#day i was just sitting there hunched over in a corner forehead against the counter it was diree guys.

[nomaishuttle]

the way i balance staying true to my tumblrina nature while also having a job and bills and rent is that at work while cleaning a room ill think of something id like to post and then repeat it over and over in my head and refine it until it sounds right and then i either post it as soon as i get a second to Or i forget it bc i think of anew post to make. and they always get 0 notes but its ok

[earlysunshines]

you always had me (and you’re always shining)

danielle marsh x fem!reader ; fluff, pining, slowburn

synopsis: danielle has been there for your ups and downs, knowing her for so long and debuting with her makes you fall deeper and deeper—whether you like it or not.

warnings: sixth member reader ; readers a few months younger than dani ; pining and yeah i… love pining ; sloooow burn ; TOOTHrotting fluff like all your teeth will fall out prob and also angst (if u squint hard) ; they’re in love i fear, like sooo in love ; minji literally watches the whole thing unfold and doesn't say anything ; reader's native language is english ; some other implied things that will make sense it's just story buidling/backstory LOL ; barely proofread

a/n: this is a loooong one i hope u all enjoy :-] i enjoyed writing every bit and I was smiling the whole way, I hope you all smile reading this too.

being an idol is anything but easy, and that’s very palpable as you lie on the ground, sweaty and exhausted, in the practice room.

minji had watched the whole thing; right after the last session of the ditto choreo, you had walked over to the corner of the room, sat down, and ended up flat on your back. seeing you like this made her laugh.

regardless, you loved your job. music was your passion, and dancing brought joy to your heart. the journey to becoming an idol prepared you for the intense performances and demanding physical routines, but it didn't prepare you for how your heart would race each time a certain member interacted with you—just like she’s doing now.

danielle waits until you take your forearm off your forehead, watching you blink twice when she’s in your field of vision.

she greets you warmly. “hi stranger.”

“dani.” just the sight of her makes you smile. “hey.”

“you okay? minji wanted me to check on you.”

“tired, that’s all.”

“you should drink water then, sweetheart.” 

you hated when she called you these stupid pet names—not because it made you uncomfortable or anything, but because it made your heart nearly jump out of your chest. 

“want me to get you some?” she asks, her voice gentle yet playful.

“i can do it myself, thanks.” you respond, getting up without looking back at her—danielle frowns.

she watches you walk over to get water for yourself, slightly hunched over with your hand propping you up at the counter. she sees you stare down at the table between sips, seemingly lost in your own world, and it’s a tad bit concerning. sure, you’re quiet, but never this quiet or distant. you even practiced during the breaks, not giving yourself one and pretty much defeating the whole purpose of a break. everyone had noticed, but danielle had been much more worried.

danielle goes over to minji, who’s stretching and humming as the younger one is in her peripheral. she sits down next to the oldest member and continues to look at you, now you’re leaning against the wall sipping on the cup, and then letting it hang loose in your hand as you stare into the distance.

“minji, is y/n alright? she’s been so out of it today and the last time we had practice.”

minji looks in your direction and shakes her head. “no idea, i noticed it too. i thought you would’ve known.”

“i don’t. i’m just worried.”

“you want me to talk to her?” minji suggests, “but you’re closer with her, aren’t you?”

the younger member continues to look your way, watching haerin tap your shoulder and making you jump a bit from being startled. haerin turns to face you, her lips moving with some quiet words danielle can’t quite catch. you wave her off with a reassuring smile and a thumbs up, then head to a corner to stretch, finding your own space.

“yeah, she’s just been distant these past few days. minji, i don’t know what to do.”

“pry her open, she’s got a tough exterior you know.”

“she’s always been like that.” danielle sighs, continuing to stretch.

it’s well known that you’re quite reserved, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t bold, outgoing, or unwilling to talk to your members. all of them see you as a pillar and light in the group, a source of strength and joy. even further, there’s compilations of you online making the members laugh and being an idiot, you’re a joy to your fans and the people close to you. but there are times when you close yourself off and become unusually quiet. it’s not like haerin’s nature, being quiet and all; instead, it’s a concerning silence that signals something is off. danielle, in particular, has a keen sense for these moments, always noticing when you retreat into yourself and sensing that something is bothering you.

she’s always been able to find a way to help you out and talk to her a bit, you’ve had a soft spot for her and it’s evident to everyone in your group. you rarely speak on your problems; the fact that danielle can get you to utter a sentence regarding what bothers you is astonishing itself.

you’ve known danielle for as long as you’ve been a trainee since she’s been there longer. she’s always been incredibly kind and patient with you, especially during those initial days when you were adjusting to being away from your grandparents who raised you. being in a place so completely different from what you were used to was challenging, but danielle’s presence was a comforting constant. 

the bond that you two had only grew with time and experience, and the fact that you two had so many similarities (one being the year you were born) only strengthened it. danielle, without a doubt, was the one person who could ground you. because of this, she’s going to make it her priority to find out what’s up with you.

when practice ends and everyone is free to go back to the dorms, danielle approaches you and grabs your hand, making you turn to face her with a raised brow.

“yes?”

“let’s grab lunch y/n, the rest of us are going to.”

“oh, i’m not really feeling it, sorry.” you apologize, feeling bad when the member holding your hand frowns. “i think i’ll just eat later, i’m not hungry. could you buy me something though?”

she lets out a small huff. “what’s going on?” 

you tilt your head like haerin always does and hum in confusion. “what do you mean?”

“something is bothering you.”

“no, i’m just tired. can’t you see the eyebags? seriously, i’m so sleepy…” you try to mask what you feel with a lighthearted chuckle, but danielle can hear the lie in your words. she wants to be angry at you for lying, but she knows you can’t help it. lying about what you feel is like breathing to you. “grab me a rice bowl?”

she lets go of your hand and it almost urges you to spill pent-up emotions, but you won’t give in that easily. sure, her pretty face and caring self make you fold most of the time, but not in this case.

“alright y/n.” danielle sighs. “can we talk tonight? if you’re feeling like you want to. i hate seeing you so out of it.”

you pause, looking at her with slumped shoulders before biting your lip. 

“thank you, light.”

–

danielle has many nicknames and things people like to call her. one of her favorites—if not her absolute favorite—has always been dani, at least until you let a special nickname slip off your lips not too long ago, one that made her cheeks warm and brought a shy smile to her face.

“light?” she asks, looking at you like you’re stupid – in an admirable, adorable way of course.

you shrug. “sunshine is used too much by bunnies and the other members, light is much more unique and special to me. you’re special to me so i wanted something special. you don’t like it?”

danielle loves it the moment she hears you say it.

it's late, and while the rest of the members are fast asleep, you and danielle find yourselves unable to drift off. instinctively, you both end up in your room, lying on the bed. danielle’s head rests comfortably on your stomach as you explain the spontaneous, out-of-nowhere nickname you came up with for her a few months after your debut. she can't tell if the room is too hot and you need to start using your fan (you really do, danielle doesn’t understand how you survive without turning on that fan in these hot dorms), or if it's just because you've just called her something that makes her feel truly special.

her heart flutters. “i like it a lot. how’d you think of it?”

you start humming to yourself as you think. “i mean, you’re like sunshine, the sun. you know, you’re very bright and lights are bright too so…”

“that’s cute.” you’re cute, danielle might explode right there and right now, ‘cute’ is not capturing how much she adores it. “you’re creative.”

“i’m not.”

“you look down on yourself too much.” danielle retorts as she gets up to lay down next to you. her face is turned to gaze at your features. “seriously.”

“or maybe you just look up to me too much.”

“well you need to shrink. anyway, i think my statement is factual and yours is false.”

“you really want to debate right now?”

“i don’t need to, i’m right.” danielle smirks at you and you roll your eyes.

you turn on your side and she mirrors you, the mood of the room shifts, the air seems warmer – maybe you should turn that fan on.

danielle lets out a small yawn, her blinking slowing down as her eyelids grow heavy. you giggle quietly, then pull the blanket over the two of you, taking a moment to admire her. she looks peaceful and beautiful, more so than anyone or anything you've ever seen.

you reach over to fix the blanket sitting on her figure. “i take it you’re staying here tonight?”

she nods sleepily.

“okay.”

–

danielle knocks on your door, and before you can answer she lets herself in. she’s always done this, it’s amusing.

(and really, she knows you’ll let her in anyway. you’ve never once declined.)

she spots you lying in bed, your face hidden under the plaid blanket your grandma had shipped from your home. danielle knows it’s one of your most prized possessions, she can tell that it’s especially important as you cling onto it.

“the rice bowl is in the fridge, you should eat.”

“i’ll eat later dani.”

she frowns at you, watching you lay there and face the window in your room.

your favorite playlist fills the silence in the room, the one hanni contributed half of when you two were feeling emotional in the middle of the night and sharing sappy songs that made your hearts melt. it’s a bit concerning that this playlist is also what you listen to when you’re sulking, given that it’s filled with half of daniel caesar’s discography and slow love songs (happy and sad, but you still manage to sulk when it’s something to swoon over). 

you and hanni have such similar tastes in music; it’s almost dangerous how in sync you are when it comes to the songs that tug at your heartstrings.

danielle shuts the door slowly before making her way over to you. she sits beside you, rubbing your shoulder through the material of your blanket.

“hey sleepy, you’ll feel terrible if you don’t eat.” she squeezes you lightly, making you groan quietly. “the others are worried too, i told them you took a nap.”

“tell them i’m sleeping in.” you mumble, covering yourself in the blanket more. “thanks dani.”

she sighs and moves over so her lips hover above your ear. “y/n, you can’t stay like this. we’ve talked about this before, it’s not good to keep things in; you’ll explode.”

“it’s nothing, please danielle.”

“sweetheart,” her voice makes you all tingly. “please?”

you finally give in after she slides her hand down to your back, rubbing it comfortingly. with a deep breath, you slowly sit up and lean against the wall behind you. danielle’s eyes are filled with a tender, eager sparkle, her bottom lip jutting out slightly as she watches you, ready to listen to every word. 

the room feels warmer, the closeness between you making the moment intimate and heartfelt.

“the comeback is a little stressful, but i’ve managed of course.” she nods as you explain, giving you her undivided attention. “and my grandma recently got surgery, i found out two days ago and i’ve just been worried sick. the thought of her without me there to help her out makes me sick. i know my grandpa is there to help her out but– i’ve just always been there for them. now i can’t, and i can’t disappoint them either.”

you've never been much of a crier; the members have seen you cry maybe two or three times. but when danielle’s features soften and she immediately reaches over to engulf you in a hug that you could drown in, tears start to well in your eyes. you manage to hold them back, but the overwhelming comfort and warmth she offers makes it difficult.

“and you know the whole thing with my family after i took the trainee route, my grandparents are the only ones who are really fond of me and i– i’m just really… thrown off right now.

“i’m sorry to hear that, really.” she mumbles near your neck, mostly into your hair.  her embrace feels like a safe haven, a place where you can let go of your worries, even if just for a moment. you start to think that everything will be fine. “you’re not letting down anyone, just you existing makes your grandparents proud. i know it. and, i know i’ve only met your grandma briefly, but she’s such a strong woman from what i’ve seen, seriously. i trust that she’ll be fine, but would she be fine if she knew you were stressing?”

you shake your head – danielle has a point.

“i- i guess not.”

“well, i think her recovery would go much better knowing the woman she loves most is doing her best and doing alright.”

danielle’s right, she’s so right it really does ground you. you wrap your arms around her and hug back tightly, letting your worries flow away.

“thank you.”

“mhm.” she hums softly, then pulls away to gaze at you, placing her hands on your shoulders. “you should eat, let’s eat together.”

“you haven’t eaten yet?”

“a little, but i couldn’t eat a lot knowing you hadn’t.”

maybe you should’ve eaten, you should’ve because danielle isn’t satisfied. her stomach is most likely nowhere near half full. you quickly get up and grab her hand, dragging her out your room after hearing the new information.

“i can’t have you hungry dani.”

-

minji is happy to see your spark back, seeing you so enthusiastic and performing so well during practices makes her happy. 

this time, your practice is being recorded. you're all jumpy and giddy as you play around with hyein, teasing her in between breaks, but you manage to stay focused and excel as you run through the choreography. the camera captures you tease hanni, you make fun of the three-inch height difference between you two while she pouts and chases you around. even haerin joins in, watching you run around while you grin at the shortest member. the practice room buzzes with laughter and energy, your lighthearted teasing making the grueling session more enjoyable for everyone.

danielle and minji watch from afar, well, it’s mostly danielle who’s watching – admiring.

minji sees something special in her gaze, a sort of longing. a smile makes its way to danielle's lips, and minji watches the way danielle softens. the camera captures the same sight minji is seeing, though in much lower quality. the tender moment is evident even through the grainy footage, highlighting something much more complex between danielle and the object of her affection: you.

minji judges the younger member. “seems like you got her back on her feet.”

“hm?” danielle says, flinching slightly after being startled. “oh, yeah. she’s definitely feeling better, i’m really glad.”

“you two have something special, hm?”

“what do you mean?” 

minji looks back at you. you’ve given up, and hanni is now dragging you to the ground, both of you laughing as hyein records the whole thing. minji then glances at danielle. the younger australian member finds herself giggling unknowingly as she watches the whole scene unfold, her eyes twinkling with amusement and something softer, something that betrays the ‘platonic’ aspect in the fondness she holds for you.

minji shakes her head. “nothing. let’s get back to work.”

-

“hi everyone, i’m with y/n!” minji greets the livestream, looking at herself in the screen and fixing her hair. “say hi.”

you sit down next to her and fix the cap on your head, waving at the phone and smiling. “hi everyone, it’s been a while since i’ve made an appearance, huh?”

minji looks at you and scoffs. “you were on danielle’s live last week, and on her little voice message for a moment.”

you giggle and shake your head, putting up your hands to make a little ‘x’ sign with your fingers. 

“sounds like someone’s a fan of miss marsh, stalking her phoning activity…”

“bro, you are literally apart of her content a third of the time.”

“are you jealous kim minji?”

“of what, danielle being all over you? count me out…”

you giggle and continue on with the live. the two of you talk about the upcoming ‘making jeans,’ reminiscing and laughing over the countless memories you shared during the process of filming the music video.

of course, you tend to mention danielle often, complimenting her looks in each outfit and scene you all shot, the memories of mainly the two of you during the whole filming process. minji listens carefully as you ramble, narrowing her eyes each time the name ‘danielle’ is brought up. she lets you ramble, of course; she'd be something not too short of awful if she were to cut you off from gushing about your fellow member. 

there’s a sparkle in your eyes like fireworks going off as minji watches you. your smile is wide and genuine, your hands animatedly emphasizing every detail of whatever topic you're discussing, and without fail, danielle is woven into the narrative. the slight tint of pink on your cheeks doesn’t escape minji’s notice; it hints at something deeper than simple admiration.

the conversation shifts away from danielle and onto your other members, particularly how you and minji managed to cook a five-course meal for the rest of the group. questions flow and are answered promptly, and as the live stream reaches its fifty-minute mark, minji decides it's time to wrap up. 

once she ends the stream, you turn to her and give a thumbs up. “that was fun, lets do more of these.”

“you talked about danielle for a fifth of the live, y/n.”

“sorry…” you mumble, “i just remembered a lot of things from the shoot.”

you remembered danielle from the shoot that’s for sure. 

minji waves her hand and says, “it’s not a bad thing that you did…”

“of course not, danielle is lovely.”

to you? more than just lovely i bet. minji thinks, rolling her eyes before she flicks the cap off your head. you make some strange noise and it makes the older member chuckle.

“let’s get some rest, thanks for joining me.”

“yeah, anytime.” you wink at her before getting up and waving, walking out the door with a grin on your lips.

minji finds herself leaning against her bedframe, reflecting on everything she’s observed over the past two weeks—and honestly, over the years. 

the whole livestream with you has her pondering now; even as trainees, you and minji had always been close and supportive of each other. however, minji had always noticed something distinct in the dynamics between you and danielle. while all four of you—minji, hanni, danielle, and yourself—spoke english, there was an undeniable uniqueness in the connection, the exchanged glances, the subtle cues, and the way you and danielle interacted.

she collapses onto her bed and grabs her phone, concentrating hard as she clicks on the 'youtube' icon and goes to the search bar. biting the inside of her lip, she types 'newjeans danielle and y/n,' feeling a little awkward, as if she’s doing something a fan would do. she shakes her head to dispel the feeling, focusing on the recommended searches that follow:

"newjeans danielle and y/n moments" "danielle and y/n cute interactions" "newjeans y/n looking at danielle" "danielle and y/n chemistry compilation"

minji clicks on the first result, curiosity piqued, then clicks on the first video that pops up. the video is a compilation of moments between you and danielle, set to a soft, romantic song. as the montage begins, she sees clip after clip of the two of you laughing together, eyes sparkling with unspoken understanding. secret glances are exchanged, your smiles growing wider with every shared look. inside jokes flow effortlessly, creating a tempo only the two of you seem to follow. 

minji watches as the moments play out, each one reinforcing the undeniable bond between you and danielle. most of these clips could be played out as touchy, close friend moments, but some cannot be brushed off as that at all.

there’s a clip that plays, and minji cringes a little when she sees herself pop up on screen, talking about how she feels before a stage. the focus then shifts, zooming in on the background where danielle is leaning against your shoulder, eyes closed. minji watches as you turn to look at danielle lovingly, a soft smile playing on your lips before you look back at the makeup artist fixing your blush. 

another clip that makes minji's brows furrow also sparks a memory in her head. in the clip, you jump at minji, placing both hands on her shoulders as you lift yourself up from the ground. when you land back down, you hug the older member and laugh with her, happy that you've managed to scare her. what minji never noticed before now plays in the video: danielle is in the distance, the footage edited to zoom in on her. she's watching the whole scene, and as soon as your arms wrap around minji, danielle's gaze turns slightly more serious. danielle bites half of her lip and clenches her jaw, clearly a little bothered by it.

that’s not like her at all.

minji skips the video and finds the most replayed moment, her eyes widening at how oblivious she had been to you two. have the other members noticed as well? the question rings throughout minji’s head, the others have to have had a small hunch. then again, danielle is affectionate, and you are too at times, so maybe it wouldn’t be unbelievable for them to be blind to whatever you and her have going on. 

you and danielle are shooting for the photobooks, taking your duo pictures. minji watches as danielle takes this opportunity to be touchy as ever, her hands never leaving you as you both pose. her hand ends up on your forearm, shoulders, and even the back of your neck. she's flirting with you the whole time too, mostly to earn genuine smiles and laughs for the camera, but also because she enjoys it and means it – minji assumes. even as you two pose with hanni added, danielle still keeps her hand on you at all times, not wanting to leave you be. and when the camera pans to her hand sliding to your waist and rubbing it just barely, minji freezes.

each moment feels charged with a depth she hadn't fully grasped before. even she hasn’t noticed half of what was clipped.

the comments are filled with fans gushing over your interactions:

"i swear they have the best chemistry!" "look at how danielle looks at y/n! my heart can't take it." "they are so cute together! #dany/n" “are they dating? i’m new to this group. ↪️”not officially, but from their interactions it seems like it could be true.” ↪️”there has to be something though, most likely they are.” ↪️”hey, let’s not assume things. we don’t know what goes on behind cameras and they’re probably just really close friends!”

minji sighs, a mix of amusement and concern flooding her. she knew you two were close, but this compilation and the fan reactions make it clear just how much your bond stands out. sure, danielle and haerin had some of their own moments (mainly because haerin, but this? this is something.

 she scrolls through a few more videos, each one reinforcing what she's just realized. 

"oh my fucking god," minji murmurs, the weight of understanding settling in as she processes everything: you think danielle shines brighter than the sun.

you talk about her like she is your sun, and danielle looks at you like you’re her moon.

and minji? she's caught in the midst of your oblivious pining, realizing she occupies the role of the stars, planets, and everything in between.

-

“hanni.”

the younger member jumps at the sound of minji barging into her room at 12 in the morning, looking at her like she’s crazy.

“the hell man? at least knock���”

“you and danielle, you’re both very similar, very close too, i know that.”

“of course i’m close with dani, what the hell are you–”

“you’re close with y/n too, yeah?”

“i’m close with everyone including you minji, what kind of interrogation is this?”

minji flops onto hanni’s bed and stares up into the ceiling like she’s just worked a 9-5 with no break in between. the younger member walks over to close the door of her room, then sits back down to assess whatever is happening. 

“seriously,” hanni begins, “what’s up?”

“are dani and y/n dating? like are they together? like girlfriends, like– romantic?”

hanni giggles, making minji turn her head to give hanni a good look of the confused expression she has on. “what? no…? they’re just really flirty minji, i thought we knew this.”

“okay well i just went live with y/n and she was rambling and gushing about dani for a solid fifteen minutes. hanni, that live was almost an hour.”

“oh.” hanni simply responds, going silent.

“have you noticed something between them? or am i going crazy…”

the room is silent for a while, and minji lets it stay that way, giving hanni time to process her thoughts. hanni starts to really think about her other two members. minji has a point: you and danielle are close, and your demeanor changes noticeably when danielle is involved. she also recalls the time when she and danielle had gone out together, only for danielle to talk about you a good chunk of the time. it doesn’t help that danielle’s lock screen consists of two rotating pictures: one being a group photo and the other being you holding a kitten.

danielle and hanni spend a lot of time together, and now that hanni fully analyzes all those moments, she realizes that a significant portion of their conversations revolves around you. it’s almost as if you were there with them. danielle also looks at you differently, more lovingly, compared to the way she looks at the other members. when she flirts, it’s also different – more genuine, more meaningful. hanni had always been too distracted by how flirty and stupid danielle was to notice the blush on both your faces during those flirtatious moments. now, everything starts to make sense.

“okay wait yeah,” hanni bites the side of her finger. “i guess? but danielles really loving and sweet.”

“but much more with y/n, right?” minji sounds like she’s trying to convince herself too. “oh my god this is so embarrassing but i went on youtube…”

“don’t tell me you–”

minji puts a hand in the air, closing her eyes embarrassingly. “it was for research.”

“research on your friends?”

“stop! you need to see the video too, i didn’t even notice this shit.” 

hanni sighs, letting minji scoot next to her and play a video titled ‘danielle and y/n moments that could make the cut in a romance drama.’ the younger member eyes minji after reading the title, minji just puts a finger to her lips and presses play.

“i can’t believe you’re making me watch this, am i a bunny or what?”

“just watch.”

minji is older and hanni does not have anything better to do at this hour of the night, so she keeps her eyes glued on the screen.

the younger woman goes through every single emotion that minji has with each second passing by. her brows crease, her hand hovers over her mouth in shock, and she almost squeals during some clips – minji nudges her teasingly. when the video ends hanni sits there staring at the phone dead silent. 

“well?”

“that was edited very well.”

the older member pushes the younger one and rolls her eyes. “shut up. are you picking up what i’m putting down?”

“yeah, no, oh my god it’s real.”

“but they’re not dating…” minji thinks to herself, pinching the bridge of her nose. “wait, are they… do they even like girls?”

“oh yeah, danielle mentioned it like, twice, but she thinks it’s not a big deal. but yeah, she likes girls. i think y/n mentioned it once too, they’re both just not open about it i guess?”

minji clicks her tongue. “so they’re probably in love and pining, they’re oblivious.”

“what do we even do with this information?” hanni asks. 

they both ponder the possible outcomes, weighing the positive and negative consequences of you and danielle becoming a couple or continuing to pine for each other. if you two stayed in the limbo of unspoken looks, flirting, and loving gestures, the status quo would remain, but it might cause tension. on the other hand, if you two became a thing and eventually broke up, it could create a rocky dynamic within the group. 

however, minji knows you well. you’re mature and have been through a lot, so she believes you’d be able to handle it professionally. danielle, on the other hand, might struggle more with the fallout. but if the relationship lasted, it would bring happiness and joy, despite the challenges of dating as an idol and concealing so much. the two of you would be happy – you’re already happy as is to be part of the group and know each other – and so would the other members. 

the thought of this potential happiness brings a soft smile to minji’s face as she considers the best path forward for everyone involved.

minji leans into hanni’s pillow and closes her eyes – she looks like an overworked therapist. “we shouldn’t intervene.”

“let things flow naturally?”

“yeah, but with the knowledge that they’re in love i guess.”

“so it’s actually like an angsty, intense romance drama.”

