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mcytadventevent · 1 month ago

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mungbean is creating for Day Twenty One!

Prompt: Sky / Stars

Her piece is written, featuring all of the life series members!

Credit Links:

https://archiveofourown.org/users/madame_mungbean

https://www.instagram.com/madame_mungbean

(Piece below the cut!)

Left No Crumbs

Flurries of white specks fell from the void above. The frigid temperatures had teeth sharp enough to bite through the thickness of his coat and puncture his skin, while each breath produced a puff of fog. He trudged through dense snow, arms quivering while staggered street lights pop on as the sun sinks below the horizon. His face was numb when he finally arrived at the door of Lizzie and Joel’s house, where all the Lifers had decided to gather before Christmas. They wanted to craft, help decorate, and just spend time together in the off-season, since some of them would be busy during the holiday and some were going out of town.

After a simple knock, the door swung open to a welcoming expression. Lizzie. She was dressed in a purple sweater. “BigB! You made it!” Catching his gaze on her outfit, she stretched the sweater before her. The long-sleeve contained an abstract silhouette of a small person with wings. Various colored, mini pom poms were glued around it, and the whole thing was overly garnished with glitter. “What do you think? Pretty ugly right? It’s supposed to be an angel.” She stepped aside to let him in.

It did look hideous, but something about the placement of the fuzzy balls reminded BigB of flowers, and with it, past memories. “It looks more like a fairy to me.” He stepped past her, hanging his coat with the pile of others on the hooks by the door. Swinging around, he gestured to his own sweater. “What do you think of mine? Eh…? Eh…?”

His green sweater held drawn strings of multicolored lights across it and a melted cookie with a wonky face at its center. “Oh… it’s wonderful!” Lizzie exaggerated, gaining a laugh from BigB. Lizzie waved a hand. “The rest of them are in here.” She guided him through the house and into a conjoined dining and living room filled with laughter, bickering, light music, and familiar faces. The refreshing scent of pine danced in the air, along with a faint smell of cinnamon and vanilla.

“BigB!” numerous voices welcomed, then returned to their activities.

Grian, Scar, Etho, and Bdubs were circled around a board game on the living room floor. Behind them was an L-shaped couch that faced a fireplace and an empty pine tree. Cleo sat cross-legged on the couch, munching on a bowl of popcorn while watching Martyn, Ren, Scott, and Jimmy sorted through ornaments from a tote box on each side of the pine and placing them on a small table. A short step ladder also rested beside the tree for later decorating of the top. Behind them all stood a wooden dining table where Gem, Pearl, Impulse, Skizz, Tango, and Mumbo played various games, such as Jenga and Uno.

“Now if you’ll excuse me…” Lizzie began. “I must attend to the-”

“Cookies?” BigB finished with the peak of his brow.

“How’d you know?”

Tapping his nose, BigB jokingly responded, “My nose can smell cookies from miles away.”

Lizzie laughed as she exited the room, leaving BigB in the room of growing chaos. Martyn was the first to call him over, “Hey BigB! Want to help us decorate the tree?”

“Sure!”

Grian exchanged a smile with BigB as he passed the group on the floor. Scar flung Grian a side eye, while popping a small peppermint candy cane into his mouth, “Well, Grian? Make your next move, carefully.”

“This game is too long,” Grian complained, tossing a pair of dice on the Monopoly board and moving his metallic hat across its properties.

Scar smiled all too brightly, leaning towards him with a wink, “But we can finally have a monopoly.”

“What makes you think this will turn out any different than our previous attempts?” Grian shot back.

Lizzie re-entered the room with a large plate of cookies. She crossed the loud space, placing the dish on a small table that sat on the border of both rooms. “Excuse me everyone!” Lizzie attempted through the cacophony of voices. “Excuse me!” She waited till all heads turned to her, most of them did. “Do not eat the cookies until I get back!”

“You got it!” Martyn shouted from beside the tree. She nodded towards him and escaped the room.

On the floor, Scar was next to move his pawn across the Monopoly board when he landed on a sensitive space: Liverpool St. Station. “I think I’ll purchase this railroad,” he announced, placing his money in the bank.

“NO!” Bdubs screamed. “YOU CAN’T HAVE THAT TRAIN! THAT’S MINE!”

“Now Bdubs, that’s not how business works,” Scar crossed his arms with the shake of his head.

“HOW COULD YOU! THAT WAS MY ONLY PURPOSE IN THIS GAME! I WANTED ALL THE TRAINS!”

“So how about,” Etho interjected. “I make you a deal, Scar.”

Scar’s brows raised at the word “deal” as he scooted a little closer. “I’m listening…”

Grian perked up, “No, Etho. Don’t make a deal with him. He’ll find some way to scam you.”

Scar sifted through his property cards. “Now Grian, Etho wants to make a deal. Let the man speak.”

“I’ll trade you Vine Street if you give Bdubs his last railroad,” Etho proposed.

“Well, you see, Liverpool St. Station costs more than Vine Street. However, if you throw in Marlborough Street, we have a deal.”

“Then you’ll have all three orange properties.”

“Those are my terms.” Scar shrugged with a crafty smile.

“Alright, give Bdubs Liverpool St. Station, give me The Angel Islington, and I’ll give you both Vine Street and Marlborough Street.” Etho finalized.

Scar scratched his chin before extending his palm towards Etho. “Deal.” They shook hands, then exchanged cards.

Upon receiving his, Bdubs illuminated, almost bouncing as his grin widened. “THANK YOU ETHO!” He threw his arms around the man. “ISN’T HE JUST THE BEST!” Etho glanced away, offering no change in expression.

Joel entered the room and passed them with a tray of steaming mugs and a bag of marshmallows. Bdubs perked up, like a dog at the sound of his favorite toy. “IS THAT HOT CHOCOLATE!” His head snapped to Etho, locking gaze. “ETHO, YOU WANT ONE?” Etho shrugged. “I’LL TAKE THAT AS A YES!” Bdubs jumped to his feet and raced after the hot chocolate.

Joel set the tray on the dining table and called out for the room to hear, “Hot chocolate has arrived!”

Gem sprang to her feet, abandoning her Uno match with Pearl. As she did so, her knee knocked into the table, collapsing the intense game of Jenga beside her and causing an eruption of complaints. “Sorry guys,” she shrugged. “Hot chocolate.” Skizz stood next, followed by Tango. Skizz grabbed a second mug for Impulse while Tango got one for Mumbo.

“Hey Joel!” Ren called from across the room, positioned beside the tree.

“Yea?” Joel swung around to face him.

“We got the lights on, but do you have a piece for the top?”

Joel put a finger to his chin. “No, I don’t believe so.”

From the floor, Grian stood, puffing out his chest confidently. “Make way everyone, for I am the star!”

A handful of chuckles emitted from multiple people, while Martyn playfully responded, “Oh yeah? Then what are you doing on the floor? You’re supposed to be in the tree!”

“You’re not shiny either,” Jimmy added.

“Just watch, I’ll show off my brilliance!” Grain said, walking to a box by the pine, pulling out a strand of lights, and entangling himself in them.

Jimmy giggled, “What are you doing?”

Determined, Grain ignored him, hiding the step ladder behind the tree and ascending it. When his knees appeared above the tree, he threw his arms in opposite directions and widened his stance as far as the ladder allowed, assuming the shape of a star.

“Quick, someone plug him in!” Martyn shouted.

Joel raced to the back of the tree, grabbing an extension cord on the way. He took the plug dangling off Grian, connected it to his cord, and inserted it into an outlet—cueing a mixture of awes and laughter—and darted to the front.

“How do I look?” Grian asked, wrapped unevenly in dazzling white lights.

“Stunning!” Mumbo chuckled from the crowd of laughter that had gathered around the base of the tree to witness Grian’s shenanigans.

“Well, the tree is not going to decorate itself,” Grian urged light-heartedly.

A handful of people grabbed ornaments and placed them on the tree. Keeping his arms extended, Grian carefully repositioned himself, balancing on one leg and extending the other. For a split second, Jimmy thought he saw wings in Grian’s shadow, but he guessed it must have been the trick of the light. He watched as Martyn nearly placed a shiny red ornament on the tree when Grian glanced down and whispered, “Not right there…”

Martyn playfully said, “Oh why, all seeing one?”

Grian responded, “There’s too much red there, move it someplace else.”

The laughter continued until Tango emitted a loud and unsettling gasp. A cold breeze whisked through the room, snuffing out the only candle on the dining table. Everyone fell silent, turning to face Tango as the crackling fire laughed from the hearth. “The cookies are gone!”

“What!” Joel shoved his way past the crowd to find an empty plate on the small table that Lizzie had left them on. He placed his hands on his hips and faced the group. “Alright, who ate my wife’s cookies?”

Everyone glanced towards each other, but no one responded.

Grian stepped forth, clearing his throat. “Ahem, it looks like this calls for…” he fisted his hands before his chest, securing a brown trench coat around his shoulders, a Deerstalker hat on his head, and straightened the glasses on his face. Removing a magnifying glass from an inside coat pocket, he threw it into the air. “An investigation!”

Jimmy rubbed his eyes, blinking a few times. Since when did Grian get a coat? Let alone down from the tree and untangled from the lights so quickly? He glanced around, but no one questioned it except for Mumbo who giggled, “Nice magnifying glass.”

Grian smiled, stepping beside Joel. “Alright. No one leaves this room until we find the perpetrator. Now… who’s got information regarding this incident?”

“PEARL WAS CLOSEST!” Bdubs exploded.

Pearl threw her hands up in defense, “Yeah, like I ate all those cookies in one go.”

“So there’s an accomplice…” Giran thought aloud, tapping his chin. “Maybe multiple.”

“It’s probably BigB,” Ren commented.

Everyone turned around, staring at BigB in his cookie sweater. He stared back at them, narrowing his eyes. “That’s just cold.”

“Skizz is looking pretty guilty right now,” Cleo chuckled from somewhere in the group. The crowd turned to Skizz. Fidgeting his fingers, his eyes widened as he glanced at all the staring faces.

“Okay! Everyone sit on the couch!” Grian instructed. People squeezed themselves onto the large couch, some sitting on the floor while others sat on the arms of the couch. Grian pulled over a wooden chair from the dining room and placed it in front for all to see. “Pearl you’re first, come sit in the chair.”

“Uh, okay.” She rose from the floor and sat in the chair. Joel flipped the light switches, transforming the room into a void where only one ceiling light cast a ray over the chair Pearl sat in, and the wavering light from the fireplace dimly illuminated the rest of the crew gathered on the couch.

“So,” Grian began. “What were you doing when Lizzie delivered the cookies?”

“Playing Uno with Scott and Cleo.”

“And then what happened?”

“Well, Scott went back to help decorate the tree and Cleo left to refill her snack.”

“Did you see either of them take a cookie?”

“Nope. Although, I continued playing Uno with Gem, so I didn’t see them afterwards.”

“Did either of you leave the table after that?” Grian turned his back to her.

“Yea, I went to the bathroom after Joel came with hot chocolate.”

Grian whipped around, throwing a finger at her. “Ah ha!”

“Please don’t start that again,” Martyn teased from the couch.

“But I didn’t take a cookie,” Pearl defended. “I came back and sat on the couch with Cleo and Gem.”

“Hmmm…” Grian rubbed a finger under his chin. “Then I call Cleo to the chair.”

~ ~ ~

“So,” Grian stood before the chair, pushing up his glasses. “What did you do after Scott left for the tree?”

Cleo stared into his soul, her eyes the look of death. “Went to the kitchen, got myself some more popcorn, sat on the couch and watched the chaos.”

Grian nodded. “Valid. No further questions.”

“WHAT?” Jimmy’s voice rang from the couch. Cleo only laughed. “But she could have easily left something out!”

