there for you though, still calmed the waves of self doubt that churned in your gut with gentle brushes of his palms on your arms, silenced the screams in your head with his light laughter and fingers lingering on your hand longer than necessary. He’d been with you a lot more than usual lately, and you weren’t sure if it was because of your impending expiration date or if he simply didn’t feel comfortable yet sharing a place with Momo. 

They’d just moved in together a few weeks ago, the next natural progression in the relationship given his parents pushing for Todoroki to not hesitate so much with things. Momo and Todoroki had barely known each other for a few weeks before their families were urging them to move faster, to be thinking about marriage rather than getting to know the little intricacies about each other. The entire world was watching, waiting to make sure they followed the rules, that they weren’t fighting against something that was required by law to follow. He had pushed back against it for a while, wanting to take his time, to get to know the girl he was supposed to be with, but also had a hard time ignoring the pressure dumped on his shoulders. The place was nice at least, you’d seen it before they got their furniture moved in, let yourself imagine a world where the quaint home was for the two of you and not him and another girl.

It was hard to think about, Todoroki being with Momo, his lips touching her lips and his hands touching her palms. It made you want to vomit, imagining them together, to picture the closeness the two of you shared then mimicked between them, only more intimate, between lovers rather than friends. It stung to picture him bending down on one knee to ask her to marry him someday, burned a whole in your chest to envision him on his wedding day and you not be the one walking down the aisle to greet him. Sometimes you wanted to run away, to leave and move to a different city just so you wouldn’t have to be here when those moments happened, just so you could avoid the inevitable all ending heartbreak that was growing closer by the minute. 

His palm encased your knee fleetingly, drawing your attention away from the shadows dancing across his stomach, focusing on his eyes as his lips spread into a gentle smile. He looked incredibly handsome, perfect skin seeming to glow even in the dim cool toned lighting, eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks as he blinked, weight being pushed up onto his elbows as he nodded once past you. You hesitated to look away, wanting to stare at him a while longer, wanting to memorise the way his lazy grin made your heart feel, wanting to follow how his eyes darted across your features like a painting only he had realised was a masterpiece. 

“Open your present.” 

His fingers left your knee to instead tap your elbow as your head turned, Todoroki sitting up beside you as your vision landed on a white box resting on your bedside table. You hadn’t noticed it before, the bow on top a pale grey that blended in with the pale light, fingers clasping around the box as you moved it onto your lap, peering down at it. It seemed dangerous, like the small container was actually a bomb in disguise, like it was nothing but false hope for the dreams inside your head when he did things like this. He always got you birthday gifts, always remembered to call and make sure you got home okay after a night apart, always texted you to check in when he went out of town or was too busy to see you. It was like he was unintentionally stoking the fire that burned for him in your gut, like he almost wanted you to stay so attached to him, so desperate to be next to him that you thrived off the morsels affection he’d pass your way. 

“You didn’t have to get me anything.” 

“Shut up and open it.” 

He laughed faintly when you rolled your eyes, your lips parting at the delicate necklace that laid inside the box. It wasn’t anything fancy or grand, a simple silver chain with a small moonstone pendant dangling from the centre, but it made your chest sear like it had been scorched. It felt like he’d grabbed hold of your lungs and squeezed with all his might until no air was left within them, like he took a needle and was sewing his own initials into your heart. You could tell he was staring at you, could feel his eyes burning holes into your cheek as your fingers traced over the delicate gem, pulling it from it’s confines and up further into the light, watching the way it glinted as it swayed. 

“Wow.” Your speech came out breathy, like it was a part of your natural breathing, eyes drifting from the chain pinched in your fingers to Todoroki, who was smiling like he’d never felt more relaxed in his entire life. “You shouldn’t have, Shouto.” 

“Do you like it?” 

“Of course I like it.” You looked at him when his hands encased your own, focus drifting over his features as he took the necklace and reached around your neck. It made your heart pound, feeling his thumbs skimming the sides of your throat, being so close to his lips that you could have leaned in and tasted them. “People just might get the wrong idea if they found out you bought it for me” 

“I don’t care.” He shrugged, smiling faintly at you when his fingers brushed the back of your neck, fiddling with the clasp until he moved his palms down to rest on his lap, the pendant landing just between your collarbones. You instinctively reached up and touched the surface of it, eyes flickering up into Todoroki’s as he watched you closely, like you were under a microscope. It made your lungs shrink in your chest, made your brain seem to malfunction as his calloused fingertips brushed along your knuckles, gentle as a breeze in the summer. 

The silence that fell was comfortable as you glanced down at your fingers, his own weaving through yours before your palms moulded together, the soul marks that were mismatched flush against each other. Your eyes followed his thumb as it moved back and forth over yours, tingles shooting up from your wrist to the top of your elbow, like fireworks were going off in your nerves simply from being so close to him. His free hand rose from its place beside your connected fingers and landed on your cheek, your gaze shifting up as he tucked your hair behind your ear, watching how his lips parted as a heavy exhale exited his body. You wondered what he was thinking, questioned if he could feel you swallow harshly when his touch skimmed over your jawline and made its way slowly along the side of your throat. You wondered if the small proximity between the two of you did the same thing to him as it did to yourself, if his heart was screaming for him to fall into you just like your own was begging him to do. 

“Thank you.” His lips tugged slightly into a smile when you spoke, head bobbing in a nod and causing a few of his long strands of hair to fall further onto his forehead. You wished you had his camera there now so you could capture how stunning he looked, hoping he had at least some idea of how breathtaking he could be while he focused on the beauty the rest of the world held. 

“You’re welcome.” He hummed, fingers caressing the necklace that hung from your neck, knuckles brushing your bare skin in the process. His gray and blue eyes only danced away from your own for a moment, thumb never once stopping its movements along your own as he reconnected your gazes with a blink of his eyes, grip on you tightening. “It looks beautiful on you.”

“I meant for staying.” Your voice was just above a whisper, scared of disturbing him or making him move away, like if you spoke too loudly he’d realise how little space there was between you. You didn’t want him to move away, didn’t want to feel a centimeter further from him ever again, not even for a second. 

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” 

Being so close to him felt like you were in front of the sun even with the rain drizzling just out the window, like you were being baked by the heat and letting the worries melt off your skin. Todoroki was dangerous, because he was so incredibly perfect to you, even in his flaws. From the way he ignored everyone when he was trying to do paperwork to his the gentle humming he did when he fell asleep on the sofa that jolted in volume from his odd snores, you adored every single thing you’d ever found out about him. He was like a walking day dream you’d never get to really feel, like a perfect ice cream cone on the hottest day you’d never get to taste. He was everything you wanted and couldn’t touch, the man you desired who belonged to someone else. 

The man who was made for another woman. 

The man you loved to the very core of you, with every single cell in your body. 