“they’re our friends idiot… more like a romcom, it’s not that bad.”

the two laugh and decide to call it a night, promising to run to each other with information and thoughts on every single thing that happens to the two of you.

(they can still be fans of the two of you despite being part of the group itself, and that as a guilty pleasure isn’t the worst thing in the world.)

-

your birthday falls right before the break you have, just a few promotions to get through and you’re set.

unfortunately, you’re not able to see your grandparents during the first week of your vacation since they’ve had a few complications with flights and their work. however, they’ll be coming to visit you in the second week, staying a little longer despite you having to work. because of this, you'll have plenty of time to spend with them and show them around seoul. 

plus, they’ll get to meet your members, and you can already envision how much they’ll baby and spoil everyone. the thought of your grandparents showering your friends with affection, gifts, and really just their love and charm brings a smile to your face, and you can’t wait for them to experience the warmth and love you’ve always cherished. 

every birthday for each member includes a special livestream, and today, it’s your turn. 

despite it being your birthday, a heavy feeling of sadness lingers, overshadowing the excitement as you all set up. you should be happy, and you are with the members around you by your side on your day, but you’re still not completely you the absence of danielle gnaws at your heart. everyone except her surrounds you, and you try to mask how terrible you feel without her presence as you prepare for the broadcast. she apparently had something very important in her schedule that would last until the late evening, leaving you to celebrate without her.

[danielle] im so sorry i can’t be there for you ☹️ i wanted to be there but they’ve shoved this into my schedule since the break is soon im so sorry sweetheart i’ll make it up to you as best as i can, promise i love you, i’m sorry i’m so so so sorry

you remember seeing danielle's messages two hours after noon. the instant you read them, your shoulders dropped, your smile faded, and all the excitement drained from your body. those texts still haunt you, a constant reminder of her absence on a day you wanted her by your side the most.

[y/n] it’s okay, don’t worry about it.

you put on your best facade, greeting the viewers with a joyful, upbeat tone, but the rest of the members can see through it. the light in your eyes is dimmed, your smile not as genuine as usual. hyein notices and rubs your hand under the table, offering silent support, trying to lift your spirits on your special day. the others chime in with their own attempts to cheer you up, but the void left by danielle’s absence is hard to fill.

you force a smile. “i’m surrounded by most of my members! i’m very happy to be with them on my special day.”

hyein puts her arm around your shoulder and squeezes you close to hug you from the side, making you giggle. “she’s getting older and older and older… please wish her a long life everyone.”

“hey! i’m not that old…”

“if y/n is old then what am i?” minji questions, quirking a brow at the youngest.

“ancient.”

“hey!”

your members start to bicker playfully, and it washes away a good amount of your worries. the smile on your face stays, though it falters now and then. despite the sadness lurking in the background, you're grateful to be surrounded by those who have supported you. their presence and antics bring some light to your birthday, helping you feel a bit more at ease.

hanni suddenly grips your shoulders, making you jump. “okay~ time for the birthday girls’ gifts!”

she makes you giggle, then moves out of frame to grab a wrapped box. she hands it to you – not without accidentally hitting your head, making you and the members gasp and chuckle – then lets you examine the exterior.

“you’ll love it man.” you roll her eyes at her confident tone.

everyone watches you unwrap the gift, hyein snorts as she watches you struggle to open the box up, having to find a pen to stab it and rip the seal. there are a few things inside, but you grab the larger item out and gasp when you see it. 

“hanni you’re– oh my god.” you gaze at the signed daniel caesar vinyl in your hands, mouth wide open. “hanni.”

“yes?”

you stand up immediately to hug her tight, engulfing her in your arms as you sway in place. “thank you so much.”

she rubs your back and hugs you back with the same energy. “seems like my present will be hard to beat, that so?”

you pull away and scoff playfully, sitting back down to inspect whatever else is inside the box. “don’t make it a competition!”

the rest of the live continues, most of your sorrow completely lifted after opening each present. minji gives you a cap with your name on it, along with a necklace you had been eyeing for months, some stationary, and your favorite candies from back home. you marvel at how she managed to get a bag of your favorite sweets, but she just shrugs with a smirk plastered on her face, clearly enjoying the mystery.

haerin’s gift is thoughtful and cute. you ‘re given three different koala keychains (your representative and favorite animal), a cat shirt, a new ds game, and blue light glasses. haerin is attentive to everything, but it still surprised you that she remembered you were missing the ‘y’ version of your favorite pokemon game – and your glasses that you had bought a month ago. she also hands you a letter, it’s full of words that will probably make you tear up later, so you decide to tuck it away for the time being.

hyein gifts you something that makes you laugh until you're leaning against her, nearly crying. her bag contains new earrings that match your style perfectly and your favorite disney movie on dvd. the real kicker, though, is an oversized shirt featuring a popular baby picture of you photoshopped boldly on the front. in the picture, your six-year-old self is sleeping with your head turned uncomfortably and drool seeping from the corner of your lips. the sloppy masking of the image only adds to how hilarious it is, making hanni and minji hold onto each other as they cackle, while haerin has to move out of frame to hide her amusement. 

“how did you even get this made?” you ask the youngest member, still clinging onto her and laughing in between words. “oh my god, this is insane.”

“do you like it?”

“i love it hyeinie.” you press a short peck to the top of her head, then pat down her hair. “it’s wonderful.”

she’s smiling brightly, happy that you’re not as sad as before and that you love her gift. hyein has always been full of love and care.

you begin to organize the presents again, looking back at all of them and feeling like the luckiest, happiest girl in the world. after hugging all of your members again, nearly crushing them from how grateful you are.

haerin then brings your cake back in frame, tugging on your sleeve to grab your attention. 

 you clap your hands. “ah! yes, let’s blow the candle.”

it’s really simple, mundane, and everyone does it – blowing a cake and all, despite yours not being edible – but it makes your cheeks hurt from how much you smile. everyone enthusiastically sings ‘happy birthday’ and you sit there like a child all giddy. once they’re all done, you close your eyes and clasp your hands, making a silent wish in your head.

most of the wishes are simply you wishing for your grandparents to be well and healthy, and you wished the same for your members. you also wished for one more thing, something on a whim, but it would make you even happier than you are right now.

i wish danielle were here.

you silently go over each wish again, unaware of hanni opening the door behind you, someone walking in silently and quickly rushing over to stand behind you. 

opening your eyes, you grin and blow the candles out, then jump and shout in surprise when you feeling someone’s arms around you and their body pressed against you from behind.

danielles scent is recognizable, and so is her voice, heavy with accent. “happy birthday!”

you turn around in surprise, looking up at her with wide eyes and your jaw dropped. she moves her hand to the crook of your neck, the other resting on your shoulder as she looks at your expression.

“dani? you– you said you couldn’t–”

“i’m sorry, i had to pick up your present and surprise you. was it too harsh?”

you felt you heart break into pieces when you had received her texts, but still answer, “no, absolutely not.”

she hugs you again and you sink into her embrace. minji and hanni exchange knowing glances, hyein and haerin just smile at how sweet the moment it is. 

you end the live shortly after, with danielle explaining to the viewers that her present for you is something very special that she needs to show off-camera. the group continues chatting about you and your birthday, with haerin snickering at hyein’s remarks. danielle stays where she is, standing behind your chair with her arms around you, her fingers grazing your skin in a way that makes you swoon. minji and hanni silently communicate with each other through their eyes and brows, sharing a knowing look about the bond between you and danielle.

you couldn’t be any happier.

–

it turns out that you can be happier.

once the livestream ends, you all help clean up the studio. minji tries to suck in helium from the balloons, while hanni and hyein run around trying to stop her, adding to the lighthearted chaos. despite the playful antics, the six of you manage to clean up quickly. each member hugs you tightly, danielle hugging you last. as she pulls away, she gives a look to each of the members, silently sending them off with goodbyes and “see you back at home’s.” soon, it’s just you and danielle back in the empty studio after she had dragged you back inside.

“i’m sorry again, but i had to grab you some special things.”

“it’s okay, really.” you lie, knowing you probably would’ve went back home and sulked for a bit. you look at the bag in her hands, then giggle. “is that for me?”

“yes miss birthday girl!” 

you laugh and she hands you the bag, it’s smaller than everyone elses, but that doesn’t matter at all.

reaching in, you feel something fluffy. you pull out a small teddy bear about twice the size of your hands, feeling your lips turn up. it’s a bear with a flower in its hand and a small flower crown on top of its head. it’s adorable, but not as much as danielle.

“dani,” you pull her in for another hug. “this is so cute.”

“mhm.” she mumbles, pulling away. “press on its chest.”

“what?”

“just do it.”

you comply, you thumb adding pressure and feeling a small click. there’s a small sound that starts to play, and as soon as you hear the familiar voices, you almost break.

“hi y/n! we miss you and love you and are so so proud of you.” the sound of your grandpa’s voice in the recording makes you freeze.

your grandma speaks next, “we miss you and love you to death. keep it up! you are so amazing and the greatest gift ever, you’ve got this.” 

they both speak at the same time next, saying, “from your favorite bunnies: we love you y/n!”

danielle is a little scared as she watches you frozen in place, still clutching the bear she gave you. your lip trembles slightly, and she hears a slight shake in your breath. you stare at the bear in shock, then look up at danielle with tears brimming in your eyes. her heart aches, unsure if your reaction is good or bad, and she takes a hesitant step closer, her voice soft and concerned.

"hey, are you okay?" she asks, reaching out gently to touch your arm. 

you grab her wrist and pull her in, engulfing her in the warmest hug you’ve given. “danielle, this is the best gift i’ve ever received.” she can hear you starting to sniffle, not letting go of you and letting your tears stain her hair. “thank you so much, i– i really needed this. you’re seriously the most thoughtful person i know and i just, i can’t explain how much this means to me.”

danielle's heart swells with relief and affection. she hugs you tighter, resting her chin on your shoulder. "i'm so glad you like it," she whispers. "you mean a lot to me, and i wanted to give you something special, something that shows how much i care."

you pull back slightly to look at her, your eyes still glistening with tears. "it’s perfect," you say, your voice choked with emotion. "you’re perfect, oh my god, i love you so much.” 

danielle smiles, brushing a stray tear from your cheek. "i’m glad you like it, happy birthday.” she says softly.

-

“yes, i got it. i can’t believe danielle did all this for me.” you face your ipad, smiling at your grandparents. “i cried you know!”

your grandmas eyes smile with her and you can see the slight wrinkles in the corner of them. “aw, at least they were happy tears. your member, she reached out to us first you know? what a sweetheart…”

“danielle cares for you a lot, you know? she’s a great friend, you keep her close, okay?” your grandpa adds.

friend. the word rings in your ear, stinging a little. danielle is sweeter than honey, caring, loving, and she’s the reason your transition to moving away from home was easier. at the end of the day, no matter how touchy she is with you, how many flirtatious comments and affectionate gestures she gives; danielle is your friend. 

at least she’s in your life, you’re grateful for just that.

“yeah,” you chuckle, it’s bittersweet leaving you. “she’s a great friend.”

your grandma leans closer to the camera, smirking. “but if i had to take a guess, i don’t think you’re just a friend to her.”

an awkward laugh leaves your lips. “what are you on about?”

“friends don’t do things as significant as this. your grandpa was my ‘friend’ in college, but none of my friends did the things he did. did the rest of your members do something like this? she cares about you deeply, im sure the other members do too, but this is different y/n.”

“i mean, my members also gave me great gifts.”

“sweetie, danielle reached out to us via facebook and set up a whole thing in order to get this for you.”

“and i’ve seen your little videos with the members, she looks at you differently and clings onto you more than haerin. that says a lot.” your grandpa adds on, raising his brows. 

your cheeks start to burn, you roll your eyes and scoff. “i think you’re looking into it too far, seriously. she’s my coworker and friend.”

“y/n, follow your heart. you adore her and you’re trying to push away the feeling because you’re scared of rejection.” your grandma was very good at reading you. too good. “don’t suppress and run away because you’re scared, things will work out.”

“i don’t even know if she likes girls like that, i mean, danielle–”

without any warning, the door of your room is opened suddenly and you jump, dropping your ipad on the mattress and letting out a small yelp.

danielle stands int he doorway in her pajamas. “hey! oh sorry– did i interrupt? sorry i’ll come back later–” 

“no! i mean, no.” you clear your throat. “d-did you need something?”

your grandparents can only see the ceiling, but they still hear danielle, “ah, well, i’ll just tell you later when you’re done. are you calling your grandparents?”

“danielle? is that you?” your grandma calls out. “dear, let me see her.”

picking up the ipad and setting it upright again, danielle walks over to where you sit on the bed and leans over so her head is in frame. “mrs. and mr. l/n! hi, how are you?”

“oh danielle, it’s lovely to see you! we’re doing great.” your grandpa responds. 

you scoot over and pat down the space next to you, mumbling softly to danielle, “sit here.”

“you sure? i didn’t interrupt, i’ll just say hi and–”

danielle feels you grab her wrist, pulling her down so she’s next to you now. “it’s fine, i swear.” you assure, and danielle just nods.

“oh gosh, you get prettier each time i see you.” your grandpa says in awe (he gets it). “how did y/n react? tell us the full details.”

the member beside you laughs, it’s music to your ears. 

“she just stared at it while the audio played and… cried.” she turns to look at you with apologetic eyes. “it was very emotional, but i can assure she loved it. did you?”

“yeah.” you mutter, eyes on danielle as she speaks.

“aw, how adorable. well, we actually have to go. you had something to tell our granddaughter?”

your grandma and grandpa want you dead.

“aw, well i hope to talk to you two for longer next time! stay safe and healthy– oh! and speedy recovery to you mrs. l/n!”

“thanks dear, goodnight you two! happy birthday, we love you.” is the last thing your grandpa says before your grandma blows you a kiss and waves goodbye. the call ends a second later, leaving you and danielle alone.

she turns her head, your faces find themselves a hand apart.

“your grandparents are so lovely.”

you look at her like an idiot. “yeah.”

“i’m sorry to cut your call short, really–”

“no! no, it’s okay. what did you want to tell me?”

“well,” she starts, her gaze fixed on her hands. she looks nervous, and it makes you nervous as well. “i kind of was wondering…” you gulp, hearing the hesitation in her voice. she does that thing, the little nervous lip bite that’s both adorable and nerve-racking at the same time. “you know, the vacation we have is soon, and you’re here in seoul for the first week. i figured that might be boring, considering all of us will be out and with family, you know? and you, you’re still here.”

her words hang in the air, the weight of her uncertainty pressing down on both of you. you can feel the anticipation building, your heart pounding in your chest as you try to decipher her intentions. the idea of spending the first week of vacation alone had been a bit daunting, and the thought that danielle had been thinking about you, about your potential loneliness, makes your heart swell with a mix of hope and anxiety.

“and…?”

“well…” you focus on each curve of her side profile, eyes softening as she continues. “how does australia sound? with me, my hometown to be exact. oh! but only for a few days of course! i know your grandparents are visiting and yeah, that’s– that’s what i wanted to ask.”

you can’t help but chuckle at how she fiddles her fingers, how she avoids your gaze, and really just her all nervous like this. it’s cute, she’s cute. 

(everytime you’re with her, it seems that you fall more and more.

it seems impossible, but she finds a way to make it possible everytime.)

“danielle, i mean, this is so sudden but i would love to.” you reach out to put a hand on hers, danielle feels her heartbeat start to simmer back into its normal pace. “your family is fine with it?”

“they’re the ones who suggested it actually, and i know that one time when we were trainees you said you always wanted to visit where i grew up and i got giddy that time just thinking about it so of course i jumped at the idea and–” she cuts herself off after looking back up to see you. you’re grinning and your head is leaning against the headboard now. “sorry, i’m–”

“no, i like it. i’ll go.”

danielle sighs in relief. “okay good because i had bought the tickets a month ago when you mentioned staying in seoul for a week–”

“what?” 

all you can do is laugh again, making danielle laugh too. 

-

the first interaction you had with danielle had already piqued your curiosity. the memory replays in your head as you wait for the coffee you had ordered in the airport.

you were a new trainee, fumbling through the maze of hallways in search of the training room you had been reassigned to at the last minute. your korean was rudimentary at best—reading it was manageable, but grasping the full meaning took considerable effort and time. conversations were a challenge, your speech a mix of broken sentences and unintentional informalities that made interactions awkward.

every sign you passed seemed to blur together, each character a puzzle you struggled to piece together. the unfamiliar surroundings only heightened your anxiety, making every misstep feel monumental. your heart raced with a mix of frustration and determination as you looked down at the paper in your hand, clearly too focused on it as you collided with someone.

“shit–” you whisper, then rush out a botched, formal “sorry,”

you look at the girl in front of you, waving her hand and patting herself down. she looks at you worriedly, then says a little too quickly, “im so sorry! are you okay? i should’ve looked where i was going!”

“what?” you say in english. she’s speaking formally, it’s hard to decipher with your limited vocabulary and experience with others. you shake your head and mutter in accented korean, “sorry, w-what did you, um, what did you say?”

“ah,” the realization hits her, your confusion and accent told her enough. “do you speak english?”

her accent is strong, very recognizable which helps your body relax. she’s aussie, thank god. you think to yourself, then nod at the girl. 

“yes, fluently. my korean is not the best, sorry. it takes a bit to understand.”

“it’s no problem! i was just asking if you’re okay– i really should’ve watched where i was going.”

hurriedly, you wave your hands in the air. “no! no. i wasn’t looking, i was trying to read the paper and clashed into you.”

“it’s alright, at least we’re both fine!” you loved her radiant energy the moment you met her. the girl, you had bumped into already seemed to calm you down. even the first meeting, a simple collision, brought you some peace despite all of your stress as a trainee. “you’re having trouble with the paper? let me help.”

you hand her the paper. “thank you so much.”

“no worries, really.” she says before reading. “it says you’re moved to room 153– oh! i was just heading there!”

“really?”

“yeah! come with me!”

“thank you so much… um, your name?”

“danielle! yours?”

you take some time to examine her. danielle is really pretty, and if you hadn’t bumped into her at first you would’ve spent more time admiring her face. she had these beauty marks on her face that could rival any constellation, and the way her eyes lit up without even trying was enough to keep you captivated.

you gulped. “y/n.”

“pretty name.” she says, then grabs your hand and drags you in the other direction. “you know,” she giggles, “maybe it was a miracle that you ran into me.”

it was nothing short of a miracle, and honestly, it felt like something beyond that. had you not bumped into her that day, you might never have found your way to the training room. more importantly, you wouldn’t have met the person who would become your friend. danielle, with her effortless kindness and patience, helped you navigate and bear with the troubles of being a trainee in a place away from home. she assisted you in improving your korean, and provided the emotional support you desperately needed. she was your rock.

without danielle, you would have been lost, both literally and figuratively. her guidance made everything seem less overwhelming; she turned every challenge into a manageable task, and somehow, she managed to stay upbeat too. 

if it weren’t for her, you probably wouldn’t have debuted, you really wouldn’t have come this far.

and without her influence, you wouldn’t be in the airport trying to find her so you can give her that latte she wanted you to order. you catch her in the blue hoodie she had been wearing, walking towards her immediately and watching her eyes crinkle when she sees you. even with her mask on, she’s lovely.

–

seeing danielle reunite with her family almost brings tears to your eyes. she’s crying as she hugs her sister, mom, and dad, you smile at the sight. it’s clear she’s missed them; who wouldn’t miss the people they loved most while being a long flight away?

“oh! y/n, come here!” danielle pulls away from her parents to drag you over by the hand. 

her mom looks you up and down, smiling at your awkward self in your oversized graphic t-shirt and sweatpants. she puts her hands on either side of your shoulder, then pulls you in for a hug. “y/n, it’s great to see you again.”

“likewise.” you hug her back.

danielle’s dad joins in, wrapping his arms around you two as well. “don’t leave me out!” and it prompts danielle’s sister to hug you too.

“hey! i want hugs too!” danielle jumps over, and now you’re engulfed in a multihug, but who would complain?

–

“no really, it’s alright! i don’t want to trouble you any more. i can settle myself in, really.” you’re trying your best to fight off each attempt at helping you relax into the guest room next to danielle’s, dismissing every family member until it’s danielle.

she pouts. “you sure? are you posssiiittivveeee~”

“dani,” you hold her fingers. “i’m so positive that i’m negative.” you put a hand up to interrupt her before she even speaks. “and no that doesn’t mean i need your help, seriously. go see your family, i’ll meet you all soon.”

she’s frowning now. “fine, fine. meet in the living room?”

“yes, i’ll take ten minutes tops.”

“you sure?”

“more positive than a plus sign.”

danielle giggles, and so do you. she holds both of your hands and you two stare at each other for a good while. she’d love to spend a few minutes helping you unpack. the action is mundane, but that’s what she likes to do most with you. she could be watching paint dry and as long as it’s with you, she’d enjoy every second. 

you forget how to breathe for a moment until she releases her hands. she winks at you, then heads out the door, leaving you flushed.

you wonder how you’ll survive for the next few days.

–

you manage to survive the first day. it consists of you following danielle around (not that you’re against it) and your eyes widening with each new sight.

every car ride, your head is angled towards the window, captivated by the passing scenery. danielle’s gaze also falls on the window, but not for the view it offers. instead, she watches you, memorizing your features with a quiet intensity. she already knows every contour of your face by heart; a simple touch, even blindfolded, would be enough for her to recognize you. 

you, however, are too entranced by the world outside to notice her adoration. the vibrant trees, the shimmering water in the distance, and the people going about their lives with smiles on their faces all hold your attention. the landscape unfolds like a living painting, and you are lost in its beauty.

danielle finds her own kind of beauty in watching you, her heart swelling with each small expression of wonder that crosses your face.

from morning to sunset, the day is filled with shared giggles, smiles, and endless affection. danielle leads you to each of her favorite spots in the city, eagerly sharing the anecdotes that make each place special to her. the two of you are like peas in a pod—she talks and talks, and you listen intently, soaking up every word.

as you explore the city together, danielle's excitement is infectious. she points out the café where she first realized espresso based drinks weren’t all that bad. then she takes you to the park where she used to sit and clear her mind, mentioning that she dropped an ice cream cone at a bench near a tall tree as a child. and you learn that the little bookstore tucked away in a quiet alley is where she discovered her favorite novel. each place holds a piece of her heart, and she's sharing it all with you.

(another piece of her heart, you, mingling with the others like puzzle pieces clicking together.)

you let her take as many pictures as she wants, capturing every moment to savor later. whether it's a candid shot of you laughing at one of her stories, a moment where you’re caught of guard, or a scenic view of the sunset you both admire; you pose willingly, knowing how much these memories mean to her. because really, you'll do anything for danielle. her joy is your joy, and her stories are now part of your shared narrative, weaving a tapestry of cherished memories that belong to both of you now.

when the two of you make it back home to her home in the evening after a tiring, eventful day with her and her family, you realize that yeah, you’re in love with her.

you’re in love with her beyond anything, you could breathe danielle.

it’s never been a question, really, loving her and all. but you’ve seen her at each moment in time and your first day with her where she grew up ties the knot tighter. it should hurt your heart, the feeling that it might not be reciprocated, but you’re too distracted by how happy she is to plate everyone’s dinner to let it get to you.

besides, maybe your grandma was right. 

you trust her intuition, but you need some more reassurance.

–

on the second day in the afternoon, you’re helping out her grandparents with cooking pastries. you’re mixing the batter for banana bread and danielle’s chin is on her palm as she watches you attentively. 

a soft tune is playing and you're humming along, the melody bringing a relaxed smile to your face. the family dog, jinni, keeps brushing against your leg, wagging her tail eagerly. your laughter rings out, light and infectious, and danielle can't help but think that your laughter is much more pleasing to the ear than whatever plays in the background. 

danielle's gaze remains fixed on you, a tender smile forming on her lips as she watches you interact with jinni. there's something mesmerizing about the way you move, the way you laugh, and the effortless joy you radiate. 

her reverie is interrupted when her sister taps her shoulder, pulling her back to the present moment. danielle turns, humming softly in response, but her thoughts are still with you, the image of your laughter lingering in her mind.

“dani, you’re in love.”

“lower your voice!” danielle hushes her. “i– i’m not.”

“you look like the lead of a romance film.”

“well,” danielle sighs in defeat after glancing at you again. her grandma has found a small spoon and is scooping a bit of the batter to feed you. your eyes light up, and the way your teeth show could stop a storm, danielle thinks. "ugh, it's just, i adore her."

