#but i hadn't the heart (i wanted to be happy)
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I'm just sitting here in my wedding dress just altered by my friend, reading this. In six days, I will be married on Christmas Day to my partner of 7 years. We are eloping in concern of Project 2025 and the possibility of all this being illegal again soon.
I'm ecstatic that we get to do this and perhaps be a part of history. I am furious that we have had to scramble for this. That bigots and the fear of a tyrant soon taking office have made us do this in a way that we hadn't planned. We wanted (and will still do) a proper ceremony. But not for a couple of years when we can plan it all out and save up money for a semi nice reception.
We were just engaged this past August, at least that was on our own terms.
In about three days, my parents who were raised bigots and had a hard time with me coming out and said several hurtful things about queer folk while I grew up a tightly closeted queer, not even knowing myself at the time (yay supression of feelings!). They also said several painful things during and after my coming out.
Now here they are, only five years after I've done so, excited to see me married to the very person they were so concerned about me loving.
It's hard to forgive them, but time can change even the most resistant of hearts I think. Time and love.
I hope this ends up not being needed. That we were overly cautious and nothing changes in marriage equality rights. I'm hopeful, but we weren't willing to risk it. And honestly, despite all the stress and suddenness of this, I am so truly happy to have family old, new, and borrowed (chosen) to be there for such a special time.
Twenty years ago, February 15th, 2004, I got married for the first time.
It was twenty years earlier than I ever expected to.
To celebrate/comemorate the date, I'm sitting down to write out everything I remember as I remember it. No checking all the pictures I took or all the times I've written about this before. I'm not going to turn to my husband (of twenty years, how the f'ing hell) to remember a detail for me.
This is not a 100% accurate recounting of that first wild weekend in San Francisco. But it -is- a 100% accurate recounting of how I remember it today, twenty years after the fact.
Join me below, if you would.
2004 was an election year, and much like conservatives are whipping up anti-trans hysteria and anti-trans bills and propositions to drive out the vote today, in 2004 it was all anti-gay stuff. Specifically, preventing the evil scourge of same-sex marriage from destroying everything good and decent in the world.
Enter Gavin Newstrom. At the time, he was the newly elected mayor of San Francisco. Despite living next door to the city all my life, I hadn’t even heard of the man until Valentines Day 2004 when he announced that gay marriage was legal in San Francisco and started marrying people at city hall.
It was a political stunt. It was very obviously a political stunt. That shit was illegal, after all. But it was a very sweet political stunt. I still remember the front page photo of two ancient women hugging each other forehead to forehead and crying happy tears.
But it was only going to last for as long as it took for the California legal system to come in and make them knock it off.
The next day, we’re on the phone with an acquaintance, and she casually mentions that she’s surprised the two of us aren’t up at San Francisco getting married with everyone else.
“Everyone else?” Goes I, “I thought they would’ve shut that down already?”
“Oh no!” goes she, “The courts aren’t open until Tuesday. Presidents Day on Monday and all. They’re doing them all weekend long!”
We didn’t know because social media wasn’t a thing yet. I only knew as much about it as I’d read on CNN, and most of the blogs I was following were more focused on what bullshit President George W Bush was up to that day.
"Well shit", me and my man go, "do you wanna?" I mean, it’s a political stunt, it wont really mean anything, but we’re not going to get another chance like this for at least 20 years. Why not?
The next day, Sunday, we get up early. We drive north to the southern-most BART station. We load onto Bay Area Rapid Transit, and rattle back and forth all the way to the San Francisco City Hall stop.
We had slightly miscalculated.
Apparently, demand for marriages was far outstripping the staff they had on hand to process them. Who knew. Everyone who’d gotten turned away Saturday had been given tickets with times to show up Sunday to get their marriages done. My babe and I, we could either wait to see if there was a space that opened up, or come back the next day, Monday.
“Isn’t City Hall closed on Monday?” I asked. “It’s a holiday”
“Oh sure,” they reply, “but people are allowed to volunteer their time to come in and work on stuff anyways. And we have a lot of people who want to volunteer their time to have the marriage licensing offices open tomorrow.”
“Oh cool,” we go, “Backup.”
“Make sure you’re here if you do,” they say, “because the California Supreme Court is back in session Tuesday, and will be reviewing the motion that got filed to shut us down.”
And all this shit is super not-legal, so they’ll totally be shutting us down goes unsaid.
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We don’t get in Saturday. We wind up hanging out most of the day, though.
It’s… incredible. I can say, without hyperbole, that I have never experienced so much concentrated joy and happiness and celebration of others’ joy and happiness in all my life before or since. My face literally ached from grinning. Every other minute, a new couple was coming out of City Hall, waving their paperwork to the crowd and cheering and leaping and skipping. Two glorious Latina women in full Mariachi band outfits came out, one in the arms of another. A pair of Jewish boys with their families and Rabbi. One couple managed to get a Just Married convertible arranged complete with tin-cans tied to the bumper to drive off in. More than once I was giving some rice to throw at whoever was coming out next.
At some point in the mid-afternoon, there was a sudden wave of extra cheering from the several hundred of us gathered at the steps, even though no one was coming out. There was a group going up the steps to head inside, with some generic black-haired shiny guy at the front. My not-yet-husband nudged me, “That’s Newsom.” He said, because he knew I was hopeless about matching names and people.
Ooooooh, I go. That explains it. Then I joined in the cheers. He waved and ducked inside.
So dusk is starting to fall. It’s February, so it’s only six or so, but it’s getting dark.
“Should we just try getting in line for tomorrow -now-?” we ask.
“Yeah, I’m afraid that’s not going to be possible.” One of the volunteers tells us. “We’re not allowed to have people hang out overnight like this unless there are facilities for them and security. We’d need Porta-Poties for a thousand people and police patrols and the whole lot, and no one had time to get all that organized. Your best bet is to get home, sleep, and then catch the first BART train up at 5am and keep your fingers crossed.
Monday is the last day to do this, after all.
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So we go home. We crash out early. We wake up at 4:00. We drive an hour to hit the BART station. We get the first train up. We arrive at City Hall at 6:30AM.
The line stretches around the entirety of San Francisco City Hall. You could toss a can of Coke from the end of the line to the people who’re up to be first through the doors and not have to worry about cracking it open after.
“Uh.” We go. “What the fuck is -this-?”
So.
Remember why they weren’t going to be able to have people hang out overnight?
Turns out, enough SF cops were willing to volunteer unpaid time to do patrols to cover security. And some anonymous person delivered over a dozen Porta-Poties that’d gotten dropped off around 8 the night before.
It’s 6:30 am, there are almost a thousand people in front of us in line to get this literal once in a lifetime marriage, the last chance we expect to have for at least 15 more years (it was 2004, gay rights were getting shoved back on every front. It was not looking good. We were just happy we lived in California were we at least weren’t likely to loose job protections any time soon.).
Then it starts to rain.
We had not dressed for rain.
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Here is how the next six hours go.
We’re in line. Once the doors open at 7am, it will creep forward at a slow crawl. It’s around 7 when someone shows up with garbage bags for everyone. Cut holes for the head and arms and you’ve got a makeshift raincoat! So you’ve got hundreds of gays and lesbians decked out in the nicest shit they could get on short notice wearing trashbags over it.
Everyone is so happy.
Everyone is so nervous/scared/frantic that we wont be able to get through the doors before they close for the day.
People online start making delivery orders.
Coffee and bagels are ordered in bulk and delivered to City Hall for whoever needs it. We get pizza. We get roses. Random people come by who just want to give hugs to people in line because they’re just so happy for us. The tour busses make detours to go past the lines. Chinese tourists lean out with their cameras and shout GOOD LUCK while car horns honk.
A single sad man holding a Bible tries to talk people out of doing this, tells us all we’re sinning and to please don’t. He gives up after an hour. A nun replaces him with a small sign about how this is against God’s will. She leaves after it disintegrates in the rain.
The day before, when it was sunny, there had been a lot of protestors. Including a large Muslim group with their signs about how “Not even DOGS do such things!” Which… Yes they do.
A lot of snide words are said (by me) about how the fact that we’re willing to come out in the rain to do this while they’re not willing to come out in the rain to protest it proves who actually gives an actual shit about the topic.
Time passes. I measure it based on which side of City Hall we’re on. The doors face East. We start on Northside. Coffee and trashbags are delivered when we’re on the North Side. Pizza first starts showing up when we’re on Westside, which is also where I see Bible Man and Nun. Roses are delivered on Southside. And so forth.
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We have Line Neighbors.
Ahead of us are a gay couple a decade or two older than us. They’ve been together for eight years. The older one is a school teacher. He has his coat collar up and turns away from any news cameras that come near while we reposition ourselves between the lenses and him. He’s worried about the parents of one of his students seeing him on the news and getting him fired. The younger one will step away to get interviewed on his own later on. They drove down for the weekend once they heard what was going on. They’d started around the same time we did, coming from the Northeast, and are parked in a nearby garage.
The most perky energetic joyful woman I’ve ever met shows up right after we turned the corner to Southside to tackle the younger of the two into a hug. She’s their local friend who’d just gotten their message about what they’re doing and she will NOT be missing this. She is -so- happy for them. Her friends cry on her shoulders at her unconditional joy.
Behind us are a lesbian couple who’d been up in San Francisco to celebrate their 12th anniversary together. “We met here Valentines Day weekend! We live down in San Diego, now, but we like to come up for the weekend because it’s our first love city.”
“Then they announced -this-,” the other one says, “and we can’t leave until we get married. I called work Sunday and told them I calling in sick until Wednesday.”
“I told them why,” her partner says, “I don’t care if they want to give me trouble for it. This is worth it. Fuck them.”
My husband-to-be and I look at each other. We’ve been together for not even two years at this point. Less than two years. Is it right for us to be here? We’re potentially taking a spot from another couple that’d been together longer, who needed it more, who deserved it more.”
“Don’t you fucking dare.” Says the 40-something gay couple in front of us.
“This is as much for you as it is for us!” says the lesbian couple who’ve been together for over a decade behind us.
“You kids are too cute together,” says the gay couple’s friend. “you -have- to. Someday -you’re- going to be the old gay couple that’s been together for years and years, and you deserve to have been married by then.”
We stay in line.
It’s while we’re on the Southside of City Hall, just about to turn the corner to Eastside at long last that we pick up our own companions. A white woman who reminds me an awful lot of my aunt with a four year old black boy riding on her shoulders. “Can we say we’re with you? His uncles are already inside and they’re not letting anyone in who isn’t with a couple right there.” “Of course!” we say.
The kid is so very confused about what all the big deal is, but there’s free pizza and the busses keep driving by and honking, so he’s having a great time.
We pass by a statue of Lincoln with ‘Marriage for All!’ and "Gay Rights are Human Rights!" flags tucked in the crooks of his arms and hanging off his hat.
It’s about noon, noon-thirty when we finally make it through the doors and out of the rain.
They’ve promised that anyone who’s inside when the doors shut will get married. We made it. We’re safe.
We still have a -long- way to go.
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They’re trying to fit as many people into City Hall as possible. Partially to get people out of the rain, mostly to get as many people indoors as possible. The line now stretches down into the basement and up side stairs and through hallways I’m not entirely sure the public should ever be given access to. We crawl along slowly but surely.
It’s after we’ve gone through the low-ceiling basement hallways past offices and storage and back up another set of staircases and are going through a back hallway of low-ranked functionary offices that someone comes along handing out the paperwork. “It’s an hour or so until you hit the office, but take the time to fill these out so you don’t have to do it there!”
We spend our time filling out the paperwork against walls, against backs, on stone floors, on books.
We enter one of the public areas, filled with displays and photos of City Hall Demonstrations of years past.
I take pictures of the big black and white photo of the Abraham Lincoln statue holding banners and signs against segregation and for civil rights.
The four year old boy we helped get inside runs past us around this time, chased by a blond haired girl about his own age, both perused by an exhausted looking teenager helplessly begging them to stop running.
Everyone is wet and exhausted and vibrating with anticipation and the building-wide aura of happiness that infuses everything.
The line goes into the marriage office. A dozen people are at the desk, shoulder to shoulder, far more than it was built to have working it at once.
A Sister of Perpetual Indulgence is directing people to city officials the moment they open up. She’s done up in her nun getup with all her makeup on and her beard is fluffed and be-glittered and on point. “Oh, I was here yesterday getting married myself, but today I’m acting as your guide. Number 4 sweeties, and -Congradulatiooooons!-“
The guy behind the counter has been there since six. It’s now 1:30. He’s still giddy with joy. He counts our money. He takes our paperwork, reviews it, stamps it, sends off the parts he needs to, and hands the rest back to us. “Alright, go to the Rotunda, they’ll direct you to someone who’ll do the ceremony. Then, if you want the certificate, they’ll direct you to -that- line.” “Can’t you just mail it to us?” “Normally, yeah, but the moment the courts shut us down, we’re not going to be allowed to.”
We take our paperwork and join the line to the Rotunda.
If you’ve seen James Bond: A View to a Kill, you’ve seen the San Francisco City Hall Rotunda. There are literally a dozen spots set up along the balconies that overlook the open area where marriage officials and witnesses are gathered and are just processing people through as fast as they can.
That’s for the people who didn’t bring their own wedding officials.
There’s a Catholic-adjacent couple there who seem to have brought their entire families -and- the priest on the main steps. They’re doing the whole damn thing. There’s at least one more Rabbi at work, I can’t remember what else. Just that there was a -lot-.
We get directed to the second story, northside. The San Francisco City Treasurer is one of our two witnesses. Our marriage officient is some other elected official I cannot remember for the life of me (and I'm only writing down what I can actively remember, so I can't turn to my husband next to me and ask, but he'll have remembered because that's what he does.)
I have a wilting lily flower tucked into my shirt pocket. My pants have water stains up to the knees. My hair is still wet from the rain, I am blubbering, and I can’t get the ring on my husband’s finger. The picture is a treat, I tell you.
There really isn’t a word for the mix of emotions I had at that time. Complete disbelief that this was reality and was happening. Relief that we’d made it. Awe at how many dozens of people had personally cheered for us along the way and the hundreds to thousands who’d cheered for us generally.
Then we're married.
Then we get in line to get our license.
It’s another hour. This time, the line goes through the higher stories. Then snakes around and goes past the doorway to the mayor’s office.
Mayor Newsom is not in today. And will be having trouble getting into his office on Tuesday because of the absolute barricade of letters and flowers and folded up notes and stuffed animals and City Hall maps with black marked “THANK YOU!”s that have been piled up against it.
We make it to the marriage records office.
I take a picture of my now husband standing in front of a case of the marriage records for 1902-1912. Numerous kids are curled up in corners sleeping. My own memory is spotty. I just know we got the papers, and then we’re done with lines. We get out, we head to the front entrance, and we walk out onto the City Hall steps.
It's almost 3PM.
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There are cheers, there’s rice thrown at us, there are hundreds of people celebrating us with unconditional love and joy and I had never before felt the goodness that exists in humanity to such an extent. It’s no longer raining, just a light sprinkle, but there are still no protestors. There’s barely even any news vans.
We make our way through the gauntlet, we get hands shaked, people with signs reading ”Congratulations!” jump up and down for us. We hit the sidewalks, and we begin to limp our way back to the BART station.
I’m at the BART station, we’re waiting for our train back south, and I’m sitting on the ground leaning against a pillar and in danger of falling asleep when a nondescript young man stops in front of me and shuffles his feet nervously. “Hey. I just- I saw you guys, down at City Hall, and I just… I’m so happy for you. I’m so proud of what you could do. I’m- I’m just really glad, glad you could get to do this.”