The buzzing of his phone in his pocket was what pulled you apart, the quiet vibration drawing his eyes away before your own, hands fumbling with the object as his grip on you vanished. You knew it was her when he moved to stand and look out the window, voice quiet but loud enough for you to pick up a few words. Momo probably wanted to know when he’d be home, with how late it was, not to mention he got off work hours ago. You couldn’t blame her, even if you hated the thought of him leaving, even if you loathed the times like now where the bit of daydreaming you allowed yourself got ripped away. It was like reality came to smack you back into place, like it wasn’t cruel enough to let you stay happy with Todoroki too long, because the ending was one you knew and kept ignoring nonetheless. 

He sighed when he hung up, shoving the phone back in his pocket as he stared past the glass at the dreary world down below, your body rising from the bed to stretch, ignoring the ache in your soul knowing that he had to leave, knowing that you’d be alone here and he’d be at home with her. He turned to look at you with his lips pressed into a thin line, your vision barely able to make out his features with his body blocking the light as he bent over to grab his jacket off a chair. You wondered if he meant what he said before, if he really would rather be there with you than anywhere else. You questioned if he meant it with the entirety of his heart attached like the sentiment would mean from you, or if it was empty words from a friend trying to patch up holes in your already sinking ship. 

“I gotta get going.” 

He didn’t say why and you didn’t ask, because you already knew, and you imagined perhaps he wasn’t saying why because he knew how much it hurt you. You wondered if he had any idea how in love with him you were, if he hesitated when he kissed your forehead on the way out because he was aware of how desperately you wanted to feel closer to him. You questioned if he paused when he went out the door to turn and promise to call you tomorrow because he could see how lonely you already felt without him inside, if he waved from the street below up to you in the window because he knew how sickeningly much you wished he was going to be in bed with you when you woke up. But he didn’t stay, he couldn’t stay, because he wasn’t supposed to be with you in the first place. 

He was supposed to be with her. 

And when you looked down at the shimmering gold on your palm, the straight line that caught the small bits of light refracting through the glass panes of the window, it made your throat tighten, eyes feeling as wet as the raindrops dripping from the sky. Because it was a reminder that while he was driving off to be with her, with his soulmate, you were here. It was a reminder that he got to be with someone, got to love someone fully, that the rest of the world got to have someone who cherished them and held them and longed for them with every cell in their body. Because it was a reminder that he was meant to be for her and never would he belong to you. Because it was a glaring reminder that you had only been meant for one thing. 

To be alone.

-

[next chapter]

[charlie-pippin-faraday]

House of Anubis birthday headcanons

This is a branch off my previous post where I talked about birthdays and star signs. Now I’m gonna talk about more detailed and ~fun~ headcanons

They are the 1995-96 school year

Nina and Joy are the oldest (I’ve already had lengthy discussions about this, about whether they’re the oldest or youngest. I personally believe they’re the oldest, so that’s what I’m going with in my headcanons). Their birthday is July 7, 1995 (Cancers 🦀). And yes usually July birthdays are on the younger end, but the wiki says Amber’s September birthday and Eddie’s November birthday are 1995, and fall birthdays are definitely on the older end. This means that the January-June birthdays of that year are gonna be in 1996. It’s not totally out of the question for a summer/July birthday to be on the older end instead of the younger one. Because Eddie’s November ‘95 and he’s in their year, they kind of have to be the oldest. So, conclusion: Nina and Joy are the oldest ones in the house

Both Nina and Joy definitely had pool parties for their birthday as kids. One or both of them almost definitely had ice cream cake at least once. Nina also thinks the idea of being in school on her birthday is barbaric

Season 3 is their senior year, meaning it’s the year they’re all turning 18. This is part of the reason Amber was making such a big deal about her birthday in S3; 1) it’s Amber so of course and 2) it was her 18th birthday, so she absolutely wanted it to be special

Because they were all turning 18, Amber wanted to make everyone’s birthday special. She planned to throw parties for everyone’s birthdays (except Joy, RIP, who turned 18 in the summer before the school year started). However, Amber wasn’t actually around to throw any of those parties. But she did leave all her party stuff behind, so the rest of them use her party supplies for everyone’s 18th birthday parties

Amber’s birthday is September 9 (a Virgo 😘), so every year she sees her birthday as the celebration to kick off the school year. She wants a huge celebration and a party and cake and presents for her birthday every year. She’s also definitely the high school girl who had her friends decorate her locker and had birthday balloons tied to her bag that she carried around all day on her birthday every year. She also definitely wore like a birthday tiara

I believe that Mara is a Libra (⚖️), and that her birthday is in early October (my headcanon is Oct. 6). She likes having a fall birthday because she likes how cozy it is and she likes to indulge in a pumpkin spice latte. She doesn’t like to make a huge deal about her birthday, and whenever people try to make a fuss she’s like no no there’s no need to make a big deal. She doesn’t want like the world’s biggest party, however, if anyone tries to make her do anything she doesn’t want to do on her birthday, she gets very pissy

Eddie’s birthday is November 19 (fuckin Scorpio 🦂), meaning that it is very close to American Thanksgiving. As a child he would always say to his mother that Thanksgiving “got in the way” of his birthday

Patricia’s birthday is December 8 (Sagittarius 🏹), and originally she’s not a big fan of her birthday and it makes her angry because she has to share her birthday with Piper (obviously) like she has to share everything. Birthday parties as children were not fun for Patricia bc obviously there would be one party for the both of them and her parents would skew it towards Piper. Patricia resented her birthday for awhile. However, Joy, always tries to go out of her way to make her birthday special and just for her (“You will have a good time on your birthday, Patricia!”), and eventually she comes around to enjoying her birthday as long as it’s exclusively her birthday

Fabian is absolutely a Capricorn (🐐), everything about him screams Capricorn. Which means his birthday is anywhere from late December to mid-January, and I believe his birthday is definitely two days before Christmas. He gets really grumpy and bitter about his birthday because of that; his birthday constantly gets pushed to the side for Christmas, and he can never spend his birthday with his friends because it’s always over the holidays. He says it’s fine (“it’s fine”) and that he’s just not a big birthday person, but that’s a lie he’s just grumpy about it. He was gifted many combo birthday-Christmas gifts as a child which he was not a fan of. He also does a little bit of “i hate my birthday out of spite” in the vein of Chandler Bing and Thanksgiving, but like only a little bit [side note: my dad’s birthday is two days after Christmas, so I can confirm that people with Christmas-adjacent birthdays are absolutely grumpy and “woe is me” like this]

I believe KT is an Aquarius (🏺) and that her birthday is at the very end of January (my headcanon is Jan. 29). She was definitely that kid in school who brought cupcakes into school on her birthday, and she continues this tradition at Anubis House. She wakes up early on her birthday so that she can make cupcakes to bring to class. Alfie’s a big fan

