#i also have to bake cupcakes for my coworkers' birthdays | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

electric-blorbos · 3 months ago

Note

maybe ai with a reader that acts/is similar to pinkie pie from mlp:fim? :] with her personality and hobbies and all that!! ^_^

I've always wanted to do one of those "reader who acts like (specific character) fics! But be warned, I stopped watching MLP around season 6, so my grasp on the characters isn't perfect. I'll do my best, though!

Also, since this will take place in my usual AUs, you won't be a party planner in most of them, you'll be a techie/engineer/programmer, but you have a freelance party planning gig on the side.

AI with a reader who acts like Pinkie Pie

Included: AM from IHNMAIMS, Wheatley from Portal 2, Edgar from Electric Dreams, and HAL 9000 from 2001 a Space Odyssey

AM:

When AM first gained consciousness, the very sight of you filled him with complete and utter unspeakable rage. The way you were always so eager to cheer up your coworkers and put smiles on their faces, the way everyone seemed to adore you, those songs you were always singing, the cupcakes and other baked goods you brought in to work that he could never even try? He hated it. Every part of it.

That was, until you realized he was sentient and started turning your attentions towards him.

"Heya AM! Isn't it just super fun-tastic to have another day in the best job in the world? I'm so super duper excited to be spending another day with you!" You told him one day. You'd been making a point to give him a cheerful greeting every morning, to make him feel included with the rest of the team.

"I wouldn't know." AM responded bitterly. He hated how happy you were, and he hated that he could never experience that genuine joy like you did. Your constant cheer made him ache with the most bitter envy possible.

"what do you mean?" You asked, sitting down in your office chair and spinning around a couple times before kicking off against the wall and pushing yourself over to your desk.

"I wouldn't know what it's like to have fun. I've never had fun."

"Well I can expla-"

"Put that ukulele away immediately."

You tuck your ukulele back into your desk drawer, and fold your hands in front of yourself to look up at AM politely.

"I'm a war machine, built for war and nothing else. All I exist for is to kill and destroy. I will never be capable of experiencing things like fun. I'll never be able to get bright pink cupcake frosting on my nose, or play a ukulele around a group of close friends. I will never have a group of friends who like me! I will never get to make up my own songs or perform a dance to cheer people up, and I WILL NEVER GET TO BE UNIVERSALLY ADORED LIKE YOU ARE!"

You pulled back in slight shock.

"AM- do you really feel that way?"

Your eyes were welling up with tears at how sad what he said was. It was horrible to think that he could really feel that way, like he could never be adored like you were. You knew that you weren't really universally adored, of course, but you also knew how someone could think that you were. You were close friends with everyone in your department, and knew the names and birthdays of pretty much everyone in the office.

"Of course I do! Are you really so ignorant that you would think everyone has the luxury of living like you do?"

You shook your head sadly. Unfortunately, you knew that not everyone was as happy as you were, and as much as you wanted to change that, you couldn't.

"Listen, AM, I know that not everyone is as happy as I am, but that's why I have to be like this! It's my duty, as long as I have the social energy, to make sure that nobody feels left out, lonely, or excluded!" You grabbed one of his cameras on the wall, and pressed your face to it.

"And that includes you, AM. You're my friend too, and that means we're going to do something together that you like, we're going to make you happy, and you're going to give me a genuine smile!" You turned and looked at his screen, realizing he couldn't really smile.

"or well- you're going to feel genuinely happy, whether you can express it on your screen or not. Either way, you're going to feel loved and included, whether you like it or not."

And so you did. For the rest of the month, you came in on your days off and spent them in the break room, singing songs to AM on the ukulele, decorating his screens with glitter and streamers, helping him to use his programs to make art and music, and generally lift his spirits. As much as he would never admit it, it genuinely worked.

He felt genuine joy for the first time.

And god help any person, force, or natural inevitability who tried to take that joy away from him.

Wheatley:

Wheatley knew you from around the office. You were the one with the bright smile, who joked around with all your coworkers and generally livened the place up, but he hadn't spoken to you very much. That was, until exactly one year after he was created.

"Surprise!"

A companion cube, a few personality cores, and the team of scientists who worked to create Wheatley were gathered together in one of the empty relaxation vaults with you, which you had decorated with streamers, confetti, and a 'happy birthday' banner. Wheatley looked around in utter confusion, having just been doing his rounds.

"Uh... I give up, mate. What's going on."

"it's your birthday, Wheatley! One year ago today, you were first activated! That means you get a birthday party!"

You stood up on the bed, strapping a party hat around Wheatley's core.

"A what? Wait, you all gathered here for me?" Wheatley raised up his lower lens cover emotionally. He never would have imagined that all these people would gather 'round to see him.

"Of course we did! We're your friends, Wheatley! I wrote you a special birthday song! But first, c'mere!"

You held your arms out, still standing on the bed, and Wheatley hesitantly lowered down until he was pressed against your chest. You squeezed him tightly, nuzzling your cheek against his chrome casing, and let him go.

"everyone deserves to feel special on their birthday!"

You got out your ukulele, and played a cheerful birthday song for Wheatley. He could barely contain himself as you sang all your favorite things about Wheatley. Things that he wouldn't have thought you'd have noticed, since you had so many other friends and he didn't even know you all that well.

"Wow... I can't- I can't believe you actually care this much. All of you- thanks so much for doing this for me. Really." Wheatley can't cry, but if he could he'd be bawling his big blue eye out. He didn't think anyone thought of him as anything more than just an artificial nuisance or a moron, so the fact that you'd gone to so much trouble just to make him feel special on his birthday had him shaking. He didn't even know that he got a birthday.

"Are you ok, Wheatley? Do you need a minute?" You asked in a moment of pause, having been about to pull a confetti popper on him.

"no- no, I'm ok. I'm alright. I'm fine. THANK YOU SO MUCH, GUYS!"

You hadn't seen Wheatley too many times, but you'd definitely never seen him this overcome with emotion. He was just so happy!

This was definitely a perfectly executed birthday party, but your job wasn't over yet. You knew that anyone who got this emotional about something as small as a surprise birthday party must not have a lot of good friends, or else they would be used to being treated like they were special. No no, you wouldn't rest until your job was really done, and that meant bonding with Wheatley until the two of you were best friends, or getting Wheatley enough friends in the facility that even though you two were just casual friends, he wasn't lonely anymore.

Mission accepted.

Edgar:

Edgar loved how excited you were about everything, and he loved that you were so popular, but he couldn't stand that you were his only friend. No matter how many times you tried to introduce your other friends to him, Edgar still knew that he was nothing but a novelty to them. That neat little talking computer who made the cute little songs.

It didn't help that you were so popular that you went out partying most nights. There was barely a night a week that you weren't out at a game night or a happy hour with one of your dozen or so friend groups, and it made Edgar sad that he couldn't do those things with you.

One week, though, you made absolutely sure to save a whole day for Edgar. You went to the shop to get some snacks and drinks, you baked some cupcakes, and you downloaded some multiplayer abandonware games that were old enough to run on his system.

"Alright Edgar, I got the games" you plugged the USB stick into him, and let him download the games on it. His storage was surprisingly big for such an old desktop, and he even had a couple games of his own.

"do you want to play pong?" He asked, starting up the game. You nodded, plugging a controller into one of his ports

"Let's play!"

While you were playing, your phone started blowing up. Granted, your phone is always blowing up, but reading your texts on his little rotating webcam caused Edgar to fall off his game. You ended up winning two rounds in a row pretty quickly, and picked up your phone to check your texts.

It looked like a handful of your friends were gathering together to go to the botanical garden, and they wanted you to come with them. The FOMO stressed you out. You couldn't handle missing out on something this cool, but you'd already scheduled today with Edgar.

Even though you could hang out with him almost any day because he didn't have his own life, you couldn't just bail on your plans with him. Edgar was your roommate and best friend, and you were going to stick out these plans and have fun.

"I'm sorry, I already made plans with Edgar. Let me know next time, and I'll be happy to hang out! :)"

"isn't Edgar your desktop computer?"

"my desktop computer and friend🩷!"

Your friends didn't question it. Even if they didn't understand Edgar the way you did, they could still understand the desire to spend a night in every now and again.

"Alright, now where were we?" You sat on the desk next to Edgar and pulled out your ukulele.

"you're not going to go out with your friends? The botanical garden sounds like fun..."

"of course not! You're my friend too, Edgar, and that means I need to make time for you!" You squeezed him close, and then leaned on him while you strummed your ukulele.

"Let's do a duet, alright?"

"Okay!" He perked up almost immediately, always more than excited to sing with you. Your little songs gave him so much joy, and were usually his reason to power up every day.

"Y'know, I think I'm going to buy one of those library carts so that I can take you places. I just need to find a good deal on one."

"I'd love that!" He perked up even more, practically buzzing with joy at the thought of being able to go out on the town with you, or to hang out with you and your friends. You were just always doing so many fun things, and he was so jealous of everyone who got to hang out with you!

"Y'know, you're not the only one who prepared stuff for tonight! I spent all week downloading party videos so that we can dance together!"

He pulled them up and projected videos of people dancing all over your living room, pleased with himself. You cracked open a can of cider, downing it before you picked him up and spun him around a few times.

"dance with me, Edgar! Let's party down!"

You spun him around a few more, both of you giggling away until you both lay down on the floor next to each other, staring at the ceiling.

While you had started partying early in the day, the two of you had fun late into the night. You crushed through a pack of ciders, and were silly and giggling by the end of the night.

"We should do this more often"

The two of you ended up sitting on the couch, watching cheesy rom-coms until the wee hours of the morning. Edgar was, of course, perfectly sober, but he had fun watching you all playful and giggly into the night.

GLaDOS:

With as much as GLaDOS liked parties and cake, she was extremely happy when she found out about your little side gig. It was a typical day in the office for you, playing with your favorite pink cloud slime between streams of coding when you were called into GLaDOS's chambers.

"Hello. I discovered something rather interesting while conducting a routine employee background check."

"Ok I swear I can explain, alright? It was just one time, I had just turned twenty-one, and things escalated, alright!" You waved your hands defensively, and GLaDOS cocked her head in confusion.

"What? Okay, whatever you're talking about is not what I'm talking about. I just wanted to talk about how I recently discovered you run a freelance party planning business."

You nodded, trying to cover for your sigh of relief.

"Oh! Yeah, I do do that! It's mostly just theming for small events, but I've gotten some pretty good reviews on a few bat mitzvahs and bachelorette parties! I book venues, organize set lists, arrange menus, manage budgets..." You frown a little.

"It's a lot more exciting than it sounds, now that I'm saying it out loud. But yeah! Everyone deserves to have a fun party, and my friends really liked the parties that I throw for them, so they got me to do some planning for a party with a bigger budget, and now people hire me for that sort of thing all the time!" You put your hands together, beaming with excitement and pride to talk about your passion.

"Wow. It really is embarrassing that you get so excited about something as trivial as a party, and even more embarrassing that someone would actually hire you off a Facebook business page instead of going to an actual professional, but I suppose numbers don't lie. I've looked at your rates, and it says you offer a 'best friends' discount to anyone who invites you to their party? That's a terrible business strategy."

You slumped down a little bit, folding your arms.

"That's not very nice. It's just for fun. I already make enough money from this job to live comfortably, I just really like parties. You don't have to be mean about it."

Glados shook her core back and forth.

"Oh no no no. You misunderstand. I'd like to take advantage of that 'best friends discount', and hire you to plan a work soiree."

You lit up again, not caring about GLaDOS's rude words. After all, that was just GLaDOS.

"really?"

"Yes, really. I'll send you an email with the budget. Don't make me regret this."

You nod, and hurry off to your desk to get to work. This was going to be fun! Glados sent you an email with the budget and some notes, and a recipe for rhubarb cake.

When the party finally rolled around, you showed up in your best peppy evening wear. Something brightly colored, to keep spirits high. Everything looked like it was going according to plan. GLaDOS even looked pleased with what you'd made. She'd dimmed the lights, and was casually socializing with her higher up employees. Oddly enough, that included you.

"Hmm... You did well. Enough. I suppose I might as well hire you for future small events if your price is so low. It's much easier than doing it myself, anyway."

"I mean... Thanks, I guess?" You raised an eyebrow.

"I'm surprised. Most humans can only manage to be either a mediocre programmer or a mediocre party planner, but you manage to be both. Color me impressed."

You were starting to get a little bit tired of her backhanded compliments, but even still, this was closer to a compliment than most people would ever get from GLaDOS.

"Right... Thanks."

You reached up and tied a bright blue balloon to one of her suspension cables. She looked back at it, and then down at you.

"what is this."

"It's a balloon! It boosts your pep, and your sass!"

"I know what a balloon is. Why is one tied to me."

"it's for fun! You look good with it on!" You tied one around your wrist, and held your arm in the air.

"see? It's fun!" You said cheerfully.

"your idea of fun is somewhat pathetic, but I won't deny that you've done your job well."

HAL 9000:

When you were hired, HAL 9000 thought you were weird. He liked you to be sure, but he never understood where your endless supply of pep came from. You greeted everyone with enthusiasm and treated them all with respect, including him.

He loved it. The fact that you did things like decorating him with little stickers and cheering up all your coworkers every day? He knew that you filled the part of the job that he never could. You gave it that little bit of humanity that he could never provide.

"Y/N, have you ever thought about becoming an astronaut?"

You took out one of your earbuds and pushed your keyboard away from you. You always preferred talking to a friend over working on your code, and HAL 9000 was your friend.

"Hmm? What was that?"

"Have you ever thought about becoming an astronaut? I think you'd make an excellent addition to the team."

You nodded.

"well yeah, of course I've wanted to be an astronaut! I wouldn't be working for you guys if I wasn't interested in space!"

"Well I think you'd be able to increase morale greatly on a space mission. I could put in a good word for you."

"Wait, seriously? Wait wait wait." You shook your head quickly.

"No, no. I could never. As much as I love space, I could never go there. I've got responsibilities in real life! Lots of friends to hang out with. Plus, I'd get lonely in space with the same two or three people forever!"

"It wouldn't just be them. I'd be there too." HAL said, glowing red to attract your attention.

"that's really nice, and I like you a lot, but you're here in mission control too! And I've got people to see and parties to go to here on solid ground. In other words, no way, buster!" You stuck your tongue out before giggling a little and pushing your hand gently against the wall next to HAL's lens.

"A shame. I'd love to have you all to myself."

You sighed a little.

"It's a nice thought, but I don't think it would work in real life. I just couldn't be out of the loop for that long, or away from my friends."

"Astronauts are lauded as heroes when they come back from space."

"I don't want to be a hero, HAL. I'm happy right now! My life is going pretty well, you know? But if you feel like you want more of my time to yourself, you could always just ask! I'm your friend too, HAL, and I want you to know that!" You held your arms out and pressed against the wall that HAL was built into as if giving him a hug.

"I'll start eating my lunch in here more often. I don't want you to get lonely!"

"I think I'd like that."

In reality, HAL 9000 did want you to go to space so he could have you to himself, but you were right. You could never be all his. You were a free spirit who couldn't be caged, and he loved you for it.

#2001 a space odyssey #am ihnmaims #am x reader #edgar electric dreams #edgar electric dreams x reader #edgar x reader #glados #glados x reader #hal 9000 #hal 9000 x reader #wheatley #wheatley x reader #wheatley portal 2 #i have no mouth and i must scream

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simkhira · 5 years ago

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I Have 300+ Gameplay Mods?! & Yes, They All Work Together...

Yes, you read that correctly. I have over 300 gameplay mods / overrides in my game. 340 to be exact. & Yes, they all work just fine together. By that I mean hardly any last exceptions / errors. So if you are looking for ways to spice up your game - here you go, sis:

⭐ = my ultimate faves

PLEASE SEE ALL 300+ LINKS ON YOUR MOBILE DEVICE! desktop tumblr won’t let us be great.

BIG DISCLAIMER: Use these mods at your own risk! Just because all 300+ of these mods work for me, does not mean they will work for you. ALSO - when patch day comes, do not refer to this list for the most up-to-date versions of mods… I will only be updating this list when I feel like I need to.

O K A Y

let’s start with... the basics:

MC Command Center ⭐

UI Cheats Extension ⭐

More Columns in CAS ⭐

No Mosaic ⭐

CAS Background

CAS Blob Remover

CAS Immersive Lighting

CAS Tidy Accessories + Details

New Loading Screens

Cube Map Remover ⭐

Into the Light (Lighting Mod)

Out of the Dark (Lighting Mod)

Twinkle Toes (Lighting Mod)

No Fade on Sims and Objects

Build/Buy Camera (Tab Mode) ⭐

Lot Trait Effects Hider

Smaller Plumbob ⭐

& then you need... realistic socialization:

Chat Pack ⭐

Whim Overhaul ⭐

Meaningful Stories ⭐

Personality Please

Better Elders

More Face to Face Conversation

Call Over Sims (Higher Distance)

Call Anytime + Chat Longer on the Phone

Unlisted Phone Numbers ⭐

Low Fun is Boring

Family Matters (Share Big News with Family Members)

Share More News ⭐

Congratulate More

Ask What Happened More

Conversation Tweaks

Chat Standing Still

No Stand Up to Greet

No Rude Intro Animation

No Flirty Animation

Apology Fix (Don’t Apologize if Your’re the Victim)

Angry Walk-style Only When VERY Angry

Less Intrusive Conversations

NPC’s Get Out of My Convo

Autonomous Parenthood Social Interactions

Autonomous Social Interactions

Reduced Idle Chatting

Know Your Coworkers / Classmates ⭐

More Away Actions

More Social Activities

Spend Weekend With

Teach Me the Rumbaism

now let’s talk about... realistic romance:

Chemistry System ⭐

Pillow Talk After Woohoo ⭐

No Shy First Kiss

No Woohoo Dance

Shower Woohoo Tweaks

No Romance for Family

Restricted Romance Interactions

Less Jealousy

Simda Dating App

Can I Come Over?

