#but I feel like shes extra salty towards me and it stresses me out

[tvdfan23]

Everytime I talk my sister has cut me the most hateful look and I accidentally looked at her while talking and 😕

[spikesbimbo]

Mood Swings

Summary: Daddy’s little girl always gets what she wants < 3

Pairing: Nanami Kento x reader

Tags: babymaking ; ) neglected reader, daddy kink, size kink, hurt/ comfort

wc: 2.3k 

 a/n: this was very self indulgent, just like all my other works

this is a reupload from my old blog jaded--enigma

-

Closing the door behind you, feet dragging against the floor as you came home from a bad day at work, eyes glossy and red. Immediately going to your finance’s office, wanting him to coddle you and tell you everything would be alright, as he was great at. One of the reasons you admired him so much, being his biggest fan.

Opening the door to see him writing something on his papers, his blazer on the floor, only wearing his white button-down shirt fitting him perfectly. 

His arms barely fit the tight material as your eyes scrolled down to his glasses sitting on the table next to his hands, so pretty and big, instantly getting you worked up, even though that was the reason you came here. Wanting your daddy to make it all better.

Walking up to him making your way in his lap, sittin pretty. Mumbling out a ��ken”, resting your head on his shoulder while gently kissing his neck. 

“Not now baby.” he said, gently moving his head away from yours before you could even wrap your arms around him, so why did that make you fall apart? Why were you so sensitive? Why were there tears forming in your eyes?

You gave him a fake soft smile pushing the tears back, saying “okay.” and hopped off of his lap, already missing his touch as you walked out of the room, feet still dragging as you took one last peek at him before you shut the door and started walking towards your own room, knowing he would work till late night, as always.

He was obviously stressed so you understood that he wanted to be alone, but you felt so burdensome, annoyingly needy, as you finally made it to your room. Laying on the bed that you two slept on, hugging the fluffy sheets.

Trying to get your mind off of it, you changed into your baby blue silk nightgown, finding it in your closet full of clothes he bought you. So much that you started using the guest room for extra storage for your shoes.

It fell just over your knees, the straps dainty as a pin, flowing as you walked towards your bed again, dimming the lights on the way.

Dirty thoughts getting to you, remembering that you had to wash them two days ago from him making a mess out of you after coming home from work, taking it out on you. Now covering your face with your hands, pain spreading throughout your body as you tried to subdue it, telling yourself you could wait… but you couldn’t.

Your legs spread open, no panties or bra on, just the gown. Shoving your fingers into your cunt, so wet and needy, making a mess but getting yourself nowhere. Crying softly, the last thing you want to do is make your daddy mad at you.

Fat tears falling from just wanting an ounce of his attention, so needy, so embarrassed; embarrassed over the fact that you couldn't even touch your clit right without getting tired. 

Embarrassed that he could get you off better than yourself, the fact that you were never dry around him; the fact that he had you this spoiled to the point of him doing everything for you made your heart break and flutter at the same time.

He loves how appreciated you made him feel, making him feel like you couldn't do anything without him. He loves to take care of you because he doesn't want to see you let go of your youth, in a way living his life through you. Not wanting to rush to ‘grow up’ like he had to,  you made him feel like he was living his life with no regrets.

Your fingers were so small in comparison to his, thinking about how just one would fill you up, and him simply curling it inside you would make you cum, so responsive to his touch. Trying your best to feel the feel same as his. 

You raised your legs slightly in the air, trying to reach deeper like he did. It somewhat working as you were now letting out held back moans along with “daddy and ken” falling there too, or maybe it was from the lewdness of it all, your messy little pussy all wet thinking ‘bout daddy and his fat cock, if only he knew.

You were so lost in your own world you didn't even hear the door open. He was met with your sticky tears falling down your pretty face as you struggled trying to get yourself off. His composed nature leaving him freezing for once in his life.

You finally gave your self a break, sobbing louder as you couldn't even feel anything looking up to wipe your tears with both hands, finally getting them dry enough to see as turned your head, shaking in place seeing your future husband stand in the doorway.

“K-ken” you startledly whispered loud enough for him to hear while he was making his way to you, loosening his tie, his stoic face staying the same. He got on the bed, hovering over you, his tie and shirt lying somewhere on the floor as he inched closer to you, his nose almost touching yours.

“You know I love you right? He said, taking your left hand into his, grabbing the diamond ring on your finger, stroking it with his finger as it gleamed in the moonlight. You looking at his sliver one in return, too shy to face him after what just happened.

“y-yes” you wept locking eyes with him, your vision being blurry but still seeing his handsome face above you “I know it's my fault daddy. M-m’sorry” 

“Shh, baby it's never your fault. Daddys sorry, he didn't know how needy you were, cmere.” he cooed bringing you closer to him. “Tell me what's on your mind. What's wrong honey?” 

“Everything daddy… everything.” you complained, reaching to wipe your eyes again. He already knew what happened just from you saying that. And as usual the only reason his baby would cry was because of their job or a sad movie. 

‘How about you just be my cute little wife and carry my babies; that's the only thing you'll ever have to do again, okay?” he said already having it in the back of his head ever since he first fell for you. After months of you sneaking him extra bread in his bag when he left the store, always smiling at him with your whole heart; it being the first time he's ever blushed, he was whipped.

“Mkay.” you sniffled, not even bothering or caring to fix your face. He was so kind. The idea sounding great in your head. Never having to see your mean boss again, always getting on you for the simplest things, leaving to go cry in the break room.

“There's my good girl.” he praised, kissing you forehead, dragging up your nightgown over your head, finally being bare for him, as his eyes took in your body. Loving every curve you had, kissing his way down your neck after staring with your eyes. Your salty tears being whisked away from his affection that he gave you, that you loved.

His lips met your chest, wrapping them around your nipple as he cupped that breast. Squeezing it gently while moving his hand from your thigh, his ring leaving an imprint there while grabbing your other breast. Flicking it with his finger, loving to hear the little whimpers you let out, so precious. 

“Ken” 

“You’re so wet” he said, attaching his lips to your puffy clit, sucking on it while shoving his long fingers into you soaking little cunt, curling them just like how you were daydreaming about earlier.

“Daddy- please.” you whined bucking into his mouth already so needy, not needing any prep, just wanting to be stuffed full.

“Gimme...”, you said, trying to form a sentence while  his fingers were knuckle deep, hitting your g spot with ease.

“I got you my love” he said, already unbuckling his pants, taking a break from abusing your poor clit as you watched his cock pop out of his boxers. Mouth already watering thinking about taking it into your mouth, but pushing that to the side, knowing that he wouldn't say yes to that right now.

He hasn't seen a prettier sight in his life; your ankles by your ears, pussy begging for him to breed, his mind foggy as ever as you tell him to fuck a baby into you. Freezing at the words coming out of your sweet little mouth. But how could he tell his angel no?

“Open up for me sweetheart.” he muttered, imagining you so full and needy, not even being able to get up without him making him harder than ever. Sliding into you with no condom, as always, only on birth control. But the thought of it not doing its job got you even more hot and bothered, you head flooding with the thought of him fucking his cum back into you.

“Relax” he says, observing your face attentively.

“Youre so big daddy” you breathed out, eyes locking on his cock doing its best to fit in your little hole, even though you were drenched he still had to take it slow.

“it hurt?” 

“No. just fuck me, please. I'll be a good girl, daddy please.” you whined already working your way to make him bottom out.

He puts his lips on yours to distract you, shoving his length all the way in. Catching your moans in his mouth, groaning into yours. Your sweet scent getting his mind hazy as you rested on the mattress, your greedy little hands placing themselves on his back as you grabbed him closer.

He pushed himself balls deep in you, not taking long for you tell him to move whining out for your “daddy to fuck you”. His cock nudging your cervix, slowly easing back and forth to ease the pain you didn't even notice.

You feel so full while trembling in his hold. Feeling so good to finally have him inside you. Knowing that he was doing his best to not just fuck into you, wanting to make you feel good like you deserved.

He breaks the kiss and buries his face in the mattress beside your head, leaving kisses on your neck, as your ankles were now on his shoulders, hips spread wide rough for him to abuse. Your lips brush against his arm while he's connecting his hands with yours. Your rings clashing while you accept, pulling him closer like it's possible.

He's kissing underneath your ear now he starts to move his hips. Moaning at the feeling of his fat cock finally stretching you out. Pulling all the way out except the tip before slamming his hips back into yours, both of you moaning at the feeling.

He continues fucking you deep and fast, knowing thats how you liked it. His big frame towering  over yours, the comfy feeling of his weight on you, the heat radiating from his body making you feel like you were in heaven

“k-ken,” you mouthed not letting a word out but he read your pretty swollen lips. “you feel s-so good. d-ont pull out.”.

“When have i ever.” he stated, his voice unwavering as he brought his face to yours, seeing your eyes glossy and red, knowing you couldn't think straight right now. The only thing being on your mind was him. “You wanna be a mommy?”

“Y-yeah want your babies, want daddies babies, daddy please, please ple-” you whimpered out, clinging onto his shoulders admiring his body before you met his eyes. Overcome with the feelings you had inside you, wanting him to know as much as you. “Daddy -hahh i lov-e you.” 

“I know baby... i love you too” he returned, placing his lips on yours as he continued fucking into your sloppy little hole that he was the cause of.

He grabs your thighs, spreading them apart more, your hips giving away. Almost lifting you up, fucking into you deeper than before. Your screaming with no noise coming out except gasps because your daddy fucking you so good, making your head spin. And all you can think about is having his babies, wanting him to cum in you so much that it never comes out.

“More” you begged, wanting to feel his cum dripping out of you.

Your orgasm, collecting itself all this time, finally hits you like a shockwave. So unannounced that you completely let go and turn limp and he's still manhandling you, getting himself off.

You don't even feel him stop, just feeling his hot cum pouring inside you before you realize your not being thrusted into anymore. You cunt still clenching around him, milking him for everything he’s got as he tunes you over, not pulling out. You now resting on top of him, both of you breathing heavily as you cum for the nth time feeling it drip down your thighs and onto his balls.

“Are you okay my love?”

You cant even talk now, you voice long gone from crying earlier to him fucking you. You just snuggle into his side, wrapping your arms around his bicep as he strokes your forehead, kissing it before you grab his face.

“Kiss” you pouted using your remaining strength to point to your lips.

He lets out a laugh, leaning down to give you what you want, as always. Breaking the kiss when you let out a moan again; his cock was not hard anymore but still took up all the room in you, if you moved it would move it you. 

He repositions himself deep as he can inside without hurting you before noticing your swollen eyes starting to close. “Goodnight doll, love you.” he softly says kissing your forehead again

“Wait” You mummerd out, not opening your eyes but putting all your attention on him too. Wondering what you were gonna say as your soft sleepy smile appeared on your face. Cheeks all puffed out along with your lips. As you snuggled closer to his, mouth right up at his ear.

“G’night daddy, love you too”

[fruitcoops]

Cake Off

Happy birthday, Finn O'Hara! Here's to hoping all your wishes come true <3 SW credit goes to @lumosinlove!

Marlene waved to the camera as she wove a small whisk into her bun; behind her, five young men sat in front of a well-lit industrial kitchen. “Hello, Lions, and welcome back to Lion Pride! I’m your host, Marlene McKinnon, and we’re here today to celebrate someone we all love very much.”

“Some more than others,” Leo corrected.

“Today is Finn O’Hara’s 25thbirthday,” Marlene continued. “And my gift to him was letting him pick what our next video was going to be. Being the agent of chaos we know and love, he chose to force his friends to make him birthday cakes. Cap, Knutty, I know you two are feeling pretty confident about this. Tremzy, Kasey, and Loops, how are we feeling today?”

Logan’s expression was rather pained. “Can I apologize in advance?”

“I have…a history with ovens,” Kasey said carefully. “Kind of like Britain’s history with the rest of the world, except I’m the rest of the world and the oven wins nine times out of ten.”

“I don’t bake,” Remus sighed. “This is going to be an adventure. Can I leave if I already got him a present?”

“Nope!” Marlene chirped. “To your stations, everyone!”

The five of them trooped to the countertops, which had been covered with a colorful assortment of baking supplies; Logan’s smile grew even more nervous. “Is there a guidebook, or something?”

Marlene ruffled his hair as she passed. “Where’s the fun in that? You have two hours to make a unique birthday cake. On your marks—”

Kasey went pale. “Wait—”

“—get set—”

“Marlene, please,” Remus begged.

“—go!”

“Oh my god,” Logan muttered. “Uh, I don’t have a recipe.”

Marlene’s grin was wicked. “That’s the extra bonus fun.”

Leo paused from where he was measuring flour into a sifter and raised his hand. “Finn’s not actually tasting everyone’s cakes, right? ‘Cause making him sick on his birthday seems a bit mean.”

“He only has to try one bite of each,” Marlene assured him as she stopped by Sirius’ station, where he was gathering his ingredients in a line. “Cap, what are you making today?”

“Vanilla with chocolate frosting. I know the recipe by heart, but I only make it when I’m stressed.” A furrow appeared between his brows before he straightened up and raised his voice. “Hey, someone stress me out!”

“Playoffs!” Kasey shouted from across the room. All five men immediately hurried to knock on the wooden cabinets.

“Thanks!” Sirius gave him a thumbs-up and Kasey winked.

“And somebody won’t be sleeping tonight,” Remus muttered, flicking sugar at Kasey. “Thanks, Bliz.”

Logan was still bracing himself against the countertop when Marlene arrived at his table. “How’re you feeling, Tremz? I see you haven’t chosen any ingredients.”

“There’s a very fine line between making your boyfriend a birthday cake and poisoning him,” Logan said after a moment. “And I think I’m about to find out where it is.”

“What are you making?”

“I don’t know yet. Whatever happens, happens.”

“Fair enough,” Marlene laughed as she moved on. “Leo?”

“I’m gonna make a lemon cake,” he said with a proud smile as he mixed the dry ingredients. “And it’s going to be delicious.”

“Do you bake at home very often? You sound confident.”

He shrugged one shoulder. “For special occasions, yeah. I vaguely know what I’m doing, so I feel pretty good.”

“How do you think Logan’s cake will turn out?”

Leo paused and glanced up. A beat of silence passed before he bit his lower lip. “I think it’s a really good thing that Finn has two boyfriends that are making him cakes.”

“Rude,” Logan grumbled as he dumped another cupful of flour into a bowl to Sirius’ obvious horror. He stuck his tongue out. “Don’t give me that look, Cap, this cake is going to be fucking amazing.”

Sirius raised his eyebrows and turned back to his own batter. “If you say so.”

Logan stood on his toes and poured the next cup directly over Sirius’ head in a poof of white. The studio went silent. With a cough, a bit of flour puffed from Sirius’ mouth. “Cap?” Kasey ventured.

“Hmm?”

“You okay?”

“Mhmm.” He slowly took a towel off the oven door and wiped his face with it, then whipped around and snapped it at Logan’s thigh—it connected with a sharp sound, followed by a yelp as Logan shoved Leo in front of him as a makeshift shield. “You can’t hide behind him forever!”

“Remember, you only have two hours!” Marlene called as she dodged a patch of flour on the floor. Sirius scowled and put the towel back down on the counter; Logan backed away to his station with a suspicious glare. “Loops, how are you?”

“I’m minding my own business,” he said innocently. “Staying in my lane. Paying no attention to the idiots behind the curtain, if you will.”

“Impressive. What are you making for our wonderful Harzy?”

“Spite cake.”

“What?”

“Spite cake,” he repeated with a shadow of a smile. “It’s carrot cake, but with no special ingredient of love or appreciation, because he knows how much I hate baking and he’s been making fun of me over text all morning.”

Leo frowned. “Weren’t you two bonding over how much you hate carrot cake when we went to lunch yesterday?”

“Hence the name,” Remus said as he pulled a cheese grater out of the lineup.

“And last, but certainly not least, Kasey.” Marlene leaned against the edge of his table. “How’s it going over here?”

“So far, so good.” He eyed his batter and poked one of the lumps with a fork. “Does this look ready to you?”

“Seems a bit wet, to be honest.”

“Yeah, I thought so. Do people put milk in cake batter?” On the other end of the kitchen, Sirius and Leo shared a look.

Marlene patted his arm. “Good luck, Bliz.”

The camera cut for a moment—when it returned, the three bakers on the far end seemed to be even more flustered than before. “You have one hour left!” someone off-screen announced.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.” Logan held his spatula up. The batter remained stuck to it in a doughy lump. “Is this supposed to happen?”

Leo’s eyes flickered between Sirius, who was clearly shocked into silence, and Logan, who was growing more distressed by the second. “Sure, honey.”

“Baby, it looks like jello,” Remus called as he shook his mixing bowl with a nervous glance to Sirius. “Why does it look like jello?”

“Mon dieu,” Sirius muttered as he crossed the room; the second he looked over Remus’ shoulder, his eyes widened. “How did you…?”

“I don’t know.”

“You put flour in, right?”

“Hey, no helping!” Kasey protested, swatting Sirius on the shoulder with an oven mitt. “We all fail on our own merit here. Tremy’s making concrete, Loops has jello, and I’ve got soup, so you and Knutty can fuck off back to your perfect batter and let us suffer in peace!”

“Jesus, Bliz, did you put water in that?”

“No! I put butter and milk in!”

“Why?”

“Because!”

“One hour left!” Marlene shouted.

“Fuck it, it’s good enough.” Remus grabbed the nearest cake pan and dumped his batter in, then put it in the oven. He turned the heat on and faced the camera guiltily. “Harzy, I know this was meant to spite you, it really was just meant to be a carrot cake. Not…that.”

Logan sprinkled a handful of chocolate sprinkled into his mixing bowl. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” he singsonged. “But I know I’m doing it poorly!”

“Oh my god,” Remus said suddenly as he licked some of his batter off his finger. “Oh my—oh my god.”

Kasey looked up from pouring his batter into a pan in mild alarm. “What?”

“Oh my god, that’s terrible. Here, try it.”

Kasey put his cake in the oven before swiping a bit off and tasting it. His whole face scrunched. “What?”

“I know,” Remus laughed, passing the spatula to Logan. “It’s like getting punched with a cinnamon stick.”

“I can feel it in my nose,” Logan coughed. “Here, try mine.”

Leo regarded them with a healthy amount of disbelief. “Why are you all tasting it if you know it’s bad?”

“Because Marlene needs workable content.”

“Do it for the vine.”

“Because I’m a dumbass, rookie.” Kasey lifted the spatula up. “Cap, your fiancé made toxic sludge in cake form. Want some?”

Sirius hesitated, then sighed and headed over. Leo threw his hands in that air. “You, too?”

“What else am I supposed to—” Sirius faltered with a harsh exhale and braced his hands against the counter, licking his lips. “How many eggs did you put in that?”

“Four? Five?”

“How much cinnamon?”

“A teaspoon?”

Sirius took a fortifying breath through his nose. “Teaspoon or tablespoon?”

“Tablespoon,” Kasey answered for him. “Definitely a tablespoon. Try mine.”

“You two are never allowed in a kitchen again,” Sirius said, though he swiped his finger along the inside of Kasey’s bowl and tasted his batter with a grimace. “Ugh. It’s just melted butter.”

“How did you make it taste like salty butter and nothing else?” Logan asked, sounding genuinely interested.

“Well, Tremzy, I put salt and butter in it.”

Leo’s phone timer went off and he opened the oven door; four faces turned toward him in shock as he pulled a golden cake out and checked the center with a toothpick. Logan closed his eyes and bent closer, taking a deep inhale. “I wish the viewers could smell this, because it’s heaven.”

“Can it be my birthday instead?” Kasey asked. “Please?”

“Get back, you hyenas!” Leo whacked him lightly on the hand with a spoon when he reached out to poke the cake. “That oven was 350 degrees!”

Sirius glanced up at the camera. “That’s 177 degrees, for all you smart people out there.”

“Boo, Celsius.” Remus kissed his cheek. “You smell like sugar.”

“How much time do you all have left on your cakes?” Marlene asked from her perch next to the sink.

Logan, Remus, and Kasey shared a look before Logan turned back to her. “I don’t know?”

“You can’t answer that with another question,” she laughed.

“Ten minutes,” he guessed.

“Whenever it starts to smell good,” Remus said. “Though I doubt that’s going to happen.”

Kasey cocked his head and scanned Leo’s cake for a second. “When it starts looking like that.”

“It won’t,” Leo informed him.

“Damn, Knutty, okay.”

Marlene shook her head. “We’re going to cut filming until everyone’s cakes are out of the oven, but in the meantime we’ve got some special messages for our favorite redhead.”

A banner reading Happy Birthday, Finn! appeared on the screen with a burst of confetti before the usual studio replaced it, with its white walls and folding chairs. Dumo crossed one leg over the other with a soft smile. “One thing I admire about Finn is his tenacity. When he wants something, he’ll go for it with his whole heart.”

“I love his humor,” Leo said in the next short video. He was smiling as well, and had a faint blush on his freckled cheeks. “And the way he makes breakfast in the mornings. All the little things he does to make the people he loves happy. And he really does love with his whole heart. There’s no holding back with him.”

“Finn?” Sirius thought for a moment. “He’s a good person. I know that might sound lame, but he’s one of those people that you meet that always makes you feel happy, and confident, and supported. Anyone who meets him should count themselves lucky.”

Logan’s face was filled with nothing but affection. “I love his patience and his kindness. Whether that was helping me work on my English in college, or making the rookies feel welcome, or even the way he talks to complete strangers when they ask for directions on the street. Everything about him is kind.”

“Ah, jeez.” Remus bit his lower lip. “I think—I think what I admire most about Finn is that he never lets anyone else define who he is. He’s comfortable in himself and makes everyone around him feel safe. It’s sappy, but it’s true. He’s one of my best friends and I’m grateful for him every day.”

“He’s one of the most reliable people I’ve ever met,” James said. “Both on and off the ice. He will be there to support his friends in any capacity and I think we all need to be a little more like Finn that way.”

“Great player.” Arthur nodded. “Great player, and an even better teammate. I can put O’Hara anywhere on the ice and he’ll throw everything he’s got into doing his best. I can’t think of a single Lion who doesn’t love being on the same shift as him.”

Talker grinned, leaning back in his chair with a shake of his head. “Finn just loves hockey. He takes it seriously, of course, but he loves being out there with us and I’m always happy when we’re on a line together. He goes out there every night and has a blast. I admire a lot about him, but especially that.”

“It’s hard to pick one specific thing that I admire about him,” Kasey said, shifting in his chair. “He’s Finn. He’s annoying as all hell, and I love him for it. I’m not sure. Can I make a list?”

“Harzy is very cool,” Olli laughed. “Very cool and very fun to be around. He has a quick wit and truly cares about all of us.”

Kuny raised his eyebrows. “What I like about Harzy? Oh, everything. Everything. He is good friend, good teammate, always there when we need him. Good for Tremzy and Knutty, too. He would turn red like fire engine if he heard me. Don’t tell him I say that.”

The video changed to a wide view of the whole team as they waved to the camera. “Happy birthday, Harzy!” they chorused. “Bitch ass moves!”

The kitchen was much cleaner when the video resumed; all the cooking supplies had been taken away, leaving five hockey players with their cakes in front of them. Leo’s cake was a bit lopsided, though the yellow frosting was cheerful and even—next to him, Logan’s cake looked more like a squished loaf of bread. Sirius’ was plain and elegant, while Kasey’s frosting was still dripping as the camera zoomed in on it.

“Wow,” Finn said after a moment of silence from his seat at the main table, where five slices of cake had been placed on small plates with a label for each name. “Just…wow.”

“You can start with whichever one you want,” Marlene told him.

“I think I’ll save Cap and Leo’s for last. Uh, Kase, what happened here?”

Kasey sighed. “I wish I knew.”

Finn gave it a wary look, then took a bite; his chewing slowed to a stop almost immediately and Logan’s shoulders started to shake from his suppressed laughter. “You know it’s burnt on the outside and not cooked on the inside, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Just checking.” With great effort, he swallowed. “Why is it wet?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, man.”

Finn took the next plate, then paused. “Re, I love you, but…”

Remus shook his head. “I know.”

“I’m genuinely afraid to try this.”

“You should be.”

The second it touched his tongue, Finn started laughing. “Jesus, it’s a straight shot of cinnamon. Why is it crunchy?”

“It’s carrot cake!”

“You know I hate carrot cake!”

“Look, I gave it my best shot. It really wasn’t supposed to do…” He gestured at the plate. “That.”

“Lo, baby, please tell me yours is better than the last two.”

Logan thought for a moment. “It was made with love and that’s all that matters.”

Finn took a deep breath before taking a bite. A range of emotions washed over his face—pleasant surprise, then confusion, then horror, and finally disbelief. “I…what?”

“I don’t even know.”

He swallowed, then ate another bite. “Oh, bad idea. This—are there chocolate chips in here? And almonds?”

“Yeah. You like those, right?”

“Usually, yes. It’s kind of got the texture of fruitcake, but—” Finn broke off and picked the slice up, giving it a shake. Not even a crumb fell out of place, and the rest of the boys burst out laughing. “Lo. Logan. Light of my life, what the fuck?”

“Happy birthday?”

“This is the best birthday present ever. Alright, Cap, your turn.” He took a piece of Sirius’ cake and nodded. “Yep, that’s cake.”

Sirius blinked at him. “And?”

Finn shrugged. “It’s cake. Classic flavors, good texture. I like it. Definitely tastes like a cake you would make.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“He’s calling you basic,” Kasey said, patting Sirius’ shoulder sympathetically. “But hey, at least yours was cooked all the way.”

“And now for boyfriend number two,” Finn continued.

Leo rolled his eyes. “Boyfriend number two.”

“Oh, that’s so good,” Finn groaned around a mouthful of cake. His eyebrows pitched. “I love it.”

“What about it?” Marlene prompted.

