#but that was definitely inspired by that one time I spilled my fancy coffee grounds across my kitchen floor

[secretly-a-trekkie]

Okay weird thing but if you were to make the art of Fox lying on the floor broken over the broken cup of caf, but changed the hair to a bright red color, you would have drawn me. Like that is how i feel every single time i have knocked over my chai lattes or dropped a cup.

i love your art btw it always makes me smile

the feeling of absolute despair as you watch your 3rd favorite mug drink of choice shatter to a million pieces and being absolutely inconsolable is apparently a universal human experience

[straight-into-the-animus]

The One Where They Shouldn’t Have Phones (French Fryes NSFW)

Hi! This one was inspired by @baddestchineseassassin‘s post here! 

Warnings for NSFW behaviors (alcohol mentions, sending/discussion of nudes, all that). Enjoy! 

Read on Ao3 here!

Jacob had been in the middle of a very delightful dream when his phone went off, buzzing loud enough to damn near wake the dead. He groaned and his hand flung out, nearly knocking over his lamp in the process.

Jacob winces at the light that emanated from his phone, and eventually, his eyes focused in enough to see that it was an image attached in a message from Arno Dorian with one word: See?

“The fuck does Frenchie want-?”

Oh. Oh . Then he saw It. A fucking lot of It.

It was definitely Arno, he knew that much. The Frenchman had a distinctly messy room as a backdrop, with a Les Miserables poster on the wall that he said he only kept ironically -- though Jacob knew he had seen it in theaters, in no small part to Hugh Jackman -- and an ugly rug that they had once spilled a bottle of Crown Apple on and had never been able to get the stain out of. In the room, there was a full-length mirror that he was taking the picture in with the front-facing camera on, and the main subject of the picture was, well…

Arno himself. All of him. Bare as the day he was born. His face was mostly hidden by the phone and the flash of the camera, but Jacob made out the curves of his chest, tan skin with the faintest outline of muscle definition teasing Jacob. Jacob was still tired and not coherent enough to fully understand all that was happening, but he felt himself shifting under the sheets, eyes scanning everything as his mouth went dry.

His gaze dropped to the main attraction and his phone almost went down as well, thinking of what prompted something like this. He had been careful to hide anything… untoward, any attraction towards the other man. They were friends, no matter how much Jacob’s heart wanted things to change. And to think that Arno had maybe caught wind of this, that Jacob hadn’t been so sneaky, that maybe, just… just maybe, he felt the same…

Jacob quickly sat up and typed out a response.

i do see

Then, right after,

i like what i see ;)

Jacob sent both messages, alternating between eagerly waiting for a response and scrolling up to drink in Arno himself. But nothing came of it, unfortunately; the longer he waited, the more nothing came out of it. The messages were read almost instantly, he knew that. But there was nothing else to come of it. A quiet sense of unease began to overtake the man, but he quickly shrugged it off as the other being tired and going to sleep.

He would be able to take care of this tomorrow.

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

The last thing Arno wanted was to be on the doorstep of the younger Frye’s apartment, especially after what had happened the night before. Fuck, he knew he had had too much to drink, but… The last thing he wanted was for something like that to be sent.

No doubt he had been invited over to be teased mercilessly, to be prodded in a way that couldn’t be done over the phone or over text. It wasn’t fucking fair, he wanted to whine and groan, but Ezio had only laughed when he told him about it and simply said to go face the music.

Arno pulled his red scarf up to his nose to hide any sort of angry red blush and knocked on the door, getting the clear to come in. He entered and stopped short as he closed the door behind him, coming into the small living room. It had been rearranged, the electric light dimmed but the area itself lit up by… candles? Yeah, no, they were definitely fucking candles, placed “artfully” on the tables and countertops and some on the floor, which freaked him out. The couch had been moved so it was facing the door, with the coffee table in front of it. And right there sat in the middle of Jacob Frye himself, wearing a loose white shirt, tight black pants, and the grin he always wore when he wanted to get the cutest girl in the pub to buy him a drink and take him back to her place.

Fuck, if Arno wasn’t about to die then, he was now.

“Fancy seeing you here, Dorian.” Jacob joked, voice dropped just a bit from its normal tone, and Arno tried to keep himself together. “You cold?”

It took him a while to realize he meant the scarf. “Just a bit. It wasn’t too bad.”

“You wanna come here? We can warm each other up.” Jacob moved over on the couch and patted the seat invitingly, and Arno was proud of himself that he didn’t give into jello legs right then and there. But he decided the best thing to do was get it over with, so he stiffened himself up and went over, sitting next to the man and barely allowing himself to get comfortable as he noted the contents of the table in front of them.

“Special occasion for all this, I take it.” He started out evenly, and Jacob leaned forward to grab the bottle and glasses.

“You know why I invited you over, Frenchie?” Jacob’s voice got downright husky, sending an involuntary shudder down Arno’s spine, and he cleared his throat, opting to rip the bandage clean off rather than beat around the bush for any longer than was necessary.

“Because I accidentally sent you a nude?”

Jacob stopped then and there, only one wine glass poured. “Accidentally?”

Arno almost lost it then and there, but one look told him all he needed to know; Jacob was slowly starting to get confused, then straight up embarrassed, quickly corking the wine as best as possible.

“Wait, Jacob-”

“The fuck do you mean ‘accidentally’? You meant to send me a cute cat video instead or something?” The man turned to him, red starting to heat up his cheeks as his tone turned a bit more defensive.

“No! I- I was drunk, it was stupid-”

“You could’ve bloody well told me before I went and made a fool of myself like this. I even texted you, I know you read them!” His voice rose as he stood, starting to clean up and waving out candles as best as possible. Arno tried to turn and follow his movements, but he was quick and Arno was forced to get up and follow him around the apartment.

“I read them, I just- quite frankly, I didn’t think they were your business to get involved with. You should’ve just- Just deleted it! They obviously weren’t for you.”

“And who were they for, then? Alexios? Altair? Oh, Elise, wasn’t it?” Jacob looked regretful as soon as he said it, but Arno couldn’t help the wince at the mention of his… well, his ex, and for as much as he said he had been over her, there had been a part of him deeply wounded by her coming in and out of his life. And Jacob had known that, he’d had sat up with Arno many times about it. At least, Arno thought he’d known that.

“Dor- Arno, I’m sorry. I just… I got angry. I, uh… Shouldn’t have…”

“Been an asshole,” Arno mumbled.

“You could say that. Look… y’wanna sit down? I can actually get you a drink for fucking real and we can ignore this happened. I’ll even spare you my attempts at the Austin Powers look.” He tried to lighten the mood, gesturing to his open shirt, and Arno snorted, an ugly little thing.

“Drinking is what got me into that mess, last night, mon ami.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand like a little kid would, before speaking. “It- It was about Elise. But… it wasn’t. She… Ezio and I had been texting last night. And as fucking sad as it sounds,” he chuckled, a little sad, “we were talking about ‘my inability to hold down anyone’. I’m such a nice guy, Ezio! So kind, nice hair! ” He mimicked the slurs of someone completely smashed, and Jacob had to stop himself from laughing by disguising it as a cough. “I don’t think he was completely sober either, but then he brought up that maybe I wasn’t ‘satisfying’ anyone. So I did what any sane, normal person did, and I, uh…”

“You whipped your John out and showed it to everyone.”

