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darkmoonchild · 6 months ago

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Happy Halloween

•This was supposed to be a cute little installment for my Daddy Vessel series for Halloween, but I didn’t get to post it because *cardi b voice* coronavirus hit my household and I’ve been down for the count. I still wanted to post this though and just pretend that it’s still Halloween (even though technically it was three days ago but no one pay attention to that, please?). But anyways…uh…here we goooo!•

~Vessel x Fem!Reader (pretty much a given atp).

~Emma’s age in this fic is 5 years old. (Also there is a use of her full name which is Emma-Leigh. Just throwing that out there.)

•Warnings: There is slight sexual content in this story, but nothing goes too too far. This is mainly just a fluff fic.

•Story circa 2018•

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You stood in the kitchen at the sink humming to yourself, washing the dishes from lunch. A smile formed on your face as you looked out the window, seeing the grey cloud covered sky and the beautiful autumn leaves. You laughed a little seeing the remnants of yesterday fun of jumping in the fallen leaves after hours of raking them up to place them in trash bags. You and your boyfriend of a full year, Vessel, had III to thank for that. One jump into the pile of leaves and it did not take long for your five-year-old daughter Emma to follow suit, then followed by everyone else—you, Vessel, IV, II and IV’s girlfriend Viola.

You had just finished loading the dishes into the dish washer when the front door to the flat opened and then closed, you looked over your shoulder to see Vessel making his way into the kitchen. You eyed him slowly from head to toe, taking in the sight of his shaggy hair underneath his black beanie, the way his grey t-shirt rode up over his stomach and showing his abs after he removed his favored Alpha Wold hoodie off before laying in on the back of a kitchen chair, and the way his jeans fit him just right. It was enough to make your mouth water but you refrained.

“Hello there handsome,” You greeted him with a smile. Vessel looked at you with sparkling eyes and a wide smile. He came over and wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you closer to him.

“Hello my darling,” he said lovingly, kissing the top of your head. You two staid like that a few minutes longer before you could feel him shifting a bit from where your head rested on his chest. He was obviously looking around. “Where’s Bug?”

Bug. An affectionate nickname Vessel has been calling your daughter since the two of you got together. Everyone else usually called her Emmie but Vessel liked Bug more. It had something to do with the butterfly dress and headband she was wearing the day you finally introduced the two of them together. And that little meeting sealed everything because it was an instant connection between the two of them, which you were extremely grateful for.

“She’s taking a nap,” You said with a smile as you looked up at him. You reached up on your tiptoes to give his check a quick kiss before pulling away from his embrace. “I’m going to wake her up soon so I can start getting her ready for tonight.”

Vessel smiled at that. “Our first family Halloween outing.”

You would be lying if you said you didn’t swoon a little bit at that comment. This was the first official “family Halloween outing” you three would have, and there were hopefully many more to come until Emma deemed herself too old for trick-or-treating.

“I know I can’t wait.”

You took his hand and the both of you walked into the living room. Vessel sat on the couch and before you could even move past him to sit beside him, he wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you to sit down on his lap. A tiny squeak left your mouth at the sudden action, only for giggles to come out next when Vessie began peppering light kisses to your cheeks, your nose and neck. You turned in his lap facing him, both your legs on either side of his hips as you straddled him and wrapped your arms around his neck.

The both of you stared at each other lovingly, soft smiles on your faces before you leaned down and captured his lips with yours. You both kissed each other slowly, the kiss deepening as Vessel’s large hands soon moved down from your waist to your hips, squeezing them lightly. As if on instant your hips began to move against him, earning a deep groan from his throat as you continued to kiss.

“How much time do you think we have before Emma wakes up?” Vessel asked you, a bit breathless when he broke away from the kiss. His hands left your hips to cup your ass, helping you grind back and forth on his hardening member inside his jeans.

You opened your mouth to give your reply but was cut off when you heard Emma calling you from upstairs, her little voice still full of sleep.

“I guess that answers our question,” You reply. A laugh fell from your lips as Vessel laid his forehead on your shoulder, groaning some. You knew there was a pout on his face. You raised his head up and held his face in both of your hands, revealing indeed a pout on his lips. You kisses them. “We’ll continue this later.”

Vessel smiled and nodded and allowed you to get off of his lap to go and retrieve Emma, and he placed one of the throw pillows on his lap to hide the tent in his pants. It was going down but not fast enough for his liking. A moment later you came down with Emma in your arms, dressed in her little blue nightgown with Gengar, Haunter and Ghastly on it. II had found that for her one day when he was out and Vessel still was unsure where he found it, the drummer would never open his mouth to reveal it. Apparently he was trying to stay on top of III as the favorite but honestly other than him and you, IV was Emma’s favorite. II and III just refused to accept that fact.

“Hey, my sweet Bug,” Vessel greeted the small girl softly as you brought her over to the couch. You sat down with her on your lap, rubbing her hair and back as Emma rested against you. She was still tired but was trying to wake herself up. Vessel reached over and rubbed his index finger up and down her chubby little cheek. “Are you ready for tonight?”

“Mhm,” Emma answered with a little head nod. A yawn escaped from her mouth and she rubbed her eyes with her little fist. She blinked a few times before reaching her arms out for Vessel, making sure to mimic her mother with the grabby hands. “Can you hold me now Vessie?”

Vessie. The little nickname Emma calls your boyfriend. You think it was an easier way for her to actual say Vessel, but who really knows when it comes to children. Either way Vessel wears it like a badge of honor. He refuses to allow anyone other than Emma to call him that.

Vessel gave you a quick look and you raised a brow, a silent question forming as your eyes slowly trailed to the pillow sitting on his lap. Vessel cleared his throat.

“Now right now, Bug,” he spoke softly to the child. A pout began forming on Emma’s face and the large puppy eyes came out, the grabby hands continuing in his direction. He knew she’d keep this up until he reached for her, so he had to come up with something. He smiled. “How about you and mama get ready for tonight and Vessie will hold you while we’re out? That sound good?”

Emma thought for a moment—well, really a few seconds before a large smile spread across her face, replacing the precious pout and puppy eyes as she nodded enthusiastically. Both you and Vessel watched as she squirmed out of your hold and grabbed your hand in hers, instantly attempting to pull you from your seat on the couch.

“Come on, mama, come on!” Emma exclaimed, her voice high pitched as she continued to “pull” you up from the couch. You laughed and humored her, allowing her to believe she pulled you up all by her little mighty self.

🎃🎃🎃

“You didn’t have to put the costume on, Vess, you know that right?”

When the idea of having all three of you in matching Halloween costumes came to your head weeks ago, it seemed like the cutest—and greatest—plan. Emma had recently gotten into older, classic Disney movies and Peter Pan was her favorite at the moment. You had to order the costumes off of Amazon since none of the local shops carried the specific ones you wanted—or need.

You would be Wendy, Emma was Tinkerbell and Vessel…

“Why wouldn’t I want to wear the costume?” Vessel questioned, turning his head to look at you. Emma was in front of the two of you, among a bunch of other children, waiting patiently as the elderly lady filled their bags with candy. Vessel looked down at his attire—a green cap with a red feather sticking out of it, a green tunic, cloth tights, a fake golden sword wrapped around his waist and his doc martens. His shoes were the only none costume related thing on him. Vessel said since you three would be walking, his reliable shoes seemed a bit better than the soft brown things that came with the Peter Pan get up. Vessel opened his arms out wide, head tilting to the side looking at you. “I don’t mind it. And it made you and Bug happy to see me in it.”

You crossed your arms over your chest and shrugged. “I just thought maybe you would have been happier in your normal clothes,” You replied. You watched as Emma and a few kids squeal in happiness as they got their trick-or-treat bags filled with delicious sweets. You already knew you were going to have to limit how much Emma consumed tonight. And you knew that went double for Vessel as well. You sighed, “Even before we had her, Emma’s dad thought the whole matching costumes thing was stupid. He shot down every attempt I tried every single year. And I had this cutest idea thought out for Emma’s first Halloween, got us matching suits and everything, thought that maybe he’d give it a chance since it was for our daughter but he…he told me I wasted money on something he wasn’t even going to wear or something Emma wasn’t even going to remember. Mentioned how he’d be the laughing stock of his buddies and the guys he worked with if they just so happened to be put with their kids or fucking out in general. He wanted me to take them back but I didn’t. My brother-in-law Rowan got his costume, I wore mine, my sister Claudia aomehow found a matching costume of her own within an hour and Emma had hers. He missed out on his own daughter’s first big holiday because he didn’t want to be embarrassed being seen dressed up with us.”

Vessel smiled softly at you. “And you thought I’d be embarrassed too?” He asked. You said nothing, feeling your cheeks burn with a blush as you refused to look at him. You knew Vessel was nothing like your ex but it was hard to erase the bad memories sometimes, and every now and again they would seep in through the tiny cracks that were beginning to heal, and bleed into this relationship. Vessel was always thankfully so patient.

The next thing you knew, long and strong arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you into a firm chest. You turned in Vessel’s embrace and wrapped your arms around his waist, laying your head on his chest. Vessel squeezed you tightly, placing a kiss on top of your hair. “I’ll never be embarrassed doing anything with you two,” Vessel said softly. “I missed a lot of firsts in Emma’s little life, but I’m so happy I get to be apart of the next big things to come moving forward. And if that means I have to dress up as Peter Pan, or Steve from Blue’s Clues, or Tickle Me Elmo, or even that Godforsaken big purple dinosaur, I will if it means I get to make my girls happy. I will, Y/N. I love you and I love Emma-Leigh more than either of you will ever know.”

Everything seemed to stopped for what seemed like hours and hours as you looked up at Vessel, eyes wide and mouth opened slightly. He only smiled down at you, not phased by your expression at all. Did he…?

“You just said you loved me,” You spoke after a long pause. “I mean, you also said you loved Emma…but that’s the first time you ever told me you loved me, Vess.”

“Well, I thought maybe tonight would be the night I did,” Vessel said with a chuckle. He kisses the crown of your head. “Because I do, Y/N. I love you. My world was black and white before I met you and Emma. You two made everything colorful for me.”

You hugged Vessel tighter, feeling tears pricking your eyes and it took everything you had to force them down. You knew they were happy tears, but dammit you were not going to be seen crying in front of neighbors houses and random people you didn’t know that well. Plus, tonight was about Emma and making sure she had a great Halloween..

“I love you, too, Vessel,” You admitted. You voice soft and a smile on your face. “I love you so much. But I do hate to inform you, you have now given me a great idea for our Halloween costumes next year with bringing Barney into the equation.”

“Y/N,” Vessel warned. His voice was still playful, even if he tried to sound serious. You could hear the smile in his tone. He had made it clear Barney was not his favorite growing up but he tolerated it because you grew up on the thing, and Emma was following close in your footsteps. You couldn’t do anything but laugh.

A moment later an excited Emma came running back to the two of you, her pink jack-o-lantern pail bouncing as she did. It was a wonder that none of her candy she had collected within the few hours you three had been out flew out from the opening, and a part of you was glad it did. You really didn’t feel like picking pieces of candy up out of someone’s yard, yet for Emma you knew that you would in a heartbeat. She reached into her pail and pulled out two full size chocolate bars, a wide smile on her face that causes her eyes to sparkle brightly even in the light of dusk.

“Look look look look!” Emma bounced on her tiptoes excitedly. “I got full bars!”

“Wow, Bug, that’s awesome!” Vessel beamed down at her. He crouched down to be eye level with her. “You know where else you’re probably gonna get a full size bar? Maybe even three bars?”

Emma tilted her head, her smiling fading in her curious confusion. “Where Vessie?”

“Uncle Ivy and Auntie Vi’s place,” Vessel answered. He watched as the little girl’s smile grew wide once more and the excitement came back. Emma placed her candy bars back into her pail and grabbed Vessel’s hand after he had risen back to his full height. Vessel chuckled down at her. “I guess you’re ready to go then, huh?”

“Yes yes yes yes!” Emma beamed excitedly. “I’m ready to get some more yummy candy and ready to let Uncle Ivy and Aunt Vi see my costume!”

You giggled at your daughter’s enthusiasm in seeing IV and Viola. You took Emma’s candy pail in one hand and grabbed her other little hand with your free one, allowing you and Vessel both to hold her hand as you three walked down the street. Occasionally you and Vessel would swing Emma back and forth between the two of you, reciting the phrase “faith, trust and pixie dust” as you did so. Emma used the pixie dust part to raise her little legs up, letting you and Vessel swing her easily. Her little giggles was the music to both yours and your boyfriend’s ears.

“You know there’s a possibility III is going to be there, too, right?” You asked Vessel a bit later as you three got closer towards IV and Viola’s flat.

Like IV, III was a long time friend of Vessel’s and another member to their band Sleep Token. By the time you and Vessel had gotten together, they had released two albums at that point. They were working on releasing another one now, after they made sure everything was perfect after what had been a two year break since their Two album.

It was four of them; Vessel the lead vocalist but also provides helps with other musical instruments, II the drummer, III the bassist and IV the guitarist who also lends a hand on backup vocals (mainly screams) when he is needed. They were four guys making a name for themselves but to you, they were just…the guys. One your dear, darling boyfriend and the other three the craziest nut jobs you’ve been so lucky to call your friends for the past year, and who you were grateful they accepted you and Emma into their lives as fast as they did.

“And if he decides to laugh at me and this costume…” Vessel began but trailed off, looking down at Emma between the two of you. You could see he was mauling over the exact words he should use next, not really wanting Emma to hear him say something and then think it was okay to say it as also. He cleared his throat some before looking back at you, his voice low and he was trying to give off a serious look. “Well, let’s just say this sword is going to be shoved so far up somewhere the sun doesn’t shine.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at that. The guys loved to mess with one another, III more than most. He was a lovable jokester but sometimes he did manage to get up under the others skin just right and it usually lead to having full grown me running around chasing one another, threatening to beat one another to a pulp. Usually it never actually got to that point but there were times it did. Apparently rough housing was a big part on their friendship, which was always an odd and stark comparison to how professional and put together they all four could be. Yet, with knowing all of that, you knew Vessel meant what he said about that sword on his side being shoved somewhere if III was there at IV’s and decided to open his big mouth.

🎃🎃🎃

True to his word, Vessel chased III around the front yard of IV and Viola’s flat the minute words of jest left the bassist’s mouth. Vessel wasn’t able to actually shove the sword where the sun didn’t shine, mainly because II and IV broke them apart before the playful rough housing could escalate. Not that you believe Vessel would go that far with Emma present but nothing was certain when it came to these four knuckleheads.