“For starters, it’s cooked all the way through. The lemon is freakin’ amazing, and the frosting isn’t melting off the sides or anything. I can’t even taste everyone else’s anymore. It’s a helluva cake. Happy birthday to me. Will you make this every day?”

“No,” Leo said, though there was a pleased flush on his face. “But maybe on the weekend.”

Finn scraped the last of the crumbs off his plate. “Alright, everyone, come get a piece of this magic. Thank you for doing this, by the way. I know three of you hate baking.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Logan admitted as he settled himself on one of Finn’s thighs with a slice of his own and kissed his temple. “Sorry for almost poisoning you. Oh, that is tasty.”

“I love you anyway. I think Loops and Bliz were actually the closest to doing that, so you’re all good.” Finn raised his eyebrows and craned his neck over Logan’s shoulder. “Speaking of…”

“Lasagna or chicken piccata?” Remus asked. Sirius took advantage of his moment of distraction by stealing a bite off his plate and received a playful glare in response, though it was soothed by a kiss on his cheek.

“Lasagna, please.”

“Does Friday work?”

Finn gave him a thumbs-up. “Sorry, Harzy,” Kasey said as he carefully got the last bits of frosting off his fork. “I have no marketable skills to apologize with. You don’t want me anywhere near a stove or an oven.”

A gleam lit in Finn’s eye. “Will you get in all your pads and play chicken with Knutty and I?”

“For the twentieth time—”

“It’s my birthday,” he wheedled, pouting his lower lip out with the Bambi eyes turned to full blast.

Kasey sighed. “Fine.”

“Hell yeah.”

“Thanks for joining us for our birthday celebration,” Marlene said with a smile. “The best estimations of these recipes are linked on our website, with a few tweaks to make sure none of your loved ones get food poisoning this August. Have a great day, Lions!”

[hyuckssunchip]

[5:34 pm]

Pairings: Jeno x Reader, ft. Haechan

Words: 1.3K

Warnings: Language (there is almost always language in my writings), fluff

Synopsis:

college studying boyfriend drabble

Jeno desperately is trying to do his homework as last minute as it can get. 

“Can I look at your homework?” You lifted your eyes from your computer to find Jeno shooting you those begging eyes that you could never resist.

“Jeno it’s due in like half an hour, but go for it.” You pulled the packet out of your backpack, sliding it to him. “You really shouldn’t wait so long. I’d have given it to you earlier if you just ask.”

He grinned, eyes crinkling as he opened up the booklet. “I didn’t have time, I was at practice all day yesterday.”

You ran your hands through your hair. “Too busy to ask for a picture? Honestly the amount of unnecessary stress that you get from this isn’t worth it.”

Jeno didn’t look up from his scribbling as he replied, “It’s not stressful, I know you’ll give it to me.”

You rolled your eyes, leaning your head onto your hand, eyeing him. “You’re lucky that it’s math class, otherwise it’d be suspicious how similar our answers are for every assignment.”

His pen paused over the paper. “It’s not every assignment.” He whined at you before hurrying back. Jeno glanced at his phone, the minutes were counting down.

You laughed at him enjoying his struggle. 

“It’s not really that funny Y/N.” He gave you a quick teasing glare. 

“It kinda is.” At this point you had abandoned your own books and chose to solely watch him. Jeno had his tongue slightly sticking out in focus as his hand moved across the page. 

“How do you even pass the tests? You never actually do the homework.” You asked, curious at his good standing despite his lack of apparent effort.

He shrugged. “I don’t know, I’m a good guesser I guess.”

You snorted, “Good guesser my ass. Our math tests are all free response.”

Jeno didn’t reply and you tilted your head, focusing your attention on him for the next fifteen minutes in silence.

“Don’t be fucking creepy Y/N.” You heard the chair next to you scratch against the tile.

“It’s not creepy. He’s my boyfriend I can watch him whenever I want to.” You stuck your tongue out at Haechan as he sank into the chair.

“Right. It’s not creepy when you do it, but when I do it it’s weird.” He huffed, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, cause you do it when he’s sleeping. That’s just weird.” You squinted your eyes at him with a frown on your face.

Haechan turned his attention away from you stubbornly before actually taking a look at Jeno. He snorted, “Cheating off Y/N again?”

Jeno didn’t bother acknowledging him, “It’s not cheating, just collaborative.”

“Yeah, Y/N does the work and then you write it in your own handwriting.”

“If she was willing to give you hers you’d do it too.” Jeno accused him with a glare before returning to the papers. He was almost done and three of you would have to leave for class soon.

“No I wouldn’t. Because I’m diligent and smart.” He turned up his nose before turning to face you, “But if you’re ever feeling insanely generous, I’m more than willing to receive answers.”

Haechan shot you a toothy grin, which fell off his face when you shoved him, and obvious no in your actions .

He shrugged, “It was worth a try.”

You picked up your phone, realizing that it was time to go. “Jeno, are you almost done?” 

“Almost.” He bit his lip, scribbling twice as fast as he was before.

“We’re going to be late.” Haechan sang out, teasing Jeno distractingly.

“Shut up.” You smacked the back of his head softly. “Don’t be mean.”

“How was that mean? I just said that we were going to be late.” He cried out, rubbing his head dramatically.

“It was the way that you said it.”

“It was the way that you said it.” He mocked you, but quickly moving away to dodge the second smack he was dangerously close to receiving. 

“Jeno. We should really get going now.” You were putting your books and papers into your backpack.

“Okay. I’ll just do it while we’re walking.” He mumbled, standing up dazedly, still scribbling.

You giggled, “How are you going to do that?”

Jeno looked up for the first time in a while, eyes darting to Haechan.

Haechan shook his head, already knowing that something was up. Jeno silently took Haechan’s backpack and made the boy wear it on his front.

“I’ll use Haechan’s back.” He smiled sweetly at you as your own grin widened. 

“No. Who said that you could use my back?” Haechan pouted, but still obliging when Jeno turned him around using force. 

Haechan didn’t really stand a chance against Jeno’s strength and he had learned to just go with it before he really resorts to force.

“Ow, that hurts.” Haechan dramatically whined as Jeno pressed especially hard against him.

“No it doesn’t.”

“Um, yes it does.” He replied, “And how would you know? You’re the one doing the stabbing, not being stabbed.”

“Because this hurts.” Jeno pushed the pen hard against the paper that was on Haechan’s back, purposefully adding more strength.

Haechan squirmed away and turned to face Jeno with a wide eyed expression. “Ow.”

Jeno grinned, motioning for him to turn around again. 

Haechan shook his head horrified, “No way. You’re gonna do it again.” 

“I’m not, just come here.” He smiled and eventually Haechan obliged. 

“You’re boyfriend’s a psycho.” Haechan muttered to you.

“Shhh. In case you didn’t notice he’s got a pointy object against your back.” You giggled, eyeing your boyfriend who didn’t seem to hear it, intensely focused on his writing.

Haechan gulped and for the rest of the way he kept his snarky comments to himself.

The three of you sink into three empty seats towards the back of the lecture hall. Jeno whispered to you that he was done and handed the packet back to you before sprawling out in his seat as if he was exhausted. 

“Jesus my fingers hurt like hell.” He groaned, eyes widening at the red marks that now stood out. 

“Alright, let’s get started.” Your professor walked to the front podium with his notes. 

The students slowly settled down, voices eventually petering out.

“Quick announcement before we get into the lesson. A lot of students had emailed me over the weekend saying that they needed more time to finish the assignment so it’s been extended until Wednesday.” You professor announced and you struggled to stifle a laugh at the way that Jeno’s face fell. 

Haechan didn’t even try, snickering and jabbing his elbow into his friend’s side. 

“Are you kidding me?” He muttered under his breath, staring at his hands in disbelief. 

“If you didn’t procrastinate so long you wouldn’t have struggled like that.” You scolded him teasingly, knowing that you were just pushing his buttons.

“No. If anything it’s more reason to procrastinate. My fingers wouldn’t have had to suffer and I would have had extra time.” He groaned, arguing with you.

“You know he’s got a point.” Haechan nodded before shutting up at the sight of your glare. “Or not.”

“All I’m saying is text me the night before maybe? Or maybe I should just send it to you and then I don’t have to go through this headache with you.” 

“No. This is fun. I enjoy watching this. Don’t make it not fun.” Haechan pouted, looking genuinely worried that you would take away his source of entertainment.

“It’s heartening to know that you enjoy my suffering.” Jeno glared at the boy.

“Is that new news?” Haechan asked, slightly disappointed that it had taken so long for Jeno to get it. 

“No. We just thought that you would at least have the class to not admit it out loud.” You poked at him.

“Okay. Shut up. I can’t hear the lecture.” Haechan averted the attention.

“You’re just salty cause you were losing.” You muttered, picking up your pencil to take notes.

The fact that Haechan didn’t reply gave you satisfaction.

“No. I think I’m losing. I’m stuck in between the two of you.” Jeno said with exasperation staring incredulously at the two of you in turn, then shaking his head. 

© Copyright 2021. hyuckssunchip. All rights reserved.

[lovely-angst]

hbd dearest dynamight

a/n: a little late, but happy birthday boom boom boi! ily!

genre: fluff

pairing: bakugou x reader

summary: you try to surprise bakugou on his birthday, but he comes home early from work!

word count 1.7k

04.21.21

-

"I can't believe I gotta work on my birthday," Bakugou groans as he runs his hands up and down his face. It was just hitting six in the morning and Bakugou was about to head out the door for work, not before lounging on the couch one last time to bask in the warm presence of his home.

"Hey, it's okay. Heroes gotta work on their birthdays sometimes. If it makes you feel better, your fans are probably pretty excited to wish you a happy birthday when they see you on patrol," you say, bending down to kiss him on the forehead, feeling his arms snake around your waist, cheek resting on your pregnant belly.

"I guess, but we could've been doing something together," he mumbles into your swollen stomach. Chuckling, you try to push him away, but his strength was far greater than yours, even when he didn't try.

"Katsuki," you whine, "we can always celebrate when you're off," you try, but he doesn't budge. Instead, he lifts you into his arms as he carries you over to the front door.

Your eyes lock and you give him a shy smile, feeling nervous with the way he stared you down so passionately and quiet.

"I could just not show up. They can get Deku to cover for me," he whispers against your lips, but you shake your head at him, "it's not just me who loves you, you know. it's a day the citizens want to celebrate—to celebrate you. Plus, you already have the whole night with me," you say with a shy smile and Bakugou couldn't help but smile back, closing the space between the two of you to press a kiss onto your lips.

"Can't really do much now that we have the little pooper on the way," Bakugou says, eyes glancing down to your stomach. "We still could," he inquires, but you slap his chest, "we are not gonna cause a ruckus in there for him." Setting you down gently on your feet, you watch as Bakugou puts on his boots before opening the door, the sun just rising in the sky. A frosty chill in the air before he turns back to look at you, "don't you have something to tell me?" Jumping in your spot from the sudden question with an 'oh!', you lean forward to press a warm kiss on his lips, "I love you, have a good day at work." But that didn't seem to be the answer.

Bakugou frowned, lips slightly pouting before speaking up once more, "anything else?"

Staring at your husband, you give him a quizzical look before the light bulb finally goes off in your head.

"Happy birthday, Katsuki, my dearest Dynamight," you say, pressing many kisses over his face before pulling back, hands lingering on his cheeks. "See you when you get back,"

"There you go," he says with that handsome grin you've always been fond of, "I love you too," and with that, he was off and ready to save the world once again. You sighed happily, watching your husband using his explosions to propel him to work. Just when he left your field of view, you quickly ran back inside and grabbed your phone before dialing a number.

Pressing the phone against your ear, you listening to the rings before a deeper voice spoke up on the other side, "Hello?"

"Kirishima? Great, Katsuki just left, you can come over now?" "On my way, (Name)!"

And a quick fifteen minutes, the cute redhead showed up at your door with loads of boxes behind him before flashing his adorable smile, "I have everything ready here!"

"Thank you, Kirishima! You're a lifesaver!" you cried as you helped him bring the small and light boxes in while he took on the large, heavy boxes. And though you offered to help him out with some medium-sized ones, he continued to swipe them from your hands, not wanting you to stress your body and the baby.

"So, what do you have planned for him today?" he asks, placing the last box down in the once empty room now filled with boxes. "Okay, so I really want to surprise Katsuki by finishing the nursery room today by the time he gets home!" "Thankfully, Katsuki and I had already painted the nursery room a while back, so all that's left is to add the furniture and decor," you explain as you spun around gently, already envisioning the final product.

"It'll just make everything so much more real," you say softly, running a hand over your belly.

Kirishima offers you a smile before rolling up his sleeves, "well then, let's get to work!"

-

It had only been five hours into his shift, and Bakugou was already pretty miserable at work. Nothing was going wrong, he just would rather have been spending the day, his birthday, at home with you, his pregnant wife. Hearing a knock on the other side of the door, Bakugou mumbled out a "come in" before Midoriya and Todoroki walked in with a small cake in their hands, a lit candle as a finishing touch.

"Happy birthday, Kacchan!" Midoriya cheered, but Bakugou could only roll his eyes. "How come you didn't take the day off to celebrate?"

"I couldn't and I was just gonna have IcyHot or you cover for me, but (Name) insisted I come," Bakugou replied, somewhat salty. Midoriya could only respond with a light chuckle and a supportive smile, "(Name) probably just wanted you to go out and have the people celebrate with you." Bakugou scoffed, "she did."

"Well, you're not on patrol today, so why don't you take the rest of the day off? Midoriya and I can finish the rest for you," Todoroki suggests and Midoriya nods enthusiastically.

"Yes! Go enjoy the rest of the off! Take the cake to share with (Name)!" Midoriya chirps, practically shoving the cake into the birthday boy's arms before pushing him out the door.

"Tell (Name) we said hi!" and with that, the two shut the door closed in his face, leaving him alone with the small cake with the still lit but melting candle. At least he was free to go home now.

It was just hitting noon when Bakugou made it back to the luxurious apartment the two of you lived in. He had been stopped a handful of times by fans and citizens alike gifting him presents or wishing him a happy birthday. Either way, he was thankful for everyone, but right now, he just wanted to spend some time with you.

"(Name), I'm back early," Bakugou calls out, expecting you to run down the hallway to greet him like you always did, except he was met with the faint sound of music coming from down the hall.

Placing the cake down on the kitchen table, Bakugou curiously made his way towards the door where the unfinished nursery room was. The door was slightly ajar, and he could hear your singing come from inside along with a few thuds here and there.

Gently pushing the door open, he peeked inside only to see you sitting on the floor with a bunch of different parts and tools all around you as you continued to build whatever you were working on.

You looked extra attractive working so hard with your hair out of place. Strands turning every which way as you focused hard on what looked like a baby crib? "(Name)? What are you doing?" Bakugou finally asks, spooking you in the process. "Katsuki! You're home early! I was nearly going to pop the baby out early!" You say, quickly getting up to hug your husband.

"Deku and IcyHot told me to take the rest of the day off," he responds, eyes drifting away towards the work in progress behind you.

"Oh, you weren't supposed to see all of this until you got back!" you whined, "it was supposed to be a surprise!"

"A surprise?"

"I wanted to finish the nursery by the time you got back, but I didn't expect you to come home early," your words were shy as you played with the hem of your outfit.

Bakugou's eyes widened before he glanced back up, fully taking in the view partially furnished nursery. There was a changing table placed along the wall and there was even a rocking chair and some drawers for all the baby clothes the two of you had bought or so kindly have been gifted.

"Kirishima did most of it, but he had an emergency to run to, so I tried finishing the rest. I'm really slow at it," you chuckle, glancing back to the unfinished baby crib.

"Well, now that you've seen it, happy birthday Katsuki! I really wanted the nursery finished by your birthday, but plans do always go the way you want them, right?" Your bright eyes glanced up into his own before he got out of your embrace and walked past you before sitting himself on the floor where you were previously.

"Katsuki?"

"We can still finish the nursery today. Where did you leave off in the directions?" He asked, picking up a screwdriver before paging through the instruction booklet. Squealing in joy, you ran over towards him before beginning to assist him with whatever he needed. Though, you spent most of the time ogling at his well sculpted arm muscles that he might've caught and teased you for.

The sun had gone by the time the two of you had finished furnishing the room. You and Bakugou stood in the middle of the peaceful nursery room, admiring the hard work and love that went into the room.

"It really feels like we're gonna have a baby soon, huh?" you say gently as you slowly began to rock in his arms to the soft music that was playing through your phone. "We're going to be parents."

Bakugou let out a hum in response before a content sigh left your lips. "Sorry I wasn't able to get you more. This is all I had planned," you confess, upset that you weren't able to give your lover more of what he deserved.

"This is enough already. The pooper is going to love it," he says, smiling into your hair as he continues to rock you side to side. Smiling back, you snuggle into him deeper,

"Happy Birthday Katsuki, I love you."

[random-imagines-blog]

Sideways {Andrew Garfield x Reader}

Requested by: Anonymous Wordcount: 1811 Summary: Andrew gets a call that no one wants to get. Especially from their own child. Warning: Contains hospital, miscarriage and talk of pregnancy.

The best part about your job was that you could do a lot of it online, and could travel with Andrew when he went abroad for his different acting gigs. This was one of the last times that you would be able to go, since it was the Summer and your daughter was going into first grade, and you wanted to keep her in one place to keep her adjusted. Still, he was going to appreciate all that he could get. And every minute that he wasn’t needed on set, he was going to take you and your child together to go and explore. He’d been here in Vancouver before, but you hadn’t, and he was eager to show you what he had learned about on his last trip here. But for now, he was stuck in the studio, getting fitted for one of the ‘special’ outfits that he was going to be wearing for this film.

He was laughing with the wardrobe stylist, joking about something that happened with the director on the first day here. They had pranked him by bringing in a bunch of extras and announcing them as the main cast. The director had sputtered, and not wanting to be rude, had to excuse himself to make ‘script adjustments’. Once he had realized that it was all a prank, he saw the funny side, and all tension and nerves around the team had dissipated. Andrew had been in on it and thought that it was hilarious, especially since he had been dressed as one of the camera-crew. Best acting he had ever done, the director had said to him.

“There’s a call for you, Mr Garfield,” His assistant said, popping up beside him. She was a small, older woman with a very no-nonsense air about her. She hadn’t appreciated the prank, because it meant that she missed out on a few hours of work. “It’s urgent.”

“It is?” Andrew asked, wondering who it could be. You only texted him during work hours, and he’d give you a call at lunch once in a while, otherwise he would wait to tell you about his day once he got home. That way his little girl could listen in and chime in whenever she wanted as well. “Excuse me,” He told the woman who was measuring his shoulders to make an adjustment to the suit. She nodded, and helped him to remove what he had on of the costume, then he changed quickly then finally accepted the phone from his assistant.

“This is Andrew,” He said, just in case it was an urgent professional call. He could hear a commotion coming from the other end of the line. There were men talking, and then a loud siren. Ambulance, not fire truck or police. He knew the difference, having always stayed in hotels in busy cities.

“Daddy?” The six-year-olds voice came through, and Andrew felt his heart sink from his chest down to his knees. He looked at his assistant who looked more solemn than usual. And maybe even a little bit concerned. “Daddy - it’s Mommy.”

“What’s wrong with mommy? Tell me everything - and where are you going?” He took his wallet and keys from his assistant, who had been holding onto them during the fittings.

“Where are we going?” Andrew heard her ask someone, and a man said something in response. “Vancouver General,” The little girl repeated.

“I’ll meet you there, okay? Stay with one of the paramedics until Daddy gets there. I won’t be long.”

-

It took him half an hour to get to the hospital, and that was with light traffic. He cursed the studio for being so far away, but he knew it was just the stress. His daughter wasn’t able to give him much information, just that you had been in the bathroom, crying in pain, and then told the little girl to call 911. They had taught her the emergency number for every country that they stayed in, just in case. It was good that she knew, but he hated that she had to use it.

You had been feeling fine that morning, he recalled. You went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast, had a simple meal of oatmeal and fruits. He was thinking that perhaps you had food poisoning of some sort? He hoped it was something as simple as that, though you wouldn’t have called 911 over something so trivial.

He parked, then ran into the first entrance that he could find. It was emergency, and they gave him directions to the fourth floor. He noticed from the signs around the elevator that it was to ... to a pregnancy floor?

He saw his daughter first, sitting on a bench, reading a book, swinging her legs back and forth since they weren’t reaching the ground. There was a paramedic sitting with her, but not saying anything. Just keeping an eye on her, which Andrew was thankful for. His footsteps brought their attention, and the little girl jumped to her feet. She had been crying, Andrew could tell from the puffiness of her cheeks. She ran towards him, and he leaned down to catch her in a hug. “Daddy! I called just like you taught me to!” She pulled your phone out of her pocket, it looked so massive in her little hands, and she held it up to show you.

He knew the password, there were no secrets between you two. You knew his as well, but neither of you ever went snooping. In fact, this was the first time that he had used it. He saw indeed that your first call of the day was to work, and then 911, and then to him. He turned the phone dark and put it into his own pocket. He scooped up the girl and held her in his arms in a giant bear hug. He looked at the paramedic over her shoulder, took a step towards him and held his hand out. “Thank you so much for staying with her-”

“It’s no problem,” He said, getting to his own feet. “We had to resupply the ambo anyway. And - the doctor said that your wife was stable. I’m sure she’ll be out soon.” He shook Andrew’s hand then excused himself to go back to work, and Andrew sunk down on the recently vacated spot on the bench, still holding his daughter on his lap. There wasn’t much that he could do except for wait for the Doctor, which didn’t take long. The commotion that your daughter made had gotten their attention.

“Hello, Mr. Garfield?” The Doctor said, coming out of the room. She reminded Andrew a lot of his assistant. Same motherly face, same solemn features. Andrew nodded to the affirmative. “Your wife is going to be just fine, though her body had gone through some trauma. She’s going to need to rest, take it easy for a couple of weeks at least.”

“What happened?” He asked, his voice shaky with relief that you were going to be fine. Still, this had seemed to come out of nowhere. And the fact that you were in the pregnancy wing made him nervous.

“Your wife had a miscarriage, Mr. Garfield. She was three months along,” The Doctor’s voice was straight to the point, no emotions at all. She must have to deliver news like this all of the time. “She claims that she didn’t know that she was pregnant, so she is feeling rather fragile. I’d like to keep her for overnight observation, just to be careful.”

Andrew swallowed, but nodded. There wasn’t any other reaction that he felt like he could have. He could only hug his daughter close, thankful that at the very least, he had her. “Can I see her?” He asked the Doctor, who nodded, and motioned towards the open door that she had just come out of. Andrew got back up to his feet, and walked in, still holding his daughter, who was being unusually quiet. He realized as he walked into the room that she had fallen asleep.

You hadn’t, however. You were laying in the hospital bed, hooked up to machines, getting fluids, staring straight ahead of you blankly. Andrew hummed to announce that he was there, and you snapped out of it, your eyes meeting his. They were still filled with tears on your end, while he was still comprehending the news.

“Hey baby,” You said, weakly smiling. Andrew smiled back, and set the little girl down on a chair, where she curled up immediately and continued to sleep away. All that worry and excitement must have exhausted her. He then went to your side, taking hold of both your hands, being careful of the IVs.

“How -” He said, shaking his head. “How did this happen?”

“I don’t know,” You said, blinking away tears. “I didn’t even know I was pregnant. I swear, I wasn’t keeping anything from you. I had my period and no other symptoms. I mean, I thought I gained a little bit of weight but I thought that was just all of the cake,” You somehow managed to laugh though it didn’t sound sincere. “The Doctor says that happens sometimes.”

Andrew would never dream of accusing you of cheating. The two of you stayed in the newlywed stage of your marriage, remaining sexually active. The math added up enough, three months, you two were definitely intimate three months ago.

“How do you feel?” Andrew asked, caressing the top of your hands with his thumbs. “And not just physically.”

You took a deep breath in and then a deep breath out. “I’m devastated,” You admitted, finally admitting your own truth. Tears were fighting to come out and you had stopped the battle, letting them descend freely. “When I heard that I miscarried - I realized... I want that baby. I want to have another one with you and we just lost our chance.”

Andrew felt the same wave of depression overcome him. In an alternate universe, he could just be finding out that he was going to be a father again. He had to be strong for you though. He could let out his emotions when you got home. You were too vulnerable right now.

“We’ll have more chances,” Andrew said, leaning forward and kissed a tear off of your cheek. It tasted salty, it lasting on his lips for a long while. “I’ll gladly give you another baby.”

You chuckled at that, though you were still crying. “You just like the act of making one, mister,” You squeezed his hands. Andrew laughed as well, and nodded.

“Can you blame me?”

[pokeexehasstoppedworking]

Love Doesn’t Do Encores Ch10 Battle Gym Leader Nessa

(Will have a reference to Pokemon Twilight Wings Series.)

You slept well that night. The hotel wasn't too far from the Hulbury stadium so it wasn't a very long walk from where you four left the light house and stationed yourselves for the night. Not before dishing out the rations between the four of you. You were a lot lower on food than you thought and surprised you hadn't noticed earlier. A month's walk drained almost all of the food you had aside from a few packets of dried fruits. Thank goodness for restocking. The next morning wasn't anything too different. Gloria and Hop of course wanted to stop by the stadium and get one of them that spot to battle Nessa before another trainer took it. Huh. You wonder how the battle between her and Bede went the other day? Victor mentioned wanting to go back towards the Hulbury Aquarium and offered for you to come with them but you had other plans for the day.

"Hey, Y/n. Since Glory and Hop's going to be busy all day considering would you like to come with me to the aquarium?, Victor offered after the two of you had dug through your rations for breakfast. Your Sobble tiredly yawning on your shoulder rubbing at his eyes.

You shook your head. "No thanks. I actually wanted to check out that market down by the docks. I heard they sell all kinds of trinkets and stuff and it's been a while since I was able to go somewhere by myself and have some me time."

He nodded in understanding before smiling. "Alright then. You guys know where I'll be if you change your minds."