“that’s evident.”

danielle laughs and playfully nudges her sister, then rests her hadn on her palm again.

“she’s beautiful and sweet and– how could someone not love her?”

“you’ve been in love with her ever since you gushed about the ‘pretty girl not from here that can basically only speak english’ when you were a trainee, dani.”

she groans in response and leans against her sister as she watches you again. you pour the batter into the prepared tray, then look over at danielle. you motion for her to walk over and she gets up immediately, but not before catching the knowing look from her sister.

you hold the spatula up and order, “taste.” before she laughs and licks the batter off of it. you raise your brows. “good, right? it’s not too sweet and the perfect amount of banana.”

“it’s amazing.” she fights the urge to say that you are too.

–

danielle takes you to three beaches on the third day, you enjoy watching her splash her feet around in the water before dragging you in, almost soaking the upper half of your linen pants.

“hey! i don’t have a change of clothes!”

“then be quicker!” she says in between giggles, “don’t be a scaredy cat!”

“i’m not!”

her sister follows the two of you to the pier-like structure, a rocky outcrop covered in green organisms that squish underfoot, eliciting a mix of surprised noises from you and laughter from both danielle and her sister. the scene is serene, with the sound of waves lapping against the rocks in the background. 

danielle takes your hand, guiding you along despite the squishy algae underfoot. she shares another anecdote, this time about how she and her sister used to swim until they were the last ones in the water, far out where the bigger waves crashed. you listen intently, captivated by her storytelling, and without realizing it, your fingers intertwine. her hand may be smaller, but it fits perfectly in yours, as if they were meant to be connected all along.

as danielle reminisces, her eyes sparkle with fond memories, and a soft smile plays on her lips. the gentle breeze ruffles your hair as you both stand there, sharing a moment that feels suspended in time, it really feels like you’re stuck in time and place the longer you stare. her features are highlighted by the rays of sun shining and you can’t seem to take your eyes off of her.

“you guys look like a couple.”

at the same time, you and danielle turn your heads around, cheeks pooling with embarrassment. “hey!” danielle shouts, but her hand doesn’t leave yours, and neither does she step away from you.

the thought of looking like you’re together doesn’t bother you one bit, if anything, it seems right.

–

her, her family, and you all go to the last beach together with clothing suited for swimming. danielle ends up dragging you toward the water eagerly, she makes you trip and fall. the taste of saltwater overwhelms your tongue, and before you know it, you’re grabbing danielle and dragging her down with you.

laughter fills the air, her family joins in on the splashing, and her dad has managed to splash you so hard that you slip and fall again. the feeling is overwhelming, your heart might burst.

after you all spend time in the water, the rest of the time at the beach is spent on a towel where the sand is. you dig your feet into the sand, as you listen to her parents sharing stories that make you smile wide – you’ve already been smiling so much the whole trip, but they manage to make you smile more and more. it’s apparent that danielle is the way she is because of how wonderful her family is, and maybe you’re just as wonderful after being around her these past years.

“y/n, did you go to the beach often when you were younger?”

your head shoots up at the question her mom asked, you hum. 

“mhm.” your feet dig into the sand a little deeper. “we lived a one hour train ride from a really pretty beach, i learned how to swim there. my grandpa used to fish too, he’d catch one or two fish for us and make either a soup or grill it over rice. and sometimes he’d bring his ukulele so my grandma and i could sing as the sun started to set. i would always fall asleep and wake up on his shoulder as we boarded the train, and then on the way home i was always asleep on my grandma.”

it’s silent for a moment until danielle breaks it. “y/n, that’s so sweet.”

“yeah.” you fight back tears, biting your lip and managing a smile. “being at the beach with you all makes me as happy as i was then too.”

“well i’m really glad, your presence has given us much joy.” her dad says. you look up and giggle.

“yes, and i bet making me fall into the water did too.”

everyone laughs at the playful retort. all of you continue to reminisce and enjoy the scene until her mom decides it’s time to get going. danielle lingers near you, her arm linking with yours because she’s cold and you’re allegedly ‘almost as warm as the sun.’

danielle also lets you fall asleep against her, a light snore making her family turn their heads to see her taking a picture of you and smiling.

“you two are adorable, you know.” her mom says softly, not wanting to wake you up.

danielle nods. “she is.”

–

later that night danielle accompanies you on a late night walk. initially, you wanted to go alone to clear your mind – not that you were troubled, but because you needed designated alone time. however, danielle is a worrier, and for you, it’s tenfold.

her arm brushes yours every now and then, she doesn’t fill the silence knowing how you are. the feeling in the air is calming and every worry is gone.

you look ahead and practically breathe out, “dani.”

“yeah?”

“i’m really happy.”

“i’m glad.”

“like, so happy.”

she moves to hold your hand again, your fingers interwining purposefully. “i’m happy that you are.”

"i'm really overwhelmed," you sigh softly, finding respite on a small bench nestled in the park where you've wandered together. sitting beside her, you pause, a mix of happiness and longing evident in your eyes. "seeing you with your family... it just fills me with this warmth. you know, i've never had that closeness with my parents. they've never really understood or supported me. you know how it is." you confess, feeling her reassuring grip tighten around you.

you tilt your head back, gazing up at the sky painted in hues of twilight, a gentle smile gracing your lips. "i'm not jealous, not at all, like, seriously. it's just... i'm so happy. your family is so loving and wonderful, and you," you turn to meet her eyes, heart swelling with affection, "you're just... yeah, really great."

she laughs quietly, leaning against you so her head is on your shoulder.

“well, you’re really great too.”

“maybe.”

“definitely.”

-

danielle coaxes you into staying in her room for a bit. she’s laid next to you on her phone and you can hear the small breaths she takes. you’re hyperaware of everything, despite being on your phone. 

you notice the way she curls up closer to you, how she puts her phone down and turns to stare at you.

“what?”

“nothing, you can keep going on your phone.”

“well now i don’t want to.”

“aw, i guess you’ll have to pay attention to me then.”

your features soften upon meeting her.

danielle has always been a sight for sore eyes. you really just wanted to pursue your dreams, singing, dancing, and being on stage. you didn’t expect to be lying next to someone so ethereal, eyes bright even in the dimmed room, making your heart skip a few beats here and there. 

what are you thinking? you want to question, you want to know if she sees the same glow in you as you do with her. is this okay? what do we have?

“you’ve always been so pretty y/n.” she breaks the silence. her hand reaches over and her kunckles graze your skin. “i can never stop staring.”

uneasiness settles in, your heart starts to roll around in your chest. it’s terrifying, the thought that everything could be mutual. you’ve always been avoidant, and especially now with her staring at you like you’re the world and beyond, you’re trying to escape her hold. 

you turn your head away to face the ceiling. “you praise me too much.”

“everytime i look at you i think… you’re the person i want to wake up next to everyday, i want to cook us breakfast and make you more than just a bowl of yogurt and berries and–” you turn to face her again, and now she’s closer. “i want to be the one that sees the sun hit your face first thing in the morning.”

“danielle i–” it’s terrifying, you never thought you’d get this far. the drowsiness and the fact that it’s past twelve makes you hesitate, people just say things at this hour. “i should go to sleep.”

“stay,” she holds your wrist.

“i’m scared.”

her eyes soften. “of?”

your lips part, and suddenly, you can't recall why fear ever gripped you in the first place. allowing yourself to be embraced by the affection of the other members had been a daunting step, but growing under danielle's adoration felt as effortless as reciting your abcs. it came naturally, flowing with ease and simplicity. there was never a need to second-guess, never a hesitation.

she blinks, then her eyes land on your lips, and back to your eyes.

“i, i don’t know.”

“then stay.” she mumbles, her voice is soft and low before she takes your breath away.

she kisses you and everything around you fades into nothing because all you can focus on is her. the way her hand holds your face, so gently as if you might break if it were any rougher, makes you melt. you’ve never kissed anyone, but thankfully she’s the first. and the soft feeling of her top lip sliding in between your own lips makes you think that you really want her to be the last too.

she pulls away and you both pause for a moment, basking in the moment before meeting again. flowers bloom, waves crash, thunder claps; danielle is kissing you and nothing has every felt better.

the two of you pull away to stare at each other in awe, that is, until you lean in eagerly again it catches her by surprise. her arms are around your neck and she starts to giggle as you climb on top of her, peppering kisses along the curve of her jaw, down to her neck, and the dip of her collarbone. 

“i love you.” it sounds out like a prayer.

“i love you more.”

“no way.” you roll your eyes before attacking her with kisses again until she’s trying to push you off from how ticklish it all is.

the night draws to a close with your head nestled comfortably on danielle's shoulder, her fingers gently tracing soothing patterns on your scalp. a sense of calm settles over you both, sleep slowly claiming your consciousness. your heartbeats synchronize and your breathing steadies, the shared intimacy deepens, until you’re cocooned in a mutual understanding.

in the quiet of the night, danielle shifts, prompting you to instinctively roll closer, draping an arm over her from behind. your hands find each other naturally, fingers intertwining even while you’re both dead asleep.

-

[danielle PHONING update]

🐶: hi everyone! i’ve been on vacation 🐶: i’ve never been happier, really. 🐶: take care of yourselves and stay healthy! 🐶: i’m very happy, seriously attachment: six images

minji stares at the notification, still half asleep, but as she scrolls through each photo, a soft smile graces her lips. she admires the picturesque beach view, the shirt danielle had bought, and the adorable snapshot of her dog.

her eyes widen with surprise at the last three pictures, but a warmth spreads through her heart. in the first, she sees the side of your face against a backdrop of a stunning sunset. the next captures you and danielle leaning into each other, a moment of intimacy frozen in time. the final photo shows you gazing into the distance, danielle's hand playfully squishing your cheeks together, both of you making silly duck faces with laughter lighting up your eyes.

and then another notification pops up, making minji nearly choke on the water she had sipped on.

[danielle PHONING update]

🐶: almost forgot this one ;-) attachment: one image

the picture shows you being kissed on the cheek by danielle, your cheeks burning from the contact. 

a few seconds later she gets a call, the contact ‘bbang hanni’ popping up at the top of her screen. minji picks up immediately.

“did you see?”

“i saw.” minji says, still staring at the picture. “we are so interrogating them when they’re back.”

“good cop bad cop?”

“good cop bad cop.”

[love-hs28]

You need to rest. And relax. And come lay with me.

Summary: A long, exhausting day of work means you hadn't had time to eat anything all day. The consequences of this catch up to you while at home with Peter, but thankfully, he's there to catch you, just like always. gn!reader CW: reader passes out from overworking themselves 1k words comfort & fluff Posted on: 5-28-24

a/n: yes i know this is similar to the JJ one I did with this prompt BUT. gotta cover all my bases 😁 enjoy!!!

Peter is working on his suit in the shed one night, and you’ve just gotten off work. It had been a long day of answering stupid questions that could’ve been solved by taking one glance at the menu on the coffee shop wall, and you were exhausted. You’d hardly had the time to eat anything at all, you were thirsty, your back was killing you, and all you wanted was to be with Peter. 

You knock on the shed door before coming in and say “It’s just me,” so Peter knows he doesn’t have to rush to hide the web shooters he was currently trying to fix, his back hunched over the desk, screwdriver in hand. He looks up when he hears you and smiles. 

“Hey, y/n/n. How was work?” 

You sigh and come up behind him to wrap your arms around his shoulders and rest your chin on top of his head. “Long. ‘m so tired. Just wanna be with you right now.” 

He frowns and sets his tools on the table, holding your arms with his and turning his face so it’s buried in your neck. He dots a few kisses there and you run your fingers through his hair as he sighs into yours. 

He spins the chair around and puts his hands on the backs of your thighs to guide you to sit on his lap. His hands find their way to your hair and he runs his fingers through it as yours travel up and down his arms and to his back. One of his hands comes to your waist and the other to the side of your face, and the two of you share a sweet kiss. You pull away after a minute to catch your breath and he rests his forehead against yours. 

“God I missed you.” 

You laugh and gently brush some hair from his eyes. “I missed you too, Pete. You’re already made my day so much better.” You lay your head on his shoulder and he scratches and rubs your back. 

After a minute or two of you sitting like this, you pull back and cup his face to leave a kiss on the tip of his nose. 

“I’m gonna go get a snack. Haven’t eaten anything yet.” 

Peter’s eyebrows raise and he holds your hand as you stand up. 

“You’ve eaten nothing all day? Hun, we’ve talked about this.” 

You kiss his hand and walk over to the small old fridge tucked away in the corner opposite the desk. 

“I know, I know. I’ve just been so busy and honestly haven’t even been hungry. Or thirsty, I guess, so I should probably get some water too.” 

Peter softly laughs and shakes his head, but turns back around to the desk. You grab a water bottle and granola bar from the small counter and move to sit on the little old couch across the desk. You open the water and take a quick sip, but then stand back up. 

“Actually, I’m just gonna go inside and get something else. This granola bar does not look very appetizing right now.” 

But, you must have stood up too quickly, because your vision goes black and you stumble as you walk towards the door. You have to grab onto the back of Peter’s chair to steady yourself, which causes him to turn around. 

“Whoa, you okay?”

You bring a hand on your head and grimace. “Yeah,” you nod, but feel your body get cold all of a sudden as you sway to the side. Peter sees the state that you’re in and carefully stands up and takes your arm. 

“Heyy, let’s sit you back down, alright? You look like you’re about t-” 

Before he can finish his sentence, you slowly grip his arm and fall to the ground. Peter catches you as you faint and puts a hand on the back of your head and gently helps lay you on the ground. 

“Shit shit shit, noooo, y/n. Wake up, c’mon, c’mon.” He shoots a web at the pillow on the couch and puts it behind your head and gently but hurriedly tries to make you wake up. 

The next thing you remember is slowly regaining consciousness and seeing Peter looking down at you with his hand on the side of your face. His worried expression lights up when he sees your eyes start to open. 

“Heyy, there you are. It’s okay, you’re okay. You fainted but I got you. I laid you on the ground before you could hit your head or anything.”

You try to sit up, but Peter gently puts his hands on your shoulder and lays you back down. 

“No no no, you gotta stay down for a minute. If you get up too fast you could fall again.” 

You let out a groan as your hand comes to your head. “Ugh, shit. I’m sorry.” 

Peter gently shushes you and softly laughs. “Honey, you have nothing to apologize for. This is just why you can’t overwork yourself. And why you gotta eat. It’s dangerous.” 

You close your eyes and breathe a few times. They open again to see Peter still looking down at you with a worried look on his face. You gently smile and bring a hand up to the side of his face, your thumb caressing his cheek. 

“I’m okay, Pete. You got me. Thank you.” 

He leans into your touch and turns his head to kiss the palm of your hand. “Don’t thank me. Of course.” 

You grab hold onto his bicep and he helps you slowly sit up. He starts to put his hands under you but you stop him. “What’re you doing?” 

He picks you up and walks to the couch. “You’re gonna lay here for a bit and I’m gonna go get you something to eat. Then I’m gonna come back and we’re gonna eat together and lay together and maybe watch a movie later, but for now you need to rest. And relax. And cuddle with me.” 

You smile at his overwhelming cuteness and lay back on the arm of the couch. “You’re the best, you know that?” 

He smiles and leans down to kiss your forehead. “Yeah yeah, you kinda tell me everyday. Now I’ll be right back, okay?" He points a serious finger at you, but the smile doesn't leave his face. "Don’t. move. I’ll only be a minute.” 

You smile up at him once more and he kisses your forehead before jogging out to the house to get you something to ensure that this incident does not happen again. 

a/n: hope you enjoyeddddd! love ya'll and please leave requests and prompts for me, i'm in a writing mood and my mind is blank!! love ya

xoxo

[daddys-silly-little-gem]

Sweet Little Wife

Husband! Kento Nanami x Wife! Reader

Rated : M

You were in the kitchen. The oven was on and the pots were boiling and the rice cooker was steaming. On the table you had the plates set out along with the utensils. You were humming a cute little tune as you rocked your hips from side to side as you mixed the cake mix in the big blue bowl that was tucked under your arm.

Chocolate cake was a delicacy that Nanami enjoyed. He was stressed lately from work and you figured that it was time for some chocolate cake. You looked over to the clock seeing that Nanami would be home soon. You sighed happily as you placed the bowl down on the counter. You walked over to the rice cooker and just as you placed your hand on it it beeped signalling that it was done.

You pressed the off button and you nodded happily as you checked on the boiling food. As you did, the sound of keys jingling in the front door lock sounded out and you smiled happily to yourself. The door opened and Nanami came in with a tired sigh as he closed the door. "I'm home, dear." He called out. You walked over to him, a happy bounce in your steps.

"Welcome home, honey." You responded as you walked up to him. He stared down at you with tired yet gentle eyes as he shrugged off his dress coat. You placed your hands on his chest and you stepped on your tiptoes. Your lips met his in a gentle greeting. "How was your day at work?" You asked him as you undid his tie. He gave a sigh at the thought of work and you have him a sympathetic smile. "Gojo?" You question as you folded up his tie.

With an annoyed grunt, he hung his coat on the coat rack. "Gojo." He confirmed. You chuckled gently as you bent down to pick up his briefcase. He placed his hand on your back, as he gently gripped your shoulder making you stand back up. You gave him a questioning stare. "Ken-ken?" You called his name in question. He gently held your shoulders as he trailed his hands down your arms too he reached your hands. He held them gently as he lifted them up.

"You're so sweet to me, but I can handle this, you should finish up dinner, love." He said as he placed a sweet kiss on the back of one of your hands. Your cheeks warmed at his actions as you smiled up at him. "Are you sure? I don't mind putting your briefcase away, it's just a short journey." You said in a reassuring voice. He smiled at you sweetly with an exhausted stare. "I'm sure, love. I have paperwork to finish anyways." He said.

You stared at him a little longer before you nodded your head. "Okay, Ken-ken. I'll finish up dinner, but let me know if you need anything okay?" You said as you gave him a pointed stare. He nodded his head. "Of course, dear. I promise." He said. You nodded, happy with his answer before you turned away and you went back into the kitchen. "Dinner should be ready in 10 minutes okay?" You said. He nodded in understanding and you vanished into the kitchen. He watched you round the corner before his gentle stare harden as he sighed tiredly.

10 minutes later

You sighed in slight exhaustion as you placed your hands on your hips. "Ugh... Dinner is finally done." You said, proud of yourself. You picked up the main course pot and you brought it to the dining table. Sitting at the table was Nanami. He was hunched over, his sleeves rolled up past his elbows, his left hand was pressed against his forehead while holding a pencil while his other rested on the table. His leg bounced in frustration as he glared down at the paperwork.

You gave him a sympathetic stare as you walked over with the pot. "Ken-ken. Dinner is ready." You gently said as you lay the pot in the center of the table. He sat back in his seat, his arms resting on the armrests. He sighed as he looked up at you. "Excellent, I'm starving." He said as he placed his pencil on top of his paperwork. You smiled, it always made you happy to know that he still loved your cooking even after all these years later.

He picked up his papers and he stacked them up together neatly before he shuffled them into his briefcase. You continued to bring the pots to the table. There were three in total. One with the main course and two with side dishes. You picked up the rice bowls and you went into the kitchen to fill them with rice. Nanami's had more than yours did. You took the bowls back to the table where he was patiently airing for you to return. He seemed to be deep I thought and you silently sighed. You wished you could help, you didn't know how to help though. His field of work was something you didn't know how to even began to approach.

He looked over at you, and his stress lines eased as he smiled at you. You smiled back at him. You sat the bowls down on the table and he quietly thanked you. You stared at him as he made himself a plate of food, your happy smile slowly falling as you looked down at your own empty plate. Your mind racing with ideas on how to help him.

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

You were currently vacuuming the floor, your face was blank but the slight stress lines indicated your mind was clouded. It's been a week since that dinner, and you've tried to think of a million different ways to help him relax but nothing good ever came to mind. Nanami was a man who took his job very seriously, so a sudden day off or a random vacation wouldn't do. It'd have to be something that he could do while he was home. Then, a great idea came to mind, and you smiled to yourself in triumph as you continued to vacuum the floor.

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

When Nanami came home that evening, the house was unusually quiet and dark. You were usually in the kitchen, cooking dinner, the table set. You'd come out, a happy smile on your face as you'd take off his tie and offer to take his things to the room. But today, the house was dark, quiet, and still. It felt foreign at this point in his life. He felt around the house as his eyes scanned his surroundings. 'Well, there is no curse energy nearby, and there isn't the stench of blood in the air. So she should be safe.' He thought as he relaxed his racing mind and his worrying heart.

The sound of a door opening upstairs caught his attention and he looked up. A light was shining from the now-opened door. 'That's the bathroom light.' He thought as he stared at the light. 'Perhaps she needed a break and she wanted to pamper herself.' He thought as he walked up the stairs. He could see your shadow and he smiled. 'Even just seeing her shadow can make my day so much better.' He brought as he ascended the stairs. Once at the top, he saw that the bedroom door was cracked, a dim warm light could be seen coming from the room.

'Candlelight?' He thought as he stopped in front of the bathroom. He looked inside and he saw that everything was in pretty good order. The only thing out of place was the toilet plunger. He stared at it in question. "Was she unclogging the toilet?" He thought as he walked into the bathroom, he slid the plunger back into its rightful place with his shoe, and he suddenly froze when a bump came from your shared bedroom. He looked over towards where the nose came from and he walked over. 'She's fine... She's not in danger... It's just her being clumsy.' He thought as he kept a level mind, but his hand twitched as he wanted to reach for his weapon.

He pushed the door open and he looked around. Everything was fine as he looked around the room. His eyes landed on the bed and his thought stopped. On the bed you laid on your side, your head resting on your palm, your other arm on your hip as you stared at him with an alluring gaze. "Welcome home, Kento." You said in a lustful voice. His eyes trailed your body, the lingerie hugging your curves. The see-through fabric is thin and dainty. The cute little lacy cuffs around your wrists and ankles matched the collar around your neck.

Nanami swallowed thickly as he placed his briefcase down on the floor. "How long have you been dressed like this?" He asked as he walked towards the bed. His hands lazily in loosening the tie around his neck as he walked towards the bed. "Mmm, not long." You answered as you traced your fingers along a small patch on the mattress in front of you. You looked up at him through your lashes as he pulled his tie off, dropping it into the floor at his feet.

"Good, I'd hate to make my sweet little wife wait for too long." He said as he slipped off his shoes while he unbuckled his belt. You smiled at his words, as you sat up on the bed. You moved towards the edge where he stood and you looked up at him as you gently placed your hands on top of his. "I wanna do it." You said cutely as you batted your eyes at him. He gave a deep hum at your words as he moved his hands allowing you to unfasten his belt.

He stared down at you as he gently ran his hand over your head. "You're such a sweet girl. Always so eager to help me and take care of me." He said as he ran his fingers gently over your scalp. You practically purred at his words as you unbuttoned his pants and you unzipped them. He sighed as some of the pressure was removed from his aching cock. His bulge protrudes out and you gently yet firmly caressed it. He grunted at your touch, you gave a proud smile as you felt him twitch under your fingers. "You've been so stressed lately. I wanna help you relax, dear." You said as you pulled his pants and boxer down together down his hips.

He looked down at you, his fingers drawing patterns in your hair as he thought over your words. 'Of course, she'd notice. She always does.' He thought. He hissed out in pleasure when you gripped his in a tight grip, your little tongue darted out and you flattened your tongue out as you licked over his head. "Mmmmm, you always taste so good, Ken-ken." You moaned out as you sucked on his head gently. He released a shaky breath at your actions, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the sensation. "I'm going to help you unwind and relax." You said as you licked the underside of his cock, the thick vein throbbed under your touch.

You ran your tongue over his head once more before you pushed him into your mouth. His hips bucked forward at the feeling as his hand in your hair slightly tightened. "Yes... Help your stressed husband relax, like a good little wife." He said in a husky voice as you slowly pushed him deeper into your hot mouth. His cock twitched once more and his hand tightened in your hair. You hollowed out your cheeks as you sucked him. He groaned out loud as his hips shuddered before he pushed forward. You gagged as he pushed his cock down your throat before he pulled back and he pushed back in. "Yes!! Yes!! Just like that. You're such a good little wife. Helping your dear husband get off his stress." He said as he fucked your face.

