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b0nten · 10 months

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IT’S YOU AND ME AGAINST THE WORLD (THE CRUEL ONE I’VE DRAGGED YOU INTO)

[SYNOPSIS] ˚⁀➷｡ kakucho takes you to meet his family. or, the closest thing he has to one, besides the one made by you two.

[NOTES] ˚⁀➷｡ FIRST KAKUCHO FIC WOHOOOOO. timestamps may be a little off so yeah. sorry4dat. anon i hope you like it!

today is the day.

straightening your clothes with your palms, your eyes scan your body in the mirror.

“i thought i told you something casual was enough?” a shirtless figure emerges from down the hallway of the apartment, toned muscles flexing as he stretches.

“and i thought i told you you should ditch the blue and go natural, kaku.” you sarcastically answer, turning to him.

he’s got an amused expression painted across his face, eyes softly laid on you and mouth corners sewn into a delicate upward smile.

“so you really hate my aegean blue hair that much?” he jokes again, and, as if teleporting himself, emerges from nothing next to you.

“that’s not true, after all, this aegean blue is the one that charmed me the second time around, but your natural hair color is beautiful, and you know that!” by fake-punching his chest you earn a laugh, “i’ll dress casually when you stop dyeing your hair!”

“alright, alright,” he muses, “are you ready to go?”

“shouldn’t you get dressed first, princess?” you question back, stressing the second word and inspecting his ‘outfit’. “you look handsome like this, gotta give it to you, but i’d like ti think i’m the only woman that gets to see you like this.”

“shoot, you’re right.” he laughs as he grabs the neatly laid out shirt from a nearby chair, “what would i do without you?” he asks, awarding you with a forehead kiss.

“go to work half-naked, apparently..” you fake a disapproving head-shake and make way to the door. “i’m gonna wait in the car, try to not be late, please.” you warn, jingling his car keys in your right hand.

“yes ma’am.” kakucho fakes a military greeting rushing to the bathroom to brush his hair.

✣ ✣ ✣

looking at the high building in front of you, you let out a shaky breath.

“you ready?” kaku asks, blue hair shining in the hot summer sun.

in response, you only hum a weak ‘mhm’, accompanied by a slight nod. you ponder — are you really ready? — you know what kakucho does for a job, he’s a mafioso. not only that, but he’s the no. 3 of japan’s most feared crime syndicate. if every single one of his coworkers is as serious as your kaku is whenever he talks business on the phone (which happens very rarely, as he values his time at home and with you more than drug deals and murders) then you’re screwed, to put it lightly.

“hey, c’mon,” he looks at you, face contorting into a goofy grin, “you really don’t have to be nervous. they look scary but each one is dumber than the other, i promise you. you’ll like them, and they’ll like you.”

his reassuring words tug at your heartstrings a bit, and warm your worry-frozen heart just enough to get it to pump blood again. so, you take a deep breath and nod again, only this time, confidently.

“let’s do this.” with the corner of your eye, you see kakucho smile proudly, before stretching out his arm, allowing you to loop your’s through.

you enter the building: the lobby is cool and and feels so much better than the scorching heat of the outside. the decor is nice, it brings a certain richness to the place, with accents of gold and spanish oak and baroque elements here and there. it’s not flashy, and certainly not like any other japanese office tower interior you’ve seen before.

your heels smack against the macael marble as you allow yourself to admire the interior.

“ran redesigned this whole place when we bought it.” having observed you until now, kakucho chimes in with some fun facts.

“he really has the eye for art.” you add, and watch his eyes light up as he presses the elevator button.

“and he’s quite the snob too. god forbid we touch his montblanc pens or he goes apeshit.”

“oh, kaku…” you can only sigh as he bursts out laughing. “i really don’t know what to expect from you guys.”

he calms down his laughter before entering the lift, “and that’s just the beginning.”

the elevator ride is long, their offices being the second to last floor, which is not so bad as kakucho gets to tell you more about the guys.

“the pink mullet with the piercings is sanzu. he’s quite… eccentric, sometimes.. even uhm..” kaku swallows, uncertain if he should say more, but sure enough that this slip-up may cause you some fright.

“sometimes what, kakucho?” you urge him to continue his sentence.

“well, he can be scary or creepy sometimes. but just sometimes. other than that, he’s a dumbass.” your boyfriend scratches the back of his head, almost relieved. “he’s also no. 2.

as you know, I, your handsome boyfriend is no. 3, while the advisor is takeomi, sanzu’s brother. he really likes trench coats for some reason, so he’ll probably be wearing one today. he’s got a long scar on the right side of his face. oh, yeah, and sanzu also has two scars at the corners of his lips.”

“two down, five more to go, including montblanc guy.” you comment, leaving kakucho somewhat surprised.

“ye— wait, how do you know?” confused, his head darts in your direction.

“by paying attention to your phone calls, during conversations and doing some simple maths.” you reply, sarcastically.

“oh, my beloved einstein.” he kisses the crown of your head gently, “yeah, we have montblanc guy, ran, and his younger brother rindou. ran has short hair, black and pink and rindou also has a mullet, blue and purple. and they both have the tattoo on their necks.

then there’s mochi. well behaved guy, but his beard almost makes him look like an npc or the daiso version of a pimp. he’s the guy with the jumbo dumplings i told you about!”

“oh, that’s mochi! good to know, good to know!” you reply, just as excited as he is.

“and last but not least we have koko. he’s got really long blonde hair and a… unique hairstyle. his tattoo is on his head.

i think that makes them all.”

“are you not forgetting someone?” you quirk up a brow and kakucho mimics you. “maybe… that mikey guy? your leader?” you finally ask, long pauses between each word.

“it’ll be easy for you to see which one’s mikey once he enters the room. but don’t be fooled! he’s tougher than he looks.”

you nod and run through the information one last time before the elevator light pings and the door opens. you step onto a soft carpet, kakucho right next to you, eager to explain more about his workplace.

“we each have our own offices but usually meet in the conference room, where we do most of the work. for separate tasks we use our own spaces, tho. mine is… right here!” the turns left and points to a black door. it’s not hard to see it’s his thanks to the nameplate.

“across from mine is sanzu’s and the one behind us is mikey’s. over here is akashi takeomi, just beside the elevator is mochi, across from his is the conference room, and then there’s kokonoi’s, and the haitanis’ offices towards the end of the hall.”

you would’ve liked to see how the offices looked, being sure kakucho’s was just as neat as he keeps the one at home, interested in the older haitani’s the most, to be frank. you could’ve bet money he also took charge of the floor’s design, this time more simple and elegant than the ground one. muted colors, different textures and simple paintings; the guy really seems to know what he’s doing, maybe he should ditch organized crime and do interior design.

“let’s get this over with.” you turn over to kakucho, who’s just looking around, as if it’s also his first time visiting the place. when he hears you, he smiles, and takes small steps toward the conference room, hand still looped through yours.

you un-loop your arm from his, resting it on his shoulder as he opens the door. he enters, aegean fringe bouncing with every small step. you come in just behind him.

analyzing the room, you really can’t believe these are japan’s most feared:

ran is filing his nails. next to him, legs propped up on the table, is his brother, playing a video game on his phone, occasionally hissing as his eyebrows twitch in frustration.

across from them is sanzu, pink mullet covered by a long white towel, dripping on the wool carpet. just beside him is his older brother, takeomi, wearing a tan trench-coat. he’s reading — you rub your eyes to be sure you’re seeing everything exactly as it is — a guide to becoming a multi-millionaire through bitcoin.

mochi is doing paperwork, and koko — god have fucking mercy on their souls — is reading the same book as takeomi.

“can you close the fucking— ” the younger haitani bangs his fists against the table in a fit of rage, freezing completely when he sees you. “oh my god, it’s the lady whose picture he keeps on his desk! KOKO GIVE ME MY FUCKING MONEY YOU MOTHERFUCKER HE HAS AN ACTUAL FUCKING GIRLFRIEND!” he grabs his hair while pushing past every chair to get to the mentioned, disturbing ran in the process.

“rindou, try to look whenever you’re running around like a wild boar, i hurt my nail when you pushed me!” his brother accuses, but rindou is long gone.

when he gets to koko, he’s met with a book in his face.

“i’m not giving you jackshit, bitch!”

“come on man, you can’t go back now! we had a bet!” he whines and pleads, but koko is nowhere near turning his decision around.

all of a sudden, rindou kicks koko’s chair, sending him flying into mochi.

the bearded man looks up from his papers distraught, an evil look in his eyes.

“do you even know how long it took me to convince this corn company to deliver corn directly to my house?” he asks, and both shake their heads no. “do you have any idea how long it took me to write this goddamn ‘thank you’ letter?” he asks again, and they both shake their heads again. “THEN ARE YOU TWO GOING TO WRITE IT AGAIN FOR ME BECAUSE YOU JUST MADE ME THROW AWAY A MONTH’S WORTH OF CALLIGRAPHY CLASSES?” this time, they nod.

from the left, sanzu groans.

“CAN YOU FUCKERS STOP SCREAMING? MY HEADACHE IS GETTING WORSE.” he roars, ripping the towel off his face, ready to jump out of his chair. thankfully, takeomi holds him back.

“i think you should all calm down. this is no way to greet the lady.” he says as he closes his book and stands up, bowing to you from afar. “akashi takeomi, bonten’s advisor. nice to meet you.” he says, smiling slightly.

“thank you takeomi.” kakucho starts “this is y/n, my girlfriend, just like rindou has correctly observed.” he shoots the man a judging look, “we’ve been dating for a little shy of, what? nine years now?” he looks at you and smiles, and you give an approving note, signaling he has gotten the time right, “she wanted to meet you all, so i brought her here.”

he steps forward, stretching out his hand toward you. you take it and follow him, nearing the guys on the left side.

“y/n f/l. nice to meet you, everyone. i hope we can get along well. i heard lots about you.” you take your turn and bow, looking at every single one of the guys as you speak.

every one of them continues with the introduction, except for takeomi, since he had already done it while lecturing the guys.

kakucho pulls a chair out from under the table and gestures you to sit. he sits down next to you and surprisingly, the boys are all eager to talk as soon as they get the possibility to.

rindou and koko apologize for their behavior and you just shrug it off with a laugh, reassuring them smilingly that it was funny. you compliment ran’s interior design skills to which he seems very grateful and laugh with mochi, hinting that you know about the jumbo dumpling incident. sanzu compliments your ear piercing setup and asks you about some more jewelry and you offer to go with him shopping sometime, and bond with takeomi over your shared interest of the sengoku period, finding out that he shares the same birthday with his idol, samurai akechi mitsuhide.

everything is going smoothly, when all of a sudden, the door flies open, every one of the executives jumping up in an instant, with you closely behind. when they bow, you do the same, although you didn’t get to see who came in.

when you all pull your heads up again, the short blonde who has entered looks at you puzzled.

“who are you?” he tilts his head to the left, analyzing you carefully.

“mikey, this is y/n, my girlfriend. i brought her to meet everyone!” kakucho explains instantly, and watches him approach you.

“you… you’re the one … that makes those cute bento boxes for kakucho?” he asks, serious look plastered on his face.

unable to control your excitement for your work being recognized, you beam up, hands clasping each other happily: “yes! that’s me!”

as if he wasn’t the ruthless leader he is, mikey’s eyes widen with the childish love for food he’s had forever.

“do you think…,” he starts off shy, unusual for him, “but only if you have the time, do you think you could also make one for me?” the head of bonten inquires, eagerly awaiting your response.

ever so flattered, you smile so hard you can barely see anymore, screeching out in a delighted tone.

“of course!” you’re amped, ready to cook fifty bento boxes because of how happy you are, “do you have any allergies or themes you like?”

as if having been offered a million dollars, mikey answers you enthusiastically, “i don’t like spicy food, and… i like omurice, and if you could add a mini- flag on top, please…” he says, hands meeting behind his back.

“of course!” you affirm, high on the rush of dopamine and continue asking mikey about how he’d like his bento boxes. he himself feels like a kid in a candy store.

the rest of the guys are left dumbfounded, kakucho’s mouth having hit the floor long time ago already.

he picks it back up when mikey interrupts his own conversation.

“i’m sorry to cut it short, y/n-san, but we should start the meeting. we can discuss after it more, if you want!” he apologizes, subliminally saying he wants to talk about these upcoming bentos more with you.

“that’s alright, and of course!” you smile again, “kaku, i’m heading to your office!” and turn around to face your red-faced boyfriend.

“of course, i’ll see you there after we’re done.” he smiles, nodding, assuringly.

“kakucho, does she know where your office is? are you not gonna walk her?” mikey intervenes and before kaku can say anything else, he offers himself to guide you to your lover’s workroom.

“take your places, guys, we’ll start when i come back.” the blonde orders, closing the door behind him.

“looks like boss is gonna steal your girl, kaku.” sanzu teases his subordinate, while ran makes kissy noises and coos ‘kaku’ in the background.

“wait…” rindou interrupts abruptly, “you said you have been dating for nine years? that means.. koko! do the math, please!” he orders.

“you’ve been keeping her secret ever since kanto manji!” the blonde gasps in shock.

“you bastard! you kept her hidden through that— ” mochi is just as angry.

“and tenjiku too?!” kokonoi, having redone his math, is in utter disbelief.

kakucho tries to drown out the sound of the guys accusing him of treachery, thinking about the end of the meeting and heading straight for his office to get you home and spend his time with you, alone.

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tcfactory · 5 months

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Thinking about an AU where the manual did cause Binghe to qi-deviate and ruin his cultivation potential exactly one year after he's taken in as disciple. Seeing that anyone would have suffered the same fate, it wasn't some kind of karmic punishment directed at Shen Qingqiu for being an unpleasant, hateful little thing (the self-hatred and projection is Real in this one) settles something in him, like a broken peace of him is suddenly jolted back into its proper place. It makes him lose interest in torturing Binghe any further.

That does leave him with a disciple that's not suited to his peak in any way shape or form, so clearly the next step is to have one of the other peaks take him off his hands. He subtly puts out word while Binghe is on Qian Cao recovering, so that anyone who might want the brat can take him after the next peak lord meeting, but there really is only one choice.

Out of the peaks with a physical cultivation style, Bai Zhan is out of the question on account of Binghe's ruined potential, Ku Xing doesn't take children this young and, in his opinion, Binghe is just too stupid and trusting to make it on Qiong Ding or An Ding, so clearly that only leaves Zui Xian. If the little beast is fortunate, eating all the spiritual food might even help him recover a little.

Perfect plan!

All he needs is to make up a good enough excuse as to why he allowed the little beast to cultivate from a faulty manual or let him be bullied. And he knows already how he's going to do it: he will let Qi Qingqi make the excuse for him.

"Qi-shimei," he says, the very picture of nonchalance, as if Liu Qingge didn't have a sword at his neck. "I know you assume that any disciple of yours returning to secular life will do so at the side of a powerful husband, but if that was not the case: how would you test if someone of lowly birth and no connections could survive the court environment?" Qi Qingqi thinks about it for just a moment before her mouth twists into an unhappy pout, eyes lighting up with understanding. "Let him go, Liu-shidi. It was not an attempt at murder, merely Shen-shixiong being a crafty old dog who made a test too harsh for Luo-shizhi." "But-" "Scholars, like my girls, are intrinsically linked to the mortal courts, as much sages and exemplars in the four arts as advisors in politics. If one has no allies, then connections must be made. Bullies that can't be fought head on must be outwitted or circumvented." She gives the fake manual a disgusted glance. "Ill intent and sabotage must be recognized, regardless of its source. Without these qualities, someone without proper backing will be dead the week they set foot in court." "Quite. Disciple Luo has failed each and every one of those criteria: he bent obediently to the whims of his bullies, made no friends or sought no help from anyone on or off peak, and kept cultivating from the faulty manual with a bullheaded stubbornness that surprised even me. I fully expected him to realize at least as much, but he proved too simple even for that." He resists the urge to smile when Liu Qingge reluctantly withdraws his sword. It's a sweet, if easy victory.

So Luo Binghe goes to the food and wine peak, where he can make friends, his heart (and to a degree his cultivation) can be mended and his trust in his higher ups isn't scorned or abused, but he never forgets that Shen Qingqiu sent him away because he found him too stupid for his peak. Shen Qingqiu picked him, only him, from dozens of potential disciples and was disappointed. He keeps striving, even years later, to somehow get Shen Qingqiu's approval, taking every opportunity to loiter on Qing Jing with food offerings and all sorts of excuses. He's almost as bad as the sect leader! They do, indeed, bond with Yue Qingyuan over being the frequent targets of Shen Qingqiu's ire.

Then one day when Binghe is around 17 a qi deviation splits Shen Qingqiu into two: the scarred, sharp-tongued and vicious Shen Jiu and the sickly, soft hearted and kind Shen Yuan, and Luo Binghe suddenly feels vindicated in his dogged insistence because the soft Shen Qingqiu likes him! It's literally the best thing in the world!! And maybe sect leader Yue helps him a few times to steal Shen Yuan away on some absolutely-not-a-date picnics, so it's really only fair that he helps him reconcile with the sharper Shen Jiu (Binghe can't see the appeal, personally, but as long as Yue-shibo doesn't want to take his Shen Qingqiu too then he's fine with those two doing whatever).

Everything seems to be going perfectly (QiJiu have reconciled, BingQiu are almost inseparable), but then Binghe leaves the mountain to gather ingredients for the very special meal he wants to propose with, trips and stumbles straight into the Abyss and the rest is SVSSS-typical miscommunication and demon shenanigans.

#svsss #shen qingqiu #shen jiu #luo binghe #shen yuan #qijiu #bingqiu #tc writes

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matrixsss · 2 months

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The Art of Matchmaking

Lucien Vanserra x Reader

A/N; Hello Hello, so this is my first fic for acotar. I haven't written in a while so this is very nervewrecking. First I gotta thank some peeps who have helped and gave me encouraging words; @pixelcookiez for encouraging me, reading this through and helping me out! @chunkypossum for your kind words and offering to help me out, you gave me the push I needed to write so thank you. @mathiwrites for telling me I got this when I felt I didn't got this lol.

Hope you all enjoy this little thing and let me know what you think!

Read on AO3 or below.

Summary; Helion tries to hook you up with his son Lucien.

Act 1: Knowledge

Helion looked at you with a deep knowledge in his eyes, you could sense the amusement that rolled from him. All of it directed at your expense. You knew his unspoken provocation is a trap, a game if you will, you knew, yet that did not stop you from walking towards your High Lord. As you neared his side, you could see a person standing next to him that made you stop in your tracks.

His brows lifted as he anticipated what you will do, and you realised that he knew. He knew of your centuries old crush on the only heir of Day. How does he know? You hadn’t spoken a word of your feelings for the red-haired fox, hell you hadn’t even written about it anywhere. A lazy smirk appeared on the current high lord, expecting, waiting. Ah, you quickly realised how fucked you were. But you convinced yourself that he did not know of anything, he couldn’t. There was absolutely no way that he knew, you hadn’t peeped a word of your crush to anyone, certainly not him.

A small comfort in the presence of his knowing look, that instantaneously disappeared when you reached the two males.

“Ah, I half expected you to ignore the invitation.” Helion Paused “Glad to be proven wrong.”

His words were an invitation to play this little mind game he had in place, the growing smile on his face proving your thoughts right.

You directed a tight, uncomfortable smile at your high lord, completely ignoring the fox standing beside you. He looked just as handsome as he did every day, clad in day court garments, his chest out decorated by golden chains that went across his shoulders. You lightly bowed your head at Lucien who did the same.

“Do you not recall the wording on my personal invitation? I felt like I had to come.” Your voice was even as you accepted his invitation to both this overbearing ball and the game he has started playing. You however did not know, Helion always won these types of games.