The two of you parted ways outside the hotel before you headed back up the road towards the docks. Already in the morning the place was all a buzz with ship horns blaring off in the distance and a few people walking around. It was a nice day with the salty smell of the ocean, the gently breeze, not being too hot but nice and warm, etc. It was a very nice day that filled your tired body with a happy feeling as you inhaled deeply. The small market place was past the restaurant and just across the docks past the convenience store you had visited the other day for supplies. It wasn't really big. There was only about five stalls set up alongside a concrete wall with one or two picnic tables a little bit a ways from them. A few people were already there looking at the stalls or sitting at the tables to eat or just to sit. Walking over you strolled up to the first stall that sold a few random things like flowers, dishes, and a couple clothes hanging up. The man handling it was talking up some of the flower pots but you weren't too interested in those so shortly after moved on. The other four were a fruit stand, someone selling records, another one selling random objects, but the last one had you notice something. Sweet smells of perfumes and spices wafted from it the closer you gotten to it. And it didn't take too long for you to find out why. A young lady was there surrounded by a bunch of incense. She smiled as you stopped to admire all the sweet smells and gave a greeting.

"Get a whiff of that fragrance! Doesn't it smell sweet?," she asked holding out some sweet smelling sticks that smelt of lilacs, "How about some incense for you, Girl? Good for meditation, yoga, relaxing, or just making a room smell nice. And it all natural so it's safe for pokemon too and helps them destress....As long as they don't eat it. Non edible."

"Destress huh?,'' you pondered looking at your sobble who seemed more interested in staring at the food stand with hungry eyes despite just eating breakfast a while ago. Considering how spooked this lil guy could be, it might be a good idea. "....What scents to you have exactly?"

You ended up using the twenty dollar bill you had saved forever now to buy some of the sea and rose scented incense and then later one or two apples at the fruit stand since your sobble kept jumping on your shoulder and chirping in it's directed until you finally did so. All of it costing almost half your money leaving you from twenty dollars to twelve dollars and some change. You found yourself wondering over until you sat down at one of the picnic tables so your sobble could sit and eat and give your poor shoulders a break from carrying it all the time. Granted Sobble wasn't really that heavy, about half the weight of a small cat, but it was nice to be able to stretch your shoulders and neck out without worrying about accidentally knocking him off. Lazily you watched it make happy noises as it greedily ate as if you didn't already give it a big breakfast about an hour ago. It was still pretty early in the morning so it you really hadn't anything to do other than just sit here and watch your sobble. But it was refreshing. With a sigh you closed your eyes and slowly put your head down on the table. The only problem with having a bunch of free time is that your brain slowly fills itself with thoughts you might not want. Like now. You had been gone for what must've been a little over a month now. How worried was your mom? She must've been worrying herself sick if you were gone for this long without any notice or clues or anything. And(tho you were HIGHLY doubtful now-) if this all IS some kind of dream universe it was certainly the longest one you ever experienced. Not only that, but you were SURELY not going to be able to start college just like you wanted. You'd have to wait another year just to start it and that's only if considering you'd be able to go home after this whole journey has finished. It was the only way you could think of that you could go back, once this is over. If it'll ever be-

"I can NOT believe this!," an angry woman's voice piped up. Startled you jumped up and blinked light rushing back into your vision.

"Calm down, Ness. Don't make a big scene in public." ....That voice sounded familiar.

"I AM calm. I'm just restocking my incense before I head back!" Now that you think about it, that angry voice sounded familiar too.

Blinking you turned around to look behind you, and your eyes widened at what you saw. Two ladies were at the incense stand with their backs towards you, one with bright orange hair and a coat you recognized and the other wore a black cap and shirt.

"First he said I should stop modeling and now he's breathing down my neck because I just happened to lose to his endorsed challenger!,'' Cap Lady growled out as she waved her hand. "I mean yeah, usually I'm busy so I cut back to one challenger a day! That doesn't mean I lost my touch as a gym leader!" She paused as the lady manning the stall held out a small paper bag of incense to her similar to the one you had. "Oh..Thank you. It just drives me up a wall just thinking about it!"

"Then don't think about it," Orange hair replied patting her friend on the back, "It'll only stress you out before your other gym match today."

Cap Lady sighed. "You're right, Sonia...As usual. It just ticks me off knowing he's in town just to see you too no less and buddy up with the crowd!! It makes me angry!"

"Sonia?"

The orange haired woman turned to you immediately as you stared back, her friend turning too and that's when you recognized the other woman too. She smiled. "Hey, Y/n! Fancy meeting you here! Haven't seen you in a while." She fully turned to you now and walked over her friend following.

You casually waved where you sat and gave a tired smile. "Yeah. Honestly wasn't expecting to see you here either. What are you doing here?"

She gestured to none other than Nessa next to her. "I was chatting with an old friend before she needed to go. Since you're here I assume Gloria can only be here as well."

You nodded. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure she's at the stadium right now." Your gaze slowly shifted over to nessa as you spoke and you waved again. "Hello again. Nice weather you guys have here."

Nessa smiled. "Yeah. It's usually warm and sunny here all year round being the coast and all. You should visit the beach if you ever get the chance."

You shrugged. "I might. I mean I guess my sobble could use the chance to swim."

"Well, that all depends. Is your sobble a freshwater or saltwater sobble?"

"There's a difference?"

"Hey wait a minute!" Both of you turned to Sonia who was looking between the two of you with a confused look on her face. "You two know each other?"

"Sort of. She helped me out with some stuff yesterday, I didn't even know she was the gym leader until someone told me," you explained with a shrug, "I just appreciate anyone who helps carry groceries."

"Oh. I see. What are you doing here if Gloria is I assume at the stadium?," she asked.

You gestured to your sobble as it spat out an apple seed. "Someone wanted more food. I'm telling you he's worse than a kid hyped up on sugar once he sees the stuff." Both of you jumped at a ....snort? Blinking you looked at Nessa and noticed her holding her mouth and chuckling.

"I-I'm so sorry," she giggled out, "That's just the funniest thing that I've heard all day while stressing out. U-U-Usually people don't say that about s-s-sobble care."

You blinked. "Oh yeah?"

Sonia nodded as Nessa's giggles slowly fizzled out. "Usually sobbles are....how do you say it?...Massive cry babies that'll cry at the tiniest things like a baby would. It happened ALL the time with my Granny gave a trainer their first pokemon." She groaned closing her eyes as if the memory gave her instant annoyance and headaches. "They don't get an extra snack? BOOM! Crying! They trip the littlest, I mean tiniest bit. Crying! You're too busy to pet them? Crying! Forget playtime? CRYING! And don't get me started on the amount of times I had to buy Sobble Eye Drops for all the stinging and headaches. It's like walking on eggshells until they evolve into a drizzile! It's why a bunch of trainers rather chose scorbunny or grookey than a sobble." She pointed towards yours who had finished eating and began crawling it's way over to you. "In fact, the sobble Granny gave Leon for the trainers he endorsed was the pokemon who stayed in our care the longest. She must've had it for at least since it hatched and was given to her. It was such a little wimp clinging to her all the time...I never really had mush patience for them."

You jolted when something tugged on your arm, calming yourself once you noticed it was just your pokemon. "...Really?"

With a frown Nessa sighed. "She's right. Sobbles are much better suited for older more patient people. They aren't exactly really popular pokemon among starting trainers who are eager to start their journey. Most end up for adoption to pokemon centers or abandoned to the wild because the person decides it's not worth it to have their eyes burning after every battle or basically raise what could essentially be a child in their eyes." Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "I remember once Raihan came all the way to Hulbury just to give me a sobble someone carelessly discarded at his gym after they lost. The poor thing was so confused and scared. It was a miracle I found someone who loved it. Much more than the thoughtless trainer who never gave it a second thought. Pokemon aren't just toys you can give away or leave lying around after you decided you outgrew them."

"THAT'S AWFUL!!,'' you shouted feeling an anger grow in you as one hand instinctly came up to grab your sobble who chirped in confusion at your actions, both women giving you looks of surprise at your shout. How could anyone DO such a horrible thing!? That's like the equivilant of someone getting a brand new puppy and then not wanting to deal with the work and attention that goes into it and then straight up abandoning it to the streets in your world!! "How could anyone do such a thing?! That's like...So not ok!"

"Well....That is very true. Its not ok. But it seems to be you and your sobble have a very special connection," Nessa said gesturing towards your sobble making Sonia take a double take at you as well.

"Huh. Now that you mention it he does looked rather relaxed. He usually never looked so comfortable before Granny gave him to Leon."

"Really?,'' you asked, "He seemed pretty ok so far. Cried like...only one time but that might be cuz he was pushed over by these rockstar wannabes."

To that the ladies seemed lightly surprised. "Really now? Well then you must have lots of patience then. Sobbles usually tend to work better with people who have lots of patience or a motherly personality."

"And considering you mentioned never having a pokemon before I'm kinda impressed too. You must be a natural babysitter!," Sonia joked. You huffed and rolled your eyes at her joke. Yeah. You sure felt like one sometimes during your journey so far.

"Oh, Scales!" You blinked backed towards Nessa as she now held up her phone to her face with a frown before looking back towards you and Sonia. "Hey. Sorry but I have to bounce. I have to stop by home then head to the gym really quick if I'm going to make it to that match on time." Turning with a smile she waved. "I'll see you later Sonia. It was nice seeing you again too, Miss. good luck with that sobble of yours."

As she walked away, the both of you waved as you watched her go before Sonia turned back to you. "Hey. If you're not really busy, would you like to come to the docks with me?" She held up a small clear plastic bag with, what looked like to you at least, dog kibble with a smile. "There's always a small school of chinchou everyone likes to feed there. I always like to visit whenever I come to Hulbury."

You paused considering her words for a moment. It would be nice to have more time with another person around your age before you had to go back for a bit and they wouldn't be expecting you for a while. So it should be fine. With a shrug you stood up. "Sure! I don't think I've ever seen a chinchou anyways."

Smiling she gestured for you to follow. "C'mon. We're pretty close anyways. I think you'd really like them."

She was right. The small market area was right across from the docks anyways, so it took less than five minutes to reach the docks. You followed her onto the pathways on the water and looked over the edge. The crystal blue water acting like a mirror letting you see your reflection and your sobble's as it blinked big innocent eyes at the water. You nearly bumped into her when she stopped and already had the bag open with her hand inside rummaging around until she pulled out a small handful of the kibble. With a toss they all went into the clear water sending small ripples as they floated and bobbed on the mirror water. That was until almost instantly bubbles appeared from under them and in a flurry of lightbulb antennas and blue skin tons of tiny little creatures swam to the surface and the floating kibble was devoured by the pokemon. You blinked as you watched them swim around. There must've been around ten of them all swimming about here. You blinked as the bag was suddenly held out to you with a smile from Sonia.

"Do you wanna feed them a little? This pokemon food is specifically made for water type pokemons' tastes," she offered.

"Yeah! Thanks!" You happily took some from her and a small blue hand tried to reach out for it too as you pulled away and gave your sobble a look. It stared at you for a moment before chirping and grabbing your nose. "*sigh* Fine." With a sigh and roll of your eyes, you silently held one piece of the kibble up to him and watched as he grabbed it from you and popped it into his mouth. Before tossing more kibble at the peeping lanturn fish like pokemon still swimming around. As before they began devouring it. "They sure are hungry huh?"

"Always are," Sonia replied tossing some more kibble to them. "It's a really popular thing to do around here if you aren't visiting the stadium or Aquarium or eating at the famous cafe up the road. Since there's a battle later today with Nessa I suspect that's why it's so vacant."

You smiled. "Yeah. I just hope everything goes well for them later today. Hop and her seemed pretty excited to go battling Nessa."

Sonia nodded. "I can't blame them. When Leon and I were they're age we were excited over battling the gym leaders too." She smiled at some distant long memory. "In fact, it seemed like it was just yesterday I was right here feeding some Chinchou and then Leon came out of no where and fell in the water! S-Said he d-d-didn't even know how he got there looking for the stadium." She giggled and you couldn't help but smile back.

"Oh. Is that anything like the time I heard he somehow ended up on top of a barn?" Sonia snorted. "Or the time he went out to catch a train and somehow ended up back in front of his house?"

"That happened?"

You nodded. "Oh yeah. He ended up waiting for me to thank me for the two's Slumbering Weild field trip after it happened. I have no idea how."

She chuckled. "Neither do I. Lee's always had a bad sense of direction just like his Da-" She froze. The once smile and cheery attitude replaced by a look of mild panic before she coughed and tossed some more kibble towards the chinchou. "Hey. Look at how cute they are today. They look like such healthy wild chinchou. Don't you think?"

It was her attempting to deflect away from what she already said. You knew that and personally you wouldn't really bother looking into it as 1. It was really none of your business and you hated budding into someone else's business and 2. you didn't feel up to making Sonia more uncomfortable than she already looked...But you couldn't help yourself since this was the second time this has happened. ...That's right. She did a similar thing at the Opening Ceremony when she asked you not to mention what she said to anyone. By now you had completely forgotten about that moment with everything that's been going on and at the time just brushed it off having more important things to worry about. But now....You looked at her and by the look in her eyes she knew what you were about to ask.

"That's right. I spent a few days between their houses and I saw their families. And I met their mothers. And Hop's grandparents." You fully turned to her with a raised brow. "And Hop's older brother. And Gloria's brother. But not have I ever once seen any of their dads nor had they even mentioned them. So that's begging the question of where's the missing link then isn't it?"

There was a pregnant silence between the two of you as you stared at her expectantly and Sonia stared back down at the water, seemingly trying to process the situation she found herself in. The only sounds was the boat horns from the docks, and the splashing around and noises of the chinchou as they still begged for more of the kibble Sonia held. And after more silence your expression softened and a guilty feeling bubbled up. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to ask. Even if you were traveling with them it was none of your business really. So you went to apologize.

With a sigh, Sonia finally seemed to find her words and turned to you with a sad but serious look. "I...understand if you're concerned or curious. I'd be too all things considering. But I really CANT tell you anything since it's not my place to say....By now you obviously noticed they just..aren't there and let's leave it as that."

You nodded. "Hey. I'm..I-I'm sorry. I know it's none of my business. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

She shook her head. "No. To be honest you wouldn't be the first one to ask that question to Leon or anyone else and you probably won't be the last. But if you could do us both a solid and not tell anyone about this it'd be great."

"Believe me, I was about to ask you the same thing." You smiled. "Trust me. I won't tell us a soul."

"Thank you, Y/n. I'm glad you understand."

"Hey. Of course!"

So.....No fathers in the picture huh? A strange feeling settled into your guts that was something akin to feeling extremely guilty. And a....strange feeling of familiarity of it all for your own reasons...Then the reality hit you. In a memory of what happened back at the inn back in Motostoke. In the very slip up Sonia had made before that you had passed off until now-

"And thanks for taggin' along with the kids this far. I know we're practically strangers but there's just....I don't know....really good aura about you. I'm sure Lee appreciates it too. He's always so worried about Hop. He practically raised him after all-" All of a sudden it was like a switch flipped off in her mind and her happy smile went to a sudden shocked face. "Oh no. I didn't mean to mention that. Please forget I even said that."

You had pretty much pieced it together right after remembering that. For some reason, in one way or another, Hop and the twins had no fathers and Leon as Sonia said must've practically filled the role in which a father figure would fill. This would sum up a lot of the things you've bared witness too. Hop and Gloria's infatuation with Leon(especially on Hop's end), they're desire to climb their way up the ranks and make him proud-..Heck. Leon's behavior know that you think about it could've been summed up as brotherly...or fatherly. Sponsoring two (although it was VERY clear he was full on ready to just endorse Victor as well no questions asked if he hadn't made the choice of not competing in the Gym Challenge) kids for the challenge which as you came to know wasn't typical of a Galar Champion, buying you and them all those supplies and stuff, and with what Sonia said just set that fact in concrete. And....While that did make you feel guilty and sad for them...At the end of the day it really was none of your business. Any moment or day now you could wake up back home and none of this would have mattered, and you shouldn't really butt in between their business. Especially since you weren't planning on staying in the long run. Plus...you were trying NOT to uproot the game's progress as much as possible or no more than you might've already had done if at all with your actions. You might've not remembered how the game went entirely but you knew you were on the right track. For now at least. You continued to make small talk with Sonia about how her research was going and your trip over before deciding it was best to part ways there and bid her farewell before heading back towards the stadium. Nessa mentioned leaving to make sure she arrived on time. You wondered if Gloria was battling her right now?...Well you soon found out the answer to that question.

when you were just making your way up to the resturaunt your stomach grumbled. Making you wince a bit. Huh. Guess you were out for longer than you thought if you got hungry. Glancing up to the cafe you wondered how much a simple meal would cost? It was supposed to be famous for their food after all. With a shrug you decided on entering and seeing if they had anything your measly twelve dollars could buy. Fancy was the first word that came to mind when you entered through the double doors and a bell rung off. A woman at a front desk was the first thing to greet you along with some kind of pokemon you didn't recognize. It seemed the theme of the whole place was blue and white, giant tables lined the area with table setting and napkins fancily folded into boat like shapes, a MASSIVE window looking over the stadium, and a bar like area near the far right walls with another pair of double doors you assumed lead to the kitchen. The only other people there besides you and the lady was a man behind the bar counter who was talking on the phone with someone.

The woman smiled at you. "Greetings and welcome to the Hulbury Seafood Restaurant!" She greeted with a bow. "Do you happen to have a reservation or would like to make one?"

"Uh-..." You shook your head. Oh man. Was this one of those places where you HAD to make a reservation in order to eat? "Not exactly. I just heard your food was pretty good."

The woman still smiled. "Oh. Well then I'd be more than happy to seat you by the-"

"AHH!" Both of you jumped when a thud rang out which turned out to be the man in the chef hat slamming down the phone he was previously talking to.

"Chef, what on earth is the matter?," the woman asked.

The chef pointed to the phone scowl on his face. "My delivery boy just called. Apparently he's caught a cold and can't make it today! Out of all the days I need him most." The old man grabbed at his grey hair. "I have all these orders and no one to take them. The Chairman could show up any minute for his reservation but instead he's going to be present with angry customers calling for their orders and our reputation as Hulbury's greatest restaurant will be tarnished!!"

"Well...I could run out and deliver a few," the woman suggested.

"And leave your post!? OH no no no! That'd look even more bad if no one was here to greet them in while I cook!" He slumped forward. "This is an utter disaster! What am I to do?"

You looked between the two of them before slowly holding up your hand. "Um...If you'd like, I'd like to help."

Immediately the chef snapped his head up and blinked at you. Before a suspicious look came over his face as he looked you over. "You, Young Lady? You would please help us deliver some food?"

You nodded. "I mean..Yeah. It looks like you guys are pretty.." You gave a glance at the empty place. "-busy at the moment and I'd like to help."

After looking you up and down a few more moments the chef sighed before shrugging. "Why not? I have nothing else to lose in this moment anyhow." He reached under a counter and beckoned you to come over to which you complied before placing a small take out box onto the counter. "Thank you. I truly appreciate it. Tell you what. If you manage to deliver all the take out orders then I'll prepare you my famous 'Lucky Egg' dish as thanks. How does that sound?"

You mouth watered just thinking about free food. This just might be your lucky day after all. You nodded with a smile and took the box from him. "Sure! Sounds fair enough. Where do I deliver this one?"

He paused for a moment...before he rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh uh. Well as for where to deliver the food.....Sorry. We've been so stressed out for the Chairman's visit I forgot to ask for an address." You stared at him. .....WHAT!? "B-But I heard a clickity clack sound from the phone when I took the first order. Maybe that's a clue as to where to go?"

..........You sighed. "Yeah..Don't worry about it. I'll figure it out somehow."

"That's the spirit! Come back as soon as you're done delivering that one! And hurry please. Oh! And here. Take this notepad with you. They'll have to sign off on it so I can send the bill."

You had no idea what you had gotten yourself into this time. With a groan you exited the restaurant and spotted a peculiar sight to behold. There was Gloria standing just outside the restaurant as you approuched with her back to you and you soon saw what she was staring at. A little ways from her standing in the middle of the road was HIM. Mareep Head-..Er. I mean Bede who looked bored and in front of him was....It was her. The same woman from your dream and the Opening Ceremony as well. And in front of her was...No. It COULDN'T be!! In front of them was a group of about six to eight people, but with that group was none other than the CHAIRMAN himself!!...Tho he looked a little different than the other times you've seen him. You didn't expect to see Nessa outside of her gym leader suit, but you hadn't been caught too much off guard. The chairman however was a different story. Instead of that professional slim fitting suit he wore a baseball cap, slip on white shoes, sunglasses, .....a sweater that showed how chubby he was actually under his suit, and blue shorts with white polka dots to top it all off. You could only star at the man...Was this-....This COULDN'T have been the same professional high standing man that ran the whole Galar Region! He looked like someone's Dad on a lazy day. ...You chuckled which startled Gloria into giving a yelp and whipping around to see you and the box you held.

"Holy Magikarp, Y/n! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry....Hey. What are you doing all the way over here? I thought you were having a battle today."

She sighed. "We got hungry just waiting for Nessa so Hop suggested I go grab us something while he holds our place. What are you doing?" She noticed the box you held and pointed at it. "And what's that?"

"Long story short is that I agreed to be the fill in delivery boy for a bit." You nodded past her towards the group. "Hey uh...Gloria, is that who I think it is?"

She turned around and with a huff she crossed her arms and frowned. "Yeah. The Cottonee so full of himself he needs a garden hose to wash the ego from his brain!"

".....Uh..Actually I was talking about the chairman over there, but I guess Bede's here too yes."

"Oh...Well yeah. It's weird just walking around the corner and seeing him right that. Like..what the bloody heck are those shorts?"

"Y'know I was thinking the same thing." You two continued to watch in bewilderment as the chairman smiled and spoke with the small group of people, before the woman suddenly stepped in front of him as he was about to shake another person's hand.

She held up a hand. "Our sincerest apologies," she spoke with a calm and professional tone, "The chairman is quite busy at the moment. Everyone please disperse. Please leave now."

The crowd murmered but eventually slowly parted ways, one woman saying. "Ok. See you later, Chairman."

"Oh h-hey! No need to rush off! I can still do autographs!," the chairman called after them raising a hand, "I'll even give you my pokemon league card!" To your surprise no one really paid attention and kept walking besides you and Gloria...And you rose a brow. With a sigh he turned back to the woman. "we need the support of our fans to keep doing what we're doing. Chasing them off like that. Aren't you being a little too harsh, Oleana?"

"Fans are very important of course," the woman, who must've been Oleana explained, "That's why you need to keep doing your work for their sake."

"I promise to do everything in my power to assist you too, Chairman!," Bede butted in proud of himself. Huh. Maybe Gloria had a point.

The chairman gave him a look for a moment before raising a brow. "Oh. And you were?"

Maybe it was just your imagination most likely, but you could've sworn you saw Bede frown for a moment before he answered, "Bede, Sir."

"AH! That's right! Bede! I daresay I'm impressed how fair you've come since I gave you that pokemon all those years ago. Will you be the one to win the Gym Challenge? Or perhaps it will be one of the Trainers endorsed by the Champion."

"I will prove your faith in me was well placed, Chairman," Bede assured, "I won't lose to anyone. Anyway speaking of which, I'll be on my way now." He turned and began walking away, but completely froze upon seeing you and Gloria..Well more Gloria than you as the two of them made eye contact...And he suddenly pointed. "YOU!?"

"Hey Mareep Head. How's your Hatenna?"

"WHY YOU-....YOU- ..LITTLE-"

"AH! You!" Bede practically jumped out of his skin as the chairman was quick to push past him and walk up to Gloria with a smile, Oleana right behind him. Gloria practically just stood and stared as he approuched and you rose an eye brow. "Your name was...." He thought for a moment before pointing to her. "Gloria right? We were just talking about you!" Your brow rose more. That was a complete and utter lie. They were standing right there entire time in front of you but you shrugged it off as an awkward ice breaker.

.....Gloria exchanged a look with you before pointing at herself. "....Me?"

he nodded. "Yes! I admit I'm curious about Leon's reasons for endorsing you. Ah! I just had a good idea, as I tend to do!" Brag much? "You're going to face Gym Leader Nessa soon, yes?"

"Um...Y-Yeah. I was on my way back to the stadium actually-"

"Well if you get a gym badge from her I'll hold a celebration! I'd like to get to know you a little better after all." He smiled and you felt ....odd about it all.

"Um..Y-Yeah..I guess so??"

"Chairman, we should really be going if you want to keep that dinner reservation," Oleana stated.

The chairman nodded to her before turning back to Gloria. "Alright. Please do your best, for the sake of Galar's future."

"I Uh...Y-YES SIR!!" Gloria gave her best smile under the situation.

With a smile and nod he turned and walked past her and you not sparing you a glance and you followed him with your gaze brow raised...You weren't sure, but you had a funny feeling about him and it wasn't a good funny. When you turned back around you nearly jumped the box in surprise. The woman-!! Oleana was standing right in front of Gloria so close her shadow was literally blocking the sunlight from her. The poor girl frozen under the woman's studying gaze.

"The Chairman will be heading to this town's seafood restaurant." She stated monotonely, "Win the gym badge and join him there at once. Do not keep him waiting. Am I clear, Young Lady?" Gloria didn't say anything..and you looked at her. Eyes shooting to the size of plates. She was more frozen than a glacier. ...All that came out of her was a small squeak noise making the woman's eyes narrow. "Perhaps I wasn't clear. Do not keep the chairman waiting. Head to the seafood restaurant. The Captain's Table. Do you need me to repeat myself once more, Child? Or do you understand-"

"Too skinny."

Gloria jumped having probably completely forgotten you were there for a moment as she snapped to you and Oleana followed her piercing gaze to meet your glare. ....She slowly blinked. "I beg your pardon, Miss?"

"I said you're too skinny for that," you explained as they both stared at her.