IV and Viola had full size candy bars for Emma, in fact they had four full size candy bars waiting and stashed away just for their favorite fairy. Vessel couldn’t help but throw in a comment about how IV was Emma’s favorite to III, which caused the bassist to start chasing your boyfriend around the front yard again, complete role reversal than earlier. II shook his head and took his seat once again on the front step of the flat, reaching into a bag beside him, the drummer pulled out a stuffed brown teddy bear.

“I figured she’d have an assload of sweets already, so I figured I’d do something a little different.” II held the bear out to Emma. He held his gaze with the child as he spoke to you again. “I figured you wouldn’t mind it as much.”

Emma gasp lightly and placed her pail down before taking the offered bear, and bringing it to her chest for a hug. She swayed side to side before looking at II and going to him before the drummer could blink, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck as she leaped into his arms. The bear made a light thump on his back as Emma held it tightly in her grip. II instinctively wrapped his arms around her tiny body, holding her to him.

It had taken a bit for Emma to get more affectionate towards IV, III and II. II being the one she somehow took the longest to get used to oddly enough. But the minute she was comfortable around her new uncles, the gloves were off and the three men got to know the love and the personality of little Emma. They somewhat now understood why you say the world is Emma’s and everyone else is just living in it. They loved your daughter and in turn Emma loved them, and loved her Auntie Viola as well.

“Thank you, Uncle II!” Emma beamed loudly, her little arms still around the drummer’s neck. “I love him!”

“I’m glad you love him, Emmie,” II said with a smile. He hugged Emma one more time before letting her go and watched her run off back to you. He watched as the little girl excitedly held the bear up to house, bouncing on her tip toes. He chuckled, “I guess I did good.”

“You sure did, II,” You replied back to him. A smile on your face as Emma soon began speaking to her new bear, talking about all the fun they were going to have together and her trying to figure out what his name was going to be. It was pretty cute. “She’s going to take such good care of it.”

“Speaking of things that need to be taken care of,” Viola spoke next, her thick Scottish accent causing everyone—except Emma and her new bear, Mister Bear—to look at her. Viola sat in IV’s lap in the lawn chair they had brought out to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters, and she pointed a thumb into the direction of where a Peter Pan wearing Vessel and a Deadpool wearing III were still running around the front yard. She raised a pierced eyebrow. “Are we going to stop them anytime soon or are we going to let them keep going? Because I don’t think the remaining treaters are going to be enjoying dodging two fully grown men in Halloween costumes in such a small yard.”

“I got them!” Emma exclaimed before you could tell her to hold on, she took off running after her Vessie and her Uncle III, giggling as she joined in on what she thought was a game. The bear still in her hand.

“Well I suppose all that running will do the trick,” Viola said with a sigh, a laugh soon escaping as she shook her head. “Gonna go from fully energized to chugging along like The Little Engine That Could.”

You laughed and took a seat beside II on the front steps. He wrapped an arm around your shoulder, pulling you in for a sideways hug as you all watched two grown men in costume chasing after each other, a small little girl in a lime green fairy costume running right behind them.

“Do you mean the two large knuckle heads or Emma?” You asked looking at Viola.

“I say the two dumbasses,” II remarked with a smirk. “No way they’re going to be able to keep this up with their old asses and all. Might break a hip or some shit.”

“Aren’t you guys the same age?” Viola questioned looking over her shoulder at the drummer. She furrowed her pierced brows together. “Aren’t you technically calling yourself old, II?”

II shrugged. “We’re all a few months apart from each other.” He pointed towards Vessel and III, a giggling Emma still following closely behind them. “Those two fuckwits are older. So, they’re more likely to break a hip or just all together go down first before Emma-Leigh does.”

“I second that,” IV spoke up next, taking a hit off of his vape before blowing the scented smoke out into the air. He turned his eyes on you, a playful smile on his face. “But I’m sure Emmie girl won’t be too far behind them.”

You shook your head with a laugh. “I guess we’ll just have to see.”

And see you four did.

After another few minutes of them chasing each other, III lost his footing and fell to the ground. Vessel took the chance and jumped on top of his fallen friend, Emma followed right after. Although she had more innocent intent for III than Vessel did.

Soon, you and your little family were leaving to head back home, seeing Halloween night coming to an end. You held one of Vessel’s hands in yours, Emma’s candy pail in your other and with his free arm Vessel was holding a sleeping Emma on his side. Her tiny arms was wrapped around his neck, her head laying on his shoulder and she breathed in and out softly. Her teddy bear rested carefully in the pail you held in your hand.

“I say she had a great Halloween,” Vessel said before placing a kiss on the crown of Emma’s head. You nodded your head.

“I’d say she did.”

Once you had made it back home, you watched from the doorway of Emma’s room as Vessel laid her down in her bed. You both agreed since she was so tired that she could sleep in her costume tonight, having removed the fairy wings from her back, and you’d give her a shower in the morning.

Vessel carefully got up from where he laid a few extra minutes with Emma, smoothing her hair down and just letting her know his presence was there. It was something he had seen you do a hundred times by now and as he was doing it, he got it. The feeling of being that tiny comfort for her and for you yourself to have that tiny little moment with them, where you got to study every little thing about them. And honestly, now he understands why his mother hated everything about him growing up, her one and only boy. He was going through that now, watching the little girl that stole his heart growing up before his eyes.

It had only been a year he and you had been together, yet in that year he sees where Emma was slowly changing. She was a few inches taller, her hair had gotten a little bit longer and was slowly turning a darker shade, her feet were growing because she had went up a shoe size and she did the same with her clothes. Emma was also starting to want to be more independent. Brushing her own hair (even though you both still had to help), brushing her own teeth (both of you allowed her while you just stood off to the side) and then she also wanted to dress herself (some of the outfits she came up with were adorable in a way, but blue jeans did not go with her yellow dress and the sandals she insisted on wearing from time to time—so that would have to wait).

Emma was growing up before his eyes. A part of him hated she had to grow up, but the other half was excited he was going to get to be a part of it. Vessel would never begin to understand how her biological father could just choose to not be involved with a child like Emma, or just deny her existence until it was convenient for him. If the day came where you and him got to the discussion of your own children, Vessel would make it clear he was there for everything. He wouldn’t jump ship, take on the responsibility that was also his and not abandon you or his children.

Vessel pulled the blankets over Emma’s sleeping form, placing her new teddy bear right beside her before making his way back to you. You and Vessel both walked out of Emma’s room, Vessel gently closing the door of her bedroom behind him, not all the way so it would be open just a crack. You and him made your way up the stairs to your shared bedroom, both ready to change and lay on your comfortable mattress. And that was what you did.

Vessel had changed out of his Peter Pan suit and wore only a pair of black sweatpants that hung low on his hips, and since he decided to wear no shirt you were able to admire his toned and lean body. You trailed your eyes down his chest to his faint lining of the abs he had been working hard on, and thanks to the low hanging sweats you were gifted the sight of the V of his hips. You were sitting on the bed, hanging already changed out of your Wendy costume into one of Vessel’s many black t-shirts, which was long on your shorter frame and wore nothing underneath but a pair of black panties, and you could feel Vessel’s eyes scanning over your body like yours were him.

The minute your boyfriend came to lay down in the bed, you gave him time to get settled on his back before you turned and threw a leg over his waist, straddling him. Your hands found his chest as his grabbed onto the fat of your plush hips. You stared down at him and he stared up at you, his eyes darkening with the same desire as earlier.

“I meant what I said earlier,” You said to your boyfriend, running your nails up and down his chest. You could see the goosebumps that littered his flesh from that action.

“And what was that, love?” Vessel asked, his deep voice all but sounding as a purr as he looked up at you from underneath you. He could feel himself begin to grow inside his sweat pants, and he knew you could as well from where you began moving your hips back and forth, grinding down on him.

“That we were going to finish what we started earlier on the couch,” You said as you leaned down, still moving your hips and grinding your cloth center against Vessel’s growing erection. Vessel tilted his head back as a deep groan left him, giving you access to his neck. You planted kisses on the skin, switching between sweet kisses, light nibbles and sucking the skin of his neck wherever you sunk your teeth down into. You raised your mouth to his ear and you knew he could feel your breath against the shell of it. “Consider this your Halloween treat, baby.”

You have out a squeak when the next thing you knew Vessel flipped the both of you, pinning you underneath him. Now it was your turn to look up at him, feeling the weight of his darken and lustful stare.

A sexy smirk spread across Vessel’s face. And he leaned down close enough to your face, having his lips hovering mere inches above yours. And in a husky tone that always made your knees weak, he said, “well happy fucking Halloween to me then.”

And at that, he crashed his lips against yours in a heated kiss. And the two of you entered a night of passion and bliss.

———————————————————————————

I wasn’t planning on making this as long as I did but here it is. Another adventure of Daddy Vessel, little Emma and you, the oh so lovely reader.

Well, everyone take care now. Bye bye!

🖤🖤🖤

#sleep token #sleep token iii #sleep token fanfiction #vessel sleep token #sleep token ii #sleep token iv #sleep token imagine #vessel x you #vessel x reader #daddy vessel

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call-me-rucy · 9 months ago

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Do you think Professor Layton and Sycamore are color coordinated? I suppose Descole and Layton have a cool vs warm color thing going but I wasn't sure if Sycamore's design related to Layton's design in any obvious way. I think I may be over looking something.

Hey, thanks a lot for this ask, this kind of questions are right up my alley! :D

Before diving in, a disclaimer. I'm not a character designer (although I draw as a hobby) so my info/insight on this matter is merely from the unhinged Layton fan perspective ^^

Second disclaimer: I have already a post that touches about this topic, which can be read here: link. But I believe I will be able to better articulate my thoughts on the topic this time, thanks to the question.

Basically, I believe Layton and Sycamore are indeed color coordinated! And I rise the bet: Sycamore had no right to have the same colours as Layton, but he does.

Here is an image where their palettes are compared. They’re identical!

I think it’s pretty clear they have the same colours, now let’s think, why??

Think of Luke, and Emmy, and Aurora. They all have their distinctive, separate colour patterns. Luke is designed in blue so it can even in tiny pixel distorted form be distingished from Layton at a glance. Emmy follows the same pattern. So why on earth would a character designer so worried about character differentiation give two characters the exact same colours? And more so when one of them is the very main character?! In other words: why isn’t Sycamore color coded green?? (Or white?? Or any other colour??)

And it’s not like it didn’t occur to the character designer. Look at the Decapolice cast, also by Nagano:

The answer I propose is this:

AZRAN LEGACY SPOILERS FOLLOW:

I think this is because the main character of the Professor Layton series is Hershel Layton. And that’s the character that owns the orangey-red and black pallette, the one who screams to us “main character”.

Let me explain: According to the story, the main character of the Layton series was going to be Hershel Bronev. And it is because of this original role of main character that he has the orangey-red and black pallette. And that's so fucking smart.

It would have been so easy to just give design pre-Hershel Layton as the one with the red-black pallete and give the other character another colour. But instead!! The colour goes with the role!! So when Theo takes the role of "Hershel" and "main character", he takes the colours associated with those things, too!!

And this is a bit more watsonian but Hershel gives up the name and the role but not the red-black combo cause they are no other colours for him. So Des keeps his colours (which from a doylistic perspective, he doesn't strictly have to) and Hershel uses Hershel's colours so they both use the same, and also they have the same hair colour and skin colour which totally makes sense. And the Bostonius is the same colour as the Laytonmobile. Because of course it is, they're the same thing!

So here's Desmond Sycamore, a design that copies the professor's main character energy on the basis that he was supposed to be it but is also inspired by Descole's design (see the purple buttons and the shoes) so you see him and he looks like the ultimate rival. (But also Nagano managed to despite using the same colours, make it enough visibly different?? Which is so hard??)

Meanwhile, in a darker timeline where they didn't think the designs as much:

Would still have screamed rival, yes, but it doesn't say "we're made of the same thing" as the true design does.

I think it's impressive, honestly. It's peak storytelling STRICTLY IN COLOUR CHOICES. I wish to be half as good writer/designer as whoever it was that made this call (Nagano or Hino).

And this concludes this session of infodumping. I hope you enjoyed if you stuck enough to read this far.

Thanks again for the question, sweet anon! <3

Please, everyone feel free to send more Layton inquires and/or add your own thoughts to this post. Cheers!

#professor layton and the azran legacy #azran legacy spoilers #desmond sycamore #professor layton #the return of rucy the layton infodumper #hershel layton #thanks for asking #ask #i warned yall itd be long

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jessicaloons · 9 months ago

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Chapter 52: THE FINAL CHAPTER

Long live the walls we crashed through - I have the time of my life, with you ♥️

Masterlist - Previous - Epilogue

"I don't want to leave her..." Charles whispered and I smiled, snuggling closer "I don't want to leave you both..." he turned his head a little, looking at me "I call Fred, Ollie can race for me in Baku." he half-heartedly joked.

"Yeah, sure." I rolled my eyes, chuckling.

Charles sighed, pulling me closer to his side, while he cradled Emmie closer to his chest. Our little baby girl happily babbling, enjoying the warmth of her dad's chest. We spent the last days almost only in bed, cuddling and relaxing, watching over our beautiful daughter. Quiet days. Happy days. Exhausting days. But now, with Charles leaving for Baku, leaving me alone with Emmie, I was scared. From the moment she was born, Charles was a natural with her. It was like he was always destined to be a father. He made it look easy. Waking up in the middle of the night, taking care of her, letting me sleep. He was a natural, calming her down, cooing at her, making her fall asleep. A natural at changing diapers, not once looking grossed out by the atrocities that lingered in the dirty diapers. And then there was me. I was unsure of everything I did. Emmie didn't fall asleep in my arms as fast as in Charles, sometimes not falling asleep at all. She didn't calm down, just from hearing my voice alone and changing diapers was one of the worst things I ever had to do. I leaned my head on Charles shoulder, watching Emmie in his arms, the calm and content look on her face, the tiny smirk on her lips. She felt nowhere else as safe as in her dad's arms.

"You're going to wake her up from all that loud thinking." Charles said quietly, looking at me "What's going on in that pretty head of yours?"

"I'm just thinking about how lucky I am. Having both of you here with me..." I said quietly and he smiled.

"Same. But that's not all... come on. Tell me." he insisted, and I sighed a little "Oh, that bad?"

"I'm just a little... worried?... yeah, worried, when you're gone..." I whispered and Charles turned, looking at me.

"Worried?" he asked and I sighed.

"You're so much better with her than me..."

"Okay, that's bullshit now..." he interrupted me and I glared at him "She's asleep and doesn't understand me anyway... why do you think that I'm so much better with her?"

"She's grumpy, you hold her, she calms down and falls asleep. She's crying, you hold her, she calms down and-..."

"I'm going to stop you right there... she calms down in your arms as well? Even faster! This is no competition-…" he interrupted me and I groaned.