He shakes my hand, clasps it with both of his and shakes it. I thank him and he smiles and then hurries away as fast as he can without running.
Our train arrives and the trip south passes in a semilucid blur.
We get back to our car and climb in.
It’s 4:30 and we are starving.
There’s a Carls Jr near the station that we stop off at and have our first official meal as a married couple. We sit by the window and watch people walking past and pick out others who are returning from San Francisco. We're all easy to pick out, what with the combination of giddiness and water damage.
We get home about 6-7. We take the dog out for a good long walk after being left alone for two days in a row. We shower. We bundle ourselves up. We bury ourselves in blankets and curl up and just sort of sit adrift in the surrealness of what we’d just done.
We wake up the next day, Tuesday, to read that the California State Supreme Court has rejected the petition to shut down the San Francisco weddings because the paperwork had a misplaced comma that made the meaning of one phrase unclear.
The State Supreme Court would proceed to play similar bureaucratic tricks to drag the process out for nearly a full month before they have nothing left and finally shut down Mayor Newsom’s marriages.
My parents had been out of state at the time at a convention. They were flying into SFO about the same moment we were walking out of City Hall. I apologized to them later for not waiting and my mom all but shook me by the shoulders. “No! No one knew that they’d go on for so long! You did what you needed to do! I’ll just be there for the next one!”
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It was just a piece of paper. Legally, it didn’t even hold any weight thirty days later. My philosophy at the time was “marriage really isn’t that important, aside from the legal benefits. It’s just confirming what you already have.”
But maybe it’s just societal weight, or ingrained culture, or something, but it was different after. The way I described it at the time, and I’ve never really come up with a better metaphor is, “It’s like we were both holding onto each other in the middle of the ocean in the middle of a storm. We were keeping each other above water, we were each other’s support. But then we got this piece of paper. And it was like the ground rose up to meet our feet. We were still in an ocean, still in the middle of a storm, but there was a solid foundation beneath our feet. We still supported each other, but there was this other thing that was also keeping our heads above the water.
It was different. It was better. It made things more solid and real.
I am forever grateful for all the forces and all the people who came together to make it possible. It’s been twenty years and we’re still together and still married.
We did a domestic partnership a year later to get the legal paperwork. We’d done a private ceremony with proper rings (not just ones grabbed out of the husband’s collection hours before) before then. And in 2008, we did a legal marriage again.
Rushed. In a hurry. Because there was Proposition 13 to be voted on which would make them all illegal again if it passed.
It did, but we were already married at that point, and they couldn’t negate it that time.
Another few years after that, the Supreme Court finally threw up their hands and said "Fine! It's been legal in places and nothing's caught on fire or been devoured by locusts. It's legal everywhere. Shut up about it!"
And that was that.
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When I was in highschool, in the late 90s, I didn’t expect to see legal gay marriage until I was in my 50s. I just couldn’t see how the American public as it was would ever be okay with it.
I never expected to be getting married within five years. I never expected it to be legal nationwide before I’d barely started by 30s. I never thought I’d be in my 40s and it’d be such a non-issue that the conservative rabble rousers would’ve had to move onto other wedge issues altogether.
I never thought that I could introduce another man as my husband and absolutely no one involved would so much as blink.
I never thought I’d live in this world.
And it’s twenty years later today. I wonder how our line buddies are doing. Those babies who were running around the wide open rooms playing tag will have graduated college by now. The kids whose parents the one line-buddy was worried would see him are probably married too now. Some of them to others of the same gender.
I don’t have some greater message to make with all this. Other then, culture can shift suddenly in ways you can’t predict. For good or ill. Mainly this is just me remembering the craziest fucking 36 hours of my life twenty years after the fact and sharing them with all of you.
The future we’re resigned to doesn’t have to be the one we live in. Society can shift faster than you think. The unimaginable of twenty years ago is the baseline reality of today.
And always remember that the people who want to get married will show up by the thousands in rain that none of those who’re against it will brave.
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teenage dirtbag, baby
jj maybank x reader
requested: yes
warnings: none. fluff, pining. one use of y/n. jj is a big ol’ softie and nervous boy here. poorly proof read. i’m not entirely happy with this but it is what it is i guess. 18+
gif not mine!
it was so typical to want what he can't have.
it went against basically every rule on kildare island. kooks and pogues aren't friends; avoid each other at all costs. date in your own social circle. but he couldn't help himself and the big, fat crush he had on you, ever since the day he'd saw you.
it was at the wreck. kiara was helping out one weekend, back when she went to the kook academy for a year. she was behind the counter while jj, john b and pope sat at it, listening to her qualms about her new school.
you were with your family having lunch, pope noticing how kiara kept looking over to you.
"is she one of the mean ones?" he asked, everyone else turning to look at you as you were wrapped up in a conversation, moving around animatedly.
"no," kiara breathed out, "she's pretty cool, actually. she's in my art class. i think she keeps more to herself."
"why don't you try being friends with her?" pope suggested.
she shrugged. "yeah, maybe."
the conversation moved on, but jj couldn't stop looking over at you. if he were in a cartoon, little heart bubbles would be floating all around him, and there'd be a tiny heart shaped arrow stuck in his chest.
he hadn't seen you around for a long time after that. not until the next year at school, when you were at the public school instead of the academy. you certainly looked like a pogue — maybe slightly more well groomed and fashionable, but nothing about you screamed kook.
by the time he'd worked up the courage to introduce himself to you, you were gone.
he saw you around a lot after that. every time he'd wander the halls when he was supposed to be in class, he'd peek in every window to see if you were behind the door. he didn't see you for a few days until he passed the art room at lunch.
there you were; headphones on, slightly swaying side to side as you painted, stopping every few moments for another bite of your lunch.
art never made much sense to jj, he didn't like having to think about what something meant, or being told what he was supposed to feel when looking at something. but he knew one thing for sure: you were insanely talented, and he’d happily sit in a room full of your paintings.
this is his chance, he thought, but you looked so focused and in the zone that he didn't want to disrupt you, so he left.
you invaded his dreams basically every night since.
it was probably for the better anyway, he thought to himself. jj was… well, jj. a dirt poor stoner who hardly ever went to class in favour of smoking and surfing. and you? you oozed intellect and creativity.
a while later he'd learned your name from kiara, impressed with himself how casually he brought it up. "i think i saw another girl from the kook academy here" he'd said.
"oh, yeah. that's y/n, the only other reasonable and cool person that went there."
"do you know why she left?"
"no idea" kiara shrugged. "maybe they bullied her out like they did with me."
and that was it. after he'd learned your name, he found you on social media and began to... observe.
it wasn't like you were secretive, but you weren't exactly an open book like some people were on socials. your instagram had a few selfies, photos of your art, your friends, and some landscapes. your twitter was all over the place, from memes to thoughts that were definitely while high. it only made his crush grow ten times bigger. maybe you were more alike than he thought?
he followed you on instagram first, and was incredibly pleased when he received a notification that you requested to follow him too a little while later.
the school year was going by fast. valentine's day was coming in hot, and small tables were set up to send a rose with a note to whomever you pleased. jj decided to do it.
he wrote your name on the little card, writing a small message about how talented he thought you were as an artist, and that one day he'd love to buy your work. he left a heart at the bottom with no name, and carried on with his day.
on valentine's day, he could see roses being handed to people left and right. this was the first time in a while he'd seen you in the cafeteria during lunch instead of the art room, but then again he was hardly ever there. you were sitting at a table with people from the chess club, reading a book as you ate.
god, you were so different from him.
a student approached you with a handful of roses, and handed you two. jj tried to push down the jealousy that bubbled up. did you have a boyfriend he didn’t know about?
one of them you rolled your eyes at, the other made you smile. he hoped it was his. you studied the flower for a while before looking around the room, eyes eventually locking onto his. he tried to stop his cheeks from going red, resorting to hiding his face and turning away from you.
why the hell did you make him so nervous? he was jj fucking maybank. talking to girls was an easy feat for him — it had never been a problem before. he felt different with you though, less like you were another to fool around with mindlessly, and more like you were someone he actually wanted to get to know.
when he had the courage to look back at you, you were gone.
the end of the year bonfire was a big tradition on Kildare island. all kooks and pogues would gather together at the boneyard for a night of partying and officially transition from school year, to summer.
it wasn't as big or fun as the end of summer bonfire when all the tourons would join in, but it was still a good time.
jj had shown up with pope, meeting kiara and john b there. to his surprise, they were talking to you.
none of his friends knew about the massive crush he harboured. he kept it quiet cause he didn't know how to actually deal with his feelings, so he swept them under the rug and accepted that you'd never acknowledge him, let alone like someone as damaged as he was.
but when kiara pointed out him and pope to you, you smiled.
she introduced you to them, pope shook your hand and jj offered a shy wave. he could feel the way john b was eyeing him down at his actions, the bastardly flush returning to his cheeks and ears. the boy smiled at his friend, asking kiara and pope to join him for a beer, purposely leaving jj alone with you.
you broke the silence first.
"kiara told me you're a really good surfer" you'd said.
he shrugged, "yeah, i guess. been doing it my whole life." he couldn't look at you. he wanted to, badly, but he was so unbelievably scared. instead, he dug his foot in the sand, kicking and twisting.
any other time he would have boasted about being the best surfer on the island, but he couldn’t right now. why the hell couldn’t he talk himself up to the girl he likes?
"i'm terrible at it. i tried last summer for the first time and i think i spent more time in the water trying to fight it than actually standing on the board" you joked, and he let out a small laugh.
"have you ever thought about like, being an instructor or whatever for beginners?"
were you hinting at him?
"not really, but it does sound like a good idea. maybe i'll start, be a good summer gig" he shrugged, finally looking over to you.
he'd spent so much time admiring you from afar or through instagram posts, but he was still just as mesmerized. you were absolutely unreal up close. the sun was behind you, illuminating you as if you were an angel. you had incredibly smooth looking skin, and it looked liked you’d spent lots of time outside; a subtle tan accompanied by a tinge of pink across your nose and cheeks. there was a small scar on the middle of your nose.
he wondered where it came from.
"i can be test subject number one,” you suggested, “if you can't help me, then i'm afraid there's no hope for either of us."
conversation flowed easy after that. he learned that you left the academy simply because everyone was a massive dickhead, and you weren't about that. he learned about your childhood injuries (including the scar, that you got from pulling a cats tail) and dreams, your current dreams, and that you weren't as scary as he made you out to be.
actually, he felt rather calm talking to you once he got past his nerves. it was like catching up with an old friend he didn't know he was missing.
you talked all night long, neither of you realizing you'd completely ignored your friends until they came up to you saying they were heading home. looking up, you realized most people had already left. jj's friends looked at him expectantly, while he looked at you.
"you staying?"
you looked around for your friends, unable to spot them anywhere. "guess i should head home. my friends already left i think."
jj nodded and stood up, offering a hand to help you. you walked to the parking area with them, and said your goodbyes once they were at their van. "where's your car?"
"oh, i didn't drive, my friend did" you told him.
"and they just left you?!"
you shrugged, "i don't mind the walk."
jj pursed his lips in thought. the nice thing to do right now was offer you a ride, but he didn't want to be nice. he wanted to be a little selfish and have more time with you.
"i'll walk with you" he said before closing the van door and jogging over to you, not saying a word to his friends. the way you smiled at that made his heart jump with glee.
the entire way, you didn't stop talking. both of you were on a roll of asking questions and sharing stories, laughing and walking as slow as you could so you'd have more time. it was electric. for the first time in a long time, jj felt like he was exactly where he was supposed to be, and he was happy with it. he felt good, like this life wasn’t so bad after all.
your hands brushed together as you walked, legs moving in sync. occasionally your shoulders would bump into the other. by the time you got home, it was nearly 2am.
jj walked you right to the door. seeing your house was a reminder of how different you were, it slightly bruised his ego and confidence again, but then you looked at him and it all washed away.
it was obvious that neither of you wanted to say goodbye, but you were the one to make the move and ask for his number.
"sorry if i bored you to death tonight and kept you away from all the fun party stuff" you said as you put your phone back in your pocket.
jj shook his head. "i was so far from bored. i had a lot of fun with you. actually i—" he let out a big breath, "i wanted to talk to you all year, i was just nervous."
"what! really?"
he nodded. "yeah. kiara recognized you from the academy, and at first i tried to get her to go make friends with you, but she was scared cause of all the shit that happened there.
"and then every time i wanted to talk to you, you were so busy and focused on your art or reading, and i didn't want to interrupt. which, by the way, you're an incredible artist. if i ever get rich one day, ill be your number one buyer."
you smiled at him, your heart swelling at the realization that the anonymous rose you'd received on valentine's day, was from him.
"so it was you, then?" you asked, just to be sure. you spent so long wondering who it was from, the idea of finally knowing was extremely exciting.
he gave you a confused look, then started to blush. "yeah. it was me” he nodded.
you remembered seeing him that day after you read the note, you thought he was cute. you'd noticed him a lot after that, as he walked past the art room or any other class you were in, seeing him in the halls. you never thought he'd noticed you, though. you always thought he was too cool to pay attention to someone like you.
bouncing on the balls of your feet, you reached up and kissed his cheek. "goodnight, jj" you smiled before turning to your door.
"goodnight" he spoke quietly, giving a small wave and smile as you shut the door.
you watched from the window as he held his hand to where you kissed him and stared at the stars. if only you could see the shit eating grin on his face.
once you washed up for the night and got back to your room, you couldn't help the smile that came when you looked at the dried up rose on your dresser, note still attached.
maybe it was against some silly island rule of kooks vs. pogues that you had a crush on the boy, but you didn't care. there was something special about him. something that made you feel like you were on top of the world, in the safest place ever.
like you were exactly where you were supposed to be.
like you were home.
don’t be shy, reblog!
feel free to send a request
#jj maybank#jj maybank imagine#jj x reader#jj maybank s4#jj maybank x you#jj mayback x reader#jj maybank fluff#obx season 4#obx#fluff#rudy pankow
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⭑.ᐟ
"It's freezing!"
You hear the front door to your apartment shut sharply, and let out a laugh as Joshua begins to huff and puff about the cold weather. Just a week ago, he'd looked out the window with eyes the size of the moon and told you to hurry to look at the pretty snow.
Now, the sound of Joshua's quick footsteps echo towards your place on the couch. It doesn't take long for you to spot him. You can tell he's hastily thrown off his winter clothes: his hair is a mess from his beanie, his hoodie sits crooked on his body from ripping off his jacket, and his socks are halfway off from prying off his boots. In one of his hands he holds a plastic bag, no doubt full of ingredients to make hot chocolate.
"I offered to go get the groceries for you earlier." You remind him.
The two of you had only just gotten out of bed, really. Early in the morning, when the two of you woke up, you both decided that this cold day needed some hot chocolate. Venturing out into the cold kitchen, however, lead you to realize that you didn't have the ingredients. While it was your idea to make hot chocolate, Joshua, ever the gentleman, decided to go get groceries for the both of you. While he went out in the cold, you had been watching TV on the couch and under the comfy blanket his mother had gotten for you for Christmas.
"I'm not going to put you through that torture!" He let out a sigh and sank down into the couch cushions.
Even though the goal of the morning was to make hot chocolate, you ignore the bag of groceries on the ground to tend to your dramatic fiancé. You scoot over to him, and engulf his sweatpants-clad legs in your blanket - you're even so kind as to put your warm legs on his lap as an extra layer. Joshua's cold hands hold your waist, and you let him. It's the least you can do. When he puts his head on your chest, you understand your cue immediately and start gently stroking his hair.
