#but anyway! I have some holiday 'gifts' ready to be posted

[letsmcfreackingloseit]

Hello? Hellooooo? Wait- is it really christmas??? Is it finaly christmas??? AM I OUT OF THE TIME LOOP?!?

YIPPIE!!!!!

[kuni-is-daddy]

Switch!Wanderer x Female Reader

Birthday Special

Ft: Mentions of nahida. Word Count: 1.32k

|Scaraficlist!|ScaraNSFWAlphabet

:// Spoilers for his lore if your not updated. Use of Darling, Good girl, Soft wanderer, subtle grinding. Kuni tries to be dom. Aftercare

CW: Minors do NOT interact past the cut! This is a NSFW POST!!

Wanderer was bored. So he decided to go to the sanctuary of Surasthana while you we're 'busy running errands at the akademiya'. Or, that was the story you went with. "Errands?" Nahida was sitting on her swing while flicking through the pages of a colorful animal book. Slimes, Whopper flowers and even vishamps were all printed in bold along the pages with pictures and definitions in the corner. "Hm.. But I thought she was getting ready for the surpri-" Nahida stuttered and bit her tongue. Wanderer noticed. "What is it?"

he insisted and she nervously closed her book. "Well Uhm.. I know your stance has changed, But shouldn't you take some time off to compose yourself? Its your-" "My birthday." He said sarcastically. "I don't celebrate that Irrelevant holiday; it wouldn't even apply to me as I wasn't even given a concrete date of birth. Who cares, It's just a waste of time when I could be doing other things." Nahida got up. " Well, if you're comfortable, maybe you can give a gift to someone else? Someone you care about! You know.. your thes-" Wanderer groaned. "Yes buer. I know my thesis is due. Youve reminded me. SEVERAL. Times." She smiled, now that Wanderer was attending lectures and studied at vahumana, the little archon was eager to read out his findings. Nahida then waved him off as he turned away. 'A gift..' He immediately thought of you. What would you like this time? Make-up, Clothes, should he take you out on another date? He didnt have much mora on him at the moment, But didnt care since it was for you. Wanderer sighed, He'd just have to go off his own idea.

Wanderer fumbled with his keys. You probably still weren't home anyway. He thought. He did tell you how he felt about his birthday. For all he knew his existence was just a hinderance. His mother, Niwa's suffering… The deaths in the clans…. Wait. Is that why you stayed in the akademiya for so long? A pit began to swirl in his chest and eyebrows furrowed at the thought. Nahida was obviously holding out on something when she referenced you. He tsk'd then turned the doorknob "Y/n?" and was greeted to your shared house covered in decorations. Wanderer fell completely quiet as he looked around the house, there we're teal and white decorations along the walls, A feast on the table, then gifts neatly tied in a bow. He took off his kasa hat, hanging it up by the door. Many gifts we're lined up along the hallway. Two we're in sparkling green wrap. 'From Nahida, To hatguy' Was written on the tag. While 3 other gifts we're from you. He Opened the door to his room; Light came from underneath. "Y/n. Darling? Are you-" "SURPRISE!!!!!!" You yelled and jumped off his bed, Kuni blinked as he heard a pop and watched shreds of confetti fall onto his head, one on his nose that he blew away a bit annoyed. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" you ran up to hug him, practically jumping into his arms as you hugged him tightly.

You then pulled away as he looked you up and down. You wore a f/c dress, Stockings and a blue bowstring tied on your right wrist. He grinned and tugged you by his arm, pulling you closer and into his grasp. Before you could react his arm was already wrapped around your waist. "Hm. So all I have to do is indulge in this stupid holiday to have you wrapped up for me like this?" Kuni's gazed stayed focused on your now flustered expression with your body pressed against his, He trailed his free hand down to the hymn of your dress, Rubbing his fingertips along your clothed thigh. "Well..it is your birthday so I thought id-ah-give you~ something~" A small moan escaped your lips as he rubbed his hand along your ass, He scoffed a bit when he felt the latex of your stockings. "Oh? And what was that? This perfect body of yours that I can have whenever I want?" You nodded and stumbled in his touch, "Fuck.." Kuni let out a raspy breath. Your knee pressed against the forming tent in his pants. "If your done playing around, Im going to unwrap my gift now."

---

Kuni scooped you up properly, then placed you onto the bed. You looked at him eagerly as his pupils began to glow a fainter purple. He hastily took off his open chested kimono and bodysuit, discarding his vision as it dangled off the side of the bed. "Lay down for me." Kuni ordered. You complied and got comfortable, kicking off your flats and laying on the middle of the bed. He sunk his face into your neck and bit along your shoulder before leaving petals of kisses along your neck. You moaned softly into his ear and pressed your knee up a bit further, Stimulating him through his pants. "You- mn Slut. Rutting against me like this." Kuni bit harder, Sucking on your neck and creating red patches along your skin. He pulled away from your neck and smashed his lips against yours, His tongue eagerly intertwined with yours, Your lipbalm softly smeared against his own lips in friction as you moaned into his mouth. Kuni's hands shifted down towards your breasts, Cupping them harshly through your dress cloth. His member began throbbing through his pants, You wanted more. Touching him like this wasnt enough. Kuni pulled away and you whined. "Shh shh..Be patient my love." Your heart rate increased at his sudden sweet nickname, And as you we're distracted he pulled you near the edge of the bed and spread your legs. "K-kuni- wait! my stock-"

He tugged at the cloth and ripped it, Holes formed in the stitching near your thigh. Kuni's eyes widened a bit, You also had lacey lingerie on underneath. "Shit..You've been plotting this all day huh? To have me fuck you with these on?" His fingers pressed on the cotton, and slowly pulled your lingerie off as well. Your pussy was already glistening from his remarks and Kuni bit his lip. "God..I need to taste you right now darling, You look so good for me~ My perfect gift." Kuni leaned down in between your legs and licked along your folds. He was going to drag this out as long as he could. He took more short licks along your clit, Occasionally Licking at your bud while gripping you closer. Your legs twitched from his teasing. "Kuni..Please~ More~! I need it~!" You pleaded and kuni finally inserted his warm tongue inside your pussy. "Mn You taste s' good darling~" kuni's tongue licked along your walls and You bucked your hips a bit softly into his tongue. He then sunk farther in-between your legs, giving you a hazy sight of him pulling his bangs out of view and rubbing your clit against his lips. "K-kuni! wait your tongue~! Its-" "Loudher slut~ Mm-let me hear how good im making you feel~" You moaned into your hand while gripping tightly onto the bedsheets. Out of desperation to chase your high you pressed his head in between your thighs, Suffocating him in your taste. Kuni was so used to training himself how to breathe he forgot he was a puppet; He felt a bit lightheaded but couldnt help it as his length began throbbing so hard in his pants he felt as if he was going to cum untouched while rubbing your clit as you moaned out his name.

A coil snapped and you came undone, Letting out a muffled cry as you coaxed his lower face and tongue in your Juices, Squeezing your thigh one more time as your high subsided. The deafening silence blinked you out your daze as kuni got up from in-between your legs, Panting and his hair completely messy. "I- Kuni Im so sorry! Are you okay I didnt-" As you looked further down you noticed the wet stains coming from his shorts, He pulled the string and slid down his shorts and boxers, finally freeing his aching shaft. "Mmm..Fuck..You really are my slut arent you. My Pretty cocksleeve~" Kuni pulled up your dress finally over your head, frazzling your hair slightly and he panned your locks back in place with his thumb. "Spread your legs again for me.. darling And dont you dare-Hah..Get quiet again. Okay?" He said between panted breathes, you nodded and parted your legs again then held them up a bit until his tip grazed softly against your wet entrance, The puppet was already twitching from the contact and his precum smeared along your clit. Kuni looked up at you again, "Are you ready doll?" You hummed and he immediately plunged himself inside you, Moaning and groaning at your warmth.

"Ah~ F-fuck y/n." He bucked his hips up and down slowly. You wrapped your legs around him, pulling him closer as he kissed under your neck with your head rested on his pillow. Kuni let out heavy pleasured sighs in sync with your moans as you chased your second orgasm. With his face dug into your neck he searched for your hand, gripping at the bow then intertwining his hand in yours. Your body arched further as his bed began to creak from his quickening pace. His ornament and kimono fell off the bed with a slight clink, But kuni was in a daze from your walls clenching around his cock. "Y-your so tight y/n i- im fuck~! Gonna cum~!" Kuni tilted his head up, biting harder into your neck while your nails dug into his shoulders. You quickly came again, shuddering from your second orgasm as you coated his cock. Kuni soon came after, bucking himself balls deep into you with a harsh thrust, Ropes of his Cum gushed into your womb, Painting your walls the color of his seed.

Wanderer panted into your chest, The only sounds coming from him we're soft sighs of relief from his pent-up orgasm. He tried getting up, slowly pulling himself out of your stuffed pussy and fetching a towel. He then held your hand softly, gracing you up as he wiped any sweat or fluids off your body. He was deafly quiet and focused on cleaning you up. He sighed and got up until you gripped tightly on his hand. "Stay with me kuni…Please~?" Your eye lashes fluttered, Blinking out the small dry tears. The puppet stared at you as you held his hand. He was never showered with this much affection. Nonetheless for his birthday, He didn't know whether to get emotional or frustrated. And chuckled to himself at another one of his fatal flaws that he couldn't understand. "Heh. So needy arent you? Fine. I'll stay." Kuni then laid down with you ontop of him, planting a kiss on the crown of your head while you rested on his chest.

The next morning you woke up limp with your knees wobbling. You stumbled out the bed, noticing a pair of clothes sitting by the edge with a small note attached. "Not bad, I guess cooking is another thing Your reliable on. Lessor lord Kusanali is having me attend another Boring lecture, She says its 'important' But I don't really care. Ps. Check my desk when your done, Then meet me at the Akademiya. Hurry up."

On his desk was a bouquet of flowers….And another note. 'Thank you for the birthday gift darling.'

A/N: I Havent wrote in like...WEEKS omg :( Ty all so much for your patience and HAPPY NEW YEAR!. Thank you for reading!!!

[kiestrokes]

Say My Name | Teaser | NSFW

Pairing: fratboy!Song Mingi x Reader/You/Yn Rating: NSFW. Mature (18+) Minors DNI.Genre: smut, fluff, mild angst. Warnings: consensual peer pressure, high school sweetheart breakups, college, frat boys, parties, everyone is 21 or older so no underage drinking among the main characters. Reminder this is just a wip teaser, and not the final product. Parts are subject to change in the end.

Sexually Explicit Content: eluding to an open relationship/poly!Wooyoung x Yunho x Reader nothing else for the teaser, but there will be an explicit smut scene so, MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.

Summary: You and Yunho have been childhood best friends since your mothers grew up together, living in different towns but spending all the holidays together. The friendship has always been light and easy, never serious. Reconnecting in college and exploring each other in new ways. After a second breakup with your high school sweetheart, Yunho propositions you to break your dry spell with his new fraternity brother transfer and high school friend Song Mingi. How could you say no?

🗝️ Note: Because if I never post this teaser, I will never get this fic out. This is me, holding me, accountable. ANYWAY like so many of my fic ideas this was pushed lovingly forward by @chans-room. As I couldn't shut up about the Booty Werk Yunho/Woo dance. I did write it in part to wreck gift to @minisugakoobies they have a fratboy!Hongjoong fic you all should check out. Sunny and @minttangerines were kind enough to beta it for me when I felt stuck last month, and I have added some additional parts that I hope make the fic feel more well-rounded and substantial.

Disclaimers: This is a work of fiction; I do not own any of the idols depicted below.

Posting Date: 10/18/2023

You hadn’t added anyone new to your friend group since sophomore year when your childhood friend Yeosang had showed up at your University with Wooyoung. Which felt like forever ago but had only been three semesters. The two had taken their first semester abroad in the German exchange program.

Even then, none of your friends had ever had sex with just you. Sure, Wooyoung got drunk at parties and enjoyed making out with any of you that were willing and dancing dirty all over the sticky frat or sorority floors. 

Frat president Hongjoong was definitely not among the willing. He’d frozen up like a board when Wooyoung planted a sloppy kiss on him during his election celebration. 

Speaking of the devil, Kim Hongjoong was sauntering up to your table, with a wicked smile on his lips. Oh no. 

“Yunho told me you were finally single and ready to Mingle.” Hongjoong fixed you with a reading stare and challenging smirk. 

“HJ, not today.” You groan. 

He slides onto the table top, “no not today, but next Friday.” He plucks a fry from your dwindling order. 

You naw on your bottom lip, as Yunho approaches with Seonghwa. It seemed Hongjoong had escaped them in order to harass you first. 

“Are they coming?” Seonghwa asked excitedly, slipping his black hoodie off one shoulder to expose a black tank top below. 

You look up and right into the puppy dog eyes of Yunho, “We have another surprise for you.”

Wooyoung squeezes your elbow and with the deepest sigh you consent. 

“Fine, I’ll be there and Yeosang will too.”

“What?” Yeosang’s head whips to you from where he was slipping into the bench beside Wooyoung. 

“I’ll explain later.” Wooyoung taps his arm as Yeosang continues to bounce a confused stare from you to the frat boys across from you. 

“Lovely!” Hongjoong claps his hands together excitedly, like the mad magician he is. 

© COPYRIGHT 2021 - 2024 by kiestrokes All rights reserved. No portion of this work may be reproduced without written permission from the author. This includes translations.

[evelynsgarden]

You should write some hcs or something about living alone with Abby, sorta cannon but not if you get what I mean? On a farm or in a home :3

Living With Abby Hcs

Cw: smut under the warning fluff otherwise 🩷 :p(ignore spelling errors if any (request open)

‿︵‿୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ -୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵ ‿୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ -୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ ‿ ‿︵‿୨˚̣̣̣͙୧

🩷 Mornings with Abby are always special. She loves waking up early to make you breakfast, bringing you coffee in bed, and sharing quiet moments together before the day starts. She enjoys the simplicity of starting the day with you by her side. However, she always forgets to wash the dishes after breakfast and will in fact leave them in the sink all day💀 she’s super sorry about it but forgets every time 😭

🩷 Abby loves surprising you with impromptu date nights. Whether it’s a homemade candlelit dinner or a spontaneous drive to a scenic spot (with a super cute picnic ahhhhh) she’d definitely wanna keep you entertained and happy :( and can you imagine her coming back from patrol and instantly wanting to take you to some nice patch of grass she found not far out because she’s missed you and wants to have as many nice moments as possible

🩷 Abby coming back from a patrol with trinkets and gifts because she missed you and couldn’t stop thinking about you. She’d come back with jewelry, glasses, charms, stuffed animal, music, etc just to see you smile

🩷 Living together means celebrating holidays ^_^ Whether it’s decorating the house, cooking special meals, or exchanging heartfelt gifts, she’s so ready to go all out. Imagine decorating a ginger bread house with her and she makes a little you and her out of ginger bread😭 she’d be so excited to show you too(shit would be funny af if ur shorter than her lmfao- a lil ginger bread dude next to a really fucking tall one 💀)

🩷Abby fixing anything and everything that’s broken in the house or not up to par with what she thinks you deserve. The oven isn’t working properly? dw she’ll figure it out- oh the door handle broke again she’s right on it- she’d fuck it up and make it worse and then proceed to actually read a manual(she totally knows what she’s doing😐) THEN fix it but she loves you so it’s fine

Warning nsfw

‿︵‿୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ -୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵ ‿୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ -୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ ‿ ‿︵‿୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ ︵‿୨˚̣̣̣͙୧

🧁 GAH sleepy morning sex with her would be sooo sweet❤️ she’d mumble out little “come on baby”s and hushes while she pushes her fingers into you slowly, listening to you beg for more half asleep. Her hands would be ALLLLL over your thighs afterwards squishing them softly, kissing up and down your neck before falling back asleep :(

🧁Abby has a bad (good-)habit of turning ordinary moments into something much more heated than they need to be😭. While you're cooking together, she can't resist coming up behind you, pressing her body against yours. Her hands slide under your shirt, caressing your stomach and breasts, her lips finding your ear as she whispers little moans into your ears. Before you know it, she has you bent over the kitchen counter, pounding into like shes scared she’ll never get to fuck you again. Girl is DESPERATE to make you happy(cum)

🧁After a particularly stressful patrol, when Abby needs to release all that pent-up tension she’ll take you against the nearest wall, counter, door, shit she’d settle for the floor- her hands gripping your hips tightly as she moves against you. Begging for you to scream her name louder because there’s not a single person for miles and even if there hypothetically were she’d want them to know how good and how deep she’s fucking you anyway.

🧁speaking of stressful patrols and my prior post(god her with a oral fixation) being in the bath with her to calm down after a long day and she sucks on your tits and plays with them with a thigh between your legs. When she gets bored of that she’ll drain the bath water and eat you out, sucking softly while forcing you open despite the overstim and multiple orgasms.

🧁cleaning you up after because you’re painfully exhausted (in a good way) she makes it her priority to have you comfy and close to her before you pass tf out because she still has you fucked up and unable to walk hours later 😭

‿︵‿୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ -୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵ ‿୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ -୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ ‿ ‿︵‿୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ ︵‿୨˚̣̣̣͙୧

OH THIS IS SO CUTE(the first part not the part where my ovulation is speaking for me-)

(I really appreciate requests- writing is helping with my anxiety rn- short and sweet as always ;D)

[inkyvendingmachine]

T'was The Night Before Crisis... Season 4, Episode 1

💀 Call of Cthulhu: Haunted Hijinx Masterpost 💀 Call of Cthulhu Season Four Masterpost (Coming Soon)

Warning: This campaign is an edited version of  a Call of Cthulhu scenario from the Tales of the Crescent City book. While a lot has been changed, there IS spoilers for it throughout these posts.

WE'RE BACK. After over a whole heckin year of 10000 RP logs, we have returned with our final season of Cthulhu! It's been not just a year out of game, but a little over a year worth of in game time has passed too, and they boys are indulging in a chill, at home seasonal celebration... for now! Surely nothing weird will happen, nothing ever does around holidays for these boys obviously.

:)

Happy Holidays!

Art Credit: @inkdemonapologist : sketching + inking @inkyvendingmachine : concept + colouring

A week. Two weeks. A month. A season. A year.

A whole year and a couple of months go by without any crazy outside force trying to rid the boys of… anything really. The time isn't exactly calm or empty… but compared to recent events, for a while, things were… kinda normal?

Well, except for when Joey got Peter to help him meet with Y secretly to prevent the gang from continuing to mess with JDS, or when Sammy and Henry realized mid tennis match that a version of Henry had slashed him right through the center. Or how the Prophet can just pop out now without ink. And how Susie has been brought in on all this, and perhaps brought in on even more than just the supernatural content as her bonds with Sammy and Joey grow tighter. And how Peter is actually moving to New York City now and ends up visiting Jack just as Beans goes missing and now there’s many little Beans kittens. And the summoning spell to ask the spirit that helped them in Haiti what will become of Sammy and Prophet. And the other summoning spell for Prophet to get his instructions from the Masked Messenger. And Sammy still can't tell where he's going half the time after uncovering some of Prophet’s memories. And Joey is still a bit hesitant to leave the studio if not being actively distracted. But other than that! It's been normal!!

