#but the blips are good to have. I'm tired of losing weeks at a time

[rogersideup]

One shot request: the reader from nice to be kneaded and Steve have a baby. Creative control is all yours. I just need a baby in that man’s arms.

Nice to be Kneaded

More Fun Stuff

Just Between Us

Can be read as a one shot, or in conjunction with Nice to be Kneaded.

Series Masterlist More Fun Stuff Masterlist

Post Endgame Steve x Baker reader

Word Count: 1,564

Some things are best kept a secret <3

Getting home from a long day at work at the bakery felt like a billion pounds falling off your shoulders. It had been a long, chaotic day of fulfilling unusually large orders all while trying to appease the masses that never slowed down since the blip.

Unlocking the door and stepping inside, the view in the living room immediately put a smile on your face, and took the weight of the world off your back.

"Dada" Steve spoke to the now almost one year old.

He was splayed out on the living room rug, your little daughter in front of him, belly laughing right in his face.

"Mama!" She responded, laughing even harder at Steve's immediate response.

"No, Dada!" He shook his head, smiling at the sound of her giggles.

Your smile widened as you kicked off your shoes and put your bag down.

"Say dada!" Steve encouraged. "Da-Da"

"Mama!" She responded.

"Dada" He tried again.

"Mama."

The closer you got to the adorable scene, the more you could tell Steve was exhausted and probably losing his mind a bit. He was wearing no pants and a shirt, and he had yet to even brush his hair. But, your daughter looked freshly bathed, fed, dressed, and happy as a clam.

Moments like these always warmed your heart, and you were endlessly thankful to have a husband who was so supportive of not only you, but his own daughter.

You could've never been running two bakeries and raising a kid if it weren't for his wild blonde hair and lack of pants.

"Okay, sound it out." He changed methods. "Start with D. Duh duh duh."

"Duh" She babbled back.

"Now dah! Dah dah dah."

"Dah dah dah"

"Now Dada!" Steve was so hopeful.

"Mama!" Her cheeky smile widened and pointed to you, putting her arms in the air hopeful you would pick her up.

"Hi baby! I missed you!" You enthused, happy to scoop up your little cinnamon roll off the plush rug. "Oh my goodness, did Dada put you in this cute little outfit?! What a cutie!"

"Dada also gave her a bath, because she was a bit stinky." Steve told you, the superhero nearly struggling to get up off the floor, a testament to how tightly she has him wrapped around her teeny baby fingers.

"Do you have the best Dad in the whole world?!" You asked her, she smiled and giggled in response. "Say Yes! Yeessss"

"Yes!" She responded with ease.

"Yay!!" You celebrated.

Teaching a baby how to talk meant every conversation was now grounds for teaching, and you would happily teach her that Steve, was in fact, the best dad in the world.

Steve finally made it up off the floor, which excited her even more.

"Mama!" She squeaked happily, pointing to Steve.

"No, Dada." You pointed to him, trying to help Steve out.

He's been trying for three days now to get her to call her anything close to Dad. She's had Mama down for a week now and you were starting to feel Steve's pain.

"Hi, Captain Underpants" You smiled at him, it was impossible to not be happy and completely enchanted by the sight of him. "I missed you."

He gave you a kiss, and you wrapped your free arm around him to hug him the best you could.

"Hi, Sweetheart. I missed you too" He happily snuggled up to you. "How was work?"

"Chaotic." You stated simply. "How was your morning?"

"It was good, we went on a nice long walk, had breakfast, lots of snacks, a bath, but no nap yet." He told you.

"You look like you could use a nap." You grinned sympathetically, reaching your arm up and running your fingers through his hair a few times. "I've got her, you go get some sleep, baby."

"You just got home, I think you should nap first." He denied.

You shook your head. "I'm not tired, and you do a lot for us. You got up with her like three times last night. I know you didn't sleep well."

"I think I need a shower more than sleep, much like her, I'm also I bit stinky" Steve stated.

"Go take a shower and a nap." You sympathized.

"You're sure?" He questioned.

"Positive." You nodded, giving him another kiss. "Because even the best dad ever needs sleep, too. Huh, Cinny?"

