#clings to these ideas like a sloth to a tree

[creepypasta65]

Ello! I wanna request E.J,Ben, Helen the bloody painter and liu with a S/O that's literally like a sloth, they sleep so much and basically almost the whole day, just like babies 😭❤️❤️

Also have a great day/night/weekend!!

Hi! Thanks for the request :)

EJ, Ben, Helen/Bloody Painter, and Liu with an s/o who is like a sloth:

EJ:

Jack finds you adorable.

He will feel bad for waking you up on accident. But he will make it up to you by cuddling.

He loves it if you cling to him like a sloth clinging to a tree.

Jack will also give you nicknames like sleepy pumpkin, sleepy angel, snooze bug, and more.

He makes sure that your bed or his bed is comfortable and has many blankets and pillows so you can sleep well.

Ben:

Ben finds it funny that you act like a sloth, sleeping all day.

He will also give you nicknames like sleepy head or sleepy sloth.

Ben likes to lay by you while he plays video games. He makes sure to have the volume of the game low, so he doesn't disturb your sleep. But if he wants to annoy you, he puts the volume up.

Ben sometimes throws a pillow at you to wake you up since you've been sleeping all day.

Bloody Painter:

Helen finds it adorable and loves calling you sleepy head. When you're sleeping, he will join you and falls asleep or sketch while you're asleep. Helen will sometimes draw you sleeping if he runs out of ideas. He will cover you with blankets, so you don't get cold.

Liu:

Liu loves you so much.

He finds it funny that you can sleep all day like a sloth.

He will fix your bed or his bed making it comfortable, adding blankets, pillows, and candles if you want.

Liu loves sleeping with you and cuddling with you. He will melt if you cling to him like a sloth.

Liu gives you nicknames like sleeping beauty and sleeping princess/prince.

Have a nice day or night (❁´◡`❁)!

[neurodivenport]

SIR! SIR! imma need you to be writing more nsfw chase fics! i have no shame. i need more. im on my hands and knees. credit card out and ready. i will even give you scenarios if you need some. im begging, crying, screaming, wailing, salivating, barking, meowing, purring, wobbling, and all the other i-n-g-s. you're the only one that gets into it. 😩

i literally love u… here’s something thats been floating in my brain for a hot minute (that i never wrote because of lack of motiv+ive been sick ugh)

but PLEASE send me scenarios if you have any! i ALWAYS wanna write stuff for him but its just about if i have actual ideas or not

its literally nothing but porn without plot under the cut you’ve been warned (chase davenport x gn!reader)

Chase had finally come up with a way to recharge without his capsule.

He spared you the nitty gritty of it, only telling you he had changed the way his entire room worked in order for him to sleep in your (now) shared bed. You told him he didn’t have to go through all that just because you wanted to sleep next to him- but he insisted that he was just as desperate to hold you, too.

The thought of that made you feel warm.

You watch as he turns off the light, cuddled up in his own set of pajamas, which you note have a little Davenport Industries logo on the side. He squeezes in next to you, lifting the covers above his body.

“I never knew how you slept without a blanket,” You note, “It’s so cold in your room… and you were just in a glass capsule.”

“Highly flexible industry grade polymer,” Chase corrects, with the ‘I’m a genius’ smile plastered on his cute face, “And these pajamas are designed to be warmer than blankets, with adjustable settings to regulate it to human body temperatures. You can also just turn those features off completely.”

You gape at him, eyebrows furrowed tight, watching as he giggles at your expression. “God, you Davenports are so strange.”

He just hums in response, a big, dumb grin lighting up his face.

You settle in, turning around to your side. When you feel him hesitating, you grasp his hand in yours, pulling his arm to slot over your side. He pulls you in tight, spooning your form against his. You feel his face bury itself into your neck, humming, nustling itself into your skin.

“‘S really nice,” Chase says after a few beats- voice muffled with his face in your neck.

You laugh a little, squeezing his hand. “It is for me too.”

You feel him push his body closer to yours, like he’s trying to get as close as he can. His hands bunch up at your pajama shirt, legs intertwining with yours, trying to pull you closer to him.

“Mm, Chase,” You hum, “You okay?”

“Mmhm,” He says, “I just- I want to be close to you.”

“I don’t think you can get any closer than this.” You giggle.

Chase hums in response. You know how clingy he can be, how touch starved he is, constantly clinging to you like a koala or a sloth to a tree. You bet he’d hold you for the rest of his life if he could- not getting up to a single other thing.

You feel his thumb barely touching the light hint of your skin that peeks out from your scrunched shirt, feather light and shaky. He’s praying you don’t notice him taking in your smell.

You slide your leg between his, intertwining your limbs to bring him ever tighter, pulling him forward with your tangled hands. You hear him grunt as he slots against your back, before stilling behind you, lifting his head off from your neck.

“Sorry.”

You don’t understand what he’s talking about… until you feel it.

Oh.

Oh.

“Chase,” You breathe out a laugh, “It’s okay. Don’t apologize.”

“It just- it just happens.”

You can feel him trying to hover his crotch away from your ass, trying not to press his obvious hard-on against you. You two have had sex before- but since it’s still early in that stage of your relationship, his nerves are still never ending, never wanting to overstep a boundary.

You grab onto his hip, pulling him towards you to press just as tightly as he was before. He grunts at the contact, pulling his lip between his teeth.

“You don’t have to,” Chase says, ever the gentleman, voice laced with tensity.

“Chasey,” You breathe, knowing full well what any pet name does to him, “I like making you feel good.”

He lets out a long trembling breath at that. He stays silent for a minute, clearly contemplating something, the cogs in his brain practically audible.

“Can I, uh,” Chase stutters, fidgeting with your shirt. “Can I just… do this…?”

You feel him grind against your ass experimentally. That makes you moan, shifting it back against him, reveling in the soft, barely noticeable noise he makes.

“Go ahead, baby,” You encourage. “Get yourself off for me.”

That makes him whine, burying his face back into your neck. He can never get used to your vulgarity.

Chase’s hips start moving, softly humping against you. You hold his hips in aid, guiding him with more determined strokes.

“That feel good?” You ask. He moans softly, nodding his head.

His movements get faster as he adds more pressure, his hand gliding up your stomach. Sensing his hestiance, you grab his hand and place it on your chest, feeling him pinch a nipple from over your shirt.

“I’m-“ He starts, cutting himself off with a groan, “I’m close- I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, baby, you’re doing such a good job for me. You deserve it. Let yourself go.”

Chase’s whines amp up in volume, getting more and more frequent while his thrusts lose their rhythm. He’s trying to muffle his sounds into your skin, embarrassed by how much he’s enjoying this.

With a final groan, he stills, legs twitching as you feel his pants dampen.

He’s panting as he comes down, barely moving. You reach back to pet his hair, turning and placing a soft kiss on his forehead. “Was that good?”

He hums in response, still high pitched and breathy. That makes you giggle, squeezing his cheek.

As you begin to push yourself up off the bed, you feel him grab you.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m just gonna get you a washcloth and new pajamas, don’t worry.”

Chase’s eyes are big and dreamy as he speaks. “I want- I want to return the favor.”

You smile, heart warming - knowing full well its not out of obligation but out of his own want.

“Can you do that in the shower?”

You’ve never seen him get up so fast.

[mhykimagines]

this is for a certain... someone.... @pernonix middle finger

Love Me More (Heathcliff/GN!Reader)

tags; fluff, heathcliff blanchett, gender neutral reader, wizard reader

"You're back. How was-Ah...?!"

You had a habit of doing these things to him. Sudden hugs, sudden kisses, sudden everything with you. He could always count on you surprising him with some random idea or thing you wanted, and while with other people he usually disliked the ideas of surprises, he was fond of it when it came to you.

This particular surprise, however, was more embarrassing than some of your others. He had been sitting in the dining room, reading one of his books while eating a slice of cake Nero had prepared for him, when you trudged back inside. You had been out that day on some mission with the rest of the Central Wizards, and for some reason you were absolutely drained. Instead of greeting him and sitting next to him like he initially thought you were going to, however, you're suddenly in his lap, facing him and wrapping your arms and legs around him like a sloth holding on to a tree. His face practically catches on fire, nearly dropping his book into his cake as he stares down at you, startled and embarrassed. It was one thing to do this in the privacy of your own rooms, but this was a common area... If Shino saw this, he would never let him live it down.

"(Name)... W-What're you doing...?" Heath asks, nervously looking around. Nero's still in the kitchen, and nobody's walked out yet, but this was the manor. It was only a matter of time before someone came out here.

"I missed you." is all you say in response, your face burying itself against his neck like a child clinging to a toy they don't wanna part with. "The mission was boring and I missed you. So now I'm here."

He wants to laugh, instead setting his book down cautiously as that hand moves to rest on your back. "Then why don't we go back to my room...? You can hug me all you want there..."

Your head shakes, clinging to him even tighter (if that was even possible). "You were in the middle of reading, and I didn't want to disturb you. Just keep doing what you were doing, it's like I was never here."

How in the hell is he supposed to concentrate on his reading when you're like this...?! He feels his face turning red as he can feel your breath on his neck, and he's almost inclined to just let you stay there until you feel like moving.

That is, of course, until two people walk into the dining room. His head snaps over to the door in a panic, and you don't even seem bothered as chatter fills the dining room. The conversation between the other two Eastern wizards is promptly put on hold, however, when their gaze settles on the situation they just walked into, and Shino can't even go 5 seconds without bursting into laughter. It's so bad he's holding his sides, hunching over as Heathcliff stares at him indignantly.

"It's not funny...!" Heath protests weakly, and Faust even has to turn his head with his hand over his mouth.

"Ahh, young love."

Heath swears he'll never live this down, not till the day his heart stops breathing. But honestly, with how warm you are, and how even just sitting here for a moment seems to have relaxed you more than when you first came in, he doesn't think he hates this as much as he claims. Especially not after hearing your own breathy laughter, your nose brushing against the side of Heathcliff's neck. He eventually relents, sighing softly as Shino continues laughing, his hand on your back slowly tracing small circles. "You're the most embarrassing partner in the world, you know that?"

"Mhm." You hum faintly, and his heart is doing backflips at how tired you sound. Even though you're exhausted, he somehow continues to find more and more things to fall in love with you over. "You love me regardless, though."

"You're right, I definitely do." He laughs softly, his free hand moving back to his book as he tries to get over that if another person came in, he'd get embarrassed all over again. But, if you could be at peace for just a moment longer, he thinks he could deal with all the teasing in the world.

[quiveringdeer]

Porco and Pieck's child is a sleepy little thing just like their mother. Pieck calls them her little sloth because they love to cling onto her and Porco while they snooze in a lil baby sling.

BEAUTIMUS!

Also thank you doubly so cause it had me imagining Pieck and baby pokkopikku dressed up in adorable sloth onsies on Halloween and Porket dressed as a tree. But like an adoooorable tree like this -

brown converses and all lmao

he notoriously isn't a big fan of dressing up but he'd do whatever makes Pieck and their baby happy. 😌🥰

(but also excuse him as he pummels poor Rei for giving Pieck the idea 😅)

[dirkdangerous]

hello cuphead tumblr . because last time y’all ate up my fic preview have a fanfic that i wrote a year ago and gave up on.

Ding! The elevator to hell reached the Devil’s throne room and opened to reveal an anxious cup and an equally nervous lackey. “Err uhh, this is y’er stop!” The small purple demon scratched his head and gestured for the kid to exit the elevator.

Part of Henchman was hoping Cuphead would ask to return to the surface— the poor boy was surrendering himself to the Devil, unable to handle the neverending nightmares and the danger he put his brother and caretaker in. As much as Henchman loved seeing his boss happy, Cuphead was just a kid and didn’t deserve to lose his soul so young.

“Okay..” Cuphead hesitantly stepped forward and looked around. His legs were trembling; once off the elevator, he felt like he couldn’t take another step without collapsing. It was beginning to occur to him what a terribly stupid idea this all was.

“Cuphead?”

Cuphead spun around to locate the source of the voice— it was King Dice. “DICE?!” He hugged the former game show host’s leg, clinging on like a sloth to a tree. “I thought you were dead ‘cuz you were replaced on your show! Wait, do you owe the Devil your soul, too?”

“Uh—”

“Since you’re here maybe having no soul won’t be that bad after all! We can be… soulless mates?!” Cuphead was talking a million miles an hour, grinning wide from ear to ear. Clearly he forgot about Dice’s show being rigged… and the fact that he was literally giving up his conscience.

King Dice opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn’t get any words out— not that he could fit a sentence in between Cuphead’s rambling anyways. He just nodded his head and took Cuphead by the hand to walk him down the room. He tried to take this kid’s soul on Roll the Dice just a week ago and failed, but NOW he’s just giving it up?

“Y’know what’s funny? That guy in the elevator sounds a lot like the Henchman! Y’know, the guy who replaced you on your show? And he’s also like the Devil’s henchman! I should’ve asked for his name. Crazy!” Cuphead laughed at the irony, but Dice could only force a chuckle, “So.. funny..”

King Dice cleared his throat to get the attention of the ruler of Hell, “Umm.. sir?”

“Sir? Pfft, don’t be so formal with him! He’s just a big ol’ cat!” Cuphead cracked his knuckles and went to show Dice how professionals get the attention of The Devil.

He kicked the leg of the chair, immediately spinning it around and then leaped into the ‘big cat’s’ lap, “Hiya, Devil!”