And the boys have made it all the way to Christmas. Joey's received some parcels in the mail, from the Fowlers and Nicole. The Fowlers actually sent each of the helpful boys uh… 1000$?? That's a thousand. EACH. IN THE 1930s. For helping out… which I guess if stuck eternally in soul lake hell, wouldn't have that money anyways. But still, that's quite a lot for the time.

Meanwhile, Nicole has had time to move on from her heartbreak, and is ready to start a new chapter in her life, and as thanks, leaves Joey both the keys to her old apartment (the lease being paid up for a few years already) and to her previous car, with a guarantee she's giving these things up for better, not to worry about her. And totally not because maybe all the occult scratches and bullet marks in the wall makes the apartment hard to rent, or the fact that her car is an extremely recognized Mercedes, or that both of these assets were hounded by gangs for a bit after her magical mistakes…

It probably is actually all out of good will and appreciation, and these things will come in useful, especially if they do need to deal with more mafia or what have you. Joey doesn't need them tracking Henry's car home to his family or back to Jack's house.

With those gifts out of the way, the actual holiday is spent in Jack's house, with a big potluck meal. This holiday celebration includes a small group of friends and their families, namely, all the people Jack has befriended and also would be okay with the Lurker partying with em. The event goes well, Sammy gets to play through the night, Henry’s children get to hang out with a real Bendy and also a buncha newly grown-up cats, Henry gets to eat as many cookies as he wants… 

That… slows down when Henry sees a yellow sign in a ribbon. But as soon as he tries to not lose his entire cool and freak out, it disappears… the ribbon was just a ribbon the entire time. Perhaps golden ribbons shouldn't be their normal holiday decor… 

Meanwhile, Peter feels eyes on him and decides to move away from the window maybe, especially because it feels like he suddenly knew exactly which star in the sky holds Carcosa at the same time… surely a fine coincidence to have happened at almost the same time. But nobody else is acting weirdly, sooooo.

The night wraps up, with Susie and Norman heading out first, followed by Henry and his family. Sammy also heads home after being socially exhausted and desperately needing his alone time, and Peter helps Jack clean up some before heading out too. Jack heads to bed, only to find an already asleep Joey with a Spark sprawled on top of him, probably after he “closed his eyes for a moment” a little earlier. 

The next day, there's technically work, but it's a short day because what's actually happening is a charity auction and party. A collection of “originals, signed by the creators” has been donated to help raise money for relief efforts in a few warring European countries, as well as the “entertainment” for the evening (Bendy cartoons, of course), courtesy of JDS, which means of course all the stars who signed the auctioned items were invited to the party as well.

Yes, even Sammy. 

(And also Jack, Henry, Susie, and Joey of course.)

The event is being held at a yacht club, advertised to the wealthies of the city midst the great depression, with live music playing and glittering evening wear, and uh. Denis.

Y'know, Denis?? That rich guy from NOLA who invited us to the masquerade?? That Joey casually name dropped his legal name to in order to keep him from tracing himself and Sammy back to JDS, when they didn't know who or how dangerous their initial information gathering was.

Anyways, a quick little talking him in circles by Joey corrects that past mistake, as well as gets him the information that Denis is actually related to one of the people who put the entire event together. Ha. Good to know.

Of course it's difficult to shake him afterwards, since Joey is one of the few people Denis knows all the way up in New York. At least Joey actually has a fancy car to talk about now.

Meanwhile, in the quietest, emptiest corner he could find, Sammy notices something odd about the song that's currently being played live. It sounds familiar, and while surely there's been some Bendy music played this evening…. This particular song is not that. But it WAS composed by Sammy.

In NOLA.

When he was improvising with some random music on the street while hanging out on the balcony of his and Joey's hotel room. Properly freaked out by having a song from a very scary time literally come back to haunt him, Sammy runs to find someone, (Joey is still busy with Denis), and comes across Jack first. But before he can fully explain, the entire party is interrupted.

Chatter turns into hushed confusion as some pale man up near the front starts speaking in tongues. It's hard to tell if he's trying to perform some ritual or just incoherently rambling, but it doesn't matter! Because very quickly there’s a gunshot!!

And the Prophet? He's awake. He knows what that gunshot was. He's been waiting for this.

It has begun.

Of course the entire party breaks out in panic once the gun goes off. Joey doesn't know what sort of Eldritch nonsense was happening up front, but upon scanning the crowd and noticing Jack and Sammy together, beelines for the snack table to grab Henry and search for Susie.

As everyone is being rushed out, some of the boys manage to notice that not all of the panic is simply from the mad ramblings and sudden bullet, but also we've got some people in the crowd bleeding from their eyes. How festive!

Upon getting outside, the Yacht club is of course already being surrounded by security and the police, as the sudden gun shots quickly alerted locals to the nonsense going on. Nobody is allowed to bolt until an investigation is conducted and people are questioned, but of course Joey managed to sweet talk his way over to a telephone to make a very important quick phone call.

To one Peter Sunstram! 

Turns out, between all their arguments, there are a few things they can agree on, which includes quietly spying on suspicious parties even though they should probably not be doing that if they actually wanna be safe but surely everyone will understand when they find out IT'S FINE.

Anyways Peter’s been keeping an eye on Y, and earlier in the day Y seemed to be performing some ritual before having some kind of … breakthrough? Revelation? Peter had told Joey of it, and in good faith Joey agreed to keep an eye out for WEIRDNESS, hoping that Y was upholding his promise to not be interfering with JDS anymore. But now this episode seems to have specifically happened, right at their exact event for the evening, so Joey does his best to pass along as much info as he can in that moment to Peter. As well as set up a backup plan in case anything else happens to them before they can escape the Yacht Club.

After some interviews with the police though, they’re allowed to go free. Listening to other partygoers' recollections they’re able to pick up a few more names here and there – the one who fired the gun up front by the bandstand is said to be another local gangster by the name of Johnny Nero, and the band playing on that bandstand one Red Leverett and the Jumps – but no evidence that really points the crew in any sort of serious lead. (including more commentary by Denis wHY ARE YOU STILL HERE UR NOT PART OF THE GROUP)

So having managed to collect everyone together, including Prophet returning Sammy to the front for the interview thank the lord (not that one)(not that one either)(maybe that one) the JDS crew head over to their very safe and secure hide away to talk about what just happened: that’s right, they’re going to Peter’s apartment.

And staying there through midnight! Listen, the last time weird shit started happening like this, everything popped off at midnight and there were panics all around. It’d be nice to know where people were this evening. And while they’re all sitting around waiting for that to pass, Henry and Peter can even talk about the really weird things that happened last night! Yknow, where Henry saw the yellow sign for a moment and Peter felt something watching him from space? Those very normal Christmas activities?

The group also gets informed about how Peter maybe has been keeping an eye on the Y that still hangs out in the city, and how Y was excited over some weird ritual. While he goes over that and also Joey and Peter guiltily kinda admit to their secret spying tendencies, Henry gets info from Linda when he calls to explain why he’s not home yet and how he won’t be home for a little while still. She’s remembered some research that crosses over with the prophecies they had gotten a month or so after the last big event like this. And Jack and Sammy bring up how they had been theorizing over who’s and what’s in the prophecies… for instance, that which the Phantom seeks, who bears already the scars of following the Mender’s lead….

Is it Peter? He followed Jack into the weird ghosty world. Is it Joey? He’s followed the Mender in other ways, and also literally bears scars caused from Jack’s healing. Or is it somehow Y?? Who seems… involved in this somehow, despite promising he wouldn’t be fucking around with stuff that might step on JDS’s toes again.

With no real conclusions, but midnight having come and past, people start to head home. Joey has someone drop him off at the studio, as after weirdness happened with any sort of occult stuff he’s interested in checking in on Bendy and the Stone. Since, those tend to be targets for this kinda creepy thing. Bendy is perfectly fine though, and hardly even noticed anything going on… So Joey picks up some of his notes and… finds himself unable to leave the studio. For some reason it just seems like the wrong idea… so he spends all night up researching, unsettled by how many non-leads he has into what will possibly happen next. It’s starting to feel like Haiti again, knowing that something bad is coming but really having no idea where to fortify with this information.

But he does have something new… 

He has plenty of things new now, including his dream spell. 

Peter’s not the only one who can spy, and while Joey is sure he’d hit some kind of barrier trying to peek in on Y’s dreams… just knowing whether the man was still alive, or possessed by some eldritch nonsense seemed like a good place to start. Maybe his excitement at the ritual earlier was coincidental…

The thing is, defying all reason, Joey’s able to step into Y’s dream just fine somehow.

This is probably not something he’ll regret doing later, surely.

[Next Episode] (not yet released)

[salty-croissants]

Bullfrog and Rayman/Ramon x reader : mistletoes

Woo , Christmas special baby !!

Since tomorrow I’m gonna be away to spend time with family , I figured it would be best to post this today since I’m gonna be way too tired to write when I get back :,)👍

I love the ideas of the boys and the reader being soft during the holidays , it just really brings me joy ^^ 

Anyway , I hope it turned out okay , and make sure to have a wonderful Christmas 🎄❣️

Details : use of gender neutral reader ; 

established relationships ; 

presence of slightly suggestive themes , but mostly lots of fluff ❤️

Bullfrog 💚

Let’s start by saying that given how constantly vigilant Bullfrog is , it won’t be easy to try to sneak a mistletoe above him : 

he just has a way of knowing each and every one of your movements , so … 

Yep , better get ready for a challenge . 

< Hm ? Is that a mistletoe you’re holding , mon amour ? > 

< Aw noo - I thought I got you this time ! > 

He will probably apologize to you a lot for “ruining” your surprise , trying to make up for it with some extra affection and cuddles …

This frog is just an absolute sweetheart , and he’ll use any excuse he can use to show you just how much he loves you :,//)

< Honey , it’s okay , really ! You don’t have to feel bad about it ! 

I know you can’t help but be careful about what goes on around you , you’re being way too hard on yourself . > 

< Heh , merci y/n … you always know what to say  ~ > 

When you eventually manage to lure Bullfrog in the living room and tell him to look up , you’ll find that all your careful planning was definitely worth it just to see that lovely smile on his face …

< Well , look at that … tu m'as surpris , y/n ~ > 

Now come closer … it’s time I reward your hard work , ne penses tu pas ? ~ > 

Honestly he’ll take any excuse to kiss you , but this occasion feel even more special … You went out of your way to prepare such an adorable surprise for him , so you better believe that you and Bullfrog won’t be leaving your spot under the mistletoe for quite some time ;//) 

Rayman 🧡

Rayman is probably the most smooth and romantic man alive , so he will probably plan for a mistletoe surprise way ahead of you , from the very beginning of the holidays in fact .

Sometimes you can see him carrying Christmas lights around , and you can’t help but have the feeling that he has something in mind … 

< Hold on , let me help you with that Ray … why do you need these many lights anyway ? > 

< Ah , you’ll have to wait and see , honey : I think you’re gonna like it ~ > 

If there is one thing that Rayman loves is creating atmosphere , so the night you eventually go back to his lounge to find it all decorated ( with also tons of gifts for you , cause let’s not forget how much this guy loves to spoil you ;//> ) , you can’t help but feel an overwhelming joy at the thought that he did all of this just to make you smile …

< Heh , I take it you like my little surprise , hm ? ~ >

< Like it ? I love it Ray , it’s amazing ! 

You’re such a sweetheart , thank you so much ~ > 

< No need to thank me , it’s really the least I could do for you y/n !

Though if I were you , I’d take a look at the ceiling for a second … > 

As soon as you look up and see a mistletoe hanging above the two of you , the way you blush in realization is enough to make Rayman’s heart skip a beat …

He just can’t get enough of how beautiful you look right now , your cute features  illuminated by the lights he placed all over the room .

< Heh , I … wanted to make you a mistletoe surprise at some point too , but I think you’ve handled it way better than me , hun . > 

< Don’t worry my love , there’s plenty of time for another one … I’ll gladly take any chances I can get to kiss you , so that’s definitely not a problem for me ~ > 

His incredibly cheesy , adorable comment makes you chuckle , and when you lean forward to meet his lips you can hear Rayman sigh softly while kissing you back , almost like he had been looking forward to that moment all night …

You’re honestly anything he could ever ask for , and if he had the ability to stop time he would be more than happy to do it here under the mistletoe , alone with his beloved ❤️

Ramon 🖤

He isn’t … feeling very festive :

while he does his best to smile when he’s around you , Ramon’s mind is crowded with worries about Eden , about getting the both of you caught , but since you know him better than anyone you were quick to catch up to that . 

< Hey , it’s okay if you don’t feel like doing much for the holidays , y’know ?

We can just stay here and relax . > 

< Yeah , but … I don’t know , I would’ve liked to do something special for you , but we can’t go anywhere without risking to have those assholes notice us … > 

< Ram , we don’t have to … the best gift I could’ve wished for is already here , right next to me , so please don’t worry about that , okay ? > 

< Heh … that was very smooth y/n , not gonna lie ~ 

Seriously though , thank you … it means a lot . > 

Despite what you told him , Ramon is still very determined to find a way to show you his appreciation for everything you’ve done for him , so the moment he finds a mistletoe hidden in a box an idea crosses his mind : 

it may be small , but it might just work . 

< Hey y/n ? Could you come here ? > 

< Coming Ram ! Just give me a second , I was trying to see if we had enough ingredients to make some Christmas cookies … > 

As soon as you reach the living room , you get the feeling that there is something different about it , even though you can’t exactly pin point what it is …

However , when you look up and see the mistletoe hanging on the ceiling you realize what’s going on .

< Aw , that’s so cute love ! I - mm — > 

Before you can even finish your sentence , Ramon’s hands get a hold of you , gently pushing you down to lock your lips in a loving , passionate kiss …

You didn’t really expect that to happen , but you’re definitely not disappointed … not one bit .

< … here … take this as my gift for you , my love ~ 

I know it’s not much , but - > 

< Ramon , sweetie … > 

The moment your hand caresses his hair he immediately melts under your touch , his eyes never leaving yours as you smile tenderly at your boyfriend .

< It was perfect ~ > 

That was the start of a night filled with displays of affection , and while holding you in his arms in your bed Ramon can’t help but feel like the luckiest person in the world , even though you’re both wanted by Eden’s police forces …

For once , those worries can’t seem to torment him , and he couldn’t be happier . 

[coraniaid]

I read this post the other day and now I can't help but try to plot out a S3 AU in which Gwendolyn Post is just a little more patient (and maybe, as a result, she's not yet managed to get herself expelled from the Watcher's Council, so she doesn't have to worry about being exposed as a fraud the minute Rupert Giles thinks to make a single phone call).

A world where Gwen realizes that having unlimited access to a emotionally unstable teenage Slayer with no friends or family in town -- a Slayer who will do almost anything for the smallest scraps of positive attention from an even vaguely maternal authority figure -- might, on balance, be more beneficial to her personal quest for power and magical treasure than immediately burning all her bridges to steal a metal glove that can't ever be taken off and continually casts a spell that summons lightning directly down on to the person wearing it.  

Put yourself in Mrs Gwendolyn Post's shoes. 

Isn't it much smarter to keep playing the part of the stern but genuine Watcher, a part you did after all train for for years of your life -- and maybe quietly help yourself to a few of the more valuable magical items your Slayer happens to bring you on the side -- than to risk it all for one single prize, however rare?  If, with just a little molding and prodding and some barbed compliments now and then, you can get that teenage girl to go out and kill demons and steal all their stuff and bring it all back to you, no questions asked, where's the harm?  All you have to do is keep making sure she remembers that she's fundamentally unlovable and unwanted and that nobody else but you will ever accept her and the best she can ever hope for is your occasional fleeting and conditional praise, as long as she does what she's told and keeps it all a secret.  Half of that is taken verbatim from the Council's own script for enlisting new Slayers anyway. It'll be easy.

Maybe you tell her how impressed you are that she's training throughout the winter, rather than letting herself get distracted by things like holidays or parties or presents. Tell her some half-true story about the focus and determination of long-dead Slayers before her.  (You can go to all the parties you want, of course.  These rules don’t apply to you.)  Maybe you show up at her motel room briefly later, just to make sure she didn't take up that irritating other girl's unexpected offer to go to her house for dinner.  Maybe you reward her dedication to the cause with some little unimportant bauble; something cheap and meaningless you notice she keeps wearing for weeks afterwards, even if she pretended not to be impressed with your gift at the time.  Maybe you stick the crappy little (obviously shoplifted) presents that she nervously watches you unwrap later in a drawer somewhere and never think about them again.

Maybe you give her a little bit of advance warning about the Cruciamentum. Not early enough she can tell anyone else, of course, but early enough that she's ready for it. Not because you care (and you really don’t; she's an easily manipulated idiot and you don't respect her in the slightest), but because you want her to realize that the rest of the Council can't be trusted. That Mr Giles can't be trusted.  That there's only one person in all the world who she can trust.  

And if one night she shows up at your door uninvited to tell you that she killed an innocent man by mistake (you really don't care about this either), and she doesn't have anyone else to turn to (you try not to make it too obvious how pleased you are about that), then ... well, what an opportunity for you.  Obviously you're not going to let anyone else on the Council know about this: maybe they'd take her back to England, wasting all your hard work. Maybe they'd send a new Watcher to interrogate her.  But the Sunnydale police department aren't exactly competent.  You can make it all go away, you tell her.  And you do. 

But you let her know, subtly -- just not too subtly -- how disappointed you are by her carelessness.  How she'll have to work a lot harder from now on to get back into your good graces.  How you've really risked a lot for her tonight (you haven't) and how much she owes you now.  How you'll expect her to do better from now on (or at least to do more, more often, without ever asking inconvenient questions).

The disgrace was almost getting caught, you'll tell her later. That's what you found so deplorable. The mistake was needing to be bailed out.  There’s no excuse for sloppiness.  Killing some idiot who got in the way while the Slayer was doing her job though … well, Faith’s right to think that he wasn’t important.  He didn’t matter.  Oh, and the Sunnydale natural history museum is hosting an exhibit of a few rare magical objects next week that it would probably be best to keep in safe hands.  (Which is to say, of course, your hands.)  You don’t think Buffy or Giles need to know about it, do you, Faith? It would be best to be discreet about securing the necessary items, but if some idiot happens to get in the way, well...

There's no real risk of Faith being tricked into outing herself, the way she was tricked into revealing she was working for the Mayor in canon, because it's not a secret that Gwendolyn Post is Faith's Watcher.  Faith is supposed to listen to her Watcher, isn’t she?  And if her Watcher tells Faith to kill some demon and bring her the valuable books he was trying to sell, why shouldn't Faith do it?  Killing demons is her job, isn't it?  She’s good at killing things.  Good at stealing things, too, it turns out. Sometimes you don't even have to pretend to be impressed.