Willow is for sure a Pisces (🐟), and her birthday is in late February (my headcanon is Feb. 24). The thing she wants the most for her birthday every single year is for it to snow on her birthday. She wants her birthday to be “a winter wonderland.” And whenever it does actually snow on her birthday, it’s the best thing to ever happen to her in her entire life, and she spends all day in the snow

I believe Mick is an Aries (🐏), and his birthday is in late March (my headcanon is March 30)

I believe Alfie is also an Aries (🐏), and in my mind is birthday is on April Fool’s Day. No one believes him when he tells them at first. His birthday is always a riot. Everyone feels bad about getting mad at his April Fool’s Day pranks because they don’t want to make him upset on his birthday, and because of this he goes just a little bit mad with power

Because their birthdays are 2 days apart, Alfie and Mick often had joint birthday festivities. Alfie loves sharing; Mick is not so keen about it. Alfie often takes over the birthday festivities and tends to make them more about himself, which steams Mick a little bit. However, Alfie also enthusiastically calls the two of them “birthday buddies” which Mick can’t help but like

I can totally see Trudy either A) making two cakes or B) making one of those cakes that’s split down the middle, like one half is chocolate/chocolate and one half is vanilla/vanilla or whatever. And she totally puts their faces on the cake (which they both would love) and puts the face on each respective half so they know whose is whose. “Whoever’s cake you pick is who you love more,” Alfie declares every year, making the whole house choose sides

Now Jerome, I believe, is a Gemini (👯‍♀️), and his birthday is in mid-June (my headcanon is June 11). This means he’s the youngest one in the house, which he absolutely fucking hates. He tries to keep his birthday a secret from everyone for the longest time. For awhile, they think that Alfie is the youngest, and he would prefer to keep it that way. He absolutely does not want anyone to know that he is anubis house baby. He declares the day they find out the truth the worst day of his life. Everyone makes jokes about it which angers him to no end. “I am the tallest one here!! Don’t disrespect me like this!!” “Yeah but you’re still the baby of the house. Have you hit puberty yet?”

Once Jerome’s 18th birthday hits and they have the final 18th birthday party, Trudy gets incredibly emotional because all of her babies are adults now. She definitely cries a little. Or a lot

[palizinhas]

Phinabella 6 or 11? (depending on which one strikes your fancy more 😂)

6. …on a falling tear.

Phineas knew he wasn't exactly the most subtle person alive.

The day after he realized he had feelings for Isabella, he made a special sign overnight that say 'Hello Isabella' in glowing purple and red. Ferb couldn't stop laughing.

But the thing was, regardless of what he did or did not do, he got the impression the universe did not want Isabella to know how he felt about her.

See, he had reasons for thinking so.

During the day of the aforementioned sign, it turned out Isabella had a soccer game that day that she had forgotten to mention, and as such had not been there to actually see it - the whole team was playing in another school.

And then, during their first school event of high school, a dance event, Phineas of course invited Isabella right away - her assuming he was asking for both him and Ferb was normal and expected, Phineas had planned for that, but then... then just as he was about to explain that no, he meant it as a date, but they could totally just go all three of them if she wasn't interested, the principal suddenly announced the dance had been cancelled due to an "ice cream incident".

Something happening two times could be a coincidence, but the third time? The third time Phineas knew someone up there had something against him. Him! Whose plans almost always worked!

It was scientifically proven that he was extremely lucky. But in this one thing, that was more important than his Big Ideas, his luck always seemed to fail him.

It was a simple plan. He had even gotten Ferb to help him so their luck would multiply - he thought it was possible that since his inventions always worked because he did it with Ferb, maybe that meant this plan would work if Ferb was there.

It was Isabella's birthday, and they always went big. Phineas had spent the last decade making sure to ever top the previous year, before he even knew why.

This time, Phineas did something a bit different.

It was a maze. Cliche, but his research told him it was corny enough to work.

Everyone would see the normal path, but Isabella would be wearing special glasses that would lead her to a secret part of the maze, where Phineas had a picnic prepared. Ferb had suggested the picnic thing, saying Phineas could use her memory of their picnic together as kids to start talking.

Phineas had spent hours on that maze.

He accounted for everything.

Except the fact that the special material he used for the maze couldn't withstand a lot of water.

And in this day, this day it had to rain.

Phineas hadn't moved for the past half hour. It had been an hour before the time he had told Isabella the maze would be ready when he went outside to check everything and saw it start to rain.

"Whatcha doin'?" Isabella asked behind him, and Phineas turned back, knowing his face couldn't be pretty just then. Isabella suddenly turned serious. "Are you alright?"

"I... I had a plan," Phineas said, feeling a bit lost. "A great birthday. It was... it was going to be life-changing."

"You can't control the rain, Phineas," Isabella said, moving to put her hand on his shoulder. Phineas thought it might have been the first time they actually touched all summer. He hadn't gotten to see her much. "I'm sure we can do something just as great inside. You and Ferb can make any day special."

"Yeah, but..." Phineas sighed. "It was supposed to be special for the two of us too, I had... I had a plan."

Isabella's look turned a bit weird at that point, but Phineas barely noticed it. "There was a maze. And... and a picnic. I was going to tell you you're the greatest person I know and..."

Without even realizing it, Phineas started crying.

"Hey," Isabella said, moving closer to him. "You've already made my day so special, just by saying this. You don't have to do something amazing. Just... being around you is amazing."

It was the kind of thing Phineas didn't hear from her often - but she always knew how to cheer him up when he needed her to.

"You're amazing," Phineas said, trying to stop himself from crying more.

"And I'm very lucky to have you around," Isabella said, and somehow their heads were even closer.

She kissed his face, over his tears, and Phineas finally saw what he had been looking for over the past year.

Isabella was looking at him in a way he knew was similar to how he looked at her.

[hollandsrecs]

completed series masterlist (1)

links last checked 16/12/2020 | more masterlists here

2 hearts, 22 calibers by heyhihellowhatsup0

summary: despite discovering the new owner of the club you work at may have his own secrets hidden, the temptation to get closer to him outweighs your trepidation...