“Don’t put it like that, okay? Please don’t, I’m begging you. But… that’s what happened. And then…” Then I freaked out because it was you , and the last thing I wanted was you thinking me a…

“Thinking you a what?”

Fuck.

“Thinking me… Well… When you responded, I didn’t want you… I thought you were teasing me.”

“What?” The shock seemed genuine, but Arno continued.

“Teasing me! Making fun of me, pretending to be interested, with your damned ‘winky emoji’. The last thing I wanted to do was come over here, because- because I was afraid that you’d be… You’d be ready to laugh at me. And then you had the wine, and- Now I don’t know if-”

“Arno, Arno, hey, stay with me.” Jacob was quick to get in front of him, getting them eye-level and putting his hands on Arno’s upper arms to squeeze a bit and keep him grounded. Arno skidded to a stop in the spiral he was going down and looked into bright brown eyes. When Jacob spoke again, it was slow and measured, but… genuine.

“I meant each one of those little letters I sent in the messages. Especially that 'winky emoji'.” He barely gave Arno a second before he continued. “I- When you sent me the picture, I’ll be honest, I went a wee bit crazy about it. I mean, can you blame me? Look at you.”

Arno couldn’t help the eye roll at that, but a fond smile graced his lips as Jacob kept going, taking a deep breath before putting it out there.

“I’ve been crushing on you for forever, Frenchie. Everything about you. And this past year… you’ve been making my heart ache with how you’ve been hurting. I love you, Arno Dorian. And I’m sorry it took me misreading a pretty nice picture to get me to admit anything, but… I mean it.”

Arno studied him for a long while, taking in everything about him; the softness and serious demeanor rarely found on his face, the sincerity in his eyes. Everything about his radiated honesty; this was a man who wore every emotion he had on his sleeve, despite anything he’d ever tell you. And this… This time it was…

“I love you too, Jacob Frye.” He admitted quietly, leaning in and gently pressing a kiss to his lips. Time didn’t stand still but he felt Jacob freeze all the same; he was unexpectedly gentle, even as he kissed back, but they just enjoyed it for a while; when they pulled away after a while, both of them were sporting matching grins. It was silent for a while, until Arno broke the silence, slowly but teasingly.

“You know… you got to see me, but I don’t think I’ve gotten to see you in all your glory yet.”

Jacob couldn’t help the actual laugh that escaped then, wrapping his arms around Arno’s waist. “Who’d have known that Monsieur Dorian was such a freak? We haven’t even had a first date yet.”

“Fine. Wine… And then it’ll be my turn to get a pic or two for my collection. If mon cher is agreeable to that.”

“Whatever you say, Frenchie.”

I hope you enjoy! If you do I have more writings here and more ideas for writings and prompts here, so feel free to request! Safety and peace!

[mrsjihyunkim]

🌹Flowers & Ink🌹Ch 1

Ok so this was inspired by @v-dcc​ of V as a tattoo artist. Like I’m so in love with this that I made it my desktop. Any way here is the first chapter and I hope I do this art justice. Definitely going to be more to come of this story! Also this is pretty long so I put a cut in it and the story tag is going to be F&I 

       The sun shined in the window and spilled onto V's face. He groaned and threw and extra pillow at the window. This only knocked down the blinds and V put his head under the last pillow. If there was one thing he disdained more than women it was mornings. He was at the shop until like three in the morning working on a cherry blossom piece. The girl had done nothing but flirt with him the entire time so by the end of it he was in a sour mood. Now that he was up it was pointless to try and sleep. So after getting dressed and grabbing his coffee, he headed to his shop. As he was unlocking the door to the shop he noticed that people were moving stuff into the shop next to his. It peaked his curiosity but he'd see it eventually so he just went about business as usual. He only had four appointments today but that's usually how it was. V liked to get to know the person he was working so he could make sure they got the best tattoo. He went to the back and saw his apprentice struggling to make coffee. "Do you still not know how to use the coffee machine Yoosung?" The blonde boy put down the pot and threw his hands up.

"It's not my fault you have such a stupid fancy coffee maker! Like I don't even get why you have it cause you never use it." V handed him thermos of coffee and Yoosung snatched it. "Why accept the gift if you're not going to use it?" Yoosung drunk the coffee and sighed.

"I accepted it because it was the only way to get that woman to leave me alone." Yoosung shrugged.

"Yeah she was persistent. I still don't understand why you just didn't go out with her." V shot him a look and Yoosung dropped it.

"Anyway, did you sleep here last night?" Yoosung was still wearing his clothes from yesterday and he blushed a little.

"Yeah but only because that session lasted so long. I would of just had to come back here by the time I got home, so I slept in the back." V rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Well go on and head home, and shower. The first appointment isn't until noon so I don't need you right now. And you know you don't have to be here every morning before me right?" Yoosung nodded at him and smiled.

"Yeah but I like to cause I can get some practice in before you take over." Yoosung was beaming with pride and it made V smile. Yoosung’s energy was sometimes annoying but he was hard working and that’s all that mattered to V.

"Whatever. Just go home and get cleaned up. This maybe a tattoo shop but we still have an imagine to maintain." As Yoosung was leaving he saw Vanderwood coming in.

"Careful Vandy he's a bit cranky." Yoosung passed by Vanderwood and out the door before he could be asked anything. So Vanderwood walked in and treaded carefully. V had on his glasses and was nose deep in a notebook when Vanderwood found him.

"Why is Yoosung leaving? Are you not opening the shop today?" V barely looked up from his notebook.

"He slept here last night so I sent him home to get cleaned up. Why are you here?"

"Damn dude. You really are a sour puss today." Vanderwood set a white paper bag on the table. "I brought you some breakfast. Maybe that will put you in a better mood." V glared at him but sighed. He set down the notebook and took his glasses off. They clattered against his dog tag necklace as he grabbed the bag. "So what's got you in a sour mood granny?"

"I told you not to call me that, and I'm not in a bad mood. I'm just tired." V took the doughnut out of the bag and Vanderwood just shrugged.

"Could of fooled me. And if you don’t want to be called that then don’t wear a granny chain." Vanderwood had known V since he opened the shop. Not only was Vanderwood the one who sold it to him but owned the car garage at the end of the block. So he knew when V was in a grumpy mood. "Let me guess. Someone flirted with you and all you did was get annoyed." V shot him a look and Vanderwood felt a chill go down his spine. "That's a yes. Excuse me for not giving you an sympathy. Most guys would love being such a chick magnet." V tossed the rest of his doughnut in the trash and got up. Vanderwood sighed and decided to drop the subject.

"Don't you have your own shop to open? I'll walk you out." V headed for the front and Vanderwood followed. He knew better to fight V when he was in a mood. When they got outside the shop V noticed a car full of flowers parked next door. While Vanderwood continued to babble V looked at the car and noticed how the light reflected inside the car and he could see the depth of it. Without even thinking he walked over to the car and peered inside. Every seat except for the driver was covered in flowers. There were daffodils, roses, lilies, even succulents and cacti. There were probably more but he couldn't tell. He was so busy looking at the flowers that he didn't notice the brown haired woman standing behind him tapping her foot.