“Did he threaten you to come?” Lucien said playfully “And here I thought you had come to keep me company.” A faux pout appeared on his face. Helion laughed at his sons words.

“You truly are your fathers son.” You jabbed Lucien on the shoulder.

“You wound me.”

Act 2: Denial

The door to Helion's office opened, you expected to see Helion himself however the male that had opened the door was none other than Lucien himself. An easy, inviting smile directed at you as he stepped aside to allow you entrance. This was one of the many reasons that had made you fall for him. The kindness he showed and the easy air of gentleness around him. You had seen him angry and vicious before, but that was not him, not entirely at least. He was that when the situation called for it. You couldn’t help but curse him in your head, for making you fall for him in the first place and for always managing to make you love him more each interaction you had.

You simply nodded your head in gratitude as you stepped inside the spacious office. Helion sat as his desk, his hands propped up on the table holding his head in place as he stared right at you or rather right through you. Yes, the game is on, and he was excited, his grin showing as much.

“Lucien if you would please grant us some privacy?” His eyes slid to his son with a gentle smile. Lucien nodded to his father, his eyes sliding to you. You had to resist the urge to tighten your mouth in fear of blurting your years long attraction escaping from you. Bowing your head to the future lord of day and immediately facing Helion with grace.

Once you were left alone, the space was silent, you could not hear a single thing, not even the singing birds outside that usually sung so loud. You were waiting for him to make the first move, first sound. And you would not fail in that, in that you were certain. As a war general, you were once a measly foot soldier and nothing more, you had learned to stand still for long hours and stay quiet. One simple rule engrained in you, speak only when spoken to. You were patient and he knew that, but he just wanted to play, make you doubt and question every move you had made that had led to this moment.

“If I ask you a question, will you answer me truthfully?” He finally spoke, leaning back in his chair hands clasped together.

“As truthfully as you wish.” Was your trained response to the loaded question.

“You like him, don’t you?”

“I am unsure of who you are talking about.”

“My son, Lucien.”

“Of course, he is the heir and a dear friend.”

“That is not what I meant, and you know it.”

Another tight smile was directed at Helion, considering what your next words should be. You always sucked at chess. Planning strategies for war was second nature, but this, this was new and quite frankly scary.

“I am not sure what you mean high lord.” Your voice emotionless.

Helion merely chuckled at your denial and deflection before easily moving onto more important discussions.

The easy transition into other conversations, unnerved you. What exactly was he planning? And how will you survive the situation you found yourself in. Mother help you.

Act 3: Avoidance

It wasn’t unusual to see Lucien prancing around, still the amount of time you had seen him around these past few days was rather unusual. You knew his schedule, what he does, when he does it, you knew all his usual movements, this was unusual. It made avoiding bumping into him that much harder than before.

“Ah, if it isn’t my dearest friend!” You sighed at Lucien who approached you as you were overlooking your soldiers training regime.

“Ah, if it isn’t the prince. Come to annoy me?” Lucien grabbed his chest, right over his heart grimacing at your words. It made you laugh lightly at his usual theatrics.

“Sunflower you really should be careful with your harsh words.”

“Do you not have better things to do Lucien?” He only laughed, patting your shoulder before leaving you to your work.

With a sigh you made your way to one of the soldiers who couldn’t for the life of you properly wield a sword. You had tried everything to teach the male how to hold it.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to hold it like that?!” Your voice rose slightly as you approached him looking as stern as ever. The soldier murmured a light ‘sorry’ before trying to correct his hold. You held back another sigh at his failing corrections before interfering and showing the male how to do it again. This was your element as annoying as it sometimes got, this was what you were good at.

What you didn’t know was that Lucien didn’t stray far from you, he was watching your every move, silently admiring you with the gentlest of smiles. He was always surprised by your utter dominance over the soldiers, and how they respected you despite your harsh words and strictness.

Each day as you awoke, you felt tired, tired of constantly planning how you would avoid the handsome heir. He was proving to be quite the annoyance using any chance he could get to come and tease you in front of everyone.

In the evenings as you laid in bed you couldn’t help but think back on the interactions you had with the male, cringing, over how many times he had managed to make you blush. Thinking back on it, he always was quite the charmer, flamboyant and a true social butterfly and you always stood on the sidelines hoping to avoid any kind of attention. A stark difference between you.

A sombre thought for you, but whenever it came up inside you, you just shoved it deeper down. He had a talent of making you come out of your shell, but only around him. No one else had managed it. The stupid crush on your friend should and would go away if you avoid thinking about it, right?

On the other hand, after all these years, centuries, the day where you woke up without having this crush on Lucien never came. You still held on to that hope that soon, some day you will wake up and not long for the male as much as you did. Every other feeling you could ignore, but the deep longing inside you ate at you. Day by day, night by night it became harder to control that longing. A truly cursed feeling.

You desperately needed a break from work, from seeing him everywhere. As the weeks moved, his new schedule never changed, it stayed the same. He was everywhere, always bumping into you, talking to you. Sure, speaking to him was fun, but by the Mother was it exhausting to keep all your feelings to yourself. It’s as if Lucien knew or at least suspected something, breaking down the walls you had built around yourself.

His flirtations became more and more frequent, he never did it as much as he does it now. It’s like he enjoyed seeing you so affected by his words and light touches. That is another point, he was always touchy yes but never like this, his touches became a regular thing. Whenever the two of you bumped into each other, he would either lay his hand on your head, shoulder or he would simply brush against your palm as he walked away.

You were quite tired of his shenanigans because it was starting to mess with your head.

Act 4: Forced Proximity

You were made aware of the summons from your high lord, it made you wonder why so soon. It was not at all unusual to be called for often, but it was never like this time. Something important must have come up for him to request your presence this quickly. It put you on high alert, a normal response for a war general.

However, Helion seemed a bit too relaxed for anything serious to be going on. It eased your nerves a little, but not fully as the game was still on. An unnerving reminder of the predicament you had found yourself in. You spent many days questioning on how he knew, how had he found out? Were you that obvious? The answers never came, he never gave them out.

“I need you to escort Lucien to the human lands. He has some business with the humans.” Helion said evenly reading the paper on his desk, never once looking up at her.

“What kind of business?” You could not help yourself asking the question. Soon realizing that move was a mistake. The grin he had given you as he finally looked up from his paper told you as much. He arched an eyebrow, urging you to continue.

“I need to be prepared.” Was the explanation that you gave your high lord.

“As it is, I don’t actually know what kind of business he has. So, you will have to ask him that yourself.” He stood up from his chair, head tilted to the right with an easy charming smile. You could not resist gritting your teeth.

“When?”

“Tomorrow morning you shall depart from Day. All I know is that he plans to stop in Spring first before continuing to the human lands.”

You simply nodded your head once.

“Keep him safe, will you?”

“I will.”

You had everything ready for the travel to the human lands with Lucien. Nervous was the only thing that you felt as you awoke. Not because of the locations you will be going to, rather because you’d be travelling with him. The man that had made you fall for him so seamlessly, you wondered if you would be able to keep it professional. You really had no other choice than to keep it that way.

“Good morning.” You bowed your head as you reached Lucien. He was dressed in his travelling attire that he owned from his time in Night court. His red hair was cleanly braided behind him. Just as handsome as ever, if not more.

“Morning.” He smiled gently at you.

“So, what is this important business of yours?”

“That is for me to know and you to find out.” You resisted the twitch in your eye at his teasing words.

“Can you be serious for a moment?” He didn’t offer a response but rather his hand for you to take, so he could winnow you two to Spring.

You took his hand, trying your hardest to not clasp it together like you wished to do. Lucien gently held your hand, like it was made of glass. The hands that killed others without remorse or mercy, being held so gently made you want to grimace and let go. But you pushed the need to pull your hand away.

“Hmm, I don’t particularly feel like being serious right now.” Lucien answered your earlier question, winking at you before winnowing to Spring.

You quickly dropped his hand when you had arrived in Spring. Luckily, Lucien just started walking towards Tamlins’ mansion. You quickly followed him, hoping everything would pass by quickly and without a hitch. Tamlin was already awaiting your arrival at the entrance with a wide smile directed at his best friend.

The following morning, Tamlin borrowed two of his horses, bidding you safe travels to the human lands. Daylight was soon disappearing as you travelled, urging the two of you to find shelter and a place to rest for the night. Lucien had tried to start conversations with you during your travel, you however gave short answers. Not because you did not want to talk, but because you were quite annoyed by his excessive teasing.

Somehow it was becoming harder and harder to be around him without the urge to tell him the truth. Truth about how much you cared for him, how you long for him and how you wish he too would see you in the same light that you see him in. How you wished he would stop with the teasing and be serious for once. But the utter fear of rejection kept you from talking, because why would he ever see you that way? You were so different from each other. You were nothing like all the other females that surrounded him.

You could not go through that, not yet at least.

The two of you found a secluded place by a creek to rest for the night and wash up. You went to wash your hands and face whilst Lucien set the fire for a bit of warmth in the now chilly weather. Finding food was not necessary as Tamlin had given you enough food to last for the travel to the human lands.

“Can I ask you something?” Lucien broke the silence once he finished lighting the fire.

“Sure.”

“Have I done something to upset you?” His question surprised you so much that you tensed up and stopped moving.

“No, what makes you think that?” After a few moments to gather yourself, you answered.

“I don’t know, you seem quieter.”

“I just have a lot in my mind.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Lucien hummed; his question genuine.

“No, no it’s alright.” The irony of it all was that it was him that has been on your mind so much.

“Is my father overworking you?” His tone was playful, you knew he was probably smirking.

“When is he not?” You looked at him over your shoulder, a small smile playing across your face. That had made him smile wider, chuckling lightly.

Shaking the water off your hands you slowly stood up, walking towards the warmth of the campfire that Lucien had lighted. You sat by it, opposite of Lucien as you grabbed your pack to pull out two neatly wrapped sandwiches. Thank the mother for Tamlin graciously offering the both of you some food for your travels. Handing one to Lucien across the fire, you unwrapped yours taking a hearty bite out of it.

After travelling for another day, you had finally made it to the human lands and to the manor where Jurian awaited you. Lucien told you would stay with them for only a day before returning home. His words made you realise that this was not ‘important business’ as Helion had alluded to. The trip was simply to greet his friends and spend some time with them. You had been played by both Helion and Lucien. The two of them will pay for this one day.

Pricks.

Act 5: Confessions

When you finally arrived back home, you reported to Helion with Lucien that you were back before going straight home to have a nice long relaxing shower. The trip in itself was fun, a welcome reprieve from your repetitive tasks. However, the male you were travelling with had somehow managed to make you fall for him even more.

You sighed as you let the warm water cascade over your body, rubbing your face. As soon as you were done with your shower you dressed in some comfortable breaches and shirt, letting your hair airdry as you plucked a random book from your shelf, plopping down on your armchair. Luciens birthday was soon approaching and Helion has already begun preparing a party for his only son. As much as you hated social gatherings you decided to still attend the festivities if only to hand him a gift and a happy birthday wish. You weren’t sure if you could handle seeing him being fawned over by pretty ladies, ladies that were not you.

A groan escaped you as you could not focus on your book at all. Your thoughts were hyper fixated on the handsome male. How you wished everything would be less complicated or maybe you were the only one complicating everything around you. You realised that you would have to decide soon, to save your sanity. Confess to him or forever hold your peace?

The day of Luciens birthday party came and you were a nervous wreck to say the least, your thoughts flickering between confessing or not. Maybe today was not a good day to do so, could you even handle the possible rejection. To make matters worse Helion has instructed you to dress formally for once and not be in your usual attire which consisted of brown breaches and a simple white shirt. Although you did not have to buy a dress for the occasion as Helion so kindly bought one for you.

It was a stunning dress, revealing a lot of skin. Your skin that is marred by different scars. It just showcased you were not really a lady, but a warrior. The doubts came back tenfold as you stood in front of your mirror all dressed for the party. The golden cuffs around your biceps shone brightly, not bright enough to shoo the doubts away.

The ballroom was full of people as you stepped inside, your eyes however quickly found Lucien. As you predicted he was surrounded by many ladies. One of them seemed particularly touchy, feeling up his arm. It awoke an ugly feeling inside you, you wanted to break her arm, maybe even rip it off her torso. This was a mistake.

“Careful, you might burn the place down with the way you are glaring.” a bored voice that belonged to none other than Eris Vanserra, high lord of Autumn and the brother of Lucien. A cocky fae if you have ever met one. Your eyes met his, you soon noticed he was smirking at you.

“I am not glaring.” your response only made him chuckle as he leaned in closer to whisper in your ear.

“You are making your feelings obvious. Even a fool would realise it.” He moved away from your frozen body before lifting his glass and walking away.

You could not resist clicking your tongue in annoyance. Eris had a talent at getting under peoples skins, a true fox. Even if you urged yourself to not fall for his words you began questioning yourself. Were you really being that obvious?

As you looked up at Lucien, you found he was already looking at you a playful smirk on his handsome face. You started approaching him and he too politely bid his goodbyes with the ladies surrounding him.

“Happy birthday prince.” You handed him the gift you had prepared for him. It was not much, just a simple book about pegasuses. He had once expressed interest in learning more about the Day creatures. You had read this book before you gifted it to him, so you could leave simple notes inside and silly drawings in hopes of making him laugh while he read it.

“Why thank you dear.” Lucien took the gift with a wide smile, tucking it under his arm.

“Not even going to open your gift?” You tilted your head to the right, teasing him as he had already opened all the other gifts.

“Would you like me to open it?” Lucien couldn’t help himself to tease you once again. You only rolled your eyes at him, crossing your arms across your chest

“I’m getting a drink.” You turned, walking towards the makeshift bar with a sigh. Maybe a drink will help take the edge off and help you survive this night without utterly embarrassing yourself in front of everyone here.

Lucien had followed you to the bar a bit perplexed by your sudden coldness towards him. Sure, you rolled your eyes at him plenty of times, but it was all in good fun. He could see that this time around it was different. You were growing tired of keeping this secret crush on your friend and his teasing did nothing to help you keep it. Once you got your drink you turned to Lucien looking him in the eyes.

“We need to talk.” Was all you said before walking towards the secluded balcony that overlooks the garden behind the palace. You knew he followed you as you felt his body heat on your back. Lucien gently laid a hand on your upper back, stepping to the side. “Everything okay?” For once his voice was devoid of his usual playfulness. He was utterly serious. “I think...” You paused taking a deep breath before you continued. “I think I love you.”

Luciens hand that was once on your upper back feel besides him in shock, you could feel his eyes staring at you as he stayed quiet. That was all the answer you needed; you scoffed humourlessly downing your drink.

You wanted to walk away from him and as you made a move to turn around and leave, he took a hold of you, pulling you into his chest. One hand was across your back while the other find its place on your head, cradling it close to his heart. You could hear his heart beating just as frantically as yours was.

“And here I was thinking I annoyed you too much to be around me.” He finally spoke, the playful tone back. You nearly groaned but held back as he pulled away slightly, the hand that was on your head was now under your chin urging you to look up into his eyes. “I think I love you too.” He smiled brightly at you.

Hidden act: Sixth sense

“How’d you know?” Eris questions Helion as they look over the ballroom to the balcony to see the two finally share a kiss. “Oh, I didn’t know for sure, just had a slight hunch.” “She’s not going to like that once she finds out.” “Well then it’s best if she never does, isn’t it?” Helion said quietly a victorious smile on his handsome face.

All dividers by @tsunami-of-tears

#Excuse any mistakes I might have missed I have read it a billion times and can't notice anything anymore #Be kind pls I am a sensitive child #Lucien Vanserra #Lucien Vanserra x Reader #lucien vandaddy #Lucien fanfic #Lucien fluff #Honorary mention of Helion #acotar fanfiction #acotar lucien

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apollosgiftofprophecy · 7 months

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I live for all these ships with Apollo like Apollo and Thanatos, Cupid, and even the most dumpsterfire ship of all time Copollo (I go feral over these two)

But one ship that stood out to me was Boreas and Apollo, and apparently the Boreads describe Apollo as "Beloved of our sire" And the fact that Koios is basically Boreas' boss makes this so much more better

So basically I'm asking for Boreas and Apollo headcanons 👀

(And if you take fic reqs, I wouldn't mind a fic with these two)

Apollo is SOOOOOO Shippable lmao XD He has such a variety of lovers and that really allows us to be able to explore a variety of relationship!

Healthy or toxic, lmao XD Copollo is Top Tier imo

and on the topic of Boreas, I have one extra thing to add there because I personally headcanon that Lelantos, titan of air & moving unseen (and apollo's uncle), used to be the head of the wind gods but was stripped of his title by Zeus post-titan war because he sided with Kronos.

So therefore, both of Boreas's bosses are relatives of Apollo's lmao XD

HEADCANONS, EH?

ahem

Imo, Hyperborea was some sort of courting gift or something Boreas gave Apollo. Because here's the thing with Hyperborea:

It's the One Place Boreas does not blow his winds, hence its title of Eternal Spring.

Boreas's palace resides at the southern border of Hyperborea, with gryphons who live in BOTH places.

Three of Boreas's son are PRIESTS of Hyperborea, and serve Apollo when he's there.

Three of Boreas's daughters joined Artemis's hunt (Oupis features in my fic Shattered Minds, btw!)

Hyperborea is literally "over the north wind" in Greek.

I think we can all agree winter is the time Apollo and Boreas hook up lmao XD

Boreas ALSO, in some versions, is a suitor of Hyacinthus, but he clearly doesn't hold any ill-will about Hya & Apollo because let's be real, he would have picked Apollo too XD

So imagine this. Hyacinthus & Apollo making out. Then Apollo & Boreas making out. HECK HYACINTHUS & BOREAS MAKING OUT.

THIS MEME IS THEM

ALSO I RAISE YOU-

Zephyrus has a crush on Apollo :3 (It makes sense. also Apollo is widely associated with spring and Zephyrus is the SPRING wind, and likes pretty guys and Apollo is the prettiest so-)

I blabbered about that in the Discord with @xxzephyrbreezexx and our fellow Discord user whom I don't know if they have a blog here 😭 KNOW I AM POINTING VIOLENTLY IN YOUR DIRECTION

You are Zephyrus. You have a crush on Apollo. You also get a crush on his boyfriend.

AND THEN YOUR BROTHER FUCKS BOTH OF THEM

The Hyacinthus Debacle, as I have dubbed it, also created a bit of a rift between Boreas and Zephyrus, which is Sad because they are usually associated with each other in literature, art, ect :(

Family dinners are Awkward. Even more so when Boreas brings Apollo along to the dinners hosted at his place.

They became Especially Awkward when Helios and Selene were still around because then Boreas would have to deal with Helios's Dad Instincts kicking in and staring him down.

(Helios is Boreas's uncle btw!)

(I have a Boreas thing planned in my Helios fic eheheheh. It's funny, don't panic)

And whenever Apollo pops in the visit Eos about light-related things or Astraeus (Eos & Astraeus are the winds' parents) it Still Is Awkward because Zephyrus just. BOLTS out of the room.

He is simultaneously Gay For and Terrified of Apollo.

Also if Asteria tags along with Apollo (because she is shooting stars/night prophecy and Astraeus is dusk/stars) she gives Zephyrus The Death Stare.

He is equally terrified of her, minus the horny.

Cupid/Eros, eh?

...are you in the Discord by chance? Because the fellows I mentioned previously and I have also discussed this👀

We get Boreas in my next fic, btw! :D No ApolloXBoreas, sadly, but I do have plans on incorporating them into a fic!