12 days of christmas by keepingupwiththeparkers

24 hour, long lasting by madmadmilk

summary: a clumsy you, a tube of long lasting lipstick, a small case of stumbling, a stain, and a boy you never imagined to meet.

chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

against the agenda by cosmetologynerd

summary: he was tom holland; love was not on the agenda. 

all of the lights by spiderboytherescue

always, yours by angelicholland

summary: you always knew you loved your best friend but you figured that he would never feel the same way, so you set those useless feelings aside. how will you cope when you find a box of letters that tells you otherwise? is it too late to let go of the butterflies trapped deep within you? would he even feel the same way anymore?

apartment 509 by sweetlysilent

summary: tom brings girls home almost daily, something that bothers you to the end of the world; whereas on the other hand you rarely go out, spending majority of your time focused on your studies, something that drives tom insane, the tension between the two of you becoming thicker, even more when he finds out you have a study date.

attachment by hazinhoodies

summary: maybe you held on a little too tight. you were only trying to salvage the most important relationship of your life.

beneath the waves by cosmetologynerd

summary: “please, i wish to be free.” 

black beauty by blissfulparker

summary: tom, the king of hell, has no time for love or any woman in his life. he spends his days finding new punishments for the people who deserve it. you, spend your days in heaven making everyone happy. never wanting a soul to feel down. what happens when heaven decides to send you down to join tom in hell? why would they send their best angel to the devil himself?

born king by spiderboytotherescue

breaking curfew by wazzupmrstark

summary: when you got the job to be a counsellor at the summer camp you’d grown up attending all your life, you expected to see some familiar faces. but you certainly hadn’t counted on having to work alongside the boy who had made it his life’s mission to make your life a living hell every summer. in fact, you thought you’d never have to see tom holland again. but he’s is in the cabin right across from yours with campers of his own- smirk, jawline, and all. if you didn’t know any better you might’ve thought that he applied for the position just to spite you, but who were you kidding? what kind of asshole would do something like that?

clear by peeterparkr

summary: y/n is in town for summer, she wants the sea to wash away the pains of the past, however when a certain surfer comes into her life, the remaining salt might not decant, but maybe some sweet surprises might come to shore

complications by loserparker

summary: being roommates with tom was easy, fun. that is until feelings started getting involved. throw in the fact that both of you suck at communication and things are bound to get complicated.

contrapposto by madmadmilk

summary: you desperately needed a figure model for your upcoming art final and you find a friend willing to pose for you.

chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

dare you to move by starksparker

summary: friends with benefits is supposed to be just that. friends with the benefits of fooling around and not having anything more than platonic feelings. easy, fun, thrilling, no one gets hurt…right?

determined by blesshimnorris

summary: you are enjoying university life with your fellow housemates, except for tom, who seems to avoid or tease you every chance he gets. but with your birthday slowly approaching he finally tries to make amends.

chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

dine and dash by blissfulparker

summary: tom comes into your diner every tuesday and thursday, it is no secret that he only goes for you. when will he ever be brave enough to say something, when will you ever be brave enough to let him in?

eighteen by angelicholland

summary: y/n is tom’s math tutor and needed a date for sunday dinner. tom has tattoos all over and just looks like the type of guy who would piss off her parents. will their fake relationship turn into something so much more?

eloped by worldoftom

summary: you and tom have been in a secret relationship for a long time, but what would you do if tom proposed unexpectedly during your vacation in casablanca, morocco?

every step of the way by sunshinehollandd

summary: you and tom are best friends, and you have been for as long as you can remember. after one night, everything changes. but, tom is by your side every step of the way.

ex on the beach by heyhihellowhatsup0

summary: eight months after your ugly breakup with tom, you find yourself stuck together for two whole weeks at a private beach house. just you, tom, some mutual friends, what could possibly go wrong?

for king or country by avengers-sweethearts

summary: from the time you were a child you always lived in the castle. your mother and father were both servants and even after they died you stayed on as one yourself. prince yom was always someone you admired from afar. he was the nicest out of all the holland royalty and incredibly handsome. along the way of your daily duties the prince begins to pay you more attention when you save him from an awkward situation. things get more complicated when his jealous betrothed princess zendaya comes to court and stirs up trouble for the forbidden romance. will prince tom follow his heart or stay true to his country? most importantly of all, will you even make it out alive?

forbidden rose by avengers-sweethearts

summary: if there was one person who knew how to throw a party, it was tom holland. in 1922 partying wasn’t uncommon, but a tom holland party was like none ever seen before. the young billionaire thrived off of rumors and speculation. despite the parties being held weekly, no one had ever seen the mystery man. tom intended to keep it that way until one night an enchanting woman caught his eye. but what happens when her cruel fiancé is tangled up with demons from his past. will their love be enough to overcome the trouble that lies ahead?

forever by starksparker

summary: what happens when a fuckboy with some anger issues and a bad streak is forced to work alongside someone who’s his opposite? and what happens if they can be ripped from him in seconds?

ground rules by madmadmilk

summary: you just love holding someone, and being held. It’s not a hard thing to ask for, but it sure can be hard for someone to understand.

chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

happiness is a butterfly by blissfulparker

summary: you and tom spend your whole lives looking for your soulmates. how could you not see that you two were right under each other’s noses both coming from a mob family?

heart eyes by madmadmilk

summary: tom holland is a friend that you only see once or twice a year, but when the stars align and you finally start to get close to him again you realize that… you’ve never really known each other at all. he has an emoji tailing after every contact on his phone… but none for you. hm. a soft and bumbling story about how you get to know him, and how he gets to know you.

chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

heartbreak weather by t-holland2080

summary: after getting out of a rough relationship, you meet tom, who pulls you out of your heartbreak weather.

heavenly yours by tomsrebeleyebrow

summary: angels live in a perfect world. in a complete ivory tower. but loving someone else is forbidden. a true sin.

hostility by starsholland

summary: everything was going well in your life, living in LA, trying to make it big as a journalist, but all of that is foiled when tom holland walks into your life bringing drama and negativity. how much will you be able to take before you finally lose it?

chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

hotlanta by hollandorks

summary: a fun night in atlanta forces the reader into a fake relationship with celebrity tom holland in order to save both of their careers.

chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

how to unlove someone by whatevsholland

i only feel you by stuckonspidey

summary: a world in which soulmates feel their other half, physically and emotionally. y/n has given up on finding her soulmate, given up on trying to decipher the sensations he feels and the lifestyle he leads–prompting her to give up on him. her other half, she’d come to find, is the leader of the holland crime family, and in no means the easiest person to love.

kiss currency by madmadmilk

summary: swapping underwear with your best friend’s best friend, while maintaining your cool composure. he’s cute, he’s funny, and you’d be down to kiss him at least once. :)

chapters: 0 | 1 | 2 | 3

lacuna by thollandss

summary: being friends with benefits with a celebrity isn’t easy. nobody said it was.

limits of desire by peeterparkr

summary: you met tom a night he was trying to sleep with you, it didn’t work and you became best of friends. wedding bells might be ringing for when you both realize how you really feel.

london boy by tonguetiedholland

summary: you’re a famous singer and actor whose break up with ex boyfriend, shawn mendes, has just hit the media. when it all feels a bit too much you do the only reasonable thing you can think of, escape to london and lay low for a little while. who knew that tom holland, the boy you’d only met once but had you in the palm of his hand when you did and vice verse, would also be in london at the same exact time?

lucky number by tomhollanders2013

summary: what happens when one of the world’s most famous celebrities accidentally dials your number instead of his new assistant’s... is it a happy accident or a recipe for disaster?

chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

miss yer kiss by angelicholland

summary: a one-night stand turned something more, you and tom meet again against the odds. an aspiring tattoo artist and a famous actor with “i miss you” on the tip of your tongues meet again and again as you slowly realize what love looks like.

model for me by thollandss

summary: in which you are a photographer for GQ, and during a private session with tom holland, you find yourself getting to know him very well.

money can’t buy you love by hilllsnholland

summary: y/n has worked her whole life to get into the prestige university of her dreams. nothing can stop her, right? maybe tom holland, son of billionaires and the poster child of privilege, who has made it his mission to woo the ‘scholarship baby’.

more than i know by lauras-collection

summary: you need a date for your sister’s wedding and the stranger in the coffee shop seems to be the perfect choice. until you see pictures of yourself and him all over the internet because apparently he’s an international movie star and now the whole world thinks you’re dating. and you have to give the people what they want, right? even if it’s fake.

naughty or nice by avengers-sweethearts

summary: the holidays are the worst time to be alone, especially in a brand new city with a brand new job. when an unexpected meeting with famous actor tom holland ends in the exchanging of phone numbers you find yourself in the dangerous position of falling in love with hollywood’s hottest and most eligible bachelor. unable to help yourself, you being to fall for the handsome actor and will do almost anything to earn his affection. trying to balance work, love, and the holiday proves to be more of a challenge than you had initially thought. the million-dollar question is what side of tom’s christmas list will you end up on: naughty or nice?

of broken promises and heartbreak by softspiderling

summary: it’s been six years since you and tom broke up, six years since you’ve last seen each other. a lot has happened, tom got insanely famous, making countless billion dollar movies, attending one red-carpet event after the other. but now he was attending one event, he wasn’t sure he was ready for. your wedding. and he wasn’t attending as your groom.

chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

paint the grass green by lauras-collection

summary: a complicated relationship ends when tom breaks up with you after a fight. but it’s about to get more complicated. because how are you going to tell him that you’re pregnant if he won’t let you talk to him? so you don’t. years later you run into harrison, and there’s no denying that it’s tom’s son who’s tightly holding onto your hand. harrison gives you an ultimatum: either you tell tom, or he will.

peppermint by hollandandi

perfidy by peeterparkr

summary: tom and you have been sworn enemies since you were young. however you happened to be best friends with the twins. when one of your friends challenged you to break tom’s heart, you immediately accepted to get back at him for all the times he’s hurt you. old feelings might come back, while both of you try to go past your pride and your lies.

philanthropy by museinmind

summary: things seemed to be going too well in your life when you became your sorority’s president. so of course something has to go sideways somehow, and you end up having to take a chemistry class if you want to graduate next year. so what better person to tutor you than tom, the frat ultra hot boy who hides the fact he has textbooks nearly memorized?

pinky promises by sunshinehollandd

summary: being a single dad to a four-year-old isn’t easy, but tom figures out a way to make it work with the help of his best friend.

season of reunions by unbelievableholland

summary: you were adopted by 2 mysterious agents. you knew you were adopted and you never thought about your original family. being content with the life your parents gave you, why would you? that was, until your parents are killed and you’re left to fend for yourself and with a lot of questions unanswered.

seeing the thing by angelicholland

summary: you’re stage-managing your school’s spring show, almost, maine when you’re taken out of your element by a cocky boy with a dazzling smile and a way to your heart that makes you hate him before you can see the thing.

sincerely, by whatevsholland

summary: you and tom were childhood best friends. but when he started dating the girl who got everything you ever wanted, it began a falling out between you and tom. now he’s back home in london, just in time for your sister to host her engagement party.

single all the way by heyhihellowhatsup0

summary: when tom finds out he has to go home for christmas, he decides to formulate plan so he doesn’t have to run into his ex alone. you.

soulmate by spiderboytotherescue

summary: sometimes finding your soulmate doesn’t always happen where you expect it too. and sometimes, you’re just not ready to fall head over heels in love just yet.

sweetener by keepingupwiththeparkers

summary: okay, so maybe lecture hall proximity and roast calibre weren’t the only reasons for your frequent visits to this particular coffee shop. maybe there was a certain brown eyed brunette who worked there, and maybe he always gave you two stamps on your loyalty card instead of one, and maybe you liked watching his back muscles shift under his stupidly tight t-shirt while he pumped sweet vanilla syrup into your cup. maybe.

take me out by angelicholland

summary: you killed people, people who deserved it, but you killed people and that was your reality. killing is a job for one person. add another and it gets messy. things don’t happen by chance, not in your line of work. you held people’s lives in your hands and made the active decision to end them. what happens when you team up with a gorgeous man with a charming british accent to take out a prolific user of a sex trafficking website? but it was not by chance that you fell in love with him, it was the worst decision you could’ve ever made.

the fame game by duskholland

summary: there’s just something about tom holland that makes your blood boil. he walks around like he owns the world, always with an unhelpful quip or irritating smirk on hand. you can’t stand him, and your feud has burned hard and bright for three years. everything changes following an explosive evening at the oscars, when a questionable encounter with the paparazzi lands you in some hot water with PR. the only way to save your shattered public image is to agree to the unthinkable: tom will be your boyfriend, and you will be his girlfriend - and this might just be your hardest performance to date.

the jar series by libertybarnes

summary: tom holland, notorious mob boss, meets a single mother and her bubbly child and has to learn to live life with something to lose.

the king by sadchappuccino

summary: y/n is an angel who fell from heaven, tom is the king of hell. will they put that aside and fall in love?

chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

the missing piece by avengers-sweethearts

summary: when you graduated with an elementary education degree you were lost. you thought you wanted to be a teacher but you weren’t entirely sure if it would make you happy. as you’re in between jobs, you’re lucky enough to stumble upon the opportunity to be a nanny for the very rich and very handsome single father, tom holland. tom is busy running a company and he doesn’t want his daughter ella to be alone or sent to a daycare. things get crazy when you move in with the little family. between some secrets about alla and the undeniable attraction between you and tom you’re not sure what your role is to this family. do you keep it professional or do you risk it all and take the chance of falling for tom? only time will tell if you’re the missing piece.

the situationship by fairytelling

summary: a cup of tea can solve just about any problem. except, it can’t solve your confusing, headache-inducing ‘situationship’ with your university flatmate, tom holland.

to new beginnings by petersshirts

summary: it’s time to settle down and when your best friend asks you to have a child with him, how could you say no?

two lies and a truth by lauras-collection

summary: you wanted a fresh start. and uni seemed like the perfect opportunity. until you bump into tom. he says he’s sorry for everything he’s done to you. but can you trust him?

untitled by marvelbws

summary: suits, smirks, and a major sex appeal.

vlogs by spideyyeet

summary: being in the vlog squad was dope af but having david dobrik run into tom holland and getting him to surprise you was a whole other thing. now let’s see what’s it like to have tom meet the vlog squad and be with the girl that’s making him rethink some decisions.