"You're so strong," you say, on the brink of laughter, "So brave."
"I know." His voice is muffled by your skin.
"I'm so happy you're my future husband."
Your words make him look up, and your grin only grows wider. He smiles back, the sudden reminder of the date set in your calendar enough to make him forget about the freezing weather he just walked through.
"Why don't you just marry me now then?" he asks.
He glances down at your lips, but quickly meets your gaze again. You hadn't realized just how close he had gotten. You move back a little, making Joshua follow you. As he moves, you fall back on the couch and he takes the opportunity to get on top of you.
"Hm? Just marry me now, please," he says again with a giggle. "You're going to make me beg, aren't you?"
"This is just the frostbite talking!" you tell him, and he laughs.
"Then warm me up," he suggests, almost shyly.
You study his face. His flushed cheeks, his smiley eyes, his wide, love-sick grin. You take his face in your hands, warming it up in your palms, and bring him in for a kiss. His lips are cold too, but you don't mind it. Not now, when he's making your heart feel so warm.
You pull away, only enough to speak again. "Better?"
"No... I still want to marry you right this second... think the frostbite is still lingering." He goes in for another kiss, and you give in.
When he pulls away, he sighs and puts his head in the crook of your neck. His entire weight is put on you, and you welcome it by patting his back gently with your hands.
"I don't think I'll ever be cured," he mutters.
"Sorry, hun, we set the date for May," you remind him. "And you won't get to see my dress if you don't wait."
"Hm, that's a pretty good argument." Joshua nods, but it feels more like he's just nuzzling his face further into the crook of your neck. "I hope you know I'm excited."
"I know," you promise him.
"So excited."
"I can tell." You giggle and Joshua gets up from the couch slowly.
He helps you up, and pulls you in for a hug. "Do you want to make hot chocolate now?"
You squeeze him a little tighter, just because you can and because you love him. A part of you is convinced that your little squeeze definitely sent him that message. You pull away enough to look up at him, and he's watching you carefully with enough love to make your friends make fake gagging sounds. The honey-moon phase never seemed to be a phase for the two of you. "I'd love to."
#seventeen#fluff#joshua hong#joshua x reader#joshua x you#joshua x y/n#seventeen x you#seventeen x reader#seventeen imagines#seventeen fanfic#seventeen fluff#svt#syl says☆
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Hello my love I have a request for a reader who is like best friends Stevie and you know he’s a caretaker of the group, so she kind of is too anyways she is the caretaker always the mom of the group and everything but he can pick up on some signs that maybe she doesn’t wanna always take care of everybody else like maybe she wants to be taken care of, and he slowly starts doing things for her. But maybe she is reluctant to accept the help so she kinda gets snippy at him queue a frustrated, love confession from Stevie to her. Ends happy because my life is in shambles and I need a happy ending.
Distant
↝a/n: thank you for requesting. I hope you enjoy! 🩷
↝pairing: Steve Harrington x female!reader
|| Disclaimer: I do not own Steve Harrington, or any character from Stranger Things. I only own y/n and any characters I create with my own brain. ||
↝⎙ 12.20.24
Steve had always been the caretaker of the group. Whether it was driving the kids around or making sure everyone was safe, he was the go-to guy. But there was someone else who shared this role with him—his best friend, you. You were the “mom” of the group, always looking out for everyone and making sure things were in order.
You had become close to the kids shortly after Steve had. Dustin liked you, liked how Steve acted when you were around. It was also fun for Dustin to pick at Steve when you weren't around; talking about how Steve would blush when you looked at him. You never seemed to notice, though.
It wasn't unusual for you and Steve to be attached at the hip. You pretty much thought as one. One followed after the other. So it was natural when you took the group of kids under your wing. You would do anything for them. That was evident when you had a stern talking-to with a group of kids that were messing with Dustin's group at school. You had spent countless nights making and bringing them food when they were busy playing DND. You always made sure they had a ride home. Or, if they needed to go somewhere, you were the first to call. It became a habit to pick Steve up on the way, if he wasn't already with you when you got the call.
It was fun, spending time with them. They were funny and nice, a contrast to other kids their age.
But, all the times playing “mom” could be tiring. It seemed like every time you got the call, you would drop everything. They needed you, why would you decline?
It was one specific night when you had finally had enough.
Dustin kicked Lucas' feet out of the way, walking toward the phone. He knew your number by heart. Honestly, it's a surprise the number hadn't worn off from how much he typed it in. The phone rang…and rang. Usually, you would've picked up by now. Dustin turned, looking at the clock. 2:37 pm. You were off work today. You typically answer. Plucking the phone back into the base, Dustin turned, eyebrows furrowed. “She didn't answer.”
“How are we supposed to get to the arcade?” Mike sat up straighter, kicking himself for breaking the chain on his bike. Nancy was at Jonathan's, and his parents were out with Holly.
“Call Steve.” Lucas looked at Dustin like that was the obvious answer.
Nodding, Dustin turned back to the phone.
“She didn't answer my call either.”
Steve sighed, turning down the familiar street. The other kids were squashed in the back of Steve's car as Dustin sat in the passenger seat. The kid was quick to tell Steve about his worries. Sure, you just didn't answer the house phone. But that wasn't like you. If you had missed it, you always called back. Or called from Steve's house phone.
“Maybe she isn't home.” Mike watched the trees out the window. Truthfully, he just wanted to go to the arcade. He had a high score to beat. Yours, specifically.
Pulling into your driveway, Steve unbuckled, before getting out. Your car was parked in front of his. “I'll ask if she wants to come with.”
Steve practically skipped to the door, knocking and waiting. It took a few moments before you opened the door. “Hey,” Steve took in your appearance. You looked tired, sleep clumped at the corners of your eyes, eye bags apparent. “Uh, the kids were wondering if you wanted to come with us to the arcade.” He used his thumb to point behind him, where the kids were watching.
“Um,” You opened your mouth, looking at the kids, before furrowing your brows. “You know, I actually have to catch up on some sleep.”
“Oh, okay. Dustin was worried about you. You didn't answer his calls or mine.”
“Yeah,” I have a life outside of you and the kids. I don't have to constantly drop everything to play pretend and do their parents job. “I was asleep.” You weren't going to tell him about how you listened as the phone rang, not daring to even get up from the couch.
“alright, just wanted to check up on you.” Steve turned, not wanting to leave, but feeling like you wanted him to.
You smiled, “thanks, and sorry. Enjoy dealing with those hooligans all by yourself.”
Steve laughed, before you closed the door.
~
Days passed, and it was always the same answer. You had other stuff to do. Until Steve came to visit you at work. He saw you through the window, laughing with a coworker. You looked like you. He missed it.
“I'm having a little get-together at my house tonight. You should come. Food, board games, movies. Everything you love.” Steve smiled, begging you with his eyes.
For some reason, you couldn't say no this time around.
As you all gathered at Steve's house for a movie night, he noticed something different about you. You seemed a bit more tired, your smile a little less bright. You were still taking care of everyone, getting everyone snacks, making sure everyone liked the movie before it was put in, but Steve could see the weariness in your eyes.
You didn't pay attention to the movie, mind elsewhere.
“What's going on?” Steve had asked, after everyone was asleep, and you helped clean up.
“What do you mean?”
You didn't meet his eyes, instead focusing on grabbing the candy wrappers and throwing them away.
“You're distant. You don't answer the phone anymore. Did I do something? Did one of them do something?”
“No.” You sighed, “No one did anything. I just…I'm tired. I don't want to be the caretaker all the time.”
Steve slowly nodded, letting you know he was actually listening.
“I mean, I've had to drop so many things just to take them somewhere or pick them up. I have my own life, you know. I have a job so I can pay bills. If I wanted to be a mom, I would have kids myself.” You hated how that made you sound. You felt selfish for wanting time for yourself, but it's just how it is. They're not your kids, you're not their mom. You're a young adult that has to live life without the constant burden of children.
“You don't have to. I'll talk to them-”
“No. Don't do that. It's fine.”
“It's obviously not fine. You're having to ignore us just to get some free time. I'll talk to them.”
You dropped the trash bag, looking up at him. “I said no. It's not that big of a deal.” You huffed, moving around the living room toward the door.
Steve watched as you grabbed your stuff and left.
He knew first hand how it was to be the caretaker of the group. He found it easier to do with you by his side. But obviously, it wasn't like that for you.
Maybe you wanted someone to take care of you for a change.
Steve started doing little things for you. He'd stop by your house to bring you snacks without you asking. He brought you flowers once, claiming it was from him and the kids, for burdening you. Steve tried to do stuff for you, but you were reluctant to accept his help. You'd always been the one to take care of others, and it was challenging to let someone else do that for you. Sometimes, you'd even get snippy with him, telling him you could handle it yourself.
~
You finally came around again- not as much as before, but you didn't decline their calls anymore.
One night, after a particularly long day, Steve found you in his kitchen, cleaning up after everyone else had left. He walked over and took the dish from your hand.
“Steve, I can do it,” you said, your voice tinged with frustration.
“Why won't you let me help you?” he asked, his tone equally frustrated.
“Because I don't need your help!” you snapped back, but your voice cracked, betraying your true feelings.
Steve put the dish down and turned to you, his eyes filled with concern. “You don't always have to be the strong one, you know. It's okay to let someone else take care of you for once.”
You looked at him, tears welling up in your eyes. “But what if I don't know how to let go?”
Steve stepped closer, gently cupping your face in his hands. “Then let me show you,” he whispered. “Because I love you, and I want to be there for you, just like you've always been there for everyone else.”
Your breath hitched at his words, “You… you love me?”
“Yes,” Steve said, his voice firm and sincere. “I love you, and I want to take care of you. So please, let me.”
You felt a weight lift off your shoulders as you finally allowed yourself to lean into his embrace. “Okay,” you whispered, your voice soft and full of relief. “Okay.”
Steve smiled, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead. “We'll figure it out together,” he said. “One step at a time.”
As the days passed, Steve made it his mission to show you that it was okay to let someone else be there for you. He'd surprise you with your favorite coffee in the morning, leave little notes of encouragement on your bedside table before he leaves at night, and always be there with a listening ear when you needed to vent. Slowly, but surely, you began to let your guard down and accept his help.
~
One Saturday afternoon, Steve took you to a quiet spot by the lake. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow over the water. You sat together on a blanket, watching the ducks swim by.
“Thank you,” you said softly, breaking the comfortable silence.
“For what?” Steve asked, looking at you with a gentle smile.
“For everything,” you replied. “For being there for me, for showing me that it's okay to lean on someone else.”
Steve reached out and took your hand in his. “You don't have to thank me,” he said. “I care about you, and I want to be there for you. Always.”
You leaned your head on his shoulder, feeling a sense of peace and contentment that you hadn't felt in a long time. “I love you, Steve,” you whispered.
“I love you too,” he replied, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “And I'm not going anywhere.”
As the sun dipped below the horizon, you knew that you had finally found someone who would always be there for you, no matter what. And for the first time in a long while, you felt like everything was going to be okay.
•2021-2024 by xoxo-sarah on Tumblr•
•My work is not to be translated, copied, modified, and/or reposted on any other site without my permission. [I don't give permission!]
#xoxo-sarah 🩷#🕶️#stranger things fanfic#stranger things x reader#stranger things imagine#stranger things fanfiction#stranger things x y/n#stranger things x you#steve harrington fluff#steve harrington imagine#steve harrington x you#steve harrington x fem!reader#steve harrington x reader#steve harrington x female!reader
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samy coming out to san jose again and getting to see a game of wills and meet all of his team, and maybe they are lcuky and the house is empty as the family is on a trip so they are home alone…
i love #2!!
hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)
samy, gabe, and ryan take on sj together to visit will for a weekend!
wc: 7.8k words (omg)
WOW i got so carried away with this i think this is my longest fic ever on here? i’ve been trying to write this for literally 3 weeks and i finally finished it :) sometimes i just write and then i end up with 7.8k words oops lol. there's also no smut in this (sorry anon) bc this was already crazy long, but if u guys want a separate post of it, lmk and i will provide lol. anyways, hope y'all enjoy!
au masterlist
the san jose mineta international airport was bustling with people as samy, gabe, and ryan stepped off their gate. the two boys immediately shedded their coats once the humid temperatures hit their skin, especially with how many people shoved their way through—it made it feel hot really fast. samy glanced down at her phone where she texted will that they just landed.
"holy shit it's fucking hot," ryan mumbled, already fanning himself out.
"i told you it would be hot. i think will's outside waiting," the girl informed and began leading the way to the exit. this was only her second time navigating the airport, the first time will managed to get them out so she just hoped she wouldn't get herself lost.
the three were excited for the weekend ahead. after weeks of planning around three hockey players' schedules, the four managed to find a weekend before the craziness of the holidays picked up and world juniors began to visit their old friend in his new stomping grounds. gabe and ryan hadn't been yet, so the two were looking forward to a good game of hockey on saturday and spending the rest of it with their best friend.
luckily, samy was able to easily follow the overhead signs straight towards the exit. it was helpful that they didn't have any bags to pickup and just flew with carry-ons. when the three made it to the already long pickup line, their eyes scanned for will's bronco.
"i see him!" gabe pointed towards a tall blonde and brunette leaning against the car waving their hands. a grin spread across each of their faces as they made their way towards will. he met them in the middle, hugging samy first.
"hi, it's so good to see you here again," the blonde squeezed her torso, a large grin on his features.
"i missed you. it's good to see you too," the brunette hummed and quickly pecked his lips before gabe and ryan started arguing for their turn to hug will.
she stepped aside to let them have their turns, hugging macklin in the meantime. "hey hughesy, long time no see," the younger brunette chuckled.
"back at ya, mack," she ruffled up his hair and caught a glimpse of the other three boys group hugging one another. the sight brought another smile to her lips seeing them reunite and the genuine happiness on their expressions.
"jeez, i can't believe you live here now, smitty. you got it good," ryan patted his shoulder.
"i could get used to the warmth. it's like 40° in boston or something," gabe shared the sentiments and the wide smile on will's lips made samy's heart explode with joy.
"welcome to luxury for the weekend. let's get in before some car honks at me," will pulled everyone back to the car where he helped get everyone's luggage into the back.
"shit, this is fucking nice. you wanna share some of this with us?" ryan patted the side of will's car, admiring how sleek and pristine it looked compared to his mom's suv they all used to drive around in michigan.
"we can split 50/50," the blonde teased.
"you're gonna be living in luxury future mrs. smith," gabe commented as they climbed into the car, samy obviously getting the front while the other three squeezed themselves into the back.
both samy and will's cheeks flushed hearing gabe call her "mrs. smith." she glanced over at her boyfriend who smiled sweetly at her, reaching over to squeeze her hand. hearing mrs. smith sent crazy butterflies through his chest because he could not wait until the day it was finally true.
"ew get a room," macklin called when he watched their exchange and his friend's large blush.
"fuck off," will mumbled earning a joint laughter from everyone. samy just squeezed his hand back telling him she didn't mind the teasing while also shooting a glance back to macklin who just shrugged.
they pulled out of the pickup line, escaping anyone beeping at them to get moving. will got onto the main road and the two boys in the back suddenly became amazed at how summery everything looked still despite it being in the middle of december. the palm trees stood tall and the warmer breeze felt so refreshing on their skin compared to the harsh boston wind on the other side of the country. samy drew her window down so even more breeze could come through and her hair quickly flew back against the seat. will's gaze swept over her figure, a glowing wave of happiness on his features having his girlfriend and best friends in the city he called home for the weekend.
