#anyway. I know how to make edible lace now. I guess. and I even have some stuff bookmarked to uhhhh try it out in the future.

[imwritesometimes]

anyone else up til 3am on a Saturday learning all the specifics of edible lace for cake decorating?

[lucky-bishova-42]

Hi(gh) Mama!

(oneshot that takes place anytime after Chapter 32 in Malen’kiy Yastreb)

If you asked Yelena how today was gonna go, she wouldn’t in a million years have guessed this.

It all started when Sonya had come over to visit the apartment the night before.

And let’s just say she brought some fun brownies over for her and Yelena to enjoy while they hung out.

What Yelena neglected to remember, before going to bed, was to label or move the leftover brownies.

Which led to this.

“Oh blyad!! Kate don’t eat those!!” Yelena cries as she watches Kate take a bite out of said brownies.

“What? Why?” Kate puts the rest of the brownie down.

“You didn’t eat any more of those, have you??” Yelena asks urgently.

“Just one other one right before this one, why? Are they for something specific?” Kate starts to get concerned.

“Der’mo! You had a whole one?”

“Yes!” Kate replies exasperatedly, “Now are you gonna tell me why its such an issue that I had one?”

“Those aren’t regular brownies, Kate. They are weed brownies,” Yelena sighs.

Kate’s eyes go wide as she looks down at the sweet treat she is still holding.

“Holy shit,” Kate says, realizing the situation.

“Yup.”

“Mama and Mom are gonna kill us.”

“Yes. Well, probably not you since it isn’t really your fault. But me, for sure.”

—————————————————————————

*about two hours later*

“Do you ever think about how if you never truly let your car’s tank get empty, that there might be a molecule of the original gas solution still in the car?” Kate ponders as she sits upside-down on the couch.

“No… but I think it is safe to say that the edible has finally kicked in,” Yelena replies, “What time are your parents going to be home?”

“Huh,” Kate pauses for a second, ignoring Yelena’s question in favor of staring at the dust on the light fixtures, “we should really start cleaning the ceiling… maybe Peter could help.”

“Kate,” Yelena snaps her fingers in front of Kate’s face, “focus!”

“Oh sorry,” Kate chuckles, turning herself upright, “I feel reeeeeeaaaaally spacey right now… how long does this normally last?”

“Well, you basically had one and a half… and you are smaller than me… and Sonya makes them kinda strong…”

“Lena…”

“Maybe a few hours,” Yelena reluctantly supplies, “possibly the rest of the night—“

“THE REST OF THE NIGHT?!?”

“Shh, calm down, malen’kaya ptichka,” Yelena puts her hands on Kate’s shoulders, “we will figure this out. Now, what time will your parents be home?”

“In within the hour,” Kate says, looking at the clock.

“Der’mo,” Yelena curses, takes a deep breath, “Okay, listen. This is what we are gonna do. We are just gonna pretend that you are extra tired and want to go to bed early; that way you can hide out in your room til you come back down.”

“I dunno Auntie Lena,” Kate frowns slightly, “lying to Mama is never a good idea; she always knows when I am lying. Plus, Mom can literally read minds.”

“It will just be for a few hours,” Yelena says, “plus, it’s not like it will be a full lie; I bet soon you will start to feel tired anyways.”

Kate looks at Yelena skeptically.

“Please, Kate,” Yelena pleads, “If your mothers find out they will kill me.”

Kate sighs, “Fine. But I make no promises.”

And Kate really tries to calm down and try to relax. She does.

But something about the specific strain that was laced in the brownies makes her slightly anxious and her already short attention span even shorter.

About twenty minutes later, she finds herself unable to stop bouncing her knee while her brain starts to run rampant with all of her irrational fears; specifically those fears that surround getting punished.

“I don’t think I can do this, Lena,” Kate trembles.

Yelena looks up from her phone to focus on a very anxious Kate.

“We should just come clean right away. They are gonna be so pissed. But maybe if we tell them it’s an accident they will go easy on us,” Kate’s trembling gets worse, and her eyes start to water.

“Hey—hey, Kate, look at me,” Yelena gently takes Kate’s chin and gets her to meet her eye line, “You are not in trouble. It was an accident. If your parents are gonna be mad at anyone, they will be mad at me,” Yelena wipes a single tear that escaped Kate’s eye, “okay?”

Kate nods and hugs Yelena, who tightens her arms around her as they cuddle on the couch.

“I still don’t like how I feel right now,” Kate announces after a moment, “my body feels heavy but my brain is moving too fast.”

“Ah, I get it, malen’kaya ptichka,” Yelena reaches over and grabs the remote, “I think I have an idea of what might help.”

—————————————————————————

Thirty minutes later, Wanda and Natasha walk into the apartment to find a very giggly Kate sitting on the couch with Yelena watching what seems to be one of those toddler sensory videos.

“Um…hello?” Natasha says cautiously as she walks towards the back of the couch.

Kate turns around with a goofy smile and a dazed look on her face, “Yay! Mama’s home!”

“Yeah…” Natasha replies slowly as she looks back and forth between her daughter and her sister, confused at what is going on, “I am home.”

“Come sit, Mama! Auntie Lena found the best tv show!” Kate cheers, patting the seat next to her.

At this point, Wanda had also joined them in the living room and was also very confused, and maybe slightly concerned, about what was going on.

Natasha goes and sits next to Kate on the couch. Once she sits down, Kate immediately snuggles into her side then looks up at her.

“Hi Mama!” Kate smiles.

“Hi baby—”

“Wow! Your hair looks extra red today!” Kate reaches out and begins to play with a strand.

Natasha is confused.

Don’t get her wrong, Kate is a very cuddly person, and is always a little bit more open and relaxed when snuggled with her Mama or Mom, but this seems a little over the top.

Natasha briefly looks over to Wanda, who shrugs her shoulders, before looking down at her daughter.

Natasha raises her eyebrow, but goes along with it, “it does?”

“Mm-hm!” Kate hums happily, and smiles again back up at her Mama, “like a fire truck!”

And that’s when Natasha sees Kate’s red-tinted eyes, and everything clicks.

Her eyes widen, and she whips her head up to look at her sister who looks very guilty all of a sudden.

“Is Kate… high?” she asks Yelena in a measured tone, as she starts to glare at her.

Yelena avoids Natasha’s glare and pauses before letting out a small, “maybe…”

“You got my daughter high?!?” Natasha basically growls, causing Kate to jump in her arms.

“How can you be so irresponsible?!” Wanda adds in.

“It was an accident!!” Yelena defends herself, “I forgot to put the brownies away after last night.”

“How many times have I told you to label them?!?” Natasha shouts back.

“It’s not my fault I forgot—”

“Stop fighting!” They hear a teary Kate interject.

Natasha looks down to see an upset Kate with tears running down her face.

“Oh malyshka,” Natasha pulls her in close, “it’s okay.”

“It was just an accident,” Kate sniffles, “it wasn’t Lena’s fault.”

Natasha looks at Wanda then at Yelena, and after a brief pause, decides to talk more to Yelena about this later to not further upset Kate. So she looks down at Kate with a soft smile, “I suppose you’re right. It could’ve happened to anyone… It was just an accident.”

Kate returns the smile and cuddles deep into Natasha’s arms before turning her attention back to the tv, where there are still smiling fruit bouncing around to happy music.

After a few minutes, she starts to giggle again, pointing out to her parents and aunt what things are the funniest.

Soon Natasha, Wanda, and Yelena can’t help but laugh along with Kate.

“Alright, I know this is a big accident,” Yelena whispers over to Natasha and Wanda, “but you have to admit, it’s kinda hilarious.”

Wanda and Natasha chuckle.

“You might be right,” Wanda smiles looking down at a half awake, half giggling Kate.

“Remind me tomorrow to explain to her that this won’t be happening again until she is at least 18," Natasha says.

“Oh believe me,” Yelena chuckles, “I don’t think you will have an issue there.”

[i-didnt-do-1t]

"Don't feel bad if you puke this up. At least you tried to keep it down." from the sick prompts for uhhh JoJo looking after Elmer please? 👀👉👈

I will no doubt request them again in future prompts I love them and how you write them-

Hello!! Ahh thank you! and Ty for the prompt I love writing them!! I hope this is okay!

The floor of the lodging house was hard and had left JoJo with more splinters than he could count but he sat on it anyway, knees digging into the uneven floor boards as he insistently pushed a bowl of soup toward Elmer who was sat up in his bed, looking miserable as he stared down at the brown lumpy water JoJo claimed was edible.

“Don’t feel bad if you puke this up.” JoJo said, and he tapped the metal bucket at the end of his bed with his foot as if to remind Elmer it was there if he needed it. “At least you tried to keep it down.”

Elmer stared up at JoJo, and then back down at the soup he held out in front of him.

Soup was a kind word for it really.

“You make it?” Elmer asked.

“Yeah.”

“I’m definitely gonna puke it up.”

If Elmer hadn’t been sick, JoJo would’ve hit him with his hat but he guessed the silver lining of being aggressively ill was being exempt from the hat hits.

“Don’t gotta be rude about it.” JoJo said as he sat back on his heels. “And Kloppman don’t know I got into the kitchen so don’t gotta tell ‘im about it either.”

“He’s gonna find out ‘imself when half the lodge house got food poisoning.”

JoJo rolled his eyes, the way he always did when Elmer said stupid things, it was getting so frequent now he wondered if it would be worth it to have ‘em stuck that way like Finch always told him they would be if he did it often enough (like he was one to talk.)

“Well I ain’t givin’ it to the whole lodge house I’m givin’ it to you.”

“You’re tryna kill me.”

JoJo rolled his eyes again. Didn’t even grace the statement with an answer, but that just meant that Elmer kept goin’ cause no one stopped him.

“You’re tryna get rid a’ me an’ you’re gonna act all sad at the funeral while you steal my fortune.”

JoJo snorted. “What fortune? Your shoelace collection with three laces?”

“Four now. Stole one’ve Race’s the other nigh-“

His sentence was interrupted as a violent cough wracked his body and JoJo jumped forward resting a hand on his upper back, bowl of soup forgotten on the floor. With his other hand he grabbed the metal bucket left at the side of the bed and held it up, just in case, but it was only a moment before his body shook through once and his breathing settled again, cheeks red and flushed, eyes watery and a little dazed.

JoJo searched Elmer’s face and wished that one of the older boys would come back soon because they knew what they were doing better than he did. They helped more sick boys through the night than JoJo could count on one hand.

“You okay?” He asked.

“M’okay.” Elmers voice was a little ragged when he spoke, but he cleared his throat and tried again, thankfully sounding a little better on the second attempt. He smiled sheepishly at him.

“I might try some of that soup now.”

[crackedoutwalnut]

uhh could I request a wanda x reader doing something really reckless (like stealing the car for a 3 am drive) and Carol and Nat (who are like their mother figures - and also are in a relationship) scolding them for it!!

ps: I don't know if scolding is even a word but I guess you know what I mean hahahah

a/n: I am absolutely in love with this prompt and I had a lot of fun writing it :) hope you enjoy!

Warnings: none just some cursing and some underage drinking.

Word Count: 2,680

--

It was around 3:30 in the morning when you felt someone nudge your shoulder. Groaning, you pulled your blanket further over your head.

"Leave me alone," you grumbled under your breath.

It was only when a strand of red magic surrounded the edge of the blanket and jerked it off your body, did you awaken. You gasped at the sudden assault of cold air and shot up. Wanda stood over you in a Black Sabbath hoodie and ripped jeans with a far too pleased smirk on her face.

"What the hell, Wanda?" You hissed, rubbing your bleary eyes.

"Put some clothes on; I want to show you something."

"The sun isn't rising for another 2 hours, Wan. I want to go back to bed," you complained, grasping for the blanket once more.

Wanda pulled the blanket fully off your shared bed and looked at you pleadingly, "Come on, please? I promise it will be worth it," her eyes were wide as she looked at you hopefully. At this time of night- or morning, you supposed - her accent was thicker than it would be during the day. You cursed your weak resolve and slunk out of bed.

"Fine, but I'm stealing one of your hoodies," you grumbled.

She chuckled, "You are already hoarding at least half of them," she pointed out as you stepped out of your pajama pants. You rolled your eyes playfully and pulled on black yoga pants and an Iron Maiden sweatshirt you had been keeping on your side of the closet for at least a month now. Wanda gasped and slapped your arm lightly, "I have been looking for that everywhere, Y/n. I thought I lost it!"

"Your hoodies are comfier," you reasoned with a shrug. "Anyways, how are we supposed to get past mother hen one and two?" You gestured towards the direction of Natasha and Carol's room.

Wanda pondered this for a moment, "Just be fast and quiet, you go out and wait in the car, and I will grab the drinks."

You raised an eyebrow, "Natasha's a world-class assassin, and Carol wakes up whenever Nat does; this won't work. Also, we're going to drink at 3 in the morning?"

Wanda huffed, "It will be fine. You worry too much, Y/n. Plus, when have we ever drank irresponsibly?"

Narrowing your eyes, you stuffed your hands in your pockets, "Do you really want me to answer that."

Wanda pushed you towards the door, "Go outside and wait in the car." You snickered and carefully opened the bedroom door, wincing when the hinges squealed slightly. It wasn't a matter of not being caught as much as it was a matter of being long gone before Natasha and Carol decided to go after them. Regardless of how sneaky they thought they were being, Natasha- if not both her and Carol - was bound to hear them. Ever so carefully, you wedged the front door open and slipped through it.

You had moved in with Carol, Nat, and Wanda a year into your relationship with her. Having graduated college with a nearly nonexistent relationship with your parents, you needed a place to live. Your girlfriend and the women who practically made sure you didn't starve throughout college seemed like the most reasonable choice. You had met Wanda on campus, and it had taken three weeks of being her friend until you realized she was an Avenger. Shortly after that, Wanda introduced you to the rest of her team. At first, your only interaction with the married couple was them giving you the "shovel talk" when Wanda first introduced you as her girlfriend. However, after working with them as a hacker for SHIELD, they quickly took you under their wing as well.

Smiling slightly at the memory, you opened the passenger door to Natasha's black Corvette Stingray. It took all of three minutes for Wanda to come running out the door, a bottle of apple cinnamon whiskey in hand. She threw the door open and shoved the bottle into your hand before pushing the key into the ignition and gunning it down the street. Your eyes bugged as your fumbled to get your seatbelt fastened. You clutched at your chest as the two of you went 45 in a neighborhood.

"Wanda, what the fuck!" you yelped, gripping the neck of the whiskey bottle tightly.

"I'm sorry, I heard their door open, and I panicked!" She cried, grasping blindly for her seatbelt. The two of you slowed down slightly as you gained distance from the house.

"They're totally going to notice the whiskey's gone, Wan. We're both 19; we can't legally drink yet!"

"Relax, Y/n they won't notice one drink is missing out of a whole cabinet filled with alcohol," Wanda reasoned, turning onto a gravel road.

You raised an eyebrow at your girlfriend, "How many times do I have to point out that Nat is the world's top assassin and Carol was trained by both the US military and the Kree?"

"I promise it will be worth it," Wanda insisted, grabbing your hand from across the middle console. You sighed and leaned down to kiss the top of her hand.

"You're lucky I love you."

Wanda grinned and shot a wink at you, "I know." With that, she pulled off the dirt road and into the middle of a grassy clearing. You unbuckled your seatbelt and reached down to grab the whiskey, which had rolled under the seat during your escape out of the neighborhood. Wanda stepped out of the car and went around the back to grab a large black and red checkered blanket. You followed her as she smoothed out the blanket atop the grass and pointed up at the sky. A small gasp escaped your lips as you saw streaks of light blaze across the sky.

"I didn't know there was going to be a meteor shower tonight," you whispered, eyes never leaving the sky. Wanda grinned and unscrewed the bottle. She took a hearty drink from it and passed it over to you.

"I was hoping to surprise you," she explained, laying down on the blanket.

You followed suit and took a large drink of your own. "Why did we need alcohol for this, exactly?"

The corner of Wanda's lips quirked upward as she turned her head to look at you. "Make it a bit more...colorful, I suppose. I considered whether edibles would be better, but Nat and Carol would definitely skin us alive when they found out about that."

You giggled; the apple cinnamon whiskey had settled in your stomach, warming your body against the early morning breeze. Your head felt fuzzier as you leaned over to place a kiss on Wanda's cheek. "This is perfect, Wan. Thank you." Wanda placed a cinnamon-flavored kiss on the corner of your mouth. "How much do you want to bet Wanda and Carol are waiting by the door for us right now?"

Your girlfriend let out a drunken laugh and set the now half-empty bottle aside. "10 dollars that they left the house to find us."

"You're on." The two of you dissolved into hysterical giggles that lasted so long your stomach started to cramp. The blazes of white-hot light lit up the sky as your vision turned blissfully hazy. Clumsily, you crawled towards Wanda and placed your head atop her stomach. "Mmm, you're warm," you hummed, a goofy smile cracking through your lips. The witch placed her hands against the side of your head and started stroking them through the locks of your hair.

Just as your eyes started to slip shut at the attention, your felt her hands halt. "Y/n?" You let out a quiet 'mhm' in response. "How're we gonna get home?" Her voice was slurred and thick with her Sokovian accent.

Your eyes snapped open, and you shot up. "Shit, we can walk, maybe?" Wanda gave you a blank look in response as she gestured to the expanse of nothingness around you. You sighed, "We have to call Carol and Nat."

Wanda groaned and covered her face with her hands. Her chipped black nails scrubbed at her eyes and cheeks, leaving red lines all over her face. "Do we have to?"

"Well, we can't drive Wanda, and by the time we're sober enough, it'll be nearly 7:30!"

"They're going to kill us," she complained, burying her face in her hoodie. "Just get it over with."

You fished your phone from your pant pocket and hesitantly pressed Natasha's contact. The phone barely got through with its first ring before the older woman picked up.

"Where the hell did you two go?" her raspy voice was nearly brimming with anger. You almost dropped your phone at the venom lacing her words.

" 'M sorry, 'Tasha," you winced at the heavy slur in your words before continuing. "We thought it'd be fun."

You heard someone grab the phone, "Are you two drunk?" Carol demanded.

"No..." you trailed off pathetically. Wanda glared at you and lightly kicked your foot.

"Y/n try to say Natasha's full name, right now," you straightened slightly at Carol's military voice.

"N'tasha 'Manoff," your tongue felt too big for your mouth as you attempted to form the words. "...Okay, maybe a little bit."

"Where are you? We're coming to get you," Nat insisted. You heard footsteps from the other end of the line and someone pulling the hallway closet open.

"Wan, where are we?" you asked, glancing around the fields of overgrown grass and wheat.

Wanda winced and bit the tip of her finger, "Uhhh.."

"You don't know?" Natasha and Carol shouted. Wanda pursed her lips and looked down at her lap.

"I didn't have a specific route planned out beforehand," she admitted.

"Turn the location tracker in your phone settings on," Natasha ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," you both grumbled in unison, feeling akin to a scolded child.

"When we get there, you two better hope you have a better excuse than the ones we heard over the phone," Carol warned.

"You took my Corvette?" Natasha complained.

"It was either that or Carol's truck, and Wanda isn't used to driving stick yet," you insisted. "Her car's still in the shop from last month." A speeding car had rear-ended Wanda's car on the highway.

We will talk about this when we get there, do not touch the Corvette any more than you already have," with that, Natasha hung up.

"Well, apple cinnamon whiskey isn't a terrible last meal," you reasoned as Wanda folded the blanket and set it in the backseat.

"Y/n, we haven't eaten since dinner time. Whiskey is hardly a meal," Wanda grumbled, shutting the door.

"Babe, I'm trying to be optimistic."

"Captain Marvel and Black Widow are on their way to kick our asses into the moon," Wanda replied, leaning back against the Corvette. You sighed and rested your head against her shoulder. "Sorry this night was a bust," she mumbled, eyes staring down at her boots dejectedly.

You smiled and leaned in to press your lips against hers. Wrapping an arm around her waist, you pulled away and rested your forehead against hers. "This is one of the most romantic things anyone has ever done for me, Wanda. Thank you." Wanda grinned sheepishly and buried her face in your shoulder.

A few dreadful minutes later, you saw the headlights of Carol's truck speed down the gravel road. The truck lurched to a stop as the two superheroes jumped out of the car.

"Are you two alright?" Natasha demanded, half-running to the two of you.

"We're fine, I can protect myself, and Y/n was with me the whole time," Wanda reasoned. "We went out to watch a meteor shower, not go clubbing.

"I can protect myself just fine," you whined.

Carol raised an eyebrow, "Your hands were built for hacking and reading, not punching." You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms over your chest. Wanda offered you a sympathetic smile but did not say anything to counter the older woman's claim. Rude.

"Wanda, get in the Corvette, Y/n get your ass in the truck," Natasha ordered. She was wearing a black leather jacket over her red silk pajama set. Carol was in basketball shorts and a tank top with a brown leather bomber jacket pulled over it. You quickly shuffled over to the truck and slid in.

Your foot nervously tapped against the floor of the car as you watched Carol grab the nearly empty bottle of whiskey and made her way over to the truck. Shutting the door, she set the bottle of whiskey on the open seat between you two and turned the keys in the ignition. As the pickup truck rumbled to life, she turned to face you. "Kid, you two nearly downed that bottle in a single night. What were you thinking?" You burrowed further into Wanda's sweatshirt as if to protect from her stern gaze.

"You're really mad at us, huh?" you mumbled, fidgeting with your hands.

Carol sighed and followed behind Natasha down the road, "You scared the shit out of us, kid. We didn't know where you had gone, why you left, plus it's nearly pitch black out here."

"But, we're adults just like you and Nat," you insisted weakly.

"You're still teenagers; we're in our 30's. Millions of things could have gone wrong; some creep could have taken you before Wanda could get to you, you could have crashed had you chosen to drive home, your phones could have died, or you could have gotten lost."

You shrunk further into your sweater, "Sorry..."

Carol sighed and looked over at you as she turned into the neighborhood. "Listen, kid. We really care about you two a lot. Nat and I have to resist the urge to duct tape you to the kitchen chairs to keep you two from leaving for missions. We know you can take care of yourselves, but a heads up in the future would be nice, and also more reasonable hours for your plans."

You grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, that seems fair."

Carol smiled and pulled into the driveway. Natasha and Wanda were waiting on the doorstep when you two got out. The latter looked thoroughly chastised as she burrowed her mouth and nose into her hoodie. When the four of you got inside, Natasha sighed and checked the clock on her phone.

"Well, we might as well watch a movie or something since it's nearly sunrise." You and Wanda settled on the couch, with Natasha to your left and Carol to Wanda's right acting as bookends. The assassin wrapped an arm around your shoulder, allowing you to rest your head in the crook of her neck. You saw Wanda lay her head in Carol's lap as the older woman pulled up Netflix. Natasha was idly threading her fingers through your hair, causing your already drunk and lethargic mind to grow hazier. Your eyes started to slip shut as you felt yourself being guided to lay your head in Nat's lap. You jerked slightly, attempting to fight the drowsiness from taking hold. Forcing your eyes open, you tried to sit up. However, the battle for consciousness was quickly lost when Nat started using her nails to gently massage your scalp.

--

"Carol," the assassin whispered to her wife. The blonde stopped her search for a good movie as she glanced over at Natasha.

"What is-" her question was quickly cut off by her wife quietly shushing her. Nat gestured down to the younger women currently lying in each of their laps. Carol glanced down to find Wanda's face hidden against the sleeve of her hoodie as she let out soft snores.

"Well, guess the movie idea's a bust," she whispered.

Natasha nodded, "You grab Wan, and I'll get Y/n."