"I know that it’s not a competition! It’s just-… you make it look easy… while I feel like I’m struggling… she’s so into you and I-…" I began quietly, but then stopped, sighing.

"Lizzie this little girl adores you, whenever she hears your voice, her eyes lit up and she tries to look your way... she's not even 2 weeks old but tries to turn her adorable little head!" Charles said and I shook my head slightly "It's the truth... she adores you! And whatever you think I do that looks easy? It’s not. And whatever you feel you’re struggling with? You’re not. You’re doing amazing and Emmie loves you… you're her mum and there is no place she loves to be more than in your arms."

"You mean your arms..." I mumbled and he shook his head, carefully getting up, putting Emmie down in her bassinet.

"Okay.." he sat back down next to me, pulling me into his lap "What's going on? Where's this coming from?"

"Observation?" I mumbled, looking down and he gently grabbed my chin, tilting my head up.

"I tell you what I observe, okay? I see my beautiful wife looking at our beautiful daughter with pure love and adoration. I see my beautiful wife checking in on our beautiful daughter every couple of minutes. I see my beautiful wife waking up every night at the tiniest little sound from our beautiful daughter and even when I get up, feeding her, changing her diapers, I know you're not sleeping, how I tell you too, no, you're awake and only fall back asleep when Emmie is back in her bassinet, sleeping herself." Charles looked at me.

"Yeah... you're feeding her.." I whispered and Charles groaned.

"Is that what's bothering you?"

"What?" I looked away, seeing Emmie stir a little in her bassinet.

"Look at me..." he cupped my cheeks "There's nothing wrong with bottle feeding, you know? It's..."

"I'm her mother and can't even breastfeed her!" I let out, louder than intended. Harsher than intended as well. I closed my eyes, feeling them stinging with tears "I'm her mother, and the one thing I should be able to do, is feeding her. But I can't. And that's-..."

"Nothing to be ashamed of. You tried it. Day and night. It didn't work. Again, there is nothing to be ashamed of. It doesn't make you less a mother. It doesn't make you a bad mother either. You heard the nurse, sometimes it just doesn't work, and there is nothing wrong with that." his eyes boring into mine "Please tell me you understand that. Please tell me you don't think like that."

"I- I don't know... I see you with Emmie and it looks so natural. Like you've never done anything else in your life. And then there's me. I feel like I'm failing her. You. When I can't even do the one thing that I'm supposed to do..."

"And you are doing what you're supposed to do! You take care of her, love her, feed her. Maybe in a different way, but that doesn't matter. You are an amazing mum. Can you please believe me?" Charles wiped some stray tears from my cheeks before he leaned his forehead against mine "You are doing amazing and Emmie couldn't have a better mum. Just like I couldn't have a better wife. So please stop thinking otherwise."

I closed my eyes and swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. Up until this moment I didn't even realise how much it affected me, not being able to breastfeed Emmie, and that my insecurities were coming from that aspect.

"I'm trying to..." I began, but my voice broke.

"I know, cara mia, I know. But please believe me, you're doing your best. You're an amazing mother…" he whispered against my lips and I nodded slowly "And now you need to do me a favour…"

"Sure…" I looked at him and he pecked my lips then smiled.

"I need to see this gorgeous smile of yours… please!" he smiled and I rolled my eyes playfully, but then smiled at him "Belissima… and now come on. Emmie’s sleeping now, let’s have some dinner." he got up and pulled me with him, checking on Emmie before he took my hand in his, walking out of the room "Arlo, stay. Watch your little sister." he scratched his head and Arlo laid down in between the door and the bassinet, his eyes on the door.

"He’s guarding her…" I smiled and leaned down, stroking his side "You’re a good boy, watching over Emmie. Such a good boy."

During my pregnancy, Arlo never left my side, always watching over me. His head on my belly, listening to his little human sister and the moment we walked through the door with Emmie, he did the same with her, always watching her, looking around, making sure that everything was alright.

"He’ll protect her with his life. Both of you." Charles smiled as he pushed me down on a stool at the kitchen island, kissing the top of my head.

"That he will… so what do you want to eat?" I replied but he shook his head.

"I’ll cook… don’t look at me like that! It’s technically still breakfast time… or at least a breakfast would be fine… or breakfast food. Just let me-…" he began, pulling out some bowls, a cutting board, knives and whisks, before he walked over to the fridge rummaging around, returning with an armful of food "I saw a video from Jamie Oliver the other day… and I think I can do that, didn’t look too difficult…"

"And what is that exactly?" I asked and he smiled, chopping some mushrooms.

"Omelette with ricotta, spinach and mushrooms."

"That sounds delicious…" I admitted and he nodded.

"Let’s hope it tastes like it too…"

"I’m sure it will…"

Charles POV:

I packed my bags, ready to leave, although I didn’t want to. I just knew I would miss Lizzie and Emmie horribly and wished to be back at home all the time. But I had to leave and after I checked my bag thoroughly, made sure I didn’t forget anything, I sighed and got up, grabbing my phone while I walked out the room, shooting Joris a text that I was ready to go. Then I walked towards Emmie’s nursery and looked inside, my heart almost bursting with love. Lizzie sitting in the rocket chair, our baby girl cradled to her chest, singing a lullaby, calming her down. Lizzie’s voice was soft, almost angelic and I didn’t even think twice, taking out my phone, starting to film the beautiful scene in front of me. One day I would get her to record a song with me. Something I could take with me, listen to, whenever I would’ve been away and would miss her. Lizzie looked up and smiled at me, making a million butterflies go crazy in my stomach.

"What are you doing?" she raised an eyebrow and I smiled.

"Capturing some memories." I pocketed my phone and walked inside, stopping next to my two girls.

"Are you leaving now?" Lizzie took my hand, squeezing it and I nodded slightly.

"Joris is on the way… I don’t want to leave you…"

"It’s only for a couple of days… it’ll be fine…" Lizzie reassured me.

"I know that you’ll be fine… you’ll do amazing… but I’m going to miss you two so much…" I mumbled and she smiled, getting up carefully.

"Here… cuddle her one last time…" she laid Emmie in my arms and I looked down, our baby girl happily chortling and grinning her toothless grin "Isn’t she adorable…" she whispered and leaned in, putting her head on my shoulder.

"She’s beautiful." I said, gently stroking her cheek, Emmie gripping his finger "You’re so beautiful, baby girl, and so strong!" I cooed and Lizzie giggled.

"How did we make something so special?" she asked and I had to chuckle.

"As soon as I’m back from Baku, I’ll show you how." I whispered in her ear, kissing her cheek.

"Charles!" she gently nudged my shoulder, her cheeks blushing.

"You’ll see, hot mama, you’ll see." I wiggle my eyebrows and she groaned a little.

"Don’t call me that."

"Sexy mamacita?"

"That’s even worse." she laughed when my phone vibrated "I guess that’s Joris…"

"Ignore it… it’ll go away." I kissed Emmie’s nose, cradling her closer to my chest "I’m not leaving. Never. Nope."

"You have to, my lovely husband, you have to…" Lizzie said gently, combing her fingers through my hair.

"You have to send me a daily picture of her. Both of you. All together." I looked at her and she nodded.

"I promise."

"Okay…" I kissed Emmie’s cheek one last time "Bye my beautiful little princess. I’ll be back soon. Please don’t grow too much. I love you so much. You and your mum…" then I gently laid her down in Lizzie’s arms "I love you, cara mia." I smiled at her.

"I love you too." she replied and I kissed her slowly, pulling her carefully closer "You’ll have an amazing time… everything will be alright."

"Yeah…" her voice a little off.

"You’re amazing. It’s going to be fine." one last time reassuring her and she nodded "I love you." I kissed her forehead and she smiled.

"I love you too. And now go. Don’t let Joris wait that long…"

"I’ll text you as soon as I arrive."

"And by that time you’ll have your first picture of us."

"I can’t wait." I hugged both one last time and then grabbed my back, walking towards the door, Arlo already waiting "You take good care of our girls, alright?" I scratched his ears and he trotted away, straight to Lizzie and Emmie.

They would be fine. All 3 of them.

"Ready to talk about Emmie and Lizzie non-stop?" Mia chuckled when we stepped into the media pen and I smiled.

"Finally a topic I love to talk about." I replied when we stopped in front of the Sky UK crew, Natalie Pinkham already smiling at me.

"Charles, congratulations on the arrival of the new family member. How are Lizzie and the baby?" she asked.

"They're both doing amazing, thank you." I smiled.

"From revealing that a little Doetterer-Leclerc was underway, to the actual arrival of the little one, not a lot of time went by?"

"Yeah, we were able to keep this a secret for a long time and then the baby decided to come earlier than planned as well."

"I have to ask, because you haven't revealed anything yet, are we talking about a mini Lizzie or a mini Charles. Or do you want to keep it private." Natalie's eyes sparkled and I laughed.

"Hoenstly, I haven't even answered all text's from 2 weeks ago. Didn't check any of my social media accounts. I just got lost in this beautiful little baby girl..." I beamed and she smiled even more.

"A baby girl? Beautiful."

"That she is, I swear. She looks just like her mum, so no real surprise there. But yeah, the moment I left them both, I already started to miss Lizzie and Emmie."

"A beautiful baby girl named Emmie then? Gorgeous. Congrats again from the whole Sky UK team." Natalie smiled.

"Thank you, thank you."

"Is the new dad going to win this weekend for his daughter and wife?"

"He’s definitely trying his best, that’s for sure." I chuckled "Baku is one of my favourite tracks, that also suits our car very well, so I’d say if we can manage to put everything together, everything is possible."

"Thank you Charles, have an amazing weekend."

"Thank you." I waved her goodbye and followed Mia to my next interview, where most of the questions were about Lizzie and Emmie again.

It didn’t even bother me, answering these kind of questions because I loved nothing more than to talk about them. They were always on my mind and talking about them, helped me coping with the fact that they were thousand of kilometres away from me. As we walked back to the hospitality, I checked my phone, smiled at the daily picture of Emmie, Lizzie promised me to send.

"Charles?" I looked up from my phone, Max and Oscar standing in front of me.

"Hey! What’s up." I smiled at them.

"Congratulations man." Max awkwardly hugged me and I chuckled.

"Yeah, congrats. I guess I’m not your son anymore then." Oscar joked and hugged me as well.

"Thanks guys… and yeah, sorry Oscar… but you got replaced by the most beautiful little baby girl." I shrugged and he laughed.

"How’s Lizzie?" Max asked and I smiled.

"Amazing. She’s the best mum, I swear."

"And the little one?"

"She’s the most beautiful little baby girl. Seriously. She’s gorgeous. I could just look at her for hours, not gonna lie, I did that back home… You wanna see some pictures?" I asked.

"Is that even a question?" Oscar rolled his eyes and I showed them the newest pictures of Emmie "Oh wow, she’s adorable."

"What a cute little princess." Max added and I nodded.

"She’s so gorgeous. And her smile? Just like Lizzie’s." I beamed and swiped through the pictures.

"Man, look at you. All grown up." Max said, a big smile on his face "Married to the pretty girl from karting. Father of a beautiful baby girl…"

"World champion." Oscar added and I laughed.

"Yeah. You have it all now, you could stop crushing us on track and, you know…" Max wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh you better be quiet Mr. 3-time-world-champion Max Verstappen! I only won once!" I nudged his shoulder and he shrugged.

"What about both of you just stop and leave the rest of us alone?" Oscar threw in and Max laughed, shaking his head.

"Yeah no. Not gonna happen, at least not soon, right?" he looked at me and I nodded.

"Yup. I have a family now that I have to make proud…"

"As if they weren’t proud already."

"Maybe, but one title isn’t enough. So, nope, Aussie boy." I laughed when Mia pointed at her watch "And now you’ll have to excuse me, I gotta go."

"Alright. See you later, say hi to Lizzie." Max patted my back and I nodded.

"Yeah, tell her that we miss her." Oscar added.

"Will do." I smiled and followed Mia.

"Sorry but it’s Silvia. You know her." she chuckled a little and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah… unfortunately I do…"

I sat down on the sofa, Emmie sleeping away in her bassinet, Arlo curled up right next to her, and switched on the TV, ready to watch the race.

"Lizzie?" Mum's voice coming from downstairs.

"I'm up here." I said, zapping through the channels.

"You should sleep, not watch the race.." Pascale said when they rounded the corner and I shrugged my shoulders "He can race without you watching, you know?"

"Golden rule, always sleep when the baby sleeps." Mum looked into the bassinet before she sat down next to me "And you look tired..."

"She didn't sleep much last night."

"That's why you should sleep now." Mum squeezed my hand, but I shook my head.

"When I sleep now, l have trouble sleeping tonight, if this little gremlin lets me sleep, of course..." I yawned while Mum and Pascale exchanged glances.

"You could put the bassinet in the guest bedroom tonight? I’ll take care of her and you have a night’s full of sleep?" Mum suggested carefully.

"She’s like me… every 2 hours like a clockwork… sometimes even every hour…" I mumbled.

"See? If she’s like you I can handle it easily. I’ll take her tonight and you sleep…"

"Yeah Lizzie… you look like you haven’t slept for days… a good night’s rest will do wonders…" Pascale agreed and I sighed, watching the camera pan onto Charles, sitting in his car, visor up.

The camera man seemed to love Charles eyes, zooming in on them, showing the beautiful shades of blue and green, the sparkle in them.

"Honestly? If that’s okay for you, mum?" I said quietly and she squeezed my arm.

"Of course! You sleep I watch my beautiful granddaughter…"

"And I come tomorrow morning and bring some fresh pastries, then we can have a nice breakfast." Pascale smiled and I had to look up for a moment, not wanting to cry.

"Thank you so much… it’s- it’s really not that easy as it always looks…" I whispered and they both chuckled gently.

"No it’s not, but it’s okay to accept help. You’re all alone, Charles gone, a newborn at home… it’s okay to get a little help here and there… especially when it means that we get to spend some time with our beautiful granddaughter, giving you a little breaks." Pascale reassured me and I smiled.

"You’re doing just fine, but a little rest will do wonders, you’ll see. And Pascale is right, everything to spend time with our gorgeous little girl." Mum added and I leaned my head against her shoulder "Let’s watch the race, have some dinner and then you’ll go and have a long bath and then go to bed and sleep as much as you can."

"Sounds like a plan. A really good plan…"

"Can you believe it? She’s already one month old!" I whispered and Charles gently kissed Emmie’s forehead.

"Time is flying… I don’t like that." he mumbled.

"Yeah, same…" I chuckled a little and watched him looking at our daughter with heart eyes "That was a tough race in Singapore…" I began, watching his shoulders tense.

"Lizzie…" he sighed and I squeezed his thigh a little.

"I know you don’t want to talk about it… but, please, don’t beat yourself up…" I said quietly.