Perhaps my revolution fic, because I am getting Ideas concerning Boreas, Apollo, and Koios... >:3

#the oracle speaks #my memes #ramblings of an oracle #apollo x boreas #toa headcanon #apollo #boreas #the trials of apollo #zephyrus #hyacinthus #hyapollo #pjo apollo #pjo zephyrus #pjo boreas #pjo hyacinthus

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fandom-friday · 9 months

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The goal of Fandom Friday: provide a place where people can shout-out their favorite creators from the week, whether it’s a piece of fan art that made you smile or a fanfic that moved you. Drop a link to your favorite creations this week into my ask box along with what you loved about it, and I will give them a shout! It doesn’t have to be Star Wars either! If it’s on another website (AO3, Twitter, etc.), please be sure to state that as well.

This happens each week, so don’t feel like you’ve got to get out everything in one week. Just keep track of them throughout the week or send me an ask whenever you find something, and I’ll drop them all on Fridays (or throughout the weekend if I get a lot). The cutoff for each week is THURSDAY 12 PM (I’m in the Pacific timezone). Anything received after that will roll to the next week. A summary of the weeks’ recs will be posted at the end of the weekly queue, so check back here for all of the awesome fics and art! And be sure to go give the creations on that list some love (and don’t just share the ask responses I put out).

2024 Fandom Friday Weekly Summary Master List

Rules and additional details under the cut! PLEASE make sure you read the rules before sending something in. If your submission violates any of the rules, I will delete it.

Rules:

Please send submissions to my ask box (sending them all to one place makes wrangling them easier each week). In your ask, please include the creator’s handle, a link to their work/post (if links aren’t working for the ask, please DM me them), and what you loved about it!

Please ensure the link is to the creator’s original post and not your own reblog or repost of their work (if they’re on another platform). The idea is to drive people to visit the creator’s page!

The creation does not have to have been posted this week! It can be something older. Also, don’t worry about whether or not a rec is a repeat from a prior week. Just looking to celebrate things that made an impression on you this week, whether you’ve seen it before or not!

NSFW is alright! Just make sure you note it in the ask so I can flag appropriately! Since I’m including 18+ material, minors may not participate. 18+ posts will be tagged with NSFT/lemon/lemony lemon (trying to cover all my bases).

NO incest, underage, cl*necest blogs, master/padawan (or similar power dynamics), dub-con/non-con/rape occurring IN the fic (to include stalker/obsessive behavior fics). Also, no H*rry Potter. There are a few others that I also won’t share due to my discomfort with them (i.e., R*xsoka), so if you’re not sure, ask. Also, many of you submit multiple works at once, and that’s fine, but if one of those works contains something that violates the rules, I will delete the entire ask, so something to be extra careful about when submitting!

Submissions that deal with 18+ material or difficult/triggering topics (pregnancy, abuse, drug use, etc.) MUST BE TAGGED APPROPRIATELY.

If your rec involves spoilers from a show that’s currently running, please include that info in the ask so I can tag it appropriately (I will normally tag a few different ways, but I always use #<show title> spoilers if you need to filter (for example: Andor spoilers will be tagged #Andor Spoilers). I will stop tagging spoilers two weeks after the show stops airing.

You can submit GIF sets or edits, but please ensure you are submitting from the blog that actually created them. Wanted to add that caution since there’s been a lot of people stealing/reposting GIFs and edits in particular recently. So just be cautious.

Try to avoid commentary in your ask that might make others feel bad (“the only person who knows how to write XXX correctly…”). It’s important to be able to appreciate creators without making others feel bad, so let’s try to keep the commentary complimentary without being off-putting for other creators.

Self recommendations are allowed and encouraged! Shout out your own hard work! You deserve the recognition!

*Rules subject to change so PLEASE make sure you read them before sending something in. If your submission violates any of the rules, I will delete it.

**If you have any questions about any of the rules, don’t hesitate to DM me!In addition to sending me asks, I highly encourage you to go either leave a comment on and/or reblog someone’s work (tag me or use the #Fandom Friday tag if you do!). Let’s get the interaction back up on this website and show the creators that work so hard on their stuff some love!

#FANDOM FRIDAY

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seirindono · 2 months

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two questions.

one, HOW DOES ONE COMIC/STORY BOARD??

IM OBSESSED WITH HOW YOU DO IT ITS SO BEAUTIFUL

two, HOW DO YOU SO IT SO FAST( that’s question is more just me being super impressed oh my goodness)

you’re very good😳

Aw, sweet, a board question *puts on serious glasses*

Ok, bring it on anon.

So, the first thing to ask yourself when starting a comic, as I see it, is what type of board are you dealing with. Webtoon? A4 pages? 4 panels? There are many ways to go about it, and each involves different processes. For example, pages will allow for more superfluous scenes, whereas the webtoon format has to be super succinct because of the reading direction. I personally think that's the main reason I do pages, among other advantages: •narrative density •variety •Tumblr-friendly format

There are quite a few disadvantages too but you have to go through the process of trials and errors to really find out what suits you best!

Then there's the ambition of the sequence you're boarding for. And it goes from 1. how used I am to boarding this kind of sequence/drawing these characters/setting and backgrounds, to 2. is it an emotional sequence? Dialogue-heavy? Or more contemplative?

It changes the way you work and how you should approach your board! For example, in TMS, the very wordy chapters (4 and 5 for ex) generally called for simple and narrow framing. Of course, you don't want to bore the reader so you can spice things up to match the characters mood and reactions once in a while, but you have to bear in mind that the sequence aims to provide dialogue and information = the text bubbles are key and WILL take a lot of place. So let them.

( then again, it's all about pacing and balance. A page full of dialogue and one with too much happening are equally hard to read and boring to do)

Only dialogue, simple squares, no compostion, the focus is on Mel's reaction

On the other hand, parts 7 and 8 are all about action and atmosphere! This makes for wider and more varied shots!

They're fighting, things are going fast so why not use a single line to show many actions! They're still basically squares and rectangles but the pacing is totally different!

Or why not give the action a full page to really show its sheer impact

You can also split things, with a zoom or small time gap, depending on if it's a gag or if you want to put the focus on a reaction. Here, the asymmetry helps reinforce the unstable, jerky aspect of the scene. The situation is getting out of hand, and visually, the pages are affected too.

Now, these are case-by-case examples. And I never work on my pages separately.

For context, this-

-is the "first" board I did for part 8.

The drawings are very small and frankly difficult to make out, but the intention is what matters at this point lol I have the script (very important) next to my canvas, and I scribble the pages one after the ither. This allows me to see if the actions flow well, if the compositions are varied and also whether certain passages are too long or too short in regard to their importance. Which scenes can be merged? Removed? Toned down or if they deserve more bite?

This is a really fun and creative part but, I'll say it again, made a lot easier with a solid scipt. And I'm talking about a text document with clearly defined dialogues (or at least outlines) and actions.

I can't really explain how to write a script, it really depends on your work flow and how confortable you are with writing, but it's too important to just rush through it. No matter how much it changes before, during or after your finish boarding (cuz you gotta break your own rules sometimes and you'll often realize some things don't work as well once you put them on paper/sometimes art block can be resolved by writing the scene and just taking the time to imagine) but it's still your one guideline.

Aaaand, that's about it.

Other than that, I can only highly recommend reading lots of comics, Webtoon, books, watching movies, paintings, illustrations, animatics or listening to music, to inspire you and expand your own "personal library of references". Professional or not, anything your find inspiring and well executed. Boarding is at its core, telling stories. No art skill involved, just pure subjectivity. At the end of the day, it's all about squares, rectangles and bubbles so you gotta work on your creativity. The rest is gut feeling!

Constantly ask yourself how to tell this story, and how you want to tell it. How this sequence should be perceived? What do you need to show to make pages and pages of words appealing and interesting.

Be patient, be bold. Start with easy stuff to get some confidence if you need to. Accept that "boring" pages are smt necessary and that it's up to you to build up tension for a scene to really pop. Try new ideas and be ready to scrap many of them, the result will be worth all the work!

Now, concerning the "fast" part, I'm flattered but I personally think I'm super slow xD You prbly get that impression bc I finish the whole chapter before posting it, but behind the scene, I'm just working at a very regular pace.

Thank youuu anon ♡( ◡‿◡ )

#ask #ask me #forgot the tag I use for those errr #tuto #boarding is so much fun *sigh* unlike this *looking at the pile of pages waiting for lineart*#I personnaly prefer boarding for animatic but comics are fun cuz I know I'll get to actually see the final result haha #I know some artists love to do intricate shots with lots of details and pers (big flex here) but I'm more about the vibe really xD

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poppy-metal · 3 months

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oh girl tashi involved in the creep au…. art pays extra for her to leave little sticky notes where she knows you’ll find them. im watching birdie. missed me birdie? i’m coming for you you little cunt. stuff like that on them. she talks to you idly and in coffee shop and realises how deranged you are, realises art is having a genuinely disturbed person trailed. tells him, i don’t know if that girl is right. she seemed sweet enough, and i don’t think she’s dangerous. but something about her is off. real off. i saw herr find the note, and she didn’t look scared. she didn’t look surprised. she looked… there was something frightening about how happy it made her. like she’d won’t the lottery. i’ve never seen anyone’s mouth smile so wide. i don’t know. something i thought you should know. sounds like birdie to him. but not liar birdie. the birdie he thought he knew. how strange.

it just makes him more angry :(( he doesn't get you. he thought he knew you, once. thought he knew a girl he was in love with - knew that you liked birds, and fairytales, and english was your favorite subject because you liked writing so much, he knew you made twisted things sound beautiful, he knew you liked the color pink although you didn't allow yourself to wear it much apparently, he knew what your pussy looked like shining and wet with arousal, what it looked like stuffed full of delicate fingers. at least he thought he knew all that - and then you'd taken it all back, said it was a lie. none of it was real. he had to grapple with the fact he knew all these things about a person that wasn't real. useless fucking knowledge that he couldn't unknow. couldn't unlearn. all he knew for sure was that you were a liar.

he gives tashi a note to place in your winsheild when she finds your apartment - its something simple to start. a single white slip of paper with pen ink scrawled across it.

found you.

its sealed so tashi wont read it. he doesn't care if she does, though. its not her job to judge him. Its her job to follow you around. to find you.

still, art not prepared for the file he gets when tashi returns. his hands almost shake when he opens the envelope filled with information about you - the real you.

the first thing he pulls out is a birth certificate. your real name is there - his eyes skim the information. when you were born, what hospital, what time. he notes it all down. feeds it into his brain.

he pulls out a bundle of pictures of you next tashi had taken - wrapped and secured with a rubber band. he takes it off. looks.

exhales.

oh, birdie.

his finger traces your face, reverent. he can't help it. its a picture of you leaving your apartment - its a rainy day - you're wearing a simple black coat and jeans. you're looking up at the sky - he soaks in your face. and he recognizes it, faintly.

his lab partner all those years ago. the shy one. you'd looked alot different then - but your eyes were the same. his chest burns. so it really was a lie then. had to be. how could you sit next to him everyday, right under his nose, and not say anything? to see the affect you were having? could you see him unraveling each day? did it make you laugh? you'd seemed so sweet. kind and quiet.

he almost fists the picture in his hand - the edges crinkling. he stops himself, though. smooths the picture back out. you really are pretty.

he looks through the rest of the pictures - one of you at work - one of you sitting on a bench - another of you crouched down to pet a cat.

they tell a story of a perfectly normal girl. a nice girl. a good girl. all things art knows you aren't capable of being. he fits the rubber band back over the bundle. he'll touch himself to them later - no doubt. mark your pretty face in ropes of his cum. he needs to plan now. other information in the envelope includes your apartment buildings name, room number, the location of the cafě you work at.

he finds tashi's note at the end peculiar. happy? you shouldn't be. the note was meant to unsettle you. he didn't know if you remembered him. but even still, receiving a note like that would be creepy for anyone. he doesn't understand you. it pisses him off. he needs to know everything about you the way you learned everything about him. he wants to study you until he knows the exact steps you'll take in the morning. he wants to be a presence looming in your life that fills you with dread. not just that. excitement, too. lust. fear. all things you'd made him feel. forced him to feel.

he'll make his next letter more frightening, then.

#ask #frens <3 #creep!au

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javierpena-inatacvest · 1 year

Text

Chapter 14- Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Summary: You and Javi celebrate your first Christmas together in Laredo

Word Count: 11.3K (could be worse?)

Warnings: SMUT (18+), unprotected p in v sex (don't be a fool, wrap your tool), oral (f receiving), face sitting (awh hell yes), creampie, praise kink, breeding kink, mentions of food/eating, mentions of grief/death (but it's sweet), children being assholes (I'm a teacher, I'm allowed to say it), our favorite idiots Carter and Miller making a brief appearance (I missed them), Javi being so sweet with kids (this does deserve a warning, I'm sorry) Javi being so kind, patient, thoughtful, amazing UGH he is too good for this earth 🥹😩

A/N: Thank you for your patience as I finally get this chapter done! Life has been absolutely crazy these past two weeks, so I'm hoping now that things have settled down, I can get back to working on chapters at a more regular schedule 🥴 If you're a Christmas girlie (gender neutral) like me, this chapter is for you, because even though it's only October, I really can't help myself (and like these two idiots celebrating Christmas together for the first time?! C'mon 🥺)

Series Masterlist Next Chapter Previous Chapter

“So you’re leaving early today to do arts and crafts? That’s a new one.” Agent Miller snickered, leaning over his desk to slap his partner, Agent Carter, in amusement as they watched their boss begin to organize his desk and pack up his briefcase, already rolling his eyes in annoyance at the grief he was about to get from his co-workers for his early departure.

“I’m not the one doing the arts and crafts. I’m just going into her class to help, you idiot.” Javi sighed, glaring at Miller as he finished sorting the rest of his paperwork piles.

Last week, you had asked Javi if he would be able to come into your classroom one afternoon when he wasn't busy, to help with the project you were planning for your students to give to their parents as a Christmas gift before they left for winter break. You had quickly realized that for the sake of your sanity, what you had planned was nowhere near a one man job, and because it was a surprise gift for their families, you didn’t want to ask any parents to come into help. Javi had happily accepted, even with your adamant warnings of the case of Christmas Crazies your class had with only days left before winter break.

“…. To help do arts and crafts. Just callin’ a spade a spade here, Peña. Does that mean we’re gonna start having craft time here, too?” Miller and Carter chuckled to themselves, smirking at Javi, now slinging his briefcase over his shoulder, making his way out of his office.

“Listen, Miller. Give Peña all the shit you want, but I would way rather be cutting and gluing shit and throwing fist fulls of glitter in the air than working on these fucking reports.” Carter huffed, waving the file folder Miller was supposed to be working on in his face before throwing it back down on his desk.

“Fair enough.”

“I wouldn’t trust you dumbasses with scissors and glue if my life depended on it.” Javi groaned, raising an eyebrow at the pair before picking up one of the finished reports off of Carter’s desk, using it to point at the two on his way out. “These better be done by the time I get back tomorrow.”

“But I’m gonna need extra time to decorate them for you, Peña!” Miller grinned, he and Carter playfully swatting at each other in hysterics, Javi flipping them off as he headed out the door.

After his mom passed, Javi would have never thought Alma Pierce Elementary School would be a place that would hold any more relevance to him, let alone be a place that he would frequent, now that his future wife worked there. He couldn’t help but smile as he pulled into the parking lot, thinking about the joy it would have brought Lucia to see that her years of having Javi help her with her own classroom were still going to good use with you. He also couldn’t help but smile to himself as he grabbed the coffee sitting in his cup holder he had picked up for you on the way over from the station, also knowing his mom would have had some choice words to say to him if he showed up empty handed to your classroom.

After checking in with the office, he made the now familiar route down to your classroom, weaving through the tiny bodies patterning down the hallway, screeching and squealing with what had to be uncontrollable Christmas excitement. He gently tapped at your door before opening it, a grin growing across your face as you looked up from your desk as you saw your fiancé with an extra large cup of coffee in his hands at the doorway.

“Oh my god, you brought me coffee? I owe you my life, you are the best. Thank you.” The sigh you let out felt like the weight of the world lifted off your shoulders as you shot up to run over to Javi, giving him a big hug before snatching the cup out of his hands and taking a long swig of the caffeine you knew you were going to need to get you through the afternoon.

“I figured you could probably use it.” Javi chuckled, pressing a kiss into the top of your head before looking around, noticing that you were the only one in your room. “Where are the kids?”

“They’re at lunch, I was just about to leave to go pick them up. They’ve been absolute psychopaths today. I know it’s wrong to say I wanna drop kick a child out a window, but I’m real close.” You grumbled, taking another long sip of your coffee. “I don’t think I would have made it out alive today if you didn’t come in to help, so I apologize in advance for their behavior. I may or may not have told them that because you work for the police you keep track of what kids are well behaved or not to try and scare them a little.” You grimaced, knowing that the comment you had made earlier to your kids when you told them Javi was coming into help wasn’t the most ethical, but you were desperate for anything that would even remotely help control the chaos in your classroom with only 2 days left before winter break.

“Any kids in particular I need to be on the lookout for?” Javi asked, laughing to himself as you leaned over to set your coffee on your desk before heading towards the door to go pick up your class from the cafeteria.

“Oh… you’ll know them when you see them.”

You closed the door behind you, giving Javi a quick wink, leaving him alone in your classroom to wait for the arrival of the promised circus show that was your students. He wandered over to your desk, peeking through the piles of papers, sticky notes of to-do’s and drawings your students had given you. On the wall by your calendars, there was a photo of you and your family, 2 of you and Javi, and a note that he had written you one day and stuck in your lunch box, scribbled down in his rushed handwriting

Te amo mucho, hermosa. Have a great day.

-J

He thumbed gently at the wrinkled note, smiling to himself, still in awe of how the pieces of him seemed to follow you in everywhere you went. The sweet moment was quickly interrupted by the sounds of little voices bursting through the doorway, chattering away as they rushed to go sit on the carpet at the front of the room.

“Who’s that guy?!” A boy’s voice asked, pointing in Javi’s direction before balling up his body and doing a literal somersault across the carpet.

“It’s Mr. Peña! Do you not remember when our teacher told us before lunch that he was coming, dummy?” A girl’s voice responded, rolling her eyes at the boy, now laying face down on the floor. As more and more kids came over to the carpet, the more and more voices began to chime in.

“Don’t call him a dummy, Angela, that’s mean!”

“Well he is!”

“Why does that guy have a mustache?”

“My uncle has a mustache!”

“When are we going home?”

“Miguel tried to kick me in the nuts at recess!”

“I did not!”

You buried your hands in your face, letting out a deep sigh, shaking your head before looking back at Javi, quietly mouthing “I’m so sorry.” across the room before making your way to the front of the class.

“If you can hear me, clap once.”

3 or 4 half hearted claps followed over the chatter.

“If you can hear me, clap twice.”

More students began to join in, curious to see that Javi was now also following your directions.

“If you can hear me, put your hands on your head and turn off your voice.”

Finally, the volume of your room began to ease, all of your students, and Javi, quietly looking at you with their hands resting on top of their heads.

“Okay, 3rd graders. Right now, we are going to work on our holiday presents for our grownups we’ve been talking about all week. Remember how I told you this morning that we have someone special coming in to help today?” The class nodded, eyes glued on Javi. “This is Mr. Peña. Can you guys say hi?”

“Hi, Mr. Peña!” The class waved at him, Javi now smiling and waving back at them.

“Mr. Peña is taking time out of his day to come help us with our project, so we need to show him what a respectful, responsible and safe class we are, okay? If we can follow directions and everyone gets their project done, then we will have time for extra recess at the end of the day.” Javi snickered at the silent grins and high-fives on the carpet in hopes of bonus time outside. “Once you glue your picture on your plate to make your snowglobe, you can come see me to put the snowflakes inside, and then take it over to Mr. Peña and he’s going to hot glue it for you.”