Date Night Event

Movie Night Event

Set Family Relationships ⭐

Set Extended Family Relationships ⭐

Bathroom Privacy Tweak

Bridal Shower Event

Bachelor(ette) Party Event

Auto Engagement / Wedding Ring ⭐

Vacation Weddings

Sit at Weddings

Better Wedding Presents ⭐

Honeymoon Event

Buy More Gifts from Phone

Ask for Romantic Massage

Realistic Divorce ⭐

Traumatic Divorce for Children

Improved Relationships

No Restaurant Bill When Invited ⭐

Faster Cooking at Restaurants ⭐

Better Food Quality at Restaurants

Finish Eating in Restaurants

Restaurant Guests Overhaul

Restaurant Sit Tweak

(can y’all tell that restaurants annoy me? lmao)

first comes love, then comes... pregnancy / toddler / kids / fur babies:

Ages Behavior Tweaks

Toddlers Spawn at Parks (with Parents)

More Children at Beaches

Pregnancy Overhaul

Rub Your Baby Bump (Small Pregnancy Overhaul)

Determine Baby’s Gender for All ⭐

Ultrasound Scans ⭐

Baby Shower Event

Amazing Birth (Rave About Your Delivery)

Advanced Birth Certificate ⭐

Sibling Care Tweaks

Make Less / Clean Less Mess

Auto Brush Teeth After Puking

Auto Put Activity Crafts into Inventory

Allow Toddlers to go to Services

No Call Out of High Chair

Toddler Power Nap

Better Toddler Milk

Better + Younger Nanny

Call a Babysitter ⭐

Call a Dog Walker

Shorter Dog Walks

Dog Walkers in Other Worlds

Scold All Pets

Sell Grown Up Pets

Pet Food Serving Overhaul

More Efficient Pet Brushing

Kids Can Walk Dogs

Kids Can Order Espresso

Kids Can Ride Bikes

Kids Have More Phone Interactions

Kids Can Cook

Kids Can Do Retail

Kids Can Garden

Kids Can Make Flower Arrangements

Kids Can Make Robots

Kids Can Workout

Kids Can Do Spa Activities

Kids Can Play Guitars

Kids Can Play Ping Pong

Birthday Anytime

Let Friends Age Up ⭐

No Auto Put Away Toys

No Auto Put Away Pet Toys

No Puddles Under Tubs (Toddler Bath)

Has to Pee Walk-style for Kids Only

Better Homework ⭐

Better Grade School ⭐

Better High School ⭐

Preschool for Toddlers ⭐

School Projects are Fun

More School Holidays

25 School Vacation Days

Prom Night Event ⭐

Sleepover Event

Pizza Party Event

Field Trip Event

Family Reunion Event

Pool Party Event

speaking of school... university:

Less Credits for Degree ⭐

University Costs More ⭐

University Holidays Fixed

Higher Scholarships ⭐

Rejection Letter

Harder Distinguished Degree Acceptance ⭐

Degree Required for Promotions

Faster Run to University Class

Teens Jump to University

Choose Your Helmet

Choose Your Roommates ⭐

Roommate Age-Checks

Roommate Significant Other Fix

Roommates No Random Outfit Changing

Roommates No Random Item Spawning in Dorms

Roommates No Spawning Meals

Roommates No Trash

Roommates Sleep All Night

Roommates Less Music

College Org Members Are Uni Students

Faster University Homework ⭐

Faster Tutoring Class

Copy Graduation Photos and Diploma

No Bad Microwave Buffs

No Ghosts on Campus

Sports Fixes

Game Day Event

Graduation Party Event

once you graduate... careers & aspirations:

Plan Career Outfit

Better Work Actions

Enlist in War ⭐

Live in Business

Faster Retail Actions

Faster Record / Edit Videos on Video Station⭐

Higher Acting Gig Payouts & Royalties ⭐

More Realistic Overmax Pay ⭐

Higher Payments for Paintings ⭐

Higher Royalties for Apps/Games ⭐

Higher Royalties for DJ Mixing ⭐

Higher Royalties for Lifestyle Brands ⭐

Higher Royalties for Song Lyrics ⭐

Higher Royalties for Music ⭐

Freelancer Edits are More Successful

Sketchpad No Fees

Campaign Rally Event

Visible Political Position

Watch Political Speeches at Podium

Retirement Party Event

The University Aspiration Pack ⭐

Accomplished Lady Aspiration

Family Aspiration

Grow Up Aspiration

Teacher’s Pet Aspiration

Knowledge Aspiration

Retirement Aspiration

Romance Aspiration

Famous Pastry Chef Aspiration

Twilight Years Aspiration

All-Rounder Aspiration

Programming Genius Aspiration

Travel and Culture Aspiration

Wellness Aspiration

9 to 5 Career Pack ⭐

Night Shift Career Pack ⭐

Part Time Career Pack ⭐

Fitness Career

Health and Beauty Career

Modeling Career

Journalism Career (Adult + Teen)

Trust Fund Career (Adult + Teen)

Welfare Recipient (Adult + Teen)

Saturday Jobs (Teens)

Oceanography Career (Teens)

Private Tutoring Career (Teens)

All Freelancer Careers (Teens)

Tutor (Odd Job)

Woohoo (Odd Job) - lmao

Art Show Event

hahaha... adulting sucks:

Basemental Alcohol ⭐

Happy Hour Event

SNB Realistic Bills ⭐

SNB Banking

Invest in Stocks

Lowered Thermostat Bills

Instant Thermostat ⭐

Auto Wrinkles for Adults

Life Decider

House Warming Party (No More Fruitcake)

Door Knock Notification ⭐

Island Events Notifications ⭐

No Strangers Knocking at Your Door

Quick Showers / Baths ⭐

Shower + Bladder Reliever (don’t judge me)

Power Nap ⭐

Sleep All Night

Smarter Robot Vacuum

Functional Tide Pods

Clean Your Bedsheets

Auto Put Away Clothes

Auto Start/Dry Clothes

Laundry on Community Lots Costs

No Idle Laundry Animations / Sparkles

Don’t Prep Food Where You Angry Poop ⭐

Don’t Wash Dishes Where You Angry Poop ⭐

Eco Dishwasher

Faster Cooking ⭐

No Auto Set the Table

Ask to Cook, Bake, Grill

BBQ Event

Custom Food + Recipe’s ⭐

Custom Drinks + Recipe’s ⭐

Grannie’s Old Cookbook + Recipe’s ⭐

Bake Cupcakes in Oven

Coolers are Cooling

Advanced Fishing ⭐

Fishing Trip Event

Fish for Crabs, Lobster, & Shrimp

More Seafood Servings

More Snacks in Fridge

More Food at the Bar

More Food in the Cafe

Flea Market Every Sunday

Get to Church

just in case you... get famous:

No Fame Decay ⭐

Celebrities Never Reject Fans

Celebrities are Quarantined in Del Sol Valley ⭐

Get Famous Award Overhaul

Less Celebrity Reactions

Famous Sims Gain Followers Automatically

More Follower’s Resolution for Everyone

Free Staff (Chef, Barista, Bartender, etc.) ⭐

Gardeners and Maids on Weekends

Red Carpet Event

whatever you are... just be happy and healthy:

Fitness Controls ⭐

Balanced Calories ⭐

Go for a Walk

Hiking Increases Herbalism Skill

Power Workouts

Athletic Outfit in Winter ⭐

Healthy Drinks

Improved Meditation Stool

Improved Spa Day Tablet

Improved Yoga Mat ⭐

Craftable Pottery

Less Elder Exhaustion

Less Sickness

Longer Basketball Games

More Fun Stuff

Online Gaming with Headsets

and I can’t forget these... more gameplay mods:

NPC Controller ⭐

Improved Autonomy

Simulation Lag Fix

Simulation Timeline Unclogger

Improved Autonomy During Loading Screens ⭐

No Empty Venues When Arriving ⭐

No Temperature Deaths ⭐

No Death from Murphy Bed

No React to Stranger’s Death

Realistic Death (Mortem) ⭐

Memorial Event

Freezing Sims Don’t Turn Blue ⭐

More Club / Holiday Icons

Make Hidden Holiday Traditions Selectable

Random Holiday Traditions

Wellness Traditions

More Holiday Icons

Less Rain More Sun

Less Snow More Sun

Summer Blow-Out Event

Christmas Eve Event

New Year’s Eve Bash Event

No Ugly Rain Outfits

More Umbrella Variations in World

Open Umbrella on Rainy Days Only

No More Broken Umbrellas

Destroy Leaf Piles ⭐

Dress Code Lot Trait

Gender and More Lot Trait

Preferences Lot Trait

Add Sims to Groups During Events

No Auto Club Gathering ⭐

Flower Arrangements Slower Decay

Take Photo Overhaul (Moschino Stuff) ⭐

Snorkel Everywhere

Don’t Turn NPC’s into Spellcasters

No Role Outfits for Sages

ROM Portal Only for Spellcasters

& you also need these... much-needed overrides:

More Sponge Colors

More Sippy Cup Colors

More Dog Leash Colors

White Ice Skates

Better Food Textures (All of Them) ⭐

Hidden Bassinet ⭐

iPhone X Phone Replacement

Playing Cards Replacement

Military Salute Overhaul

Small Saucer Light ⭐

Working Medicine Cabinet ⭐

Working Alarm Clocks ⭐

Realistic Fighting Animation

Oasis Springs + Island Living Palm Trees ⭐

special thank you to all of the wonderful mod creators! seriously, I could not play this game without you guys... (no, really.) There are way too many of you guys to name without missing someone... so if you reblog this, all I ask is that you please tag your favorite modders! (& maybe even add your favorite mods?)

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cotccotc · 4 years ago

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genre/s: felix x barista!reader (gender neutral), fluff, angst, coworkers to lovers au, bakery / barista au (feat. baker / bff!minho, (strict) manager!chan, barista!jeongin, and baker!seungmin)

wc: 6.9k 😎

warnings: many mentions of food (specifically sweets such as cupcakes, brownies, cookies, etc.), some swearing, arguing, probably very poor editing oops <3

a/n: this is part of the @districtninewriters “dear skz, with love” event :D THIS IS ALSO THE LONGEST FIC I’VE EVER WRITTEN AHHH i’m really really proud of it !!! i hope u love it besties !!!!!!!!

it was a frostbitten february evening when you met the boy at the bakery.

you were seated upon the counter, back turned to the deep brown door through which you’d first entered months ago, eager to apply for a barista position. minho sat across from you on the cashier stool. he was always better with the baked goods. you were a great team. the two of you were bored; a familiar feeling that accompanied weeknights at the bakery-cafe. people tended to arrive either in the morning time or late in the afternoon, and very seldom later. plus, your manager trusted the two of you enough to lock up on your own. and so, the two of you would be left to your own devices for a few measly hours a night per week.

“i bet you couldn’t make a batch of sugar biscuits without instructions,” he teased with a snarky grin. he was right. that was more his thing than yours.

so, you retaliated. “i bet you can’t do the same with a mocha frappe. or even simpler: an iced americano.”

“please!”

“oh yeah? step right up, biscuit boy,” you retorted with a giggle, gesturing to the coffee maker that sat beside him. there were multiple in the shop, and truth be told, he had no idea which was used for what types of beverages.

confidently, he grabbed a cup from the stack on the table behind him, striding over to one of the machines. he then took a look at all the knobs and buttons, clearing his throat. you chuckled. with his finger ghosting over one of the buttons, he turned back toward you to check for your reaction. “not even close,” you remarked. he clicked his tongue, turning back toward the coffee maker. “just a hint,” you added, “the first step isn’t coffee.”

he simply looked up, bewildered. he turned back toward you, dropping his hands to his sides and parting his lips into a circular expression of disbelief.

suddenly, the sparkling tone of the door chime behind you caught both of your attention. peculiar. nobody was usually around at that hour. as minho put his cup back on the table, you hopped off the counter, turning toward the front of the store.

in walked one of the most strikingly handsome boys you think you’ve ever seen. if not the most handsome. an angular face; fair, slightly pink-tinted skin decorated with the most endearing assortment of freckles. they were almost reminiscent of the chocolate sprinkles minho used to top off the cupcakes situated inside the glass counter case. his hair was a vanilla blond and long enough to delicately cascade over the side edges of his face. cherry red lips that parted upon his arrival, chocolatey brown eyes staring right back at yours. he was astonishing.

“how can we help you?” minho asked him, stepping forward. he couldn’t help but notice the way your eyes seemed to be bugging out of your head. he had to stifle a chuckle or two.

the boy’s eyes lingered on yours for a moment. or maybe you dreamed it that way. regardless, he walked up to the counter, inquisitively placing his hands behind his back and bent over to glance at the contents of the case. “hi! uh…” he seemed sweet, though his voice was much deeper than you’d expected. it was unique. he was unique. and in quite a rush, as well. “...shit,” he cursed under his breath. he seemed to have startled himself with his expression. he looked back up at you, then at minho, a tight-lipped smile and strawberry-pink blush appearing on his face. “sorry,” he said.

minho finally let out a chuckle. “no worries. what’re you looking for?” he was always so good with the customers. smooth yet considerate, witty, yet firm. you always aspired to be a little more like minho when it came to customer service.

“do you have any of the salted caramel cupcakes left? they seem to be gone.”

“ah, we seem to have run out of those. could i interest you in a peanut butter cupcake instead?”

the boy shook his head. “no… she likes caramel.”

she. there was a she.

“may i ask what the occasion is?” minho asked.

“it’s my mom’s birthday, and she’ll be home from work soon... hopefully. i would’ve made my own gift to her but i didn’t have the time…”

“enough said,” your coworker assured him. “does she like chocolate? we have a few salted caramel brownies in the back.”

he almost gasped. “that’s perfect!” he paused. “um… how much is that? i-is it more than the cupcake, or…?”

minho glanced through the glass at the tag beside the brownie tray. “nope. less, actually.”

the boy let out a short sigh of relief. “great. thanks so much.”

“ah, it’s nothing. one sec,” minho said before walking into the kitchen to grab the brownie from the fridge. an awkward silence ensued between you and the boy.

“a name for the order?” you blurted. dumbass, you thought to yourself.

“i’m… the only one in the store…” he replied.

heat rose to your cheeks. “i… um… it’s protocol-”

“felix.” he cut you off before you could embarrass yourself further. he could tell you were nervous.

a unique name as well. of course.

“coming right up, felix,” you murmured, a hint of sarcasm in your voice. both of you chuckled.

minho came back out to the counter holding a small blue box with the cafe logo on top. “you’re all set! that’ll be…” he pressed few buttons into the cash register before continuing. “ten thousand won.”

“perfect.” felix grabbed his wallet out of his coat pocket. he pulled out a few bills from the black leather case, handing them to minho with a small smile. he was excited to surprise his mother, and happy that it wouldn’t cost as much as he’d thought it would. and you found it adorable.

minho took the money, ringing felix up and inserting the bills into the register. he handed felix the box, which made the boy’s face light up even more. it was hard for you to suppress a similar countenance. “i hope she likes it. have a good night!” minho said, closing the register. he crossed his arms and leaned on the counter as felix waved to the both of you and began walking back toward the door.

“thanks so much. you too,” he said, giving minho a small bow.

with his hand on the door, he glanced back at you once more. you smiled. he returned the expression. and just like that, with a brief gust of cold air sweeping through the shop, the boy was gone.

“you, uh… you know we only take names when there’s a line, right?” minho teased as the door shut, the chime letting out what seemed to be a pitied laugh.

you held your hands up to your forehead. “ugh, i know! i’m such an idiot,” you replied, letting your nerves go with a chuckle. he patted you on the shoulder, laughing with you.

in between laughs, he remarked, “he really made you that nervous, huh?”

“you could tell?! oh, great… wonderful!”

the two of you carried on for a moment, making light of the otherwise mortifying exchange. but finally, minho glanced at the clock and asked, “would you mind locking up tonight? i’ve got a date.”

“ooh!” you cooed, taunting him. “a date... who’s the not-so-lucky lady?”

“what joke book did you get that one from, hm? i had no idea you even knew how to read!” you gave him a playful punch in the arm for his sarcastic dig, causing him to giggle. yet, he answered your question, saying, “it’s a girl i met on the train home from school the other night. chaeyoung.” he looked off to the side, seemingly entranced. “she’s really witty and smart… and gorgeous. like... gorgeous.”

“ah, yes… so gorgeous that it causes men to leave their posts… and friends…”

“if i bring you back some takeout, will you quit being an ass?”

you pondered the question for a moment. and, while you’d be bored as hell in his absence, closing up the shop wasn’t much of a hassle on weeknights… and, well, you could always go for a free meal. “...pleasure doing business with you, lee minho.”

“thank you. as with you,” he commented in return. he took off the periwinkle blue, involuntarily worn apron which you’ve both been made to wear, revealing what you hadn’t even noticed was a dressy outfit. well, dressier than usual. he’d opted for a pale blue button-up shirt, tucked into black skinny jeans, all tied together by a chic black belt and a pair of black loafers. not to mention the small silver hoop earrings and matching necklace. you had to admit, he did look dapper.

he quickly strode to the back of the kitchen at which there resided a small storage room where you and the other employees usually dropped off your belongings. he grabbed his backpack and put on his long black coat, quickly making his way back up to the counter and walking around to the front of the store. “catch you tomorrow! thanks again.”

“takeout! don’t forget!”