we’re only kidding ourselves by wazzupmrstark

summary: you work as a production assistant for the spider-man: far from home crew, or rather as tom holland’s handler. the two of you don’t get along very well to say the least, but you won’t quit and he can’t fire you so you’re stuck with each other.

wicked games by captainmarvels

summary: in which tom holland, overwhelmed by his personal demons, seeks comfort in the only ways he knows how; spending money and rough fucking. the hotheaded ceo with major daddy issues can’t seem to get it quite right when it comes to you, but is there hope for his heart?

with love, tom by thollandss

summary: when an envelope addressed to tom makes its way into your mailbox, you realize he has enlisted in the army. your walls begin to crumble down at the idea of him leaving you like this. alone for eight weeks. he makes a promise to you, a promise that every week he is gone, he will send you an update letter... but soon enough, you start to not receive them.

yellow roses by grussell63

summary: tom’s mother has him participate in a bachelor-like dating competition, because she is tired of him sleeping around. furthermore she decides to bring in his best friend to spy on the contestants. is tom going to find the one amongst the 12 candidates or is he just going to play his little games?

chapters: 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | EPILOGUE

[scrunchyharry]

here is a masterpost of all of my fics in chronological order of publication

✨ I roll and I roll, ‘til I change my luck

explicit | 8,295 words

“They’re not my best pictures.”

“I wouldn’t say that, I think you look quite good being manhandled by a bigger man.”

Louis chokes on his sip of hot chocolate, feeling it burn its way down his throat. He coughs a few times and then clears his throat. “I’m sorry?!”

“You heard me. You should do it more often, it might make you more humble. Maybe you’ll learn to respect people.” Or Louis is a bored, rich kid whose latest stunt got him arrested and forced to attend a fundraiser at an ice rink, Zayn is his unlucky partner in crime, Harry is the cute hospital volunteer who is having none of his attitude, Niall is the worst DJ in the world, and Liam is Leslie Knope.

✨ lead me out on the moonlight floor

explicit | 12,758 words

In all honesty, Harry was long forgotten, cast aside by a dimpled stranger and too much champagne. He was almost glad, now, that Harry hadn’t come, because he wouldn’t have met this stranger, this tall man who could make his heart flutter with a single glance.

Victorian!AU where Louis is a wealthy lord throwing a masquerade ball for his birthday and Harry is a toymaker who's only confident when he's wearing a mask.

✨ electing strange perfections

explicit | 10 chapters | 84,757 words

Back for the summer from university, 19-year-old Louis is faced with a massive problem: their new gardener is quite possibly the most gorgeous man he's ever met. Over the course of the summer, Louis and a 25-year-old Harry will learn that love can be found where you least expect it.

✨ scintillating

explicit | 23 chapters | 263,706 words

When Harry and Louis meet in Disney World during their family’s holiday, it’s love at first sight. Back in England, they fight against the distance to stay together, to make it work. When Harry signs up for The X-Factor, though, the precarious balance they’ve built is compromised.

Or the one where they fall in love, Harry wins the X-Factor, and everything goes to hell.

✨ taken by the wind

teen and up | 12,040 words

When he decided to move to London with his sister, Harry thought he would finally get to learn how to control his magic. He couldn't possibly have predicted that he would fall for her neighbour.

Or the one where Harry is a clumsy witch and Louis is making everything worse just by existing.

✨ signs and wonders

explicit | 29,005 words

On the surface, it looks like Louis Tomlinson has the perfect life; after all, he has the whole package: a white picket fence house (well, his doesn’t technically have a white picket fence, but work with him), a wife, a daughter and a dog. He has it all and he’s not even 30, yet.

On the surface, he could be the happiest man in the world.

The thing is, he never wanted this life. There was this boy, see, this Harry Styles, whose arrival made Louis question everything he thought he knew about himself. Before Louis could pursue it, though, before he could be brave and ask the boy out, one moment of bad luck on prom night, one single lapse of judgment, shaped his life in a way he never would have chosen. Between doing the right thing or turning into his own absent father, he knew what he had to do, even if it meant burying his dreams under the weight of a premature adulthood.

That is, until he receives an invitation for his school’s ten year reunion and sees that Harry will attend.

Could it be his second chance at happiness? At what cost?

✨ fondre ton absence

teens and up | 41,315 words

Harry had never really given much thought to the future. He preferred to let life steer him forward and to follow in the footsteps of Louis, his best friend from as far as his memory went, his lover, his everything. Louis knew better than he did what was good for him.

It changed drastically when Louis was ripped away from him, drafted and sent to the front to fight in a war that Harry had always been sure would never reach him. Too young and too sickly to follow, Harry was left on his own for the first time in his life.

When he thought things could not possibly get worse, Louis went missing at the Somme and was declared dead. While everyone buried and mourned him, Harry never moved on. If Louis were dead, he was sure that he would know it. Their lives were too entwined, he would know if half of his heart had died.

Determined to find Louis, Harry did everything he could in his quest to be reunited with him, except prepare for the state Louis might be in.

He did not prepare for the harsh truth he would have to face: was love possible without memories?

✨ the sanctity of patience

teens and up | 22,521 words

When young Lord Harry was chosen by King Louis of Bavaria to become his husband and prince consort, Harry thought all of his dreams had come through. His illusions came crashing down when he understood it meant living in isolation in the alpine castle of Neuschwanstein with a husband who turned out to be far from what he had hoped for.

His illusions vanished, Harry will have learn to appreciate what has and even, perhaps, fall in love with his imperfect husband and his castle.

✨ tempests of dust

explicit | 30,797 words

Louis lived an ordinary life, albeit in an extraordinary place. His family, alongside many others, were mandated to maintain the fortress of Bourbon-l’Archambault, one of the many castles belonging to the crown of France. It was thankless work, but it was a roof over their heads and a quiet, steady life. For all that he knew, the Crown had forgotten Bourbon-l’Archambault even existed, which suited him quite well.

That was until the Dauphin, Prince Harry, came to stay for a summer and decided that he would experience the life of a peasant, for his own personal growth, without any regards to how it would affect others. After a summer spent together, the thought of parting ways was too much to bear and they struck a deal: Louis would pretend to be a duke at the court of Versailles for a season: if after three months, he was miserable, Harry would let him return to his former life without making a fuss.

Did they really think it would be that simple?

✨ i can’t hurt you anymore

mature | 666 words

There was a boy who lived in the closet of Harry’s new house. Louis, he was called, and he was there when Harry’s family moved in, watching timidly as Harry unpacked his boxes, and when Harry asked if he wanted to help, he said he could not touch anything.

I’m Louis, he said, and we can be friends and I will never leave you if you promise to be with me forever.