If Faith seems increasingly sad and withdrawn all the time, why do you care? It doesn't make her any less useful. And if Faith doesn't talk to anyone much anymore, and keeps some of her missions secret from her fellow Slayer and all of that other Slayer's little friends and hangers-on, what's so strange about that?  They're not Faith's friends, after all. None of them are.  Faith doesn't have friends.  Never needed them.  She's got somebody though.  She's got Mrs Post.

[dotster001]

hello! can i request lilia or leona for how you met/enemies to lovers series?

How You Met/Enemies to Lovers; Lilia Edition

A/N: god, I forgot how long these get 😂 For obvious reasons, Leona's is going to be in a separate post on a later date, so keep an eye out. Also, hope you're still here anon, cause this is an old request 😬

Other Versions: Vil Malleus Crewel Crowley Rook Idia Leona

In hindsight, it wasn't his brightest hour.

Maybe he was truly going senile in his old age…

"Malleus Draconia is twice the king you will ever be!"

"Shut up," he heard you mutter through gritted teeth, but the sands were already rising and swirling around him as Leona Kingscholar spiraled out of control.

It was the very first thing he taught his soldiers during training. Don't provoke cornered prey, because it's capable of great things.

But he couldn't stand the thought of this brat trying to grievously injure his son! How dare he!

But you didn't know his family situation…what you saw was a stupid college guy not knowing when to keep his mouth shut. Ah well. You weren't running in his social circles anyway. And he didn't care what people thought of him. It'd be fine.

….

"I haven't seen you this nervous since you were a hatchling. What's the matter?" Lilia asked his silly king, who was standing nervously in the doorway, and clutching something in his hands.

"Um…"

He hesitated, before walking further into the room and handing Lilia an envelope.

"My Ramshackle friend has not been around, and I wanted to give them a holiday card. I was wondering, if you crossed paths with them of course…could you possibly…" Malleus trailed off.

Lilia stared at the envelope for a moment. The initials M.D. were on it.

"Have you told them who you are yet?"

"No. And I'm not scared to tell them, if that's what you're implying, old man."

"You should probably tell them soon…"

"I will…when I'm ready…"

Both men sat in silence, before Lilia laughed lightly.

"Alright."

….

"Hello!"

It was two days before you returned to Ramshackle, and you looked exhausted.

You didn't say anything, just looked at him with dead eyes.

"Someone has been disappointed that you haven't been around to hang out with over the winter break."

"Oh, shoot, tell Hornton I really wanted to hang, I just was, well, a little tied up."

"Hm," he hummed before giving you the card.

"M.D.?"

"He'll tell you who he is soon. Have a good night," he paused and gave you another once over. "Try to get some rest."

….

"Lilia…"

"Have I been reduced to your errand boy?" Lilia asked, shedding a fake tear.

"More like an errand grandpa," Malleus snickered, dodging the pillow Lilia threw at his head.

He then handed the not so concealed gift bag to Lilia.

"Please give this to-"

"Y/N. I know. They know who you are now. Why am I delivering your presents?"

"No reason," Malleus said, before vanishing in a flash of green fireflies.

Lilia sighed to himself, before staring at the gift bag.

….

Over the course of delivering present after present to you, he'd been able to get to know you better. He knew your likes, your dislikes, your favorite colors, what you liked to do for fun, what you missed back home…everything. And he could see why Malleus would fall for you.

Although, the thought of him being with you filled his mouth with a metallic taste. He had to laugh at himself. It had been a long time since he had had a crush on someone. But it would fade. He was old enough to know that.

And besides, he wasn't one to stand in the way of what his king wanted. Which meant that when your initial distaste over how he handled the overblot wore off, and you started to seek him out as a friend, he knew he had to scare you off.

It started simple. Just being a nuisance, or making his pranks go a tad bit too far. But that didn't do much, aside from make you wary. Pretty soon, it was full on bullying you, and you quickly stopped coming to him. 

It was when Malleus came to him, one day, that he knew he'd pulled off what he set out to do.

"Y/N doesn't want you to give them my presents anymore. They think you hate them. I told them that was ridiculous, as you have no cause to feel as such, but they were insistent."

"One thing you'll learn about humans, my young king, is that they are fickle creatures, and very sensitive. You never know how they are going to feel about someone," he said, as though it wasn't entirely his doing that made you feel this way. "But if it makes Y/N more comfortable, I'll stay away. Perhaps you should deliver your own presents from now on."

Malleus didn't get the hint that day, instead opting for Sebek to start delivering gifts, but at least it was clear you didn't feel any particular way about Sebek. And now Lilia could let his little crush die, until you and the young King were together, as the seven no doubt intended.

….

"Thank you for meeting with us at such short notice, General Vanrouge."

Lilia bowed deeply to his Queen,  before taking a seat in the chair next to her. It had been nearly three years since his graduation from NRC, and he didn't seem to have aged a day, opting only to swap out his dorm uniform in favor of his military garb. He had decided, during his four years in college, that he quite liked his cute form. It made it easier for people to trust him.

"It was no trouble, your majesty. What can I do for you today?"

The queen sipped some tea before fixing him with a scrutinizing look.

"My grandson has requested to officially adopt Y/N L/N into the royal family. His argument is that he is an only hatchling, so he needs someone to be next in line should something happen before he has his own hatchlings," she smirked, "As though that would ever be an issue. But he also says they have no family in this world, and are of noble character. He says he is determined to have them as his family, whether he has my approval or not. But I thought I would ask your opinion, since you are my most trusted advisor, and spent a year with them, as well."

As family.

Oh fuck.

He fucked up.

He fucked up so bad.

"They are as he says, a human of excellent character. Our young king has done well to choose them as his foster sibling."

The queen smirked again. "You are certain this has nothing to do with your goal to unite our people with humans?"

"No," he said playfully, acting as though he wasn't slamming his palm against his forehead in self hatred.

"Then it shall be done. Thank you for your input."

Sevens. He fucked up.

….

"Avoidance is not the way to solve your problems, father," Silver said, with a judging expression on his face.

"Whatever do you mean, my darling son?" Lilia said with a light laugh.

You'd moved into the castle three weeks ago. And, yes, he had been avoiding you.

He hadn't planned to.  He had been there at the ceremony where you'd been officially inducted into the family, and been legally renamed Y/N L/N Draconia. But when his eyes had met yours, he'd been rocked by the resentment yours held for him. But that wasn't the only thing that rocked his world.

What had truly shaken him was that his "crush" was still alive and well.

And someone as old as him knew, that a simple crush didn't last for four years.

He was in love with you.

"Father, Y/N is reasonable, and so are you. I know you would never have been cruel to them if you didn't have a reason, and if you explain that to them, they will understand."

Lilia sighed.

"Why did I have to raise such a wise and perfect son?"

Silver blushed and looked away.

"I'm simply saying what you would say to me."

"Fine, fine, I'll talk to Y/N," he groaned, standing up and leaving the room.

It wasn't too hard to find you. Most of your time was spent in Malleus' study, taking lessons on etiquette and the kingdom. Being newly royal, lessons filled most of your days.

Luckily, being general of all the kingdom's military gave him a few perks.

"I deeply apologize for the interruption, but I need to have a word with their highness."

The tutor fled without a complaint, and the two of you were left alone, you eyeing him warily, him nervously clasping his hands behind his back.

"I'm sorry."

Your eyes widened, and your mouth parted a little. 

"Huh?"

"I acted foolishly at NRC. I didn't want to get between you and Malleus. He," Lilia needed to choose his words carefully, lest he sound like a fool about your relationship with Malleus. "He has such difficulty interacting with new people, I worried that if I grew close to you, he would feel like I was trying to steal you from him."

You stared at him, looking a little confused, but on the whole you seemed to understand.

"Anyway, since we are going to have to interact a lot, from now on, I wanted to apologize, and extend an offer of friendship."

You bit your lip, weighing your options. He couldn't blame you. Some of the things he had done or said were pretty terrible. After a moment, though, you hesitantly nodded.

….

Three more years. 

It had taken three more years for him to reach this level with you.

"How do I look?" You spun around for him, showing off your Valley of Thorns celebration outfit.

"Beautiful," he hummed, before floating over to you and excitedly fixing your hair. Not that it needed it. He just wanted an excuse to touch you.

"You're sure? It's not everyday a brother gets married," you asked.

Lilia cupped your cheeks, and stared deeply into your eyes.

"You look absolutely radiant."

Your eyes flickered away from his, and you gave a cough. Lilia could feel your cheeks burning under his hands. And he couldn't be more delighted.

Three years to get here….

"Thank you, " you muttered, before pulling away. "Now let's go, Malleus will probably throw a tantrum if we're late to his wedding."

The wedding went off without a hitch. Malleus and his new spouse made their vows, then greeted their people. You shone as well: greeting the guests, appeasing members of the court, giving a speech, you were the perfect representative of the Draconia family.

But you were only human.

As the night drew on, he noticed you stepping outside. He followed. 

You were leaning against the railing looking up at the stars. You turned to him with a soft smile when you heard the door.

He bowed low, and extended a hand.

"May I have this dance, your highness?"

You giggled, as you took his hand, and responded, "Why, of course you may, my good General."

You both turned in slow circles, dancing to the music in your minds.

At length, you asked softly, "I wonder when we'll see you married."

Lilia burst into laughter. "You've been spending far too much time with her majesty, if you're asking questions like that."

"Well, she is my grandmother now. And being at a wedding makes you think, you know?"

"It makes you think about me getting married?"

You rolled your eyes.

"No, I mean it makes you think about happy endings, and what kind of person you'd want to settle down with."

He twirled you, then hummed, thoughtfully.

"And who could you see yourself settling down with. What kind of person would beguile our precious Y/N?"

"Hm…" you tilted your head to the side, pretending to think. "Perhaps he is someone who can be serious, but is usually a playful scamp."

"He sounds amazing already, fu fu."

"And maybe he is a terrible cook…"

"I don't know anyone like that-"

"Maybe he was a decorated war general, then raised a couple sons of his own."

"I'm in love with him already," he giggled, only now noticing that neither of you were moving.

Your eyes were solely on him, your face slowly moving closer to him, as though drawn by a magnet.

"Maybe he is wise, but also a complete moron."

"That's awfully harsh," he said lowly, his own face drawing closer to yours now.

"Maybe he is super into heavy metal," you whispered, your lips barely an inch away from his.

"I bet he's an excellent singer," Lilia whispered back, before pressing his lips to yours, smiling into the kiss when he felt your hand work their way into his hair.

Your arms wrapped around each other, and Lilia realized that even though seven years was a long time to get here, it was well worth the wait.

....

Tag list- @shytastemakerthing @eccedentesiast-sapphic @leoll

[fatesmono]

valentines day with yoongi

✮⋆˙ warning : some language + i haven’t written in half a year so.

✮⋆˙ this is an “x reader” so yk insert gender <3

✮⋆˙a.n : so todays valentine’s day (its the 13th at 11:59 posting this, great job me :3). so happy valentines i guess. i’m spending it celebrating jaehyun's birthday and writing abt my husband who’s in the war. i haven’t written in like, six years (six months) so pls go easy on me 

✮⋆˙enjoy loves <3333 happy valentines day !!

i never liked valentine’s day. it was always a stupid ass holiday if i do say so myself. am i saying that bc i never had a good valentine ? …maybe so, why are you so nosy ?? anyways, that was before i met him, min yoongi. i never met a man who says he hates a holiday so much but also goes all out for it. our first valentines last year i expected him to not really get me anything or like a bouquet of flowers since it wasn’t that much…i got a bouquet alright, like seven of them (he had said he didn’t know which one i would like so he just got me all of the ones he thought i would want), plus a shit ton of chocolate and just little things like one of his hoodies and this ring i had been eyeing for like months beforehand. so much for “valentines day isn’t really my thing” right ? all men do is lie, even min yoongi.

okay but anyways, here we are now, a year later. i wanna prove myself this year, i refuse to be out-valentines’d by him, no matter what that takes. now just one problem, he’s rich, i work at a coffee shop. shit, i know right ? but we will make it work i don’t care. 

so have i had this planned out for the last two months like a gta heist ? yes. but i NEED this day to go perfect. did it ? NO. NO IT DIDNT. first the necklace i got him with his name won’t be ready until the 17th, and then the kiss hoodie i was working on for him GETS BLEACHED SPILLED ON HIM, curtesy of our cat, johnny, and then; if it wasn’t going awful anyway, the cupcakes i made for him burned. and i’m going to his studio as we speak…this is my thirteenth reason. so right now all we have is his favorite flowers, a bleached hoodie with my kisses and a book of poems i wrote for him, sigh. SIGH. and if it didn’t help, he already gave me half of my gift before he left and it’s ten times better. A ROSE GOLD NECKLACE, he got me a rose gold encrusted with the sun because “i’m the sun to his moon”, he makes me wanna bash my head sometimes from how sweet he is. 

so getting to his studio, the definition of “shaking in my little boots”. i can hear him practicing his music from outside his studio, it’s like walking into beethoven working on smth if beethoven was your 30 year old idol boyfriend for a kpop group, if that makes sense, which is doesn’t so. anyways, i put in the code for his studio (it’s our anniversary, excuse me while i cry.) and quietly walk in to not disturb him, which isn’t that hard since he has tunnel vision as he invented it, and quietly tap his shoulder gently to get his attention. he turns around, taking off his headphones and noticing me with a small smile on his face, which might as well have been a kiss from him then and then. 

“hey love, happy valentine’s day, what are you doing here ?”, god why does he have to have such a perfect voice; it’s like he doesn’t even have to try. i go on to give him to give him his gift and try to explain that i had much more to give him and i knew it wasn’t enough to give and- and he cuts me off. good job if i do say so myself because the yapping i do, i could win a medal. 

“honey honey, this is perfect…you didn’t even have to get me anything, and you wrote me poems…that’s like writing me a song, this means the world to me. you remembered my favorite flowers, and this hoodie..i don’t think i’ve ever gotten a gift like this from anyone before, not even the guys. thank you so much…”, and my heart just turns into a puddle then and there. all my worries gone in a second, how does he do it ? he really should’ve become a therapist in another life, but i guess he does that with his music. but anyways, did i expect him to like the gift ? absolutely not. i did try to pay for dinner that night and he still didn’t let me do it, saying it was “an extra gift” as if i needed anymore gifts. remind me next to try and not outgift a rich idol who’s secret love language is definitely gift giving. 

i’m still getting next years gifts ready anyways. i’m so winning next year, i don't care.

[sanccharine]

14:30 | mm

pairing: assassin!momo x handler!reader

summary: good speakers are good liars, too bad momo is neither. co-written by @eternallyghosting chapter summary: momo spends the day with you

warning: sickeningly sweet, like makes me want to throw up actually

word count: 2.5k

a/n: assassin!momo is here because indigo works hard af. literally she wrote everything, again i didn't do jackshit for this part, didn't even open docs until yesterday lol. im just here to post and disappear like avatar aang, again :]

masterlist

You cursed as your oven timer dinged for the third time, barely managing to shove your hands into heat proof gloves before hurrying to take the baking tray out of the steaming oven. This had to be your sixteenth batch of heart shaped cookies, an apparent Valentine's day tradition. A cliche, more like, you rolled your eyes. 

Although this influx of orders was no doubt good for your growing business, you were just about ready to gouge out your eyes if only to avoid looking at pink food colouring again.

You sighed, at least after this last order for Mr Moyo, you'd be done for the day. As you busied yourself with measuring the flour, something you could do in your sleep now based on the amount of times you'd made this exact recipe, the front door slammed shut. 

Momo. Hearing the loud slamming noise would've given you a headache in any other situation, but not today. Today Momo had promised to give you a break from doing the dishes after seeing you knee deep in orders since the morning.

You hadn't even realized how tired you were until she came up behind you and laid her chin on your shoulder. You took a break from kneading and pulled her closer. Sensing your fatigue, Momo wrapped you up in her arms, gently turning you around and laying a soft kiss on your lips. 

"Rough day?" 

"Mmm," you didn't bother with a more coherent response. Momo got it anyway.

She gazed around at the heart cookies, with their light pink frosting and red and white sprinkles, and snorted, "I don't really get why people would want these."

A beat. 

She rushed to add. "Of course not saying that because it's your baking! These look great babe, you've done a really good job on the decor." She cupped her warm hands around your cheeks, emphasizing that she didn't mean anything by what she'd said.

You shook your head, "It is a silly holiday."

"Exactly! That's what I meant," she kissed your cheek in apology.

You settled deeper into her hold. The dough could wait. "But still, it's kind of sweet that people celebrate Valentine's day," you murmured.

Momo could be quite dense sometimes. You had to often spell things out for her. But this, your unmentioned plea, she understood clearly. Maybe it was the exhaustion making you more sensitive than usual. Or maybe it was the sentimentality of the holiday that made you melt against her arm as she brushed a strand of hair behind your ear.

"Tell you what, you finish up this last batch and I'll run you a bath. How does that sound?"

That did sound great. You gave her a grateful nod as you added, "there's extra frosting in the fridge if you want to try some." 

Momo hurriedly disentangled herself and gave you another kiss before rushing to the said fridge. Perhaps it wasn't just you feeling the sentiments of the holiday. 

With renewed vigour, you managed to toss the new batch of cookies in the oven, having to wait only for a couple minutes before filling up all your used dishes with soapy water. Although Momo had promised to do them for you, you couldn't just leave them be without rinsing atleast a few.

You trudged upstairs, where your nose was immediately met with the soothing scent of lavender, from the bath salts you had gifted Momo a few months ago. As you slipped into the bathroom, Momo turned to face you.

"So my next flight isn't for another few days."

You nodded silently, focusing on throwing your flour stained shirt into the laundry basket instead. Momo and you had discussed her flight over dinner last night so you didn't know why she was bringing it up again.

"I was thinking we could do something together."

Now that got your attention. You lifted your head and asked with a hint of a smirk, "I thought you said Valentine's day was a shitty occasion."

"I didn't say it like that! And also this doesn't have to be for Valentine's day," she added. "It could be just a date."

"Okay," you shrugged. You would do anything if it meant spending more time with Momo.

She perked up. "Great! I'll plan it out!"

Wait, what?

Before you could ask her anything, she smiled, said "Enjoy your bath!" and left, closing the door behind her.

As you enjoyed your much needed soak in the tub and made your way out of the bathroom, you found Momo hunched over on the bed with her glasses on and laptop in hand. You smiled to yourself. She hardly ever wore her glasses, so she must be taking this date planning very seriously. 

As you crawled into bed, she turned her screen towards you and pointed excitedly. "Look!"

You took a look at a website showing various people with axes in their hands. Before you could ask about what Momo wanted to do with a Thor convention, you caught sight of the title at the top of the screen.

Axe throwing. Huh.

"Seems fun, doesn't it?"

You tore your glance away from the laptop to Momo's face, grinning widely and awaiting your answer. You were looking at her, but you weren't really seeing. The only thought in your mind was how cute those glasses looked on her. You really had to make her wear them more often.

"You're adorable," you blurted out as she nudged you for an answer.