A tiny hand quickly shot up, waving it back and forth. “No, Miguel. You cannot use the hot glue gun. It’s a grownup's only job.” You tried your best not to roll your eyes as Miguel frowned and put his hand back in his lap, knowing damn well he would be one to try and hot glue his hands together. “Do we have any questions before we start?” Almost all of your class’s hands shot up immediately, all beaming at Javi, frantically wiggling their arms in the air. You laughed to yourself, knowing that none of them had any questions about the project, and just wanted to talk to Javi. “Are these all just questions for Mr. Peña?” The class nodded, now squirming in their spots. “Okay, we can do 3 questions right now, and maybe if we have time at the end we can ask him some more questions. Is that okay, Mr. Peña?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, sure.” Javi smiled, trying his best to keep from smirking at you and your teacher voice that seemed to be having a much stronger effect on him than he had intended.

“Okay, Mr. Peña is going to pick 3 people who are sitting on their bottom and are waiting quietly and patiently for a turn.” You couldn’t help but smirk back at him as he stepped next to you on the front of the carpet, nervously running his thumb over his knuckles to prepare for his interrogation from 8 and 9 year olds. He pointed over to a girl at the back of the group, nodding to her to ask whatever was on her mind.

“So you’re marrying our teacher? Do you love her? Have you ever kissed her before?” The entire class erupted with giggles as Javi’s face went red with embarrassment.

“Uh, yeah. I love her a lot and that’s why we’re getting married.” Javi leaned over to whisper in your ear as the kids continued to snicker. “Am I allowed to answer the last part?”

“We’re not gonna talk about kissing at school, okay, Maya?” You laughed, giving Javi a little nudge as he pointed to the next student, picking a boy this time, in hopes that he wouldn’t have intense questions about his love life.

“Our teacher said that you work at the police station. Have you ever arrested anyone? Do you catch bad guys?” One of the boys asked, the rest of the class leaning in with intrigue. Javi rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, trying to maneuver another hard hitting question.

“Well I uh, I help train the guys who catch the bad guys, I don’t actually go out and catch them.”

“SO YOU DON’T THROW PEOPLE IN JAIL?!” Miguel shouted out, barely letting Javi answer his question.

“I’m gonna throw you in jail, Miguel…” you muttered under your breath, hiding your face behind Javi’s shoulder, the both of you trying to contain your laughter.

“No, I don’t. Uh okay, last one.” He pointed to another girl who had been patiently waiting with her hand raised the entire time Javi had been sharing.

“One time, my grandpa punched my dad in the face, and they kept punching and punching and so then my mom called the police, and then he had to go to jail and my Grandpa kept yelling you motherfu-.”

“OKAY, on that note we’re gonna start with our projects, everything is already on your desks. Come see me for snowflakes and Mr. Peña for gluing both pieces together.” Your eyes widened in horror, jumping in to try and cut her off before she could finish the rest of her thought. It had thankfully seemed like the rest of the class had been oblivious, racing back to their desks to work on their projects. You pinched the bridge of your nose before rubbing your fingers against your temples, trying not to wither away from the embarrassment your class had decided to subject you to with their questions for Javi.

“... I am so sorry.” You sighed, shaking your head as you looked over at Javi, trying his best to keep from laughing at the antics your class was already up to before they had even started working on their project.

“Is this what it’s like every day?” Javi’s eyes widened as he looked out at the classroom, already overwhelmed by the noise and bodies moving everywhere.

“It’s normally not this bad, I swear I’m a good teacher. With it being 2 days before break, as long as everyone makes it home alive, I’m calling it a win. Thank you again for coming to help, Jav. You okay to man the hot glue station?”

“Of course, Osita.” He smiled, giving your hand a little squeeze.

“Miguel will legitimately try to glue his hands together, so just be… extra careful when he comes around.”

You couldn’t have been more thankful that Javi had agreed to help you with your project, because passing out confetti snowflakes alone was enough to make you lose your mind, let alone try and glue things together, too. Through the chaos, you and Javi found yourself exchanging quick glances, quietly laughing to yourself at the craziness. You couldn’t help but stare a little longer as you watched Javi your students, patiently helping each of them, listening to them share about who they were planning on giving their handmade gift to, complementing them on their work, and carefully monitoring to make sure no one (especially Miguel) got too close to the hot glue gun. You’d be lying if you said it ever got old watching how goddamn sweet he was with any kid he talked to, making your heartbeat a little faster at the thought of how much sweeter he’d be when it was one of your own.

By some miracle, everyone had finished with their gift before it was time for gym, glady sending them on their way to go burn off some excessive energy to help you through the last few hours of the day. Javi’s mom had clearly trained him well, coming back to find him helping to clean up the leftover mess from your crafts after dropping your class off.

“You don’t have to help clean up, Jav. You’ve already done more than enough.” You sighed, sitting yourself on top of the desk Javi was next to, reaching out to grab his hand.

“Osita. If this is what you do every fucking day all day long, the least I can help you do is clean up. Jesus Christ, this was fucking exhausting.”

“Well, I really threw you into the worst of it, so I apologize. Thank you again for helping. The kids really liked you. They kept asking the whole way to gym when you were going to come back. I told them when they stopped acting like a pack of wild monkeys, maybe you’ll consider.” You and Javi laughed, Javi gently resting his hand on your knee, thumb circling against your jeans.

“I’ll come back any time, Hermosa. Getting to watch my hot, future wife kick ass at her job is way better than having to harp on Carter and Miller to run the reports I ask them to every goddamn day. I’m more than happy to stay if you need more help, but I figured since I took the rest of the afternoon off, and I have a genuine appreciation for a fraction of how fucking hard your job is, I would go home and make whatever you want for dinner and finish up shit around the apartment so we can spend tonight doing whatever you want.” You smiled up at Javi, reaching your hand under his chin, pulling it closer to you to plant a quick kiss on his lips.

“Someone’s really trying to make sure they make their place on the Nice List before Christmas.” You smirked, raising an eyebrow at Javi, crossing your arms over your chest.

“You deserve it all, Osita. It’s seriously the least I can do. Although, the things I wanna do to you later are definitely gonna end me up on the Naughty List.” He gripped his hand around the meat of your thigh, giving it a long squeeze as he placed a tender kiss on your lips, trying to use every ounce of self control to remember he was still at your work, let alone an elementary school where an 8 year old could come busting through the door at any moment.

“You’re such a fucking dork. You’re lucky I love you so much.” You rolled your eyes, playfully swatting at him. “Thank you, Jav. You really are the best. Can we do breakfast for dinner?”

“I had a feeling that was what you were gonna ask for.”

“Breakfast is the superior food at all hours of the day, and no one can convince me otherwise.”

“Pancakes or waffles?”

“Surprise me.”

You pecked a quick kiss onto Javi’s cheek before sliding off the desk, wrapping your arms around him, giving him a hug, pressing your face into the fabric of his dress shirt, savoring the familiarity of his sweet and spicy cologne that had become the scent that smelled like home. “Alright, as much as I don’t want you to leave, I probably should be a good teacher and print the rest of the things I need and salvage a survival plan for the next two days before the gremlins get back.”

“I’ll see you at home, Hermosa. Love you”

“Love you too.”

With one last squeeze, and a wave as he headed out the door, Javi left you in your empty classroom, looking out at the disaster left in your student’s wake. Christmas couldn’t come fast enough.

Anything that you had planned for the afternoon had quickly gone out the window after your class had returned from gym, your plans for an extra long recess turning into an even longer recess, and part of a movie before sending the kids on their way home. Some way or another, you were able to drag yourself home, the promise of breakfast food keeping you afloat the entirety of your drive home.

As you walked down the hallway of your apartment, you could hear the quick pops and sizzles of the bacon Javi was cooking over the muffled Christmas music in the background. Turning your key in the lock on the doorknob, you pushed the door open, immediately dropping your school bag and kicking off your shoes, practically falling to the floor from exhaustion. Before you could even turn around to greet Javi, you felt his arms reaching under your legs and around your shoulders, making you squeal as he scooped you up, carrying you across the entry way towards the living room.

“Hi?” You laughed, looking up at Javi in confusion as to why you had barely made it 2 feet into your apartment before he was picking you up and carrying you away.

“Hi.” He smiled down at you, giving you a little shake in his grip.

“Can I ask why you’re carrying me? Am I not allowed to walk anymore?” You guestrued down at the ground, watching your legs dangle with each step Javi took.

“Because you work harder than anyone I know, and after today, if I’m fucking tired, you must be fucking exhausted, and my amazing, beautiful future wife deserves to relax.”

He paused, tilting his head down to give you a kiss before turning his body the opposite direction. You had been so focused on Javi as he carried you from the doorway, you hadn’t even realized what was set up in the living room until he had shifted his position, facing you towards it. You looked over to see a blanket fort built between the ends of the couch, TV paused and ready to watch “It’s A Wonderful Life”, and the Christmas tree the two of you had decorated together lit up and twinkling, casting warm shadows on the walls. “Pajamas are in there, so change, lay down and I’m bringing you breakfast while we watch the movie.”

You could feel the tears welling in your eyes as you looked out at the living room and back up at Javi. “Javi, you didn’t have to-”

“I know, I didn’t have to do anything. I wanted to. I know how much you love Christmas and how we haven’t done much to celebrate since you’ve been busy with work, so I wanted to do something for you.” A grin grew across Javi’s face, watching your jaw hang open in shock as he set you down, letting you go over to examine his blanket creation. You stood there, shaking your head in disbelief, wondering to yourself how the hell you had gotten so lucky that someone cared enough about you to make you dinner after a long day, let alone plan something special for you, even if it was just in your living room. Before you could even respond, Javi was heading back to the kitchen to turn off the beeping timer of the oven, gesturing over to the fort. “I’ll be in there in a second.”

“Javi, you set this all up for me, at least let me help with dinner or-”

“Osita. Go put on pajamas and lay down. I swear to God, you’re the only person I’ve ever met that needs more convincing to go sit and relax than get up and do things.” He laughed, pointing at the covered couch, demanding you to get in. You held your hands up in defense before kneeling down to peek under the blankets Javi had draped over the top to see your comforter, all the pillows and blankets you owned, and your favorite sweatshirt and sweatpants of Javi’s folded neatly on top of everything. You quickly stood back up, unzipping and shuffling out of your jeans, trading them out for the sweatpants before stripping yourself of your shirt and bra, peeking around the corner to see Javi biting down on his bottom lip, eyes glued to you as you slipped his sweatshirt over your head.

“I should have known better than to think you would have put out clothes for me to change into for any other reason than your own selfish gain, Javier Peña.” You jabbed, Javi shrugging as he grabbed two plates of the breakfast that he had finished cooking, bringing them back over to you.

“Me? Wanting to watch you change on purpose, knowing damn well you were gonna take your bra off before you put my sweatshirt on? I don’t know what you’re talking about, Osita.” He smirked, a devilish grin growing across his face as he ducked into the fort, giving you a quick wink.

“You? Wanting to see my boobs? Yeah, you’re right, how silly of me.” You groaned, voice oozing with sarcasm as you followed him, snuggling yourself under a blanket as Javi handed a plate over to you. “In all seriousness, this is really sweet of you, Javi. Thank you. Didn’t picture you as a big blanket fort kind of guy.” You giggled, giving him a little nudge.

“I would make them all the time when I was little. Especially with my mom. I’d play with Hot Wheels in there, or my mom would read with me- I don’t know, maybe it’s from being with you at school today, and thinking about her, but I got home and thought you’d like it. You seem like someone who made their fair share of blanket forts as a kid.” Javi’s face beamed with a soft smile, the dimples of his cheeks creasing as he grinned over at you.

“That’s really sweet. She sounds like she was the best mom. That’s a lot sweeter than my memories of building forts. My brothers and I had a pretty much permanent one set up in the basement made from old hockey sticks, but it was referred to in our house as Pound Town. We would go in and beat the shit out of each other with pillows until it collapsed on us and we’d have to pause, try to build it again, and beat the shit out of each other with pillows as we argued about if we were building it right or not. My parents let it slide because we weren’t annoying them, until one day when Patrick and I got in a huge fight about which couch cushions to use and he took one of the hockey sticks and hit me in the face and gave me a black eye. Pound Town was no more after that.” You grimaced, taking a bite of one of the chocolate chip pancakes Javi had put on your plate.

“I’m pretty sure at this point, you could tell me that you and your brothers robbed a bank and I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“We were always well behaved during December, though. My parents definitely played into the threat of being on the naughty list as soon as Thanksgiving was over. At least they got a few weeks of peace each year. I honestly think that my parents were just as excited for Christmas movies as we were, because it at least gave them an hour and a half of semi-silence.” You laughed, nodding your head towards the TV.

“I’m gonna be honest, Osita. I don’t blame them.” You sighed, leaning your head against Javi’s chest, feeling it rise and fall with each small huff of laughter. “We don’t have to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” either, I just know you said you liked it and we didn’t get to watch it yet.”

“No, this is a perfect pick. It’s one of my favorites. You wanna start it?” Reaching over for the remote, you smiled at Javi as he nodded, pressing play as the title credits began rolling across the screen. Javi had quickly come to learn that if you liked a movie, not only were you willing to watch it a million times, you knew just about every line, like you were putting on a one man production of whatever it was you were watching. Although you always quoted everything to yourself under your breath, something about it made Javi’s heart melt, spending more time looking over at you, whispering the lines of the movie to yourself, rather than watching whatever was on the screen. In between bites of breakfast, Javi watched your cheeks turn rosy as you watched a little George and Mary on the screen, eating ice cream at the drugstore, Mary leaning down to whisper in George’s ear. Javi had only seen the movie a handful of times, knowing it nowhere near as well as you, but well enough to know the line you mouthed to yourself wasn’t quite right.

“Javier Peña, I’ll love you ‘till the day I die.”

The two of you munched away at the rest of your breakfast dinner, Javi taking both of your empty plates back to the kitchen before nestling back under the blankets, wrapping his arm around your shoulder as you laid your head against his chest. Now watching George and Mary throw stones through the windows of the old, abandoned house, making wishes of what they hoped their lives to be, you snuggled closer to Javi, draping your arm over his waist, twisting the ends of his t-shirt between your fingers.

“I can’t believe they’re actually gonna start building the house in a few weeks.” You looked up at Javi, beaming with excitement. After Javi’s proposal, both to be his wife and to build the two of you your dream home, you both had been working to draft up and finalize plans for construction to physically start happening. All of the design process had been smooth sailing so far, you and Javi easily agreeing on things you wanted for the house- layouts, designs, sizing- the only thing that was stopping you from moving forward with progress was deciding how many bedrooms the house was going to have.

“Not too late to tell Danny we need to add another bedroom.” Javi teased, gently squeezing your arm.

“I think 5 bedrooms is plenty, Mr. Ambitious. If we have more than 4 kids, we might as well add enough rooms to house a baseball team.”

“I’ll give you a football team’s worth of kids, if you want it.”

“I know you would, but you’re not the one who has to push a football team’s worth of kids out of you.” You laughed, playfully swatting at Javi before he wrapped his arm around the small of your back, flipping you so that your chest was caged with his, bodies laying pressed against each other.

“I’m happy with 1 kid or 10. Whatever you want, Osita, I’ll give it to you.” Javi smiled softly, brushing a stray piece of hair from your face before cupping your jaw in his palm, thumb delicately circling across your skin.

“What if I want you?” You whispered, stretching your head up to nibble at his chin, planting kisses along his face and neck, each one more desperate and hungry than the last.

“You have me, Hermosa. Forever.” He reached down, grabbing your left hand, carefully twisting the gold and diamond band around your finger in his. It wasn’t long before his hand had left yours, beginning to roam down your shoulders and back before slipping under the waistband of your sweatpants, grabbing handfuls of your ass as you pressed the weight of your hips further into his, feeling his bulge starting to grow underneath you. Working his hands back up around your hips, he pushed your sweatpants and underwear down your legs, slightly raising your lower half to help Javi strip them off your body, leaving your lower half exposed. Javi’s grip tightened around your thighs, suddenly locking his arms around them, scooting you closer to him, now sitting on his chest.

“Javi, what are you-” You protested, taking a second to realize what Javi was prompting you to do.

“Wanna take care of you, sweet girl.” He rasped, continuing to pull you closer towards him, now sitting on him near his collarbone, as he cut you off.

“Are you sure, Jav?” You asked, biting down on your lip, looking down at Javi, lust pooling in the dark brown of his gaze, a devilish smirk stretching across his lips. “I’m always worried I’m gonna suffocate you when we do this.”

“I’m still alive, aren’t I? Baby, if I die between your thighs from you sitting on my face, I’ll die a fucking happy man. Please?”

“Okay, okay.” You nodded, letting out a little, breathy laugh as Javi tugged you one last time, your already dripping heat hovering over his face. You began to slowly lower yourself down, Javi’s fingertips gripping the flesh of your hips, forcing you to shift your weight onto him, making you moan as you felt his strong nose brush against your clit. You could feel the width of his tongue dragging along your cunt, slowly and deliberately working himself along your sensitive bundle of nerves. His face nestled between your legs, he took his time with each lick, taking extra time to press harder on the spots he knew made you weak, loving how wrecked he could tell you already were as you rolled your hips over his face. You could practically feel his smirk buried in your pussy as the movements of his tongue became more precise, flicking at your clit making you whimper as you braced yourself on the edge of the couch, grasping at the cushions.

“Javi… Fuck, oh my god.” You whined, feeling the tension begin to build in your belly as Javi wrapped his plush lips around your mound, sucking feverishly as you rocked your hips back and forth, grinding down harder, the hairs of his mustache brushing against your thighs. You could feel him hum in approval against your cunt as your back began to arch, a familiar tingle growing at the base of your spine as his mouth latched firmer around your clit, desperate to make you come undone.

“Fuck, baby- oh shit- Javi, don’t stop, fuck, fuck, I’m so close. Fuck, I’m- mhhhmmmmmm.” Your orgasm crashed through you, pleasure overtaking your body as you came, whimpering and moaning Javi’s name as he dug his fingers deeper into your flesh, holding you against him as he continued to work you through your high. Your body went slack, draping your upper half over the edge of the couch as you felt Javi scoot out from under you, looking down to see his face glistening in your slick, accompanied by a boyish grin as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he gazed back up at you.

“Goddamn, Hermosa. Fucking soaked me. That feel good, pretty girl? You want more?” You nodded frantically at him, still at a loss for words as your chest heaved with each shaky breath. Gently grabbing your waist, he shifted you down so your back laid buried in the comforters and head rested against a pile of pillows, planting soft kisses down your body as he quickly pushed his sweatpants and boxers down his legs, freeing his painfully hard cock, its tip already dripping with precum, staining the fabric of the pants and underwear it had been straining against. He reached down, stroking his dick as he lined himself up with your entrance, running his tip through your folds, already soaked with your slick from your last orgasm, before slowly pressing inside you, letting you savor every inch of his length buried deep inside you. His hips flushed against yours as he bottomed out, his fullness stretching you open with the sweet sting that had become one of your favorite feelings in the world. “Always so wet for me, Osita. Fuck, I can’t believe this perfect fucking pussy is mine forever. You’re mine forever.” He mewled, slowly pulling himself back before pressing deep inside you again, each stroke making you feel even fuller than the last.

“Forever.” You whispered back, your voice trembling as his cock pushed further into your cunt, practically hearing the lewd noises of wetness between the both of you as he thrusted in and out. Sitting back on his heels, Javi hooked his arms under your legs, pressing them to your chest, gently rubbing circles against your already throbbing clit before sinking back into you, the stretch of the new angle and added sensation of his fingers making you whine as your arms wrapped around his shoulders, fingernails digging into your back. “Fuck, Javi. You feel so big, fuck, it feels so good.”

“Fuck me.” Javi hissed, the rhythm of his hips hitting yours beginning to become more rapid and desperate as he watched you writhe under him. “You’re fucking perfect, Osita. Gonna be a perfect wife, a perfect mom, fuck- I can’t wait to marry you, live in our house- oh shit- Fill it with our kids. Fuck, te lo daré todo (I’ll give you everything).”