"Excuse me but do you mind? I need to get in there." V turned around and saw a woman in khaki pants and black tank top standing behind him. He moved out of her way and she opened the car door. She grabbed an arm full of flowers and V could see her struggling. Normally V avoided getting into other people's business but the flowers had him curious.

"Do you need any help?" The woman stared at him and raised an eyebrow. To V she almost seemed suspicious and he regretted ever asking. "Or not. Just thought you had a lot in there and would want some help." He shrugged and put a hand through his hair.

"Oh thanks but it's ok. I have a cart to use inside but these already cut and need to be in some water. Putting them on the cart would only smash them." She turned on her heel and headed back into her shop. V for better lack of words was stunned. She didn't try to hit on him or anything, and she just flat out refused him. He walked back to his shop and just completely ignored the smile on Vanderwood's face. When he got back inside he grabbed his notebook and went to sit outside. His brain was just telling him to stop but he really wanted to draw the flowers. So he watched and drew as his new neighbor set up flowers and paid him no mind. At least that's what V thought but MC was very much aware. In fact she was so aware that she was arranging the flowers in the best way for him to draw. She was a little creeped out by it at first but didn't mind when she realized that he was drawing the flowers. Time flew by as V did sketch after sketch of the different arrangements and before he knew it he saw his first client coming up to the shop. MC watched as her new neighbor greeted a tall slender guy with long grey hair. They went back into the shop and MC sighed in relief. She was turning around when she ran smack into a younger blonde boy. They both crashed to the ground and MC's watering can spilled all over her.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I'm running late and you turned around so fast that I couldn't get out of the way. Are you ok?" MC looked at the blonde boy and really wanted to cuss him out but she could he was just a kid, and he looked like he was about to cry. She let out a sigh and stood up.

"It's alright. Spilling water comes with the job." She smiled at him and that only made Yoosung feel worse.

"My name's Yoosung Kim. I work at the tattoo shop next door. You've probably already met my boss V. He's the guy with the blue hair" Yoosung seemed so proud of the fact that he knew him. It made MC curious though because V seemed like a giant ass but Yoosung seemed like an innocent little kid. Maybe she had misjudged V.

"I'm MC. I just opened my flower shop here." She gestured to the building beside her and Yoosung smiled. He was about to say something when V's voice called out his name.

"Shit. Gotta go. Nice to meet you MC!" Yoosung called as he ran to the tattoo shop. V watched as Yoosung ran over this way and noticed that the girl was soaking wet. Once they were inside Yoosung began to talk really fast. "Sorry I'm late V. I accidently knocked down MC and she got soaked." V pretended not to care but he was a little happy to know her name now.

"You're still late and Hyun's already here." When they got to the back the man with long silver hair was sitting at a table looking through some sketches. He looked up and smiled at the two.

"Hey Yoosung! What's up?" Yoosung gave him a high five and started getting V's equipment out.

"Hey Zen. Not much really. I did get to meet the cute florist next door so that was exciting." Zen's eyes looked up from the sketches in surprise.

"Really now? Did you get her number?" Yoosung blushed and shook his head. "You're killing me man! You know I gotta live vicariously through others. I'd do it through V but he treats women like the plague." V rolled his eyes pulled his hair into a messy ponytail.

"Did you decide which design you want Hyun?" Frowning at V's lack of a reaction Zen nodded.

"Yeah I want this one. It has the romantic feel I'm going for." He handed V a sketch and it was one he had done of MC's roses earlier. As V transferred it to the stencil he couldn't help but smile. As V worked Zen turned his attention back to Yoosung. "So why didn't you get her number Yoosung?" He just shrugged as he got the rubbing alcohol and began to prep where Zen wanted the tattoo.

"Well for one I completely knocked her on her ass and she spilled water all over her. I didn't think that would be the best time to hit on her. Plus she seems like one of those people who is nice but also scary. Like when I crashed into her I thought she was going to cuss the shit out of me. Even though she smiled I could tell that she was pissed." V was listening to Yoosung's every word despite telling himself that he didn't care. There was something about MC that bugged him but he couldn't figure it out. She definitely wasn't like women that he was used to but that really didn't mean anything to him, or did it. Either way right now he needed to focus and do his job.

"Alright Hyun. You ready?" Zen nodded and V began his work. He worked for almost three hours before feeling satisfied to stop for the day. He had done the basic outline of the piece and some shading. V cleaned off the tattoo and smiled at Zen. "What do you think?" Zen hopped off the table and went over to the mirror. He twisted so that he could see the roses and vines on his ribcage. There was a mirror, microphone, and a stack of paper all inbedded in the vines.

"It's awesome V! This just might be my favorite one now." V rolled his eyes but smiled.

"You say that every time." V took his gloves off and threw them in the trash.

"Well that's cause you do fucking kick ass work!" He slapped V's hand they slid into a fist bump. "Alright I'm gonna home and take some new selfies. Take care guys!" He left just as V's next client was coming in. After Zen V's appointments seemed to go by pretty fast and before he knew it he was on the last one. It was a smaller piece. The woman had wanted a cancer ribbon and a few flowers in honor of her mother who just passed away. When it was done she cried and V felt his heart lift at her joy. Once she was gone V sat down and sighed. He was so beat that he might sleep here tonight.

"Hey Yoosung." The blondes head popped in the door way. He almost reminded V of a puppy. "Go ahead and go home. I'll clean up tonight. Also make sure you practice tonight. You've got an appointment tomorrow." Yoosung eyes lit up like fireworks and he was barely stopping himself from bouncing up and down.

"Are you for real? I actually get to work on someone tomorrow?" V nodded and Yoosung squealed. "I won't let you down boss!" V waved his hand toward him and Yoosung took off. Once V heard the jingle of the doorbell he got up and started cleaning. He changed all the trash and wiped down all the tables. Just as he was about to start cleaning his tattoo gun he heard the doorbell.

"Sorry we're closed now." He said as he made his way to the front. When he got there he found MC standing there. She looked tired and V wondered what she was still doing here so late. "I hope you don't want a tattoo cause we're closed." She seemed dazed but her eyes snapped open when he was done talking.

"Oh no. I figured you were closed but I was hoping that you had a first aid kit." V looked closer now and noticed that she had a towel wrapped around her hand. She also had red smears on her smock.

"Yeah just a second. Try not to bleed on the floor ok." V turned his back to her and she just frowned. He sounded like an asshole but MC wasn't surprised. Most men were assholes, especially when they were that good looking. V came back and handed her a first aid kit. "So what happened?" V's question surprised her because he didn't really seem to care about anything.

"Oh. I tripped over a box and fell down with a bunch of vases. Talk about an omen." She let out a small laugh but V could tell that she was upset. "Anyway, thanks for the first aid kit. I'll bring it back over tomorrow." She smiled and turned around to leave and V saw some red seeping through the side of her shirt. Before he could stop himself he was reaching out for her and grabbing her shoulder. MC stopped and looked back at him, clearly shocked.

"I'll come with you. I'd feel guilty if you got clumsy again and bled out." He pushed her out of the shop and locked his door.

"It's ok really. I mostly got it cleaned up. I just needed some bandages." She tried her best to convince him but it seemed like he wasn't even listening. They got to her shop and she sighed. V looked around the shop once he was inside and it honestly looked like an indoor garden. "I fell down over there." She pointed over toward a fridge with a glass door. V grabbed a broom that was next to the counter.