Carefully, the heroes scooped the younger women into their arms and carried them to your shared bedroom. Natasha gently set you onto the bed beside your girlfriend and pulled the blanket- which was lying on the floor for whatever reason - to cover the two of you. Ever so cautiously, the couple crept out of the room.

[awanderingdeal]

Hi! I hope you're doing well. I would love to read a fluffy sort of companion piece to the unfair race, where perhaps Finn feels the itch to keep running and working out endlessly after practice but then stops himself and does something healthier instead with his boys, and they're proud of him. If you want to, of course

Hi Anon! Thanks for the request. I'm not 100% happy with this one, but here goes!

You can read 'An Unfair Race' here and it's other companion piece 'Endless Nights' here

Rating: T

CW: insinuations of poor mental health, an implied sexual joke and food.

Let me know if you feel I need to change the rating or missed any content warnings!

All credit for these characters and the sweater weather universe goes to @lumosinlove

Finn tugged his sneakers on, pulling the laces a little too tight at first, then flexing his foot to let the material push out to something more comfortable. Even as he shrugged on his windbreaker, a bright shiny thing he thought made him look like he belonged in a cutlery draw, Finn knew he was too wired for this run.

He'd never really settled down from his session with Heather this afternoon, a fate partially of his own doing. Finn knew better than the schedule social events straight afterwards, needing time to process the half explored ideas which would fester into angry beasts if he tried to ignore them. Still, he was human; what he knew was good for him, and what he actually did, were not always one and the same. An afternoon with Olli had been too appealing: shopping, cocktails, darts, and conversation dripping in sarcasm. Now, standing here at 10.30pm with his head full of too many thoughts, Finn was resentful of his earlier self.

Leaning over the bed to grab his phone, he caught his reflection in the mirror. The jacket was not something he ever would have brought himself, a present from his mom during his first year of Harvard. 'So I know you're safe in the dark' the note that came with the parcel had read. It was old and tattered, but Finn couldn't bring himself to part ways with it. The small declaration of love never failed to make him smile.

He'd reached for the phone to set an alarm, the tinny sound his reminder to return home before he pushed too far. He paused, looking at his background, a pilfered Snapchat of Leo and Logan with their arms slung around one another's shoulders. Leo's head was tipped back in a hearty laugh whilst Logan's smirked. His boys. His boys who were right there in this apartment.

Finn gave a long breath, stripped the phone pouch from his arm and changed into a warmer pair of pants than his running leggings. The windbreaker stayed. He found Leo first, sat on the couch with his legs crossed beneath him. He was yelling into his headset, accent dripping heavily through his words as he jabbed repeatedly at the controller. Finn faltered in the doorway, not wanting to disturb Leo's fun with his cousins

Leo turned anyway, setting a bright smile on Finn. "Hey fishcake, heading out?" He looked at Finn properly then, his smile mellowing into something more concerned. Lifting a hand to mute his microphone, he titled his head slightly. "What's the matter?"

"I was just going to see if you wanted to come for a walk with me," Finn said, hoping the reply didn't sound as desperate to Leo's ears as it had his own. "Don't worry though, you're busy. I'll check in with Lo."

"He's decorating cakes for Katie. We can ask if he wants to come with us though, it's nothing that can't wait. Give me one second." Before Finn could protest, Leo had switched his microphone back on and informed his cousins he needed to leave - just like that - which even Finn knew was not the done thing.

"Logan's baking?"

"I baked," Leo laughed lightly, hopping over the back of the couch. "Logan's decorating. I tried to offer help, but he insisted on doing them himself."

The cupcakes themselves were not bad at all. The kitchen, however, was a disaster. Logan stood amongst a chaos of icing, dyes and cake toppers, his forehead scrunched adorably into a frown as his fingers worked with a surprising gentle dexterity.

"I'm taking Finn for a walk," Leo proclaimed, dodging the soft punch Finn attempted to land on his shoulder. "Do you want to come, Lolo?"

"Ouais, but..." Logan spread his hands, gesturing to the counter in front of him.

"You can put the buttercream in the fridge, the rest'll wait until we're back."

Logan looked down at the cakes, then back up at his Finn. "If you're sure," he hummed, already twisting a closure around the bag of buttercream.

"They'll be fine, I promise," Leo reassured, offering and hand for Logan to take and tangling their fingers together. "They'll be perfect for her."

"You have something..." Finn chuckled, dragging a finger through a patch of pink buttercream on Logan's cheek and popped his finger into his mouth. "...everywhere." Finn tugged at the grey t-shirt speckled in edible glitter. "Go and wash up, we'll wait."

Logan fixed his eyes on Finn, a tension held between them, before he turned to head down the hallway. Leo propped his chin on Finn's head, the two of them swaying slightly to their own private rhythm.

"I-" Finn startled slightly. He hadn't heard Logan's approach. He lifted his head from Leo's chest, waiting patiently for Logan to finish his sentence. "- feel like I'm missing something."

"You're not missing anything, Lo. Running just didn't feel like it'd be fun today."

Logan pursed his lips, eyes inspecting Finn again. "Okay," he finally conceded, stepping into place beside Finn.

***

"Oh!" Logan pointed enthusiastically at the building they had just past. It had been empty for a long time, but recently the 'For Sale' sign had been taken down and the three of them had taken to a new game of guessing what the new business would be.

"A shoe shop, but you don't get to pick. The owner decides what the perfect pair of shoes for you is," Finn mused.

"The dream," Leo laughed. "Do you know how much of a struggle it is to get shoes for these feet."

"I'm a big fan of those feet," Finn waggled his eyebrows.

"Wh-"

"I actually know what it is, " Logan interrupted. "The lady was coming out of there when I was getting coffee yesterday, so I asked."

"That's cheating, Logan," Finn deadpanned, keeping his tone as serious as he could manage.

"Fine, I won't tell you then."

Finn lasted approximately three seconds before he groaned. "Tell me! Tell me!"

"I'm not sure, it was cheating, non?"

"It's a fabric and crafts store," Leo said casually, although he increased his pace to put a few steps between himself and Logan.

Logan halted, his face contorting comically into a bemused expression. "Leo!"

"Quoi?" Leo teased. "You two were having fun, I didn't want to ruin it. I bumped into them unloading a delivery a few weeks back."

"Excuse me, was nobody going to tell me?"

"I was just about to," Logan pointed out.

"Perhaps you should finish your 10,000 other projects first before you buy more yarn?" Leo raised an eyebrow. "I'm still waiting on my sweater."

"I'm feeling very judged right now, and besides I finished Lo's," Finn defended. "Yours is too big."

"Hey!" The protest came at him from both directions and Finn laughed.

***

"Thank you for coming with me." Finn pressed a kiss first to Leo's lips and then Logan's. "I know you were both busy."

Leo tugged him back, knocking their foreheads together lightly. "Thank you for asking us."

"Ouias," Logan breathed, joining their hug. "I know it's not always easy."

"You two make it easier," Finn smiled softly. "Alright, alright, I'm going to get a shower before I start crying.

Almost two hours later, Finn flopped onto the couch, his wrist throbbing slightly from the long entry he'd poured into his journal. Still, he felt lighter now and his normal wind-down routine had left him relaxed. Logan joined him, folding himself into Finn's lap, all remnants of his decorating having been scrubbed away in his own shower.

"Where's Knutty?" Finn hummed.

"He was doing a zoom yoga session with Natalie," Logan answered, tapping at his phone. "I think they're just gossiping now though, so I guess he won't be long?"

"Can we watch Lady and the Tramp tonight?"

Logan gave a long suffering sigh. "Okay."

"Le! We're watching Lady and the Tramp!" Finn yelled, snuggling Logan against him as he pulled up the movie onto the TV screen and paused it to wait for Leo. "Show me your cakes then, I know you took 10,000 photos," he nudged Logan lightly.

[chronicallylatetotheparty]

(Written for Adrien August... I'm not sorry)

Bad Luck: Frozer

Summary: Adrien struggles to move on from his first crush so he confides in one of his friends. Or is she more than a friend?

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

Chat Noir smiled sadly down at the red rose in his hands. Passion, romance, true love, he recalled in his head.

"Chat?"

Hiding the rose behind his back as he turned around, Chat Noir grinned at the question in Ladybug's eyes. "I have to say that rescuing civilians without a supervillain around is a nice change of pace. Don't you think, My Lady?"

"Not every day you see a hang glider delivery service," she agreed, smiling at the nickname.

Chest suddenly constricting Chat Noir's smile became a touch strained. "Love to stay and chat but this cat's gotta run!" Taking out his baton he extended it, launching himself away.

"Oh! See you la... ter..." Ladybug called to his retreating form.

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

Landing in the empty locker room Adrien detransformed in a flash of green light. Plagg stretching as he came out of the ring.

Eyeing Adrien's downcast features, Plagg pried at his holder. "It's not like you to leave Ladybug so abruptly."

"Yeah..." Adrien absently offered a wedge of Camembert to his floating friend who promptly swallowed it whole. "Guess I just need some time to myself."

"So she turned you down. There's plenty of other kinds of cheese!"

Despite himself Adrien smiled. "You need better metaphors."

Plagg shrugged. "You could always take it literally. You can never have enough cheese!"

Adrien rolled his eyes as he changed into his fencing gear. Plagg wasn't as articulate as he thought but... he wasn't wrong...

These thoughts swirled in Adrien's head as he joined Kagami at practice.

A mistake he paid for when Kagami knocked him off his feet. Standing, Adrien parried as Kagami lunged. She always gave her all in beating her opponent. Scoring a point he smiled and they retook their positions.

But his heart still wasn't into the sparing session and her next lunge drove him off balance. Her foil poking into his chest.

"Predictable," Kagami chastised.

Eyes narrowing, Adrien's more competitive nature surged forward at her words. Heart beating faster, grip tightening on his foil and-

It was gone as soon as it came.

Leaving Adrien vulnerable to Kagami's strike...

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

Adrien stared pensively at his fencing helmet. He knew Ladybug didn't like him the same way he liked her. That wasn't anything new. So why was he-

"What's wrong, Adrien? Usually I like beating you but it's no fun when you make it this easy." Kagami stood in front of him with an unreadable expression.

Adrien gave her a bittersweet smile. "You ever feel like you're stuck, Kagami? Like, no matter how much you try to move forward, nothing will ever, ever change?"

Kagami blinked in surprise as Adrien opened up to her. This wasn't what she was expecting... Sitting next to him Kagami took a moment to collect her thoughts. "Adrien. The biggest mistake a fencer can make isn't choosing the wrong technique. It's choosing the wrong target."

Oh. She liked metaphors too. Well, with his luck to was bound to-

Her hand gently cupped his cheek and turned his head to face her. "So, switch targets."

...Oh. A rose tint colored Adrien's cheeks. Kagami was always beautiful but for some reason... it was especially true just then.

Smiling in encouragement Kagami grabbed her things and walked out of the locker room. Leaving Adrien to his thoughts.

He stared after her for a moment... Launching to his feet Adrien raced after her in a moment of sheer panic and recklessness.

"Kagami!" Adrien practically shouted.

Not having gone far Kagami turned around, puzzled.

Taking a deep breath, heart pounding against his ribs, Adrien let out the thought that propelled him to his feet. "Would you like to go out some time!?"

Kagami's eyes went wide. "Out? As in a date?"

The color on Adrien's cheeks bloomed into scarlet. Suddenly even more self-conscious he rubbed the back of his neck- "Um," -and nodded. His mouth refusing to form words.

Half turning, Kagami gave him a small smile. "I'd like that."

Adrien felt his lips pull into a grin. Heart somersaulting in his chest for some reason.

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

"What should I do, Plagg?" Adrien bemoaned. Head thunking onto his computer desk. "I've never been on a date before!"

"Wasn't this your idea?" Plagg flipped through his favorite cheese magazine. He swore this romance nonsense was the silliest invention humans had ever come up with. "If you ask me it's about time you expanded your palate."

"You're no help," Adrien grumbled. Lifting his head up Adrien swiveled around to look at Plagg. "What if I asked Father or Nathalie for advice?"

"Sure." Plagg stretched lazily. "If ya want them to know about you and sword girl."

Sighing, Adrien discounted that idea. "Oh! We can ask the Gorilla!"

"I don't know," Plagg mused, "doesn't seem like a good idea."

"You just don't like it 'cause he found your Camembert stash that time," Adrien teased, poking Plagg lightly.

"It was perfectly edible! How could he!?"

Chuckling at his antics, Adrien thought about who he could go to for advice...

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

Adrien tried not to hurry ahead of Kagami into the ice rink proper. The chill making his arm hairs stand on end. His breath sharp in his throat. Heart beating with a mix of excitement and nervousness. Asking Marinette had been a great idea!

He turned back to see Alya and Nino slowly catch up. If only she could have made it. But that essay on periwinkle migration sounded important to her... Oh, Chloe's dad was here.

As they put on their skates Adrien glanced at Kagami out of the corner of his eye. Scooting closer to Nino he whispered: "Thanks for coming last minute, Nino."

"Hey, no problem dude! Anything for my bro." Nino's grin was a tad forced and his eyes drifted to something behind Adrien before snapping back.

"I don't know what to do with Kagami."Adrien admitted, leaning in. "Should I... offer to hold her hand?"

"Yes!" Nino snapped his fingers and held up finger guns at Adrien. His eyes flickered away again. "I mean, no! I mean- Why don't you take it slow?"

Adrien turned around to see what Nino was looking at but it was just Alya smiling politely, hands behind her back. Probably waiting patiently for him to finish with her boyfriend.

Straightening, Adrien smiled at her. "Thanks for coming, Alya."

"No big deal! Just a double date, right!" Alya smiled wide in an attempt to draw attention away from her accidental inflection.

"...Right." Adrien politely declined to comment on it.

"Anyway!" Alya grabbed Nino's hand and dragged him off. "We'll let you two get to it!"

Adrien turned back to Kagami, who was tying her skates. Hesitantly, he made his way over and stood beside her.

"Don't be scared," Kagami promised conspiratorially as she looked up, "I won't tell anyone."

"About what?" Adrien asked slowly.

"That you don't know how to tie your laces," she teased, kneeling down to do just that. Once done Kagami smiled at him, grabbed his hand and led him onto the ice.

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

"I can't believe you agreed to this!" Alya stage whispered. Arm locked tightly around Nino's elbow as they skated on the opposite side of the rink.

"Aw, c'mon Als. Y'know I couldn't leave my bro hanging like that!" Nino widened his eyes and tried to sparkle them like Adrien had. "He gave me the look. How could I say no to that?"

"I know..." Alya sighed. The crease between her eyes softening from accusation to guilt. "I just..." Adrien and Kagami caught her eye as they skated hand in hand. "Feel like I'm betraying my girl just by being here."

Nino patted her hand and gave her a soft smile. "I'm sure the dudette will understand." His gaze drifted towards Adrien and Kagami. "Besides... I don't think she'd want to see this."

"Hey, young man! Have you ever thought about signing up for ice skating lessons!?"

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

Kagami turned her head as Alya and Nino skated past them on their lap. "Did you invite them because you were scared of being alone with me?"

"Of course not!" Adrien lied, waving his hand to ward off her words. "It's just... that I asked Nino to help... me."

Her brow creased. "Help you with what?"

"Uh, to perfect my figure skating skills!" Adrien decided.

"But you don't need him for that." Suddenly, Kagami let go of his hand and launched into a short routine of spins and twirls.

Adrien blinked at her presentation before an appreciative smile graced his lips. Kagami has so many talents, Adrien thought as she talked with that man who had been discussing something with Mayor Bourgeois.

Seamlessly, Kagami interlaced their fingers as she took his hand again and pulled him forward with her momentum. Glancing at his smile through the corner of her eye.

"Adrien Agreste, I can see it now!" The skating instructor (that's what he was) was suddenly beside Adrien. "Grace and style model! And professional ice skating champion! If you take lessons with me I'll have you shining like the candles on a birthday cake!"

Skating? Adrien had never thought about it before. "Uh, may-beeee!"

Kagami switched their positions so she was closest to the instructor. "He already does fencing with me," she informed him. And sped up with Adrien in tow.

Adrien stared at the back of Kagami's head. She was very assertive in her desires, bold even. Kagami knew what she wanted and wasn't afraid to go for it. He admired that about her, was drawn to it. Kagami would meet any challenge without backing down.

Just like Ladybug.

His fingers slipped from Kagami's grasp as he slowed to a stop. Staring at the floor as his cheeks burned not with embarrassment but shame.

"Adrien? What is it?" Kagami asked as she circled back.

Adrien smiled. "Nothing. I just have to use the restroom real quick." Turning, he let his smile fall as he left the rink.

Plagg poked his head out of his pocket once they were alone. "What's gotten into you, kid?"

Adrien stared at him. "I don't know."

Worry started to prick at Plagg's fur. "Adrien-"

"I don't know what I want, Plagg!" His heart hammered against his chest, pulse rising to his throat. "Kagami knows. Ladybug knows. Chat Noir thought he knew but... but I don't." Adrien wrapped his arms around himself, making himself smaller.

"... Listen, you're young right? Even by human standards? Like a freshly made wheel of Camembert."

Adrien frowned, turning away. "Plagg-"

"Hear me out!" Plagg zipped closer to Adrien's face, keeping in his line of sight. "But freshly made Camembert is terrible! It's got no flavor! No delicious scent! You need to let it age to bring out all the good stuff."

Adrien glanced at Plagg. Seeing his tail twitching in concern even if he wouldn't voice it. Strangely, Adrien understood what he was trying to say.

"All cheeses age differently. There's nothing wrong with taking your time." Plagg finished, not quite satisfied with how it came out.

Adrien smiled at him, reaching out to pet his head. "Thanks, Plagg."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Plagg let himself be petted. Not because he enjoyed it, of course. It just happened to make Adrien feel better.

Suddenly, ice started crawling up the walls. Magic coming from the ice rink. "Oh, no. Guess we have to go save the day," Plagg said, very disappointedly, yes.

Adrien grinned as he brought out the transformation cheese. "Uh-huh."

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

Chat Noir's good humor lasted until he spotted Ladybug on a rooftop. Oh. He didn't... want to see her right now. Reluctantly, he landed beside her. Doing his best to keep the conflicting emotions wrestling in his chest off his face.

"Chat Noir! We need to set up a trap for whoever turned the city into a giant ice rink." Ladybug anchored her yo-yo onto a nearby building, ready to take off.

Say something. Say something! "My feline instincts prefer to track and observe before I attack." Ha! Nailed it! Chat Noir scooted closer to the roof's edge as he scanned the frozen city.

Ladybug gave him a puzzled look. "What? Since when?"

Chat Noir pouted. "Rude."

Shaking her head as she fought back a fond smile Ladybug inched towards him. "We have to work together on this."

His hand rubbed the back of his neck, catching her eye. "I don't know. We don't have to do everything together. If we split up we'll have a better chance of finding him." Chat Noir jumped. "Race you!"

"Chat Noir, be careful!" Ladybug called out as he sped away. "... Okay, so he's acting weird. Not the first time he's acted weird. It'll be fine!" She cast her yo-yo and swung off. I hope.

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

Being by himself helped Adrien order his thoughts. His feelings were all over the place so he focused on doing what he told Ladybug he was gonna do. It was child's play to follow the only imperfection on otherwise smooth ice. Leading him to the Eiffel Tower where the akuma victim was hiding.

Okay. Now I just need to-

Frozer launched himself at Ladybug!

Acting quickly Chat Noir tackled Ladybug out of the way. Grabbing her hand and leading her onto the frozen Seine. Skating away at top speed to put some distance between them and Frozer.

"Thanks, kitty!" Ladybug smiled.

And Adrien smiled back. Confusing questions forgotten for the moment. Then Frozer launched shards of ice; Chat Noir letting go of Ladybug's hand so they could dodge it. Only then realizing that he'd been holding it at all.

"He's too fast!"

She was right. Frozer easily kept pace with them. Leaping into the air to launch more ice shards. Rounding a bend in the river they were out of sight for a second. Taking advantage of it to hide.

"I'm positive the akuma's in his skates," Ladybug stated once Frozer passed them.

"My Cataclysm could destroy them but he'd have to be up in the air... You were right My Lady. We're going to have to set a trap."

"You were right, too. We observed and now we know enough."

Chat Noir smiled. "Seems we're just missing a little push of luck to get the edge on him."

Ladybug nodded. "Lucky Charm!"

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

Adrien raced back to the ice rink. In the end the plan had been pretty straightforward. Ladybug baited Frozer into following her while Chat Noir laid in wait.

Business as usual. Except...

'Are you sure you're okay? You've been off since yesterday.'

'...I'm just figuring some things out. Might take me a while but that's okay... Thanks for worrying about me.'

Being around Ladybug didn't make him feel quite so sad anymore. Chat Noir meant it when he said her friendship was important to him, after all. And... Adrien was happy. That he could be normal around her.

He spotted Alya and Nino discussing something, waving at them as he looked for... There. Kagami was returning her skates. Adrien walked up to her, fidgeting with his ring. "Uh, hey, Kagami. Sorry I ran off like that."

"It is fine. We were interrupted anyway."

Adrien couldn't tell how she meant that but he took a deep breath and forged ahead. "So, I know I'm the one who asked you out and all. But..."

Kagami frowned. "Are you saying you do not wish to date me?"

"No!" Adrien waved both hands emphatically in the negative. "No, no, no! I just... wanted to say that I think we should take it slow."

She raised an eyebrow. "We go any slower and our pace will be glacial."

Adrien was 90 percent sure that was a joke... 80 percent. "W-well if you think it's too much of a challenge..."

Kagami's eyes widened at Adrien's audacity. She poked him in the chest. "Don't flatter yourself, Agreste."

Without thinking, Adrien grabbed her hand and kissed the back of her palm. Kagami's answering blush nowhere near as radiant as Adrien's. Why did I do that!? Who froze for a moment before turning around. "W-wouldn't dream of it... Ryuko."

"Ryuko?" Kagami raised a brow at the nickname.

Adrien's hand went back to rubbing his neck. "I can call you something else if you don't like it."

"No," Kagami decided, a small smile on her lips as she passed Adrien on her way to the exit. "Ryuko will do just fine."

"... So, that's a yes?" Adrien sprinted to catch up.

"Mm, perhaps if you define what you think 'taking it slow' is."

Adrien leapt in front of her and held out his hand. "Let us drive you home?"

Kagami blinked at the offered hand. Slowly reaching out for it. His palm was warm in hers. "Going slow is not too bad. I suppose," she relented.

Adrien beamed. "Oh! Just one last thing!"

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

Kagami entered the Agreste car as Adrien held the door open, sliding in behind her. "You're still doing what other people want."

"No, I just want him to be happy," Adrien countered. Giving the skating instructor free advertising didn't cost him anything. "Besides, how're we supposed to come back if it's a Chloe catered gym?"

"Back?" That sounded promising.

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck and couldn't quite look at her but he smiled. "Since our first date was cut short I was hoping we could try again."

Kagami gazed at Adrien as he fidgeted. "Just the two of us?"

"Y-yup!" Adrien's face burned.

"Good. You're crush on Nino was distracting."

"Wh-what!?" Adrien spluttered.

"... You're crush on Nino? I thought everyone knew. Personally, I prefer Alya but-"

"I don't- That is- I..." Adrien's shoulders slumped. "His eyes are so beautiful, it's like he stares into your soul."

Kagami's hands hovered awkwardly. "I am sorry. I thought you knew."

Adrien buried his face in his hands to muffle his yelling. "I thought I only had the one thing! This is... I don't even know how many things this is!"

Reaching for his hand again, Kagami squeezed it reassuringly. Back straightening as his grip turned out stronger than she expected.

He peeked at her through the splayed fingers covering his red face. Breath speeding up. "I... I don't..."