"so what are the plans for this weekend?" ryan wondered.
"well the game's on saturday, but tomorrow we have all day to do whatever you guys want. some of my teammates wanna meet you all. you especially," will nudged his girlfriend's hand.
"me?" she raised her eyebrow.
"you're the talk of the locker room. eklund and bordeleau especially wanna meet you," macklin explained from the back and the youngest hughes' cheeks flushed.
"wow, i'm flattered they wanna meet me," the girl chuckled.
"they gotta make sure the wifey is up to their standards," gabe snickered and nudged her shoulder. she rolled her eyes a bit, wondering where this whole "wife" thing was coming from.
"also the fact that you were a hockey pro in your past life and with your brothers being in town tomorrow they wanna meet all of you guys," macklin added.
it was shaping up to be a very special weekend in the silicon valley. the devils were coming to san jose for the redemption match from a few weeks ago and the sharks were eager to prove themselves to their fans in the sap center on saturday night. having the devils in town meant 3/4 of the hughes siblings were gonna all be together and will couldn't be more excited to have some of his closest people at an arm's length for the first time in awhile. samy, too, was excited to see jack and luke who she hasn't seen since summer ended. it was really gonna feel like a michigan summer for three days.
"hey, wait, can we make a detour to the beach?" ryan quickly spoke up when he caught glimpses of the billboards that had the beaches plastered all over them that made him instantly think of sinking his feet into the warm sand and splashing around in the ocean.
"you wanna go to the beach?" will caught his friend's gaze through the rearview.
"i know it's out of the way but i haven't been to the beach in so long. come on," the brunette encouraged.
"i mean, okay. i don't have my swimsuit or anything, but sure," the blonde chuckled and quickly shifted lanes to take the exit towards santa cruz.
"who cares? we've made you jump into water with your clothes on," ryan laughed and will remembered fondly the time he jumped into someone's pool fully clothed on a dare.
"mind you that was my pool," samy cut in and the boys grinned.
"all the more reason then," will took the exit towards santa cruz.
it added another 45 minutes to the drive, but it was worth when as soon as will parked the car on one of the side roads ryan and gabe were rushing towards the water. will let out a laugh as he let them go ahead. "come on," samy urged, tugging her boyfriend's hand as they followed after them.
with it being december, the sand was the perfect temperate on their feet. it wasn't too hot like it usually would be during the summer where they couldn't even stand on the sand without having shoes on. gabe and ryan's shoes and clothes were lost the closer they got the the water and by the time samy, will, and macklin made it down, the two were splashing each other in nothing but their shorts. a laughed escaped the three's lips watching their friends tackle one another.
"i'll race you guys," samy said as she began stripping herself of her own clothes, not caring about being in her bra and underwear in the middle of the beach. will's eyes went wide when her top came off and her pants quickly followed. he swallowed thickly seeing her in nothing but her underwear. macklin didn't hesitate joining her though.
"last one in is a rotten egg!" macklin exclaimed and ran off ahead.
will quickly snapped out of his slight daze to rid himself of his shirt and pants, racing down behind his girlfriend and macklin. he tried reaching out for samy, but she was faster and made it into the water before will could get his hands on her. he admitted his defeat of being the last one in.
"loser gets splashed!" gabe exclaimed and immediately kicked water in will's direction. the others followed suit and the poor blonde was drenched in seconds.
"okay, okay," he called for them to stop, wiping his face off.
"god, i could live here forever," ryan fell onto his back like a starfish as he floated atop the light waves.
the blonde's gaze fell to samy again and this time he was able to reach her and bring her into his arms. she giggled at his quick affection and the longing look in his eyes he directed at her. "what?" she hummed, flushing as she watched his gaze dip below her face towards the rest of her bare skin and then back up.
"nothing. i'm glad you're here. i love you," will leaned down to kiss the top of her head and squeeze her hip.
"i love you too. can't wait to see you play in your home arena," she brushed some of his now loose, wet curls away from his forehead.
"mhm, i can't wait to see you up in the stands. i've missed seeing you there," it was still a hard adjustment for will to go from having samy at every single one of his games for two years to her not being there at all unless she visited. he always thought she brought him good luck whenever she was there.
"i've missed being there," she lifted herself onto her tiptoes to give a wet kiss to his cheek. the blonde blushed and tugged her even closer into his side like if he let go she'd disappear.
"guys, what did we talk about. no pda around us," macklin teased again and the couple flushed. samy stepped out of her boyfriend's grasp much to his dismay and reluctance to let her go, a small frustrated sigh leaving his lips.
"you get used to it," gabe chuckled, winking towards his friends. "i spent every night listening to them on the phone together last year."
"hey, you got to talk to me everyday," samy argued a bit.
"you're right, i did and i enjoyed getting to say hi to you every night," the dark-haired boy agreed.
the five spent another fifteen minutes splashing around before deciding they should head back or else mrs. marleau would start thinking they got lost on their way back to the house. will managed to find some old towels in the back that everyone dried themselves off with.
"thanks for this, smitty. that was fun," ryan said once they were back in the car.
"of course. glad i could fill your beach desires," the blonde smiled and got them back on the highway towards san jose.
for the rest of the ride back up to the silicon valley, the five filled the car ride with everything that's happened so far. gabe and ryan told stories of all the parties, the girls, the games, and the classes which definitely made will and macklin miss being in boston as college students. the rookies went back and forth talking about san jose so far, but all of it were things already talked about through facetime or over the phone. they started talking about world juniors coming up and ryan's possible captaincy.
"dude, you're totally gonna get it. no doubt about it," macklin added and the others agreed. they knew how hard ryan's worked all year in addition to being alternate for boston this season, there was a really good chance he would make it and gabe would be an alternate.
"don't jinx it guys. they won't announce it for another few weeks," the brunette shook his head a bit while also brushing off the praise because on the inside he was really excited and confident he'd get captain.
"jinx it? it's basically in the bag, lean. you're gonna get it," will laughed and the topic of world juniors got all of them talking about who they thought would win the tournament this year.
the marleau home was about to be completely full this weekend with ten people in the house, but christina and patrick didn't mind. they loved having friendly faces in their space and any friend of will's was a friend of theirs. the boys were excited to talk to patrick about his experience in the nhl knowing he'd have great advice for them whenever they made their transition.
after dropping macklin back off, the four of them were greeted similarly to how samy was greeted when she came three weeks ago. patrick was off the couch and christina came out from the hallway with her boys behind her.
"ryan leonard and gabe petreault, it's great to finally meet you both. i've heard so many good things," patrick hugged each of them.
"we were worried you guys got lost on your way back to the house," christina chuckled.
"no, we just had to make a stop at the beach per ryan's request," will explained and the brunette grinned making the family laugh.
"ah, that makes more sense. i can tell you guys are a bit wet," christina observed the four's damp hair.
"thank you so much for having us this weekend. it's an honor to stay in your home," gabe cut in with a grin, waving a hi to the younger sons.
"of course. our home is your home this weekend. we figured it would work out perfectly since the six of us will be at grandparents tomorrow night into sunday, so we won't be in your way or anything," christina greeted each of them with a hug as well once patrick finished his hellos.
"well, thank you again. we appreciate it a lot," ryan echoed gabe's sentiments.
"you guys play for boston college, right?" brody wondered and the older boys nodded.
"we do. you thinking about going there?" ryan asked and he chuckled when the younger marleau flushed and glanced at his dad like he knew.
"it's whatever you decide, bud," patrick chuckled too and reached over to squeeze his son's shoulder.
"well, if you ever have questions, we're the guys to ask, but you probably already asked smitty all that already," gabe pointed to the blonde behind him who rolled his eyes a bit.
"i'll show you guys where you'll sleep," will motioned towards the stairs to lead everyone to their rooms. the marleau house was huge, so everyone had their own rooms plus two guest rooms. the second one was where gabe and ryan would be sleeping.
"shit, this is nice. you're living the good life here," ryan jumped onto the bed and the mattress sunk in around him.
"i better not hear you guys going at it," gabe teased the couple still lingering in the doorway. ryan snickered but the other two flushed in embarrassment.
"i'll rake that as my cue to leave. i'll let you guys catch up some more," samy quickly laughed off their teasing before disappearing to will's room to put her things down.
will eyed his friends once she was gone while ryan and gabe just shrugged, "what? i guess some things never change," gabe smiled.
"you guys are so immature," the blonde shook his head.
"how've you been though? good? sharks good?" ryan became somewhat serious for a second which always seemed to happen after a good laugh.
"yeah, it's been really good. i mean..it's my dream—our dream?—come true. i love it," will admitted becoming a bit sappy, but the boys smiled wider nonetheless.
"i mean it looks like the dream, man. you're a fucking california star with your new bronco and cool ass mentor to stay with for the season," the brunette got up to rough up his friend's shoulders like any best friend would. gabe shared the sentiments.
"we're proud of you, you know. this is all really great," their words warmed will's heart. he worried a lot that he left boston too soon, but he was glad his old line mates didn't think he made the wrong choice.
"you and hughesy still doing good?" ryan lowered his voice a little.
"yeah, we're good. we've been adjusting well and i'm glad i've gotten to see her so many times already," will nodded.
"good, glad to hear that. we think she's been doing better at managing everything, so don't worry about that. we got her back," the hockey player appreciated hearing his friends say that. he still hated being so far away in times that samy picked herself apart for things that didn't even matter, but he felt better knowing his friends were looking after her and the other guys in michigan when he couldn't.
"thanks, i'm glad you do," the three exchanged heartfelt smiles.
"now, enough of being all sappy and cheesy, i want a grand tour of this city," ryan exclaimed making will laugh.
"you got it, lean. i'll show you guys all my favorite places tomorrow," the blonde let the guys unpack and settle themselves in. he stuck his head back into his room where samy had changed into drier clothes. she smiled seeing her boyfriend.
"hi," she grinned.
"hi, sorry about the teasing. i guess they haven't given it up yet," will laughed, but the girl shook her head.
"please, you should know i don't care anymore. they're funny," samy assured and that made the boy smile. he was glad things like teasing from the guys didn't ever bother her.
now that they were alone, will took that as his opportunity to take her back into his arms. he shuffled closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, a bright smile on his features.
"i feel like a really lucky guy with how many times i've been able to see you," will hummed.
"i'm really lucky i get to see you too. i'm glad we made this happen with them. i know you really wanted it to," she pushed some of will's stray curls away again and he flushed under her touch.
"thank you for being so persistent with it and working it out for us. it probably never would've happened if it was just us planning," they shared a heartfelt laugh. it was true. will, ryan, and gabe sucked at planning anything when it came to trying to hang out.
"you're funny, will, but you're welcome. i know i already said this but i'm really looking forward to watching you play tomorrow," her words erupted more butterflies through the boy's chest along with a hot blush from his neck to the tips of his ears.
"wouldn't want it any other way having you guys here," the blonde leaned down to place a better kiss to samy's lips. she reached up to meet him in the middle.
a soft hum escaped will's lips at the feeling of his girlfriend's lips against his. even though they just saw one another three weeks ago, he'd never get tired of kissing her pretty lips and the feeling it created in his body after being apart. samy shifted so her hand was on the back of will's neck pushing him closer. the hockey player tightened his grip on her hip in response, wanting her as close as physically possible.
will began losing himself in the kiss. his other hand tangled in samy's hair not really caring that it was still wet or the fact that he hadn't changed out of his semi damp clothes still. anytime he could get his lips on samy's it was hard to pull him away.
however, a knock pulled them apart. they whipped around and saw ryan and gabe lingering in the doorway that will forgot to close the door to. a large blush spread across both of their faces.
"shit, sorry. maybe we should count how many times we catch you guys in the act," gabe teased.
"what do you want?" will wondered.
"just coming to bother you guys," ryan came further into the room, jumping onto the bed like he did in the other room.
"typical," samy giggled.
"if only all the other guys were here then it'd really feel like a reunion," gabe hummed and a slight frown appeared on will's face. he felt bad that the other guys couldn't make it out, but he knew the marleau's would not have room to house all eight of them.
"maybe when i'm moved back into my own apartment i'll have everyone over," will said.
the guys liked that idea. as much as will was annoyed at them for interrupting his moment with samy again, he liked seeing the happiness on each of their faces as they settled into will's room to spend more time together. it felt like one of those summer days where after a long day on the boat, everyone would crowd into one room to just talk, and considering will probably wouldn't see gabe and ryan until next summer, he decided to enjoy the moment. he joined them on the bed, opening his arms up for samy to climb in next to him. ryan sat on the other side while gabe hung off the end. the two boys were like little kids going their parents' rooms at night to bother them before bed.
—
everyone was up fairly early the next morning, or early in will's eyes and late in everyone else's because they were still on central and eastern time so it technically wasn't late to samy, ryan, and gabe. the four got an early start knowing they had a lot to do with seeing the city and then catching dinner with jack and luke later when they landed.
of course, will picked up macklin on the way. the younger brunette climbed into the car with a smile. "morning everyone," he cheered.
they rode into the city where samy was already familiar with the strip of shops and tall buildings. will parked on one of the side streets, digging out his credit card to pay for parking before they all took off. samy slipped in faster, her card going through before will could pay. he snapped his gaze towards her.
"baby, you didn't have to pay," he immediately protested as samy grabbed the receipt.
"you paid way too much for me last time so i'm returning the favor," she argued with a little smile.
"you don't have to do that. you know i don't care," will countered but the girl shook her head.
"i love you," she pecked his lips and hurried to catch up with the others.
the five walked up and down the main street where gabe and ryan poked their heads into almost every store. samy had her camera out to catch all the candids that would most definitely make their random contract/photo dump posting.
"do you think i should buy this?" ryan wondered while trying on a pair of sunglasses. they were big and square which took up almost half of his face.
"for sure, lean. you look great," macklin chuckled and the others agreed.
"i'm sure julianne would love them on you," samy teased and the brunette rolled his eyes as he put them back on the rack.
"oh, i think samy should get this," gabe grabbed ahold of a shirt that said "i love #2." will's cheeks flushed but samy quickly grinned.
"wait i should. i can wear it tomorrow night," the girl looked at her boyfriend who was a blushing mess.
"you'll definitely catch the attention with that," ryan teased as well. samy was serious about buying the shirt. she grabbed her size off the rack and went straight to the register while will just tried hiding his face of the deep blush that crept onto it.
he still got hot with blush anytime samy showed up wearing something that told people she was his because if anything, he thought it should be the other way around and people should know he was hers.
"i think we should all buy them. we can twin," gabe went to grab one for himself with ryan quickly following. will just shook his head, but smiled nonetheless.
they continued on once the three of them had their shirts. will showed them all of his favorite spots in the city so far, the places him and macklin went to get lunch, the places their other teammates took them after a good game.
ryan and gabe marveled in the warmth and the beauties of the silicon valley. they looked like dads whenever they pulled their phones out to take pictures of the scenery. will hung back letting his friends take the lead and explore whatever they wanted to. samy eventually dropped back to check in with him where he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"you doing good?" she wondered.
"perfect. you?" he asked and the girl nodded.
"same. perfect," they shared a smile and a quick kiss on the cheek. samy's never seen her boyfriend look so weightless like he didn't have any stress on his shoulders or anything. it was probably because hanging out with ryan and gabe was easing any of the anxieties he was feeling about the game tomorrow.
will took a hold of her camera to flip it around. he wanted a selfie of them, using his longer arms to get both of them in frame. the girl smiled widely while will turned to kiss her cheek as he took the picture. when the preview came up on the screen they both grinned.
by the time they finished exploring, it was time to meet luke and jack at the restaurant they discussed beforehand. the brothers were already inside, waving when they caught sight of the group coming in. samy rushed forward to greet her brothers, both of them standing to scoop her into their arms.