The Devil had been half asleep in his chair and now suddenly awakened by his least favorite being on the Isles. Wait. Scratch that. Least favorite being in the world. His evening was off to a terrible start. “Ew! What are you doing down here? How are you down here?” He shoved the cup off of him and brushed himself off, shuddering in disgust.

Cuphead’s goofy grin fell into a frown. “I’m.. um..” He looked down at his fingers as he fiddled with them. He was regretting coming down there. His brother was going to wake up to him missing. His Elder Kettle didn’t even know about the entire Devil situation, so how would he feel? He felt like he was about to throw up. Why didn’t he think this through before he came down here?

“He’s turning his soul in.” Dice finished the kid’s sentence for him.

Devil looked down at Dice, cocking an eyebrow, “Oh, really?” His scowl became a smug smirk, “Number one, go fetch my pitchfork.”

“Who?” Cuphead looked around the hall. It was just the four of them? Who was ‘number one’?

King Dice stepped forward and headed out of the throne room, “Yes, boss.”

Cuphead’s eyes followed the former host, shrinking to pea-size as he processed the last few seconds. He looked like he had just been shot. His face was paler than usual and his jaw agape. “W-What?” He sputtered, eyes welling with tears. “H-He..” The cup was on his knees, refusing to believe his idol worked for The Devil. This was all just another bad dream.. right? He was going to wake up and he’d be back in bed, at home with Mugman, Elder Kettle and the goat from the front yard.

The Devil smirked and tapped his fingers along the arm of the chair, “Oh, that’s right you didn’t know that your silly little idol works for me.”

Cuphead couldn’t get sounds out of his mouth. He couldn’t even hear his thoughts as his brain raced a million miles an hour. There was no way anything that was happening right now, was actually happening.. right?

“I’ll let you in on a little backstage secret,” The Devil leaned over and whispered in Cuphead’s ear [??????], “The mystery prize room ? That leads to your soul spending eternity in Hell.”

The kid looked like he was about to pass out. He thought the room lead to ice cream.

[misqnon]

Masquerade

CHAPTER 6: Defenses

“On the final Friday of each month, towns and cities around the country hold their monthly masquerade. Although the humans don’t know it, this is the only time supernatural beings come out of their hiding places to dance amongst the mortals.”

(Mystery, adventure, eventual human/vampire romance)

this chapter's a bit short, but fun

Previous Chapters

The next day, Ace and Lilli woke up their respective twins and urged them out to the backyard as soon as breakfast was over. 

Apparently, today started "training." 

"Alright, trainees, line up!" Ace called. 

The "trainees", all two of them, lined up outside the garage. 

“What, exactly, are we training for?” Leo asked between yawns.

“Self-defense, remember? Harley said you two needed it."

“Oh yeah.” The twins looked between each other. Not even Marnie seemed that into it. 

“Oh, come on!” Ace called. “It’ll be fun. Besides, I still have a promise to keep.”

He and Lilli smiled, but the twins had no idea what he was talking about.

“Close your eyes.” Lilli said. 

They obliged, wordlessly, and then after a moment heard what sounded like flapping, and felt a rush of air. 

They both opened their eyes again, only to find the space in front of them empty. They both knew exactly what was going on, but they still had a bit of disbelief to work through. Leo’s mouth hung ajar and Marnie was looking around frantically with stars in her eyes when they heard a whistle from behind them.

They both looked up to the top of the garage, where Ace and Lilli stood. Their arms, though, had grown into bat-like wings. Ace’s “hand” lingered near his mouth from his whistle, though all his fingers had extended into the membrane of the wing, with only his thumb now left free- though it was thinner, spindlier, and now tipped with a claw. 

Lilli was the same, waving excitedly with one big, pale wing of flesh. 

“WHAT!” Marnie yelled, jumping. She started running over to the garage, staring up at them with amusement. Leo just stared, which Ace noticed, and immediately decided to exploit.

“Damn Leo, pick your jaw up off the floor, I haven’t even shown you anything yet!” 

Leo closed his mouth. He shook his head, smiling lightly. He had started to walk towards them when Ace suddenly raised his wings and jumped ceremoniously off the roof. He made a B-line straight for Leo.

“AH!”

The man scrambled in place, but wasn’t able to do much before a long pair of legs in canvas pants and lace-up boots wrapped around his torso, catching him where he was and, terrifyingly, taking him up into the air.

“Ace! Ace!” Leo squirmed with vigor while Lilli and Marnie watched with hands over their mouths.  “What are you fucking doing!?” His glasses nearly slipped off from how much he was wriggling around.

Ace seemed to realize he had made a mistake, but tried to charm his way through it. “Taking you for a ride, obviously.”

“You could have ASKED FIRST,” Leo said, finally calming down a bit. He ended up clinging staunchly to one leg like a baby sloth. Ace breathed a sigh of relief and flapped his wings to go above the trees, lifting Leo up above the valley. They both looked over it, across the moor, the open land, the grass, the trees, the lake in the distance. Blighton was visible from afar, a stone wall making up much of the border between here and there. 

“...It’s really pretty up here.” Leo finally said. They’d reached a quiet patch of air, and Ace was gliding quietly. Ace smiled at his response- exactly the one he’d been going for. Mark his human companion impressed.

“Ace,” Leo started. The vampire looked down at him with big green eyes. “Yea?”

“Why are you trying so hard to fix up a plane if you can fly by yourself like this?” 

Ace sighed. “‘Cause fixing up Monroe is about more than just flying. Ya know?”

Leo expected him to explain further, but he didn’t really need to. After just a moment he understood. They glided for a few moments longer when they heard wings flapping behind them. Lilli appeared next to them moments later, Marnie riding along on her back in what seemed to be a much more logical, comfortable riding position. 

Leo looked over with jealousy. 

“Who said you two get to have all the fun?” Lilli asked, snarkily. Ace chuckled. They eventually lined up and glided together for a while, though Leo wished he could change position. He seemed to be throwing Ace’s balance off a little, too, but luckily they weren’t doing anything too strenuous. Eventually the four of them touched back down in front of the garage, the Crain siblings retracting their wings and flopping down against the Earth, apparently tired out. 

“What happened to training?” Marnie asked with a grin.

“Break. 15 minutes.” Lilli mumbled. 

Marnie shrugged and laid down next to them, so of course Leo had no choice but to follow suit. He hoped no bugs got into his hair. Did they have different bugs here in the vampire realm? Technically they were just across a wall if he was to trust what he just saw, but he couldn’t be sure. Perhaps the ticks here were much bigger and thirstier to compete with the vampires.

While they laid there, Leo pondering, a bandaged face with dark black hair appeared over him with a confused (or possibly judgemental) expression. 

Oh god, it was one of the aforementioned ticks.

“What are you doing here, Carter?” He heard Ace ask.

The figure above him continued to stare down at him with a quirked brow, but answered anyway.

“Well, I came to help you all with ‘self-defense’ since that is my job…Though all I see right now are some weird, humanoid worms on the ground…” He was looking right at Leo, who scowled up at him. Had he sensed the tick analogy? He knew they could sense his heartbeat, but reading his mind was just too far. 

Ace paused for a second. “Huh. Actually, that’s nice of you Carter.”

Carter stood up. “Yes, I know.”

The momentary appreciation Ace had for his brother faded. He sighed and sat up. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

Lilli and Marnie both groaned, but got up, and Marnie pulled Leo up with her. They stretched a bit- Carter’s orders- and the bandaged Crain lined them up.

“This is mostly for the humans, but Lilli and Ace, you might as well take part. God knows you could use the refresher.” They both glared at him, but stayed put. He was a little right.

“Alright, let’s get started. First of all, look at how all of you are standing.” 

Leo looked. He was just…standing there normally. He looked over and saw the others were doing the same, but Lilli spread her feet a little and bent her knees slightly when prompted. Carter looked at her and nodded. He copied. Carter walked over to him. 

“Pretty good.” Carter put his hands on Leo’s shoulder’s and physically pushed him down a little. “Yea, there.”

He looked at Marnie who glared at him, fixed herself, and wordlessly asserted that he not touch her. He put up his hands and walked back to his place in front of them all. 

“Okay, now it’s time for the fun part.”

By “fun part”, Carter meant defending yourself while actively being attacked. This was made evident when he- and this is of course why he found it fun- started attacking everyone. 

In favor of his better judgement he did not attack Leo first, as much as he thought it would be funny. Instead, he sprinted at Ace, jumped at him, and readied his claws. Ace was one of the better fighters of the Crain household- he didn’t refuse to do it, like Lilli, and he had actually done it before, unlike Priya or Maki. But he was still leagues behind Carter or Harley, and he panicked the moment Carter came at him. That being said, his panic response was to kick Carter in the gut.

“Ow,” Carter wheezed. “That fucking hurt, Ace.” He was on the ground, clutching his stomach.

“I’m sorry! You told me to defend myself!” Carter stood up and put up his hands like he was about to box him. “Yea, yea, I’m aware. I kinda assumed you would just block me or something.”

Ace sheepishly put up his hands, shrugging.

Carter went at him again, with his hands this time, and they sparred back and forth. Carter would swing at Ace, Ace would block it, throw a punch- Carter would dodge. They did this for a while, Carter occasionally kicking or running behind him, and then he moved on to Lilli.

Leo and Marnie watched and learned, waiting for their turns. Leo was taking mental notes- keep your legs ready to move, knees slightly bent, watch them and dodge, don’t try to show off- etc. etc. He also noticed that Carter was way faster than he expected himself to be able to do anything about, though.

Partially, it seemed like that was just Carter’s fighting style. He was thin and nimble and quick, and he’d avoid getting hit at all cost before snaking around you to deal a blow. It made sense, considering his stature. He was just about Leo’s height, if he had to guess.

When it was Marnie’s turn, Carter looked somewhat unsettled. Marnie, though having glared at him before, didn’t actually have much against the guy. She held her hands up and said as much. Carter relaxed, and they had a relatively calm sparring match much like the one he had with Ace. Though he could tell Marnie was struggling a bit to keep up. She was good at it, though- she never had the time to make a strike at him, but she could block him 80% of the time. 

Considering the goal was only to know some basics so they lasted until Ace or Lilli came to help, they figured that was enough.

Leo finally went, and though slightly worse than Marnie, wasn’t bad. He just made hilarious faces (according to Carter) every time someone swung at him. Still blocked them, though.

“Well well well, you two aren’t that bad. How about you spar each other and then we’ll call it a day?” Carter said.

Everyone seemed fine with that, and paired up with their respective sibling.

“Ah ah ah! Switch.”

They all looked up at him, and realized with chagrin that they probably should prepare the twins for fights against immortals in case of the worst case scenario. Lilli left Ace’s side for Marnie’s, and Ace, reluctantly, came over to Leo.

“I’ll correct you from here.” Carter called. He was standing where he could see both groups at once, and he seemed serious about it. Marnie and Lilli had already started, and he was watching with a scrutinizing eye. Before they could get very far, he heard Carter bark, “Faster!” to Lilli. Poor Marnie was barely keeping up- and Lilli didn’t seem happy about it either. 

He turned his attention back to Ace and swallowed.

Ace got into position, apologized, and took a swing at his head.

—

Leo would admit. It was definitely helpful. 

However, he and Marnie were tuckered out on the couch in the mansion’s waiting room while their friends looked down at them worriedly. They were out of breath, probably smelled like grass and sweat, and were actively reliving every time they almost got punched in the face by either Carter, Ace, or Lilli.

But yea. It was helpful.

Carter eventually showed up too, and seemed to take no pity on the two wheezing twins on the couch. He looked over them.

“You know, tomorrow we should probably practice defending against vampire bites…”

Lilli physically shoved a finger against his mouth, silencing him.

“Let’s worry about that later, Carter.”

He shrugged, making his way off to his room.

He was probably right, but they were tired. And no one wanted to recreate that scenario, anyway.

[awlumii]

Alright then! I read your post about Diluc and Kaeya having an older sibling and I've been brainrotting about them ever since! I was thinking about an alternative to how Diluc and Kaeyas confrontation goes where MC has an electro vision and uses it to rush outside, shoving Kaeya out of the way of Dilucs attack (Kaeya still gets a vision) but because of the electro sparks around them, they end up causing an overload reaction which sends them flying backwards covered in severe burns. (They were almost crippled permanently from said burns.) Let's say they had a really bright future in the knights as well, like the next candidate for Grandmaster (Since they're older and more experienced than Jean) but had to give it up because of the burns. They don't care about that at all though all that matters is their brothers are safe and taken care of. (They do still join the adventurers guild like in your post)

Imagine the immense guilt both Diluc and Kaeya feel as a result. Maybe it's another reason why Diluc left his vision behind because he couldn't bare the thought of ever hurting his older sibling ever again.

On a much lighter note, being the oldest means MC calls anyone who's younger than them a munchkin and continues to do so even after the brothers grow up. Imagine an MC who is incredibly unamused whenever the brothers try to interfere with their dates because then they have to give both of them a light smack on the head and very firmly say: "I'm older than you." The eldest ragvindir, who taught the brothers everything they know about fighting, helped to develop their fighting styles in the first place and as a result knows how to defeat them easily.

I mostly started brainrotting because I love the idea of overprotective little brothers. Big brothers is great as well but it's such a common trope nowadays depending on what you read so I figured it was time for a change of pace.