The two of you have been calling her Cinny more than her real name, short for Cinnamon Roll of course.

"Yes!" She used the new word she learned a whole minute ago.

"Best dad ever?" You asked her, pointing to Steve. He raised his eyebrow in anticipation.

"Yes!"

"Who's this?" You asked her, still pointing to Steve.

"Mama!" She stated proudly.

Steve's shoulders deflated. "She'll get it soon." You comforted him. "Go relax, I love you."

"I love you too." Steve told you before playfully and gently smacking your butt and waking off.

You brought Cinny into her room and sat down with her on the glider chair. There was a lot of one sided conversation about how much you missed her and how much you loved her before reading her some books to get her to wind down for her nap.

It took about 45 minutes, but she eventually knocked out snuggled into your chest and neck. You took a very selfish 20 minutes to appreciate the baby cuddles and get your fix since you really did miss her at work today.

After a successful transfer into her crib, you turned the baby monitor on and quickly went upstairs to change out of your work clothes and into something far more comfortable.

Then you were right back downstairs to the other not-so-little human you missed all day too. Steve was asleep on the couch, but this time he had sweatpants on and no shirt.

Maybe one day he could find it within himself to be fully clothed, but for now, you definitely weren't complaining.

You leaned over and gave him a kiss to his temple before sitting next to his head and massaging it.

Being a stay home Dad looked really good on him. You'll admit, after his retirement he seemed a bit lost for a while. Like he had gone so long being Captain America or on the run from the government that he didn't even know who Steve was anymore. But the second he became a Dad, it was like he immediately knew exactly who he was supposed to be.

You thought that having kids would change things. Through your whole life you heard stories of exhausted mothers not having time for life anymore, slightly miserable, never talking fondly of their husbands, or even how their husbands found them less attractive after having their kids. There was a lot of silent fear that maybe that would happen to you, maybe the two of you would be under so much stress you'd start to resent each other, or maybe you'd be less attractive to Steve after your body changed in the process of growing baby Cinny.

But that couldn't be further from the truth. You'd never been more attracted to or in love than you were right now with a happy sleepy baby, and a happy sleeping husband. He took such amazing care of you and in turn, all you ever wanted to do was take care of him.

Even if he was sleeping, you wanted him to know how much you loved and appreciated him, and his crazy blonde hair. In true Steve fashion, even in his sleep he snuggled into you.

He dug his face into your stomach, and his arm held you close. Cuddles from Steve lasted a solid hour before you were nearly dosing off to sleep yourself.

Not all things could be a fairytale, and you knew that because you could hear Cinny start to fuss on the monitor. Small little cries let you know she was awake and ready to be done with nap time.

So you carefully slipped out underneath Steve, and he was so exhausted that you managed to stand up again without waking him.

"Mama" Your daughter pouted and wiped small tears off her face when she saw you enter her room.

"Good morning, honey." You said quietly matching her tiny pout, and cradling her in your arms. "It's okay, baby, you're okay."

You snuggled her and swayed her as her tears slowly came to an end with quiet promises of playtime and more snacks, you even asked her very politely if she could keep her babbles and voice to a reasonable level as to not wake up Dad.

Did she understand? No. Did you try anyways? Absolutely.

Once she was fully awake and a lot less grumpy, you tip toed back into the living room to set her up with her favorite little aquarium toy.

When she spotted Steve dead asleep on the couch, her whole face lit up with yet another cheeky smile.

She pointed at him. "Dada!"

Your eyes squeezed shut and your head lulled back, so immensely disappointed that Steve missed that moment. But, you were proud of her.

"Yes! That's Dada!" You confirmed enthusiastically but quietly. "This stays between us, kid."

You were now fully prepared to pretend like the next time she called him Dad was her first, because really, you loved Steve that much.

[krypt-tar]

For a friend who cares

A short little drabble for a friend who feels like their words aren't effective.

Main: Bash/Mixtape!BF (Mine), YS/HitSingle!Yourself (@ochrearia) Mentioned: Beef (@gemharvest)

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

Bash had another nearly sleepless night. Beef was still passed out on the sofa, and he was sitting on the floor with the coffee table in front of him, holding his phone and scrolling through the pictures he took last night.