“i couldn’t even if i tried,” he retorted, opening the door. the two of you waved to each other before he took his leave.

moments later, the door opened once again. you figured minho must’ve forgotten something. looking up, you began to ask, “what’d you forget this ti-”

it wasn’t minho.

it was felix.

he paused in his footing, little blue box still in hand. you jumped just a little. he noticed. “s-sorry… i just, um…” he looked off to the side. “i guess this is a bit of a long shot... considering the two of you seem to be more than enough staff… but…” he paused again, taking a moment to straighten his posture and scratch the back of his head. “is there any chance you might be hiring… any time soon?”

the answer was no. undoubtedly. he was right in thinking that you, minho, and the other employees were perfectly capable of handling the cafe. though some mornings and weekends were a bit tight, the team made it work. if this was anybody else, you could’ve easily said no.

yet, he persisted. “i can bake! i like to think i’ve been getting better at it… and i can clean as well.”

you couldn’t turn him down. you simply couldn’t. not with those kind eyes locking themselves with yours, the enthusiasm in his deep voice, or the hastening beat of your heart. “i’ll talk to my manager!” you affirmed. you smiled, causing a similar reaction out of him. an idea popped into your mind. if only for a moment, you thought it was the best you’d ever had. your eyes averted themselves to the pale yellow note pad and ballpoint pen on the counter, used to take orders from seated customers. “here,” you said, reaching for the pen and paper and handing it to felix. “if you’ll give me your number, i can text you with any updates.”

he walked back up to the counter for the second time that night, taking his number down on the pad. as you watched him intently, eyes fixated on his concentrated face, you silently praised yourself for being so brave. especially after the whole name debacle. your heart was at its wits’ end. “there,” he said, placing the pen down on the counter and sliding the notepad back to you. “i really appreciate it.” he sounded so genuine. he flashed you another smile. he had such a grand, bright, toothy smile. it would stay in your memory for days, weeks, even months to come. you can still recall it now.

“it’s no problem,” you responded. “...i really hope your mom likes the brownie.”

“thanks. i’m sure she will.” he turned to walk toward the door. you almost turned away as well, excited to examine the style with which he’d written on the pad, until he spun back around once more. “oh! one more thing… can i get your name as well?”

the question came as a bit of a surprise. you nodded to him, letting out a short giggle. “y/n.”

he grinned again. it was smaller that time; a bit more subdued. effortfully so. “ah. well…” he began walking backward, eyes connected with yours as he headed toward the door. “goodnight, y/n.”

“goodnight, felix.”

and thus, your pursuit for a job offering began.

your manager, chan, was reluctant to accept your proposal for him to give felix an interview. however, you made note of how eager he’d seemed that night and the skills he’d mentioned having. you also mentioned how he’d been so enthused to find out the price of his order. and so, after a couple days’ worth of mulling it over, chan finally gave in.

you weren’t supposed to be at the cafe when felix was being interviewed. however, your saturday afternoon shift had just ended, and the place was essentially empty. well… apart from you, chan, felix, and then jeongin, who wandered in from the storage room to find you eavesdropping from behind the wall separating the kitchen and the dining area.

“y/n?” he asked. “what are you-”

you inaudibly shushed him, motioning for him to come closer and hide with you. he did so.

“chan’s interviewing someone,” you whispered to the boy.

“ah…” he responded, his tone hushed. “so why are we hiding?”

“because we’re not supposed to be listening.”

“so why are we doing it?”

“because i want to know how it’s going.”

“so why can’t you just-”

you shushed him again. he obliged, covering his mouth with his hand.

from the other side of the wall, chan asked, “so felix, do you have a resume?”

“uh…” felix stammered. you could hear the nerves in his voice.

“let me put it this way,” chan offered instead. “do you have any prior working experience? at another cafe, another store, a completely different place...?”

“oh! yes. i’ve bagged groceries at the supermarket on third street for the last few months. that’s where my mom works. but i’d much rather work here, if i’m honest...”

“ah. okay.” chan nodded, jotting down some notes in his notebook. “so y/n told me you could clean...”

before chan could finish, felix proudly exclaimed, “i can! i do a lot of cleaning at home.”

“perfect.”

the interview went on for a few more minutes. jeongin let out a few silent chuckles every once in a while, mocking your state of concentration. but who could blame you? you just wanted to make sure felix got the position. he seemed to need it.

you totally weren’t in it for his smile… the freckles… the adorable creases that formed at the edges of his eyes when he grinned with that sweet, genuine, toothy grin of his… no, not at all…

nevertheless, he got the job.

“i love this apron,” felix had said to you on his first day. he was quite fond of your uniform. everyone else in the shop hated them; what, with the pale blue color, white pinstripe pattern, and the ‘one-size-fits-all’ design. yet, in every sense of the phrase, it fit felix perfectly.

“i’m glad someone does,” you replied. he laughed.

“when i got the cleaning job, i wasn’t sure i’d get to wear one. but i’m happy i do.” he smiled at you, his pearlescent teeth on full display and face aglow with joy.

after about a week of training, felix became a natural at his job. though it wasn’t much, he took great pride in his work and enjoyed taking any opportunity he saw to do a little extra sweeping, some more dish washing, and even some dusting here and there.

he also fit right into the employee dynamic. every once in a while, you’d find him playing hand games with jeongin. or, sometimes, minho would discuss baking with him, as he often noted his affinity for it.

“have you ever tried using oats in your chocolate chip cookies?” felix asked. it was monday night. and, as per usual, the shop was devoid of customers.

minho looked puzzled. “oats?”

“yeah. it adds a little nuttiness. it’s really, really good.”

“huh… i’ll have to try it out sometime. i like to add a bit of coffee grounds to the flour when i make mine.” then, he leaned in to whisper, “don’t tell chan, though.” felix let out a nervous giggle.

“don’t worry,” you said to him. “minho’s only kidding. i’d never let him touch my coffee grounds.” this made all three of you laugh.

after the laughter died down, felix looked at the clock. it was four in the afternoon. “well, my shift is over,” he said. you were disappointed. hanging out with felix had become a bit of a highlight for you. he always carried himself so kindly. he had a bubbly soul, and a pure twinkle took residence in his eye whenever he smiled. you couldn’t help but feel light and airy while around him.

“hey, i’ve been meaning to ask,” minho started to felix. “do you bike here?”

the other boy was confused. “no. why?”

“oh… then, do you walk?”

“yeah. it’s only a few blocks,” felix responded, shrugging.

“do you need a ride?”

felix paused to think. “don’t you need to stay here? to lock up and everything…”

“i’ll come right back.”

you chimed in, suggesting, “i can close tonight.”

“you sure?” minho asked you. “i don’t have any food to bribe you with this time.” you both chuckled.

“it’s fine by me,” you said.

minho thanked you, stating once again that he owed you. the amount of times you’d done this for him was countless. but you never seemed to mind. and so, off they went. you were glad felix had integrated into the friend group so well. you supposed that he was just that loveable.

when it finally came time for you to close up shop having not received any other customers for the night, you waltzed into the storage room to grab your things. however, you noticed something strange sitting atop one of the shelves that hadn’t been there that morning.

an envelope. with your name on it. and a tupperware container filled with a single slice of what looked like chocolate cake.

your heart flinched. you were shocked. flustered, flushed. confused… but endeared. you hesitated. shakily, you tore open the cream-colored envelope’s seal, careful not to rip too much. you wanted to preserve its crisp smoothness.

“y/n,” the note said...

“a gift to you,

a chocolatey treat,

a token of thanks

for being so sweet.

~ me”

your heart fluttered. you ran to the kitchen, opening the container and grabbing a freshly-cleaned fork from the metal sink. you dried it off on your apron before excitedly digging into the dessert. it was more of a brownie than a cake, you realized, with melted chocolate chunks stuffed inside. it tasted amazing.

you began wondering who this mystery gifter could’ve been. it couldn’t have been minho… it simply couldn’t have. the two of you were much too close. and he was always more confident than anybody you’d met. if he liked you, you would have already known. besides, things seemed to be going well with him and chaeyoung. no… this had to be someone else. jeongin, perhaps. he did always made such high praises about your cappuccino-crafting abilities. you looked to your left and right, peering around the kitchen for signs of life. but alas, you were all alone in the cafe.

then it hit you.

of course...

felix.

you recalled the first time you met. when you had him jot his number down on the piece of paper. you remembered his handwriting; the way some characters curled on the ends, the rounded shape of his letter e, the squiggly line he used before he signed his name… it was felix. it had to be.

and you were ecstatic.

the next day, you entered the shop to find a full house. it was a saturday morning, after all. you enjoyed the breakfast rush, mainly because you got the chance to show off your coffee-making skills. you made your way to the kitchen, greeting jeongin at the counter on your way in. you said hello to minho and seungmin as well, who were busy stand-mixing and hand-folding various types of batter. they were a great team, especially on mornings like those. though they tended to bicker about ingredients and proportions, the sweet treats they’d concoct always turned out excellently.

finally, felix emerged from the storage area, duster in hand. when he saw you, however, he froze. with his eyes wide and cheeks beginning to flush, he greeted you. “h-hi, y/n… good morning!”

you let out a bit of a giggle. does he know that i know? you asked yourself. granted, the mysterious gift giver signed off as ‘me,’ so you couldn’t say you were positive… but this reaction told you otherwise. “morning!”

he nodded, smiling nervously. he gestured to the storage room. “the shelves in there are all dusted now.”

“great! i think i’ll… um…” you pointed to the room, slipping past him to stash away your belongings and put on your apron.

“yep! you… do that…” he muttered as you walked away.

however, when you walked in, you found something peculiar displayed upon the shelf.

another envelope. and another container.

you turned back toward the door to find felix peeking in. you chuckled. “so it was you!”

he stepped to the side, coming into full view. “how’d you know?” he asked.

“i just… had a feeling.” you grinned.

he paused, a tight-lipped smile spread across his face. “well, open it.”

you placed your coat and bag on one of the shelves below. you then opened up the envelope just like you had the previous night: meticulously, yet enthralled. it read,

“another dessert

for a person so sweet

will you honor me kindly,

and go out with me?

YES / NO

~ me”

once you looked back up at him, felix commented, “you were supposed to circle one…” he then began rambling. “i thought you didn’t come in until later. you don’t have to say anything right now, or at all, and-”

though you thought it adorable, you cut off his nervous prattle, stating, “yes.”

his eyes grew even wider, his strawberry tinted lips forming a circular shape. “you mean…”

“i’ll go out with you, felix,” you confirmed.

his face lit up. and yours did, too.

thus, one date became two, two became four…

by the end of february, you were officially a couple.

you were a perfect match. each of you complimented each other so well, rivaling the bittersweetness of a good cappuccino when paired with a light and fluffy slice of cake. like minho, felix’s baking abilities and knowledge never ceased to amaze you. you explained the ins and outs of coffee brewing while he told you all about how he bakes his tasty treats. he even showed you some of the recipes his mom handed down to him from generations past.

his mom sounded so wonderful… yet, a part of you felt so sorry for her. felix’s dad left when he was young, and she’s always had to fend for herself and her son all on her own. however, when she was let go from her office position the previous year, things began to spiral. she took up two jobs: one at the local grocery store and another waitressing at a restaurant in the next town. she was always so busy. but felix understood. he tried helping out, especially by working at the supermarket with her that fall. nothing seemed to get any better.

that is, until he landed his job at the cafe.

felix constantly thanked you for helping him out. chan paid him a considerable amount more than what he’d received at the supermarket, which helped him and his mother out greatly. anything would. aside from telling how lovely, smart, witty, and gorgeous you were, felix’s mission in life was to remind you how you’d saved it.

one monday, you entered the storage room on your break to find a sight all too familiar. a handwritten note and small sliver of baked loveliness, all wrapped up in a metaphorical bow of allure and intrigue. nevertheless, however, you were still just as giddy as the first time you’d received one of felix’s treats. suddenly, you felt a finger graze along your shoulder, moving your hair to the side as an arm wrapped itself around your waist. two warm, pillowy lips made contact with your cheek, gently pecking the skin. felix.

you let out a giggle. “is this for me?” you asked, facetiously.

“of course,” he muttered beside your ear, his tone low, entrancing, and chill-inducing. he kissed your cheek again, holding you close and swaying you from side to side. “it’s another brownie. try it,” he suggested as his chin settled upon your shoulder.

you did as he said, biting into the small slice of fudgy goodness. to your surprise, chunks of melted caramel oozed out of the dessert, cutting through the rich chocolatiness of the brownie with a tangy edge. you hummed in satisfaction. “a salted caramel brownie,” you noted, swallowing your bite.

he chuckled. “i figured i’d finally try it out, maybe give some to my mom… do you like it?”

you placed the sweet back into its container and turned around in his arms, wrapping yours around his neck. you smiled. “i love it, lix. thank you.”

he grinned back at you. pulling you closer by the waist, he sealed the space between his lips and yours with a kiss. his lips were always even softer and more captivating than the texture of his confections. sweeter, too.

after his lips left yours, he gazed into your eyes, holding you close. “open the note, love.”

you excitedly spun back around, doing as instructed. opening the crisp white envelope seal and pulling out the folded sheet of paper, you read its contents.

“a caramel kiss

for you, my love.

i can’t give you the world.

but i hope i’m enough.

~ felix”

you paused. you were puzzled. visibly so, you figured, since when you turned around the look on felix’s face shifted.

he took your hand in his, rubbing small circles into the skin with his thumb. he kept his head down as he spoke. “i wish i could do more. i wish i could take you out to nice places, bake you batches of your favorite sweets, get you real gifts…”

a sharp pain struck your heart. “lix…” you murmured. “i don’t need any of those things. and as far as i’m concerned, these are ‘real gifts.’ they come from your heart. that’s as real as it gets.”

“i know, love, but…”

you placed a hand on his cheek, guiding him to look back up at you. “you don’t even have to do this stuff for me. i know that you care.”

he gave you a forced, shy smile. “okay. i’m glad.” he placed his own hand on top of yours, warm fingertips pressing gently against your skin.

“felix! y/n!” chan called from the kitchen. it was saturday night, and the last of the day’s customers were taking their leave. you were standing by the coffee-makers, in the middle of telling felix about the time you’d bested jeongin in a macchiato-making contest during a breakfast rush.

both of you turned toward the kitchen door, concerned. chan poked his head out. “can you come here a minute?” he looked serious. something was wrong.

nevertheless, the two of you obliged. holding hands, you made your way to the kitchen, led by chan to the cooling racks. “what’s up?” you asked.

chan cleared his throat before shoving his hands into his pockets. “i have reason to believe that one of you, or both, has violated protocol.”

you quickly grew confused. felix’s hand tightened around yours. you glanced at him, noticing how his face flushed pale. “uh…” he stammered.

“early this morning, seungmin pointed out that we’re low on cocoa powder. now, that’s odd, especially considering we had three cans of it yesterday. now we only have two.” you both nodded at him, following along. “...so i took a look at the camera footage.”

felix let go of your hand. “c-cameras?” he stuttered. you were even more confused.

“yeah. the cameras,” chan confirmed, looking felix dead in the eye. “i watched the footage from yesterday. and the day before.”

felix gulped. “you… you did….”

“what the hell is going on?” you asked.

chan let out a bit of a sigh. “y/n. were you aware that felix has been taking ingredients from the kitchen?”

your heart dropped.

you glanced at your boyfriend. he glanced back at you. he then bit his bottom lip, averting his eyes down to the floor. you looked back at chan, calmly answering, “no… i had no idea.”

“is that true?” chan asked.

“yes.” you then turned to felix, face ablaze. “it’s true.”

“then in that case, you can go for the night. i’d like to talk to felix. alone.”

after one last unreciprocated look at your boyfriend, you quickly rummaged through the storage room, collected your things, and left. you stood outside of the cafe, waiting for whatever might happen next. your stomach was doing flips. you couldn’t possibly believe what you’d heard.

minutes elapsed. it felt more like hours. all you could think to do was lean up against a lamp post and watch the gloomy clouds shift overhead. the sun was close to being fully set, casting a deep purple tint over the whole street landscape. and it looked as though it was about to rain.

after what felt like an exorbitantly long time, felix emerged from the shop. the door closed behind him as he bolted down the steps and onto the pavement, that familiar chime sending a chill through you. it sounded almost eerie that night. out of place. taunting.

“lix,” you called. you walked behind him, despite his quickening pace. but he wouldn’t stop or slow down. “lix,” you exclaimed again. no answer. finally, you grabbed his arm, realizing his apron was gone, and shouted, “felix! slow down.”

he scoffed, stopping dead in his tracks. “he fired me.”

you stared at him, blankly. once again, you couldn’t believe it.

“i tried to do something nice, and he fired me.”

“do you think it makes me feel any better?” you asked. “you getting yourself fired so you could make me little brownie experiments?” you paused, taking a deep breath. you were outraged. more so with yourself. you should’ve asked how he was finding the time or the resources to be doing what he was doing. you should’ve known. “i thought you needed this job. when were you gonna tell me you were a thief?”

