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inter-fandomfollower · 2 years ago

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*Leonardo x Fem! Reader* A Princess and a Frog Au pt 1

Story Prompt: Leonardo is the second eldest prince to the Kingdom of Shangrao. You're a young woman who works to make a dream become a reality in New Orleans.

Who could guess that with new experiences and new meetings, new dangers lurk around every corner?

An; I'm bored, and I've had this idea for a story for awhile, so here it is

Italics + 🎶 means singing

Italics means whispering

N/n means your nickname

P.S - Rogers is your family's last name, it also isn't a random last name I went with, it's legitimately Tiana's family name

At the start

~🎶The Evening Star is shining bright🎶

🎶So make a wish and hold on tight🎶

🎶There's magic in the air tonight🎶

🎶And anything can happen🎶~

"Just at that moment, the ugly little frog looked up with his sad, round eyes and pleaded: Oh, please, dear princess, only a kiss from you can break this terrible spell, that was inflicted on me by a wicked witch!"

The woman reading the fairytale was Marie, your mother, and she was working on something for your best friend, Lottie.

Lottie leaned in close to you, still staring with starry eyes at Mrs. Rogers' reading.

"Here comes my favorite part."

You looked at your best friend with a contempt smile as the little white kitten Lottie was holding let out a small meow.

Marie turned the page on the book to continue reading the tale and finish a bow for the dress Lottie was wearing.

"And the beautiful princess was so moved by his desperate plea, that she stooped down,-"

Marie turned her head ever so slightly to look at the girls with a playful smile on her face.

"-picked up the slippery creature,-"

The girls, who were getting really roped into the story, leaned in closer on the edge of their seats, so to speak.

"-leaned forward, raised him to her lips,-"

Lottie nodded her head excitedly while you shook your head to the sides.

"-and kissed that little frog!"

Lottie exclaimed from sheer joy and adoration, while you scrunched your nose and shook your head more, disgusted by the picture your mind created at those very words.

The kitten, who had been squished in the arms Lottie, escaped her.

"Then the frog was transformed into a handsome prince! They were married and lived happily ever after. The end."

Lottie leaned backwards and put her arms in the air from pure delight of the story.

"Yay! Oh!"

Lottie accidentally fell completely backwards but her dress provided a nice soft landing. You giggled at your best friends silly antics.

"Read it again, Big Mama! Read it again!"

Your mother, whose nickname was Big Mama, leaned down and helped Lottie up off the floor.

"Sorry Charlotte, it's time for us to be heading home. Say good night, Y/n."

As your mother was getting her bag, you scrunched your nose once more and decided to comment on the story your mother told.

"You couldn't give me everything in the world by kissing a frog, never! Yuck!"

Lottie held her hands behind her dress, with a mischievous look displayed on her face.

"Is that so?"

Lottie quickly looked down to see her kitten and swiftly put a little frog costume on him.

"Well, here's your Prince Charming, N/n!"

Lottie briskly walked over and playfully smooshed the kittens face against your cheek.

"Come on, kiss him."

You smiled at Lottie's silly ploy to get you to kiss the dressed up kitten and moved the him face away from your cheek.

"No."

Lottie continued to try and get you to kiss him and further press the kitten to your cheek.

"Kiss him!"

You playfully continued to try and keep the kitten away from you.

"C'mon, stop it, Lottie!"

Lottie edged forward with trying to match-make you with "Prince Charming" with each little push of the kitten towards you.

"Kiss him!, kiss him, kiss him!"

You decided to end the little ploy Lottie came up with and move the kitten as far away from your face as possible.

"I won't, I won't, I won't!"

And with one final playful shove, Lottie was sent onto the ground with her poofy dress as a cushion.

Lottie had quickly recovered and immediately responded to your rejecting of kissing a frog.

"I would do it! I would kiss a frog!"

The kitten, still in Lottie's grasp, kept trying to escape her clutches.

"I would kiss a hundred frogs if I could marry a prince and be a princess!"

Lottie kissed the side of her kittens face, resulting in the kitten launching itself up to the ceiling, his claws keeping him there.

You both laughed at the reaction of the kitten and rolled on the floor with laughter.

Your mother shook her head at you two little rascals.

"You girls, stop tormenting that poor little kitty."

While the two of you continued to laugh, Marie got the kitten down from the ceiling.