"hi squirt. good to see you," jack cheered.
"it's so good to see you guys too," samy smiled.
"wow you already look tan," luke laughed as he noticed his sister's already darker complexion.
"lean, gp, celly, smitty, good to see all of you," jack dapped up each of the boys followed by luke.
"thanks for catching dinner with us," will said, pulling out samy's seat for her as they finally sat down.
"wouldn't ever pass up an opportunity to see our sister. it's crazy we're all here at the same time. i feel like it's summer right now," luke pinched samy's arm where she swatted his hand away.
"i was just saying that. i could get used to this warm weather," ryan laughed.
the boys quickly filled the conversation with hockey which samy expected. it was a good thing she liked it as much as them to talk about it the entire dinner. will's hand stayed on her thigh most of the time as his small reminder to him and herself that he was beside her. neither of them were huge on pda, but the little things liked that were enjoyable because they could still be close without making someone comment on it. the blonde occasionally watched his girlfriend interact with everyone, loving the relationship she had with her brothers and everyone else. she never missed a beat when they poked about hockey or talked about soccer. god, he was so lucky.
when the waiter came back around to ask if checks were going to be separate or all one, will immediately began to speak, but jack beat him to it.
"all one, thanks," the older hughes brother grinned.
"wait, you don't have to pay for us," ryan cut in before anyone could mention it.
"i don't mind. call it our treat," jack nudged luke's arm who nodded.
"jack," samy began but the boy shook his head. he wasn't gonna take any more protests about paying. the two brothers were feeling joyful with it being the holidays soon and paying for everyone's dinner was the least they could do.
"thank you, man. i appreciate it," will said and everyone else echoed his words.
"no problem. maybe this will act as a peace treaty when we beat you again tomorrow," jack always liked starting a little friendly fire. gabe and ryan oohed while will and macklin just shook their heads.
the waiter came back around with the check. jack quickly took out his card and handed it right back to her to ring it up, not even thinking twice. the others smiled.
when everything was fully paid for, everyone said their goodbyes until tomorrow. "see ya tomorrow, squirt. mom said she wanted a picture of all of us at some point, so we'll find you," luke said and the girl nodded.
when everyone got back to the house they were pretty tired from the day so a movie night in was quickly decided. with the marleau family gone for the weekend, they had the entire living room to themselves. samy put on her new shirt and when she came back out of the bathroom, will was blushing from head to toe again. he drank in her entire appearance that was only her new shirt and her little sleep shorts, subconsciously licking his lips.
"you like it?" the brunette giggled when she saw her boyfriend's lustful expression.
"you drive me up the wall," will mumbled, bringing her flush against his chest again.
"do i now?" she taunted a bit making the rookie curse to himself. he latched his lips back onto hers, not being able to control his urge to kiss her.
she reciprocated his actions, opening her mouth further for his tongue to fight its way in. like always, will's hands wandered across her hips—a feeling of possessiveness washing over him knowing she would be wearing this shirt tomorrow in front of all the fans in the arena. will was never one to be jealous or possessive all the time, but sometimes he got these little moments like right now where all he could think about was how proud he was gonna feel when everyone knew jack and luke's little sister was his girlfriend.
"we should get back downstairs," samy mumbled when they pulled apart for a second. both of their chests rose and fell against one another, panting for air.
"they'll be fine without us for twenty minutes," the blonde mumbled, pulling the girl back to his lips in another feverish kiss.
when they did eventually make it downstairs, ryan and gabe gave both of them a look that definitely told the couple they knew. gabe held up five fingers towards ryan and mouthed "you owe me $5 now," because they 100% betted on what was taking will and samy so long to join them.
—
the sap center was crowded and electric when the three made it inside after will dropped them off around the front. a few fans recognized the trio, immediately wanting autographs or a picture. samy loved taking photos with fans, so she was all for it, especially in their matching "i love #2" shirts.
"let's find our seats," ryan insisted once they were done talking with fans. he led them into the rink where the sharks were warming up. will, who had been looking for them to come in, caught samy's eye and waved her down.
"will wants to see us," she tugged on ryan's arm.
the brunette glanced down at the blonde who was waving them over. they turned around to get themselves down to the floor. will skated up to the open door, lifting his helmet up as he grinned. a few other guys skated after will that wasn't macklin.
"hey, my teammates wanted to say hi. you've been the talk since i mentioned you were coming," the blonde explained and his other teammates lifted up their helmets as well.
"will eklund. that's tom bordeleau. we've heard a lot about you," the older blonde stuck his hand out to shake samy's hand and then gabe and ryan.
"i've heard. nice to meet you guys," samy grinned.
"i like the shirts. didn't know pup had so many fans," tom teased a bit and nudged will's arm who blushed.
"we're his #1 fans if you couldn't tell," the girl giggled.
"oh we can tell. super cool meeting you hughes and gabe and ryan. we'll catch up some more after the game," eklund and bordeleau grinned as they skated back onto the ice.
"i'll see you guys after," will leaned forward to press a quick kiss to samy's lips. he bumped fists with gabe and ryan before skating back on to finish warmups.
ryan led them back to their seats a few rows up behind the glass. the brunette searched for her brothers and found them over by the bench. luke was also looking for his sister in the stands. he found all of them and quickly waved towards the three. they waved back.
"damn, i forgot how crazier this is than college hockey," gabe muttered as he took in the arena's excessive amount of seats and fans lining each one of them.
"it feels the same to me but bigger," ryan said with a chuckle.
"are you gonna end up getting one of those wag jackets?" gabe teased a bit, nudging the girl's arm beside him. she flushed.
"very funny."
"hey, you're gonna be a wifey, so you might as well embrace it," ryan added.
"not anytime soon though. i wanna at least finish college," the girl said.
"you guys are gonna have a huge wedding party. six of us plus your brothers plus whoever else will wants?" all samy did was shake her head not wanting to think that far ahead yet. she wasn't even twenty.
the three made mindless conversation until the lights dimmed and the announcers got ready to introduce the players as they came out of the shark tunnel which was samy's personal favorite of the home games. will skated out first and the three were on their feet screaming his name like crazy. the blonde waved up at them before he slid into line. macklin came out after and they screamed again for the second rookie.
"that's our rookie!!" gabe screamed down to them.
"we love #2!" ryan joined in.
will blushed like crazy hearing them yell for him while getting eyes from the other players. eklund reached over to nudge his shoulder, a knowing smirk on his lips. the devils came out a few minutes later, some devils fans cheering for them but it was mostly boos in the stands.
the game got underway fast once they played the national anthem. will was on the ice with his line first, the lower bowl on their feet screaming and cheering for the white and teal players.
it felt like old times back when they were in the dev program arena or the conte forum and samy was cheering will on as he flew across the ice with the puck. she followed his number 2 with her eyes, cheering when he made a successful pass or received one from his linemate.
"come on smitty!" ryan called, his rowdiness already starting to show.
the youngest hughes bounced between watching her boyfriend and watching her brothers who definitely knew how to push will out of his comfort zone. it helped that they've played together before, but luke and jack were a powerhouse when it came to being on the ice together. they weaved between the sharks like bullets, adding a few pushes and shoves as they went.
"damn, they're fast," gabe mumbled.
"will knows how they play, or at least he knows how luke plays. they're gonna wanna push him out of his comfort zone," samy explained exactly what the two brothers started doing. luke got himself up close and personal to will, trying to get the puck from him without shoving the younger blonde too hard.
the older brunette had the upper hand and took the puck back. he passed back down the ice towards the other goal leaving will to chase after him.
a wash of nostalgia hit samy as she watched her brothers and boyfriend battle it out together. memories from when they were little flashed in her mind of the same image of luke and jack playing against will on the ice. they always used to be a little meaner to the two of them because they wanted them to grow their skill and become meaner as well. samy knew that was what her brothers were trying to do now.
"come on, come on, come on," ryan muttered under his breath wanting will to score a goal. he was getting closer, but the devils were obviously tough players.
both teams went the whole period without scoring. the sharks had definitely stepped it up since their last game and were trying to make the devils work for a point.
"you guys need anything?" ryan wondered during the first intermission. samy and gabe shook their heads.
"okay, well i'm gonna grab a drink. text me if you do end up wanting something," the brunette said and disappeared towards the food court.
"how've you been?" gabe wondered when it was just them. samy snapped her gaze to him, "i'm good. better."
the dark-haired boy smiled, "i'm glad to hear that. talking with your coaches went okay? you started talking to someone?"
"yeah, yeah. coach klein was actually really glad i came and said something to her and she was sorry i felt that way. i talked to my parents more too and we found someone that i can start talking with every other week. it's been good," the girl elaborated. relief flooded gabe hearing that. he'd been really worried about her, so he was glad to hear she was doing a lot better.
"that makes me happy to hear. don't forget we're always a call away too," the boy said and she nodded.
"i know, thanks, g."
ryan returned a few minutes later just before the second period began. he came back with some soda, offering some of it to them even though they said they didn't want any. gabe took a sip and then so did samy, appreciating his offer.
the players were back on the ice minutes later and the heightened energy quickly returned. the three were on their feet again as will zoomed by their section hoping for a goal this period.
luke was the only one on at the moment. he guarded the goal area fiercely, ready to push back against will's advances. samy's gaze constantly flicked between him and her boyfriend, wondering if will would be able to get past him.
macklin was back on the ice so now both rookies were working to score the first goal of the night. samy's eyes darted between all three boys down there rooting for will and mack while also rooting for her brothers. it was always hard when people saw her cheering for one team and then the other seconds later.
the blonde flew around the bend of the rink, avoiding a hit from one of the devils as he passed down to macklin. the brunette took ahold of the puck, deciding to take his chances with shooting. the little puck flew past luke's stick and the goalies right into the back of the net. the air horns blew and samy jumped up in excitement. everyone else on the arena screamed out while the boys quickly celebrated the first goal.
"let's go mack!" gabe cheered. the brunette pumped his fists into the air and then skated towards around the glass to get everyone to cheer for him again.
for the rest of the 2nd period and the 3rd, the sharks stayed at 1 point and the devils didn't score which meant the sharks had their redemption. samy cheered for will and his team while also sympathizing with her brothers' team. ryan led them back towards the front lobby knowing all of the boys probably had a bunch of press to do before they reunited.
samy got caught up with some fans again as they were leaving the arena. ryan and gabe gladly helped take pictures and even get some of their own with the few that recognized them. things started clearing out a bit more after twenty minutes now that it was just wives and other friends waiting for the players to come back out.
will appeared about twenty more minutes later. he was showered and back in his christmas sweater that he walked in wearing over his dress shirt. samy grinned, opening her arms to hug him. the blonde wrapped his arms around her torso, spinning her around slightly.
"congrats on the win, #2. super proud of you," the girl cheered.
"i told you, you were my good luck charm," the blonde kissed the bridge of her nose. he set her down to greet gabe and ryan again.
"awesome game, smitty. you killed it out there," gabe exclaimed. while the boys caught up, jack and luke came into the main lobby, spotting samy.
"hey! we gotta run, but we wanted to grab a photo with you guys before we left," jack hugged his sister first.
"okay, it was good seeing you two. i'll see you again in like a week," the brunette grinned as she hugged luke next.
"yeah, we'll be home," luke smiled.
"we can take your photo if you want," gabe offered to the siblings who appreciated the gesture.
"we want one with all of you too," jack said as they squeezed themselves together. gabe took a few, handing it back so they could examine them.
"awww cute. mom will love that," samy smiled. they found someone to take a photo of all of them and then jack and luke hurried out of the arena to catch their bus back to the hotel.
macklin finally came out from the back with eklund and bordeleau behind him. "hey, we wanted to properly say hi to you guys," the other will explained.
"you guys killed it out there tonight. i was thoroughly impressed," gabe began with a smile.
"thanks man. it was definitely a tough game, but i'm glad we pulled away with a win," tom grinned as well.
"all thanks to this kid," will patted mack's back who flushed.
"hey, it was nothing guys," the younger brunette laughed.
"so we hear you're a national title holder now," eklund nudged samy's arm, turning the conversation to her.
"first national title. it was super cool," the soccer player chuckled, still reeling from all of the excitement that last weekend was.
"damn, w-2 really has it all then doesn't he? the skill, the friends, the girl. i'm kind of jealous," tom brushed up will's hair. the blonde blushed for probably the hundredth time that weekend, watching the way samy's lips lifted into another grin.
he was so in love with her.
"we should probably head out soon, but i'll catch you guys later," the hockey player broke out of his daze knowing it was getting late and everyone was exhausted from the game.
"of course. we'll catch you guys later. it was a pleasure meeting you three," tom nodded towards samy, gabe, and ryan before heading out the side door. will led the way to his car.
it was a fairly silent ride home just because of how tired everyone was and eager to finally lay in bed. they wished macklin a goodnight and then got back on the road towards the marleau house.
"great game again, smitty. see ya in the morning," ryan patted his friend's back before heading upstairs.
"see you guys in the morning," will chuckled. his gaze slid to samy's who raised her eyebrow when they met eyes.
"so what'd you think?" the blonde wondered as the couple lingered downstairs for a few more minutes.
"of what?" the girl wondered.
"everything, i guess?" as samy knew, will always had to make sure he had her approval because he valued her opinion so much. she giggled. "i really liked them. they were nice," she referred to his teammates.
"that's probably the tamest they've ever been," will admitted with a low laugh.
"i could tell. did you tell them to behave or something?" samy leaned back into the couch for a moment. the hockey player quickly joined her.
"i may have said something a few days ago when i said you were coming to visit again."
"i liked them, don't worry. you played really well tonight. i was impressed," the girl told him honestly which burned a smile into the boy's lips.
"luke and jack kind of tore into me, but i expected it. i knew they were trying to push me."
"yeah, i could tell too, but you handled them well," they shared a sweet smile.
"i'm really, really glad you came this weekend. i had a lot of fun. i mean i always have fun whenever we're together," will said again even though he's said this a hundred times already. the girl flushed.
"well you don't have to miss me too hard this time because i'll see you in cape cod for christmas," samy rested her head on will's shoulder even though they probably should've headed upstairs to change and lay in his actual bed. the couch was also just so comfortable.
"i can't wait to be back in massachusetts for a few days," will hummed, leaning his head against hers.
as suspected, they fell asleep like that—will in his suit and samy in her jeans. it wasn't until will woke up three hours later and realized they were still downstairs that he nudged samy awake and helped her upstairs so they could be more comfortable in his bed.
they hardly changed into their pajamas before crashing back onto the bed. samy quickly snuggled into her boyfriend's side where will pulled her so close there wasn't any space left between them. he pecked the top of her head.
"love you," he mumbled sleepily.
"love you, too," samy sighed, sleeping until they needed to be up and back at the airport the next day.
#will smith hockey#hughes!sister x will smith au#samy x will#samy hughes#will smith imagine#will smith x oc#boston college hockey#boston college#uofmichigan#umich hockey#ws6#wsh2#will smith 2#will smith hockey fluff#will smith hockey 2#san jose sharks#sjs#sj sharks#macklin celebrini#will smith#gabe perreault#ryan leonard#umich#umich soccer#umich fic#umich imagine#umich blurb#umich wolverines#bc eagles#bc hockey
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The moment I could see it - Part 3
Pairing: Max Verstappen x Ariel Cane (Original Character)
Summary: 5 Times that Gianpiero Lambiase thinks that Ariel Cane and Max Verstappen are weirdly similar…and 1 time he is just happy that the two of them are no longer pining after each other.