His hand in your hair tightens painfully and you groaned in protest but you craved the pain. Your hands rested lightly on his thighs as you let him face fuck you. Your eyes gathered up tears as your throat was fucked raw. "Ah, I love that face. I crave that face. Only my eyes can see it." He said as he ran his thumb under your eye as he caught a stray tear. His eyes locked onto your face, your tears gathering into your eyes, your messy hair, the spaghetti straps on your shoulders fall off. His cock twitched and his pace quicked. "I love seeing you like this. A pure fucking mess from my cock." He said as he pushed his cock deep down your throat and he kept it there.

Your throat constricted around him as your body tried to breathe through the blocked pathway, your nostrils flaring as you kept your air flowing through them. You swallowed around him and he twitched, your tongue flexed and he pulled out. Your saliva left small strings connected to your lips from his cock as you coughed and gasped for proper air. He stared down at you with a lustful stare, his handcuffed under your chin and he lifted your head up to look at him. Your chin was glistening from your saliva and from his precum. "Kento." You moaned out his name. Your throat sounds raw.

He laid you on your back, your legs naturally spreading to accommodate him. His hands moved down your body slowly as he admired your outfit up close. "I love this little fit. I'm happy to see you wearing it." He said as he gently caresses your breasts. You moan pitifully as your back arches. The thin fabric allowed your nipples to be shown and he trailed over them with his thumbs. "Always so ready to serve me." He said as he moved his hands down your stomach and over your hips. He moved down to his knees.

His hands gripped your thoughts, the skin pushing up around his fingers as he did. "So soft." He said as he lifted up one of your thighs and he gave it a sweet kiss before he placed it on his shoulder, your other thigh naturally follows the other as you placed it on his other shoulder. He looked down at your cunt. The lingerie is made to have your pussy uncovered for easy access. The diamond-snapped hole fits perfectly around your wet cunt. He moved his thumb over your cunt as he smeared your juices over your lips. You moaned at the action as your hips lightly rocked. "You're already a mess and I haven't even done anything. All I did was choke you with my cock and you're already a mess." He said.

You whined at his words and your back arched when he plunged in two fingers. "Your pussy is such a good girl, she's sucking me in." He said as he pulled his fingers out before he thrust them back in. Your breathing picked up as you moved your head to the side. His eyes trained on your sobbing cunt, as he watched his fingers go in and out, your clit Spassmed lightly and his eyes gleamed dangerously. "My cute little wife is a cock whore isn't she?" He said as he pressed his thumb over your clit. You loudly moaned at the feeling as your cunt tightened around his fingers.

He curled his fingers upwards and your back arched. He watched you move around, his thumbs moving in time with his fingers as he fucked you with his hand. The heels of your feet dug into his shoulder blades as your hips thrust on his fingers. Your pussy tightened and your moans grew louder. "Ken- I'm gonna." You warned as your cunt fluttered around his fingers. He kisses your thigh. "Go ahead love, cum." He said as he watched your cunt with an unwavering stare. Your back arched and your cunt tightened painfully around his fingers. He watched your lips pulse around his fingers as he continued to aid you through your release.

His cock twitched and he groaned. The moment your climax ended he stood up, his hand with your juices stroking his cock, his eyes gleaming like a beast as he stared down at you. You huffed for air, as you lay in a daze from your climax. Your hazy brain bearly registered him leaning over you as he pushed the head of his cock into your aching cunt. You moaned weakly at the intrusion as he pushed in slowly. His head stretched you out pleasantly, and your eyes fluttered as you gave a hushed moan. His hand rested on your hip while the other rested on the bed next to your head. Your foreheads pressed together as he sheathed himself into you.

He bottomed out and you both sighed. He rested there for a moment, enjoying the feeling of your cunt lightly fluttering around him. He kissed you gently before he smiled. "My sweet little wife. Always so ready to help me." He spoke fondly. He loved you dearly and you loved him. You wrapped your arms around his neck, and your legs came up to wrap around his waist. Your moments made him groan as he moved in deeper. His gentle stare turned hungry before he move his hips back and thrust in. Your breath hitched and you moaned cutely. His thrusts started off slow before they picked up speed.

Your body rocked from his thrusts as your head laid back on the mattress. "Nnnnnu, ha, ha. Kento." You moaned as the slapping of skin sounded out through the room. His balls slapping your ass as he thrusting became stronger and deeper. He buried his face into the crook of your neck and you ran your fingers through his hair. His arms wrapped around you tightly and you hugged him back. "Uunnn, fuck." He lightly groaned as his cock twitched inside of you. "I love you. I love you." He said. "You're mine, my little wife. Forever and always." He said.

[victoria-daydreams]

The Hare and The Tower

Chapter Eight: Wifely Duties

AN: Y'all I went on vacation and I'm not going to lie, this story was the last thing on my mind, but I'm back and on winter break so maybe I'll be able to squeeze out another chapter soon! Again, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who support this fic.

Trigger Warning: age gap, vomiting

Word Count: 2.4k

Taglist: @dogmatic255 @amethystwonders11 @sidechrisporn @helloimlateforeverything @ladysindar @sweetwanderlust05 @newandykes @loveofvernonslife @stitchattacks @dariequeen @kishie8 @girlonfireice @snowymarvel1205

If you want to be added to the taglist just leave a comment.

Summary: A strange illness has stricken Jesmyn with no end in sight, until a visit by the maester changes everything.

Chapter Nine: Most Wondrous News

116 AC, Westeros

The first time it happened, she was peacefully asleep in her shared chambers. There was a chill in the morning air when she awoke from her deep slumber feeling sick. Jesmyn had felt strange since the week had began anew, but this particular day she just felt plainly sick. Groaning softly, she rolled over intending to nestle further into Otto, who she quipped as being her personal hearth. However, those plans changed the moment she shifted in bed, her stomach violently churning in protest to the sudden movement. Jesmyn scrambled out of bed and bolted for the chamber pot. She got up so fast, she accidentally struck her husband with the heel of her foot.

"Jesmyn?"

She fell to her knees, barely making it to the pot when she emptied the contents of her stomach, awkwardly crouched on all fours. She hunched forward, retching a mouthful of bitter, yellow bile. Suddenly, she felt her hair being pulled back and a strong hand rubbing her back. Jesmyn looked up momentarily, her vision was blurred from the water in her eyes, but she recognized Otto’s figure before returning to her puking. He whispered comforting words into her ear, attempting to soothe her as she continued to dry heave long after she stopped vomiting.

When finished, Jesmyn was left leaning over the bowl, gasping for breath. Her hands shook. Her whole body trembling as she took deep, slow breaths through her nose.

"Easy,"

A few minutes passed before she was able to sit up. Using the the corner of her sleeve to wipe her mouth, Jesmyn leaned against her husband who wrapped his arm around her and she looked up at him. A concerned expression dotting his features.

"What’s wrong, my love?" Otto asked, moving his hand to her forehead. “Have you a sickness?” he questioned, pressing his fingers against her skin.

“No, I'm fine Otto. Dinner just didn’t agree with me it seems," she replied hoarsely, swallowing a few times.

With her arms still shaking slightly, Jesmyn pushed herself to her feet, using a nearby counter to steady herself. Briefly, her limbs gave out on her, but Otto instantly caught and steadied her, his arm still around her waist.

"Let’s get you back in bed, and I'll stay—”

"No!” Jesmyn said firmly. “You’re The King’s Hand,” she reminded. “You have duties which you mustn’t abandon because I am unwell,” she stated, shaking her head.

"I woke up to the sounds of my wife retching into a chamber pot. That isn’t something I can ignore,” he insisted, his blue eyes pleading with her to let him help.

Jesmyn, however wasn't going to give in so easily.

“King Viserys needs your guidance, Husband. I'm fine, I told you its something from last nights supper," she reassured, despite the thought a having a day with Otto completely to herself sounded absolutely heavenly.

"Nothing that transpires in the realm is more important to me than your well being," Otto said gently, moving one of his hands to cup her cheek.

The tenderness and concern in his gaze was almost enough to shatter her resolve. Almost.

"There's no reason for you to stay and tend to me, Otto," Jesmyn said, desperately trying to convince him she was well. “I’m alright, truly," she added, taking his hand in hers. "How about this?” she proposed. “If I can hold down breakfast then you tend to your duties as Lord Hand. If I can't, then I promise I shall go back to bed," she promised, searching her husband's eyes as he contemplated the option.

"Fine, I agree, but you must promise me to take care," he stressed, staring reluctantly down at her.

"I promise," she smiled standing on her toes to kiss his cheek.

~~~x~~~

It went on like that for nearly a month and a half, almost every morning she'd feel ill just after waking. Certain smells and tastes made her stomach churn. She would be fine one minute, then the next, she would run straight for the chamber pot. Gods, what the hells was wrong with her? Things that had never sickened her suddenly made her want to hurl. With every occurrence of her temporarily falling ill, she would dismiss it knowing it would soon pass, despite Otto's worried stare.

A new day had dawned in Westeros and the morning sun was high in the sky, bathing the solar of the Tower of the Hand in light. The only sound in the airy space came from silverware dragging against plates and the smooth flow of conversation between Otto and Jesmyn. They were both underdressed, Jesmyn in only a golden night dress and jade green robe which clasped together in the middle. Her hair, loose and tousled from sleep, had been tied in a plait. While Otto, was clothed in a white nightshirt also wearing a green robe.

"Alicent would like your company today," Otto informed, spreading some jam on his toast.

"Does she?" Jesmyn asked, before sipping orange juice from a polished chalice.

"She wishes to make up the time you two lost during your little quarrel,"

"I would hardly call our quarrel 'little'," she said, chuckling slightly.

The juice had barely slid down her throat when Jesmyn began to feel a familiar sensation which had been plaguing her of late. It was starting again. She inhaled deeply, attempting to ignore the sickness in her stomach. Placing her chalice down, she closed her eyes taking a few deep breaths. It wasn't working though, her stomach was pitching and roiling worse than the waves of the sea. Discreetly, she rested a hand on her stomach.

"Jesmyn?" Otto called, his voice snapping from her thoughts. "Are you well?" he asked, sounded concerned.

"Yes…" she answered slowly, her stomach clenching.

Fighting the constant ever present nausea which lurked in her belly since she'd started getting sick, was a slow, uncomfortable ordeal which she wholeheartedly could live without. The back of her throat burned as bile began to well up.

Otto frowned, "You don't appear to be," he countered, placing his utensils down. "Dear," he called, his voice strained. "I can see you're not feeling well. Please let me help you,"

Jesmyn opened her mouth to respond, but the queasy sensation became suddenly too much. Abruptly, she rose out of her chair, the legs harshly scraping against the floor. Feeling the hot bile rush up the back of her throat, she reached the pot just in time to purge her stomach.

"Jesmyn?" Otto called, his footsteps following his alarmed voice.

She felt his hand on her back, while his other, which was well practiced by this point, quickly grabbed her hair and held it away from her face.

He shook his head, "It's no longer up for discussion, you're going to see the maester today," Otto stated firmly, leaving little room to argue.

Which led to Jesmyn’s current predicament. Standing in front of the maester, she patiently waited for him to finish his examination.

“Do you feel any tenderness here my child?" he questioned, lifting her breast.

Jesmyn frowned slightly, feeling confused and uncomfortable as to why a breast examination is needed for a stomach illness. Although, now that she thought about it, her breast have been more tender than usual.

"I do Maester," she answered.

"And sickness, have you had any?"

“Constantly,”

"Any problems with food?"

"Aye, some of it makes me want to empty my stomach,"

The maester nodded along and she shivered as his hands felt her stomach and pelvis, before he told her she could get dressed.

She looked up as he approached her.

"Maester?"

"When was the last time you bled, Lady Hightower?"

"Pardon?" Jesmyn asked, her brows high

Momentarily, she was stunned by the question, but mentally shook free of her stupor. Confidently, Jesmyn was about to answer the week before, but stopped herself when she realized that couldn't be right. Her mind went over the dates and realized it was far longer. She couldn't recall. The last month was a blur. The maester smiled, as if expecting Jesmyn’s silence.

"Well, Lady Hightower, this should be a happy day for you and your husband,” he stated. "Congratulations my lady, you are with child," the maester informed, dipping his head.

"Child?" Jesmyn echoed, the word coming out as soft as a prayer. "Are…are you certain Maester?" she asked, her eyes beginning to water.

"Aye I am, I would say you’re some weeks in, at most. Maybe two months,” he said, packing his things. “Good day, Lady Hightower,” he wished.

~~~x~~~

“How are you feeling, Jesmyn?” Alicent offered her a cup of tea. “Father told me you took ill again this morning and he summoned the maester,” she said.

Sunlight poured through the window of Alicent’s personal chambers. The rays striking Jesmyn on the side of the face as she sat at table for tea. Due to her sickness, Alicent opted for the two of them stay indoors.

“I am fine,” she nodded, smiling weakly and accepting the cup.

“Are you? You don’t look it,” Alicent stated, blowing on her tea. “What was the maester’s diagnosis?” she questioned curiously.

Jesmyn could feel the back of her neck heat up. She was apprehensive about telling her friend she was carrying her father’s child. Alicent already semi knew too much about Jesmyn’s and Otto’s sex life as it was. She didn't know how Alicent would handle the news of becoming a step-sister. Jesmyn began to wonder if she should wait and tell Otto.

“Well?” Alicent said, her looking at her expectantly.

"I…I am with child,” Jesmyn informed, swallowing nervously.

Alicent froze mid sip, her body stiffening like a statue as she blankly stared at her. The only signs of life being her blinking eyes.

“What?”

"I'm pregnant." Jesmyn repeated, her nervousness compounded by Alicent’s reaction.

Alicent placed her porcelain cup down and stood quickly from her chair. Jesmyn’s heart sunk, she figured the news would be too much for her, they had only just rekindled their friendship. She raised from her chair as well, biting the inside of her lip in disappointment. The young Queen’s eyes bore into hers.

“Alicent?” Jesmyn uttered timidly.

In a few, short strides Alicent wrapped her arms around Jesmyn and hugged her tightly, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

“This is wonderful news Jesmyn!” she said happily. “I know you and Father have been for trying for so long!” she added excitedly.

“You're not angry?" Jesmyn asked hopefully.

Alicent pulled back from their embrace, her eyebrow raised.

“Angry? Why in heavens names would I be angry?" she asked in disbelief. “You’re going to be a mother, and I a step-sister!” Alicent said, a jovial laugh bursting from her. “Don’t you see, our bond will only grow stronger now!” she said, sliding her hands down Jesmyn’s arms and grabbing her hands.

“That is a relief,” Jesmyn said, exhaling deeply with a smile.

“How far along are you?” Alicent questioned, placing her palm against Jesmyn’s flat abdomen.

“The maester said two months at least,” she answered.

“Have you told Father?” Alicent asked, lifting her gaze from her stomach.

“No,” Jesmyn said, shaking her head. “He’s in a council meeting, Alicent. It would be foolish to disturb—”

Alicent gasped loudly, “Nonsense!” she exclaimed, shaking her head. “This is momentous, Jesmyn! I cannot believe you’re telling me first,” she said, chuckling with disbelief.

“I plan to tell him over supper,” Jesmyn informed. “I want to make it special and memorable, but I’m not sure how,”

Alicent took her hand in her own again, “Oh please, you must let me be of service,” she begged, a beaming smile on her face. “I want to feel useful outside of being a caretaker and mother,” she added.