Her brow flicked up as she studied you. "And I happen to be too thin for what purpose, Ma'am?"

"Well you're certainly not fat enough to be throwing your weight around not to notice you're being a jerk," you explained raising a brow back, "Obviously she heard you with how close you are. Maybe she'd answer if you weren't so close making her feel uncomfortable like that."

They both stared at you stunned. Gloria jaw dropped and Oleana had the same face but her eyes much more widened as she stared at you. It was so quiet you could've heard a pin drop as you joined this little three way stare down. HECK. It felt like an entire hour just staring at her before her face slowly contorted back to her original bored/professional looking one and she took a step back, spooking Gloria in process as the poor girl blinked.

"Do you happen to know who I am, Miss?," she asked like you should already know this.

"Somebody who's heels makes them so tall their head's in the clouds obviously."

This time her brows furrowed, her mouth frowned, and you noticed the way her hands gripped each other. As if she was physically holding back her anger. But before she could reply a chuckle seemed to interrupt you. Blinking you turned around only to find that the Chairman guy was looking right at you. Raising a brow and humming. You rose a brow and frowned right back.

....He waved a hand off. "Oleana, you're right. We'll be late for that reservation. Give the young trainer my League card and let's be on our way."

It's amazing how fast her aura and face changed at a moment's dime. "Of course. So you will not forget the Chairman's face, I will give you one of his League Cards." She suddenly held something out to Gloria who blinked but after a moment took it. "Chairman Rose is the kind of man who gets downhearted if he doesn't take care of things he needs to right away. Go to the seafood restaurant as soon as possible so as to not keep the chairman waiting." She glanced back to you and your eyes narrowed more. "...Good luck in your battle." With that she stepped around Gloria who followed her as she went and so did you with your frown. And after the Chairman gave another look to you, also turned and walked away.

....You sighed and turned back to Gloria, only to blink when she was staring right back at you. "....Uh...H-Hey. Are you ok there? You looked spooked." Shaking. Your eyes widened noticing her hands shaking. "WHOA! Hey! Are you ok!? She didn't scare you too bad did she?"

"Y-Y-Y/n..," She stuttered. Her hands slowly clenched into fists. "T-T-That..was..." Her face snapped up to you in a smile. "AWESOME!! SERIOUSLY!! Like! Yeah she gave off major scare vibes I swear she's worse than a gengar in the darkest room! My heart was pounding so fast! Then you were all well slayin' 'ere like a beast!!...Omg." She looked down for a moment realization settling in. "....My traveling partner talked BACK to the Chairman's right hand!! What's he going to think when I show up!? I mean it was amazing to watch don't get me wrong. But STILL!!''

"Hey, hey, hey!!" You caught her attention by grabbing her shoulder making her blink at your face. "Hey. Look at me." Once you knew you had her full attention you smiled. "That woman was making you feel scared, and that's not ok. So I did what I had to do. If anything I'll get in trouble. Besides, Im a girl standing on the sidewalk holding a delivery box. They'd probably think I was just a stranger going to delivery a pizza or something. Right now you should just worry about your gym battle."

It was like a record scratch went off in her mind as she suddenly paused, face going blank for a moment before her hands suddenly snatched the top of her head. "AH!! MY GYM BATTLE!! I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THAT!! BUT THE CHAIRMAN SAID IF I WIN TO SEE HIM!! IF!! IF!! WHAT IF I DON'T WIN!? OMG!! CAN I STILL MEET WITH HIM IF I DON'T-"

You shook her with the hand still on her shoulder. "Gloria! Get a grip on yourself! Of course you're going to win!'' You smiled. "If you could beat Milo you can beat Nessa too! And if you lose it's fine. I'm sure he'll understand, you can't let all of that overthinking stop you ok? Be more confident in yourself, and if you lose..." You shrugged. "Then it's ok. You can always try again tomorrow or any other day. You are going to be ok....Ok?"

She stared at you for a long moment before taking a deep breath and sighing. A determined look now plastered on her face. "You're right! I'm just overthinking this! I just need to remain calm and everything's going to be fine!"

You smiled. "That's the spirit...Hey. Isn't it gonna start like..right now?"

"GAH! Y-You're right! I gotta go!" With a wave she quickly turned on her heel and ran off towards the stadium. "Thanks, Y/n! You're the best!"

You sighed before shaking your head watching her go. Well...glad that went well at least, she was a brave girl so she should be ok..But then why did you still feel eyes on you? As you turned your f/c eyes met purple ones and Bede jumped having noticed you spotted him. With a jerk of his head the other way, he quickly sped walked away from you in the opposite direction leaving you lightly confused. But you shrugged it off. Right now you had bigger fish to fry like getting this fish you were currently holding to the person who ordered it. Who ever it was. That was the thing you had to figure out as you stood there in the middle of the sidewalk staring at the box in your hands like someone staring off into space. Good gosh the guy couldn't think to ask for an address? What were you supposed to do with a click clack sound? That could mean anything....Well what kind of click clack sounds were loud enough to be heard over a phone. ....Your head turned towards the train station back towards the stadium. Didn't trains usually make a noise like that? A train would certainly be loud enough to hear over a phone. With a shrug you started off down towards the train station and right up to the first house right by it since there was two. Knocked and waited patiently as footsteps approuched.

The first one was answered by a middle aged looking man and you smiled. "Hey! Uh...Did you order seafood?"

"No. I don't like fish."

"Oh..Sorry about tha-" You flinched as the door was slammed back shut in front of your face..before you frowned. "Well he was pretty rude wasn't he?" Your sobble chirped in agreement. "Couldn't have said it better myself," you mumbled as you turned away from the door and away from the first house to go to the second. The Stadium not too far away roaring alive now with cheers. Must be Hop or Gloria having a battle with Nessa. Shame you couldn't attend but you were a bit busy right now. Walking up to the second home, you knocked on the door and waited. After a moment footsteps approuched and a sweet elderly woman answered. You smiled. "Hey! Good afternoon! Did someone here order some seafood?"

To your delight, she smiled. "Oh, are you the one delivering my food?" She happily reached out and took the box from you. "Thank you for your trouble! This restaurant's dishes are full of seafood and it's so delicious if I say so myself. They are pretty well known after all."

"Your welcome! ..Oh wait!" You reached into your pocket to quickly pull out your notebook. "I need you to-''

"Oh of course! Your tip. "

"Actually I-" You blinked when a small bag of what looked like small jaw breakers was placed into your hand tied off by a cute little red ribbon.

"I've already paid the restaurant over the phone, so I'll give you candy as a tip. There's nothing like sweets to go along with a beautiful day. You have a nice day now."

You blinked looking at the small bag. "Hey wait! I need you-" The door closed leaving you staring at it. "..to sign this. *sigh*" You held up the overly cute bag and your sobble gave it a curious look over. "Well, it's not money but it's better than nothing I guess. Wouldn't you say?"

Your trip back to the restaurant wasn't anything unusual, still faintly hearing the cheers from the gym on your way there. The only thing that was a little strange was a small group of three or four people standing outside the place trying to peep into the windows. Your brow rose but you shrugged it off and just stepped inside seeing the same woman as before.

"Sorry. We're closed at the mome-..OH! It's you young lady,'' she greeted.

"Back again?!" You looked over towards the chef and he smiled seeing you. "Excellent! I wanted to ask you to deliver some food again. Is that ok? I suspect that the package was delivered?"

....You held up the bag of candy. "Yeah. Sorry I couldn't get her to sign it. But she tipped me in candy."

"Oh. That must've been Mrs. Wesley. Don't worry about her, she has a habit of doing that." Again he reached under the counter and brought up another box. "But right now I need you to deliver this next one as soon as possible!'' You walked over and he held it out to you before slightly nodding over towards the right. You glanced over and your eyes widened seeing the chairman and Oleana looking out of the window over the stadium, not seeming to notice you thankfully. "Since the Chairman's here we're doing our best to try and not upset the atmosphere. Since you're taking care of this for us it's really taking one less thing off our shoulders to worry about."

You sighed with a smile before taking the second box from him. The fresh smell of fish and chips wafting from it making your mouth water. "Hey. It's no problem. Where do I take this one?"

He paused. "Well....I uh...Haha. D-Didn't quite get the address for this one either?" You stared. "...B-but I don't know if this helps, but I think I heard a pokemon cry over the phone this time. Like....Swiirl...Or something like that."

"....I'll...figure it out I'm sure."

Figure it out indeed! How in the HECK were you just supposed to deliver a dang food order based off a pokemon's cry?? Whelp! There was only one way to solve this! ...Visit all the houses here until you came across the right one. So that's exactly what you did. You already delivered to the lady up by the train station and the guy next to her rudely stated he didn't so that was two houses you could cross off your list. So there you went starting from one end of the long, LONG street of houses one after another smiling and asking if they ordered a take out. Every. Single. One. Said. No. Or just didn't answer at all, and to be honest you were feeling justifiably annoyed at this point. What was the POINT of having someone deliver food if you didn't know where to send them!? It must've taken you at least fifthteen minutes of walking and asking until you FINALLY caught a break coming to the very last house on the block before the road split off between the train station and stadium. You knocked and waited patiently as footsteps approuched, and you smiled when a blonde man who looked to be in his early thirties opened the door.

"Hey. Sorry to bother you, but did you order some seafood takeout?"

"Oh, I can smell the ocean. You're from the restaurant aren't you?" You nodded and held the box up to him as he took it with a hum. "Ah! I'm starving! I've been drooling while waiting for the food! Than you for delivering the food!"

"Oh hey. Before you go." You held up the notepad. "Could you please sign for this?"

"Oh sure thing. Wait right here." He turned and walked back inside leaving you standing there able to see the inside of the home as the man handed off the food to two little girls who looked so much alike that they must've been twins. A pink pokemon looking like cotton candy swirling around them. "Stacy, Lacy. Food's here. And this time don't let Pinkie eat my share of it." You stood there awkwardly until he finally came back grabbing the note pad. "Sorry about that. You know how kids can be."

"Heh. Yeah. Sorry if it took so long. Had to go the long way around to get here."

"Well you get energy from food. If you need energy you should eat balanced meals." He handed you back the notepad with a smile. "Thanks again!''

With a sigh you turned on your heel and began trudging off back towards the restaurant. Your stomach rumbled again and by this point you were seriously wondering if this was even worth any free food for? If you had half a mind you would've just quite, returned the notepad, and then just go back to the hotel to just eat some of your rations or order the cheapest thing on the room service menu. But then again, you already promised to help and free food does sound better than spending your remanding money. Plus their food was supposed to be really good. So..You made the choice to go back to the very cafe you came from and waltzed back through the doors and up to the counter this time. The chef seemed very pleased to have you back as he had already placed the last box on the counter he explained. Only one more? Oh THANK goodness. You weren't sure how much of this mumbo jumbo you could handle. You took the last box from him not sparing a glance over your shoulder in the chairman's way.

"As for the address-"

"Let me guess. You forgot?"

"Actually. No. I remembered to ask." Your eyes widened. Was this finally gonna be easy? "Unfortunately I have no idea where it is.".....WHAT?! "The customer told me to look for a green roof, but I wonder if there is such a house in Hulbury. I've certainly never seen a house like this before but Im sure you're smart enough to figure it out like the other two!"

".......Right."

Of course it wasn't going to be that easy. It never was going to be easy for you was it? It seemed simple enough tho. Just look for a house with a green roof and that should be it right? Except..none of the houses you had asked previously had ordered anything and the ones that did couldn't have possibly ordered a second time in such short notice right after getting the first. Oh well. Green roof. That's all you had to go on......and the amount of time you had spent walking up and down these streets looking for any building with a green roof was exhausting. NONE of the homes here had green roofs and when you checked the few buildings around here that weren't homes (like the light house and pokemon center-) discovered surprise, surprise. No green roof either. Oh you hoped whoever ordered this didn't live outside Hulbury. Not having any luck where you currently were, you decided to go ahead and go back down to the docks where you first went that morning. You didn't remember seeing any buildings there but it wouldn't hurt to cover all bases before giving up. Your body ended up wondering back to the market place you were once in...And you were about ready to give up. There wasn't anything around here with a green-

"HEY! Young Lady with the sobble on your shoulder!," a male voice shouted. Blinking, you turned around to one of the stalls. the one with the green and white top. A man with brown hair waved at you. "You're delivering food?" You nodded. "Well hey! I'm the one who ordered it!" He was!?...You glanced towards the striped roof of his stall.....Oh. A green roof. Whelp! Might as well get this over with. he smiled wider as you approuched. "You got here earlier than I expected! It was easy to spot the green roof wasn't it?"

No. Not really. In fact it would've been a LOT easier if he just said he was in a stall in this marketplace but instead you forced a smile and handed him the box and notepad. "Please sign here."

He gladly signed it. "The tail curry of this restaurant has a unique flavor. I love it! Say hi to the manager for me!"

You quickly grabbed the notebook. "Have a nice day!" And then you quickly retreated. A groan leaving your tired body as you dragged yourself back the way you came for a second time that day. By the time you had gotten back close to the restaurant you were sore, tired, but most of all you were hungry! OH! The food had better be worth it or else you were going straight back to the hotel to-

"Y/N!!" Hey. You knew that voice! Sure enough Gloria was waving her arm at you with a smile as you proceeded to walk towards her. Despite wanting time to yourself today you were absolutely glad to see her. "What are you doing by the docks?"

"Finishing my role as a replacement delivery boy," you answered when you got close enough and pointed at her white uniform. "Why are you still wearing your gym challenge uniform?"

"Oh uh.." She sheepishly smiled with a chuckle. "It's a long story. On the bright side I managed to defeat Nessa! LOOK!" A flash of bronze went in your face and you blinked before leaning back. A badge with some kind of blue water pattern shown before you. No doubt the water gum badge. "Feast yer eyes! I thought I was a gonna when I lost the second round, but I managed to pull a turn around and win enough rounds to pass! Ain't it great?!"

You smiled. "Hey! That is great! I'm so happy for you! But where's Hop? I thought he was with you."

"He stayed behind to set up his own battle with Nessa tomorrow. Don't worry. He already knows where I am. Said he'll meet back up with us when we're done having dinner with the Chairman."

"...We?"

"Oh.." She slowly lowered her had back down to her side. "I just...thought you'd be coming too since you were there with me when he invited me.I-...I just thought since y'know...B-But that's fine! I won't force ya to come with me. Yer probably tired from running around all day anyways."

You paused. Yes, you were tired but you were heading back inside the restaurant anyways. And if Oleana was there...You smiled. "Hey! I'd love to come!"

Her eyes lit up. "REALLY!?"

"Yeah. I gotta go in to let 'em know I'm done delivering all these confusing orders anyways." You turned and nodded towards the doors. "C'mon. Let's go eat and see what he wants. Ok?"

With a smile of relief she nodded and the two of you went up towards the doors and went inside. The woman from before was there and upon seeing the both of you greeted you both with a smile. "Welcome to the Hulbury Seafood Resturaunt. Unfortunately we're not accepting any reservations or walk ins today but if you'd like to schedule one for a later or order take out you're more than welcome-....Oh! It's you again, Young Lady."

"Uh. Yeah." You held out the notepad. "Actually I was promised free food if I delivered everything and we were both invited to eat with the Chairman over there."

"Oh." She glanced to Gloria who looked nervous, seeming to realize she was a trainer. "Yes. I recall he said something about an extra guest trainer with his party today. Chairman Rose comes here incognito, but the word always gets out when he's here." She grabbed the notepad from you. "You both may go ahead to the Captain's Table in the back. I'll notify the chef you completed your tasks."

With a thanks you both took off towards the back where you saw the Chairman, Oleana, and..HEY! It was Sonia. Relief flooding in seeing another familiar face. This might be more tolerable then...Maybe you should take this time to apologize? You glanced to Gloria who still looked nervous. If this was someone very high up and important it wouldn't hurt to swallow your pride and just apologize, if nothing else but to keep the peace and show you're willing to be the bigger person. After all you don't want to cause trouble. The first to notice you two was the chairman himself as he turned his head from Sonia to you two and smiled.

"Ah! If it isn't the young trainer I met earlier today," he greeted with a smile and raised brow, "If you're here then I suppose it's safe to say you won against Nessa?"

You didn't miss her gulp before forcing a smile. "Uh..Y-Yeah. Piece of cake!"

He nodded. "I'm so glad! Gloria, come. Let's celebrate your recent victory! On me!" ...You felt eyes on you and you turned from the Chairman's face to Oleana's who was staring right at you. ...You frowned back at her- "And I believe I've seen you before as well, Young Lady." You blinked back to the Chairman's face as he was looking at you too now with a raised brow. ...AH CRAP!! "You were the lady back there who gave my assistant quite a 'roasting' as the young kinds call it nowadays."

...You blinked. Forcing up a smile. Here we go. "Uh. hehe. Yeah. Actually I wanted to apologize to you.." You gave Oleana a glance. "-and her for that. I just thought things were getting a bit scary back there."

To your surprise he chuckled it off with a wave. "Not at all. In all honestly Oleana can be quite intimidating to others. It's one of the reasons she's so good at her job. But there's no hard feelings. Right Oleana?"

The woman next to him inhaled before breathing it back out. "Of course, Sir. Apologies accepted and all's forgiven."

"Excellent! I don't suppose you know Sonia here? She's a wonderful person to have on the research team."

"Yeah. We do actually. Hi, Sonia."

"Oh. Were you invited too?," she asked surprised.

Before you could reply the chairman interrupted you. "You two know each other? That's great! Come now." He gestured to the table directly behind him. "Please be seated." And the three of you followed him and did so after you and Gloria exchanged a glance. She still looked nervous. The order of which you sat was Gloria sat across from the Chairman, Sonia next to Gloria, and you next to the Chairman. Naturally you would've preferred to sit next to either one of the other girls but you weren't about to let Gloria sit right next to a guy you had a funny feeling over. Strangely enough Oleana didn't seem like she was eating with you four and instead opted to stand silently next to the Chairman. How odd. You watched as he oh so casually picked the napkin off his own plate. Hmm...Guess he's been here more than once. "Now that we're all together. Gloria was it? Tell us how did your battle go?"

She shrugged. "Oh. Um. I-It was pretty good. Very thrilling. It was really nice to get ta meet Nessa. She's very nice." Sonia smiled at her.

"That's all very good. If you're as talented as Leon mentioned you then you should have no problem defeating the other gym leaders."

"Well I wouldn't say that. I-It was really hard to beat her. She's a tough gym leader."

"Hey. What were you talking about with Sonia?," you asked successfully steering the topic off Gloria for the moment as the Chairman smiled.

"Oh nothing really worth talking about. How her trip was so far studying around with the legends and the Geoglph in Turffield. The theory is that the two are somehow connected but I digress. AH! Our food has arrived." You looked over to what he was gesturing at and perked up at the lady from before who greeted you carrying two plates. One obviously being some kind of fish as it was placed before the chairman who happily accepted. "Ah! My usual. You always remember." And you were surprised when the other plate was sat in front of you. It was curry, smelt sweet, and had an egg smack dab in the middle of it. "Oh. It looks like you're a regular here too I presume."

"The chef asked me to give you his 'Lucky Egg' dish as a token of his appreciation, Miss," she explained, "I hope you're ok with sweet boiled egg curry. Are the rest of you ready to order?"

"Go ahead ladies. It's on me today."

"Mm. Just a salad. I'm not very hungry today."

"...I mean. The tropical curry sounds good," Gloria guessed.

You were too busy studying the dish in front of you to notice the lady leave. Instead staring at the massive egg just sitting in the middle of the darn plate. ...You weren't up to eating something that might've been a pokemon egg no matter how much your stomach rumbled at the sight and your mouth watered at the smell. Luckily it seemed like you had a back up plan because your sobble was crawling down your arm already on his way towards your food. You extended your hand to allow the small pokemon to sit on the table next to you and without really thinking grabbed the egg off your plate and held it out to it. He smiled and happily accepted your gift with a loud chirp before grabbing it and you watched as it bit it nearly in half with one bite. Goodness. Guess you weren't the only one hungry.

"Hulbury is a seafood town. Naturally if one is going to eat here the obvious choice is the local cuisine," the chairman said already digging in, "Everything on the menu is delicious. Oh, Sonia. By the way how is Professor Magnolia getting on? I'm quite indebted to her you know. She was the one who figured out how to unleash the power of Wishing Stars and use that power to dynamax pokemon. We would never have been able to create dynamax bands without her."

Sonia sighed. "*sigh* She was saying that there's still so much we don't know about dynamaxing. It's causing her some worry. She even made me take a power spot detector with me when I started traveling."

"A power spot detector?," he asked interested, "That's the device that allowed me to discover power spots. Locations that emit galar particles and allow pokemon to dynamax. I don't like hearing that Professor Magnolia is worried though. If only there was something I could do." You glanced at him again out the corner of your eye and rose a brow. Why were you getting a weird feeling in your gut from this guy?

Sonia shrugged. "Unless you can suddenly provide more intel on the phenominon then I'm afraid there isn't much, Sir."

He hummed.".....Sonia. It may be good for you to visit the vault in Hammerlocke. I believe the key to unlocking the secrets of the dynamax phenomenon lies in the history preserved there."

Sonia blinked. "Oh. You really think so?"

"We usually study history based on what was left on it from the past. Although mostly legends at this point you know they always say that every legend has truth to it. Who knows? It might even help tie in with the lengend you've been studying currently. Oleana can arrange a meeting I'm sure. Can't you?"

"Understood, Sir," Oleana replied monotonly, "I will arrange a meeting with Ms. Sonia."

"Very good. See? Nothing to worry yourself over about. Now shall we dig in?"

The rest of that dinner get together was a blur. Honestly you were too busy stuffing your face to talk but you didn't mind. You only watched and listened to the small talk. Gloria and Sonia's food arrived a short while after and by this point they were mostly done eating as well. His other questions didn't seem too out of the ordinary. Asking how their day was? How they were enjoying the challenge so far? Talking about some of his recent appointments involving some kind of arrangement with a Prince from the Pasio Region?? You weren't sure. But the sun was starting to set soon.

"So then I figured the best way to solve the matter was to set up individual warnings for the two of them and move one to a different department under Oleana. *sigh* Both are hard workers so it'd be a shame to just fire one or both. Don't you agree Oleana?"

"Yes, Sir. However I believe it is about time we get going, Chairman."

"Hm?" He looked at her. "But I've hardly had a chance to speak with Gloria." You rose a brow. You had literally been sitting her an entire hour.

"With all do respect, Sir. It's getting rather late. I'm sure the young lady is quite tired from her day."

...He sighed. "It's regrettable but I guess it can't be helped. If something needs to get done there's no time like the present after all!" He slowly stood from his seat as the three of you watched and smiled. "Truly though I'm glad to have had a chance to speak with you ladies today. So sorry if we couldn't have spent more time together. In any case I bid you farewell."

"OH! Uh..G-Good bye, M-Mr. Chairman. Sir."

You remained silent as the two left. Narrowed eyes watching as they went...Something about those two just felt...Off. Like it didn't sit right in your gut, but you had no idea why? Was there some kind of plot in the game with those two you couldn't remember?...Hm. In any case you were glad they were gone now so you and Gloria could rela- Your head perked up with at a sigh as Sonia rubbed her face.

"Hey. You good there?"

"Does he think he's doing me a favor? He's right that the vault would be a good place to look for the legends but..." She paused suddenly looking up and noticing the two of you staring at her confused. "UH!...Nevermind! You got the water badge right? Defeating Nessa is no easy feat!"

"Uh..Yeah. What are-"

"Nessa's a good friend! Perhaps I should drop in on her!," her chair screeched as she stood up all of a sudden giving a nervous smile, "Ahaha! Yes! She'll be so happy to see me! Until next time, Gym Challenger! Nice seeing you again, Y/n!"

Both of you stared as Sonia quickly sped walked away from you two and then out of the restaurant as if she was escaping something...

Gloria blinked. "What the world just happened?"

"Believe me I have learnt in this point of my life to just go with things. C'mon. It's free food. Let's finish eating and meet the others back at the hotel."