Everything was making your mind go blank- his words, his fingers rubbing against your clit, his cock pounding into you, over and over in the spot that had you seeing stars. The coil in your belly began to build as Javi buried his face in the nape of your neck, nipping and sucking at your pulse point, his words hot and heavy on your skin. You could feel your cunt beginning to clench tighter around his length, your heart beating fast as your orgasm began to build with each push and pull out of your heat. “I know you’re close, baby. Give it to me, Hermosa. Cum all over my cock. Gonna fuck myself so deep inside you, shit, can’t wait until I can fuck a baby into you, wish I could make myself stick, fucking get you pregnant right now.”

Just like that, something inside you snapped, your body tensing as you felt yourself squeeze around Javi’s dick, soaking him as your orgasm ripped through you. A string of expletives and his name fell from your mouth, your brain short circuiting from the overwhelming intensity, sobbing into his shoulder as you came. It wasn’t long until Javi was close behind you, rapidly chasing his own high as he pounded into your heat, dripping with your slick. “That’s it, baby. Such a good girl. Fuck, I’m not gonna last much longer. Meirda- so wet and tight for me. Oh fuck, fuck, I’m gonna cum too, holy- ahhhhhhh.” Javi gritted his teeth as he thrusted one last time, spilling deep in your walls, making sure to milk himself of every last drop as he slumped on top of you, your chests rising and falling in unison as you tried to catch your breath.

“Jesus Christ…” You laughed to yourself under your breath, reaching up to run your hand through Javi’s curls, dark and damp as they stuck to his forehead. “Javi, if you keep saying shit like that when we fuck, I am gonna end up pregnant before we get married.”

“And that would be a bad thing because…” Javi smirked, pressing a tender kiss against your lips, feeling his grin on your mouth.

“Javi!” You giggled, rolling your eyes and playfully swatting at his bare chest as he hovered over you, gently twisting his fingers through the messy ends of your hair. “We have talked about this! Once we’re married and the house is all the way finished, then I’ll toss my birth control in the trash. But until then, you’re really making it work unpaid overtime, you menace. I hate to break it to you, but keeping your dick inside me isn’t gonna do anything for you right now.”

“Like you don’t like it.” He chuckled, the both of you letting out a little hiss at the loss of Javi being buried inside you, feeling the mixture of your spend drip down your thighs as he laid back down next to you, wrapping his arm around your back, pulling you closer as you rested your head on his chest, hiking your leg up over his hip. “I’m just saying, Osita, Christmas is only a few days away, you could just throw it away early and-”

“JAVI!” You scolded him, giggling as he raised an eyebrow at you, giving a little shrug. “You will get plenty of other presents. That one’s gonna have to wait, as much as I don’t want to either. The house should be done right around the same time as the wedding anyways, so you won’t even have to wait that long.”

The two of you had very easily decided that you didn’t want a big wedding by any means, bringing Chucho endless amounts of joy when you had asked him if you could have your celebration at the Peña ranch. The thought was the first thing that came to both you and Javi’s minds- something small and simple, really only wanting your close friends and family to join you on your big day in a place that held such importance to the both of you. While you and Javi had agreed that you would have married each other tomorrow, you had compromised with the middle of June, giving you a few weeks after the school year had finished to let you have some time to prep or plan anything else that needed to happen, without the end of the year school stressors on top of it.

After working with Javi’s cousin, Danny, (who finally received your finalized floor plans a few days ago after finally compromising on your bedroom count), he was able to guess that given that the winter was normally less busy for him and his crew, he would also hopefully have the house done by mid to late June, planning to have the majority of the work completed after you came back from your Honeymoon, you and Javi offering to finish up any last touches that he wouldn’t be able to get to after you returned.

While the both of you had agreed that you would wait until you were married before your birth control prescription was canceled, never to be seen again, you managed to talk some sense into Javi, telling him the house needed to be finished before you started trying, God forbidding that something went wrong, leaving you who knows how pregnant in an unfinished house. Regardless, it hadn’t stopped Javi from the moment that ring went on your finger to play into just how badly he was ready to give you the family you deserved, making it very hard for the both of you to stick to your plan.

“I know, I know.” He sighed contently, picking your arm up, draping it over his chest so he could play with the ring on your finger, delicately thumbing at the stone and gold band. “Knowing I get to spend the rest of my life with you is the only fucking Christmas present I’ll ever need for the rest of my life.”

“You’re really trying to make your way back onto the Nice List, huh?” You giggled, biting down on your lip as you reached up to grab Javi’s face, giving it a little shake. “You’re all I’ll ever need, too, Javi.” A cheeky smirk spread across your face as you looked up at Javi, pressing a hot kiss against the skin of his neck before you spoke. “I gotta shower and clean this mess up, you wanna come with me and hang out on the Naughty List just a little bit longer?”

“I’d take coal in my stocking any fucking day for you.”

Someway or another, you managed to make it through the last two days of school, bribing your class with more play time, recess, and movies than you’d like to admit. You and Javi were planning to spend the second half of your break with your family in Chicago, giving you two a few days to celebrate your first Christmas in Laredo together, now that you were on break. You had agreed to spend Christmas Eve celebrating with Chucho, the 3 of you gathering at the Peña ranch in the afternoon, offering to help Javi’s dad with chores around the farm since he had graciously given everyone else the day off to spend with their families. It took no convincing on your end to go out and help Javi feed the animals, one of your favorite chores on the farm, especially when it came to the cows.

“I can’t believe how big they are.” You cooed, scratching one of the not so baby cows you had met for the first time a few months ago along its nose, giggling as it gave you a little lick.

“They don’t stay little and cute for very long.” Javi chuckled, throwing the last bale of hay over the fence into one of the troughs, wiping his hands along his plaid shirt before resting his arm around your waist, standing next to you as you continued scratching and petting the rest of the cows that had gathered looking for attention.

“Excuse you? They are still incredibly cute! Apologize to these sweet babies!” You gasped dramatically, holding your hand over your chest as you swatted at Javi.

“Hermosa, they’re cows. They’re loud and annoying once they’re full grown, and last time I checked, I don’t think they can understand what I’m saying.” He laughed as you looked back at him with fake disgust, taking a step back, crossing your arms over your chest. Before you could argue back, one of the cows let out a long, loud mooooo, pointed in Javi’s direction, turning to look back at the cow before looking back at Javi.

“I think that’s cow for fuck you, I am cute.” You smirked, giving Javi a little shrug as you nodded back at the cow.

“Whatever, you dork.” Javi sighed, rolling his eyes at you as the two of you grabbed the rest of the feed buckets, heading back to the truck.

The two of you finished your rounds and you and Javi made your way back to the house to find Chucho humming away in the kitchen, chopping and dicing up vegetables to throw into his simmering pot of broth for the Pozole he had promised Javi for their Christmas Eve meal.

“Chucho, do you think that cows are cute?” You questioned, kicking off your shoes at the door, Javi following behind, shaking his head. Chucho chuckled to himself, wiping his hands along his worn apron before picking up his wooden spoon to stir his stew.

“Why are you asking?” He asked, looking over at you as you made your way into the kitchen, popping a leftover piece of pepper into your mouth, talking between chews.

“Because your son doesn’t think they are, and had the audacity to tell the cows to their face they were, in fact, not cute.” You glared over at Javi, trying to hold back your laughter as you pretend to be stern.

“They’re cute when they’re little but once you have to deal with them every day, full grown, they’re a pain in the ass.” Javi sighed, following behind you, sneaking between you and his dad to take down some bowls out of the cabinet, setting them on the table.

“That is because Javier never pays attention when he walks through the pasture, and always ends up with a boot full of cow shit. I think they are cute, Mija. Not as cute as some other animals, or as cute as human babies…” He paused, raising an eyebrow at the two of you, smirking. “But yes, still cute.”

“Told you so. You can’t blame the cows for your shit shoes, that’s on you, Jav.” You giggled, hitting him in the chest before grabbing spoons and napkins to set down next to the bowls Javi had placed. “Do you need help with anything else, Chucho? It smells delicious, I’m glad your cow bashing son requested it tonight.”

“Cabrón (asshole).” Javi groaned. “Mamá would always make pozole and tamales for everyone on Christmas eve. She would put all of the cousins to work kneading the dough and assembling the tamales. She would hold the piñata hostage until we helped her finish, which I can’t blame her for. Her tamales were delicious, but I always think about having her pozole and eating a shit load of candy before crashing on the couch trying to stay up, waiting for Santa when I think about Christmas.”

“Before Lucia died, every year we would host our whole family here for Christmas eve. Dios Mio, there must have been 30 crammed in here each year, singing and dancing, making more tamales than anyone could count. No matter how hard he tried, Javier would always be the first to fall asleep on the couch, and we would have to carry him to bed. I think he would get so excited he would wear himself out.” Chucho smiled, turning off the stove, bringing the pot of the pozole to the kitchen table, the two of you pulling out a chair to take a seat.

“She sounds like she was such a fun lady. I wish I could have met her. And eaten her tamales, because I bet that they were amazing.” You beamed, looking over at Chucho and Javi, Javi now settling into the seat next to you, draping his arm over the back of your chair as Chucho stayed standing, letting out a content sigh as he placed a hand on his hip.

“Well Mija, I was planning on giving your Christmas gift to you later, but now that you bring it up, now seems as good a time as any.” Chucho smirked, waddling his way over to the living room, as you and Javi glanced at each other in confusion, waiting for his return. A few moments later, Chucho was back, carrying a small, red package with a white ribbon wrapped around it, outstretching it towards you.

“Chucho, you didn’t have to get me anything, I-” You protested, not accepting the gift until Chucho was sliding it across the table, placing it right in front of you.

“It is a gift for both of you. I know that Lucia would have been so thrilled to know how happy you have made our Javier. How happy you have made both of our lives. She would have loved you so dearly, hija, and would have wanted you to have these as you and Javier start your own family.” Tears welled behind Chucho’s eyes as you carefully took the package in your hands, resting it between you and Javi as the both of you gently ripping away the wrapping paper and bow to reveal what was inside Chucho’s gift. You held a small, leather bound book between you two, Chucho gesturing to have you open it to see what was inside. As you flipped back the cover, you revealed the first page, a picture of a young Lucia in the very same kitchen the 3 of you found yourself in, smiling at the camera as she stirred a pot of something on the stove, apron tied around her waist. Below the photo were bold, shaky cursive letters, reading “Lucia’s Recipes.”

“Pops…” Javi whispered in shock, delicately touching the page, gazing up at his dad.

“Your mamá would have wanted you to have all of them. She always told me that she couldn’t wait for the day she could have a daughter to share all of her cooking secrets with. She would have been even more excited to share them with you Mija, knowing the wonderful woman that you are.”

Carefully turning the page, you could feel your lip quiver as you looked at Chucho, feeling how watery your eyes were now becoming. “Chucho, this is- I don’t- thank you, Chucho. This is so special. I’m honored you want them to share them, I- I know how important these are to your family.”

“You are family, hija.” Handing the book off to Javi, you pushed up out of your chair, making your way over to Chucho to wrap him in a tight hug, Chucho quickly reciprocating, squeezing you back.

“Thank you, Chucho.” You whispered into his shoulder, trying your best to keep from sobbing as Javi pushed out of his chair, joining the both of you in a group hug, holding the two people he loved most in the world in his broad grasp.

“Thanks, Pops.”

“Los amo a los dos (I love you both).” Chucho sniffed, pulling away to wipe away the tears streaming down his cheeks. “Now, let’s eat this pozole, I can hear Lucia yelling at me for letting it start to go cold.”

The 3 of you spent the rest of your night full of pozole, Javi finishing off at least 3 bowls as you talked at the kitchen table, sharing stories of your favorite holiday traditions and memories. Chucho broke out at least 4 different photo albums to share photos of Christmases past, filled with lots of ones of an adorable Javi and his bright, toothy grin as he opened up presents. Chucho was thrilled with the present you and Javi had gotten for him- a new work jacket for out on the ranch, Javi noting that he probably was still wearing the same jacket he did when Javi was first born.

You and Javi had insisted that you let Chucho help you clean up around the kitchen after making you dinner, practically having to force him to sit down in his chair to relax while the two of you got to work collecting and cleaning dishes in the sink. You got to work washing as Javi dried, taking time to turn on the radio in the kitchen, raising the volume as he tuned in to the local station that had been playing nothing but Christmas music for the past week. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” began playing from the speakers, immediately beginning to sing along, swaying your hips, scrubbing the last of the pots and pans. Javi snuck up behind you, snaking his hands around your waist, placing a soft kiss on your shoulder as his chest pressed against your back.

“Dance with me.” He whispered, placing his hands on your hips to spin you around, making you giggle as your sponge splashed in the sink, playfully drying your wet hands against his flannel before interlacing one of your hands with his, the other one resting on his shoulder as he wrapped his free hand around the small of your back. The two of you gently swayed in the dim light of the kitchen, the soft sounds of Frank Sinatra’s voice humming in the background.

Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore. Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more.

As the sweet and syrupy melody of the song played on, Javi held up his hand, prompting you to spin under his outstretched arm before pulling you back in, resting his hand on your back, the other holding your face as he dipped you down, his lips curled in a tender grin against yours as he leaned in to kiss you.

Through the years, we all will be together, if the fates allow. Hang a shining star upon the highest bough. And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

“I love you, Osita.”

“I love you more, you dork.”

You rested your head on his chest, smiling into the worn fabric of his button up, soaking up the sweet simplicity of the moment- how right then and there, it felt like there was no one in the world but the two of you, slow dancing in Chucho’s kitchen, arms wrapped tight around the man you loved. It felt like holding everything you’d ever need. Everything you’d ever want. It felt like holding your home.

If there was one thing you were not, it was patient, especially when it came to waiting. You never had been, and at this point in your life, you were very much convinced you never would be. Ever since you could remember, you were always the first one up in your house on Christmas, frantically waking up your parents and brothers to let them know presents were stacked under the tree at an ungodly hour, forcing your parents to implement the “If you don’t stay in your bed until 6 A.M. you won’t get any of your presents” rule to try and save some ounce of their sanity for the chaos that ensued after the 4 of you were really wide awake. Even as an adult, you couldn’t help but wake up giddy on Christmas, feeling as bright eyed and bushy tailed as you did all those years ago as a kid. While Javi was very aware of your love for Christmas, he wasn’t aware of the fact that it meant that you would be wide awake, waiting for him to wake up this early in the morning.

“Merry Christmas!” You squealed, trying your best to contain your excitement as you watched Javi finally begin to stir, his sleepy curls peeking out from under the covers, eyes squinting and blinking heavily as he let out a big yawn, draping his arm over your waist, half awake.

“Good morning.” He grumbled, rubbing his hand over his face, practically still asleep. “What time is it?”

“6:45…” You replied, grimacing sheepishly, wincing at the early hours plastered on your alarm clock. “You can go back to sleep if you want to, sorry if I woke you up.”

“6:45? Jesus, how long have you already been up for, Osita?” He sighed, propping himself up on his elbows, running his hands through the messy ends of his hair.

“Not that long…” You muttered, looking away from him, hoping it would deter him interrogating further. Javi said nothing- he only cocked his head to the side and stared with that look he gave you when he knew you were hiding something, knowing damn well his tired, puppy dog eyes would pull the truth out of you. “Fine…” You huffed, turning back to him. “I’ve been up since 6.”

“6 in the morning? Jesus Christ, hermosa.” Javi laughed to himself, shaking his head as he wrapped his arm around you, pulling you to lay against his bare chest. “I guess I can’t say I’m surprised. What the hell have you been doing since you got up?”

“I made coffee, took a giant shit after I drank the coffee, turned on the lights to the Christmas tree, put Christmas music on in the living room, and then I came back to bed and I’ve been trying to read while I was waiting for you to wake up.”

Javi could do nothing but let out an amused sigh as he pressed a long kiss into the top of your head. “You’re insane, you know that?”

“You’re the one who proposed.” You sassed back, holding your ring in Javi’s face, a playful smirk growing across your face before giving him a little poke on his chest. His response to your witty remark was grabbing you by the waist, flipping you on top of him as he tickled your sides, pecking quick kisses along your body, making you flail and squirm as you erupted with giggles. “Let go, pendejo! You’re gonna end up with a black eye for Christmas if you don’t stop!”

“I’d like to see you try.” He grinned, releasing you from his grasp, giving you a little shove. “Alright, well I’m fucking awake now.” Reaching his arms over his head, Javi let out another loud yawn.

“I made you coffee.” You shrugged, trying to provide at least a little peace offering to him for your early morning wake up.

“I’d fucking hope so.” The two of you laughed as you shuffled out of bed, Javi lazily throwing on a t-shirt and pajama pants before you both wandered out of the bedroom, you at a much quicker pace than Javi.

As much as Javi wanted to give you a hard time about your over exaggerated enthusiasm this early in the morning, he couldn’t help but feel his heart flutter as he walked into the living room, seeing you sit curled up on the couch, clutching a mug of coffee, beaming at Javi as Christmas music played softly in the background, the walls dimly lit by the twinkling lights of tree, being hit with the realization that every Christmas for the rest of his life, would be a Christmas spent with you.

“For you.” You smiled, holding out Javi’s mug, steam dancing off the top of the bitter brown liquid. “My family always opened presents before we did anything else, but if you have something else that your family always did, or you don’t want to, we can-”

“Osita, I know you wanna open presents first, it’s okay.” Javi snickered, kissing your forehead before you shot up off the couch, running over to the tree to grab one of the several neatly wrapped boxes stacked beneath it.

“Okay, thank God, I think I would have spontaneously combusted if I had to wait any longer to give you your gifts.” Hurrying back over to the couch, you placed your boxes on Javi’s lap, snuggling back up next to him as he began to tear away at the wrapping paper of the smallest package.

“You don’t have any photos on your desk, so I figured I’d get you one. That way you can stare at my ugly mug all day long.” You joked, nodding toward the picture frame Javi was holding with a picture from your cousin’s wedding a few months back.

“Shut up. Thank you, I do need more pictures of us in my office, and you look so hot in this picture.” He smirked, giving you a little nudge before picking up the next gift in your pile. “Thank you, Osita.”

“Says the one who’s in the fucking tuxedo in that photo.” You rolled your eyes, watching Javi shake the wrapping paper off the next box.

“Fuck, I’ve been needing new boots. Thank you, Osita, these are so nice.” Javi grinned, holding up the dark leather shoes, letting the bottom of the box drop to the floor.

“I know you have, and you refuse to buy yourself new ones, so I figured I’d upgrade them for you.” You crossed your arms over your chest at Javi, wondering how he’d ever convince himself that he wasn’t just as stubborn as you.

“Jesus, this is heavy.” He laughed, working away at the wrapping to reveal a plain, cardboard box, giving you a confused look.

“It didn’t come in a box and I couldn’t wrap it how it was. I promise you your first gift isn’t a heavy cardboard box.” The two of you laughed as Javi tore the tape holding the top together, digging through the tissue paper, eyes going wide at the contents of the box.

“Osita…” He warned, pulling out the bottle of his favorite Texas branded whisky he would only order for himself on nice occasions, knowing 1- how hard it was to find, and 2- that it was not cheap.

“Don’t even try to start with me. It’s Christmas and I love you and you deserve all the nicest things in the world. I know how much you love this stuff, even though it tastes like pure gasoline, and that you would never buy it for yourself.” You smirked, grabbing under his chin, squeezing his cheeks.

“Thank you, Osita. Where the hell did you find this stuff?” Javi looked at the bottle in disbelief, examining it before setting it carefully back on the ground.

“Steve knew a guy.” You shrugged, only pausing for a moment before pushing yourself off the cushions, only to be stopped by Javi’s grasp around your wrist, pulling you back down.