“And useful, you shall be,”

~~~x~~~

"Dear me," Jesmyn began, setting her tablecloth down. "I might need to have stitches loosened in my gown, this meal has left me quite full," she joked.

It was later that evening, once again her and Otto sat across from each other in their private dining chambers. Candles were lit, servants were coming and going, carrying wine and food until she dismissed them for the night. Jesmyn took another sip of her wine and then refilled her glass. She held the wine carafe up to Otto and raised her eyebrows, and he lifted his glass.

"I’m amazed your stomach has been agreeable for supper," he said, as Jesmyn got up from her chair. "Did the maester give you something to calm it?" he asked curiously, his eyes following her.

"He did," Jesmyn answered, filling her husband’s glass.

"And?"

"Fortunately, this illness is temporary," she informed, drawing the pitcher back and setting it down.

"Keep it simple," Alicent's voice echoed in her head.

"Good, good," he replied, covering her hand with his. "What remedy did he give you?" Otto asked, stroking his thumb across her knuckles.

"Tis excellent news, Husband,” Jesmyn answered, smiling at him. She took his hand and pressed it against her belly, spreading his fingers out. “I am with child,” she announced, laughing lightly.

He stared at her, shocked for a moment before his face spread into a large smile. His happiness shining in his eyes making Jesmyn’s heart soar with delight.

"You're pregnant?" Otto echoed, a broad grin covering his face.

"I am," Jesmyn confirmed, mirroring his expression.

Otto hopped up from his seat and within a blink of the eye, Jesmyn felt herself being lifted up into the air and spun around in a circle. Warm laughter filled the air and when he put her down again, Otto cupped her face and descended his lips on hers for a kiss. His arm rested on the mid of her back as he pulled her closer to him. A soft moan came from Jesmyn as their lips moved in perfect sync.

Otto withdrew from her lips after a few moments had passed, peppering with kisses all over face. Glancing up to meet his stare, Jesmyn’s cheeks flushed at the intensity of his gaze.

"I’d suspected," he began, his lips against hers as he brought his forehead down on hers. "I recognized the symptoms, but I didn’t dare hope," he continued, his voice shaking with excitement "We're going to have a baby," Otto finished, kissing her happily.

"I will bear you a son who is the spitting image of his father," Jesmyn promised, and her husband’s hands found themselves on her stomach once more.

"There is no need for such promises," Otto said, gently rubbing her abdomen. "For I will love the child if it is either a son or daughter," he whispered softly.

Chapter Ten: Leave it to The Gods

[whumpdom]

Big Brother Insticts

Sicktember day 1: Hopelessly Bad At Self-Care

Description: Aiden neglects himself trying to finish a novel and ends up sick. James is a kind albeit exasperated caretaker. Pre-Cody, Aiden is 23 James is 25.

It’s not unusual for Aiden to get caught up in his own little world when writing; in fact, it’s part of what makes him so good. However, he has a tendency to get lost to the point of neglecting himself. On more than one occasion, he has locked himself in the upstairs study for days on end, barely eating or drinking, and only coming down to take care of Otis and Kipper. 

James and Trent have learned to just leave Aiden alone for the most part and let him do his thing. Generally after two or three days Aiden emerges and sleeps for twelve straight hours then returns to normal. His friends know better than to disturb him but on day 5 of radio silence on Aiden’s end. James is officially worried. His big-brother senses are tingling and despite both Trent and Daisy insisting that he’s fine, James finds himself at 6pm standing outside Aiden’s building with a bag of food from the corner deli; fully prepared to force-feed Aiden and drag him to bed if necessary. 

James calls Aiden twice and after receiving no answer, uses his emergency key to let himself in. Otis is draped over the back of the couch in the sunroom when James opens the front door and Kipper is curled up on his dog bed by the window chewing on a bone. The dachshund immediately jumps down to greet James with his tail wagging. James sets the bag of food down and bends over to pet Kipper. He surveys the house and frowns. Aiden should have heard him come in. “Hey Aiden, buddy. I brought food.”, James calls out as he walks into the kitchen. There’s no response and James tries again. 

“It’s your favorite. I know you forget to eat when you get like this but you can’t survive on air and caffeine.”

James is met with silence but before he can say anything else he hears coughing coming from upstairs and the unmistakable sound of Aiden wheezing softly between coughs. Shit James thinks before setting the food on the counter and quickly walking upstairs.

The door to Aiden’s study has a big KEEP OUT! sign on it which James chooses to ignore. He pushes the door open and is met with the sight of Aiden hunched over his desk, papers strewn everywhere, attempting to cough and type at the same time. There’s a small mound of tissues and crumbled paper in the wastebasket by his desk and a half-drunk mug of tea next to his laptop. The air smells stuffy and judging by the state of Aiden’s clothes, he hasn’t showered or changed shirts in days. It’s not unusual but it’s definitely not good either. 

“Aiden, buddy you ok?” James calls out as he slowly approaches his friend. 

“Mm fine, g’way.” 

James rolls his eyes and walks up next to Aiden. The young writer is even more pale than usual and his cheeks are flushed bright red. His blonde hair is matted down with sweat and he keeps squinting in pain at the bright screen of his laptop. “You’re sick,” James states, point blank. Aiden shakes his head and blinks when the action makes him slightly dizzy. He opens his mouth to speak but is instead caught in a horrible coughing fit. Aiden doubles over struggling to get a full breath in between coughs. Each one tears his already sore throat and causes his chest to burn. James kneels down and wraps a strong arm around Aiden, rubbing his back soothingly, 

“Easy there, try to breathe. I’ve gotcha.” James soothes. He can feel the heat radiating off of Aiden. One of the coughs morphs into a gag and James quickly grabs the small trash can, pushing it under Aiden’s mouth in time to catch a small stream of puke. Aiden whimpers and sucks in a small, raspy breath before sitting up. James places one of his hands against Aiden's forehead and brushes back his hair. “You’re burning up kid.”, James sighs. Aiden straightens up and tries to turn back towards his laptop but wavers slightly, even while sitting. He shivers and tries to blink away the fogginess. A large warm hand, James, comes to rest on his shoulder and Aiden tries to shrug it off. 

“M’ok, I need to finish this.” Aiden mumbles stubbornly. He lifts a shaking hand up to the keyboard as another shiver runs through him. James stands up and scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “What you need is to take better care of yourself. Starting with dinner, shower, and bed.”, James replies. His brows creased with concern when he noticed how shaky Aiden was. Then, suddenly a sob bubbles up from Aiden's throat and tears spring to his blue eyes. 

“I-I-I’m s-ssorry.”, Aiden chokes out between sobs, his slender shoulders shaking with the force. It wasn’t uncommon for him to get emotional when he was sick, particularly if he had a fever. Now that James has broken his focus, Aiden is acutely aware of just how terrible he feels. His head is pounding in time with his heartbeat, he is cold and aching all over. His chest and throat burn with congestion and his belly feels distinctly unsettled. There was no denying he was sick. Aiden had a notoriously weak immune system, which combined with his recent lack of self care had led to him catching a rather nasty bout of flu. Tears continued to track down his red, blotchy cheeks. 

James quickly knelt down again, pulling the smaller man into a warm hug and rubbing his back. “Shshshsh, it’s ok. I’ve got you”, James coos softly. 

The role of caretaker came naturally to James and he found himself on more often than not being the voice of reason with Aiden and Trent. He had lost track of how many times he’d helped the two of them through various illnesses and rough patches. James didn't mind either, it was second nature to help others and it gave him purpose. James carefully rubs circles on Aiden's trembling back for a few minutes, whispering reassurances, until Aiden’s sobs slow down. “I-I don’t feel so good,” Aiden whispers after a pause, his voice sounding far younger. He wraps his arms around himself and whimpers. 

“What are your symptoms? Does your belly hurt? Head?” James questions gently, hoping to figure out how he could help his friend. Aiden nods softly in response and leans into James’s embrace. “What else buddy?” James asks, looking Aiden over worriedly. Aiden shrugs in reply, unsure of how to put into words just how miserable he feels. “Are you still feeling sick?” James asks, nodding towards the trash bin. Aiden shakes his head, his stomach hurts but he doesn’t feel queasy at the moment. James thinks it over for a minute, trying to come up with a plan. 

“Alright, let’s get you cleaned up and into bed, Hmm?”

James scoops Aiden up gently and carries him out of the study towards the stairs. Aiden fits easily against James’s broad chest and he hardly weighs anything in comparison. Aiden presses his overly warm cheeks against the soft material of his friend's shirt and tries not to think about the way his tummy is sloshing and churning. Even though he doesn’t feel like he’s about to puke again, his belly is upset and the movement of being carried isn’t helping. The young writer wraps an arm around himself, resting a hand on his tummy and rubbing gently. He can feel it gurgling and bubbling beneath his fingertips. 

James carries Aiden into the bathroom and sets him down on the closed lid of the toilet. He grabs the thermometer from the medicine cabinet and crouches down next to Aiden. “Open up.” James prompts as he places the device in Aiden's mouth. Aiden obeys and slumps against James as he waits for the beep. While they wait, James checks Aiden's pulse, purely out of habit, and listens to his breathing briefly. Finally, the thermometer beeps, and James forms at the reading, not at all surprised. “102.6°F, no wonder you feel like shit,” James says as he sets the device aside. “Can you manage a shower by yourself?” He asks Aiden, recalling the time his friend had passed out in the shower from dehydration. 

“I can manage.” Is Aiden's tired response as he stands and slips his shirt off. James turns to leave, glancing back one last time. “I’m gonna grab you some clean clothes and heat up the soup I got you. Yell if you need anything.” He says before exiting the bathroom. 

Aiden turns the water on and strips out of his clothes. He is immensely thankful for his fancy, high-end bathroom. The shower has a built-in bench and Aiden sits down letting the water wash over him. The heat eases some of the aching in his back and neck. He weakly grabs a washcloth and begins washing away the sweat and smell of sickness. The steam loosens some of the congestion in his chest and Aiden feels like he can breathe fully. 

While Aiden showers, James grabs some clean pajamas and a soft, oversized hoodie for him. He sets the clothing on the bathroom counter and then goes to the kitchen. Otis is sitting by his food dish, staring at James expectantly and Kipper glances up hopefully. James fills both of their bowls and then opens up the bag from the deli. He places the sandwich in the fridge, unsure if Aiden’s stomach can handle anything that heavy, and heats up part of the matzo ball soup in a smaller bowl. He also grabs a bottle of water, a glass of apple juice from the fridge, and some crackers. In the background, he can hear the shower turn off and he carries the food and drink on a tray to the den. James sets the food on the coffee table and grabs one of the throw blankets from the closet. When Aiden walks into the den, James frowns; Aiden looks so small and vulnerable, not to mention pale and sick. It makes James’s protective big-brother instincts kick in. Aiden is clutching his beloved stuffed bear in his arms and he’s shivering despite the hot shower and warm hoodie. He sinks into the couch and James wraps a soft blanket around his shoulders and tucks another one over his lap. 

“Now I know you probably aren’t hungry but you really need to get something in your system,” James says firmly, motioning towards the food. Aiden shakes his head and sinks further into the plush couch. “My belly feels gross, I-I don't think I can,” Aiden responds quietly. His tummy hurts, although that could just as easily be from lack of food; Aiden doesn’t want to risk it. James frowns and rubs his hand over Aiden’s arm. “I know you don’t feel good, but I promise this will help.” James reasons. Aiden glances up at his friend and pauses for a moment before relenting, “Can we watch Dr.Who though?” Aiden asks as he grabs the tray of food. James smiles and ruffles Aiden’s slightly damp hair before queuing up the requested show. 

Aiden manages to eat most of the soup, allowing himself to get distracted by his favorite show. He even drinks a decent amount of the juice and after one and a half episodes he slumps back into the couch and pushes the food away tiredly. James stands up and clears away the dishes before returning to the couch. Aiden shifts on the couch and tries to get comfortable. His tummy feels bloated even after such a small meal. Aiden groans and wraps the blankets tighter around himself. James settles next to his friend on the cough and instinctively pulls Aiden against him so that the smaller man is practically on his lap. Aiden relaxes into the comforting embrace as James rubs his back. Kipper trots into the den and jumps up on the couch next to James, curling into a ball and Otis follows behind settling on a chair nearby. 

After 3 episodes, Aiden is finally asleep and James turns the TV off, smiling at his friend. He picks Aiden up carefully and carries him into his bedroom tucking him under the blankets. He places a bin on the floor next to the bed and makes sure Aiden’s inhaler is within reach on the nightstand before turning off the light. James does a quick tidy-up and checks all the doors and windows are locked before climbing into bed with Aiden and promptly falling asleep himself. 

They manage to sleep for several hours before the peaceful slumber is disturbed. James jolts awake to the sounds of coughing coming from next to him. He sits up and flicks on the lamp turning to Aiden. The smaller blonde is hunched over coughing harshly and clutching his mid-section. Upon seeing his friend's distress, James wakes up fully and reaches across the bed to grab the bin off the floor. He sets the bin on top of the blankets and starts rubbing Aiden’s back softly in an attempt to calm him down. Aiden whimpers as the coughs jostle his belly and tear his throat. 

“Easy Aiden, you gotta try to breathe.” James soothes as he wraps one arm around Aiden's back and uses the other to brace his forehead. “I-I mngh..” Aiden tries to formulate a response but the words get caught in his throat as his belly churns and gurgles sickly. All the coughing is tugging at his gag reflex and Aiden leans over the bin with a dry retch. He burps, wet and hollow over the bin and swallows against the rising vomit. Aiden stubbornly swallows again, determined not to vomit. It’s a losing battle though and the next cough brings up a mouthful of partially digested soup that splashes in the bin. James doesn’t even flinch, after everything he’s seen and dealt with this is nothing. He rubs Aiden’s back as his friend coughs up more vomit. When the heaving finally stops Aiden slumps back against the headboard, panting and exhausted. It feels like his stomach has been wrung out like a wet rag. Aiden glances between James and the trash bin, “H-how did you know?”, Aiden asks. One minute he was fast asleep and the next he was puking it, he couldn’t quite fathom how James could react in time. 

“Big-brother instincts my friend.” James replies with a smile. 

James helps Aiden rinse his mouth out and get settled back in the bed, tucking the blankets around him and making sure his friend is propped up. Then he cleans out the bin and brings it back to the bedroom, before climbing back into bed. In his sleep, Aiden drifts closer to James, unconsciously seeking comfort. James smiles and ruffles Aiden’s hair once more before falling back to sleep.

[vannahfanfics]

Brotherhood

Word Count: 1320

Fluff, Character Study

Summary: Taiga and Tatsuya are brothers... for better or worse.

Just a little piece I wrote for the Kuroko no Basket holiday exchange and finally get around to posting over here :p

“You’re not gonna get me this ti—oh, God damn it, Tatsuya!” 

Tatsuya couldn’t help but smirk as he rushed past Taiga, who had just fallen for yet another one of his signature fakes. The redhead could only watch in irritation as Tatsuya dribbled up to the basket and dumped the ball into the net with a beautiful corner shot. Before the ball even hit the ground, Tatsuya’s phone—which was sitting on the nearby bench—began to vibrate violently against the metal and trill an alarm tone. 

“Annnnnd, I do believe that’s time,” Tatsuya purred in satisfaction. He turned to grin smugly at Taiga, pushing his sweaty bangs off his forehead while his other hand perched on his hip. “Final score is 86 to 85, which means I win. Time to cough up some dough and buy me some hamburgers, Taiga.” 

“Tch. Stop sounding so high and mighty,” Taiga huffed while dipping down to grab the basketball, which had rolled up to his feet. He straightened up, then gave the ball a spin on his finger. “You act as if I didn’t whoop your ass last week.” 

“And you act as if I didn’t whoop yours the week before,” Tatsuya countered with a wicked grin. That made Taiga bristle, and Tatsuya added with a shrug, “If you don’t wanna get beat, don’t invite me to come play with you on the weekend. I’m sure you’ve got guys lining up to beg you to play streetball, Mr. Star of Seirin.” 

“I would, only you’d call me cryin’ in three days whinin’ about how lonely you are without me,” Taiga smirked as he walked up and playfully shoved Tatsuya in the side of the head. Tatsuya laughed, then countered by lightly elbowing Taiga in the belly—not enough to hurt, of course, because this was all in good fun. As Taiga doubled over on reflex, Tatsuya hooked his arm around his neck and tugged his head close to aggressively tousle his hair. 

“Oi! Knock it off! I agreed to buy ya a hamburger, not let you manhandle me like some schoolyard bully!” Taiga whined, wiggling around until he slithered out of Tatsuya’s grip. He rubbed at his head with a petulant pout and gave Tatsuya a stink-eye. “Jeez! You take after Coach a little too much sometimes.” 

“Yeah, but Coach wouldn’t have let you go, now would she?” Tatsuya chuckled. “I took it easy on you.” He didn’t blame Taiga for shuddering; he’d been on the receiving end of his fair share of affectionate noogies from the woman—if you could call nearly ripping out all the hairs on someone’s head affection. 

“Bah!” Taiga just scoffed and tossed his head. “Wow, my big brother’s soooooo generous. He didn’t bully me as much as he could have.” 

“Why, thank you for the compliment!” Tatsuya responded with a laugh. His phone was still going off, so he walked over to the bench and swiped his finger across the screen to deactivate the alarm. He stowed it in his pocket, and when he turned around, he crossed an arm and cocked a brow at him. “I can give you another one, if you enjoyed it that much.” 

Taiga responded by tucking the basketball under his arm so he could flip Tatsuya off with both hands. 

“Let Coach see you doing that, and she’ll cut them off,” Tatsuya warned, raising his eyebrow further. 

“‘M not afraid of her.” 

“Really? She’s right over there,” Tatsuya shrugged and pointed at the fence behind Taiga. 

With an alarmed squawk, Taiga whirled around, hiding his hands behind his back. Of course, Alexandra wasn’t there; she normally would attend the boys’ streetball matches to offer pointers, but today she was out shopping. Tatsuya cracked up at how easily Taiga fell for the feint; when he realized he’d been had, the redhead hunched his shoulders and shot Tatsuya a surly glare. 

“Man! You’re so gullible, you fall for my fakes on and off the court.” 

“That’s it. I’m not giving you the pickles off my hamburgers,” Taiga snorted and began walking toward the exit of the public basketball court, repeatedly tossing the ball up and catching it as he went. Still laughing, Tatsuya trotted after him. 

“Noooooo, don’t do that! I was just joking!” His apologies rang pretty hollow since they were spoken around giggles, apparently, because his best friend refused to acknowledge him. “Taigaaaaaaaaa~” he insisted, scampering around him to stand in front of him. 

He expected Taiga to be wearing a scowl; instead, he found him smiling. 

“What’s that look for?” Tatsuya blinked, a bit taken aback by how happy Taiga seemed by all the teasing. Normally, it would get him all worked up. 

“Nothing, I just—” A faint haze of pink rose to Taiga’s cheeks, and he looked away, embarrassed. He fumbled with his words for a moment, awkwardly pawing at the back of his neck as he did so. His gaze wandered, looking everywhere except Tatsuya. When Taiga finally did speak, he was looking at his sneakers. “I just… Missed this. More than I realized.” He gestured vaguely around the court, but Tatsuya knew what he meant. 

“I missed it, too,” Tatsuya said, a soft smile forming on his own face. “You’re my brother, after all. Life’s not the same without whooping your ass on the court.” 

“You know, it was gonna be a nice moment, and you ruined it,” Taiga growled, planting a large hand in Tatsuya’s face and using it to push him out of the way. Tatsuya laughed against his palm and peeked around his pinky finger so he could grab onto Taiga’s jersey before he could walk away. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I couldn’t help it! You looked so serious!” 

“Because I was serious!” Taiga whined, tossing a reproachful glare over his shoulder as he pushed on Tatsuya’s face again. 

“Me too!” Tatsuya insisted while grabbing Kagami’s hand and throwing it off his face. “Really, I was. I’m really glad we can play basketball like we used to,” he said earnestly. 

“Pff,” Taiga breathed out his nose, searching Tatsuya’s face. Tatsuya was being honest, even if he was being a little shit about it. And Taiga knew that, despite all the grandstanding. Which is why he smiled and pushed the basketball into Tatsuya’s chest. “You’re insufferable.” 

“You put up with me,” Tatsuya smiled wider, grabbing the basketball. “Come on, you know you don’t know what you’d do without me.” 

“True. I wouldn’t have anyone to eat the pickles off my hamburgers,” Taiga shrugged and whirled on his heel to resume walking. 

“I suppose I deserve that, though it hurts to be valued only for eating pickles,” Tatsuya sighed in faux dejection as he followed after him. 

“What? Am I supposed to value you for being a crappy big brother instead?” Taiga smirked and elbowed him lightly in the ribs. 

Tatsuya cringed away from the ticklish sensation with a snicker. He fell back in step with Taiga, and for about a minute, they just strolled down the sidewalk in contented silence. Then, Tatsuya looked down at the basketball and murmured with a smile, “I really am glad, though. I didn’t think you’d forgive me.” 

“What kind of guy do you think I am?” Taiga grunted in response, and Tatsuya peeked over to see him just staring straight ahead, face blank. “Stupid. Brothers forgive each other.” 

“Hah, I suppose they do,” Tatsuya nodded. After several more seconds, he nudged Taiga and asked hopefully, “Does that mean you’ll give me your pickles?” 

“Yes, Tatsuya,” Taiga sighed, pretending to be irritated. But the smile tugging at his lips told Tatsuya how he really felt. 

I really don’t know what I would do without you. 

And Tatsuya felt the exact same way. Of course he did. Taiga was his brother, after all—his irreplaceable friend. Despite all the teasing, of course. That's just what big brothers were supposed to do! 

[i-need-entertainment]

Haikyuu!! Boys getting accidentally hit ‘where it hurts’ by their kids

Characters: Akaashi, Washio, Konoha, Kita, Suna, Ushijima, Yahaba, Iwaizumi, Futakuchi, Daishou, Numai and Iizuna

Happy Easter if you celebrate it!! I thought a fluffy little hc’s of the Haikyuu!! Boys with their babies would be cute for today so here we are~

Warnings: Uh- just our favorite boys getting hit in the balls, I’m seeking more therapy I laughed way too hard while writing this uHm, mentions of grabbing the crotch cause what else you gonna do??, I do reference the Bad-dad moments and being flashed posts. 

**POST TIMESKIP CAUSE CHILDREN!! YOU AND THE HAIKYUU!! BOYS ARE MARRIED~ ALSO THE NUMBER OF KIDS THEY HAVE CAME FROM THE BAD-DAD MOMENTS!!**

@foodacoochie I thought you might want to see this~

Akaashi Keiji: 

Today was Akaashi’s day off, so naturally he wanted to spend it with his family!

You were all situated in the living room, your youngest who was a little over 1 sitting on your lap, and your oldest, who was about 3 was sitting across from Akaashi.

Akaashi was on his knees, throwing a tennis ball like thing back and forth with your 3 year old son, who was standing.

Everything was going great, just some wholesome family fun.

Until Akaashi said ‘give it all you got!’ his child smiled, wound up, and-

‘OOF-’ you watched as your husband immediately hunched over, falling to his side as his hands flew to his crotch.

Your eyes widened as you tried not to laugh, your son however started giggling when his father groaned, your baby following suit.

“K-keiji? *snicker* are- *ahem* are you okay?” You barely got through the sentence before you started laughing, Akaashi just slowly nodded, eventually returning to his knees.

He was much, much more conscious of his lower region from that point on.

Washio Tatsuki: 

It was Halloween time, and you and Washio had taken your 3 kids to a pumpkin patch!

You guys have 3 kids, the oldest two are 5 (fraternal twins, 1 boy 1 girl), and the youngest is 2.

The farm had made several ‘haunted houses’, one for little kids and one for teens+

Your twins had decided they wanted to go in the haunted house!

Well, your son did. Your daughter was not thrilled.

But! When her daddy offered to hold her hand the whole time, she decided she could brave it out, after all it is Washio we’re talking about.

You stayed by the entrance with your 2 year old, while Washio took the twins inside.

Everything was fine for awhile, your son was very excited, giggling at the jump scares and all in all having a good old time.

Your daughter...not so much. Poor thing was just about shaking, but she wanted to do this!!

They were about 2 scares away from the exit when someone dressed as a werewolf came from no where, your daughter screaming and turning into her father, her elbow at the perfect height to connect with his groin.

Sucking in a quick breath he ever so slightly tightened his hold on his children's hands, walking them through the last few jump scares and out to you.

You immediately grew concerned as the first thing your husband did was take a knee when he got outside, hands coming to grip at his face as he just slowly let out a breath, nodding when you asked if he was okay.

But even after getting elbowed in the balls, he never let go of his daughters hand😤

Konoha Akinori: 

You had just finished drying your son off from his bath when you heard giggling coming from the living room.

You sighed as you saw your husband, relentlessly tickling his oldest daughter, right after you had gotten her all settled down for bed.

Despite the irritation you felt knowing it would take at least 2 more stories for her to be sleepy again, you couldn’t help but smile knowing how much he loved being a dad.

“D-daddy *giggle* st-stop it!! It-it tickles!!!” Your husband smiled, continuing to gently tickle your daughter as she continued to laugh.

“No-can-do missy! Your laugh is just too cute!” 

Your daughter, despite her laughing, started to squirm, small arms pressing down on her fathers forearms, and little legs and feet pressing on his shins and thighs.

Until one particularly ticklish brush of his fingers caused her foot to slip, ending with her heel hitting him right in his crotch.

He shrieked as he let go of his daughter, hands flying down to his groin as he fell on his side, all the while his little girl laughed as she crawled up towards you, who was hunched over ugly laughing/crying as your husband continued to whine.

Kita Shinsuke: 

Today was the first day of your spring cleaning, and your 4 year old daughter insisted on being a big help!

You were working in the living room while Kita and your daughter worked in the kitchen.

Kita was teaching his daughter how to use everything, and helping her when she needed it, she was of course a wonderful listener and was having the time of her life.

They had just finished dusting, and now it was time to do the floors.

You guys had linoleum in the kitchen, so all they had to do was sweep and mop.

Kita got the broom from the storage closet and came back to the kitchen.

He sighed when he realized he had forgotten the mop, setting the broom up against the kitchen counter and telling your daughter he’d be right back.

Now, she may more responsible than most kids her age, but she was still 4. And very curious.

Picking up the broom, she started to play with it, completely oblivious to her father rounding the corner.

Before he could so much as blink his daughter turned, the top of the broom catching him right in the balls as he very narrowly avoided cussing, choosing to grip the counter instead.

Gasping your little girl ran to you, on the verge of tears as she grabbed your hand and started pulling you towards the kitchen.

“Mommy help! I think I killed daddy!”

When you got to the kitchen, you saw Kita, head down on the counter as his hands wrapped around his head, small groans coming from him.

He made sure to be out of his daughter reach when teaching her to sweep.

Suna Rintaro: 

Suna was in the living room, your 2 oldest in there with him as he was ‘rough housing’ and doing stuff dads do with their kids.

You were in the youngest 2′s room, putting them down for a nap.

Suna gently held his daughters legs as she planted her palms on the floor, him lifting her up when she was ready.

That’s right, Suna was teaching them to do handstands.

Giving her a high five he turned to his son, telling him what he needed to do, completely oblivious to his daughters concentrated look.

Keep in mind, Suna was standing, with his knees slightly bent and his hands on his knees.

Your daughter gave herself a firm nod, putting her hands above her head as she dipped down.

You had just finished putting the littlest ones down for their nap when you walked into the living room, watching almost in slow motion as your daughter leaned her upper half down, and watching her her leg came flying straight up.

Straight up in between her father’s legs.