This is not a request in anyway whatsoever, I just wanted to share some of my brainrot. Sorry it's so long, I'm bad at summarizing.

i was gonna say that i didn't make anything about an older sibling, but i'm assuming you're either referring to autophobia back on kazewhara (which was intended to be a younger sibling, actually), or this was just,, sent to the wrong person,,,

well, sent to the wrong person or not, this makes me wanna like. make an oc that's related to kaeya and diluc, like... really fucking badly. this is good ♡

[absolutepokemontrash]

Date bled or demon bros react to mc likes to nap and cuddle throughout the day

I’ll do the brothers! :D

Lucifer

…MC get off of him. He’s in a meeting.

Aaaaaaaaand they’re napping. Wonderful.

At first, Lucifer is annoyed that he’s got another Belphie on his hands, especially during the time when Belphie’s locked in the attic. How dare MC remind him of the brother that he’s holding under house arrest >:c

But once the relationship grows, Lucifer submits to the snuggles. Luci quickly realizes that he’s very not used to cuddling.

As long as MC isn’t napping through their classes, they’re good. Nap whenever you want, MC, just make sure your homework is done.

MC should expect the cuddling to be one sided in public, but behind closed doors? Hoo boy, the man’s attached to MC like a koala to a tree.

MC may have also accidentally fixed his sleep schedule… it’s just… why does he feel sleepy when he sees them nap? *yawn*

He’s just going to rest his eyes for a second, the paperwork can wait.

Mammon

G-gah! Stupid human! What do they think they’re doin’ cuddling up to him like that!? They do know he’s a demon right?

For the first little while, Mammon tsuderes it up, but he gets so easily flustered whenever MC leans on him that it renders everything he says pretty much meaningless.

The first time MC ever fell asleep on him it was absolutely magical. He slowly patted their head and refused to move until the next day. Sure, his back hurt and he didn’t get any sleep, but MC was just so cute dammit!

Deeper into the relationship, Mammon is the happiest demon alive because he doesn’t need to ask for snuggles! He just plops himself down next to MC and his human just cuddles up next to him!

His absolute favourite thing is when MC falls asleep on his lap. They did it in public once and Mammon took this opportunity to flex. Yeah, he has a cute human that likes to cuddle him, do you?!

Mammon’s only wish is that MC would be more awake when he’s explaining his totally legit business ideas, they always seem to fall asleep once he gets goin’

Leviathan

SISJDJSJSJDJDJSJJAJAKALSKA- PHYSICAL CONTACT?!?!?! WITH HIM?! it’s more likely than you’d think.

First part of the relationship when Levi had just made a pact with MC, he was kind of confused. He had tried to murk this normie just a couple of days ago and now they’re cuddling up next to him? What’s that abou-

Levi.exe has stopped working.

Yeah, Levi blue screening happens a LOT. It takes literal months for MC and Levi to snuggle properly on a regular basis.

As totally Kawaii MC is when they nap on him, they just need to see how this fight scene is animated! MC! MC! Look! Homura and Mami are- WAKE UP AND LOOK AT THIS!

Cuddling in public causes Levi to die a flustered death. Fs in the chat everyone, had a good life, he did.

Though, it makes him feel so much more comfortable whenever MC just holds his hand out in public and doesn’t make a big deal about it. It makes him feel safe ^.^

Satan

At first, Satan was taking notes on how this human got so comfortable so quickly that they just started cuddling people and napping everywhere. Hm, humans appear to be quite adaptable… interesting.

They also seem to lack any sense of danger. Well, at least this one does.

Later down the line though, when MC first crawled into Satan’s lap to nap, it rivalled the first time a cat chose him. This was wild.

Snuggles… while reading stories… yes please…

Okay, that part sounded better than it ended up being. MC fell asleep while cuddling and ended up right on Satan’s arm, then in their sleep, MC basically locked Satan’s entire right side into a vice grip and couldn’t be pried off. Basically, Satan had to reread the same page of his book over and over and over again because he didn’t want to wake up MC.

Well, call it a learning experience, and Satan loves to learn, so next time, he was prepared for MC’s death cuddles.

Apparently he wasn’t prepared enough because the exact same thing happened again… multiple times more.

MC is literally a walking relaxant, Satan is significantly less filled with burning rage when they’re around. Notice I said less filled, he will still cut a bitch.

Asmodeus

Oh~ how bold! MC just plopped themselves down next to him and cuddled up close to him!

At first, Asmo was amused by all the cuddling MC was doing and made quite a few less than wholesome jokes about it. The Avatar of Lust has a dirty mind! Shocker!

But hark! (The herald angels siiiiing-) Asmo actually… likes platonic snuggles?!?! What is this sorcery?!

If MC and Asmo don’t enter a romantic relationship, my man still needs his cuddle quota met, ASAP.

If they do end up dating, hoo boy, MC and Asmo sure do a lot of snuggling, and “snuggling”.

But overall, Asmo loves being held and cuddled, and sleep is good for one’s skin!

Beelzebub

*sniffle* Beeeeeeeeeelllllllllpppppphhhhhiiiiiiiiieeeeeee-

Congratulations MC, they have made Beel more sad about his twin being gone just by existing :D

Once the custard incident happens and MC and Beel grow closer, oh man, oh man oh man, is he in desperate need of cuddles.

If MC ever falls asleep anywhere and needs to get from point A to point B, fret not, Beel is prepared. He will gently pick them up and they will awaken at point B. How nice!

Once Belphie gets his ass out of the attic, MC has competition.

Not really, Beel has enough love to go around. Both his sleepy beans can get carried around and cuddled with. Beel is big and strong for a reason.

Since MC has a vice grip while they cuddle, Beel kind of walks around with them clinging to his arm like a sloth to a tree. Belphie also picks up on this behaviour and starts doing it too.

Someone (*cough* Levi and Mammon *cough*) took a picture and posted it on Devilgram and now it’s kind of a meme template.

Belphegor

Gasp! Whomst- whomst is this human who comes before him and cuddles up close to him? This must be his soulmate! His other half! His destined partner!

…his destined partner was drooling all over his cardigan.

Ah well, two can play that game motherfucker. *SNORE*

Anyway, Belphie and MC? I would say power couple but in reality, the two just do a lot of snuggling and sleeping, it’s like they’re attached at the hip.

The two are always touching in some way, Belphie resting his head on MC’s shoulder, MC attaching themselves to Belphie’s torso like a koala, the two of them trading spit with each other… you get the idea.

It gets weird when the two start legitimately visiting each other in dreams, it gets so frequent it basically becomes a date night thing to just sleep and do weird shit in dreamland.

“Hey MC do you wanna hang out?” “Sorry, can’t, it’s date night. *SNORE*” “Yeah, shoo. *S N O R E*”

On their most recent date, MC and Belphie fought a dragon and then ate a giant cake.

[mediocre-writerr]

unbreakable [jennifer jareau]

jennifer jareau x reader, emily prentiss x sister!reader

requested: i love your works sm, could i request a criminal minds one where the reader is emily’s little sister and jj’s girlfriend and she gets injured and she calls jj to tell them her location, but her injuries kept getting worse. jj and emily try to stay calm, but are scared and when they get to her its angsty (and COMFORT)

*not my gif*

The black pickup truck flew through the red light, heading straight for you. Your blood froze in your veins. You wanted to swerve out of the way, but you couldn’t. You were frozen. 

The black blur grew closer and closer with ease. You couldn’t even get into a position to save yourself, you just continued to stare as the car rammed into your driver’s side. 

The amount of force causing your entire car to flip over and over and over again. Until eventually you landed in a little ditch with your car upside down. 

You don’t know how you were still conscious, but you couldn’t move. Everything in your body ached. 

It was a simple drive. A drive you’ve made countless times. You were going to surprise your sister and your girlfriend at the bureau with their favorite lunch. You know how much stress they’ve been under lately, but then all of a sudden you felt like you were dying in a ditch.

Luckily, with technology these days you were able to use your car to call your girlfriend. The ringing filled the echoing car as your eyes began to grow heavy.

“Hey love, you’re on speaker! What’s up?” JJ’s voice filled the car.

“Hey Y/N,” Emily’s voice said from next to her and you smiled to yourself softly.

You cleared your throat before speaking up, “I’m-I’m in a bit of a situation,”

There was silence on the other end of the phone and you could just imagine their faces right now. They probably looked at each other, each of their smiles dropping.

“What happened?” both of their voice said in unison.

You chuckled softly, “So uh funny story, I was going to surprise you guys today,” you got out as you felt your breathing start to become more ragged, “Bring you your favorite lunch, but as I was a driving a truck came out of nowhere and now I’m outside down in a ditch,” 

“Okay, Y/N, where are you right now?” Emily asked and you could tell her protective older sister was showing. 

You tried to remember where you were driving by, but your mind was starting to become a little fuzzy. You shrugged even though they couldn’t see you, “I’m-I’m not sure, I already got the food so I was on the way to the bureau. I can’t remember,” you admitted and you started panicking even more, “Guys, why can’t I remember?” 

Reid’s voice whispered to both JJ, who was pacing the room, and Emily who was currently bitting on her fingernails, “She’s probably suffering head trauma,” 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” JJ’s voice whispered soothingly into the phone, “Close your eyes and try to think,” 

You closed your eyes, following the exercise the BAU did on countless occasions to help victims remember, but you came up empty, “I don’t know! I can’t! I can’t remember!” you exclaimed as your chest started heaving. 

“It’s gonna be okay, can you move?” JJ asked again, “Are you able to get out of the car?” 

You shook your head, “No, no I can’t move. J, what’s wrong with me?” you whimpered.

It was her turn to shake her head, “Nothing, absolutely nothing. We’re gonna have Penelope track your phone okay? And we’ll be right there to you. Hotch is gonna send an ambulance as soon as we get your location, okay?” 

“You may want to hurry,” you whispered, feeling blood drip down your face, “I don’t know if it’s ketchup from your burgers or blood that’s dripping from my head,”

You reached up to feel your head and looked back at your fingers before smelling it, “No, that’s blood,” 

“Baby girl,” Derek said in a stern voice to Penelope who was trying her best to get the location fast enough.

She looked at him with a nod, “I’m going as fast as I can,” With a few more types at the keyboard there was a ping, “I got it!” 

They all looked at the computer screen, Hotch was already on the phone with the ambulance repeating back her location. Without hesitation, JJ and Emily ran out of the room and towards the car. Everyone else following suit. 

They drove to where you were which wasn’t that far away, literally down the block. You were almost there. 

The girls parked on the side of the road and noticed that no one bothered stopping to help you. The black pickup truck, nowhere to be seen, he probably drove off as soon as he was well enough to leave. 

There was broken glass leading towards the ditch and they slid down it as safely as possible. Your driver’s side door was caved in so they went to the other side to drive and get to you.

“Hey Y/N?” Emily’s voice filled your ears and your ears perked up, despite your eyes threatening to give out on you any second now, “We’re here now, okay? I need you to stay strong, the paramedic is on their way,” 

You smiled, “I don’t know,” was all you could get out, until you calmed your breathing down, “I don’t know if I can stay awake for that long,” 

JJ’s eyes were threatening to spill the tears that were held in her eyes. Derek went over to the passenger’s side to see if he can help get you out. JJ hung out next to your driver’s side and looked at the blood trickling from your head.

“Can you stay awake for me, baby?” JJ asked and you turned your head to look at her best as possible.

You made a pouty face, “I’m really tired JJ,” you whispered, “I think I need to go to bed,” 

Emily finally started breaking down, “No, we’re gonna try something, okay?” She could see you slowly nod, “Okay, it’s Christmas Eve, you’re six years old and I’m eight. We wanted so bad to stay up and see Santa put gifts under a tree and you were following asleep, but I kept waking you up. You need to keep imagining that okay?” 

“Emily, I love you,” you told her as your eyes started drooping more. 

She shook her head, “Hey, no. Santa’s coming soon! We need to stay awake,” she told you. 

Even with Derek’s strength he couldn’t get the car door open. He slammed his hands on the car in frustration, as he looked up at Hotch, “They’re gonna be here in five minutes!” 

“Hotch! We don’t have that kind of time!” Derek screamed.

JJ reached her hand through your broken window, “I love you,” you whispered to her as she rubbed your cheekbone softly.

“You can tell me that when we get you all bandaged up, okay?” she told you and you shook your head.

“I think my head needs a little more than a band-aid,” you joked which caused her to let out a breathy laugh. 

Mission accomplished, you thought to yourself. 

You started to close your eyes and she shook head, “Hey, stay awake, okay?”

“Can you tell me a story?” you whispered, something JJ would do whenever you were having a rough day or the two of you were being lazy on the couch. 

“Will you stay awake for me if I do?” she asked and you nodded.

“I’ll try my best,” 

“It’s Christmas Eve in about twelve years or so. We have two kids who are six and eight. They’re waiting for Santa to come down the chimney so they can see him. They’re telling each other that they need to stay awake,” she begins and looks at Emily who’s breaking down, crying softly in Derek’s arms. 

Her voice starts to become more shaky, “And I’m shaking your arm in bed every so often whispering to you, ‘Love, you need to stay up so we can put the presents on the tree’. But you’re falling in and out of sleep, so I give you a sweet kiss and rip the blanket off of you. You groan in response as you cling onto me,” 

Your eyes start to close, but JJ continues talking, “You say ‘I'm so tempted to call Rossi and tell him to buy a Santa costume just so they can go to bed already.’” you let out a breathy laugh as JJ tries her best not to cry in front of you, “You always pretend to hate the idea of staying up, but you’re secretly happy because it reminds you of how you and Emily used to be when you were young,” 

“In a world where your parents were barely around and the only people you had were each other, waiting for Santa to come reminds you of her,” she finishes telling you, “You need to stay awake, okay? So we can live a life like that, please,” 

The flashing of blue and red lights, along with sirens filled the void of silence. The paramedics and firemen rushing down the ditch to come and rescue you. JJ is moved out of the way and into Emily’s arms. The two of them crying together, holding each other close. 