"Alright just sit down and take care of those cuts." MC nodded and V walked over to the fridge. He noticed that she had in fact moved all of the glass into a pile. Using the broom he swept the glass into an empty box and carried it up to the front. MC seemed completely spaced out and seemed a little pale. V looked at the towel she had wrapped her hand in. There was a lot more blood than he expected and wondered if she was ok. He was honestly surprised by his concern and didn't really know what to do. "Hey are you sure you're ok? Is there someone that you need me to call or anything?" MC had been feeling a bit dizzy but V's voice helped her snap out of it.

"Oh no I texted my roommate and their on their way over. She just had to finish work so she should be here soon. Thank you for your help though. I hope it wasn't a bother." V just shrugged and MC went to hand him back the first aid kit.

"Keep it. We have more at the shop. Plus you obviously need it more than I do." She huffed out a breath and V just turned around a left. Something about that girl made him act weird and he didn't like it. The last thing he needed was more complicated feelings. MC watched him leave and she was still angry at his implications. This guy was definitely an asshole and nothing could change her mind.

[joeybelle]

Oh, how the tables have turned - Part 6

Inspired by @clyde-prompts: “Some guys are rude and use ableist slurs against Clyde. The reader is with them, and although she feels bad about what’s happening, is too scared to say anything in front of her “friends”. She comes back to the bar a couple nights later to try and show him she’s not a bad person. They get to know each other and fall in love”. Doesn’t fully follow the prompt.

Warnings: Language, first person POV, mentions of wasps and bug spray - lethal combo, IDK what I’m doing.

Word count: ~4700

Rating: Mature

Setting: Pre-heist

A.N: I kept delaying this part because I wanted to post it together with part 7 (since 5, 6 and 7 are meant to be one big chapter), but it isn’t finished yet and it might take a while until I finish it since Sunday is my only day off and that might be pretty busy too. Anyway I hope you guys enjoy it and sorry for the wait! Any feedback is more than welcome, and if you’re bored send me a message, I love talking to people. Just remember that I’m on European time and if I don’t reply right away I might be sleeping or at work.

Tags: @lonelyravenclaw @kyloren-supreme-ben @onmyknees4steve @elsablackswift @helloimindelaware @mwcritics @makingtimemine @littlekylo

Saturday came with an unexpected wave of heat and humidity that left me unable to move without sweating buckets. Still, I was thankful it wasn’t raining again, although by the way the air felt it would probably start raining soon. Since my house had no AC, I was a bit reluctant to have people over. Nothing I could do now, besides keeping cold drinks on hand and setting up the garden hose in case anyone needed some quick cooling down. (Me. It was definitely going to be me.)

Finding all the ingredients to make muffins from scratch had been a challenge, especially since it seemed that everyone and their mother chose to make something involving blueberries. After getting the ‘I’m sorry, we just sold the last one’ answer from all the local stores, I headed to the nearest supermarket, and then to the next one, where I had to battle a couple of old ladies to get my hands on some. I only won because I was faster, but by the look they gave me as I ran away with the blueberries, they were set on getting revenge. I would have to live in fear for the rest of my life.

Fortunately, when Jimmy’s car pulled into the driveway, I had everything ready. I was pretty sure I had enough ingredients to potentially feed a small village, but I was really excited by the prospect of baking. It had been a long time since I had a working kitchen and the time to cook (and also, someone to cook for), so I may have exaggerated a bit. I was planning to make blueberry muffins, chocolate chip, raspberry and white chocolate, and maybe banana if anyone wanted more. And sandwiches for lunch, something quick and filling that I could put together in minutes so I could help if they needed me. There was a chicken parmesan casserole already prepped in the fridge, ready to throw in the oven for a filling dinner later on. By the amount of materials piled in my garage, it wasn’t a job that would be finished in a few hours.

Sadie bolted out of the car with a huge grin on her face and attacked me right away. Jimmy looked reasonably awake, but Clyde looked like a total mess. I guessed he really wasn’t used to waking up this early, since I assumed he was pulling long hours at the bar. I felt bad for him, but not so bad that I wouldn’t smile at his sleepy face.

“I have coffee,” I said instead of good morning.

“Don’t worry about him,” Jimmy laughed, earning a sideways glance from his brother. “It just takes a while to wake the bear from hibernation.”

“Well, I’m sorry…”

“One,” Clyde interrupted me, and it took me a moment to understand what he was talking about, but the tiny smirk in the corner of his mouth clued me in.

“That’s playing dirty,” I said, crossing my arms. Technically I wasn’t apologizing to him, so it didn’t count. Did it?

“Still counts,” he mumbled as he passed me.

I shook my head and smiled. This was going to be a long day, and I would enjoy the hell out of it. “Anyone want breakfast?” I offered, but Jimmy shook his head.

“We’re good,” he said, pulling a ladder out of the back of his truck. “We better get started soon before it gets too hot.”

“Well, at least come and get some coffee. It’s cold brewed.”

“What’s that?” Jimmy asked, a confused look on his face.

“It’s a fancy type of iced coffee,” Clyde explained. “You put it in cold water and…”

“Why would you drink cold coffee,” Jimmy asked me, completely ignoring his brother who shut his mouth with a frown.

“It’s refreshing,” I said, shrugging. “It’s perfect for hot weather.”

He didn’t seem convinced. “Yeah, it’s just some of that sophisticated New York shit you brought with you, isn’t it?”

“Oh come on,” I laughed. “It’s not that fancy. It’s just imported Brazilian coffee that I ground yesterday especially for you guys. Coarse ground, steeped into cold spring water for a whole day. Perfect!”

“Wow,” was all Jimmy had to say, but I could see him stifling a laughter.

“Authentic Brazilian coffee and expensive vodka? You must be really high maintenance,” Clyde said, with a serious face.

“Yeah,” I said, winking. “As high maintenance as someone without a working AC unit, a leaking roof and a mostly unfurnished house can be.”

He smiled and I let Sadie drag me for a tour of the house. It wasn’t much to see, but she was really excited to find Clyde the Bear occupying half of my bed. To my embarrassment, I had to admit that I had gotten used to sleeping with the huge toy. It was a really good cuddle buddy and I had gotten into the habit of talking to it when I was feeling like the house was too empty. Yes, I was that pathetic.

Fortunately, Sadie was the only one to see it, and I was sure none of the adults would invade my bedroom without permission, so I would be spared the embarrassment. Unfortunately, my secret had been safe exactly one minute and twenty-five seconds, exactly how long it took Sadie to find her uncle and rat me out.

“What?” I replied to Clyde’s amused smile. “I’m basically five. I have no idea who let me be an adult.” If you have no plausible excuse, just run with it. Better than trying to deny it and fuel the teasing. “You lost a muffin for spilling my secret, little lady,” I said, pointing a finger at a laughing Sadie.

Clyde’s smile grew broader seeing that I wasn’t denying it, but it wasn’t a mocking smile. He was quite cute that Saturday morning, with his sleepy face and his messy hair that looked curlier than usually. There was still a tiny bit of his usual shyness, but it wasn’t as noticeable as before.

“Anything I can help you guys with?” I asked, when Jimmy returned from my garage with some more tools.

“Umm… no, not yet,” he said, scratching his head and looking at the roof. “We’ll call you if we need help.”