[happytsukki]

can i request a scenario where tsukki is in love with kageyama’s twin sister 😂 maybe she’s a their manager or his classmate????

i had to stop myself from making the miya twins 2.0,,,imagine how powerful the kageyama twins would be if i made reader play volleyball as good as tobio

i think it was supposed to be funny but i cant find the humor anywhere huh 🥴

anyways i made it a bullet point scenario because i was lazy sorry

UNEXPECTED

pairing: tsukishima x kageyama twin sister!reader

while your twin brother, tobio, ruled the court as karasuno’s starting setter, you found yourself tucked away in the farthest place from that gym: the library.

both of you were born with that competitive edge and determination, but you directed that effort into school more than anything else.

maybe you took tobio’s brain cells in the womb because while he struggled to spell “necessary” you were already balancing complex chemical equations.

you were smarter the entire class 4, including the tsukishima kei.

tsukishima prided himself in being the top in his class, so when he notices his name ranked beside #2 after the first exam, he’s beyond pissed (also shocked because who could even be smarter than him?)

once he reads kageyama [y/n] above his name, red sirens are blaring in his head.

k-kageyama? don’t tell me she’s related to that cocky king

you notice his bewildered expression as his finger is frozen on your name, instantly recognizing him as the team’s salty middle blocker that tobio constantly complains about.

you: you’re tsukishima, right? guess you’ll have to study harder next time.

you say with a smug smile and you can practically see the fumes coming out his ears.

tsukishima: enjoy it now, because soon you’ll be under me.

heat rising to his cheeks once he realizes that it could be interpreted as something else.

this begins your newfound rivalry with tsukishima. unfortunately for you two, as the top two students in the class, you’re assigned as the class representatives.

which basically means you’re stuck with him and he’s stuck with you. early mornings, busy lunches, and late evenings. you two find yourselves around each other almost 24/7.

you put up with the fake smiles and forced cooperation to appease the teacher and complete the necessary tasks. but anywhere else besides the classroom, it’s endless banter.

you: i think you made a mistake on the form.

tsukishima: no i didn’t.

you: yes you did.

tsukishima: no you probably did.

you: no it was you.

you’re constantly at each other’s necks, fighting for control and nitpicking every miniscule detail done by the other.

fast forward...it’s gameday and you’re attending for your tobio’s sake, but as you walk to the gym you notice a familiar figure leaning against the door.

tsukshima instantly notices you and takes this as a chance to tease you.

tsukishima: following me even outside of school [y/n]? did you miss me?

you roll your eyes and explain that you’re actually here for your brother but just for an extra kick, you add that if he wanted you to cheer for him, he could’ve just asked nicely ;)

in the end, karasuno wins. but rather than finding yourself beside tobio, you gravitate towards tsukishima.

you’re running towards him at full speed, no stops. a smile that put the sun to shame on your face, eyes glistening with a certain adoration that tsukishima had never seen, especially when they were looking up at him.

then you’re rambling on and on, maybe something about his serves or his blocking but he doesn’t really hear it over the loud doki doki filling his ears.

the weather grows colder, the leaves change color, and tsukishima finds himself falling for you.

it’s the subtle ways he cares for you: telling you to get more sleep, letting you borrow his sweater when he notices your goosebumps, reassuring you after stressing over another test.

one day, you two are left after school to help grade papers. and he stares a little too long—long enough for you to notice.

you: why are you looking at me like that?

tsukishima: like what?

you: like,,,,you’re dying to tell me something hmm.

next thing you know, he’s reaching over the table and running his thumbs along your cheekbones. your eyes flutter shut and you feel yourself melting against the warmth of his lips. it’s soft and tender; filling your heart with butterflies, and you decide, you too, will adore the moon like everyone else.

tsukishima: i like you.

before you can muster up a reply, starry-eyed and blushed cheeks, tobio comes running into the class like a maniac.

tobio: WHAT IS THIS? YOU CANNOT HAVE MY SISTER TSUKISHIMA, GO FIND SOMEONE ELSE.

he’s dragging you away and all you can do is wave goodbye and say “i’ll see you tomorrow tsukki!”

BONUS

tsukishima would be really hesitant to invite you to dinner to meet his family, but once he does they would all love you so much!! his mom absolutely adores you and is so glad that someone can love her son.

akiteru teases tsukishima about being so grown up now and thanks you for putting up with his attitude.

but dinner at your house is another story.

tobio won’t let tsukishima through the door and you practically have to tackle him to move out of the way. he’s shooting daggers at you two during dinner and keeps muttering something under his breath any time tsukishima talks.

but he’s honestly just really overprotective of you and wants only the best for you. 🥺 you have to remind him to back off bc you’re still 5 minutes older

[thorne93]

History Repeats (Part 10)

Prompt: Life’s hard, right? Well throw in a not so great job, a broken heart, and chasing a pipe dream in LA. But could someone come along to make all the bad shit disappear? Or is he just another heartbreak waiting around the bend?

Warnings: language, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, angst/heartbreak, adult themes (??)

Word Count: 2139

Note: Aesthetic made by @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​ because she’s absolutely amazing Beta’d by @like-a-bag-of-potatoes​ and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​ . Brainstorming from @carryonmyswansong​​

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

The energy around the house hadn’t changed -- not really. Not between you two. You tried to shrug off the rejection, and work definitely helped serve as a distraction. The first shift manager kept calling out, meaning you had to cover him. It seemed like every other day he was either sick, extremely late, had a flat tire...You name it, he had an excuse. So between running yourself ragged at work and trying to keep up with the housework, you couldn’t really dwell on the fact that you humiliated yourself. 

But you decided to just let it go, the times you did think about it. Sure you felt like you had started to fall for him, but ultimately, he didn’t want that and you had to respect it, no matter how bad it hurt. No matter how badly you wanted to change his mind, you knew you’d still rather have him as a friend than nothing at all. 

Yet, when you strolled in one day after working double shifts, exhausted, he thoroughly surprised you. 

“Oh, hey, you look beat,” he commented as he looked up from the dining room table. You barely moaned a response as you trudged in, dropping your purse and going to the couch to flop down. 

Quickly, he jumped up and walked over to you on the couch, lifting your feet and putting them on his lap.

“That good of a day, huh?” he teased but you were too tired to even muster a smile. 

“Just long. These double shifts are killing me. Between angry people checking out and frustrated people checking in and running around taking care of this complaint and this cold room service meal and ...It's just too much,” you complained, your arm draped over your eyes. 

Hayden spoke up, poking your leg. “What you need is a getaway,” he remarked. 

Laughing without humor, you pulled your arm off your face and rolled your eyes before looking down the couch at him. “Hah! With what time and what money?”

“You don’t have any vacation days stocked up?”

“I do...But I’m saving all of them for Europe,” you informed before blowing out air. 

“I see,” he said, nodding his head to the side. “Well why don’t you get some extra sleep?”

“No, I ca--” you started, but he held up his hand, stopping your objection.

“Before you say you can’t because you have too much housework. Leave it to me. Tell me what you were going to do and I’ll get it done.”

“You don’t have to do that,” you countered. “You have work too. I’m sure you’re exhausted,” you noted.

He shrugged. “We just went on hiatus for a week or two,” he informed. “I’ve had the last two days off. I’m fine. I can pick up the slack,” he informed with a half smile. “So what do you say? Give me your chores and go to sleep?”

You turned the idea over and over in your head. Sleep did sound absolutely divine right now. With a giant sigh, you pulled yourself up and went to the dining room table, where Hayden followed. 

“Okay, here’s the things I was gonna get done,” you informed as you leaned over and scribbled out a short list. 

“Nothing too intimidating,” he commented as he peered over your shoulder. 

“Good. I’m gonna go pass out,” you informed as you breezed past him, into your room, shutting the door to change and go to sleep. You barely remembered your head hitting the pillow.

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

It seems your eyes had just closed with a soft voice was urging you awake.

“Y/N, Y/N,” Hayden whispered as he sat on your bed, lightly shaking you.

When you opened your eyes, you noticed the room was considerably darker. Not night time, not quite yet, but the sun was definitely setting. 

“Hey,” you greeted. “What’s up?” you mumbled into the pillow. 

“Get up,” he excitedly commanded.

“Why?” you asked, nuzzling into your pillow and blankets.

He animatedly responded, “I want to show you something.”

“Can it wait?”

“Come on, this will be fun, I promise,” he vowed, slight plea in his tone.

“Alright,” you finally said, flopping the covers off your body and he stood to let you get out of bed. You threw on your pajama pants and followed him out into the open living area, noticing that it was practically sparkling. Every surface had been polished, every floor swept, every spot washed, and every pillow fluffed. 

“Hayden,” you breathed in disbelief. “This is amazing. Wow. It looks stunning. You did amazing,” you boasted.

“Eh, it’s nothing but a little elbow grease and time,” he said, brushing it off. “But this isn’t all of it,” he quickly added. “Go get changed. Swimsuit and a change of clothes,” he said.

“What? Why?” you wondered. 

“Are you always this inquisitive? Just do it. Please,” he gently commanded. 

“Okay,” you said, a bit of a sigh coming out as you said it. But you turned and went into your room, grabbed your bikini, slipped into it, threw on a loose, beach shirt over it, and pulled on some shorts. Then you grabbed your purse and flip flops. “Okay, I’m ready,” you announced as you went out into the living room.

“Great. Let’s go,” he encouraged as he thrust his head toward the door. 

“Where are we going?” you asked as you walked up to him, playful curiosity in your tone.

“You’ll see. Ever the nosy one, aren’t you?” he teased as you got in his rental car. 

He started the car, and he let you pick the radio, like always. You tuned it to some easy listening music, letting the sounds soothe your tired and tense muscles, letting your mind slip and become filled with ease. 

The drive wasn’t long, but you weren’t paying attention, so when he stopped the car and told you that you had arrived, it stirred you from a mindless daydream. 

Hayden climbed out before you, reaching in the backseat to grab something. Meanwhile, you lazily climbed out of the car, looking around to get your bearings, to see where he’d ended up taking you. 

“Thought you could use this,” he suddenly commented from behind you, making you whirl to look at him. “You seemed really stressed lately. Thought a trip to the beach might be good,” he offered with a shrug and a half smile. “Come on,” he said as he thrust his head towards the sandy beach, birds sounding overhead as you walked down the grade, the sand hitting your feet and making you feel more than relaxed. That, coupled with the slowly setting sun, setting off orange and gray hues over the sand and water. The lightest of breezes washed up with the shore, the smell of salty water hitting your nose and making you involuntarily relax.

The two of you found a spot and he spread out a blanket and tossed some things down, one of the things being a picnic basket. 

“You brought food?” you questioned as you settled onto the blanket. 

“You haven’t really eaten in the last few days,” he remarked. “Thought you could have a nice day of pampering...Or what I can offer as far as pampering goes.”

“Well thank you, Hayden, that’s really sweet,” you commented, a smile touching your face. 

“Nothing really. Just threw some food in a basket,” he said before pulling out the food and showing you what all he’d brought. It was an impressive spread that you started to immediately pick at, not realizing how hungry you really were. 

“Oh my god. I haven’t eaten more than a candy bar in three days,” you realized, a satisfied noise coming from your mouth as you savored the sandwich. 

Hayden couldn’t help but chuckle at you, the sound warming your heart more than it should. 

The two of you sat and ate and caught up on work and other happenings, seeing as you hadn’t really seen much of each other recently. Soon after you had caught up, you couldn’t help but be pulled to the water, wanting badly to put your aching and tired feet in there to feel the coolness of the water. Once you go there, you reveled in the feeling of the water lapping around your feet, the wind gently pushing your hair around your face, the sand squishing between your toes. It all felt so peaceful and wonderful. 

After a few moments, Hayden joined you, but as soon as he got there, you looked over and smirked at him before pulling off your shirt and shorts, throwing them behind you and running into the water laughing. 

“Come on!” you urged from chest deep in the water. “It’s fine!”

“You’re insane,” he called back, a delighted grin on his face. “This water is freezing!”

“Just jump in! The sooner you get it over with, the better!”

“No. I’m fine here, you know, ankle deep,” he assured with a thumbs up and a wink.

You rolled your eyes and slowly made your way back up to him. “You’re a big baby you know that?” you teased as you pretended to bend down and put your hands in the water. You waited until he was gazing at the waves to splash him. “It’s just a little water,” you said innocently.

His face turned from peaceful to coy as he eyed you. 

“Just a little water?” he echoed. “Okay, fine,” he said as he grabbed your hand and pulled you into the water, knee deep, before lifting you in his arms. 

“No! No! Hayden! It was a joke! I’m sorry!” you said, begging him to not toss you in. Truth be told, you could get used to this. The feeling of his bare chest against your body, his strong arms holding you...It was something you’d fantasized about a dozen times. 

“See? An apology, that’s all I wanted,” he said, a gentle smile on his face before he lifted and threw you into the water anyway. 

When you emerged, he was in stitches, but your face told a different story, forcing his laughter to stop.

“Y/N,” he warned, holding out a hand and trying to retreat to land. “Y/N, come on. I was just playing!” 

“Too bad!” you shouted before laughing and lunging at him, effectively knocking both of you in the water. 

Once you broke through the surface of the water, the two of you were sitting down, laughing at each other, then going right back to splashing, wrestling, and chasing. 

When nightfall made the water too cool and a little too dangerous to be in, you retreated to the beach, pulling on your clothes but still shivering. 

“Here,” he offered, handing you his hoodie. 

“Oh, no, I’m okay,” you assured with a shake of your head while holding your hand up. 

“It’s not a request,” he said. “You’re cold. I’m not using it. Take it.”

You rolled your eyes as you took the oversized hoodie and wrapped it around your arms. “Man, you’re pushy.” 

“Most people say ‘thank you’ when someone saves them from pneumonia,” he remarked with a silly face that made you smile like a fool at him. 

“Ah, I really needed this,” you said with a content sigh. “I needed to just...get away.”

He nodded. “I’m glad. I was hoping to help you and ease some of your stress.”

“Thank you, so much for doing this,” you said again as you laid back on the blanket that covered the cool sand, just staring up at the sky, letting his hoodie keep you warm and cozy. 

“You deserved it,” he mentioned quietly as he leaned back beside you, resting on his elbows. 

You closed your eyes, nearly getting lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves, the cool breeze, the comfort of the sand beneath you. Your thoughts drifted into mindless nothingness. Just as you thought you were about to fall asleep, a sensation hit your lips, nearly startling you. 

It was warm, but cool, flesh, soft and supple. You instantly responded by pushing back on the sensation, the feeling of electricity washing through you. When you opened your eyes, Hayden’s golden hair was the first and only thing you saw. The kiss lasted much less time than you wanted. As quickly as he had put his lips on yours, he was withdrawing them, propping himself on one elbow, gazing at you.

You were speechless as you stared at him.

“Go on a date with me,” he softly commanded as gazed at you, adoration in his eyes. 

“What?” you stammered. “But I thought you said before--”

“Forget what I said before. I want to date you,” he said, dismissing his rejection.

“Oh--I--Okay,” you finally managed to say. 

“Great,” he said with a beaming smile that melted your insides.

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

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[uwumessenger]

Can we get general headcanons for a scenario where obey me MC attending their sister's wedding and their sister is MC from mystic messenger 😳😳 I just think it'd be so funny for them to meet each other lmaooo and can mystic messenger MC be getting married to saeyoung ❤️ I love your blog btw you have some cute stuff 😭

mystic messenger x obey me simp nation RISE

ah yes i have been itching to get my hands on this request haha and thank you!! BUT OMG HAVE YOU BEEN IN MY BRAIN? BC OKAY SO LIKE TO FALL ASLEEP I ALWAYS NEED TO HAVE A SCENARIO PLAYING IN MY HEAD AND THIS WAS ONE OF THE SCENARIOS I HAD ONE TIME CJZMNDMSM i dont have an irl crush so all my romantic imaginations consist of the mystic messenger and obey me bois 😌💅🏻

Mystic Messenger MC is Obey Me! MC's sister and she invites the OM MC as well as the demon brothers to her and Saeyoung's wedding!!

(for the sake of lessening confusion, y/n is YOU and mc is the mystic messenger mc (and you can pretend it's you too or an oc i dunno) so let ur imagination run wild!!)

it's also assumed that y/n has already met the rfa, and y/n and mc do not have any other family members. but for some reason i picture that the reception count is large idk maybe all the mystic messenger characters have/made 20 mutual friends each djsksnjs just pretend the reception room is full 😭

also includes one or two spoilers for another story and the main plot for om!

this is long as hell btw dsjkskdjkjd but i separated it into parts + bolded stuff so hopefully it’s not as messy ! enjoy !

when y/n first got news of their sister's engagement, they talked everyone's ears off for WEEKS.

luckily diavolo was like you know what you can go if you take the brothers with you!!!

y/n was scared at first mainly bc um they are demons? and sometimes they act like 7 year olds? but ur like aight bet let's do this!!!!

time skip 2 the day of the wedding

(if ur a gal) y/n's sister made her the maid of honor

(if ur a mans) y/n will be the person walking mc down the aisle

so y/n had to be there fairly early to help with everything as well as get ready for the ceremony and reception

the entire 2nd floor of the nearest hotel to the wedding venue was rented out thanks to jumin !

the brothers took up a total of 2 rooms...lucifer, mammon, and asmo to one room / satan, beel, belphie, and levi to another

lucifer needed to be with mammon and asmo and practically kept them on an invisible leash considering that they have pretty bad self restraint in terms of their sin

but jumin also had to pull some strings to get the ceremony at a space station...hip hip hooray

the station said it was strictly only immediate family though, so the ceremony was just mc, saeyoung, y/n, jaehee (only bridesmaid/maid of honor if y/n is a boy), saeran, yoosung, jumin, zen, and v

saeyoung is in awe as he watches mc walk down the aisle...hes dreamed of this moment his entire life!

who would have known they'd actually manage to get married in a space station?? :')

after saying their vows, mc and saeyoung kissy kiss and all is HAPPY

idk how weddings work in terms of scheduling so let us simply time skip to the reception

the brothers pull up skrrt earlier than most guests but they arent the first ones to arrive

cue mammon, levi, and asmo arguing over where y/n should sit

satan interrupts and clarifies that y/n will be sitting at the head table with their sister. they r salty

oKAY UHHH time to start the reception!!

y/n and zen duetting???? beauty and the beast????? as they escort mc and saeyoung in for their slow dance???? YES PLEASE

like in the style of ariana grande and john legend

when the brothers see y/n as they sing the first line of the song they ! almost ! combust !

mc and saeyoung slow dance to the song and everyone has tears in their eyes. yoosung is crying into saeran's arms as saeran holds back tears. jaehee is crying bc she and y/n coordinated the entire thing and shes happy but also feeling stressed.

dinner is buffet style, and lucifer's attention and energy is now directed toward beel. this is a formal human event and not one of diavolo's parties where people are used to him hogging everything down...

but y/n was smart enough to help get the brothers' table to be seated next to the buffet so after all the other tables get their food beel could secretly go ham

the first interaction between rfa and the brothers happen between lucifer and v

v could see that lucifer was kinda struggling and decided to check in on him before checking in on the other guests

they end up talking a lot. mostly about how they both lied to their respective squads to try to protect them from the truth

lucifer of course tones the story down and doesnt give away that they r demons, though

y/n saw levi all pissy alone at the table so they grabbed yoosung and introduced him to levi. they were awkward at first but once yoosung mentioned LOLOL levi was all ears and they bonded over different games

y/n stays a bit to make sure levi doesnt reveal anything sus

meanwhile, asmo is flirting with zen. complimenting his singing from earlier as well as his rat tail

zen mentions that asmo's skin is glistening and the two of them go crazy over different skincare brands

asmo may or may not have accidentally said that he uses a lamb blood and aloe vera mixture yes i just made that up which confused zen but zen's reaction further confused asmo until asmo remembered !! im in the human world

so he played it off as a joke and told zen that he shouldnt furrow his eyebrows much otherwise he'll wrinkle quicker

as saeran walks to the ice cream station next to the buffet he sees beel holding an entire tray of fish with a suspicious looking belphie standing next to him

when belphie and saeran lock eyes the energy in that corner of the room turns so dark that you could see storm clouds forming over them : ◉ ∧ ◉ : ╏

anyway jaehee, like v, was checking in with the guests when she spots mammon investigating a gold doorknob

mammon nearly shits himself when jaehee taps him on the back and asks him if he is okay

satan compliments elizabeth the third when he sees jumin petting her on the balcony. they talk about cats for a while and jumin tells satan that he enjoys the company of another man elizabeth deems worthy to be in her presence

by the end of the night

everyone is helping with cleaning up the ballroom after all the other guests have gone

jumin thinks that beel is cool, since he ate all the food provided as well as the mochi party favors

mammon volunteers to take home all of the extra centerpieces and decorations. before lucifer says no, mc and seven tell mammon hes more than welcome to take them all home. it would just sit in their house and collect dust, anyway

when everyone is back in their hotel room (y/n stays with jaehee for the night so mc and saeyoung can get it on) yoosung invites levi to play some games with him in his room

zen shares a room with yoosung and eagerly watches the two boys playing

asmo needs to follow his sleeping schedule so he peacefully goes to sleep while dreaming of not-so-appropriate things. he’ll be back on his bullshit tomorrow

lucifer is trying to help mammon figure out a way to organize all the freebies he got to prevent all of it from falling everywhere when they go back to devildom. he also sets a centerpiece aside for diavolo to keep. cute!

belphie is knocked out and so is beel (food coma)

satan stays with jumin for a bit, wanting to be around elizabeth the third a bit longer, then returns to his room around 2am. he sees that levi isn’t back in the room and texts for him to return soon.

bonus!

mc and saeyoung are <3333333′ing

unfortunately y/n and jaehee can hear it, as well as v since their rooms sandwich mc and saeyoung’s

[rainandhotchocolate]

Black Dog

A/N So this is literally just pure fluff - I was sick af this week and wanted some sirius black comforting me as a dog so I wrote it I HOPE OTHER PEOPLE ALSO LIKE THIS cause this is totally self indulgent lelel 

Enjoy! 

(8k, Sirius Fluffffff, descriptions of an injury & depression)

A large black dog sat on Y/N’s leg, leaning against her knee. A lot of students had seen it around lately, someone’s rogue and prohibited pet roaming Gryffindor tower at night. For many it was a comfort, wandering around to cheer people up as it seemed to sense when someone was sad or extremely stressed, but Y/N had also heard that it would lead you down to kitchens in the dead of the night and help bring back extra treacle tarts.

A tear had found its way down and into Y/N’s mouth, salty and hot against her skin, her breathing hitching slightly as she tried to calm herself down. She hated crying. Well, crying in front of others anyway. She knew there was a different kind of bravery in being able to show your emotions to others but there was always something pulling her back, telling her to hide at all costs.

The dog nuzzled itself against her leg, and she moved on the couch to make room for it to sit up next to her and lay its head in her lap.

“I don’t know why I’m crying,” She laughed at the dog, tears still making tracks down her face, “I hate crying for no reason, it’s like I’m constantly searching for a reason, I should have some terrible illness or problem that means I’m allowed to be upset. But no, my brain has decided I’m just sad.”

Y/N dug her hands into the fur along the dog’s neck and head, scratching lightly. She’d found herself getting more tired lately, wanting to do nothing but sleep and sleep. But now, in the middle of the night, of course, she couldn’t.

The big black dog had been joining her most nights this week, curling up against her leg or in front of the fire, listening to her talk or watching her move around her watercolours across a page, swirls of colour and water dripping onto the carpet. Sometimes they just lay across the carpet in front of the fire, the dog sleeping on her stomach or legs as she drifted in and out of sleep.

This night seemed different, however, the dog had refused to stay still, moving around every few minutes as if to make sure she stayed awake.

“Ok, what’s up, puppy?” The dog growled at that and Y/N laughed, “Ok, large giant manly dog, what are you doing?”

The dog finally jumped up and off the couch, nudging its head into the back of her knee so that she had to stand up as well. She groaned, joining him and watching a little exasperatedly as it ran towards the portrait hole and then looked back at her expectantly.

“Ok, ok,” Y/N shook her head but followed anyway, grabbing her jumper and pushing open the door, hiding quickly in the dark so that the Fat Lady didn’t spot her. Y/N could hear her yelling whose there! in her scariest voice as she slipped out of sight.

They moved carefully through the darkness, the dog led her down hallways Y/N wasn’t sure she’d ever been down before, behind small paintings and passageways that seemed to come into focus when the dog moved across the floor in a certain way. After what felt like an hour, Y/N started to feel a cool breeze trickle down her neck and she realised that they were just beside the small courtyard. The dog slipped through a small dog and Y/N followed him out into the stone covered the courtyard that was beginning to sprout small flowers in between the cracks and along the walls.

Y/N silently thanked herself for bringing a jumper, pulling it over herself as the dog seemed to prance across the stone floor and towards the grounds.

“Slow down, not all of us are completely awake right now.”

The dog huffed but slowed to an almost comical pace… no, just slowed. Y/N shook her head, she was reading human emotions into a fucking dog. She followed the dog out into a clearing, a little way down from the Whomping Willow, that overlooked the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The black dog pawed at the bottom of a tree to Y/N’s right before curling up underneath it. Y/N joined him, letting him rest his head on her lap once more.

The night breeze had faded, leaving just the warm air that smelt like flowers and Hagrid’s cabbage patch wafting over towards them.

“Well this is very pretty,” Y/N murmured, scratching the dog behind his ears and grinning as it pushed its head back involuntarily into her hand, “I was brought here before you know? In first year, I completely forgot.”

A memory had pushed itself forward, of a boy with dark hair gripping her hand tightly and dragging her along the river and towards the large oak tree they were now sitting under.

“Sirius Black brought me here, he was sure that there was going to be a comet shower and we had to go see it.”

The dog seemed to jump at the name, looking up at her before shaking its head and lowering back down and onto her lap.

“You know that name huh? I hope he’s not your owner, that would be supremely awkward. Though to be fair it would be like him to bring in a prohibited animal into school,” Y/N snorted, rolling her eyes.

Sirius and herself had been friends back in first and second year before he’d grown into himself, his hair curling down the nape of his neck as he rebelled against haircuts from his parents, wearing tight flare jeans and leather jackets to Hogsmeade weekends in third year. They’d drifted apart, Sirius spending more time with his guy friends, wanting to talk about girls and dung bombs, and Y/N’s little crush had faded into the background as she became friendly with the other girls in her dorm room.

She couldn’t help hating how her heart jumped a little bit every time he caught her eye, smiling and always being the first to look away.

“Well if he is your owner tell him he’s a dolt for dousing the common room in snow, I know it was him.”

The dog seemed to look amused. No, not amused, it was just looking at her. Y/N desperately needed some sleep.

“Ok, come on doggo, I need to actually go to sleep for once,” She felt herself yawning, and grinned down at the dog, “Thanks for the adventure, it seems to have made me tired.”

They wandered back up and into the castle, the dog again leading her down small passageways and hidden corridors to avoid any teachers or Filch prowling the hallways. The dog ran ahead when they were at the corridor leading onto the Gryffindor Tower, and somehow made the Fat Lady open the Portrait Hole before Y/N had edged towards her point of sight, grumbling loudly about insubordination.

She crept into the common room, praying that it had remained empty, and letting out a deep sigh when she saw that it was.

“Well, goodnight lil fluff,” Y/N grinned as it growled lightly at her again but nuzzled his head along her leg all the same. She gave him a final scratch on the head and neck before walking towards the girl’s dorm room, falling asleep almost instantly.

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

Y/N woke up to a startled shriek, jumping up quickly and pulling open the curtains surrounding her bed. She was surprised to find that the sun was streaming through the windows and the rest of the girls in her room already dressed and pulling on sandals.