Stifling a giggle, she rolled her eyes. "I'm taking that as a yes." And right away, she booked a slot for the two of you. You settled under the covers quietly, not really having any objections but also not expecting her to be so proactive about this date.

"There, all done. It's in the evening tomorrow." She put her laptop away on the bedside table and joined you under the warm duvet. 

Not that the duvet stayed settled for long as her words jolted you up. "Wait, tomorrow? I can't tomorrow, I have to deliv—"

Momo took your hands, silencing you in the action. "I know, you have to deliver the cookies. But we could do those on the way to the facility."

You weren't convinced this easily. "What if someone isn't at home? What if we can't deliver some of the orders?" 

She shook her head. "The time slot I booked is their last one. It's at 8 pm, which gives us plenty of time to make the deliveries, even if someone isn't home in the morning," she emphasized the end of her sentence to lay your worries at ease.

Kissing the hands still in her grip was the cherry on top, as you finally settled down again, content that Momo had it all planned out. She laughed quietly as she turned to face you, the faint yellow hue of the night lamp casting a glow on her face. "I wouldn't have booked the slot without making your deliveries happen, babe."

"I know, I just like having a plan." So what if your handler tendencies bled over into your regular life, having a plan was never a bad thing.

"You and your lists and schedules…"

"Hey, at least I'm not the one getting lost in a city because I can't read out the itinerary made for me!" It was a bit of a deep cut to bring up something that had occured on vacation years ago, but you couldn't resist teasing her.

And Momo retaliated by doing what Momo did best. When at a loss for a verbal attack, she mercilessly moved her hands up and down your sides, tickling you until your feet kicked and squirmed in the blanket.

She only stopped when you finally cried out for mercy, ceding victory to her if only to be able to breathe properly. Having eventually caught your breath, you pushed yourself up onto your elbows to situate your torso over hers and wipe off the smug smile on her face with a deep kiss.

"Goodnight, babe. I love you."

"I love you too. G'night."

True to her word, Momo had done all the dishes last night while you had been in the bath, and walking into a gleaming kitchen almost made you want to get on your knees and sob in relief. You loved baking, but cleaning up after was often the hardest part, something you absolutely had to be particular about no matter how tired you were.

You turned on the coffee machine just as the sounds of Momo rustling around in the sheets reached your ears. You were content to just stay in and share a cup of coffee, enjoying the morning sunlight streaming through the windows onto your kitchen counter. You looked around your carefully curated kitchen, at all the designs you had insisted on, knowing that it would be one of the places you spent the most time in. Your eyes landed on the pile of trinkets in the corner, stubbornly making themselves known in the pristine marble decor of the kitchen. 

Despite your hatred of the mismatched colour scheme, that corner held a special place in your heart, after all, it contained all the little things Momo had brought back from her trips around the world. The woman was talented in many areas, but interior design was decidedly not one of them. She would buy whatever she thought looked cute, irrespective of whether it was something that would fit in your kitchen or was needed by you in the first place.

Still, you couldn't bear to hide it away. As your gaze landed on the porcelain soap dish Momo had brought back a few weeks ago, you had to stifle a laugh at the memory of that particular day. All things considered, it wasn't even as horrendous as some of the other things she'd purchased, but her reasoning for buying it was what had you stumped. You remembered her ravenously eating forkfuls of the pie you had made to celebrate her arrival (and the difficult mission you knew she'd undertaken), before she had sprung up from her seat to haphazardly search through her bags.

Having found what she was looking for, she had tossed the dish towards you, and beamed as though expecting praise for her 'thoughtful' purchase. You couldn't lie, the gift had you bewildered for a good couple of minutes as you wracked your brain trying to recall why this dish would be of particular significance to you. Momo had impatiently gestured at you to turn the dish over and "look at the back!", where you found a 'Made in Greece' stamp over the dish. Although that gift had greatly confused you to the extent of looking like the human equivalent of a keyboard smash, it brought a smile to your face knowing that Momo carried your love of Greek myths with her wherever she went.

The subject of your thoughts bounded down the stairs just as you wrapped up that precious memory. Her hair was mussed up from having rolled around in bed, and her bleary eyes indicated that she wasn't fully awake yet. But to you, she had never looked better. You loved Momo like this, all soft and pliant in the morning, making you feel like you were in a never ending Sunday. 

You must have taken a second too long to acknowledge her, as she whined at not immediately receiving her good morning kiss. You moved towards her and obliged, before getting a hold of her wrist and gently dragging her off to where your twin coffee mugs stood, ready for a lazy start to your day. 

The rest of your day went by similarly in a haze, with you dividing your time between wrapping up your final orders, and making the most of Momo being home. Once the admittedly long and lazy breakfast was over, you enlisted Momo's help in reorganizing your closet, getting rid of items you didn't use anymore. Then, after hastily vacuuming your bedroom, the two of you made a quick lunch of enchiladas (well, you cooked and Momo tried not to get in your way), before settling down on the couch and scrolling through Netflix for a new show to watch.

You sighed contentedly in her hold as Momo, eventually tired of trying to find something new, clicked on the long memorised sitcom favoured by you. As your eyes glazed over the familiar scenes, you lauded your past self for closing off orders even though Valentine's Day was still two days away; you got to make the most of your time while Momo was still home.

By the time the afternoon hues of the sun had started to darken to twilight, you had already finished a season of the show you had put on, as well as two cups of tea and a bowl of popcorn. Deciding to clear up a bit, you turned off the television with a groan of protest from Momo, before eventually tugging her off the couch and upstairs to get ready for your deliveries.

Momo had been right in booking the 8 PM slot for your date, and as you watched her carefully load all the orders into the backseat of your car, a serene feeling washed deep in your bones. All it took really was a four letter word.

Home.

Time.

Love.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Momo asked as you slid into the passenger seat.

You had an absent smile on your face as your fingers drummed against your thighs. "Mm, just thinking of how all it takes is a four letter word."

Momo leaned over, grabbing and fastening your seatbelt for you in a swift motion. "You're thinking of 'sexy', right?" she smirked.

You felt your cheeks being pulled upwards as the absent smile blossomed into a full one. "I was thinking more of 'dork' but okay."

"Nerd."

"Fool."

"Rude."

"Mean."

The two of you traded back and forth before Momo suddenly said, "Y/N".

"Hmm? That's not how—"

"I love you," she giggled. This time it was you who leaned in, pushing forward as much as your seatbelt would allow, and sealed her giggles with a kiss. "Wife," you murmured against her as she pulled you in closer upon hearing that fall from your lips, a revered whisper.

Despite everything in you screaming not to, you eventually pulled yourself away and let Momo start the car. You settled in your seat, putting a hand over your heart to calm it's racing, but to also feel how strongly it beat. For Momo. While the pair of you weren't really convinced by the traditions of Valentine's Day, and scorned at how the town had blown a quarter of its budget on tacky pink and red decorations, you couldn't deny just how full your heart had felt today. How it felt everyday you were by her side.

You had your own traditions with her, of course you did, honed after years of being together, but it all boiled down to one thing, a simple four letter word: Momo.

any feedback is much appreciated.

a/n: happy valentines day y'all, tell people that you love them !!! or don't, or tell them that you hate them lol, idk don't let me tell you how to spend your day :P

taglist: @someone-who-likes-broccoli @happilychaengs

[kaidabakugou]

❅ DAY 3: OIL MASSAGE FT. KATSUKI BAKUGOU

❅ WORD COUNT: 4K

❅ WARNINGS: SENSUAL MASSAGE / DUB-CON / ORAL SEX / NIPPLE PLAY / BODY WORSHIP / TEASING / LICKING / BITING / MARKING / UNPROTECTED SEX / CREAMP PIE / LMK IF I MISSED ANY <3

❅ AUTHOR'S NOTE: pretend i posted this 2 days ago :) but anyways here’s day three of 12 days of christmas, i know i said the event would be drabbles and short fics but i had so much fun writing this one that it turned into a long fic, hope you enjoy! <3

❅ 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS MASTERLIST

it was cold and dark as gray clouds loomed heavily above the busy streets of the city. quickly making your way across the sidewalk as you spot your destination just around the corner, silently begging that you can get there before the skies start pouring. this week has been stressful enough and walking in the rain would only add to your frustration.

the holidays have always been a busy time, and although you enjoyed all the activities that came with this season, you couldn't argue how taxing all the hassle was. which is why you decided to give yourself an early christmas gift by booking a full body oil massage to help you destress and relax.

whispering a small “made it'' under your breath when you finally reach the glass doors of the building and step inside, just in time as you look back and notice small droplets of water starting to fall against the glass. the massage parlor you've visited before was booked so after doing a bit of research you found that this one had great reviews and managed to get an appointment that fit your schedule perfectly.

the place was more welcoming than you imagined, the space was lit by a soft light and candles were distributed around the room, some of them scented creating a relaxing atmosphere. your attention is shifted when a tall redhead behind the front desk welcomes you with a friendly smile, dressed in a tight white shirt that shows his pectorals nicely, you couldn't help but sneak a glance at his large muscles while he was busy searching your name in the system.

shooting you another toothy smile as he guides you towards the back, opening the door for you to another room with a similar atmosphere as the lobby, and handing you a soft robe as he instructs you to take off all your clothes and get comfortable while you wait for the masseuse to come service you. thanking him as he shoots you a wink with the same charming smile before he exits the room to give you some privacy.

stripping your clothes and setting them neatly at a nearby desk as you lace the warm robe around your body, walking around the room while you wait as you take in the soft music playing in the background. inhaling a deep breath when the rich smell from the candles fills your senses, picking up one of the unlit candles as you bring it up to your nose to smell it before flipping it over to see the scent notes, already imagining what some of them are since the unique scent of palo santo has been engulfing you ever since you stepped inside the building. combined with the rich smell of cinnamon and star anise that has your body already feeling relaxed the more you breathe in the spiced fragrances.

the door opening behind you pulls you from your trance as you look over towards it, your eyes meeting with the most alluring vermilion irises you've ever seen, as a tall blonde steps inside the room, wearing the same white shirt as the redhead and some white loose pants as he closes the door behind him. giving you a small smile before introducing himself and telling you he would be your masseuse for the day. he said his name was bakugou, and you couldn't help but repeat it in your head as you took in his broad shoulders and wide muscles straining against the tight shirt.

“you like that scent?”he asks, pointing at the candle in your hands.

“yeah!, i already feel relaxed just breathing it in”, you chuckle while placing the candle back where you got it from.

“good to hear it, you ready to start?”, he asks while pulling some towels from the towel warmer and placing them on the massage table.

“mhm”, you hum as you make your way towards the table.

“great, please take off your robe and lie down while i get the oils ready”, he instructs before turning around to give you some space while he grabs the oils and materials from the shelf. you remove your robe and lay downwards on the table, lacing the warm towel over your rear before adjusting your head to lay more comfortably on the table as you let your arms rest by your sides.

“okay, just relax and let me know if anything, yeah?”, he says while placing a bowl of warm oil next to you.

“okay”, you say before taking a deep breath and closing your eyes, focusing on the relaxing music in the background and the soft sound of rain falling against the window while you wait for him to begin the massage.

dipping his fingers in the oil as he hovers them above your spine, feeling warm droplets fall against your skin before strong warm hands spread the oil across your skin, kneading at your sore muscles as more oil is drizzled along your shoulders. biting your lip to prevent the moan that threatens to spill from your lips the more he massages your skin, rubbing away all the stress accumulated on your muscles as he makes his way towards your lower back. drizzling more oil on your lower spine before working the area gently but firmly, his fingers brushing just above your cheeks under the warm towel before tracing your sides to make his way back towards your shoulders. slowly trailing down your arms as he laces his fingers with yours, working your hands and releasing the tension before making his way back up to your neck.

the sweet smell of almond oil mixing in with the spiced fragrance of the candles the more he lathers it on your skin. moving towards your bottom as droplets of oil fall against the back of your thighs, dropping along the length of your legs all the way down towards your feet before you feel his large hands against your skin. his digits working the stress on the soles of your feet as he works his way up to your thighs. his fingers ghosting against the inside of your thighs making your breath hitch in your throat, the warm towel against your rear feeling too revealing all of a sudden as he keeps working the area.

this was nothing new to you since you've gotten massages in the past, but there was something about the way he expertly kneaded at your skin and how he worked every sore spot on your body with such ease that it had your head spinning. so much so that you barely register the feeling of the warm towel being slipped down from your rear as he starts to work your cheeks, dipping both of his hands inside the warm oil before massaging your glutes in circular motions. cupping your rear and lifting it softly as he continues working your skin.

pulling your bottom lip between your teeth to stop the moans building against your throat from slipping out as he spreads your glutes apart slightly and laces his fingers through them before rounding the outer glutes and repeating the action. releasing how your breaths begin to quicken and get heavier the more his hands massaged your skin. returning from your hypnotic state when you suddenly feel them lift away from your skin.

“flip over for me, sweetheart”, you hear him say near your ear, his voice much lower than when he previously spoke to you as he grabs a new warm towel from the warmer. turning around with your eyes still closed as you lay on your back, exposing the front of your body to him. feeling a fresh warm towel being placed against your eyes, a subtle smell of lavender engulfing your scenes as you take another deep inhale, pushing the fact that you're naked in front of him to the back of your mind as you relax against the cushioned table.

feeling warm oil being dribbled against your chest, hearing him dip his hand in the bowl again as he poured the oil down your abdomen, over your pelvis and down your legs before his hands went back to work the skin in a methodical and hypnotizing manner. every frustration melting away with each knead from his fingers against your muscles as you started to feel heavier and warmer.

his large hands trailed up towards your neck, working the sides with his knuckles before he trailed down and circled your chest. cupping your tits with slippery hands as his fingers grazed against your nipples, gently pulling them between his digits. the sensation made your chest rise and fall a little heavier and your thighs twitch as you felt your clit start to pulse. an action that didn't go unnoticed by the blonde above you, smirking as he continued to knead at your chest before slowly trailing along your curves down to your pelvis.

dipping both of his hands in the oil again, collecting a small puddle of it and pouring it onto your lower abdomen, the oil dripping through your folds and pooling under you on the table as his hands start to massage along the area. circling your thighs whilst his fingers graze against your cunt, the slick forming on your pussy mixing with the oil as your breaths get heavier. his digits finally bruising through your folds cause the moan you've been holding back to spill from your mouth as your lower back slightly arches off the table.

a hand rubbing against your clit as the other spreads your legs wider for him, even though you knew this was wrong, his fingers felt too good for you to form a coherent thought. too caught in your own pleasure to notice the slight dip on the table between your legs, the feeling of a wet tongue licking a long strip on the length of your cunt making you sit up on your elbows as more moans erupt from your chest. pulling the warm towel from your face as your eyes meet his sultry red ones, already looking back at you whilst he continues to lap at your cunt.

the half of his face already glistening with the mixture of slick and oil from your body, his fingers trailing up to your chest as he pulls your nipples between his digits. tongue circling around your clit before sucking the sensitive nub into his mouth, feeling yourself get closer to the edge as your hand stretches down to tangle your fingers in his blonde locks, pressing his deeper into your cunt while lightly grinding your hips against his tongue when he lays it flat against your folds. your thighs shaking at his sides as you cum on his tongue, wrapping his lips around your cunt to lap up your release, not waiting a single drop as he swallows the sweet taste of your juices mixed with the oil.

“feeling relaxed yet, sweetheart?”, he asked, resting his head on your inner thigh whilst his thumb drags slow lines against your sensitive cunt.

“you do this to all your clients?”, you ask back through heavy pants while staring down at him.

“nah, just couldn't resist myself”, he says, smirking up at you while starting to lift from between your thighs.

“such pretty skin” he whispers against your warm skin before placing a kiss on your stomach.

“nice curves”, another kiss on the valley of your breast.

“gorgeous face”, he mumbles against your collar bones before pressing his tongue against the delicate skin of your throat, licking a long stripe all the way up to your chin as you lean your head back to give him access before facing him again.

“and a tasty pussy to go along with it…”, he whispers against your lips while staring deep into yours, “... how could i resist?”, noticing your lips curving into a smirk as he mirrors the action before pulling you into a messy kiss.

the oil from his face transferring onto yours as you continue devouring each other while your fingers curve along the bottom of his tight shirt as you start to pull it off him. breaking the kiss momentarily to discard the piece of clothing before pulling you in for another. pressing your hand to his bare chest as you push him down on the table without removing your lips from his, your fingers lacing along the waistline of his pants as you start to pull them down. leaning back on his forearms, bakugou lifts his hips off the table to help you take them off before discarding the garment. smiling at the pleasant surprise that he didn't have any underwear on and he'd been massaging your naked body with only a thin layer of fabric separating you.

reaching over towards the bowl of warm oil as you dip your hand inside of it, slowly pouring oil on his already erect cock whilst you start to slowly pump his length.

“isn't that my job, sweetheart?” he teases while spreading his legs further to give you more access.

“you took care of me, now it's your turn to relax and let me take of you”, your voice dripping in honey as you lower yourself towards his cock, circling his tip with your tongue while staying on your knees as you arch your back further, displaying the curve of your rear to him whilst sucking his cock further into your mouth. taking your time as you slowly move up and down his cock while your oiled hands twist around him with a firm grip.

his fingers tangling with your hairs as he brushes them behind your ear before resting his hand around your scalp, his digits scraping against your nape while he groans above you. “that's it, right there…”, he whispers as you feel his thighs clench beside you. “... fuuck that's it, suck the tip, baby”, following his orders as you lean your head back to only have your lips wrapped around his mushroom tip. sucking on it while flicking your tongue against his slit while your hands continue to jerk his slippery cock.

his fingers tighten against you as you feel his dick twitch in your grasp, reaching his climax as hot spurts of cum fill your mouth. the salty taste of his release combined with the sweet mixture of the oil making your eyes roll as you moan around his pulsing tip, swallowing every last drop as you continue sucking on it. stopping only when he gently tugs at your scalp from the overstimulation, placing a kiss on his swollen tip before leaning back to look up at his blissed-out expression while you lazily rub his length.

hooded eyes staring back at you while he catches his breath, throwing you a smirk between panting lips as you feel his fingers rub soft circles against your scalp. “come here”, he exhales while his other hand comes to rest at the side of your face, cradling it while lifting you towards him. resting your hands on his muscular thighs as he pulls you into a kiss, a much softer one in contrast to the heated one you first had.

your breaths mixing together when you pull back as you get lost in the red pools of his eyes, looking back at you like you're the most precious thing in the world when you only met him a few hours ago. the realization making your eyes dart towards the clock at the edge of the table in the corner of the room, noticing how you've stayed way past the time of your appointment.

“i should probably get going”, you say, meeting his eyes again.

“why the rush?”, he whispers back at you, his thumbs rubbing against your temples as if he'd done so countless times before.

“don't you have other clients?”, you ask with frowned eyebrows.

“shitty hair will take care of them”.

“shitty hair?”, you ask confused.

“the redhead at the front desk”, you laugh a little when you realize who he's talking about as you raise your hands to rest against his wrists while he continues to cradle your face.