"Poor little thing."

The kitten clung onto the carpet like it's life depended on it and scampered away. Marie shook her head at the poor little traumatized kitten.

A man walked into the room, wearing a white suit and salmon colored tie.

"Evening, Marie."

Lottie, upon hearing her father's voice, ran up to her father, in excitement for her new dress.

"Daddy! Daddy! Look at my new dress! Isn't it pretty?"

Mr. La Bouff laughed and leaned down with his arms open wide and picked up his daughter.

"Look at you! Why, I'd expect nothing less from the finest seamstress in New Orleans."

Marie gave Mr. La Bouff an appreciative smile. Lottie on the other hand, was looking at the picture of the maiden from the storybook Mrs. Rogers had read to you and her.

"Ooh! I want that dress!"

Mr. La Bouff turned his head to Lottie and turned his body away from the book, trying to see reason with his daughter.

"Ah, now Sugarplum-!"

Lottie began pulling on the ends of her father's mustache, desperately wanting to look like the maiden in the fairytale.

"I want that one! Please, please, please, please!"

Mr. La Bouff gave into his daughter plea and turned to Mrs. Rogers, hoping to end the pain his upper lip was feeling.

"Marie, you suppose you could whip up something like that?"

Mrs. Rogers chuckled and gestured to the many dress she's made for Lottie.

"Anything for my best customer."

Lottie cheered, now that her dress collection would soon grow, again.

"Come along, Y/N. Your daddy should be home from work by now."

You, who had been ready for awhile, took your mother's hand and walked out of Lottie's room and down the hallway. Talking from Lottie's room could still be heard.

"All right now, princess, you're getting that dress, but that's it. No more Mr. Pushover....Now who wants a puppy?"

"I do! I do! He's so cute!"

As you and Marie walked out of the La Bouff mansion and towards the end of the sidewalk, a trolley pulled up and stopped.

Once you and your mother were seated, the trolley started up again. You got on your knees on the seat and peered out the window. The mansions and big elite houses soon faded away to much smaller houses.

The trolley stopped, and as you and your mother got off, you both waved a thank you to the trolley driver, who kindly waved back.

You and your parents didn't have much money for a house like Lottie's but it was enough for you and your family.

A half an hour passed by and you were making gumbo with your father, Arthur, while your mother was sitting at her sewing machine. working on Lottie's next dress.

"Mmm. Gumbo smells good, Y/n."

Your father was watching you stir the pot of gumbo as he commented on it.

"I think it's done, Daddy."

You scooped up some gumbo from the pot, determined it was done and ready for tasting.

"Yeah? Are you sure?"

Marie looked at her daughter and husband, smiling in amusement.

"Yes."

Marie continued to work, her smile still expressed on her face at her husband's silly but amusing antics.

"O-kay, I'm 'bout to put this spoon in my..."

You began thinking, and took the spoon from your father, as he chuckled in response.

"Wait!"

You added a bit of Tabasco sauce to the gumbo, stirred it up to spread the flavor, tasted it and was satisfied with your addition.

"Now it's done."

Your father leaned down as you fed him a spoonful of the gumbo.

"Hmm."

You looked at your father, a worried expression displayed upon your face at his response.

"What?"

"Well, sweetheart, this is the..."

You looked away, getting sad thinking you didn't make the gumbo right. But your father, being the silly goose he was, scooped you up in his arms.

"...best gumbo I've ever tasted!"

You giggled at your father as he laughed with you in his arms.

"Come here. Marie, our little girls got a gift!"

Your mother got up from her sewing machine and walked over to the two of you.

"Mmm-hmm. I could've told you that."

"A gift this special's just gotta be shared."

As Arthur let you out of his arms, you ran to the front door and opened it.

"Hey everybody, I made gumbo!"

The various neighbors all exclaimed in rejoice of the smell of the gumbo.

Soon enough, everyone in the little neighborhood was sat on the front porch of your house and eating the gumbo with smiles plastered on their faces.

Afterwards, it was time for bed. Arthur and Marie were sitting down with you on your bed.

"You know the thing about good food? It brings folks together from all walks of life. It warms them right up and it puts little smiles on their faces-"

Your father reached over and grabbed a piece of paper with a picture of the inside of a restaurant and people in it.