“I’ll ask the questions here.” Grian jabbed a thumb to his chest. “Plus, she had to mom Monopoly for us.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well…”

~ ~ ~

Around the Monopoly board, once more, sat Grian, Scar, Bdubs, and Etho.

“Scar, stop harboring the money!” Grian complained—an untouched hot chocolate sitting beside him. “You’re supposed to give us two hundred dollars when we pass GO.”

“Uh, uh, uh,” Scar waved his finger. “You did not remind the bank, and your turn has passed. That’s not my fault.”

“YOU’RE SCAMMING US!” Bdubs attempted to swipe the money from Scar’s hand, but Scar moved it from his reach.

“You’re a horrible banker.” Grian crossed his arms.

Scar smiled. “Actually, it’s just how business works.”

Grian stared him in the eye. “Let me be the banker.”

Scar splayed his palms over his organized money set up. “No! I chose to be the banker first!”

“And I’m regretting it. Hand over the money!”

“How do I know you won’t do the same or worse!”

Cleo pushed herself up, abandoning her bowl of popcorn on the couch, and stepped between the two bickering children. She sat, squeezing herself between them and forcing them to scoot over. “That’s it. I’m the banker now.”

“YAY!” Bdubs threw his hands into the air.

Scar griped, “Ah Cleo… please don’t!” He sent a pleading expression to the man ahead of him. “Etho, tell her-”

Etho shook his head. “I’ve got no say in this.” Cleo nodded in approval.

Scar’s head drooped as he handed the money he kept from Bdubs to Cleo. “But Grian was the Bad Boy, not me!”

~ ~ ~

“Huh,” Jimmy said from the couch. “I don’t know how I missed that whole interaction.”

Grian’s eyes narrowed towards Jimmy. “Sus. But I’ll come back to you later.” He adjusted his hat and pointed his magnifying glass at one person. “Scott! Your next to the chair.” Scott exchanged places with Cleo. He plopped in the seat, arms crossed. “So, tell me your run through of the story, starting with your match of Uno.”

Scott locked eyes with Grian, reciting his story, “I played Uno with Cleo and Pearl. Left to help untangle a strand of lights for the tree, then stayed to sort ornaments with Ren. You should know, I was by the tree and your crazy Monopoly game the whole time.”

Scott purposefully left Jimmy’s name from the story in hopes Grian would forget about him, but Grian targeted him anyway. “And Jimmy was a part of that, right?

“Yes, bu-”

“Jimmy! Come to the chair!”

Scott released a sigh of frustration, and stood—arms still crossed. “What about you, Grian? How do we know you aren’t the one to blame?”

“He has a point.” Martyn chimed in. “This could all be a set up to blame someone else.”

Grian set his magnifying glass on the table of ornaments and plopped in the chair. “Fine.”

But Jimmy saw something different. When Grian sat in the chair, he sat in his ugly sweater from before his wardrobe change. No long coat, no hat, just his red sweater wrapped in a green tinsel garland. Jimmy blinked a few times. “How did yo-”

“So Grian!” Martyn stood, allowing Scott to take his place on the couch next to Jimmy. “What were you doing during the cookie incident?”

“Playing Monopoly, until I became a star.”

Martyn studied him when Impulse called from the couch, “He came to get hot chocolate.”

“Yea, he did,” Tango confirmed.

“So,” Martyn stroked his chin. “Leaving something out of the story, are we?”

Grian sighed. “I wasn’t gone that long. I chatted with BigB briefly, got hot chocolate, then went back to Monopoly.”

From the couch, Scar narrowed his eyes; his heart chipped once more. Grian’s words confirmed his suspicion. Grian had met with BigB in secret, again.

Martyn swung around to spot BigB sitting on the floor. “Can you affirm his alibi?”

BigB nodded. “We talked about which ornaments would look best on the tree.”

Scar sighed with relief. He remembered it was nearly Christmas. His mind was still stuck in the games that he forgot BigB was no longer a threat, he was a friend.

Martyn shrugged. “Seems clean to me.” He sat on the floor in front of Scott and Jimmy as Grian rose from the chair.

“Alright, back to business.” Grian adjusted the coat on his shoulders, leaving Jimmy to wonder if he was imagining all of this. Grian picked up his magnifying glass from the table and swung around, tipping the brim of his hat to face Jimmy. “Now back to Tim!” Beside Jimmy, Scott rolled his eyes—his distraction had failed. What did he expect, Grian never cut Jimmy any slack.

~ ~ ~

Jimmy shifted in the chair awkwardly, and Grian leaned towards him, magnifying glass over his eye. “What are you hiding Timmy?”

“This is just an uncomfortable chair,” Jimmy laughed nervously.

With the magnifying glass, Grian moved to the side of Jimmy’s face, less than an inch away, analyzing any change in his facial features. He noted a single bead of sweat dripping from the suspect’s temple.

“OKAY! OKAY! It was Scott!” Jimmy finally burst.

“JIMMY!” Scott shot to his feet, throwing him a look of betrayal. One Jimmy has seen before, so he knew this one was more playful than previous.

“Go on Tim,” Grian pushed, still looking at him through the glass. Jimmy had to pull his head back to avoid being touched by the thing.

“When Scott came over to help me untangle a strand of lights, he brought each of us a cookie, so we ate them.”

Scott said, “Yeah, but they were the only ones I took. The rest of the cookies were still there!”

Grian tapped the magnifying glass in the palm of his other hand. “So, there are more cookie thieves.” He scanned the couch, studying each face, eyes landing on a familiar anxious expression. “Mumbo.”

Mumbo nearly jolted. “Uh, yea?”

“To the chair!” Grian directed him with the point of his finger. “You know something.”

“Uh, I highly doubt that.”

“Mhm,” Grian pursed his lips, nodding. Mumbo sat neatly in the chair. “Now tell Mumbo, what were you doing during this crime?”

“Well, uh, after Gem knocked over our, uh, Jenga match, we played Clue an-”

“Ironic… who did it?”

“What does that hav-”

“Who did it, Mumbo?” Grian leaned closer, magnifying glass nearing Mumbo’s face.

“Um… Colonel Mustard.”

“And who was that?”

“I don’t really see how…” Mumbo trailed off as Grian came uncomfortably closer, removing the magnifying glass between them, narrowing his eyes in a fixed gaze. Mumbo’s eyes darted around the room until he cracked. “Skizz. It was Skizz.”

Grian whipped around. “Skizz! You’re next!”

~ ~ ~

“Now what’s your story?” Grian stood before the chair, crossing his arms with a skeptical glare.

“The same as Mumbo’s. I was playing Jenga, then Clue.”

Grian noticed the way Skizz’s eyes looked past him for a split second. “And your group involved Tango, Mumbo, and Impulse, correct?”

“Correct,” Skizz nodded.

“Then, am I safe to assume your whole group took a cookie?”

“What?” Skizz rubbed his arm, and avoided eye contact. “Why would you say that?”

Grian paced before Skizz. “According to Pearl, she and Gem left the dining table to join Cleo on the couch. And while I was busy shining for everyone at the top of the tree, Joel was the first to join us from the table while the rest of you straggled your way over.” Skizz glanced towards Tango who looked away, Mumbo who scratched the back of his head, and Impulse who just shrugged. “So…” Grian ceased his strides, turning to Skizz. He grabbed the arms of the chair with a glare. “I’ll ask one more time, did your group take the cookies, Skizz?”

Skizz whipped his head away from Grian’s expression. “YES! Yes we did! We, we saw the cookies on the table, and, and Impulse said, ‘Why not,’ so we each took one and ate them!” Grian straightened, brushing his hands with a “job-well-done” and a smile on his face. Skizz released a large breath, “Oh, that felt good.” And for a moment, Impulse swore he saw a halo appear above Skizz, but it must have been a trick of the single light cast above him.

Joel stood, hands on his hips, and switched his gaze between the group of known cookie thieves. “I can’t believe you all ate them!”

Tango raised his hands in defense. “Now hang on here. We didn’t eat them all either. There were two cookies left. Someone ate those too!”

Martyn raised his hand, rising from the floor, “That would be me. I ate one and took the last to Ren while Grian was busy being a star on the tree. I only saw two and assumed everyone had been eating them, so might as well finish the job, right?”

Cleo added, “Yeah, I ate one when I returned from the kitchen.”

“Me too,” Pearl admitted. “I took one on my way to the bathroom.”

“And I took one after Pearl left,” Gem stood. “They just looked so good! And you can’t have hot chocolate without a cookie.”

Bdubs sprung up from the floor. “I AGREE. I TOOK ONE FOR ME AND ONE FOR ETHO WITH OUR HOT CHOCOLATES! GRIAN HELPED.”

“Yea, actually…” Grian faced everyone who was now standing. “I took two, one for me and BigB, then took a third to Scar.”

Joel confidently raised his voice. “I also ate one—two actually.”

Gem threw him a curious look. “Joel, you ate them too?”

“Of course!” He rubbed his stomach with both hands. “My wife makes delicious cookies.”

Silence encompassed the room as they all stared at one another…

Until Mumbo spoke. “So… we all ate them…”

“Yup.” Martyn nodded.

“What are we going to do!” Skizz erupted. “Lizzie told us not to eat them yet. We’re greedy, horrible people!”

Impulse gently pat him on the back, offering his support.

Tango turned to Skizz. “Whoa, chill out man. We’ll make up for it. No point in dwelling on the past.”

“Tango’s right,” Etho said. “We have to tell Lizzie when she gets back. It’s the right thing to do.”

An upbeat melody came from the hall. Lizzie’s hum. Everyone faced the open entryway awaiting her arrival. Their heads dropped, holding a guilty posture. Lizzie’s hum ceased not too far from them, and BigB was the first to speak. “Sorry, Lizzie, but… we ate your cooki-” When BigB’s voice cut off, the rest of the group looked up to find Lizzie with a tray of freshly baked cookies in her hands.

She burst into laughter. “I knew you’d all eat them. I was just curious how long it’d take! I made more.” She nodded towards the tray. “And there’s a third batch in the oven now!”

The lights of the dim atmosphere snapped on, encompassing the room with warmth and comfort yet again. Colorful strands of lights illuminated the hearth where a soft fire clapped, and gentle Christmas music played in the background. Was it always playing? Jimmy wasn’t sure, nor did he know who turned on the lights because he didn’t think anyone moved.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Gem exhaled a breath of relief. “I was really worried there for a second.”

Smiles stretched along everyone’s faces as they raced to the tray of cookies, thanking the baker as they each grabbed a warm cookie. When Jimmy arrived at the tray and snatched a cookie, he glanced towards Grian who was dressed in his ugly sweater once again. The mysterious man smiled at him, and Jimmy began, “How did yo-” But Grian put a finger over his lips, taking a cookie and departing from the crowd.

“There’s plenty to go around.” Lizzie beamed as she watched their faces brighten upon each bite of her cookies. “Sharing is what Christmas is all about! Now who is ready to start karaoke?”

~ ~ ~

When Scar finished his solo, he exited the designated stage area—which was in front of the couch—and returned to a spot beside the couch, beside Grian. The crowd clapped at his performance. Sweat dripped from Scar’s forehead. He wiped it with his sleeve and attempted to fan himself, but when that wasn’t enough, he removed his ugly sweater. Grian caught this movement from the corner of his eye and yelled from instinct, “SCAR PUT YOUR CLOTHES BACK ON!” He noticed the white T-shirt Scar had on underneath and smiled. They both burst into laughter, reminiscing old times.

Lizzie stood before the crowd—the tree still unlit behind her, but fully decorated—and picked up the microphone. “Alright, who’s next?”

“That’s us, G.” Joel and Jimmy rose from the couch, each placing on a pair of shades.