“Ok who on earth screamed,” Y/N groaned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and slipping on her the soft slippers sitting under her bed.

“Yeah sorry I just spilt coffee on my date outfit and I have nothing else planned out and I’m currently panicking,” Dorcas sighed, still staring at the large brown stain dripping down her white blouse.

“You have a million clothes,” Marlene rolled her eyes, already picking through her clothes, “And a million white tops, I honestly think you have an inability to buy colour.”

“I look good in shades, leave me be.”

“Wear the white dress!” Marlene pulled out a mini dress that had been stuck underneath the piles of winter clothes Dorcas had packed away months ago.

“Ughhhh, no.”

“Yes!” Lily came over to Marlene, grinning widely, and picking the dress out of Marlene’s hands to hold it up to the rest of the dorm.

“Strong yes, also who are you going out with?” Y/N rummaged through her drawers to pull out a pair of linen shorts and t-shirt.

“Eloise, that Ravenclaw girl who Dorcas stares at every morning,” Marlene threw the dress at Dorcas who scowled and held it up to herself in the mirror.

“On the Quidditch team, yeah?”

“Yep, smart and fit, the dream combo,” Dorcas waggled her eyebrows at Y/N through the mirror before turning around and sighing loudly, “Ok, but no one is allowed to comment on the dress all day.”

“Cross my heart,” Lily acted out her words in mid-air, turning back to lacing up her docs. Eventually, the girls filed out of their dorm room and made their way to the Hogwarts exit point. Filch was standing and growling at everyone who past, aggressively poking a dark magic detector towards each person before they were allowed to get through.

“I don’t know who would be dumb enough to carry dark objects into Hogsmeade,” Marlene rolled her eyes, lining up for Filch to glare her down.

“I’d say it would be more of a worry what they are getting in town,” Lily muttered under her breath, eyeing a dark-haired Slytherin who had hissed back at Filch as he tried to pat him down.

“Filch is checking us going back in too,” Y/N watched as Filch finally let Snape through, begrudgingly, and he joined the group of Slytherins waiting for him. Lily’s attitude didn’t seem to lift, so Y/N took another angle, “So are we meeting James?”

“In the Three Broomsticks,” Lily said, as casually as possible, but a slight tinge of red had crept up onto her cheeks and ears.

“What is this, date number 10?” Dorcas grinned at her, “And all you’ve done is kiss, huh?”

“We’re taking it slow.”

“Or you’re just not telling us all the juicy details.”

“You know that you would be the first to know if I had any juicy details to tell,” Lily knocked Dorcas’ elbow, smiling at her, “Anyway, I don’t want to be making a big deal out of it.”

“But it’s a bloody huge deal!”

“Exactly my point.”

“You’re no fun,” Marlene poked her tongue out at her, and looped her arm around Y/N, “I guess us lone wolves will have to make our own fun.”

“Yes, please find me something fun to do,” Y/N leaned into Marlene’s shoulder, watching the line slowly trickly forwards.

“Well there are plenty of pretty boys around for that,” Marlene winked at her, scanning the crowd forming with Filch’s very slow process, “Even some that seem to be staring at you.”

“What?” Y/N followed her gaze to see none other than Sirius Black turning quickly away to face Remus and Peter. Y/N frowned, perhaps that dog was his. Did he see them last night?

“I highly doubt staring is the word to be used there,” Y/N rolled her eyes, “We haven’t exactly spoken recently.”

“Ahh, the heart is a fickle thing,” Marlene said sagely, stepping up to Filch who poked her aggressively and then waved her through. Once Filch had seen that they weren’t carrying anything that would potentially curse or kill anyone in Hogsmeade, they made their way down the hill towards the small village.

Y/N had always loved Hogsmeade, in all weather, but there was something about it in Summer when everyone was wandering the streets and a light summer breeze would rustle its way through the main road in a way that felt like she was being wrapped in a blanket. It somehow felt more magical to her.

The girls made their way towards The Three Broomsticks, Marlene whispering the names of all the cute boys they passed who might be very available for Y/N. Y/N couldn’t help but snigger along with her, even though her mind had drifted back to Sirius’ grey-blue eyes watching her in the courtyard moments before.

The Three Broomsticks was crowded, as expected, with the end of exams and most teachers finishing up their work. Rosmerta was almost slinging butterbeer at anyone who managed to reach the bar, and had three extra waitstaff sliding through the tables across the pub.

“Can anyone see a table?” Marlene scowled at a boy who had shoved passed her to find a table himself and he backed off.

“I’m going to melt into the floor if there isn’t, I am not going to Madame Puddifoots, that place is a hellhole,” Dorcas groaned, searching the floor for empty chairs lying about.

“James has one!” Lily was already walking towards them, waving at James with a giddy kind of smile on her face. The rest of them trudged after her, avoiding the patrons holding steaming mugs of butterbeer and other assorted drinks, towards the large back table where James and his friends were sitting.

“How on earth did you get this table?” Dorcas looked both amazed and relieved, sitting down on the edge of the table so that she could continue to look out for Eloise.

“Got here hours ago, it’s the last trip into Hogsmeade it’s always hectic,” James was grinning, clearly very proud of himself, and slung an arm around Lily, giving her shoulder a little squeeze, “I grabbed you a pint already but I wasn’t aware we’d be graced by your friends as well, sorry!”

“Well I guess you had to officially meet them at some point,” Lily smiled up at him, and Y/N felt a pang in her stomach. It would be nice to look at someone with that much happiness.

“We’ve known them for seven years,” Marlene laughed, still standing and holding onto Y/N’s arm, “We’ll get the rest of the pints, come on.”

She dragged Y/N away quickly, expertly pulling her through the crowd and up to the bar.

“Why did you and Sirius drift apart anyway?” She turned to Y/N, head crooked to one side.

“I told you, we just got older and stopped having the same interests,” Y/N shrugged, “Why?”

“I don’t know, I just always think there was more too it,” She held her hands out and pulled three mugs of butterbeer towards her as Rosemerta began sliding them across the bar, “you know he’s like always staring at you.”

“Well now I know you’re lying,” Y/N rolled her eyes, grabbing her own pint of butterbeer as they began to walk back, trying not to spill anything.

“You can’t not have noticed! If anything I can’t see why you drifted apart if you both clearly care for each other, even just a little bit,” Marlene gave her a look, the one the gave when she was making sure that you actually listened to her and stopped being a prat.

“I honestly don’t know what to tell you, Marls,” Y/N lowered her voice as they got to the table, “We just stopped hanging out.”

“Mmmmm,” Marlene hummed but said nothing further. She passed a mug to Dorcas and sat down next to Peter and Remus.

“Has Eloise arrived yet?” Y/N ignored Marlene’s continued watchful eyes, sitting down in the only place left, between Remus and Sirius. She took a big sip of her drink.

“Her friend just came over, she’s running a bit late but will be here soon,” Dorcas beamed, her nerves getting the better of her as she began tapping the edge of her butterbeer mug. Sirius had leaned back into his chair, and Y/N could feel his eyes on her shoulder but she continued to ignore him. She wasn’t really sure why she was ignoring him, it’s not like he’d done anything to hurt her, but it felt like if she turned to face him her face might become a ripe tomato.

“Have you planned out your afternoon then?”

“Of course, drink here, then walk over to the shrieking shack, see if I can’t get her a little scared and a little in need of a hug,” Dorcas winked, earning a laugh from James and Sirius.

“That’s very sly, I like it,” James nodded in approval, “Might try that on you sometimes.”

He turned to Lily, grinning wickedly.

“I’m very sure it would be you who’d need a hug.”

“That works fine for me too, Lils,” His grin widened and Lily seemed to be unable to do anything but smile back at him.

“What about you, Y/N, any big plans for the afternoon?” Y/N felt like she could hear his voice separately from the others, as if they were somewhere else, alone. She cleared her throat, steeling herself before looking at him with a cool expression plastered across her face.

“No plans, though Marlene wants to find something fun to do that doesn’t require us watching James and Lily snog all afternoon,” Y/N gave an innocent smile to Lily who growled at her.

“Perhaps you’d want to join us?” Marlene chimed in, a similar smile on her face, eyebrows raised at Sirius, “You two as well of course.”

She nodded to Remus and Peter.

“I never really enjoy seeing James’ tongue,” Remus’ face remained blank but his eyes were twinkling as he looked over at Lily who was blushing furiously.

“I actually hate all of you,” Lily buried her head behind James who looked thoroughly pleased with her reaction.

“Well I’m definitely in, I need to stop by Zonko’s though,” Sirius responded, eyes darting over to Remus’ who returned a knowing smile.

They finished their drinks and bid goodbye to Lily, James, and Dorcas who barely looked up from watching the door intently. Y/N took in a deep breath as the summer breeze wafted across her face, feeling it warm up her skin.

“Nothing like the Scottish sun,” Sirius grinned at Y/N, “I honestly think the sun feels the best here, because we get so little of it across the year.”

“Definitely,” Y/N smiled a little giddily back, feeling the sun warm the back of her head as they made their way towards Zonkos.

“So what do you need in Zonkos huh?” Marlene gave Remus and Sirius a sidelong glance, “I would have thought you’d be banned from bringing things back by now.”

“We have our ways,” chirped Peter from behind them, sticking his head through from behind Remus with what he must think was a mischievous smirk.

“Why does that sound worse than the idea of being pranked on our last few days of school?”

“Because it is,” Remus shook his head at the two boys who were now whispering, heads bent together.

“I thought you would have taught them better Mr prefect,” Y/N teased him, holding open the door for the group to pile into the already very crowded Zonko’s.

“There’s a reason I had the head boy badge taken from me,” He winked, nodding in thanks as he passed her and wandered towards what Y/N was sure was fireworks. The boys hid their purchases from Marlene and Y/N who decidedly ignored them, wandering the aisles in search of anything that could be fun for the summer holidays.

“Never know when you might need one of these,” Marlene elbowed Y/N repeatedly as she held up a love potion, making Y/N giggle.

“I definitely, don’t need one of those.”

“Oooh, a confident Y/N, I like her,” Marlene put it down, trailing her fingers across the shelves. Y/N felt someone’s eyes on her back but refused to turn around until the boys called their names to get them to leave.

“Anyone keen to sneak up on Dorcas?” Marlene linked arms with Y/N again.

“You just want to see the haunted shrieking shack,” Sirius cooed, moving his hands in front of her as if he was a ghost, “It is really haunted you know, I’ve heard the screams.”

“So, have I,” Peter grinned, following Sirius’ actions as Marlene began to lead the way. They trudged up the hill and towards the clearing where there was the best view of the derelict house. It always seemed to look worse and worse every time Y/N came to see it like it would fall over at any moment.

“Want a closer look?” Sirius winked at Y/N, “Or are you a bit too scared something might come out of the dark.”

“Don’t need you goading me Mr Black,” Y/N smiled at him, “You know I can’t handle scary stories, let alone a giant haunted house.”

“Ahhh come on, I’ll protect you,” He grabbed her shoulders quickly, “If I can.”

“Stop it, you dork!”

“You two are killing me,” Marlene rolled her eyes, snorting at them, “And anyway, Dumbledore said specifically that someone nearly died down there. I’m all for an adventure, but I’d like to graduate and you know, maybe fight in a war rather than die from a loose floorboard.”

“Smart girl you are,” Remus nodded at her, but Y/N swore she saw a flash of anger cross his eyes, “I for one am perfectly happy staying up here, not dead.”

“Hear hear!” Y/N grinned up at Remus, “the prefect is back.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon mucking around the area around the Shrieking Shack, Sirius taking them up to this giant hill that overlooked almost all of Hogsmeade and the castle. On the way down, Y/N felt herself slip, catching herself on a rock that jutted out beside her.

“Fuuuuuuuuuucckk,” Y/N moaned, feeling her hand cut open with the force of her landing, her but likely covered in dirt and also aching.

“Shit, are you ok?” Sirius had come up behind her, grabbing her by the waist and swiftly picking her up and off the ground. The rest of them had already trekked farther down the hill and hadn’t heard her swear.

“Yeah, I am, it's bloody typical of me. The one day I bring out the sandals we go on a small hike,” Y/N snorted, shaking her head and trying to stand on her feet. Her knee buckled and she fell back into Sirius who gripped her tightly, his arms wrapped around her torso.

“Thanks, sorry,” Y/N winced, both from the pain and a little out of embarrassment.

“Don’t stress at all,” He smiled at her, “Lean on me, for the rest of the way down ok? I don’t want you toppling over and breaking your leg again.”

“Oh my god I can’t believe you would bring that up,” Y/N shook her head in amazement, “that was completely your fault!”

“Hardly!” Sirius hooked his arm around her back and hoisted her upright so that Y/N could test her leg whilst they continued the walk down. Y/N couldn’t help but lean into him, feeling his chest pressed up against her shoulder blades and… shut up, you idiot.

“You decided it would be a great idea to make the final staircase to the Great Hall a waterslide.”

“Oh yeah… that was kind of my fault wasn’t it,” He grimaced, chuckling, “Sorry about that.”

“It’s ok, you carried me around for a week. And I think you got me a bouquet of chocolate frogs! Fuck, I forgot about that.”

“Has been a while hasn’t it,” Sirius became slightly quieter, Y/N itching to turn and see his expression but she was too worried about making sure she didn’t bleed across her white shorts. They continued the rest of the journey in silence, Y/N slowly taking her weight off Sirius as she stretched out her leg and the muscle began to take on more pressure.,

“You lot took ages, doing anything fun?” Marlene was picking at her nails, sitting on a large rock and leaning against Remus who had pulled out a book.

“If you call gashing open your hand and bruising your sit bones fun, then yes, I had a wild time.”

“You cut your hand?” Sirius glared at Y/N, “Show me.”

“Alright, calm down,” Y/N barked a laugh at his concerned expression, “I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Yeah that’s not fine,” Peter had come up to them, watching as Sirius opened her fist revealing a large gaping hole in her hand.

“Ok I think I might faint,” Y/N felt a rush of blood coming up to her head as she took in the pain and visual all at once, “I’d been clenching it the whole way down the hill so I didn’t bleed on myself, I didn’t think to look at it.”

“I’ve got something to calm you down,” Peter smiled at her, grabbing his large rucksack and pulling out a small dropper, “open your mouth, two drops of this and you’ll be fine till we get you to Madame Pomfrey.”

“Do you just carry this stuff around with you?” Marlene peeked her head into his bag, frowning.

“He’s obsessed with potions,” Remus smiled at Peter warmly, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was best in the year,”

“I’m not that good, I just find them interesting,” Peter blushed a bright red colour as he put the stopper back into the bottle and pocketed it, “Let me know if you feel like fainting again.”

“Will do,” Y/N felt a wave of calm come over her, her knees buckling again as every muscle in her body seemed to relax.

“Yeah it might do that if she’s never had it before,” Peter winced, “Sorry I forgot to mention.”

“No worries,” Sirius leaned down and picked Y/N up, bridal style, “This is much more fun anyways.”

“Sorry, Y/N!” Peter squeaked again, looking like he accidentally poisoned her.

“It’s fine,” Y/N smiled giddily, “I wish I could have you around more often with your little potions bag.”

Y/N curled herself into Sirius’ body, slightly aware that her inhibitions had likely been lowered given her lack of care for revelling in the closeness of their bodies but she didn’t care, or more likely she probably couldn’t care. He brought her back up to the castle and straight to the hospital wing, calling loudly to Madame Pomfrey as he laid her on the closest bed to the exit.

“Yes, what is it, Black,” Pomfrey snapped, and Y/N got the impression that she didn’t enjoy seeing Sirius in the Hospital Wing, “oh!”

“Yes not me this time I promise, Y/N fell in Hogsmeade, she’s opened up her hand,”

Sirius curled open Y/N’s hand slowly, and Y/N winced as the nerves around the gash seemed to fizzle.

“Mmmmm, that’s a nasty cut, I’m glad you brought her to me instead of trying to heal it yourself, she’d have a hell of a lot more nerve damage,” Madame Pomfrey pulled out her wand and sat beside Y/N who looked at her nervously.

“I’ve learnt from my mistakes,” Sirius winked at her, sitting on the other side, his hand still on her shoulder. Y/N concentrated on that as Pomfrey began hovering her wand around the wound, muttering softly, and suddenly could feel the entirety of her hand moving, the nerves reattaching around the tendons. Y/N wanted to puke.

“Not very comfortable, but you should be fine in a few hours, you’ll just need to wear a small brace for a day to make sure nothing else happens to it.”

“Ok,” Y/N gritted her teeth, wishing she’d asked for something for the pain from Peter as well as her wound began to close slowly.

“There! All done, just wait here whilst I grab you a brace, and no leaning on it today or tomorrow, ok?” She gave Y/N and Sirius a stern look before standing up and heading to a large cupboard next to her office.

“Feeling ok?” Sirius asked, his thumb rubbing circles against her shoulder blade.

“Now that she’s stopped pulling my skin together, yes,” laughed Y/N, smiling at him, “Thanks for bringing me by the way, I hope I didn’t stop you getting your Zonko’s stuff back into the castle.”

“Oh don’t worry, Peter was in charge of all that,” He gave her a smirk but said nothing more as Madame Pomfrey returned with a rigid looking brace. She put it place for Y/N, showing her how to re-do it in the morning and bid them goodbye.

Sirius and Y/N walked back up to the Gryffindor Common Room in relative silence, Y/N feeling the calm slowly wear off her and the embarrassment of being carried into the castle by Sirius Black settle back in.

“Well, I’m going to read and avoid using my hand for the next 24 hours,” Y/N smiled a little awkwardly at him as they stepped through the Portrait hole and into the common room. He smiled at her, standing still momentarily as they both seemed to panic over how to say goodbye. Eventually, Y/N held out her hand as Sirius went to hug her.

“Wow, we really are out of sync,” Sirius laughed loudly, shaking his head.

“Why don’t we just nod curtly and leave,” Y/N grinned but felt like she was actually just baring her teeth at him.

“Deal.”

They nodded at each other and walked in the opposite direction, Y/N to her dorm and Sirius to the large window that overlooked the grounds.

That evening, once the sun had finally gone down around 10pm, Y/N made her way out into the common room, wanting to be by the fire as she read. She wasn’t surprised to see the large black dog had taken up residence by the fire already, curled up in a ball. He looked up when he heard her, wagging his tail.

“How are you doing, pup?” Y/N smiled at the large dog that had come across the common room and lay down on the carpet in front of the fire.

“I had a good day today,” She hummed lying down on the couch, leaning her head against the edge, curling herself up into the cushions so that she could keep her feet warm.

“I saw your owner today, Sirius,” She watched the fire flicker, placing her book underneath the couch as she began to feel tired, “Haven’t actually spoken to him in a long while. It was nice, felt like old times.”

The dog jumped up and curled himself against her stomach. Y/N felt herself begin to drift off, one arm curled to her side and the other draped lazily across the black dogs’ torso.

“In fact, I even got him to carry me the whole way home,” Y/N snorted, “You should have seen me, I think I was as red as a tomato. I’m very glad he didn’t say anything. Or perhaps if I’m lucky he didn’t notice me mortifying myself as I drooled over him.”

She felt herself wake, without opening her eyes, wanting to curl into the warmth of the couch and the sun shining on her skin. Y/N moved slightly, trying to find a more comfortable position for her arm that had seemed to have remained unmoving whilst curled into her side, and had begun to ache. She went to pull it out from under her and stretch it out towards the fire but instead, she hit something solid and warm in front of her.

Y/N flung her eyes open and saw a large figure covering her view and shrieked, jumping upwards, pushing the figure off the couch along with the couch cushions. She landed a little painfully on planks of wood and springs that made up the inside of the couch.

The figure yelped as they landed on the floor in a heap, rolling over and groaning in pain. Y/N struggled to pull herself out of the couch’s grips, hopping up to face whoever was lying on the floor in front of her.

“What on earth,” The heap groaned again, wincing lightly as they sat upright, rubbing the places where Y/N presumed they had landed moments ago. Y/N caught herself before she let out a gasp.

“Sirius?” Her eyes were wide, staring down at him. He winced again, sitting on his hip and heaving himself upright.

“Yes, what’s – oh, shit,” Realisation dawned on his face as he looked down at himself and Y/N looked immediately up towards the ceiling.

“So why on earth were you naked and lying with me on the couch?” Y/N continued to stare at the ceiling as Sirius searched for something to cover himself with, settling on a small cushion that had also gone flying in Y/N’s panic.

“I uh, fell asleep with you…” His eyes tried to meet hers but moved to the window behind her when she stared back in confusion.

“You, but,” No fucking way, “YOU are the dog?”

“Well, yes,” He smiled very sheepishly at her, eyes apologetic.

“You’re an animagus?” Y/N hissed at him, both shocked and a little frustrated. How long had she been hanging out with this dog, with Sirius? What had she said to him?

“Not so loud, I don’t know if you noticed that no one else knows this,” He looked around carefully, taking a step forward as if to put a finger across her mouth but thought better of it.

“For how long?”

“About three years.”

“You’ve been an illegal animagus for THREE YEARS?” Y/N couldn’t stop her voice from increasing in volume and Sirius gave her another pleading look.

“Why, why didn’t you tell me? Why… why?” Y/N stuttered, feeling her cheeks flush as she remembered talking to him about… himself.

“Well it’s a little lame,” Sirius rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “I saw you here like two months ago, reading a letter from your parents. I remember you used to talk about them being a little uptight about being a witch and well anyway I wanted to say something or do something to make you feel better but… I don’t know we hadn’t spoken for so long and I just…”

“I just didn’t know how you would react if I just came up and asked you what was wrong, I mean if it was me I probably would have told you I was fine and ran away as fast as I could,” He laughed, a little nervously, still avoiding her gaze, “I didn’t even really think about it, I just turned, and then you looked so happy to see me and I don’t know, it felt like I cheered you up…”

He faded off, giving her a sheepish smile.

“And then you just decided to hang out like that every evening?” Y/N felt like she was processing a thousand bits of information at once.

“Oh uh, well, I didn’t always know your schedule. So I sort of just hung around like that. It turned out kinda nice though, getting to cheer people up during their exams. One girl tried to feed me birdseed though, that was disgusting,” His face grimaced from the memory, but Y/N was still stuck on what he had first said.

“You were waiting for me?” Y/N replied slowly, feeling her stomach begin to churn.

“Right, uh, I mean I wasn’t trying to stalk you or anything! You just haven’t seemed yourself lately, I wanted to help in some way.”

“You know you could have just come up and asked me what was wrong,” Y/N laughed at him, but it came out significantly more high-pitched than she’d anticipated.

“Honestly I thought you might still hate me a little.”

“What?” Y/N tried to rack her brain back to anything that he could have done that would have meant she’d hate him, “Why would I hate you?”

Sirius narrowed his eyes, looking genuinely confused, staring at her silently for a minute.

“Because of third year? Your date with Richard Ankleman?”

“Richard? What?” Y/N hadn’t thought about him for years, “the guy who stood me up?”

“He never told you, did he,” Sirius’ face contorted to one of complete embarrassment. For a moment, Y/N thought that he might hit himself with the pillow, but was grateful that he kept it where it was.

“Told me what, Sirius.”

“Ok, uh, well I wasn’t totally thrilled about him asking you out so I, you know in classic idiot Sirius style, hexed him into the Hospital wing so he wouldn’t make it. I mean I did tell him not to tell you, but I didn’t think he was scared enough of me to take me seriously,” He looked, if possible, even more sheepish. Y/N stared at him, eyes wide. How did I not know this?

“You were so furious after you spoke to him the next day, I just presumed he’d told you. You ruined my weeks’ essays, remember?”

Y/N did remember. It was all coming back to her, storming into Gryffindor Common Room in a rage and, with a flick of her wand, opening all the windows and letting in a huge gust of air that swung through the room and knocked over all of Sirius’ ink bottles that were scattered across the desk he was using the finalise his essays.

Y/N hadn’t bothered to stay and watch the aftermath. She had gone to apologise the next day, but he hadn’t been waiting for her in the common room like he always was so they could go down for breakfast together.

“Yeah, I was mad at him! He went on and on about how he was sick and I shouldn’t blame him for standing me up and to not slag him off to any of my other girlfriends in case he asked them out,” Y/N rolled her eyes at the memory, “I went to apologise to you the next day but you kept avoiding me.”

“I thought you’d want to talk about what I did!” Sirius stepped forward, letting out a huge breath he seemed to have been holding, and began gushing, his words falling off his tongue without a second thought, “I’d have to explain why and then you’d realise I was madly in love with you.”

He breathed out a laugh, significantly calmer. Y/N, on the other hand, felt like he’d just punched her in the throat.

“You what?”

“Merlin’s beard, I’m doing terribly today,” He muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair, “Please don’t freak, it was a while ago I promise, it just made me a little crazy back then. We haven’t really spoken properly in ages anyway,” He tried to laugh it off, but Y/N still felt like it was hard to breathe. A silence fell across them, broken only by the sound of Sirius adjusting his pillow awkwardly. Y/N’s heart was beating hard.

“I…” Y/N tried to laugh as well, as if this was a casual thing to say, “I had a bit of a thing for you as well.”

“Oh,”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me!” Y/N scoffed at him, lifting her arms up in exasperation.

“I thought you knew!”

“How on earth would I know that! I’m not a mind reader.”

“I literally spent every waking hour with you, I asked you out!”

“I think I would have noticed if you asked me out you idiot,” Y/N shook her head at him, “Please, tell me when you asked me out.”

“I asked you to Hogsmeade and you invited James to get to know him better, so I kind of got the hint,” Sirius watched Y/N open and close her mouth a couple of times, unsure how to reply, “You didn’t think it was a date.”

“Not really…” Y/N was unsure if she could feel more like an absolute twat, “I thought you were just seeing if I wanted to go, and I wanted to hang out with James cause you guys were hanging out so much!”

“Wow,” Sirius started laughing, shaking his head, “This is actually changing my life.”

Y/N couldn’t help but join in, feeling her nervous energy emanate in awkward laughter.