“what's so funny, huh?”, he asks while giving you a puzzled look.

“nothing, it's just his hair it’s not that different from yours though”, you say between chuckles, releasing a louder laugh when you see his surprised face.

“pretty and snarky, huh… gonna have to get you back for that one”, he protests as his hands trail down your sides to rest at your hips as he guides you back down on the table.

settling between your legs as you rest them above his outer thighs. grabbing the bowl of oil as he tilts it over your cunt, pouring what's left of the warm oil over you before trailing up towards your chest. fisting his cock before he presses it against your cunt, gently rocking back and forth as he rubs it between your folds, teasing you as you feel yourself get wetter every time his cock grazes over your clit.

“you want this cock, gorgeous?”, he teases while his fingers trail up to your chest, cupping your breast in his large hands as his digits flick against your slippery nipples. arching into his touch as a moan vibrates in your throat while you frantically nod your head at him.

“yeah?, beg for it then”, setting your pride aside as you desperately beg for him to fuck you.

“please, bak-”.

“katsuki”, he cuts you off.

“katsuki, p-please”, a grin spreads across his face as he slides his cock down to align himself with you. a wave of pleasure hitting you as he shoves his length inside you in one swift thrust, not giving you time to adjust as he sets a steady pace. leaning down to lick your sensitive buds, sucking one into his mouth while his digits flick the other before his tongue trails a long, wet stripe towards your neck, leaving open mouth kisses along your side and below your chin until his hands comes to rest against the side of your face to pull you in a fervent kiss.

feeling the knot inside your stomach form again the more he thrusts into you, as your nails trail up against his back to rest against his shoulder blades, leaving red lines in their wake. his other hand gives your nipple a final tug before reaching down in between your bodies to rub messy circles against your clit. the overwhelming sensation of his tongue tangled with yours and his cock ramming against your walls with the added stimulation of his fingers on your erect bud sending you over the edge as you gush all over him. your release soaking both of you as he continues thrusting into you, fighting against the tight clenching of your pussy as he chases his own release.

feeling your wet tongue drag along the side of his neck all the way up to his earlobe as you suck it into your mouth, circling his piercing inside your mouth before pulling back to trail back down to the crook of his neck as you sink your teeth into his skin, hard enough to leave a mark without breaking the skin. the feeling of your tongue sending shivers down his spine and the added sting of your teeth catching him off guard, making his eyes roll back as he buries his cock deep inside your cunt. filling your pussy with his release as it starts to spill through the sides of your cunt, your juices mixing together as he empties his balls inside of you.

collapsing on top of you as he buries his face in the crook of your neck, your warm bodies melting into each other with the mixture of oil and sweat as you both catch your breaths while clinging to one another. placing kisses on your neck while you place them on his shoulder before he lifts his head to press his lips against yours, leaning back to admire your blissed out look while threading his fingers through your hair, his nails gently massaging your scalp with each swipe of his hand.

“am i gonna see you again?” he whispers against your lips as his eyes stare deep into yours as he waits for your answer. adoration mixed with a hint of fear that he misinterpreted this entire situation, and you won't return his advances.

“i hope so”, you chuckle back at him. relieve settling into his chest at your words as he smiles back at you before pressing his lips to yours again. a soft knock on the door interrupts you, making him grunt against you whilst you pull your bottom lip between your teeth to contain your giggles.

a muffled “everything okay?” sounds behind the door before bakugou responds to dismiss the redhead. releasing your chuckles when he buries his face in your neck again with a heavy sigh, neither of you wanting to part from each other’s warmth just yet as you stay wrapped against the other a while longer. his cock still inside you as your cunt leaks onto the table below you while your fingers thread through his blonde spikes, scratching gentle circles on his nape while his digits rub behind your ear, reveling in each other’s presence before you have to clean up and part ways.

sending you off with another kiss at the door of the massage room as he hands you a small bag with the candle you were smelling earlier before giving your rear a small slap as you make your way down the hall and back to the lobby. wondering if the pretty redhead at the front desk heard your moans all the way over to the front, spotting him standing by the shelves in the corner next to the front desk organizing some of the incense the parlor had displayed throughout the establishment, shooting you that same toothy smile as you smile back at him.

“everything to your liking?”, he asks while grabbing one of the boxes of the incense.

“definitely, thank you so much for squeezing me in”, you answer him while making your way towards the exit.

“oh, before you leave, here you go…”, he says while handing you the incense box in his hands.

“a little something as a thank you for choosing our parlor”, he adds while telling you his name, scratching the back of his head as he realizes he should've done it earlier. laughing at how this giant of a man has the sweetest personality, thanking him before you say your goodbyes. smiling to yourself when you pretend not to notice the bulge in his pants, confirming your suspicion that kirishima probably heard the whole thing, excited to make your next appointment at the parlor to see his reaction as you make your way back home.

finally relaxing against some warm blankets as you open the bag that bakugou gave you, smelling the incense that kirishima gifted you first as you laugh while thinking back on everything that occurred. the mixture of the sweet scent of frankincense combined with the earthy notes of myrrh fill your nostrils as you close your eyes while the fragrance floods your senses, a moan building in your throat the more you smell it before setting it aside for later.

grabbing the candle you fell in love with back at the parlor as you open it, eager to smell it again but before you can bring it to your nose you notice something inside of it. picking a small piece of paper from the top of the wick as you set the candle down to open it, grinning to yourself as you find a phone number written on it with the message “call me” below it and a badly scribbled heart right next to it. picking your phone from your bedside table as you dial the numbers on the paper, bringing it up to your ear as it rings while biting the nail of your thumb in anticipation before you hear the line on the other end pick up.

“took you long enough, sweetheart… thought you'd never call”.

[pumpkinprincess22]

I promised Fair Folk lore in the discord so here is the fair folk lore.

So basically I visited the Alnwick Gardens on holiday and they had this really cool play area world for kids called Lilidorei based around nine clans who worship Christmas. Inspired by this here is some MCD Fair Folk lore.

'Fair Folk' is the umbrella term to encompass all the races native to the realm of Yggdrasil. These races are:

Elves

Of all the Yggdrasilian races Elves are one of the most common to be spotted outside of Yggdrasil due to their ability to blend in with humans. They are very attuned with nature. Elves are some of the least magickally gifted of the Fair Folk and while it is not uncommon for Elves to be born with magicks it is much rarer for them to cultivate it, even being forbidden for some tribes.

Fairies

Fairies are similar to their elven cousins, they are also humanoid and can fit in among humans although don't venture to the mortal realms as much as the Elves. There primary physical difference to Elves is their wings and ability to fly. Fairies are very magickally attuned and they practice their magicks freely.

Pixies

Occasionally found in the mortal realm, mostly offering help to humans (or trying to but coming off as a nuisance anyway). Pixies are more or less balls of concentrated magickal energy in a tiny body. When observed by mortals they appear as the Allay mob in minecraft. They can appear differently but the less abundant magickally energy in the mortal realm forces them into a smaller more solid physical shape.

Gnomes

Gnomes are not often found in the mortal realm but have been known to appear. Gnomes can either be very wise and helpful or mischievous tricksters. Standing at 4 feet tall on average with long white beards regardless of age or gender, when seen in the mortal realm Gnomes are often mistaken for particularly short old men. Gnomes magicks is often as absurd as they are and it is thought that Shaman magicks is derived from a combination of Gnomish practices and Witchcraft.

Goblins

Known to mortals as Imps, Goblins are tricksy shapeshifters. Expelled from Yggdrasil for dealings in dark magicks, in a combined effort by the Elven and Fairy tribes, the Goblin tribe leader took his people with him to the mortal realm where they allied themselves with the Demon Warlock in exchange for protection. Some Goblins since have slipped through the cracks and return to Yggdrasil unnoticed but most remain in the mortal realm disguising themselves as mortals to trick others or to assimilate into their culture.

Trolls

The final race is rarely found outside of Yggdrasil. A troll will turn up in the mortal realm maybe once in a generation. They are gentle but their size and appearance causes them to be feared. They are the stuff of stories and nightmares and monsters under the bed. The kind of beings that might be real but no one really knows.

Fae

So if you've seen my post about accidentally creating a Pantheon of Old Gods you might recall that Fae is the goddess of the Fair Folk. All of the races of Yggdrasil come from her. They are also known as the Children of Fae and she refers to them as such. No one knows if the original tribe members were really her children or if they were just her creations but at the time of MCD there are well established families within the tribes and none are directly the goddesses children.

The Fae Wilds

A realm presided over by Fae which is sort of like the afterlife except not exactly because Fair Folk are immortal beings. When they feel ready to 'retire' one of the Fair Folk may call upon Fae to be transported to the Fae Wilds to live out the rest of eternity.

[ultrainfinitepit]

Hello Tumblr followers, it's October and a lot is happening! First and foremost, the Eldritch Saints leftovers are finally listed. New pins, prints, stickers, and keychains are available now in my Etsy shop. Many of these items have been sent to my stockists as well.

Speaking of Kickstarter campaigns, if you missed the Angelology III campaign, the pre-order store is open until October 14 2023. Lots of pins, stickers, and keychains - including some awesome guest artist designs - are available for pre-order. If you miss the pre-order, you will have to wait until any leftovers are available after the campaign.

Back to new shop items: in addition to the Eldritch Saints pins, I have even more new pins available! Charity pins for the Maui Strong Fund and Assistance Dogs of the West are now available. My Film Noir Monsters are also available: there are a limited number of full sets, individual pins, and blind bags. 

This month's seconds pins are Penemue, Percy de Rolo, Archangel Samiel, and Mistress of Darkness. 

To make room for all the new pins, older ones have retired from my Etsy shop. You can still find them with my stockists. If you're curious about what pins I've made, I've updated my pin catalog. If you have restock requests, you can make those in this Google form. I generally don't reprint any pins once sold out, but if a design is popular enough I'll consider making a new variant. So if you have a variant idea, you can include that in your request.

Anyway, returning once again to new shop items: new stickers are also available! Rat Kings, Biblically Accurate Barbie, and a glitter version of Original Character Brainworms are now listed in my shop. New keychains are available too, including Be Not Afraid Jon, Biblically Accurate Barbie, Throne Angel, Little Guy Seraph, and Angelic Messengers keychains.

On to more general news for October. This month I am working on drawing original angel designs for Angeltober 2023. You can follow along on social media. Some of these designs might turn into pins next year! So you can let me know if you like any in particular.

Since we're in the last stretch of 2023, I thought I'd do a recap of my upcoming plans.

First, let's look ahead to November, where I anticipate a lot will also be happening. November 24-25 2023 I'll be at the SJMade holiday fair, so I'll be working on items for that. The Cowboy Monsters, Trigun Cowboys, and a few other pins weren't quite ready in time for this update, so I'll be saving them for November. I also have some recolors of pins, including Wolf Knight and Deadwale, that might be ready by then. My plan for these November items is to a list a small quantity as usual at the beginning of the month, and save the rest for the fair. Any leftovers will be listed right after the fair, so you can expect two shop updates that month.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, I will be working on crossing off some more pins from my self-funded to-do list: including original designs, and more fanart pins for Spiderverse, Better Call Saul, and Trigun.

I'm planning to close my Etsy shop December 8 2023, and reopen it sometime in 2024. That will be your last chance to grab any last minute gifts. My stockists will remain open so you can purchase from them while my Etsy shop is closed. 

Next year I'm running my last two planned Kickstarter campaigns: Angelology IV: Angels of Extinction, which will feature designs inspired by endangered and extinct creatures; and Pride Angels, featuring angel pins in the colors of different Pride flags. This won't be my last Kickstarter campaigns ever, but probably my last for a while.

I will also have a much shorter list of pins I'm planning to self-fund in 2024: it includes some more fanart pins, the rest of the Zodiac and Astrological Putti, and a series inspired by the angelic hierarchy. I'm considering making a pin club on Ko-fi so I can share those plans and help fund those pins, without relying on Kickstarter. I would also post manufacturer reviews and merch previews. Let me know if that would be something you'd be interested in!

In 2024, outside of the Kickstarters I'm planning to scale down my pin making to focus on making other merch, I have a long backlog of stickers, keychains, and other items I've set aside this year to focus on pins. Pin making will always be my greatest passion so I don't think I'll ever stop completely, but it does take a lot of time, effort, and money and I think it's time to ease up on it so I can work on other things. I'm also looking to diversify my inventory of items, so if you have any suggestions you can send them my way. That's my early New Year's resolution anyway, we'll see if I follow through!

That's all for this update, which ended up being a long one. I'll leave you all with a link to my About Page/FAQ if you haven't already given it a read; and if you have any questions you'd like to ask anonymously, you can send them to my Tumblr ask box. Have a wonderful week.

[bg-brainrot]

Day 8 of the BG3 Holiday Challenge with some found family <3

Prompt: Chosen Family

Featuring: Astarion x Rogue!Tav

Series: Fits into Love at First Knife, AO3 link here

Premise: You don’t have any family left in Baldur’s Gate, so when it comes time to celebrate Midwinter, you invite the family you do have: all of your old companions that can make it. Shadowheart, Gale, Halsin, and a few others join you for a meal and gift exchange. 

Tags: POV Second Person, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Fluff, Holidays, post-canon, chosen family, extended family of ragtag adventurers, even volo is included

Word count: ~1.4k

“My dear, I’m afraid that staring at the clock won’t make our guests arrive any faster.” You turn to see Astarion standing at the doorway to your drawing room, holding a stack of letters. He’s dressed impeccably in his holiday best, even sporting a small red poinsettia in his lapel. Initially, he’d resisted the festive addition, but you reminded him that, while mild, a poinsettia is poisonous. Not a moment later the flower had found its way into his outfit.

You’re also adorned festively, a bright branch of holly weaved into your belt. Dressed to impress and ready to party for the Midwinter celebration, all that’s left are your guests– which aren’t due for another ten minutes. You sigh at Astarion’s words, knowing that he’s right. “How else am I supposed to spend the time?”

Astarion walks over to your seat on the coach and hands you half of the stack of letters. “Well, I figured this might be a fantastic opportunity to make sure we had an accurate headcount. In case we need to ask Gale to conjure any chairs.”

You take the letters gratefully and pat the seat next to you. He sits and you begin to sort through the papers. “Good idea, let’s see…” The first letter is from Alfira. It’s a lovely little letter, thanking you for the invitation, detailing her Midwinter plans with Lakrissa, and ending with a short little poem for the holiday. “Alfira already had plans.”

“Oh good,” Astarion says with a small clap. “I don’t think my poor ears could take yet another rendition of the Twelve Days of Midwinter.” He waves the letter in his hand as he follows up with, “Rolan also already had plans, something about Cal and Lia wanting to travel for the holiday.”

“Maybe we should have done that,” you say to Astarion, filled with more dread at hosting a party for your closest friends than you’ve had fighting any monster.

He knows you don’t really mean it, but agrees anyway. “We still have time to escape! I hear the feywild has some lovely weather.”

“How would we get to the feywild?” you ask, taking a look at the next letter in your stack.

“I don’t know, we’d figure it out,” he responds, before rolling his eyes at the letter he’s holding. “Why did you even invite Volo?”

You shrug, honestly unsure what compelled you. “He seems lonely, I guess?”

“Well, he’s still a yes,” Astarion says, grimacing.

“Good, I suppose.” You wave the letter in your hand at him, before adding, “Dame Aylin and Isobel can’t make it. Something about seeing Midwinter's arrival in each others’ arms.”

“But of course. We could have done the same, you know.” 

Your love gives you a suggestive look, which you smack with your next letter. “Stop tempting me! I know we can do this, and apparently the guests we do have are looking forward to it. Remember, Gale’s immediate yes? He’s even bringing Tara.”

“Do you suppose she requires her own chair?” Astarion asks, tapping his chin with what could only be Shadowheart’s letter, its writing neat and flowing.

“I think I already took her into account for chairs.” You’re positive you had, lest you offend the great Tara. “Is that Shadowheart’s response? Did she send an update?”

Astarion looks down at the letter, as if he'd forgotten that he was holding it. “Let's see. It says, ‘Don't worry, I'm still able to make it. Is it alright if I bring the owlbear? I wasn't able to find someone to watch him.'"

You stare at Astarion who only stares back. You break the silence to ask the question on both of your minds, "Where will we put him?"

"Perhaps Gale can shrink him for the night?"

"Good idea," you say with a nod and move on to the next letter in your stack. It's a short missive from Dammon. An appreciative message, though he already has Midwinter plans as well. “Dammon was a no.”

Your love smirks, giving you a knowing look. “Likely because Karlach couldn’t make it. Still can’t make it I take it?”

“Karlach and Wyll gratefully declined,” you say, holding up their letter. It’s been written quickly, has some scorched edges, and smells deeply of sulfur– truly no mystery as to why they couldn’t make it. “But Halsin said he would be here.”

"Someone, who I think is Withers, just sent back 'no'. Hmm." Astarion looks at the small piece of parchment containing the singular word and holds it up to you. “Why did you invite Withers? Scratch that, how did you invite Withers?”

You simply raise a shoulder in a noncommittal shrug and say, “It felt rude not to invite him.”

He looks at you for a second, as if pondering whether or not it’s worth digging into the ‘how’ when a knock sounds at the door. “Oh, I suppose our first guest has arrived. Would you like to wager on who it might be?”

“Why bother,” you say with a snort, setting aside the rest of the stack and heading to the door. “We both know it’s Gale.”

Astarion laughs at your confident proclamation, and laughs even harder when you open the door to a smiling wizard, dressed in what can only be considered a holiday robe, lit up with faerie lights. Tara stands next to him, proudly wearing a red ribbon.

“Welcome! Come in, come in,” you say, waving him into your house. Once they’ve entered, you give Gale a hearty hug and Tara a small bow, which she seems to appreciate. After you take his coat and they settle in, Astarion serves them both a drink, a wine for Gale, a bowl of broth for Tara.

You spend some time talking and catching up until your next guests arrive with a soft knock. 

At the door is Shadowheart, wearing a markedly less ostentatious holiday outfit, a simple green sweater with silver pants, followed closely by a large owlbear. After a quick bit of magic from Gale, they both make their way inside to warm hugs and their own drinks. 

They’re just about sitting down when another knock comes.

The night continues in much the same fashion as Halsin arrives, then Volo, then Jaheira with several of her children in tow. Then, just when you think no one else will arrive, Minsc shows up with Boo wearing a single jolly bell.

The entire group settles in for drinks, food, and merriment, discussing all that they’ve been up to since you’ve last gotten together. The company is lively, the atmosphere warm, and you’re immensely satisfied with the outcome of your efforts as you finally take a seat next to Astarion. You begin to wonder why you were worried about hosting this at all.

Ahead of the party, you hadn’t received a response from Lae’zel. She was likely too busy in the Astral Plane to respond, so you tried not to think too much of it. However, partway through the night you receive a message from her through a Sending spell: “This is Lae’zel. Apologies, I’m indisposed. I’ve been informed Midwinter is a celebration, so consider this my celebratory message.”