Grian nodded towards Scar, who smiled back, and joined his karaoke group. He, too, took out a pair of sunglasses and rested them on his head. The performance began as they attempted to sing “Jingle Bell Rock.” Each of them sang good at first, but they drastically got worse. Their voices fluctuated and cracked on purpose, attempting to reach notes they knew they couldn’t. At the end of the song, they crossed their arms with Jimmy and Joel leaning their backs against Grian who stood in the middle and said, “Bad Boys out,” before dropping the mic.

“Oh, that was great,” Cleo teased.

Martyn clapped. “It was horrendously good.”

Jimmy smiled. “We’re the only awesome band around.”

“OH YEA?” Bdubs shot to his feet. “WELL, I’VE GOT A BAND OF MY OWN!”

Joel said, “Uh huh, And what’s it called?”

“B.E.S.T.! IT STANDS FOR ME, ETHO,” he glanced around the room, laying eyes on two other people. “UH, SKIZZ, AND TANGO!” He got up, beckoning them to join him in the stage area. “COME ON GUYS.”

“Have at it.” The Bad Boys took off their shades, exiting the stage area. Grian whacked Jimmy on the back. When Jimmy looked at him, Grian gave him a smile and nod of approval as the three Bad Boys returned to the couch.

Etho, Skizz, and Tango stepped forward, discussing with Bdubs which song they should do when Bdubs raced off. He shortly returned with pointy elf ears over his own, and shoved a Santa hat on Etho. “SAY IT! SAY IT!”

Etho rolled his eyes. “Alright, just for you.” He cleared his throat, and emitted his deep voice, “Ho, Ho, Ho!”

“THAT WAS PERFECT!” Bdubs pointed towards Lizzie. “NOW CUE THE MUSIC!”

They all began the song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey with the crack of their voices, “Ahh~”

Mixed reactions waved through the crowd. Some “Boos,” some “Oh no’s,” and some closed their ears while others laughed and cheered them on.

When their song ended, Lizzie and Joel had everyone gather around the tree to finally light it for the first time. Everyone counted down, “3…2…1!”

Beautiful white lights illuminated across the pine, highlighting the fun ornaments that garnished it. Jimmy glanced at Scott, finding the multitudes of lights reflected in his eyes—sparkling like stars in a vast night sky—reminding him of some distant memory he couldn’t pinpoint.

People went back to games, karaoke, and cookie eating while Jimmy and Scott stayed by the beautiful tree. Behind them, Grian horribly sang “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,” while a group composed of Tango, Bdubs, Scar, and Impulse sounded like they were gambling over Lizzie’s cookies. His friends were wild, dramatic, and rambunctious, but it was what he loved about them.

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darksigns-exe · 1 year ago

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Sweet Like Honey - Masterpost

Noah Sebastian x Bee (Named OFC)

He likes that Bee is so different from the other people he knows; that the world she moves in is so entirely separated from the one he knows. At the same time he’s fundamentally aware of just how different they are.

The parts are loosely connected episodes of these fools as they find themselves and each other.

This is currently under construction. Please excuse if some of the links are wonky. Let me know if something is broken.

Warning: This is RPF if that isn’t for you feel free to move along.

🌧️ Hearts Like House Fires ❤️ To Be Caught Adrift ❤️ Secrets I Have Held 🌧️ Fingerprints On My Skin (Content Warning: Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse) 🌧️ I Am Your Dagger ❤️ Loneliness No More ❤️ The Night Is Vivid 🍋 Tangled In Your Trance 🍋 Mind My Wicked Words 🍋 Nothin' Sweeter Than My Baby

Bonus Content:

❤️ Caught In The Rain

❤️ If I’m There

Key:

🌧️ Angst

🍋 Smut

❤️ Fluff

📌 Pinterest Board

Do not repost under any circumstances.

#fic: sweet like honey #noah sebastian fanfic #bad omens fanfiction #bad omens fic #bad omens fanfic #noah sebastian x ofc

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kilibaggins · 1 year ago

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A Wilson Christmas | Sambucky

Sam Wilson x Bucky Barnes

Request: From my New Years Celebration (which is still open) from @iignissfatuus : 🍎 sambucky, bucky joining sam's family for christmas week/weekend and him seeing the chaos during christmas dinner

A/N: my new years celebration is completely open still so head over there with the link and send me some stuff! i'd appreciate it <3 i loved writing this and i hope it fits how you saw it when requesting. this is a lot longer than i planned considering my celebration is supposed to be short fics but here i am… ADSFLJKJAsd

Words: 1441

Christmas with the Wilsons is nothing short of magical. Sam, who literally spent hours putting up the tree in the living room, let Bucky put on the lights. It was his way of showing Bucky that he was a part of the family. Bucky doesn't admit how emotional that makes him, but he thinks that Sam could tell by the way he wrapped an arm around his waist and kissed his cheek when Bucky got even quieter than usual.s

There are decorations everywhere, lights, wreaths, ornaments hung up on hooks on the walls, and Christmas paintings, it's like he walked into a stereotypical house from a Hallmark movie.

Bucky loves it. He loves the little coasters with cute snowflakes on them that Sarah made by hand, the paper snowflakes hanging in the air that the boys made, and every other little detail that brings together this wonder Christmas landscape for him to enjoy.

This morning when he and Sam were woken up by the insistent loud banging on their door at 6:47 AM, Bucky forced himself to get up, woke Sam up, and they had all made their way to the large tree with all the neatly wrapped presents.

Well… Some of them were neatly wrapped. Some were thrown together with too much tape, Aj, and some were thrown together with too much paper, Cass, and some were just outright… A little wonky. They could thank Bucky, who had not wrapped a Christmas present since the 1940s.

They had all opened their gifts and it had been wonderful. The kids each got Bucky a little keychain to add to his ever-growing set of keys. Who knew actually doing things outside of assassinations could make you accumulate so many keys? The key to the house, a key to Sam's car, a key to Sarah's car for when Sam was busy out and Sarah was busy in the house, the key to the old truck that Sam's been fixing up for him, even a key to his AND Sam's work. It's a little absurd.

Sarah had given him an old cookbook of hers, something passed down to her by her aunt. It's a beautiful one with handwritten notes on the edges. She told him that she'd noticed how interested he was in cooking and wanted to open that world to him more… She also said that now that he has a cookbook he has no excuse not to cook and Bucky had laughed.

Sam, wonderful Sam, gave him an antique chest with a few items inside. An old photo of the howling commandos, an old bottle opener, and varying other items. But one thing caught his eye. The bottom held a book. He pulled it out and stared at it with a smile on his face. There the book was sitting in his lap, and when he opened it he could tell how old it was. Something like this, at that age, must have been hard to find. He had thanked Sam and pulled him into a big hug and he could hear AJ and Cass whispering amongst themselves that next year they'd have to get him more keychains to beat that.

When Bucky and Sam first started dating the first gift Sam gave him was 'The Hobbit' trilogy of movies. Sam had insisted that even though Bucky might hate it since it was fairly different from the book itself, he just had to watch it. They sat on the couch and watched all the movies in one sitting and Sam couldn't believe when Bucky told him he loved it. Bucky's still not sure if the love he has for the movies is because of Sam or because of the movies themselves.

Bucky's gift… Paled a bit in comparison. At least, he thinks it did, but Sam's face lit up and it made Sam happy when Bucky embarassedly handed over the two smal gifts he got Sam. The first one Sam opened was a painting of the backyard on a small wooden board. It had taken Bucky hours and Sam knows that because Bucky had forced Sam to go on a trip to the store and kept texting him every half hour to stay away.

The second was in a small cardboard box and when Sam opened ithis eys widened. It was a key to Bucky's apartment. The one thing that Sam didn't have access to because it was always Bucky's "safe space" that he could run to, even Bucky's therapist had said at the begininng of their relationship it'd be best if Bucky left his apartment to meet with Sam just so he had his own space.

Bucky had awkwardly explained how he talked to his therapist about being ready to give Sam the key, and she had thought it'd be a good idea. Bucky had been quick to say it didn't have to mean anything but that after everything, after the way they accept him into his home the way they had, he was finally able to return the favor. Sam had teared up and hugged him and Bucky's never felt so loved than he did in that moment.

Even though Bucky saw how much it meant to him he still couldn't see how his gifts were anything compared to what Sam has given him. A new life… A christmas.

He used to love Christmas, back when he still had his family to be around. It was a small holiday, nothing too special, nothing like this. It was something that brought them together though. Christmas dinner was quiet, comfortable, and safe. It was Bucky's favorite night of the year.

Bucky wasn't entirely expecting the pure chaos to come from the Wilson family Christmas Dinner. He probably should have, he's seen the cookouts, but he didn't really expect half of the town - yes he's aware it's an exaggeration, Sam - to show up and squeeze into the small little house. There are people everywhere. Couples singing to the Christmas music playing in the living room, Sarah and her girlfriend cooking some dessert as everyone crowds around them in the kitchen, Sam talking to some of the locals about the boat, it all seems so perfect but way too loud all at once. Bucky is trying to keep track of the conversation with Sam and a friend of theirs, Jake, as a few of the kids try to grab his arm. It's getting a bit… Overwhelming.

Bucky throws a fake smile at the kids and tries not to get too freaked as more people join the party. How many people did Sam invite, the whole neighborhood? It's only 3 pm and everyone is already crowding in before the dinner at 5. Even though it feels like the whole neighborhood, he knows there are probably only 10 people excluding Sarah, Sam, Aj, Cass, and himself. He takes a deep steadying breath and he feels a warm hand on his lower back. He looks over at Sam to see him smiling softly at him.

"Let's go get a breather," Sam whispers in his ear. He turns to the guy he's talking to and flashes his winning smile. "Gonna go get some air. Getting pretty crowded in here, even for me."

Bucky feels grateful for the escape as Sam takes him to the backyard and sits him down in one of their chairs. Sam sits next to him and gives him a knowing look, which Bucky chooses to ignore.

"Lot of people," Bucky says simply, nodding. Sam chuckles and nods.

"Yup. Warned you it'd be a bit much for you. You doing alright?" Sam asks, reaching out and taking his hand. Bucky smiles and nods.

"Oh, yeah. Great. It's… It's nice. Just. A lot." Bucky admits, shrugging. Sam smiles and kisses his hand.

"Just let me know when it gets to be too much. I'll rescue you. Knight in shining armor, the whole deal." Sam says, nodding seriously.

"The pretties knight to exist." Bucky snarks, trying to keep a straight face before laughing. Sam rolls his eyes and stands up, stretching. "Getting old, there?"

"Oh shut it, gramps." Sam jokes. He leans down and gives Bucky a kiss. "Come back in when you're ready. Nobody'll judge."

"Got it. See you soon."

"See ya, baby," Sam says, before patting his shoulder and walking back in.

Bucky takes a few moments to breathe in the chill air. Yeah, he's happy here. He goes back inside and is instantly bombarded by kids on both sides, asking him hundreds of questions at a thousand miles an hour and when he looks up he sees Sam laughing.

This is perfect.