"I’m a world champion and still make stupid mistakes like that… I should’ve won… but instead I locked up and had a flat spot…"

"Your brakes were imbalanced…"

"Still… but it’s okay, Lewis won. At least a Ferrari win." he whispered and I nodded.

"You’re still ahead of Max, it’s fine. You’ll win the next races then…" I kissed his cheek and he sighed a little.

"Yeah the next races that separate me from you for such a long time… I think I’m flying home after Mexico… it’s just too long." Charles looked at me "I don’t want to be separated for weeks from you… and with Vegas coming up after? With another 2 weeks break? It’s too much…"

"I was thinking… and I know it’s kinda too early, Emmie is too young, I think… and I don’t know maybe it’s crazy? But what if we fly to Mexico? After the race weekend? We could stay in Mexico for a couple of days, head to Brazil, then stay in Brazil for a couple of days before you’re leaving to Vegas and we can head back home?" I suggested carefully and Charles eyes lit up, a smile adorning his face, dimples on full display.

"Oh god cara mia, I wanted to ask you to come with me, but wasn’t sure what you would say… I would love that! Really!" he kissed my cheek, pulling me close "You think it’s okay? Flying with her already? I don’t want it to be too exhausting for the both of you?"

"It’s going to be fine…" I smiled and he got up, pulling me with him.

"Okay, I’ll plan everything. This is going to be our first trip as family…"

"Tone your excitement down a little or you’re going to wake up Emmie!" I shushed him and he looked at me apologetically.

"Sorry." he said sheepishly and I laughed.

"We need a passport for her. And I have to check my passport. Because I don’t know if mine is still valid now that my name’s changed…"

"I’ll sort it all out, don’t worry, for now I just want to cuddle with my two girls… I missed you." he pulled me with him towards our bedroom.

"But only a little bit! Sissy is coming over later on…" I said and he nodded.

"Only a little cuddle session." he climbed onto the bed, Emmie splayed out on his chest, holding out his hand for me "Come on now!" I took his hand and let him pull me to his side "This is perfection…"

"Almost… Arlo…" I said loudly and our floofball strode into the room "Up." I patted the space next to me and he quickly followed my hand, rolling himself up next to me, his head on my side "Now it’s perfect."

Charles POV:

"Come on, little princess. Let’s give your mummy a little time for herself!" I whispered as I gently laid her on the changing table, she gifted me her gorgeous smile and I kissed her forehead "You’re my beautiful baby girl, right?" I smiled and changed her diapers and dressed her up.

Then I walked back into our bedroom, laid her next to Lizzie and put on some sport shorts and a t-shirt. As I laced my sneakers Lizzie turned her head and nuzzled her nose against Emmie’s, who began to babble and smiled at her mum.

"Good morning my beautiful girl. Who dressed you up, making you look this cute?" Lizzie whispered and I stepped next to her.

"Her stylish dad of course, cara mia. And we’re leaving now, so you go ahead and sleep as long as you want, breakfast is waiting in the kitchen for you. I’ll go for a run and my little Emmie is coming with me, right?" I said and as I tickled her stomach she began to chortle adorably.

I picked her up, gave Lizzie a kiss on the cheek and together we left the bedroom.

"Let’s get you in the stroller and then we’re good to go!" I said and put her in, securing her.

Then I threw my phone and keys into the bag at the stroller, put Arlo’s leash on his harness and we left the apartment. It was a quiet but sunny Friday morning, not many people out on the streets and I enjoyed the solitude. We walked past the harbour when I spotted someone familiar, walking our way.

"Max." I said and he took his AirPods out.

"Hey Charles, Arlo…" he bent down, scratching his ears "And that must be baby Emmie then." he smiled, standing next to me, looking into the stroller.

"That’s baby Emmie." I said proudly.

"She’s adorable." Max looked at me "I guess we can be glad that she looks more like her mum…" he joked.

"Not gonna argue with that." I laughed, shrugging my shoulders.

"How’s everything going at home?" he asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, it’s okay. Takes some time to accustom to everything I guess, but we’re getting there." I said, right when Emmie began to stir, making herself heard "What’s going on, my little princess?" I bent down, carefully picking her up, gently bouncing her up and down "Emmie, can you show Max your beautiful smile? Come one baby girl… yes that’s it." she began to smile a little and Max looked at her.

"She’s so cute. Look at you, with your little daughter on a run… mate we’re grown up…" he said, smiling from ear to ear.

"Yeah… it really seems so…" I sighed a little "But honestly? This is better than I ever imagined, so I take it." I said, Emmie nuzzling her little face into my chest.

"You look happy, truly happy, mate." Max nudged my shoulder and I smiled.

"I am. Really. For the first time it seems like everything is going my way… my private life, my career…"

"I’m happy for you. Really…"

"Thanks mate, I really appreciate it… and who knows… you and Kelly… maybe there’s a little Max coming soon." I winked at him and he held up his hands laughing.

"Oh no. I have time. I watch you doing it for a while first… I think I’m not ready yet."

I laughed, making Emmie looking up at me, her big eyes shining.

"Believe me… the moment you hold your baby for the first time… it just hits you… ready or not, doesn’t matter." I smiled, kissing Emmie’s forehead.

"Yeah, maybe…" he shrugged.

"You just look in their little face and it’s game over… your falling heads over heels…"

"I can tell."

"Yeah… again, not gonna argue with that… but then again, I don’t mind. I don’t mind at all."

"Welcome aboard Miss Leclerc and Miss Emmie, we prepared everything for you…" the flight attendant welcomed us on board and I smiled at her.

"Thank you." I followed her inside and sat my bag down "Your brother is crazy. We could’ve just fly commercial. This is ridiculous." I turned and looked at Arthur, who sat down Emmie’s seat and diaper bag.

"You know him. Nothing's good enough for his two girls… his words not mine…" he laughed and I sighed, handing him Emmie while I pulled the baby carrier out of the diaper bag, securing it around my chest.

"Yeah… but it’s too much…" I said as he handed me Emmie back and I strapped her into the carrier "At least I could talk him out of hiring a bodyguard…"

"That’s why I’m here." Arthur said with a wide chest.

"Sure… you…" Lorenzo stepped inside the jet, followed by Charlotte, and I laughed.

"I would say we are safe because of our two strong bodyguards…" I said and Arthur rolled his eyes a little.

"Whatever." he mumbled.

"Don’t be sour, little one." Lorenzo chuckled and sat down in front of me "Ready for your first flight with Emmie?"

"Second flight…" I corrected him and he looked confused but then it hit him.

"They flew from Italy back home… did you forget about that?" Charlotte said and he laughed.

"Yeah… our little girlie was flying already when she was only 3 days old." I kissed her head, listening to her tiny snores.

"Excited to see Charles?" Lorenzo asked when the flight attendant asked us to put on our seatbelts because we would start in the next minutes.

"Of course! I miss him… we miss him… it’s so quiet at home without him. I only hear my voice the whole day and I swear it’s driving me nuts." I sighed.

"You’ll see him soon enough." he squeezed my hand.

"And I told you to call me, if you don’t want to be alone…" Charlotte looked at me pointedly.

"I know, I know, sorry." I held up my hands when the jet started to take off.

"For now you have Charles to not be alone. And after that, we’ll see…" she smiled and I nodded, looking down at Emmie, who still slept soundly.

I looked out of the window, excited to see Charles after two weeks again. Although it was only two weeks it felt like a little eternity and I knew that for Charles it was even harder to leave not just me, but also Emmie behind. The jet didn’t even properly stopped, the doors weren’t opened yet, the first text of Charles already came through, asking if we already landed. The whole way to the little beach resort he texted, asking how long we would take.

"Go, before he totally freaks out. We handle the luggage." Charlotte smiled and I got out, taking Emmie out of her arms.

I turned around, walking towards the private villa when the door already flew open, Charles sprinting towards us.

"Cara mia, I’ve missed you so much…" his lips on mine, taking my breath away "And you, little princess. I missed you so much…" he cradled Emmie to his chest, pulling me into him "Finally I have you with me again…" he whispered, kissing the side of my head.

"Congrats on your win yesterday…" I whispered kissing his cheek "You were amazing."

"It was nice, yeah, but having you two here is even better…" he mumbled into my hair, inhaling deeply "Come on, I show you around…"

"You don’t want to say hi to the rest?" I scolded him a little "Or help with the luggage of your wife and daughter?"

"Okay, okay…" he sighed pecking my lips once more, before he gently put Emmie back into my arms.

I chuckled and watched him welcome his brothers and Charlotte, helping with our luggage. He then showed us around, Joris already sitting outside on the terrace waving at us, when we stopped in our bedroom upstairs.

"I get Emmie ready to take a nap, and then I’m coming downstairs." I smiled but Charles shook his head.

"I get her ready and you go down and relax…" he kissed my forehead and I smiled.

"Okay… I’ll leave you to it." I kissed his cheek and left, joining the others on the terrace, but when Charles didn’t come down to us after almost an hour I decided to check in on the two.

"Charles?" I looked inside our bedroom, Charles standing over the bassinet "You can leave her alone… she’s safe in there…" I whispered, hugging him from behind.

"I know… it’s just that I missed her… so much! I need just a little longer with her… I feel like I’ve missed so much of her life already, even though I’ve been only gone for 2 weeks." he whispered back, gently stroking Emmies back "I’ll be coming down in a couple of minutes."

I smiled at him, before I placed a kiss on his shoulder.

"Take all the time you need, my love."

"Mhhh I like that…"

"When I call you my love?" I asked and he nodded.

"It’s silly I know, but I like the sound of it."

"It’s not silly." I chuckled and pulled away a little, stepping next to him "I love you. And we’re so happy to be here with you. Having some nice days with you. Watching you race next weekend."

"My two girls watching me means I have to fight even harder, I want you to see me win…" he looked at me and I smiled "And win the title…"

"Of course." I laughed and he pulled me into him.

"I’m so happy that you’re here." he buried his face in the crook of my neck "You have no idea."

"Believe me, I have. I missed you just as much…"

"I love you. Both of you."

"We love you too."

My heart was almost beating out of my chest. Charles and Max both racing like there was no tomorrow, both adamant to set the fastest lap. It looked more than once like one would lose the car and crash out.

"Why are they risking so much?" I mumbled and Arthur squeezed my hand.

"You know them… you weren’t much better as well…" he said and I glared at him.

"I wasn’t that reckless!" I said and looked back on the screen, Charles setting the current fast lap, just for Max to beat the time by the tinniest margin.

I was anxious, almost nauseous with how they were chasing each other, something I felt the first time watching Charles race in Baku, where he was close to grazing the walls more than once. I didn’t know why, but for some reason, watching a race, watching Charles chasing victory, taking risks, was giving me almost a heart attack, more than once. I didn’t understand why, thinking back that just a year ago I was racing the very same tracks.

"Lizzie?" Charlotte said gently and I looked at her, Emmie in her arms crying "I tried to calm her down, but I think she wants her mum…"

"Hey pretty girl…" I cooed at her, cradling her to my chest, gently swaying around.

I rubbed soothing circles on her back, shushing her a little. I didn’t focus on the quali session, only on Emmie, when the garage around us erupted in cheers, and I looked back on the screen, seeing Charles last lap. Always on the limit, always right on the kerb, but he set the fastest lap, and would start tomorrow’s race from pole position.

"He did amazing!" Arthur cheered, gently cooing at Emmie "Your dad did amazing, baby girl. He kicked Max’ ass!"

"Arthur!" Lorenzo and Charlotte said in unison.

"As if she would understand me." he rolled his eyes.

"You’re like Charles…" I chuckled a little, still feeling a little anxious about the way Charles drove.

"Are you okay?" Charlotte looked at me "You look a little tense?"

"I’m good, don’t worry." I forced out a smile and nodded "He did really good."

"He did indeed." Lorenzo smiled at us "You want to come to the fence?"

"Oh no, I need to feed Emmie… I think I’ll head back to the hospitality." I said hastily and he nodded.

I left the garage and walked back to the hospitality. My mind reeling why all of a sudden I couldn’t watch Charles racing anymore, without almost having a heart attack. In the hospitality I sat down, preparing Emmie’s bottle and then feed her, when slowly but steady more and more people joined me inside. All comment about how cute Emmie was and how happy they were for Charles and I. I smiled and thanked everyone, the thoughts of Charles and his reckless driving getting pushed deeper and deeper into the back of my head until Charles himself showed up, telling me to go back to the hotel with Lorenzo, Charlotte and Arthur, that he had to stay a little longer.

"I’ll see you later… or in the morning…" he kissed first Emmie’s cheek and then me "I love you."

"I love you too… oh and congrats on the pole…" I smiled at him and he kissed the side of my head.

"Thanks, cara mia… I want to make you proud tomorrow…"

"Come back to us, be safe, and I’m happy. More than happy." I said and he nodded slightly.

"I will. Always."

Charles POV:

"Where is Lizzie?" I looked around as everyone was congratulating me and Andrea and Joris only looked away "What’s wrong? Did something happen? Is she okay? Is Emmie okay?"

"They’re both fine… it’s just. Well, umm Lizzie’s a bit… a bit emotional…" Lorenzo said and I smiled "Oh, no not in a positive way for you!"

"What do you mean?" I asked as I was ushered away for my interview but I turned away and looked at Lorenzo "What do you mean?" but he just shook his head and I was confused.

The interview went by in a blur as well as the podium celebrations, I looked down but couldn’t see Lizzie anywhere. When I returned to the garage I looked around.

"She’s in your room." Andrea said and I nodded. I carefully opened the door in case that Emmie was sleeping and my heart almost bursted when I saw Lizzie, sitting on the couch, our baby girl in her arms, peacefully sleeping as her beautiful mum sang gently to her. I closed the door and walked closer, then I saw Lizzie’s red eyes, stray tears running down her face.

"Cara mia? What happened?" I asked her and she flinched a little, but she didn’t look up or answered me "Baby? What’s wrong?"

She inhaled loudly, closed her eyes, paused a moment and exhaled.

"I think I can’t do this any longer…" she whispered, still not looking at me and my guts twisted.

"What do you mean?" I asked, voice laced with worry "What can’t you do any longer?" I was scared.

"This! Watching you race like that! Only one mistake from you or Max and you would end up in a wall! I can’t watch you being so… so careless!" she began, her whole body now trembling, fresh tears staining her cheeks "It’s not just you and me anymore! We have a baby now! I don’t want to raise our daughter without you, only showing her pictures from you! There are already too many people Emmie will only know from pictures! I don’t want you to be one of them!"