“These are all perfect, baby. Thank you so much. You're too good tot me. My turn.” Javi grinned, grunting as he got up off the couch, looking through the boxes to find the one he wanted, snatching it up and handing it over to you, immediately beginning to shed the box of its paper. “If you don’t- if you don’t like it or don’t want it, that’s okay, but I figured-”

“Javi, I’m sure whatever it is, I’ll love it.” Taking a pause from your unwrapping, you reached over to give Javi’s knee a squeeze, smiling at him before shuffling the lid off the top of the long box. “Oh no way! Are you serious?!” You squealed, holding up the emerald green and black Dallas Stars hockey jersey. “Javi, what the fuck, this is so cool! Thank you!” You dropped the jersey in your lap, leaning over to give him a tight hug.

“Thank god, I was worried you were gonna be pissed it wasn’t a Blackhawks jersey, but I think you already have 2 here, and like 3 more at your parents house, so I figured, you might like one for the Stars, too.” Javi sighed, relieved that his gift wasn’t about to stir up any unwanted hockey tensions.

“I will wear it every game, except for when we play the Blackhawks- Then I will bury it deep in the closet.” You giggled, picking it back up to stare at it, oblivious to the fact that Javi had already gotten up again to get you another gift.

“These two go together.” He smiled, handing you over the much smaller box as you tilted your head in confusion. You quickly unwrapped the second box, a smaller version of the box for your jersey you had just opened. Still unsure of how something so tiny could go with your new jersey, you suspiciously lifted up the lid, your jaw dropping as you saw what was inside. “Holy fuck, Javi, are you serious?!” You gasped, pulling two tickets to the Dallas Stars vs. Chicago Blackhawks game, clutching them like you couldn’t believe they were real. Taking a second to actually read the ticket, your mouth gaped even further. “Jav, holy shit, these seats are-”

“Against the glass.” Javi smirked, watching your eyes dart back and forth between the tickets and his smug grin.

“But what about- how are we, wait- wouldn’t we have to-“ you mumbled to yourself, trying to process the gift while figuring out the logistics of getting to and from a night game in Dallas from Laredo.

“I’ve got it all taken care of. The game is on Friday in February, the other 3rd grade teachers said they would do whatever to help you take that Friday off, our flight leaves at 2, we land in Dallas at 3:30, and I have a hotel booked for Friday and Saturday. Figured we could make a weekend of it.”

“Javi- You can’t- Javi this is too much- baby, are you serious?” You whispered, breath shaky as you looked up at his beaming face, leaning in to kiss you.

“I can, and I will. You deserve it. Merry Christmas, Osita. There’s one more thing.” He smirked, raising an eyebrow at you, grabbing one last present from under the tree and setting it in your lap.

“Javier Peña, you do not need to get me anything else, I swear to God-” You protested, giving Javi a stern look as you stared at the present in your lap.

“It’s not anything big, I saw it when I got the jersey and couldn’t help myself. Just open it, please?” He sighed, picking it up and bringing it even closer to you.

“Okay, okay.” You shook your head, quickly tearing away the wrapping paper to reveal the box underneath. Lifting the lid, you dramatically rolled your eyes at Javi as you lifted up the red, lacy, lingerie that was tucked away in the tissue paper it had been delicately folded under. “This looks a lot more like a gift for you than a gift for me, Mr. Peña.” You laughed, giving Javi a playful nudge.

“Well, if you put it on and let me unwrap you like the pretty little present you are, I’m sure I can find a way to make it a gift for the both of us.” Javi rasped, leaning over to nip at the exposed skin of your neck, making you let out a breathy moan, before coming to your senses, immediately darting up off the couch towards your bedroom.

“Where the hell are you going?” Javi asked, laughing at you as you sped off, lingerie in your hands.

“Changing so you can unwrap your last present!” You winked, wiggling the lacy outfit in the air before ducking into the bedroom. “Hey!” You shouted, your voice slightly muffled from behind the bedroom door, creaking it open to pop your head back out.

“What, hermosa?” Javi laughed, awestruck smile glowing across his face as he stared at you.

“I love you, Javier Peña. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Osita. I love you more.”

Taglist: @cool-iguana @rhoorl @whyjuliaaa @bbiophiliaa @pertinentpostmortem @angelofsmalldeath-codeine @pedrobaby @fatima-marisa @beboldbebravethings @poodlebae @kittenlittle24 @3sriracha @jungchloee @perennialdoll247 @prettyinpunk85 @partyofone3413 @harriedandharassed @pedrohoe04 @theorganasolo @endlessthxxghts @blackfemalenerd @deppydelta @beware-my-thorns

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peachdues · 3 months

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PEACHIE!!! i wanna know about your kny oc!!! i wanna know everything abt her i wanna see which of my girls would vibe with her (chances are good at least one of them would bc i have three AHAHA)

oooh Fallon!! Ahh okay, let me see what I can come up with!

Setsuna Ishikuro is the Reader in Wind and Moon (or maybe the Reader in WAM is Setsuna — that’s probably the more accurate way to put it)

Setsuna is/was the daughter of a wealthy merchant family and she was being primed to take over her father’s business when her elder brother died. He was supposed to be a demon slayer and carry on the lunar breathing tradition, but he fell ill and died before he could partake in Final Selection. Setsuna is very resentful that she was forced to assume his place because she wanted to be a merchant like her father. Because of her upbringing, she has bougie tastes lmao. She loves things — expensive baubles, art, silks, kimonos, you name it.

When she’s reassigned to be Mitsuri’s tsuguko after the Incident (in which she’s fired as Sanemi’s tsuguko), she and Mitsuri bond over their mutual love of food. Setsuna still can navigate the merchant world, so she uses her connections to allow Mitsuri to try more western food (and both girls love sweets). They pig out together quite frequently.

Loves hanging out with women, but because of the events of the prologue (and as you’ll see in the next chapter) Setsuna =/= getting along with men. She’s afraid of them, but that fear comes out as extreme coldness and disgust. However, when she’s cornered, she freezes. Sanemi and Ubayashiki are basically the exception (though she does warm up to Kyojuro eventually). Despises Tengen because he makes an unsavory and poor-timed comment about her body (that he regrets instantly — he wasn’t thinking)

She is drawn to Sanemi because of their ✨ moment✨ in the prologue after she dug herself out of her own grave. He saw her and she recognized that.

Once Setsuna gets over some of her own anger/rage, she’s quite considerate and kind! She had one younger sister who died horrifically (again, see the prologue for Wind and Moon), and she misses her dearly. Because of that, Setsuna is very kind to children. She’s also quite thoughtful in her own way, even if she can be a little shy about her feelings. She observes Sanemi’s penchant for matcha and takes care to send him really high quality stuff even in the year they don’t see each other — though she doesn’t tell him who it’s from.

Uhhh does that help?? Ask me more questions if you want, but yes!! Give my girl friends, god knows she needs them!!

#🍑’s peaches — Fallon!!#🍑’s OC #wind and moon #sanemi shinazugawa #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba

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gabessquishytum · 10 months

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Hob likes food okay, he thinks cooking is a act of love, so when he's tapped by HFGTV for his own food show, he knows he's going to do it his own way. His show is sort of Guy Fieri-ish -- Hob will happily eat your burger made of 5 cheeses; that corn dip that was a hit at your town's most recent potluck,,, if it's made with love and care... Hob will happily chow down. He gets to travel and speak (and cook) with normal people who love it as much as he does.

Dream is a Michelin Starred chef; with famous, but popular, restaurants with aggressive wait lists. Food is art and craft; and while he still loves cooking (not that he has time to eat any of it) he finds himself bored of his function.

Dream and Hob bump into each other at an industry event:

M (dripping with distainful disbelief): You're that chef that happily eats oreos dipped in marshmallow fluff, covered in chocolate and deep fried?!

H: 😍 I love your food! You watch my show?!?!!! Wanna go a a date with me, snobby Mc'beautiful man?!

Dream hates himself, a little, that he finds the heathen charming.

This is the cutest thing I've ever seen. I'm MELTING.

So maybe Dream is only in Hob’s part of town for the weekend, just for this event. So Hob persuades him - he'll take Dream for a tour around his favourite food spots. They'll have fun, eat, and maybe Dream will find his love for food again. Maybe they'll also do a little smoochin'. Dream rolls his eyes so hard they nearly fall out BUT he agrees.

It's late morning when they start out so Hob drags Dream for brunch at his favourite little hole in the wall cafe. They do a fusion breakfast menu with traditional British stuff plus breakfast foods from all different regions of India, and you can pick and choose whatever you want to eat. Hob knows all the staff and ends up dragging Dream into the kitchen to chat/try little mouthfuls of food. By the time they sit down to eat Dream has a tiny smile on his face (although he seriously objects to how much ketchup Hob is putting on his plate).

After brunch they walk around a bit and go get boba at Hob’s favourite place because he's scandalised that Dream has never tried it?! Hob also can't help but talk about how much he loves Dream’s food and how he'd eat at his restaurant every single day if he could. Dream can't believe that someone would care so much about his food, but he's very charmed. He even says he'll cook for Hob some time.

Next stop is to get freshly baked gingerbread from a tiny food truck. Hob spends the whole time trying to wheedle the secret recipe out of the owner while Dream is like "don't tell him, he obviously can't keep a secret to save his life." They're basically already an old married couple and they get the gingerbread for free.

At this point Dream needs to lie down because he hasn't eaten so much food in forever, so Hob offers to take him back to his flat and they can drink tea and just talk about food. Dream ends up falling asleep on Hob’s shoulder and when he wakes up, Hob has ordered pizza. Its cheesy and greasy and a little bit terrible, but there's something about it that reminds Dream why he became a chef in the first place.

They end up making out on the sofa for a few hours until Hob pulls away with this face like he just had the best idea. "We need to do a show together. Where we do what we did today and I seduce you with good, honest food."

And although Dream wrinkles up his nose like he hates the thought... he's the one calling up the studio in the morning and demanding to be allowed to pitch the show 😉

#the sandman #dreamling #cw food

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i-am-not-meh · 6 months

Text

ORV X OG!CALE

More under the cut because this post is a bit of a long one!

When the apocalypse first started, Cale did not think he was going to survive because he did not like the idea of killing someone. However, Ron came to save the day! Ron got his kill and made sure Vicross got his before ordering him to protect Cale much to Vicross' dismay. Ron basically subdued multiple people who looked like they were going to kill the Henituse family and brought them for others to kill. (He mainly does this because he sees this as a good time to repay a favor and later stays because he sees there is some stability still in the Henituse territory.) This allows the Henituse family to survive.

Cale was honestly surprised he made it even if he didn't really have to do anything other than kick down and stomp onto his morals. Now, as time continues on, surviving with his family and the scary duo of Ron and Vicross becomes easier, and they start to see through his trashy mask.

Because would trash repeatedly check up on them and donate coins when they are running low? No, trash wouldn't, but Cale does. Cale starts to hunt monsters with Vicross for food (someone help him, he's terrified but not of the monsters.)

So, the relationships of the family are still strained, but there is a lot less awkwardness. Who knew that all it would take was the end of the world for some improvements. Moving on, on one of their monster hunting trips, they ran into Rok Soo, who was becoming quite popular as a hero. However Cale’s problem was that this dude looked just like him!

There are a lot more run-ins between Cale and Rok Soo before they start talking. Later, when things are becoming even more dangerous, Cale decides to make a deal with the man who was becoming closer and closer to a God each day. Cale said he would do everything and anything for Rok Soo if Rok Soo kept his family safe and happy, Rok Soo had agreed because he needed to Cale act as him.

This later becomes a very common occurrence, Cale would travel places while acting as Rok Soo to confuse the enemy on Rok Soo's whereabouts. This has even worked against the constellations before. Cale helping out Rok Soo so much was beginning to bring up his fame too, his fame as a hero.

He didn't know how to feel about that, but he does know that he has begun to like his lookalike. And that he has gotten very used to having extensions in his hair.

This is why he was rather sad to see his friend become a constellation, but him becoming a constellation was to save their world so he doesn't dwell on it.

With everything over, Cale thought he would go back to being an alcoholic but he was scouted by a group who was trying to revive the arts after the devastating apocalypse. This included dancing and painting, but more importantly, theater. Cale’s acting as Rok Soo has made the group try and bring him into the theater world.

Cale, with nothing better to do, agrees and becomes known as a famous actor. He normally gets casted as Rok Soo (even when he is a character in the play, they cast him as Rok Soo)

He thinks the best part of his new job as an actor is that his family attends all of his plays. He had sent out an invite at first with little hope, but when he saw their faces in the crowd- he didn't know how to describe the feeling.

That's the end of that! And now I give you a very large collection of drawings.

Cale after his performance, it's a bit messy but I was very out of my element here!

Next, we have Cale and Rok Soo hanging out.

Cale was meant to say, "Yep! But only you can tell." Or something along those lines.

And lastly is Cale when this all started.

That's all I got! While I'm here I would just like to thank the people who have left comments on my stuff, it really makes me smile and I always want to reply and say thank you but I don't want to sound like a bot! I always worry about things like that, but I'm trying to get better at it.

#trash of the count's family #lout of the count’s family #tcf #totcf #lotcf #my art #tcf cale #cale henituse #og cale henituse #orv #omniscient reader's viewpoint #fanart

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tsukii0002 · 2 years

Text

RAD headcanons

Thanks to a tawdry publication I was able to read comments and opinions about why demons go to school and it left me thinking about it for days…. So here goes the headcanon resulting from that meditation about RAD.

Long text is coming!!

Headcanon on the structure, politics and history of the RAD!

The RAD is a recent new institution, established some time after the war.

Most of the nobles, the court and other powers of Devildom opposed or objected to this new institution.

Diavolo was also supported by many intellectuals and power figures (poets, sorcerers…)

So once the RAD was in place, Diavolo's identity as leader of the Devildom was consolidated (whatever the prince said went without saying).

Now, if Diavolo and Barbatos are among the most powerful demons... why aren't they teachers? Well, because in the society of the demons each type of demon had a function, they were super specialized.

In a manner of speaking, demons know a lot about their own and nothing about other things. For example the incubi and succubi were specialized in manipulation magic or curses that stole vital energy, while they did not know about potions or other types of curses (super specialization) .

Therefore, one of the goals of the RAD was to have experts in any subject to teach ALL demons about that subject. Barbatos may know a lot about potions but surely there would be a demon who would have dedicated their entire life to the art of potions and would be superior to the butler in that aspect.

This would explain why the "bosses" are Diavolo and the brothers, but they are not teachers but students.

Although Diavolo is a "student" everything must be reviewed and approved by the prince in order to move forward.

Considering that there would probably be a very wide range of the population in which age means nothing, we have teachers that are younger than some students.

This brings us to the next point, the RAD is an institution that seeks, in a way, social equality. By providing the opportunity for demons to have a general education, it frees them from having to follow a particular profession.

And this gives rise to a modernization of society with the emergence of new professions and companies such as Corvo or food and fashion franchises, models, magazines, amusement parks…

So a minor demon does not have to dedicate himself to what a minor demon used to dedicate himself to and can dedicate himself to something different, like cooking for example.

The RAD allowed Devildom to break out of the traditional structure that dominated the pre-Davolo reigns.

All with the intention of pursuing his dream, before achieving equality among the three kingdoms he will have to achieve equality among the people of his own kingdom.

With that said, we move on to the fact that RAD is one of the fundamental pillars for the aspirations of our demonic golden retrier: to break the taboos and myths of the Celestial Realm and the human world.

And there is no better way than education.

Diavolo's dream goes in steps, first we teach how the celestial realm works, then we try to establish bonds of cordiality, then that angels are not so threatening and then we bring in an Angel (humans are easier).

To achieve this, a school that is teaching the truth is essential.

Surely the RAD has also taken examples from the Celestial realm or from human educational institutions to create a unique institution that encompasses something of the three worlds, hence the various contacts with witches, wizards and other creatures.

Solomon helped to create the first curricula, zero evidence but no doubt.

As many of you commented, living a very long life means having to be constantly learning, imagine human society how fast it advances (evidence in season 3) in order to keep up with it is necessary to keep learning.

Also there were many reigns, a lot of history prior to what we know, to unravel all that and teach you that history it takes time, new inventions, new contributions or corrections of what is already known...

However, the RAD is divided into blocks, for basic studies, medium studies and advanced studies (which would be where our demons and ourselves are), according to what each student wants to learn.

Attendance at the RAD is not obligatory for demons, only those who aspire to certain jobs, such as historian, professor or politician have to have specific mandatory training.

In the RAD the youngest demons are those equivalent to 12 or 13 years old. Luke is a clear example (I'd like to write about his interactions with demons his age, Mephisto's brother perhaps?)

It took Mc months to understand the structure of the RAD because of its complexity and apparent meaninglessness.

Barbatos attends only the classes he likes.

Diavolo goes to all the classes because he wants to experience the most normal life possible, as some of you commented.

Lucifer attends almost more tutorials with teachers for problems caused by his siblings than he does classes.

Only Barbatos, Diavolo and Lucifer can leave class whenever they want, the other brothers need permission for special situations.

Solomon has pacts with a professor or two, and the tension in his classes are fun to watch.

Mc has been and continues to be lost in the RAD.

Diavolo will try to incorporate any funny events from the human world (thanks MC) even if they are preschoolers.

In short, to say that the RAD is an institution that goes hand in hand with the government and attacking it means attacking Diavolo's reign.

If you have come this far thank you very much, I know that a brick like this is hard to swallow, (re-reading it I have decided that soon I could write the constitution of Devildom XD)

Again thank you very much for reading and I would love to read your headcanon about the RAD, its students, teachers, etc. …. Best wishes.

#obey me #obey me! shall we date?#obey me shall we date #omswd #obey me otome #obey me one master to rule them all #obey me lore #obey me headcanons #obey me rad #obey me imagine #obey me devildom #diavolo obey me #obey me diavolo #diavolo om #obey me story #Obey me dev

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whitebookposts · 2 months

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*skitters towards your ask box autistically* do you have any teth headcanons :3

OH MY GOD I JUST REALIZED ITS BEEN A FEW WEEKS AND I STILL HAVEN'T ANSWERED THIS. I AM SO SORRY I LIVE IN SHAME EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Anyway, Teth! Our deeply beloved forest cryptid. I have to be honest, I don't have as many headcanons about her as I do about some of my other fave elders, which is a thing I should work to change because Teth is awesome. But here are some I do have for now:

CAAAAT I think my good buddy @krillking has already spoken about Teth having cat traits in his animal elder post, but yeah. While in my headcanons, the animal traits are less defined, Teth still very much has cat behavior, like her irises widening or narrowing like a cat's, and she likes to sleep in the sun (which is trouble because. Forest is 90 percent clouds and rain. Thankfully she has the yard behind her temple and the sunny forest segment, though due to the whole thing happening in the kingdom, she could visit those comfort places less and less :<) and most importantly - purring. Which she is a bit shy about, so she rarely does it. If you get to catch her purr, it means that she trusts you enough to do it next to you, though she will still be embarrassed if you mention it out loud. (Also do not leave her anywhere near fancy furniture she will try to rip it with her claws. Yes, lamed learned it the hard way.)