They had a lot of fun together. Being rowdy and letting loose. Something about nighttime just felt more freeing. No worries about what we need to do while the sun is still out. No errands you could possibly run when everything has closed. No one who'd call you up for anything unless it's an emergency.

It was nice to forget about being an adult for a while.

There was a brief ache in Bash's chest at that thought. The idea he'd lose that sense of fun.

He glanced at Beef.

There could be a day where they grow apart.

He held his phone a little tighter, pushing the thoughts away and getting up. He hoped that brief blip of sorrow wasn't noticable to YS. That guy had enough to worry about as it was. He didn't need more to worry about and it would make him feel like shit.

He went to the bathroom to wash his face when he saw YS staring back at him with a disappointed look. Crap.

"Uhh…heyyy…" Bash smiled awkwardly, knowing he was about to get chewed out.

"Staying up late isn't good for you. Y'know that, right?" The other said.

Yeah. Bash knew that. God. This felt like being chewed out by his parents a little bit. "What can I say? I'm a night owl." He shrugged nonchalantly, trying to pass it off as joking with a chuckle.

"Bash, this is serious. When was the last time you had a proper sleep schedule?" YS folded his arms.

Oh. He really wasn't gonna get out of this one, huh? This wasn't just some silly one-and-done forget about it confrontation. This was an intervention. "I mean I might stay up late but I get 7 hours at least on most days." He figured it wasn't that bad if he's getting the right chunk of sleep. Might not be at a good hour but it felt like a reasonable compromise to him.

"I know you wake up earlier than your alarm unless you're sleep deprived. Your group chat messages for the past week. They show you're only offline for 4-5 hours every night." YS said firmly.

Bash's smile faltered a little. He knew he wasn't the most responsible adult but this just felt a little…

"Disappointed in yourself?" He cut Bash's thoughts off with a dagger. Ouch. YS must've realized because his expression furrowed a little differently. Less of disappointment and more of worry. "Shit- sorry."

"No. You're right." Bash sighed, dropping the jokester act. He didn't feel like keeping it up if the facade was already seen through. Couldn't hide anything from this guy. "I should act like the adult that I am."

Something about saying that outloud felt a lot worse.

"Fuck, dude-" YS winced a little. Regret immediately washed over Bash. God, it was hard to hide things here.

"Sorry, I-" Bash knew YS meant well, but goddamnit if he could silence the hurt so YS didn't feel it, he would.

"No, no. Forget I said anything." YS said, turning away.

"Wait-!"

Bash was met with his regular reflection.

He sighed and rubbed his face. Yes, he felt tired. Yeah, a little bit physically, but having your emotions read like it was a big old stoplight on his head felt exhausting after being so used to just hiding it. Being overly emotional never helped anyone. Not in Bash's experience.

Back when he and Pico first started dating, he'd do the same thing. Stay up way too late texting with him. It was fun, and he'd pass out with the last thing on his mind being the time they shared. After a long day of boring classes he didn't care about and doing chores around the house, it was his way of winding down.

It wasn't like he didn't see the downsides of it. He was just willing to make the sacrifice. He could sleep during class and take naps after doing his chores while Pico's still studying. Bash didn't particularly care about his homework and he'd do it during lunch anyway since Pico helped him. It was his own system and he thought it worked great.

But now that he was an adult, it felt more like an addictive cycle. His coworkers could tell when Bash has another late night. They'd bring it up. He'd have a cup of coffee and end up too caffeinated to sleep later. He stays up, has fun, and tries to stay up even longer till he's too tired to speak or type coherently. He'd wake up tired. People notice. Repeat.

He knew it wasn't healthy and he needed to break out of it hard and fast.

But it's always the first step that's the hardest, isn't it? Committing to it.

Bash washed his face. He felt a bit better, but not by much. His heart still weighed heavy, and he wanted to apologize to YS. Tell him the truth. Right now he knew YS was overthinking things. Maybe that he overstepped or caused Bash to feel hurt when it's not true at all.

YS was right when he brought up Bash was disappointed in himself. When your bad habits are laid out, anyone would feel guilty of it. Bash caused his own hurt by making bad choices. He needed that intervention or he wouldn't stop. Now that he thought about it, it wasn't the first time either. YS tried before and he didn't listen.