You watched as his eyes widened, the air being knocked right out of him as he practically folded in half, forehead resting on the carpet as your son just looked at him and your daughters hands came up to her mouth.

You were of course dying in the doorway, him shooting you a glare as you gave your poor daughter a hug, her giving her daddy one as soon as he unfurled from the fetal position.

Ushijima Wakatoshi: 

Ushijima had taken his 3 oldest sons to the Schweiden gym.

He was putting in a little extra practice time, but wasn’t going to give up time with his children!

So, he figured it would be good to take them with him, they always loved going with him anyhow.

Right now, he was with your oldest son, Ren.

Your second born was whisked away by Romero and his son to play, and your youngest was whisked away by Hoshiumi and Sokolov.

Ushijima had been teaching his son to spike.

Nothing crazy, the kid is only 5, so they were spiking from the ground.

But there’s still a lot of power that goes into those spikes!!

Ushijima had taken his eyes off of his son for not even a minute, distracted by the giggles he heard from his youngest as he sat on Hoshiumi’s shoulders.

He really should have been paying attention, because right in front of him his son was winding up for a spike.

He didn’t notice until the *SMACK* on the gym floor echoed, the volleyball being shot right into his groin.

He cursed under his breath as he dropped to his knees, hands holding his crotch as Sokolov and Romero cringed, Hoshiumi and Ren laughing at his misfortune.

Yahaba Shigeru: 

Yahaba had taken his 2 sons outside to play with a model airplane they had just finished putting together!

It was one of those thick-foam nice ones, so it was going to fly nicely.

He stood a good 15 feet away from his oldest, his youngest about 15 feet away from him so they formed a triangle, You watching with your phone ready for memories!!

Your oldest, Hayato, waited for the wind to come before thrusting the plane up and into the air, it glided for a good few seconds before doing a loop and coming back to the ground at a sharp angle.

For a foam plane, it moved quite efficiently, and at this speed it was moving quite quickly.

Before anyone could react, the plane had nose dived right into your husband, his face blanching as his hands shot downwards.

You laughed, your sons cringed, and Yahaba just about cried.

“At least the plane’s okay! It would have actually been bad if it broke” Your youngest walked away after picking up the plane, Yahaba looking at him in disbelief. 

“Yeah, well don’t go asking me and your mom for anymore siblings, *cringe* I don’t think that’ll be happening.”

He cringed even more when you revealed you had gotten everything on video~

Iwaizumi Hajime: 

With it being the off-season for volleyball, Iwaizumi was spending more time at home with his family!

But, keeping in good shape was also important, so one of the things he would do is while he worked out in the home gym, your 3 sons would be in there with him.

You guys had a pretty good set up, one of the newer additions being a punching bag and gloves. (any other boxers out there?)

Iwaizumi was working with weights, currently doing bicep curls while his sons wreaked, albeit controlled, havoc.

His oldest had found the gloves, slipping on on his hand as the middlest took the other, the youngest slipping on a mit instead.

Poor man was so focused in his workout, he didn’t even notice his middlest son come waking towards him.

When he did notice, he was too late, his son had already wound up and launched his gloved hand into Iwaizumi’s crotch.

Iwaizumi grunted as he just about dropped the weights, falling onto his hands and knees as he tried to steady his breathing.

All 3 of your children bolted out of the room, the little brats laughing before they ran into you.

You walked in to see Iwaizumi, who was now on one knee, eyes still closed as he seemed to be meditating.

For those who are wondering, “padded boxing gloves” do  n o t h i n g  to subside the pain of being punched😢

Futakuchi Kenji: 

Futakuchi’s parents had been over for dinner one night, his younger sister and her fiancé were there too!

You guys had just had a nice dinner and were now sitting in the living room, bringing up old memories and laughing about things that have happened.

Your oh so loving husband had decided to bring up how you had “flashed” him in high school, you rolling your eyes as you hit his arm with a pillow you threw, him being on the couch and you cuddling with your youngest on the floor.

Now, you guys have 3 little girls. 

Your oldest is 6, middlest 4 and your youngest is about 3.

Your youngest was very much a mommy’s girl, and would actually glare at Futakuchi for no given reason, then turn around and giggle and smile at you. (lol my little sister went through a phase like this when she was, like, 2)

She had been sitting on your lap, so when she saw you ‘in danger’ and it was from ‘the enemy’ aka dad, she stood, chubby little cheeks forming a pout as she marched towards her dad.

With the whole family watching, she pulled her fist back and swung, catching him right in his balls as she scurried off and back into your arms, you not knowing how to respond to the situation and your husband doubled over in pain.

Daishou Suguru: 

You and Daishou had 2 kids, 1 girl (oldest) and 1 boy.

Daishou was a good dad!

He cared for his children, gave them endless amounts of love and affection, and was never late to any event big or small.

But he was still a dad, and dads all have those things that they do.

For him, it was popping out of random places and (lightly) scaring his daughter.

Currently, he was hiding behind the wall right at the top of the stairs, smirking as he knew his daughter was on her way up them.

He got his hands ready, feet in a good position to jump out as he watched her little shadow grow closer and closer to the top.

As soon as she hit the floor of the 2nd level he jumped out.

“BOO!” Screaming she kicked, landing a strong kick right in between Daishou’s legs, causing him to yelp as his hands gripped his crotch, sinking to his knees as his daughter gasped.

She felt bad for a whole of (2) seconds before sighing, hands coming up on her hips as she pouted, “Daddy, that’s what you get for scaring me!!”

Numai Kazuma: 

You guys had 3 sons and 1 girl, your baby girl being the youngest of the 4.

Right now, you guys were in your backyard, having an outdoor day and playing a variety of sports and games.

The game they were currently playing was baseball.

You sat in the shade with your youngest son and baby girl as they played in the sandbox, your oldest two with their dad as he set up the little stand and put the ball on it.

He had put on the catcher’s mit and stood a good 10 feet away from the batting station, his oldest son ready to hit, and his youngest son a safe distance away.

“Alright, come on buddy, you got this!”

Steadying his stance, your son swung with all of his might, the ball going fast and low to the ground, and right towards Numai-

“uGh-” Your hand came up to your mouth when your husband dropped to his knee, hand coming up to wave off his son, forcing out an “I’m okAy-” as he struggled to regain his composure.

For the remainder of the time they played baseball, he kept the mit a little lower than he originally planned.

Iizuna Tsukasa: 

Iizuna had been away for a game for the past 2 weeks, and your 3 year old daughter was very excited to see him again.

His arrival time was in the afternoon, so you were able to bring your daughter with you! Which Iizuna was thrilled about.

Your little girl was practically bouncing with excitement, little pigtails jumping as she looked up to you with a toothy grin.

You gently ran your fingers through her hair, as she clutched onto your leg, both of your eyes searching the gate for your husband.

As soon as you saw him, you crouched down to her ear, “There he is! There’s daddy!” Squealing she ran, and I mean she ran full force towards her father.

Iizuna, seeing his incoming 3 year old barreling towards him, dropping his bag, kneeling down so he could catch her.

Which he did, but he didn’t account for just how much force she had carried, so he didn’t expect the little foot that kicked him right where it hurts.

Careful not to impulsively squeeze the life out of his toddler, he shakily sighed as he gave her a kiss to her head, her nuzzling into his arms.

He may have been in an extreme amount of pain, but nothing was going to stop him from hugging his little girl.

[lightsinthedistancee]

Congrats!!! Angst 11 with Frankie? I can totally picture one of the boys asking him that and calling him out when he’s in denial of his feelings for f!reader

Thanks! Hope you enjoy!

“Is she really just a friend?” - Francisco ‘Catfish’ Morales x Reader

..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::..

Secrecy

Words: 1.6k

Excerpt: “You’re the one who always knows how to keep him up when he begins to spiral, begins to drink a little too much, begins to think of certain substances he’d once abused in order to forget.

“You’re the one who always knows what to say when he feels his exterior cracking, feels events of the past begin to seep through in anger, grief, or pure instability.

“In uncomplicated terms, perhaps you’re simply the only one who always seems to know him.”

Warnings: Very Mild Smut, Language

..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::.

Present

You’re simply staring.

Out the window of the living room, into unremarkable space. Onto the street where car after car passes by, each one seemingly blending into the last. Upon overcast skies that drain the colors outside of their saturation.

“You gonna say something or not?” says Frankie, breaking the silence. An air of hostility lies between the two of you. He sits on the couch, back hunched, forehead propped against his fist.

The main event of the past few hours lays heavy in the background, fogging both your minds—storm clouds that threaten to bring carnage upon everything.

It’d been a statement by Frankie in the company of the guys—just the mere beginnings of one, one with enough information behind it for you to intervene, to cut him off and shut it down before anything was heard.

The statement…it was one that would’ve told a lot. One that would’ve told of the many times Frankie’s hands had woven into your hair before his lips found yours, one that would’ve revealed numerous long nights together.

Not officially a secret, but never a relationship mentioned nor told.

“Why don’t you want to tell them? Why don’t you want to tell anyone?” His voice is profound in the quiet, loaded with hurt and confusion and a desperate need to know. “What’s the harm in it?”

And still without a single word, without a single glance towards him, you walk from the room.

..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::..

Past

“F-Frankie….”

His name is a stutter from your lips as you bury your face in the crook of his neck, practically panting into his skin as his hips work against yours.

The wall you’re pressed up against painfully digs into your spine, yet the ache is an afterthought, buried in the shadow of the pure pleasure coursing through your veins.

The sounds of the guys in the kitchen below faintly travels through the floor. It makes a thrill as well as a menacing nervousness spike hot in your mind.

It was a simple weekend get-together among friends that had brought you here, you and Frankie being sent up the stairs of the house to get something, somehow ending up in this situation.

You groan at a particular movement, knotting your hands tighter into his locks, pulling hard enough to make him groan. He’s muttering filth in your ear, your legs gripping his waist tighter and tighter.

“Did you find it?” Benny’s voice echoes up the stairs all of a sudden, piercing the haze you and Frankie had been lost in together. Your mind is in an incoherent state, entirely forgetting what you’d been sent up here to find. “What’s taking so long?”

You stare at Frankie, whose eyes are wide open now, his movements frozen. The corners of your lips beg to turn upwards, and you nearly giggle at the absurdity of it all, and you slowly raise your index finger to your lips, signaling for him to stay quiet.

“Still looking!” you call out. “Should find it soon.”

An affirmative response sounds back, and despite everything going on, Frankie feels all his emotions diminishing to one thing, one sensation that sets every inch of him alight.

The feeling of you clenching around him, your index finger to your lips, a hint of a smirk on those beautiful lips of yours—the secrecy of it all…it’s exciting.

..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::..

Present

“Sweetheart….” His voice is a whisper as he approaches you from behind.

You’re in the kitchen now, hands shaking as you pour yourself a glass of water. Exhaustion is seemingly the main product of the tension that had hung between the two of you.

His hand rests gently on the side of your waist, the rest of his body refraining from even grazing yours. An acute worry runs through his head in circles. “I know you’re not leading me on with whatever this whole thing between us is—“

“I’m not,” you whisper, saying your first words in a while.

“—so talk to me. Why don’t you want to tell?”

The ever-pervasive question. Again.

You sigh, turning around to face him. Your hips gently settle on the edge of the counter, your eyes tiredly shutting. “I…I just…I really like you, Frankie.”

He raises an eyebrow, the confusion written across his face nearly comical. “I-I should hope so? I mean, you’re not really explaining anything, cariño.”

You laugh weakly, the sound pathetically dying out near the end, lacking the conviction to even resolutely finish. “What I mean is….” You draw in a deep breath, your eyes finally flicking to his. “…I don’t want what I have with you to fail, and I’m terrified of that happening, and…isn’t that only possible when something is officially real?”

..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::..

Past

“C’mon, ‘Fish. Is she really just a friend?”

Frankie laughs, shaking his head in a perfect lie of denial. “You’re an idiot. Of course she’s just a friend.”

The small bar the four of them are in—him, Santi, Will, and Benny—possesses a unique calmness and comfort to it, a place they’d been going to for ages.

“Friends who fuck, then?” Santi continues his barrage of questions, the beginnings of an infuriating smirk on his face.

Friends who fuck really fucking well. “No,” Frankie insists, even as the other clumsily-formed thought sounds in his mind.

The other three guys practically shake their heads, returning to their previous conversation. The questioning is nearly a ritual at this point, said repeatedly, as if they’re determined to wrench what they want to be said out of him.

Frankie can vividly recall the things all of them had been saying over and over for months, in one way or another.

She knows you entirely too well.

What is it with the two of you?

You cannot possibly fucking tell me there is nothing going on.

And perhaps they’re right.

Frankie had risked his life with these guys, almost died with them, made last confessions and regrets in the near certain face of death. He’s inexorably bound to them till the day he dies. But despite that, when it comes to Frankie, even in competition with his closest friends, you always seem to be just one step ahead when it comes to knowing him.

You’re the one who always brings up the subject of leaving when places grow too crowded for his liking, striking a subtle discomfort across his face that no one else notices.

You’re the one who always knows how to keep him up when he begins to spiral, begins to drink a little too much, begins to think of certain substances he’d once abused in order to forget.

You’re the one who always knows what to say when he feels his exterior cracking, feels events of the past begin to seep through in anger, grief, or pure instability.

In uncomplicated terms, perhaps you’re simply the only one who always seems to know him.

..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::..

Present

Your words shock him.

Isn’t that only possible when something is officially real?

He doesn’t know what you’ve been through to develop this level of paranoia, this level of reservation, but god, does he want to know. He wants you to let him in all the way, wants to be able to kiss you whenever he likes, wants to say three words that’ll  officially cement things as serious.

But, even then…looming over all of that is a more menacing question that demands to be answered, one that makes him want to shrink into nothing.

“You don’t think this is real?” he whispers, his voice cracking at the implication—that what the two of you feel even in secrecy is not enough to make it so.

“What?” Your eyes snap up to his with the urgency of distress. “No, of course I think it’s real.” The statement is a near desperate exclamation as you watch him, looking for any sign that he believes you, that you haven’t destroyed even more of this with a single sentence.

His features relax, back to a quiet concern.

A long, drawn-out stretch of silence passes, filled with relief and more questions to be asked.

“Then why does telling make it more real?” he finally asks.

You falter, searching for an explanation beyond a simple feeling of fear. “I…I don’t know,” you admit. “Maybe it’s just conceptual, maybe something I’ve just made up in my head and refused to go back on, but…but it just scares me, the thought of this being real and then failing. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but—“

“—I think it makes sense,” he interjects. More tentatively this time, he leans into you, wrapping his arms around your waist, rubbing soothing circles over the small of your back. “And why are you terrified this’ll fail? Do you think it will?”

“I…I don’t know,” you respond softly, brow crunched in apprehension. “Things just happen…I suppose.”

He hums in contemplation, fingers pulling your chin up to look at him. “Well, that’s not a very good reason,” he muses, a signature humor to him that you’re all too familiar with. When you laugh quietly, it’s a real laugh, one that delights his ears. “Things just don’t happen, too, y’know.”

You press your face into his shoulder, the slightest act of affection, an unsaid agreement. It feels different now that he’s in it with you, now that he knows and can challenge every absurd thought you’ve entertained.

“We can start just by telling the guys,” he proposes quietly. “If you want to…. It’s just them.”

His hand squeezes yours assuredly, a promise that everything is going to be fine. Your response is soft, a little hesitant-sounding at first, but ultimately decided. “Alright.”

..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::..

A/N: I’ll admit I’m not super sure about this one since this is a little different from what I usually write but it was so much fun to write and such a fun challenge to create. And @hnt-escape, so I…umm….obviously changed the “Frankie in denial of feelings” part of the ask, so I hope you didn’t mind that?

Taglist: @dark-academics-and-florals @theultimateslashgirl @princessxkenobi @djjarins @jitterbugs927 @whovianayesha

If you’d like to be added to my taglist, let me know or do the form on my masterlist. If you’d like to be removed, don’t be afraid to ask!

100 Follower Celebration Masterlist

Thanks for reading!

[honeytae]

God, I love you, but what are you doing to my towels?

hi bubs! honestly i don’t really know what this is..i literally just got into my softest joonie feels for this one (i am in pain). i hope you all enjoy this fluffy little lovefest between joon and the reader :( tags: @ahgasearmyfan, @hoseokayy genre: fluff word count: 2.0k

You did not want to get up. 

The comforting rise and fall of the chest pressing against your back made it impossible to, your boyfriend’s arms securing you in a spooning position as you lay wide awake in the sleeping man’s grip. 

Namjoon had gotten home from work nearly an hour ago now, sleepily crawling into bed where you’d been occupied reading a book while waiting for his arrival. Mumbling a question about the plot as he lightly kissed your shoulder, he had laid down behind you, seemingly to get a look at the words written on the pages. 

In the middle of your answer, you’d been interrupted with the sound of his adorable snores, stopping yourself with a smirk as you craned your neck to look back at him without moving your body to avoid startling him in his sleep. 

You had let him hold you for a while, but your mind was now reeling with things you needed to be doing, chores that you wouldn’t have time for tomorrow or the next day. 

As much as you adored spending time in your own personal human heater’s arms, you really had to get up and get things done. 

Placing your hand over his to gently intertwine your fingers, you slowly guided his hand away from its resting place on your stomach, lifting his arm just slightly into the air to scoot out of his trap. 

Hearing a muffled noise come from the man’s lips, you paused your actions, eyes scanning his face for signs of him stirring before continuing when you concluded he was very much still in his own little dreamland, mouth gaped open slightly as he rested his cheek on his open palm.

Silently tip-toeing out of the room, you set out for the kitchen, tucking your fingers underneath the hair tie wrapped around your wrist to gather your loose strands back and out of the way. 

Deciding to get to work on the dirty plates stacked in the sink, you rolled the sleeves of your sweatshirt up your arms, grabbing one of the bowls from breakfast to properly rinse it under the hot water from the faucet.

Setting the bowl down in the sink once it was thoroughly cleaned out, you breathed out a deep sigh, appreciative of the silence in your building that made naps a guarantee at any time of the day. After pulling another all-nighter in the studio, Namjoon desperately needed one.

It was on the third dish that the silence was interrupted; but not by neighbors.

“Babe?”

You looked up from the porcelain at the sound of Namjoon’s voice calling for you, lowering the water pressure of the tap so you could properly respond to him.  

“Kitchen!” You answered his unasked question, chuckling when you heard his footsteps immediately close in on the kitchen in response.

Approaching you from behind, he wrapped a limb around your torso, setting his chin on your shoulder as you turned your neck to smile at him. 

“Hey, cutie.” He grinned, locking both arms around your waist to hug you tight to his chest, picking his head up to pucker his lips against the side of your head, making you giggle at his exaggerated “muah” punctuating the action. 

“Hi, Joonie.” You greeted, turning your head to the side to press your lips to his.

“Why are you out of bed?” You asked, raising your eyebrows at the man as your hands blindly placed the dish you’d been rinsing back down in the basin in front of you.

He smiled in response as he leaned his forehead onto yours, his dark eyes shining back at you as he lightly swayed the two of you back and forth.   

“Missed you.” Namjoon replied, puffy eyes blinking at you as he watched you turn your focus back to the plate in your hand, a small smile playing on your lips at his excuse.

“Sorry, baby. Just wanted to get these done, you know how I am.” You shrugged, Namjoon’s chuckle against your ear vibrating the cartilage with his proximity.

You smiled at the feeling, the familiarity of your boyfriend always being extra clingy whenever he was sleepy. You loved it. 

“I do. It’s okay, though, I should be up helping anyway.” He said, to which you immediately shook your head to negate his statement. 

“You should be sleeping, Joonie.” You lightly scolded him for being up, the man sighing at your stubbornness before pressing his lips to the back of your head, unwrapping his arms from you and stepping away from your body. 

Thinking that he was headed back to bed with the sudden withdrawal, you slid the rinsed plate into the designated pile for ones that needed to go into the dishwashing machine below the counter, readily going back to work. 

Feeling Namjoon’s presence next to you, you turned to look over at him, spotting the mini towel in his hand as he reached over to grab a plate from the drying rack of the dishwasher. 

“Hey, hey, hey. No.” You grabbed the dishtowel from his hands, the man shooting you a confused look as you threw the towel over your shoulder. 

“I just want you to go lay down, okay? I got this, baby.” You insisted, the man opening his mouth to protest before you cut him off again.

“You can’t tell me you’re not tired, Joon. You were in the studio all night.” You looked at his dark eye bags with concern, the man brushing your words off with a soft smile. 

“I’m a little tired. But-” 

He laughed when you cut him off with a scoff, hands settling on his shoulders to turn his body out of the kitchen. 

“Fine, fine. I’ll take a nap. But not because you told me to.” He pointed at you, you waving him off with a smile as you turned back to your dishes. 

The fact that your boyfriend was finally complying to sleep made you speed up your chores, putting the dishes away and loading up the second group of dishes in record time to rejoin the man in your bed. 

After filling a glass of water for your snoozing boyfriend, you made your way back to your bedroom in hopes to finally cuddle in peace now that you’d done something productive, excitement filling your body at the thought of his warm body heat, incomparable to the blankets you were forced to use when he was gone. 

The bedroom was dark, shades drawn, so you slowly stalked into the room to make no noise. Walking in a bit farther though, you noticed that your bed had no body-sized lump in it like you were expecting. 

Running your hand over the empty sheets to confirm your suspicion, you exhaled a groan, setting the glass of water down on the night-side table and turning to search for the stubborn man with a mumbled profanity. 

“Hey Joon?” You called out into the hallway, huffing when you got no response. 

Pushing the creaky bathroom door open with your palm, you discovered no sign of his presence, frowning as you turned to march down the hall to the living room. 

Entering the room, your eyes quickly fell to the man sitting on the floor, a basket full of clothes placed next to him on the ground as he squinted in concentration, fully focused on folding the washcloths into perfect squares. 

The vision would’ve been laughable if you weren’t so annoyed, utterly frustrated at the man’s stubborn attitude but endeared at his good-natured heart.

“What are you doing?”

Namjoon’s guilty wide-eyed expression nearly made you lose composure as his head snapped up at the sound of your voice, a small smile threatening to make an appearance on his lips as you crossed your arms over your chest sternly. 

“Laundry?” He answered in a question, resuming his folding as he laid a towel out between the spread V of his legs. 

You stifled another laugh at the picture in front of you, Namjoon hunched over the towel as he folded it into thirds. His long legs stretched out in front of him for what seemed like miles, arms outstretched to hold up the material he’d been folding corner to corner. 

Eyes meeting yours once again, he raised his eyebrows innocently, a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth as you walked into the room and sat beside him. 

“You’re such a pain in the ass.” You sighed, grabbing one of his t-shirts to fold before placing it on his growing pile on the ground. 

“I love you.” He leaned over to press a kiss to your cheek, you rolling your eyes at him as you reached for the towel in his hands.

“Yeah, yeah.” You replied, looking around the floor in search of a pile for the towels Namjoon had apparently been occupied folding. 

Your jaw nearly dropped at the way they were stacked atop each other, each one atrociously rolled in a way that had your type A skin crawling immediately. He had to be fucking kidding.

“Did you do that to mess with me?” You looked up at him, the man’s eyes widening in confusion as you gestured to the towels.

“What do you mean?” He asked, looking back at you from the pile with an adorable puzzled look on his face. 

You really couldn’t stop the smile from forming on your own, sitting up on your knees to shuffle over to the pile to tidy it to your liking. 

“This, Joonie. This is what I mean.” You tucked your finger into the towel at the bottom of the stack to tug the pile closer to you, the man watching as you picked up the top one, now wrinkled from Namjoon’s initial folding of it. 

“God, I love you, but what are you doing to my towels?” You half whined, Namjoon chuckling as he watched you smooth the fabric out onto your thighs and refold it, placing it onto the ground beside you before grabbing the next one. 

You peeked at Namjoon out of the corner of your eye as he moved his body closer to yours, his arms draping around your waist distracting you only slightly as you concentrated on finishing up your re-folding.

Leaning his face into the side of your head, Namjoon began pressing gentle pecks to your hair, slowly bringing his lips forward to sprinkle kisses on your cheek. 

Turning your face to push your lips to his, Namjoon hummed into your mouth at the unexpected action, parting his lips when your tongue made contact with his bottom lip. 

You leaned farther into him as he placed his hand on your cheek so that your jaw was supported by his palm, welcoming you to straddle his lap with an encouraging grip on the back of your thigh, gently guiding you onto him. 

“I’m sorry I messed up your towels.” He mumbled, you humming in response before kissing him again. 

“You know what will make you forgiven?” You asked, putting on a sultry tone as you fluttered your lashes at him. 

“What?” He smirked, hands gripping your hips a little tighter at your seductive tone.

“Go get some damn sleep.” You replied dryly, Namjoon’s jaw dropping as you rolled off his lap, coming to a stand and walking out of the room, causing him to scramble up off the ground to go after you. 

You giggled as you ran to the bedroom, hearing Namjoon’s footsteps thumping on the hardwood floor behind you as you ran away from him. 

Throwing yourself on the mattress, you intercepted the man as he crawled atop your body, smiling down at you as your chuckles faded, eyes crinkling even more as you brushed his hair back from his forehead with a gentle swipe of your palm.

“You’re teasing me.” He murmured, soft tired eyes tracing your features in the dimmed room as you smirked up at him. 

“Hm. But I got you into bed, didn’t I?” You arched a brow at him, butterflies erupting in your stomach when you felt his palm slide up your shirt, fingers tracing over the hem of your bra. 

“Hm. You did.” He agreed, leaning down to catch his lips with yours again as you melted under his touch, sinking into the mattress more and more as he continued soothing your lips with his pillowy soft pair.

[ushidoux]

Be My Last - Iwaizumi x  Reader (Pt. 4)

Summary: You have trouble getting over a past relationship and it’s preventing you from moving forward. (~1.7 words)

Warnings: questionable fidelity, angst, but otherwise tame

A/N: There isn’t a lot of action in this chapter but a whole lot of feelings.

Part 1|| Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5