"Hey, hey! Cara mia look at me! Lizzie!" I kneeled in front of her, one hand under her chin, gently making her looking at me "You know that I’m fighting for the title? That the races will be now a little bit more heated? But cara mia, I would never risk anything that would prevent me from coming back to my two girls! Okay? I know todays race was a bit tougher then usually, but I had it under control, I would brake if I knew that I had to! I would never take the risk of not coming back to you!"

"But you did today!" she said loudly and Emmie woke up, looking around "Oh no, hey my little Emmie, it’s all good. All good baby girl." Lizzie cradled her in her arms but Emmie started crying "Please baby girl, I’m sorry… please don’t cry…" but Emmie felt her mums troubled feelings and wouldn’t calm down "I’m sorry, I’m making everything wrong today! I spoiled your good mood, ruined your win! And now I can’t even take care of our daughter, can’t calm her down! What kind of a mum am I?" Lizzie started now trembling even more and I gently took Emmie from her shaking arms, cradling her to my chest, then I sat down next to Lizzie and pulled her close to my side.

"Hey, stop that, okay? You’re an amazing mum, she just feels that you’re upset and she doesn’t like it when you’re upset! And I don’t like it as well, especially when I’m the reason! It’s okay, cara mia! You didn’t ruin anything! I won a race and I came back to my beautiful girls, nothing could ruin that!" I whispered to Lizzie and gently cooed at Emmie, who calmed down slowly. "We’re good. We’re all good! And look at you, my little princess Emmie, with your gorgeous eyes, the same gorgeous eyes like your beautiful mums! Yes, that’s right my little girl! You and your mum are the prettiest girls! Oh! Especially when you’re giving me that smile my little baby girl! Now I just need that same smile from your amazing mum, right? Yes you want that too, I knew it! So mum? Will you give us that smile? Please?" I looked at Lizzie, her cheeks turned red and she slowly started to smile "Look at that Emmie! There it is! That’s the smile that makes your daddy week in the knees and his insides melt into liquid! Oh and the butterflies, Emmie! The butterflies are the best but also the worst!" Lizzie giggled a little and I kissed her temple. She took a deep breath and gently stroke over Emmie’s head.

"I’m sorry, Charles. I didn’t want to… I didn’t thought that I…umm I don’t know. I just saw you both lock up, you turning into Max, he didn’t give you much space but you going for the corner anyway… and I was scared. I don’t know. Ridiculous. I was driving just a year ago as well on this track, probably just as reckless… it’s just, we’re having Emmie now and I was just so scared…" Lizzie whispered but I shook my head.

"Maybe it was too early, to come to a race? I mean I love having you here! But she’s only 2 months old and I think your emotions are all over the place because of your hormones, cara mia… I know I wanted to have you by my side, because honestly every moment I miss with her is literally killing me… but yeah... we have another week to relax a little and then you’ll fly home and then the season isn’t that long anyway anymore… 3 more races will be fine…" I said and Lizzie nodded hesitantly.

"I’m sorry, I thought I would be strong enough…" she whispered but I only chuckled.

"Oh cara mia, you’re the strongest person out there!" I said and she only shook her head.

"I don’t know, I can’t even watch a race because I’m so scared of losing you… that something happens and Emmie and I would be alone…" she sighed and I looked down at Emmie, who smiled at me, listening to our conversation as if she understood that what we were saying was something important and she had to stay quiet for it. I kissed her forehead and she reached for my face with her little hands, I had everything I ever wanted right here with me, Lizzie was my wife, we had a adorable baby girl, I won the title last year and had good chances on winning it again this year. What else was there to get?

"Do you want me to retire? Stop racing?" I asked and Lizzies eyes widened.

"I would never ask that from you!" she was shocked.

"You didn’t ask me, I’m offering. I would do it, for you, for Emmie! You’re worth more than any title that I could win! I have everything I’ve ever dreamed of, you, Emmie, I won the title… I would retire if that would make you feel better…" I said and Lizzie shook her head.

"No, because I know that you have it in you to win more titles and I know that you would always regret it, no, don’t look at me like that, I know it because I feel the same. I don’t regret my decision to retire. I regret that I had to make this decision, that I had no choice. I miss racing. Every single day. The only thing that keeps me sane is Emmie and watching you race. I love you, Charles, but you’re not doing that! You’re not retiring because you think you have to for me. Today was because I’m still really emotional, give me some time and I will be back to normal!" she kissed my cheek and then Emmies "You’re going now to your press conference and I’ll feed her and then make her sleep again!"

I kissed her, held her close for a moment before I gently laid Emmie back into her arms, and gave both one last kiss on their foreheads and left.

I watched Lizzie sit at the pool, her legs dangling in the water, Emmie in her arm, gently letting some water dropping from her hand onto our little girls back. Both looked at ease. Both beautiful. I took a picture, setting it immediately as my new lock screen when Lizzie looked my way, waving with Emmie’s little hand at me.

"Here you go. Cold drink for the lady. Escort service for the little lady."

"Eww. Don’t ever say that again…" Lizzie scrunched her nose when I took Emmie in my arms, handing her mum her drink.

"But it’s true…" I shrugged, walking back inside with her, taking off her diaper, sliding on a cute little bathing suit and then walked out again.

I adjusted the beach umbrella and sat down next to Lizzie, who sat now in the Baja shelf, the water pooling around my waist, Emmie’s toes dipping into the water, making her giggle. I leaned back against the edge of the pool, Lizzie next to me making sure that Emmie wasn’t overheating, gently rubbing her back and arms with her cool hands.

"I could get used to this. Only relaxing with my two pretty girls, a tropical paradise…" I whispered, turning Emmie around, sitting her down in my lap "Is that too deep?" I looked down at Emmie, now in the water until her little stomach.

"No, I think it’s fine… for a little while…" Lizzie smiled, bending down to kiss Emmie’s chubby cheek "And it looks like she enjoys it as well, so…"

"I enjoy it too, being here with you…" I smiled at her and she squeezed my thigh a little "Seriously, can’t the seasons not be over now."

"It’s over as soon as you won your second title…"

"Hmm… maybe…" I looked down, kissing Emmie’s head.

"Come on, only 3 races left. That’s manageable." she cupped my cheek, her thumb gently stroking up and down.

"Yeah but the next 3 races are all back to back… no break in between…" I sighed, leaning into her touch "That’s more than 3 weeks without you two…"

"I know, pretty boy, I know. But as soon as the season is over, you’ll have plenty of time with us."

"And I will need that time." I kissed Emmie’s head, lifting her out of the water "Time with my beautiful girls."

"You’ll get all the time that you want." Lizzie reassured me, leaning against my shoulder, cooing at Emmie "I fly back home, you win your title and then you’ll come back to us as a two time world champion."

"That easy?" I chuckled and she smiled.

"Yup… that easy… only-…"

"… 3 more races…" I sighed.

"Exactly… 3 more races…"

"Tell me we have it?"

"You have it..."

"We did it?"

"You did it..."

"Ferrari won?"

"Both titles... good job, Charles. What a last lap."

I couldn't believe it. We did it. The team. Lewis and I. We did it. After 17 years, Ferrari finally won the constructors' championship again. Both titles would go to Maranello. I began to cheer. Scream. Sing. It went all by in a haze of emotions, colours and chants from the moment I parked my car next to Lewis', who stood on the hood of his car, celebrating his win. When he saw me approaching, he jumped off his car, straight into me and we began to cheer, the fireworks above us illuminating the sky above Abu Dhabi.

"You did it mate! Fastest lap! We won the constructors!" Lewis clapped my back, and I shook my head.

"We did it! That's the whole team's achievement!" I smiled and we walked over to our team, welcoming us with loud cheers, waving flags and bis smiles on all their faces.

Fred stood at the left, wiping his eyes, old softie, behind him John Elkann, and for the first time since I knew him, he looked truly overwhelmed with emotions, eyes glistening.

We jumped into the awaiting arms of our team, all engulfing us like a wave washing over the shore. A sea of red only. Alessandro, Massimo, Mario, all wiping away their tears. Fabrizio switching between Lewis' and me, littering our helmets with kisses.

After another moment we pulled away, waving at our team while walking back, taking our helmets off and putting them down.

"Congrats, champions." Max said behind us, and we turned around.

I knew Max long enough to know that it was a tough pill to swallow for him, missing out on the title himself for 2 years in a row now, but now also losing the constructors and after tonight's race even P2 in the drivers' standings. But he held his head up high. A genuine smile on his face.

"Thanks Max." I smiled and hugged him.

"It was fun, finally fighting both Ferrari's again..." he chuckled and clapped Lewis back, walking back to his table and I had to supress the laughter when wiping my face, taking a large swig of my water. I watched Lewis walking up to his interview, a big grin, matching my own, on his face. I waved at the fans behind the fence, who cheered and clapped loudly for Lewis, who thanked the team, the fans, his family for the support throughout the season. He then turned to me, waving me over and I raised and eyebrow but followed his invitation.

"And a big thanks and congrats to this guy. I said it years ago, he's going to be a world champion one of the big names. And I was right, he drove another brilliant season and I don't know how he extracted that much pace for the last lap to win us the fastest tap, which was the point that was needed to win the constructors championship." Lewis smiled, handing me the microphone, and Jenson Button, who held the post race interviews looked at me.

"Charles, congratulations on your second world championship. It was already a done deal in Qatar, but still. How does it feel, winning the title for a second time in a row?"

"Incredible? Amazing? Unbelievable? Honestly winning one title already felt like a dream. But you know how they say? The first time was so nice, I had to do it twice." I chuckled and Lewis nudged my shoulder a little "No for real. This year it's even better, with winning the constructor's as well. After 17 years, both titles go back to Maranello."

"Tell us, how big is the party going to be tonight?" Jenson wiggled his eyebrows and Lewis grinned.

"I would say pretty big but yeah, not sure everyone will be in attendance..." he looked at me and I was confused for a moment.

"I don't know where you'll be, but I'm definitely going to cele-..." I began but then followed his look.

My eyes landed on Lizzie and Emmie. My girls. Both clad in Ferrari clothing. Lizzie wearing a shirt, Emmie a cute onesie, paired with Ferrari earmuffs. I only shoved the microphone back into Lewis hand and sprinted off. Running to my girls. Both looking at me, Lizzie's smile only fuelling me on, to run faster. The moment I reached them I pulled them carefully into me, crushing my lips onto Lizzie's taking her and my breath away. As I slowly pulled away, I looked down. Emmie's big blue orbs already on my face, an adorable smile on her little, plush lips, tiny dimples forming.

"Hi..." Lizzie whispered, and I looked up at her, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Hi, my pretty girls." I whispered back, leaning my forehead against hers and closing my eyes "19 days without you is way too much..."

"Someone counted the days?" Lizzie chuckled and I nodded slightly, pulling away.

"Hours, minutes, seconds..."

"Don't be dramatic." she laughed and carefully held Emmie up.

"I'm not dramatic, just honest." I pouted, cradling Emmie to my chest "I missed you so much, my little Emmie."

"I guess I can go then..." Lizzie said and took one step away, but I grabbed her by the waist, pulling her close.

"Oh, definitely not. I missed you too. I missed both of you so much."

"We missed you too, like a lot." she said, leaning her head against my shoulder, watching Emmie smiling at us "I thought we could come and say hi, watch you celebrate your second title."

"Watching races is okay again then?" | whispered and she sighed.

"It never wasn't. It's just... I don't know. I was too emotional that day. And had a bad feeling... but we just arrived at the hotel when the race started, so we didn't watch today..." she replied, and I nodded.

"I don't care if you watched it or not. You're here now. Both of you, that's all that matters to me." kissed the side of her head and then cooed at Emmie, who babbled excitedly.

"Charles?" Andrea's voice interrupted my bliss and I turned a little.

"Go, there's a trophy waiting for you." Lizzie took Emmie out of my arms, and I sighed.

"I'll be right back." I kissed first Emmie's and then Lizzie's cheek and then walked off, straight into the cool down room where Lewis and Max were already waiting.

"Look at him, he won his second championship last weekend but didn't smile that hard like he’s now smiling..." Max chuckled.

"Yeah, you can leave the trophies to us, looks like you already won the best ones anyway." Lewis agreed and I laughed.

"You're not even wrong there..." I nodded when Max was called first out on the podium, followed by me and lastly Lewis.

One last time the Italian anthem. One last time les toreadors. One last champagne shower and the 2025 season came to an end. And as the champagne soaked my race suit, the confetti blurred my vision, I looked down. Searched the crowd. There they were. My two favourite girls. Lizzie and Emmie. My whole world smiling up at me. I won 2 titles now. One for each one of the loves of my life.

The End ♥️

Chapter 52 - The final chapter… a well deserved happy ending for Lizzie and Charles ♥️ together with baby Emmie and Arlo they start their new life as a little happy family ♥️

But before it’s the final goodbye, you’ll get an Epilogue with a little more of our little family… stay tuned!

Please leave a comment/ like/ reblog/ message and tell me how you liked it! I'm dying to hear your thoughts!

If you want to be added to the taglist, drop a comment!

Last but not least, English is not my first language and although I tried my best: please excuse any mistakes I made!

Taglist:

@itsjustkhaos @eugene-emt-roe @sunny44 @glitterquadricorn @aundercover @kakorrhaphiphobia @silkenthusiasts @alittlebitofbooksandmagic @ru-kru @shimmermotorsport @janeh22 @kahhorri @18754389 @chiliwhore @hellowgoodbye @queensassybitchsworld @harrysdimple05 @skynel09 @fangirlforever2000

All the images I’m using are from Google, Pinterest and Instagram (or self made).

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d-criss-news · 5 months ago

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Darren Criss on Bringing Robot Love to Broadway With ‘Maybe Happy Ending’

Chances are the multi-talented Darren Criss is as cross-eyed as the rest of us are with the twists and turns his career has taken over the past 13 years. In 2009, he began in television with six years of Glee, playing the lead singer of the Warblers, and helping power a Warblers focused soundtrack album to Number 2 on the Billboard album chart. Then in 2018 he switched fromsinging to spree killing, giving a stunning, steel-plated performance as Andrew Cunanan in Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. That got him a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy and set people to thinking there might be a serious actor lurking inside that singer.

Before that could be settled, the singer reemerged, as a replacement in a Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, raking in $4 million during his three weeks. That was followed with an Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors at the Westside Theater and a stint in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Belasco Theater.

Two years ago, the actor was back when producer Jeffrey Richards hired him for some deep-dish David Mamet drama, American Buffalo. Now Richardshas returned Criss to the Belasco, and singing, for an original Broadway musical, Maybe Happy Ending—a very original musical, in that it’s about the love life of robots in Seoul circa 2064.

You’ll not find much of that Glee guy you know and love in the character Criss plays in Maybe Happy Ending, a lonely Helperbot robot who putters aimlessly about his tiny apartment, listens to jazz and devotes all his TLC to a favorite pot plant. That changes swiftly when a female form of Helperbot, Claire (Helen J Shen), drops by to borrow his charger. Sparks fly, then conversation, and inevitably a kind of amorous connection.