#sambucky #sam wilson #bucky barnes #mcu #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #winterfalcon #the falcon and the winter soldier #my fanfic

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moonlit-escape · 3 months ago

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my list of grievances with Phoenix Drop High (and some of mystreet)

we never not once get an actual clear follow-up on sasha and the nerd boy. all we know is that it (assumedly) went well?

kai's character 180. i will go into depth about this later.

ein being linked to gene and really just the whole abandonment of his being the omega in his last, All Werewolf, school motive (except the hair dye thing was funny. like dude every punk knows expensive hair dye is a cheap attempt at companies trying to capitalize on a movement specifically against them and are soooo trash and gene's punkass def knew this)

WE NEVER GET TO SEE KATELYN IN A SUIT????? WHY

laurance and garroth felt watered down and out of character in the whole ice rink episode. the dialog at the end was very stiff and forced to fit the plot point (like laurance and garroth wldnt know her at all. they love that girl and theyve been her friends for a whole year now. they cldve still floundered (they are known for that) and made her feel upset, but not like whatever that was)

vylad's 3rd case of getting plot shafted

none of these boys can tie a tie

kacey being used as a throw in character to make ein actually look strong on his own for once (although i do kind of think this was a good choice, showing how truly pathetic ein was by making him only do something himself when someone known to be physically weak was opposing him. only to kind of... completely undermine this bc of him already going to go against aph, plus just making kacey look even weaker next to daniel by comparison... so. sort of wonky choice) (but, ein getting his shit clocked by katelyn was the best, so it sorta makes up for it. fun storytelling wise) (just, still... :( why kacey)

APH DOING FUCKALL ABT EIN UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE

WHERE DID MY HOME GIRL'S FIRE GO LIKE DAMN THEY BROKE BROKE HER NOT EVEN A HINT OF SASS???? SHE JUST LETS HIM DO WHTVER??????

jury of nine completely vanishes

what fuckin year is it why is kawaii~chan watching yuri on ice on tv (and does their world get the movie while we all irl have to suffer.)

gene having a crush on aph (technically only a truly apparent plot point in the minigames and can be a reason why he's getting pictures, but it's such a boring reason for his character) (i'm just personally more of a sucker for the miserable fucker hides his guilt and shame in lashing out and doing more bad things, until he either snaps out of it somehow or just dies unhappy) (also i can only "excuse" one sizeable young age gap instance bc they still tried their best to make it as appropriate as they could while still giving the fans what they wanted. so like, f for effort. theyre def not passing, but they did the work and i acknowledge that)

the apology episode was nice, but also felt really stiff (which was the point of ein's at least, but why did the rest of them suffer too.) and sorta kinda ended up not meaning anything

okay so i have a lot of bones to pick abt second half of season 2 clearly but i promise i have good things i really like about it too. but i'll save that for another day

#phoenix drop high #aphblr #eli rambles on

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indigosunsetao3 · 1 year ago

Text

Keeping Lines Blurry

Chapter 6 - Kitchen Conversations

Masterlist of Chapters

Warnings: 18+ - No minors Please read the tags on A03 for any of your triggers

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick X Original FMC 8.2k words - AO3 Link.

After one last check in the car mirror Gaz locked up the vehicle and headed to the main door to be buzzed in. The flats were in a nice section of London, not too far from the main road but still tucked in a quieter area that was all residential. He had found a nice bottle of red wine at the shop down the road and he also stocked up on some smokes, though he left most of those in the car except for a single pack which was tucked in his breast pocket of his jacket. Abby answered the call relatively quickly and let him in with the instruction she was on the top floor and the elevator was wonky. No matter, Gaz could easily climb the flights of stairs without winding himself, much to Ghost’s chagrin when he tried to knock him for smoking stating by saying that it was slowing the Sergeant down.

“Couldn’t show up empty-handed,” Gaz said with a grin as Abby opened the door mere seconds after he knocked. “You look nice,” he added taking in the black dress that she had donned with matching strappy black heels. She had let her hair down from the tight bun she had worn on the plane, the blond locks lightly curled on her chest which emphasized the lowcut front. “Should I go get my suit jacket?” Gaz joked as he edged backward a bit with his shoulder as if he were making to leave. He had opted for dark slacks and a nice button-down top, the sleeves folded and rolled up his forearms. Nothing that would have anyone look twice at him at a nice restaurant but compared to Abby he was woefully underdressed.

“The wine makes up for your lack of dress code,” Abby teased as she stepped aside to let Gaz into the flat. It was a modern remodel compared to the outside of the building which was much older. The floorplan was all open concept and Gaz quickly stepped aside after dropping his jacket on the coat rack to let Abby lead the way to the kitchen across the room. “I hope baked chicken and vegetables are okay,” she stated before bending down and opening the oven. “Cooking is not my forte but this I can handle. Throw it all on one sheet and bake. No mess and hardly any prep,” she grinned grabbing the baking pan out of the oven and setting the food out to cool.

“Honestly, anything that isn’t fast food or cold bar snacks is fine by me,” Gaz answered. “If you can direct me to the wine glasses and bottle opener, I can work on drinks,” he stated, and when Abby pointed to a cabinet and then a drawer he set to work pouring them two glasses and handed her one as he leaned up against the counter next to the stove where she divided out the food onto plates. “One of my favorite merlots,” Gaz stated as Abby took a sip and made an impressed face. “Rest of the team aren’t big wine guys so it’s nice to have an excuse to buy it.”

“No? You all don’t go to winery’s together and taste test?” Abby asked with a small eyebrow raise as she gestured for Gaz to join her at the bar sitting at the kitchen island. She set the plates down next to the cutlery that had already been waiting before taking her seat. “I’d imagine it’s mostly beer or hard liquor with them,” she grinned as Gaz nodded yes to that. “I don’t mind a solid whiskey now and again but if I’m honest I prefer wine or hard seltzers,” she laughed, “don’t give me that look seltzers aren’t that bad.”

“If you want to drink something that has the faint impression of taste, then sure,” Gaz answered and laughed himself when she nudged him with her elbow. “Well, this looks amazing and smells just as good,” Gaz mused as he looked over the meal in front of him. “I appreciate you doing this in a bit of a rush,” he stated as his eyes found the clock on the stove to make sure he was still good on time, which he was. Soap wouldn’t even hesitate to take his shift if Gaz needed it, wouldn’t say a word to anyone, but Gaz wasn’t about to abuse his friend’s generosity either. “Things have been a bit crazy the past few days, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

“My schedule is constantly being changed,” Abby agreed as she dug into the food, twisting her body a bit so she could face Gaz better on the island. She had a dining room table but it was currently covered in papers, her latest half-packed travel bag, and her computer. “Between getting here yesterday and now I’ve had the same flight rescheduled twice before they finally canceled. We’re tentatively flying out tomorrow morning to Spain,” she hesitated when Gaz’s eyes snapped to her face quickly at those words, concern marring his features. “I know, I saw the news,” she sighed a bit, “but I at least don’t have to leave the airport, or the plane for that matter.”

“Good,” Gaz answered after another bite of his food. “It’s not a great time to be really traveling anywhere so just keep your wits about you.”

“Mmm, well I was just in Belarus and that was probably the worst place of all of them to be. Risked my neck to haul you home,” Abby teased as she sipped on her wine. “Maybe I’ll find another cute military guy to bring back from Spain this time. Start a little collection or something,” she finished as she set down her empty glass.

“Is that what you do? Collect military boys from around the world and bring them home like lost puppies?” Gaz asked with a laugh as he reached for the bottle of wine and refilled her glass for her without missing a beat.

“Just you…for now,” Abby answered as she swirled her glass a bit before taking a sip as Gaz refilled his own. “How did you end up on my flight anyway? Are you some sort of mercenary for hire for the rich?”

Gaz laughed at that before shrugging a bit, “you’d think that with who I ended up being stuck with, but no. I’m in a special operations unit with other SAS members and a former CIA agent from America. Don’t ask how the Yank ended up in the group it’s a long story,” he laughed a bit. “We were helping guard the gala when everything went down and I drew the short straw when I ended up rescuing an important politician’s wife. They requested me specifically to get them home,” he sighed a bit and continued to eat as Abby did as well. “And now we’ve all been called back to England to aid national security. All these attacks have everyone on edge and they’re worried peace talks may break down if anyone else is killed.”

They continued to talk about everything that had happened in the past few days. Gaz gave her first-hand accounts, careful to not give too much information, and Abby told him what it had been like as a civilian. The rumor mills were running rampant on who the perpetrators were, that it was an inside job or even going as far as blaming the ever-present boogieman the Illuminati. Abby stated that once they had landed in England their whole plane had been searched top to bottom and it had taken a few hours before the flight crew had been cleared to leave. The government was worried about secondary attacks or people smuggling in more weapons.

“You cooked, I can clean up,” Gaz admonished as they both stood and moved to put their plates in the sink. “I can figure my way around the kitchen well enough,” he added as Abby went to protest but he put a hand gently on her shoulder to keep her sitting. Reaching around her he topped off her glass with the last little bit of wine left in the bottle before tossing it into the trash.

“Who am I to turn down someone cleaning up,” Abby said with a small smile as she settled down on her chair again and watched. “You can put most of it in the dishwasher,” she added as Gaz rinsed everything off and moved to load it. He had rolled his sleeves further up his arms as he worked and she took in some of the small scars that peppered his skin, her eyes lingering on a particularly long but thin slash that wrapped up and behind his elbow. “Where’d you get that?” She inquired, tilting her head to show him what she was looking at when Gaz met her eyes.

“I’d love to tell you, but it’s classified,” Gaz said as he bent down to load another dish. “Kidding,” he laughed at the look of surprise on her face when he righted himself. “Car wreck Urzikstan back when I was a fresh recruit out of basic training. Car in front hit an IED that set off a chain reaction. Arm went through the window as we rolled,” he twisted his arm over a bit to show the scar that disappeared under his shirt sleeve. “It's much better than it used to be, my sister gave me some scar treatment stuff when I first got home. She’s a nurse,” he added. Grabbing the last dish, he dropped it into the dishwasher before closing up the machine and rinsing off his hands.

“Do you have any other scars?” Abby asked as she leaned both her elbows fully on the counter to face Gaz. He had adjusted his stance on the other side of the counter so both his hands were splayed out a bit on the marble and he was leaning into his arms. Her eyes roved over his face a bit as he smirked at her, quirking his head to the side to read the situation. It was a simple enough question but given the flirtatious texts that they had been exchanging it could also be a leading question. “Besides the ones I can see anyway,” she added as he flexed his hand a bit causing a faint white line to appear across his knuckles.

“I have my fair share of them,” Gaz answered, “you’re welcome to come take a look,” he added with a bit of a challenge in his voice. When Abby rose from her chair he watched her come around the counter, her heels clicking on the tile, before she came to a stop in front of him now that he had turned to lean back against the counter. “Which story are you more interested in?” He asked as he reached up to undo the top button of his shirt. “The time I was undercover and a rogue agent stabbed me? The time I was shot through a wall by a sniper?” He undid another button and ruffled the shirt a bit. “Or my favorite one when our helicopter was shot down?”

“I thought being recruited to a special operations team meant you were good at your job,” Abby teased. Gaz laughed at her words as he undid a third button, noting her eyes following his fingers with a predatory look. “Let’s see the favorite then,” she decided and was rewarded with Gaz reaching down to untuck his shirt from his pants as he made quick work of the rest of his buttons. Unfortunately for Abby’s curious eyes, he was wearing a tank top undershirt but he pulled the hem up to reveal the v where his abs met his hips. There was what looked to be a large burn scar that disappeared under the waistband of his pants. Gingerly Abby reached out a hand, looking to Gaz for permission which he gave with a subtle nod before her fingertips brushed over the skin.

“Your fingers are like ice,” Gaz winced as his stomach pulled back from her touch for a moment. “We were shot down during a mission. Crash landed and was knocked out, my Captain had to cut the belt I was strapped into and drag me out. That’s where the burn came from whole bloody seat was on fire but the belt was tight enough it burned through my clothes,” he explained, his eyes watching Abby’s face as her fingers followed the mark before she pulled back again, her teeth worrying her bottom lip as she looked up at him from under her eyelashes. “What?” He asked playfully, reaching out a hand to tilt her chin up a bit.

“My worst scar is from when I was chopping up dinner and lost a fight with a knife,” Abby confessed as she held her hand palm up for Gaz to see. “Seems rather boring and, well, normal compared to yours.” She stated before Gaz gently grabbed her hand brought the palm up to his lips and pressed it against them causing her breath to catch for a second.