Warnings:
GP's POV, mention of cancer, mention of parent's death
Author Notes: I am back to my old tricks...which means I write from the most random of POV's just because. (I once wrote a chapter from a dog's POV so like, GP doesn't even really count.
It was actually quite stupid, GP reflected drily, that in 4 years of knowing both Ariel Cane and Max Verstappen...he had never even thought that one day they would be in the same room at the same time.
Even after Ariel had gotten a job in Red Bull's PR department straight out of uni.
It was just...two very different parts of his life. Colliding. Right in front of him.
And it was pure coincidence in a way...namely a meeting where they wanted an opinion from the Social Media Team...and suddenly, there was Ariel Cane walking into the room, with a smile on her face.
And there was Max Verstappen. Staring at her. Completely stunned.
GP found himself silently hoping that Max wouldn't start drooling or do something equally embarrassing.
GP couldn't suppress a silent laugh as he witnessed Max's reaction to Ariel's entrance. Max looked positively gobsmacked as he gaped at her. He couldn’t help but watch the whole thing with a lot of amusement as Max stared at Ariel utterly stunned.
Max, who GP had seen progress from a reckless speed demon to a more mature driver, but now was completely frozen, staring at Ariel as if he had never seen a girl before.
GP wasn't the only one who was amused by his reaction. Granted, Ariel was a very pretty girl, but the way Max was staring made it seem like she was the most gorgeous creature he had ever laid eyes on.
He couldn't help but find the whole situation entertaining. Max was usually so confident and laid-back, but now he looked completely out of his depth.
Meanwhile, Ariel was completely unaware of the effect she was having on him. She was simply smiling warmly at the meeting attendees, not realizing that Max was staring at her like a love sick puppy.
Gianpiero exchanged a glance with a couple of his colleagues, who were also trying to hide their amusement. Clearly, they found the whole situation just as amusing as he did. It was rare for Max to be rendered dumbfounded like this.
The meeting continued, with Ariel providing some insights for the Social Media Team. However, it was clear that Max struggled to concentrate on anything but her. He shot furtive glances in her direction, trying to be subtle but failing miserably. Luckily for Max, the meeting came to an end not long after, and everyone began to leave the room. GP watched as Max lingered behind, seeming like he wanted to say something to Ariel.
GP stepped in, noticing how Max was still staring at Ariel with a dreamy expression. He couldn't help but rib the young man a bit.
"Don't even think about it, Verstappen," he said dryly, amused by the situation.
Max looked at him, caught in the act of openly ogling Ariel, and his cheeks colored a bright red.
"I wasn't..." he protested weakly before trailing off. The denial sounded rather half-hearted.
GP just raised an eyebrow, silently saying 'yeah, sure you weren't.' He knew Max well enough to be able to tell when he was interested in someone, and right now, his interest was painfully evident.
"Actually I was thinking about offering her a job," Max blurted out.
GP could just stare at him. He definitely hadn't expected Max to say that.
"A job?" he repeated, a hint of disbelief in his voice. "What kind of job are you planning to offer her?"
He watched as Max shifted awkwardly, clearly having blurted out the words without fully thinking it through."Well, I fired Sadie...so I need a new personal assistant."
GP’s eyebrows rose even further as Max explained the situation. He couldn't help but be taken aback by his impulsivity.
"You fired Sadie and now you want to hire Ariel as your new personal assistant? Just like that?" he questioned incredulously.
"She's good at her job!" Max defended himself. "Better that...literally all the rest of the PR team I need to deal with on a daily basis."
GP had to acknowledge that Max had a point. The PR team could be...eccenctric, to say the least. And it was true that Ariel was good at her job.
"Alright, I'll give you that," he admitted. "Ariel is talented. But if you think that she is simply going to do what you tell her to do…you are wrong. She’ll eat you alive,” he said with some amusement. “Her brother is our Head of electrical engineering. Have you met him yet? Tall, Red head? Only manages to come to work with the same pair of shoes on both feet around 80% of time and is well known for working 48 hour stretches?”
"If they can't get him to stop, they call his little sister...and you don't want to be on her bad side when that happens."
Max shifted uncomfortably, clearly realising the implications of what Gianpiero was saying. Ariel Cane was not someone to be trifled with.
GP took a moment to reflect on the situation. Max, with his habit of getting into trouble, wanted to hire a young woman who was known for her no-bullshit, no-nonsense attitude...
Yeah, this was shaping up to be a disaster in the making. And GP was going to have a front row seat
But he couldn't help feeling a slight sense of schadenfreude. Sitting back and watching this unfold was going to be entertaining, in a chaotic and amusing kind of way.
He didn't actually think, Max was going to go through with it.
Until Ariel showed up in his office days later.
"Tell me about Max Verstappen," she said calmly as she sat down in front of his desk. "What kind of boss is he?"
His eyebrows rose.
"Well, he's not exactly my boss..." GP began. "But Max is a good kid. He's a raer, through and through. A bit impulsive and a bit...reckless, but he's a good guy...mostly."
He paused for a moment, considering how to describe Max as a boss.
"As a boss, he's...demanding," he continued. "He has high expectations and he expects you to give 110% at all times. But he's also fair and if you do your job, he'll be the first to give you credit for it."
"You aren't actually thinking about taking his offer, are you?" he asked her bluntly, unable to keep his surprise out of his voice.
Max was the unpredictable one. Ariel…Ariel wasn’t. Ariel always did what was expected of her.
He didn't want to discourage her if she was serious about the position, but he also had some strong opinions about the potential working relationship between her and Max.
"Max is...a handful," GP warned her. "He can be demanding, impulsive, and more than a bit reckless. As his personal assistant, you'd have to put up with a lot of things most people wouldn't even think of. Are you sure you want to get yourself into that kind of situation?"
Ariel cocked her head to the side. "I like a challenge," she said drily.
GP couldn't help but let out a low snort. That answer both reassured him as well as concerned him.
He had known that Ariel would see this as a challenge, and he had no doubt she was more than capable of handling Max and his…behavior.
"You like a challenge, huh?" he repeated, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Well, Max Verstappen sure as hell will be your biggest challenge yet. The hours will be long, the stress will be high, and you'll have to deal with a hell of a lot of Max's...antics."
He paused for a moment, giving her a hard look. He wanted to make sure she knew exactly what she was getting into with this job.
"You're more than capable of handling Max, I have no doubt. But be prepared for the ride of your life if you take on this job. Max is a handful, and I have no doubt he'll push your buttons. He'll probably drive you insane,” he warned her. “Do you think you can handle that?”
GP watched her closely, studying her expression for any hint of uncertainty or doubt. He was a good judge of character and could usually tell if someone was putting on a brave face. But if he was being honest, he couldn't detect any hint of hesitation on Ariel’s face.
Max could be a force of nature, more than most people could handle.
"Just keep in mind," he added, allowing himself a small smile. "Max is a race car driver. He's used to living his life at lightning speed. You'll need to keep up if you want to keep him on track."
There was a small smile blooming on Ariel's face.
"Oh, I expect nothing less," she said simply.
#max verstappen fanfiction#formula 1#max verstappen#max verstappen smau#max verstappen fic#f1 fanfiction#formula 1 fanfiction#max verstappen fluff#mv1 fanfiction#max verstappen imagine#max verstappen fake instagram#f1 smau#max verstappen social media au#max verstappen x reader#mv1 x reader#f1 x reader#formula 1 x reader#mv1 fic#max verstappen x you#f1 grid x reader#f1 grid fanfiction
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CINDY LOU WHO
Daniela Avanzini X Reader
“You didn't think about the consequences of your actions, and consequently, you didn't think about how Daniela's heart would be after all this”
Genre – angst as fuck Warnings – Reader is an asshole
fruitcake masterlist
Now playing – Cindy lou who, by Sabrina Carpenter
Daniela was paralyzed, sitting on a bench in the park with her phone in her hand. The phone screen displayed a photo, which a news Instagram had posted, the image was clear, probably taken by a professional camera of some photographer. The first photo showed you and your ex Jenna Ortega, walking hand in hand on the streets of New York, laughing at something very funny, and for a moment, Daniela was afraid to scroll to the next photo.
Taking a deep breath, the Latina ran her finger over the screen, her breath getting caught in her ribcage and her world slowly collapsing. You and Jenna, kissing, near the various Christmas decorations, which were now making Daniela nauseous. Tears began to well up in the blonde's eyes, and she wanted to throw her phone into the water fountain that was in front of her.
A month ago, you and Daniela had fallen apart. No matter how hard the Latina tried, she thought she would never make you happy like your ex, but that didn't stop her from trying.
"Where are you going?" Daniela asked, holding the sheet on her chest, leaning on her elbow and looking at you wearing your clothes.
"I'm going home, I mean, your friends are coming and I have to work tomorrow." You said, buttoning your pants and sitting on the bed to tie the shoelaces of your sneakers.
With a slightly worried look, Daniela sat down lightly, crawling to the corner of the bed where you were sitting, letting the sheet fall the Latina hugged your waist, putting her chin on your shoulder.
"You don't have to go, Manon is at her girlfriend's house, and the girls don't mind having you here. I don't have work tomorrow, you can stay and I can make you breakfast." Daniela said, starting to get excited about the idea of you spending the night.
"Dani, don't make this what it isn't." You said, letting go of the younger woman's grip and getting up to get your jacket. "You know this is not a relationship."
"What? Is it bad that I want to do something for you?" Daniela replies, you could tell she was about to cry with your words.
"You already do enough." You said, still without looking at her.
"Oh yes. I let you fuck me, sure, how did I not think of that before?" Daniela said, her cutting voice dripping with sarcasm. "You know what, it was a mistake to call you tonight." The Latina stood up, wearing the clothes you had taken off a few hours ago.
"What's wrong with you? We both agreed that this would be just casual sex." You said, approaching Daniela, only for the shorter woman to move away from you.
"No, you decided that on your own. You know what, you can come to me when you want to stop using me." Daniela said, throwing your car keys on your chest, walking towards the bedroom door and opening for you, a silent request to leave her alone.
With a snort, you shook your head negatively, staring incredulously at the Latina in front of you, before passing her and heading away.
Daniela didn't know what she had done wrong, she didn't know why you loved Jenna, why you went public with Jenna, why you had a relationship with Jenna, while you hadn't done any of that with her. The Latina felt lost, the red and green lights were now all blue, just like her.
After the incident, you and Daniela had exchanged some messages, she had fallen again, asking you to come to her house and forget about all that fight. She didn't care if you weren't going to stay afterwards, she just wanted to feel your warmth one last time. She remembered the messages, it all seemed so vivid in her mind.
You refused to go to her that night, you said you were discovering yourself, searching for your soul, going after your way, you told her you were getting lost in Los Angeles. Now she understands why you were so happy, you found yourself.
Looking at the photo once again made Daniela want to throw up, the Latina's stomach churning in a bad way, and she thought it best to lock her phone screen before she had a public crisis. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, the Latina looked over her shoulder, seeing Sophia's hand and the rest of the Kats standing behind her with looks of compassion. And when the tears began to run down her eyes, Daniela thought it best to get up and go to the car.
"'is the season, i guess."
That's kind of small because I hate writing angst, but I found it interesting.
I think this is my first fic that doesn't have a happy ending. I'm sad for Daniela, but the requests I have for her are very cute, so they will make up for it.
xoxo, spider.
#katseye imagines#katseye x reader#kpop gg#daniela avanzini x reader#lara raj x reader#sophia laforteza x reader#kpop angst#katseye daniela x reader
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In my mind i keep assuming krs spent his entire life alone and surviving on his own
But that isn't the case, there's clearly proof that he was at some level helped by other people
He mentions it often
He was saved by social workers from his uncle when he was a kid
LSH saved his life
Grandma kim always looked after him like her own son while LSH was gone
CJS and LSH died for him
And so many other incidents
But why does it feel like he's still all alone?
I think his tendency to self isolate is why i keep assuming he survived on his own, when he very much didn't.
Everyone fails him or leaves him eventually, he ends up all alone so often that it's hard for me to think about krs as someone who's had support.
He's had the rug pulled out from underneath him so many times, that it no longer shocks him anymore (take chapter 1-3 for example, he was so chill about waking up in another world and stated he didn't have anyone who he'd miss
But that isn't true either, krs spent 10-ish years of his life as team leader and protected his coworkers time and time again, of course people would miss him. In elisehns illusion, Kim Min Ah and Bae Puh Rum came to check up on krs who hadn't returned to work.
While he mentions the physical support and companionship he's received from other people, his mental wounds run too deep.
He keeps a very clinical count of who he owes and who owes him in return, support is not a familial thing to him, it's transactional
The biggest reason grandma Kims death affected him so much was that he owed her A LOT, she was always quick to have his back and support him, Willing to treat his bruises over and over again despite her ability being limited.
Same with CJS and LSH, they supported him more than his own family ever did (parents dead and an abusive uncle), he was devastated that he couldn't spend the rest of his life with them in order to "pay back" all of their kindness so far.
He doesn't feel responsible for their deaths, but he feels responsible for every opportunity he lost to care about them in return. He mourns the future he could've had with them and the happiness krs could've brought to CJS and LSH.
"you can't smooth things over with the dead" is something he said in the novel, around the time choi han figures out who he is and krs is ready for CH to be extremely upset with him.
Krs!Cale feels responsible for everyone who shows kindness to him, a part of it is because whenever someone has cared about him, his heart always cared about them in return. And krs caring about people caused them to get hurt, that's why he feels the need to protect them so that they don't fall victim to krs' affection, and he actually has enough time with them for their "kindness" to be evened out.
This is why he's annoyed when his group grows larger and larger because of his subconscious altruism, there's so many opportunities for all of them to get hurt before he's done caring about them to the amount he thinks is acceptable, it worries his emotionally stunted heart.
Anywho, i think he feels alone to me because of how little he opens up to other people. He is a self isolating king and manages to be the most famous man ever.
I want him to open up that scarred heart of his and finally allow himself to be loved beyond transactions.
#krs makes me sick#sobbing#i love the soos#i wish i could put all my thoughts into words#i have so many tcf analysis drafts because idk how to word them#tcf novel#i need therapy because of krs#i need therapy because of YRH-nim#I'm sick#not ok#trash of the counts family#cale henituse#kim rok soo#grandma kim#lee soo hyuk#choi jung soo#lee chul min#the lee siblings#GRAHAHHSHSHSHS#my blorbos#they make me so sad#i wanna branch out to other characters but my krs fixation is too strong#on my 4rth read I'll focus on other characters trust#i cried#how do i cope with tcf#how#tell me pls
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if you're reading this - luigi mangione x reader
just want to let you all know that all the accusations made against this and are just that- accusations
innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt
(not beta read)
he had been caught.
that's all you had been seeing all day. his pictures all over social media and the news, some demonising him and calling him a terrorist, others calling him a hero. you were just confused. three weeks ago, he just up and left your shared apartment without so much as an explanation. you wished you knew better but you couldn't explain it. you loved him and you thought he lived you right back. he was so sweet and doting and attentive to you, even if he hadn't been the same since the accident.
the accident... it had dimmed his light significantly. he couldn't hike or climb or do the things he once loved, being too financially and physically incapacitated to do it, and that's when you noticed his shift. you'd been seeing each other for some years, even talking about the idea of marriage before the accident happened. after it, though, it's like a switch flipped. he came to stay with you while he was covering his medical bills and you could see up close how it changed him. he became distant from you and obsessed with a lot of socialist literature, reading while he wasn't working. his parents and family called you several times because he had effectively stopped speaking to anyone since then. he was different and it was difficult for you to watch what had become of him now that...
you were on your way home from a long day at work, only made longer by seeing your boyfriends face everywhere. you had to turn off the radio because of all the news reports every few seconds. you couldn't believe it, but at the same time, you could. he had an implicitly calloused way of handling things that you'd always said would land him in prison. little did you know, it was literally landing him in prison. the health care system, after all, killed your childhood best friend and left him disabled and in debt. he was the one who just went to go and make his grievances known.
upon your arrival at your apartment, you headed straight for his desk and flipped through all the papers and manuscripts, reading through his detailed notes and excerpts from books and studies. then you saw it. a letter, starting with the words: if you're reading this, they got me. and I'm sorry.
your heart lurched when you saw those words and you didn't even realise that tears were running down your face. you continued reading thr note in his familiar messy handwriting, sharp and thin lettering you recognised as his.