The firemen breaking the door away, letting the paramedics due their duties as they rushed you onto a gurney. Your eyes were still fluttering open and closed as you tried your best to hold onto the little life that was present in your body. 

Until you couldn’t anymore. 

/ / /

“Love,” JJ’s voice drew out, you fluttered your eyes open to see her staring back at you, “You fell asleep again,” 

You rolled your eyes teasingly, “I’m sorry, these kids are unbreakable. It’s 4 in the morning and I need to sleep if we’re going to be hosting tomorrow. I mean we still have to finish cleaning,” 

It was her turn to roll your eyes as she pressed a soft, yet sweet kiss to your lips. You smiled into it, the feeling of contentment overflowing you. But it’s gone all too soon as the cool Virginian winter air hit your body.

“No! Babe!” you whispered, groaning. 

JJ was sitting up in bed as you wrapped your arms around her waist, clinging onto her like a sloth onto a tree. She let out a laugh before planting a kiss to the top of your head.

“Rossi is on speed dial, I am more than willing to call him,” you mumbled, before placing a kiss to her hip causing her to laugh more.

The two of you just stayed in that position until you couldn’t hear whispers from downstairs anymore. 

You perked your head up, “Do you hear that?” 

“What?” 

“Exactly,” you shot out of bed as quickly, but quietly as possible. She let out a soft giggle before following suit. 

The hard wood floor cold against your bare feet. You looked from the top step to see the kids finally fast asleep on the floor. JJ opened the closet door and grabbed all of their presents, lying them neatly along the tree.

You took the cookies that they made and took small bites out of it before drinking some of the milk. You went over to JJ with a cookie in your hand, wrapping your arms around her waist from behind. 

“Cookie?” you whispered and she nodded gratefully before taking a bite out of it. 

The two of you just swayed from side to side as you embraced the colorful lights of the Christmas tree filling the dark room and your two kids sleeping peacefully on the floor with one another. 

You grabbed your phone from your pocket, shooting a text to Emily who was probably fast asleep. You and JJ got close to the two kids before taking a selfie with them, sending the picture to Emily saying:

They did it again...stayed up much later this time. I’m starting to feel bad for Mom and Dad now!

You grabbed the blanket that was on the couch and laid it over the two kids, as JJ wrote note in cursive thanking them for all the cookies. You placed a kiss to each of their heads before following JJ to bed.

The two of you getting comfortable once more in bed, finally allowing yourselves to try and get some sleep, “Aren’t you glad you stayed awake?” she whispered.

You nodded, softly, thinking back to the time where you almost died, “I’m very glad I stayed awake,” you told her, the double meaning hidden along the sentence. 

But JJ knew, she always knew.

[diavolosthots]

Can I request a reaction from the brothers? MC gets transformed into a creature (animal or mythological, your choice) but doesn't wanna turn back?

This is a wild mess of creatures tbh

THE BROTHERS reacting to MC being turned into a creature and not wanting to turn back 

Lucifer: 

Quite honestly, he’s unsure of how this happened anyway, although he bets his money on Solomon and his ridiculous spells. He’s the one least likely to let you keep that up, even if your wolf-like self reminds him much of himself and Cerberus. This isn’t a decision you alone can make, no matter how much you wish to, because at the end of the day you have family back in your realm that would be less than thrilled to have their child back as something else. He’s quick to reverse the spell and you can be mad at him all you want to, he did this for your own good.

Mammon:

Okay so there’s two things you should know that happened when you turned yourself into a centaur: 1.) Mammon freaked the fuck out and alerted the whole neighborhood with his screams. 2.) he definitely plans on making money off of you so he actually isn’t appalled over the idea that you want to stay just like this because, hey, you get happiness or whatever and he gets rich!

Leviathan:

Please be a mermaid. God, he’ll rehome you in his tank and make you become besties with Henry 2.0. Super selfish about this because he only sees his own benefit; your own want or need to stay this way just happens to be a bonus because now he doesn’t have to worry about trying to change your mind. Literally thinks that this is the best idea ever because now he has someone to hang with him 24/7 and it only becomes a problem when he realizes his tank takes up his whole wall and you can literally see… everything. 

Satan:

Of course you’d turn into a cat and make this even harder on him. On one hand, he’d love to just relax with you and not have you talk back all the time; that mouth does get pretty annoying. On the other hand, he can’t love a cat without being labelled as someone who’s into beastiality, so… Sorry, MC, you’re getting turned back. He’s getting you cat ears and a tail though because you really did look adorable. 

Asmodeus:

Ugh okay but Pegasi are beautiful creatures so this is super tough for him. Of course he can just braid your mane and tail and talk to you without you scolding him. You two could even fly together… and oh my! Could you imagine his socials blowing up when they see he has a pegasus as a friend?! Or more… and that’s where the issue comes in. It’s not unusual for demons to have fun with less than uh… normal looking people and things, but a pegasus? For now you can stay as you are… but that might change.

Beelzebub:

Of course you’d choose a dog, his favorite… it’s fun to play fetch with you and cuddle and just overall take care of you, it really is, but at the same time he’s not going to date a dog. You can’t talk to him, you can’t hold his hand and still have balance for long walks, you can’t give him advice, no hugs…. Sorry, MC, but after a while, he’d become super sad and beg Lucifer to turn you back until he does. Kind of selfish on his part, but he wants you, the dogs can come later. 

Belphegor:

Please be a sloth. They’re cute; vicious, but cute. Literally you’ll become his best friend and he really doesn’t care if you’re human or not, he’ll just cuddle and sleep with you anyway. Please cling to him like sloths cling to trees and all is good in the world; he will happily indulge in you wanting to be another species. 

[brand-new-stars]

Hewwo new writing blog 🥰🥰 could I request ritsu eichi and mika general dating hcs? Wish you the best of the best 🥰🥰

- rabbit "anon", im proud of u for this sweetie

B,,BB,,BB,,BB,,,YOUR BUNINESS??? ABASJNLANSFS omg im kinda honored rn asfaflnaf. also sorry they all might be ooc-

Sakuma Ritsu, Tenshouin Eichi and Kagehira Mika General Dating Headcanons!

"𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔟𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔶 𝔰𝔩𝔢𝔢𝔭. 𝔍𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔞 𝔫𝔦𝔠𝔢 𝔫𝔞𝔭, 𝔱𝔬𝔬."

💤 expect being this vampire’s pillow. he will grab you and place you down before laying his head on your lap at any opportunity given.

💤 you’ll often be asked to take ritsu to knights’ practice. there are times where izumi is not patient enough so he makes his way and drags the boy to the practice while complaining about how slow you were being, while other times you successfully place him in a piggyback position and bring him to his unit.

💤 will definitely leave bite marks on your neck, so no one attempts to steal you away from him.

💤 lots, lots, lots of cuddles coming from this boy. he’s like a sloth that won’t ever let go of that tree branch. he will leech your attention and wants to monopolize it. 

💤 he will have one of his genius nicknames (maa-kun, ecchan, mikarin, etc) for you, and will expect one back. will reject ricchan from you though, that’s for mao only. 

💤 his unit is filled with mixed feelings about you dating ritsu. arashi and tsukasa think that it’s sweet, izumi doesn’t care in a mean way (or so he says), and leo somehow finds ways to embarass you through your relationship (although he usually just says them without thinking). 

💤 while mao approves, he can’t help but to worry about the things ritsu makes you do, and it’s almost like you’re his second babysitter. you do admit that you do not mind though (and you can watch his sleeping expression for a moment, not too long because that might be creepy).

💤 will immediately keep you away from rei. ritsu does not want you to leave him like rei did during the war, and is secretly paranoid that rei might influence you. he will refuse to answer his brother’s questions about you.

💤 he is only suspicious, but you are already helping rei with getting back with ritsu.

💤 ritsu will definitely drag you into tea club activities and asks for you to feed him small snacks. there are times where he seductively takes your wrist, brings it close to his face, eat the snack in your hand and even lick the little crumbs.

💤 has once clinged onto you when sleeping in the same bed. 

💤 “(nickname), I only want you to look at me, and only me~” 

"𝔅𝔲𝔱 𝔫𝔬 𝔪𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔥𝔬𝔴 𝔟𝔢𝔞𝔲𝔱𝔦𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔰, 𝔦𝔣 𝔦𝔱 𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔰 𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔩𝔩, 𝔦𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔪𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔪𝔢. 𝔗𝔬 𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔤𝔫𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔡𝔦𝔢."

☕ eichi is known by his poor health, so yes, there will be daily visits in the hospital.

☕ but when he is allowed to be out of it, expect him to spoil you rotten. this expensive looking object you’ve been eyes for a while? he will pay it for you. that delicious sweet displayed at that bakery? bought, and now you both are sharing it.

☕ you often fret about his health. he assures you that he’s fine, but you cannot help but to worry. 

☕ he’s so excited to try new things with you, as he had spend most of his time being sickly. you tried to go to the amusement park once! he ended up being dizzy by most of the rides.

☕ “oh? is this what they call a hotdog?” you can’t help but to smile at how innocent and cute he was being.

☕ besides looking up to wataru, now he has you. you, who are so kind and patient with his circunstances, of what he has done in the past in order to be where he is right now. it’s almost like he has his own guardian angel.

☕ his unitmates are very happy to see you two together, although tori tends to act like an entilted brat and tell you that he is still eichi’s favorite, he notices that eichi’s expression brightens even more around your presence. yuzuru, as always, acts politely towards you, and will often point out things about eichi’s behavior to you as well. wataru? he’s already writting down a play inspired by your relationsihp together. he’s also the one who often lists advices towards his unit leader.

☕ meanwhile in the tea club, ritsu at first won’t really care and just demands your blood (eichi has stopped him), but afterwards you’re basically spoiling him like a mother to his child. how hajime acts around you is just the cutest. he’s trying his best to make you feel welcomed into the club, will make tea for you (you help him sometimes) and soon he’s like yours and eichi’s baby child.

☕ will sometimes use his status as the student council president to call you over to his office. but honestly, he just missed seeing your beautiful face. keito is annoyed by this, and mao can only chuckle nervously.

☕ also have I ever mentioned power couple?

☕ you’ll probably ending up being his executioner

☕ “my dear, wonderful s/o... I hope you can stand by my side until I go...”

"ℑ 𝔡𝔲𝔫𝔫𝔬 𝔱𝔬𝔬 𝔪𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱’𝔰 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔞𝔫’ 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱’𝔰 𝔴𝔯𝔬𝔫𝔤... ℑ 𝔠𝔞𝔫’𝔱 𝔱𝔯𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔪𝔶 𝔬𝔴𝔫 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰."

⏳ poor guy has no idea what to do in a relationship. heck, he never imagined that he of all people would be in one.

⏳ he will try his darn bestest, even though there were attempts that ended not as planned.

⏳ he might not be the smartest nor the strongest, but you’re dead wrong if you think that he won’t do anything for you. 

⏳ also please don’t treat him wrong otherwise shu, arashi and nazuna will go after your head.

⏳ speaking of them... shu doesn’t really mind you two being together as long as you don’t distract mika for too long. he might say harsh things towards you both, but he’s secretly watching for you. and without realizing, he takes you under his wing.

⏳ at first, you were intimidated by mika’s oshi-san. but after the slow connection you’ve formed, you feel comfortable enough to stand up for mika when shu says some of the most absurd things.

⏳ arashi became a beam of energy once she found out that mika was dating you. words cannot describe of how happy she felt for you both. did mika went through with her advice? what was your reaction? she has so many questions for you two, and will sometimes trick you both into going dates with just you both.

⏳ yes, you’re both from the mika protection squad. that nasty oshi-san will soon learn his place.

⏳ there are times where mika will attempt to make dolls and gift them to you. they don’t look the greatest, that’s true, but you place them on your shelves nonetheless. it’s your boyfriend’s hardwork, after all!

⏳  calling himself a doll, mika is someone who needs lots of reassurance since he has no confidence with his own skills and capacities. tell him that he’s doing good, and he will be extremely happy. 

⏳ mika is still a boy who’s learning about being his own self and being a significant other as well. the start might be rocky, but he’s the most loyal one you’ll ever know and will go lenghts to make you happy.

⏳ “(nickname)...thank you for everythin’ you’ve done for a failure like me. i swear I’ll love ya as twice--no, as thousand times as you do!”

[sweeethinny]

He and Harry had a fight last week... James said he didn’t like him anymore.’’ Ginny looked at her mother, looking a little sadder now. ‘’Harry cried.’ Would you consider writing their fight and then James Sirius apologizing? I was (re)reading this today and I just love it

thank you anon! you can also read it on AO3, if you want :)

the last part, is the content of the letter that james wanted to send to Harry, i hope you liked it! <3  PART 1, i think? idk, but the fanfic that anon referred to

Ginny didn't quite know what was going on when she got home, exhausted from yet another tiring day at work, with sexist coaches who didn't listen to what she had to say in the interviews, and other journalists who didn't care about the ideas she had proposed.

She did not expect to feel so miserable when she agreed to work on the Prophet.

But either way, she was happy that Harry managed to cut the workload that month, spending more time at home with the kids, especially now that James was six and started going to school, Teddy had just gone for Hogwarts, Albus was at a stage where he just wanted to be with his father, and Lily had her teeth born and was in a bad mood.

They hadn't had much of a problem with James at school so far, he had adapted, made friends, done homeworks, and was well controlled with his own magic, occasionally exploding or making things fly.