✨ as in olden days

teens and up | 18,430 words

When his father insisted the entire family spend Christmas abroad in one of his new investments, Harry dreaded the prospect of being trapped for weeks in the biting Canadian cold, so far away from the roaring excitement of his London life. As he crossed half of the world to be buried under a thick blanket of snow, he never imagined he would meet a charming bellhop who would do his best to keep him warm.

[leverage-ot3]

part two of my leverage witcher!au because I can’t get it out of my head and I desperately need someone to write it:

alec, a changeling, was abandoned by his human parents once they realized he wasn’t their real child.

he was alone, scavenging and stealing for six months before nana found him trying to steal coin from her. she sensed his magic immediately being a half-elf herself (human passing) and decided to take this homeless fae child in.

nana had taken many not-quite-human children in over the years. normally townsfolk wouldn’t accept someone taking in so many inhuman children, but nana was such a respected healer and pillar of the community that no one dared touch her children.

there was emmie, a half-nymph girl whose parents were killed after their village found out of their “immoral” affair. nana found her crying, alone in the forest in the area where she gathers supplies for her potions. she took the little girl’s hand and walked her home.

there was jon, a quiet siren boy that nana came across fishing one early morning. his parents were killed by townsfolk that didn’t want to share their waters with sirens, even peaceful ones. she shared a fish with him and invited him back to her home. he agreed. in time, he’d sing soft lullabies to the younger children, singing the songs his parents sang to him all those years ago.

there was nix, the child of a minor nature deity that had to give them up after being hunted by hunters looking for an exotic bounty. she knew nana- she’d given her a blessing to forage in her forest. she brought nix to nana’s doorstep with a plead in her eye for her child to have a better life. nana would never refuse. nix now takes care of the forest that was once their mother’s and helps nana garden.

there was alfie, the elf boy whose parents were killed during a second wave of “the great cleansing”. nana found him scavenging in the alley behind her shop and gave him an accepting home. some nights, he’d teach the other children elder because they wanted to learn more about their brother. he secretly cherished those moments when he could connect with his past.

there was camilla, a shifter child who lost her parents to exotic bounty hunters. she’d gotten stuck in her cat form after staying in it for so long- after all, people liked a cute kitten a lot better than they did a strange orphan girl. nana came across her in the street and sensed her magic immediately. she offered her with soft words a warm bed by a fire and as much food to eat as she could want. she was patient with camilla and eventually she was comfortable enough to shift back.

there were many, many more over the years. alec loved them all.

nana always taught her children to accept themselves, but she knew that the world they would brave one day wouldn’t be as welcoming as her. she wanted to do something to let them live their lives without hatred and bigotry and had just the solution.

helena, nana’s best friend and the woman she’d marry when alec was fifteen, was a graduate of aretuza. she’d long left the life of courtly servitude and espionage for a quieter life.

helena carefully crafted glamours for each of the children passing through their house, the two of them wanting the best life they could for their kids.

now, alec loved his home, he really did. but as the years passed, he felt the growing urge to stretch his legs and explore the world.

nana told him any alchemist would want him as an apprentice- he was always the best at helping her make potions.

alec didn’t want to brew potions, though. he wanted to travel and see the world outside of lettenhove. and what better way to do that than as a travelling bard? his nimble fingers could play any instrument he could get his hands on and his voice was almost otherworldly.

nana and helena bade him farewell the summer of his twentieth birthday. they watched him and his horse get smaller and smaller until they blended in to the horizon.

the women held hands as they saw him go.

[thebakingqueen5]

KW 2021: Height Difference

Day 1 for Kataang Week 2021 hosted by @kataang-week with the prompt Height Difference!

Links: AO3 | FF.net

Summary: Another year, another summer, another week of prompts celebrating our favorite couple. Kataang Week 2021 Day 1: Height Difference. It’s his 14th birthday and Aang is feeling frustrated. Katara wants to help and Aang confides in her about some of his insecurities.

Word Count: 2.2K

After a long day of festivities, night had finally fallen across the Fire Nation palace, and Aang and Katara were ready to head to bed and get some well-earned rest.

The couple had just finished up at the banquet and silently walked through the dimly lit halls to Aang’s room so as to not alert Katara’s overprotective brother. Though they had merely been cuddling the last few nights before sleeping, Sokka would surely throw a fit if he knew that they were sharing a room at all, hence a bit of secrecy was needed.

At last, they arrived- the third door on the right in the central wing of the palace had been designated the Avatar’s quarters since as early as Kyoshi’s time. It was a fair distance away from the rest of the bedrooms in the west wing, and it also had far more extravagant commodities with its own mini-courtyard and balcony, giving the pair plenty of space to get away from the rest of the world and simply enjoy being with each other.

“Today was fun,” Katara sighed as they finally entered the room, taking off her shoes at the entrance and immediately going towards the inviting bed.

She let herself fall onto the soft mattress, groaning softly as her limbs were finally able to relax after a long day of dancing, cooking, and celebrating for the airbender’s 14th birthday, while Aang gently closed the door with a soft thump.

“Yeah,” Aang chuckled as he joined her on the bed. He pulled some of the thin cotton sheets over them and then curled up next to her on his side.“It sure was... something.”

The waterbender shifted slightly to allow her boyfriend to rest his head in the crook of her neck and absentmindedly traced the outline of the blue arrow on his head while he closed his eyes in contentment.

“Something?” she questioned. Katara furrowed her eyebrows, her movements faltering. “Did you not have fun, Aang?”

The airbender winced when he heard the twinge of hurt in Katara’s voice. She hadn’t been trying to make it sound that way, but she had been planning the event for weeks and naturally was a little offended by the implication of his words.

“Oh. No, sweetie, I didn’t mean it that way. The party was amazing! The food, the drinks, the music, everything was spectacular. You did an amazing job, and it means a lot to me that you care so much.”

Katara let out a quiet breath of relief, resuming her gentle touches to his tattoos.

“Of course I care, sweetie. You’re my boyfriend, and I love you. That’s why if you didn’t like it, I won’t be mad, really.”

Aang tilted his head up and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “That wasn’t it, I promise. I just… I had  a bit on my mind today.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked him tenderly.

He sighed and buried his face in her neck. “I guess... it would be nice to get it off my chest. It’s not like anyone else would get it anyways.”

The waterbender gave him a curious look, silently encouraging him to continue.

“It’s so stupid, but I heard some nobles talking when I stepped away to get us some water. They just kept going on and on about how much of a child I was and how I’m too young and too scrawny and too short for you, and, well, they’re right!”

He turned his body away from her now frowning face and pulled the blankets snug around his body like a protective cocoon.

“You’re almost 16, Tara,” Aang murmured. “A young woman in every sense of the word. Spirits, you’re of marrying age in a month! Me? I’m just a loser kid you found washed up in an iceberg. How could I ever be deserving of you?”