You laugh and send your own message back, “Thank you, Lae’zel. Hope to see you for the next one!”

Astarion smiles at you once you relay the message to the group, squeezing your hand in his. He knew you’d been worried about her despite it all, and knowing that she, too, was alive and safe would finally set your mind at ease. And it did– like something that was missing finally clicked into place and you could just breathe.

You knew that not everyone would be able to make it, and you’re still not confident in your hosting abilities, but somehow, you’re still so very content. Something about sitting in a room with your love, your closest friends, and even Volo, fills you with so much hope for the upcoming spring.

When the group lifts their glasses to cheer for all that you’ve accomplished this year, the trials and tribulations you’ve overcome together, you can’t help but add, “And to the family we’ve made along the way. May we always find our way back to one another!”

The night passes in a haze of joy and love– somehow, by the end of it, you've agreed to host again next year. You can feel Astarion's amusement as he chuckles and holds you close.

[misguidedasgardian]

The Lifeaters (IV.5)

V. The Yule Ball

MASTERLIST

Chapter Summary: The magical night…

Pairings: Draco Malfoy x Fem!Reader (platonic)

Warnings: Cursing, magical objects, Mugglephobia, classism, charms and curses, old school teachings, sexism some may say, kids being assholes, rich kids being assholes, might miss some warnings

Wordcount: 4.9 k

Notes: i want you to bear with me, this are RICH kids, many of them come from very old money you know? they are old school AND they are fourteen year olds, they have other priorities and concepts… and they are assholes, many of them anyways.

The whole week leading to Christmas was as exciting as you ever felt, the whole castle seemed to be glowing with magic, and since you had two more schools in there, Hogwarts wanted to show off, so they went all out with decorations this year. Tha armours sang christmas carols every time someone walked past them, the four big trees in the great entrance hall were decorated beautifully, even with real golden owls sitting gingerly in their branches. The great hall looked more magnificent than you've ever seen it.

Everything was more, more decorated, more big, more shiny, more everything

Terrence gave you sweet little smiles every time you crossed him in the hallways, which had you feeling butterflies in your belly 

Goyle and Matthew were the only ones in your group who couldn’t secure a date, and though the Goyle part was having you feel a bit guilty, they took it quite well, they preferred instead to joke around.

This year, as you mentioned, where to stay here to celebrate the holidays, but you had done it before and you didn’t mind, specially since you had the ball the night of the 25th 

And it came incredibly quickly.

Your amount of homework had piled up, and Snape gave extra because he didn’t manage to poison anybody like he had threatened to do the first class of the semester, nor did he manage to poison a familiar like he threatened last year.

Good times.

The 23rd was friday, so you spend the rest of the afternoon preparing your potions homework and every other assignment you could so you didn’t have to think about from the tomorrow to after boxing day 

And soon, the 24 was all over you, as you enjoyed it without classes, being already released for the winter holidays. 

You had a marvelous lunch, at the hall and then you had a scheduled visit to Hogsmeade, which you took as an opportunity to buy last minute gifts. And… this year, you had agreed to make gifts for everybody.

Since you had an allowance but you didn’t spend much because well, you were at school, you had saved a bunch of galleons, so, it was going to be a nice touch, to make gifts for your very best friends. 

You were so excited for tomorrow you could barely sleep, but you did, and you were woken up more suddenly than you expected. 

“Hey! wake up! presents!”, shrieked Pansy!, jumping out of bed. Your smile was wide as you stood from your bed, there, on top of your truck, besides Umbra, stood a hefty amount of beautifully wrapped boxes. The entire room was festive, mistletoe was hanging from your bed posts, and beautiful christmas crowns were in the walls, of green leaves, and silver decorations. 

And now presents, lots of lots of presents were on top of each of your trunks. You had all awakened with big bright smiles and were ready now to rip open each and every one of them. One big box caught your attention first, and you had a hunch of what that might be.

You opened that first, and you gasped when you saw what was inside it. 

It was the most beautiful dress you had ever seen in your whole life, it was your favorite color, made of the finest silk. You stood up from the bed so you could spread it and see it properly, it had the tag of one of the fanciest Atelier in Paris

“No way!”, cheered Pansy, “it’s gorgeous!”, you wanted to cry because of how good your grandfather knew you, everything about it was perfect, exactly how you would have picked it, you were so happy you put it right back on the box, and on the feet of your bed till you could put it on later.

Of course there was a letter from your grandfather, but that stood on top of the second box with the same wrapping paper. It was a magnificent pair of shoes to go with your dress. And a heartfelt letter, tears sprinted to your eyes as you read in your Grandfather’s handwriting how proud he was of the beautiful strong woman you were becoming.

You then grabbed a gift wrapped in a neatly green velvet wrapping. Once you unwrapped it carefully, you found yourself with a dark oak flat rectangular box with a family crest carved in it. You opened it gently and gasped when you saw what’s inside.

It was a breathtaking set of diamond jewelry, a beautiful necklace with a hanging black diamond in the center, met with two smaller ones on the side, with matching earrings and a bracelet. 

“For our beloved goddaughter” it read in beautiful calligraphy, “And my best friend” signed under it with Draco’s handwriting, it was made in Mafloy’s Stationary. 

On the inside of the top of the wooden box, stood another letter. You grabbed it and read it carefully, it was Narcissa’s own handwriting, as equally delicate as Uncle Lucius’

“This jewelry set had been in our family for generations, it was passed down to me as I got married to Lucius, it was my personal dream to share it with my daughter one day, so I’ll pass it on to you”, a single tear fell from your eye, as the envelope hid a small leather pouch, inside it was a beautifully intricate signet ring, with the same crest on it as the box, that it seemed to be carved on a black diamond.

“Toujours Pur”, you whispered, in the crest, where three ravens under a fist holding a sword, and threatening looking skull on the upper edge of the shield. It was from aunt Narcissa’s family, which meant this was a Black family heirloom, and she was passing it onto you. You smiled, and put the ring immediately in your middle finger, right next to your Slytherin ring on your ring finger.

You were shaking as you were putting the jewelry set away, as you believed to be the most important gift (or probably the most valuable) anyone had ever given you.

You didn’t know what to say, as you could hear your friends giggling and sharing what they got, you kept on looking for the rest of the gifts, you received a box of fudge, your favorite ones, a box of ten chocolate frogs, this time instead of a tempest in a bottle you received a sandstorm in a bottle, which looked as astonishing as the one you already had, and other gifts. There was one box that was moving you didn’t notice it until now, growls were coming out of it, and you grabbed it gently, and opened it

A small flame came out of it, as a now more clear hiss could be heard, you looked inside and you gasped as you saw… a small dragon! What? how?

“What on the Merlin’s fluffy robes?”, you asked

“what is that?”, asked Pansy , coming to you and sitting on the edge of the bed

“A DRAGON!”, you said loudly

“A WHAT?”, Tracy, who was as much an animal lover as you, came rushing. “How? Who gave it to you?”

“I don’t know!”, you said quickly. It was the Hungarian Horntail, deep black, with greyish-purpleish markings, it snapped his tiny snout trying to bit you, but he was too small, fitting in the palm of your hand

“It has a note”, Pansy pointed. You grabbed it and read it

“I know how much you wanted one”, you read, “So we stole it from Crouch after the first task of the triwizard tournament”, you kept reading, “- Theo and Matthew”, it wasn’t the first time they stole a creature and this time, you couldn’t believe it

The task had been months ago, did they keep it all this time?

The Horntail finally looked up at you and growled at you

“How I’m I supposed to take care of one?”, you asked Tracy. Just know, after four years, you were realizing how silly it was that you asked for a dragon in the first year. 

“Let’s go to the library after, we are sure going to find a book on cares of dragons”, she offered. 

“Look what Draco got me!”, said Pansy with a wide smile on her face, as she showed the room a beautiful diamond necklace.

They sure raided the Malfoy’s coffers this year.

You had also given away your friends' favorite sweets to them as a gift, as a huge basket, from your aunt, with a lot of hair and skin products.

You had a potion that made your hair perfectly straight, you had a tonic that made the most beautiful and lustrous curls, you had a bar that looked like soap, but it was actually glitter, and also, a gel that made it look like your head had stars in it, and all sorts of makeup.

All in sample sizes bottles, and enough for you to share with everyone. 

Tracy cheered as she had gotten a camera that took pictures that moved, it was so cool, specially for tonight.

You got dressed in your normal clothes, as you went down to have a great breakfast, you left your dragon in its small metal cage in your bedside table, and went down to meet the boys in the common room

“Draco”, you called, remembering the invaluable gift you had received, “I can’t accept that”, you said, you were fourteen! and you had given something that could buy a whole house

“Its my parents wish that you got it”, he said simply, “they wanted to give it to you for your birthday, but they decided to wait until now, so let’s have breakfast already”

You smiled widely, as you all shared ‘thank yous’ for the gifts you had received. You had an amazing “brunch”, as it was later than a normal day, it took you long enough to reach the dining hall.

Outside was a beautiful snowy day, and the boys wanted to head to the Quidditch pitch but you said no, hen they asked you why, you answered that you didn’t want to risk an injury if tonight was going to be the ball, then they all agreed with you and instead you went ice skating in the lake.

You defended yourself pretty well on the ice, Draco and Daphne did too, but the rest needed a bit of help. Matthew grabbed onto you threatening to drop you so you and Daphne made a chain and helped him and Theo, and you skated together.

Because of course Pansy clinged into Draco.

Blaise passed you all surprising you with his great skill

“I wonder where bubbles is”

“Who’s bubbles?”, asked Mathhew with a smile

“The huge squid of the lake”, you answered

“Of course you named him”, now that you had them both here

“Where did you get the dragon?”, you asked

“we told you, we stole it from Crouch”, said Theo, “Matthew has the fireball, I have the Welsh green”

“Don’t you think they’re gonna be looking for them?”, you asked then, trying not to miss a step, otherwise you were all going to fall together

“I haven’t seen Crouch around and nobody has said anything so i guess we are in the clear”, he said simply, “besides, we left the short snout”

“Ugly thing”, muttered Theo

You spend the rest of the afternoon skating and like at four, you and the girls exchanged looks

“We need to go”, said Daphne, grabbing onto you and Pansy, you grabbed Tracy 

“The Ball doesn’t start until eight!”, said Draco, sharing concerned looks with his mates

“But we will meet at seven in the common room!”, wanted Pansy, pointing directly at Draco who raised his hands and nodded, swallowing hard.

“Fine”, you all nodded towards one another, and you ran back to the castle

There was much to do.

You haired the girl’s lavatory in Slytherin tower, and to your relief were the first ones to get there. You took long showers, opening your fresh soaps from your care basket. Putting on your favorite shampoo that had your favorite scents in it. Then wet hair and all you went giggling back to your common room

“I got the perfect thing to dry out hair!”, said Pansy, and she threw a spell to spell air at great velocity from her wand. She didn’t take into account that her hair was very straight by nature, Daphne’s and Tracy’s weren’t, so at the end we got a mess of messy hair in their heads. You preferred to directly use one of the tonics to make your head look exactly how you wanted.

Daphne used the creams to make lustrous curls appear. Tracy preferred to have her hair fixed in thousands of tiny braids that looked beautiful. Pansy had her hair up in a simple yet elegant hairdo. Milicent had straightened her auburn hair. 

You put in your body cream that makes your skin look hydrated with a bit of sparkle in it.

You even put on some makeup, Daphne offered to curl your eyelashes and put on some sparkly eyeshadow and mascara. You put some gloss on too.

You couldn’t believe what you were seeing when you looked in a mirror. You looked… so pretty, you felt pretty too.

You wondered if Terrence was going to like it.

When it was six thirty and you were ready with everything else, only then you put on your dresses, afraid to taint them with makeup or hair products. 

“To match Draco’s eyes”, Pansy said proudly, she was wearing a light blue silvery satin dress, with spaghetti straps, she looked amazing. She adorned it with a silvery chal, and her hairstyle let everyone see the beautiful necklace Draco had given her. Tracy was wearing a stunning velvety dark green dress, and Daphne of course was wearing a soft pink, in tull. Milicent was wearing a navy blue cotton dress that made her beautiful hair stand out. 

And you in your beautiful dress as well. You put on your shoes not before you put on some numbing cream so you could dance all night and your feet were not going to ache. 

And then, with trembling hands, you asked Pansy to put on the necklace around your neck.

“It’s a stunning piece”, you felt like a walking heirloom, you put on the earrings and the bracelet too, and your rings again.

When you were done, you looked at your friends who were ready also. Tracy looked so beautiful, like a star from the roaring twenties, with a pearl necklace around her neck, and her velvety dress. Daphne looked like a princess, and Pansy looked so classy, and Milicent was stunning as well. 

“Ready girls?”, asked Daphne. you grabbed a matching sparkly short sleeve jacket and you nodded excitedly. 

“Ready!”. 

You wondered how Terrence was going to react when he saw you, because the boys dropped their jaws almost to the floor when you walked back to the common room in your best attire.

Well except Greg, as soon as he saw you he abandoned the room with a scowl on his face. But Mathhew kept looking at you so much he made you feel uncomfortable, and you had to do a double take on yourself in case there was something out of place. 

Draco looked so handsome, in his white dress robes, well, they all did.

You were disappointed Terrance wasn’t there, but you haven't spoken to him since the day before, so you guessed he was going to appear at eight or something. You shared the common room, so, is not like he was going to miss you. 

“You look stunning”, Draco said, once he managed to release himself from Pansy

“Well, you look handsome as ever”, you answered back. You had seen him in dress robes, but not recently, he looked… more like an adult now.

“So…”, Draco started, looking around suspiciously, “where’s your date?”, he asked then

“Draco be nice”, you chided, “he isn’t here yet, neither are his mates”, you said looking around

“So he is just… letting you hang around here? alone?”, he asked, frowning

“With my friends? I guess so”, you said mindlessly. He hummed disapprovingly. Thankfully, to easy the tension between the two of you, Tracy took her camera with a wide smile and everyone cheered

“Let’s take some pictures!”, she said

You took hundreds of pictures. Only girls first, then girls and their dates, then of the whole group, you took the photos of Tracy and Blaise and they both looked so amazing, everyone did. 

“My parents insist we take a picture together”, murmured Draco, offering you his hand

“Of course! I know Narcissa is going to put it on the mantel or something

“Tracy”, called Draco, “can you take a picture of us?”, she nodded enthusiastically. Draco grabbed your waist gently, pulling you to his side, you put your ringed hand on his chest and you both smiled at the camera as he hugged you. He tickled your lower back making you laugh, and that is what the camera took you, five seconds of the both of you holding onto each other and laughing.

After a short talk and pictures and comments and chats, the time was upon you to take yourself to the ballroom, meaning the dining hall, so… Now you were becoming nervous as you looked around. 

“Where is him?”, asked Mathhew this time, to you, he could sense your nervousness. “Want me to stay with you?”, he tried then, as you saw everyone were getting ready to leave

“You guys go ahead!”, you promised, “I’ll be there soon to make my triumphant entrance!”, you said with a wide smile, Draco didn’t like the idea, but he got dragged by Pansy and they left the common room. Matthew followed in tow, and then the rest. 

You took a long breath, as you were growing increasingly nervous, why was he taking so long? it was reassuring that none of his 6th year friends were there either, but the rest of the Slytherins had passed by, the fifth and seventh years…

You waited for another five long minutes until they appeared, you had seen them in passing, but… Terrance was not among them

“Hey, what's going on?”, they wasted no time in looking you up and down with smiles on their faces before one of them came forwards

“Terrance can’t make it”, he said shortly. You just stared at him, letting the words sink in 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE CAN’T MAKE IT?”, you asked him incredulously, Terrence’s mate hissed, showing you his teeth

“It’s pretty bad, he got poisoned or sumthin”, he muttered under his breath, “he can’t separate from the bathroom for more than like five minutes”, you just looked at him in disbelief

“What am I gonna do now? I can’t go alone!”, you said

“We all got partners”, he said looking back at his mates, “sorry”, he turned and left you.

Tears threatened to well in your eyes as they left you alone in the common room. You looked around desperately, but you were alone, alone and dressed in your best attire. This night that promised to be the best night of your life… was a complete bust as a single tear fell down your cheek. 

What were you going to do?

Were you going to just get out of your dress, makeup and hair and just go to sleep? no… you couldn’t do that… should you just go? your friends were there, right? they wouldn’t leave you alone, nobody was going to notice that somebody stood you up. 

it was a bit embarrassing, showing up alone?

“For Merlin’s beards!”, you cursed

But the alternative was just sit down there and wait… for what? you didn't know exactly

Ah come on! you were (y/n) Basilik and Black! you couldn’t just stand up just like that, just because a boy got a weak stomach, he was not going to ruin your night.

So you adjusted the straps in your shoes, you checked your makeup in the mirror, and opened the door to the common room, as all the younger students of your house looked at you wide eyed

You got more excited as you saw the beautiful decorations leading to the hall, and the soft music and chatting. 

But as you were pulling up the last set of stairs before the main hall…

“Where are you going, Basilik?”, asked Professor Snape as he walked towards you all accusatory

“Terrence HIggs stood me up because he got food poisoning, so I was planning on crushing the dance alone and steal Gryffindor’s dates”, you said unapologetically, he just looked down at you, frowning

“Proceed”, he said, standing aside so you could pass. You smiled widely, but you decided to take a detour, and come up to the set of big stairs, and turn around back, so you had to come down the steps to appear in the great entrance hall, and not up from the Slytherin common room. 

As you started your majestic descent, you saw many of your year waiting at the bottom, and they all gawked at you, at your audacity, at the beautifulness of your dress, at the impeccable way you handled yourself.

This was your moment, and not even your sick crush standing you up was going to change that.

But when you were coming down the stairs, to your surprise, Matthew was there, waiting for you, he had his arm up, ready for you to take it, like a gentleman of old

“Matt?”, you asked him, as you stood up in the last few steps

“I heard what happened”, he said quickly, “Let me escort you to the ball”, you nodded enthusiastically, grabbing his arm, making a perfect entrance, sticking the landing as it were.

He held you by the waist and led you to your group of friends, that by this point was still smiling

“What happened to Terrence?”, asked Draco, frowning

“Got food poisoning or something”, you said quietly, “couldn’t get out of the bathroom”, they all showed their disgust with comical expressions on their faces. You got distracted a bit talking to Pansy about what happened in the last fifteen minutes. 

“What did you do to Terrence?”, asked Draco to Matthew in a hushed voice

“Nothing”, defended Matthew

“Yeah you did”, he said back. “you poisoned him!”, Matthew just looked back at him

“You didn't want her to come with him either!”, he said quickly

“I freakin’ knew it!”, he said back

“He was unworthy of her”, he said dismissively

“Yeah, maybe, but she wanted to come with him!, or else she could have come with me!”, he said disdainfully, Draco noticed quickly you and Pansy turned back to them so they fixed their angry stares quickly

“Should we take our seats?”, you asked with a wide smile

The hall looked beautiful, it was some sort of winter wonderland and there was snow falling from the ceiling. There were ice sculptures, ice on the walls, sparkles and beautiful snowflakes… it was breathtaking

The four big tables had been turned into sets of smaller round tables. 