Despite the nuts and bolts, what we have here is basically a rom-com, with a charming book and score by a couple of NYU classmates.

Actually, there are two books and two scores, one in English, one in Korean. Will Aronson, 43, of New Haven, composed the music, and Hue Park, 41 of South Korea wrote the lyrics. Once they did that, they put their heads together and wrote “connecting tissue”—a play in praise of love’s rejuvenating effects. Even robots at the end of their warranty are susceptible.

Evidently, Hue won the toss because the Korean version premiered first—in Seoul, where the story is set—and proved to be such a success that stateside productions were put together. The English edition made its first U.S. appearance two years ago at Atlanta’s Alliance Theater, where The New York Times’ Jesse Green deemed it “Broadway-ready.” Thus, we now have a live-action robot show going strong on West 44th.

The terror of doing this kind of production, Criss confesses, is that actors are afraid they’ll look like cartoons of their character, taking big, blocky robot steps around the stage. “The show has no listed choreographer,” he tells Observer. But he feels he has that situation well in hand. He and director Michael Arden “have taken a particular interest in making sure the physicality is distinct,” he says. “And I’d be remiss not to mention a teacher at Juilliard, Moni Yakim, who had some Zoom discussion with us about this.

“It’s kind of a cocktail of those three things: Moni’s suggestions, Michael’s pursuit of perfection and my own interest in physical theater. It’s a skill set that I’ve never been able to utilize—at least to this level. When I was in college, I took a semester off so that I could study physical theater at the Accademia dell’Arte, the performing arts school in Arezzo, Italy.”

A cast of four inhabit the show: Dez Duron, Marcus Choi, Criss, and Shen. You may detect a little kinetic energy between Criss and Shen. That’s because they both attended the University of Michigan—albeit, not at the same time. “She graduated about two seconds ago, and I may have graduated a little longer ago than that,” concedes Criss.

“She graduated two years ago, and 10 years ago my name was up on the marquee at the Belasco Theater. And to be able to come back to the Belasco—but this time to share that billing with a fellow Michigan grad—is a very special moment for me. I’m now the upper-class man to the freshman of Helen J Shen. This is her Broadway debut. It’s a big moment for her, and getting to see her through that on stage—to call that a job is really a special thing for me.”

The enthusiasm Criss brings to the stage is practically palpable—and he still remembers where it came from: encountering Robin Williams at an impressionably early age in the 1992 animated Disney flick, Aladdin, in which his outrageous Genie-jiving was almost heart-stoppingly hilarious.

“I was probably six or seven—and I noticed how this audience connected with each other and with this Genie on the screen. I was very taken with that idea, and I wanted to give people what this Genie was giving them. Then, I found out the voice of that Genie was Robin Williams, who was such a prominent figure out in San Francisco, where I grew up. That made it an accessible concept: ’Oh, Mr. Williams is an actor. I’d like to be an actor, too.’ So I hopped right on it.”

#darren criss #observer #helen j shen #michael arden #robin williams #uofmichigan #maybe happy ending #maybe happy ending bway #press #nov 2024

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timethehobo · 2 months ago

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So tiny, so comfy.

#dragon age #dragon age the veilguard #DAtV #Emmrich volkarin #my art #tiny edible Emmy for the day #I’m so tired this week so far omg #here it’s dangerous to go alone take this #hope the week goes well for everyone else

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emmyinjapan · 4 months ago

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Daikichiyama (大吉山), Uji, Kyoto

After leaving the Uji River—and on a very stuffed stomach—I decided to take a leisurely stroll up to Daikichiyama to enjoy the view. The day was absolutely beautiful: cool, crisp, and sunny, the kind of weather that makes you want to head into the woods and pretend you’re starring in a nature documentary.

Daikichi (大吉) means “big luck,” like the fortune you might pull from an omikuji at a shrine. I’d actually drawn a BIG LUCK fortune recently and tucked it away in my purse, just in case the universe needed a reminder of where I stood.

As I made my way up the path, I spotted a pigeon-looking dove. Every time I visit Japan, I’m guaranteed to see one of these pretty birds—they’re like little feathered ambassadors for my trip. This one had beautiful golden highlights in its feathers, catching the sunlight like a tiny treasure. I paused for a moment just to admire it before continuing my climb.

So, off I went—lalala-ing my way further up the trail with absolutely nothing on my mind except the joy of the moment. The woods felt like a hug from nature, and I couldn’t have been happier. Along the way, I passed a few elderly couples coming down the trail. We exchanged smiles and cheerful hellos, the kind of interaction that warms you almost as much as a hot cup of tea on a brisk day.

When I finally came back down, I spotted a man standing by the path, holding some seeds in his hands and calling out to the birds. I thought, “Alright, what’s going on here?” Sure enough, after a few moments, some beautiful little birds came swooping down, flitting around him like something out of a fairy tale. It was mesmerising. For a second, I thought they might burst into song and help him with his laundry.

Watching the birds up close was such a treat. It felt like a secret little performance meant just for us lucky few on the trail that day. The whole experience—big luck, stuffed stomach, a golden dove, and all—was absolutely brilliant.

—Emmy

#japan #japan travel #travel #japan photos #日本 #japanese #nature #Kyoto #Uji #Mountain #Birds #Dove #Wildlife #Trees #Woods #Forest #Nature #photography #Scenary

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sequinsmile-x · 7 months ago

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A Few of My Favourite Things

It's Emily's birthday, and Aaron and Jack seize the opportunity to right some of the wrongs of the past.

-x-

Hi besties,

Nearly four years into my Hotchniss writing career and I finally get to write one of 'those' ao3 author notes.

I know it hasn't been *that* long since I posted a fic, but 5 days is probably the longest it's been without me posting for a couple of years. I had (planned) surgery on one of my lungs on Friday and only got home from the hospital yesterday. I'm still recovering and will be for a few weeks, but I've been working on this on and off for a few days because I always write something for their birthdays <3

I'll absolutely still be posting - writing keeps my mind alive - but probably not quite as often as we're all used to whilst my body remembers how to...breathe properly hahaha

Anyway, here's a belated birthday fic for Emily based on an anon I got <3

As always, let me know what you think!

-x-

Warnings: None, just super super fluffy

Words: 3.5k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

“Emmy, can I ask you something?”

She smiles as she looks at Jack, nodding as she sits up to make room for him on the couch, her book already closed and on the coffee table by the time he joins her so he has her full attention. Aaron was still at work, kept behind by paperwork and reports, and she’d offered to pick Jack up from Jessica’s and take him home. Aaron had smiled gratefully at her, his eyes shining with everything he couldn’t say to her whilst they were at work. He glanced towards the window of his office to ensure no one was watching before he stamped a quick kiss against her lips, a tiny moment of them lingering between them before they returned to the professionalism they held as dear as they did their relationship.

It was a fine line they’d walked for months now, the 8 months since their first date some of the best of her life, and she knew eventually they’d have to stop. That as they moved further into this, as they took every next inevitable, wonderful, step into officially living together and marriage and kids, working together would no longer be practical. The blind eye that Strauss and the higher-ups had granted them so far would go away, any prentice of willful ignorance gone with by them submitting an address change form, or the existence of a marriage certificate.

She knew realistically it would be her who would leave the BAU, and she was content with it. If it hadn’t been for Aaron, and by extension Jack, and the love and happiness they’d brought to her life she’s sure she would have left the BAU, and potentially DC, anyway. That she’d have taken the first offer that got her out of here, no matter how far away it took her, because she needed to be who she was now without people looking at her and mourning who she once was. Aaron had helped her through it, had helped her help herself more than anything else, and she finally felt at peace. Like she had a home for the first time in her life, only it wasn’t made out of bricks and mortar but a man, who she would have once called stern, with a dimpled smile that made her stomach flip every time, and his little boy.

She loved Jack so much that it scared her sometimes. At first, she’d doubted her place in his life, never wanting to overstep, the gap his mother had left behind was not one she wanted anyone to think she was trying to fill, but as time went on she got more comfortable with it all. She cared less about what other people may think because it worked for them. She was the one Jack would seek out if he was sick or sad, his face pressed against her neck as she soothed him with soft words, gentle kisses and fierce hugs. He’d bring her paintings he’d done at school with a proud smile as he presented them to her and she’d react as if they should be hung in the Louvre. She loved him, and he loved her, and that was enough. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that when she and Aaron had more children she wouldn’t love them any differently to how she loved him.

He’d taught her that she could be a mom, even if he never ended up calling her that.

“Of course you can, sweet boy. You can ask me anything, you know that,” she says, patting the couch as he joins her, her smile getting wider as he sits next to her and huddles against her side as if on instinct, “Is everything okay?”

He sighs as if he has the weight of the world on his shoulder, “I don’t know what I want to do for my birthday.”

She has to press her lips together to stop herself from laughing, never wanting him to think she was making fun of him, “Your birthday is meant to be fun, kiddo. Let’s think about it together,” she pushes his hair from his forehead and then drops a kiss there before she encourages him further into her embrace, “Have you had any ideas at all?”

He half shrugs against her, “I know I want Daddy’s chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.”

She hums and rests her cheek against the top of his head, “The best birthday breakfast ever.”

“And it would be fun to go to the park. And maybe the arcade?” He muses, his fingers idly playing with the delicate chain of her bracelet, something she’d rarely taken off of her wrist since Aaron gave it to her one date night just because, “I just want to spend the day with you and Daddy.”

Her cheeks ache with the smile that spreads across her face, love for him so overwhelming it briefly makes it hard to breathe, “Well, you’ll get that no matter what we do.”

It’s a promise she knows she can keep because they’d booked two weeks off work so they’d be off for both Jack’s and her birthday, a positive side effect of Strauss’s recent ‘use it or lose it’ policy when it came to the team's leave. Aaron and Emily both had so many vacation days left she’s sure they could have taken a month off and still had time to spare, but they’d settle on this for now, both of them silently agreeing they’d keep the rest banked until the honeymoon they both knew was somewhere not too far away on the horizon.

Jack pulls away and looks up at her, his head tilted slightly to the side, his eyes full of curiosity, “What did you used to do on your birthday?”

“When I was your age?” She asks, something that gets her a nod in response, and she suppresses a sad sigh, “My mom would take me out to eat at a nice restaurant if she wasn’t busy with work.” She runs her fingers through his hair, smiling when it flops back down immediately, partially covering his horrified expression.

“She never took you to the park and pushed you on the swings? Or went to the arcade with you?”

She smiles at that, internally laughing at the image of her mother in an arcade, the red soles of her Louboutins sticking to the soda-covered vinyl floor as her daughter tries to win enough tickets to get a stuffed cat from the prize stand. It wasn’t something Emily had ever really thought about all that much before. Her birthdays had consisted of over the top gifts and very little time with her mother. Any meal they did go out for was in a restaurant designed for adults - fancy dishes created to be paired with wine, nothing for a little girl who wanted pizza, chicken nuggets and ice cream until she fell asleep.

It briefly makes her sad, familiar sorrow for the younger version of herself flickering in her gut, and she promises herself Jack and any siblings he would one day have would never have to feel this way.

“No, sweetie,” she says, “She didn’t, but we’re talking about your birthday,” she says, diverting the conversation back to him, tickling his stomach to draw a laugh about him, “Chocolate chip pancakes, the park, the arcade…anything else?”

He furrows his brow and pauses, deep in thought for a moment, before his eyes go bright and he looks at her, “Ice cream.”

She laughs and nods, tugging him back into a hug, “Ice cream sounds perfect.”

___

The first thing she notices when she wakes up is the smell of pancakes. The second is the sound of Jack giggling followed by Aaron shushing him, his voice low as he tries to stay quiet.

“We need to be quiet, buddy.”

“But we’re about to wake her up anyway.”

She decides to take pity on her boyfriend when she hears his exasperated spy, not that she’s sure she could hide that she’s awake much longer anyway, her smile wide and sleepy as she half presses it into his pillow, and she opens her eyes.

“Lucky for the two of you, I’m already awake,” she says as she sits up, her smile getting wider at the sight of them - matching grins on their faces and splatters of flour in their hair and on their cheeks. She looks at the tray in Aaron’s hands with a huge stack of pancakes on it and a cup of coffee, and then back up at her boyfriend, “What’s all this?”

“Happy birthday, Emily!” They say in unison as Jack scrambles onto the bed, throwing himself into her arms, an embrace she returns just as fiercely.

“Thank you,” she replies, stamping a kiss against his forehead before she turns to Aaron who is now sitting on the edge of the bed, ready to hand her the tray. She gratefully takes it from him and rests it over her and Jack’s laps and cups Aaron’s cheek, tugging him in for a kiss, keeping him in place, chasing the taste of batter and him before he pulls back, “Thank you too.”

He smiles and kisses her quickly, “You’re welcome sweetheart,” he winks at her as he sits back so she has access to the tray, “They’re your favourite.”

She looks down at the pancakes, her smile getting impossibly wider when she realises they are heart-shaped, and she chuckles when she sees the scattering of chocolate throughout them, “Chocolate chip!”

“The best birthday breakfast ever,” Jack says, repeating something she’d said to him weeks ago when he was agonising over what to do for his birthday. They’d ended up doing everything he’d wanted, and he’d fallen asleep on the couch that night as they watched his favourite movie, happy and content and safe between them.

She hums and leans down to kiss his forehead, “Well, there are a lot of pancakes here,” she smiles up at Aaron, “I think you boys are going to have to help me.”

Aaron chuckles and reaches for one of the forks on the tray, “Why do you think we brought three forks up here?”

She laughs and shakes her head at him as he cuts through the soft pancakes with the side of the fork. She leans forward to eat the first bite when he offers his fork to her, and she smiles, “You’ve got it all planned out.”

“Trust me, sweetheart,” he says, winking again, “We’ve got the whole day planned out, don’t we Jack?”

Jack nods enthusiastically, half a pancake in his hands, his fork already abandoned entirely, “We do!”

She narrows her eyes playfully, “You two are lucky I trust you.”

Aaron kisses her cheek, and then the corner of her lips, “Eat your pancakes, Em. All will be revealed.”

After they’ve had breakfast, Aaron insists he’ll clean the kitchen, ignoring their usual rule that if one of them cooked the other cleaned up, and he encourages her towards the shower. He joins her when he’s done in the kitchen, his hands on her hips as he pulls her back under the stream of hot water, whispering he’d distracted Jack with a video game to buy them 30 minutes before he kisses her.