“Oh, Aang…”

She shifted onto her side as well and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his back and listening to the rhythm of his breathing.

“Those nobles are utterly ridiculous. First of all, it’s only two years! What difference does two years make in the long run? It doesn’t, that’s what. My parents were four years apart and were the happiest two people in the world! A gap of two years is insignificant,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Second of all, sure we’re young, but considering that we saved the world even younger, I think it’s safe to say we’ve matured beyond our years. We’re certainly old enough to know we love each other, and that’s all that matters.”

“Doesn’t change the other part though,” Aang muttered in response. “Spirits, I’m 14 and barely the same height as you. A little shorter if we’re being honest. It’s so annoying! Why can’t I just grow up already?”

“Sweetie?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t mean for this to come off the wrong way, but why do you care about that? What difference does it make?”

The airbender remained silent for a few moments and pondered her question, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“The monks had always taught me to judge people based on the content of their character, not their exterior, and to draw satisfaction from being self-assured, rather than care about what other people thought. And in most cases I feel like I do that pretty well, but…”

“But?”

A subtle pink tinted Aang’s cheeks and he took her hands in his, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

“You’re different, Katara. You’re the one I love more than anything, the one I would do anything for, the one whose opinions, thoughts, and feelings mean the world to me. You’re the most amazing person on the planet, and you deserve someone worthy of you. Look at Haru and Jet! They were both older and taller and so even something as small as noticing the height difference when we’re dancing kinda hurts. It just feels like I’m the odd one out. I know that’s silly but-”

The waterbender cut him off and shook her head.

“It’s not silly, Aang. Believe me, I’ve felt the same way more times than I’d care to admit. But, in the end, none of that matters. I love you. I chose you . You’re not just my boyfriend, you’re my best friend."

He turned back around to face her and swept her up in an embrace, mind immediately put at ease by her words.

“Plus,” she continued, “So what if you’re a little shorter than me now? You’ll grow in no time. Quite frankly, I’ll miss being taller than you when you do.”

The airbender quirked an eyebrow. “You’ll miss it?”

Katara chuckled softly and pressed a kiss to his forehead, right at the tip of his arrow.

“Yeah,” she whispered, “I will. Being able to do that, not having to look up or go on my toes trying to kiss you, I won’t be able to do all that forever. Things like kisses, hugs, they’re a lot more… accessible with our current heights.”

“Hmm,” Aang hummed. “I guess I never really thought of it like that. I still want to grow taller of course, but when you put it like that, I might miss this a little bit too.”

“Let’s not get too carried away with the future, okay?” Katara laughed. “We have our whole lives ahead of us, let’s just stay in the present- the present where I love you, and you love me, and nothing else matters.”

The airbender grinned with her, pressing his forehead gently to hers.

“I like the sound of that. Thank you, sweetie. For listening, for the reassurance, just everything. It means a lot.”

“Of course, sweetie. I’m always here.”

Katara pressed a sweet kiss to his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck as Aang returned it, pulling her closer to him. They broke apart after a few seconds and grinned like idiots at one another. There was silence, but it was comfortable. The two didn’t need words, they were just enjoying being with each other.

“It’s getting late,” the waterbender murmured after some time. “We should probably go to bed.”

“Probably,” Aang whispered back, unable to take his eyes off the angel in front of him. With a flick of his wrist, he put out the candles that had been lighting up the room and settled into his pillow as Katara drew closer to him and interlocked their fingers.

“Good night, Aang. Love you,” she said, beginning to drift off to the dream realm.

“Love you too, Tara,” the airbender yawned. “Sweet dreams.”

One year later…

“Happy birthday!” the room chorused as Aang blew out all his 15 candles.

The airbender grinned and began to cut the apple cake- an ancient recipe of the Air Nomads recreated by some of the top chefs in the Fire Nation as a gift from Zuko.

“Thanks guys!” Aang laughed. “Man, it’s crazy to think that the war has been over for a little more than two years now.”

Katara smiled and leaned up on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek.

“We’ve all done a lot of growing up. We’re older, more mature-” she gave Aang a quick look from head to toe. “ Taller .”

He chuckled, pulling her close to him and peppering kisses all over the top of her head. She was right, of course- as if triggered by their conversation that night, Aang had grown rapidly over the next year. A month later he was the same height as her, two months following he was comfortably able to rest his arm on her shoulder, and now, a year later, he towered above her with her eyebrows barely at his chin.

“Ugh,” Sokka groaned. “Give it a rest you two. The oogies are out of control! Spirits, you act like a newly wedded couple still in the honeymoon stage half the time.”

“Oh, leave them alone, Sokka,” Suki chided. “It’s his birthday! Let’s give the lovebirds some alone time. They’re just kids, they’re nowhere near that yet.”

“Yeah, haha, absolutely not,” Aang nervously laughed as the other couple exited the room. The stone pendant in his pocket began to feel like poisonous lead weighing down his vision for the hopefully not-so-distant future.

“You never know,”  the airbender heard Katara mumble, so quiet he wasn’t even sure she had actually said it. “Sometimes things will come when you least expect it.”

He stood there blankly for a moment, brain struggling to process her words and had just opened his mouth to ask her what she meant (she couldn’t possibly be talking about what he thought she was… right?) when she decided to speak up instead.

“I can’t believe you were ever nervous about staying short, sweetie,” Katara quipped, her eyebrows raised teasingly.

Aang merely blinked at the subject change, promptly concluding that the last thirty seconds were simply a figment of his imagination, and sheepishly scratched the back of his head in response to her comment.

“I guess it was kinda silly, huh,” he laughed. “Look at us now.”

The waterbender pouted, going up on the balls of her feet and craning her neck to gaze up at him. “You’re too tall for your own good. I miss when you were shorter and I didn’t have to tilt my head every time just to look at you.”

“Oh c’mon, it has its benefits.”

He gave her a quick look to warn her for what he was about to do, and with one swift motion, Katara was suddenly off the ground and in Aang’s arms bridal-style, her arms around his neck and their gazes interlocked.

The airbender touched their foreheads together and gave her a cheesy grin.

“I couldn’t do this before, now could I?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow up at her.

“No,” Katara smiled, her head tilted as she looked at him endearingly, “I suppose you couldn’t. And I certainly won’t be one to complain about you holding me more often.”

Aang laughed and carefully set her back down, hearing the growing volume of the room next to them. He quickly grabbed the two full glasses on the table and handed one to the waterbender.

“Here’s to hoping you’re the one who grows by next year so my neck isn’t always sore from looking down at you,” he said as he held his drink up.

Katara gave him a dry stare before rolling her eyes and smiling.

“Cheers.”

The two clinked their glasses and turned to face the door behind which the rest of their friends had already begun to celebrate.

“Shall we?” Aang asked as he held out his arm to her.

“We shall,” Katara responded, accepting it. “Happy birthday, Aang.”