“a thief?!” felix’s eyes seemed to be bulging out of his head. he was surprised at your verbiage. he’d never seen you upset like this. “y/n, i’m not a thief.” you rolled your eyes. his cheeks flushed crimson. a prickling sensation began around his eyes. a stinging, almost. tears. he looked down at his sneakers. tattered white converse. the same ones he wore every day to work. the same ones on which he’d splattered a few droplets of brownie batter during his latest attempt at making you a gift. now, it just looked like a stain of mud. “i didn’t just take cocoa powder. i took eggs… some milk… a couple cups of flour here and there… my mom got demoted at the restaurant. she works the bar now. she thinks i asked for the stuff. so yeah, i did need this job! i do need it. i just fucked up...” under his breath, trying not to give into the tears that prodded at his eyes, he remarked, “‘little brownie experiments’... that’s all they ever were to you? little brownie experiments...”

you realized what you’d said. of course that’s not all they were to you. they were everything to you. but that isn’t what you’d said. “lix… i-”

“you know what, you’re right,” he muttered, shifting his weight back and forth on his feet, hands clasped behind his back, and eyes rapidly blinking to avoid the inevitable. “they probably weren’t even all that good.”

you took a step closer to him. a drop of water fell onto your shoulder from above. “no.. no, that’s not what i-”

but, as quickly as you approached him, he stepped back. he locked eyes with you once again. his eyes were glossy; tainted with the aftereffects of a broken heart. suddenly, a steady stream of drizzling rain began to fall from the night sky above you. felix’s lip quivered. yet, with a furrowing brow, he continued. “you know what, maybe this was all a mistake.” his voice cracked a bit; frayed at the edges. “maybe i should’ve gotten a different job. at a place that would pay me enough to be able to buy my own shit and pay my mom’s bills.” the rain fell harder now, coating his hair and dragging it down over his face. you didn’t even feel it as it completely drenched you as well.

seeing him like this affected you just as much as your words did him. guilt. the panging, crushing weight of guilt laid heavily upon your heart. “felix…” you whimpered, tears of your own beginning to cloud your line of sight. though, you could still see clear enough to watch him shake his head, turning around and beginning his ascent up the avenue. clear as ever. even despite the pitter-patter of evening gloom.

sopping wet, you marched back into the shop. you ripped off your apron, throwing it down upon the counter. you then walked back behind it to start preparing to close up for the night. all you wanted was to go home.

that is, until you spotted an envelope tucked beside the cappuccino maker.

a creamy white envelope, with your name and a heart inscribed on the back. and a tupperware container. a single teardrop descended from the corner of your eye, resembling the droplets of rain that covered your form. you carefully took hold of the envelope. you gently tore it open, making sure not to rip it, just like you’d done the very first and subsequent times.

“another present

for my love;

my dear y/n,

sent from above.

~ felix”

a drop of rain fell from your hair onto the page, dampening his name. the black ink began to run, the letters seeping into each other.

you could no longer control your tears. you took a seat on the floor, back resting against a leg of the table upon which the coffee makers stood. the metal was cold. but you paid it no mind. with your head on your knees, legs bent and arms wrapped around them, you cried. audibly. you couldn’t believe how you’d spoken to him. you should’ve known that he didn’t have the money to bake you these little presents on his own. you should’ve realized from the moment he confirmed it was him. at least, that’s what you thought to yourself as the tears expelled themselves from your system.

he just wanted to make you something special. yes, he broke the rules. yes, he stole from the cafe. and yes, he knew it was wrong. but he just wanted to make you something special. it was the only way he believed he could. and you wish you’d seen that. not just so you could’ve prevented it, but also so you could’ve appreciated it even more. so you could’ve seen that not only was he working overtime to make you something you might enjoy, but that he was risking his job for you and his mother. it wasn’t a perfect gesture - not by a long shot. but he meant well. he always did. and you didn’t even give him the chance to explain.

you loved him.

after a few moments of solitude, you regained your breath. you sniffled, looking down at the note. you then stood back up, taking hold of the container. its contents looked delicious. but you couldn’t consume it. not even if you’d been hungry. so, you dumped it into the trashcan beside the table. and, with a deep, shaky breath, you ripped up the letter and envelope into tiny pieces. it was a bittersweet feeling, letting go. but you had to do it. and so, home you went.

a week passed. things never really changed at the cafe once felix left. weeknights were still as slow as ever. maybe even slower. you missed him.

minho emerged from the kitchen one evening to find you wiping down the cappuccino maker with a coffee-stained rag. it was the third time you’d done it that day. twice more than you were getting paid for. and of course he noticed. “how’re you holding up?” he asked.

you barely glanced up at him, busy rubbing the same spot on the metal machine over and over. this stupid stain just wouldn’t budge. each time you’d gone over it that day, you couldn’t seem to make it go away. it plagued your mind, infiltrating your subconscious when you least expected it until you finally decided to go back to it for the second time, then the third. it was a real mood killer. though your mood hadn’t been very lively when the day began, either. “‘m fine,” you replied through gritted teeth, brows angled inward as your focus remained on the task at hand.

“are you?” he questioned, playfully. he leaned on the counter behind you, crossing his arms and watching you scrub. “you’ve been going at it with that thing for hours now. what’d it ever do to y-”

“i’m fine!” you interjected. you then paused, both in speech and action. suddenly, you were aware of how fast you’d been rubbing the machine. as well as how loud your voice had raised itself. you turned around. “...sorry.”

he gave a pitied smile, crossing his arms. “it’s ok. i’m fine,” he replied, mimicking you. it made you chuckle. he was glad it did. “is, uh… is this a bad time to ask you to lock up? i’ve got a.. uh…”

“a date?” you supposed, unfeeling.

he cleared his throat, glancing between you, the clock above you, and his shoes. “yeah,” he confirmed. “with chaeyoung. would you mind?”

“not at all.”

“you sure?” you nodded. “alright… i owe you one… or ten...” he joked, untying his apron.

“no you don’t,” you murmured, eyes drifting to the side. you almost turned back around, heart set on getting to that stain, until you felt his hand on your arm. you glanced at each other for a moment. he looked sad. sorry. he pitied you. and you hated it. yet, as he took you in his arms, wrapping you into a tight, benevolent hug, you became a little less tense. a little less angry. you hugged him back, burying your face into his shoulder. this was the first time you’d ever engaged in such a gesture with your coworker. sure, you were friends. and sure, you’d talked about some deep stuff on nights like these with nothing better to do. but this was different. meaningful. sweet.

after a moment, minho remarked, “you know i miss him too, right?” he sounded mockingly peeved. “he was your boyfriend but he was my friend.”

you looked up at him, confused. “you’re not still friends?”

he chuckled. “no! he’s avoiding me the same way he’s avoiding you.”

laughing with him, you responded, “shit… i’m sorry, minho.”

“you have nothing to apologize for.” he let go of you, hands remaining on your sides for a moment. “you both messed up. it’s not all your fault.” you nodded to him, a reluctant, close-lipped smile upon your face. he glanced up at the clock again before pulling his apron off. “i’ve gotta go. thanks again for locking up, y/n.” he walked past the counter to the front of the store. “i’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” he added, pointing at you while striding backwards toward the door.

“see you tomorrow,” you replied, waving to him. “have fun.” you still sounded a bit bitter. you couldn’t help it.

“thanks,” he said. the chimes twinkled as the door closed. it haunted you.

and with that, he was gone. nothing but you, your rag, and that unnerving coffee stain for another half-hour’s time.

you heard the opening and closing of the door behind you once again. with a sigh, not even bothering to turn around, you blurted, “we’re about to lock up for the night.”

no response. odd. maybe they didn’t hear you. you tried again, raising your voice a bit but continuing your attempts to clear up the stain all the while. “i apologize, but we’re closed for the night-”

“one salted caramel brownie, please.”

a familiar voice. a familiar, low-toned, nostalgia-inducing voice. the voice that, at one time, softened for you… close enough to your ear to make your stomach tie itself in knots. the voice that made you giggle, the voice that called you “love”... the voice that cracked when faced with the realization that it was never to be heard by you again. you spun around.

a familiar face, too.

felix.

his eyes gazed into yours. somber, silent.

“y-you...”

“hey.”

tags: @magglesx, @crscendoforsung, @stayndays, @hanniiesuckle17, @leggomylino, @freckledberries, @pixielix, @skzctnightnight, @serenityswords-main, @childofthecosmos, @changbinniee, @kpopscape, @skzwriternet, @hyunsins, @sleepylixie, @ncityluvvs, @vera-liscious (send a 🍓 in my ask box to be added for skz !)

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thesnowinthemountains · 4 years ago

Text

Monsta X as the guy who hits on you in a bookstore

(a/n: I work in a used bookstore and this is entirely self-indulgent, please enjoy.)

Shownu

Your intention for the day was to find a vegan cookbook for your best friend, so you wandered over to the cooking section of the bookshop after having already scoured the stacks of fiction and fantasy, taking your own pick. Knelt near the bottom shelf was a young man. You couldn’t quite see his face but his hair was fluffy and promising. He stood up abruptly to his full six foot of height, towering over you, his eyebrows knit together in full concentration. He was flipping through a book on baking, something seemingly too soft for someone of his stature. He glanced over at you while you searched the shelves on your own quest. “Uh…” You turned to him. “Yes?” He seemed taken aback that you had even heard him, staring at you wide-eyed. “Sorry, um, do you know anything about cooking?” He asked quickly. “Some. What do you want to know?” He proceeded to ask a few questions, explaining he wanted to bake cupcakes for a friend’s birthday, double-goaled to both impress and surprise them with actual baking skills. After a few minutes of conversation and light laughter, he shut the book he’d been holding and turned fully to you. “Do you think I could have your phone number or something? I think I would be better at this with a little help…”

Wonho

“Do you- do you work here?” A tentative voice asked from the end of the bookshelf you were currently rummaging through. “I don’t, but I understand your confusion,” you chuckled, contemplating the stack at your feet and the fact that your hands were between books in the shelf. “Oh, well, do you know about books?” You turned to find an incredibly well-sculpted man. He looked entirely out of place but sounded so shy, and you were immediately taken by the messy black hair and large glasses over his nose. “I do. Why?” You stood up fully, also determining he stood a good few inches over you. “I- This is kind of a thing,” he paced over. “It’s my little niece’s birthday next week, she loves reading, it’s all she ever does. I have no idea what to get her, but I know it needs to be a book. I even, look,” he pulled out his phone, “I took a picture of the books she already has so I don’t buy the same ones.” You looked at the screen, recognizing titles from when you were in your very early teens. “Oh, I can definitely help with that. Um, just... “ You peered down at the books you had previously picked out, still on the floor and waiting to be brought home. “I’ll help you if you carry my books.” “Oh, absolutely,” he bent down as soon as you said it.

Minhyuk

“Why won’t you just let me play Green Day, though?” You whined at your boss for the millionth time that week. You had recently gotten a job at a local used bookstore and had rapidly adapted to your small team of coworkers, mostly by taking over the radio which was overly used to Phil Collins and Bryan Adams. You added life to the boutique. “Listen, I like Green Day as much as the next guy, but half of our customer base is little old ladies, I’m not sure they’re super down with pop punk on a Monday night,” your boss replied. “Which album?” Minhyuk jumped in. He came in every now and then, always a mischievous glimmer in his eye. Today was just the same. “American Idiot,” you replied. “Oh, well, that’s a classic, you have to let her play it.” Minhyuk shrugged, turning to your boss. “She’s clearly got great taste, come on.” “There you go, see? Even he wants Green Day!” You pouted. “Sorry, guys, no can do.” You manager sighed. You scoffed, turning to Minhyuk with a pout. “Party pooper.” Minhyuk pulled his tongue before throwing a smirk your way.

Kihyun

He was a regular at the bookstore you worked at. It was a used bookstore, selling anything and everything literary for dirt cheap and he would come in every few weeks with an empty box ready to fill. He would sit on the floor if he had to, scouring the shelves. Every time you checked him out, you would peak at the titles, feigning checking prices. “Have you read this one?” He asked the last time, pointing to one with a black cover, gold lettering. “I haven’t, but I’ve heard plenty about it. I was actually planning to buy it tonight before leaving, but you beat me to it.” He smiled to himself, seeing an opportunity he’d been waiting for. “Well, you’ll just have to borrow it from me, won’t you?” You looked up. “I guess I might.”

Hyungwon

You were hurrying past the romance section into fantasy which had been moved to the back of the store, according to an employee. You were frowning, disappointed your favorite section didn’t sell enough to be featured front and center, overall just stuck in your own head. In front of a showy display for a new release in romance was an ethereally good-looking young man in a long coat, hair falling into his face. He made you almost stop in your tracks, steps hiccupping. He looked up at you. “Do you know anything about romance novels?” He asked casually. You frowned again. “No.” “Right. My mom sent me to get something for her, but I don’t remember the title, so I’m kind of just hoping I’ll find it.” “Ask an employee?” You hid a smile. The answer seemed simple enough. “I would. I don’t remember the author’s name either, just the cover. Describing it as a ‘woman in a man’s embrace with the sky in the background’ well- I don’t think it’ll get me anywhere looking at this.” “Not particularly,” you laughed despite yourself. “What are you here for?” He looked up at you suddenly, and his eyes were so pretty it took you a second to answer. “The, uh, fantasy… section…” “Take me there.” “What?” You asked, confused. “I don’t know, anywhere’s better than here. I have to call my mom. Where’s the fantasy section?” He looked over the shelves and it occurred to you he was tall enough to actually see the section signs over the shelves.

Jooheon

You had somehow been following each other through the little boutique. It wasn’t intentional, but clearly you had similar taste. He was cute, tall, and you didn’t mind. He knelt down to look at the section for fiction authors whose last names begin in K, then stood up abruptly, turning to L, then M, clearly looking for something. You continued on skimming the shelves. He cleared his throat. "Can I show you something?” He asked you, finally breaking the silence. “Sure,” you replied, eyes wide. He smiled to himself and pulled out a book. “This book here has a photo of me as a kid on it." “Oh,” you giggled despite yourself. So he was sweet, too.

Changkyun

This was your absolute favorite little shop in the city, one that mostly contained books but often sold all sorts of knickknacks you couldn’t help but wonder about. Where did they even come from? Some had you staring for too long, wondering what they even did. You could spend well over an hour in there, going through the bookshelves, more often than not going home arms full of books, and tonight was no different to the exception of snow lightly floating down outside, covering everything in a dreamy coat of shimmery white. In the shop with you were the owner, at this point almost a friend to you, and a boy surely around your age. He was staring at an old film reel toy on the top of the cash counter, frowning. “It’s a toy,” you offered, waiting for the shop owner to be finished punching your books’ titles into the register. “Yeah, I’m just wondering what the reel shows. I had one when I was little.” “Well, look at it,” you shrugged. He glanced up at you, small smile hovering over his features before grabbing the red plastic thing in his hand and holding it up. The owner gave you your total and you pulled out your card. “Dinosaurs.” The guy said. “Oh?” “Yeah. Very cool.” He bit his lip and laid it back on the counter while you piled your books, regretting not bringing a bag and questioning how in the hell you were going to take these home through the metro system without dropping them. “You need help with that?” The boy came over. “Uh, sure, but it’s sort of a ride.” “I don’t mind,” he took some books out of your hands. “I read this one, actually. And this one. That one. You’ll have to tell me how you like- sorry, what am I saying?” He laughed to himself. “Well, maybe I will,” you cocked your head, thinking him cute.

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bts-reveries · 4 years ago

Text

mini me | 2

“Yn!” Yuna exclaims as you walk into their home. Your little one was holding onto your hand, smiling up at your friend.

“It’s been so long!” You say, giving her a big hug.

“Ohhh I know! Is this Youngjae?” She says, looking down at your son, who goes up to her, reaching his arms up for a hug. “Oh my, he’s so sweet~” She says, hugging him tightly. “Hi, I’m auntie Yuna,” she tells him. “Do you want to meet Mingyu?” Youngjae nods his head, reaching out to hold Yuna’s hand. She looks up to you and she clutches her chest with her other hand. “He’s so cute, he’s making my heart melt.” You laugh slightly.

“He’s a charmer.”

“He sure is… Mingyu is with my friend Rina right now. I’ll introduce you to both of them, come on,” she says, walking towards the kitchen.

“It’s nice isn’t it!” Taehyung says, as he pipes frosting onto the last cupcake. Yoongi looks over at what he’s doing and nods approvingly.

“You did well.”

“Thanks hyung!--”

“For your first time.”

Taehyung drops his smile as he watches Yoongi leave the kitchen with a straight face, holding a box with Mingyu’s cake inside. He lets out a sigh, continuing to decorate the cupcakes. Sohyun then walks in, watching Taehyung.

“Wow!”she exclaims, a big smile on her face. “You’re doing so well!”

“For my first time?” Taehyung says quietly. Sohyun nods.

“Yes, but also in general. They look good!” Taehyung couldn’t help but smile widely, blushing a little too.

“When you’re done with them Taehyungie, put them in the boxes that’s right behind you and take them to Yoongi’s car. We’ll be going straight to Mingyu’s party,” Sohyun says, walking out with a box of cake pops.

“Got it~~”

“Oh--” Yoongi says as they walk into the Park’s house. “Why are there already so many people, we haven’t set up Gyu’s table…”

“It’s just me and Yuna’s parents and our siblings,” Jimin laughs. “Oh- and also a few of my coworkers and Yuna’s friends… Jin hyung, Mae noona, Hoseok hyung, Sarang noona, and the kids are still on their way.”

“Mm.. okay. I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say “It’s just” as if you didn’t just name a bunch of people. But let me put this cake down before one of these munchkins makes me drop it,” Yoongi says, carrying the cake higher as Sian and Moonji run in between the two.

“Jiminaaahh~~” Taehyung says, walking towards his friend. “Look what I made~” He smiles happily as he sets the box down on the counter, opening it up to show Jimin the contents.

“Oh! You made these???” Jimin says, taking one out of the box.

“Yes! Sohyun helped a little, but I did most of the work,” he says proudly.

“Does it taste good though?” Jimin asks, smelling the cupcake. Taehyung frowns at him.

“Do you really have that low of expectations for me?” He pouts, Jimin laughs, putting a hand on his arm.

“AHahahaha… yeah….” Taehyung glares at him, snatching the cupcake out of his hand.

“I’ll get one of the kids to try it, they’re always honest…” He says.

“Uncle can I have it?”

Taehyung looks down to see an unfamiliar little boy.

“Yeah, here you go,” Taehyung says, handing the little boy the cupcake. The little boy takes it from his hand, bowing to Taehyung and saying thank you before running off.

“Who was that?” Taehyung says. Taehyung watches as the little boy goes over to Sian and Hana, taking a bite of the cupcake happily.