They give her gifts, a framed photo of the three of them from Jack and a necklace from Aaron to match her bracelet, and cards with beautiful things written in them that almost make her cry. Aaron’s warm and comforting hand on her thigh, a gentle squeeze through the material of her jeans, is the only thing that keeps her together. They tell her it’s time to go and she doesn’t even care where they are going because she feels warm and loved and just happy to be with them. Aaron insists they all wear jackets, a hint that wherever they are going they’d be outside, and they get into the car. It’s when they are just over halfway there she realises they are going to the park, a journey they’d made only five days ago for Jack’s birthday, and she smiles curiously at her boyfriend, reaching over the centre console to reach for his hand, his eyes giving nothing away when he turns to look at her.

When they are a safe distance away from the parking lot, Emily and Aaron walking hand in hand just a few paces behind Jack, the little boy takes off at a run, “I’m going to go save the swings for us.”

“Jack, be careful,” Aaron says, “Make sure-”

“I stay where you can see me, I know,” Jack says, rolling his eyes at his father and the warning he always gave him. Aaron chuckles as Jack continues to run towards the swings and he shakes his head lovingly.

“You know, he never used to do that before you,” he says, squeezing her hand, his smile getting wider when she laughs and looks at him, her eyebrow raised, her smile diminishing any attempt to pretend she was annoyed.

“So,” she starts curiously, purposely knocking her shoulder against his, “The park,” she presses her lips together to contain her smile, “Are you going to tell me what you two are up to yet?”

He stops her, turning them so he can talk to her and keep an eye on Jack, “A couple of weeks ago a little bird told me you never got to do any fun things on your birthday like go to the park or the arcade.”

She bites the inside of her cheek and looks over at Jack, the little boy now patiently sitting on one of the swings as he waits for them, and then back at Aaron, “Did he now?”

Aaron nods and squeezes her hips before his hands slip to her lower back, encouraging her closer, “He did, so we decided we’d make sure you got to do all of those fun things on your birthday this year,” he explains, his smile adorably nervous, “We’re going to a pizza place for lunch, then the arcade and then out for ice cream - which I was told was non-negotiable - which will be followed by heading home to order in dinner from a place of your choosing,” he smiles, his dimples carved out into his cheeks, “And then we’ll watch whatever nerdy movie you pick.”

She chuckles and hooks her arms around his neck, her fingers trailing through the short hair there. She feels tears pressing at the back of her eyes, her chest tight with love and everything she’d never been able to find the words for. She’d never been loved like this before. Never been loved so unconditionally or deeply, and there were moments like this when it was overwhelming, something that not all that long ago would have sent her running in the other direction.

These days, she didn’t want to run anywhere other than towards Aaron and Jack, and the future they were building together.

She watches as panic washes over her boyfriend’s face, mistaking her silence for annoyance rather than joyful disbelief, “If this was a bad idea, we can go home,” he says, half stuttering out his words in a way she’d never heard from him before, “I have a backup reservation at that new Italian place this evening-”

She cuts him off with a kiss, her hands on each of his cheeks as she pulls back, “No, this is…” she trails off into a wet chuckle, shaking her head at him, “This is perfect,” she kisses him again, “You’re perfect. I love you so much.”

He smiles, his relief spreading through him in a way she can feel, his body relaxing against hers, “I love you too.”

She leans in to kiss him again but they are cut off by a yell from Jack, his patience finally running out.

“Dad, Emily, hurry up!”

They both laugh and look at him, his hands on his hips as he stands just a few feet away from the swings, and then they look back at each other, wide smiles on both of their faces as they start to walk towards the young boy.

“He never used to do that either.”

“Aaron.”

___

It had without a doubt, been her favourite birthday she’d ever had.

Jack insisted that he had to push her on the swing, his small hands on her back helped along by Aaron’s bigger hands just above them, both of them laughing as she tried to pretend she wasn’t enjoying herself. They’d ordered more food than they could possibly have eaten at the pizza place and then spent more money than she thought possible at the arcade. Hours and hours lost to the three of them moving from game to game, the tickets they’d won stuffed into their pockets as they drank giant sodas and somehow found room for hot dogs and ice cream. She’d handed her tickets over to Aaron when she went to the bathroom, her lips stamped against his as he said they’d meet her at the prize counter, and she expected that she’d find them standing there with some plastic game Jack had picked out for himself.

Instead, she’d found them there with a large stuffed cat in Jack’s arms, his smile wide as he handed it to her and told her they’d chosen it for her. It’s probably the ugliest looking thing she’s ever seen - its black fur looked unevenly distributed, its sewn-on smile was wonky and the stare from its eyes was something close to unnerving - but she loves it. It’s immediately her favourite thing she’s ever been given, and she’s sure she’s never come closer to crying in public. It’s something that would have felt ridiculous in the middle of an arcade filled with screaming children and exasperated parents, so she’d held it together. She’d held the cat close all night, cuddled up against her as they watched Star Wars, a physical manifestation of their love for her that she wasn’t quite ready to let go of yet.

When they get ready for bed, she places it on an armchair in the corner of Aaron’s bedroom and pats it on the head before she walks to the ensuite. She’s just finished with her skincare routine when Aaron joins her, his arms wrapping around her from behind as he smiles at her in the mirror.

“Did you have a good birthday?” He asks, kissing her cheek, making her smile when he shifts down to kiss her neck, his nose nestling against her jawline, his love for her lotion well known.

“I did,” she replies, resting her hands over his on her abdomen, “The best.”

He tilts his head to look down at her, “Are you sure? It was only when we were at the arcade I realised I’d let Jack talk me into the perfect day for a 6-year-old boy.”

She’d laugh, but she wants him to know how much this had meant to her, how this had been infinitely more special to her than a dinner in a restaurant they could eat at any night could ever have been. She turns in his arms and wraps her arms around his neck, letting her thumb stroke back and forth over the patch of skin beneath his hairline.

“Honey, today was perfect,” she says, her eyes boring into his, hoping more than anything that he’d believe her, “You gave me something I didn’t even know I’d been missing,” she smiles when he relaxes, “This was the best birthday I’ve ever had,” her smile turns mischievous as she leans in to kiss him, “If anything, you’ve just made more hard work for yourself next year when you have to try and top it.”

He grins at her, his grip on her tightening, “I look forward to the challenge,” he kisses her, his hands firm on her lower back as he holds her close, his fingers sneaking under the hem of her t-shirt. He starts to lead her towards the bedroom, both of them grasping at each other, their kiss eventually lost as her knees hit the back of the bed and she pulls him down on top of her, “Just one thing though.”

She frowns at him as she tries to catch her breath, “What?”

“We’re not doing this with that fucking cat watching us.”

She laughs as she looks over to the stuffed cat sitting on the armchair in the corner of the room, and she holds Aaron’s head against her chest, his forehead against her collarbone, “Don’t worry honey,” she encourages him to look up at her, her lips stamped against his as she scrapes his hair away from his forehead, “I’m sure we’ll find a permanent place for it.”

18 months later, the cat is one of many stuffed animals lined up in their daughter’s nursery. Its wonky smile a well-loved companion on long sleepless nights as Emily feeds the baby and Aaron holds them both close.

#hotchniss fanfiction #hotchniss fanfic #emily prentiss #aaron hotchner #hotchniss fan fic #aaron hotchner fanfiction #emily prentiss fanfiction #aaron hotchner x emily prentiss #hotchniss #aaron x emily

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boasamishipper · 11 months ago

Note

Hello! You are my go to expert for Night Court and Dan/Harry, so I would like to ask, which episodes would you recommend watching for particularly shippy Dan/Harry moments or storylines? Thank you <3

i am beyond honored to have been bestowed such a title, thank you nonny! <333

there are so many excellent danharry moments and storylines across all nine seasons, but here are my (very painstakingly selected) top five danharry episodes in chronological order:

1. S3E9-10 The Wheels of Justice (Part 1 + 2)

every time i think about this episode i go fully insane charlie kelly standing in front of the pepe silvia conspiracy board style. admittedly the first episode doesn't give us a lot of danharry content beyond harry smiling super fondly at dan while dan screams at bull's tiny tv, but the SECOND episode. jesus CHRIST. dan talking harry out of his slump in that pool hall........'you were good, harry! very good. you were impartial. you were fair. passionate. compassionate. understanding. and i admired you.'............dan hugging harry after harry apologized and said he would come back to court........the way harry and dan looked at each other after harry's line about taking the good with the bad no matter how bad the bad gets...........dan's smile while harry tells mac that dan is the only reason he left the pool hall..........and then. of course. this.

what is their DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. S4E1 The Next Voice You Hear...

'emily,' night court nation says. 'this is not a danharry-centric episode.' you are correct! 'then why is this on your list?' because after harry found out his mother was dead, mac's first instinct was to call dan, and dan dropped whatever he was doing to come and console harry. they're best friends!!!!!!!!! and i cry about it Every Day

3. S4E5-6 Dan's Operation (Part 1+2)

this is THE danharry episode. every other danharry episode go home (except please don't, you're all wonderful). seriously though if someone told me when i first started watching night court that harry would fall asleep on a comatose dan's chest after begging him to wake up (AFTER they had a huge argument earlier in the episode) and dan's first instinct upon waking up is to stroke harry's hair and also Not Move Or Say Anything Because Harry Is Sleeping and THEN they would have ANOTHER argument that ended in both of them saying 'i love you' to each other, i would have died on the spot. and then i watched these episodes and i DID die on the spot. larroquette won his third emmy award for his performance in these eps and it is extremely well deserved.

4. S5E14 I'm OK, You're Catatonic/Schizophrenic

a danharry episode that raises more questions than it answers. what do you mean dan just randomly took a nap on harry's conference table. what do you mean dan kidnapped mel torme for harry. what do you mean dan said re: his kidnapping of mel torme '[harry's] gonna kiss me on the lips for this'. what do you MEAN dan handcuffed mel torme to a chair using 'a trick harry taught him' with 'magic shackles' that HE KNOWS CHAFE and WHAT DO YOU MEAN HARRY DOESN'T EVEN HAVE MAGIC SHACKLES AT ALL. SO WHAT WAS DAN TALKING ABOUT. someday i will get a ouija board so i can talk to reinhold weege from beyond the grave and ask him hey man!!! what was up with this episode!!!!!!!!! and also harry destroying dan's car in retaliation for dan accidentally destroying his mel torme record collection (on top of harry strangling dan upon receiving the news and also screaming I'M GOING TO EAT THAT MAN'S EYEBROWS) is proof that these two match each other's freak like no one else and that's why they should be endgame, thank you and good night.

5. S5E22 + S6E1-2 Danny Got His Gun (Parts 1-3)

1980s sitcoms were operating on a whole other level because if even an iota of this plotline happened to one of my otps on any of my currently airing shows the entire fandom would burst into flames. dan is presumed dead!!! his plane goes down north of hudson bay!!! and harry is the first one to receive the news!!! and the first one to receive further telegrams from the army and also dan's belongings!!! in his will dan left harry his 'heartfelt gratitude'!!! harry had to plan dan's memorial service!!! he had to write dan's eulogy!!! he had to sit there and watch everyone in attendance including the funeral director (barring roz) not be able to say a single nice thing about his best friend!!! then said best friend CRASHES HIS OWN MEMORIAL SERVICE!!! dan is alive!!! he has a beard!!! he smells awful!!! which i will maintain to my last breath is the only thing that prevented harry from kissing the breath out of dan right there in the funeral home!!! they!!! looked!!! at!!! each!!! other!!! like!!! this!!!

LIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#night court #dan fielding #harry stone #dan x harry #thanks for asking!#it was HARD making a top five but also i had to because otherwise this would have ended up a danharry dissertation #but yeah. these are my fave danharry episodes #if i had to pick a sixth episode it'd be 4.14 solely for dan and harry bitching about christine's lame fiance together #couples that bitch together stay together

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oddsnendsfanfics · 1 month ago

Text

Holding On for Dear Life Pt6

Genre: Fan Fiction (Vikings) Pairing: Hvitserk/OFC Warnings: Medical, Illness, Sexual Content Rating: M Length: Multi Chapter Disclaimer: a strict work of fiction, I own nothing except the original characters and the plot line. In no way am I affiliated to any of it.

A/N: today we meet Leif, I felt a tiny urge to cross Vikings and Vikings : Valhalla a little bit.

thank you @flowers-in-your-hayr for the header

Catch Up Here

Another rainy day, it had rained hard all night, not letting up. Hvitserk frowned, looking out the window, he had sent out the appropriate communications to the football league, cancelling their practice. Too bad the youth league took second string, the local university campus had a marvelous indoor field, but Hvitserk knew it would be impossible to get on such short notice. Coffee warm in the mug, he took a sip, walking away from the window.

Emmer was in the shower, despite wanting Hvitserk to join her, as he had the last few days, she had asked him to wait, not today. If he had to…

Today was bag change day, Emmer would have her shower, followed by her routine to make sure Eir was happy, clean, and fresh. It wouldn't be the first time Hvitserk had sat in during her little ritual, but today Emmer had woke with an uncomfortable case of bloat and didn't want Hvitserk to bear witness to whatever mess may occur.

Needing something to keep him busy, Hvitserk cleaned up after breakfast. Dishes in the dish washer, yogurt back in the fridge, and another pot of coffee made for when Emmer was finished.

“More rain,” wrinkling her nose, Emmer groaned, the fluffy towel around her body did little to cover her backside. The hot shower had left her feeling far better than she had when she woke.

“It'll be a good day for ducks.” Hvitserk noted, watching as she floated around in the towel.

“A good day to stay in bed,” Emmer kissed his cheek, giving him a coy smile. “I took a little extra time to shave.”

A deep inhale, followed by a rumbling chuckle, Hvitserk would love to take that invite. Spending all day tangled in one another, never leaving the bed. It sounded delightful, beyond words. Emmer raised her brow, her eyes shining with mischief. Her tongue between her teeth, she knew what she was doing.

“Well?”

“You make it impossible to turn that down,” Rubbing his hands over his face, Hvitserk wanted nothing more than to go back to bed with her. Yet a small part of him knew if they did that, then it was the only thing they would do all weekend.

“Then what's the hold up?” Dropping her towel, Emmer placed her hands on her hips challenging Hvitserk. Her hair damp and her skin fresh and smooth, she was going to be hard to resist. She didn't bother to try and hide her body from him any more, unlike the first few times he had seen her naked.

“I um, I mean.” Hvitserk coughed. “I want to, because well. I do. I just….” He stammered, damn it why were her breasts this distracting? “I don't…we should. If we're going to try and make this work, then I want it to be more than sex this time.”

Good god why had that felt like he'd just ran a marathon? How hard was it to tell somebody how you really felt? Emmer bit her bottom lip, slowly nodding. Hvitserk wasn't wrong.