Bash tried to suppress the guilt that twisted in him, but he was terrible at it. Yes, this was the push he needed. Not all change was comfortable, and he knew that all too well. Didn't make it easy, but he'd live.

It wasn't much, but he set a few alarms for later tonight. Added an extra hour to his estimated sleep time to see if that does anything different, though a part of him believed it wouldn't change much.

He smiled a little to himself. He probably never would've taken the first step if it wasn't for his other self stepping in.

He hoped YS wasn't beating himself up about it. That was the last thing he wanted. Humans were complicated, and just detecting emotions didn't make YS a mind reader. Bash needed to explain himself and talk it out.

He sent YS a text.

(Hey, are you ok?}

----------

Not really used to writing other people's characters. Gave it a shot here, but I don't think it came out right. Wrote this all out and I'm not gonna re-read just cuz I'm gonna get embarrassed and chicken out of posting it.

Gonna be gone for a little bit so if I don't respond to comments right away just know I'm out doing errands lol

[cadejos]

pairing: nanago rating: t.

when nanami is tired from a long week where he had to go into overtime because the curses were out of control and he slumps into his couch with a groan and gojo is there, reaching out to rub his shoulders and making all the stress gradually melt away from him. he does it without warning, and at first nanami is startled by how casually gojo touches him through his clothes. the blip only lasts for that initial tension, as sense knocks into him soon after — it's gojo. and the two of them have done far worse things together anyway.

but it's not like the older man has had it easy either. nanami reminds him as much, insists that he should sit beside him instead. gojo ignores it and focuses on kneading the knots on nanami's back. because what good would he be as a senpai if he didn't care for his kouhai?

"is that how you see me?" nanami asks, his eyes closed, small grunts slipping with each semi-deep press of gojo's clever hands. "your kouhai?"

"how else should i see you, nanamin?"

nanami can think of a few things, about seventy percent of them to do with the spare change of clothes the special grade has in nanami's closet, about thirty percent to do with the plain passage of time.

"your coworker."

gojo snorts, a soft quiet chuckle that makes the hairs on the back of nanami's neck stand on end. "of course you'd say that."

"what?" nanami asks, twisting his neck to look at him. "it's not untrue."

"i guess it's not." the hands return, heavy and confident, digging into the dip of nanami's shoulder blades. "is it the only way i should see you, though?"

nanami tries to respond, but a gasp escapes him as gojo presses his knuckles against his lower spine.

his back bends against the contact before slumping forward again.

he tries to respond, but his throat feels dry all of a sudden.

"i wouldn't do this for just about any coworker," gojo continues. he sounds thoughtful, treading the line between earnest and playful that he somehow manages to always craft. "but i would do it for a dear kouhai."

in the interest of not losing anymore ground, nanami asks, "so you would do it for ijichi-kun?"

gojo chuckles again. lower, quieter. nanami feels it against his ear.

"you know what? maybe. ijichi gets pretty stressed out."

"i think that would just turn him into an even bigger wreck."

"all the more reason to try it, one day."

nanami can't help it, but the idea makes him smile a bit. perhaps it's the fact that gojo has been giving him this massage for a while now and it has helped him unwind. after a while of just silence, he asks, "would you please get me a drink from the kitchen, gojo-san?" half expecting to just receive a flippant retort about not being nanami's house maid or servant.

"depends," gojo says instead.

"hmm?"

"on whether you plan to kiss me after this massage, nanamin, because i'm not in the mood to get drunk."

nanami pauses, as though putting serious consideration into it.

"just water will do."

that is enough to make the older man rush to get the glass. he barely drinks half of it before pressing a kiss into gojo's parted, eager mouth, the massage long forgotten as they finally sit side by side.

gojo looks flawless, as always, the steady hum of rct keeping him looking fresh and well rested despite how minimally he's actually slept.

despite that, he still instantly closes his eyes and sighs when nanami holds his cheek.

still leans into the touch for a second before huddling even closer.

"you didn't answer my question."