Nothing too dangerous and that they couldn't fix.

In the last week James' classes were suspended when 7 of the 12 children caught lice, luckily James was not one of them, so the boy seemed a little anxious about the sudden change in routine.

But today it looked like a war had broken out in the middle of their living room. Lily was taking all the clothes out of the clean laundry basket, Albus was on top of the trunk where they kept some old things, with his knee shredded and looking like he was waiting to make a dressing, while Harry and James argued beside him.

Ginny knew that the combination of her and Harry would make children easy to explode, but she realized that James had an extreme facility in getting Harry off track, much more so than Lily or Albus did. Albus knew how to irritate his brothers, and Lily only irritated them with her loud crying and childish antics like throwing things, but James was at that stage where he challenged his parents to find out how far he could go. Teddy had been there, too, but it was with Ginny that he could do it most easily.

However James seemed to know exactly what to do to have an angry Harry.

'James,' Harry asked, eyes closed as if asking for patience, it probably wasn't the first time they had had that conversation.

'I just wanted to fly!' James shouted angrily, his cheeks red.

'And didn't I tell you that you couldn't do that?' Harry countered, running a hand through his hair. 'How many times have I told you that neither you, or Albus, could fly alone?'

'But Albus was there because he wanted to! I didn't tell him to follow me.' The little one looked as furious as his father, his arms crossed in front of the small body just as Ginny did when she argued with someone. 'Why can Lily fly and I can't ?!'

'I was with her, she was not alone, you know that very well. I said that we could fly later, and that I would go with you- ’

'But you worked all day, and then the night would come and we would not be flying! Again!'

'James... You could have hurt Albus! Or hurt yourself.' Harry pointed out, looking as alarmed as if it had actually happened. As far as Ginny could see from the entrance to the Living Room, only Albus was a little hurt, and he didn't even seem to want to cry or anything.

'Oh, of course, if something happens to the precious Albus, it's the end of the world!' James threw his arms up, as if giving up, and before Harry was able to answer him, he shouted; 'I hate you!' And he ran off, tears streaming down his face as he climbed the stairs as fast as he could, his little legs not helping him to be too fast, but Harry didn't follow him either, which helped James get to the room and slam the door.

Harry sighed, hands on his tired face, and Ginny was still a little paralyzed at the door, thinking about what had happened. 'Mum!' Lily shouted, now sitting in the empty clothes basket, making the other two look at her.

'Hello my loves.' Ginny smiled going over to Albus and kissing him on the cheek, realizing how scared he looked. 'Hi my love, how are you?' She preferred to act as if she had just arrived, looking at his grated knee, still a little dirty with grass.

'Fine, I just fell.' He smiled, the little children's teeth a little dirty from what looked like chocolate.

'It'll be okay,' Ginny promised, casting a simple healing charm and placing him on the floor, before of course, she kissed the small scar that remained. Nothing too serious, but it was a tradition that helped them to be less afraid of when they needed to apply potions or other healing spells that were stronger.

They were a Weasley-Potter, after all, they were always falling.

'Hi my other love,' She smiled at Harry, hugging him, but realizing that he seemed a little reluctant to speak. He just smiled awkwardly, kissing her forehead and letting her go to be hugged by Lily, who had managed to topple the basket of clothes to be able to crawl out and run into her mother's arms. 'And my other love.'

'Hi mommy!' Lily cried awkwardly, hugging Ginny back, and hanging from her neck so she could be picked up.

'And where's my other love?' Harry sighed at her question, waving his wand and causing all the clothes to levitate, to be folded, and to go back into the basket.

'Up there,' Harry murmured. 'Do you take care of them? I'm going to prepare dinner.' Ginny nodded, lowering Lily to the sofa when Albus asked her to play with him and the Lego castle he had won from Percy.

‘Mommy, come and play with us!’ Albus asked, seeming not even to remember the fight between his father and brother anymore, amused by the pieces and teaching Lily how to stack the blocks too - even though she seemed willing to just destroy everything.

‘I’m coming, okay? Let me just go and say hi to James, and I'll be back here, okay?’ She promised, crouching in front of them, drawing all the attention to herself. ‘No mess and fights, Mom will be back.’

'Daddy and James fought,' Al whispered, as if it were a secret.

'Bad James,' Lily added, crossing her arms as she could, to look like her brother.

'They are just stressed, and he’s not bad. Now, I'll be right back.' Ginny left the room and went up to the second floor, still listening to the conversations between Albus and Lily, and the sounds of pots and dishes, much louder than usual, and she imagined that Harry was more angry at what he looked like while fighting with James.

Ginny knocked on the door to their eldest son's room, the photo hanging next to her made her smile, a picture of when they went ice skating, a few days before Teddy received the letter from Hogwarts, he and James were smiling from ear to ear. ear, while she and Harry still needed to hold hands to keep steady and not fall.

She hated it when she or Harry lost patience with their kids, when they got carried away by the tantrum. They should have known that the best thing to do when it happened was to just get away, let the kids scream alone for a few minutes, before they came back calmer and managed to talk to them.

'Hi my love,' Ginny murmured, opening the door and entering James's room, it was colder than usual inside, and maybe he had done accidental magic for this to happen and he could be hidden under the covers. 'It's Mommy.'

'I don't want to say anything.' James' voice was muffled by the pillow and the covers, but she could still tell that he was crying.

Ginny sat on the bed next to him, her hand on what she imagined was his shoulder. 'I heard that you and Daddy had a fight, is it true?'

'He hates me.' Ginny smiled sadly, denying and sighing.

'He doesn't hate you my love, and hating someone is a very strong thing to say, I promise you, he is just tired, and you need to help him a little too.'

'But he wasn't going to fly with me, and I just wanted to fly.' James uncoveredlooking at Ginny with brown eyes wet with tears. 'He only cares about Lily and Albus, he doesn't even love me anymore.'

'James, of course not, your father loves you very much, which is why he was concerned that you might get hurt. You know you can't fly alone, it's very dangerous.' She held out her arms for James to crawl onto her lap as if he were still a baby - for her, he always would be - and put him against her chest, cradling her body a little from side to side to calm his crying. 'Dad was just worried that you would get hurt. Besides, you are the older brother, and Lily is still very small and needs help to do a lot of things, just as Albus still needs more help. You are my big boy already, and you have to help them, and not go flying without authorization.’

'But he yelled at me.' James sobbed, holding Ginny's shirt in his hands, hiding his face like he did when he was a kid.

'Look, what Dad did was not right, but you didn't make it easy either. Both are wrong… Dad is having dinner, go take a shower, okay? I promise that tomorrow we can fly together.' James nodded, still glued to his mother, like a sloth clinging to a tree trunk. 'I love you my baby.'

'Me too,' he murmured, without further tears.

[...]

Dinner had been… tense, to say the least. Proving that he was Harry's son, James spent the whole dinner in silence, sullen, without even looking straight up, just as Harry was, determined to eat the lasagna without saying anything.

If it weren't for Albus chattering, and Lily trying to imitate him, they would have eaten entirely in silence.

After all the children were in their beds, sleeping soundly, and the house was quiet for another reason, Ginny lay on their bed, waiting for Harry to get out of the bath. They hadn't talked much, and he didn't even want to go shower with her, so she just waited, sitting on the bed while pretending to read the last pages of the romance Angelina gave her. Of course, the words didn't make much sense in her head, she couldn't concentrate, but she had to hide her nervousness.

When Harry finally got out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist, damp, messy hair, and still that sullen look, Ginny couldn't take it anymore; ‘Can you tell me what happened?’

Harry looked at her quickly over his shoulder, before entering their closet and disappearing, still in silence. Ginny can hear the drawers opening and closing, and then she can see Harry coming back from there wearing old shorts that almost didn't stop at his hip anymore. If he wasn't so sullen, she would try to ease the tension he carried on his broad, bare shoulders.

'He and I had a fight.' That was all he said, throwing himself on the bed next to her and covering himself, looking like he was about to go to sleep.

'It's not me you're mad at, don't be an idiot.' Ginny dropped the book on the nightstand, not turning off the lamp beside her, staring at Harry with determination.

He sighed, sitting up too. 'I was taking care of Lily, now that she is coming out of diapers it looks like she wants to pee every minute, and I asked him to keep Albus playing. They were in the garden, and James had already asked me to fly with him, but I was solving ten problems at the same time and making sure our daughter didn't pee on the couch, so I asked him to hope that later on maybe we could fly… But he is your son, after all, and he managed to break the lock on the shed and get a broom.' Ginny shouldn't laugh, she knew that, but she smiled, a little proudly. 'When I went down with Lily, I could only see Albus flying too, unbalanced, not much more than a meter from the ground, and James going up without control. There was no time and Al fell, but I had to make James levitate because the broom was very uncontrolled and he was unable to get it down.’

‘Harry…’

'It was my fault, I know, I shouldn't... I should have put a different lock on or I don't know, and,' He stopped, hiding his face with his hands again, denying. 'And I lost my temper because I had said that he couldn't fly alone, and Albus was crying on the ground and James looked scared when he realized he was too high... I shouldn't have screamed.'

'You were angry,' Ginny reminded him, realizing how sad Harry looked at this. ‘And worried.’

'But I should have known that when I forbidden him, he would try to do exactly what I said not to.'

'He's a child, Harry, of course he's going to do everything we say he can't.' She said what he usually said to her, when Ginny was worried about Teddy at Hogwarts after he spent two weeks without sending letters, even after she asked him to update them every week.

'He said he hates me, Ginny.' Harry finally looked at her, his eyes watering. Again, her heart broke.

‘Oh, Harry, of course not.’ This time, she didn’t wait for him to come to her embrace, as she did with James, Ginny preferred to hug Harry herself. 'He was just nervous.'

'I did everything wrong,' Harry denied, crying even more, as if he had held his emotions up until now, as if just inside their room was a safe place for him to finally let go. 'He didn't say it like it was nothing, I saw Gin, I saw that he was upset, he meant it.'

'He didn't want to, of course not..Look at me, no, no, Harry, look at me...He doesn't hate you, and you didn't do everything wrong, I probably would have done the same thing, you're just tired.' Ginny stared at him, forcing him to look at her too, her hands holding his face, tears streaming down his cheeks. 'You are the best father they could have, the best I could have chosen to be their father, you will see, tomorrow you will be calmer and everything will be fine.'

'I hate to fight with them.' Harry hid his face on her neck, tears wetting Ginny's skin, his hands tightening on her waist as if to make sure she stayed there, with him. ‘I don’t like them to cry because of me.’

'It's the side that nobody tells you about being parents, love.' She laughed softly, trying to calm the mood. 'But he doesn't hate you, I promise you that... I'm sure you are still his hero, and the person he loves the most in this whole world. You are not a bad father.’

[...]

The next morning, Harry got up first, he heard noises downstairs and knew that probably one of the children was already awake and wanting to make a mess. Passing through the rooms just to check, he saw that Albus was still asleep, and that Lily seemed far from waking up, but James' bed was empty, which wasn't too strange, since the boy seemed to still be keeping up with his early morning routine to go to school, even in that week of recess.

He heard footsteps as he approached the kitchen, an owl hooting loudly at the window, and low murmurs. ‘Stay still.’

'James?' Harry watched as his son tried to tie the letter to the animal's leg, which was trying to get away from him. James was on top of a chair, leaning over the counter, trying to pull Pandora’s closer.

‘Dad!’ Pandora flew away with his cry, without the letter, seeming to frustrate the boy.

'What are you doing? Who do you want to send a letter to?’ Harry was careful to move towards James, but he was happy when his son accepted his arms to come down. He still felt guilty.

'Hm... for you.' James looked at the floor, looking embarrassed.

'Me?' Harry knelt in front of him, staying in his line of sight. ‘Why don’t you just give it to me?’

'I thought it would take you longer to wake up.'

'I heard you coming down the stairs,' Harry said, looking into his son's eyes.

'Are you still mad at me?' James asked quietly, holding the letter tightly in his hand.

‘No, my love… I’m sorry for yesterday, I didn’t want to yell at you, I was nervous and I was worried that you might get hurt.’

'I'm sorry for flying without permission, and I didn't want Albus to have followed me for this either, I didn't see him.' James said. Harry felt so bad all night, unable to sleep in peace, conscience weighed down by having yelled at James, thinking about how sad he looked when he said he hated him.

'It was very risky, you could have been seriously injured.' The two looked at each other, Harry pulled his son close to him. ‘I don’t want you to do it again, okay? You can fly, but only with me or mom, never alone.' He whispered against the boy's hair, hugging him tightly, as if that alone could heal the pain he had felt.

'I didn't mean to say that I hated you, either.' James hugged Harry back, looking sly. ‘I don’t hate you.’

'I love you, Jamie. A lot.' He planted a kiss on his son's head, not caring for the tears that seemed to want to appear in the corner of his eyes.

‘Me too, Dad.’

-----

''Dad,

I'm sorry for yelling at you, it wasn't my intention. I don't hate you, I was just nervous, I'm sorry again.

Love you

James.''

[stxphxn-strange]

(no) rest for the innocent

summary: Tony wasn’t even on trial, but the jury found him guilty and he couldn’t disagree.

a/n: idk last night i was thinking about tony dealing w survivor’s guilt after endgame (and IW) so i threw this together, tw for mention of death and implied thoughts of suicide

“Good evening, Doctor.” FRIDAY’s warm, pleasant voice always reminded Stephen of home and cinnamon scented candles. “How was your trip?” 