-

You awoke to the sound of Iwaizumi’s careful shuffles around your bedroom as he got dressed for the day. Rising slowly to a sitting position with a stretch and a yawn, you noticed he was a little more dressed up than usual, his usual polo shirt and khakis replaced with a pair of sharp trousers, a nicely pressed shirt and a tie.

“Good morning, baby,” you murmured, voice still heavy with slumber.

Iwaizumi’s eyes shifted from their focus adjusting the sleeves of his shirt and smiled as he watched you rub the sleep out of your eyes, walking around to your side of the bed to kiss you on the forehead - a soft brush of the lips.

“Good morning, love. Did you sleep well?”

The smell of a gentle cologne drove you forward, intending to lean your face against his chest, but he was already back to his side of the bed to gather his things before setting out for the morning.

“I did… I can make breakfast if you’re not in a hurry!” You offered, eyes following the young man as he quickly exited the room.

“I’m alright!” He called, voice distant now. You could tell he was already rummaging around in the kitchen, and the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted in your nostrils in sharp contrast to the toothpaste you were using to rid yourself of morning breath once you trailed behind him.

You glanced at the time on the wall clock, leaning against a wall opposite the inlet to the kitchen. He wasn’t exactly late for work, but he was rushing out faster than usual. 

“Is everything okay?” Your voice was muffled between spittle and mild concern.

He glanced at you, hesitating for a split second before smiling. 

“I’ll see you tonight,” he replied without answering your question, and then the door closed behind him.

There was a subtle sense of your blood cooling very slightly, a tinge of worry settling in your chest. Venturing back into the bathroom, you finished brushing your teeth, paying exquisite attention to your tired eyes in the mirror as though your reflection was the issue. 

Maybe you were overreacting. Things had been a little tense since your argument, but it was nothing that couldn’t be smoothed over. 

It was only after you’d settled back onto your side of the bed with your open laptop and your screen flickered on to display your ex’s Instagram page that your heart started to race.

You closed it shut again, wincing.

He didn’t see it. He couldn’t have. He would have said something. The argument would have started right up again. It wouldn’t have ended until one of you was sleeping on the couch or you were sleeping in each other’s arms.

You let out a deep breath, taking a few moments to let your self-defensive thoughts sink into your skin. It was nothing serious after all.

Overreaction after overreaction. The only thing that mattered right now was that you opened your laptop and spent your Friday off of work on getting ahead.

---

As luck would have it, Iwaizumi was stuck in traffic.  Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that he’d wanted to escape your apartment as soon as possible and make it out early. He’d actually intended to leave before you woke up. 

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was still angry. 

Not at you. Never at you. At himself.

He remembered the words he had said to you at the start of your relationship, what felt both like just yesterday and ages ago.

Use me if you need to.

He gripped the steering wheel and grit his teeth, trying to maintain composure despite the fact that he’d been in the same spot on the road for the past ten minutes and people were laying into their horns around him.

What kind of stupid shit was that?

It had sounded good to say it at the time, like most things a guy says to woo a pretty girl. Use him. You’d fall in love with him later, in due time. He believed it was true then.

He hated that he was starting to lose faith in that now.

He hated the idea that someone else, who really wasn’t doing anything but simply existing in proximity to you was doing such a number on him. He couldn’t fault him either. Ushijima had loved you first. 

Did it matter if Iwa loved you more?

---

You’d given yourself that you weren’t allowed to leave your apartment until you got your work done, lest you come up with another excuse not to finish, which meant by the time the clock neared six p.m., you had laid sprawled in nearly every corner of your apartment typing and by now were cross-legged on the kitchen counter, your laptop balanced on your knees.

But you were finally done.

You sighed with excitement. Now to put that behind you. 

Saving your work, you slipped off of the countertop and back into your pair of slippers, moving back to your bedroom to change into a just as comfortable but more presentable pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

You were running out of snacks, as evidenced by the frequent trips to the kitchen over the past eight hours. What better way to treat yourself for a job well done but with a walk down to the convenience store to stock up?

Maybe you’d grab Iwa a bag of his favorite chips as a peace offering on the way too. 

---

“We’re already out, young lady!” the cashier teased the moment you crossed the store entrance, setting off the bell. 

You pout but still glance over to the row of baked goods, where your precious melon bread is normally stacked neatly in clear packaging, waiting for you. It’s a little bit embarrassing that he knew you would never pass up on it, but you’d lived here long enough that it wasn’t inconceivable that it’d become your defining trait.

“I’m absolutely devastated, sir!” You called back dramatically, making your way to the back for ice cream instead. They had what your favorite in stock, plus a limited edition flavor so you had more than enough consolation.

Satisfied, you closed the freezer door after picking your selection only to meet eyes with Ushijima, whose hand closed tightly around the handle of a fridge door. He stood a good distance away, but his eyes had been on you and remained so; the very slight part of his lips betrayed the fact that he had been trying to come up with something to say for the past couple of minutes.

He did say your name, something like a greeting, out loud, and you reflexively looked away, heart pounding. Granted you didn’t own this corner of town, but what were the chances he’d only chosen to go here?

Quickly realizing you still weren’t interested in talking, Ushijima pulled out a large bottle of water and closed the fridge, deciding not to bother you further.

It was suddenly a good thing that a text message to you on his phone was in drafts only, him not having the heart to send it. It wasn’t for a lack of courage… it was more so due to shame. Even if he felt like he had to apologize, there wasn’t much he felt he could say that would make it better, not worse.

His shame and your discomfort only intensified as he ended up queueing up behind you. Timing was never on his or your side it seemed.

Ushijima watched you tense up ever so slightly, your shoulders hunched as your arms overflowed with snacks, including the freezing tub of ice cream. Normally he’d offer to help with your load, given that he wasn’t carrying much more than the water but again, boundaries.

He’d set that distance himself.

In reality, he probably should have chosen another running path to discharge energy after practice had ended early today. However, it had been long enough that alternative courses didn’t come immediately to memory and he’d been willing to take that chance.

And here you both were.

He hated this, the obvious residual feelings bubbling to the surface after having been repressed for so long, the fact that he couldn’t justify any of his actions, the fact that he hated older him.

The fact that you won’t even look at him. 

Just say something. Anything. 

Is closure every really needed, or is it just an excuse to refuse to move on?

He opened his mouth to speak, yet again, but you beat him to it.

You turned towards him, smiling, albeit a weak imitation of what you’d always offered him, back when you loved him recklessly, with your whole heart.

“I… um, don’t want it to be awkward,” you said in a small voice. The sound of your voice, directed finally to him, unprompted made his own beat speed up.

Was this an olive branch you were extending that he didn’t deserve? He pondered this, steeling himself for the worst.

You kept your friendly expression as steady as possible. You weren’t sure what you were trying to prove, to yourself and to Iwa.

You didn’t love him. And for that reason, you had no right to be bitter or cold. Right?

“It doesn’t have to be awkward,” you continued.

Ushijima was at a loss for words now, watching you carefully with his normally sharp, hawk-like eyes but now more like the hawk’s prey, assessing the threat before it. Could he get his hopes up? “We can be friends,” you decided.

It’ll only hurt for a short bit of time, you told yourself. And soon things will be back to normal. As they should be.

A part of Ushijima wanted to reply, I don’t want to be friends. He’d finally realized this, no matter how selfish of a thought it was. However, he was content to nod only and swallow that thought. 

“I’d appreciate it.”

He watched you pay for your items and leave, unsure of what friendship would entail.

---

As you dug into your tub of ice cream a couple hours later, you realized you weren’t so sure what that entailed either.

If only to make it worse, then came the buzz of your phone with a single message, I miss you.

[hxwks-gf]

*✧･ﾟ:* two little lines

bakugo x fem!reader

summary: surprise! you’re pregnant. wait, that’s not the only surprise...

warnings: pregnancy, descriptions of throwing up, swearing, mentions of alcohol

w/c: 2k 

request: I just read your Bakugou gets turned into a kid fic and it was so adorable, especially since he done well knew what he was doing( the brat lol) Anyhow I wanted to request either Bakugou( pro hero of course) reacting to the news that he and his female S/O are having either twins or triplets.

a/n: THANK U FOR SENDING THIS REQUEST IN, ANON!! i loved writing it so much, and soft bakugo is my fav bakugo. enjoy my loves!

“Katsuki, I really don’t feel well,” you said as you came out of the bathroom, wiping the sweat off of your forehead. 

Your husband looked up from the piece of his gear he was tinkering with. “What do you mean?” 

“I’ve felt really sick to my stomach for a day or two now,” you explained, sitting at the edge of the bed and closing your eyes. You could feel another wave of nausea coming over you at full speed. “Oh, God--” You clapped a hand over your mouth and ran straight to the toilet again, making it just in time before you violently puked the last remains of your breakfast into the porcelain. 

“Y/N?” he called from the bedroom. A few seconds later and you heard his bare footsteps on the tile floor. His warm hand placed itself on your forehead and pushed back your sweaty hair. “Hey, let’s get you to the doctor, alright?” 

“No,” you moaned into the bowl, “I don’t want to go to the doctor yet, it’s just the stomach flu or something. I just need to rest.” 

“Don’t be stubborn,” Bakugo growled, squatting beside you. He wrinkled his nose at the contents of the toilet. “Let’s go.” 

“I’ll make an appointment tomorrow,” you said, cracking open your teary eyes at him. He had that hard-set look on his face, the don’t-even-try-to-argue-with-me one. You had seen it enough over the last few years of your marriage. “Can you just take me to the store so I can get some medicine?” 

“Tch,” he grunted, rolling his eyes. “You’re crazy if you think I’m letting you out of this apartment in this state.” 

“Katsuki.” 

He tipped his head back and let loose an exasperated sigh. “Jesus, you’re going to be the death of me, woman.” 

You held out a hand and he helped you to your feet. He muttered incoherently while you got dressed, something along the lines of “--doesn’t know how to rest--” and “--never listens to me--”. After you were dressed, he at least made you drink some water before driving you to the nearby corner store. 

The fluorescent lights were harsh on your eyes as you perused the aisles with a basket in hand, mindlessly putting cans of soup, stomach medicine, and orange juice into it. Bakugo grumbled to himself a few feet behind you, hands shoved deep in his pockets. 

“I’ll be right back,” he grunted, and disappeared down the snack aisle, leaving you by yourself near the pharmacy. 

As you wandered down the rows and rows of medicine, looking for anything else you might need for the stomach flu, you saw something on display near the counter that made you stop and stare. 

“There’s no way,” you murmured, walking up to them and picking one up. You flipped the thin box in your hand and scanned the back for more information. When was the last time you had your period? On a hunch, you dropped the box into your basket and hurried towards the check-out before Bakugo caught up with you again. 

The cashier rang you up and bagged your items, and you felt another wave of nausea starting to build in the pit of your stomach. Thankfully, Bakugo rounded the corner empty-handed, and headed straight for you. 

“Got everything you need?” he said, guiding you out of the store. 

“Mhmm,” you absentmindedly hummed, trying not to think about the little box at the bottom of your bag. 

The drive back to the apartment was silent, as was the walk up. Bakugo offered to take your bags but you vehemently denied his help, giving him a string of excuses and making a beeline for the bathroom again. 

You locked the door and leaned back against the wall, sliding down until you were in a seated position with your knees brought up to your chest. You were scared. The plastic bag was staring at you on the floor, just waiting to be opened. With a trembling sigh, you pulled out the little thin box and opened the pregnancy test. 

Two lines. That meant pregnant, right? 

You couldn’t tell how long you spent staring at the little stick in your hands, or how many times you had read and re-read the little instruction booklet. 

Two lines. 

Pregnant. 

You licked your lips in anticipation and unlocked the bathroom door. You could hear Bakugo tinkering with his hero gear in the bedroom again. 

“You were in there for a while, are you okay--” His sentence was cut short when he looked up at you standing in the doorway, holding the stick in your hands. “What’s wrong?” 

“Katsuki, I’m pregnant.” 

The screwdriver he held in his hands fell out of his grasp and clattered to the floor. Within seconds he was getting up from the bed and gathering you in his arms, his chin tucking itself in the crook of your neck. 

“K-Katsuki?” you said, utterly surprised. 

“Are you being serious?” he said, voice muffled in your shoulder. 

“Of course I’m being serious.” You gently pulled out of his embrace, but he still kept you close. “Look. Two lines.” 

He looked down at the test in your hand. His own fingers reached up and wrapped themselves around it, his brows coming together in the center of his forehead. He stared at it so intensely without saying a word, you were concerned he had lost some screws. 

“Katsuki?” you said again, gently. “What...what are you feeling?” 

“I know I've never been good with talking about my emotions,” he said, his voice breaking with emotion. “But this--this makes me feel like the happiest fucker in the entire world.” 

With those words, the gate that held your own emotions in check completely shattered and you fell into a mess of happy sobs, excited laughs, and exhilarated kisses. You’re not sure when it happened, but the two of you ended up kneeling together on the floor, still holding onto the test like your lives depended on it, crying and laughing and kissing. The only other time you had ever seen Bakugo cry was the first time he saw you walk down the aisle at your wedding. 

“I can’t believe it,” he said, pressing his forehead against yours. “I really can’t.” 

“Pregnant,” you breathed, still in awe. “We’re going to have a baby.” 

“Listen to me.” Bakugo let go of your hands and cradled your cheeks, looking directly into your eyes. “I love you. You are not going to lift a finger for the next nine months, do you understand me, woman?” 

Fresh tears welled up in your eyes as you nodded. “I would expect nothing less from you.” 

“Doctor’s office. Tomorrow morning.” 

“Well, it sounds like you’re about six weeks along,” the obstetrician explained, pulling on a pair of clean gloves. “Let’s get the ultrasound going so you guys can hear the heartbeat.” 

You squeezed Bakugo’s hand excitedly. He sat beside you, watching the doctor’s every single movement like a hawk. She had you lean back and lift up your shirt to expose the little baby bump that was already starting to show. 

“Alright,” she said, pushing the scanner over your lubricated belly and watching the fuzzy screen intently. You had no idea what she was looking at, it just looked like big blotches of black and white moving around. “Oh--there we are!” 

This time, it was Bakugo that squeezed your hand with excitement. You looked over at him, seeing how focused he was on the little screen. 

“Oh, what have we here?” 

You whipped your head back to the doctor. “What is it? Is something wrong?” 

“Looks like you’ve got two buns in your oven,” the obstetrician said, pointing to the screen. “See that? Two heartbeats.” 

“T-twins?” you gasped, feeling Bakugo’s hand go limp in your grasp. “We’re having twins?” 

“Congrats, Mom and Dad,” she said with a grin, clicking off the scanner and cleaning the jelly off of your stomach. “Twins are much more common than you think.” She stood up and stripped off her gloves. “I’ll be right back with some paperwork for the pharmacy and give you two a moment in private.” 

As the door closed behind her, you looked at Bakugo. He was still staring at the little ultrasound still visible on the screen, his mouth slack and his eyes wide. 

“Honey?” you said, tilting your head. “Did you hear what she said?” 

“Twins,” he whispered in awe. 

Your face broke into a smile and you pressed a kiss to his knuckles. “Twins.” 

“So, what’s the special occasion?” Kirishima asked, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. 

“Get your feet off of there,” Bakugo snapped, swatting his friend’s feet. “Christ.” 

You chuckled, handing Kaminari and Sero each a beer. “It’s something we’ve been waiting to share with you guys for a couple weeks now.” 

“Are you not going to have a drink with us, Y/N?” Mina asked from the couch, holding up her glass of wine. 

Bakugo moved to stand beside you, wrapping his arms around your shoulders. It was rare for him to be this affectionate in front of the rest of the group, but you knew he was too excited. They all looked at the two of you with confused and concerned expressions on their faces, waiting for whatever piece of news you had to share. 

Mina was quick. “Holy shit, you’re joking!” she squealed before you could say anything, kicking her feet excitedly. 

“What are you talking about?” Kirishima said, looking at her with his eyebrows furrowed. “Joking about what--” You could literally see the lightbulb turn on above his head. “Oh, oh! Oh my God, guys! Are you serious?” 

“Yep,” you laughed, patting your belly. Bakugo pressed a kiss against the shell of your ear. 

“Wait, wait,” Kaminari said, holding up his hands. “I’m lost. What’s going on?” 

“C’mon, dude,” Bakugo growled. 

Sero’s eyes looked like they were about to pop right out of his skull. “Congratulations, you two! I was wondering when it was going to happen. I almost had a bet going for it.” 

“A bet for what?” Kaminari whined. 

“Denki,” you said, giving your stomach another exaggerated pat. 

“Stomach?” 

“Yes,” you encouraged, nodding your head slowly. “And…? 

“And...oh, holy shit!” 

“There he goes,” Kirishima laughed, patting his friend on the back. He looked back to you and Bakugo with a grin on his face. “That’s amazing. How far along are you? Do you know the gender yet?” 

“Well,” you started, smiling at Bakugo over your shoulder. “That’s not all of it, exactly.” 

Now they were back in the dark again, Mina included. You took a deep breath and felt Bakugo’s arms tighten around you. “We’re having twins.” 

“Twins!” Mina screeched, jumping up out of her seat and clobbering you in an excited hug. 

“Hey, hey, easy,” Bakugo warned, hostility lacing his words. “Be careful with the mother of my children, alright?” 

A surge of warmth spread through you, all the way from the top of your head down to the tips of your toes. Mother of his children. It had a very nice ring to it, and hearing it from his lips only made it that much sweeter. You reached around and tenderly kissed his cheek. 

“Whatever you guys need, please let us know,” Kirishima said as he stood up and clapped a hand on Bakugo’s shoulder. “I mean it. Whatever you need. We’re all here for you.” 

“Thank you, guys,” you said, unable to hide the crack in your voice as a lump formed in your throat. Tears came not a second later. “I’m sorry, everything makes me cry nowadays.” 

“I don’t envy you there, Bakugo,” Kaminari said with a grin. “But I second what Kirishima said.” 

The rest of the evening was spent talking about possible baby names, planning the eventual baby shower, and anything else under the sun that had to do with babies. As you sat on the couch, nestled into Bakugo’s side and casually running a hand over your growing belly, surrounded by friends and loved ones, you knew that no matter what happened, you and Bakugo would be alright. 

You had to admite, the idea of having two little miniature Katsukis running around delighted you in a way that would most definitely frighten anyone else. 

[dearlydecayed]

Soup for Shigaraki

Mmm yes first fic. No idea how this works, so just do whatever Tumblr users do if ya like it ig Summary: You're a member of the league when Shigaraki falls ill, and of course doesn't take care of himself. Being the good villain Samaritan you are, you do it for him.

Pre-relationship (?)

Word Count + Warnings: 1,665 - Sfw, Shiggy swears at you and is a bastard in general, and descriptions of sickness. Not beta read.

-----

It's been three whole days since you'd seen him- since anyone else had seen him for that matter.

The entire league was off doing busy work to kill time; little side-missions and personal vendettas to fulfill while they waited. While you waited. While the world waited.

Shigaraki couldn't exactly lead a revolution while bedridden.

Dabi and Toga had left the base a few minutes ago, Dabi huffing in general annoyance while the latter trailed behind cheerily. She had invited you along, but you declined. You had someone to check on.

Pushing yourself off the counter you had been leaning against, you turned to the broad and decrepit expanse of cabinets that made up the bar. The top rows were filled with glasses, cups, and bottles, so you worked off a foggy memory as you scrounged the lower levels. Sure enough, your hands made contact with a singular dusty can. Aha. Pulling it out, you grimaced at the expiration date but nonetheless cranked the lid open with the pocket knife you carried. Red liquid sloshed in the tin, and you gave it a cursory sniff. At least it still smelled like tomato soup.

Rummaging through another drawer, you found a clean-ish spoon and rinsed it off in the sink. Unable to find a pot, you made your way over to the small stove-top in the corner.

The scent of gas filled the air as the ancient device clicked to life, and you were reminded of why no one used it when Dabi was around. Placing the can directly on the burner, you couldn't help but hum to drown out the sound of metal scrapping metal as you stirred the broth; steam wafting through the air as it began to boil.

The best you could manage for a hot pad was a tattered rag as you took the tin off the stove; and let the scent of tomato soup soothe your concerns of expiration. Dipping a finger into the cooling liquid, you confirmed that it tasted about right too.

Now for the tricky part...

Same as when you'd checked it earlier, his door was locked. The hallway was as silent as it had been for days, and worry crept into your periphery as you again pulled out your pocket knife. Picking the lock was an easy feat, and you soon stepped into your leader's dark room, tin can in hand. You'd only observed the space in passing prior to this, and you took a moment to take it all in.

It was a lot more cluttered than you had anticipated, his walls lined with shelves of fandom paraphernalia and books. Dark clothes littered the floor and haphazardly hung off a hamper in the corner- interlocked with junk food wrappers and boxes.

You would've lingered longer at the sight if a pathetic sniffle hadn't caught your attention; your gaze drawn to a slumped pile on his bed.

There, your noble leader lay snot-faced and unconscious as his throat rasped with every breath. His face lacked its usual paleness, instead graced with a red flush, and you knew his temperature would be scorching by the sweat on his brow. Regardless, you set the can down on his desk, and sat yourself on edge of his bed.

Before moving further, you closed your hands on both of his wrists. Instantly, his arms relaxed, rendering his hands immobile for the near future. Benefits of a paralysis quirk included immobilizing your delirious boss, apparently.

You then confirmed your prior hunch as you placed a palm against his forehead, clammy skin shuddering at your touch. A gurgled groan escaped as he squirmed under your hand, his brow furrowing as some form of consciousness returned to him.

His eyes still closed, a croaky "Kurogiri..?" was offered as you propped him up against some pillows.

"Mm. Afraid not, boss"

In the moments it took him to process your words, you moved the soup can to in between your thighs, bringing a spoonful of liquid into the air in front of him. His bleary eyes opened a few times, clearly straining to gain some awareness and failing miserably as they fell shut again.

You shushed him, and readjusted. "Shh shh, 's just me, boss. I've got some nice, warm soup for ya." To illustrate your point, you teased the spoon to lightly rest against his chapped lips, desperately hoping he remained passive instead of really waking up and throwing a fit.

Blessedly, he did no such thing.

Rather, his lips finally parted and you were able to ease the spoon in, letting the liquid fall into his mouth. He swallowed, made a noise, and you took it as a sign to get another spoonful.

Time became irrelevant as you spoon fed him, his tense shoulders falling and his face relaxing as soup levels fell. The only sounds in the whole base were his raspy breaths and the spoon scraping against the can.

When the can was about half-way empty though, he became fussy and pursed his lips again, refusing the spoon. You also noted that his fingers were beginning to twitch, and you took it as a definite sign to bolt.

However, you didn't leave until he was laid back down and tucked in.

A cup of water left on his bedside table, you locked the door on your way out.

-----

"What the fuck are you doing."

Rather than a writhing mass on his bed, you were greeted the next day with a much more conscious Shigaraki.

Reheated soup in hand, you stood dumbly as the door clicked shut behind you.

The next few moments were tense as he stared you down, before being interrupted by a painful cough racking through him. As he tore open a lung, you let your gaze drift to his bed side table where an empty glass stood.

"Oh good, you drank some water."

His scarlet glare was again directed at you after briefly glancing at the table himself, and he sneered. "The fuck do you want."

You blinked at him, and raised the can up a bit. "Y' want more soup?"

This seemed to catch him off guard, and his bleary eyes met with the soup can for the first time since you entered. He sniffled, and moved to sit up. "Give it to me then get the fuck out." You raised your hands in surrender and stepped forward to pass the can to him. Sure enough, he snatched it like a feral animal and almost went to chug it before he noted the ragged edges were you had sawed it open, and instead went for the spoon with a petulant grumble. "D' ya need anything else or-"

"Fuck off."

"Mk."

Toga had asked later why you were buying chicken noodle soup, and you told her it was for emergencies. -----

He was sitting up and playing on a handheld device when you entered the next day.

Though sweat still clung his brow, his face had regained its normal paleness and his eyes were noticeably sharper when they snapped to you.

His gaze rather quickly re-centered on the new can of soup and glass of water your were holding however, and you stepped forward with a chuckle to set both on his side table.

Game forgotten, it was tossed down to the foot of his bed as he downed the glass you had given him. Before leaving, you glanced to the screen and recognition sparked in your gaze. "Oh, is that the newest installment?"

Now sipping at the remaining liquid, he eyed you over the rim and grunted in hesitant confirmation.

"Do you have the gold or platinum edition? I can't tell by the level you're on."

"S' gold," he croaked.

You hummed in acknowledgment, and left his room yet again.

-----

The next day, you walked right into his chest rather than his room.

"Ah," you offered after stepping back. "I guess you don't need anymore soup then?"

He stepped out into the hallway too, looming over you as you stepped back further into the wall. Red eyes clear as the night you had met him, he stared down at you while reaching for the can.

Four fingers brushed against yours as he took the soup from your hand, and he turned silently to walk down the hallway into the main gathering area.

Kurogiri took that moment to warp in, startling then quickly fussing over Shigaraki as he nonchalantly spooned the soup into his mouth.

-----

Life of course resumed after his recovery, and you quickly forgot about the night spent nursing your boss back to health as business continued as normal.

It wasn't until many nights later that you had any time to yourself, let alone him after days of making up work.

You had been sitting on a tattered couch well into the night, scrolling aimlessly on your phone when a plastic bag was thrust unceremoniously into your lap. Not looking up, you scrambled to unbag it when you saw liquid begin to cling to the plastic.

Pulling the warm container out and holding it upright, your brow furrowed at the sight. Sure enough, a styrofoam container of soup was sitting in your hands.

It was then that you looked up, and were unsurprised to see Shigaraki looming awkwardly near you. His hands were stuffed into his jacket pockets, and his eyes seemed determined to rest anywhere but you.

Not wanting to be rude to the man who disintegrates people on a whim, you offer an "Uh, thanks?"

He tches at you, and turns to leave. "I fuckin' hate soup," Is all he offers before he disappears around the corner, and his door slams shut.

You shrug, and pop the lid off to check the damage. It had spilled a bit in the bag, but was still a hearty portion. A plastic spoon was even attached at the side, and you plucked it off as you snuggled in to the couch.

You couldn't place the flavor, but enjoyed it nonetheless.

[detectivereyes]

And You’ll Still Be By My Side

Summary: Carlos just wanted to fix his Camaro... fate has other plans. And TK also has a front row seat.