TRANSGENDAAAAAAAAA Idk how to explain it but Teth is just so transfem coded. Goes by both she\her and they\them. It just makes so much sense that I don't even need any proof to know that, she has told me this herself. Gotta give @dogedepan for this one though since I stole this idea from her (like many others. Can't help it Chi your headcanons are awesome)

BEEFCAKE Let's be real, TGC is a bunch of cowards for making her slim. How can you look at this woman, who is a blacksmith, and can catch a giant flying hammer with one arm like it's no big deal, and not think that they have some impressive muscle? If you draw Teth buff I am forever in your debt. PLEASE I WANT TO SEE MORE BUFF TETH ART PLEA-

BESTIE Teth and Ayin are literally fated besties, be they platonic or romantic. Even in early concept art, Ayin was described as "Teth's friend" and held the key to her realm, just showing the level of trust between them. Their realms also work with each other really well, with Ayin being the main supply for Teth's factories which is what allowed her realm to grow. I like to think of them being childhood best friends, and that they have been by each other's side through the good and the bad. Remember that headcanon about Teth enjoying sleeping in sunny places? Prairie is perfect for that, and if she decides to take a nap while visiting it is no rarity for her to choose Ayin as a bed for that (soft). I don't really see em as romantic because I already ship Teth with someone else, but as an aromantic person, it's important for me to show intimacy like that even between friendships. Ayin is always there to lend an ear to Teth, being there for her through her worst, and Teth is Ayin's "EXCUSE ME THEY ASKED FOR NO PICKLES". Although, if we go to the sadder territory, their friendship did suffer a falling out during the turbulent era of the kingdom, with Teth closing off from everyone, including Ayin, too caught in her work and darkstone production to meet the ever-growing demands, and that led to Ayin also drowning in work to keep up the light supply. That is not to mention the different world views about light creatures and how worthy they are of preservation.

CRYBABY I just like to think that despite appearing cold and serious, Teth is a very gentle soul underneath the hard facade she forced herself to create due to her position. But if you get to know her you will find a very soft, shy, and caring heart that makes it easy for her eyes to water, be it a happy or sad occasion, even if she is trying to hide it. She is also a pretty big introvert and starts getting nervous during events with big crowds, esp if they have to do a speech as an elder or something. This gentleness and softness hidden behind a cold surface is one of the things that attracted Priestess to her, which leads me to the next point:

LESBIANNNNNN You may know this already but I'm a big PriesTeth truther, which is the ship between Priestess (the original elder of the Valley from concept art, never made it to the final game but there is a pretty popular fanon that she is the mother of the twins) and Teth. Again, I was enlightened about this ship thanks to @dogedepan she is literally the CEO of this ship god bless. I know it's a bit silly to ship her with an elder who never even made it to canon, but I fell in love with the dynamic of the "serious and cold at first glance but soft and gentle on the inside x extroverted, energetic and mischievous but deeply caring and kind" that exists between them. Priestess was Teth's firework, the bright and colorful in the grey and cold of her life. Never had the elder of the Forest loved someone like she did this bright, giggly, and open girl who managed to always make Teth smile. And it hurt all the more when Priestess was lost. After the death of her partner, Teth closed off completely, lost in her work, just to not feel the pain because the grief was overwhelming. She couldn't make herself go to her backyard anymore, because it was the connection between Valley and her forest and where the two met most of the time, being there was just too painful. Some ancestors say that the rain became much more frequent after this loss.

Milf As I ship priesteth, I also headcanon that Teth is the other parent of Sah and Mekh. Unfortunately, their relationship is very rocky. Priestess died when the two were very young, and due to Teth being too lost in her grief, she simply couldn't care for them, causing the two to be raised by other elders (mainly Tsadi, who is their uncle) and kicked around from temple to temple until they were old enough to live on their own. This caused feelings of betrayal and neglect in the two, and it came to the point that they rarely acknowledged Teth as their other parent anymore. And she feels too guilty before them to try and get them back because she believes she deserves this for her mistakes. But perhaps not everything is lost, and some of this relationship can be salvaged if she finally gets brave enough to reach out.

WORSTIE She and Tsadi have a beef. That's it that's the headcanon. It's not anything serious, it's literally a "cat and dog" type of beef, the two can't even tell when it started, it's just that both will use any opportunity to roast each other. Why do I have this headcanon? Because it's funny.

INSANE SITUATIONSHIP Let's just say that the situationship between Teth and Nesting guide still left the latter one staring at her pictures every day for hours.

Hobbies Other than being a blacksmith, Teth enjoys all types of crafts, like sculpting from clay or woodworking. Girlie doesn't need any IKEA, she can make all the furniture herself (I mean, the Nesting guide had to learn this from someone)

Anddddd.... That's all for now! There's probably more headcanons but I can't remember them all rn. I hope these were written good enough and sorry for any grammar mistakes! AND SORRY FOR MAKING YOU WAIT SO LONG I PROMISE I DIDN'T IGNORE YOU DJHGDJGDJ Teth is best forest mama, and I really should put more thought into her, thank you for sending me this ask so i can brainstorm about this gal.

#sky: cotl #priesteth #priestess x teth #priestess my beloved #teth #priestess samekh #ayin #tsadi #sah #mekh #samekh #samekh twins #forest elder #wasteland elder #valley elder #valley elders #valley twins #prairie elder #valley priestess

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fortheloveofwonderland · 1 year

Text

Me & You & Everyone We Know | Chapter 9 | S.R

Not my gif. Does not depict appearance of reader.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter Summary - a night spent at Rossi’s leads to some incredibly hot sex and some difficult conversations about your future together.

Pairing - Single Dad! Spencer Reid / Fem! Reader

Category - hurt/comfort, angst with happy ending, smut minors DNI.

Warnings - drinking, swearing, tipsy and horny reader, fingering, handjobs, public sex, car sex, slight cock warming, penetrative sex, protected sex, angst.

WC - 7.1k

Chapter 9 - As it Seems

Well in this life you must find something to live for,

'Cause when the darkness comes a callin',

You'll go back to where you were before.

'Cause this life is as,

Fragile as a dream, and,

Nothing's ever really,

As it seems.

Rossi had happily agreed to let Spencer and you use his cabin for a weekend away, but he wouldn’t be Rossi if it didn’t come with a stipulation.

He was fine with the two of you using his cabin, if he met you first.

Luke and Garcia had agreed to sit the girls for the evening and had taken Roxy with them over to Spencer’s that Friday night.

The girls adored their Aunty Penelope and Uncle Luke and were ecstatic to spend the evening with them.

So that was how you ended up on the doorstep of an extremely grand house in DC, wearing your best black satin dress and heels, hand sweating in Spencer’s.

“My entire apartment building could fit inside the house.” You swallowed a lump in your throat as Spencer rang the doorbell.

“Yeah it’s pretty daunting the first time you see it. But I guess I’ve gotten used to it.” He chuckled breezily, giving your hand a squeeze.

You looked him up and down out of the corner of your eye.

He looked positively fuckable in his deep burgundy shirt, black tie and slacks. You felt a heat flood between your legs and you wondered why the two of you hadn’t skipped dinner in lieu of other activities.

Sensing you looking at him he turned, an amused smirk on his lips.

“Mind out of the gutter, angel.” He winked at you. “At least for now anyway.”

You opened your mouth to reply but suddenly the door was opening and an older man with completely silver hair and beard and the kindest eyes you’d ever seen, was smiling at you both.

“Spencer!” He practically cheered and Spencer let go of your hand so he could embrace Rossi.

Rossi gave him a kiss on each cheek, looking pleased to see his old friend.

“It’s good to see you kid.”

“And you Dave.” Spencer stepped back and placed his hand on your lower back, edging you forward. “This is Y/N.”

“Benvenuta!” He exclaimed, placing his hands on your shoulders and kissing both of your cheeks too. “It’s very nice to meet you Y/N.”

“Likewise sir.” You chewed on your lip nervously.

“Oh come on now, sir makes me feel old. Call me Dave. Come inside.” He stepped away from the door and motioned you both in. “Krystall sends her apologies but she’s gone to visit Portia for the weekend.”

“Ah that’s a shame.” Spencer guided you with a hand on your back towards the door.

He felt your body tense as you moved closer to the house. He thought it was adorable how nervous you got around his friends.

You were usually so confident so seeing this side of you allowed Spencer a glimpse into another facet of your personality, another thing that made you who you are.

You weren’t normally uneasy around new people, you’d spoken to him just fine when you’d met.

So the only logical explanation for your anxiety around his friends was because you were scared they wouldn’t like you.

And you wanted them to like you because you liked Spencer.

Rossi ushered you in and closed the door and your wide eyes and slack jaw as you took in the entrance way wasn’t lost on either man.

The floor your heels clacked on as you walked was a stunning cream marbled with grey swirls. An expansive staircase with large dark oak bannisters rose to the second floor.

Intricate and what you could only assume was very expensive pieces of art hung from the walls. The ceilings were high and vaulted.

Rossi took your coats and hung them on a large, ornate silver coat rack.

He motioned you through to the kitchen where you were met the delectable smell of frying bacon and garlic.

The kitchen was just as grand as the entrance way, with every possible kind of appliance dotted around the large marble countertops.

But it was clear they all went to good use.

Rossi quickly moved to the stove to stir the pasta sauce before turning back and giving you both a large smile.

“Carbonara alla Rossi, I didn’t think to ask Spencer if you ate meat.” He shrugged sheepishly.

“I do.” You nodded. “I eat pretty much anything.”

“Favoloso!” He clapped his hands together before slinging a dish cloth over his shoulder. “Can I get either of you a glass of wine?”

“I’ll have one with dinner but I’m driving.” Spencer replied, wrapping his arm around you again, his palm resting on your lower back.

His warm touch allowed you to relax a little.

“Y/N, please tell me you will join me for a pre-dinner glass of vino?” Rossi looked at you expectedly.

You glanced up at Spencer as though you needed permission to drink and Spencer chuckled.

“Do let me stop you, angel.” He rubbed your back a little.

You nodded and turned back to Rossi with a smile.

“Merlot please, if you have it.”

“If I have it?” He chuckled heartily. “My dear, I have a wine cellar full to the brim with wines from before you were even born. I’ll be right back. Make sure my pancetta doesn’t burn!”

Rossi hurried off and Spencer turned you so you were facing him.

He stroked your hair back from your face and looked down at you with a soft look in his eyes.

It was a new look, one you couldn’t place. Usually when he looked at you his eyes were full of lust but this was different.

“He’s eccentric.” You whispered, having to tiptoe to kiss him even in your heels.

“That’s certainly one way to describe him.” Spencer laughed against your lips. “I like this. You meeting my friends.”

Your heart swelled at the happiness emanating from him as he kissed you again.

“I like it too.”

He certainly wasn’t ready for you to meet his kids but this was a nice start.

He kissed you once more, a little deeper than before and you both didn’t notice Rossi reentering the room until you heard a cry.

“Aye! My pancetta!”

***

Lily was half asleep on the living room floor, lazily stroking Taco’s belly. Daisy sat cross legged on the couch trying to listen into her Aunty Penelope and Uncle Luke’s chatter in the kitchen over the sound of the TV.

Roxy was on the couch with her, her head resting in Daisy’s lap while Daisy absent-mindedly scratched behind her ear.

Eventually she pushed herself up, gently moving the large dog aside and padding towards the kitchen.

Penelope and Luke had their backs to the door, fussing over how to make the best hot cocoa.

Penelope was insisting they boil the milk in the pan but Luke was adamant it was just the same in the microwave.

“It’s just lazy!” Penelope grumbled.

“It doesn’t taste any different.” Luke argued.

“We’ll see shall we? You make your heathen cocoa and I’ll make my delicately light and fluffy cocoa and we’ll see which the girls prefer.” She gave him a challenging look through her thick pink frames.

“Oh you are so on woman. Just you wait. You’re about to be a very sore-”

“Does my dad have a girlfriend?” Daisy suddenly spoke up causing Luke and Penelope’s backs to go rigid.

She saw them exchange a look before turning to face her.

“Uh…sorry?” Penelope squeaked a little.

Daisy cradled her cast and gave them a look that said, I’m not an idiot.

Their expressions, no matter how hard they tried to hide them, told her the answer.

“That’s a yes then.” She smiled a little.

“Uh…” Luke looked at Garcia before looking back at Daisy.

He had a lot of nieces and he knew to find out the facts before he admitted to anything. He felt a little like an unsub being interrogated.

If he found out why Daisy thought that, he might be able to counter her points.

“What makes you think that?” He moved across the room towards her.

“I grew up around profilers, Uncle Luke, I know what you’re trying to do.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “I saw a lady leaving the house last week and dad kissed her.”

Luke looked at Garcia over his shoulder and she just shrugged.

He exhaled before looking back at the teenager.

“Right. I don’t suppose I can spin that another way, can I?”

“Nope.” Daisy giggled. “So it’s true? He has a girlfriend?”

“It’s…he’s dating.” Garcia scurried over on her too high heels. “He met someone. She’s lovely.”

“She’s very pretty.” Daisy nodded. “Is he happy?”

Luke and Garcia both melted at her question. It was too adorable that all Daisy cared about was her fathers happiness.

“I think so, kid.” Luke smiled at her.

“I want him to be happy.” Daisy nodded. “Why hasn’t he told us?”

Again Luke and Garica looked at each other, subconsciously trying to work out the best way to answer that.

She was so much like her dad and there was no lying to Spencer. He always saw right through them and no doubt his daughter would too.

“They’ve just met. It’s still early days. But I’m sure at some point he will tell you. But after your mom…he’s scared.” Luke tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“I just want him to be happy.” She repeated.

“He is, sweet pea.” Garcia wrapped her arm around Daisy and bowed her head to kiss her hair. “Just give him time, ok?”

“And maybe don’t tell Lily yet.” Luke added.

“Ok.” Daisy agreed with a small smile. “Lily’s terrible at keeping secrets.”

Garcia ruffled her hair a little with a laugh.

“You still want cocoa?”

“Yes please!” Daisy cheered.

“Go in the living room with your sister.” Luke patted her back.

“Ok!” She turned towards the door but as she reached it, she turned back to look at the grown-up’s. “Oh Uncle Luke?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“You’re bonkers if you think microwave milk is going to taste the same as boiled milk.” She shot him a cheeky grin before hurrying back into the living room.

“Son of a bitch.” Luke laughed.

“Told you.” Garcia grinned smugly. “Saucepan please.”

***

“You got shot in the leg?” You glared wide eyed at Spencer over your wine glass, a slightly amused smile on your lips.

“It wasn’t as bad as he’s making it out to be.” Spencer rolled his eyes.

“You used a cane for months, kid.” Rossi laughed.

“Ok so it was kind of bad. But it was a long time ago. And it only hurts every so often.” Spencer tried to downplay it.

Dinner was incredible and after a few glasses of wine your nerves had eased up. Rossi had made you feel so welcome which also helped you relax.

You were now in his impressive study, sinking down into a large leather armchair with Spencer on his own next to you.

He’d reached across the space between you and had been holding your hand the whole time.

You finished the remains of your wine while Rossi swirled his scotch around his glass.

“I tell ya, the stories I could tell you about Reid-”

“Let’s save that for another time, shall we?” Spencer cut him off. “I’d rather it we didn’t scare Y/N off.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you all the good doctors' gory secrets one day.” Rossi winked at you.

Spencer patted your hand and you nodded, leaning forward to put your empty glass on the coffee table.

“I should get back and relieve Luke and Garcia of babysitting duty.” Spencer let go of your hand and pushed himself up from the chair.

You followed suit, as did Rossi.

“How they think the team doesn’t know they’re dating is beyond me.” Rossi chuckled.

He led you out into the entrance way and handed you both your coats.

“Thank you so much Dave, dinner was wonderful and it was so nice to meet you.” You smiled a little dreamily, Spencer could see the alcohol had gone to your head a little.

“The pleasure, my dear, is all mine.” He gripped your face and kissed both of your cheeks with gusto.

As you slipped on your coat he gave the same treatment to Spencer.

“She’s great, kid. Don’t let her go.” He whispered into Spencer’s ear.

“Duly noted.” Spencer smiled warmly.

He opened the door and placed his hand on your lower back to guide you towards it.

“Buona notte.” Rossi waved the two of you off.

You waved back and started down the stairs ahead of Spencer.

“Reid?” Rossi called him before he got too far.

“Yeah?”

“The two of you are welcome to my cabin anytime.”

“Thanks Dave. Goodnight.”

“G’night kid.”

Spencer hurried down the stairs after you, taking hold of your hand and bringing it to his lips before he brushed them over your knuckles.

You swayed a little in your heels as you looked up at him.

The moon was peaking between the clouds and caught your eye as you looked at him.

It caused your eyes to sparkle in such a magical way Spencer almost lost his footing. That paired with the smile tugging at the corners of your lips, the one you seemed to reserve just for him, lit a fire in Spencer.

And at that moment on Rossi’s driveway, he found himself handing over all the remains of the shattered fragments of his heart to you and praying to a god he didn’t believe in that you were the one who could help piece them back together.

***

You rambled on on the drive home, your tipsy words making Spencer laugh as he drove.

You were animatedly gesticulating with your hands as you spoke, almost hitting him a few times.

He tried to remain focused on the road but your wild arm movements kept garnering his attention.

“I’m going to get in an accident if you don’t calm down.” He chuckled, easily grabbing both of your wrists in one hand and placing them in your lap.

“Sorry.” You chewed your lip. “I’m a little tipsy.”

“I can tell.” He returned his hand to the wheel with an amused smile.

“A little tipsy.” You repeated, turning your body in the chair so you could look at him. “And a lot horny.”

Spencer almost swerved the car off the road and gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles instantly turned white.

“Fuck, Y/N.” His cock was immediately awake. “Don’t say things like that. My girls are home.”

“Didn’t say we needed to go home.” You reached over the centre console and palmed his already hardening cock through his slacks.

His toes curled in his shoes and he hissed.

“Fuck.” He swallowed, tightening his hold on the steering wheel. “W-what are you suggesting?”

“A dark alley and a bad idea.” You pressed your palm against his erection and he jolted a little in his seat.

“You will be the death of me.” He growled. “Thank fuck I put those condoms in my bag.”

He was quick to locate a dark and desolate side street, barely able to see through the lust clouding his vision.

It was a narrow alley, barely bigger than Spencer’s car and the only light was from the moon still creeping between the clouds.

He practically slammed on the brakes and shut off the engine, unbuckling his belt in a flash and turning to you with dark eyes.

“Come here then angel,” he patted his lap. “Or are you all talk?”

You fumbled undoing your belt in excitement and Spencer had to help you out of it before he was pulling you towards him and having you straddle his lap.

The seat was already back as far as it would go due to his long legs and a car that wasn’t strictly made for a man of his stature.

Your dress rode up your thighs and you instantly started grinding his lap while he roughly gripped the back of your neck and crashed your lips together.

You moaned into his mouth as his free hand wandered your thigh, wasting no time in moving your panties aside.

He hissed into your mouth when he felt how wet the fabric was already and the heat that emanated from you made him dizzy.

The two of you didn’t get to be alone often and he was too eager to wait. He dove two fingers inside your waiting cunt and you bucked against his hand, your teeth sinking into his bottom lip.

He returned the favour by roughly thrusting them upwards and curling them against your bundle of nerves.

Your tongue hungrily explored his mouth, navigating every inch of his mouth. Your hands swatted at his belt, desperately trying to free him from his slacks. It took a few failed attempts before you got it undone and popped open the button on his pants.

Your hand sunk inside his boxers, moving the fabric enough to let his throbbing member escape. You stroked his length as he continued fucking his fingers inside of you with force and desperation.

You tore your lips apart so you could look at him. His lips were swollen and red and his pupils were blown out wide. His messy hair fell onto his forehead and he smiled wildly as you pumped him harder.

“Fuck angel, you are too good at that.” He panted, his chest heaving up and down. “And you feel so good around my fingers.”

He dove deeper, causing you to jump a little and throw your head back in pleasure.

The windows were already steamed up from your heavy breathing, obscuring any previous vision of the dark street.

Precome leaked from Spencer’s head and you swiped your thumb over it and spread it down his shaft.

The sounds of your wet slicked cunt as Spencer plunged his fingers in and out of you filled the car.

His free hand started fumbling behind his chair, trying to locate his satchel.

He gripped the handle and tossed it to the front seat. Still keeping up your strokes on his cock, you leaned over slightly and rummaged inside for a condom.