“Alright,” I said, turning to Sadie. “Do you wanna help me make muffins? I’m not sure I can do everything myself.”

She excitedly followed me to the kitchen. I had made some space the day before, moved the boxes to a corner of the living room, replaced the dining table with a smaller, foldable one I found in storage. Even with an energetic kid running around, there was less of a chance of any accidents happening. Or at least, I hoped. The memory of Clyde catching me in his arms was still pretty fresh in my mind.

To my surprise Sadie was really good at following directions and actually gave her best. I would have been able to make all the muffins in maybe a third of the time if I had done them at my own pace, but the point was to entertain her while her dad fixed my roof. I didn’t get to spend much time with kids while I lived in New York, since I’d been too busy surviving, but Sadie was such a good kid that I actually enjoyed it. She was quite talkative, telling me stories about her brothers, her mom and dad, about her school and about Clyde and Mellie, so by the time the first batch of muffins were in the oven, I felt like I had been part of the Logan family for ages.

Working in the kitchen ended up being a bit distracting, I found out pretty early on. After getting out all the necessary materials, they set up the ladder and Jimmy climbed into the attic, leaving Clyde on the ground to hand him things. Right in front of my kitchen window. I fought the urge to call my parents and curse them for designing the only entrance to our otherwise unused attic right in front of my window, so I’d be forced to watch Clyde Logan stretch as he handed tools to his brother, but I remembered that the house was built by my grandparents, and I’d need an Ouija board to contact them. But as time passed and my eyes kept darting to the man outside—whose t-shirt was juuust a bit too tight and his muscles just a bit too taut—I was actually considering Ouija-ing some carefully considered well-wishes to my ancestors. I did my best, however, to focus on something else.

If I were to be completely honest, if Sadie hadn’t been there to distract me from being too distracted by Clyde, I would have probably just pulled a chair in front of the counter, poured myself a perfectly brewed cup of iced coffee and indulged into staring out the window. I mean, that’s how a considerable amount of porn movies started: a hot dude fixing something, a horny woman leering at him and the rough sex that follows, I thought, absentmindedly fanning myself with a napkin, and it wasn’t because of the constantly increasing temperature in my kitchen.

“Do you like uncle Clyde?” Sadie asked, making me snap out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, don’t you?” I tried deflecting the question, turning around and opening the fridge. The cool air coming out of it was a blessing. I really needed to get some air conditioning installed as soon as possible.

“Yeah, but that’s not what I asked,” she giggled.

Of course not. “What did you ask, then?” Play dumb until they get bored, I thought to myself, however I had forgotten just how persistent kids could be.

“If you like like him,” she said in a serious tone.

“How do you like like someone?” Keep playing dumb.

“Oh you know,” she giggled once again and hopped of the chair coming next to me and the still open fridge. “You wanna go with them on dates, and hold hands, and kiss… and make babies and then get married and live happily ever after.”

Well, that escalated quickly. “In that order?” I asked, getting two sodas from the fridge and finally closing it, just as it started hysterically beeping at me.

Sadie shrugged as she took the can I handed her. “So do you like him?” she continued, making me almost choke on my drink.

“What makes you ask that?” I tried further deflecting the question, because kids should never be trusted with sensitive information, certainly not one as talkative as Sadie.

“You keep staring at him,” she laughed and I cursed myself for being caught red-handed.

“I don’t stare at him,” I lied, but I was sure it wasn’t very convincing. “I was just looking out the window, that’s all.” Sadie kept smiling and I shook my head. In the end it’s not like it was that big of a secret that I liked him. After all, he knew and he was the only one that mattered. But I didn’t really want her blurting it out in public and making it more awkward than it already was. “Okay, maybe,” I said, giving her a serious look. “But that’s gonna be our secret. If you tell anyone I’m gonna find out where you live, hide under your bed and tickle you right as you’re falling asleep,” I threatened, approaching her while wiggling my fingers in a pretty menacing way. “Promise?”

“Promise!” she giggled, trying to hide from my tickle attack.

“Okay, great! Do you want a sandwich?” I changed the subject. I was starting to think that

The Logans would age me prematurely. Not that I needed any help in that department.

I showed Sadie how to make some icing, just to keep her busy while I put together some sandwiches. She wanted a turkey ham one, with extra mayo and crusts cut off and I made it exactly as she wanted it. Cut it into quarters to make it easier to eat, but Sadie was really taking her whisking job seriously, so I resorted to feeding the pieces to her over the bowl.

I glimpsed out the window to see an amused Clyde watching me feed his niece, a big piece of my own sandwich sticking— pretty comically I assumed— out of my mouth, his hands full with what looked like some old wood. I shoved another piece of sandwich into Sadie’s mouth, swallowed what remained of mine and went to open the window. The boys had been working for quite some time, so I assumed they’d be hungry already. I knew I was, and the only thing I had done all morning was watch a kid paint my kitchen in muffin batter.

“Would you like to take a break? Grab something quick to eat?” I asked, leaning onto the counter, and trying to get my head out the window. He didn’t seem opposed to the idea, and after throwing the old wood in a pile of garbage, he climbed up the ladder to talk to his brother.

“Jimmy said he’s not hungry yet. Maybe later.”

“Are you hungry?” I pressed, because he really looked like he had skipped breakfast. While the cup of coffee I had given him earlier seemed to have woken him up, he still looked a little sluggish.

“A bit,” he shrugged.

“Ok, I’ll make you a sandwich and you can eat it while working,” I said and he nodded. “What would you like?”

“Anything is fine.”

I quickly put some things together, making something that was definitely not instagram ready, but it was pretty filling and I knew it would taste pretty good. Placed it on a plate and pushed it towards the open window.

Clyde had come down from the ladder, a new layer of dust and debris covering him. He had specks of dust caught in his hair and a dark smudge on his nose, like he had tried scratching it with dirty hands. He had to at least take a break and wash his hands, but Jimmy called him from the attic, needing something else. It seemed he wouldn’t be having a moment to spare.

I sighed and pulled back the sandwich, cut it into small wedges like I did with Sadie’s and grabbed a piece.

“Clyde, come here,” I called, extending my arm through the open window, once he was back on the ground. He looked at the dirt covering his hands and then at the piece of sandwich in mine. “Bite,” I said motioning to the food. He looked at it a little confused, but then smiled and came closer. He bent down to my level and took a tentative bite. “Put more strength into it, Logan,” I laughed.

I didn’t even try to keep a straight face, because a grown man, built like a brick shithouse eating out of my hand was both comical and surprisingly enticing. He was also laughing and I hoped he wouldn’t choke on the food, because I was sure I wouldn't be able to pull the Heimlich maneuver on him. He took another quick bite as Jimmy called his name again and his lips briefly brushed my fingers. I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks, and I returned to the kitchen.

“Don’t laugh at us, young lady,” I said, pointing at Sadie with what was left of the sandwich, “we’re Adults.”

I had to quickly check on the muffins in the oven. They were done so I took them out, placed them on the cooling rack and shoved another batch in. By the time I was done, Clyde had returned and was hovering near the window. I hopped onto the counter to be able to reach better. I gestured for him to stick his head inside as I took another piece of sandwich and brought it to his lips. He was a little too enthusiastic taking a bite and accidentally nipped my finger.