I'm so sorry. I know I've been abandoning you and our relationship. I've been abandoning everyone. but I can't just deal with this pain any longer, and I can't bear to see you suffer because of something neither of us could have predicted. I've cleared the medical debts and paid for the apartment for the next three months. you're free now. and I want you to use that freedom to find happiness beyond me. I love you. but I know I won't be there for you much from jail. you've always been headstrong and intelligent, so I hope you'll understand why I chose to do what I did. I'm truly, truly sorry. I hope you can forgive me. and more importantly, I hope you can find happiness beyond me. I love you.
a short something for all of you. prayers for all of you in the states, I never knew it was this bad. if ceo's were popped as often as kids in school, gun control would be a thing. once again, free luigi. he didn't do anything wrong. - saïe
#luigi mangione x reader#angst#if youre reading this#free luigi#free my shayla#free my baby daddy#free my man#he aint do nothing
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Hii congrats on 600 followers!!
I was wondering if i could get nr. 12 from the fluff prompts w Leopold?
“I never thought I’d be so lucky, especially not in this lifetime.”
Much love 💜💜
a/n: Its been a while since I've wrote for Leo!!! I miss him sm. I hope you enjoy this little fluff piece <33. I'm so sorry this took forever but Im finally getting to these ahslfd
wc: 602
600 follower drabble masterlist
It's been years since Leopold found himself in modern day New York. An unbelievable story that sounded absolutely ridiculous when he really thought about it. I mean, falling through a time rift? It was outlandish to even think of something like that. But somehow it happened.
He was Alice coming to wonderland, except this time it was all real. He was greatly unhappy back in his time. An Uncle who only cared for money and a looming loveless marriage. He wasn't exactly eager to get back. Kate and Charlie had helped him become acquainted with this world but it wasn't for another couple months that everything really clicked.
It was a random chance, he just happened to have wandered into the library, found himself in a random aisle, and bumped into you. Literally bumped. He was so engrossed in reading that he ran right into you. Making the stack of books in your hand go tumbling to the ground. He apologized profusely, bending down to help you clean when he looked up.
Call it cliché but when he met your eyes something changed. His heart leaped, seeing your adorable smile and kind eyes. You were incredibly kind, telling him that it was alright. He looked like a fool. Not being able to utter a single word as he was taken back by your beauty.
He spotted the name tag, you worked here. He introduced himself and took your hand, kissing your knuckles as he did so. You clamed up, at first he thought he had done something wrong as you squeaked out a thank you and practically ran away from him. He'd learn later that he had just flustered you until you couldn't think.
He kept going back and each time he'd find you there. Flirting with you until the day he finally asked you out. One date turned in to another which turned in to more and more.
In a blink of an eye Leopold life had been forever changed. Instead of the life his uncle wanted he's here. Married to the love of his life and working in a small antique shop. He loves it. He really does. Getting to tinker with oddities and finding homes for trinkets. Coming home to you every night. It was a dream.
"Leo? Are you alright?" He looks up from a book he had found at some shop, an old first edition. Though he really hadn't been reading anything. He must have spent too much time reminiscing. Your apartment was right above his shop so you must have been waiting for him.
"Apologies my darling, I was just thinking." He hums as you walk over and kiss him.
"What were you thinking about?" You ask as you brush his hair back, staring into the gorgeous eyes of your husband.
"It's just, I never thought I’d be so lucky, especially not in this lifetime.” He confesses.
When his parents passed he believed he was doomed to a life that was governed by others. His own happiness was an afterthought. But then he found this time, he found you. Now everything is changed and he sees himself growing old with you. Every day is better than the last.
"You're such a romantic Leo." You say with a smile. He stands up and kisses you gently.
"It's late my love, go to bed I'll be there soon." He hums.
He steals one last kiss before shooing you off. He takes a look around his shop before turning off the light. Ready to spend another night with you in his arms.
He really is the luckiest man alive.
#leopold mountbatten#leopold mountbatten x reader#hugh jackman x reader#leopold mounbatten fluff#600 followers
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Some thoughts about episode 28 of Blossom:
The emperor ain't shit. Song Han broke the Mu guy's foot during the examination and possibly crippled him for life and he clearly did it intentionally. He had already won when he got the Mu guy immobile with no way out so there was no reason to break his foot. I get that this is what Dou Shishu wanted so Song Han just did the thing he was told to do but right in front of the emperor during an examination? And the emperor is like "wow this guy fights good" like dude you are not some random martial art fanatic who is oblivious to everything else, you are the emperor so I cannot help but give you the stink eye when you don't see how malicious Song Han's behaviour was the whole time.
This is about the emperor as well. He knows Song Mo is sick and in pain. Song Han asks for a duel with Song Mo and the emperor allows it. Fine. But when the duel ends with a draw, he says, "To turn the tide against Yantang is rare indeed" bitch Yantang is sick. In anime language, Yantang is using only 60% of his power. And you know it!
Again, about the emperor. How dare he be so mean with Gu Yu.
I did not expect Miao Ansu to be this foolish. Song Han went all "woe is me" on her and she looked at him and said "Yup. I like that. He's the one I want." What exactly was on those handkerchiefs that Song Han gave her for wiping her sweat that she wiped away her smartness with those as well.
Lastly, Song Mo's little speech during the wedding!!! "I thought I would never know warmth. Fortunately, someone came into my life. Now, I treasure the value of a good marriage and a good partner more than anyone." like what if started crying. Song Mo and Dou Zhao are so precious. Then Song Mo says to Song Han that he wishes the same for him and if Song Han hadn't maimed his own heart and eyesight with all his hatred and greed then he would've been able to see that Song Mo meant every word and truly wished the same happiness for him.
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Miya&Mia's 12 days of Tickles Day 8: Memories
Kavetham
A/N: uufff super late for this one as well skdndkff I'm terrible at these events aaaaaaaa I hope you all enjoy this one, I think they're a bit too ooc, but I hope you like it either way lol
The holiday season really was... melancholic for Kaveh. Memories of the past plagued his mind from a long time ago where his father had not disappeared and his mother was still with him and he was just a silly boy, opening presents and grinning like an idiot.
He now had spent many holidays on his own and he was nothing more than a poor architect. Poor, literally, and the only thing that made his life happy was…
“Ah, Kaveh. Welcome back. What do you think of this?”
Well, not a thing, but Alhaitham.
“Alhaitham? Are you… decorating?”
Kaveh blinked in disbelief as the wooden door closed behind him. Alhaitham was in the middle of the living room, decorating a huge pine tree right in the corner. It was almost finished, for what Kaveh could tell, it only needed the ornament on the very top.
What did he think of this? Well, first of all, he didn't understand why Alhaitham was doing this. Second of all… it didn't look half bad if he had to be honest.
“So?” Alhaitham insisted with his usual bored expression.
“Well, it looks good. I just… didn't know you liked this celebration so much…”
Something weird twisted in Kaveh’s chest. Seeing this pine tree only made him think about the memories of his childhood and he let out a long sigh that Alhaitham didn't fail to notice.
“What's wrong?”
“It's just…”
Before he could stop himself, he was telling Alhaitham all about it, feeling his cheeks heating up as the Acting Great Sage looked at him intently from across the room.
The words came pouring out, explaining why he felt so melancholy and sad while a part of his brain screamed at him to shut up. Was Alhaitham going to laugh at him afterwards? Was he going to tell him he was making a fool of himself? Worse still, was he going to take down the decorations?
As the words slowly died on his lips, Kaveh couldn't look up, so ashamed he was of having said everything he said. He fiddled with his fingers and opened his mouth a few times, but Alhaitham's crushing silence had him paralyzed.
“W-Well, I… I… oh!”
He could no longer formulate his sentence because Alhaitham's strong arms surrounded his figure and held him tightly against his chest, his cheek resting on top of Kaveh's head. Kaveh blinked, but slowly returned Alhaitham's embrace and tried to ignore the stinging in his eyes.
He didn't know how long they stayed like that, gently swaying and enjoying each other's warmth. If it were up to Kaveh, he would have stayed there all his life, in Alhaitham's arms, listening to the calm beating of his heart.
“We should create new memories,” Alhaitham said above him and Kaveh hummed in agreement, smiling softly, nuzzling more into Alhaitham’s chest. “New memories so your silly brain stops focusing on the bad.”
Kaveh didn't even feel like fighting so he chuckled, nodding a little. “You're right, for once, what do y-you thihihihink-! It tihihickles, wahahait!”
One of Alhaitham's mischievous hands had slipped through the opening in the back of Kaveh's clothing and his fingers dug gently against the back of his ribs.
Kaveh burst out laughing, pushing Alhaitham lightly, as if he didn't really want to escape and was just putting up an act. Alhaitham simply chuckled and wrapped his arm firmly around Kaveh's waist, preventing him from escaping or falling to the floor.
“I bet it does. The reason is that I'm tickling you, Kaveh. We're under the mistletoe.”
Kaveh hadn't noticed, but a mistletoe had been hung at the entrance to the hall, and just as Alhaitham had said, they were both under it.
“You're suhuhuppohosed to kihihiss, not tihihickle- ahahahah! L-Leheheave my rihihibs alohohone!” Kaveh hit Alhaitham's chest without any force.
“We'll, since we're creating new memories, let's also create new traditions,” Alhaitham said, pressing a open mouthed kiss to Kaveh's neck, causing him to gasp between his laughter. “We have to kiss and tickle each other under the mistletoe.”
“That's unfahahair, I-” Kaveh gasped. Did he just say tickle each other?
Weakly, one of his hands managed to find an opening to one of Alhaitham's armpit and the scribe threw his head back with a loud, sudden laugh.
“Fine! FIHIHINE! I wahahas wrohohong!” Alhaitham cackled, trying to push Kaveh away.
The architect simply giggled and kept tickling Alhaitham. “Nah, you weren't. We're making new memories, aren't we?”
This holiday season was definitely going to be different and for the first time in forever, Kaveh was looking forward to it.
#miya&mia's 12 days of tickles#genshin impact#genshin impact tickling#kavetham#haikaveh#kaveh#Alhaitham#ticklish!Kaveh#ticklish!Alhaitham#tickle fic#mia's things
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f1 drivers as christmas songs🫶
pairing : m.verstappen, l.norris, c.sainz, o.piastri, c.leclerc, d.ricciardo
summary : mostly innaccurate but, a christmas song that i think matches these above formula drivers.
warnings : absolutely none lol
a/n : don't @ me but i'm really wanting to release a decent-ish amount of fic-mas fics before christmas ends let alone begins so forgive me if these are crap lol
max verstappen
silent night
i have no idea why silent night came to mind for max but, it just did.
i just feel like max loves christmases that are just relaxed, not too much effort
and i feel like he doesn't like it when he has to go to multiple different christmas get togethers
all because he just wants to be at home with his cats and with his immediate family
he loves a calm but bright christmas
whilst he may not be religious, christmas can feel holy at the same time for him
does he sleep in heavenly peace like the song suggests?
i definitely think he does because he doesn't have to worry about the race season until the new year
which means i think he also doesn't care what he eats or how much he eats
and it's because he knows he won't have to really worry about not losing it because he'll still make sure to occasionally train at the gym every once in a while
the main thing about christmas he enjoyed wasn't all the presents he got but the love he got to be surrounded by
lando norris
last christmas
the only real reason why last christmas came to mind was because of lando's ex-girlfriend luisa
i truly think lando really loved luisa more than he loved any other of his ex girlfriend's
hence why i think the lyrics 'i gave you my heart but the very next day, you gave it away' really screams lando to me as a christmas song
do i think lando has tried to save himself from tears and giving his heart to someone special?
no, i truly think lando's someone special was luisa
but, lando has definitely given away his heart to people that don't deserve it
and i'm not just talking female relationships either for lando
i'm also taking about people in lando's life that have been shown his heart and then taken it for granted
i may also be referring to lando himself
lando is someone who loves to self-sabotage and think awfully of himself
so when someone tells him that he's amazing and that they don't understand why he's so hard on himself, he'll just blindly accept it
and he'll wrongly stay close to them thinking that all they want for him is happiness
when really they don't want him to succeed
they just want him because of his name and his popularity
however, at some point lando realises and he becomes more guarded
but, he also becomes more confident in who he is and becomes more trusting of himself
carlos sainz jr
feliz navidad
and no, i didn't just do this because carlos is spanish
i did it because i fully believe that carlos absolutely loves christmas cause he gets to spend the entire time with his family and loved ones
and it really seems as though carlos is a real family man and loves to be able to have the freedom to spend all the time in the world with them
no more races for the year taking him away from seeing anyone he loves
no more stress about whether or not the race strategy would either work in his favour or absolutely betray him
the only thing he had to stress about was whether or not he'd be able to hug and speak to as many people as possible
and this was because there were always so many people at the sainz christmas dinner that carlos couldn't really remember who he had spoken to and those he hadn't
i also think that when this song starts playing, carlos is singing it from the tops of his lungs
he loves being spanish so i really think he'd absolutely yell the lyrics of this song with absolutely no shame at all
i think he'd also make his famous fluffy pancake recipe the morning of christmas day for sure
i also think that carlos would be the best and most thoughtful gift-giver
like, whilst we all know that physical touch is definitely one of carlos' love languages, i also think gift-giving is another one of his love languages
especially with so many in his extended family, i do really think carlos gives the best gifts to his parents and his sisters as well as the children of his sisters
like, i bet everyone loves uncle carlos during christmas time more than they already love him
oscar piastri
where are you christmas?