The ripples of pleasure crashing through your body meant it took longer than you would have liked before your fingers brushed against what you were looking for.

You sat back with it and after a few more thrusts of his fingers Spencer cautiously withdrew them.

You watched in absolute awe as he drew those same fingers to his lips and sucked your arousal clean of them.

“Fuck you taste good.” He hummed around his own digits.

Your thighs clamped together at the sight.

“God-fucking-damn Doctor.” You whined, squeezing the base of his shaft a little.

He smirked before pulling you in for another kiss, the taste of yourself on his tongue was electric.

As he kissed you, you ripped open the condom and held his shaft as you rolled it down his length. You pulled back from his lips and knelt over his head.

You moved your panties aside again for him while his own hand went to the base of his cock as he lined himself up. Slowly you lowered yourself, keeping your eyes firmly on his.

Just moments ago he’d been driving and now here you were. It had all happened so fast it made him a little dizzy. But this was the first time he’d had you alone in what felt like forever. He didn’t want to waste a second.

There would be other times for you to go slow, maybe at Rossi’s cabin. But now the need for speed was prevalent.

His head pressed against your desperate hole briefly before you steadily sunk down onto him, feeling your walls stretch around his heavy length.

Spencer’s eyes rolled back in his head and he gripped hold of your hips, blunt nails digging into your flesh.

Your pussy fluttered around him, tightening as though you might come already. He bottomed out inside of you, taking a few moments just to revel in the way you felt sheathed around his cock.

“I could stay like this forever.” He moaned, head falling forward onto your shoulder. “I could just fucking live in this glorious pussy.”

He sucked on the flesh of your shoulder, hard enough to leave behind marks whilst the two of you sat perfectly still.

Your hands found their way to his hair and entwined in the unruly locks, burying deeply into them.

He stopped sucking your shoulder and rested his forehead against it instead.

A wave of emotions washed over him as if out of nowhere. He snaked his arms around your body and held you as he felt tears prick the corners of his eyes.

This was how it was supposed to feel. This was what was missing in his marriage.

He felt as though in you, he’d found the other half of himself. He’d found what he’d been searching for all these years, what he’d never found in Maeve.

You were hope. You were a freedom he’d never felt before. You were the air his lungs had been gasping for his entire life.

He was inconceivably and deliriously in love with you. And that both elated him and terrified him at the same time.

But he knew now, as he held you, whilst he was buried deep inside of you that you were the one his heart beat for.

He didn’t even know he was capable of this kind of feeling. But it smacked him in the face like a ton of bricks at that moment.

You pulled back a little and he blinked away the tears threatening to fall before you noticed them.

You kept your hands in his hair as you smiled at him and started grinding down on him.

“Need you.” You mumbled.

“Need you more.” He quickly grabbed your face and slammed your lips together as you started moving up and down on his length.

He held your face firmly, kissing you a little sloppily and moaning into your mouth.

He started rocking in his seat to meet your movements and his belt jingled slightly with the motion.

His hips bucked back and forth, thrusting deep inside of you and crashing against your g-spot again and again.

You released his hair and gripped his shoulder for leverage and your other hand slammed against the car window, leaving a near perfect handprint in the condensation you’d both created.

He pulled back from your lips and moved his hands back to your hips, using them to move you up and down around him.

Your mouth fell open as wanton moans left your lips and you let him guide your body how he wanted you. Your knees clamped around his thighs and your eyes fluttered closed.

“No,” he panted, manoeuvring you up and down. “Look at me while I fuck you.”

Slamming hard against your cervix your eyes darted back open, wide and practically black.

You could feel your arousal leaking down your legs and a combination of the wine and lust caused you to feel light headed.

“Fuck, Spencer, I’m close.” You whined, gripping the collars of his shirt.

“Fuck, so am I.” He looked conflicted by this.

He wanted to come while he was inside of you, more so than he’d ever wanted anything in his life. He was wearing a condom but he was still scared by the thought.

Needing to get you to your peak before he reached his, he moved his hand under your dress and rubbed your clit with his thumb.

Your whole body jerked, clenching around him and it was almost enough to send Spencer spiralling.

“Come for me angel, please come for me.” He held his breath, hoping that might stave off his orgasm.

You hummed and moaned as he continued thrusting inside of you and the added pleasure of his thumb pressing against your clit caused your orgasm to bubble in your chest.

A moan wracked your whole body as you came, squeezing so tightly around Spencer’s cock that it was impossible for him to hold back.

With your orgasm still washing through you, Spencer’s hips jut up hard and his head fell to your shoulder again as he came inside the condom.

“Fuck,” he panted. “Fuck.”

His cock twitched inside of you as you rocked back and forth on him lazily while you both rode out your highs.

Spencer felt partially relieved yet suddenly flooded with remorse.

He helped you off of him and over to the passengers seat where your arousal leaked into the fabric of the chair.

He didn’t look at you, he stared down into his lap at his slowly softening dick as though it had betrayed him.

“Spence?” You whispered, squeezing your thighs together to try and stop the mess on Spencer’s chair.

He didn’t respond, he just kept staring at his crotch.

You sighed and reached over the console and removed the condom from his limp dick before tying a knot in the end.

“Condoms are really safe.” You whispered again.

“Are you on any kind of birth control?” He croaked, still not looking up at you.

“No.” You shook your head. “But condoms are really safe.”

“Ninety eight percent.” He mumbled.

“What?”

“They are ninety eight percent effective. But taking into account human error it brings that down to about eighty five in reality. Which means fifteen out of a hundred people who use condoms as their only form of birth control are likely to get pregnant.” His voice was so emotionless it scared you a little.

“Spence, it’ll be ok.” You gently placed your hand on his arm and he suddenly looked up at you.

Even in the dark you could see the tears behind his eyes.

“I can’t have another kid.”

“Of course. I’m not ready for kids either.”

“No.” He shook his head. “You don’t understand. I don’t mean I can’t have another kid right now. I mean I don’t ever want another child.”

His words hit you like a wave. That once sentence sobered you up like an IV filled with caffeine.

“Ever.” You croaked, slumping back into your chair. “As in…”

“Ever.” He sighed. “Daisy’s a teenager and Lily will be one too before I know it. And running around after toddlers in my thirties was one thing but it’s another entirely to be doing it in my forties. I don’t want any more kids.”

You cleared your throat and turned to stare out of the window so he wouldn’t see the tears in your eyes.

“Do you think you’ll ever get married again?” Your voice betrayed your sadness.

“I don’t…I don’t know.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I've not thought about it. My divorce has only been finalised a few months. Until I met you I never thought I’d ever date again.”

You sucked in a breath through your teeth.

This wasn’t a conversation that needed to happen now. You’d just started dating, it wasn’t important now, right?

You didn’t want to ruin what you and Spencer had right now for the sake of some phantom future.

“Ok.” You nodded, belting yourself in the car.

“Ok?” He frowned at you.

“Ok, let’s go.” You turned back to him and he suddenly became aware his dick was still hanging out of his pants.

He quickly tucked himself away and buckled his belt.

“Are we ok?” He asked softly before doing up his seat belt.

“Yeah.” You forced yourself to smile. “We don’t need to worry about stuff like that now.”

“Right. Sure.” He nodded with a slight frown as he started the engine.

The two of you were silent the whole drive back to your apartment and it was a stifled kind of silence. The tension was palpable, making the air around you thick and heavy, almost choking you on it.

You watched the passing cars outside the window. You stared intently until DC became nothing more than a blur behind your eyes.

Eventually after what felt like a lifetime trapped inside the car, he pulled up outside your building. You practically flung yourself from the vehicle, trying to ignore your sticky inner thighs.

Spencer quickly shut off the engine and joined you in the street outside your building. He was tentative as he moved closer to you, cupping your face tenderly in his large hands.

“We have an expiration date, don’t we?” You croaked, tears instantly pooling behind your eyes.

“I don’t know.” He confessed. “Maybe.”

“You really never want more kids?” A tear escaped your eye and you cursed yourself for it.

He sighed loudly, moving his hands down your face and onto the sides of your neck. His touch was featherlight, barely ghosting over your skin.

“I really don’t know Y/N.” His bottom lip quivered a little. “I never imagined having anymore, especially with my girls getting older now. I’m not going to stand here and lie to you and say I might change my mind one day because I don’t know if I will. Maybe I will, but I don’t know. And I don’t want to get your hopes up and say I will when I just don’t know.

But I don’t want to lose you, not like this. And I know it’s probably really selfish of me to ask but can we just like, put a pin in it for now? Deal with it another day? I’m not ready for whatever this is between us to be over. I’m already in over my head here, I can’t lose you.”

A few more tears escaped your eyes and you could tell Spencer was close to losing it himself.

He wished you were the mother of his children. He wished you were the one he married. His wished time and circumstance had been on his side but he couldn’t change any of that.

But he could potentially stop you from walking away.

“It’s a pretty big pin.” You replied with a sniff.

“I know.” He nodded sadly.

“But I’m not ready for whatever this is to be over either.” You confessed.

You might live to regret that decision. You might only end up prolonging the pain. But any minute spent with Spencer Reid was worth any hurt it might cause in the long run.

Spencer’s body seemed to relax at your words and he threaded his hands around the back of your neck, edging his face closer to yours.

“Y/N?” He whispered, leaning his forehead against yours and his breath fanned across your face.

“Yes, Spence?”

“You know I adore you right?” It was the closest he could bring himself to say what he really wanted to say.

Adore was the most he could allow himself to admit out loud although he was fairly certain you knew what he really meant.

Your lip tugged at the corner and you wrapped your arms around his waist.

“I know.” You murmured, lips almost ghosting over his. “I adore you too, Spencer.”

He closed the small gap between your lips and kissed you with everything he had.

He spoke silent love songs and sonnets that died in your mouth. But he told himself that you knew. He was sure that you knew.

When the kiss broke he stroked an errant hair back off your face and watched the way the moonlight danced in your eyes.

It should have been you, he thought regretfully. It should have been you I got to have a life with.

But he didn’t say it out loud. He couldn’t speak those words because they seemed far too cruel.

Instead he stepped back from you and stuffed his hands awkwardly in his pockets.

“I promise you I am going to get Daisy to her mom’s next weekend whatever it takes. And you and I are going to Rossi’s cabin.”

“I can’t wait.” Your smile was full of melancholy and he was sure his own reflected it back.

He took a step backwards, closer to his car.

“See you Monday.” He nodded, rolling his bottom lip between his teeth.

“See you Monday.” You repeated, watching him retreat back to his car and slide in the driver’s seat with a heavy heart.

***

Spencer was exhausted by the time he arrived home, both physically and mentally.

He knew the right thing to do was to let you go. It wasn’t fair on either of you for him to string you along when chances were he couldn’t give you what you wanted.

He was being selfish, he knew that. He knew it was unfair for him to keep this up. But his heart wouldn’t allow him to let go.

You’d gotten in. You’d snuck past the defences he’d carefully crafted in the wake of Maeve’s affair. You’d bombarded his fortress, snuck in without him even realising his strongholds had been breached.

You’d taken up roots and they grew like vines around the shards of his thread bear heart. For now they were holding him together, but your clutches would only grow stronger, squeezing and squeezing until his heart all but turned to dust.

You were a part of him, embedded deep in his soul. So even if it was selfish, he couldn’t let you go.

He knew he should. But he couldn’t.

He sat in his car on the drive, silent tears streaming down his face unwilling to go inside just yet.

Time passed by slowly. He didn’t know how long he sat there in the dark before he wiped his eyes, put on a practiced fake smile and exited the car.

His footsteps trailed heavily up the porch steps and he nudged open the door as quietly as possible, hoping at this late hour his daughter’s would be asleep.

The light was on the living room and he didn’t have to go far to find his children or their sitters.

Luke was sprawled on the couch, feet resting over the arm. Lily was curled up on top of him, head resting on his chest and he had a lazy arm slung around her while they both snored peacefully.

Roxy and Taco were curled up together at the foot of the couch.

Garica was asleep in the armchair, head lolled back against the headrest and Daisy lay soundly sleeping in her lap, head buried into the crook of the bubbly blonde's neck.

His heart soared in his chest at the sight of them like this. His kids were masters of distraction and very rarely did anyone sitting them get them to bed.

He hadn’t expected Luke and Garcia to be any different.

The girls had tactics that stopped working on Spencer long ago. They knew how to wear adults down until they were too tired to convince his errant daughters to go to bed.

Spencer couldn’t help but smile in pride at how Lily and Daisy could outsmart two FBI agents.

He crept further into the room towards the couch and crouched down next to Luke and Lily. He reached out and stroked Lily’s curly hair off her face, her lips were drawn into a small smile that made Spencer feel warm inside.

Luke stirred a little, Spencer could see his eyes moving beneath his lids and then they slowly opened.

When they landed on Spencer he frowned a little, looking down at Lily before looking back at him.

“Don’t feel bad, they’re too smart for their own good.” Spencer whispered.

“Wonder where they get that from.” Luke croaked. “They wore us down.”

“It’s ok, really.” Spencer smiled.

Lily made a little humming sound before her eyes fluttered and opened. She looked at Spencer, blinking a few times before she lifted her head from Luke’s chest.

“Daddy!” She instantly beamed, shuffling to sit up on Luke’s stomach, no doubt winding him in the process.

She got to her feet and collapsed into Spencer’s open arms.

“Did you have a nice time with Uncle Luke and Aunty Penelope?” He kept his voice low to not disturb Garica and Daisy although he’d have to wake them up eventually.

“Yes! We had lots of fun and Taco and Roxy are the best of friends.” She giggled, pulling herself from his arms and pointing at the two dogs who were now awake but still stayed close to each other.

“I don’t know if he’s neutered and they would have some very strange babies so let’s keep an eye on them.” Spencer told Luke.

“It’s all good, Roxy’s been done.” Luke chuckled as he sat up on the couch.

“What’s neutered?” Lily frowned.

“Nothing, pumpkin.” Spencer ruffled her unruly hair before getting back up and moving over to the armchair.

Daisy was a much heavier sleeper than her sister so he was able to cradle her legs and head and scoop her up into his arms without waking her.

“I’m going to put them to bed.” Spencer whispered, motioning for Lily to follow him.

“I’ll wake Penelope.” Luke nodded.

Spencer headed for the stairs with Daisy in his arms and Lily gripping the back of his shirt. He was an expert at manoeuvring with two children attached to him and made quick work of the stairs.

“Go get into bed and I’ll be in in a second ok?” He instructed Lily.

“But I’m not tired!” She whined.

“Yes, pumpkin, you are.” He smirked. “Go get into bed.”

“Fine.” She huffed, turning on her heels and scampering to her room.

At least Luke and Garcia had managed to talk to the girls into their pajamas, it was more than most could do.

Nudging Daisy’s door open with his hip, he carried his daughter into her room, pulled back the sheets with one hand and laid her down on the mattress.

She stirred a little but didn’t wake.

He covered her up with the sheet and bowed his head to kiss her forehead.

“I love you baby girl.” He whispered as he slowly backed out of the room.

Lily was a little harder to get down, proclaiming she wasn’t tired when she could barely keep her eyes open.

It took twenty minutes and two stories before she finally gave over to sleep and Spencer was able to leave her.

He found Luke and Garcia slightly bleary eyed in the kitchen, three cups of coffee on the island.

He slid into one of the free chairs and took a grateful sip.

“How was your dinner at Rossi’s, boy wonder?” Garcia grinned suggestively at him, eyeing him up and down.

Spencer looked down at his attire and it was only then he noticed his tie was off to the side, his shirt was still untucked from his pants and his belt was twisted where he’d done it up in a hurry.

His cheeks burnt instantly as he looked back at Garcia sheepishly.

“Cut me some slack, I never have time for sex.” He grumbled, lifting the mug to his lips and letting the warmth comfort him.

“I mean we kind of figured what you were doing. You texted us almost two hours ago that you were leaving Rossi’s.” Luke snickered. “So you had a good night?”

“For the most part.” He couldn’t help the sigh that left his lips, causing his shoulders to slump. “It got a bit tense at the end.”

“Tense how?” Garcia raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him.

“We got onto the conversation of the future. I don’t know, I think we want different things.” He swallowed thickly.

“Because you’ve already done the marriage and kids thing.” Luke nodded.

“Yeah and it didn’t work out so well for me. So I’m not exactly in a hurry to repeat it.” He shook his head. “It’s fine, we’re fine…what?”

Luke and Garcia were exchanging slightly guilty looks that cut Spencer off his trail of thought.

They looked at him sheepishly, trying to decide who would be the one to speak.

“Uh…” Garcia toyed with her necklace. “Daisy knows about Y/N.”

Spencer almost dropped his mug from his hands but just managed to steady it and placed it loudly on the counter.

“Excuse me? You told my thirteen year old daughter I’m dating?”

“No, no, we didn’t.” Luke was quick to speak up. “She saw Y/N leaving the house. Said she saw you kiss her. She drew the conclusions.”

“And she talked to you about it and not me?” Spencer felt a little saddened by that.

“She’s happy for you.” Garica tried to cheer him up. “She was super grown-up about the whole thing. I sometimes forget she’s not an adult.”

“S-she is?” Spencer stuttered.

“She just wants you to be happy. And we told her you are.” Luke smiled softly at him.

“I was really not ready for my kids to know I’m dating.” He leant his elbows on the counter and put his head in his hands.

“If it helps, she did agree not to tell Lily.” Garcia shrugged.

“Until the next time Lily steals her favourite sweater or annoys her in any way and it will be the first thing she blurts out.” Spencer exhaled, lifting his head back out of his hands. “Thanks for handling it. There was a lot I didn’t think through before I dove head first into this dating thing.”

“Tell us about it. We did not think through how hard it would be hiding our relationship from the team.” Luke chuckled.

“Yeah about that,” Spencer offered him a sympathetic smile. “I’m pretty sure they all know. Rossi mentioned it.”

Luke and Garcia looked at each other wide eyed.

“We shouldn’t be so surprised. They are profilers.” Garcia shrugged in defeat, slipping out of the chair. “I’m going to use the ladies room and then I need to go home. It’s late and I’m exhausted.”

With Garcia gone, Luke helped Spencer clear up the coffee cups before they went through to the living room where Luke got his coat on.

“I don’t know how you do it, man.” Luke smiled wistfully at his friend as he fished his car keys out of his pocket. He grabbed Roxy’s leash from the coat rack and whistled to garner her attention.

“Do what?”

“Any of it.” Luke laughed as Roxy padded over and allowed Luke to clip her leash to her collar. “Dating’s hard enough without corralling those two girls. You’re doing great, you know that right?”

Spencer smiled but sometimes it didn’t feel like it. Sometimes it felt like he was being torn in two directions, between his family and his personal life and he was sure at some point he would rip down the middle.

“Thanks,” he said rather than launch into a self-pity rant.

Garcia rejoined them and Luke helped her into her pink denim jacket before she hugged Spencer tightly. He waved at Luke as he opened the door and they stepped out on the porch with Roxy in tow.

“Thanks again guys, I really appreciate you sitting the girls.” he leant on the door.

“Any time! I just adore those little angels!” Garcia beamed as brightly as she could considering how tired she was.

“See ya soon, super dad.” Luke winked at him as they turned and headed down the front steps.

Spencer shut the door, chuckling to himself.

He had no idea what would happen between the two of you, if there were even still a two of you. But as long as he had his daughters, he knew everything would be ok.

Spencer could conquer anything life had to throw at him as long as his two girls were happy and healthy.

But why did the thought of losing you make him feel like he could crumble into a million pieces and never be able to put himself back together?

@andiebeaword @dreatine @thebloomingeagle @matthew-gray-gubler-lover @foxy-eva @kbakery @chrissyflo3 @simxican @aysixdy @givemeth @its-yagirl-raelynn @loonalockley

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