“I like boring and normal,” Gaz answered, “means you're safe. If I wanted to have a scar competition, I would just ask my teammates and I would lose. Horribly,” he finished. Compared to the rest of the team he was probably the least banged up out of them. Hell Ghost wore a mask to cover the scars that peppered his face alone. He let go of her hand after a second but instead of her pulling away Abby moved to slide it around his neck and her other hand joined it so her fingers were laced at the base of his head. Taking it as a hint Gaz grabbed at her hips and pulled her flush against him, his fingers gentle but the gesture commanding nonetheless.

“When do you have to leave?” Abby asked as she tilted her head back to look up at him. Even in her heels, she was still a few inches shorter than he was.

“Kicking me out already?” Gaz asked with a grin before he glanced at the clock on the stove behind her. If he was going to be good, he really should be leaving in about twenty minutes, but what was an extra ten minutes. “I should probably head back in about thirty minutes.” His fingers flexed on their grip as Abby pushed herself further against him, effectively pinning him to the counter.

“I can work with thirty minutes,” Abby answered before she pulled on his neck a bit to get him to duck down to her level and kissed him. There was nothing tentative or questioning in the gesture from either of them, the tension had been building most of the evening thanks to all the leading texts and it was finally coming to a head. Tilting her body back further, she opened her lips after he gently nipped her bottom lip before his tongue swept in and Abby groaned at the feel, her nails digging into his skin a bit.

“Thirty minutes is not nearly long enough for me,” Gaz breathed after a moment as he flipped them around so she was pinned against the counter and he was crowding her space. “I like to take my time,” he explained, his fingers dancing up her sides, “draw it out a bit to get you really worked up,” he grinned as Abby leaned up to kiss him again but he pulled back. “This is going to be nothing but a tease for both of us,” he continued as Abby let out a small frustrated noise.

“If you don’t kiss me right now,” Abby warned, “I will kick you out.” She was teasing of course but she wanted his lips back on hers, he was talking far too much and eating up their precious time.

“Have it your way then,” Gaz answered before he bent down quickly grabbed the back of her thighs, and hefted her up in one quick motion. She squealed at the sudden movement before he deposited her onto the counter itself, smirking as she shuddered against the cold stone on her legs and backside, the skirt of her dress had flared behind her so she had no protection aside from her undergarments. “We can look at this as an exhibition then. See what you’re getting yourself into before I can properly have you,” he continued as he positioned himself between her legs on the counter and rested his hands on her exposed upper thighs.

“Our thirty minutes are down to twenty-five,” Abby stated, her voice a bit of a whine before she grabbed his shirt lapels with both hands and tugged him into a hard kiss. “Show me what you can do,” she breathed against his lips, the words both permission and a plead.

“Yes ma’am,” Gaz answered before he gave her a heart-stopping kiss, one hand coming up to brush away the hair on her neck before he trailed his kisses down her jaw to the soft spot of her pulse. Her heart was hammering as Gaz worked the skin over there, nipping a bit which caused her to gasp and fist her hands more into his shirt. Reaching for the two-inch-thick strap of her dress Gaz dared to nudge it to the side so it slipped over her shoulder and he ran his lips over the delicate skin that had been exposed. Her perfume was intoxicating as he brushed his knuckles over the side of her breasts and without warning Abby arched her back up as she reached behind herself to undo the zipper. “I got it,” Gaz said quickly as he moved to kiss her properly again his hands found the tiny clasp and he tugged it down in a swift motion. He had been waiting for that permission, never one to try and take the lead when they were still figuring one another out.

Abby made quick work of the other strap on her shoulder once the dress was loose and she felt the material fall away to bunch around her middle. She was silently thanking herself for wearing a set of nicer lingerie that she owned, a black lace push-up bra that left little to the imagination, and matching underwear. She had been hoping this was where dinner was going to take them when she picked out the clothes but didn’t let herself get too excited for it just in case. Her chest was heaving a bit as Gaz paused to take in the sight and Abby leaned back on her hands on the counter to give him a better view, tilting her head to the side as if asking him ‘well?’

“Maybe I can push it to forty,” Gaz mused before he leaned over her and his hand came up to grab her breast over the bra. Fuck it was soft. How long had it been since he had been with someone? After Olivia, he had nearly been celibate for six months before Soap took him out and got him rip-roaring drunk and Gaz found himself in the back seat of a car with a woman whose name he didn’t even know. Then he had so many one-night stands he couldn’t keep up with them anymore before he finally leveled himself out, found a new short-term girlfriend, and got himself a little more under control. “Keep rolling your hips like that and I’m not going to be able to keep myself in check,” Gaz warned as Abby ground herself on him.

“Maybe I don’t want you to,” Abby shot back before Gaz’s hands pulled the top of her strapless bra down so she was fully naked from the waist up. He didn’t miss a beat as he gently pinched her nipples with his fingers, eliciting a gasp from her as she arched up into the touch. “You move too slow and I’m getting bored. Someone has to keep the momentum going,” she challenged before moaning as his lips replaced his fingers on her right side. “Kyle,” she breathed as her nails scratched at the back of his head.

“Don’t rush me,” Gaz stated as he switched to the other side, leaving sloppy open-mouthed kisses on her skin. “I told you this was just going to be one long tease. You didn’t believe me,” he nipped her which earned him another moan before he captured her parted lips again. “And I doubt you’re even slightly bored. What am I going to find if I run my fingers along what I am guessing is matching lace panties?” He slid one hand fully up her thigh and grasped the material on her hip, it certainly felt like thin lace. “I think I am going to find you’re soaked all the way through, making a mess of the counter,” he grinned at her pitiful whine at his words.

“Why don’t you find out yourself?” Abby questioned as she rolled her hips in encouragement at his fingers.

Despite the ruse of dirty talk, Gaz was using it to make sure that Abby wanted what he was willing to give. At her offer Gaz dragged his knuckles down the inside of her thigh, staying tauntingly away from what she was wanting as he hooked his fingers on the material at her bikini line and tugged it away from her skin. He could feel that it was soaked through as he gripped them and he grinned as he bunched the lace up and pushed it to the side a bit to give him better access, his movements antagonizingly slow as he watched her face. She was practically panting with anticipation and deciding he had tortured her enough he slipped two fingers right over her apex and down toward her center.

“I knew it,” he breathed as she groaned and threw her head back. “So wet for me,” he slid his fingers back up and gently rubbed at her clit as he adjusted himself to lean on his other hand so he was hovering over her. “You talk a big game about me being too slow and you are bored but this,” he slid a finger down and pushed it ever so slightly into her, “doesn’t lie.” He laughed a bit as she clenched her thighs as if trying to make him move further into her. “What do you want?” Gaz asked as he leaned down to kiss at her shoulder.

“You,” Abby ground out as she grabbed at his elbow to pull at his arm to get his fingers further into her. “Please,” she whined as Gaz resisted and instead gently circled his thumb over her clit. “I promise I won’t say I’m bored ever again,” she tried to bargain.

“I warned you,” Gaz said as he finally gave in and pushed his finger in fully, his breath catching when hers did at the movement with a low chuckle. “I don’t have enough time to do everything I want to do to you,” he slowly pumped his finger into her, daring to add a second after a few moments to give her that stretch she was looking for. “So, you’ll have to settle for this,” he smirked as her eyes snapped open before he pushed her back onto the counter fully, her arms splaying out as she winced from the cold on her back. “Fuck it’s like my own private dessert,” he mused as he flipped the skirt of her dress up to get a view of what he was doing.

“People usually eat their dessert instead of looking at it,” Abby shot out with a laugh that was a bit too breathy and ended in a moan as Gaz pulled his fingers out fully to stroke up to her clit now that they were sufficiently wet. It was a challenge as well as a plea and she was hoping he would take it.

“I like how you think,” Gaz answered before he yanked her hips to the edge of the counter and moved to settle down on his knees in front of her. He made quick work of the underwear, careful to not snag it on the heels she was still wearing, which only added to the scene in front of him as he took in the sight.

Gaz had been told by women in the past that whatever magic he was able to do with his mouth and tongue were among the best they had ever had, and based on the reactions he got out of them he was sure it wasn’t a lie. He was about to put that theory to the test again for Abby as he pushed her thighs apart with his hands, her heels dragging against the cabinets before she found purchase to help support herself. He wanted her held still for him to start and his fingers gently dug into the flesh to hold her fast as he leaned in and swirled his tongue right over her swollen clit, which caused Abby to shudder and cry out. He heard something being knocked over on the counter as she fought to find something to hold but Gaz didn’t give her a chance to collect her thoughts as he set to work.

His tongue slid along her from her entrance to her clit as his hands held her tight at her attempts to rock into his face. When he felt she was getting too complacent his teeth grazed the overly sensitive skin to send a jolt of clarifying pain up her before he gently sucked away the hurt until she was practically begging for release. He took her through those paces a few times before taking pity on her as her legs shook with effort and she was whining deep in her chest. Hooking her legs over his shoulders Gaz slipped two fingers back inside of her, curling them just so as he swirled his tongue over her, mirroring the movements of his fingers with his mouth. He was willing that threatening climax out of her as she twisted and writhed on the counter, her moans nothing more than breathy pants now as the heels dug into his back. He knew it was close as she clenched her thighs tight around his head and with one final nip of his teeth he pushed her over the edge and she bowed up off the counter, her thighs pushing down hard on his shoulders.

“There it is,” Gaz said with a grin as he helped her ride it out before kissing the inside of her thigh as he pulled his fingers out. They were glistening and he didn’t bother to wipe them clean as he rose to stand over Abby again who was still laid out on the counter trying to catch her breath. “Am I still boring you?” He inquired as he planted his hands on either side of her body to hover over her before bending down to kiss her.

“Very funny,” Abby said against his lips as she kissed him back, her shaking hands finally finding their strength to push herself up into a sitting position, pushing Gaz back as she did so. “I’d ask where you learned all that so I can thank them,” she laughed as she grabbed at his shirt and made to push it off his shoulders. “But I’m not sure I want to know either,” she tacked on as Gaz helped her with the button-down. She was about to yank on his undershirt when she felt him suddenly tense and she froze afraid she had done something wrong. “What?”

“Fuck, sorry,” Gaz said as he felt his phone in his pocket vibrate once, twice, three times. “Hang on, I’m sorry,” he said again as he dug into his pant pocket to look at his phone. “It could be my Captain and I can’t ignore it,” Gaz tried to explain, his face conveying his guilt as he unlocked the screen to find three messages there. It seemed he hadn’t noticed the first one come in when his head had been between her legs but the two newest ones were from Alex. He had the information Gaz was looking for. Swiping that away he went to the first message that had come from that same unknown number as earlier.

Doesn’t matter who I am. It’s about Olivia and Henry and it’s something you need to hear.

Gaz glared at the message for a second unsure if he was going to deign a response to that. He didn’t like dealing with unknowns and following leads that were potentially red herrings. He’d ask Alex to look up the number for him and see if he could trace it back to the owner. Maybe if Gaz knew who the person was he’d trust the information they were supposedly willing to give him for free.

“Is it your Captain?” Abby asked as she tilted her head a bit waiting for an answer. Her hands had wandered away from his shirt to grab at the waist of his pants and she jerked him forward to her a step. He grinned at her as he locked the phone and set it on the counter facedown after he had sent a message to the unknown person to get to the point.

“No, just one of my teammates,” Gaz answered before pressing his forehead against hers. Her fingers were making quick work of his belt bucket and had moved onto his button and zipper when his phone started to vibrate with a call. “Fucking hell,” Gaz groaned as he snatched up the phone and saw this time it was Price. He was pushing his time limit but he still had another ten minutes or so if he really sped back so he wasn’t sure why his Captain was calling.

“Yes sir,” Gaz said as he picked it up on the second ring, holding his hand up to Abby to get her to halt. “I’m on my way back now,” he lied as he cut his eyes over to Abby whose face had fallen from hopeful to disappointed very quickly. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” he started working on zipping his pants back up and grabbing his button-down from the floor as Abby slid off the counter and tugged her clothes back over herself.