"You don't have to say anything. I know it is not easy to come to terms with."

Nodding gratefully, Adrien slowly took his hand away from his face. Taking deep breaths.

Kagami relaxed as Adrien did the same. This wasn't what she was expecting. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Turns out, Kagami had been aiming at the wrong target too.

Adrien's grip eased as he looked up at Kagami. That was... certainly a lot. But Kagami hadn't turned away from him. Only a handful of people had ever seen him so vulnerable. And two of them preferred to pretend otherwise. But Kagami didn't pretend. And Adrien admired her for it. He smiled, wobbly and honest.

"Thanks... Ryuko."

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

In case it's unclear the two people Adrien's talking about are Gabriel and Nathalie.

*Rewatches Frozer (again) for this fic* ... If my friend fell and they said they didn't feel well I'd check up on them too. IDK why the the fandom- I mean, Plagg, is so hung up on that part.

I have taken liberties with the production of Camembert for this fic. Please, forgive my transgressions cheese enthusiasts.

@adrienaugust

[bluejayblueskies]

flour, sugar, salt

Words: 3.6k

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

Relationship: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims

Characters: Martin Blackwood, Jonathan Sims

Additional Tags: Domestic Fluff, Baking, Gentle Kissing, Light Angst, Safehouse Period, No Apocalypse, cooking and baking as love languages

Summary:

It had gone like this:

They’d been sitting on the couch, the flames of the fire licking at the brick edges of the fireplace as it eagerly consumed the new wood Martin had topped it off with just minutes earlier. The moment Martin had settled back onto the couch, Jon had resumed his position curled into his side, breathing a small sigh of satisfaction as warmth began to radiate throughout his body once again.

“Tell me something,” Jon said, leaning his head against the curve of Martin’s shoulder.

 After a moment, Martin laced their fingers together and gave a gentle squeeze. “I’ve never had a birthday cake.”

----

Jon’s never baked before, but how much harder than cooking can it possibly be?

Things do not go well.

Read on Ao3

Or read below:

The cake is awful. There’s no getting around that, Jon thinks as he scowls at the misshapen lump of frosting in front of him, adorned with little yellow and blue candles that he’d found tucked in the meagre baking section of the village’s shop, right next to the boxed cake mix that Jon had hesitated in front of, his hand stalled halfway to the candles. Just add water! it had proclaimed cheerily, which in no way assured Jon that the resulting product would be anything close to edible. So, he’d retrieved the candles and moved on, collecting flour, sugar, baking powder, and the rest of the ingredients for the recipe. For beginners, it had said, and Jon had felt like a child, but he’d followed the steps anyway, doing everything exactly right.

 Perhaps he should have just gone with the boxed mix. At least then the final product would have at least looked edible and not like something one would immediately toss into the bin, like Jon has half a mind to do. But the idea of not having a cake makes Jon’s stomach twist into knots, because he needs the cake. This whole thing is- is pointless without the cake, but the cake looks horrible, and—

 And he’s completely forgotten to put the gołąbki in the oven. He does so now, trying to calm the shaking of his hands that is born more of frustration than anything. It really wouldn’t do to drop the main dish all over the lino, after all. Best not to ruin it more than he already has.

 It had gone like this:

 They’d been sitting on the couch, the flames of the fire licking at the brick edges of the fireplace as it eagerly consumed the new wood Martin had topped it off with just minutes earlier. The moment Martin had settled back onto the couch, Jon had resumed his position curled into his side, breathing a small sigh of satisfaction as warmth began to radiate throughout his body once again. Martin ran hot—hotter than Jon, anyway, whose fingers had a tendency to get so cold they burned when warmed between Martin’s hands—and the slight guilt at using Martin as his personal space heater had dissipated entirely at the small, contented noise Martin had made as he’d wrapped his arm around Jon’s shoulders and pressed a soft kiss to the crown of his head.

 It had been months since the Lonely, since those first few awkward weeks in the safehouse tucked away in the Scottish highlands where Jon hadn’t been sure if loved was to be taken at face value and Martin wasn’t sure if the little touches Jon gave him were just to stave off that creeping fog that still lingered in the blue-grey of his eyes and the white-streaked curls that mirrored Jon’s own. It had been even less time since Martin had opened the front door, an excuse about needing ‘a much thicker coat, it’s bloody freezing out there’ on his tongue, to find Jon gripping a sheet of official Institute paper in a white-knuckled grip. The words calmly spilling free from his lips were silenced only once he’d slumped bonelessly in Martin’s arms, Martin’s hand still clamped firmly over his mouth and twin tear tracks streaking down both of their faces.

 The statement had gone up in flames easily and without fanfare, the small strands of smoke tickling the still-blue sky that, to Jon, seemed like the second most beautiful thing in the world.

 Now, there’s just this: sitting curled next to the fire, and taking long walks even as the cold of February nips at the tips of their ears, and getting to know each other through fragments of stories and brushes of pinkies and whispered confessions.

 “Tell me something,” Jon said, leaning his head against the curve of Martin’s shoulder and letting his eyes fall on Martin’s hands where they gripped the edges of a notebook, curling script decorating the pages in starts and stops and marred in places with crossed-out lines. They’d established a routine after Jon had admitted one night as they lay in bed, knees curled into his chest protectively, that sometimes what Peter Lukas had said in the Lonely still played on his mind. That they barely knew each other, and that the love Jon felt so potently in his chest and his lungs and his bones was based on nothing more than a construct, something he’d tricked himself into believing was real. It had been hard to think, even harder to say; Jon had squeezed his eyes tightly shut and had held his breath.

 Martin’s hand had found his and squeezed it tight. “Tell me something, then,” Martin had said, a tentative smile on his lips. And so, Jon had.

 Now, Jon’s hands were relaxed as he played absently with the cuff of Martin’s jumper sleeve. It was one of his favourites, a mustard-yellow one that was slightly oversized on Martin and consumed Jon entirely every time he managed to steal it from Martin’s side of the closet. Martin hummed and closed the notebook, turning his hand over and letting Jon’s hand rest against his palm; after a moment, he laced their fingers together and gave a gentle squeeze.

 “I’ve never had a birthday cake,” Martin said, sounding a bit wistful as he said it, and Jon leaned back slightly so he could see his face. Martin’s eyes were trained on the fire, and though his lips were still curled into a hint of a smile, his eyebrows folded inward in that way they did when an old wound itched just below the surface, stitched messily shut and stubbornly ignored even as it healed crooked and wrong. “At- at least not one of my own, that is, or- or that I can remember. I don’t know why I didn’t when I was younger, not really, but after Mum got sick, and my dad… well, birthdays just never really seemed all that important anymore, I guess? At least, Mum never seemed to want to celebrate.”

 Martin let out a small laugh, the kind born from reflecting on a memory that was quite the opposite of humorous. “And by the time I was old enough to make one for myself, it all just seemed so… pointless, I suppose. You know, that time we went out for ice cream was the first time I’d even celebrated my birthday since I turned 21?” Under his breath, Martin said, “Though I’m not sure you could call buying myself a bottle of Moscato and drinking alone in my flat celebrating.” He drew in a shaky breath before giving Jon a small, embarrassed smile. Not too long ago, he probably would have stuttered out some sort of apology, like it was shameful for him to show the vulnerable parts of himself. Now, he simply said, “It was nice, I suppose. To have people who cared, even if it didn’t seem like it meant all that much at the time.”

 Martin had that quietly sad look on his face, the one they both shared when thinking of the easy comfort of those first months in the archives, with Tim bright-eyed and smiling and telling jokes that Jon only understood half of the time and Sasha looking the way she had in the Polaroid Jon had found tucked away in the box of statements and cassette tapes Basira had delivered, clearly meant to be more salt in a wound that had been stitched closed before it had the chance to bleed. Jon squeezed Martin’s hand tighter, and when that didn’t seem enough, brought it to his lips and laid a soft kiss across the knuckles. “Yes,” Jon said softly, feeling that same sadness curling within his stomach and mingling with the beginnings of determination, a plan half-forming in his mind. “It suppose it was.”

 It was going to be perfect. Martin had left some time ago to make the longer trip into Inverness to pick up the supplies they couldn’t get in the village, forehead creasing slightly at Jon’s fabricated excuse of ‘not feeling well’ and Jon’s subsequent refusal of Martin’s offer to stay behind and reschedule their trip to a time when Jon was feeling more up to it. Jon had practically pushed Martin out the front door, letting out a small breath of relief when he saw Daisy’s car—now ostensibly their car—trundle down the cratered dirt road and out of sight. He’d had all of the ingredients; he’d followed all of the instructions. It was supposed to be perfect.

 At least the gołąbki turned out well, he thinks with a resigned sigh as he extracts the glass dish from the oven, setting it atop one of the electric hobs to cool. The cake sits in his periphery, almost mockingly; some of the frosting has sloughed off the top, leaving the chocolate pastry underneath starkly exposed.

 It… it wouldn’t hurt to try to fix it, right? Just a little more frosting to patch up the hole.

 Somehow, the middle of the cake ends up collapsing inward, taking a good portion of the candles with it. Christ, Jon can just picture his grandmother’s expression, the stern tilt of her eyebrows and the press of her mouth into a thin line that, thinking back on it, was really more amused than anything as she told him that no, five minutes was not long enough to properly cook chicken breasts in the oven, and no, he could not set the temperature to 260 degrees just to speed things along. She’d taught him how to mince garlic and to make Desi Ghee and to spice dishes without the need for measuring spoons, saying that he may as well put some of his anxious, restless energy to use and that the kitchen was as good a place as any.

 The first time he’d cooked in the safehouse, a few days after they’d arrived, when Martin had sat shivering on the couch with his eyes iced over with fog, his stomach had knotted in worry that he wouldn’t remember how—that he’d neglected it for so long, subsisting off of ready meals and tea in the beginning and then mostly statements after a while, and that this knowledge was the kind of nice, wonderful thing he wouldn’t be allowed to keep. But the knife strokes had come easily, almost mindlessly, and he’d filled the kitchen with mindless chatter as he’d worked in the hopes that it would give Martin something to cling to until he could press a bowl of chicken dumpling soup into his hands and gently coax him to eat.

 After that, Jon had taken to cooking most of their meals while Martin sat at the table and wrote with his tongue stuck out between his lips in concentration, or stood behind Jon and wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his chin against Jon’s shoulder as he watched him work, or formed a pile of flour and sugar and spices into a bread or a pastry or some other lovely, doughy concoction that Jon just couldn’t understand. Because Martin could cook, yes, but he’d never really liked it, he’d mumbled into his pillow one night after Jon had whispered, “Tell me something.”

 “It just reminds me of my Mum,” he’d said, voice small and quiet, and Jon had understood.

 But baking seemed to come so easily to Martin, lighting up his face with a radiant joy that captivated Jon to the point where he’d burned several meals just staring at Martin while he worked, transforming the same ingredients into a myriad of different desserts that all tasted light and lovely on Jon’s tongue, even though he’d never been a fan of sweets. At least, not until Martin had pressed a raspberry-filled Paczki into his hand with a tentative smile. He’d made it seem so easy, and Jon had been sure that, at the very least, he could manage a birthday cake.

 Clearly, he’d been wrong.

 He’s halfway to the bin, having decided that having no cake at all is distinctly better than having the monstrosity of a cake that’s currently balanced precariously in his hands, when the front door swings open, bringing with it a rush of winter air that prickles goosebumps onto Jon’s skin and sends a flush to his cheeks. Though that may be only partly due to the chill.

 “Hey,” Martin says, kicking the door closed behind him. His arms are laden with canvas bags of various patterns and designs, collected from a myriad of different shops over the past months, and he’s looking at the floor as he kicks off his boots so he doesn’t see the way Jon freezes halfway to the bin, the offending cake still suspended in front of him in the way one might hold a particularly offensive-smelling bag of rubbish. His muscles lock in indecision, and his mind is a mess of do I throw it away do I hide it oh Christ what do I do he’s going to hate it I have to get rid of it, and then Martin’s looking up from the floor and saying, “Are you feeling any—?”

 His eyes alight on the cake, on the stricken expression on Jon’s face, and his sentence trails off into a small, “Oh.” He takes in the kitchen, which is still in a state of disarray because Jon thought he had more time, surely Martin said he’d be out until six. He says as much, because he’s really not sure what else to do.

 “It’s quarter past,” Martin says, still staring at Jon with an unreadable expression that’s sending Jon’s stomach into a chaotic mess of nervous butterflies, and Jon’s eyes flick over to the clock above the oven. It does, in fact, read 18:14, and Jon feels his cheeks heat further.

 “Ah.” He’s still holding the cake awkwardly in front of him, he realizes, so he pulls it closer to his chest, almost protectively. Martin’s eyes track its movement, and on reflex, Jon says, “I- ah, I made dinner? And, er. A cake as well.”

 “Oh,” Martin says again, and Jon still can’t tell what he’s feeling. Not that he’s ever been good at that, but Martin has a tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve, which usually makes it easier.

 Nerves loosen his tongue, and he begins to ramble. “I- I know we hadn’t really discussed it, and I- I didn’t want you to think that I forgot about your birthday—which is, ah, tomorrow, I know, but I- I suppose I thought it would be more of a surprise today, and we did make plans for tomorrow already, and you- you said you’d never had a birthday cake of your own, and you’re always baking for me, so I- I thought it might be nice to make something for you, and you always make it seem so easy, but it, ah, it didn’t quite—”

 He shrugs helplessly and nods down at the cake, which is looking significantly more pathetic now that it’s under Martin’s scrutiny. “It’s a bit ruined,” he says, trying to convey within his words the entirety of the apologetic mess that’s been tying his stomach into knots. He stares at the floor, eyes fixating on Martin’s boots and the small puddle of water accumulating beneath them as the snow caked on the sides of them melts. The hot embarrassment that’s rapidly consuming him keeps his eyes cast firmly downward.

 “Oh,” Martin says once more, and it’s a soft, tender noise that makes Jon’s gaze twitch upward. His breath catches in his throat when he sees the wet shine to Martin’s eyes, the open, vulnerable look on his face where the stunned mask has finally cracked. “Oh, Jon.”

 Martin sets the bags on the floor and quickly crosses the room to where Jon’s stood. He takes the cake carefully out of Jon’s hands, despite Jon’s protests, and sets it on the counter like it’s something precious instead of the worst baking monstrosity Jon’s ever laid eyes on.

 “Martin, what—?”

 One of Martin’s hands is on Jon’s shoulder, the other carefully cupping his face. He pauses there for a moment, like he always does, giving Jon a chance to pull back. When Jon doesn’t, Martin leans in and kisses him.

 It’s more insistent than usual, both of Martin’s hands coming up to rest on Jon’s face and thumbs running soft circles over the tops of his cheeks as he presses into him, swallowing Jon’s soft gasp as he pushes him back against the kitchen counter, narrowly avoiding the cake as he kisses him soundly. Jon’s arms come up to loop around Martin’s neck loosely, his fingers brushing against the curls at the nape of Martin’s neck, and the tension he’s been holding in his body for the last hour melts away under the gentle, rhythmic motion of Martin’s thumbs against his face and the little noises Martin’s making against his mouth.

 When Martin pulls back some time later, his face is flushed a lovely shade of pink, and Jon realizes with a start that there are tear tracks running down his cheeks. He brings a hand to Martin’s face and rubs gently at the tears, his stomach twisting again ever so slightly in concern. “What’s wrong?” he says quietly, still breathless from the kissing.

 Martin hiccups a laugh, small and disbelieving. “Nothing’s wrong, Jon. I- Christ, I’m just so- so happy.” He brings a hand up to grasp at the one Jon has on his face, squeezing it tightly before bringing it to his lips and pressing a kiss to the inside of Jon’s palm. “You made this for me?”

 Jon blinks, once, before remembering the cake. His forehead creases in disappointment, directed entirely at himself. “Ah. Yes, that.” He glances at the cake, which looks just as appalling as it did before—possibly more so due to the fact that Jon’s elbow seems to have, at some point, jostled the cake after all, dislodging another section of frosting and quite a few candles along with it. “It was meant to look significantly more… edible.”

 Martin lets out another laugh, this one with a bit more substance. “Jon, did you try it?”

 Jon’s frown deepens. “I don’t follow.”

 Martin disentangles himself from Jon, despite Jon’s small noise of protest, opens the cutlery drawer, and retrieves a fork. “How will we know if it’s edible or not until we try it?” he says with a smile that’s entirely too wide and excited at the prospect of eating a cake that looks like it was run over by a car.

 “I really don’t think that’s—Martin!”

 Martin carves off a section of cake, ignoring Jon’s protests to, “At least wait until after we eat.” He puts it in his mouth, and Jon braces himself for the inevitable disgust.

 Martin hums, his eyes still crinkled with a hint of a smile even as he swallows and says, “It’s really not that bad, Jon.”

 “Not that bad,” Jon echoes, glaring at the offending pastry and pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Christ, this- this was supposed to be romantic.”

 Martin’s hand finds Jon’s face again, turning his head gently until Jon meets his eyes. “It is,” Martin says softly, eyes full of something so tender it makes Jon melt. “It’s- Christ, I’m going to start crying again. In a good way,” he adds quickly, at Jon’s stricken expression. “You- you just—”

 Martin pinches his bottom lip between his teeth, his eyes shining again with unshed tears, and he says in a small voice, “I love you so much, Jon. And I love that you did this for me. I know you hate it when people say that it’s the thought that counts, but—no, don’t give me that look, it really is. I’m not using it as an excuse to- to soften a criticism or anything, or to subtly say that I hate it. I love the cake, Jon, because I love you, and so it really doesn’t matter that it kind of looks like somebody stepped on it.”

 That pulls a small giggle from Jon, entirely against his will and born mostly from the release of the knot of nerves that had reformed in the pit of his stomach. “God, it really does, doesn’t it?” He laughs again, more intentionally this time, and takes Martin’s hand in his, squeezing it tightly. “Well, I promise that the main course is significantly more palatable. It’s from that little recipe book you gave me—the one you picked up at the bookstore?”

 “Oh!” Martin’s eyes brighten as they alight upon the glass dish still sitting on the hob. “You made gołąbki! Christ, I haven’t had that since I was a kid. My grandmother used to make it for holidays before she passed.” When Martin’s eyes meet Jon’s again, they’re full of such fondness that the Jon of a few months ago would have squirmed under the weight of it. Instead, he lets himself lean into it, feeling the flutter of his heart against his ribcage as Martin places another warm, achingly soft kiss against his lips. “Thank you, Jon,” he says, pulling back just enough that the words tickle against Jon’s skin. “I… just, thank you.”

 Jon’s I love you is interrupted by the rumbling of Martin’s stomach, loud and insistent. Laughter splits Martin’s face into a wide smile, and he says, “I suppose we should eat, then.”

 “I suppose so,” Jon says, feeling his own smile grow softer as Martin turns to the glass dish and begins to portion out the gołąbki.

 Maybe they could bake together, he thinks as he sits across from Martin at the table, Martin’s foot reaching underneath and hooking around Jon’s ankle. Yes, that… that might be nice.

 The cake ends up going into the bin after all. Though neither of them really seem to mind.

[iwritethat]

Dick Grayson: Fine Cuisine

Summary: Fluff

• Dick is unprepared for a family meal but your offer your fine expertise and have the whole family asking questions about you.

Warnings: Mature language

A/N: Hello lovlies! I’ve missed you all so much, I hope this helps a bit and there’s so much more I could add onto this so please enjoy and lemme know how you all are~

>>>>—————————>

It started with a family dinner.

As many curious situations do in retrospect, but with a family of vigilantes whose relationship ties have frayed, intermingled and been resewn makes for more interesting get-togethers compared to most.

One thing they could all agree on though? Dick Grayson cannot cook.

"I can't believe that, they just assume it's going to end in a takeout?" Came your amused voice as you placed a coffee on your kitchen island that Dick was currently seated - or rather slumped at.

"It's because the last two times I've hosted something like this, takeout has saved my ass." The ravenette embarrassingly clarifies, voice trailing off toward the end and did his best to avoid looking at you.

Dick Grayson was technically a neighbour, albeit living a few floors below your more lavish (and expensive) apartment suite. After moving into the complex on the same day, you quickly excavated the common ground to build a solid foundation for friendship - as such, meet-ups like these became a regular thing, switching apartments each time.

"Then, I'll help you out." You proudly confirmed, gesturing to your grand kitchen which was the sole reason you’d brought the place - one of the many things Dick envied about your luxurious living area compared to the standardised version of his own, though on an Officers salary he couldn’t afford something like this.

"Ah (Y/n) no, I can't let you do that!” Came his instant reply, hands waving defensively as he adamantaly brainstormed another excuse. “Plus you'll be working that night."

"True, but that doesn't mean I can't set you up beforehand. We'll start tomorrow, I'll teach you a recipe."

———

As previously planned, Dick turned up at your door rather nervously even though he’d been around you many times - not once had he demonstrated a serious negative flaw to his character in order to impress you, but cooking was one of them and you were about to witness chaos that’d likely dispel any romantic inclination he hoped you held for him.

“Ready?”

“No.”

With a playful laugh, you rolled your eyes and pulled the male into your kitchen noting how he was likely tired from his shift at Blüdhavens Police Department earlier that afternoon so a good meal should do wonders. Maybe it’d give him a better nights sleep too? The acrobat never seemed to obtain many of those for some unknown reason, apparently it’s ‘too noisy’ in the city.

“Oh and you can host in my apartment, it’s bigger and I’ll have all the equipment you need. You already have a spare key anyway.”

“You’re really amazing, I don’t deserve you - y’know that?” There were deeper feelings involved in that seemily offhanded thank you, ones relating to his role as Nightwing and his past mistakes which all remained a hated secret from you.

It started well, Dick following along with ease and you concluded that he picked things up fast with how observant he was which sped up the process. The main course he’d nailed with your guidance and so, you decided to move onto dessert.

“Now we add cocoa powder to th-“ You’d froze, mouth open out of surprise with the substances dusting your lips, cheek and part of your left collar bone - the offender in question mirroring your expression, albeit holding back his laughter due to his colossal misjudgement.

“I - I didn’t think it’d go everywhere when I ripped the packet open...”

“You don’t ever rip the packet, you tear it gently!” Came your dangerously mischievous correction, licking the sweet substance from your lips before flicking the currently non-chocolate brownie covered spoon at him with flecks landing on the side of his face.

“Oh, it’s on!”

This ensued an all out war, the two of you ducking and dodging oncoming attacks as you danced around the kitchen island with varying results of accuracy until Dick decided to slide over the marble surface and capture you in his arms.

His embrace faltered slightly as your back hit the island during your feeble attempt to get away, finding yourself trapped between him and the cool surface too enthralled in the carefree antics to notice the proximity. A beat of silence passed once the atmosphere had settled, Dick releasing a breathy chuckle with his grip around your waist loosening slightly as you looked up with a victorious smirk - he took the opportunity to lean forward slightly as if testing the waters and careful to note any kind of reaction you replied with.

However, there was a lack of trust as all is fair in love and war, hence your devious reasoning to close the gap some more and with the softness of his warm breath dancing on your lips you swiftly leaned past his whilst dragging your tongue across his cheek. Dick pulled back instantly, a mix of disgust and offence in his eyes as you spoke.

“Needs more sugar.”

“I’m sweet enough as it is thank you, you’d know that if you’d have just kissed me instead of betraying me like that!” Dick wittily snapped back, admiring the melodious laughter that escaped you at his response.

“I’m sure you do, speaking of - these brownies should last until the dinner so you won’t have to make them again on the day alright? I’ll get everything ready so you don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“I guess you’d taste pretty sweet too.” Though referencing your kind nature, you couldn’t help but lightly punch him in the shoulder.