“Too long for a meeting that could’ve been handled over email. Or through carrier pigeon, as Tony would say,” Stephen replied as his cloak sailed off down the hall. 

He washed his hands carefully, drying them on an Iron Man dish towel that Peter had given them as a joke wedding gift before putting the kettle on. 

As the water was boiling, he noticed a covered plate on the kitchen counter. There was an obnoxiously orange piece of paper in front of it, which made Stephen smile. Tony always left him little notes on purposefully electrifying paper, that way they were easy to find. 

The sorcerer’s smile only widened as he read the note. 

Steph— 

I wasn’t sure when you’d be back, but I decided to make you dinner anyway. But not because I’m missing you and wanted to surprise you, I just accidentally cooked too much. You know how that happens sometimes and you just end up with an ungodly amount of chicken parm? Life’s funny like that. 

Anyway, I’m in the lab. I had some good ideas earlier and I wanted to start them while I still felt productive. Welcome home sweetheart, and if you go to bed before I do (because you probably will, you responsible asshole you), sweet dreams and goodnight. 

Love, Tones

PS— Orange you glad you met me? … don’t answer that, I just couldn’t help it and had to write that down. 

Stephen rolled his eyes fondly. “Fri, will you tell Tony that even though he’s not funny, I’m very glad I met him?” 

FRIDAY was quiet for a few moments before responding. “Boss says, quote, ‘fuck you Gandalf, I’m hilarious,’ unquote.” 

Stephen smiled, heating up his meal before sitting down to eat. He flipped through a magazine while he ate, FRIDAY turning on some soft jazz music as background noise until Stephen cleaned up and left the kitchen. After a refreshing shower, the sorcerer found himself in his most comfortable pjs and slippers as he walked through the house. Stephen wasn’t sure if he was going to bed yet, but he wanted to see Tony (and maybe he wanted a kiss or two or even three). 

The music in the lab automatically lowered when Stephen shut the door behind him, and Tony looked up with an expression that could only be described as tired. 

Actually, he looked exhausted. Weary. Barely holding himself together. Stephen wasn’t a thesaurus, but very concerned about his husband. 

Tony was trying to smile, but he seemed too exhausted to do that and just gave up, not saying anything as Stephen sat beside him. 

“Hi.” Stephen leaned over and softly kissed his husband’s temple. “Thanks for cooking for me, you didn’t have to.” 

Tony shrugged. “I had a lot of energy earlier, and I accidentally cooked way too much. Maybe it was intentional, you know I’d take any excuse to go out of my way for you.” 

His words said one thing, but his tone betrayed him. His voice was brittle, hard, and almost staticky. Stephen thought he sounded like a rusted hinge that was trying not to cry out for repairs… or maybe that analogy only made sense given where they were. 

Stephen kissed him again as Tony sat back at his desk, closing his well-used sketchbook. “You alright?” 

“Yeah. Tired I guess.” Tony sounded as unconvinced as Stephen felt. 

“Come to bed with me,” Stephen offered. “I’ll bore you to sleep by telling you about the meeting.” 

Tony laughed hollowly. “That bad?” 

“I don’t know how to describe it, but it was a waste of time. Even Wong was bored, and he watches the Antiques Roadshow remake for fun,” Stephen replied. He yawned and leaned against Tony’s side. 

“I see what you’re doing,” Tony murmured, trying to be lighthearted. He was just feeling some kind of way right now, he felt serious and was so endeared by his husband that it hurt. 

“What am I doing?” Stephen asked, resting his head on Tony’s shoulder. 

“Being cute and sweet so I’ll go to bed and let you be the big spoon,” Tony accused. “And maybe I just really fucking need a hug, but… it’s working.” 

Stephen shifted and pulled Tony into his arms, holding the mechanic close as he went lax. 

“My Boss Is Singing Closing Time Protocol please, Fri,” Tony mumbled. 

“Goodnight Boss, goodnight Doctor,” the AI replied, beginning to run the lab’s standard closing protocol. 

“Portal?” Stephen asked. Tony was getting better with going through portals, but some days were harder than others. Stephen didn’t know what tonight would be like and opted to ask, selfishly wanting to make sure Tony got some rest as soon as possible. 

He was so out of it by that point that Stephen wasn’t sure if Tony registered the question, but he nodded slowly and trusted Stephen to lead him through it and into their bed. 

Despite “resembling a sloth clinging to a tree bough,” (Tony’s words) Stephen was intuitive and knew when not to hug Tony. Even when he was asleep, if Tony woke up thrashing or fighting against something in a dream, Stephen let him go. 

Tonight was a bit different. Stephen wasn’t brought to the edge of reality by Tony thrashing in their bed or accidentally tangling himself in their sheets, so he assumed everything was fine. That was until the sorcerer hugged his husband closer, still mostly asleep and just following his instinct, and Tony outright begged Stephen to let go of him. He wasn’t quite awake, but Stephen backed off immediately and heard Tony trip over his own feet as he left the room. The sorcerer fell asleep again after that, trying to stop the sound of Tony’s broken plea from cementing itself in his memory. When Tony climbed back into bed some time later, Stephen was stirring a little bit more. Tony hid his face in Stephen’s collarbone and said nothing, his breathing still slightly erratic. 

“Sorry if I woke you up,” he mumbled. 

“Don’ be,” Stephen replied, his voice unsure whether or not to wake up. 

“Will you hold me again?” Tony asked pleadingly, his voice almost imperceptible. 

Stephen wordlessly obliged, kissing the top of his head. “Whatever’s bothering you… you can talk to me about it. When you’re ready. And you don’t have to, but I’m here for you.” 

Tony nodded. “It feels like too much right now. What I’m thinking about, I mean. I need time to process, I guess.” 

“Okay,” Stephen said simply. “But I’m here for you whenever.”

“I know. I love you,” Tony replied. 

Stephen began to trace soothing patterns on Tony’s back. “Love you Tones.” 

++++

Tony didn’t seem any more rested the next day, but his confident Tony Stark™ pose seemed natural. He’d easily be able to fool people who didn’t know him as well as his family did. So it was a “fake it until you make it” kind of day, and Tony’s energy was on a strict schedule. There was only so much he could take today, and if his teammates wanted to call him selfish then that was their choice. 

It would just go in one ear and out the other, especially this late in the day and after brutal team training. Tony was close to skipping the meeting, but a cutting remark in the hallway made him change his mind. Why did they always act like it was breaking news when Tony needed to step back from something anyway? He was just as human as anyone else, and the world was happy to throw responsibilities on his unenhanced, steady shoulders just because he was a natural caretaker. 

The arguments about Tony’s quiet, withdrawn demeanor started two minutes into the meeting. Stephen was ready to defend his husband as soon as they got to the conference room, Tony collapsing into a chair and leaning his head against the cool metal of the table. 

He didn’t want to talk today, and Stephen didn’t want him to. 

“It’s not nap time, Stark.” There was a small hint of fondness in Natasha’s cold, clipped voice. 

Tony was already regretting his decision to show up, wishing he hadn’t told Stephen again and again that he was fine. He wasn’t, and they both knew it. Everyone knew it, but Tony knew better than to advocate for himself in front of his… colleagues. 

“I don’t even remember what we’re meeting about,” Tony muttered, looking up enough to address whoever was talking to him. 

Rhodey took a seat beside Tony, encouragingly patting his back. “You good?” 

“I’m fine, Honeybear,” Tony replied. He was sitting between his two favorite people, and that helped him feel a little more grounded. “I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

Someone scoffed. “I don’t think anyone’s slept right in months. And don’t say you haven’t slept in years, Stark. We don’t need a story about how everything you’ve ever done has led to years of sleepless nights. We know already. Put it in a book or something and make the team more money so I can have better arrows.” 

Stephen was two seconds away from dropping the archer into the Dark Dimension, or flipping a table. He wasn’t sure how to handle the man yet, still taken aback by the rudeness and stupidity of his comment. “Barton, what the fuck—” 

“Steph, don’t bother with him,” Tony said. He stood up, forcing his tiredness into a corner and giving his coworkers a confident glare. “Pardon me for giving it my all and being a bit tired as a result. Now I’m going to get an ice pack for my shoulder and maybe a cup of coffee. Does anyone want anything?” 

“I’ll take a—”

“Get it yourself, you know where the kitchen is.” 

For dramatic effect (and moral support), the cloak landed on Tony’s shoulders and billowed out as he left the room. He returned with the aforementioned ice and coffee, and a mug of tea for Stephen. 

“You didn’t have to do that sweetheart, but thank you,” Stephen said appreciatively. 

“That’s why I wanted to,” Tony replied. He relaxed a little into his chair, starting to believe he could get through the meeting. 

Then, like clockwork, Clint opened his mouth to complain. 

“Why did you bring him tea and nothing for the rest of us?” He whined. 

“Doesn’t Tony do enough for you?” Stephen asked, innocently taking a sip of his tea. It was his afternoon green tea, made exactly the way he liked it. 

Tony was always so sweet and attentive with his loved ones, it warmed Stephen’s heart. The sorcerer stifled a laugh as Rhodey poured half of Tony’s coffee into his own empty mug. 

“Thank you,” the colonel said impishly. “Consider the roommate tax paid for this month.” 

Tony tried to smile at the old inside joke, but Stephen noticed that it fell flat. 

“Are we done with the interruptions? We need to talk about what’s out there. We don’t know if Thanos is the exception or the rule, and—”

Tony stopped listening. Clint’s snootiness was doing his head in, but the idea of another threat, another thing, another colossus he’d have to conquer and survive if his luck had anything to say about it… that was the breaking point. 

Tony didn’t have a good relationship with luck. He didn’t really believe in it, but apparently it believed in him. Because Tony was lucky. It was true that he was lucky in meeting his husband, his friends, and his family, but this was a different kind of luck. Tony was intelligent and skilled, shrewd and savvy, and there was virtually nothing he couldn’t do or solve, except for one thing. 

He was constantly lucky, constantly cheating death. 

And he didn’t realize that he was hyperventilating, didn’t recall dropping his head into his hands. He didn’t recall that he’d just walked out in the middle of the meeting after a minute, didn’t realize that he was home when he opened his eyes. 

Tony was home, in his spot on the couch in Stephen’s library. Stephen was sitting beside him, quietly watching a documentary or something like that. Tony was laying down, his head in Stephen’s lap with the cloak draped over him like a blanket. The crimson fabric continued to cling to him as he sat up, further proving Tony’s point that Levi liked him best, but he wasn’t in the mood to banter now. He just appreciated the support and the warmth of his sorcerer and their shared, sentient blanket.

With some hesitancy, Tony leaned over and rested his head on Stephen’s shoulder. They locked eyes for a minute, Tony’s gaze deliriously bright and vacant. 

Stephen didn’t know what to say or do to make the man trembling in his arms feel better, but started by hugging him closer and softly stroking up and down his spine. 

“I’m sorry,” Tony whispered, lowering his head and hiding against Stephen’s chest. 

“No apologies,” Stephen reminded him. “I don’t want or need them, and you don’t have to explain yourself.” 

“I have to give a good reason,” Tony said, his voice beginning to shake. “Everything I do needs a reason.” 

“Why? Says who?” Stephen asked. He was more thinking aloud, half expecting Tony to leave the question unanswered. 

For a while, he did. He just sat, furiously trying to blink back tears and gather his thoughts as Stephen held him protectively. 

“Sometimes I think about… things,” Tony began vaguely. “And people. And places. I guess I just like nouns.” 

At this point, he didn’t even know if he was trying to deflect or just tell a joke, but his attempt at humor fell flat. He tried to force a laugh, but halfway through it turned into a painful sob. He cried harder with each breath, ignoring the ache in his chest. Tony barely listened when Stephen encouraged him to breathe, but eventually he gave into his exhaustion and listened to his lungs. 

His stupid lungs, which apparently were just as stubborn as his brain. 

“I can’t keep doing this,” Tony whispered. “I shouldn’t have survived Afghanistan, New York, Sokovia, Siberia, or Titan. I can’t keep cheating death, Stephen. I don’t want to. I don’t want to be lucky and survive when the damage I’ve caused, the damage I claim full responsibility for, has taken so many lives. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt or killed for me.” 

Stephen pressed a soft kiss to his hair, feeling Tony’s guit and fatigue as if it was his own. 

“I don’t want to do this,” Tony repeated. “I’m probably just spiraling or being needlessly selfish, but  I… I don’t know.” 

“You’re taking on too much responsibility where you don’t need to,” Stephen said. “I know that’s easy for me to just say from the outside, but you aren’t the only Avenger. It’s about time the team, if you can even call them that, takes accountability for their actions and stops bulldozing you with their problems. You aren’t selfish, Tones. You’re tired and overworked, and you deserve a break. You deserve to breathe, to just exist without feeling like you have to look over your shoulder or justify your every step.” 

“I don’t think I know how to even do that anymore,” Tony replied. “And I don’t deserve it.” 

“You do,” Stephen argued. “And rest assured I’ll keep telling you that. And I’ll keep telling you how much I love you, because I really do.” 

Tony smiled sadly, trying to press himself closer to Stephen if that was even possible. “I love you too.” 

He was starting to settle down, soothed by a flurry of soft kisses in his hair and the gentle brushes up and down his spine, when FRIDAY quietly spoke up. She almost sounded remorseful. 

“Mister Parker is requesting one or both of you in the lab, whenever it’s convenient,” she began. “And he’s asked me to assure you that it’s nothing major.” 

Tony sighed, sitting up again. “I’ll investigate.” 

Stephen shook his head. “No, let me. I’ll tell Peter that you’re resting, and he’ll understand.” 