“I can’t believe how stupid we were,” Y/N snorted, her face still red but breaking out into a large smile that matched Sirius’.

“Merlin, imagine if we hadn’t been so idiotic, things would be very different,” Sirius laughed, but Y/N felt her smile fade a little as she thought about his words. Holding his hand as they snuck around the back of the Herbology classrooms, where they’d previously made fun of couples for hiding. Sirius taking her to his favourite hiding spots around the castle. Y/N actually being there for him when he’d left home, instead of hearing about it through Remus and leaving a bag of Honeydukes sweets on his bed when he wasn’t there.

“Yeah, really different.”

Sirius’ eyes lifted to meet Y/N’s, his eyes darkening slightly. Y/N had forgotten momentarily that he was completely naked and that the light was getting brighter and brighter in the Common Room.

“Y/N, I –“ Sirius started but there was a sudden noise that made him jump backwards and turn his head towards the stairs, “Shit.”

Sirius grimaced, opening his mouth to say something before shaking his head and making a mad dash back up the stairs to the boy's dorm room before anyone came out of the girl's dormitory to find him stark naked and covered by a pillow.

Y/N stood, a little dazed, in the same spot momentarily, staring out the window opposite her until she heard her name getting called.

“Hmmm, what?” She turned to find Lily watching her, an odd expression on her face.

“Did I hear you talking to someone?”

“No, wait yes, Sirius was down here a second ago, he just went upstairs to get dressed.”

“Right…” Lily still seemed to stare at Y/N, whose expression was likely just as confusing.

“Um, why are you up so early?” Y/N changed the subject quickly, moving to sit back on the couch where the cushions had been hastily thrown earlier.

“Have a meeting with Professor McGonagall about getting a reference for my internship at St Mungo’s,” Lily grinned, “I’m hoping she’ll forgive me dating James.”

“Ahh, she secretly loves James’ shenanigans.”

“Let’s hope so,” Lily sighed, “You coming down for breakfast?”

“Yes – no wait, I’m not dressed am I?” Y/N looked down at herself, still wearing her clothes from the day before, “Oh.”

“Are you ok?” Lily looked concerned, “You didn’t get a concussion yesterday did you?”

“No, I’m fine, sorry, still a little tired obviously. You go ahead, I’ll meet you in the Great Hall,” Y/N gave what she hoped was a convincing smile and moved quickly down towards the girls’ dorm rooms.

Y/N felt like the whole day moved in a kind of daze. Many people went back to Hogsmeade but Y/N opted to join Marlene and Dorcas down by the lake as Dorcas debriefed them on her date the day before.

“Should I have kissed her? I feel like I should have and I just fucked up big time,” Dorcas groaned, throwing her bag down and joining it in a heap on the grass.

“You definitely should have kissed her,” Marlene replied solemnly, “Y/N, what do you think? I reckon she was giving off vibes big time.”

“What?” Y/N looked up at the two girls, both of whom glared at her.

“Were you even listening to me?” Dorcas huffed, “This is an important life or death situation, Y/N. I may have just ruined my first date with the love of my life.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“What’s going on with you, you’ve been out of it all day,” Marlene probed, joining Dorcas on the grass, letting her legs sit out in the sun.

“Nothing, I’m just distracted, sorry,” Y/N dipped her toe in the lake, “You definitely should have kissed her, D.”

“Don’t change the subject!” Dorcas poked her shin with her toe, “or depress me more.”

“Tell usssssss,” Marlene whined at Y/N, “Come on, it’s nearly graduation, we might never ever see each other again and you’ll regret having never shared this precious information with us.”

“Ha ha ha,” Y/N poked her tongue out at Marlene who was pouting, “I just… ugh. Ok, well I sort of spoke to Sirius this morning.”

“I’m excited already,” Marlene grinned, leaning forwards, “Did he profess his love for you yet?”

“I actually hate you,” Y/N bit her lip, “But also like kinda?”

“WHAT,” The two girls had wide eyes, Dorcas’ mouth hanging open slightly.

“Ok well, that’s an over-exaggeration, it was more like he had a crush on me years ago.”

“Less interesting, pretty obvious,” Marlene huffed, leaning back into her arms.

“How!” Y/N glared at her, “how on earth could you know this.”

“Ooooo Y/N, I’m just going to stare at you longingly from across the table all subtle-like,” Marlene put on a terrible deep male voice, staring longingly at Y/N.

“This is why I didn’t tell you,” warned Y/N, but her cheeks twitched as Marlene began to pout in an eerily accurate impression of a brooding Sirius.

“Soooo did he ask you out?”

“Did you make out?”

“We did nothing, at all.”

“You’re as bad as Dorcas,” Marlene shook her head, earning a shove from Dorcas.

“We were interrupted by Lily,” Y/N threw her hands up, “It kind of sounded like… he might have been saying something important…”

“Oooooooo Y/N’s got a date!” Marlene giggled, grinning widely at her. Y/N couldn’t help but grin back at her, Marlene’s enthusiasm was infectious.

“I do not,” said Y/N, but her smile was still giving her away. Marlene reached out and grabbed her arms, pulling her down into the grass with Dorcas.

“You will be a positive human even if I have to punch it into you. Now, sit down and get all brown and tan with me.”

They stayed by the lake until Dorcas’ stomach started rumbling and they made their way to lunch in the Great Hall. It was almost empty, most people having grabbed some food to eat outside or were still in Hogsmeade for the afternoon. Y/N spent most of her meal ignoring Marlene nudging her once Sirius and James had walked in and sat a few seats along the table from them. She also tried to ignore the sound of chairs moving and someone moving quickly behind her once they’d finished and stood up to leave the Great Hall, but her heart had begun beating hard in her chest again, and she cursed her cheeks for refusing to let her hide any kind of emotion from the outside world.

“Oi, Y/N!” Y/N spun around to see Sirius chasing her down the hallway.

“I’ll catch up to you guys,” Y/N tried to smile casually at Marlene and Dorcas, who were winking at her continuously, Marlene blowing kisses in between, “Fuck off, please.”

“Have fun!”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

“She can’t even kiss a girl, please do everything she wouldn’t do.”

“Shoo!” Y/N hissed, turning back to see Sirius smirking at her, “Please excuse my two idiotic friends.”

“They are highly entertaining.”

“I stand by idiotic,” Y/N looked up at Sirius expectantly, “What’s up?”

“Well I feel like we didn’t quite finish our conversation earlier.”

“Is that so?”

“Well I mean, I was half-naked and had to sprint up the stairs to avoid being seen.”

“Completely naked if I remember correctly.”

“Ahhh so you were checking me out huh?” Sirius winked at her, stepping closer to her in the hallway. Y/N had the urge to step back, her brain telling her to abort mission, but she stood her ground, watching him closely.

“So what was it you needed to tell me?” said Y/N as calmly as possible, though her voice broke slightly at the end.

“Well I was going to – uh, I mean I wanted to ask – “ Sirius’ stuttered slightly, his face getting flustered. Y/N couldn’t help but smile at him, was he nervous to talk to her?

His nervousness seemed to give Y/N a new bout of confidence, and she stepped forward to meet him.

“You were going to…”

“Ask you…”

“Out?” Y/N finished for him, feeling a little ill, but excited all the same. Sirius laughed at her, shaking his head.

“Jeez, we already finish each other’s senten-“ Y/N leaned in and interrupted him by placing a soft kiss on his lips.

“ences…” Sirius finished, his eyes glazing over as they pulled apart slowly.

“The day after graduation, I’ll meet you in London,” Y/N felt the words spill out, as if her confidence was a ticking bomb and if she didn’t get everything out quickly it would all blow up and float away.

“Deal,” replied Sirius, cupping her cheek lightly in one hand, “And thanks.”

“For what?”

“For asking you out for me.”

“What can I say, I just know what you want,” and with that, she turned on her heels and walked away, her heartbeat loud in her ears. Only took seven years she thought, exhaling deeply, but I guess we’ve got endless time to make up for it.

Taglist

@averytruerayofsunshine @siriuslyjanhvi @blushingskywalker @blackpinkdolan @thebabblingbookworm @cherrie511 @imlukesnirvana​ @avengersassemblee​ @maraudersandco​ @sly-vixen-up2nogood​ @katbernoulli @sirius-lysad​ @evyiione​ @minerva26love​ @aikeia​ @gollyderek​ @greatwombatblaze​  @songforhema​  @your-typical-giggle @myownviperroom 

[rfaromance]

Hello!!! Excited to see a new Tumblr for MM!!! I was hoping to be able to request a Valentine’s Day fluff story with Zen where the MC struggles with seeing Zen get all his gifts from his fans and feeling like her attempts pale in comparison?? Thank you for taking the time to read my idea!! Have a great day!!

I LOVE this idea! I hope you enjoy my very first MM fanfiction! >w<

Friday, February 11.

One.

On what should have been an average Thursday evening, Zen entered the living room with a bouquet of red roses in his hands. MC wasn’t unaccustomed to seeing him with handfuls of daisies, tulips, or carnations, but red roses were… a little disconcerting, to say the least. Despite herself, she couldn’t prevent her nose from crinkling slightly at the sight of them.

“Hey, babe. Why do you have a sour look on your face?” The soft, sing-song voice of the musical actor traveled through the air, and even his teasing words had such a rhythmic lull to them that MC couldn’t help but smile. The corners of her mouth twitched upward as he approached, gently placed the bouquet on the coffee table, and kneeled in front of her, lowering himself so that they were eye level. “That’s much better, princess,” he cooed. “Seriously though,” he went on, rising to his full height, “is something wrong? Do I need to take the trash out?” He began to back towards the kitchen, his nose twitching as he inhaled deeply.

“It’s nothing,” the young woman tried to reassure him, but a small doubt lingered in the back of her mind: perhaps she just wanted to reassure herself.

She couldn’t keep my eyes off of those blood-colored blooms, especially not after he picked out a vase for them and placed them directly on the kitchen counter.

 Saturday, February 12.

Three.

A spritz. A wipe. A sneeze. A sigh.

Dusting was probably one of MC’s least favorite activities on the face of the planet, but she had noticed that Zen’s allergies were bothering him the night before.

As much as she wanted to attribute his sudden sniffles to that curious cluster of crimson roses, she knew that the more likely reason was that the pair simply had not had the time to properly clean the apartment in…

She swallowed hard. Had it been that long?

In any event, she was determined to make their cozy home glisten from top to bottom as she awaited Zen’s arrival. His attention to detail was absolutely immaculate; whether he was acting, working out, or merely carrying out mundane daily tasks, he was an absolute perfectionist.

(Fitting, for he was absolute perfection himself.)

Knowing the type of keen eye she was up against, MC was exceptionally careful not to skip any speck of dust, not to miss any molecule, not to forget any frame of furniture.

Flowers could brighten up a home, but she was going to pour in her hard labor to ensure that the home itself sparkled in a way that outshone even a bouquet of red roses.

“Wow,” a whistle sounded from the front entrance, but MC continued to clean. “Cinderella, don’t you need a break? Now that your prince has arrived, it’s time for the ball.”

Cheesy as always.

MC barely stifled a laugh as she shook her head. “Let me finish this table,” she declared, “and then I suppose I can turn into a princess for… your… sake…” She had lifted her head to cast a beaming smile at him, a smile through all the dust and dirt and grime and grease that coated her face.

That smile nearly evaporated when she saw the two boxes of chocolates in his arms. Not one, but two. She mustered all of the strength that she could to keep a semblance of a smile on her face, but she had no doubt that it must have come off as colder than she would have intended.

“Hey, do you like raspberry, my love?” Zen asked. He placed one of the boxes—an unassuming rectangular box—on the kitchen counter. However, as he flipped the heart-shaped box over in his long, slender hands, MC could feel her own heart flip over as well inside her chest. “One of my coworkers in this new musical gave me a box of raspberry-crème filled chocolates, but I’m not really a fan of the flavor.”

“I do,” MC murmured, unable to pull her gaze away from the pretty pink box of chocolates in Zen’s hands. “Your cast must like you very much,” she added as nonchalantly as possible before turning back to scrub a particularly stubborn stain on the leg of the table.

Raspberry. A fruit that was simultaneously sweet and sour, fiercely fresh and then tantalizingly tart.

How fitting for the way she felt tonight.

 Sunday, February 13.

Six.

The slow creaking of the door on its rusty hinges reverberated around the room, silent aside from the low hum of the stovetop and the sizzles and cracks of the frying pan.

“Zenny!” MC called excitedly, not taking her eyes off of the eggs that she was cooking meticulously. Zen liked his eggs a little runny, whereas MC liked hers a little on the crispier side, so she always made sure to prepare his eggs first.

Plus, tonight the young woman was a little… eager to impress him.

Fresh flowers in the living room. Sweet smells in the kitchen.

Everything they could do, she could do better. At least, that was the goal.

“Dinner is almost ready,” she went on, and carefully she brought the heat down to a low simmer. “Yours will be done first, but since the pan is already hot, I won’t be too far behind you.” She dared to take a peek at him, tearing her eyes away from the stovetop for just a moment.

At least, she thought it was only a moment, because as soon as her gaze rested upon the objects cradled in her beloved’s arms, time seemed to freeze.

“Should I… prepare an extra plate?” she murmured, and even though every one of her vocal cords strained to add an amused, teasing, lighthearted quality to her voice, she couldn’t help but hear how pained she truly was. Her tone, her expression, her posture—without a doubt, they would all reveal to Zen just how deflated she truly felt.

“Oh, for this guy?” Zen tried to shift all of his belongings into one arm so that he could rub the back of his head sheepishly. “Yeah, one of the stagehands gave him to me.” He then used his free hand to pluck a (rather large) teddy bear from his arm and hold it out in front of him. “I’ve never even heard her speak before today, but the director gave us the day off tomorrow, so I suppose she felt… a little emboldened by the occasion.” He chuckled and shook his head. “She’s a sweet girl, but an odd one at th—Hey, MC, are you feeling okay? You look really pale.” At once, Zen dropped his gifts onto the couch and scurried into the kitchen. “Let me—”

MC spun around and turned her attention back to the eggs. “I’m fine,” she told him, and she winced as she realized how terse she sounded. “I’m just hungry.”

Zen didn’t seem convinced by her paltry acting, but nevertheless he obliged. “Can I help, Princess?”

MC just shook her head and reached for the spatula. “Just get ready. I don’t want your eggs to get cold. There’s beer in the fridge, too,” she added. “Your favorite.”

A bear. A candle. An envelope. All intruders into their happy home.

Hopefully his eggs wouldn’t taste too salty from the tears dripping down her cheeks.

 Monday, February 14.

Mondays were exceptionally difficult to endure. The beginning of the workweek was always a hassle. Even though Zen may have had a day off from rehearsals, as his manager, MC still had contracts to negotiate and schedules to plan. Normally, she would have been able to persevere through the day with the thought of a delightful date awaiting her when she arrived home…

But given the events of the past couple of days, she couldn’t even relish in the fact that today was Valentine’s Day.

Zen had pronounced his love for her loudly and clearly at the RFA party, so why did girls still feel the urge to shower him in gifts? Were they just expressing respect and admiration, or did they have ulterior motives? This level of paranoia was unusual, and MC felt sick to her stomach at how negative she was being. She could handle stress. She could handle rigorous work. She could handle mystery. She could handle false allegations of sexual harassment, for God’s sake.

So why was she so vulnerable this Valentine’s Day, when she knew how much Zen loved her?

“I need to take a nice, long bath,” she murmured as she rummaged around in her bag for her keys. “Goodness, I really need to cut my bangs. I can hardly see into my own purse.” The faint starlight overhead hardly provided her with any assistance. Just how late had she stayed discussing Zen’s newest performance offer?

Finally she managed to withdraw the keys to the apartment, and carefully she inserted them into the door. Their apartment was somewhat on the older side, so every now and then the door would be stubborn and require a bit of elbow grease in order to open, but much to her surprise, it slid open with ease tonight.

Even more surprising was the scene that awaited her.

The lights were off, but candlelight provided a low, hazy guide to the layout of the apartment. Sweet scents of cinnamon and vanilla wafted in the air, drifting lazily from the candles to her unprepared nose. A mellow melody echoed throughout the apartment, and at once she recognized the aria from one of Zen’s most popular musicals: Zorro. A faint blush rose to her cheeks as she imagined the poster for that particular play.

Zen himself, however, was nowhere in sight.

“Zenny?” MC called out hesitantly, brushing her bangs out of her face as she took a humble step forward. Her breath caught in her throat as she heard a soft crunch underneath her feet; rose petals littered the ground, lining out a path for her to follow.

Apparently the kitchen was not part of that path.

“Alright, alright, I’ll play along,” she mumbled, and for the first time in days, she could feel a little spark of laughter rising inside her chest. “Zenny?” she called out again as she slung her purse off of her shoulder and delicately reached over to place it on a chair within her reach. “This is awfully extravagant, even for you,” she commented. Not that she didn’t like it—quite the contrary. With every step she took, heading deeper into the labyrinth that he had prepared, she caught whiff of new smells and sight of new décor: cherry blossom and sweet pea tickled her nose while photographs and posters awaited her eyes. Scenes of the two of them on the set, selfies of the two of them on their dates. The idea of Zen plastering pictures of himself around the apartment did not surprise her, but what did catch her off guard was that in at least 70% of them… she was beside him.

That was saying something, considering how many selfies he took.

Finally the rose petals came to an end before the bedroom door. Zen must have been waiting for her in there, right? “I’m coming in,” MC announced, but she still didn’t receive a reply. The only response came from the music humming around the apartment: Zen’s voice, without a doubt, but not actually directed at her.

One. Two. Three.

She inhaled and exhaled deeply before turning the doorknob and entering the room.

However, what awaited her on Zen’s bed was not at all what she expected to see. Instead of his familiar face, she spotted a teddy bear sitting there, staring up at her with button eyes and a gentle grin. It was the same teddy bear from yesterday, but in its paws it held a note specifically directed at her:

“Bonjour, mademoiselle MC.”

MC chuckled as she read the note. “Feeling French tonight, monsieur?” she murmured. She gently petted the teddy bear’s head, and as she picked it up to give it a soft squeeze, she noticed that a plate was sitting behind it on the duvet. “What in the world…?”

Should she laugh? Cry? Shake her head? All of the above?

A plate lined with chocolates around the edges, and in the middle was a cluster of fish-shaped buns in the shape of a heart.

“I hope our cuisine is to your taste, madam.”

MC whirled around at the sound of that voice, a sweet symphony to her ears. The man of the hour had arrived, the mastermind behind this entire display. Zen awaited her, adorning a dress shirt, tie, and a pair of freshly pressed slacks. “Too much?” he guessed, and he dropped the lofty tone from his voice with a laugh. “You’ve been working hard. Too hard. I…” He began to fiddle with the edges of his sleeves. “I’ve been a little insensitive, bringing all of those gifts home.”

MC felt a pang in her chest. Had she been that obvious? “You shouldn’t have to hide anything from me,” she insisted, trying to comfort him. “Plus, I know how popular you are. I see it at work.”

Zen considered her words for a moment, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “Yes, well, that still doesn’t mean I should flaunt them in your face… unless they’re for you, and not for me.”

The young woman furrowed her brow as she tried to make sense of his words. “For me?” she echoed. Realization suddenly dawned upon her like the sun cresting the horizon, and she clapped her hands over her mouth to suppress her gasp. The rose petals. The candles. The teddy bear. The chocolates. “You… Zen, you…”

“Oh, don’t cry!” Zen exclaimed, rushing forward to dab at her cheeks. “Oh God, don’t cry. Look at my face—that will make you smile. Well, wait, God made a mistake when creating me, so you might cry tears of joy. Oh, this is a pickle….”

That low rumble from before, that little spark of joy and laughter, rose up in her chest and tickled her throat until it finally poured out from her lips in the form of a gleeful giggle. “Never change, Zen,” she whispered. ‘Never change from the thoughtful, loving man that you are,’ she added silently.

“On stage, I will be Zen, and I will change into whomever the crowd wants to see,” he murmured, and suddenly he leaned in until his lips were nearly pressed against hers, so that she could feel his hot breath tickling her skin. “But for you, my valentine, I will always be Hyun Ryu.”

[raikangaru]

Lucky - Zuko x Reader

Warnings: none

one shot

The Fire Nation ship docks at the port of Ember Island,”Wow!”the little black haired boy cheers, wobbling over to the railings of the boat. “Your highness the carriage is prepared to take you to your summer home,”a fire nation soldier informs us,”alright, thank you”,Zuko takes my hand,”Juro, come on. We’re heading to the house,”I call out to the little boy and gesturing with my hand. “mommy, I want boat longer,”the (eye colour) eyed boy pouts, jutting out his lower lip. “Don’t you want to go swimming,?”his eyes lit up and immediately dashing towards us the guards on alert Incase the little prince falls, Zuko picks him up and I smile at the sight.

The soldier escorts all of three of us to the carriage,”How are you feeling?,”Zuko asks as he helps me up the carriage,”if I’m being honest, I just want to lay in bed. The ships got me dizzy,” as I lean my head on the cushion, “Do you need anything?,”Zuko takes my hand and rubs smooth circles to help ease the dizziness. “No, it’s alright,”I give him a bright smile, the carriage begins moving and Juro can’t help but stick his head out the window, he’s really excited to be here, I turn to my husband, he’s watching our son, a satisfied smile sits on his lips. Zuko and our son chat away, talking about his old memories visiting Ember Island though Juro won’t be able to understand. Before we knew it the entrance way of the royal vacation house, much has changed, Zuko and I had decided to give it an update but still keep some old features to it, to create new memories and remember the old ones.

The little one is so excited, he turns to me and stretches his tiny arms out, I take it as signal to pick him up,”alright alright, we’re going out,”I giggle as he continues to fuss in my arms, “wanna go to daddy?,”he shakes his head. “Aww look daddy is sad,”Zuko fake pouts, pretending to be sad and it’s makes Juro laugh. He reaches out for Zuko and I give him over to Zuko, we all step out of the carriage. The strong smell of the beach hangs in the air, this vacation was going to be good for all of us, it would hopefully take some stress of Zuko. He’s been working extra hard to be able to have complete peace with the nation and other nations.

The maids greet us at the door, directing the guards with our luggage. “My lady lunch is served,”another maid had informed me,”thank you,”I smiled at her. I look out to the window and see Zuko and Juro playing around in the sand, the sight made my heart flutter and immediately my hand moved to my enlarged belly even more excited for the second little one to join us. “Can you perhaps call Zuko and Juro?”I ask ask the maid waiting on me, she bows and leave the house, my two boys enter the house and we all sit in the dining room with Juro sitting in his cute baby chair.

“Mommy, swim”

“Yes yes my love, after we eat,”I smile at my little boy.

After lunch had been cleared, we had rested and got changed for the beach, I had change little Juro into some red swim trunks to match his father. I had just gotten into two piece bikini but covered up in a robe, I look to large to strut around in a bikini. “You still look hot and beautiful my (your name),”Zuko pulls me to him with Juro between us, I shake my head before shooting them away, Juro and Zuko sits on the sand attempting to build the almighty Fire Nation Palace, I prop myself on one of the sun beds and just watch them enjoy their time together. I rub my belly as I feel the baby kick around my tummy,”Zuko, Juro the baby’s kicking,”I yell out to my boys, Zuko looks at me with bright eyes, he’s excited, he was never around whenever the baby kick. “Hi, my baby. You’ve finally come around,”he speaks to my stomach, Juro following suit and I giggle from the vibrations I feel.

“We’re gonna have a swim, Juro really wants. Come join us?”Zuko says, he returns the sand tools in a bucket,”go ahead, I’ll join in a bit, the baby and I just want to rest for awhile,” I laid back on the sun bed,”alright then,”he kissed my cheek before getting up and walked hand in hand with Juro towards the ocean waters. I enjoyed the view of them splashing around in the most shallow part of the shore, Zuko pretends to get hurt from the splashes of water and it entertains the two-year old, I see Zuko whisper to Juro and they both laugh and giggle together. “Mommy swim”,Juro splash the water around,”later baby,”I tell him. “No, swim”,he tries to utter more words, he gives me pouty face and my heart just couldn’t say no, he was too cute. “Alright love,”I sighed and joined them in the water, Zuko and I sat on the soft sand, I leaned on his shoulder while we watched our son play.

It had been a few hours of playing in the water and sand, I had decided it was time to head inside. Without a doubt Juro threw a tantrum, “hush now, baby” I cooed to the young black haired boy,”we’re gonna see the markets,”Juro doesn’t stop crying. “Just go ahead and shower, I’ll handle Juro,”I turn to Zuko, he looks at me skeptically but I reassure him it’s fine. As soon as Juro was in the bathtub he stopped crying, instead he starts splashing again,”you just want to keep swimming,”I giggle as I wash him with shampoo and soap, making sure all salt water was rinsed out of his skin. “There we go love, all done,”I take him out of the tub, thankfully no tantrum. We had given the maids and servants the day off so that we had the house to ourselves,I dressed him up in normal Fire Nation clothing, leaving out his hairpiece. Zuko was leaving on the door, dressed in casual robes, reminds me when we were here with team avatar. Don’t worry love, I’ll take care of him,” I left Zuko while I have a shower myself, the salty sea water stuck to my skin mixed with the sand when I sat and built more ‘sandcastles’ with them.

I felt refreshed after my shower, changed into casual robes and got ready to leave for the markets, Zuko thought it would be a good idea to bring Juro around the markets, to see the colourful lights of the square and just stuff people were selling, he told me when he was younger and visited this place often that’s what he did and he wanted Juro to experience the same things, I reminded him our son was only two-years old, he most likely won’t remember. “I think we’re ready to go,”I called out to Zuko, he carried Juro in his arms,”alright love, let’s go.”