———

Regardless of Dicks wistful prayers, the deadline had finally arrived and his family would be sporadically arriving in a matter of hours - so help him.

"All the ingredients are on the counter - do not use anything else - and I've detailed the instructions on the whiteboard in case you forget anything." You pointed to each item as you spoke, donning a jacket before barely making it past the kitchen doorframe due to your neighbours dramatically desperate pleas.

"Can't you just stay? And do it with me?"

"I have to go to work." You laughed at his antics, the man looking like a lost puppy amidst your vast collection of kitchen utensils.

"Work will survive without you, c'mon you wouldn't lose out on much - I'll even pay for the trouble."

That, truly caused you to hesitate with a look of sheer bemusement, a mischievous glint dancing in your irises that mocked his claim almost as much as your sardonic tone.

"If you truly knew my job and paycheck then you'd take that back.” With that, you were quick to flip to a more cheerful voice as you waved goodbye to a pouting Grayson. “Anyway, you'll be fine and tell me how it went once I get back~"

"Wait (Y/n) h-"

The slam of the front door echoed your departure leaving a Dick feeling more lost than ever, the kitchen seemingly quadrupling in size now.

Bruce arrived first along with Damian, Cass, Duke and Alfred. Then there was Tim who’d apparently travelled from Titans tower and finally Jason who’d sauntered in fashionably late as predicted but only by 5 minutes. Each baffled by the sudden change of location which only intensified when the host brought out plates of home cooked dinner.

"..."

"This... this isn't take out..."

"No, it's actual food.” Dick confirmed almost offended and words laced with a hint of underlying sarcasm. “That I made myself."

"Okay, so uh - is it edible then?" Jason quipped back, smirking at his elder brother in a smug manner that only he could achieve.

"Would you just eat it? I went through a lot of stress and effort for this."

Dick encouraging everyone as he sat down, the action only bemusing the members of his family more as they complied to his wishes with varying degrees of hesitance from each of them. Damian trusted Dick the most, but he patiently waited for his father to finish his mouthful before even touching his own dish.

"Wow, this is incredible, the flavour and everything - Dick what happened to you?!" Duke enthusiastically mocked and continued to devour the meal with a sense of radiance which contrasted to Cassandras pure silence as she savoured every tasteful mouthful.

"Grayson, there is no way you are solely responsible for this cuisine." Damian suspiciously raised a brow at the older hero, tentatively laying his cutlery elegantly on the now clear plate.

"Thank you, and maybe I had some assistance from my neighbour."

“Thank you for dinner Dick, it was surprisingly delicious and please give our thanks to your mysterious friend too.” Bruce knowingly added, proud of his protégés accomplishments - though minor in comparison to Alfreds glowing exterior.

“I told you there was hope Master Bruce.”

"Bro, they left a whole list of instructions so you wouldn't mess up and hey, call if you need anything. Sounds like a plan -" Jason, who had waited until everyone was finished explored your kitchen in hopes of finding some evidence as to who their saviour was.

"Jason no! They're working!"

"It‘s an emergency, you’ve been replaced by a clone with adequate cooking skills!” Tim wittily added once leaning against the kitchen doorframe to observe the scene with Damian inspecting the whiteboard before questioning it’s purpose.

“Why leave this if they couldn't answer then?"

"That's the point, she will answer and I don't want to disturb her right now. They've done enough for me already." Dick painfully sighed, strategically slapping Jason’s phone into the air and catching it with his other hand in one swift motion much to the irritation of the latter.

"Hold up - she?" Duke cut in now, holding his hands out for emphasis and subtlety fishing for elaboration.

"Are you dating...?” Jason hummed, taking a moment to analyse Dicks reaction prior to cementing his assumption. “No, but you want to, right?"

“We are not -“

“You want to date someone?” Cass innocently inquired now walking in with a pile of plates, Bruce and Alfred following in afterwards with clean up of their own.

“I mean I -“

“I’ve seen enough of your crushes to know you have one, you’re already flustered by thinking about them romantically.” Bruce effortlessly deducted, Alfred nodding in agreement whilst commencing the washing up.

“You can’t just call me out like that Bats, after everything with been through too.” Dick feigned betrayal, a hand on his heart whilst Bruce shook his head.

“Oh yeah, how long did he wait for Starfire and Barbara though?” Tim jokingly nudged Jason who chuckled at the small dig, though charismatic and charming - when real feelings were involved, Dick Grayson wasn’t one to straightforwardly act on them.

“Real mature guys.”

“I think you should tell her.” Was the sincere voice of reason, Cassandras kind smile enough to silence the devilish remarks of his brothers who now shrugged in defeat.

“We could help...”

———

Miraculously, you'd attained reservations at the most eloquent restaurant in Gotham, located in the more luxurious district of the wealthy. As a result, it served only the finest gourmet cuisine and had waiting lists longer than any other, so much so that even Bruce Wayne had yet to successfully book a place at the establishment.

You had given him the news when he’d recounted the events of his family dinner (skipping over certain discussions) and how they were grateful for your generosity.

Now, you'd asked Dick for how many he'd like seated at the table so you could finalise the arrangements - he knew you worked there, meaning staff privileges were likely applied in this situation but he was still left speechless.

Gawking at the skyrocketing prices, Dick now understood how much missing one day of work would seriously cost you - he definitely couldn't have afforded your time that night after all.

"So, you say you're paying for this?"

With a painstaking hum of agreement, the eldest nodded with a hint of concern detected on his features, fortunately Bruce had come prepared with his own credit card (just in case). Although his family could be provoking and frivolous toward one another, they were also respectful in situations like these and wouldn't run the bill up too high like certain members would if Bruce had been footing the bill. Dick had a charismatic bond with all of them in that sense.

Meanwhile, you handled everything in your kitchen of organised chaos as the orders came pouring in, including that of Dicks table who you had yet to formerly greet.

"This is cereal..." The head waiter meant it more of a question than a statement, looking to you with upmost uncertainty due to the simplicity of the dish compared to those on your signature menu.

Did they even stock Lucky Charms with the ingredients? The answer was no, you’d intentionally bought them purely for this very day and scenario.

"I know, I know - please serve it to my neighbour on Table 12, he'll get it." You humourously assured the man who seemed to have more to say but didn’t wish to argue with higher authority.

"Ah, Chef..." Your sous chef called moments later, overlooking the scene with mild skeptism before realising the nature of your scheme.

"Hm?"

"You do realise he is currently seated with Mr Bruce Wayne, don't you?" Upon processing that unprecedented information you immediately bolted - hot on the trail of the waiter with a weak promise in your wake.

"What?! I thought he'd bring his friends along not his- oh god, I just sent them cereal- shit, I'll be right back!"

With strategy and precision, you carefully intercepted the tray only seconds before it’d be placed in front of the empty seat of Dick Grayson - the man in question probably taking a bathroom break.

"Aha, pardon me, this was an incorrect order on my part, please forgive the interruption." You bowed with an apology, disappearing in hopes the remainder of the party hadn’t the time to fully decipher the mistake.

Of course, unbeknownst to you, this was a table full of detectives who constantly observed even the most trivial of details.

"Was that... cereal?"

The night followed on as planned, yourself wrapped up in cooking and supervising throughout the night with the only interruption coming from the waiting staff informing you that Table 12 would like to meet the Chef. Such a gesture was commonplace for you, customers regarded as strangers being much less intimidating than your neighbours family - you couldn’t comprehend why, it’s not like you were dating him or anything but their auras just radiated strength.

"Good evening, I'm glad to hear you -" Arriving at the table, you weren’t given the chance to finish before Dick had stood to greet you with a warm smile gently brushing your upper arm once deciding against hugging you out of habit.

"Hey, (Y/n). You didn’t come over this morning, everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's fine Dick I just had to readjust a menu." You waved his worries off with a grateful nod, hands on your hips in accomplishment as you expected to resume natural conversation with him.

"Okay okay, compliments to you, the food was immaculate - but how do you know our brother?" A youthful male bearing a white streak through his hair cut in, genuine sincerity in his tone when offering his praise before incredulously gesturing to Dick.

"He's my neighbour."

"I - he's a what now?" Duke shook his head in disbelief, looking between you both rather unconvinced.

"Are you kidding me Grayson?!" Tim was next, the most exasperated out of the whole table as he pinched the bridge of his nose whilst Dick quizzically scanned each of his company for insight.

"What...?"

"You got cooking lessons from one of the top Chefs in the whole damn country, you're friends with her, and you didn't even know who she was?!" The slimly built youth exclaimed, apparently knowledgeable in regards to the culinary world and had read of your famous reputation.

“(Y/n) (L/n) owns this restaurant Dick. Also, thank for the other week, the recipe was lovely.” Bruce politely added, nodding to you with a smile.

“You didn’t say that, you only said you worked here.” Dick turned to you now, in a feeble attempt to justify his lack of acknowledgment to your renowned status.

“Well, I do. In my defence you never asked, I mean my apartment and kitchen are rather fancy - that didn’t come on minimum wage.” You replied a matter-of-factly with an air of confidence to your voice.

"Are we forgetting that this is also the chef who was going to serve Richard cereal?" At the remark from Duke, a heated flush adorned your skin due to the embarrassment of being caught - the whole table breaking into collective chuckles.

"You were? - Wow that's such a dick move!" Dick was openly laughing at your failed attempt at humour, lightly nudging your side as you pushed him away in playful defence.

"Shut up! I didn't realise you were with your family, or else I wouldn't have done it."

Jason immediately waved that claim off, cheekily smirking at you as he spoke. “Oh no, I'm so glad you did, honestly it's the main reason I like you right now."

“That and you spared us the horror of Graysons cooking.” Damian conviently inputted, conniving grin sent to his favourite brother.

“You’re welcome, ah I apologise but I should get back to work so please excuse me. It was a pleasure meeting you all.” Taking a calculating glance over the expanse of exquisite tables and order exchanges you thought it best to return to your duties with a gracious smile and started toward the kitchen.

“Can I drop by tonight, I won’t be able to afford any thank you gifts after this but I’ll bring you a coffee?” Dick cheerily inquired, causing you to spin on your heel with a shy laugh and confirmation of his proposal.

“Don’t worry, this is my treat. You guys don’t have to pay for anything so enjoy the rest of your evening.” With that you were once again swept up into the busy atmosphere beyond the kitchen doors.

The table remained quiet for a few moments, Dick sitting down and looking to them almost as if searching for their impressions of you only to be met with bemused, impressed and mischievous gazes.

Not for you, oh no - these were shamelessly directed at a now enamoured Dick Grayson.

“Please marry her.”

[fleechin]

Separatory Funnel

Here’s my 2020 Portal Secret Santa for @artistyutaki, she offered a few prompts but one that I thought was interesting was Chell and GLaDOS/PotatOS hiding from Wheatley in the later chapters of Portal 2. I thought I might as well tie it into some of Chell’s thoughts about the ordeal, while also showing what Wheatley’s up to. I also noticed she was interested in the idea of computer gore, with plates and cables all over the place, so I tried to incorporate a bit of that in as well. I also threw in a tiny nod to Mel and Blue Sky since she mentioned she’s a Blue Sky fan. So this ended up being longer than I thought, and it’s my first time writing a proper fanfic of sorts, but I really hope you like this! I had a great time making it!

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

This was not the best place to be in right now. 

Not that it ever was down here, but where Chell was at this exact moment was especially not great. She didn’t complain though, it could always get worse. Actually, it usually did get worse, especially right about when she would wonder if it ever could. Perhaps it was best not to ask that question right about now. Sure, she had just fallen from a deactivated funnel and landed in a dark office whose only door was blocked by overturned desks, monitors, and furniture, which happened to be heavy enough that it’d be a pain in the back to move but for whatever reason the Portal Gun didn’t want to pick up. On the bright side, at least she didn’t fall all the way back down to the 1950s again.

Realistically though, knowing Aperture, it was bound to get worse no matter what she did. If even superstition was anywhere near reliable at this point, it would have been an improvement compared to everything else in this insane complex that somehow had only gotten stranger and more… alien-like, almost, after its founder had died of moon rock poisoning. At least the idea of a set of metal underground spheres laced with asbestos and full of half finished test chambers, the brainchild of a man proudly named Cave, was somewhat navegable. There was an understanding that if one were to see some place and travel far enough in that direction, they would eventually get to that place. If that place moved downwards in freefall, it would be because of the design of the facility, not some sarcastic supercomputer trying to keep her testing while calling her fat.

This bundle of desks, chairs and monitors was somehow all tangled up, with the wires going all over the place. It looked like she would have to either pull the whole thing at once or remove each one separately.

The recordings she heard from Cave Johnson painted a general picture, though they didn’t get awfully specific. But seeing as ground up moon rocks were all the rage down here back in those days, and hearing Cave coughing while ranting about lemons for some reason, it wasn’t difficult for her to figure out exactly how they managed to finally bring down the founder of Aperture. The real surprise? That somehow every other employee at Aperture hadn’t inhaled the stuff and keeled over. It had to have been a possibility, as there was no way that anyone smart enough to work a portal gun would have taken it upon themselves to design any part of this place without being crazy enough to consider the idea. 

This table was a lot heavier than it looked. Hopefully she could fold it over. It wasn’t exactly easy to see the parts that let the table fold on itself when it was this dark.

Could she have been one of those scientists? Chell couldn’t remember anything about herself before waking up under Her testing course, however long ago that was, or whether she was actually adopted, like every personality construct in this place seemed to think was a big deal. Any attempt at figuring out how she got down here would have to be based on guesswork. She was a test subject, which made her a likely employee at some point, though if Her insults were anything to go by, she was only a part time employee. Not committed to this job, just doing it on the side to make ends meet.

She finally managed to fold the damn table, and began to drag it out of the way.

At least that meant she wasn’t some Olympian from the 60s who got tricked into going here. Or a homeless person that got plucked off the streets of some town in Upper Michigan all for the promises of $60 at the end. She wasn’t sure how much that would be in today’s money, but wasn’t about to get optimistic. The real downside to it all was that she never would be able to figure it out. She didn’t even know how long it had been other than that it was long enough to concern Wheatley about brain damage, and even if there were information available about her and why she was here to begin with, she didn’t want to go out of her way to find it. Her main goal was getting out of here as quickly as possible, so there was no time for expositional detours. 

At most, she could stumble upon her backstory without looking for it. Figuring out what happened to Caroline was enough for one day, or however long it had been since she had last gotten some sleep. Besides, it would probably be a huge letdown anyway. Maybe she really was adopted after her birth parents considered her completely unlikeable even as a baby. Maybe her last name was something boring, like Smith. Or Jones. Maybe her name wasn’t even Chell at all. But hey, at least it wasn’t Cave. Hopefully.

Of course, she could just ask the supercomputer turned potato battery where she came from. Yes, that would be a great idea, confiding in who up until recently was her own worst enemy about a detail that She had constantly made fun of. She definitely wouldn’t take advantage of that fact and tell her all about how little Miss Chell SmithJonesWhatever couldn’t hold a single job until she came here because everyone hated her. They seemed to be on good terms now, but she wasn’t going to risk jinxing herself. Besides, she had a rule. No talking in Aperture. Nothing that any AI said was ever worth a response. 

So the lights didn’t work in this room anymore. Phenomenal.

Regardless, even though it still didn’t explain whether she was one of the employees, part time, or otherwise, who might have almost inhaled ground up rocks that cost anywhere from a TV to a house - she wasn’t about to do the math to figure anything more precise than that - it was at least clear that she had made it into Aperture under vaguely legitimate pretenses, and that they considered her smart enough to get her hands on a machine that, in the right hands, could’ve solved the world’s climate crisis by generating free energy. It was damning with faint praise.

Which just so happened to summarize the remarks from her semi edible companion. Not directed at her, for once, rather the situation at hand. Neither one of them were the most frequent of talkers, but She was more willing to comment on the situation. Funny enough, once they happened to agree with each other, Chell could reasonably rely on her as somewhat of a spokesperson. 

“After seeing what he's done to my facility, after we take over again, is it alright if I kill him?” 

Chell looked over at the glowing yellow circle, the only part of Her she could actually make out in the darkness of the room, and could only shrug her shoulders. Do whatever you want, she would have said. Frankly, as much as the two had been getting along, Chell wasn’t about to act like this was some new found friendship between the two. As far as she was concerned, the facility deserved to explode in a mushroom cloud with a giant blast radius. The bigger the better. If she was lucky, it would kill Her, Wheatley, and every other personality construct. Just as long as she wasn’t there for it. 

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

Since he was connected to the mainframe, Wheatley had been trying to figure out how to work this new body. Now that his only test subject was missing, admittedly due to a mistake on his part, he could explore further. There had to at least be some way to hack the solution euphoria program. But until then, the next order of business was to redesign his lair to his own liking. Not too bad a job She did, but it didn’t quite have the Wheatley style to it. Needed a bit more work. Namely, getting rid of that stalemate button. No way that could remain. 

“Right, so, asking the announcer... voice... guy... didn’t seem to do anything.” He said out loud, “Guess he didn’t quite understand what I was getting at. Hmm, wait a minute, maybe if I go and change this setting, then- Это программное обеспечение повреждено. Удалите его и обратитесь к администратору. Aaaand, nope, still there. Hasn’t even budged a little bit. Guess that didn’t work.”

He then remembered the complexities of hacking the neurotoxin emitters and thought he might start there. “Oh, um hello, Mister button, there.” He said in an accent beyond the rage of any human’s hearing, “I’m a representative of the mechanical parts… association, and we are inviting you to a… convention! Yes, a convention, with all sorts of members, cubes, turrets, even other buttons! And we’d like to invite you! Full expenses paid, shuttle bus straight there to the convention. And there’s going to be a whole panel on buttons! Who knows, they might even have you as a guest speaker! All you have to do is head straight down to the lowest part of the facility! That’s where the bus is! Just head on down there and you’re good to go!”

The button didn’t budge. 

“Not one for conventions I guess? Perhaps you’re more of an introverted sort of button. Doesn’t mind being pressed but also fine with staying where he is.”

Wheatley, being the genius he knew he was, figured he ought to look in the old tapes to see what Her old room looked like. Ever since She had been killed, the facility had been in some disarray, of that much Wheatley was well aware. The relaxation center had taken a hit, for sure, and it seemed the rest of the facility was none the better. Wheatley wondered how long it had been, and though he probably could have figured it out, this new interface wasn’t exactly what he would have considered user friendly. 

Come to think of it, he could figure out a few things at once by going through the recordings. For one, he could figure out what Her old room looked like and what She had done about this pesky little button. Or more interestingly, how her whole room got destroyed just from being shut down, that was always a mystery there. 

All he could find were tapes, and they didn’t seem too promising. Just video feeds of the room, none of which showed if the button was there at all or what she had done with it. Maybe skipping around a bit would work, perhaps it would show something. Nothing so far…

Wait a minute now, here were the tapes of when She was killed. Yes, this was definitely the same test subject all right. Silent as always, she was. Maybe her brain damage was pre-existing.

Well this was concerning. Neither neurotoxin nor the built in rocket turret defense station was enough to even faze her. All that nameless lunatic needed were a couple of seemingly easy portals and in less than the required six minutes She was dead. 

If that silent test subject was still alive, she could find any flaw in his lair design and it’d be bye bye Wheatley. 

First immediate order of business, no portal surfaces anywhere in the lair. That shouldn’t be too hard, just meant he would have to move some panels around. There, piece of cake, only a few panels detached and falling off. That was probably normal.

“Right, no portal surfaces anywhere. Check that off the list. Ding! Next we can- OW! Great, another panel just went and fell right out of the ceiling. Hit me right in the… to be honest I’m not sure what this part of me even is. Doesn’t really look like it does anything useful. Tell you what, how about I take this part off, don’t really need it do we? Won’t be hurting anymore, I imagine. Here we go, unscrewing… and done!”

The offending plate came off of his right side, pulling down several attached cables right out of their sockets, leaving them to dangle around and coil around the floor like snakes. Snakes that occasionally gave out electrical sparks. That probably existed somewhere in nature. Electric snakes. Maybe unicrons ate them. Wheatley made a mental note to look that up, right after learning how to play cards. 

“OK, wow that was actually pretty painful. Guess they don’t simulate any anaesthetic in this thing. Aaand now the lights are flickering on and off. Those are the lights, right? The flashlight doesn’t seem to be helping, so maybe I killed that too. That’s probably normal. Happens sometimes. That’ll probably fix itself.”

In the meantime, he at least had time to see what else was in Her old archives. Maybe there was a guide to fixing whatever was going on. Nope, nothing there. He did find an old security protocol system. Aperture Employee Guardian and Intrusion System, it was called. Interesting, that could help make sure she never got anywhere near his lair. Wait, no, that system was shut down locally. Before She went back online even. Odd, not clear who did that. What else was there… Oh, hang on a minute. The Cooperative Testing Initiative. That sounded useful. Wheatley kept reading. 

Yes, these two little bots seemed to be the fix for everything. As soon as he could he had one of each type assembled and sent straight up to his lair. 

“Hello! Right, so I understand you guys are built for testing, and what have you. So, I have selected you two to be my next testers. I need a few favors from you two though. See those cables down there? The ones that are kind of sparking there a bit? Those? Yeah, ever since I unhooked those, the lights have been flickering on and off.”

Blue looked at Orange, somewhat confused.

“You guys don’t see it? Wait, it just happened again real quick right there.”

Orange shook its head.

“So that might just be my optic sputtering out then. Yeah, that’s not great. Either way, I need you guys to try and get those back into me so I can see again. Now you might be wondering why I can’t just use those grabbers of mine and do it myself? Turns out, if I ever try to fix myself without someone else to help out, I’ll die. So you guys will have to do it for me.”

They both suddenly appeared nervous, and Blue slowly approached the bundle of wires. They sent out a spark and they both flinched. Upon reaching the wire, Blue picked up the first one, which went back in without a hitch. The second one was still going through the exterior plate that Wheatley had just unscrewed off. Pulling it as hard as possible didn’t work. Orange, annoyed, went up and pushed Blue out of the way, then slowly pulled out the cable and stuck it back in. By now the flickering was still happening, but only in randomly appearing colors.

“Great! OK now just one more to go! Home stretch!”

Orange was ready to pick up the last cable, but Blue, unrelenting, snatched it out of Orange’s grasp, and emphatically plugged it in. And then the flickering stopped.

“You did it! Bingo! Oh, man alive, that’s much better. Aaand now it seems you guys are knocking each other’s heads out of their… socket, things, whatever they’re called. Not really getting anything productive out of that, besides I kinda need you guys for something else.”

Neither Blue nor Orange were hearing it though. Once they had decided to play the classic game of Knock the Other Bot’s Head Off, there was little that could stop the competition. For personality constructs designed to get along, they did this a lot.

“Ahem, knock knock, anybody there?!”

It was getting heated. Now Blue was running around with Orange’s head, Orange’s body trying to chase after it but only managing to flail around miserably due to lack of eyes.

“ENOUGH!”

Wheatley hadn’t had an outburst like that in a while. It was a little easier when his only test subject and her potato weren’t driving him up the wall smashing his monitors and not giving him the relief when he wanted it. But the lack of test solution euphoria was starting to make its presence known once more, and it made him impatient as ever. Both bots stopped to look over, then Orange snatched its head and put it back on, glancing angrily at Blue.

“You know, there are bots in orphanages that don't even have heads to steal. Maybe think about how lucky you two are and stop fiddling around like that, yeah?”

They both looked at each other, shrugged the mechanical equivalent of their shoulders and gave each other a quick hug. Wheatley didn’t understand how they could forgive each other so quickly, but he wasn't about to object.