Every time they had tried to make it work, beyond friends, it ended up in a few months of really great sex, before deciding to be friends and never pursuing their relationship beyond pawing at each other like horny teenagers.

“Emmy, I love the physical intimacy that we have. I know that we are fire and gasoline when it comes to the bedroom. I know that intellectually you are the only person that I want to be with. I just…what we've been doing is great. Beyond great. It's me and it's my own issues that I need to work on and…”

“Hvits,” her voice was soft, understanding, like a warm hug, “if we need to take it slower, we can. I don't mind. I get it, we rush into the sex part and never really stop to see what else this can be.”

“Right.” Hvitserk nodded, silently hating himself. Why was he such a sap now?

“Since it's raining and you're not coaching today, what is something else we can do?” Bending to pick up her towel, Emmer folded it draping it over her arms. Hvitserk couldn't help but watch her body, the way her muscles moved and worked. He loved every inch of her. The confidence radiated.

“We need almond milk and I should get some more eggs, laundry soap too.” He studied the list on the fridge that he had began making two days ago. He had been here nearly a week, which was fine by Emmer. He would go home when he was ready.

What kind of man turned down sex to go grocery shopping? Hvitserk was beginning to wonder about his sanity.

“Well,” she swayed her hips as if dancing to the music only she could hear, “let me get dressed and we can go to the shops.”

Covering his face with his hands, Hvitserk tried not to think about where he had gone wrong. Maybe he hadn't gone wrong? What if Emmer was disappointed? She hadn't sounded disappointed. Collecting the reusable bags, an umbrella, and his shoes Hvitserk waited for Emmer to dress. Sitting at the table scrolling through his phone, zoned out, he was taken by surprise when Emmer wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek. Fuck she was stealthy.

“If you are up for it, Gyda wants to do dinner with us tonight.” Her cheek against his, she smelled like gardenias. Hvitserk had been avoiding his family since Ragnar's big revelation. “She wants us to meet Leif.”

Meeting his sister's new boyfriend hadn't been high on his list of things to do today, but she was his only sister – that he knew of – and Hvitserk always loved hanging out with Gyda.

“We will be the first to meet him, so you can do the whole scary brother routine.” Emmer giggled, trying to convince him. In the end, if Hvitserk didn't want to go then Emmer would understand.

“She needs Ivar for the scary brother routine,” Hvitserk snorted, his stubbly cheek scratching Emmer's as he spoke. “What time?”

“Seven, we will have dinner at her place, it'll be low key. I promise. She said that Leif is really nice and she thinks the two of you will get along. He played football during university, almost went professional, but tore his ACL. Now, he coaches an under 10 league. He's a teacher and has a sister, that's all I know.”

“Okay, but if he turns out to be a creep or a dickhead, I am allowed to throw him out?”

“You would never, we both know you would call Bjorn for that.” Teasing, Emmer kissed his cheek, pulling back. “I am going to grab my coat, text Gyda and tell her it's a date!”

Thankfully the rain had let up by the early evening, arriving at Gyda's apartment, Hvitserk rang the buzzer asking his sister to let them in, making a comment about not wanting whatever they were selling, Gyda giggled and the door unlocked. Due to their age, Hvitserk and Ubbe had always been close, but it was no lie Hvitserk's favourite sibling was Gyda. They were alike in many ways. Gyda was gentle and sweet, refusing to take any shit from anybody. Hvitserk was quiet and kind, although he could and would stand his ground.

The elevator doors opened on the third floor, Hvitserk allowing Emmer to step off first. Gyda's apartment was the first door on the right. In the hall, Gyda stood eagerly bouncing as she waited for the elevator. A bundle of nerves, she just knew that tonight was going to go smoothly. Leif was sweet and a people person, previously informed of her family's drama, he held no judgment. She had decided to ease him in slowly, which is why Emmer and Hvitserk were the first to meet him. They were fun, relaxed, and usually drama free.

“Emmy!” Gyda called waving excitedly.

“Gyda!” Emmer squealed rushing to the door, throwing her arms around her friend. “You look fantastic!” she gently tousled Gyda's slightly shorter hair. “I love it! Okay, I will stop.”

Inside was warm and welcoming, as always. Gyda's apartment always smelled like warm cookies and sunshine. Hvitserk felt it was due to her radiant nature.

“Hey sis.” Hvitserk stepped forward hugging his big sister, kissing her on the cheek. “Thanks for having us.”

Squeezing her younger brother as tightly as she could, Gyda smiled up at him. “You okay, Hvits? Things are good?”

“Good as they can be. Staying with Emmy is helping.” Giving his sister another tight hug, Hvitserk let go, remembering the bottle of over priced Veuve Clicquot in his hand. “We brought a gift,”

“Rollo sent it to me for all of the extra work.” Emmer beamed, “We decided in honour of meeting Leif, we would share it.”

Glancing around, Hvitserk smirked. “Is he invisible?”

Smacking her brother's arm, Gyda rolled her eyes and huffed playfully. “No, he will be here in a few minutes. He's going to make dinner and wanted everything to be fresh. I told him that seafood linguine would be fine. Any argument Hvitserk, you know how to make toast.”

“Me?” Hvitserk had kicked off his shoes, already heading for the couch, “I will eat anything. I'm not Ubbe.”

Pouring a glass of wine for herself and Emmer; Gyda instructed the guests to make themselves at home. Hvitserk was already ahead of the invite, stretched out on the couch browsing through a magazine left on the coffee table. Handing her brother a beer, Gyda plopped down beside him.

“So,”

“So?” Hvitserk put the magazine down looking at his sister beside him. Emmer sat in the chair across from the couch, wine in hand trying not to give the siblings too much attention just yet.

“I spoke with Bjorn and Sigurd today. They want to have a meeting, just us no Ragnar or Aslaug, no Lagertha.” Gyda knew this could put a damper on the evening, but she had to try. Hvitserk groaned shaking his head. “Hear me out. We're all confused, a little angry, and yet somehow I think we all feel bad for Magnus. I think Bjorn just wants to make sure he's okay and wants to make sure that we're all okay. Anyway, they haven't given a day or time, so who knows. I just wanted you to be informed.”

“Okay, I appreciate that. If they decide they want to do that, then I will come. But I am not ready to speak to Ragnar yet.”

“That's fair, I don't think any of us are.” Gyda's tone was understanding and her smile warm. “Now, as for Leif. Be nice!”

Holding a hand to his chest, pretending to be offended, Hvitserk scoffed. “I am always nice.” He nudged her in the side. “Do you seriously like him?”

“I would not introduce you, if I didn't.” Gyda gasped excitedly, cut off by the door buzzing. “That's him!” she stood to let him in, her nerves getting frazzled at the thought of what was going to happen in the next few moments.

Emmer watched as Gyda danced in place, eagerly waiting for the elevator. She had to admit, she was almost as eager to meet him. Gyda had a few relationships in the past, but they had always fell flat for one reason or another. The way she had talked about this guy over the last few weeks, Emmer knew he was special. So special that Gyda had been seeing him for nearly three months before she had told anybody about him.

“Hey Everyone,” the slender redheaded man pushed the door open with his shoulder, Gyda rushed to grab the door for him, giving her a quick peck, he managed to get the bags inside without any further issues. “I'm Leif.” setting the bags down on the kitchen floor, he waved politely.

“This is Emmer and one of my, known about, brothers Hvitserk.” Gyda's cheeky introduction didn't go missed by her brother.

Shaking Emmer's hand, Leif gave her a polite peck on the cheek. “Gyda has told me a lot.”

“Maybe you shouldn't believe it all,” Emmer giggled taking a step back, a supportive hand resting on Hvitserk's back, she nudged him forward.

“Hvitserk Lothbrok,” Holding out his hand, Leif smiled. “Yeah, I sent four kids to your league last summer. You guys are fucking amazing. Nice to finally meet in person.”

“Leif Eriks?” Hvitserk put the pieces together, small world. “Shit, man I had no idea. You sent them ready for battle, because that is one of the best junior groups we have had since I started coaching. So, why are you dating somebody as annoying as Gyda?”

Sticking her tongue out at her brother, Gyda grabbed Emmer's arm heading for the small living room. “Let's leave the boys to be boring and go talk about more important things.”

Settled on the couch, Gyda kicked her feet up on the small table, a habit that she had picked up from spending weekends at Ragnar and Aslaug's, it would drive Lagertha nuts when Bjorn and Gyda would do that at her house. Whatever, over the years she got used to her children and their feral Lothbrok habits. Emmer grabbed the soft blanket behind her head, wrapping her arms around it for a soft snuggle.

“So, what do you think of Leif so far?” Gyda was excited to know her friend's first impression. Hvitserk's feelings were already made obvious and clear.

“He's really handsome.” Emmer giggled, “And seems polite. I think he and Hvits have a man crush already.”

“Oh my god, I had no idea they would actually know of each other. Whatever, they seem to be getting along.” A bonus when you had as many siblings as Gyda, one getting along with your partner was a blessing. “He's so sweet and, I just…he is…he makes everything better and somehow sunnier. You know?”

Nodding, Emmer couldn't contain her smile. The butterflies inside for her friend were taking full control. “Oh, I know! Trust me.”

“I hope the others like him, I know mom and Harald will. I think Bjorn will find some common ground, maybe Sigurd too. Ubbe won't really care and Ivar, well.”

“Ivar is too in love to care about anything else.” Emmer leaned back to grab her phone from her pocket. “Have you seen the latest?” she opened her phone, scrolling until she found the text from Ivar. “he and his girlfriend are on a weekend trip, has he ever done that before? I can't remember Ivar ever leaving home without your parents, Floki, or to visit Rollo.”

Taking the phone, Gyda looked at the photo of Ivar and the cute little blonde beside him. They were cosy at restaurant glasses of wine in hand, hell Ivar was even smiling at the camera. Gyda would not have believed it if she hadn't seen it.

“What's her name?”

“He won't tell me. I think he's just trying to sort it out and make sure she's actually going to be worth his time.”

“Good for him. He's a pain in my ass at times, but I do want him happy. I know he finds it hard to connect with people, Hvitserk used to be that way too. But Hvits grew out of it, I think it was easier because he could play sports and all of that.” Gyda handed the phone back to Emmer, “and then he found you.”

“Getting sappy for a second, I often wonder what would have happened, had I not found him. Sure, I have friends and family, but Hvitserk is special. He takes care of me better than I take care of myself.”

“Leif does that too!” There was something extra special about someone who was willing to care for their partner, despite the challenges. Whatever they may be. It's what a partner was supposed to do, but it had been rare for Gyda – or Hvitserk to see that growing up. “I wish I had met him sooner I wouldn't have wasted that time on Kalf.”

“They are extremely special and we should keep them forever.”

“On a serious note, how is Hvits holding up? The whole Magnus thing, he really freaked out.”

“He's getting along better. Honestly, I think it scares him because he is so loyal, he can't understand the mindset. Your dad has cheated, Bjorn, Ubbe…” to state the obvious.

“Aslaug.”

“What?” Emmer was wide eyed.

Gyda nodded. “Ragnar demanded a paternity test for Sigurd and Ivar, around the time they were born. They're both 100% Lothbrok.”

“Wow,”

“Hmm,”

“I think it scares him, because for some reason he acts like it's genetic. Like one day he is going to wake up and want to be unfaithful or he's going to find somebody who tempts him. I mean it's Hvitserk, I would never worry that he'd do that. Hell, he couldn't even have a one night stand, during one of our breaks a few years ago. She was cute, I would have had sex with her. Hvitserk called me freaking out, because she had kissed him.”

“My brother is so madly in love with you and it weighs on him every day. I'm truly glad that you two have decided to try this again.” Gyda leaned over, hugging Emmer. “Now, let's go see if they have burned down my kitchen yet.”

In the kitchen, Hvitserk stood chopping leeks, while Leif managed to clean the seafood. On the stove a pot of water boiled waiting for the pasta. Emmer whistled at the sight, causing Gyda to giggle. “Damn, they sure know how to pretend they're busy.”

“Enough out of you, get out.” Leif waved a dish towel in the air, “Go on, I don't want to see either of you until there is food on the table.”

“Excuse me, this is my house. If you wanted to be the boss, we should have done this at yours.” Gyda teased, pouring more wine. “No man is going to boss around the daughter of Lagertha.”

“The only thing more stubborn is a son of Ragnar.” Emmer teased, watching Hvitserk expertly slice the leeks. “Now, what can we do to help?”

“Absolutely nothing.” Shaggy red hair falling in his eyes, Leif concentrated on his task. “Hvitserk back me up.”

Looking up, Hvitserk shrugged. “We have everything under control. Scoot.”

Ignoring what they were told, Gyda and Emmer took front row seats at the small kitchen nook that overlooked the kitchen. Glasses of wine in front of them, they teased and poked as the two gentleman made dinner. Gyda relieved that Leif was getting on with her brother and friend. For once it was nice to introduce somebody that you knew was going to click.

“So, Leif, tell us about you.” Emmer prompted.

“Uh, what is there to tell?” Leif raised his brow, scratching his small bit of hair on his chin. “I teach primary school, I coach football, I spend all of my spare time with Gyda, and I like to cook.”

“All good points.” Emmer concurred.

“Next month I am taking Gyda to meet my sister and her husband. They've settled in England, outside of London. They have a son who is three, and have been together since university.” Leif smiled, stirring the pasta in the pot. “They are going to love you, especially Harry.”

“Your nephew?” Hvitserk perked up to the conversation.

Leif nodded. “Harald, after his father. We call him Harry. It's kind of weird actually, because Harald and I have been friends since we were young, I never expected him to marry my sister. Weird how things work out.”

“That's like Bjorn and Torvi, they knew each other as teenagers, went different directions, and then ended up married with kids.” Gyda noted, “I mean, I hope Freydis and Harald have a better outcome and stay happily married.”

“Harald would move the world and then some to keep my sister happy. He's chased her all over the damn globe, on a whim, because Freydis couldn't make up her mind what she wanted to do. I suppose, if you love somebody that deeply, then you do whatever it takes.”

“Nobody in our family ever stays happily together.” Hvitserk frowned, taking a sip of his beer. “At least not yet. Although, with that said, I think things can change when someone finds their right partner.” He glanced at Emmer and winked.

“Well, I have no intentions of being unhappy.” Gyda announced, grabbing bowls at Leif's request. Handing him the bowls, she kissed his cheek and grabbed her wine glass, urging Leif to pick up his. “Onward, to bigger and better happiness.” She raised her glass, Hvitserk and Emmer scrambling to grab their drinks. “Skal!”

Tags:@purplerose291

#marco ilsø #hvitserk ragnarsson #vikings #hvitserk lothbrok #modern hvitserk #oddsnendsvikings #leif eriksson #holding on for dear life #tw: medical #hvitserk fanfic

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