okay, i know this sounds depressing but, it does make sense and gets better
because i mean in the way of the fact that if oscar wants to be home for christmas, he can't just drive five,ten, fifteen, twenty etc. minutes away to his parents house for christmas
he has to take a whole ass 20+ hour flight all the way back to melbourne
meaning he has to pack up a whole suitcase and possibly carry-on bag and plan flights to melbourne as well as return flights to england
and he also has to bring with him all of the christmas presents that he has bought for his family with him which adds so much more weight to his probably already heavy suitcase and carry-on
and then on top of all of that, he'll most likely either pick the earliest flight possible or the latest flight possible but he'll still be exhausted from the long flight and the jetlag
that when he finally arrives home in melbourne, he doesn't feel as christmassy as he used to when he didn't have to do this huge round-the-world trip just to be home with his loved ones for christmas
because he's exhausted from that long haul flight that seeing all of or lack thereof christmas decorations, christmas feels like a regular day except presents are shared with one another and there is a shit ton of food
as well as the fact that it's most likely going to be a total fire ban day and that it's going to be the literal hottest day of the entire year
meaning the day is going to be horrible because the heat is going to overwhelm everyone
oscar especially since he had gotten so used to the extreme chill of england that returning home for christmas, he forgot just how bloody hot australia gets in comparison to the heat that england experiences on the rare occasion it isn't doom and gloom over there
however, it's not all negative because i'm sure when oscar finally settles back into the rhythm of being back home in melbourne, he feels like he can finally relax
and that he can finally enjoy not having to always be on the go every single day
and that he doesn't have to really monitor how much or how little he has to eat to make sure he stays in prime shape to fit in the f1 car
he can just relax, be with his family and loved ones and eat as much food as he wants
by the end of his time in australia, christmas does manage to find oscar and he is relieved that he found it as well because he really does love the magic and simplicity of spending christmas with his family
charles leclerc
it's the most wonderful time of the year
charles leclerc is a christmas lover
he loves the magic of it
he loves the gift-giving to those he loves
especially his little niece, chiara
he loves being together with his mum pascale and his two brothers lorenzo and arthur
he just loves christmas
he really thinks that it's the most wonderful time of the year
hearing the carolers sing carols throughout monaco's main street
he just finds it absolutely beautiful at how magical christmas in monaco gets
he also loves the christmas music that gets played throughout the shops as he and everyone else frantically try to buy everything they need for christmas
he loves the christmas rush
whilst he dislikes at how late he shops for christmas presents, he turns it into a game
a game to see how much quicker than the person next to him can he find what he needs to get his two brothers for christmas
charles already getting all the presents for his mum, niece chiara and girlfriend but leaving arthur and lorenzo's present until the last possible moment because he just got so busy buying everyone else's christmas presents
however, charles does manage to get presents for his two brothers and in record time to with less than days before christmas day arrives
when it comes to the day of christmas and spending it with his family and his loved ones, the little children are immediately drawn to him
not because uncle and cousin charles is an f1 driver but because he tells the best ghost and christmas stories of the past
he tells them stories in french, italian and english of different stories of how christmas used to be celebrated in the earlier centuries
the kids listening in excitement and on the edge of their seats as charles really gets into the fantasy side of it all
he loves seeing the little kids in his family also love the magic and joy of christmas
hence why he loved to spread that same magic and joy that he had for christmas
even though he was way beyond the years of really believing in santa, who said christmas wasn't magical for the adults as well as the kids?
daniel ricciardo
aussie jingle bells
alright, i may look like i'm totally taking the piss here but, this is genuinely the song i think of when i think of daniel ricciardo + christmas
i did think about giving this song to oscar but it didn't feel right and daniel was the only other aussie f1 driver that i could totally see actually screaming out this song from the top of his lungs
daniel is a lot more hardcore aussie than oscar and jack doohan are to the point i could literally imagine him being in charge of the aux for christmas and just playing this one song by colin buchanan and greg champion on repeat
until someone tells him to cut it out or put on another christmas song
in all seriousness though, every single aussie knows this aussie twist on the classic jingle bells and it is genuinely the most honest representation of an australian christmas
it is always (majority of the time - except for that one christmas last year it was fucking freezing and raining!) a scorching hot summer's day the week leading up to and on the day of christmas
to the point that, like the song literally states, you end up in your singlet shorts and thongs (flip-flops)
but, the most false thing that is in this aussie jingle bells is the majority of us australians do not live in the bush/outback
the majority of us actually live on the coastline but, that doesn't change the fact that it's still hot as balls in australia during christmas time because in the southern hemispehre for the months of january, febuary and march, it is summertime which in the northern hemispehre it's wintertime
going back to daniel, i genuinely think that he's the one cooking up all the food on the barbecue as well as the one who hands out the drinks from the esky
i also think daniel will also be a great and thoughful gift-giver
whilst he'd definitely put a few joke gifts in there like a cheeky box of cards against humanity or a game of beer pong, i think he'd also be very thoughtful
especially in regards to his parents, i think he'd be really thoughtful and get them presents that would be very meaningful
but, going back to the beer pong game, he'd also definitely be the one that starts that game
i also feel like daniel would pull out a cheeky christmas shoey just because it was his time off from racing and he is a man of tradition
and i say doing a christmas shoey is pretty australian of him
fin
ok, this definitely came out more as a crack-fic than what it was originally meant to but i'm just glad i have another christmas fic up and done! daniel's was most definitely the one that made it into a crack fic but, i don't hate it. i think daniel represents the majority of the true blue aussies whilst oscar is the complete opposite of true blue aussie. and honestly, it's relatable because not many australians have the stereotypical bogan accent that a lot of foreigners think that we do. well, speaking for myself, i only become aware of my australian accent when i say very particular words like 'australia' and 'water' as the two that come to mind. but, anyway, i hope guys enjoyed whatever the fuck this was and merry christmas & happy holidays my lovelies <3
©⠀amberjazmyn's original work. do not translate or steal any of my fics. 2024
#formula one#fluff#max verstappen#lando norris#charles leclerc#carlos sainz jr#oscar piastri#daniel ricciardo#f1 drivers as christmas songs
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Happy Birthday Akashi 2024
A birthday drabble for my beloved husband. Love you Sei <3
"It's Yukimaru's birthday tomorrow..." Akashi pondered, sitting on the bed of his Rakuzan dorm. He took a sharp sigh, immediately standing up and packing his things. Just for a little overnight stay.
Oats, applesauce, wheat flour, cinnamon, molasses, and of course carrots for a carrot cake. He thanked his Mother for teaching him how to cook, putting the treat in the oven as he wiped his forehead. Baking was quite tiring in itself, he concluded.
His horse neighed happily with his presence. A quick ride was much needed for the both of them, galloping off into the edges of the Akashi property. The wind through his hair, the rhythm of his hooves. A perfect day.
Even more so, as the redhead did love to spoil his horse. Grooming, massages, cleaning, polishing; he did everything. All the while telling stories of his adventures as a high school student to his horsey.
It ended with a small cake and a thin stick of carrot as a candle. Hiragana of "Yukimaru" written in yogurt. Akashi hadn't even been done singing the birthday song when the white horse devoured the said treat from the plate... but all worth it as he nuzzled his nose against his owner's chest. The latter took a deep breath, smiling softly.
"Happy birthday, Yukimaru."
"Sei-chan, it's not only Yukimaru's birthday today, yknow," Akashi whipped his head around, seeing the people he loved the most. The Rakuzan and Teiko team.
And Reo holding a cake of his own, "Akashi Seijuro" written with icing.
"This was so hard to plan ssu...! We had to get in contact with your butler and arranged time for you and-"
"Shut up Kise, nanodayo."
"Happy Birthday, Akashi-kun," Kuroko stepped forward, rolling out a mat on the grass.
"Let's sit down already, I want to eat cake... You don't mind if I have a bigger slice, do you Aka-chin~?"
"Akashi!! I got you a present!!" Hayama almost shoved a box at the redhead's face. The face that looked stunned. He had no idea that his friends arranged something like this... well, as is the point of a surprise party after all. Akashi hadn't even recalled that today was his special day too.
"Oh yes... it is my birthday today as well, I suppose." he said, his lips curling into a smile.
Remembering his worries of losing his friends back in middle school... the thought seemed so silly now.
I've gained wonderful friends... don't you think, Mother?
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Tags (join my taglist!):
@chosenimagines @souls-heart @padmsanakin @japeneselunchtimerush
#this was supposed to be a drabble but its kinda long#anyways HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LOVE#I LOVE YOU SO MUCH SEIIII HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY TO MY BELOVED<33#kuroko no basket#kurokosbasketball#kuroko's basketball#the basketball which kuroko plays#kuroko’s basketball#knb#kurokos basketball#akashi seijuro#kuroko no basketball#akashiseijuro#kuroko no basuke#kurokonobasuke#kurobas#akashi seijurou#akashi seijirou#akashi seijuurou#knb akashi#seijuro akashi#akashi birthday 2024#happy birthday akashi#akashi and yukimaru#yukimaru
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the Awkward
in which Vernon finally tells you how he feels.
Vernon was always a socially awkward guy.
From the way his body language betrays what he says, shifting his weight from one leg to the other to his straight lined smile and absentminded nodding; it's safe to say that he wasn't socially adept in bigger crowds at the bar. Yet, he was perfect for you. You who just wanted to forget the loneliness and the stresses of daily life--- Vernon was an anomaly that interrupted your night out clubbing. He didn't try to swoon you to bed or anything else that had secret intentions. He respected your space and talked to you normally, as if you were old high school friends. It definitely wasn't... the experience you wanted but rather needed; someone to hear out your troubles.
After months of knowing him, you guys tried sleeping with eachother and it became a thing that happened often. For someone who's terribly awkward, he was good at making you feel good, maybe even assured--- a feeling you hadn't experienced in a while. He made you temporarily forget about everything bad in the world and he was the first to do so.
Asking him out was probably a mistake. "Oh... Did you want to date?" In response to your confirmation, he just nods with that straight smile on his face. He shifts to laying on his arm on the bed, clearly uncomfortable. He doesn't say a word, like how he did when you first met at bar. There was a deafening silence that weighs heavily on the both of you before you speak up to change the topic. He never came back after that day.
Two weeks go by with nothing but texting, even then it was dry. Regret, embarrassment, and anxiety consumes you every day since then. Even work can't distract you from how you feel--- did you read into him too much? did he not feel the same way as you? was he not as special as you thought?
Before you knew it, it was your birthday. Your best friends and family greet you with many wishes and gifts but they weren't enough to fully soothe your aching heart. Maybe some part of you hoped he'd show up at your apartment or even send you a text. The evening comes quick and so does the snow. It descends onto the ground and parts of the building, gently piling up to make a winter wonderland.
Your eyes follow a few, boredly looking out the window and you swear you saw someone familiar walk into the entrance of the apartment building. Brushing it off, you roll over and cover yourself with the blankets.
There's three knocks on the door. When you open the door, your heart drops.
"Happy birthday."
Vernon doesn't avoid your gaze as he holds a small bouquet of your favorite flowers. You're more confused than happy, wondering why he suddenly appears with a romantic gesture after so long. He can tell so he figures he should explain his actions in his own way. In the way he fidgets with the wrapping paper of the bouquet, a hand in his jean pocket... Shifting his weight from one leg to the other. Through his long eyelashes he looks at you, his every word speaks his honest truth: he was scared and more or less was overthinking his feelings. It wasn't as complicated as he thought it was because---
"Yeah, I like you. I always have."
Since meeting at the bar, every normal hang out, even during the hook ups, Vernon had always felt strongly about you. It was in the way he looked at you longingly, paid attention to complaints you had about your job, and celebrated the tiny victories you had during the day. He likes you more than he realizes and it shows more in his actions. Yeah, he was always socially awkward but despite this, he'll try his best to tell you how he honestly feels. And he feels that you're the one.
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notes: unedited and totally not looked over, but i wrote him to the best of my abilityㅠㅠ this was written for a friend who finally married vernon in the sims lol
(c) 19 December 2024
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“You are…”
Wolfwood has so many options to choose from that he must look stupid standing there blinking at Vash with his lips parted and his head on a slow, back and forth swivel of disbelief.
“Ridiculous.”
An understatement to every thought cavorting around in his head and behind his ribs. Having personally scoured every inch of this house himself, the endless attention and care behind every nut and bolt, every tile, and every painstakingly planed, stained, and delicately carved plank of wood was not lost on him. He hadn't wanted to dwell on the ‘with enough room for two’ of it all.
“Vash.” One day, perhaps, Nicholas might see that jittery anxiety driving Vash’s breathless stream of consciousness take a backseat. They'll work on it. There's always tomorrow…or the day after that, and the day after that one. He doesn't need even a quarter of everything Vash built here for them to be happy, but he understood what it meant to pour your grief into something just to give it somewhere to go. “Everything’s perfect the way it is. If I find a pea in the mattress, I'll be sure to let ya know, Blondie.”
For now, they have a hot bath to look forward to.
“Alright. Time to get skinny.”
Wolfwood pauses as a growing pile of clothing pools at his feet and the faucet shudders to life. Two fingers part the steady stream of water while he checks the temperature then squints back at Vash, slender as a reed and just as tall after their emergence from the cave system tunneling through the nearby hills. His gaze lingers, roving over the line of Vash’s shoulders and the scars cutting across his chest before he turns his attention back to grabbing an unopened bottle of soap standing on the lip between the wall and the tub. “Skinni-er.”
Watching the water level climb and peeking back every so often as Vash undresses is an equally surreal experience. The culmination of a four year search across a world that he had grown up in but was no longer recognizable to him, a stark, slap in the face difference between sleeping alone last week and holding Vash in his arms alongside a few skipped heart beats. The more he looks, the more heady he feels. The sound of rushing water seems too appropriate as he leans down to shut off the faucet, like the roar of his own thoughts spinning in his head.
With the bath finally ready, he slides down at the rear of the tub, leaving plenty of room for Vash to join him. Arms spread along the top sides of the bath, Nicholas has an awareness of how prominent the scars branching out from his sternum must look in the light of day. Bringing him out of stasis had been a gamble that Home had to make.
“They needed someone they could trust to find you before the Eye did. I fit the bill.”
The Eye must have scrubbed his name from its registers. None of its modern agents have shown any recognition of who he was, what he could do, what he had done. Chapel would not have wanted the black sheep remembered. Ironically, it saved his life.
From the moment life nearly winked out of his life to over two centuries later, only Home knew who Nicholas D. Wolfwood was. Beloved companion and sworn ally of Vash the Stampede. Without Vash and without critical knowledge, Ship Three was an intellectual curiosity and a risk too large for a fledgling cult to take on in force. Power, gathered in soft steps and whispers, would allow them to address Ship Three and its private archives through political will alone.
In time.
Time that neither he nor Vash will allow them.
The Eye of Michael's revival relieved Wolfwood of one additional burden: he no longer carried the weight of the cross across his back. In fact, not even Ship Three knew of the Punisher’s whereabouts. There were copies out there, facsimiles, pale imitations of the original. Symbols of worship. The irony.
No, this iteration of the Eye preferred their peaceful solutions like debt, blackmail, litigation, and public shaming. Even if they have the old designs and schematics– and Wolfwood is certain they do–
The Gunsmoke of two hundred years later is a polite society.
So despite Wolfwood's great reluctance, discretion meant going without a weapon of mass destruction. Still. They'd have to pry his grader pistol, now considered an antique for God’s sake, out of his cold hands a second time.
“Already cased the place on the way down to yer hidey hole.” Wolfwood's wince is contrite. “Went through photos and such ya left lyin’ around…”
Even the photos he found seemed profoundly lonely, as if Vash would have rather pictured another subject instead.
Wolfwood gestures for Vash to cross the threshold first, suddenly glad that he wedged a few small pebbles between the door and the frame as the door swings open. They bounce off the ground like little marbles.
“Nice place. Off-grid,” he comments conversationally, redirecting from the obvious demonstration that he would never have let Vash go in ahead of him if he wasn't already reasonably certain the farmhouse was secure. The interior is quiet, softening sound through intimate acoustics and dust covers. Wood groans in response to temperature flux and added weight. Other than a few swaths of disturbed dust, no one has been here since Nicholas passed through the building in search of Vash. Vines crawling up the outside walls peek in through cracked windows. Pollinators, some indigenous, some extraterrestrial, break up the fuzzy stream of sunlight as they pass down to the auto-irrigated flower beds and gardening plots. Wolfwood reaches out, grabbing Vash’s hand and squeezing.
“Wouldn’t mind stayin’ here with ya.”
He grins, all teeth, having already found home the day before, then rubs his hands together as he drops his travel pack down in an accessible corner clear of the walk ways. “Now, how ‘bout ya show me a bathroom with some real hot water?”
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