“Right, so, what I need you guys to do is see if we can find any neurotoxin reserves. Ever since I hacked the main factory, genius, I know; we haven’t had any neurotoxin to dispense. So I’m building you a testing course that should lead to where the neurotoxin facility was to see if you can find any clues. Alright, Go team!”

Several panels cleared out of the way to reveal two elevators facing each other, one blue and one orange. The bots looked at each other before taking off and heading to the disassembly machines. In less than a minute they had reached the first test, a simple introductory course with a laser and a redirection cube. And no test of Wheatley’s would be complete without his signature, the word TEST written in lights on the wall. 

These two were smart enough to have figured out how to solve it rather quickly, and Wheatley immediately felt the rush of solution euphoria. Whether it was the amount of time since he had last felt it or because he was testing new subjects, this felt much better than the last few tests he had gotten his other subject to try. Now he could focus on the text task, seeing if there was a trap he could build, just in case those two weren’t dead. Getting rid of the button would have to wait. Maybe if they found some turrets or explosives to keep anyone from reaching it, that could work as a solution. For a little while at least.

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

Having cleared out all the tables, chairs, and any other debris lying around in what was once an office, Chell could finally get through to the other side and out the door. And the potato on her gun had done a great job at keeping her company. 

“Oh good, now we can get going again. Maybe we can find a way out of here.”

Chell picked up the portal gun and made her way out of the office. To her disappointment, the walkway just led down to the entryway to another test.

“Great, it looks like we’ll need to keep testing a little while longer. And I’m not sure we have that much more time left. Look on the bright side though. Maybe we’ll get to see more of that moron’s inventions. Maybe he’s gotten so desperate he’ll have tried to fuse a turret with a redirection cube and give it laser eyes.”

Chell couldn’t help but smile a bit at that. She resented that Wheatley had become like this, and somewhat missed him in a way, but it was nice to occasionally poke fun at his less than amazing intelligence.

“If a defective turret and a pile of trash had a baby, he would make an excellent pet for that baby.”

Chell’s smile grew slightly bigger and she chuckled silently. It was kind of nice to hear Her jokes while not also being the recipient. The classic insults thrown her way, that she was fat, adopted, unlikeable; those didn’t work on her at all. But they were at least well crafted, almost stand-up quality, though she never would have admitted that. Despite being a murderous former supercomputer with zero conscience up until this point, she did have a bit of a knack for humor. Chell would at least miss that when she left this place.

This was the end of the walkway, and Chell jumped down; her testing break was over. It was going to get tough before she finally did make it out of here.

[brandstifter-sys]

Grimm Day

Word Count: 1335            (Ao3)

Pairing: Dukexiety

Rating: T

Warnings: Misgendering, Food mention, attempted murder, swearing, curses

Dukexiety Week: Day 2 - Fairytale Virgil, a magically gifted sage, has a bad day, and upon visiting eir boyfriend, find out Remus had just as much of a shitstorm to deal with

@dukexietyweek

--

Virgil was tired. Ey wasn't invited to the grand celebration but eir siblings were. If a king and queen could invite their entire kingdom and 12 sages with fae blood, they could handle inviting em! Ey didn't care about not having the same fancy dishes and silverware, or sitting with the dutchess instead! But to find out that ey wasn't invited while that party was going on? They were going to have a bad time.

Virgil walked through the forest, hiding eir purple hair and pointed ears under eir cloak's hood. Maybe cursing the princess was a little harsh, she was an infant and she didn't do anything wrong. But it wasn't a terrible curse, just a hundred years of sleep.

Ey still felt icky about it, and ey needed to get to the one person who could get em to calm down, in his own special way. Remus was a unique case, a half-human witch with a wily disposition. He was never one to flinch at some of the more harrowing tales Virgil had, most of them involving some fae pettiness and anger. He was good at relieving tension and he was a support to Virgil when ey needed him.

But as Virgil came upon the cottage, eir blood ran cold. The door was open with several bite marks littering it, and the same could be said for the walls. The candy decorations were torn away and missing, and ey didn't see any animals in the area.

"Remus!" Virgil shouted and ran into the house, letting eir hood fly off. Ey needed to be sure eir partner was okay.

The cottage was a disaster! The furniture had been gnawed beyond repair and there were bits of wallpaper, torn and chewed, littering the floor. Virgil hated seeing the mess but ey had to find Remus.

A loud bang came from the kitchen and got eir attention.

Ey hurried into the only room without any edible furniture and noticed two things that were particularly strange. There was a giant iron cage on the floor by the table, and the back door was open.

Another bang came from the oven. Virgil paled when they realized it was on. Ey hurried and opened the door, not sure what to expect, but certainly not what ey got!

Remus was fast asleep on the bottom of the oven, fire tickling his form. He kicked his leg out again, unaware that Virgil was even there.

Until the sage grabbed his ankle and yanked him out of there. Ey tossed him to the floor and closed the oven, turning it off.

"Oof!" he grunted and rubbed his side, "Why'd you wake me like that, Virge? I was comfy!" Remus whined.

"Because you were sleeping in an oven, an oven that uses your weird future-y magic."

"Yeah, what else was I supposed to do? I couldn't open it!"

"Then why were you in it in the first place!?"

"Oh, because kids are assholes! That's why I'm never gonna let any pop outta me!" Remus laughed and sat up, brushing off his flame-proof dress. Virgil slumped and skidded against the counter to the floor.

"What happened?" ey groaned. Remus brightened and shimmied.

"Story time!" he cheered, "So after you left I was studying my spells and I was really getting into it, and then I heard a loud crack outside. So I went to check it out. And there were these two kids eating the gingerbread from around the front door!"

"So that's why it looked like that, and I take it they trashed the living room too?"

"Yup!" Remus wiggled his mustache, "And to think, I let them in to give them some real food! I turned my back to see what I could offer and they ate my stuff! I was still gonna get them something to eat that wasn't my house, so to keep them from destroying the place I put them in that cage."

"And that was your first mistake."

"Nuh uh! I told them to wait and not eat my home but they didn't listen. And while I was warming up the oven to make some pot pies, since I have stuff for that they escaped! And then the little girl called me an ugly old hag lady and pushed me in!"

"Oh gods, Remus," Virgil gasped and grabbed his hand. Remus laced their fingers together and shrugged.

"I'm lucky mom was a dragon witch, and that I make for an ugly lady. I make a sexy man!"

"That you do. You make a sexy, sweet, warm, welcoming man who won't be mad at me for cursing a baby."

"You what!?" Remus gasped with a grin, "Details!" He was so excited, Virgil had to roll eir eyes.

"You know how I went to see Toby? Well turns out xe was at this big festival, invite only. The king in the next kingdom over was celebrating the birth of his daughter. Problem is, he invited everyone else in the order. Some human crap about the number thirteen. I was kinda pissed."

"Of course you were!" Remus gasped, "Out of all of them, the one they snubbed was you! You don't snub a magical being without incurring some rage!" Remus shook his head and crawled into Virgil's lap.

"So I showed up and was like, excuse me? And none of the others did anything to stop me or King Fat-Mouth. He said it was an invitation only event. The whole kingdom was there! Invitation my ass!" Virgil huffed and crossed eir arms.

"Are we talking about your ass now? Because I can go on about that beautiful booty!" Remus teased and wiggled his shoulders. Virgil rolled eir eyes and shook eir head.

"No, not right now. Anyway, he told me to leave and I wasn't welcome. I told him off," Virgil said with a hint of venom in eir voice.

"Like you should've!"

"And like all the others blessed the baby, right? So I gave my gift. It was so petty and so overdramatic. I cursed her to prick her finger on a spindle when she turns sixteen and then she'll fall asleep for a hundred years. But that wasn't enough. The whole kingdom gets to have some beauty rest too."

"When she wakes up she's gonna want answers. I can only imagine how pissed off she'll be at the king!" Remus giggled and clapped, "Ooh that is a great curse!"

"She's just a baby," Virgil huffed and wrapped eir arms around Remus.

"You didn't sign a death warrant, just extra sleep! It's not so bad! I think you need a good cuddle, some pot pie, and kisses before bed. You had a rough day."

"You got your house eaten and you got pushed in an oven, and the brat misgendered you! And you're saying I've had a rough day!" Virgil scoffed and held him closer.

"I mean I need those things too, but since I'm gonna be kissing and cuddling you, it works out. I also have to fix this cottage. Hey Scare Bear, do you think you could magic it back together?"

"If I do I can't promise I'll make it gingerbread. I could make this place a castle and you want gingerbread?"

"A castle, huh? That'd make me a king. If you make this place a castle, will you be my queen? Or whatever title you prefer. I'm not picky!"

"You're a king to me already," ey jeered and kissed his cheek, "And I'll be your regent, sure."

"Oh hush!" Remus snickered, "You just want to get me flustered and then I'll turn to goo and tell you how much I love you!"

"Would you do that if you weren't flustered?"

"I charge for that. One tongue tango for all the love I can give."

"Guess I should say it then, for free. I love you, so much, my dragon king," ey hummed and kissed his cheek. Remus flushed and snuggled closer.

"I love you too Scare Bear."

----

Yes, I went with “Hansel und Gretel” and “Dornröschen” instead of some classic princess stuff just for funsies

[thebluesideofmyworld]

House Key - A Solangelo One-Shot

Summary: Nico moved into a new apartment. Will helped him settle down in the new place. And deep down inside, Will wanted to make the apartment a home for Nico.

Word Count: 3200 | Read on AO3

***

My contribution to @solangeloweek for the Solangelo Spring Ball 2020. My date for the event is @pjozz​ who has created TWO gorgeous moodboard for this fic (moodboard 1| moodboard 2) (go check her blog, she makes awesome stuff!)

Author’s Notes: - A gazillion thanks for the wonderful Eaf who has helped me to beta this work. - Based on the song House Key by Scott Helman. Title is also from that song.

***

“This is the last one,” Will said as he put the box that he was carrying down on the floor. He stood up, straightened his back and looked around. A few feet away from him, Nico was sitting on the floor, taking some stuff out from one of the boxes.

Nico snorted. “You said that as if I had hundreds of boxes.”

“I can’t believe that you could pack your whole life in just a few boxes,” Will sighed. He made his way to the couch and threw himself there. It wasn’t exactly new. The brown couch was a hand-down from Piper, but it was comfortable enough. Will shifted, half-laying on the couch with his back against the armrest.

“Come here and give me a hug, babe,” Will called out to Nico. Nico turned his head to look at Will. He rolled his eyes but as Will widely opened his arms, there was a small fond smile on his lips. Nico stood up and made a beeline to come to Will. He lay down on the couch and snuggled up against Will. Will started playing with the soft dark strands of Nico’s hair.

“How are you feeling, love? Excited?”

Nico hummed his answer. “I can’t believe I finally have my own place.”

“Well, you practically had Cabin 13 to yourself…”

Nico huffed. “Yeah. But it’s different, you know?”

Will smiled and kissed the top of Nico’s head. He hummed and let Nico continue.

“This is the first time I’m, like…deciding everything by myself. Like, really owning something for myself.”

“And how do you feel about it?”

Nico huffed. It took a moment before he answered, like he was considering his answers. “Excited. Scared. Nervous. Happy,” he shrugged his shoulders. “All at the same time. I feel like I am still too young to do this, but at the same time I also feel like, hey, I am a real adult now.”

“Oh, wow. I can’t believe that the Ghost King could have so many emotions at once,” Will teased.

Nico groaned and punched Will on the shoulder. Will laughed and caught Nico’s wrist. He brought Nico’s hand to his lips, and kissed the knuckles.

“You’ll be fine, darling,” Will said. “It’s not going to be easy. Living in your apartment, doing your classes, but you’ll be fine.”

Last year Nico managed to earn his GED certificate, and then he decided to do a degree in Social Work. For now, he was still doing it part-time, as he was still doing some errands for Hades. And when it was possible, he opted for classes that he could take online. Will knew that Nico still needed some time to adapt to the way formal education worked. Will himself was already in his third year of his undergrad when Nico started doing the degree. Will was doing Biochemistry and going for a pre-med track. Classes were hard, but Will enjoyed doing it, as he had always wanted to be a doctor. And he was glad to see that Nico seemed to be really interested in the field that he was studying now.

Nico hummed. “Anyway, what time is it now?” Nico asked as he moved, trying to find a more comfortable position against Will’s chest.

Will shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Late, I guess?”

Nico stayed quiet for a moment. But then he asked another question.

“Do you…have to go back to your dorm now?”

With Nico’s warm cheek against his chest, Will couldn’t see Nico’s expression. But the years that they had spent together made it easy for him to recognize the hesitation that laced Nico’s voice.

Will rubbed Nico’s arm. “I don’t have any classes anyway tomorrow.”

“Oh?”

Will hummed. “And it’s already too cold for me to go outside now.”

Nico shifted so now he faced Will. “It’s not that cold, Will,” he said. But there was a look of relief in his eyes. Will chuckled, and flipped Nico’s nose.

“It is,” he said. “And to be honest, I don’t think I want to leave you alone right now. It looks like you need some warmth to help you getting through your first night in this apartment.”

Nico opened his mouth, like he was about to say something. But Will put his finger over his lips, stopping him from saying anything.

“I’ll stay for the night. I am pretty sure that if I go back to my dorm, I will end up calling you anyway, making sure that everything’s okay with you.”

There was a small smile on Nico’s lips. “Thanks, Will,” he whispered. Will smiled back, and leaned down to kiss Nico’s forehead.

One day, Will thought. One day, the only place where I have to go back to, will be to where Nico is.

***

“I’m coming!”

Will smiled unconsciously when he heard Nico’s voice, followed by the sound of footsteps coming. Then the door swung open, revealing Nico, reading glasses perched over his nose. Will’s smile turned into a grin.

“Will?”

Nico looked a bit surprised as he took off his glasses, and put it on the top of his head. “Hey! I didn’t know you were coming!”

“I got something for you.”

Nico’s eyes widened. “What?”

Instead of answering, Will pulled down the zipper of his jacket, revealing a gray kitten who was comfortably snuggling against him with its eyes closed.

“Here. Take it,” Will said as he half-shoved the cat to Nico. Nico looked dazed, a bit clueless, but he took the small cat anyway and cradled it gently in his arms. The cat opened its eyes and stared at Nico sleepily. The cat purred and appeared to decide that Nico’s hands were as warm as Will’s jacket, as it closed its eyes again. Will watched the expression on Nico’s face change from confusion, to caution, until it turned into amazement along with fondness as the kitten snuggled against his chest.

“I think the cat likes you,” Will said, smiling warmly.

Nico hummed. He lifted the cat up a little and nuzzled its head gently. He earned a soft purr from the cat that made him chuckle.

“Does he have a name?” Nico asked, looking at Will questioningly.

“Shakespeare,” Will answered as he let himself in. He closed the door behind him.

Nico snorted. “That’s a terrible name for a cat,” Nico said as he walked to the living room area. Will was trailing behind him.

“Better than Valdezinator, though.” Will said. Nico let out a small laugh at that.

“Yeah, I can’t argue with that,” he said. He sat down on the couch. He petted the cat gently, smiling as the cat stretched and yawned on his lap. Will took a seat next to Nico on the couch. He looked around at the papers and notebooks that were scattered over the coffee table. Nico’s laptop was open, showing a Word document on its screen.

“What were you doing?” Will asked

“A paper. Assignment for my Cultural Diversity and Justice class.”

Will whistled. “Sounds interesting, babe. But the most important question is, have you eaten anything yet?”

Nico gently put the kitten on the carpet, right next to the couch. He brought his glasses back down to his nose and took his laptop from the coffee table.

“Well?”

Nico shrugged his shoulders. “I had some yogurt.”

“And when was that?”

It took a while before Nico answered. “Like…at noon?”

Will groaned. It was almost seven in the evening. “You’ve promised me you’re going to eat more.”

“The due date for this paper is this Friday, Will.”

“Which is still, like… three days from now!”

Nico huffed. “I want to finish it now.”

Will sighed, but then he stood up. He ruffled Nico’s hair, then bowed down a little to kiss the crown of Nico’s head.

“Stay here,” he said. “I’ll whip something up for you so you don’t starve.”

Between the two of them, Nico was surely the better cook. In fact, Nico often said that cooking was one of the things he considered a part of his Italian heritage. But in times like this, when Nico was too absorbed in something that he was doing, it was Will who would make sure that Nico ate something, even if it meant that Will had to do the cooking. Not that Will was bad at cooking, though. His cooking was decent enough to be edible, thank you very much.

Nico mumbled something about not being hungry, but Will still made his way to the kitchen anyway. He was just about three steps away from the couch when Nico called him.

“Hey, Will?”

“Hmm?” Will turned to look at Nico.

Nico brushed some strands of his hair away from his forehead when he lifted his head up to look at Will. “You left your guitar here. I put it in the bedroom.”

“Oh! Yeah, right! It’s okay, you can keep it here,” Will said.

Nico rolled his eyes. He looked down again at his laptop. “The next time you leave your things here, at least put them where they won’t block the way. I tripped on that stupid guitar last night.”

Will grinned. “You know you love the guitar, darl.”

(And Will loved it when Nico played the guitar. Which wasn’t new or surprising. Will loved everything that Nico did anyway.)

An hour later, they had some honey garlic chicken for dinner, where Nico exclaimed that he wasn’t sure that Shakespeare could sleep well in a new place with a total stranger. So, of course, Will decided that yeah, he could stay for the night.

Later that night, Will managed to drag Nico to bed before midnight. But before they went to bed, they spent 10 minutes creating a makeshift bed for Shakespeare from a box and some old blankets. Now Shakespeare was sleeping peacefully in it, while Nico and Will lay down side by side on Nico’s bed.

“I still can’t believe you got me a kitten.”

Will shrugged, and started playing with Nico’s hair. He loved feeling the silky strands on his fingers. “I think it will be nice to have a cat here. To make this place feel more like home for you.”

Nico stayed quiet for a while. He drew some small circles on Will’s chest with his index finger. In the dim light of the night lamp, Will could see the contemplative look on Nico’s expression.

“What are you thinking, darling?”

Nico stretched his lips into a thin line for a second.

“What about you, Will? Do you feel like this place, this apartment… Do you feel like it’s home for you?”

Will smiled softly, and leaned to place a gentle kiss on Nico’s forehead.

“Wherever you are, is where it feels like home for me.”

***

Nico di Angelo was gorgeous.

Not that Will wasn’t aware of that fact before. But it was the first thing that crossed Will’s mind when Nico swung the door open for him that evening.

“Will! Happy birthday!” Nico exclaimed, and tiptoed just a bit so he could peck Will’s lips.

“Thanks,” Will said, still a bit dazed to see Nico. Will stood still for a second, staring at Nico. “Wow,” he said. “You look really nice.”

Nico’s usual attire was dark-colored shirts, sometimes with printed graphics on it. If the weather was cold, he went for hoodies.

(And if half of the ones that Nico usually wore were actually Will’s…well, Will had no problem with it, at all.)

But this evening, Nico was wearing a navy blue button-up shirt. He’d rolled the sleeves up to his elbows. And instead of hanging loosely on his body, this shirt actually fit him, showing his lean muscle.

Nico rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance. But the soft blush on his cheeks betrayed it. Will stepped in, and Nico closed the door behind him.

“Are we going somewhere?” Will asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious about the shirt that he was wearing. Sure, it was a clean and quite decent shirt. But compared to how his boyfriend looked now…

“What? No. I’ve told you, I’ll cook dinner for you.”

“Yeah, but…you’re dressed up. Like you’re going somewhere nice. Like there’s something special.”

Nico rolled his eyes again, but then he smiled shyly at Will. “Of course it’s special. It’s your birthday.” He kissed Will’s cheek. “You are special, tesoro.”

Will’s heart suddenly felt too big for his chest.

“Oh,” he said, wanting to say something to that but couldn’t really find the words. “Okay,” he said, and let Nico take his hand.

“Come on,” Nico said, pulling Will along with him to the kitchen area. Then Will saw the dining table.

Oh.

The small table was set up for two people. The table was covered with a dark red tablecloth. A small but elegant bouquet of red roses and white carnations was on the table. And there were candles!

(Okay so Will was a sucker for aromatic candles so what?)

Nico turned around, and looked up at Will. There was a mixed look of hope and hesitation in his eyes. “So, do you like it?”

Will stared at Nico’s dark eyes. “You…did this for me?”

Nico hummed softly as he nodded. “It’s your birthday.”

Something inside Will melted like warm honey. He wrapped his arms around Nico and pulled him into a tight embrace. He kissed the top of Nico’s head.

“Thank you, darling,” he whispered. “I love it.”

Nico pulled away just a little. When he looked up at Will, his eyes sparkling like the stars were trapped behind them. “Anything for you, tesoro.”

“Now,” Nico said, and took Will’s hand again to lead him to the table. “I have spent the whole afternoon preparing a three-course dinner that deserves a Michelin star. So have a seat and don’t make my cooking go to waste.”

Will chuckled as he sat down. “You know, you can still change your major to culinary or something…”

Nico hummed as he walked to the kitchen counter. He walked back to the table, holding two plates.

“Yeah, that’s something that I can consider as my alternative career, I guess…” he said as he put down one of the plates in front of Will. “But for now, you have the honor to be the one who tastes my marvelous cooking.”

Will let out a small laugh. “As you said, I am honored,” he said. He took his fork and knife, and started eating.

Nico was serious about the three-course meal. They started with some delightfully tasty anchovy crostini for the appetizer. The main course was risotto with shrimp and peas, wonderfully seasoned with saffron. To end the dinner, they had some tiramisu, that for Will was something to die for.

Will already knew that Nico was good at cooking. But to know how Nico really took some time to prepare everything for his birthday…It was just something that made Will’s heart fill with warmth. Sometimes he couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have Nico. Sometimes he just couldn’t believe that Nico, the boy that he loved, loved him back.

“So,” Will said, leaning back on his chair with a full stomach. “What’s next?”

Nico hummed as he took the empty plates. He put them on the sink, then sat back across from Will. He lifted his glass and sipped his wine before he asked Will back. “What do you think?”

Will shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. But watching Queer Eye while cuddling sounds like a really good idea.”

“It is. But don’t you want to get your birthday gift?”

Will’s eyes widened. “What? But I thought this dinner was already your gift for me.”

Nico’s eyes were soft as he smiled at Will. “You can say so, but I still have a gift for you.”

Nico stood up, and Will watched him as he walked to the cabinets. Nico opened one of the cabinets, the one that he dedicated to storing different kinds of pasta (he once spent a good half an hour teaching Will the differences between each type). He took something out from it and walked back to Will.

“I hope you like it,” Nico said as he gave a small black box to Will. A thin gold-colored ribbon was tied into a bow on the top of the box, holding the lid of the box in place.

Will took the box. It’s small, but too big for a ring box.

(Not that he was thinking of engagement rings, of course, or thinking about being proposed to. Nope. Not at all.)

(Yeah, he already had this jar where he saved some money that he  had planned to spend on a decent pair of rings but, no, of course he wasn’t thinking of it at all.)

He lifted his head up, looking at Nico that was already sitting back in front of him. Nico looked a bit nervous.

“Can I open it?” Will asked.

Nico nodded. “Go ahead.”

Will untied the ribbon and opened the lid. He gasped a little when he saw what was in the box.

A key was in the box, along with a round black key chain. Will carefully picked the key up and studied the key chain. On one side, an intricate sun was engraved on it, while a lyre was beautifully engraved on the other side.

“It’s Stygian iron. The key chain,” Nico said.

Will lifted his head up. “Is it…the key…?”

Nico gave him a single nod. “It’s the key to this apartment.”

“And you’re giving it to me. As a birthday gift.”