“My fingers aren’t part of the meal, Logan,” I laughed, while Sadie climbed onto a chair next to me.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, and I could see a blush creeping up his cheeks.

“One!” I grinned, because now I wasn’t at a disadvantage anymore.

I took another piece of sandwich and shoved it into Sadie’s giggling mouth. By now I was sure that both of them could feed themselves, but it was just too funny to stop and both of them seemed to enjoy it.

“I’m your bird mama now,” I proudly announced, placing the last bits of food into the open and waiting mouths of my newly adopted baby birds.

A loud shriek coming from above made me jump off the counter, knocking over a glass that shattered on the floor. Clyde scrambled to remove himself from the window without breaking anything, and hurried to climb up the ladder only to be almost knocked down by a panicked Jimmy.

“What the fuck?” I breathed, completely forgetting that there was a child with me and I should have been watching my language. I grabbed Sadie and carried her over the shattered glass, hurrying to get out the door and see what was going on.

“Do you have bees or wasps in your attic?” she asked, and seemed a lot calmer than me.

“Maybe?” It was possible, I couldn’t deny it. “Is he allergic to them?” I asked, feeling a cold shiver run down my spine.

“No,” she giggled, and somehow that didn’t do anything to calm me down. “Just scared.”

I dropped the girl down on the grass and ran towards her father. Jimmy looked a little pale and his breathing was laboured, but didn’t look injured.

“What happened?” I asked.

“He got scared of some wasps, that’s what happened,” Clyde explained with a frown on his face, but I couldn’t tell if his tone was judgemental or not.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, placing a hand on Jimmy’s shoulder. “I had a team come over right after I moved here and they said they took care of any rodents or insects. They told me I had some wasps in the attic, but that they sprayed everywhere and removed the nests and that it shouldn't be a problem anymore. It’s my fault, I should have checked beforehand.” Now I realized just how stupid and unprepared I was. What if he was allergic and he had gotten stung. I didn’t really want to imagine what would have happened.

“No, no! It’s not your fault. I know there are wasps in attics, and I checked before starting work, but these… these just came out of nowhere and I panicked.”

“I’m so sorry, Jimmy,” I apologized again.

“He just needs a cold beer and he’ll be fine,” Sadie said, showing up out of nowhere with a beer bottle in her hand. She seemed really used to this situation, so it might have been a somewhat common occurrence.

“Thanks, Sadie-bug,” Jimmy said, taking the bottle from her hand.

“Hey, you shouldn’t go into the kitchen,” I said, frowning at her, suddenly remembering the broken glass. “There’s glass everywhere.”

“It’s okay, I jumped over it,” she smiled, incredibly proud of herself, completely ignoring the fact that she could have slipped and landed in the pile of shards. Yep, the Logans would be the death of me. I sighed.

“Well, y’all wait here while I go clean up and fetch the bug spray.”

“I’ll help,” Clyde offered, and I didn’t stop him.

As the day was getting hotter, so was my kitchen. With the oven running for so long, it was almost too much. I could feel beads of sweat starting to form on my forehead. Clyde seemed to be taking it even worse than me, but I almost expected it, with his fair skin and all. I considered opening another window, but at this point I knew it wouldn’t make any difference, since it seemed to be just as hot outside too. We’d have to suffer.

Clyde started sweeping the floor while I took the muffins out of the oven. Due to the whole commotion I had forgotten I had some in, but luckily I saw them in time, before they turned into a pile of charcoal. Sadie would have been sad. I kept glancing at Clyde as I moved around the kitchen. His t-shirt was quickly getting soaked, and I couldn’t stop looking at how it stuck to his broad back. Get a hold of yourself, you foul woman, I scolded myself and I started looking for the bug spray.

“Three,” he said as he caught me stealing another glance.

“What? No! Nope. It wasn’t said to you, it doesn’t count.”

“It does count.”

“No it doesn’t,” I said, pointing a finger at his nose. “Plus it was something I had to apologize for. Someone nearly died attacked by wasps.” I didn’t know why I was resisting, after all I just had to buy him a couple of drinks, and to be honest I wasn’t opposed to spending more time with him. I just didn’t want to lose at this stupid game we were playing.

“Well that’s why you have one apology a day,” he said in a serious manner. “Don’t waste it.”

“It wasn’t meant for you so it doesn’t count,” I insisted. “Unless you wanna follow me around to see just how many times I apologize to other people, you won’t be able to know for sure. And come on, don’t make it too easy,” I said, winking at him.

He stopped sweeping and looked at me for a few moments. “Alright,” he said, resigned, “it’s still one, then.”

I grinned and went back to looking for the can of spray. I found it by the time the floor was cleaned and both of us drenched in sweat. With the oven turned off and the window open, I was hoping it would eventually cool down, but there was no sign of that happening anytime soon.

I grabbed the can and went outside, Clyde following me closely. It was some type of industrial grade bug spray I had brought with me from New York. There’s nothing better than New York to teach you how to deal with a bug problem. I knew for a fact that it worked on wasps too, because I manually sprayed some before I called a team of professionals to deal with them.

That being said, I wasn't overly thrilled by the prospect of going into the attic to battle god knows how many angry wasps, but I had no choice.

“I can go up there,” Clyde offered, but I could see he wasn’t thrilled either.

“Nah, you’re too tall to fit in there,” I said. The attic was nothing more than a cramped space between the roof and the ceiling, it wasn’t big enough for Clyde to stand properly.

“But…” he objected.

“My house, my rules,” I cut him off and started climbing the ladder.

The only upside of this whole situation was that Clyde was getting a great view of my ass, as he held onto the ladder to stabilize it. I really hoped he was enjoying the view, because soon I’d probably come back down stung by wasps and doused in bug spray, which I suspected wasn’t such a great look on me. I climbed inside the attic and glanced down. By the light blush on his cheeks and his averted gaze I was pretty sure he’s enjoyed the view. Of course, it could have just been the heart, but it could also have been my ass.

I didn’t step inside as full of courage as I wanted, but at least there was no one up there to watch me cowardly look around for the stingers. The space was incredibly hot and full of dust and my throat and lungs didn’t like it one bit, but I kept as silent as I could so I would hear the wasps. Luckily, there was a big hole in the roof where Jimmy had started taking off the tiles, so there was more than enough light.

I found the culprits after a few minutes of searching. They were trying to build a new nest next to a beam, and I ruthlessly sprayed them before they could attack me. I felt sorry for them, but this was my house and they should have found a better place to invade. I took down the half built nest, as the exterminator had told me to do, and sprayed the spot where it had been attached.

I left the can next to Jimmy’s tools before climbing down. In case anything like this happened again, at least he had a weapon.

“All done,” I said, hopping down the ladder. I was greeted with some enthusiastic cheers. “How about we take that break now? I think the muffins have cooled down by now and they’re awaiting to be tasted.” More enthusiastic cheers. “I think I’ll bring the food outside, it’s a bit too hot and stuffy in the house. Sadie, wanna help me? There’s the hose, you can wash up if you want, or you can use the bathroom inside.”

I placed the food on paper plates and Sadie carried them outside one by one, hopefully without dropping anything on the ground. We placed a big blanket on the grass, because bringing out the table and chairs would be too much work and everyone decided it just wasn’t worth it. Sadie said it felt like a picnic and we just went along with that.  