“I have to go,” Gaz said as he hung up the call and pocketed the phone. “I hate to run out on you like this,” he said guiltily as he shrugged on the shirt and tucked it back in. “I’ll make it up to you though,” he said a bit hopefully, hoping that this literal dashing out the door wasn’t going to be a turn-off for her.

“Is that a promise?” Abby asked with a grin as she walked with him toward the door and grabbed his jacket off the hook. “You know where to find me. The next time you have a break you let me know. I’ll be waiting to return the, ah, favor,” she grinned and leaned up for a kiss which Gaz gave her willingly. His hands grabbed hard at her hips to pull her against him for a moment, to feel that delicious pressure against himself, before he was gone running down the hall toward the stairs.

He was in the car in a flash and was speeding down the side streets to get back to Henry and Olivia’s in the self-imposed time limit. Price hadn’t exactly said he was late but he could tell by the tone that he wasn’t pleased Gaz had taken this long. He knew Soap wouldn’t have said anything so Price must have noticed that it was getting late and Gaz hadn’t checked in that he had returned. He was at the prime minister’s house with Ghost working on the security rundown and Gaz knew he was a bit jumpy after everything that had happened. A late check-in with the team was usually not innocent with the lives they led.

Seventeen minutes later Gaz was pulling into the drive and he sent a message to Price to let him know he was back and he was relieving Soap. Taking a moment to fully button his shirt Gaz popped a cigarette in his mouth and smirked as he retucked his shirt and sucked down the smoke. For all the shit he had been through the past few days a bit of alone time with Abby had certainly made up for it. He wasn’t sure what either of them were looking for out of this but even if it was just a hookup, he would be satisfied with it. Her little breathy moans and unabashed asking for what she wanted would be enough to get him through the next couple of days before his next off day. Dropping the spent cigarette on the ground he mashed it with his shoe before walking toward the side door that led to the mudroom and the security room off of that.

“Tattle on me did you?” Gaz teased as he walked in and shoved Soap’s feet off the card table where he had them propped up.

“Never,” Soap answered as he sat up fully. “He’s been a bit edgy all day. Snapped at Olivia earlier when she stopped by to see if we needed anything,” Soap shrugged. “He knows you like to drive fast and when you didn’t check in he thought something happened. I held him off as long as I could,” Soap explained before rising from the chair he had occupied. “Next time I take the plane back and find myself a pretty little blonde to occupy my time,” Soap teased knowing exactly what Gaz had been up to without being told.

“Just go to a pub and start talking, the accent alone will line up a few of them,” Gaz joked before throwing the keys to Soap. “See you in a few hours?” He asked as he occupied the seat Soap had been holding down, pulling the tablet toward him that controlled the cameras.

“Give or take,” Soap answered. “Henry and the missus were arguing a bit ago. Seems he’s got a control for the bedroom camera,” he nodded toward the blank screen. “He cut the feed as they really started amping up. No way to override it that I could find. I did a cursory pass by to make sure nothing was…out of sorts but it was quiet,” Soap shrugged. “May want to just wander by here in a bit and make sure.”

Gaz nodded as Soap left before he set to work messing with the cameras. He rolled them back a few hours to just watch everything that had happened throughout the day. He spent a large amount of time watching as Henry worked in his office, how staffers came and went but always followed Henry like little worker bees. Once he grew bored of that he flipped to Olivia though not much had happened with her, she had stayed in bed most of the day only rising to shower and to get something small to eat and a bottle of wine to take back to her room. It did seem like a solitary life she led though the past few days had been so overwhelming she may just have been recharging.

After a final text from Abby that she was headed to bed Gaz flipped over to the unknown messenger just to look back at the text thread again. He had sent a response telling them to go on then and give him the information but they hadn’t responded to his last request. He narrowed his eyes a bit before copying the number and sending it over to Alex to add to his list of information he needed. Alex had said in his messages he had some precursory information and that he’d send over a batch of files in the morning; he was on duty at the deputy prime minister’s house that night. He was partnered with a member of MI6 and they were a bit ‘twitchy’ in his words so he didn’t want to leave them alone for too long and risk him shooting the neighbor's cat thinking it was an intruder.

Somewhere in the house, an old grandfather clock chimed midnight and Gaz rose from the seat, his joints popping from not having moved for hours. He needed to change and remembered Soap had advised him to do a walk-by of Henry and Olivia’s room. Their camera was still off and he hadn’t seen any movement in the hallway either, so they were probably just asleep. One last review of the grounds Gaz left the security room, locking the door behind him, before making the long trek upstairs to their assigned bedroom area toting his duffle of newly retrieved items.

Everything was quiet as he walked, the Henry’s team had left hours ago and the other house staff had retired as well. Just as his foot hit the bottom stair Gaz heard something shatter behind him inside the house. Freezing he turned around to face where the noise had come from and dropped his duffle at the bottom step to try and listen for more sounds. The house alarm wasn’t going off which meant either it was from someone already inside or they had somehow disabled it again. There was another muffled noise, like a door snapping shut, and Gaz moved down the hall toward it his hand inching toward the pistol he had thankfully strapped to his thigh when he had returned.

He was almost to the kitchen when shuffling feet and a sob met his ears and his hand released the snap of his hostler and he stepped into the doorway. What he found there was not in fact an intruder that was breaking in. Instead, it was Olivia who was kneeling on the floor with a dustpan and a half-rolled thing of paper towels surrounded by broken glass and red liquid. Her hands were shaking as she attempted to clean up the mess and she slumped over a bit to lean against the cabinets behind her as if this small thing had thoroughly defeated her.

“Liv?” Kyle asked quickly as he walked over, unable to tell what the red was all over the floor around her. She hadn’t bothered to turn on the overhead kitchen lights so it was dim and he could see it was on her light blue nightgown and arms. “Are you alright?” He asked as he looked for the light switch but couldn’t find it, so instead just knelt down on the ground by her to try and assess the situation. “Did you cut yourself?”

Olivia flinched at someone calling out to her but she was tired, so tired, that there was no way she could answer properly. Instead, she just curled her feet up further under herself and stared at the mess in front of her, feeling the tears spill over without stopping. How had she ended up here? This evening had been bad, so bad. Henry was irritated with the preliminary polls, at the feedback on his statement and instead of trying to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it, he took it out on Olivia. It was her fault the public statement didn’t go over as well as he wanted, her fault he was faltering in the polls because she wasn’t being the perfect little wife to him. And when that pregnancy test he had insisted she take, even if it was entirely too early to know, had come back negative he exploded.

“Olivia,” Gaz tried again when she didn’t answer him and instead just stared at her lap, practically shaking with sobs. “Let me see,” he insisted as he reached a hand out to grab her wrist gently. He was worried she was truly hurt and was putting aside his feelings to make sure that she was alright, they could go back to sniping and fighting later. When she didn’t resist, he lifted her arm to the minimal light and found the liquid ran right off her skin like water, so it wasn’t blood. He realized now that he was closer that it smelled of fruit and it clicked for him that it was juice and that the glass on the ground was from where she had poured herself a drink. “All this over juice?” Gaz asked with a small joking inflection in his tone to try and get her to stop crying.

Olivia glanced up at Gaz as he spoke and she searched his face, sniffling a bit. He was being so gentle with her, his hands soft on her wrist and she had heard the concern in his voice when he came to her aid. Henry was never those things with her, instead, he enjoyed inflicting the pain and liked pushing her until she finally broke down. She always resisted crying in front of Henry when she could because she knew that was the reaction he wanted, he enjoyed.

“What the fuck happened to your face?” Gaz asked suddenly as his other hand shot out and grabbed her chin. He felt her flinch and attempt to pull away but he held tight as he turned her cheek to the light. It was purple and there was a small split right on her cheekbone. “Olivia, what is this?” Gaz asked and he ran his thumb over the bruise. He had a suspicion given the information Soap had told him earlier and piecing together everything else he had seen himself, but he needed her to say it.

“I-I was just,” Olivia started suddenly trying to figure out an answer. She couldn’t tell him what really happened, that Henry had lost his control and backhanded her because that would cause more issues. Henry had always kept his hits where she could hide the bruises but the past few days had been rough and he just lashed out. “I was making myself a drink,” she started grasping wildly at straws.

“Don’t you dare say you tripped and fell,” Gaz said, doing his best to keep his tone even since he could see the fear in her eyes already. “Tell me what happened and I can help you,” he tried again, softening his voice so she wouldn’t feel as threatened. He may hate her for what she had done to him but that didn’t mean he wanted to see her hurt like this, no one deserved that. His hand shifted to cup her cheek so it wasn’t as tight on her face and he felt her lean into it as she squeezed her eyes shut to avoid his gaze.

This simple gesture from Kyle hurt almost as much as the physical pain and Olivia doubled over right into his chest and started crying again. After all she had done to him, he was still there to help when she didn’t deserve even an ounce of kindness. That was him though, always helping those who couldn’t help themselves and willing to take the pain if that meant someone else wasn’t suffering.

“Jesus Oli,” Gaz said quietly, her old nickname slipping out, as he held still for a moment unsure of what to do. She was holding onto the front of his shirt like it was a lifeline and practically breaking apart. After a second, he dared to run his hands around her and gently rubbed a soothing circle over her back to try and calm her. “What really happened?” He asked as he shifted back on his heels to sit down properly on the floor, instead of squatting, and pulled her more into him. She moved easily with him and curled her legs up underneath her body as she situated herself between his legs.

Olivia buried her face into his shirt, just breathing him in for a second to try and calm herself. He still smelled like she remembered which made her heart flutter a bit at the memory. Faint cigarette smoke that he attempted to cover with his cologne that smelled of teakwood and musk and some mint from gum he had chewed. How many nights had she buried herself in his embrace like this? Curled up on the couch or in bed as he held her. It was nice, like old times. But then something else caught her attention, it was flowery and light something feminine and not his. She froze and pushed back, as if reality caught up with her breakdown and she shifted to push away.

“It’s nothing Kyle,” Olivia tried putting on a braver tone than she felt, needing to slip back into that careful mask of Liv that she presented to the public. After all, Kyle was not her fiancé, not her friend, he was there to work and she needed to keep that distance because one wrong move could ruin everything. “I didn’t turn on the kitchen light and I tripped over my own feet in the dark. Too much wine this evening,” she reasoned as she moved to untangle herself from his arms and stood up. “I appreciate your concern, but I am fine,” she stated as she wiped hard at her face, wincing as the palm of her hand dug into her bruise.

A light switch, that was what Olivia had become. She could change herself so quickly it was as if someone were standing behind her controlling her with a press of a button. Gaz had felt her suddenly tense in his arms and when she went to push away he let her, not wanting to crowd her or make her more upset than she already was. The tears were gone from her eyes and she had squared her shoulders back a bit to try and put on the tough persona that she liked to give off these days, the one that had broken his heart.

“Lying to me isn’t going to work,” Gaz stated simply as he moved to stand up again, his feet kicking pieces of glass as he did. “Did Henry do that to you?” He noted she had carefully turned her head to hide the mark as if he were going to forget and instead was trying to just glare up at him in some form of intimidation. He saw her eyes flare, just a bit, at the mention of Henry’s name and he knew he had gotten the answer right even if she wouldn’t say it herself.

“I fell,” Olivia said flatly as she bent down to grab a large chunk of glass off the ground and set it on the counter. She needed to get away from Kyle, away from what she couldn’t have anymore, and the jealousy that writhed in her at the thought of him with another woman. “If you don’t mind, I am going back to bed,” she finished not bothering to finish cleaning up the mess she had made. She had in fact dropped the glass but it wasn’t because she had tripped but rather, she had been shaking so badly trying to hold off a breakdown the glass slipped from her hand. “The staff can get that in the morning,” she tossed over her shoulder as she headed back toward her bedroom, feeling like she was going to executioner’s block.