Will looked at the key in his hand again. Feeling strangely breathless.

“Well,” Nico said, and paused to clear his throat. “I mean… I like it. When you spend the time here. Or when you stay for the night. And... Yeah. This is just…a small apartment. But when you’re here, it feels like home.”

Will held the key tightly, something warm and sweet running through his veins.

“Thank you,” he said to Nico, voice cracking a bit with emotion.

“And. Uhm.” Nico paused to clear his throat again. “Well. I was just…thinking. You…we have like…four weeks more before the Spring semester ends? So. You’ll start your last year in college this year. I was thinking…”

Nico stopped, and he took a deep breath. Will watched him. His heartbeat doubled while he was waiting for Nico to continue.

“So. Will. I was thinking. What do you think of moving in? To this apartment?” Nico asked, holding his eyes at Will.

Will’s face broke into a wide smile as happiness glowed inside his chest. “Oh, Death Boy…”

Nico closed his eyes as he groaned. He opened his eyes and shook his head. “Nope. Never mind. Forget that I ever asked.”

Will grinned as he lifted the key up, showing it to Nico. “Sorry. It’s too late. I already have the key.”

Nico huffed. But then he smiled shyly. “So, I take it as a yes?”

Will leaned forward, and took Nico’s hand to hold it. “Of course it’s a yes, Nico. I’ll move in with you. We’ll make this apartment a home for us together.”

***

Notes: 1. Thank you for reading. Any feedbacks are always welcomed :) 2. Check out other works submitted to @solangeloweek. All of them are wonderful

[noona-clock]

Indefinitely - Part 7

Genre: Dystopia!AU

Pairing: Jaebum x You (Female!Reader)

Warnings: Mentions of death, cursing

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 | Words: 2,808

The first thought you had when you woke up was fairly incoherent since you were still half-asleep, but you knew it had something to do with the fact that you were incredibly warm. 

When your eyes fluttered open, you realized you were incredibly warm because... you were incredibly cuddled up against Jaebum’s back.

...Oh.

You held your breath and kept as still as possible, wanting to see if Jaebum was still asleep. You heard Youngjae’s deep breathing from just a few yards away, so you closed your eyes and concentrated on the broad-backed human heater right next to you.

Thankfully, you heard -- and felt -- him breathing deeply and evenly. He was still asleep.

You let out the breath you’d been holding and told yourself to turn around. Scoot away from Jaebum. Stop nuzzling your cheek in-between his shoulder blades.

Stop!

But you couldn’t. Not yet.

Because you realized you’d just had the best night’s sleep in over a month.

You hadn’t woken up even once from the time you’d closed your eyes to now. You didn’t know what time it was, but it felt like you’d slept for at least nine hours. You actually felt refreshed and not like a sleep-deprived zombie.

It was truly kind of amazing.

You didn’t just feel physically great, though. You also felt... safe. And you realized you’d felt the same way when Jaebum had been assuring you of your strength the other day, when he’d had one hand on your arm and the other hand cradling your cheek.

It was almost as if having Jaebum there made you feel like everything was going to be okay, you’d just never actually realized it... until now.

And you also realized you wanted to sleep next to him from now on.

 -- Whoa, wait. What?

Did... you really just think that? Those thoughts came from your brain?

Okay, it was time to get out of bed.

As quietly as you could, you rolled over and slowly pulled the blankets away from you. You slid your legs over the side of the mattress and landed silently on the floor on your toes.

You remembered seeing a vending machine inside the gym last night; there should probably be some protein bars in there, right? Or at least something you could eat for breakfast.

Once you’d stepped into your boots and tied the laces, you tip-toed out of the store, making sure to close the door quietly behind you.

You let out a huge sigh as you walked down to the gym, though you weren’t exactly sure why. You weren’t relieved to be away from Jaebum -- or Youngjae. And you hadn’t exactly left your strange thoughts back in the mattress store. No, they were still very much floating around inside your head.

I guess you had sighed just to sigh.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter. What really mattered was finding something edible in the gym’s vending machine.

When you arrived at the gym, you peeked through the windows just to be sure there were no looters or anything. You hadn’t seen a single person outside of your trio for a whole month, but still. You never know!

Once you confirmed there was no one inside, you slipped in through the front door and hurried over to where you remembered seeing the vending machine yesterday.

There were, indeed, some protein bars inside, and after a few minutes of debating on how to get them out... you simply located the lightest set of hand weights you could find, took one, and smashed it through the glass.

Even though there was literally no one around -- and there probably never would be -- you still felt like you were stealing, so you quickly grabbed a handful of bars and made a run for it.

When you got back to the front, you pushed through the door with your shoulder and began to head down the sidewalk. You immediately paused, though, when you saw Jaebum standing out in front of the mattress store.

His head whipped over to look at you, obviously hearing the racket you’d made exiting the gym, and you saw him visibly relax when he realized it was you.

You cleared your throat awkwardly before you began walking down there. The closer you got, the warmer your cheeks became, and you knew they were a nice shade of hot pink by the time you reached him.

“Morning,” you greeted with a shy, slightly awkward grin. “I... got breakfast.”

You handed him one of the protein bars, and he glanced at you briefly as he took it. But then he turned his gaze back to the parking lot in front of him, murmuring a “Thanks.”

You bent to set the rest of the bars on the ground, taking one for yourself and stepping over to stand next to him.

“How did you sleep?” he asked quietly over the crinkling sounds of the wrapper.

“Great, actually,” you replied. “You?”

“Same.”

You now realized there were some rather large butterflies flapping their wings around in your stomach, and hearing that Jaebum had slept great only made them flutter around faster.

That was very strange.

You focused on unwrapping your breakfast, and just as you lifted the bar to your mouth, about to take a bite, you heard Jaebum let out a soft gasp.

Your gaze immediately shifted over to look at him, but instead of the shocked or horrified expression you thought you’d see...

Jaebum was smiling.

Smiling.

And those butterflies were now flying out of your stomach and up into your heart.

Oh, god.

“What?” you mumbled, but before he could answer, you followed where he was looking and saw...

A cat.

Jaebum handed you his protein bar and stepped off the sidewalk into the parking lot. “Hey,” he said softly, crouching down and holding his hand out toward the cat. “Hey there, cutie.”

It was a good thing you hadn’t yet taken a bite of your bar because you definitely would have choked on it after hearing Jaebum -- the strongest, most silent type you’d ever known -- say “Hey there, cutie.”

Hey. There. Cutie. 

You watched as the stray cat sauntered up to Jaebum, carefully sniffing the fingers he was holding out before butting its head into his palm.

Jaebum petted and scratched behind its ears, still smiling and murmuring quietly.

With a gulp, you stepped into the parking lot and crouched down next to him. “Looks like you found a friend,” you said quietly.

“Yeah, I did,” Jaebum grinned.

In all the years you’d known him, you weren’t sure you’d ever seen him smile. You’d seen him smirk, and you’d seen him grin just slightly, but never a full-blown smile.

How had you never realized just how handsome he was?

I mean, you had. You’d known he was handsome. It had taken you less than a second after seeing him for the first time when you were just barely a teenager to know he was handsome.

But his smile changed everything. It lit up his face, it warmed your heart, it made him... the most attractive person you’d ever seen.

...Oh, this was not good.

“I... I’m going to wake up Youngjae,” you muttered, standing up and gathering the protein bars which were still on the ground.

Jaebum simply hummed, and when you glanced back at him, he was still focused entirely on his new feline friend.

Once you had all of the bars in your hold, you moved to open the front door of the mattress store. Just before you walked inside, you heard a tiny sneeze behind you.

“Oh, bless you,” Jaebum said with a soft chuckle.

And you almost melted into a puddle right there.

Without letting another second go by, you hurried inside the store and over to where Youngjae was sleeping.

“Youngjae,” you hissed, dropping the protein bars on his bed. “Wake up.”

You reached out and shook him -- violently -- until his eyes fluttered open.

“What?” he asked with a whine. “Why do you keep waking me up?”

“Well, first, because we have to leave soon. Second, because Jaebum keeps doing weird things, and I need to tell you about them!”

Youngjae let out a somewhat dramatic sigh before forcing himself to sit up. “What weird thing did he do now? Ooh, protein bars.”

He reached for one down by his feet, and you shot him a very distressed look.

“He found a stray cat, and he was smiling! He said ‘hey there, cutie’ and was petting it and the cat sneezed and he said ‘bless you’!”

Youngjae’s brow furrowed immediately as he bit into the protein bar he’d just opened. “Really? I’m having a lot of trouble imagining that.”

“It just happened! I witnessed it with my own eyes!”

“Okay...” Youngjae replied before chewing his breakfast. “...So?”

“So... I don’t know! I think... I think...”

But you really didn’t want to say what you thought out loud.

...Not yet, at least.

Youngjae laughed softly and said, “I think you have --”

You shushed him, waving your arms around urgently and backing away from his bed. “No. Don’t say it. Just eat breakfast and get ready. We only have ten miles left.”

Youngjae’s eyebrows raised in disbelief, but he still nodded. And you headed over to your bag to start packing up.

Since Jaebum seemed entirely distracted by the cat outside, you rolled up his blanket and packed his bag for him.

Once Youngjae was ready, the two of you headed out of the store to join Jaebum in the parking lot. He glanced over his shoulder at the two of you, standing up when he realized you had his backpack ready for him.

“Oh, thank you,” he murmured, taking it from you and sliding it onto his shoulders. “I think he wants to come with us.”

You couldn’t stop a small smile from pulling at your lips, and you said, “Oh? Well, he is more than welcome.”

Jaebum nodded at you before he turned back around and started walking back toward the main road, you and Youngjae following behind.

“Come on, Gatsby,” he called, looking down at the cat.

Oh, holy mother of God. He had named the cat. The cat had a name. Gatsby.

...Why did your legs feel like jelly? Why did your heart feel like jelly?

“I think he has a cold, though,” Jaebum mentioned as he glanced over his shoulder at the two of you. “He keeps sneezing.”

“Do they make cold medicine for cats?” you asked, your brow furrowing. “I mean, did they?”

“Yeah, I got some prescriptions from the vet a few times when Scarlett was sick,” he answered.

Your brow furrowed even more. “Scarlett?”

“My cat back home. She, uh... she caught it before my parents did.”

And your heart went from feeling like jelly to feeling absolutely broken. You’d had no idea he’d even owned a cat let alone lost one to the Epidemic.

“Oh, my god,” you murmured, Youngjae chiming in with almost exactly the same reaction. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

No wonder he’d been so excited to see Gatsby.

Jaebum simply shrugged, looking down at Gatsby when he rubbed up against his legs as he walked. “I’m just glad there are still some left,” he said with a grin.

Youngjae elbowed your ribs gently, but you didn’t even look over at him. The next thing you knew, he was leaning closer to you, and he whispered. “I see what you mean. This is weird.”

You nodded... but you found you didn’t actually agree with him anymore. It was no longer weird to see Jaebum smiling because of a cat. Now, it was just... heartwarming. It made you want to give him a hug.

It made you think of waking up snuggled against his back.

You shook your head slightly because you did not need to think about that.

Youngjae nudged you again, and you heard Jaebum call out your name.

“Hmm?” you hummed, eyes widening as you focused your attention on him.

“I said, we only have ten miles left, right?”

“Yes,” you answered. “Yes, just ten miles until Windenburg.”

Apparently, you’d been thinking too much about hugging and snuggling to have noticed he’d already asked you.

Whatever. It’s fine.

“I wonder what it’ll be like there,” Youngjae mused to no one in particular, but you took the opportunity to stop thinking about Jaebum and start thinking about your future.

“Do you think they’ve figured out how to get the power back on?” you asked hopefully.

“Ooh, maybe,” Youngjae replied. “What if we can have hot showers again?”

“And refrigerators!”

“And lights! No more going to sleep at seven because it’s too dark to see inside!”

“And a working washer and dryer,” Jaebum added.

“Yes,” you answered emphatically. “Oh, god, yes.”

He chuckled softly, and a smile appeared on your lips at the sound of it.

For the first time in a while, you were in a good mood. A truly good mood. You were optimistic, your smile was genuine, you barely even noticed the slight pain in your knee, and... you were happy.

Somehow, in this completely dire situation where you weren’t even sure how much of the world’s population was left... you were happy.

You should’ve known your happiness was too good to be true.

But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.

You’d managed to walk about eight miles in the span of three hours, and Windenburg was now so close, you could almost taste it.

...Not that you knew what Windenburg tasted like. Or that it even had a taste because... it was a place. And you can’t eat a place.

But you know what I mean!

You were so close to reaching the town where the settlement was!

Jaebum had suggested stopping for a little bit to have a protein bar, and while you would rather just keep on trucking, you had also been hungry enough to agree with him.

Gatsby, who was still traveling with you, had managed to find a dead bird over at the side of the road and was now happily feasting along with the three of you.

Gross, but okay. He’s a cat. What can you do?

As you all munched on your protein bars (and Gatsby munched on his bird), you and Youngjae chattered away about the settlement. The two of you really hadn’t been able to talk about much else for the past few hours.

Jaebum, after his washer and dryer comment, had been mostly silent. And he was eating silently now, not joining in on your conversation whatsoever, so... maybe things would go back to the way they’d been once you got to Windenburg? Maybe he would go off on his own with Gatsby and you would just become neighbors again?

Honestly, you felt silly for thinking anything else might happen.

You’d only lived in the same house because it had been kind of your only choice. I mean, I guess he could have moved into one of the other empty houses in Youngjae’s neighborhood, but that would have been kind of strange, don’t you think?

Assuming this settlement had plenty of places to live, it was honestly a little embarrassing that you’d thought the three of you would still live together. Especially Jaebum. He was like a cat himself -- a solitary creature who really didn’t need anyone else, so why would he choose to live with you again?

Why were you even thinking about this?!

As you finished the last of your protein bar, you blinked rapidly to try and get yourself out of this train of thought.

“All right,” you said with a sigh as you threw the wrapper into your backpack. “Two more miles. We ready?”

Youngjae stood up with a groan, dusting the dirt from his pants and putting his own backpack on again.

You expected Jaebum to stand up, too... but he didn’t.

“I, uh...” he began, his voice sounding a bit weird and distant. He brought one hand up to his forehead, rubbing it gently and closing his eyes tightly. “I don’t think I can make it.”

You froze -- and then you whipped your head around to stare at him. “What?” you asked, your tone a bit more harsh than you’d intended. “What do you mean?”

Jaebum avoided your gaze, but the odd look on his face made your heart tremble with fear. “I don’t... feel so good.”

You stared at him some more, and after a few seconds... you realized he was shivering.

Without wasting any more time, you bent down beside him and pressed the back of your hand to his forehead.

And then it suddenly became very hard to breathe.

Because Jaebum was burning up.

He had a fever.

Fuck.

Part 8

[jeongyunhoed]

Just One Afternoon

Wooyoung/OC

I felt the “Just One” oneshots needed a third for some reason. Anyway, if you enjoyed Just One Night and Just One Day, here’s the third and last part set two more years later. As per usual, this is one looooooong conversation. Enjoy. 

Wooyoung was standing in front of a full-length mirror, checking and double-checking his tuxedo in case there were creases that needed to be smoothed out. There he was, in a swanky waiting area in a hotel, the rest of his things in the corner, all ready for him to pick up once he left the place. He noticed some bits of confetti and rice still in his hair and he smiled to himself as he patted it out, the grains and the tiny pieces of paper falling off and onto the carpeted floor, reminding him once again of the biggest moment in his life that only occurred a few hours ago. The reminder of that moment made him look down on the gold band that was on his ring finger of his left hand. 

After 4 years of dating and several months of getting engaged, Wooyoung and Jea got married. It was a very small ceremony, only filled with the people they held dear: Immediate family and their closest friends. Some tears of happiness were shed as the two of them said their vows, promising to stick together through thick and thin, no matter how many fights they’ve had (and they’ve had a lot), and no matter what kind of challenges await them. Everyone else were also left teary-eyed at their vows, but swooned at the giggly kisses they shared once they were declared husband and wife. 

“Are you ready?” He called out to her. 

“Yes!” Jea appeared, in a shorter version of her dress this time with the bits of her wedding gown carefully stored back into the box it came in. “Are you ready?” 

“Yeah, the party’s over, everyone’s headed for home, but we’re staying here, aren’t we?” Wooyoung was beaming as he approached her. 

Jea was smiling just as wide. “Yeah,” She wrapped her arms around him. “It’s just us left, but I don’t feel like going upstairs yet” 

“Why not?” He kissed her cheek. 

“I don’t know, I guess I just want to savor being down here, somehow I have this feeling that once we step out of his ballroom, it’ll all be different again,” She shrugged. 

“It’s a good kind of different” He pressed his lips onto her forehead. “There’s also the honeymoon, and the rest of this weekend to ourselves” He mumbled against her skin. “Not leaving the suite until we need to check out?” She could feel him smirk. 

“Or maybe walk along the poolside and just spend time together, like how we always do? Or whenever you get back from work at the studio?” Jea suggested, leaning up to kiss him. Wooyoung ultimately decided to leave his crew and teach dance at the studio they frequented instead. He had his worries about whether or not he would enjoy it, but he was pleasantly surprised after the first few days, realizing how he felt the same happiness being able to teach other people and kids as when he was dancing with his crew, and dare he even admit it, maybe even happier. It might have been because he knew he got to come home to Jea everyday, or getting to dance for hours without having to leave or even push himself further to worsen his injury. 

“That too, you want to go for a walk? We should have the bellhop bring our bags upstairs” He said, and she nodded, the two of them linked together as they left the room. 

~ 

“Was I a nightmare for a bride-to-be?” Jea suddenly asked him as they were by the pool that afternoon. The orange and yellow glow from the sun in the horizon cast an orange tint over the place “I wasn’t, right? Or was I?” 

“You were a nightmare because you didn’t like the wedding topper I picked out” Wooyoung teased. “And you made me cancel a few classes because of wine tastings and food and the cake, and I usually enjoy all of those!” He chuckled. 

“The wedding topper you picked had the bride and groom dancing, when they could’ve just stood still, it’s more timeless that way” Jea argued, laughing as well upon remembering. “Don’t you want our kids to have that topper when they get married?” 

“Of course I would, but that makes it a fun wedding cake topper, if they just stood still, it’s too ordinary” Wooyoung squeezed her hand as they sat down on the chairs. 

“Your mom talked to me before the wedding,” Jea smiled. “She wished me good luck because I now have to deal with you forever” 

Wooyoung laughed out loud. “She did? Ah, my mom, she’s the best.” 

“Your dad said the same thing to me as well” Jea added with a laugh. 

It made him laugh even more. “Ah, my parents are the best. Remember how nervous you were when I finally brought you to them? You were dreading having to meet them but then when we all met, I didn’t want to say I told you so, but I told you so” Wooyoung teased. “I mean, I guess it’s because my older brother already got married that they’re a lot more relaxed when it comes to me and my younger brother.” 

“You were just as fidgety when I had to introduce you to my parents!” Jea playfully slapped his arm. “You had this awkward smile that I can’t believe I saw” She shook her head. “They wondered if you were okay or if you liked the food or if you were just trying to be nice” She laughed. 

“Your dad is a good cook! I really liked the food! As long as it’s edible, it’s good enough for me” Wooyoung tried to poke her side in an attempt to tickle her. “Now I know where you got your looks from, though” A grin spread across his face. 

“I hope you mean that as a good thing” Jea raised a brow at him, making him chuckle and try to poke her side again. 

“Of course I meant it in a good way, didn’t I tell you that you’ll always be the pretty girl I met on the train? Did you not listen to my vows earlier?” He teased, pretending to be hurt. 

“Of course I heard you! It wasn’t like I was crying because I got hungry or something” Jea gave him a look, shaking her head. Her expression softened, and she took a moment to study his face again, from the mole under his eye, to the crinkles in his eyes when he smiled or laughed, and the way his lips curved whenever he smiled. It was a face she always looked forward to seeing every morning, afternoon, and night. She looked down at their hands and the rings on their fingers, promising that they would be together forever, with that promise made permanent. “I love you” She said softly. 

Wooyoung felt the same way when he looked back at her. “I love you too. Let’s go to the cafe, some coffee would be nice” He said, tugging on her arm as he stood up. 

~ 

Some of the servers and staff inside the hotel cafe looked at them fondly as they stepped inside the plush interior, sitting down at a corner seat. They didn’t care where they were seated, yet the staff pointed them towards the plush couch near the window that had a view of the city. The server for one, asked them if they got married and they said yes, and they offered to let them look through a selection of wine or liquor that went perfectly with the cake they were having. 

“Do you think we’ll become those annoying couples that get lovey-dovey even if we’re with friends?” Jea suddenly asked, putting the menu down. 

“We kind of are, but we haven’t been out with friends that much anyway, at least out with friends together” Wooyoung replied. “Do you think we’ll be like that?” 

“I have a feeling we will,” Jea teased. “But I guess its a good thing we haven’t gone out with friends together. I wouldn’t want to annoy people, and I already annoy you.” 

He chuckled. “Yeah, and I better be the only one who gets annoyed with you” He teased back. 

“That’s an odd threat, Mr. Jung” She grinned. 

“It’s a mutual threat, Mrs. Jung. We better be the only people that annoy each other.” 

“Deal,” Jea held out her hand and he shook it, sticking his pinky out next, which she linked with hers. She watched him look back at the menu for the dessert he wanted to try. “I’ve always wanted to travel around a faraway place by train.” 

“No you don’t, you just want to solve a murder that happens on that train” Wooyoung teased. 

“That too. Plot twist, everyone did it, they all hated him, they all had a grudge against him somehow” Jea chuckled. 

“You’d be a suspect too” He put down the menu and reached out for her hand to hold, lacing their fingers together. 

“I wouldn’t, I’d be the one solving the murder,” She shook her head. 

“You’d be a suspect of stealing my heart, that is” He winked, making her cringe. “You’d be the detective solving the murder, while I’m your charming, handsome, and ridiculously hot husband who’s helping you by trying to blend in and observe everyone else while you’re asking questions” 

Jea snorted. “I don’t know, but would everyone on that train think you’re ridiculously hot, though?” She teased. 

“Of course they would! Why wouldn’t they when I look like this?” He pushed his hair back and tried to do a sexy pose. Jea nearly cackled in her seat. 

“Your confidence is something else, but I love you for it” She grinned, sitting back when the server returned with their drinks and her dessert, a creme brulee. Jea handed him another spoon. “Crack the sugar with me.”

A giggle escaped his lips as he took the other spoon, the two of them cracking into the caramelized dessert and dipping their spoons into the custard underneath. 

~ 

Night had fallen, and they paid and left the cafe, walking down the hall and to the direction of the elevators. “Will you be able to put up with me for years to come?” Wooyoung asked. 

“Mhmm” Jea nodded. 

“Even if I get carried away while playing games?” He grinned. 

“Yeah, even then, even if I have to put on earplugs whenever I’m asleep and you’re yelling at your computer monitor” Jea squeezed his hand. 

“Good. Just trying to make sure” He teased as they stopped and pressed the elevator button. 

“Will you be able to put up with me for years to come? Even if I get cranky in the morning and all of those things you get annoyed at me for?” Jea turned the question back to him. 

Wooyoung turned to her with the biggest smile on his face and kissed her. “I look forward to it.” 

[nnegan13]

lil gift for paige (@air-bison-yip-yip) ily girl 

textfic, on ao3 here 

set in college!AU, if everyone feels kinda OOC its cuz I personally feel like people are different when they’re texting than when they’re interacting irl so sorry if it feels off lmao it’s still fun if you overlook that part aha 

also the formatting is different bc if I did it the same way I usually do texts in fic this would’ve been So Much Harder 

anyways enjoy!!! 