I came out with cold drinks and nearly dropped the bottles when I rounded the corner, because a shirtless Clyde dousing himself with the garden hose was really something I wasn’t expecting to see. The whole porn idea flashed through my brain again and I almost turned around and went back to the house but that would have been a bit too obvious, especially since Clyde turned his head and looked at me. I averted my gaze and hurried to the blanket.

Jimmy was grinning and I wanted to strangle him.

“Whatever’s behind that grin, I don’t wanna hear it,” I warned him and placed the bottles on the blanket, plopping next to him.

“I ain’t saying nothing!” He lifted his arms in a defensive gesture and opened a beer bottle, but the grin still plastered on his face scared me. So that wasn’t very reassuring.

“Well I can almost hear you thinking it.” I didn’t know what ‘It’ was, but I was scared.

“I don’t have to say anything, your blush speaks for itself,” he said, grabbing a sandwich, and I wanted to shove it down his throat whole so I’d be sure he’d keep his mouth shut, but Sadie reappeared from somewhere around the bushes and I knew better than to allow myself to be violent in front of a kid. For now at least.

However, he kept his word and didn’t say a thing while we ate, but he did snicker when Clyde joined us. He wasn’t shirtless anymore, thank heavens, because if he were I’d probably spontaneously combust, but his t-shirt was wet and stuck to his chest in all the right places and... okay, this wasn’t that much better. I did my best to focus on anything else for the remainder of the meal.

The food— and especially the muffins— had been very well received by the Logans and it made me really happy. It felt nice being appreciated and also it felt nice to be able to do something for the people who were giving up their free time to help me out. I was really lucky that someone cared enough for me to do that.

But I think what made me the happiest was Clyde’s confession that he hadn’t eaten muffins so tasty since the ones his mother used to make. It was sad that since she passed no one made them muffins anymore, so I promised I’d bake more for them if they agreed to build me another mailbox. With hand painted butterflies and all. Jimmy almost choked laughing and recounted the story in more (embarrassing) detail than Clyde had and by the time we finished eating, my jaws were hurting from laughing so hard.

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[adoseofyukiya]

Celebration (as a whole)

I’m glad I finished this on time, at least before the day is over. Day 3 of my Kise Ryouta birthday countdown. The inspiration came only just this morning as soon as I woke up but the will the write it only came this evening so it really is quite late. I finished this in two hours! Quite an achievement for me.

Still based from the same prompts. This one is prompt#33 on a post-it note

And this is for @trash-by-vouge! Aside that the prompts are from her, she’s also my 27th follower! I already had it planned that I’ll be dedicating something to my 27th follower since the number is quite special to me (obviously) and here it is~

Also HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all the father’s out there most especially to the best one which I most fortunately have as mine.

A shrill ring echoed off the walls of a ten-year old boy’s room originating from his alarm clock that was shaped like a basketball. The sound slowly roused him from sleep and he blindly reached towards his bedside table to silence the infuriating device. Once in has been silenced, the boy immediately burrowed himself under his warm sheets. Moments before sleep completely enticed him to its comfortable embrace though, he remembered reason for the ungodly time he set his alarm.

Dad.

In seconds, the boy named Shinya, was out of his bed and went straight to the bathroom en suite his room. Splashing cold water to his face to shake off the remnants of sleep. He needed to be alert and awake if he were to finish what he has set out to do that day. Shinya towelled off the remaining water off his face including the ones that clung to his blond locks. Looking at the mirror for the last time, he set out with a determined face.

Armed with his tablet, Shinya silently tiptoed down the stairs towards their kitchen. Looking around the kitchen, he felt a little overwhelmed with its complexity. He was taller compared to other boys his age but the equipment that littered their kitchen had him at a loss. It wasn’t his fault that his Dad has picked up cooking as a hobby years ago and now their kitchen was filled with whatever cooking equipment his Dad took fancy with.

Shaking himself off the nerves, he remembered to call upon a reliable ally. Fiddling a few moments on his tablet before placing it atop the countertop to avail a good view of the whole kitchen. Shinya waited for a few moments for his call to connect. He was not disappointed when a familiar face appeared in the screen.

“Morning, sergeant. You ready?” greeted the older man possessing blue eyes so similar with Shinya’s from the other side of the screen. “Morning, Papa. As ready as I can be I suppose,” shrugged the boy.

“Well, that’s good enough. Let’s start with the rice, I guess.”

“Yup. Got it.”

Cooking rice was a familiar task to Shinya as this was usually his contribution when it comes to preparing their food. While he washed the rice, his father regaled him with the things his team had been up to as a preparation for their games. His father knows him well enough that the boy likes to hear about his father’s team. As soon as the rice was cooking, he turned back to his father and asked what to do next.

“Eggs. You know how to beat them, right?”

“Uhh. I haven’t tried it yet but how hard could it be,” shrugged Shinya. He can almost hear his Dad’s reprimand at his back on how his lackadaisical was so similar to his Papa and will definitely get him into trouble one of these days. But they were just eggs, nothing too dangerous, at all.

“Yeah use that one.” Shinya looked back to his father to see which direction he was pointing to. His father was referring to the utensil hanging beside a big ladle. “This one?” asked Shinya as he reached for the foreign utensil.

“Right. That’s an egg beater. You just use that to mix the eggs.” Shinya finished cracking the eggs to the bowl that his Dad normally used for the eggs. Looking at the mixture, he was happy that not many pieces of the shell fell in the bowl. Not so bad now, Shinya. You’re doing quite well.

Shinya looked back to his father and he saw that his father was drinking some kind of canned coffee to fight the sleepiness. His father must have been well injected with caffeine by now. Shinya knew that his father must’ve been trying his best to stay up for this. And this fact boosted Shinya to do his best even more.

He began beating the egg trying to remember how his Dad normally did it in the few times that he saw it. “Not too fast! Slow down a bit,” his father cautioned from the counter when he saw that some of the yolks were spilling due to Shinya’s fast mixing.

“Sprinkle a bit of salt. Just a bit,” continued to instruct by his dad. “Heat up the pan. You know how to turn on the stove right?”

“Yup.” It was then that Shinya became thankful that his Dad uses an electric stove instead of the one with actual fire. Aside from it being dangerous, Shinya was thinking that the challenge would be on a different level otherwise.

He waited for a few minutes for the pan to heat up while he recalled to his father the happenings on his school life. He told him on how he met his Uncle Shintarou yesterday because he was called in for the trouble Kazuki got into. And how Uncle Tetsuya was merciless in his last exam to which he almost failed but managed to barely hang in there.

When his father deemed the pan to be hot enough, Shinya climbed up the stool to reach the stove carrying the bowl carefully. He was taller compared to boys his age but their kitchen counter was still a little out of reach for him. “Slowly pour out the eggs. Gently, okay?”

Shinya watched the eggs with rapt attention, the kind only a ten year old can muster and when he deemed them cooked enough he carefully flipped them but not before wearing the loose cooking gloves that his father insisted.

Good. Good, Shinya. You just might be a genius on this. He showed the finished product to his father and accepted the praise with great aplomb again, the kind only a ten-year old can manage. His father even clapped for him as congratulations.

The rest on their planned menu were bacon and hotdogs, to which Shinya had not trouble dealing with aside maybe on the embarrassing eek he let out when the oil frizzled as soon as the bacon touched the pan but his father was his only witness so he’s quite assured that the incident will remain between the two of them.