“Fucking hell,” Gaz muttered as she disappeared. Deciding to not leave the shards of glass to the unsuspecting staff Gaz bent down and finished cleaning up the mess himself, playing things over in his mind. He couldn’t get a read on Olivia anymore, one minute she was cold frigid thing that didn’t care about anything the next she was falling apart and seemed almost terrified of her own shadow. Now the news that Henry was a bit more than just handsy was thrown into the mix it was starting to make sense why she behaved that way.

But what he still couldn’t figure out was why she was with him. Why was she staying when this was how he was? She was a strong enough woman or had been, that she could easily walk away. He knew her parents would support her if she did, fuck at this point he’d pack her shit for her. He was having a hard time containing himself from marching up the stairs right behind Olivia and busting in the door to beat the hell out of Henry. But he didn’t have all the information yet, the proof, and if he went in and murdered the man all that would do is get himself in trouble and even further from the answers.

Flexing and fisting his fingers in an attempt to contain his rage, Gaz leaned on the kitchen counter thinking. He needed those details from Alex, he felt that he was missing a huge key part of this story because nothing was clicking together properly. Another sleepless night was in the works for him so with a heavy sigh he snagged a bottle of water from the fridge and headed to his bedroom to start another deep dive on the cameras. Hopefully, the history went back a decent amount of time and maybe Henry didn’t always remember to turn them off when he was misbehaving.

#fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 writer #ao3 author #call of duty #call of duty fanfic #cod fanfic #cod #my fic #gaz fanfic #kyle gaz garrick #gaz cod #gaz x oc #keeping lines blurry

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mellometal · 1 year ago

Text

(I'm going to edit this with added links to resources ASAP. I just don't have all of them saved at the moment. I'm sorry. [Update: I'm gonna just reblog this post with resources. I was trying to edit this post with resources, but the connection was wonky.])

I wanted to make sure I got everything I needed to say in a way that's easy for everyone to understand. I'm gonna be honest, I was genuinely unaware of what has been happening in the world until about a week ago or so due to things going on in my personal life that needed my immediate attention. I've also been struggling a lot, but that's not important right now. Because I was unaware of what was going on in the world currently, I did research to educate myself, watched a lot of videos about it, shared a ton of content about it, am currently in the process of reaching out to representatives all over the United States to get the President to call for a ceasefire, and I've been trying to start the conversation with people I know in real life.

Don't try to use what 1sra3l is doing to Palestine, Gaza, Congo, and Sudan as an excuse to be antisemitic or Islamophobic. Do not try to justify 1sra3l killing innocent people in any way, shape, or form. I don't tolerate people who stand for genocide. Nothing justifies killing innocent people. Tigray, Puerto Rico, Hawai'i, Ukraine, and Northern Ireland are some more oppressed nations, to give some more examples.

Many of the people in Palestine and Gaza have had their homes, schools, hospitals, businesses, and so on destroyed due to 1sra3l bombing them. They're watching their own people die. They're digging through slabs of broken concrete to find their missing loved ones. They're putting the dismembered body parts of their loved ones in bags. They don't have clean drinking water. They don't have electricity. They're getting WORMS from having to drink water that's not suitable for consumption. Food is scarce and very expensive. People are dying from starvation, not having clean drinking water, and the inability to access adequate medical care due to extremely limited resources. Doctors are having to perform life-saving procedures without any type of sanitation, anesthesia, or any type of pain relief to give to the injured. They're performing procedures on the hospital floor and in the streets. They're now having to choose who's worth saving, watch victims die, and then move on to the next. The animals that are still alive are having to resort to eating blown off body parts of DEAD PEOPLE. This is just SOME of the things these people are going through.

There's also war going on in Congo and Sudan. Tigray is still suffering from the genocide on their people, even after the peace agreement in 2022 between Ethiopia and Tigray. Big tech companies are enslaving children in Congo by forcing them to mine for coltan. Millions of Congolese people are being killed. Many Tigrayans are still displaced from their homes, parts of Tigray are still being held captive, and school hasn't started for many children there because so many people are having to resort to living in school buildings or in tents. This is all just the tip of the iceberg and from what I found doing some quick research.

To top that off, President Biden is refusing to ceasefire on Palestine and Gaza. HE'S SENDING MORE MONEY TO 1SRA3L INSTEAD. 1SRA3L, UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW, SHOULDN'T EVEN BE DOING WHAT THEY'RE DOING. THEY'VE BROKEN SO MANY LAWS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW. THE AMOUNT OF LAWS THEY'VE BROKEN UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW IS ACTUALLY SCARY. MULTIPLE PEOPLE IN CONGRESS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO SILENCE ANYONE (specifically they have been trying to silence Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in Congress) SPEAKING OUT ABOUT THE WAR CRIMES BEING COMMITTED AND FUNDED WITH AMERICAN TAX DOLLARS. Oh, but Biden had all the time in the world recently to visit grieving families here in the United States who have lost loved ones due to the rampant gun problem in this country that STILL isn't being fixed. That's nice. /s By the way, I'm not criticizing him for visiting grieving families. I'm criticizing Biden for funding the genocide of innocent people instead of putting a stop to it. The civilians in Palestine and Gaza didn't do anything to deserve what they're going through right now. That goes for all oppressed nations.

We might end up in World War III, and that's gonna be a HUGE problem for the United States if we get involved instead of staying out of it. We don't have enough troops for when and IF WW3 happens. I'm not kidding. When NORTH KOREA is saying that what Biden’s doing is fucked up, you KNOW that it's bad. I don't want World War III to be a reality. I don't want that to happen. I want to say that WW3 will never happen, BUT I CAN'T. History WILL keep repeating itself.

As far as boycotts go, the list of brands that have ties to 1sra3l is overwhelmingly long and the brands that have no ties to 1sra3l and support Palestine are small in comparison. However, the big three to focus on boycotting are McDonald's, Starbucks, and Disney. They're the companies who contribute the most money to horrific shit like what I mentioned here.

I keep seeing many people leaving disabled people out of the conversation and it's irritating because disabled people exist all across the globe. For disabled people, boycotting many of these things that I haven't even listed here may be more difficult, if not impossible, for them to do for a variety of reasons (mainly medical). Obviously I'm speaking in a general sense. It all depends on the person. Reason why I'm bringing this up is because I saw a few medication brands on the boycott list. I've seen people say to just get the generic brand of their medications, but that might not be an available option for them, depending on their insurance.

I don't eat at McDonald's much anymore (actually haven't eaten there much if at all for years), I don't have a Disney+ subscription, and I rarely get Starbucks anyway...so it's personally not a huge loss. There are better things to watch. There are better places to eat at that are more Pescatarian friendly. There are also better places to get myself a blended coffee made with almond milk and extra fixings if I'm feeling fancy. I know there are people in food deserts, in financial strain, and have accessibility issues. I'm not talking about them.

When and if you can, shop and eat out locally. I'm sure they'd love the business! It also helps boost your town's local economy! If this isn't a viable option for you due to financial difficulties and/or accessibility issues, do what you gotta do that's the most sustainable for you, your family, your animals, and whatnot. Meaning if the only grocery store you have in your area is Walmart or it's the only place that's affordable, you're not evil for getting your groceries there. Because we're all struggling right now, myself included. Also, for anyone that's going to suggest a dollar store or a food bank, not everyone has a dollar store or food bank in their area, or has easy access to either of those things. The one thing I will say is do your best to be mindful of the things you buy.

For all my fellow American followers, Canadian followers, followers in the UK, and Australian followers, call and email your representatives and demand a ceasefire if you haven't already. This is especially for my fellow American followers. Call and email President Biden and Vice President Harris. CALL THE WHITE HOUSE. If you're going to a protest, be safe, be respectful, cover up anything identifiable on you, try to go in a group if you can, and all that good stuff. Sign petitions! Donate if you can.

There's so much shit going on, and I think I've discussed enough of it here. It's gotten way too long. Sorry if I missed anything. I wanted to at least cover the big stuff.

#mello speaks #enmu speaks #tw genocide #tw death #tw bombing mention #tw slavery #all the trigger warnings #I'm ashamed of my country. (America)#free palestine #free congo #free sudan #free gaza #free tigray #free all oppressed nations #boycott mcdonalds #boycott starbucks #boycott disney #Islamophobes dni #antisemitic assholes dni

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saltiestcoconut · 2 years ago

Note

aiyusa prompt: something involving ai wearing a maid dress <3 eg, link vrains cosplay event/working part time at a maid cafe/dressing up just for fun/etc

Thanks nonny for the prompt! It was super fun to write something I love maid outfits 😂

This was supposed to be edited and released a few days ago but bleh it be like that forgive me if some things seem a bit wonky I based everything off my memory of a video I watched a few weeks back and can't be bothered to rewatch

Everything aside I hope you enjoy~

"You should check your personal email," Ai suggested. While it wasn't unusual for Ai to backseat Yusaku's internet use, checking his email wasn't an activity Ai usually suggested.

"Why? There's nothing there."

"Just check it or I'll check for you." Ai threatened as he pointed at Yusaku’s computer screen.

Yusaku stared at Ai, a frown on his face as the two stared each other down. They both knew Ai wouldn't hesitate to take over the computer screen.

"Fine, but I'm sending you to Kusanagi if I find out you've been messing around again."

Ai crossed his arms. "It all worked out in the end anyway. You were the hero you always wanted to be."

Yusaku rolled his eyes but turned back to his computer as he ignored Ai. The sounds of typing and mouse clicking filled the room until Yusaku mused to himself, "Since when did I make reservations?" He glanced at Ai again, this time with a more baffled expression than a tense one. Ai whistled innocently as Yusaku opened the new mysterious email to read it in full. "Ai… I don't have time for a vacation."

Ai placed his hands on his hips. "Yes, you do! Check the date, it's during summer vacation! You would officially be done with your first year of high school, you should celebrate with a nice vacation."

Yusaku looked sheepish. "Since I missed three months of school, I need to catch up…"

"But the vacation is only three days long! It won't interfere with anything."

"But I don't have money…"

"Excuses! It's already paid for, just go!"

"How?"

Ai pushed his fingers together. "Don't worry about it. The money was obtained legally." And by legally, Ai meant that Akira Zaizen sent it willingly. After a few threats, a few Uno reverses, and a few promises, of course.

Yusaku's frown deepened, and his stare intensified, as if he was trying to see into Ai's past actions. Finally, his eyes slid back to the screen, and he relaxed. "I guess I'll take it. If anything happens in Link VRAINS— no, Duel Links, while I'm gone, we can just deal with it when I get back."

Ai waved a hand around. "Nothing's going to happen. The 'Action Duels!' event is still ongoing, Duel Links isn't going to change for at least another few days. Since you already finished the event, you have nothing to worry about."

"It's not about finishing the event, I need to figure out who— or what— runs Duel Links' events. If I can figure that out, then that would get me closer to figuring out Duel Links itself."

Ai leaned close to Yusaku, hands on his hips again. "You say all that, but I know you just wanted to have fun."

"I—"

"I'm your precious partner, you can't fool me! If you want to have fun, why don't you go on a vacation? Have you ever traveled outside of Den City?"

Yusaku looked away and glared at the computer screen as if it could help him but refused to. "You're starting to sound like Zaizen or Kusanagi."

Ai jolted like a bolt of electricity ran through his head. "Don't compare me to those two…! Maybe you need an adult figure to constantly nag at you!"

"Maybe," Yusaku said as he returned to the computer.

Yusaku glanced at Ai as he deflated, head hung low and fingertips brushing the duel disk's surface. "Why are you so stubborn? Surely you can afford to relax a bit now?"

"I already said I would go."

Ai pumped his arms as he cheered. He would get Yusaku to have fun on their vacation, somehow.