— 

Martino Rametta to entirely dead inside: head count please 

Eva Brighi: sadly, awake 

Sana Allagui: silvia and fede are still sleeping 

Luchino: Marti Elia says that if you don’t stop turning the lights on and off he’s going to fucking kill you

Luchino: and gio and Sofia are missing 

Eva Brighi: Sofia? 

Sana Allagui: nice 

Martino Rametta: nico’s with me 

Martino Rametta: eyes on ele? 

Eva Brighi: bathroom 

Sana Allagui: someone go tell her not to puke too hard cause I had to clean up last time and I don’t wanna do that again

Eva Brighi: she says fuck you 

Sana Allagui: delightful

— 

Edoardo Incanti to Eleonora Sava: heard you had quite the night 

Eleonora Sava: remind me to never do college again 

Edoardo Incanti: i thought you liked all the higher education shit 

Edoardo Incanti: ya know 

Edoardo Incanti: learning things so you can make ur mark on the world 

Edoardo Incanti: all that sentimental shit 

Eleonora Sava: fuck sentiment 

Eleonora Sava: can you call the police on a university? the school’s trying to kill me 

— 

Giovanni Garau to Eva Brighi: what do you want for breakfast 

Eva Brighi: you’re an angel 

Eva Brighi: but it’s almost noon just come back we’re getting lunch 

— 

Luchino to fede text when u wake up we went to get pizza: turns out I was wrong gio and Sofia weren’t missing 

Luchino: just gio 

Luchino: does anyone actually remember Sofia leaving the party last night? 

Luchino: anyways gio’s back 

Luchino: chicco and edo say they’ll be here in five 

Eva Brighi: shit we’ve left 

Luchino: you did? 

Elia Santini: do you pay attention to anything? 

Elia Santini: anything at all 

Elia Santini: sofia didn’t even come last night ffs 

Elia Santini: they fucking changed the name of the chat dude 

— 

Sana Allagui to Eleonora Sava: when ur done we’re downstairs 

Sana Allagui: please hurry up some of us are starving 

Eleonora Sava: why did you let me drink so much ur supposed to stop this stuff 

Sana Allagui: ur very persuasive when you want to be  

Sana Allagui: are you hurrying or are you just ignoring me now 

Sana Allagui: I’m sending edo to get you 

— 

Sana Allagui to Edoardo Incanti: how long does it take to wrangle your girlfriend 

Edoardo Incanti: not my girlfriend 

Edoardo Incanti: and don’t fucking say stuff like that you’ll give me ideas 

Sana Allagui: so she’s as slow at getting with you as she is at getting dressed? 

Edoardo Incanti: fuck off 

Sana Allagui: I’m hungry, charms 

— 

Edoardo Incanti to Fede Canegallo: when are you taking ur test 

Fede Canegallo: why 

Fede Canegallo: need me out of the apartment or smth? 

Fede Canegallo: miss sava coming over? 

Edoardo Incanti: dick 

Edoardo Incanti: i guess you aren’t coming to pizza then  

Fede Canegallo: you don’t even care 

Fede Canegallo: you can just take ele now 

Edoardo Incanti: there’s nine other people with us 

Fede Canegallo: you’d still get down then n there if you were given the chance  

— 

Eva Brighi to Fede Canegallo: edo says he’s disowning you 

Eva Brighi: what toppings do you like on ur pizza 

— 

Eleonora Sava to Giovanni Garau: did i leave my shit at yours 

Eleonora Sava: please say yes 

Giovanni Garau: yeah its here 

Giovanni Garau: [pic] 

Eleonora Sava: blessings from above 

Eleonora Sava: are you joining us or no? 

Eleonora Sava: Eva says to send you the tongue emoji but I’m not feeling nasty today 

Eleonora Sava: she’d send you one herself but she’s got pizza grease on her fingers and doesn’t want to get her phone dirty 

Giovanni Garau: tell her that’s sexy of her 

— 

Edoardo Incanti to Eleonora Sava: it’s rude to text at the table 

Eleonora Sava: desperate times, mr. hypocrite 

Edoardo Incanti: who’s getting ur table manners so wonky 

Eleonora Sava: wouldn’t you like to know 

Edoardo Incanti: i would, yes 

Eleonora Sava: ur no fun 

Eleonora Sava: just gio, I left my stuff at his this morning

Eleonora Sava: and I’m worried that if I go back to get it I’ll be roped into another midterms drinking game like last night 

Eleonora Sava: he’s not exactly being the most helpful right now 

Edoardo Incanti: want me to get them for you? 

Eleonora Sava: my knight in shining armor 

Eleonora Sava: don’t you have your own midterms to studying for? I don’t want to take time away from that 

Edoardo Incanti: its nbd 

Edoardo Incanti: how bout this 

Edoardo Incanti: I’ll get ur books and you come study at mine and make sure I actually get shit done instead of playing fifa all night 

Eleonora Sava: deal

Eleonora Sava: wait if I rat you out for playing video games instead of joining us last night can we still do that or no  

— 

Eva Brighi to *plays Baby K even harder*: @chicco @edo @fede ur all the WORST 

Eva Brighi: fifa instead of drinks? 

Eva Brighi: I’m appalled I really am 

Edoardo Incanti: who knew appalled was even in ur vocabulary 

Edoardo Incanti: and why are you texting about this we’re all here 

Eva Brighi: fede isn’t and I want to express my anger at all 3 of you at the same time 

Chicco Rodi: when fifa calls it calls 

Federico Canegallo: doesn’t make it sound better chicco 

Federico Canegallo: nd some of us like having working brains to get through midterms with 

Eva Brighi: who are you and what have you done with fede 

Federico Canegallo: fuck off Eva

Edoardo Incanti: its true high school fede would be ashamed 

Elia Santini: last week fede would be ashamed 

Elia Santini: I’m ashamed 

— 

Eleonora Sava to Edoardo Incanti: eva’s reading my texts over my shoulder I’m sorry 

Eleonora Sava: please let me study at urs they haven’t killed you yet 

Eleonora Sava: I will spam you with pleases until you say yes 

Edoardo Incanti: are you done eating 

Edoardo Incanti: lets just go now 

— 

Sana Allagui to we’ve reached 40 days and 40 nights in relationships wilderness ladies and germs: barrage of obnoxious texts? 

Silvia Mirabella: they’re leaving to go study 

Silvia Mirabella: both of them are too straight laced to actually think of doing otherwise 

Silvia Mirabella: leave ‘em be 

Sana Allagui: they left pizza early 

Sana Allagui: and now we only have one car to get back 

Sana Allagui: chicco’s not going to let me DJ so what’s even the point anymore 

Sana Allagui: it’s what they deserve

Chicco Rodi: when did I say that 

Giovanni Garau: i’m coming n I’m bringing my car don’t get ur panties in a twist 

Sana Allagui: stop thinking about my panties gio 

Giovanni Garau: ffs 

Elia Santini: Sana i’m behind you 

Sana Allagui: many thanks 

Federico Canegallo: I’ve filled my obnoxious quota earlier I’m too tired to do anything else 

Martino Rametta renamed the group what happened to having a working brain fede? 

Eva Brighi: Marti you shit 

Eva Brighi renamed the group we’ve made it to 40 days and 40 nights in relationship wilderness ladies and germs 

Eva Brighi: literally the only established rule of this chat is that we only change the name to keep track of the days 

Martino Rametta: this is exhausting 

— 

Chicco Rodi to Rocco Martucci: do you have the chat muted

Rocco Martucci: sorry who is this? 

— 

Eleonora Sava to Eva Brighi: Eva 

Eleonora Sava: Eva I’m struggling 

Eva Brighi: you left pizza early to go study with edo I am not speaking to you 

Eleonora Sava: evaaaaaa 

— 

Eva Brighi removed Eleonora Sava from Le MAT&T 

Eva Brighi: ele WILL try to thirst text you today do not answer her 

Eva Brighi added Eleonora Sava to Le MAT&T 

Eleonora Sava: sorry what the fuck was that for

Silvia Mirabella: no you don’t get to protest you’ve abandoned us 

Silvia Mirabella: go study miss sava I’m disappointed in you, frankly

— 

Eleonora Sava to Federica Caciotti: are you guys at gio’s 

Eleonora Sava: Fede? 

—

Federico Canegallo to Giovanni Garau: how’s it going over there 

Giovanni Garau: we don’t have dumb sticks up our asses and aren’t studying so it’s going well 

Federico Canegallo: Eva if I wanted to talk to you I would’ve texted you 

Federico Canegallo: give gio the phone 

— 

Eva Brighi to Federico Canegallo: fuck you 

— 

Eleonora Sava to Sana Allagui: are you guys at gio’s 

Sana Allagui: ERROR 404: The person you are trying to reach is not available. Check your connection and try again later. 

— 

Sana Allagui to Le MAT&T: [screenshot] 

Sana Allagui: and here we have the rare procrastinating ele sava in her natural habitat 

Eva Brighi: what a beautiful creature 

Federica Caciotti: truly moving to see such majesty in nature 

Silvia Mirabella: i can’t believe you’ve captured her on record 

Eleonora Sava: I know you’re all sitting in the same room laughing at each other 

Eleonora Sava: I’m never speaking to you again

—

Federico Canegallo to Edoardo Incanti: so are you guys still studying 

Federico Canegallo: or are you fucking now

Federico Canegallo: because if you’re fucking I’m not gonna come home 

Edoardo Incanti: 1. you’re a piece of shit 

Edoardi Incanti: 2. did you text me thinking that I would respond if we were fucking? 

Federico Canegallo: I mean its been a couple hours since I left so I was just making sure it was cool to come back 

Federico Canegallo: typically people don’t fuck for entire afternoons on end so 

Edoardo Incanti: please stop saying we’re fucking 

Federico Canegallo: so you’re not? 

Edoardo Incanti: i’m not going to answer that  

Edoardo Incanti: go to gio’s tho she’s moved past procrastinating and gets annoyed if you interrupt her 

—

Martino Rametta to Eleonora Sava: nico is wondering if we can use your pasta 

Eleonora Sava: will you be following a recipe 

Martino Rametta: i’m not gonna lie to you that was an ask permission after the fact kind of thing 

Martino Rametta: it is edible tho if you want to have some when you get home 

Martino Rametta: when will that be? 

— 

Eleonora Sava to Edoardo Incanti: what are you doing for dinner 

Edoardo Incanti: i think talking in person about this isn’t violating the rules 

Eleonora Sava: it is 

Eleonora Sava: I can text and study at the same time and therefore I’m still studying and therefore we have to stay in separate rooms 

Edoardo Incanti: you can be really obnoxious sometimes 

Eleonora Sava: it’s a talent 

Eleonora Sava: welcome to studying with me 

Edoardo Incanti: ok you’re getting crabby 

Eleonora Sava: rude 

Edoardo Incanti: we’re officially done studying for the moment 

Eleonora Sava: ok official means two party consent 

Eleonora Sava: I did not consent to stop studying 

Edoardo Incanti: acknowledged and overruled 

Edoardo Incanti: i’m coming to you don’t flip ur shit 

— 

Chicco Rodi to someone get milk I haven’t been able to eat cereal in four days and i’m dying: [pic] 

Chicco Rodi: Spotted! Edoardo Incanti out getting saucy with Eleonora Sava when they both said they’d be studying. Maybe they can use their combined genius to turn their ‘break’ into a ‘date.’ xoxo Gossip Girl 

Edoardo Incanti: fuck off man 

Federico Canegallo: edo all you have to do to make this stop 

Federico Canegallo: is stop being a fucking coward and tell her how you feel  

— 

Chicco Rodi to Eva Brighi: edo and ele are at that greek stand by the conservatory 

Eva Brighi: how dare they get gyros without me 

Eva Brighi: what are you doing there 

Chicco Rodi: not getting gyros bc now I have to spy on them 

Eva Brighi: unfortunate 

Chicco Rodi: the things I do for them 

Eva Brighi: what, exactly, are you doing for them 

Chicco Rodi: ur getting too hung up on the details 

—

Elia Santini to *plays Baby K even harder*: drinks tonight? 

Martino Rametta: some of us value our livers 

Eleonora Sava: and our grades 

Eva Brighi: if you value ur grades so much 

Eleonora Sava: don’t say it 

Eva Brighi: why aren’t you studying rn? 

Eva Brighi: mm? 

Elia Santini: again, drinks tonight? 

Elia Santini: bueller? bueller? 

Luchino: I’m in 

Chicco Rodi: @elia we’re gonna try to play that one game from New Girl tonight 

Giovanni Garau: i fucking love new girl 

Federica Caciotti: doesn’t that revolve around American politicians 

Chicco Rodi: historical figures, please 

Chicco Rodi: and yes 

Federica Caciotti: interesting 

Sana Allagui: I’m coming just to watch you guys be confused 

Edoardo Incanti: when is this starting 

Chicco Rodi: may or may not be four drinks in 

Edoardo Incanti: is2g 

— 

Eleonora Sava to Giovanni Garau: is anyone at urs rn? I need a quiet place to study 

Giovanni Garau: no 

Giovanni Garau: why don’t you go home? 

Eleonora Sava: Eva will yell at me 

Eleonora Sava: and edo forgot one of my books there earlier when he picked them up I’m sorry 

Giovanni Garau: ok i’m leaving right now 

Giovanni Garau: door’s unlocked but please be quick our neighbor will steal everything we own  

Eleonora Sava: eva’s right you are an angel 

—

Federico Canegallo to Edoardo Incanti: are you coming home or nah 

Edoardo Incanti: went to gio’s to study 

Edoardo Incanti: back later 

Federico Canegallo: do you even need to study this much for the one test you still have 

Federico Canegallo: I don’t understand you 

—

Edoardo Incanti to Eva Brighi: ele is exhausted please don’t yell at her when she gets upstairs 

Eva Brighi: … 

Eva Brighi: fine 

Eva Brighi: but only cuz you said please 

— 

Eva Brighi renamed the group 41 days and 41 nights in relationship wilderness ladies and germs 

— 

Eva Brighi to Eleonora Sava: Marti wants to know if you want anything for breakfast he and Nico are going out 

Eva Brighi: he also called me lazy for not getting off the couch to ask you in person 

Eva Brighi: will you yell at him for that pls 

— 

Silvia Mirabella to *plays Baby K even harder*: drinks here tonight for those of us who are feeling reckless or actually are done with midterms 

Silvia Mirabella: starting at 21 but we’re getting Thai at 19 if anyone wants to join 

Chicco Rodi: can u be both? 

Silvia Mirabella: yea that’s allowed 

Chicco Rodi: sick 

Elia Santini: if we want Thai but don’t feel like actually going to the Thai place 

Silvia Mirabella: no 

— 

Silvia Mirabella sent a link to silvietta.sil, profile on PayPal to Le MAT&T: fund drinks for tonight pls and thanks  

Federica Caciotti renamed the group Le Mom’s not buying the booze anymore 

Silvia Mirabella: funny 

Federica Caciotti sent a link to federicarica, profile on PayPal: fund my career launch into comedy pls and thanks 

— 

Federico Canegallo to do NOT speak to me about the scooter: fifa tourney @ 15? 

Elia Santini: ye 

Giovanni Garau: taking my last midterm but I can be there at like 16:30 

Federico Canegallo: lame 

Chicco Rodi: will I actually get to play today sir 

Luchino: sounds good 

Rocco Martucci: do any of you actually go to class 

Elia Santini: @chicco @rocco no

Chicco Rodi: fuck you @elia

Martino Rametta: same with gio but Nico says he’ll be there at 15 

Martino Rametta: he’s wondering if you’ll have snacks or no 

Federico Canegallo: tell the little fucker he can die before eating all of my good pretzels again 

Martino Rametta: he says bite me 

Federico Canegallo: @edo hello???? 

Federico Canegallo: update edo is still sleeping but told me to tell you all he’s going to kick your asses 

Elia Santini: fat fucking chance, charms 

— 

Eva Brighi to Eleonora Sava: making coffee would you like some 

— 

Edoardo Incanti to Eleonora Sava: hi please tell me you actually went to bed last night instead of studying more 

Eleonora Sava: I did 

Edoardo Incanti: ok good 

Edoardo Incanti: when are you taking it 

Eleonora Sava: tomorrow 

Edoardo Incanti: are you feeling better about it than you were yesterday? 

Eleonora Sava: yes 

Eleonora Sava: thank you 

Edoardo Incanti: of course 

Edoardo Incanti: i’d offer to let you come study here again but fede and chicco want to play fifa 

Edoardo Incanti: lucky fuckers are already done with their midterms 

Edoardo Incanti: but if you need someone to study with again, I’ll take on the task 

Eleonora Sava: how kind of you 

Eleonora Sava: I’m ok tho 

Edoardo Incanti: if you’re sure 

— 

Eva Brighi to Eleonora Sava: are you down for Thai or no? 

Eva Brighi: because now is the time to say something if ur not 

Eva Brighi: silvia is Determined to get spring rolls 

Eva Brighi: I think only you could stop her 

Eva Brighi: sana tried suggesting that Salvadorian place but sil shut her down hard 

Eva Brighi: come save us from tyranny pls 

—

Chicco Rodi to *plays Baby K even harder*: just wanted to publicly make it known that I kicked Fede and Elia’s asses at fifa 

Sana Allagui: ladies we’ve been demoted to peanut gallery

Sana Allagui: this is a federal offense 

Eva Brighi: @chicco I’ll be impressed when you can beat ele at mario kart

Federica Caciotti: same 

Martino Rametta: points were made

Silvia Mirabella: guys he might die lets not make him do that 

Sana Allagui: can we still take them to court 

Federica Caciotti: yes of course 

Eva Brighi: get ur fucking lawyer ready boys 

Luchino: wait court for what 

Giovanni Garau: grabbing the game cube when I go home this weekend 

Giovanni Garau: mario kart tourney Sunday night 

Federico Canegallo: um pay attention to this tourney pls and thanks 

Chicco Rodi: I’ve been challenged tho 

Chicco Rodi: and they’re suing us 

Federico Canegallo: I will smother you in ur sleep chicco PAY ATTENTION 

— 

Edoardo Incanti to Eleonora Sava: contrary to what the gc says it was mostly me who beat fede and Elia 

Eleonora Sava: color me even more impressed than I already said I was 

Edoardo Incanti: you didn’t say anything 

Eleonora Sava: exactly 

Edoardo Incanti: no one asked you to be sarcastic about it 

Edoardo Incanti: now what’s this about mario kart 

Eleonora Sava: don’t even try I will kick ur ass 

Edoardo Incanti: I’ll have you know I’ve won every single Incanti cousins mario kart tourney since we started doing them when I was like nine 

Eleonora Sava: its not that hard to beat Eva she’s shit 

Edoardo Incanti: we have other cousins ya know 

Eleonora Sava: did mario kart even exist when u were nine 

Edoardo Incanti: ya p sure

Eleonora Sava: hm 

Eleonora Sava: sounds dubious

Eleonora Sava: old 

Edoardo Incanti: hey 

— 

Eva Brighi to Le Mom’s not buying the booze anymore: yeah I think Thai is fine 

Sana Allagui: its not 

Eva Brighi: what’s not fine is hiding in ur room and not answering ur texts all day 

Federica Caciotti: ok so we’ve gotten through procrastination ele and annoyed ele and now we’re on to hermit ele 

Federica Caciotti: we’ve almost completed the cycle 

Silvia Mirabella: is she alive can you tell 

Silvia Mirabella: sana shut up about the food for a sec 

Sana Allagui: ok easy for u when ur the one that’s winning 

Eva Brighi: yeah I’ve heard her go to the bathroom once or twice but she hasn’t come out besides that 

Eva Brighi: I’ve texted her several times and when I call she sends me to voicemail 

Sana Allagui: have you like knocked on the door 

Eva Brighi: I may be an idiot but I’m not stupid Sana 

Eva Brighi: of course I have 

Eva Brighi: ele if you’re reading this knock on ur wall twice 

Eva Brighi: ok she did it. love you ele please come out and eat something  

—

Chicco Rodi to *plays Baby K even harder*: @ele so are you going to beat my ass in mario kart or not 

Chicco Rodi: you didn’t say anything 

Chicco Rodi: i need to kno how many blows my pride is gonna take this week 

Federico Canegallo: ok you are preemptively anticipating ele beating you when gio’s beating you right now 

Federico Canegallo: you’re not even playing anymore ffs 

Chicco Rodi: some things you just have to accept fede 

Edoardo Incanti: who the fuck says preemptively anticipate 

Eva Brighi: don’t be jealous just bc some fede sounds fancier than you 

Edoardo Incanti: is this bc I insulted ur vocabulary yesterday 

— 

Sana Allagui to Eleonora Sava: not responding to hermit ele takes some strength 

Sana Allagui: is everything ok?

— 

Edoardo Incanti: appalled 

Edoardo Incanti: dubious 

Edoardo Incanti: preemptive 

Edoardo Incanti: anticipation 

Eleonora Sava: no I am not arguing with you about this 

Eleonora Sava: I’m studying 

Eleonora Sava: unlike some people 

Edoardo Incanti: mm ok point taken  

—

Sana Allagui to Le Mom’s not paying for the booze anymore: ok Eva w/e you’ve done to piss ele off has extended to me 

Sana Allagui: she’s not responding to my texts 

Eva Brighi: well what did you say 

Eva Brighi: also she’s not pissed off she’s Stressed 

Eva Brighi: i’m Stressed 

Sana Allagui: I asked if she was ok 

Sana Allagui: n she didn’t say anything  

Silvia Mirabella: ele knock twice on the wall again if ur stressed 

Silvia Mirabella: eva did she do it 

Eva Brighi: no 

Eva Brighi: her phone’s going straight to voicemail now I think it’s off 

Silvia Mirabella: damn 

Silvia Mirabella: frontal assault into her room? 

Eva Brighi: I have a better idea 

— 

Eva Brighi to Edoardo Incanti: hey

—

Eleonora Sava to marti make sure nico cleans out the lint filter on the dryer or I will cut you: someone please water the plants on the veranda 

Eleonora Sava: I just realized that I didn’t get to them this morning and they’re sitting directly in the sun 

Martino Rametta: i would totally do it but I am not home atm 

Eva Brighi: I have a good idea for you 

Eva Brighi: you could come out and do it yourself 

Eva Brighi: ele? 

— 

Martino Rametta to Eva Brighi: everything ok with ele? 

Eva Brighi: you’ve been gone all day I forgot 

Eva Brighi: she isn’t coming out of her room or answering her texts 

Martino Rametta: oh so Test Ele 

Eva Brighi: I think its worse than usual 

— 

Martino Rametta to Eleonora Sava: hi i would request that you set aside your books and take ten deep breaths 

Martino Rametta: nico seconds me 

Eleonora Sava: :/ 

Martino Rametta: eva did water the plants on the veranda she sent me a pic 

Eleonora Sava: :) 

— 

Edoardo Incanti to Eva Brighi: sorry I was talking to nonna 

Edoardo Incanti: she wants us to come over soon 

Eva Brighi: like today soon? 

Edoardo Incanti: no like in a few weeks 

Eva Brighi: ok 

Eva Brighi: wait aren’t you guys doing fifa right now 

Edoardo Incanti: does that make me incapable of texting nonna 

Eva Brighi: she doesn’t text 

Edoardo Incanti: calling nonna then w/e 

Eva Brighi: edoardo incanti did you actually speak to our grandmother or are you bsing me 

Edoardo Incanti: i promise I did I’m just very tired atm 

Eva Brighi: ok lover boy I’ll let it slide this time 

Eva Brighi: text ele for me I haven’t heard or seen her all day and I’m getting worried 

Edoardo Incanti: weird she’s been texting me 

Eva Brighi: of fucking course 

Edoardo Incanti: is everything ok? 