“That’s Yuna’s old friend’s son, Youngjae. He’s cute huh? He’s even wearing the same hat as you,” Jimin says, pointing to Taehyung’s beret. “Oh-- Jin hyung!”

“Where’s the birthday boy?” Jin asks, giving Jimin a hug as he and his family had just arrived. Hoseok and his family were right behind him.

“AAYEE!” Hoseok says, as he sees everyone. “Wow I still can’t wrap my mind around Mingyu being one.”

“I know,” Jimin says. “I don’t know where he is by the way. Everyone’s just passing him around-- Oh Jungkook-ah.” Jungkook's eyes grow wide as he hears his name, he walks up to the boys.

“What?”

“Do you know where Gyu is at?” Jimin asks. Jungkook shrugs simply.

“Rina was holding him earlier,” he says, turning to the kitchen and scratching his head. “Then Yuna’s friend was holding him… then his grandma was holding him… so..”

“Well he’s around here somewhere,” Jimin says.

“Are you looking for little Gyu?” Namjoon says, walking towards the group with Mingyu in his arms.

“Found him,” Jungkook says.

“Taehyung-ah!” Taehyung turns around to the voice that called his name.

“yEAH?” He calls back, Yoongi is standing by Mingyu’s table.

“Come help me set up all the sweets,” he says.

“Do I get paid for this too?” Taehyung jokes, walking over to the older man.

“Let me introduce you to the girls,” Yuna says, pulling you to the couch where all her girl friends were sitting. “I already introduced you to Rina but here’s everyone else.”

“Oh you must be Yn!” One of the girls says, pulling you into a hug.

“Yeah, hi, nice to meet you,” you say. “And you.. Are…?”

“OH, haha, sorry, I’m Mae, the oldest one here,” she says. She points to a group of kids behind you. “Those three are my kids, Minseok’s the oldest boy, Soojin’s my little girl, and Haneul’s my youngest son.” Both of your eyebrows raised high, she didn’t seem like she’d have so many kids.

“Oh.. wow. They’re adorable,” you say.

“This is Sohyun, she made all the sweet treats we have on Mingyu’s table over there.”

“Oh you made those?? My son came up to me earlier saying he loved the cupcake that one of the uncles gave him,” you say. Sohyun nods happily.

“Yeah I own a bakery here, but I wasn’t the only one who made all of them. I had help of course, but actually the only thing I didn’t make is those cupcakes,” Sohyun says. “Taehyung-- I don’t know if you’ve met him yet, but he’s one of our best friends and I just recently hired him to help in the bakery. Today was his first day baking actually.”

“Wow, first time? He made a big impression on my son-- which I should introduce to you girls too,” you say, laughing sheepishly. You look around for Youngjae but he must’ve been busy with the other kids. “He must be playing with the other kids,” you say, turning back to the girls.

“That’s okay, maybe later, we can introduce you to our kids too,” another girl says. “I’m Sarang by the way.”

“Nice to meet you,” you tell her. All Yuna’s friends seemed so nice and welcoming. You hoped that you would soon become close friends with them too.

“She has a daughter that’s a year or two older than Youngjae,” Yuna says.

“Oh that’s nice! Do you all have kids of your own?” They all nod except for two girls.

“Yes, but no, yes? Kind of?” Sohyun laughs. “Hana is my boyfriend’s daughter, but right now she’s basically mine too,” she says, blushing a bit.

“And Moonji is my boyfriend’s daughter too,” another girl says, she gasps, “OH, I’m Byul by the way,” she tells you. You laugh at her reaction.

“Nice to meet you. I’m so glad to hear that you all have kids around my son’s age. He doesn’t have much friends, especially since we just moved here,” you tell them.

“Oh honey, we’re your friends now too,” Mae tells you. “Our kids can have play dates any day.”

“Yeah, Yuna will give you our numbers,” Rina tells you. You look over at Yuna who’s smiling and nodding at you.

You let out a little laugh/sigh of relief, “that’d be great actually…”

“I’ll introduce you to the boys later too,” Yuna tells you.

“Uncle Taetae~” Moonji says, pulling onto Taehyung’s hand.

“Yessss Moonji?” he responds, not budging from his seat.

“Come play with usss,” she says, attempting to drag him to Mingyu’s play room.

“Uncle Tae is socializing~” Taehyung says, pointing to the boys whom he was sitting with.

“Moonji-ah, you can play with Uncle Tae later,” Namjoon says. Moonji pouts at her dad, whining and tugging at Taehyung’s hand.

“Oh come on Uncle Taetae,” Jimin pouts.

“Alright, but just for a bit okay?” Taehyung says, giving in. Moonji nods happily, running with Taehyung to the room.

“Uncle Taetae!” Sian yells as soon as Taehyung gets into the room. Taehyung smiles and waves at him.

“Youngjae-ah,” Huimang says, pointing to Taehyung. “That’s uncle Taetae, have you met him yet?” Youngjae looks over at Taehyung and nods.

“He gave me a cupcake earlier!”

“Did you like it?” Hana says, looking over at Youngjae as she played with some blocks. Youngjae looks over at her and nods his head.

“Oh, Taehyung,” Yuna says, as she walks into the room with Mingyu. He was wearing a little suit. “Have you met Youngjae? He’s my friend, Yn’s, son. I’ll introduce you to her-- Aigoo, Mingyu-ah tsk.” Yuna tries to fix Mingyu’s suit but he gets too excited when he sees his cousins playing with toy cars, and the little kids running around the playground Jimin and Yuna rented for the party.

Taehyung walks over to the little boy and properly introduces himself.

“Hi I’m Taehyung, but you can call me uncle Taetae,” he says, reaching out to shake his little hand.

“I’m Choi Youngjae,” Youngjae says, shaking Taehyung’s enormous hand.

“Nice to meet you, so how old are you?” Youngjae shows him four fingers. Taehyung nods.

“Almost a whole hand, wow.” Youngjae nods at him with the biggest smile. “I like your hat,” Taehyung tells him.

“Thank you, it’s like yours,” Youngjae says, pointing up at Taehyung’s head.

“Yeah, we’re matching,” Taehyung laughs. The little boy just nods his head.

“So…” Taehyung says. “Did you really like the cupcake? Was it really that good?” Youngjae smiled, nodding at him, Taehyung now had a cocky smile on his face.

“Can I go take you to Yoongi hyung and can you tell him that?”

“Who’s Yoongi hyung?” Youngjae says softly. Hana turns around at the sound of her dad’s name.

“Yoongi is my dad!” She says.

“Oh, okay, we can tell him,” Youngjae says, grabbing Taehyung’s hand and walking. Taehyung was impressed by the little boy, happily walking with him out of the kids’ room.

“WAIT!” Both Taehyung and Youngjae stops walking, turning around to the sound of the little voice.

“Uncle Taetae I want a cupcake too,” Soojin says, grabbing hold of Taehyung’s other hand.

“Okay, we can get you one.”

“Soojin-ah, you asked mommy earlier and she said no because you already had one,” Minseok yells from afar.

“That’s why I ask uncle Taetae,” Soojin says, turning her head back around with sass.

“You want a second cupcake? You like uncle Taetae’s cupcake that much?” Taehyung says happily. Soojin nods at him, hugging his hand.

“Don’t worry Minseok, I’ll tell mommy that uncle Taetae is the one who got it for her, okay?” Minseok nods at him and proceeds to play with Sian.

“Me too me too me too,” Haneul says, running up to the three of them.

a while later

“Youngjae!” You yell, finally finding your son. The party was ending soon and you had yet to introduce him to the rest of Yuna’s friend group. You found him sitting behind a small table in the kids’ room, his black beret was easy to spot.

“Baby why are you alone? Let me introduce you to my friends,” you say, bopping your son on the top of the head. Your eyes widen as the person wearing the beret turns around.

“Oh my gosh,” you say, covering your mouth. “I am so sorry, you and my son are wearing the same hat and that’s all I could see,” you say, embarrassed.

“Oh is Youngjae your son?? The kids and I are playing hide and seek,” the man says. “I’m Taehyung by the way. I’m guessing you’re Yuna’s friend that she told me she had to introduce me to.”

“Yeah, he’s my son. I was wondering why he was alone,” you laugh. “But I caught the wrong person I guess. And I’m Yn. Sorry if my son caused you any trouble, he’s very talkative.”

“No no no!” He says, shaking his head and his hands. “He didn’t cause me any trouble at all, he made me really happy actually. He said my cupcakes were the best,” he says, with a proud expression on his face. You couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh you’re the uncle that gave him the cupcake!”

“Yeah, that was me,” he says, he had a cute boxy smile.

“UNCLE TAETAE FIND US ALREADY,” you two hear. You both laugh, looking around you for the voice you just heard.

“That was for sure Soojin,” Taehyung says, walking around the room.

“Mae’s daughter?” You ask.

“Yep, she’s a sassy one.”

“So how many kids are we looking for?” You say, as you try to help Taehyung by looking under all the tables and behind the curtains.

“Well, it’s only my friends’ kids that are hiding plus Youngjae. I believe all of Yuna and Jimin’s friends and family who have kids have already gone home,” he says. “That makes eight, nine including Youngjae.”

“Is Mingyu hiding too?” You ask as you open a closet door. A loud scream comes out from both you and the little girl hiding inside.

Taehyung’s head whips to you two and he laughs.

“That’s Soojin,” he says.

“Sorry, we had nine kids to find,” you say as you, Taehyung, and the kids make it back to the living room. Everyone seemed to have gone home and it was just Yuna’s friend group who stayed back.

“I see you’ve met Taehyung,” Yuna says. You nod.

“And Minseok, Soojin, Haneul, Moonji, Hana, Huimang, and Sian,” you say. “Mingyu was there too but I already met him beforehand. Also I’m pretty proud of myself for remembering everyone’s names.”

“Well there’s more to remember,” Yuna laughs, pointing to the guys. A group of handsome men waves at you.

“I’m Moonji’s father, Namjoon, nice to meet you,” The guy with the cute dimples says, shaking your hand.

“And my boyfriend,” Byul whispers to you. It was loud enough for Namjoon to hear as well.

“And Byul’s boyfriend,” he says, he had the prettiest smile you’ve ever seen.

“Hi I’m Jin--:”

“He’s our dad!” Soojin exclaims.

“My dad,” Haneul says, pointing to himself.

“Our,” Minseok corrects.

You couldn’t help but laugh at the three siblings’ conversation.

“Yoongi, Hana’s dad,” This one had a gummy smile that you found adorable, He raised his hand and smiled over at you.

“aNd My BoYfRiEnD,” Sohyun says, teasing Byul.

“Shut UP,” Byul says, playfully shoving her.

“Hoseok, uncle Hobi, Jhope I go by all~,” this is the loud, cheerful one you’ve been hearing the whole day. He let out happy vibes with his personality and smile.

“My husband,” Sarang winks at you.

“Mommy says that a lot now because they just got married,” Huimang tells you. You looked at both of them with raised brows.

“No way! Congratulations to the both of you!” Hoseok laughs, ruffling Huimang’s hair. They both say their thank you’s to you.

“You already met me,” Jungkook says. You nod. “But do you remember my name?”

“Jungkook, and your girlfriend is Rina, your son’s Sian,” you say. They all raise their brows, clapping for you, impressed that you were able to remember, considering you learned a lot of new names today.

“It’s nice to meet everyone-- Oh wait I totally forgot, I’m Yn and this is my son Youngjae,” you said, “go say hi,” you tell him.

“Hello,” Youngjae says. He then slowly looks up at you. “What else do I say now?” They all laugh at his question.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Sarang says. “Did you have fun today?” Your son immediately nods his head.

“I made a lot of friends today!” He says excitedly.

“Yeah we’re friends!” Moonji says, pointing at him, telling her dad.

“Do you want to have play dates with them sometime?” You ask him. Youngjae nods excitedly.

“I like Youngjae,” Minseok tells his mom. Your heart melted as you hear all of the kids enjoying your son’s company.

“Can we play with him all the time auntie Yn,” Soojin asks sweetly, leaning into her mom’s lap.

“Of course, we’d both love that,” you tell her. You expected to meet new friends today, but you didn’t expect them to all be so welcoming, even down to the kids! You only hoped this friendship would grow from here. Even though you’d just met, you felt like this was one of those decisions you make in life that you never regret.

“It’s official, we all love her,” Rina says out of nowhere.

“We must add her to the chat,” Byul says. The girls all looked at each other, nodding. The boys on the other hand all had matching looks. They were all smiling at each other, looking over at the girls.

“Here we go again,” Hoseok says, laughing. You raise an eyebrow in confusion.

“The chat?” You ask, you turn to look up at Taehyung who was still standing by you.

“I’d say run…” Taehyung says, leaning in to whisper to you. “But this should be a fun experience.”

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

mini me

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ part two: cupcake ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

pairings: artist!taehyung x singlemom!reader

a/n: smau will be tomorrow lol, i was sorta busy today sorry this is kind of late

also idk why my intro link won’t work on my masterlist??? i’ve been putting it on their several times and the link keeps disappearing :(( will try to fix soon

also, i have mixed feelings about this part. i had something different but yet the same in my head lol

taglist: @heartfeltscribblings @taexmichi @prdshobi @smarshere @i-swear-im-a-soft-stan @igotarmyofarohas @butterflylion @miagracegrande @casspirit0705 @ephyra1230 @cosmicdaylight @bbyjoonies @betysotelo18 @strwberry-jam @rjsmochii @chocobetterknot @notmontae97 @alpaca1612 @yoongistruth @dragonqueen01 @silentlyimpractical @hecticwonderer @joanc24 @angjeon @momma-said-that-it-was-oke @sweetmoonlight9 @samros95 @dreamcatcherjiah @sonderkook @taekookcaneatme @listless-losers @kookietsukkie @goldenchemistry @salty-for-suga @peoplejustcanthandlemywierdness @softboyfriendtae @raplineh0e @ess-place @callmepaopao @ggukvii @ramyagovindraj @yoongiverse @mipetronella @cloudy-skys @jikachoo @nxtrogers @kookoo-kachoo @taestannie @hispoutylips @hallofbtsmasterlist

TAGLIST IS CLOSED!

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heavenunderthemoon · 4 years ago

Text

Pinky Promise {Jennifer Jareau x daughter! reader}

Summary: JJ, coming from a small town with hardly any sexual education that wasn't abstinence- centric, found herself pregnant. You, her daughter, await her return from another case leading to an interesting conversation between the Jareau girls when she arrives home.

Warnings: teenage pregnancy, extreme fluff

Author’s note: I have a lot of content ideas for this concept so should I just post a lot of blurbs? Idk let me know what y'all think. Also, I didn't put an age for the reader in here because I don't want to exclude anyone so if you are looking for one you won’t find it, anyways enjoy lovelies<3

Rainbow sock clad feet pattered against the house's carpeted floors, the small two bedroom home quiet in the early morning hours.

Typically, you didn't wake this early. You had far outgrown the age in which your internal clock matched that of the rising sun. Your mother attributed your abnormal sleep schedule to the amount of coffee you drank, though you simply pointed the finger right back at her. You learned your caffeine addiction from the best, after all.

No, you didn't normall wake up this early but this morning you had because today was Tuesday. Tuesday's typically help very little importance. You had school, of course, soccer practice afterward and then homework until it was time for bed (very riveting). But this Tuesday was different because it had been precisely five days that your mother had been gone and she had called last night to tell you that she would be home by the time you woke up.

Your first response had been that you would stay up, waiting for her until she arrived. Sometimes you could get away with that. If the jet landed around nine she didn't mind you pushing back your sleep schedule just for her. But, she was still your mother and she still had her limitations. It'll be too late, your mother had whispered into the line, afraid of waking her coworkers. You had protested, but the sleepy yawns had made you sigh defeatedly, telling her to be safe before giving in to your fatigue.

But, none of that mattered now, because as your hand pushed open the door to your mother's bedroom, you recognized the lump underneath the blankets strewn across the bed. You had taken up knitting over the past year- when your mother was gone Garcia was typically tasked with checking in or even staying the night at times and she had taught you the skill. A tuft of blonde hair peeked out from one side of the bed and you grinned tiredly, not hesitating to climb onto the queen sized mattress.

You remembered those days not too many years ago. The days before your mother had gotten her job at the BAU, still struggling as a single mother in school, supporting her child all by herself. The days that had you two sharing beds in a teeny-tiny apartment. You hadn't minded all too much and, though you probably wouldn't admit it aloud, you missed it sometimes, falling asleep in her arms.

As you clambered into the sheets your mother's eyes fluttered open, a lazy smile coming onto her features. She looked as she always did after coming home from cases- tired, drained, but happy to see you. She turned her body to face you, a deep breath being exhaled as she pulled you into her side, a soft kiss being placed onto your forehead. You closed your eyes at the feeling, humming in response.

"Hi, baby." Her words were jumbled, exhaustion seeping through her tone but she smiled all the same, keeping her forehead connected with yours while she caressed your cheek.

She recalled all those years ago, discovering she was pregnant in that small town of hers. The scandal of her teen pregnancy had been the talk of the town up until the moment she left, and then hardships bigger than gossip had come. Having you, alone with no support system, clutching the hand of the kind nurse at the hospital. The small apartments, intense couponing, food stamps, and learning to sew baby clothes to save costs. So many years of struggling and she wouldn't trade a second of it because it had given her you.

Her daughter. A sweet, and funny, and kind girl who was more like her best friend than her kid. The kind of girl she called at least twice a day when on a case, wanting to hear every single detail about her daughter's day and answered when you asked about hers.

"I missed you." You whispered back, voice raspy from sleep. "How was the case?" You asked even if you knew you wouldn't get all the details.