dedicated to the person who is constantly on the same wavelength as me and leaves me questioning if we’re actually the same person, @marjansmarwani. jillian - happy birthday love!! i adore you so much and i don’t know what i would do without talking to you everyday about everything from fic ideas to clown theories to our own personal lives. i am so grateful for our friendship and i wish you all the best on your special day 💗

read on ao3

“If you’re going to insist on being out here with me, you could at least try to help,” Carlos says, leaning up from where he was hunched over the popped hood of his Camaro. He wipes a bead a sweat off his forehead and drapes the damp rag over his shoulder.

TK can’t help but drink in the sight of the other man. With his white tight-fitted t-shirt that has various oil stains, and smudges of grease painting under his chin and cheeks where his hands have rubbed, TK never thought seeing Carlos playing mechanic could be so hot. 

“I think I’m okay over here,” he says with a smirk.

Carlos shakes his head and returns to his hunched over position in the car hood, working on whatever needed fixing in his precious Camaro. TK doesn’t know much about cars, but all he gathered from Carlos was that whatever it was, it was something he could fix on his own. And maybe something about not trusting an actual mechanic with his baby.

Which is how he found himself sitting on the workbench in Carlos’ garage, with his legs dangling off the edge, trying to follow what Carlos was doing. The other man would occasionally look up and explain his actions, but TK had given up trying to follow along, instead opting to take in his boyfriend’s look.

He watches as Carlos' face scrunches in confusion before softening into a smile as he continues working. TK may not know what exactly is going on, but he damn sure loves watching Carlos work.

“I think you should dress like this more often,” he notes, catching Carlos attention the next time he looks up.

“You mean sweaty and in a tee that I should have thrown out years ago?”

“Yeah,” TK says, biting his lips with a smirk. “It looks good on you.”

Carlos lightly chuckles. “You are a menace, TK Strand. Now, stop distracting me.”

TK mirrors his laugh as the other man leans back into the hood. “You love having me out here.”

“Do I?” Carlos asks, muffled by the sound of him not bothering to lift his head up.

TK rolls his eyes in lieu of an answer and pulls out his phone. “Hey what do you want for dinner? I was thinking we could just order something. Maybe from that new Thai place we’ve been wanting to try?”

“Well, I was just going to cook,” he says from within the car hood. “I think we already have all the ingredients to make chile relleno.”

“You’ve been working hard all afternoon, I don’t want to make you cook.”

“Really, I don’t mind,” Carlos says, leaning up and wiping off his brow before resting his hand on the rim of the hood. “Whatever you want though. Just have to make sure we have everything we need.”

TK shrugs, pulling up the recipe on his phone to run through the list of ingredients. He’s halfway through the article when a pained whimper catches his attention. He looks up to find Carlos wide eyed, staring off into the distance and the hood of the car swinging back up. It doesn’t take more than a few seconds for TK to put the pieces together for what had just happened.

“Are you okay, babe?” he asks, carefully.

Carlos takes a few measured breaths before shaking his head. He quickly darts past TK, pulling his hand up close to his chest and entering their home, TK wasting no time hopping off the workbench and treads on the heels of Carlos.

He follows the other man into the kitchen, watching as he opens the freezer and digs around until he pulls out a pack of frozen peas. Carlos sighs a breath of relief as he clutches the bag against his hand, holding both close to his chest.

“Hey, let me take a look,” TK says cautiously approaches his boyfriend, unable to not let his paramedic side show.

Carlos hesitantly pulls his hand away, letting TK gently cradle his hand as he examines it. The area on the back of his palm is already beginning to swell and the skin around where the hood made contact is broken and bleeding. Carlos sucks in a sharp breath as TK runs his fingers around the bruised area.

“This doesn’t look good,” he notes. “We should probably go to the emergency room.”

“You think it’s broken?” 

“Probably,” TK gives him a sympathetic smile. “Sorry babe. Just keep icing it and I’ll go get the car started.”

Carlos grimaces and before TK can ask if he’s hurt more he opens his mouth. “That’s going to be a problem, considering I wasn’t exactly finished working on it yet.”

“Oh,” TK says, pausing for a second to consider their options. “Do you want to give your dad or my dad a call then?”

“Or we could just Uber and spare the embarrassment and hovering.”

“Hate to break it to you, but I think you’ll be dealing with that anyway. But I guess we can hold off on it and call an Uber now,” TK says with a sympathetic smile.

“You’re not doing it right,” Carlos says, the exasperation in his voice clearly filtering through as much as he tries to hide it.

TK stops what he’s doing prepping the peppers to lean on the counter and look at Carlos. He looks just as miserable as he did a few hours ago while they were waiting for his x-ray results in the emergency room, complaining of smelling like oil and unable to even move his hand. Now with his right hand in a cast extending down his wrist, he’s trying and failing to hide his annoyance at the situation.

During their Uber ride back home, he was quick to suggest they go with TK’s original suggestion of ordering out but TK waved him off. After the afternoon they had, TK was determined to not let anything stop them from eating chile relleno like they had originally planned. 

Which is what led to Carlos attempting to walk TK through the steps of recipe. Though he had watched Carlos make the dish before, he’s finding it much harder to be doing it himself. But he continues to try his best.

“What do you mean? I’m cleaning the peppers out, just like you said.”

“No, you’re missing seeds and veins. If you don’t get them all out, it’s going to be way too spicy and I know you hate spicy food,” Carlos explains, trying to keep his cool. “Let me try,” he says, already reaching across the counter for the cutting board. 

“No, I got it,” TK quickly replies, shifting the peppers out his reach. He gives him a sweet smile, and returns his attention back to cleaning out the vegetables. He can see Carlos still shaking his head out of the corner of his eye. “You know I am capable of handling myself in the kitchen, right?”

Carlos playfully rolls his eyes before launching into the next steps of walking TK through how to roast the peppers. 

TK continues to try and following each step of making the stuffing for it, though it feels like with each step Carlos has something to point out. Whether it’s not making the cuts in the peppers right, or whisking the batter to quickly. By the time he jumps up to turn the simmer down to avoid burning the sauce, Carlos is already pulling out his phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Ordering from that Thai place,” he answers calmly, placing his phone down on the table before scrolling through the delivery app with his left hand.

TK twists his face, trying to formulate an argument before giving up with a sigh. “I’m sorry, babe. I know this isn’t what you wanted.”

Carlos glances up at him with a soft smile. “No, but I know you tried your best and I did enjoy watching you give it a shot.”

“Oh,” TK bites back a laugh and moves around the counter to place a soft kiss on Carlos cheek. ”I’m sure it was very entertaining.”

[plush-rabbit]

A Shared Umbrella

Word Count: 3.4K

A/N: I hope you like it!! I had a huge Fatgum phase like a week ago and ahh! He’s just so cute and soft and I wanna be held༼ಢ_ಢ༽

Night creeps in, the sky turning from a soft orange mixed with pinks and reds and yellows, slowly turning into a dark blue, the sky darkening as little stars shine in the sky, past the light pollution, and beaming with glints of white. Your hands and legs are sore, sweat collecting on your brow and as you grip the broom in a tight clutch, sweeping at the floor, the music that plays from your phone nothing more than a distant sound, a simple background noise that isn't registered as your mind has come to a still, simply focused on getting the floors cleaned so you can lock up for the night. 

The bell jingles, a soft chime that rings and catches your attention, breaking you out of the monotonous task. You look up, clutching the broom tighter in your hand, pulling it close to your chest, mouth pulled into an uneasy line until red gloves come into view, grabbing the side of the door and a round head pops through the gap, large smile already decorated on the soft features.

You gasp, perking yourself on your tips and take a small step towards the door. “Fatgum!” A hand lets go from the broom and raises flat against the air in a soft greeting. “I was beginning to worry you weren’t going to show up.”

He walks through the door, bending down and squeezing himself through. He chuckles and softly closes the door behind him. “I told you,” he chastises lightly, “you can call me Taishiro or anything else.” His steps towards you are quick, his shadow engulfing you, even as he stands a bit far from you, his neck craned down while your’s strains to meet his eyes. “There’s no need for formalities between us.” 

You roll your eyes, turning your back to him as you walk to the counter, pressing pause on your phone. “I know, I know- force of habit is all.” You turn to face him and hold the broom tighter in your hands.

“Your own habit,” he adds, giving you a lopsided smile. “Sorry for coming late and all, I got held up with work.” His hand comes to rub at his belly, curving and giving himself a soft pat. “You know how it is.”

Your eyes run up and down his body, worry lines creasing your face when you realize that he isn’t as okay as you thought he was. You hadn’t bothered to worry about him too much, thinking that as long as he had no broken bones or bandages wrapped around him, that he was all right but now you see the bruise that forms and peeks under the yellow jacket, bits of it ripped and dirited with grime and something that has a dark color to it and sticks near his tummy. He blinks at you owlishly, eyes wide and tilting his head and giving out a soft hum.

“Are,” it comes off in a low whisper, clearing your throat, “are you okay?” You gesture to him, letting the broom rest against the counter and your hands feel sore, wrapped around something firm and leaving red prints against your palm that lighten as pressure is released.

His laugh is infectious, your lips pulling into a smile even as worry gnaws at your mind. His smile is bright as ever, stretching wide across his face and showing off his teeth. He gives you a small wave, turning around and walking towards a table, pulling the wooden seat, lifting it so it doesn't scratch at the floor. “You don’t have to worry about me, sweetheart,” he comments, sighing as he sits down, hands coming to rest on his knees. Your heart skips at the pet name, a light squeak sounding in the back of your throat. “Just a little tussle is all that happened-” he waves his hand as if to shoo the worries away- “I’m fine- still got all fat,” He gestures to himself and now you tilt your head, confusion written over your face as he gasps and clicks his tongue. “Ah, that’s right, you don’t know about my quirk.”

“I thought your quirk was fat absorption?” Your eyes glance down to where he holds his knees, palms rested and pressed against the kneepads that bulge under him. You swallow nervously, while outside, clouds start to loom over, converging together to darken the sky. “Do you have another one?”

He shakes his head, spreading his legs in front of him, hissing at the movement and your hands come in front of you, curling and shaky as his head dips, a tuft of blonde hair falls past the hood, curling on his forehead. “It’s a lot more of that,” he comments. “Uh, not to divert the conversation, but it is getting late. Are you ready to head home?”

Your eyes dart out past the window, the sidewalk dark and a low rumble sounds far away, making you raise your head to the ceiling, eyes squinting and lips coming to a pout. You lower your head and find his honey colored eyes staring into yours. Not wanting the conversation to end, you pull a smile onto your face, crooked as you scoff. “Keeping secrets already, Taishiro?” You turn and grab the broom, walking around the counter. “And here I thought we were friends,” you lamnet, dramatically sighing as you disappear through the kitchen door.

“What? Hey!” His voice is muffled and you can hear the playfulness that lingers on his words. “Oh come on, you know I can’t follow you through the door!”

You stand by the door, holding the broom close to your in loose hands, head resting against the wall as you listen to him. You peek your head out the door, hair falling to the side as a hand clasps around the doorframe. “That sounds a bit like a you-” an index finger is pointed at him- “problem.” You stick your tongue out at him, the pink muscle wetting at your dry lips. You lean away from the door, chuckling as you see his furrowed brow, lips that pull into a thin line, wavering as the corners tilt upward. 

The broom rests against the cabinets, inching down with the threat of falling and clanging against the floor. Your eyes sweep across the kitchen, landing on a white paper bag with your logo stamped in front of it, the top of it curled up into a roll. You walk further into the kitchen, hand reaching out, a stutter in your movements as your hand forms into a fist, nails pinching your skin and then your name is called- muffled and clear. And you release. You grab at the paper bag filled with sweets, crinkling it under your hand and you swiftly walk to the back door, turning the handle to make sure that it is indeed locked. 

You’re alone in the kitchen under bright fluorescent lights that cast shadows and you walk out quickly, scurrying out the door, your free hand clicking the light switches, turning your head to catch a glimpse of the darkness that fills the empty kitchen in a flash. You turn and find the off-the-clock hero resting an elbow on the table, face in his large palm with closed eyes, brows furrowed and mouth slightly parted at the awkward position. You frown, holding the bag tighter, placing it on the counter, next to your bag and keys to the bakery. Your steps are quiet as you walk towards him and outside, lightning flashes, illuminating the street for a quick second in white light, the rain clear and hitting the pavement with a pitter patter. It rains and you live in  your own world, debating on giving the hero his nightly treats. Your hand shakes as it rises, hovering over his arm where a dark patch stands out against the sunny yellow jacket. 

“It’s rude to stare, ya know?” He says with closed eyes, a lay smile tugging on his lips. You yelp, taking a step away from him, hands in front of you. He perks up immediately, rising to a stand, where you look up at him in all his eight-foot tall height. “Woah, woah,” he says in a calming voice, hunching over, gloved hands holding onto your bare ones, “I didn’t mean to startle ya, I just,” his accent leaks past his words, teeth bared as he looks at you in worry, “rested for a bit and-”

You laugh nervously, hands curling around his large ones, the thick material of the glove making you unable to feel his warmth. “I should be the one apologizing, Fat- Taishiro,” you correct yourself, “I didn’t know I had taken so long.”

“No, no,” he smiles and stands to his full height, your neck craning up and arms slightly lifted as his arms pull up, “I just needed to rest for a bit. You didn’t take long at all.” Honey eyes look down and follow your arm where it links with his, and slowly, his hands unfurl out of yours, resting against his side and your left holding your hands up.

“It’s raining,” you say lamely, pointing out to the sky.

“Hm?” He turns his head, blinking as the sounds finally register to his ears. “That it is,” he nods, pursing his lips. “I- Do you have an umbrella?” 

“Just one,” you mumble, walking away from him, and behind the counter, where a bucket rests, a lone, black umbrella resting dry and unused. “I- We can share- obviously- but I’m not sure how it would work and- oh! Your snacks!” You grab the umbrella, hand holding onto the hook and turn around, walking away from the counter and grabbing the your bag, situating it onto your body and pulling the keys into your hand a soft jangle sounding the room as you hold the keys in one hand, the ridges of the keys pressing into your skin as you finally grab the paper bag, watching deep line crease the logo. “I uh- tried something new with them so I- it’s not a new recipe if that’s what you’re wondering but it is a new design and-” you stop, pausing your words as you look up at him, a smile curling on his lips, eyes squinting as lines appear on the corner of his eyes. “What is it?”

“You don’t have to keep giving me free snacks, you know?” Despite his words, he holds the bag and unfurls it with thick, careful fingers. “Now, that’s not to say that I don’t like them- trust me, I really do- but you won’t have a sound business if you keep giving me things for free.”

“I don’t give you things for free,” you defend yourself.

“Not during the day maybe- oh wow!” he turns to you, a donut in his hand. “Is this supposed to be me?” You face flushes, warming in temperature and you give a strained nod. “It’s so cute!” The donut in question is decorated in all yellow, the letters “F” and “G” curved on the lower portion of the donut, an orange rim on the outside with a black mask-like shape on the upper portion, circular white shapes dotted with a warmer yellow and thin curve acting as a smile are all scrunched on the donut. “Did you do this?”

You hold the front of your stomach and nod. “I-uh, it was a bit rushed so it’s not as good as I would have liked but yeah.” You bounce on your heels and avoid eye contact with him. “There’s more. It’s either you on them or your jacket design.” Your hand gestures to his tummy, your bottom lip between your teeth. “Do-”

“I love them!” You turn and he gives you a wide grin. “Geez, sweetheart, if I had known you were going to give me something as cute as this, I would have brought you something.” Gingerly, he places the treat back into the bag, rolling it back to a close.

“No, I just wanted to show my appreciation to you. I know you get off of work tired and yet you still walk me home and I- you won’t take the free sweets that I offer so I- if I gave you something like this, I-”

“Sweetheart.” Your mouth closes and you look up at him, the flush on your face darkening at the nickname he had assigned to you. “I-” He’s cut off by thunder and you two look out the window. “How about we talk about this on the way home, hm?” You nod and walk towards him. “Look, since it’s raining, I can carry you if ya want. You hop in my arms and hold the umbrella and I’ll take you home. How does that sound?”

A breathless grin takes over, and you eagerly nod your head, grabbing him by the hand, your palm fitting snugly into his. “You should exit first, so I can close the door behind you.”

His hand leaves yours and rests above your head in a gentle pat, the entirety of his palm curving around your skull, fingers that curl at the base and ruffle the hair that rests at the nape of your neck. “Of course,” the pressure on your head fades as he walks out the door. “Don’t be too long, okay?”

The door closes shut behind him, the soft jingle is drowned out by the steady rain. The bakery is left pristine, a chair skewed and scratches against the floor as you push it back to its original spot. You grab the handle, pulling the door open, hearing the chime for the final time as you exit the bakery, lights flickering off with a flick of your hand. 

Outside, the rain hits at pavement while you both stand under the canopy, drops bouncing off and wetting at your shoes. You turn to him, your gaze focused on his belly where a dark stain sullies his hero outfit. It’s quiet between the two of you, the crinkle of the paper bag breaking the silence and you both start to talk at the same time, laughing in surprise and he allows you to go first.

“Are you sure you’re okay with carrying me? You aren’t too sore? I don’t want to add any extra weight to your joints, Taishiro.” You hand rests against his forearm. He’s both firm and soft under you, your fingers pressing into the doughy arm that resides under the blemished jacket. 

He sighs audibly, and with a swoop, he picks you up, curling your body into bridal style as your hand rests against his chest, legs twisting into each other as your hand clutches at his chest, pulling on the stretchy fabric. The zipper knocks against your hand and you turn our head to bury where his collarbone would be. The umbrella rests on you in an awkward angle, poking through his fat, disappearing a few inches. 

“I was the one who offered,” he grunts, a single arm cradling your body as he drops his sweet bag on the dip of your stomach, turning around to give an experimental turn on the door, satisfied as it doesn’t bulge. “You just sit there and hold the umbrella and I’ll get you home- safe and sound.”

“That’s a promise?” You ask, pulling the umbrella out of him and extending it outwards, raindrops catching and dripping past as it extends open. The umbrella angles as he steps out, coming to a quick arch and the water splashes and slides down the arch.

“Of course it is.” His steps splash the rain on the ground. “I’ll always keep you safe.”

You hum in appreciation, the hand that clutched his jacket rubs over the spot where the umbrella dug in, smoothing the fabric over and trying to feel the dip only to find smoothness. Your hand lingers on him, curving over him and coming back to rest on the bag of baked goods, pressing it close to his chest.

You turn to bury your head in him, eyes fluttering close as you listen to the quiet sounds of the city. The height of the man is not lost on you- it could never be unless you were to stand on a chair to match his height. You fit in his arm, cradled softly, the palm of his hand on the curve of your thigh, protective and firm, gripping you tightly to avoid any slips. He holds you close and you want to bury yourself in him, to feel how arm and soft he truly is. His chest cushioned with fat that rolls on him, pillowy and welcoming where as the toll of the day starts to take over, your eyes coming to a close and breath steady against him. Your body starts to rest, mind dozing and the umbrella slips in your grip, rainfall catching on his shoulder and splashing you awake.

“Woah there! You okay?” He stops in his stride and peers down where you shake the drops off your face. “You sleeping on me, now?” You start to sputter an apology, holding the umbrella tighter. “It was a long day, today?” He doesn’t wait for you to answer and goes to grab the umbrella out of your hands. “Tell me about it.”

Your hand lingers in the air, slowly falling to your lap. “Nothing special, just the usual-” a yawn breaks your words, tears pricking in the corner of your eyes- “orders and bread and you didn’t visit today.” 

“I am sorry about that,” he comments, squeezing your thigh. “Work came up- I got these work study students and-” he blows out a puff of air and rolls his eyes- “just a long day.”

You frown, your sleepy state ridding any word barriers and impulse control that you have left. “I’m sorry that you have to carry me.” He starts to oppose, word cut off by your continuous talk. “You’re tired and here I am sleeping on you and-” you close your eyes and hold the bag tighter in your hands- “you’re so nice and pretty-”

“You think I’m pretty?”

“And I just wanted to make you something but they came out rushed and a bit sloppy-”

“I think they came out pretty.”

“And you’re carrying me and you’re probably sore and you’re hurt and I’m tired.”

“I think you’re pretty too,” he comments. You stay silent, words slowly processing in your mind. He calls your name, giving you a quick glance to find you with narrowed eyes staring at his chest. “I do this because I want to. Trust me when I say that i wanted to come visit but work came up. I like to take you home because we live close and I want to make sure you get home safe. I want to take care of you,” he tells you, curving his hand slightly, pushing you closer to his chest.

“You think they came out pretty?” You ask, voice distant.

“Yes,” he nods, a chuckle slipping past his lips. “Did you hear the other part?”

“You think I’m pretty?” You ask, tilting your head, face starting to burn. “Like pretty, pretty?”

He barks out a laugh and holds you tighter. “Yes, pretty, pretty,” he repeats. “If we’re confessing things then I have to admit that I also have a crush on you. One of the reasons that I visit so often- other than your sweet snacks but it’s mainly for you.” His fingers tap against you in a soft rhythm, coming to a slow stop. “If you don’t like me like that-”

“I do,” you interject, finding it easier to close your eyes and confess. “Like you like that, I mean. You’re cute and nice to me and-” your jaw stretches open, eyes closing as a large yawn stops your words.

“Okay, okay, sweetheart,” his voice is tender, a shaky breath fanning past his lips, “how about we talk about this tomorrow? I promise you my feelings won’t change overnight- right now I can hardly think with how wild my heart is beating. So just, get some rest, okay? Lay down and sleep on my chest and I’ll visit you tomorrow.”

“Promise?” You ask in a tired voice, a quiet whisper as your eyelids drag down and sleep blurs your vision.

“I promise.” The rain patters against the umbrella, your legs slightly swinging with every careful step that he takes. His voice is soft, a gentle whisper that brushes against you, His arm holds you steady, keeping you close to his chest where his warmth is shared with you, lulling you into sleep. “Just get rest and I’ll wake you when we get close.”

[fakepriest]

Anonymous asked:

"Madre Maria, aiuta le mie ossa." Paper-white fists, closed, rest against her already brittle back. Her posture was slightly hunched with choppy chalk-white hair falling forward. Rising up from the bedroom without assistance from the bedpost was growing difficult with the passing months. However, when her amber eyes glanced at the poignantly marked calendar hanging over the desk, action had to be taken. For today, Sunday, it was a remarkably absent day with no mark-ups or reminders there.

Throwing on her lilac sweater and borrowing a pair of far-too-large black slippers, the Mediterranean woman begins her sneaky walkthrough of the home. Her hands remain against the wall, using it as support while her entire body was disproportionately teetering around. Blame the bloatedness!

At each corner, she peers down. With each walk-in closet and storage wardrobe, she swings wide open. Every large hiding spot she can find, she sweeps through them all. In God's good graces, she can at least confirm that she was alone at the house - - and there wasn't any mischief going about where she'd need to brace herself (or accidentally hit someone again, which was like hitting the equivalent of a brick wall--!).

Once in the kitchen, a common destination for domestic warfare, the Italian woman abruptly sits down and pats her stomach. "You're giving me back muscles I never thought I would have," she laughs to herself, humming. But, it was back to her feet as she encroaches on the refrigerator.

Opening it, there is an ocean of tall and conveniently wide ingredients and leftovers from days ago. With some thorough movement and an occasional glance over her shoulder, she finally pulled it out: a bowl of dough!

It was time to get busy!

Upon his return home, Kirei Kotomine would his wife away from the bedroom and her usual spots. All the closets and wardrobes were wide open, and even the shower curtain is drawn back.

That was until he went to the kitchen.

The kitchen was manageable, but there were still uncleaned bowls and rolling pins in the sink. Even a large wooden spoon. And was that flour over the counter?

But, there she was. Claudia O.rtensia, her restful form, sleeping on top of the dining room table. Her bandaged arms folded on his table, her cheek resting against her forearm. The breaths she takes are soft and low, adrift in pleasant dreams.

On the table, there was a round cake about the size of his palms. In her best attempt at icing with her aches worse today than before,  there is cursive pink icing writing "Happy Father's Day," for the to-be father of a wonderful daughter.

Coming home to a silent house is somewhat out of the ordinary, when it is still so early in the evening, even more so when the lights are still on; he briefly wonders what the normal reaction of a normal husband would be--worry, apprehension, perhaps? Could something have happened?  But soon, the answer is in front of his dark, dull eyes in the shape of a chaotic kitchen and a sleeping albino woman.

Approaching silently, a hand comes to rest on her forehead, to check for that often-present fever; she seems to be fine (a pity. no, no, that is a good thing, a wonderful thing).

Had she expended all her energies this afternoon, for this gesture? What even is the point, when most of the cake she has so lovingly prepared will end up discarded? Incomprehensible. But perhaps Kirei would understand, were he not the way he is. He places it in the fridge, ignoring the pangs of utter and complete dread that such a serene scene has just brought him. He cannot imagine celebrating father’s day in the future, and cannot connect the words nor their meaning to himself. A frustrated sigh escapes his lips.

Then, with a practiced (mechanical, something whispers) care seldom seen in one who so often cuts down others on behalf of a God that certainly detests him, the man gathers her sleeping form in his arms, feeling no particular emotion nor warmth while doing it; her loving gesture has not managed to move him in the way he keeps hoping, and the only sensation in his chest is revulsion towards himself, along with a misplaced annoyance towards the lengths she goes to for him and this family.

This lie.

Suddenly, his eyes close as he shakes his head in (futile) denial.

No.

He must not abandon hope, nor give in to the treacherous, callous voice in his mind. And yet there are images that remain engraved in his memory--those of the suffering she has been enduring during the pregnancy.

He helps  her anytime the woman needs it, of course; how could anyone do otherwise? When she struggles more than usual to get up, when during the first few months, nausea would overwhelm her. Anyone else would be saddened to see such a pathetic spectacle, but Kirei briefly thinks those are some of the most interesting moments.

The life that is so slowly growing inside her is his own flesh and blood, and yet--

When their daughter is born, everything will certainly be alright. He will finally understand, then, what is it that he is missing. There will be happiness, he thinks, as she is carefully laid in their bed once more.

Ah, but she will probably be in much worse conditions next year. Or perhaps even dead.

Before covering her sleeping form, Kirei places a hand on her stomach, and something moves.

He feels numb.