We had the carriage bring us to the markets, immediately Juro was interested, the markets was colourful and had lots of different sounds, Zuko shifts him on his shoulders and grabs my hand, we walk through the markets and picking up random trinkets and what not from different sellers. Juro points at a stall selling lanterns that had different shapes, he points at the dragon one,”fire nation through and through,”I say as we purchase the lantern for him, “you’re so cute baby,”I pinch his chubby cheeks. “This is very nice Zuko, I think Juro’s really enjoying it”,I look up to the giggly boy on the Firelords shoulders. We had dinner in one of the famous dumpling restaurants, definitely the best that I have tasted, I was like an idiot I couldn’t stop moaning about the food. It was clear in Juro’s face that he’s very tired from today’s events, we had the carriage take us home, to our surprise Juro had fallen asleep on Zuko’s arms.

Once in the comforts of our home, I tell Zuko to bring him into the room and I’ll help him change Juro out of his clothes. Once our baby was settled in his bed, I lean to his forehead. Zuko and I walked into our shared room, I changed out of my robes and into silky robes for sleeping. “Today’s been good,”Zuko happily sighs, sliding into our bed and I follow suit. I lay on my side and he cuddles me from behind, draping his arm over me,”I love you my sweet (your name), thank you for giving me children.”

“I fall in love you with you more everyday. You are such a great father to our son,”I cozy up closer to Zuko, he seems to be deep in thought but he breaks out of it, he rubs my pregnant belly. “I don’t want to become like my father, I don’t want them to grow up fearing me.”his eyes darken and his brows are furrowed, I reach up and smoothen out his forehead. “Zuko you’re already a greater man than your father ever was, you have grown from your mistakes and learned from them. You have changed your ways and fought for what is right.”I look at him straight in the eyes and cup his cheeks.

“Don’t compare yourself, to have role model like you, our children are so lucky to have you as their father”

//

m a s t e r l i st

hey! i feel that this was a short one, I tried to do one where reader-chan just watches Zuko and their child, hope you enjoyed it! please leave a like, shoot me an ask or dm if you have any requests or suggestions. have a great day and hopefully this pandemic will pass!

all the love xx

[silvia7272]

Salt/Sugar Ideas For Miraculous Ladybug

Salt/Sugar ideas for Miraculous Ladybug, you can choose the Salt/Sugar for each tag I don’t mind, just wanted to put these out there, if you do write and fics please tag me I would love to read them. I would love to see what you make with them. If you like these feel free to tag someone else who might like them or even do a prompt:

֍     Lila’s Mother isn’t understanding at all and in fact, won’t believe that her Daughter has done anything wrong. Feel free to go wild with this idea.

֍     Before Lila has control of the class Marinette decides she’s going to plant ideas in her classmates head, she gets them to plan a party for Lila but with its filled with so many pranks towards Lila she gets sick of it and accuses Marinette of ruining this party especially for her and as she waits for everyone to crowd around her and console her they stare in shock before someone says. “We’re the ones who made the pranks, Marinette was too busy, she just suggested the party” Lila gets called out and you can choose what type of Salt/Sugar to include. Might be leaning more towards Adrien Salt as he tries to make Marinette apologise while the class defend Mari and apologise.

֍     Lila has a family friend that her Mother forces her to get along with. Years later in Paris after Class Salt or whatever and this friend is a new student and calls her a different name and accidentally debunks all of Lila’s lies in front of the class, but they are oblivious because their use to her lies.

֍     Marinette and Lila get locked up somewhere for whatever reason and there's redemption involved because Marinette knows why she does it.

֍     Because Marinette is considered a bully the whole class all individually talk to Bustier about it, and they’re all told to be the bigger person and become an example to her instead, instead of Bustier reprimanding her she starts treating her nicely because she is turning into another Chloé. All the students then try to get evidence of the bullying but can’t and Lila is exposed.

֍     A fic where Chloé redemption is gradual instead of a snap of your fingers. And better than canon

֍     A very bad idea where Chloé and Lila become the best of friends terrorise the school mainly Marinette and team up with Hawkmoth. Very bad.

֍     A fic that fixes the writers mistakes because it's not exactly the characters fault if they aren't in control of what they say/do. So if you had the chance of redoing Miraculous Ladybug what would you do? For me, I would change the costumes.

֍     Breaking the 4th wall a lot.

֍     Adrien accidentally reveals the truth of Lila in front of the class then tries to backtrack what he said.

֍     Marinette is too emotionally fragile and has stopped doing everything she loved and only then does the class realise what they've done. Lots of denial.

֍     AU where Marinette and Adrien aren't heroes it's some adults, because Fū shouldn't put the responsibility on some kids, but Marinette is still late to class and makes excuses up? Why? Because she found out her mirror is an Alternate Dimensional Hopper thingy. Been in the family for years passed down. Maybe someone breaks it and it fucks up the whole dimension and she has to rescue it before the mirror is incinerated. Multi crossovers. You can include any fandom animated or not.

֍     Adrien finally sees that Lila’s lies do hurt but he didn't realise cause he didn't think the Emotional And Mental Abuse is a thing. He thought only Physical Abuse was real.

֍     Marinette, Chloé, Kagami, Luka and any other people who have been Sugared, form a dance group and while rehearsing Alya sees and records them, putting them on the internet to embarrass them but instead, they get contacted by people all over the world wanting to teach them more. So Alya makes them become famous.

֍     Instead of just telling us Class Salt we see how exactly Lila makes them all her sheep. Maybe with each of them individually wrapped around her finger.

֍     Marinette becomes very Mary-Sue because of an Akuma. The one thing we all fear.

֍ Courtesy of an AU @mirsaltfix and I made. Gabriel and Audrey are both corrupted, Audrey always winning the elections and no one being able to say anything about Adrien’s treatment because the mayor would keep it under wraps. That's why all reports go unfilled and the gorilla hasn't actually stepped in because of blackmail on his end. But Gabriel here had started blackmailing the mayor before that’s why it's ongoing as well? It might explain more of how Adrien and Chloé met each other.

֍ Lila finds out Marinette is ladybug its could be Salt or Sugar.

֍ AU where Lila is nice to everyone but stills lies but can't help it. And that confrontation in the bathroom is where she breaks down in front of Marinette to tell her she liked making them all happy.

֍     Where Adrien learns from his mistakes gradually/ someone berating him for something he’s done. It is kinda stupid where one character always learns from them while the other couldn’t possibly do anything wrong.

֍     After Class Salt Marinette is seen as incompetent so the class start going to Adrien for certain class on such short notice, he thinks sure he could do it, he has some spare time whenever he’s just in his room. But then the requests get bigger and bigger and he wants to say no because now it's starting to affect his normal life. But he doesn’t want them to leave him since these are simple tasks, maybe Nathalie and Gabriel actually take care of him when they see he’s actually stressed. This’ll have to be an AU of course.

֍ The Gorilla where he's the guardian but is a lot better and supportive. And I don't just want an excuse to see him transformed in the miraculous' no not at all. Maybe.

֍ A new student enters who is Jagged Stone's Niece and debunks all of Lila's lies infront of everyone. And immediately becomes besties with Marinette because of all the things shes done for her Uncle.

֍ Somehow a new student comes in who has basically lived through every single lie lila has told. You could be extra salty and have Ladybug lying about them being best friends. And then actually become best friends. This could be before or after Lila is found out but you can choose the amount of salt. (The student said they wished they could be Ladybug's friend and Marinette sees that as a way to spite her former friends by making it become the truth)

Love to see your reactions and thoughts. Again these are just thoughts I had spur of the moment so they might not be perfect.

EDIT: Added 2 more. Probably will later as well.

EDIT 2: Now 2 more.

EDIT 3: Decided to number them instead.

EDIT 4: Maybe added one of the greatest ones.

EDIT 5: 2 more.

[coldcocoamilk]

Whose Horse Is That? -- the social season AU we all want

‘sup! after surviving The Big Game at my job, around a hundred cases of wings later, I’ve finally recovered enough to write again. thank you everyone for your patience as I’ve been working to get this out of my brain. please enjoy the social season au that was asked for! 

this work is also available on Archive of Our Own. please read it wherever you are most comfortable reading! as always, your feedback is greatly appreciated, and thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read my work. ♥

Chapter 1: Arrival 

The salty air finally starting to smell a bit fresher. It had been many weeks since Hange last saw dry land, and as she claps her book shut, she takes in the sights from the deck of the ship that had been her temporary home. The Port of London was not exactly attractive, nor did it show off the architecture and class she had been expecting, but still. It was dry land. Finally, it smelled like something more than fish: steam engines, gasoline, and motor oil. It was not exactly ladylike for her, but those smells brought her some joy.

“Hange,” her brother’s voice called out to her. “You shouldn’t stand on the deck while we’re trying to dock. They have a job to do, you know. Your dress might get wet, and it’s cold.”

“But Moblit,” she grinned, “It smells like cars!”

“We have an impression to make,” he reminded her, tugging at her arm gently but firmly. “Besides, I’m serious. We both should get back down.”

She sighed and took the wide-brimmed hat off her head, clutching it to her chest. The air ran through her hair, pulling a few stray clumps out to fly up onto her forehead. “Fine. I just can’t wait to explore.”

The hat came back on, and the two walked back below decks to their quarters. It would only be a half an hour until their shoes stepped back on land, and both were more than excited. Sure, they had a purpose for coming to England: find a lover, secure the family fortune, and have enough children to carry on their legacy. The British social season was the perfect time to do exactly that, and have a little fun while they could.

“What have you been reading lately?” Moblit asked her as they watched the men in charge of docking the boat through the porthole. “I haven’t heard much from you in the past couple days.”

“Oh! It’s a book on human anatomy. There’s a part about a condition called diabetes that is really interesting to me. Apparently, they’ve found out that people with that condition are missing a function of their body. But, we don’t know if we can replace it yet,” Hange explained. “They’re calling it ‘insulin.”

Moblit’s amber eyes flashed. “Do you still want to be a doctor, Miss Hange?”

She felt her cheeks grow warm and chose then to place the book into her suitcase. “It doesn’t matter.”

He sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and brought his hand up through his hair. “Well, with the way things are looking in the world lately, you could at least be a nurse.”

The sudden stress in her brother’s demeanor wiped the embarrassment from the forefront of her mind. “Listen, if it comes to that, you know I will.”

“We’ll have to go back to America, if we can,” Moblit explained. “But it will be dangerous. I can’t imagine they will be allowing normal sea travel. We might be here longer than we expect.”

“I can learn to love it here,” Hange reasoned.

“You haven’t even seen the city,” Moblit fired back.

With no adequate reply in mind, Hange just sat back down and toyed with the ribbon at the edge of her hat. Of course, her brother would know it is her dream to be a doctor. But women don’t become doctors, she reminded herself. They just become bedside nurses and offer comfort. It seemed like a miserable fate for herself in the medical world. But, if there was a war like they all said there would be, then maybe she could make herself useful. It would be better than nothing, at least.

“I apologize, sister. I shouldn’t talk to you like you’re one of the men.”

“I rather you did, to be quite frank,” She replied. “If we have all this money and power, even if I’m a woman, I should be aware.”

The movement of the boat finally stopped, and a voice from above called out letting them know it was time to deboard. Chatter spread through the boat like wildfire, and soon it was full of the sounds of people grabbing luggage, putting on shoes, and walking towards the exit.

Hange looked at her brother, shrugged, and grabbed the smallest suitcase, knowing it would be a scandal if she grabbed one any bigger. She secured her hat with an extra pin and tucked the stray hairs back under it, smoothed her skirt, and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. Finally, land!

As they walked across the dock out to the street, Moblit grinned, finally feeling some of the excited energy Hange did. “By the way Hange, I just want you to know. I respect you. But let me know if you ever want me to stop treating you like the boys.”

“Absolutely,” she replied.

A man stood in front of a car holding a piece of paper with their names on it, and in a quick few minutes, their possessions were stowed, and they were on their way to the residence that would serve them well for the next half-year.

It was a small residence by their standards, and quite small compared to the others in the area, but it would serve them well, nonetheless. The bricks had been recently cleaned and stood out deep red against the white trimming of the house, and when one looked at the shining windows, they also saw brightly colored flowerboxes underneath them. The top floor seemed to boast a large balcony spanning across the whole front of the house, and the grass was surprisingly green for mid-March.

Arriving at the front of the house, three people stood to meet them, one who was quite familiar to the brother-sister pair.

“Kenny!” Moblit shouted, rushing up to give his friend a hug. “It’s been so long!”

Kenny gave Moblit a small smile, a rarity for the man, and a surprise to Hange. “You two were just children when I last saw you. Now you’re out here looking for love.”

“Hange, you’ve gotten so tall,” he remarked. “And you are as beautiful as always. You two will have a great time here.”

“Thank you for having us, Mr. Ackerman,” Hange replied. “I can only hope I’m as beautiful as your home here.”

This earned her another smile, much to her joy. “This is but a cottage, Hange!”

It had been so long since she had seen Kenny smile. Sure, he made sure to keep in touch with the family through letters and photos, but since his sister Kuchel had died, those smiles had become few and far between. His letters never had the same kind of wry wit to them they had in previous years. Still, she knew he was capable of it. Kenny rarely took up the opportunity to make a good joke, but he could only joke if there were people around.

They chatted for a bit on the front steps there, catching up on life and musing about the weather while the two servants brought their luggage in. Finally, Kenny led them inside to the warmth of the foyer, much to the pair’s relief. The combination of the bitter British cold and them trying to get their land legs back meant that standing and chatting, while fun, was quite the chore.

“Moblit, Hange, please meet my two favorite servants. This is Connie and Sasha. If you have any needs or worries during your stay here, please call upon them. They are kind and capable,” Kenny explained as he led them up the stairs. “Hange, your room will be on the last door to the left down this hall, and Sasha’s quarters are right across from yours. There is a washroom just next door, too. Moblit, yours is the same, but down over here,” he gestured to a hall across the way. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to check up on dinner, so take your time to settle in. It should be on the table at around seven o’clock.”

“Thank you, Mr. Ackerman,” the siblings replied together. Moblit walked Hange to her room with Sasha in tow, and then departed off to his own room.

Turning the knob on the door, Hange was greeted with a surprisingly spacious, but cozy room. Deep green velvet curtains were parted to show the street and balcony outside, their tails just barely brushing the floor. The bed was large and four-poster, with curtains for privacy. Her suitcases stood in one corner next to several large wardrobes, and there was a writing desk, end table, and a couch just large enough for two to sit and have tea. The green felt warm, welcoming, and inviting.

“Miss Zoe, Master Ackerman said your favorite color was green, so you were given this room. If you don’t like it, we can always change it,” Sasha spoke up.

“No, I adore it,” Hange replied, walking over to the bed. She pulled back the curtain and flopped onto the bed, sinking into the cushy goodness that was goose down. “I absolutely adore it,” she breathed.

“Would you like me to unpack your bags, Miss Zoe?” Sasha asked, unsure of what to do with her hands.

Feeling the effects of several weeks on a boat combined with the general exhaustion of travel, Hange simply rolled over onto her stomach. “It’s quite alright, Sasha. And please, just call me Hange. Could you please loosen my stays? I’d like to take a nap.”

“With pleasure, Hange.” Sasha’s fingers were swift and adept at loosening the corset, and in no time, she had Hange tucked into bed. “Should I come to you when dinner is about ready, then?”

“Yeah, that sounds good…” Hange trailed off, already half asleep.

The stillness of the bed and dry land. Finally, maybe she could get some good sleep.

[tiliamericana]

Muay Thai: 1.17

Lind A: bring me lunch!

It was after eleven. She should be getting up and opening the dojo. This argument wasn’t quite enough to compel her legs to move from the bed, however, so Nairi lifted her phone and answered the text instead.

What do you want?

Lind A: idk get something you like and we can share Lind A: im at my studio!!

k

The ‘a’ button on her keyboard was sticking something fierce, and the black coating was worn away on the space bar and surrounding keys. Maybe she should get a new phone. She let the blackberry slip back down to rest on her chest as she went back to staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. The blanket was too hot where it was wrapped around her legs, and her shoulder was starting to ache where it had been pressed into her pillow and mattress for too long.

What did she like to eat? What did she like to eat that Linden also liked? Or, well, what was between here and Linden’s studio that had vegetarian options and food Linden liked, was probably the better question.

It was another ten minutes before she could make herself stand up and find a pair of jeans.

Almost an hour after that she’d made it to Linden’s studio, coffee and pastries in hand. Loud music was pumping out the propped-open door, grungier rock floating past the concrete paint can in sharp opposition to the cheerful pop from the last time she’d been here. Nairi stepped inside with her offerings, looking around for Linden.

“Oh hey, I thought you’d abandoned me,” said Linden cheerfully, and Nairi tracked her gaze down to see her sprawled on the floor. She was grinning up at her, hips twisted with one knee folded over her thigh, back pressed to the ground.

Nairi held up the paper bag by way of explanation. “Never. There was just a queue. Are you okay?”

Linden nodded sagely and shut her eyes, rolling her hips back down and shaking out her leg. “I had to pick up a box of glue off the craft shop floor this morning and I foolishly bent with my back instead of my knees, so now I must pay for my hubris.” She groaned as she sat up, taking a coffee from the proffered tray and grinning at Nairi. “Twenty-seven is way too young to even be having these issues, I swear to god.”

“Maybe your back’s just advanced for its age,” said Nairi, setting her tea and the pastries down on an unoccupied stretch of counter space.

Linden got to her feet and laughed brightly as she leaned over to her beat up ipod where it was sitting in a dock on the sill, spinning the volume almost all the way down. She straightened to grin at her head on as she reached out for Nairi’s hand. “Dad always said I was precocious. Come on, I made something for you!”

“Oh, what?” said Nairi, feeling the corner of her mouth twitch up as she let Linden tug her across the studio. “I only just figured out how to hang the last thing you painted me.”

Linden laughed again, letting go of her hand to reach up and pull down one of the two jackets from a hook on the back of the far door. “Well, this one hangs in a wardrobe, so I’m sure you’ll figure that out on your own.”

Nairi looked at the leather being offered to her, then back up at Linden, who jiggled the coat hanger at her.

She took it. It was a heavy, white motorcycle jacket, with two crisp stripes running the full length of the sleeves in red and green. The cuffs were zipped with sturdy silver tabs, and the pockets looked to fall just under the ribs with the same zips as closures. It was high-necked and padded in a way she instinctively approved of, with extra buckles at the neck and waist over the front zip. On the back Linden had painted an ourobouros of a dragon in green and black, its eye the same bright red as the stripe on the sleeves.

“Try it on,” said Linden eagerly, nodding at her. “I snooped in your drawers before I bought the jacket, so it should be the right size.”

Nairi felt her mouth twitch again, and she slipped the jacket on over her shoulders. It was comfortably snug around her arms, and heavy in a way that made it feel like it belonged there. The leather was a little stiff, not yet worn in, and the zip sufficiently toothy so that it took a second try to tug it down again. “It’s great,” she said, looking up and smiling back at Linden. “Thank you, you didn’t have to get me this.”

Linden was reaching up bring down its twin, and she glanced back over her shoulder at Nairi as she pulled it on. “Look, I saw them as I was walking past and I wanted one for me, and then I saw the white and I just hadto.” Hers was dark, crimson like her favourite wine-red lipstick, with thick, soft, elasticated fabric around the cuffs and waist hem. The painted embellishments were little lines of matchstick fires around the wide pockets, and a cherry tree in full blossom on the back, with a vintage style painting of a pair of cherries over one shoulder like a fake patch. “It gave me an excuse to break out the good paints too, the ones I haven’t used since I was a student. I had a lot of friends who did costume shit for theatre, the hardcore kind, it was nice to use them again! And like, I know it’s totally the wrong time of year for warm jackets and I should’ve held out for your birthday ‘cause it would’ve been perfect, but I got excited when I finished them and it’s been hard enough keeping my trap shut while I waited for them to dry.”

“It’s totally fine,” said Nairi, watching Linden give a little spin to show off her jacket before she shrugged it off again. “It’s just an early birthday present. Very early—preparatory, so I don’t have to wait for my birthday once it starts getting cold, and now you don’t have to worry about getting something for the day as well.”

Linden laughed again, ushering her back across the studio towards the pastries. “Oh, nice try, but you’re not escaping the birthday fun that easy,” she teased, picking up her coffee and nudging her broken chair towards Nairi with one foot. “Come on, sit, eat, give me the good goss, tell me how you and Aggy are going.”

“There’s not a lot happening, really,” said Nairi blandly, taking her tea back from Linden and sitting gingerly. The chair held, thankfully, if with a little more bounce than she’d been expecting. “You know, everything’s just kind of… fine.”

Linden pouted over her coffee before proceeding to loot the pastry bag. “Oh, that’s boring though! You two never do anything exciting, and you’ve been dating for like, months now. Seriously, nothing new?”

The impulse to laugh bubbled high in Nairi’s throat, and she swallowed it, wondering briefly where it had come from. “I think I’m okay with boring, honestly. Is your dating life not exciting enough?”

That got a snort as Linden resettled herself to lean back against the counter, raspberry crown in hand. “It’s a little cooled down at the moment, I won’t lie. Like, Simon and I are technically still ‘on’,you know, we’re just not, doing as much.”

“Tapering off, or just laying low from Nicholas?” asked Nairi with a small grin, catching the pastry bag as Linden tossed it to her.

Linden rolled her eyes, taking a drink from her coffee. “Si’s a big boy, he doesn’t need Nick barging in to tell him how to live his life. He’s still fun, it’s just, you know, reaching the point where people start making comments about taking him home to meet Dad and it’s definitelynot that kind of relationship.”

“Because you’re not expecting a ring or because he’s not up to scratch?” asked Nairi, tearing at a croissant.

“Yes,” said Linden, laughing. “Fuck, jesus, I’m nowhere near thinking about that, much less with Si’! That and Dad would eat him alive, he’s got an English degree—the only thing worse would be fine art.”

She hadn’t said it with any malice, so it was probably a normal sort of joke to make? “High expectations to meet?”

Linden grinned wolfishly. “Any partner I nail down better be ready to jump,” she joked with a darkly amused tone to it. “Dad’s good at what he does so he has high standards—typical lawyer shit, you know?”

Nairi shrugged. “Most of the lawyers I’ve met have just been dicks, but I think it’s different when you’re working with them as opposed to like, being raised by one. Is he defence or attack?”

Linden laughed loudly at that, hiding her grin behind her coffee cup again before answering. “Prosecutor, he’s a DA,” she said, sounding a little lighter. “Highest conviction rate in the state, only the best efforts for his job.”

“Damn, alright,” said Nairi, raising an eyebrow. “Kind of a bigshot?”

Linden nodded, setting her cup down. “Yeah, he gets kinda high profile sometimes—I don’t know if you remember a couple of years back, uh, Maxim Bailey? That guy?”

Oh yeah, she’d heard he’d been arrested. Nairi nodded, making a general noise of affirmation, and Linden nodded along with her.

“Yeah, he’s still salty he didn’t manage to get him on the murder charge, despite getting the other convictions,” said Linden, still nodding like a bobble-head. “Caught a little bit of media at the time, too.”

“Hell of a job,” said Nairi. Her thigh vibrated and she set her tea down to tug her phone out of her pocket.

“Stressful, he’s been talking about changing up careers for a couple months now,” said Linden, finally stopping the motion of her head.

Aga D: How’s your day? Any students for the first couple of classes?

She hesitated, chewing the inside of her cheek as her thumbs hovered over the buttons.

“Is that your giiirl-friend?” asked Linden, her drawl long and amused, and she lifted a leg to prod Nairi’s knee with her toe, making the chair spin a little.

Nairi glanced back at her phone, tapping out a response quickly. “Yeah, she’s just checking in.”

A couple yeah. Just having a quiet day.

Aga D: I’m glad! I’ll let you get back to teaching and stop distracting you :)

She tucked her phone away and picked up her tea again, suddenly not feeling much like eating anything.

Linden’s eyes were unreadable over her coffee, but she was smiling when Nairi looked at her. “That’s nice of her,” she said with a funny note in her voice. “I’m really happy for you two, you know that right?”

“Thanks,” said Nairi, shuffling her unappetising croissant back into its bag to avoid Linden’s piercing eyes. “I’m, um. I’m glad you both, sort of, uh, adopted me? Even if it’s in different ways. It’s been good. Really good.”

She covered her expression with her tea, not really tasting it as she drank. Why had that been hard to say?

Linden’s mouth twitched at the corner, just a hint of her normal dimples. “I’m glad you let us,” she said warmly, and suddenly her eyes were back to normal. “You looked like you could use a couple of friends when we met, and god only knows Agatha needed a relationship that actually worked out after her streak.”

“Yeah?” said Nairi, leaning to set the pastry bag back on the counter.

Linden nodded, giving her a rueful look. “Yeah, I mean, she told you how we met, right? Her boyfriend of like, ten years or some shit was one of my regulars, and when she found that out she showed up on my doorstep in tears, it was kind of fucking rough.”

“Oh, damn,” said Nairi, for lack of anything better. Ten years?Agatha had left that out.

“Yeah,” said Linden with an exaggerated grimace. “I mean, fuck, I’m pretty mercenary when it comes to cheating and the job, but even I felt bad. I helped her do some vandalism on him, and then I introduced her to Flo and some nice single people who helped her figure out she was into women, so like, it all worked out eventually, but it was kind of a rough time for her, you know?”

“Yeah,” echoed Nairi, feeling the pastry sink to the bottom of her stomach. “I’m glad it worked out, in the end.”

“Like I said,” said Linden, nudging her again with a wink and a smile, “she just needed someone like you to swoop in and be the good, stable girlfriend for her.”

Her tone was light and teasing, and Nairi made herself swallow more tea before she answered. “Right, yeah. I don’t know how ‘good’ I am at the whole, Prince Charming thing.”

She’d been trying for a joke, but it fell flat between them.

“You’re doing fine,” said Linden, her tone softening a little, and she looked at Nairi with earnestness in her eyes. “Seriously, Princess. You’re doing fine.”

End of book 1.