Eva Brighi: she’s being a recluse 

Eva Brighi: I’ve found that she gets like this around tests its p usual 

Eva Brighi: but this feels off I’m worried 

— 

Edoardo Incanti: in order to properly be a recluse you have to turn your phone off you know 

Eleonora Sava: I have no idea what ur talking about 

Edoardo Incanti: Eva says she hasn’t heard from you all day 

Edoardo Incanti: you haven’t been responding in the gc 

Edoardo Incanti: but you’ve been texting me 

Edoardo Incanti: don’t recluses avoid all contact w the outside world 

Eleonora Sava: whoever said I was trying to be a recluse 

Edoardo Incanti: is everything ok? 

Eleonora Sava: yes 

Eleonora Sava: why wouldn’t it be 

Edoardo Incanti: i’m coming over 

Eleonora Sava: you don’t need to 

Edoardo Incanti: i am tho 

Eleonora Sava: edo 

Eleonora Sava: edo seriously you don’t have to 

Eleonora Sava: edo pick up your damn phone 

— 

Edoardo Incanti to Eva Brighi: are you home? 

Eva Brighi: ya 

Edoardo Incanti: come buzz me in 

Eva Brighi: she’s not gonna let you in I’ve tried that 

Edoardo Incanti: w/e just do it pls 

— 

Federico Canegallo: where did you go 

Edoardo Incanti: ele’s 

Federico Canegallo: ok 

Federico Canegallo: not gonna finish the tourney? 

Edoardo Incanti: we played for like two and a half hours I think that’s enough

Federico Canegallo: ok 

Federico Canegallo: are you gonna come to drinks 

Edoardo Incanti: depends 

Federico Canegallo: ok 

Federico Canegallo: tell her to feel better 

— 

Eva Brighi to Le Mom’s not buying the booze anymore: ok better idea is here now 

Sana Allagui: don’t tell me you got edo to come over 

Silvia Mirabella: eva now is not the time to try to set them up 

Sana Allagui: it’s brilliant 

Eva Brighi: ok contrary to popular (silvia’s) belief chicco and I are NOT crazy for trying to set them up 

Eva Brighi: n this isn’t part of that 

Eva Brighi: they are friends and friends are allowed to do shit like care about each other 

Federica Caciotti: and have romantic feelings for one another 

Eva Brighi: not! the! point!

— 

Silvia Mirabella to *plays Baby K even harder*: numbers for Thai? 

Luchino: me

Elia Santini: ok the tourney’s almost done 

Elia Santini: you’re sure you won’t bring any to us 

Silvia Mirabella: we are going back to mine after this why would we bring it all the way to fede’s 

Chicco Rodi: me for Thai 

Giovanni Garau: same 

Martino Rametta: me n nico too 

Elia Santini: traitors 

Martino Rametta: we literally are already done with the tourney you’re just a sore loser and want to play until you win a game 

Elia Santini: ur exposing me 

Elia Santini: i will eat ur firstborn 

Silvia Mirabella: edo? fede? 

Federico Canegallo: nah I am gonna pity play Elia until he wins 

Elia Santini: fuck you 

— 

Edoardo Incanti to Silvia Mirabella: any chance you could make a stop here after Thai 

Silvia Mirabella: no i literally just told Elia I’m not going to yours 

Edoardo Incanti: at ele’s 

Silvia Mirabella: oh 

Silvia Mirabella: yeah of course 

Silvia Mirabella: what do you guys want 

Edoardo Incanti: the drunken noodles and that one yellow curry 

Silvia Mirabella: will do 

Silvia Mirabella: is ele ok? 

Edoardo Incanti: yeah she’s alright 

Silvia Mirabella: tell her I’m glad she’s ok 

— 

Eva Brighi to Edoardo Incanti: how’s ele 

Edoardo Incanti: hungry 

Eva Brighi: we’ll stop by soon 

Eva Brighi: almost done I promise 

Eva Brighi: besides that? 

Edoardo Incanti: she yelled at me for a bit for coming over n got mad when I took away her textbook 

Edoardo Incanti: but then she calmed down 

Edoardo Incanti: currently on the porch 

Edoardo Incanti: she’s v concerned about the plants 

Edoardo Incanti: says you did a shit job of watering them 

Eva Brighi: that is what she wants to say rn 

Eva Brighi: so picky 

Eva Brighi: is she feeling better? 

Edoardo Incanti: i think so 

Edoardo Incanti: really remains to be see tho 

Edoardo Incanti: she’s very stressed 

Eva Brighi: ok 

Eva Brighi: keep me updated 

— 

Silvia Mirabella to Edoardo Incanti: i come bearing food 

Silvia Mirabella: buzz me in pls 

— 

Federico Canegallo to *plays Baby K even harder*: we’ll be over soon 

Eva Brighi: cool we started w/o you 

— 

Eva Brighi to Le Mom’s not paying for the booze anymore: mission check on ele post drinks is a go 

Eva Brighi: I might be too drunk for this but w/e

Eva Brighi: all the lights are off 

Eva Brighi: it’s quiet 

Eva Brighi: checking her room 

Eva Brighi: oh! 

Eva Brighi: they are asleep 

Sana Allagui: they 

Silvia Mirabella: they?

Eva Brighi: yes edo is here still 

Sana Allagui: nice 

Federica Caciotti: how does ele look 

Eva Brighi: relaxed 

Sana Allagui: are they snuggling 

Eva Brighi: yes 

Eva Brighi: its v cute 

— 

Eva Brighi renamed the group ok they were snuggling last night are we still in the relationship wilderness, who knows? day 1 

Chicco Rodi: sorry they were what last night 

[noblechaton]

Invent It All Again (Day 2)

In which Adrien contemplates baking a cake

I had this idea while working on Day 1 and just couldn’t resist

Also, if u happen to have any ideas/requests/etc. for days 3-5 (and 7), feel free to pass ‘em along and maybe/hopefully I’ll be able to do ‘em!

AO3

——————

Adrien tied the string of his apron tightly and planted a hand on either hip with an unsure, yet determined smirk in the corner of his lips as he studied the table he’d filled with various ingredients and tools for the last half hour.

“Alright.” He muttered to himself, eyes darting from the egg carton to the bag of flour to a stack of pans. “How hard can it be?”

“Knowing you” His half-conscious Kwami stuck his head out of the apron pocket he’d been sleeping in. “It’s probably gonna be pretty hard.”

“Hey, I’m a good enough cook.” Adrien pouted. “I can...Totally figure this out, this time.”

“You said that last year.”

“And I made...Something edible.”

Plagg lowly laughed. “You mean those doorstops were edible?”

“Well, maybe it was just the edges, but-” Adrien scrunched up his face. “I know I can do it, this time. I watched a video last night and everything!”

“Are you stuck on repeat or something?” Plagg’s chuckling didn’t stop Adrien from collecting a mixing bowl. “Cause I coulda sworn you said that last year, too.”

“Yeah, well, just you wait” Adrien pulled a few eggs out and cracked one on the edge of the table. “Because this is gonna be my best cake yet.”

“That’s a pretty low bar, kid.” Plagg smugly hummed. “Don’t you know someone who like, does this for a living anyway?”

Adrien deposited another egg and reached for the bag of sugar. “Yes, but one: she’s probably not awake at 4am.” He cracked the shell and tossed it into the trash. “And two, I have to be the one who makes it. It’s gotta be special, Plagg.”

The Kwami scoffed. “Kid, anything you do for him is gonna be special. It don’t matter if you make a mess in the kitchen or buy something from the store, it’s you he appreciates.”

Adrien felt himself lightly blush but shook the feeling off. “I know that, but...I wanna make him something nice.”

Plagg shrugged. “I’m just sayin’.”

“I…” Adrien’s mind slipped into deeper consideration, the words setting in just as he broke his final egg. “Er, well, I already kinda started, and I don’t want to waste any of this, so…”

“So make him breakfast, you’re good at that.”

“At 4am? He’s not usually up until like, 6.”

“Hey, that’s your fault.” Plagg stretched out in his pocket-turned-bed. “I know I didn’t wake us up at this awful hour.”

Adrien looked over the table again until he felt himself sigh. “Maybe I can...Put the eggs in the fridge, and…” He thought aloud, tapping a few fingers against his chin. “Yeah, that’ll work. That’s a good idea, Plagg.”

The Kwami smirked up at him. “Anytime, kiddo.” Plagg let out a prolonged, overdramatic yawn. “Anyway, I don’t get paid enough to be up this early, hope we still have a house when I wake back up.”

Adrien stepped over towards the counter and pulled a container out of the drawer to pour the cracked eggs into.

“Night, Plagg.”

———————————————–

Nino stretched out in his otherwise empty bed, the lack of warmth reminding him exactly what day it was, as if Adrien would ever let him forget.

It had become something of a tradition since they’d moved in together for Adrien to sneak off in the middle of the night to try and do something, typically try to bake a cake, for his birthday, though each time ended up being a spectacular, vanilla-icing covered mess.

But that was never a problem, not to Nino anyway, as he truly believed that it was the thought that counted. Plus, he’d usually get to clean his boyfriend up and snuggle with him in the living room afterwards, so that was a definitely bonus.

This time, however, something was off.

“Huh.” He sat up in the bed for a moment, briefly wondering if he’d just slipped into a dream.

While there was a chance that was the case, the distinct lack of anything burning or any fire alarms going off in the house eventually pulled him off the mattress and into his blue and red robe.

There were a few possibilities that ran through Nino’s mind on his way out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

One was that Adrien simply ran out and bought a cake for a change, though he didn’t know of any bakeries that would be open at 6:30 in the morning.

The second option was that Adrien had simply passed out on the couch, either before getting his hands dirty, or before he’d managed to turn the oven on.

Nino fastened the fabric belt loosely around his waist and considered that maybe, just maybe, Adrien had finally been successful and was sitting down at the table with candles burning and a smile on his flour-coated face.

None of these would prove to be the case, however, as he’d figure out as soon as he rounded the corner and caught a whiff of sizzling, perfectly cooked bacon.

“Morning!” Adrien called from the kitchen, not turning his attentions away from the pan for even a moment. “Give me just a second.”

Nino covered a yawn while the table came into view, a plate stacked with pancakes and some eggs being the centerpiece of an otherwise nicely decorated space.

“What’s, uh...Going on?” Nino mumbled and stepped up behind his boyfriend.

Adrien flicked the heat off and turned to tonged the strips of bacon onto the plate. “It’s your birthday is what’s going on.” He turned back and pecked on Nino’s cheek.

“Yeah, but…” It seemed to be taking a while to process.

“I know, it’s not a cake.” Adrien playfully smiled. “But, hey, it’s something, right?” He pulled a chair out and offered it to Nino.

“It’s...Not burnt, that’s for sure.” Nino lowly chuckled and took his seat while Adrien washed his hands.

“Yeah, Plagg kinda...Talked me out of it, this year.” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck one his hands were dry. “So I figured I’d try something else.”

Nino looked over the admittedly ridiculous stack of pancakes for a moment, then over the much more reasonable amount of scrambled eggs and bacon.

“I...don’t know what to say.” There was a twinge of red along his upper lip that was soon covered by a subtle grin that formed once he looked back to Adrien.

"You don't have to say anything at all." Adrien stepped over and gently kissed on Nino's lips.

Nino felt his heart flutter in his chest to the same rhythm it always did when Adrien kissed him, and his eyes were slow to reopen as if to savior the sweet sensation that had been so affectionately laced onto his mouth.

"Er, well, if I could say something" He eventually managed to chuckled himself back to reality. "Honestly...There are a lot of pancakes here for just one person."

"And who said you were eating alone?" Adrien giggled while he retrieved a plate of his own before sitting down at the table. “I can’t let the birthday boy sit by himself, now can I?”

Nino lightly rolled his eyes and slid his plate over for Adrien to take as much as he wanted, sharing a smile with him before digging in for a few moments.

He might not have been the best baker, but if there was something Adrien was good at cooking, it was pancakes. Part of Nino wondered why he ever bothered with making a cake, that's how good they were.

Regardless, for as appreciative as he was of Adrien's...attempts, this breakfast was leagues and bounds ahead of any of them. Though, as he sat his fork down, Nino felt as if something was missing.

"Y'know" He muttered after finishing his latest bite, a noticeable grin curling in the corner of his lips as he looked over at his boyfriend. "I guess I am...Kinda disappointed.

“Hm? How so?” Adrien leaned in with his own, unflinching smirk.

Nino warmly chuckled. “I don’t get to clean the frosting off of you this year.”

"Oh?" Adrien’s eyes narrowed, an idea quickly forming in his mind that set him onto his feet.

"I didn't mean you had to-" Nino stifled a giggle, watching Adrien go to the fridge, pull out a piping bag and aim it at his face, unable to finish his thought before Adrien squeezed the frosting at himself.

“There.” Adrien's hopped back into his seat with a glob of blue colored, butterscotch flavored glaze on his nose and his glowing smile still on his face. “How’s that?”

Nino shook his head and huffed out a laugh while he collected some of the icing and sucked it off his fingertip, his face lit up with a playful, loving smirk of his own as he found himself staring into Adrien’s shimmering, light green gaze.

“Perfect.”

[undertalecomic-surfacetale-au]

Things Forgotten-Frans story Chapter 1

Frisk’s POV

It was a nice day out, and Sans had invited me to go to Grillby's with him to which I had accepted. I mean who would miss out on hanging out with this pun loving skeleton? Not me!  Me and Sans were now walking to where New Grillby's had made residence on the surface.

"so Frisk, how you been recently?" Sans asked breaking the silence.

"I've been doing great, Toriel has been teaching me how to cook recently. She's the best mom anyone could ever ask for!" I replied enthusiastically.

"hey that's great, Kiddo. you should have her teach Papyrus too." Sans said jokingly.

I laughed. " Hey give Undyne a little credit for teaching Papyrus, they have at least been making stuff that's actually edible now, right?" I said in their defense.

Sans couldn't help saying. "define edible?"

You nudged Sans with your arm. "Sans!" I said scoldingly.

"heh. im just joking kid, anyways yeah Papyrus has been making edible stuff recently." Sans agreed.

We then made small talk as we both walked down the sidewalk making our way to our destination. It was so calm and peaceful as we walked through the town that was newly built for the monsters.

It had already been a few months now since the barrier was destroyed and all the monsters had come to the surface, there was alot of hard work afterwards with me being the ambassador and all. I had helped Toriel and Asgore  negotiate with the humans about allowing the monsters to live on the surface peacefully. Luckily most of them were very welcoming of the monsters, and had given them a huge peace of land to build a town to live in. Now that the town for monsters was finally done aside from some details, it was finally starting to calm down. I'm really happy that I'm now able to spend some time with my best friend Sans, after such stressful work.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I realized that I hadn't asked how he's been.

"So, how have you been Sans?" I ended up asking kinda stupidly since I should have asked while ago, but hey it's better late then never. When he didn't answer I chanced looking at him  and he looked pretty deep in thought, also.. upset? Something about his expression made me a bit uncomfortable.

" Sans, are you ok?" I asked my voice laced with concern. Did something happen? That seemed to snap him out of whatever he was thinking, but clearly still didn't know what I said since he replied with-

" huh? ..... What was that, kiddo?" Sans said while looking at me with a grin. I thought it seemed fake, something was wrong...

"I asked if you were ok, you were pretty deep in thought there, you actually looked upset.." I was seriously starting to fear that something was really wrong.

"nah, I'm fine kiddo." Sans replied nonchalantly. I narrowed my eyes at him. Even though he was grinning, he was obviously lying. I decided to not push the matter, after all this was supposed to be a nice day out. I wasn't about to ruin it, I decided to take Sans for his word.... for now.

" Alright if you say so..." I said while sighing.

" oh I 'Snow' so." Sans said winking. I groaned, and then laughed at his small pun. Through all the talking, I hadn't even realized that we were already right in front of Grillby's.

" here we are! after you Frisk." Sans declared while holding the door open for me.

I thanked him, then made my way inside. It was Identical to the Grillby's that was in the underground. I proceeded to head to the usual spot at the bar, even though we don't drink, it's become our regular place to sit here at Grillby's.

" so Frisk, what do you want to eat?" Sans asked me.

"I'll have some fries today." I replied.

"that sounds good." Sans said, then went on to tell Grillby both our orders as per usual. Grillby nodded, sat down the glass he was drying, and then made his way to the back to prepare both orders. After I saw Grillby pass though the door to the back, I chanced a glance over at Sans. I saw him put away something in his jacket pocket-was that a comb?- and go grab for a bottle of ketchup. I couldn't rid my mind of how Sans had looked upset earlier, even though he said it was nothing, I'm pretty sure he had something on his mind. But I wasn't sure whether it was my place to intrude, so I just sat there starring at him from the corner of my eye debating.

By the time I had come to the decision to be nosy, Grillby had already come back with both of our orders.

"Sans, what is the matter? Did something happen?" I asked  While looking at Sans, he had froze while drinking a bottle of ketchup. I  could tell by the look on his face, that he had hoped that I had dropped  the subject entirely. Well sorry, but you're not getting away that easily.

"kiddo, nothings the  matter." Sans said sounding slightly annoyed. He had sat down his ketchup,  and the lights in his eyes had dimmed a bit, but he didn't look at me.

"Sans..."  I said. I was not going to give up, If something was wrong with my  friend I was gonna help in any way possible. He just had to tell me!  *Going out of your way to help your friend, Fills you with Determination!*

Sans took a deep breath, he seemed to be in deep  thought. I just kept looking at him while I waited to see if he would  say anything. Then after what seemed to be minutes, Sans let out a long  sigh, and then looks at me, his face serious.

" i got a  question for ya kid... about the RESETS" Sans started. It was my turn to  put on a serious face, If Sans was going to talk about that it had to  be well...pretty serious. I had had a feeling he knew something about them, but he never said anything that completely confirmed my suspicions. After about a minute he continued.

"you're the one that's responsible for them....right?" Sans asked almost hesitantly, as if he didn't want the answer. But something in the way he asked, made me think he already knew it.

"Yes, and no..." I answered him truthfully. He turned to me, his face full of confusion.

"what do you mean?"

"I have reset, but only once, it's when I left the underground by myself. I reset because I wanted to try again, and hopefully be able to save all of you from the underground." I said a bit guiltily, not being able to hide the fact that resetting their lives did very much bother me.

"hey, don't feel bad about that! you ended up breaking the barrier and saving us all in the end, that's all that matters." Sans said encouragingly. He didn't seem mad at all in fact he was smiling, not a fake one, a real genuine one. Then something seemed to pop in his head and his smile faltered.

"what did you mean when you said 'Yes, and "no"?" Sans asked, now reminding me of the rest of what I was going to say.

"You said 'Resets' right? I only reset once, but I have a feeling I know who did the other ones..."

"who?" Sans asked now curious.

" I think it was Flowey. Before I came to the underground, he had the power of Resetting, loading, and saving. In the underground he had the most DETERMINATION." I finished telling Sans, what I was sure to be true. When I looked over at him, he was looking at me with hollow eye sockets, the little white lights in his eyes were no longer present. I flinched back, as I stared into the black abyss that was his eyes. Almost just as quickly, he regained the lights in his eyes and looked away from me, looking a bit ashamed.

"im sorry, kiddo. didn't mean to chill you to the bone. Heh..." Sans said apologetically, rubbing the back of his skull. I chuckled at his little pun and told him it was no problem, as I'm sure this was a lot to take in. 

"so... that weed was responsible, huh? i thought he kinda looked familiar that time, guess I now know why." Sans said, while grabbing his bottle of ketchup and drinking it all in one go. I looked away, then nodded.

"hey frisk?" Sans said so quietly I almost didn't catch it. I turned my head to face him.

"Yeah, Sans? What is it?" I asked, now curious as to what else he had to say. Sans then turned to face me,  his features not giving anything away.

"can you promise me, that you'll never reset?" Sans asked, his voice sounding kinda doubtful. Probably thinking that I would refuse. I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Sans, I-" I started to answer, but Sans cut me off.

"i know that's rich coming from me. heh, i mean i hate making promises and now  im asking you-" Sans started to say jokingly, But It was my turn interrupt.

"Sans, of course I promise! You and everyone else are my friends and family, I never want to hurt any one of you again by resetting. Besides we finally have our 'Happy Ending'! I'm happy with the way things are now!" I said while smiling at him. I had already made up my mind to never reset, and I was Determined to keep it that way.

Sans looked at me with a stunned expression. The white lights in his eyes were shining brighter then I had ever seen them, as his face turned from stunned to happy, in a millisecond. I gasped softly as I saw he had even started to cry, his tears streaming down his cheeks that were raised from him smiling wider then ever.

"thank.. you..Frisk" Sans said with so much happiness, that I was taken aback at first, then I smiled back at him. I'm glad I was able to help Sans, it seems like a great weight has lifted from him. I told him it was no problem after all that's what friends were for!

"yeah..hehe" Sans seemed to be calming down a bit. He had finally stopped crying, and was starting to wipe the tears from his face. But I couldn't help it, he was so adorable and I was too happy from being able to help him, that I hugged him really hard.

"w-woah, Frisk! don't wanna crush my ribs now, heh." Sans said jokingly, while he hugged back. I loosened my death grip on him so I could pull away enough to look at him.

"Heh, sorry about that Sans-" I stopped what I was saying, cause when I saw his face, it was blue. He's blushing, that's so cute! Wait what am I thinking..?! I blushed a deep shade of red in response, while trying to will those thoughts away. Unfortunately, It wasn't working. 

We ended up sitting there awkwardly, just staring at each other while blushing. I then realized that we were still hugging each other and our faces were way to close. I blushed even darker, as did Sans as if that same thought had also just crossed his mind too. We slowly eased out of the hug, and still sat there for a while in silence. I just kinda picked at my fries, not really feeling hungry anymore. Sans, god bless him, finally broke the suffocatingly awkward silence.

"so, you wanna go take a stroll around town?" He asked. His head was down and he was rubbing the back of his skull. He was still blushing a cyan blue, I giggled.

"Sure, sounds great." I answered, while getting off my stool and putting down money for the food. Before he could protest to me for paying, I was out the door, him hot on my heels. We walked down the sidewalk a ways, and were coming up to a crosswalk. I noticed he seemed to be grumbling something under his breath about me paying for him, I just laughed at him. Then he started to blush a light blue and pouted, actually pouted! He's really adorable when he does that....Heh, I guess I really do like Sans,..more than a friend anyways..

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that, I hadn't realized where we were walking. I stopped and glanced around. It then dawned on me that we were in the middle of the street,  and the no walk sign was on. I looked ahead of me and Sans had continued to walk still oblivious to his surroundings. I looked over and saw a big truck rushing right where Sans was going, and I saw the driver wasn't paying any attention to what was in front of him! I felt my heart stop, and everything just went in slow motion from there. I ran as fast as I could go, yelling at Sans to get out of the way. He looked back at me confused, then shocked to see me running at him. I then jumped at Sans and pushed him out of the way. The truck was right in from of me, there was no time to get out of the way myself. I heard honking, and tires screeching. Then.... everything went black. A/N: This story is actually one from about a year or two ago I think? Idk, I have it over on my wattpad. I tried to fix some of it, since it was so terribly written back then. But honestly didn’t want to take that much time on it. I’m posting it on here, just in case you’re interested. This story and my surfacetale comic actually will have a thing in common but I can’t tell you what it is just yet. Anyways, There will be more chapters on the way. I’m just going over them and making sure they don’t sound TOO HORRIBLE.. eh whatever I suck at writing lol. Hope y’all enjoy the cliffhanger like everyone else did when I first posted it. ;3