“I don’t want him to think I don’t care,” Tony whispered. 

“He would never think that. You know how he gets about making sure you take care of yourself, and Peter knows with certainty that you care about him. Our son is much more mature than the Avengers,” Stephen replied. 

“I still feel bad,” Tony said. 

“I know. I can promise him Thai food if that’ll make you feel better?” Stephen suggested, half jokingly. 

“It actually would,” Tony admitted. “FRIDAY, will you schedule a Thai food delivery for 6:30pm please?” 

“Scheduled,” she replied simpy. She still sounded apologetic for disturbing them right as Tony was falling asleep, but maybe Stephen imagined that. 

The sorcerer stood up gracefully, covering Tony with another blanket as the cloak wrapped a bit tighter around him. “Look after yourself and relax, or get some sleep. No one’s expecting anything from you right now Tones, alright? I love you.” 

Tony nodded, a little smile on his face as Stephen kissed him again. “Love you.” 

He really wanted to sleep. He actually put effort into falling asleep, which was something he never thought he’d do, and of course sleep didn’t come easily. Sleep never came easily, but the memories did. It was all too easy for Tony to get caught in a thought stream, whether he was planning a surprise, inventing, or remembering unpleasantries. Today he was overwhelmed by guilt, readily convincing himself that he was a selfish failure like Howard Stark and his teammates liked to say. It was too easy to get lost in their ire and wanting to please everyone, and Tony had given up so much of his agency just to try and make other people happy. 

It was exhausting, and he didn’t even feel like he’d succeeded at that. 

The mechanic started tearing up again as he continued to think in a circular pattern, faintly aware of the Cloak trying to comfort him. It was a sweet, welcome gesture, and Tony let it happen and let himself cry. He was still laying there in tears when Stephen came back in half an hour later.

“Pete says he hopes you feel better,” Stephen said, returning to his spot and pulling Tony close. “And I told him to just go ahead and eat whenever he’s hungry, or when the food gets here.” 

Tony just nodded, feeling relieved and supported in Stephen’s arms again. He nodded again, as if trying to shake the unending self-deprecating thoughts from his head, before saying anything. “Sounds good.”

tags: @salty-ironstrange-shipper @stark-strange-love2 @chocopiggy @katninjagirl97 @kitkatfat15 @taruyison @funkylittlebidiot

[not-xpr-art]

Unprecedented ~

A bog of filth piled high with coins 

A clang of chains twists fear in your loins 

A fire burns high as all sit and stare 

A rust corroded man tries to tell you it's not there 

A ripple of water reflects something not real 

A dust covered track boasts of nothing left to kill 

A fan of feathers each as blind as the last 

A world so corrupted; a world dying fast.

(04/2021)

(digital painting of an apocalyptic/hell-scape version of our current world inspired by the seven deadly sins... as you can probably expect, there is a lottt of symbolism in this piece, which I’ll go more into below, along with some detail shots!)

This piece has kind of been a 6 month long labour of love, starting with a vague idea I had of a piece that is going to reflect the strange and scary times we’ve all lived in over the last year or so, and then slowly begun to take shape into a kinda apocalyptic/hell-scape piece based on the seven deadly sins representing our current world...

(also the poem above is something I wrote too, but couldn’t fit it anywhere in the actual piece itself)

The piece itself took roughly 60 hours of painting over almost an entire month. I originally planned for it to be a big mixed media piece, but instead decided I would try to keep it as purely a painting. Surrealist art was one of my biggest inspirations, purely because I thought the style would fit this piece the best. I also like how as a style it combines things that are familiar with things that are strange, which is exactly what I wanted for this piece!

The piece is split into 3 major sections, and 7 individual sections (to reflect the 7 deadly sins, which I’ve wanted to do my own version of for ages now). I had thought at first I would stick to creating demonic ‘characters’ for each sin, but then found this illustration on Wikipedia depicting the 7 sins as animals which I thought could both be an interesting challenge for me, and would visually be more interesting too! 

I also decided pretty early on that I didn’t want any humans actually in the piece, but rather the imprint of humans. Our actions, our feelings, what we leave behind, etc...

First is the section is dedicated to Greed, Gluttony and Lust, known as the ‘lustful appetite’ sins.

At the top is Greed, which is symbolised by a toad. I wanted this to be representative of capitalism, the toad looming over piles of gold, surrounded by a cardboard box (a not-so-subtle dig at people like Jeff Bezos lol), as it is surrounded by a bubbling dirty bog. The toad is ‘crying’ the same sludge, which I wanted to act as ‘crocodile tears’, showing their falsity. (I feel like it’s also important to note here that in my notes for this part I originally wrote ‘won’t someone think of the economy :(’ lol, which was something I heard a lot of in the news last year...).

Below that, and in direct correlation with Greed, is Gluttony. Gluttony is depicted as a pig, which is why I painted a pig skeleton. This is supposed to represent our overconsumption and over-production, and how that has impacted the planet. Plastic hidden in plain sight, increase of forest fires, etc, all under the ‘watchful’ gaze of mother nature (the trees were inspired by a post I saw about ‘Quaking Aspens’) I wanted the ‘overlord’ of this section to be dead to symbolise how humanity’s gluttony has lead to complete destruction, even in hell itself...

The final in this section is Lust, represented as a goat. This one is arguably a lot darker than the previous 2, and is reflecting the violence performed against women over the last year (Sarah Everand’s murder in the UK and the 6 Asian women shot in Atlanta, just to name a few, not to mention the various hate-crimes against trans women which have been helped with the rise of transphobic rhetoric). Lust is often depicted as someone attractive trying to lure you to sleeping with them. But I feel like that misinterprets what lust really is. Someone with lust is described as being a ‘slave to the devil’ (hence the chains in my art), and I wanted to showcase lust as a quest for power over someone else’s body, particularly women’s bodies. The eyes in the darkness are representing the fear that so many people feel about going out at night, and the goat being in the light also shows how danger can come at any time of day, in any place. The design of the goat was inspired by this medieval artwork of a seven eyed lamb. 

The central section is Irascibility, and includes the sin Wrath.

Wrath is represented by a Lion. I wanted this section to be dedicated to how racial injustice against black people has been truly highlighted in the last year, particularly in the case of George Floyd’s murder. Angry people are described to being slaves to themselves, a selfishness that is both reflected in wrath and in racism, and is why the lion has it’s paw rested on a ball and chain. I wanted the lion in this section to be a statue, both because of the Edward Colston (a slave owner who lived in Bristol) statue that was pulled down by protestors last year, and also how statues of lions are a significant symbol of Britishness in general (for example, Trafalgar square) and therefore in turn a symbol of the institutional racism that still permeates so much of the UK. This is also reflected in the rust covering the statue and the trees surrounding it, showing how old and well rooted racism is woven into the fabric of our world. The colours surrounding the trees, and the trees themselves, were based on these photographs of Sulphur lakes in Indonesia. 

The lightning is a suggestion of change in the air, and a reflection of the Black Lives Matter movement. Although this whole piece is of course a critical look at our current world, I also wanted to have an air of ‘it’s not too late’ to it. That we CAN make this world a better place to live if we’re willing to fight for it!

The final part is the 3 final sins grouped into the ‘corruption of the mind’ section.

The snake represents Envy, which is also a sin that is associated with vanity, which is what I decided to focus on for this. The snake is completely absorbed in it’s own reflection, very much like narcissus. My idea was the concept of the envy of things that aren’t real, much like how social media has created a world where we strive to be something that we are not, something that we will never be. So to us, the outsider, all we see is an abstract shape of a snake, something that’s intangible. Whereas the snake is so distracted by it that they can’t see the rest of the world. The reflection of the water was based on a photo I took of some reeds in water, which I also thought looked a bit like wires or computer circuit boards. 

Above the snake, and taking advantage of it’s distraction, is Pride. Pride is shown as a peacock, obnoxious in it’s wings covered in glowing eyes. Pride is described as something that ‘blinds’, hence why some of the feather-eyes are closed. The peacock is wrapped in a snare wire and is partially behind bars. This is to depict how pride causes people to play the victim, suggesting their intentions are pure, only to stab you in the back, so to speak... The ideas behind this one are more general and vague than the others, more of a commentary on humanities general hubris rather than any specific event. And perhaps speaking of how if we’re not careful, pride will sneak up on all of us, and will ultimately be our downfall.

The final section is above Pride and represents Sloth, depicted by a pile of snail shells. I had originally planned for this whole piece to be dedicated to the pandemic, but realised there were a lot of other issues I wanted to talk about aside from that. So Sloth is the dedicated ‘virus section’, representing how slow my country’s government (and many like it) were in bringing in precautions to stop the spread and save lives. Sloth is often described as a failure to love God, negligence at it’s very core. Both Pride and Sloth are partially covered in bars to critique our current justice system, which suffers from being overly prideful and negligent itself...  

This piece is in effect my way of trying to deal with a year that has really fucking sucked lol... It includes a lot of bitterness and anger, feelings I think many of my generation will relate to. 

But despite this, I don’t think it’s hopeless... I believe in humanity, in the goodness and beauty of it. Perhaps a naïve notion, but one I will cling on. For if we delve into despair, then it will truly be too late...

I hope people like this piece since it took a really long time and effort! 

Other inspirations for this piece:

various images & quotes about car crashes, various surrealist artists’ work, Evgeny Sedukhin’s symphony of the 6th blast furnace, paintings by David Mensing, this creepy lad and this lil snake lying in a chalice.

[itsquinnagain]

• Be Mine? • Vinny x Emperor! Garmadon

Hello, here’s my latest survivalshipping chapter in my book on Wattpad! Happy Valentines Day!

🍉

Third Person POV

Bad idea, Vinny. Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea!!!

Vinny shoved all of the feelings down before taking a deep breath. Garmadon was perfectly still as he rested on the couch. Vinny saw Garmadon's ear twitch, almost as if he heard Vinny creeping up. Because of this, he involuntarily paused to wait for the right time to pounce. 

The second his ear relaxed to its natural position, Vinny lunged forward and snatched Garmadon's helmet off of his head, running down the hall with it.

He didn't dare look back; he could already hear Garmadon trailing behind him, which was always an intimidating noise. He could hear the stifled amusement in his voice as he called his name.

"Almost there, almost there," Vinny whispered under his breath.

Before he could reach his destination, two strong arms hoisted him off the ground, eliciting a yelp from him. His back hit the wall as Garmadon pinned him up in the air.

"What's gotten into you?" Garmadon gruffly muttered. "Give it back. Now."

Vinny held the helmet tight against his chest, staring at Garmadon's wild hair. He felt like exploding into giggles at the sight of it. "Why should I? I got it fair and square. Make me," Vinny challenged, trying to push back the fact that his heart was beating dangerously fast.

Garmadon raised an eyebrow at Vinny's change in attitude. He's much more.....timid than this. Then he relaxed his face, curling his lips into a smirk, flicking his eyes up and down Vinny's body. Vinny felt his face growing warmer. This was about to go farther than he anticipated before it even started!

In a swift motion, Vinny gently, but purposefully kicked Garmadon in the knees, making Garmadon drop him. Vinny scurried to the bedroom as fast as his legs could carry him. But as he reached the door, he stopped and looked back to see if Garmadon was following him as he planned.

Garmadon stood still, holding a firm stare into Vinny's eyes. Suddenly, his eyes started to glow purple and he let out a low growl, baring his feet into the wooden floor. Uh-oh.

Vinny frantically gripped the doorknob and whipped the door open, barely managing to get inside before Garmadon ran smack into the door.

Quickly, Vinny put Garmadon's helmet on his head, immediately being weighed down by the heavy piece of headwear. As soon as he sat down on the bed, Garmadon had burst through the door.

Several emotions traveled through Garmadon's face upon crashing into the room.

He stood in silence as he observed the room. First, Vinny, that little weasel, was sitting on the bed, wearing his helmet with a grin. Second, there were what appeared to be rose petals on the bed. Third, there were candles all over the place, lighting up the room and flickering every now and again. Fourth, Vinny looks like he's about to explode......what exactly is going on here?

"What exactly is going on here, Vinny of NGTV News?" Garmadon echoed his thoughts as he approached the practically vibrating, younger man.

Vinny finally laughed as Garmadon took the huge helmet off of his head and set it aside. "Heh, heh! Surprise!"

Garmadon felt his eyebrow raise. Did he forget someone's birthday?

Vinny noticed the confusion on his face. "Haven't you ever celebrated Valentine's Day, Garm?"

Garmadon shook his head, quietly saying, "It feels like I have, but...I don't remember it. Explain it to me?"

Vinny nodded with a smile. "Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate love," He stared into Garmadon's eyes as he spoke. "It could be love for a friend, a family member, or a significant other. It's just a day to express love."

Ah. Love was still a strange concept to Garmadon. Emotions, in general, were complicated to him, and yet he was constantly assailed by them. Now he had to deal with an entire day to deal with them! As Vinny continued to explain about this odd holiday, something hit him harder than how Vinny kicked him earlier.

"Wait a second," He interrupted, making Vinny quickly shut his mouth.

It took a few seconds for him to form the right words, but he finally whispered, "You....you love me?"

Vinny dryly laughed, but once he saw the hopeful gleam in Garmadon's eyes, he realized he wasn't joking. Ever since Garmadon had moved in with Vinny, Vinny could sense the insecurity in him. He just didn't know how bad it had gotten.

Vinny brought a hand up to Garmadon's face, feeling Garmadon slightly jump at the contact.