As soon as the rice was cooked, Shinya prepared the coffee all according to his father’s instructions. Two teaspoons of the ground coffee and three cubes of sugar. A miniature kettle filled with milk was placed beside it to be added as necessary just like how his Dad liked.

Shinya carefully arranged the food he cooked on the table along with the utensils following any additional instructions by his father. He prepared two sets for him and his Dad.

“Good. Now get to the other surprise. The last one is already on the way, I just confirmed it,” instructed his father. Shinya carried the tablet with him as he moved towards the shelf in their living room that contained their photo albums. Browsing for the one he needed and once he found it, he slowly removed it from the shelf carefully minding his movements as to avoid making any unnecessary noise.

Lodged in between the pages of that particular photo album were a bunch of post-it notes of different colors and writings.

Shinya carefully listened to the last minute instructions by his father before leaving him on the living room to complete his task.

He tiptoed back to the stairs until he reached his parents’ room. He silently stuck the notes to strategic locations in their proper order as instructed by his father.

Once finished, he went back to the living room where his father was located. “You done?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” replied Shinya with a flamboyant salute. His father only chuckled at his antics and told him to open the main door since the last part of their surprise was already outside.

Shinya almost ran to the entrance but remembering the need for silence, he tiptoed yet again. Opening the door, he saw his Uncle Atsushi carrying a box.

His Uncle leaned down and gave him the box. “Tell your Dad that here’s my contribution for this year and to enjoy the day,” whispered his uncle upon seeing the boy’s shushing gesture. He nodded enthusiastically and mouthed a thank you to his uncle.

Shinya carefully carried the box to the dining room and placed it in the center of the prepared breakfast. Once the cake was placed, he then lit up the candle that came with it.

Shinya looked up to his father and they shared a grin that mirrored one another. They then each gave one another a big thumbs up.

“My little boy is all grown up now, isn’t he? I wonder if you’ll tower over me the next time we see each other,” teased his father.

To which Shinya merely pouted. “How I wish Papa, but we both know you’ll be home next week and there is no way I could grow that big overnight.”

His father chuckled again at his reply. “Right, right. Now go wake up the sleepyhead before the candle melts.”

This time Shinya was too excited to watch his steps much less the ruckus he made as he ran back to his parents’ room. Reaching the intended room, Shinya knocked loudly enough to shake the door. He continued the loud knocking until he heard a muffled movement on the other side of the door. Before running back though, he left an instruction to the person inside shouting, “Look down below once you open the door.”

Shinya waited for his Dad to reach his final destination which he knew was the dining room. Even without seeing his Dad’s reactions, Shinya can almost imagine it. “He must be crying now,” he heard his father remark at his side. Shinya only giggled for he knew it to be true.

His Dad was a big sap and a crybaby to boot and Shinya already had the contents of the post-its memorized by now. They were his Papa’s share of messages and greetings which only arrived yesterday. He supposed that he could’ve just written the messages for his Papa but they both agreed that a personal touch will be more appreciated by the ‘muse’ of their house.

He rattled each one of them in head as he listened to his Dad’s footsteps.

 Good morning, beautiful. Now the day’s evidently brighter as a piece of sunshine is finally awake to share his brilliance to us mortals.

 You’ve gotten older, love. But how come you become even more beautiful in my eyes?

 I can only imagine the smile you have right now but I’m sure that it rivals the sun in its brilliance and I sure hope that I’ll be able to continue to put those smiles in your beautiful face.

 I love you, Dad. Don’t cry, okay! I know you’re still beautiful even when you cry but I only want to see you smile today! You really are the best Dad in the world. (I did ask Papa if he wanted the first place but he agreed that you deserve it far more. You know he can’t say no to you, after all.)

-Shinya

 Thank you so much, love. For sharing your life with me. For brightening our days. For loving us so much we can’t get enough of it.

-Daiki

 You’re the one that always takes care of us so we’ve decided that on this day, we’ll show you our appreciation.

 As if conjured by his mind, the object of their surprise has finally reached their destination. Then the father and son sang a cheerful birthday song in chorus. As expected the blond already has tears in his eyes by the time they finished the song.

“Blow the candle first, Dad! And don’t forget to make a wish!” urged Shinya excitedly.

His Dad closed his eyes for a moment and gave a gentle blow towards the lit candle. As soon as the flame was extinguished, the father and son cheered clapping for their celebrant.

“Happy birthday, Dad!” Shinya greeted as he gave his Dad a big hug. “Love you.”

“Love you too, my baby,” replied his Dad as he squeezed Shinya fondly.

“And the special greetings straight from the other side of Atlantic is here, too!” Shinya then gave the tablet to his Dad which showed his Papa that was mostly likely greeting from ear to ear like him.

“Happy birthday, Ryouta. There you go again, cry baby. I would kiss the tears away if I could but it seems I���ll be a little late for it this time. I’ll be sure to wipe the next batch once I get back there in three days.” Shinya can clearly hear the fondness in his father’s voice. It was the type of voice that he knew was solely reserved for his Dad.

“Thank you both, my princes. I can’t believe you both pulled this under my nose.” His Dad wiped the stray tears off his face as he sat down carrying the tablet to the table.

“I cooked everything! Well, Papa helped a little, but I did almost all of it!” reported excitedly by the other blond.

“Ooooh. And my kitchen is still hale and whole, right?” cooed his Dad.

“It is,” huffed Shinya but he knew his Dad was only trying to mess with him.

“My baby is all grown up.” His Dad reached over and ruffled the blond locks that were similar to his own.

“I told him the same thing actually. He just might outgrow the two of us soon, love.” His Papa added to the teasing.

“Yeah, he just might. Well, shall we go to the tasting? Which one would be the chef’s recommendation?”

“The eggs! I’m sure I seasoned them well! And not many shells were mixed in,” proudly declared the boy.

His parents only chuckled at him. Shinya was at the edge of his seat as he watched his Dad chew a bit of the scrambled eggs he prepared.

“I think this is the best scrambled egg I’ve ever tasted! It is so well seasoned! And I don’t think I tasted any shells at all!” his Dad remarked clapping excitedly.

“Really?” The twinkle on the boy’s eyes were familiar to both parents as it’s an exact mirror image of the celebrant of the day whenever his excitement is off the roof.

“You really should taste it, Daiki. Once you get back, I’m sure the chef will be more than happy to cook it for you.”

“Of course! I’ll cook it for you, Papa.”

“I look forward to it then.”

His parents continued to talk and made commentaries over his cooking skills.

Looking at his parents talk full of smiles and good cheer made Shinya’s heart full. He can almost see his Papa sitting across the table clutching his Dad’s hand. He smiled inwardly it seems like it’s a mission accomplished for him, after all. After all, he achieved his objective for the day.

Celebrate this day as a whole family.

Again, HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all Dad’s out there!

Parents!AoKise~ Another first for me. The surprise breakfast is what our family did as celebration for today so it was inspired from that.

The name Shinya was taken from my other half of my other favorite ship, GureShin! Yes, no other than ‘deep night’「深夜」Shinya from Seraph of the End. 

I’m quite sure that I’ve already cooked breakfast by the time I was ten-years old so I do hope this one is believable enough.