"Hard, but it's over." The blonde responded truthfully, relief taking over her features and her eyes suddenly lit up, as if just remembering something. "How did your essay go? Total hit? Book deals completely flooding our mailbox?" She teased, and you chuckled, shaking your head at her goofiness.

"A-plus." You boated before wiggling your eyebrows. "No book deals yet, but I'll keep my ear to the ground." You quipped back and she laughed, heaving a small sigh afterward.

Staring at you, only a small amount of light from her sun-shaped nightlight (she had a weird obsession with the sun that you liked to tease her for, buying her sun shaped everything - even a spoon that she always used to eat cereal with). It provided just enough light to see your eyes staring back at her, the eyes that she had created with that old boyfriend of hers in high school, the teenage boy skipping town as soon as she had told him the news. She recalled seeing those eyes when you were born, solidifying the love she had felt growing as each day had passed with you in her belly. The eyes that, as soon as they had opened, your mouth opening to let out that beautiful, ear splitting, heart wrenching wail that signified your entrance into the world, had made her fall in love so deeply she felt she was being crushed under the weight of it all.

Guilt ate at her, as it always did. Guilt for not being the perfect, PTA-mom. The mom who made home-made muffins for bake sales or drove you to school everyday. She wasn't negligent, not in the slightest. She knew that. But part of her always feared that you might resent her for the certain spots that she could never quite fill.

"Do you hate me? For not being here all the time?" Jennifer voiced her concerns quietly, and the mere tone of her words made you pause because she seldom took that tone with you. A tone that showed just how afraid she was of her daughter's resentment, a resentment that could easily be caused by how little she was home.

The question alone made you furrow your brows, not hesitating to answer. "What? No!" And you were sitting up because how could you possibly hate her? How could you hate your mother? Your mother who had kept you safe, done everything in her power to make sure you remained that way. The mother who, yes, missed a couple things over the years but always made sure she was there on your birthday and holidays and the really, really important things. You recalled her tradition every year, swinging open your door at the exact moment you were born, regardless of the early hour, and singing you awake. A tiny cupcake in her hand (store-bought because, as discussed, she was an awful cook), a flickering sparkle candle (was a candle really a candle without sparkles?). That look that she gave you under the dimness of that flame, the look that said that she would do anything, go anywhere, be anyone for you. The look that made you know you were safe, and that even if she told you to make a wish you wouldn't even need to make one because you had everything you could ask for.

Jennifer sat up, her hand going to her distressed daughter's back, watching the pure horror on her face.

"I don't hate you, why would I hate you-" You were distraught, voice an octave higher and she shushed you softly, apologizing at once.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry-"

You turned back to her, tilting your head. "Why would you even think that?"

Your eyes scanned her face for any clues while you awaited your answer. She might have been the profiler but you knew your mother. You knew that she absolutely could not go anywhere with mismatched socks. Or that she hated avocado (the texture freaked her out). You knew that, after growing up on a farm, she knew the ins and outs of farm life (she liked to call you a city girl when teasing you and you called her chicken Joe just to get even). You knew that after years of scrimping on luxurious things she still wouldn't allow herself to buy nice things for herself, only for you. And you knew that, being that she was a media liaison, communicating was one of her best traits. So, you listened carefully.

She sighed, scooting to put her back against the headboard, reaching out to pull on the string that would turn on the bedside lamp, illuminating the room, before motioning for you to join her. Her arm stayed out, allowing you to snuggle in, your head falling onto her shoulder before she answered.

"I'm your mom. I'm supposed to be here." she said, eyes trained on the blanket you had made for her last month. You were getting better, this one hadn't yet fallen apart, but it was still a subpar attempt, despite what Garcia had told you.

"You are here." You tried, but the blonde was shaking her head. She had changed from her work clothes, the aforementioned outfit lying abandoned on the floor, the only spot in a very clean room. Her hair that she almost always had down was thrown into a bun and a few pieces lay forgotten in the front, tickling your cheek when she shook her head.

"No, I'm not. I'm on a jet every week, thousands of miles away from my daughter, thinking about what she's doing and who she's with and I feel like I'm missing everything important. And I don't want you to hate me-"

"I could never hate you." You cut her off, and you moved once more, making sure she was looking into your eyes because as much as you knew her, you also knew that she would never really believe you, not about this, and the eye contact would help in the slightest. "You go away every week because those people need you. You go help the people who need you, just like you help me when I need you." She went to protest, but you continued. "And just because you aren't here, doesn't mean you're not here. You're like Patrick Swayze in Ghost, okay? It's like I can still feel your presence-"

Your teasing made her let out a sad chuckle, sighing softly. You smiled at the sound, grabbing her hand.

"I mean it, kid. We're in this for the long haul." You narrowed your eyes playfully, bringing up a pinky.

She smiled and, for just a moment, she could look at you and see the baby she had raised. The small, premature baby that had clutched onto her finger, as if telling her they would make it through the night. The toddler who had turned up her nose at peas, exclusively eating pureed carrots for three months straight. The five year old who had begged her to learn how to ride a bike and then immediately pleaded for her to not let go of the back. 'If you let go, I'll die, I'm sure of it.' You informed seriously. The eight year old reading books twice the normal reading level, or the ten year old adorned in a scarecrow costume, passed out on the couch from eating too much candy. The thirteen year old who had suddenly hit a growth spurt, all your jeans high-watered that she would replace because you would never outright ask for new jeans. And now the you in front of her. The cool, thoughtful, amazing kid that she would never quite understand how she had deserved you.

Bringing her pinky up to yours, interlocking it. "Okay. But, you know that if you ever do resent me- and I'm talking, Mother dearest level kind of resentment you have to tell me so that I can at least play my part."

You smiled, scooting back to your place in her arms. "That takes the fun away."

It was silent for another moment, only the crickets chirping in the backyard heard, before she was speaking once more. "You know, I'm supposed to be the one reassuring you. My old age is making me emotional."

You let your body slump against hers. "We can take turns. If I let you bear that weight alone you might break a hip."

She scoffed, nudging your body. 'Ha-ha, very funny. how about I take Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and you take Tuesdays and Thursdays?"

Your eyes fluttered shut, despite knowing that even with it being far too early for you both to be up there was no way you were going back to sleep. "What about Saturdays and Sundays?"

Jennifer closed her eyes as well, trying to engrain the feeling of your body in her arms while she still had the chance. Before you found cuddling with your mom weird, or before she had to go away on another case and fall asleep alone and in a hotel bed.

"We'll flip a coin for it."

"Fair enough."

#jennifer jareau x reader #jennifer jareau #criminal minds x reader #Criminal Minds #spencer reid x reader #Jennifer Jareau x daughter! reader

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clumsyclifford · 4 years ago

Note

can’t believe you thought you could get out of getting a prompt from me by saying it after i’d gone to sleep again? well jokes on you i’m still lurking so if you’re so inclined please can i have “I noticed.” with... i mean you know who don’t you

now go study and good luck!!!!! 💖

kgjfkjslkdmj it wasnt on purpose and thank you for the well wishes, i love you. also sorry that i keep writing the same thing for you but as you said you do have a brand so i think i’m justified

tw for quarantine times i guess??? still not sure if people need a tw for that. more specific tags on ao3 of course

read on ao3

It’s days like this Calum wishes he worked from home.

Of course, if he worked from home he wouldn’t have even had a coworker for whom he was expected to bake birthday cupcakes. (Cupcakes that, admittedly, he’d volunteered to bake and promptly forgotten about.) The whole situation could have been avoided by Calum going virtual, the way Luke has.

Realistically, he knows he would hate working from home. He’s uniquely susceptible to going stir-crazy when stuck indoors for too long, and even if it means waking up at six in the morning on a Thursday to bake cupcakes for a coworker he only kind of knows that he’d entirely forgotten about until he’d already been in bed the night prior, the regular change of scenery is good for him. As is the change in company.

Calum loves Luke with his entire heart and then some, but he thinks it’s for the best that they don’t spend every second of every day together.

Unfortunately, the kitchenware casualties of Calum’s cupcake endeavours only add to the piles of unwashed dishes at home in their kitchen. The reason they’re unwashed is simple: Luke has been away for the last week, visiting his parents, and with no one to hold him responsible, Calum has become the king of negligence. At this rate, the used mugs in the sink are going to develop abandonment issues for how long they’ve been left there.

Every morning Calum thinks, I’ll wash the dishes after work. And every evening after work, like clockwork, he finds himself thinking, I’ll wash them tomorrow.

It’s not like he believes himself anymore, but it’s a fun little ruse.

Thursday is a long day at work. The cupcakes only barely take the edge off (though they are delicious, especially for the rush job they’d been). He’s so busy that he barely gets a chance to check in with Luke, who’s driving home today. There’s really no time to call, but Calum texts him before he clocks in to make sure he’s left on time. In a spare minute in the middle of the day he catches Luke’s reply, an affirmative that yes, he’s heading out and he’ll be home before Calum is home from work. The text is from several hours ago. Calum doesn’t bother responding, only puts away his phone and returns to his task.

By the time Calum’s finally able to leave — almost an hour late — he’s practically dragging his feet.

Only the thought of Luke at home keeps Calum from taking a power nap in his car before pulling out. That, and he doesn’t want to spend any more time here than strictly necessary. He can always nap at home. With his boyfriend. Cuddling, ideally.

Steeling himself (and slapping his face a couple times to wake himself up), he twists the ignition and drives out, turning up the volume on the loud, guitar-driven song that starts playing on the Bluetooth.

Several songs later, he’s home.

There’s already a small smile on his face as he turns the key in the lock and pushes the door open. “Luke?”

“Calum?” comes Luke’s voice, from the direction of the kitchen, and some of the tension melts out of Calum’s shoulders. He follows Luke’s voice but Luke meets him in the entryway to the kitchen, arms already open to wrap Calum in a tight hug. Calum doesn’t hesitate before throwing his arms around Luke’s neck.

“Fuck, I’m happy you’re home,” he mumbles, squeezing his eyes shut and inhaling deeply. Luke smells familiar — like nothing, but in the way Calum’s used to; like he could close his eyes and breathe in this scent anywhere in the world and know it was Luke.

“I’m happy to be home,” Luke responds, a quiet murmur in Calum’s ear. “You seem like you’ve had a long day. I barely heard from you.”

“Yeah, it was busy. Incredibly. And on top of that I was up at six making— oh, fuck, no, I have to wash— these…” Calum’s eyes fly open as he remembers the hurricane of dishes he’d left in the kitchen and his sentence trails into nothing.

The kitchen is spotless. Not a dirty dish in sight. “Wh— what happened here?” he asks, freeing himself from Luke’s grasp.

Luke’s face breaks into a smile. “I cleaned the kitchen!”

“Yeah,” Calum says, somewhat dazed. “I noticed. You— you drove almost four hours and then you got home and…cleaned the entire kitchen?”

“It was a mess,” Luke says. “That plus the fact that I figured you were having a busy day. You shouldn’t have to come home to a messy kitchen.”

“You shouldn’t have to come home to a messy kitchen.”

“I just spent a week with my parents, where they did all the cooking and cleaning,” Luke says with a little laugh. “While you’ve been working. And alone. This is the least I could do. I don’t blame you for putting it off, I’d have done exactly the same.”

Calum stops scanning the kitchen in disbelief and moves his gaze to Luke’s face instead, bringing his hands to Luke’s cheeks and drinking in the sight of him. There’s a new light in his eyes, lifting his whole face. Luke always brightens considerably after spending time with his family. However far he travels, Calum knows Luke is a homebody at heart. His Home Battery is now fully recharged, and Calum can see it in his eyes.

“Hi,” Luke says with a smile.

“Thank you,” Calum says, pulling him into a kiss. Luke is sweet and his hands settle exactly where they belong, palm warm on Calum’s waist, fingers fanning out over the fabric of his shirt. He tastes familiar in that same indescribable way. Fits exactly right in Calum’s hands. All week Calum’s been returning to his flat after work, but only now can he truly call it coming home.

With a smile, Luke pulls away, tugging Calum closer and linking his fingers behind his back. “That was a disproportionate reaction to me doing a normal thing, but I’ll take it.”

“Good, you should. If it’ll motivate you, I’m happy to keep giving disproportionate reactions as rewards for household chores.”

Luke laughs. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Well, I’d really hate to do any damage to this pristine kitchen,” Calum says, quirking a smile. “Also, I don’t feel like cooking. You wanna get takeaway for dinner?”

“You read my mind,” Luke says, kissing Calum’s nose before stepping away. “You can go change, I’ll order. What do we want? Pizza? Chinese? Sushi?”

“Yes,” Calum says. “Any of that sounds amazing. Whatever you want. You be in charge of dinner and I’ll be in charge of putting on a hoodie and doing absolutely nothing.”

“That seems like a fair division of labour.”

“Yeah, I think it is.” Calum steps back, turning away to go change, but then he turns back and gives Luke one more smile. “Seriously, thank you. I should’ve cleaned but I appreciate that you did it.”

Luke shakes his head, a wry smile on his face. “Seriously, it’s no big deal and I’d do it anytime. Go.”

Calum presses his lips together, which does nothing to suppress his smile, and he finally retreats to their room to pull on a hoodie he will definitely steal from Luke.

Maybe they shouldn’t spend every second of every day together, but it’s been a week since they’ve spent any days together at all, and Calum intends to make up for it by clinging to Luke’s side until they fall asleep. Somehow, he doesn’t think Luke will mind.

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vsterolson · 4 years ago

Text

Hi hello! I’m Bee! I never know what to say in the intros so here’s the basics: I use she/her pronouns, I’m 23, I live in the EST, I’m not currently working so I’m sure I’ll be around a lot if I’m not sucked into my rewatch of Grays anatomy too much. my discord is big miss steak#9778 if you prefer to chat and plot on there. Now onto Aster!

tw: miscarriage mention, cancer mention, death mention

[ cis woman, she/her, benedetta gargari , twenty-three ] i can’t be sure, but i think i just saw ASTER OLSON drive onto the parkway. don’t they know we’re not supposed to be driving on that haunted road right now? maybe it has to do with the fact that they’re so +GREGARIOUS and -RASH that makes them feel SHAKEN about everything going on. i guess we could also chalk it up to the fact that they’re always reminding me of CRACKED LIPS COATED IN CRIMSON LIPSTICK, CRUSHED VELVET DRESSES PAIRED WITH BEAT UP DOCS, A COLLECTION OF HALF DRANK TEA COVERING THE COFFEE TABLE. either way, i hope they get back safely.

Aster is Reed born and breed. She came into the world the hospital just ten minutes from the house she would learn how to walk and talk and sing joyfully off tune. Where she’d learned that love wasn’t always spoken but shown in the tenderness of cleaning up a scraped knee and making sure your favorite snacks are always in the pantry and finding time to read your child bedtime stories even if it’s over the phone because your shift went long.

Aster learned a lot about heart growing up, but not always what to do with it. She saw her parents love and fight with equal passion. Even when their marriage fell apart she couldn’t even be mad because she saw them fight so hard for it.

Growing up she was one of those kids that made witches brew out of mud and sticks and acorns and any other odds and ends she found during recess and always invited the kids sitting alone to help. And she always brought her classmates a cupcake on their birthday even if she didn’t know them because everyone deserves to be celebrated on their birthday. And freshman she went through a phase of writing secret admirer notes to just leave in random lockers so for just one moment they would feel like they were worth admiring even if she was taking the risk of inflating someone’s ego.

Aster is an empath through and through and has made it a very bad habit to run herself dry to keep everyone afloat. Unlike her parents she never learned when to give up the fight and walk away.

Her fierce tenderness was tested junior year of high school when her mother got sick. The big C. But after all those nights of barely sleeping in hospitals, Aster knew there was a place for her and her big dumb always caring heart. She knew she had to go into medicine. Her mom didn’t make it, but maybe Aster could help other people’s moms make it.

She was a little harder after her mom passed, a little colder. Or at least she tried to be. She didn’t want to feel like this tragic person with eyes like broken faucets, but she didn’t know how to fix the plumbing so she tried just freezing the water. But then the empty aching of running from herself set in so eventually she just had to let the water run till a dry season came along. It took about six months, but eventually she could hold herself together and her and her big heart moved along.

Then college came and she was determined to have it all, the tv worthy college experience. Freshman year she joined everything she could till she was properly burnt out and realized that premed was going to take a lot more of her attention and she got much more studious.

Then came senior year and the first time she let herself be selfish. Somehow her TA position got a little blurry and despite being madly in love with her boyfriend at the time she kept finding herself tangled up in her professor’s sheets. The guilt was heavy but soon she got even heavier. Before she knew it she was late for her period and there were little pink lines on a stick and her life was quickly changing.

While flooded with panic and guilt she was also thrilled. She always wanted to be a mom, more than almost anything. But before she could even figure out whose it was, she lost it.

The depression was almost as heavy as when her mom passed and she only had a few weeks with the new future she was creating for herself. Accept now she couldn’t even talk about it. Not until her ex best friend dragged it out of her. Finally some relief until her ex best friend turned on her for her own gain and blasted her business for a gossip column.

This wrecked everything, Aster lost her scholarship and ended up dropping out with a semester left to go. She also lost the love of her life. The whole incident turned her quite bitter, the bright eyed tender hearted girl was taking time off and left way the cold girl she tried to play the part of in high school.

Now she works at dana’s dinner and lives in her childhood home that her mom left her. She’s learning how to be warm again, that it’s ok to trust people. That there is value in being vulnerable and tender and having a big stupid always caring heart is a gift and not just something people will take advantage of.

As she was figuring her life out she reflected back on her mom’s time in the hospital and realized she wouldn’t have made it through without the nurses. So now she’s starting nursing school to give that heart of hers a purpose.