"you ask too many. i lost track." nanami replies, though he knows exactly which one and so does gojo, who looks at him through the blindfold just as intensely as if his eyes were bare and directly piercing into his own.

the straightforward answer flutters in his chest. it feels like a bird too timid to leave its opened cage.

so he settles for something smaller. as small a concession as he can bear to make.

"just 'coworker' isn't very accurate either."

gojo smiles, shakes his head. "neither does kouhai-senpai, to be fair."

yet neither of them offer up an alternative, too reluctant to let words imbue complexity into something that's, until now, been surprisingly easy.

as easy as touching each other or kissing each other senseless after a long day.

[smoothshift]

I'm pretty annoyed right now. via /r/cars

I'm pretty annoyed right now.

I took my car in for some servicing this morning, new tires, alignment, and the recall we've all heard about. Unsurprisingly it failed. They'll have my car for maybe a month while they find it a new engine. That's not why I'm annoyed. Kia was very quick to hook me up with a rental on their dollar, which was nice, but I'd been looking forward to trying out my new Firestones and I have to drive back and forth from CT to pa every weekend for a new job.

I'm not even annoyed that they gave me a kia soul. It's understandable that they'd have enterprise give me a car of their Marque.

The reason I'm so annoyed is that it's so much fucking fun. I was initially highly skeptical and certainly not looking forward to getting a rental, but I find myself liking this thing more and more. It's genuinely good fun. Sure the engine seems to be one of their hamsters in a wheel, and the back of the car is held up by torsion beam suspension, and it's taller than it needs to be, but dammit it's fun. It reminds me of the Up! that Jeremy Clarkson drove in Ukraine. It's not very good to drive in the classical sense, it's not well connected, or twitchy, or sharp, it understeers hard if you push it, it rolls around like a floating log, it dives so hard under braking that you think you're having a plane crash, and the engine sounds absolutely awful. But, the transmission isn't bad, and like my car, responds well to you working with it. It takes an hour and a half to downshift, or you can blip the throttle and pull the lever and it'll do it instantly. The exaggerated body movements allow you a sense of what's going on with the suspension, and the car responds well to trail braking, no doubt thanks in part to the aforementioned "plane crash" phenomenon. When it does lose traction it's easy to gather up and very progressive. It's not... fast, at all, actually. It's really very slow, and not a driver's car at all. But, and perhaps partly because it's a rental, it is very good fun to drive in its own quirky way.

And it's highly practical. I can fold down the rear seats and put actual, large things in there, a novel idea to someone used to a sedan. It's not going to go up black bear pass any time soon, but it's just tall enough that you don't ever have to think about ground clearance from things like curbs, raised manhole covers, parking humps, speed bumps, and potholes, and you can take it down a dirt road and again, not worry, which is also a novel idea to someone used to driving a slightly lowered sedan. You don't realize how much time you spend thinking about scraping things and ground clearance until you don't have to.

I've driven my brother's CRV extensively. By any possible measure it's better built, better equipped, better engineered, and nicer. But it is truly awful to drive. It's not that I don't have a baseline for crossover performance. I do, and it has time and again proven itself anemic, slow, unresponsive, and to have absolutely terrible handling. It feels like it's going to fall over around any sort of corner. It's bigger than it needs to be, and despite less body roll, it still all feels like it's a house of cards that's going to go terribly wrong in any sort of situation that would flummox the chassis of a shopping cart.

This is fun, practical, economical, and cheap. I don't want one, I want to make that clear. When kia gives me back my car, I will be very happy to get out of the soul. But I do get it now. It feels exactly the way you'd think a Nissan juke should feel. I now understand why so many people have bought souls, and why just about every publication that gets its hands on one ranks it at number 1 in the crossover segment.

I'm annoyed today because I've had one of my biggest prejudices absolutely smashed. I still think there's little reason to get a crossover over a hatchback, but the little soul blends the line between crossover and hatchback masterfully. The peace of mind that just a little ground clearance gives you is underrated. The practicality is worth more than I thought, and the car is genuinely good fun. If you want to go fast, get a fast car that's built to be fast. But I'm going to be forced to drive this thing for a few weeks and it's already given me a surprising understanding of why someone would want one of these things.