You had this weird feeling, like when you had eyes on you, and you searched the source… It came from the teacher’s table, Dumbledore himself was looking straight at you and Matthew, Snape by his side didn’t seem pleased either, and you didn't know why

You took your seats, a whole table, sharing with some other fifth year students from your house. Everyone was seated and only then you looked at the menu on the table. 

You said loudly what you wanted, one of the choices, and the plate filled magically with your choice. And to drink you had a beautiful flute with what you believed to be giggle water. 

You ate and giggled all through dinner, and chatted with your mates, you were so excited, the ball was already happening.

You didn’t care that Terrence stood you up anymore, you looked at your side and Matthew smiled at you. Despite everything, despite the fact that he seemed all too happy about the unforgivable curses, perhaps there was a side to him you haven't seen before. 

“Thank you for rescuing me out there”, you whispered, leaning onto his personal space, he didn’t shy away from it, if anything, he leaned towards you, almost eliminating the space between you. 

“It was my pleasure”, he whispered back. 

Then you got your attention pulled from each other when they announced that the four champions were going to dance.

“Have you seen Granger?”, asked Pansy to you, over Draco who was sitting in between you. She then pointed and you saw her, dancing with none other than Viktor Krum, wearing a majestic dress in different shades of pink.

“She looks great”, you admitted, “and then you saw the horrified glances of your friends, “she does!”, you defended

“For a mudblood”, Draco whispered against his cup

“She is dancing with Viktor Krum”, you said then, “didn’t know she had it in her”

“Cho also looks stunning”, Tracy admired, “as does Fleur”

“All Hogwarts girls”, you teased, “I love that for us”, you sipped your drink under Matthew’s heated gaze. 

“Soon enough we won’t have to worry about them”, said Matthew, you looked at him

“Who? what do you mean?”

“Now we invite everyone who wants to join us on the dance floor!”, chanted a voice loudly, and many couples jumped right in, including Dumbledore himself, hand in hand with Professor McGonaggal 

“Shall we?”, Draco asked Pansy, and she smiled excitedly and took his hand. Once they were gone, you looked at Matthew, with high expectations, and to your delight, he offered you his arm.

“I don’t know how to dance”, he warned

“I'll lead”, you said quickly, you didn’t mind. And to your amazement, he was a quick learner and fast on his feet, he didn’t trip or step on your feet once! 

“You are a good dancer”, you admired

“Because you are leading”, he clarified. The weird sister had taken the stage and you were thrilled. You loved that band! So far they were playing slow songs, but you were hopeful. 

“So…”, Matthew asked, “did you give your first kiss yet?”, you shook your head

“No, not yet”, you mumbled. Now uncomfortable, remembering what happened in the castle in the Quidditch world cup, how insistent he was that you kiss him.

He made you twirl in his embrace and it made you giggle. And then Draco, who was dancing right by your side, grabbed his arm.

“Let’s trade for a song”, he said, and Matthew nodded reluctantly. You happily went to Draco, as your parents had made you dance over and over again in all your family functions. 

You had expectations for this night, and even though not everything was happening the way you imagined it, in some ways it was better. 

“We never talked about what happened when you found out”, he said, pointing at your hand

“You mother is my aunt”, you said with a smile. 

“You father and my mother were cousins”, he corrected, “we are cousins twice removed”

“That’s cool or what?”

“My mother is dying to tell you stories about our family”

“One of the coolest in the United Kingdom right?”, you tried 

“We are practically royalty”, he promised

“That’s cool”, you teased. He leaned in and whispered in your ear

“The Noble and most ancient House of Black”, that did make your spine tingle with excitement. 

Your other half, the other part of you, was cooler than you ever thought. As soon as the song changed, Matthew was quick to retrieve you from Draco’s hands. 

The music soon started to be more lively, and not for slow dancing anymore, acquiring a faster pace. 

Soon you started dancing with your whole group and not only in pairs. 

Soon the Durmstrang group joined you as well, and Viktor’s best friends 

“Ya’ look biutiful”, he said barely, and you smiled at him, feeling your cheeks heated

“Thank you!”. you said loudly over the music. 

You danced all night, all night, you even at some point got to be in the front of the band, to greet them.

Then you returned with your friends, the boys went to get you drinks while you kept dancing with your girlfriends. 

It was such a fun night. You danced a bit with the Durmstrang guy, he didn't speak much English, but you learned that his name was Alexandru and he was from Romania. 

But, at midnight, the band played their last song, and people were already leaving. 

But the amount of giggle water you had consumed, you really wanted to keep the party going, and your friends did too. 

Draco went to talk to the rest of Durmstrang and a couple of older guys, and then he came back towards your group with a triumphant smile on his face. 

“We’re hosting an afterparty, let’s go”, he said simply. 

PCN: Remember the chocolate frog a mysterious valentine gave us in second year? well, it was Greg! and I will say it now because he won’t jeje

Anyways, I’m writing this because I was the one nobody ever invited to the freakin school gala or anything really, so… this is for all the teenage girl inside of us that never got invited to anything, we deserved to be pampered and invited. I’m done suffering in my fics! we deserve all the gawking and attention!

[masterwords]

something worth fighting for

Summary: Emily's ready to call it quits, Hotch and Morgan already have, and then a party at Rossi's changes everything.

Pairing: Hotch/Morgan

Words: ~7k

Warnings: hotch's ear injury (canon - 7x24 explosion), gunshot, vomiting, pain medication

Read on AO3: something worth fighting for

Notes: I humbly submit my work to the CM Holiday Gift Exchange (@cmgiftexchange), a gift for @hosseinis. I wrote almost 30k words for this exchange scattered between 4 different stories before this one became the keeper. I was incredibly fortunate to be matched to you, to be able to create a gift for you, but as happy as I was...it became almost impossible to decide among all the things I wanted to make for you! The other 3 stories were a lot darker, didn't feel much like holiday gifts, but they'll still be posted at some point probably soon because they were all solid stories. You inspired me to write a LOT of words this month my friend. Thank you for loving hotchgan and for being fun to talk to! Merry Crimbus! (Read under the cut or on AO3)

~~***~~~***~~***~~~***~~***~~~***~~***~~~***~~***~~~***~~

“Do you ever think about what might have happened if we had done for you what you and JJ did for me?”

Hotch frowned and laced his fingers together in his lap. His hands were cold in spite of them currently being in Georgia. The heat outside was well matched by the air conditioning blowing into the cabin of the jet. He would have preferred not to have it on but the team liked it chilly. They still had an hour before anyone would begin trickling onto the jet, but he’d been surprised to find Emily boarding early. Only about fifteen minutes behind him. She was normally one of the last, stretching the time to the very last moment. He’d been anticipating a nice long period of quiet, a head start on the pile of paperwork he had to complete to shut the door on this case. Not today.

It was his own fault. He’d invited her to come to him when she had a bad day, and those seemed to be coming harder and faster lately. He found her in his office, texting, even once at his door with an apologetic bottle of wine. That night ended up with her drinking the whole thing and him calling her a cab because she refused to sleep on his couch. She wouldn’t look him in the eye for two full days after that because she was worried they’d done something they shouldn’t have while he repeatedly assured her that he hadn’t had a drop of the wine and they’d remained respectable distances from one another the whole night.

“How so?” he asked, his voice a little breathless. She didn’t often bring his situation into the mix. No one ever really dared to talk about Haley, about Foyet, it was like a field full of buried unmarked landmines. They’d all more or less decided to pretend it never happened, everyone but Dave and Derek anyway. JJ had offered support once or twice but she didn’t ask questions, didn’t pry. It was easier for all of them to ignore it.

“If we had decided to fake your death, put you into WITSEC with Haley and Jack. Send you off to some boring old place where you could be a teacher or something. Do you ever wonder how that would have played out?”

“Why would I be a teacher?” he asked, a little offended by the implication that he was dull. She smiled warily.

“Fine, you could be something more exciting. A lion tamer in the circus. Anything you want. Do you ever wonder?”

“No,” he replied truthfully. Painfully. He couldn’t allow himself to wander down the path of what if, it hurt too much. Knowing that there were paths he could have taken that would have kept Haley alive was enough to bring him to his knees, the weight of it too much to bear. It wasn’t that he didn’t know it anyway, there were plenty of choices he had at one time that would have led to Jack not losing his mother. There were better outcomes, maybe, but there were also worse.

Emily hummed, a noise he was sure she had picked up right from him, spending too much time together. Especially lately, because she couldn’t talk to the team about any of this. Sure, she had JJ, but when she looked at JJ she only saw the pain she’d gone through and how hard it has been for her to mend what was broken...the rest of them were still grappling with it. How could she tell them she wasn’t happy? That she might want out? Hotch was the only one she thought could take it, or even worse, understand.

“Why?” He knew why, he’d known it for a while now, but it was still his job to ask. To get her to do the talking. She needed to open up and get something off of her chest. He hated to do this, to slip into his negotiator role, but it worked. It was for her benefit.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she started quietly. “I guess I’m having a hard time being myself again. I spent enough time being someone else so completely, coming to terms with Emily Prentiss dying...this is harder than I thought it would be. Living this life again. And I guess I wondered if you thought you would too. If we’d gotten Foyet and Haley lived, if you got your family back. Could you go from being Joe Schmo in the middle of nowhere...Utah or Wyoming or something...could you be Aaron Hotchner again? Could you just forget dying and pretend it never happened?”

“I would have to try,” he said rather matter-of-factly, but he knew it wasn’t so simple. “It would have been a very different circumstance, though. My situation and yours were not the same.”

“No, yeah, I know...I know…good people, innocent people still died because of me though. I can’t help thinking that I should have stayed dead to honor their sacrifices.”

“Emily.”

“No, don’t Emily me. Look, I tried to buy a house and put down roots. I called my mom and had dinner with her...but I can’t...I can’t fix this. Look at the trouble I’ve caused. I see Spencer still not sure he can trust you guys. I see what happened to you and Derek. I did that, Hotch. I did that.”

“No,” he replied sadly. His voice cracked before he finished his thought and he shook his head, waiting for it to come back. “I did that.”

“Not without my help,” she added timidly. “You two would probably have gotten married, adopted some babies, maybe. White picket fence, two car garage...you guys had it all and what you did for me…I guess I’m not sure it was worth it, in the end. Because look at me now. Look at me thriving.” That last part, as emotionally wrecked as she was, dripped in sarcasm. His chest ached.

“How can I help?”

She scoffed at him and rolled her eyes dramatically. She hadn’t let go of the sarcasm, it was her last line of defense, but her voice was shockingly vulnerable and sincere. It broke his heart. “Tell me it was worth it?”

“It was worth it.”

“You’re going to have to do better...come on. Don’t insult me. You were a Federal Prosecutor, you can lie better than that if you’re not going to tell me the truth.”

“You want the truth?” He glanced down at his watch to make sure they still had time. That he wouldn’t be in the middle of a vulnerable monologue when the team started boarding the jet. That was the last thing he needed. He had a few minutes to safely get it off of his chest. “There are aspects of what happened that I would go back and change if I could. Hindsight is a gift and a curse. But I wouldn’t take it all back. I would do it for you again in a heartbeat, even if it went exactly the same again. No matter the blow-back on me, protecting you was worth it.”

She blinked rapidly, tears clinging to the mascara she’d just put on. That wasn’t what she’d expected and she hated him a little for it. For the cruelty in his honesty. She couldn’t reciprocate that kind of shredded, gaping wound of vulnerability for him no matter how she wanted to. “You jerk.”

“I’m sorry,” he spoke quietly, reaching into his pocket and procuring a small square of silk with his initials stitched in delicate thread along the hem. He offered her the handkerchief without hesitation, waiting for her to make fun of him for it. For being so old fashioned that he carried an old hanky around with him. She didn’t, though, she just looked at him, blinked the tears from her lashes and dabbed at her under eyes with his pale silk gift. He was such a relic, she’d always thought, but a beautiful one. He wasn’t meant for this time. He wasn’t meant for many of the things he did. Everyone thought he was so tough, unbreakable, harsh and ruthless but she knew the truth: he was none of those things. He was certainly good at putting up his shields and playing the game, but he was one of the gentlest, softest most broken men she’d ever met in her life. She wanted to protect him with every last breath in her body, he was such a fool sometimes. But she couldn’t protect him, not from himself or anyone else.

“No,” she whispered finally, sniffling. “I’m sorry. I don’t...I need to suck it up, huh? Get on with it. Shit or get off the pot.”

“You don’t need to do anything you’re not ready for.”

“Says the guy that came back to work a month after getting stabbed nine times.”

He frowned and shrugged helplessly. “I didn’t know what else to do with myself. In retrospect, coming back so soon did more harm than good. I can’t go back, and I can’t wonder what might have been different had I...waited.” The way he said that last word made her squirm. Years later and he was still living with the crushing guilt, the lasting pain both physical and emotional. It struck her that this thing that had been burying her alive for a couple of months had been doing the same to him for years and it made her feel sick. He hadn’t healed he’d just hidden it beneath layers of life. It was mean of her, she knew it, but as she looked at him she knew...she didn’t want to become him, and that was exactly where she was headed if she didn’t get out now.

He’d given her all the answer she needed just by allowing her to see the truth of his existence. It was a cautionary tale.

“Thanks Hotch,” she said finally, knowing they had to wrap it up. He’d checked his watch twice since he opened up. The team were going to board soon and the last thing she wanted to do was be crying when they walked on. She wasn’t ready to tell them yet that she was thinking about leaving. She could see it in Hotch’s eyes, he knew. She didn’t have to say those words. The fact that she was thinking so hard about this was enough for both of them. “This is gross, by the way. There’s a reason Kleenex exists.”

“My grandmother made them for me.”

“That doesn’t make it better.”

“It’s clean,” he added a little defensively. “I do wash them.”

“Yeah. Sure. It’s all fine then.” She handed him back the wet silk and watched as he stuffed it into the pocket of his pants without thinking twice. “God. Do you have more of those on hand?”

“The clean ones are in my breast pocket, the soiled ones are in the pants pocket. I told you, I do wash them Emily.”

She scrunched up her nose in disgust. “You look good for ninety, you know that?”

He considered a reply, but decided it wasn’t worth it and settled for a long suffering sigh instead before turning back to his paperwork. His mind wasn’t in it anymore, now he could think only of one thing – Emily was going to leave. And probably soon. How would they survive that a second time?

(x)

The explosion that blew out the bank, crumbling concrete and shattering glass was unexpected. It rocked the ground beneath his feet as he dove behind the police car door, heart hammering in his chest so hard and so loud he thought it might actually break his ribs. Derek was in there. JJ was in there. Emily was in there. Dammit. He felt his ear pop, the sudden high-pitched screaming sound piercing his skull even after he covered his ears with shaking hands and squeezed his eyes shut. The pain was instant, the pressure behind his eyes building to a crescendo and for a whole ten seconds that felt like eternity he thought for sure his head was going to explode. There were tears in his eyes when he opened them again and he swiped at them with ash caked fingers, failing to notice for a moment the blood on his palm. His ear was bleeding.

Again.

He’d been on top of the PTSD, for the most part. Once the Bureau appointed therapist pointed it out to him and gave him some exercises to maintain his composure in situations he knew were going to be troubling to him, he’d been on top of it. “Mild,” she called it. When his palms got sweaty and his heart dropped into his stomach, when he felt sick and angry and vulnerable...it didn’t feel mild, but who was he to argue with her? She saw this kind of thing all the time. And he’d been close enough to explosions since that night in New York, had managed to work his way through them without incident, but now seeing the blood...being in the middle of the street...hearing sirens wailing and watching flames flicker...he wasn’t exactly right there again, it wasn’t a flashback, it was just that same sick feeling. Different but the same.

Except this time he had his whole team, and half a city’s worth of cops to look out for. He had civilians and hostages to worry about. The safety of hundreds of people rested on his shoulders and his fucking ear was bleeding down the side of his jaw. Will had been inside that building with the unsubs. He didn’t have time to walk himself through all of the steps as his stomach twisted in painful knots, as the bile rose in his throat. Not now, so he just stood up and shouldered his way through the reeling cops with one hand over his bleeding ear to keep the offending noise out of his head, at least a little. God it hurt.

“Dave!” He called, rushing toward his colleague. He was breathing through his nose, deep harsh breaths to stave off the nausea that was increasing in intensity. “Have you seen any of them?” He didn’t need to use names, Dave knew exactly who he meant.

“There,” Dave pointed at Derek and JJ on the ground with various members of the SWAT team they’d been charging in with. Emily had been ahead of them, she wasn’t in the group but she couldn’t have gotten far. He watched as Derek began to sit up, followed by JJ and then some of SWAT. They were all confused, coming to, but seemed okay. He turned to Dave, refusing to allow personal feelings to get their claws in. Not only did they have no place here right now, but he wasn’t welcome to them any longer. Derek was not his to care for in any way more significant than as colleagues, and as colleagues, what Derek really needed was for Hotch to take complete control of the chaos. Get them all out of this mess.

“Dave,” he began, setting his jaw and trying to regain his composure. His head was a grenade and the pin was barely holding on. Dave raised his hand and shook his head before Hotch had a chance to continue.

“You go get that ear looked at,” he said adamantly. “I’ll go find Erin and we’ll be waiting for you.”

Hotch wanted to argue that he was fine, but his the pressure in his head must have been visible to Dave because he wasn’t having any of it. “Okay,” he agreed. “I’m not sitting this one out, but I’ll go get cleaned up.”

“I’ll take it.”

(x)

Finding Derek in the alley, pinned against a dumpster with a man’s hands around his throat, Hotch didn’t even think. He wasn’t going to bother announcing himself, he wasn’t going to bother negotiating. This was one of those times where he simply couldn’t abide the protocols and procedures – this man allowed Will to be hurt, used him, put Henry in danger and was now trying to kill Derek. He had no trouble at all justifying the shot he was about to take.

And when Matthew Downs dropped at Derek’s feet, when the blood sprayed against Derek’s cheek and the dumpster and pooled on the ground, he felt no remorse. He simply stood with his gun still aimed, breathing heavily, his ear screaming louder than ever. He was going to be sick. That knowledge rumbled through him with the force of a freight train as his stomach twisted with the pain of the gun shot, but the look on Derek’s face, the look of pure gratitude and relief and maybe something else…it made him feel better as he dropped to his knees and dry heaved a few times. Derek hurried over to him and placed a hand between his shoulders, instinctively rubbing up and down over the vest. Even if Hotch couldn’t feel it, he knew Derek was there.

“Hotch?”

“I’m okay,” he gasped, glad that nothing was actually coming up. You have to eat in order to have anything to expel and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had anything but coffee. Dinner the night before? Maybe? “Go. Find Will. I’ll be right behind you.”

Derek did as he was told without arguing, but took one last moment to glance back as he stepped out of the alley. He knew better than to go back, knew better than to ask what was wrong. He could do that later.