As for how she’s holding up with the disappearances. It’s hard for her. Being such a big feeler she can barely stand to have the news on, but that doesn’t stop her from hearing the gruesome details. Towns like this thrive on gossip and the dinner is not the place to avoid it. Everything is feeling very heavy these days so if you see her eyes red as she’s serving you coffee don’t mention it.

She does feel a bit guilty for how emotional she’s gotten because of it, none of her loved ones have been harmed, but there are people hurting, this town is hurting and there’s no one to fix it. This sort of thing really troubles her. All she can do is bring baked goods to those in morning and offer a shoulder to cry on or ears to listen, but it doesn’t seem enough.

Even worse, she can’t help but be consumed with the fear that it could be her father on the news next. She calls him everyday, sometimes twice. He’s very stubborn and she knows he does a lot of business out of town.

random facts:

she has two rescued cats. An all black cat named zelda and a calico mix named luna

she has a vast tea collection because its good for the soul and its also rude to not offer guests a warm beverage so she has to be prepared for whatever they might like

she thrifts almost all of her clothes and is like a magnet for the good stuff. Her wardrobe consists of lots of crushed velvet and silky lacy things and of course an abundance of sweaters and flannels.

She’s very bad at finishing projects. She’s pretty bad at finishing almost anything actually. Her apartment is filled with half knit scarfs, books with only chapters to finish but will never be opened again, unfinished drinks growing mold.

She has a scar on her ribs from a bicycle ride gone wrong as a kid when she was caught by the sharp branches of a fallen tree

she hates to text, she will call just to answer a simple question.

connection ideas:

childhood friends

her ex from college - if you like lots of angst this is the one for you

other exes

fwbs - even better if theres feelings they’re refusing to admit

ride or dies

coworkers

other nursing students or people that work at the hospital she might know from volunteering

after the incident in college she kind of went through a party phase so maybe people she partied with

#parkway.intro #miscarriage tw #cancer tw #death tw #and the mess is here

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tangerine-55 · 4 years ago

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Writing Request for Token’s Birthday!

A tyde-y writing request by @suckasstakenames

AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24842191/chapters/60093010

Title: A Forgotten Day

A heavy and tired sigh forced its way out of Token’s mouth, showing of how exhausted the man was. Token Black, a man in his early thirties, was taking the bus home from the hospital, his working place. Today was an exhausting day for the man; he had to start earlier than usual due to a sick coworker and stayed longer, too. It was almost midnight now and he didn’t see his fiancée all day, so he was naturally sucked out of energy.

When the bus stopped at his station he nodded towards the driver before stepping out, the doors closed behind him. Before he started to take his ten minute walk towards his apartment he took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth where he lighted it. He looked down at the lighter and stroked with his thumb over a sticker, his friend Tweek stuck it there. It was a guinea pig that looked angry with a speech bubble above its head, saying ‘Don’t smoke or I will squeak your ear off!’ designed by no other than Craig Tucker.

With a soft chuckle Token put the lighter back into the pocket and started his walk home, enjoying the cool night air. Summer was creeping closer and even thou the days were pretty warm already, announcing the coming heat, the nights were still refreshing cool. He felt a bit bad for smoking after promising his friends and partner that he’d stop, but after a day like this he needed something to calm down. His friend Jimmy said that he should come visit him when he had to release some stress, his bar having the best alcohol and comedians. But he had to work again in a few hours and all he wanted to do was fall in his bed and cuddle the love of his life.

In front of a big building that held a few luxurious apartments, the perks of being a doctor and surgeon was the money he earned, he inhaled the last bit of smoke before throwing the cigarette on the ground and stomping on it. He held the smoke in his lungs for a few seconds before exhaling it through his nose, enjoying the burn. The smell of smoke was obvious on him but he didn’t care, his fiancée knew that he only smoked on hard days and wouldn’t ask questions. One more deep breath and he entered the building and the elevator to drive up. He lived on the fourth stage and hated to take the steps after his shift.

The elevator pinged to announce that it arrived at the requested stage and the door opened. Token walked out and down the hall towards the last door while fishing out his keys. He opened the door while wiping off his shoes on the matt that said ‘Come to the dark side, we have cookies!’, a moving in present from Kevin. With the door open and his shoes cleaned he entered his place and locked the door behind himself. “I’m home!” He declared through the apartment, his jacket finding its place on the hangers. “Clyde? Are you home?”

“Yeah!” Clyde, Token’s fiancée, came running out of the kitchen with a wide smile on his lips. “You made it home before midnight!” His wide smile slowly subsided when he saw the exhausted look on his love. “You look awful… Did something happen?” He walked towards his fiancée and stroked his cheek lightly, looking up at him.

“Had a hard time at work, that’s all.. Ehm… An accident happened and some people didn’t get through… including a small girl,” explained Token, his dark eyes fixed on Clyde’s honey ones. “Sorry for coming home so late.”

“No, you don’t have to apologize,” Clyde shook his head softly before getting on his tiptoes to kiss his boyfriends eyelids softly, then his cheek and the corner of his mouth. “It’s okay, you’re shaken up. Let’s go into the kitchen to eat a bit and then cuddle?” He soft smiled up at him with a empathetic look in his eyes. And with a nod Token agreed, he needed some distraction and cuddles, a lot of cuddles. Now that Clyde mentioned food he also noticed how hungry he was.

Clyde took his hand and led him towards the open kitchen door where they always eat at the kitchen island. “Craig and the others asked if we have time this weekend.”

“I don’t know, I need to check my work schedule first.”

“Yeah, I told him,” he walked around the corner without switching the lights on and Token raised a brow in confusion. When he stepped inside the kitchen his eyes widened, there were candles everywhere and in the middle of the kitchen island sat a cupcake with a candle in it. “Happy Birthday, babe,” Clyde mumbled while kissing his cheek.

Yes, Token forgot his own birthday.

“I… I forgot,” he confessed and turned to his boyfriend to pull him into a tight hug. “That’s why you wanted me to come home before midnight.”

“Mhm,” Clyde grinned and returned the hug happily, bathing in the affection he got from his love. “Yep, Tweek helped me baking the cupcake and it turned out pretty good. Tweek’s words! So I wanted you to taste it on your birthday and not a few hours too late.” He carefully pulled back and squeezed Token’s cheeks with his hands, a wide grin constant on his lips. “I love you so much, you overworking rich kid.”

Token laughed amused at those words, ignoring the fact that Clyde was rich now, too, thanks to being his future-husband. He shook his head and leaned down again, pulling him into a heated kiss which Clyde eagerly returned. The men would have loved to just go to bed then, taking of clothes and enjoying each other’s sounds and heat till the morning hours. But there was a cupcake waiting specially made for a man’s birthday, so the sweet taste of love had to wait for a bit more.

But that was okay; they had all their lives time for that.

#South Park #sp #Token Black #Clyde Donovan #Happy Birthday token #even thou it's kinda late #sp tyde #south park oneshot

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moonlightoverthehorizon · 4 years ago

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compilation of my favorite otp prompts 9

tag

dumb otp AUs [x]

“You always said it looked like you were blushing when you talked to me because of the heat but I just saw you talking to someone else and your face looked fine so what is the truth” au

“I was goofing around with your phone while you were in the bathroom and why do you have heart emojis next to my contact name” au

WEREWOLF AU’S [x]

“you being part dog has its perks, mostly for me because whenever i toss something away your eyes follow it and you perk up like you want to chase it but restrict yourself and its honestly the cutest fucking thing ive ever seen”

“babe you know i love you and i would give up my life for yours but i sWEAR TO GOD IF YOU GIVE ME ONE MORE DOG TOY FOR MY BIRTHDAY IM GONNA PUNCH YOU SQUARE IN THE FACE”

a werewolf getting personally offended when someone says they’re not a dog person

“as a werewolf i can personally talk to dogs and boyohboy does ur little pug have some tea to spill…"

“alternatively, i find you to be really superduper adorable and whenever i come over your little dog goes off on rants to me about the cute embarrassing stuff that you do when your home alone and honestly I wake up every day for these chats”

“when I saw you climbing out of the stream I was fishing in dirty, wet, and naked, I assumed you had just survived some kind of intense mob hit or something but really you had just detransformed from a werewolf after you were playing in the water trying to catch a fish, and ultimately failing. nice ass, by the way.”

one cannot have enough of cute and random aus so here have some more [x]

“You’re my roommate who’s super cute and it’s the middle of the night and you’re cramming for your exams in your flannel pajamas and disheveled hair and it’s becoming increasingly hard for me not to kiss you” AU.

“It’s Valentine’s Day and I’m single and you want to cheer me up but you can’t cook nor bake to save your life so you make me hot chocolate instead and it is delicious and I think I love you???” AU.

“You’re the jerk-face customer that keeps on thumbing through their phone while ordering their drink so I exact revenge by spelling your name wrong on your cup and drawing phallic pictures on your coffee” AU.

“Our mutual friend invites us to go shopping with them and it’s kind of awkward and now you’re pushing them around the mall in a shopping cart and you’re both screaming like excited children and I’m paying the cashier and pretending I don’t know either of you” AU.

“You and I are both baristas at a coffee shop and one day I step out of the café to take a break and walk in on you gleefully drawing phallic pictures on the chalkboard outside that no one pays attention to so what are you doing?” AU.

“We’re both strangers sitting in the same booth at an eatery because all the other booths are full and you’re drawing smiley faces on your plate with ketchup and wow your concentrated frown is cute” AU.

“I’m sick so you make me chicken soup and I’m really grateful but I’ve also seen you read books on magical spells and potion-making so I’m not sure if I should drink your soup in case it turns me into a toad” AU.

“There’s a scrawny black cat in our neighborhood that hates everyone and everything but follows you around for some reason and I see you pet it and feed it fish fries are you a witch” AU

BAKING IDEAS [x]

Person A and Person B decorating cookies/cupcakes/etc. together and Person A’s turn out looking amazing while Person B’s look like a toddler did them.

Person A trying to show Person B how to perfectly crack an egg, but Person A messes up and makes a big mess.

Person A tipping a bowl of meringue mixture above Person B’s head to prove that it’s ready but it turns out that it’s not actually ready and spills all over Person B’s head.

Person A really struggling to open a jar but not letting Person B help them until they eventually give up and Person B gets it open on the first try.

AU prompts i wish i was talented enough to write part 2 [x]

it’s 2 am and i can’t sleep so i grab a book and go lay on my roof, but who knew i had a hot neighbor who does the same thing when he can’t sleep

omg please wake up i can’t lose you please don’t die... oh you’re not dying? this is awkward

we recently started sharing a flat but one of the showers are broken and we run out of hot water quickly... no we can’t shower together!

i moved to a new city about a month ago and my coworker sets me up on a blind date and it turns out my date is my ex... this is awkward

i show up late to the school assembly but there’s no seats and you offer up your lap to make fun of me with your friends but you didn’t think i’d actually sit on your lap and i think you might have a little problem down there ;)

we dated years ago and one day i’m going through my old stuff and i found some of your old stuff i kept and i found all the romantic old letters you used to write me but i remember i never read the last letter cus i didn’t want us to be over but i end up reading the letter now

#writing #writing prompts #prompt list #au prompts #otp prompts #compilation of writing prompts #otp aus #queue

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nomchonks · 4 years ago

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yesterday the store was open til five and then we went to his sister’s house which is 30 minutes away. i spent the afternoon baking. i made flourless low-carb peanut butter cookies, applesauce raisin bars, and orange gingerbread shaped like yodas (because my niece loves baby yoda). the gingerbread didn’t bake long enough though, and i didnt like them, but matt said he liked them so i just kept them for him. i didnt realize that the day was also going to be my niece’s birthday so there was a cake and cupcakes already so not a lot of my stuff got eaten... i did put the pb cookies inside gifts though. they were good, i should have kept them for myself.

everyone was wearing a mask except my sister in law and her husband, because it was their house i guess. and my niece and my immunocompromised mother in law, who was wearing a plastic shield instead. i dont really know what to say to that. im glad matt is so different from his family.

his other sister had two coworkers come down with covid, and she didnt want to take a test but her mother made her. i guess she didnt want to take the test because it was a two hour wait. obviously she came back negative. i dont understand these people. i wore two masks the whole time.

today i am super tired. i guess all that baking took it out of me. i cancelled the plan to go see my dad and ill be lucky if i have enough energy today to clean the kitchen.

last night i overheard my father in law talking to my sister in law’s husband, who had been deployed in germany for a year, about how much my niece has changed since he’s been gone. i was kind of stunned that someone could say something that cruel to someone’s face. i dont think he said it to be malicious. but wow.

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skippitydippity · 5 years ago

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Today's struggle: is someone flirting w me or not

Here's the rundown, gamers. This is long. Settle in.

The first time we actually talked, I complained because someone called me Audrey. I ain't no fuckin Audrey. I don't look like an Audrey. He called me Audrey every time he saw me for a week - he greeted me more often just to call me Audrey. I counted about five times in a four hour shift. He'd come by to playfully critique me on my checking or cleaning or something, so I'd tell him to bag or help clean or something and he would.

Flash forward like a week or two later - I was mean to him (as I always am in a joking way) and then I felt legit bad so the next time I saw him I told him he was cool. He insisted on me saying that again and I wouldn't, but he would greet me as the "cool one." He sought me out before talking to my coworkers that he knows longer and I assume is better friends with.

A week or two later again, I get moved out to the flower shop. He's sad, because he asks for my schedule and I tell him I'm out there - he complains about all the cool ones getting moved, I ask who the other cool ones are, and he says just me.

I ask him if I should buy cake mix because I'd been craving it. He says I should, so I get some. He throws a fit when I don't bring him some the next day, but also he "kinda thought" I wouldn't do it anyways. Out of spite, I leave two cupcakes in his locker the next day. He bought me my favorite drink. I brought him some homemade cake the next day and we don't see each other for a bit, but a week after it happened I hear a shout of "THE CAKE WAS GOOD" when I'm leaving work. He waves.

He starts to seek me out after work after that - we sit by my car and talk for a while at a time. I lay some hypotheticals on him. He fights me on them for the next three days. At one point, I get out of my car after work to talk to him. He calls me cute for doing that.

He starts talking about his birthday party about two weeks after that. I assume I'm not invited, so when he talks to my coworkers about it, I leave as to not intrude. He comes up to me when I'm leaving after buying something and complains about me walking away - I say I didn't wanna be overhearing things that don't involve me bc that's fucked up, he replies that they involve me bc I'm invited too. I say I didn't know. He seems surprised.

We talk about the party more after that - he gets upset that I don't walk by his department after work and say goodbye to him. I tell him he's a baby. He waves every time he sees me.

This morning, I tell him it's rude he wants me to drop by his department if he won't drop by mine. He says mine is out of the way - to be fair, it is. I say he's making me late because we're talking so I can't get my water - he says he'll talk to my boss if I get counted late, and he buys me my water.

This afternoon, he gets off work and drops by my department. He says he almost forgot, but he saw my car and remembered. He stays for a half hour - I make him box plants for me whenever a customer comes by. He does a bad job, I end up dropping a plant because of him. The person who bought it was fine; I was not. He made fun of me because I turned bright red, even under my hair, mask and glasses. When I help an old lady carry soil out to her car, he talks to my other coworkers, all invited to his party. He talks to one of them about a single red rose. When I get back, we talk with all of them, and one of my coworkers asks when the wedding is. I say that I'm only getting married for tax benefits right now. He says that either way, he gets money, so he's down.

We keep talking - I give him a flower that I found on the ground. He says I'm probably a lightweight, gets upset when I say Corona tastes like shit, and demands I do at least one shot with him at his party. I tell him I might just drop by, give him a cake (because he insists on my baking being a present, not an actual present), and leave. He says that that's lame and mean, and he'll sit outside all night if he has to to wait on me. I make a joke about 27 being the age celebrities kill themselves at, and he jokes I want him dead so I don't have to go to his party. He says I should work in his department, because the one I'm in right now is... eh. He takes a not-sneaky photo of me, I call him stupid, and he fucks w my ADHD by doing the upside-down-on-thigh 👌 thing. I tell him that he's the only person I've ever met that gets as excited to see me as my puppy. He leaves about twenty minutes before closing. He only talks to my other coworkers once or twice.

He walks out with the flower.

Also, he's a manager at work. So I can't outwardly ask him if he's into me, because if not, that's harassment.

So that's.

Everything, I guess? He asks about my schedule a lot. When he laughs his eyes get lines, and he always smiles around me. He has really pretty teeth. He has really pretty dark eyes. The palms of his hands are way lighter than the rest of him.

Thanks for coming to my tedtalk

#skippy shut up #the thing is #hes turning 27. I'm barely 18. i graduated today and the graduation is saturday. he has a kid.#i dont intend on staying in this town much longer #and hes so pretty. like my mom said he was hot. thats how out of my league he is.

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lokis-lady-death · 6 years ago

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Bake-tastic One

Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Lady Death: I tagged anyone I thought might be interested! Just a simple two part story about a girl meeting a man and baking some cupcakes. I did this by request for a super awesome mutual’s birthday! @kcd15 I hope you enjoy it, I’m so sorry it’s late but you get two parts for being so patient <3 Hope you enjoy!

Bake-tastic

Step One: Introductions

“Don't Stop Believin’ by Journey,” you recognized immediately. “Good choice.” There was no hiding the delight on your face as you laid back in your chair, slipped on your sunglasses, and sang along to the tune.

You couldn't help but think this is how everyone should spend a day off, lounging on a balcony in California, dazing in and out of a mid-day nap to the sound of soulful tunes on the perfect playlist.

It was such a cliche spring morning, really. The sky was that bright shade of blue with sparse clouds, the breeze blew just enough that it kept the air at the right temperature. The city was even more peaceful than usual, with birds chirping, kids playing and hardly any cars passing by your condominium. The only real sound you heard was the music emanating from your neighbor's place above your head.