"Of course, I love you," Vinny said softly. "More than anything."

"'More than anything?'" Garmadon mouthed, to which Vinny nodded. "How? I'm not a....a creature to be deserving of that. I'm..a monster..." Garmadon waved his hands as he gestured to himself.

Vinny stood up on the bed to meet Garmadon at eye-level. He wrapped his arms around Garmadon's neck, clinging to him like a sloth on a tree. He pressed his face into Garmadon's neck, mumbling, "I still love you."

Garmadon returned the hug, guiding Vinny's legs around his waist to hold him closer. Though he would never point it out, Vinny swore he could feel Garmadon's chest vibrating; but like mentioned before, he would never call him out for it for fear of getting his life threatened.

Garmadon lightly tugged at Vinny's shirt, making him pull his head out from the crook of Garmadon's neck.

"So, are there any special traditions for this holiday, Vinny of NGTV News? Anything that led you to decorate the bedroom like this?"

"Uhhhhh......"

Word Count: 927 Words.

🍉

[jalapeno-princess]

Hey Santa

Mark Tuan X Reader

Word Count: 2.8K

Genre: Fluffity fluff 

Summary: Christmas has always been your favorite holiday, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to be all that happy this year since your favorite person in the entire world is currently thousands of miles away on a business trip. However, Santa always seems to have a few tricks up his sleeve and this Christmas turns out not that bad after all.

The lights and festive decorations surrounded all throughout town were a constant reminder that Christmas was just around the corner—five days to be exact. As excited as you wish you could have been right now, especially because winter just so happened to be your favorite season and Christmas was your favorite holiday for many different reasons, you couldn’t find it in yourself to really get in to the Christmas spirit this year. 

If anything, you felt like the grinch. Witnessing how happy everyone you were surrounded by—your family, friends and colleagues did make you feel the least bit jealous. 

Just last year, you were the one trying to get everyone in to the Christmas spirit. You set up your Christmas tree in your apartment a week before Thanksgiving. You stayed up with your boyfriend Mark making dozens of different cookies to pass out, the two of you decorated the tree to the best of your abilities—or at least tried your best to. 

You’d cuddle up on the couch together watching a bunch of your favorite Christmas movies and hummed along to some of the best Christmas songs; new and old while washing dishes or doing the laundry. Last year had to be the best year, especially because it was your first Christmas together as a couple. 

He brought you to see the lights; something you’ve been indirectly hinting towards wanting to do, you brought him ice skating—one of the only activities you did better at than him, he invited you to go snowboarding and sledding with his family up in the mountains and on Christmas Day, he gave you the prettiest heart shaped necklace and told you he loved you for the first time after five months of dating. 

Maybe it was because you had the time of your life the previous year with the man you called your soulmate and now you were miserable and lonely. Mark was currently away on a business trip in Japan, trying to secure one of the biggest business deals that could bring his company a lot of success. 

You had a hard time understanding why his boss felt the need to send him just days away from Christmas but you didn’t want him knowing that it bothered you. Your boyfriend was one of the youngest department supervisors at one of the top technology companies in the country. 

Not only was he extremely intelligent; graduating with his master’s degree in business at only 24-years-old, but he was very passionate in his field of work and he did anything and everything in his power to help bring the company as much publicity and prosperity as he possibly could. You admired his work ethic and how determined he was to excel in his career, but you would have preferred for him to be with you right now. 

It was currently snowing in California and there was nothing more that you wanted than to be cuddled up in bed with Mark—a tangle of limbs underneath your blankets watching the snow fall against your window while drinking some hot chocolate and stealing sweet kisses from one another. 

If Mark were to come home and saw how dull and empty the current state your apartment had been because you had no desire to do anything merry—he would have been upset. He loved Christmas as much if not just a little bit more than you did—so you were sure he wouldn’t have been too happy if he found out you were having such a horrible time. 

On the day that he found out about his trip, he was visibly upset. He wasn’t as verbal as he was physical with you—clinging on to you like a sloth. Following you all around the apartment like a lost puppy and holding you in his embrace as you cooked dinner for the two of you. It was then—mid bite of his shrimp pasta—Mark admitted that he tried to prolong telling you about the trip because he knew you would be devastated. 

Honestly, that had to be the understatement of the year. You were heartbroken beyond belief. This year, your grandparents were flying down for your younger cousin’s graduation and it’s been at least two years since you’ve seen them, so you expected this holiday season to be one for the books. However, you didn’t take his absence so lightly. Your boyfriend has left on business trips multiple times for weeks and even months on end. 

Sure, you hated any moment spent without him by your side and talking to him through your phone and computer screens weren’t the same as having him there with you in person—but you did your best to be a supportive girlfriend by not showing an ounce of distress. It’s just that—Christmas came around once a year; you suffered through work and school; crying while staying up and studying for exams—being scolded at work for things that were out of your control. You waited all year for this one day and now it was ruined.

You hated the fact that you were acting so childish, there was nothing he could do. It wasn’t as if he could tell his higher ups that he didn’t want to go—no matter how much he didn’t want to. Mark even nonchalantly tried to reschedule the trip, but the director already purchased his ticket. 

He made it a habit to call you right before a meeting, before he went to bed, right before you went to sleep and when you woke up in the morning. Hearing that Japan was decked out in Christmas decorations and how even their food was festive made you wish you could have taken off from work to be there with him. You didn’t care where you ended up spending the holidays, all you cared about was who you spent it with and the only person whose presence you craved the most was more than 5,000 miles away and 19 hours ahead of you. 

Working at your family’s Christmas annual “Santa’s Workshop” that they held every year since before you were even born never failed to bring you so much joy. When your cousin was diagnosed with Leukemia when the two of you were only 6-years-old, your aunty decided after seeing all the children in the hospital not able to celebrate Christmas as they probably would have wanted to—that she would give them and their families a chance to have their own little private festival in one of the hospital ballrooms so that the kids could get a visit from Santa Claus along with toys that were donated from families all across of California. You loved being able to do something like this; you wanted to give back to the less fortunate and seeing the bright and hopeful smiles on all the adorable little children’s faces always seemed to make your heart flutter. 

How could you be so selfish—letting the fact that Mark wasn’t there with you get in the way of your happiness when there were little ones who were suffering through some really tough battles. But you were only human; you hardly ever got to see Mark as it was—and that said a lot considering that you lived together. His job took up most of his time and you did your best to hide the fact that being his second priority bothered you. 

Trying to take on more hours at work in order to take your mind off of the distance in your relationship wasn’t enough to cover up how much you were falling apart at the seams. Mark Tuan was the love of your life—your life revolved around him. He was genuinely the biggest blessing that you couldn’t even fathom in to words how grateful you were to be the lucky one who got to love him and was vehemently loved by him. You missed him even when you were with him. You felt pathetic—allowing someone to have this much power over you, but that just showed how much you loved him with your entire being.

As much as you would rather have been locked up in your room watching home alone reruns while stuffing your face—being dressed up as an elf and assisting the children as they made their way one by one on to Santa’s lap; telling him what they each wanted for Christmas wasn’t all too bad. It was actually the best thing to happen so far since December came around. You found yourself smiling every time one of the patients beamed up at Santa Claus. 

Honestly, nine hours went by faster than you would have expected it to. Observing the way the kids would grin in delight after receiving a present tugged on your heartstrings and opened your eyes to the idea that Christmas was so much more than asking for and getting all the items on your Christmas list. It was seeing these hopeful little faces gleam even for only a few moments. You might have missed your boyfriend dearly, but you knew he would make up for lost time once he finally arrived back like he always did. 

After the last child got a gift from Santa and made their way back to their hospital room, you and your cousins began to close up shop—turning off the lights on the tree, folding up some of the poster boards and just preparing everything for the next day when you heard someone gently whisper your name. 

You smiled softly at the older man; he was a friend of your uncle’s who has been dressing up as Santa for longer than you could remember. You made your way towards him and laughed softly to yourself when he patted his lap. 

“Do my old eyes deceive me or is your smile not as sincere as it usually is? what’s wrong y/n? you’re always so bright and cheery this time of year but these days, your excitement seems so forced.” 

Releasing a sad sigh, you were well aware you couldn’t lie to him; he already knew there was something bothering you so there was no point in hiding what was currently clouding your entire thought process. 

“You’re going to think it’s silly—“

“Your feelings aren’t silly y/n. You’re only human, it’s okay to be sad sometimes, even during the most wonderful time of the year. I’m sure you haven’t told anyone else what’s wrong, so why don’t you tell Santa? Maybe I have a gift for you that might uplift your spirits.” 

You were too busy staring at the ground in disappointment to notice the glint in his eye—but you didn’t want to keep him waiting. It was late, you were sure he wanted to go home just as much as you did, so you poured your heart out to the older man. 

“My boyfriend—he’s currently on a business trip in Japan and I just—I don’t know, I miss him dearly and I just wish he could have been home for the holidays and now I feel like a grumpy little scrooge.” 

He laughed lightly while gently squeezing your arms as a way to comfort you. Admitting it out loud sounded so pathetic but it also made you feel lighter in a way. Telling someone else of your problems felt good; it took a huge weight off of your shoulders, but it didn’t feel the void Mark always seemed to cause whenever he had to leave. 

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with moping around because of that. The holiday season is the time you want to spend with your loved ones the most. Your parents told me about him a few months ago—Mark is it? He sounds like a really great guy and your mom seems impatient waiting for the two of you to get married. I’m sorry about the unfortunate situation y/n, but just think about it this way, you’ll have many, many more Christmases to spend with him. Don’t let this one circumstance ruin the way you look at this glorious wintertime. If you’ll excuse me, I have to use the bathroom, I’ll be right back.” 

He was right; it has only been almost two years since you and Mark began dating, but you knew he was the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. You sat there for a few minutes, looking at your phone to see if Mark had gotten in contact with you and you let out a sad sigh when you realized there was nothing. He did say he had meetings to attend the entire day—so you understood that he was probably busy, but it didn’t make you feel all that much better. 

Finally, you could see in your peripheral vision that the older man arrived back and motioned for you to get up before sitting back down and had you take your spot back on his knee. 

“I’ve never felt this way about anyone before—I love that man with every single breath that I take. Waking up next to him—feeling his heartbeat against mine, I can’t explain how exuberant he makes me feel. Every time we’re together, it’s like we’re in our own little worlds. He’s been so busy these days and sometimes I feel as though I’m a burden to him. I’m sure he’s probably exhausted after coming home from work, but he never fails to do whatever it is that I want to do together just to make me smile. I want nothing more to marry him one day—maybe I should fly up to Japan and surprise him—“

“I don’t think that would be the best idea right now.” 

You frowned at his words; wasn’t he encouraging you earlier to try and make the best of the next two weeks until the new year? What made him change his mind in the few minutes while he was away? Before you could ask him about what he could have meant, he wrapped his hands around your waist and placed his chin on top of your shoulder. 

You were surprised at the sudden movement—you didn’t want to seem rude and push him away because you were now feeling uncomfortable, but you didn’t know how to feel. However, before you could say or do anything, he brought his mouth up to your ear and whispered softly before placing a gentle kiss right below your ear. 

“If you go to Japan, then we won’t be able to celebrate the holidays together babe.” 

Your eyes widened in shock—how could you not differentiate between the two voices? Maybe you were too deep in your self pity to notice—but you flung your arms around his neck and smashed your lips against his. Your boyfriend smiled against your mouth and depend the kiss as his hands made their way down to your lower back. 

“Mark you ass! I was about ready to sock a family friend in the face, why didn’t you tell me you were coming home? You knew how miserable I’ve been—“ 

He stole a wet kiss from the corner of your mouth; his way to silence you before playfully squeezing one of your thighs. 

“I’ve been just as miserable baby. I’m sorry, I was actually debating on whether or not I should tell you—but your mom told me that it would be a lot more fun if I surprised you. You’re well aware that I can’t keep secrets for shit. I almost blurted it out last night when you told me how rough your day was. None of that matters though—I’m here now and I have a lot planned for us. I’ve missed you so fucking much baby. Don’t get me wrong, Japan is such an amazing country—but fuck, I feel so numb when you’re not by my side. By the way, I feel the same exact way about you y/n. You’re my entire world. I love you so—so very much. I don’t think there’s enough words in the English dictionary to form a sentence perfect enough to describe what it is that I feel for you. I’m sorry—so fucking sorry that you think my job means more to me than you do. Nothing in this entire world means even half as much to me as you do. I’m at fault for making it seem that way, but I plan on spending the rest of my life showing you and telling you otherwise. Now, there are a few mistletoes that have our names on it—why don’t you let me make up for not being around as much as I should. This Christmas will be a lot more astounding, that’s a promise.” 

He reconnected your lips together, not being able to stay away from your lips for too long. You really did miss this. Being held by him, feeling him lick on your bottom lip—nonverbally asking for entrance, having him run his fingers through your hair. Mark was your home—you always felt so safe in his arms and God, you’ve been homesick for quite some time. After a couple minutes of fervently making out, you grabbed at his hand and pulled him up with you—laughing at how the santa suit he was currently wearing practically swallowed his silhouette. 

“You’re such an adorable Santa Clause.” 

He playfully rolled his eyes at your comment as you led him to the back in order to get your things. Mark made sure you weren’t paying attention as he tapped on his leg to make sure the velvet box was still safely in his pocket. If you thought his early arrival home was already quite the surprise, he couldn’t wait to see the look on your face when he were to pop the question he’s been wanting to ask you from the beginning of your relationship. This Christmas was definitely going to be one for the books, and he couldn’t wait.