(x)

How Dave managed to put together a wedding on such short notice was beyond any of them, but Hotch knew better than most what money could do to trump time. Enough zeroes on a check and you could get anything (and anyone) you wanted. So, mere days after being shot and chained to a bomb, Will was ready to take JJ's hand in marriage and Hotch...well he was just trying to gather the courage to show up.

Jessica was smoothing his sweater over his shoulders and smiling at how soft he looked in it while he grumbled about every minute detail.

“You’re still not sure you should go,” she said, turning him toward her. He shrugged.

“I think everyone would have more fun if I didn’t go.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Considering what I put everyone through this past year…”

“Stop it. Right now, stop it.”

His shoulders slumped pitifully and she almost felt bad for snapping at him, but not quite. He deserved it. He could be so stupid sometimes she just couldn’t stand it.

“You didn’t do anything maliciously. You were trying to help, and sometimes that means getting it wrong...it isn’t as if you had all the time in the world to consider repercussions. You had to make a split second decision. Maybe it was right, maybe it was wrong, but Emily is alive and your team is intact and isn’t that what you were going for?”

“Not everyone is intact.”

“Derek’s going to come back. He loves you so much. He still does. You don’t wake up at the crack of dawn and show up to babysit a kid so his dad can go do some stupid triathlon if you don’t still care.”

“I didn’t tell him I’d asked Dave.”

“Of course. You assumed that breaking up meant that you had to find someone new to watch him, that’s reasonable. And he assumed that he’d made the commitment and he had to honor it. Also reasonable. Of course, if you two were better at communicating…”

“I know.”

“My point being, he still loves you. And Jack. I think he just needs time. You have plenty of time.”

He slumped down on the couch and put his head in his hands, breathing in deep. Once, twice. Filling his lungs, pausing, exhaling. His head hurt, hadn’t stopped hurting since the explosion. He had an MRI in the morning, an MRI he should have scheduled sooner but he thought it would go away. He hadn’t been as close to this explosion this time, it shouldn’t have been so bad, but then there was the gunshot and the noise from the scene and the pain in his head had been like a hot knife slicing through his brain like a Thanksgiving turkey ever since.

“How about you take one of your nuclear pills and I’ll be your designated driver?” Jess offered, crouching before him with her hands on his knees. “Come on. Take one and you might actually enjoy the wedding. You know I love crashing weddings.”

“You have a date tonight,” he countered miserably before lying back and throwing his arm over his eyes, resting his head against the cushion to try and take some of the pressure off. She huffed at him, that irritated little puffing noise she made that meant she thought he was a complete idiot without actually saying the words.

“I can reschedule. Anita will understand.”

“Anita? The nurse?”

Not just any nurse. The nurse who had cared for him when he was in the Urgent Care sick as a dog a few months back. The nurse whose sarcasm was biting and her smile was enchanting. The nurse with a head full of silver hair she claimed was due entirely to the stress of her job.

“That’s the one.”

“You got a date while I was sick? That’s low, even for you.”

“She’s pretty. And she said I was a saint for dealing with you. How can I resist such compliments?”

He groaned miserably. “I was sick.”

“You were. Very sick, really. But her point still stands. You’re a pain in the ass and I’ve been putting up with it for decades. I deserve to get a little something for my trouble once in a while.”

“Is she nice?”

“Very,” Jessica replied with a smile, her fingers scratching at his scalp mindlessly as she settled in on the couch beside him. He’d always liked his head being scratched but even more when it hurt. “She’s smart and charming and sweet, too. She has great taste in restaurants, but she drinks sweet white wine so I guess she’s not perfect.”

“Not many are.” His shoulders relaxed as she scraped her nails over his scalp. It didn’t exactly do anything to the pain itself but he found it easier to ignore, at least marginally. “You could bring her,” he offered quietly. “To the wedding. If you want.”

“I don’t think she’s ready to meet the whole family,” Jessica said with a smile.

“She’s already met me. Everyone else is easy.”

“Good point. I’ll ask her. Does that mean you’re going to take the meds like a good boy?”

“I don’t think I can go if I don’t.”

“Look at you, making good choices.” He didn’t want to take the pill; it made him goofy. It made him feel lightheaded and dizzy, made him say things without thinking first. Made him cry over silly things, like Disney movies and finding crayons crunched in the couch cushions. The pill really didn’t do much except make him forget how bad his head hurt. Which he knew was ultimately the goal, but the tradeoff didn’t always seem worth it. He didn’t like the way it made him feel like a different person.

“Here,” Jess said, extending the pill and a glass of water to him after rummaging around through the medicine cabinet for a moment. He was always pushing it to the back like he was ashamed of it. “Anita said she’d love to come as long as there’s an open bar. I told her that David Rossi never skimps on the booze and do you know what she said?”

“She’s a big fan of his books,” he deadpanned and she let out a barking laugh that hurt his head.

“Exactly. Said she couldn’t believe I was just casually inviting her to David Rossi’s mansion for a wedding hours before the wedding and what was she going to wear.”

“She doesn’t need to worry,” he said quietly, sipping at the water. “She could come in scrubs if she wanted. No one would hold it against her.”

“Did you learn nothing from being married to Haley all those years?”

He hummed, admitting defeat. “I think the answer to that should be obvious.”

“Point taken. I’m going to go home and find a dress, you lay here and rest. Let that pill do it’s thing. We’ll be by to pick you guys up in an hour.”

(x)

The party was bigger than Hotch had imagined it would be on such short notice. More people milling around, many faces he recognized and some he didn’t. They were a little late, maybe it was fashionable, maybe it was rude, he couldn’t be trusted to tell the difference in his fuzzy state.

“Aaron,” Dave said, pulling him in for a hug. “How are you?”

Hotch never know how to answer that question truthfully, so he rarely did. “Good,” he replied, smiling. The smile wasn’t even forced, at least. But Dave knew anyway.

“Liar.”

“I’m okay, Dave.”

“You get that ear looked at?”

“I have an appointment in the morning for an MRI. It’s giving me some trouble but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“You keep me posted. In the meantime, why don’t you introduce me to your guests?”

Hotch smiled a little sheepishly and stepped out of the way to let Jessica and Anita be greeted by their host. Jack was standing beside Hotch, still in his shy phase even if he did know everyone here. “You know Haley’s sister Jessica,” Hotch said, waiting a moment before continuing. “And this is her date Anita.”

“Anita,” Dave said, kissing her hand with all of that charm he had at his disposal, holding nothing back. Hotch watched, blinking slowly, doing everything a little slowly. “How did the two of you meet?”

“She brought him to the Urgent Care with a pretty bad case of strep throat,” Anita replied casually. “By the time they left he had antibiotics and a doctor’s note to stay home from work and I had a pretty girl’s phone number.”

“I remember that, it’s hard to get him to miss any work,” Dave said, eyeing Hotch. “It’s been a couple of months now.”

Emily approached Hotch as Dave took Jessica and Anita by the arm, one on each side, to show them around the house and the party. To get them drinks and push them out on to the dance floor. He insisted that his live band not go to waste, and they still had some time to kill before the bride was ready to walk down the aisle. The look on her face was sad, unbearably so, and he knew he wasn’t up for the conversation she looked ready to have. Ready or not, he had to try.

“Do you want to talk?” he asked when she sighed more than spoke her hello. She looked distressed, sad, heartbroken really.

“No, not here,” she said quietly. “But soon. Tomorrow maybe. Okay?”

“Tomorrow,” he repeated. “I have an appointment early in the morning, we can meet for coffee afterward.”

“It’s a date,” she replied, forcing a smile. Derek watched the interaction from across the room, his drink in hand. He knew she was leaving, and he missed her already. It was crushing him, and he knew it would crush Hotch too. After everything they’d done, he felt for the man. His world had come crashing down when Emily died, but he knew Hotch’s hadn’t ever stopped. Everything just kept stacking up – from Emily’s death to her new life, Pakistan and Emily coming back and the Senate Hearing Committee, his team being scrutinized, the trip to Chicago for Derek’s cousin that was made more awkward by his family’s knowledge that the two of them had broken up. His aunt Yvonne had tried to push them back together and only made it worse for them in the end. And his mother...his mother was angry at him. “He didn’t lie to hurt you,” she’d scolded first by phone and then later in person, in Desiree’s hospital room of all places. “He lied to protect you. I seem to recall you pulling the same stunt on us, your family and we still love you.” But he still lied, and it was hard to put that trust back in place. It just wasn’t that easy. He was trying so damn hard.

Showing up and watching Jack for him so he could go do his race, showing up at 4am only to find Dave already there...it had been an olive branch opportunity, but he couldn’t do it when he saw Dave. Because that meant Hotch didn’t believe he would still honor his commitment, it meant Hotch really believed it was over. At least that’s what he told himself when he entered the apartment anyway, because how could he leave when Jack’s eyes lit up? When Jack hugged him and said he missed him? “I miss you too, kiddo,” he’d said and Dave asked him to stay, invited him to have some of the scrambled eggs he was cooking up while Hotch thanked them both and rushed out the door. It wouldn’t take both of them to watch Jack but he couldn’t leave the kid. It gave him an excuse to throw Jack up on his shoulders, to cheer Hotch on, and it surprised him when he called him baby as he approached the finish line. He detected amusement from Dave beside him but the rest of the team were so wrapped up in their own morning drama that they didn’t say a word.

He watched Hotch make his way through the party as he danced with Penelope, as he danced with Emily and even Reid. The music was upbeat and fun, easy for dancing and forgetting the weight of the last few days. The last few months. When he saw Will talking to Rossi, waiting for his bride, he couldn’t help being a little jealous even if he was happy for them. He thought it would be him next. He really thought he and Hotch had it all, too. Did Will care that JJ lied to him about Emily? Of course it wasn’t exactly the same, Will didn’t know Emily like that, he didn’t stick his hands in her blood, hold her while she waited for the ambulance, look into her eyes and watch the light fade. But he still didn’t know she’d lived. JJ kept it from him, too.

Finally Hotch, in his customary rounds, came to Derek near the drinks. “Hey,” Derek said, reaching out to catch him by the elbow like he was just going to walk by. He probably was. He’d almost gone out of his way to respect Derek’s request for space, gone so far overboard that it felt like he’d been the one dumped and not the other way around. “How’re you doing?”

“I’m okay,” Hotch replied quietly, barely audible over the DJ’s dance music. He was blaring something by ABBA that had Jessica and Anita out on the floor having a blast. “You?”

“Same.”

The conversation stalled predictably. They couldn’t talk to one another anymore. “Where are you sitting?” Derek asked casually. Hotch shrugged.

“Wherever Jack tells me we’re sitting I suppose.”

At that Derek smiled. “Well, we’d better find some seats huh? Looks like things are getting serious.”

As it ended up, the seats Jack chose put them right beside Derek and Penelope. Hotch’s knee bumped Derek’s as he took his seat and tried to make himself smaller so he didn’t block anyone’s view, so he didn’t take up too much space. Nothing ever had the kind of leg room he needed.

The wedding was fast, short and sweet, to the point. JJ looked beautiful and Will looked so happy Hotch could hardly stand it. He cried, not at all surprised by the display of emotion. He knew it was going to happen the minute he swallowed that damn pill. At least he wasn’t alone, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when he glance around. Not even Derek beside him could contain the tears in his eyes.

What he hadn’t expected was to find Derek’s hand circling his, dragging it into his lap and letting it rest there against his thigh. They didn’t look at each other, but that connection made Hotch’s heart nearly burst in his chest. He froze, staring straight ahead a little too intently, breath painfully tight and burning in his lungs. Derek squeezed his hand and his vision narrowed to pinpricks, splotches of color flashing over the scene.

When JJ and Will kissed, Derek squeezed his hand again and then let it go. They didn’t talk, Derek just got up and took Penelope to the dance floor at the invitation of the DJ, swaying along with her. Hotch watched from beside Jack and Henry as everyone made their way back out there.

“Hotch?” Emily asked, coming up beside him quietly. He hadn’t realized she wasn’t out there, but now her hand was extended to him with a sheepish smile. “You can’t sit this one out. It’s the law I think.”

“Sure I can,” he replied, but he took her hand and led her to the dance floor anyway, holding her gently as they settled into the foxy. She looked up at him with wide eyes and a grin.

“You actually know how to dance,” she said. “Of course you do. Why am I surprised that the guy who carries silk hankies can ballroom dance?”

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Emily.”

“Yeah...well...there are a lot of things you don’t know about me, too, y'know…”

That made him laugh, a light lead in to giving her a gentle twirl and a dip. Derek glanced at them as he swayed with Penelope.

“He’s really good,” Penelope whispered in Derek’s ear. “Did he ever take you dancing?”

Derek nodded, closing his eyes. “Yeah. He did.”

“You should go cut in. I saw what you did back there…”

“I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”

“What is it going to take?”

“I don’t know mama. I don’t know. I never broke up with someone I was still in love with before.”

“Is Emily leaving us?” The way she changed course made him stiffen up and she could hardly contain her emotion at that. She knew just by that alone. “She is. Why?”

“You’ll have to ask her yourself.”

And all at once she was dragging them across the dance floor, cutting in on Hotch and Emily’s dance. He wasn’t sure if it was calculated or not, but he thought it probably was. She was like that. She didn’t even ask before peeling Emily away from Hotch, before taking her hand and moving them away. Emily glanced at Hotch apologetically and shrugged, not bothering to fight back.

“Well,” Derek said quietly, extending his hand to Hotch. “You want to take me for a spin? It’s been a while, I’m a little rusty. I’ll try to keep up.”

“I’m sure you still have it,” Hotch said, taking Derek’s hand and pressing in close. Derek smelled good, sweet like cigar smoke and cinnamon and bourbon. He began leading, stepping in time with the music and wasn’t surprised when Derek fell into step easily. “If I stumble, I’m sorry,” he added quietly, his mouth unbearably close to Derek’s ear. “I had to take some medication and it makes me a little loopy.”

“What for?” Derek asked, hardly caring whether Hotch stumbled over his feet.

“The explosion at the bank re-injured my ear. I’m sure it’s fine but it does hurt quite a lot.”

“You get it looked at?”

“I have an MRI in the morning.”

Derek smiled and nodded, realizing that they had fallen into perfect sync with one another almost effortlessly. Like no time had passed. Talking felt forced but it was getting easier the further in they went.

“Do you need me to take Jack to school?”

“Jessica said she could,” Hotch replied. Derek nodded.

“I know she will, but she’s getting herself pretty good and liquored up…”

“She was supposed to be my designated driver.”

“Yeah. I’ll drive you guys home, I’m not in the mood to drink tonight anyway. Had a bourbon with Rossi and Will to take the taste out of those nasty cigars he gave us, but otherwise I’ve been sipping soda water with lime.”

“You don’t need to do that. I think Anita has been drinking Sprite. She works in the morning.”

“Hotch…” Derek said, leaning back just far enough that they could lock eyes. “I’m not just offering to drive you home because I think you need a ride. I’m really trying here…”

“Oh.”

“Oh? I mean if you don’t want me to...if you’ve moved on…”

“No. I...no. That isn’t it.”

“Okay, so what is it?”

Hotch let out a small sigh and pursed his lips. “You asked for space, and I gave it to you. But in Chicago...it felt like you were finished. The way you behaved led me to believe your need for space had become something more. That you had come to a decision and that we had no future.”

“You really think I’d do that and not talk to you?”

“I don’t know, Derek. I have no right to expect anything of you anymore.”

“So you’re good just letting it die? You’re not gonna fight for it?”

“Derek, what do you want from me? You said you couldn’t trust me, that you needed space...when you ask me for space, I am going to give it to you. Did you really want me to fight?”

“No, but I didn’t think it would be so damn easy to let go of either.”

“It hasn’t been easy. Has it looked easy? Is that really what you think?”

“Well it hasn’t exactly looked hard.”

Hotch was on the verge of tears, maybe angry tears at this point, he didn’t know. He had almost no control over that and wasn’t going to expend any energy trying to. “I think you’re the only one who can’t see it.”

Derek didn’t like the sound of that, mostly because it hurt. It was probably true. He’d been doing his best not to pay any attention to Hotch, because paying attention hurt and made him want to go back to him and he knew he wasn’t ready for it. Because he felt like he shouldn’t be. He shouldn’t just be okay with Hotch lying to him, should he? Even if he’d done the same damn thing to his family over his cousin? And they forgave him because she was back in their lives, they forgave him because his motivation was for good. Wasn’t Hotch’s too? It wasn’t like he did it for his own gain. Every time he got close, something pulled him away.

“Maybe I am,” he admitted finally. “Hotch. I love you. I never stopped, I hope you know that. But I just don’t know how to forget what happened.”

“I would never ask you to forget.”

Of course Hotch would say that. Just be willing to keep a relationship up when he’s at an automatic deficit. Spend forever trying to make up for his failures.

“I hope for your forgiveness,” Hotch added quietly, almost too quietly for Derek to hear. “But I wouldn’t expect you to forget.”

“It can’t happen again.”

“I can’t make that kind of promise, Derek. I think you know that. There was no way I could have predicted being in that situation before and I can’t know something won’t arise again, but if there is any way around it, I will take it. I can do better than I have done at including you and sharing the burden. I can do better at including you in the hard decisions. I can do better.”

“You can, or you will?”

Hotch smirked at that, at the wording only they would pick apart. “I will.”

“Good enough,” Derek said, finally, taking the lead from Hotch for a moment. Remembering his own feet, his own rhythm. He’d missed this feeling, their bodies moving like one, the smell of Hotch. It was soft and clean, cotton and sunshine, he never wore more than deodorant and maybe some aftershave that lingered. He swayed his hips, stepping back and then forward, upping the tempo with the music. Hotch never missed a step even if he did look a little pale, a little light on his feet. Derek wanted to spin him, to twirl and dip him but he thought that might be pressing his luck. Instead he leaned in and kissed him, stealing his breath. “I don’t want space anymore. I want this.”

“Me too.”

From the bar, while she waited for her new drink, Emily smiled and watched Hotch and Derek. She couldn’t help it. “All it took was me leaving,” she said quietly and Penelope let out the wet sob she’d been holding back for two songs now.

“No,” she wailed, pulling Emily into a teary hug. “No no no.”

“It’s okay Pen. It’s for the best. We all need it. A fresh start for everyone. We can’t go back to the way it was before and it only hurt everyone to try...this is good. I promise.”

“Why doesn’t it feel good?”

“Because goodbyes are hard, even if they’re necessary. But look at that...look at them…look at Hotch and Derek...and JJ and Will...don’t cry over me.”

“Can I come visit you?”

“Of course.”

“Right away. I’ll help you move in. We can shop for furniture and explore your new neighborhood and find the best place for um…fish and chips...you eat the fish I’ll eat the chips…”

“Yes,” Emily smiled, holding Penelope’s hand tight. “To all of it. Yes. I’d love that.”

“Good! Now, come dance with me. Because I need to soak up as much Emily Prentiss as I possibly can tonight…”

“Anything for you, Penelope.”

"Ahhh," Penelope gushed, squeezing Emily's hand. "You are so right."