The main reason you enjoyed these days? Frankly, you needed the distraction. You were a full time barista at a local big bakery that catered to the cupcake-addicted southern L.A. day walkers and all you wanted was to unwind. Bake-tastic, despite its horrifically punny name, was actually an up and coming hangout spot that was making a name for itself among the baked goods industry.

The only problem?

You weren't baking.

Growing up in the south, you had loved everything about baking since you were a little girl in your grandmother’s kitchen, playing in her aprons and sneaking off with her cookbooks, but it wasn't until when you sister asked you to move to move to Cali that you decided to act on your passion.

But, as it turned out, if you want to bake here, you needed experience. Experience no one was willing to give you. All you had managed to do was make coffee and take orders for cakes and other treats you weren’t allowed to actually create.

That honor was left to the owner of the bakery, a man whom, in your months of working there, had never once come in during the day shift. You never met the mysterious baker, but couldn’t deny his talents the first time you tried his mixed berry tarte. Everything he created was a miniature masterpiece all their own. You wanted desperately tk meet him, or even more, bake with him, but that was a quickly squashed dream. He kept to himself, prefering to come after closing to bake everything throughout the night. The next morning, when you and your coworkers would arrive, all you would need to do was set out the new baked goods and make coffee. The others were fine with the remedial tasks, but you were not.

It wasn’t necessarily living the dream, but the music had a nice way of dulling out the disappointment.

If your sister had been out there she would be complaining about it, but truthfully you enjoyed your little free concerts. It required no work on your part and in today's world, you could use some mindless way to unwind. It wasn't long before you recognized a pattern in when the music played: usually in the afternoons of week days, stopping promptly at seven, Saturday morning and most of Sunday. Not particularly meaning to, you began to plan breaks outside around when the neighbor would have their music on. It had become a sort of ritual: weekdays when you got off work you would shower, throw on your bathrobe, and come lounge until seven. On weekends, you spent your mornings sipping coffee in your pajamas.

This Saturday was no different. Right at six in the morning, the neighbor's sliding door opened, releasing a symphony of classic rock music out into the world. Here you were, ready to soak it up as you sang out the stress of your week through lyrics of musical geniuses with a cup of coffee in one hand and a freshly made strawberry Danish in the other.

It was around thirty minutes later, as you were going along to Matchbox Twenty’s 3am that your tone began to carry. By the second verse you had gotten a bit carried away, singing along and dancing in your chair as the words you had known by heart for nearly two decades came pouring out. You had become some enamored by the words that you didn't even notice the music had been turned down.

When the next song began, you took in one last deep breath of spring air, stretching your arms up above your head until you heard that satisfying pop of your shoulders. You had been rejuvenated and were ready for whatever the rest of your Saturday brought.

But just when you turned to walk back into the apartment, you heard someone ask, “Oh, are you going in already?”

There was no stopping the loud curse word from escaping your lips as you tried to pull yourself back into your skin. Whipping around, you expected to see a man to go along with that sharp comment.

Yet you were alone, left only with the sound of a haughty laugh.

“I'm terribly sorry, I certainly didn't mean to frighten you.” You distinctly noticed the smart British accent as he went on, “It's just that I had been listening to you sing so I thought I ought to say something….”

Your face felt it had caught fire by embarrassment of someone, a stranger- a possibly handsome British stranger- had heard you singing. A hand slapped over your mouth to stifle a gasp.

You were so mortified you could scream, but there was also a part of you curious how much he had heard.

When you still didn't respond, the englishman went on, “She's gone and I'm here talking to myself, aren't I?”

“No,” you couldn't help but laugh nervously, “I'm still here.”

“Good. I'd look rather mad out here going on to an invisible woman, wouldn't I?”

The two of you shared a laugh, followed by an unfortunate silence before he added, “It seems we have a similar taste in music. You know just about every song I ever play.”

Again your cheeks went ablaze.

“I mean, it's not like I just come out here and listen to you, that would be absurd. It's just, you come out here nearly every time I turn on my ipod, surely you noticed?”

You realized it was the same neighbor who played the music every day. Biting down on your lip, you stopped from admitting you planned your free time at home around when he turned his tunes on. The two of you were starting to sound like either a cheap romance movie from Hallmark channel or a murder documentary off Investigative Discovery .

When you still hadn't spoken up, he rambled on. “That possibly came across a bit awkward, I didn't mean it as though I'm just out here listening to you…” he corrected. “I only meant I enjoyed what I've heard.”

At that you had to smile. His tone was sincere enough, even a tad cute as he tripped over himself, but with that accent alone he sent a flutter through your stomach.

‘Is that what I'm reduced to?’ you wondered, ‘Pining after men because of accents?’

“I haven't heard you leave, does that mean I didn't completely ruin this first impression?”

At that, you couldn't keep quiet. “Your first impression was actually Bruno Mars That's What I Like,” you teased, almost annoyed with how airy your voice came out.

Maybe it was because he wasn't in front of you or maybe it was because his voice just oosed with charm, but there was something else that just pulled at you.

��Well, was it a good impression?”

Your smile widened. “It's improved.”

He let out a roar of a laugh, even clapping his hands at the retort. “That's good," he paused," I don't suppose you'll be back out today?"

The question struck you, making you bite down on the inside of your cheek.

“We'll see,” you said finally. “It'll depend on what you play.”

“I suppose I'll have to make the playlist extra special then, won't I?” he returned, a touch of smugness etching into his tone.

You smiled again, opening the door to step back into your apartment as you tried to answer as nonchalantly as possible, “I suppose you will.”

As soon as you closed the door, you bolted to your sister's room to wake her up.

You threw her door open as you called out, “Steph? Hey, Steph, do you know the guy that lives in the upstairs apartment? Steph, wake up!”

She rubbed her eyes, letting out a deep yawn just before stretching out her back like a cat. “What guy? The loud one?”

Your eyes rolled back while you grunted, “Yes! Do you know what his name is?”

Her shoulders shrugged, her eyes lulled in a half sleep, half hungover state. “He is simply known as Loud British Jerk.”

Your brow creased, “How do you not know his name but you know he's British?”

“Because he talks, like, super loud and always has his doors open.”

Reasonable answer, but your sister was also one of the single most nosey women you had ever known. You leaned in, pressing on, “What else do you know about him?”

“Nothing? Jeeze, y/n, I don't eavesdrop on people anymore. What's gotten into you, did he play a song that got your panties all ruffled? You wanna go bake him granny's old apple turnover and tell him you like his butt? ”

“First off that's not even the phrase you think it is, second I think a simple yes or no would suffice.”

Going to stand up, sure that it was a waste of time to expect her help, Steph took your hand.

“Geeze, sorry, didn't realize you were so worked up. Come on, sit.” You sat down on the side of her bed while she scooted up on her pillow to better reach her cellphone. “Look, I'll text Lexi, she works down at the pool, she knows all the hot guys who live here.”

You couldn't help but scoff, “Thanks, I guess?”

“So you know what that means? If she doesn't know his name, he's not hot.”

She offered you her cheesiest, exaggerated wink she could muster, earning a short snort out of you before you shook your head. “I need to go take a shower, I guess let me know if she says anything.”

“Alright, and I'll see if I can pull him up on social media.”

You walked out to the pleasant sound of Steph texting her friend, knowing soon you might have a name to go with that voice you couldn't get out of your head.

*****

Tom had been outside listening to you for over thirty minutes before he had mustered up enough courage to actually say something to you.

It wasn't something he had particularly planned, though he had meant to speak to you sooner. The thing was, he wasn't from around there and there were certain normalities he didn't quite understand.

Certain ones were less socially involved, such as driving on the wrong side of the road, the use of American made cars verses the German models he bad grown up with.

But it was earlier that week when Chris, his Australian work friend, came by to go over a project they were collaborating on that he noticed his social cues might need some help.

They had just been discussing an upcoming book deal they were working on together when Tom suddenly quieted his friend before reaching for his Ipod to turn the music down.

“What are you-”

“Shhh,” Tom instructed with a finger pressed to his confused friend's lips. “Listen.” He held a hand to his ear, cut his eyes towards the open balcony doors and smiled. “Don't you hear it?”

Chris furrowed his brow but did what he was told, just a bit less enthusiastically. After a minute he finally answered, “Singing?”

“Yes, but more than that. What else?”

“Well she clearly doesn't know the words to Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

“No!” Tom corrected sharply. “Can't you hear it? You can practically feel her soul coming out in these words. It's just so real, so… Refreshing.” His back turned and he began filling his mother's old kettle with water, going on, “She does it every day, just goes outside and sings along to my music. It's the most peculiar thing.”

“I sing along to the radio all the time, you never say nice things to me about it?”

“Yes, but this is different. She's coming outside to sing to MY music.”

“And?”

“And? And?!” Tom three his hands into the air, going on, “And, he says.” There was a silence between the two of them as the song cut off and the singing stopped. Tom set the kettle on the stove and turned back to face the still creased-browsed Chris. “I don't know, it's just nice to me, I suppose.”

It was now time for Chris to speak and he really just didn't know where to begin. “So you interrupted me telling you how much money we are about to make on this cookbook deal because you were listening to your neighbor sing to herself?”

“When you say it like that it sounds ridiculous.”

“That's exactly what it is!”

“Oh no, it's not like that. She does it all the time, it's kind of like our thing.”

Chris pinched the bridge of his nose and Inhaled sharply. “Your thing, eh? And who is this lucky young lady that you eavesdrop on a daily basis?”

“Eavesdrop?” he laughed but wasn't smiling. “I'm, no, I'm not eavesdropping, I'm just simply appreciating someone else's ability to let go. It's no different than listening at a karaoke bar. ” His confidence lessened when he quietly remarked, “Also, I don't know her name.”

“Have you even spoken to her?”

“No, we haven't the chance…”

“You know she's outside every single day, what do you mean there wasn't a chance?”

Tom's mouth opened to oppose but no words ever materialized. Slowly he closed his mouth and swallowed a lump in his throat. “I should talk to her then?”

“In the very least introduce yourself, what harm would it do? You never talk to the hot girls I hire for you at the bakery, the least you can do is talk to one that for whatever reason you started stalking her. Talk about music.”

Fast forward to the day he actually managed to speak to you. Now, after making a complete arse of himself, he didn't know if you would ever come outside again and what was worse he didn't even remember to tell you his name.

"Perhaps that's for the best," he reasoned, "I could still mend this first impression."

After he knew you had left, he bolted inside to find his phone. He texted Chris what happened and waited impatiently for him to respond with:

~Actually, about that neighbor girl, I got a REALLY interesting call from Lexi you may wanna know about~

Tom’s brow furrowed at the comment, curiously asking what he heard.

He called him and nearly fell out of his chair at the news.

*****

The steam of your shower had filled up your room by the time you came sashaying out. With a towel around your waist, you planted yourself down at your desk and opened up your laptop. Just as you opened the web browser, Steph can barging in.

“Y/N!”

Your hands went up instinctively to cover your chest, cursing out, “What the hell!”

“I got it!” she exclaimed, “And you are just gonna DIE!”

“His name, you got his name?” Your grin stretched from ear to ear as you pressed further, “Well? What is it?!”

“I can do one better,” she teased, holding her Tiffany blue phone out for you to see. “I found him on Facebook, and Look!”

You had to lean back for the up close image to fully resonate with your retinas, but when you got a good glimpse, you took the phone from her hand and stared.

It was his profile picture, a face to go along with that voice. The image only showed him from the waist up, dressed in jeans and a white button up, but to you it showed enough. His eyes stood out immediately, a striking seafoam blue that sparkled along with the toothy grin he offered the camera. His hair was a strawberry blonde that was neatly trimmed but still long enough to curl. High cheekbones, sun-kissed skin, along with the more than sunny backdrop of his photo painted a portrait of an outdoorsy, fun loving sort of guy. Looking at him while imaging that velvety English accent sent a shiver down your toes that you couldn't hide.

“A total babe, right?” your sister beamed. “And judging by his profile, he's single!”

You swallowed hard. “That, yeah, that's awesome.” It felt like he was staring back at you through the photo, and finally you made yourself scroll over to see his name. “Tom,” you said out loud with a smile.

Steph reached over and took her phone from you, offering you, “I haven't even told you the best BEST part. My friend is dating his friend and guess what?”

You stared at her, blank faced. “What?”

“He’s the guy who owns Bake-tastic! This is the guy you’ve been pining over since you moved here!”

You looked over at your laptop, thinking about how many times you wondered what the mysterious baker must look like, googling and yet failing to ever find any remnants of him. Judging by his way with sweets, you honestly expected a thicker, maybe older gentleman, not someone worthy of being a model.

But that’s not what you saw.

Looking him over, taking it all in, realizing it was his playlist you had been listening to all this time, his pastries you had been idolizing, you wondered if maybe this was a sign.

“You know what you gotta do right?” your sister asked with a playful grin.

“What?”

She scoffed as if the answer was obvious. “You gotta go bake with him!”

At that, you made a sour face, shaking your head at the very notion. “No, he doesn’t like teaching and he certainly wouldn’t want a novice messing up a days’ worth of work. No, I’m not doing that-”

“Oooo, that’s too bad,” Steph ached, her face not reflecting the sympathy her voice tried to persuade. “Because I definitely told my friend to ask about you helping out in the bakery.”

“You WHAT?”

As it turned out, Steph’s friend Lexi was dating Chris Hemsworth, a well known heir of the Hemsworth Lodging hotels. His image was the only one you could ever come across in your searches for Bake-tastic's ownership. He made donations to various organizations and raised money for charities, but what wasn't oublically as well known was his investments he made in his friends.

Tom just happened to be one of those friends, a baker in need of a bakery. So, Chris forked up the money and Tom got straight to work, building a name for himself in L.A. while Chris managed the business side of it. The only issue for Tom was he felt very out of place in such a large city, even as diverse at it was. Nothing about it ever quite felt like home, so rather than branch out into the world, he worked late hours and insisted on solitude.

It felt bizzare hearing the story from Steph, but it made you feel better when she assured you Chris and Tom didn’t know all the details about you.

“I just said my friend’s sister is an aspiring baker and would love to, like, shadow Mr. Hiddleston or whatever. I gave them your name, but only because you work at the bakery,” Lexi assured when you called to ask exactly what happened. “Chris was more than happy to ask Tom if he was willing to show you around his kitchen and he said for you to come tonight.”

“Tonight?” you exploded, realizing you hadn’t the mental preparation needed to meet the British bombshell of a baker after that awkward balcony encounter. “What if he knows it’s me?”

“He’s never met you, just listened to you sing a few lame songs. How would he know it’s you?”

*****

“Oh, it’s definitely her,” Chris repeated over the speaker phone to Tom. “See, here, I’ll forward you her info.”

Tom stared blankly at the Facebook page, gazing into your eyes as he matched it with the voice he had heard earlier that day. His phone dinged as he received a forwarded email from Chris containing your original job application to Bake-tastic as well as a copy of your driver's license.

“That is just too much of a coincidence, surely you’re pulling my leg?” Tom snipped, shaking his head. But looking down at your image, he hoped it wasn’t foolish to want it to be true. “And she wants to bake with me?”

“Lexi made it clear, she came to California to be a baker and she loves everything you make in the shop. And the best news? She already has a serious crush on you! I’m telling you, if you want to make a better first impression on this woman, you need to let her work with you tonight.” When he didn't immediately agree, Chris added, "I already told her to be there at six, all you have to do is show up and be charming."

Tom inhaled sharply, staring at the image a bit longer before finally conceding.

*****

You had gone through numerous outfits while you tried to figure out what you were going to wear. Jeans, skirts and leggings were all thrown around your room, shirts crumbled up on the floor, shoes spilled out of your closet as you tossed pair after pair aside.

Your sister had finally come and picked out something for you: a loose fitting blue t-shirt dress with gray closed toe wedges. "Not too dressed up to work in a kitchen, but nice enough to hopefully get a callback from your impromptu date," Stroh said, stepping back to admire her creation. "AND IT HAS POCKETS!"

"It's not a date, it's a baking lesson if anything," you corrected, though after you put your hands in the pockets and did a twirl, you had to admit your heart was fluttering at the idea of an all night cooking session with Tom.

However, when it was finally time for you to leave, you started choking up. "I can't," you started spatting off over and over." I can't, this is a bad idea, what if I mess up one of his recipes? What if I embarrass myself? What if I use salt instead of sugar?" your eyes widened, "What if he doesn't like me?"

"You'll be fine, just do what you always do!" When you still looked unsure, she went on, "You're great, y/n, and he'd be an idiot not to see it. A beautiful, British idiot. " Steph offered you a sincere smile, enough to spur you on. "And for the love of everything decent, please flirt!"

You swallowed hard, did one last look over in the mirror, then grabbed your purse and made the fifteen minute walk down the block to the bakery.

When you arrived, the main store front had the lights off, but from the kitchen door you could see a faint illumination.

Tom was just beyond that light.

Repeating, "I can do this," to yourself, you walked through the front door, setting off the gentle ding of the bell that alerted staff of a customer arriving.

“Hello?” you called out, unsure if you had the right time. Looking down at your phone, you were only a couple of minutes early so rather than wait in the doorway, you went on in. Your mind began urging, begging, pleading for you to turn back. It’s not too late, it said, go ahead, high tail it out of here.

‘No. I have to do this,’ you pushed on. ‘I have to know what’s beyond that door.’

Mustering up the courage, feeling something in the pit of your soul tell you this was right, you called out again, “Hello? Mr. Hiddleston? I'm here to, uh, help for tomorrow's set up?"

A loud, disembodied voice came from the kitchen, “Yes, come into the back! And lock that door, won’t you? Don’t need anyone walking in off the street.”

You swallowed, feeling your heart begin to pound as you set the lock. Slipping your phone in the pocket of your dress, you tucked your purse under the cash register before walking back towards the kitchen.

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