Yusaku's arms were crossed the whole train ride. He had elected to sit at a window seat, duel disk pressing against the train’s wall that would make it difficult for Ai to pop out. However, even if Ai couldn't come out, he could still talk to him.

"Are you still mad?"

"Pissed."

"But why? I don't see the big deal."

"You booked a love hotel! A love hotel! What the actual hell, Ai."

Ai rolled his body as an attempt to roll his eyes. "I didn't take you to be such a macho man that you'd be embarrassed to be in a love hotel."

"It's not that! It's scandalous, Ai, only couples go there to… to you know…" Yusaku crossed his arms tighter around himself, too embarrassed to finish his thought.

"... Yusaku, are you a foreigner? Love hotels are cheaper, safer alternatives to regular hotels. I wasn't thinking of anything debaucherous when I booked the hotel." Admittedly, Ai did have something in mind, but Yusaku didn't have to know his plans until it was time to execute it.

Yusaku still seemed upset, but he looked more pouty than angry, so Ai was confident he could still woo Yusaku.

Once they arrived at the hotel, Yusaku was easily able to check in the hotel via the self-serve kiosk. Yusaku didn't know how draining travel would be until he finally stepped into his room.

Yusaku half-heartedly inspected his room. A large window took up most of the right wall, a couch placed below the window. A long stand with several cabinets was pushed against the left wall, a large TV rested on its surface accompanied by a karaoke machine. The cabinets contained small vending machines that sold drinks and held the room's mini fridge and microwave. In front of the cabinets was a coffee table that was accessible from the couch pushed against the window. Next to the TV stand, a machine sat, one that Yusaku speculated to be a type of massage machine based on a wand with a ball embedded on the tip.

On the opposite side of the room, the bed and two drawers occupied most of the room's space. One drawer had the room's phone and several catalogs on it while the other had a lamp. Another larger drawer occupied the space between the massage machine and the rest of the room. A massage chair occupied the space between the corner of the room and the window, which cycled back to the room entrance.

To the side of the entrance was a small hallway that led to the bathroom. One side was dedicated to sinks, with two sinks and a large mirror hung over both of them. Each sink was accompanied by toiletries appropriate for a man and a woman. The other side had separate rooms for the toilet and the bath, the bath taking up much more space due to its massive size.

"Whoa! That bath might be big enough to comfortably accommodate my SOLtis form!"

Yusaku jolted as if he had forgotten Ai was still around his wrist. "You don't have a SOLtis anymore," Yusaku said instead.

Yusaku eyed the bath in interest. He reached into the basin and plugged up the drain, then turned on the water to fill up the bath.

"Oh! A bath! Good thinking, baths are so relaxing and so romantic, it's the perfect way to start off a vacation!"

Unfortunately for Ai, Yusaku set him down at the television stand before gathering his pajamas and disappearing into the bathroom again. Ai couldn’t help but sigh in disappointment as he remembered a time where Yusaku would unabashedly change in front of him— even if at the time Yusaku didn’t believe Ai had sentience, and Ai wasn’t too serious about forming a relationship with his cold-hearted origin. Even if those days were long gone, Ai hoped one day Yusaku would bring him in the bath, and maybe if he asked nicely enough, that day would be some time during this vacation.

For now, Ai activated the duel disk’s droid function, surprised Yusaku hadn’t removed that moderation yet. He successfully landed close enough to the room's phone, where several of the hotel's catalogs were also located. Ai casually flipped through the catalogs to decide what he should get Yusaku.

Since Ai was small, ordering room service was a more difficult task than he anticipated, but he hoped it would be well worth the effort once he finally got all his requests in. Since Ai didn't have to satisfy any biological needs, all that was left for him to do was wait for Yusaku to finish his bath and hope he got out before the food got too cold.

While both Yusaku and the hotel service took their precious time, Ai was able to remotely turn on the TV and entertain himself by watching a new soap opera he missed out on during his three month absence. Finally, after nearly half an hour of waiting, room service arrived, and he was able to execute his plan.

Ai picked this particular love hotel for a very specific reason— it was one of the first hotels to adopt a full SOLtis workforce for the sake of the anonymity love hotels are famous for. This allowed Ai to take over a SOLtis once the poor worker came close enough for Ai to transfer his data. With its own programming suppressed, Ai returned into the room while bringing in the things he ordered.

Yusaku's katsu bowl dish went on the coffee table, and Ai swamped out the SOLtis' minimal uniform for the surprise he bought. By the time he finished his preparations, Yusaku had been in the bath long enough for Ai to think he fell asleep.

Ai tapped two curled fingers against the bathroom door. "Yusaku? Are you dead?"

The sound of water splashes after a short pause. "No."

"Did Yusaku-chan fall asleep in the bath? How cute~"

"Be quiet." Water splashed around some more, then the faint sound of water draining. Ai moved away from the door but remained standing in the hallway.

Finally, Yusaku got out of the bathroom, towel casually slung over his shoulder and fully dressed in his pajamas. He quickly ran his eyes over Ai, Ai himself quickly jutting out his hips and lightly pressing one fingertip against his lips.

On Ai's head was a headband with poofy white lace accompanied by two small black ribbons on either side of the headband. A detached collar rested on Ai's throat, held closed by an ascot that did nothing to hide the SOLtis diamond. The apron's frilly straps framed both sides of the detachable collar, the dress' puffy sleeves spilled from underneath the straps. Black bows were attached to the area where the apron's straps met the torso, a band made to resemble a small laced corset, giving way to the apron's protective covering. The dress had a sweetheart neckline, topped with white frills with a black ribbon along the center of the frilla. The dip of the neckline was adorned with a black bow. The dress was pulled tightly over Ai's body, as if the dress was a smaller size.

Ai's other hand lifted up the dress' skirt, showing off the ruffles hidden underneath. Underneath the skirt, Ai wore knee-high socks, the seams clamped tightly just above his knees adorned with white frills and black ribbons accompanied by a black bow.

"Welcome back, master~"

Yusaku stared at him. "Ai, no."

"Why not?" Ai whined as Yusaku gently nudged Ai to the side so he could pass.

Ai turned to face Yusaku's pointer finger standing tall and proud. "One, I'm not in the mood to play. I'm not used to traveling long distances, so I want to relax and try to get some sleep."

Ai deflated. He couldn't argue against Yusaku getting more sleep, and he knew it.

A second finger went up. "Two, that SOLtis belongs to the hotel, please return it, I don't want you to get in trouble over something that can be avoided."

Ai crossed his arms, Yusaku was worried about him and he knew it. Still, he wanted to take advantage of at least some of the benefits of staying at a love hotel.

Then Yusaku's ring finger. "Three, I don't want to be responsible for anything that might happen to that SOLtis, and that outfit."

Ai covered his mouth with a hand and giggled mischievously. "Oh? Am I imagining things, or is Yusaku-chan perverted now?"

Yusaku's face turned from slightly annoyed to a cross between a pout and a frown. "I— no— you're the one who—"

Ai squealed and tugged Yusaku into a hug and peppered small kisses on his cheek. Ai now understood why humans were so obsessed over kisses, it was a gratifying way of expressing his love. "Don't worry about the dress, I bought it, but I wasn't planning on doing anything anyway. You have nothing to worry about."

Yusaku waited until Ai was done rubbing their cheeks together and pulled away. "Then why the dress?"

"Yusaku, you're perverted. Come, come," Ai said as he tugged on a baffled Yusaku and sat him on the room's couch. He dragged the room's table closer to Yusaku, the food ready to eat.

"Oh, the food's cold," Ai pouted and opened the cabinets. "Where is the microwave…"

"It's fine, I don't mind it cold."

Ai turned his head. "Are you sure— NO! Stop!"

Yusaku jolted and lowered the katsu piece he was about to eat. Ai launched himself to the couch with enough force to rattle it. "Ai! Calm down," Yusaku scolded, but Ai didn't listen as he plucked the chopsticks from Yusaku's hand.

"Allow me to feed you, master. What kind of maid would I be if I couldn't even feed my master?" Ai asked as he pressed a curled finger against his lips and batted his eyelashes at Yusaku. His gesture was meant to be accompanied by shoujo sparkles and a rosy background with large iridescent bubbles, but the chopsticks still in his grasp might have ruined the image.

Yusaku, however, in all his cold-hearted glory was immune. "This again? No, it's fine, I can feed myself."

"But I want to! Besides, you said you were tired, which means you're too tired to feed yourself."

Yusaku's eyebrow furrowed as he stared at Ai. "That makes no sense. It's fine, Ai." A pause, then a sigh as he leaned back slightly. "Fine, you can feed me."

Ai cheered and picked up the piece of katsu Yusaku abandoned earlier. "Say aa."

Yusaku did not say "aa," but he did eat the katsu when Ai brought it close to his mouth. He's pouting again, eyebrows locked in his signature frown.

"Aww Yusaku-chan you look so cute when you're grumpy like that. How's the food?"

"Alright. I've had better leftovers."

"I'll be sure to leave a one star review for you master."

"You will not."

"Yes master."

Ai gradually fed Yusaku the bowl until Yusaku held up a hand.

"Just one more bite, master, you're almost done."

Yusaku ignored Ai's request and instead pulled at Ai's ascot, which easily came undone. He froze as Yusaku clenched the cloth strands together and tugged him to crush their lips together.

Yusaku's fist was a heavy weight against Ai's throat, preventing an easy escape. Ai looped his arms around Yusaku so that his hands met at the base of his back.

Even if they had kissed plenty of times, nothing could prepare him for the pleasure of being able to properly return those kisses. To feel Yusaku's lips pressed against his own, to cradle his head in his hand and entangle his fingers in his short hair. Ai slipped his tongue past Yusaku's lips and he let out a surprised hum.

Yusaku placed his other hand on Ai's shoulder and pushed down his sleeve as he moved closer. Ai briefly thought about teasing Yusaku but decided against it as that would mean stopping the kiss to speak.

The kiss didn't last much longer as Yusaku pulled back and released his hold on Ai's clothes. "I'm going to sleep now. Return that SOLtis to the hotel already."

Fans working on overdrive but still feeling heated, Ai stood with automatic stiff movements, embodying the robotic nature he was supposed to be. While Yusaku wandered off, Ai put away the leftovers and replaced his maid dress with the SOLtis' clothing, then relinquished control over the captured SOLtis, which returned to work without a fuss.

On the journey back to Den City, Yusaku was in a much better mood as he leaned against the train wall, his duel disk arm slung over his abdomen.

This time, however, Ai was in a worse mood than he was at the start. "Well, that wasn't much of a vacation at all!"

Yusaku blinked down at him. "It was relaxing."

"We only went out for one day! And it wasn't even a full day either, I had to spend the first half of it begging!"

"But we went out." Yusaku frowned. "Didn't you have fun? I thought the local shrines were pretty."

"You worked almost the entire time!"

"At my own pace, with no outside interference."

"No! You're supposed to go out and eat to your heart's content on vacations!"

"If that's your standard of a vacation, then it's not a very good one."

Ai crossed his arms. "Your standard is even worse! You're not supposed to work on vacation!"

"It's a shame about that maid dress. What even happened to it?"

Ai brightened immediately. "I put it with the rest of your clothes! I got it in your size so you can wear it whenever you want~"

Yusaku made a slightly disturbed face. "I'm not wearing that."

"Oh, which reminds me." Ai sunk into the duel disk and popped back out arms raised high, wearing a miniature version of the maid dress. "Tada! I made a small version of it for your viewing pleasure."

Yusaku looked away with a bored expression. "Thanks."

"Hey! Pay more attention to me! I worked hard making this for you!"

#yugioh vrains #aiyusa #aiballshipping #maybe asking for prompts a week before aiyusa month was a bad idea lmao #oh well~ it got written because i loved the prompt so much 😂#despite everything its finished so yay~#ygo vrains #scribble scrabble

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