"-and when I open up my own restaurant, I tell you, people are going to be lining up for miles around just to get a taste of my food."

As you listened to your father, you corrected him on last bit of what he said.

"Our food."

Arthur chuckled at your input.

"That's right, baby."

Your father grabbed a crayon and wrote "Y/n's place" on a corner and showed it to you.

"Our food."

You reached out and hugged the picture as a smile on your face, and out of the corner of your eye, you spotted the Evening Star out of your window.

"Daddy, look."

You pointed to the Evening Star in the sky and began crawling on top of your bed to get to the window sill.

"Where're you going?"

"Charlotte's fairytale book said: If you make a wish on the Evening Star, it's sure to come true."

Arthur and Marie joined you by the window sill. Marie hummed in response.

"Well, you wish on that star, sweetheart."

"Yes. You wish and you dream with all your little heart. But remember, Y/n, that old star can only take you part of the way. You got to help it along with some hard of your own. And then..."

Your father cupped the side of your head with his hand.

"...yeah, you can do anything you set your mind to."

Marie walked over to rest her hands on her husband's shoulders.

"Just promise your daddy one thing. That you'll never, ever lose sight of what's really important. Okay?"

You nodded your head with a determined smile upon your face. Your parents kissed you good night and tucked you in.

And just as they left the room and closed the door, you sprang up, grabbed the picture off your nightstand and crawled back over to the window sill.

You pulled back the slightly transparent curtains and stared out at the Evening Star high above you.

You looked down at the picture, hugged it tightly to your chest and tightly closed your eyes.

"Please, please, please."

Just then, you felt like someone was staring at you. You looked to your right to see a frog was on your window sill.

You and the frog just stared at one another for a moment, until the frog croaked!

You screeched in fright and hastily ran out your room, closing the door behind you.

#Rottmnt Leo x reader #Rottmnt Leonardo x reader #Leonardo x reader #Rottmnt fanfiction #Rottmnt x reader #Leo x reader #Leo PF Au #A Princess and a Frog Au #Rise Leo x reader

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vixey-chakraborty · 3 years ago

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The Investment [Part Two] & [Ratfox]

In which, after a meeting at InterPride, and after some encouragement from Tiana, Vixey reaches out to another investor...[takes place: late June, 2021]

@professorofcrimeratigan

[tw -- some scheming on ratigan’s part]

VIXEY: It had been her contact at InterPride that pointed her in the direction of Pedram Ratigan. She had never heard of him before, which was both worse and better. At least with Seamus, there had been some familiarity there. He knew her parents, and she supposed that had helped him agree--when he had been a bit skeptical. (Which, honestly, fair, in her opinion.) However, that familiarity also meant there was more pressure, because if he said no, it would not have reflected poorly just on Vixey, but on her parents as well. And that wasn’t acceptable.

Mr. Ratigan didn’t know her at all. They were a blank slate to one another. It meant she had much more to prove, but there were also fewer expectations. Due to this, she had chosen Tiana’s place and a proper dinner reservation to wine and dine the man.

He was led to her table by the redheaded hostess, whom Vixey thanked as she stood and offered her hand to the man.

“Mr. Ratigan, I presume? I’m Vixey Chakraborty. It’s nice to meet you. Thank you so much for agreeing to meet with me. I know you’re a busy man.” [outfit]

RATIGAN: An invitation to dinner had been extended to him.

This would not have been such a surprise had it been from someone he actually spent time with, such as a co-worker or Mrs. Robinson, but for it to come from a complete stranger had been a bit of a red flag. Always erring on the side of caution (paranoia) he looked her up. He would have done it regardless, but still. In his line of work one could never be too careful. Her last name had seemed familiar but it wasn’t until he had gotten the results back that he understood where from— her family owned a farm nearby.

Why someone like her would want to entertain someone like him was a bit of a mystery but that worked in Ms. (or did she still go by Mrs.?) Chakraborty’s favor. It made him more willing to go, just to see what would happen.

He smiled to the hostess and kept it as he took the woman’s hand. Polite. Formal— thankfully not here for any social reason. Business then.

Ratigan waved his other hand, eyebrows furrowing slightly. “Even academics need to get out and see the sun every now and again. I should be thanking you for the excuse to.” He gestured to her seat, unbuttoning his suit’s jacket before he took his own. “So, what can I do for you, Ms. Chakraborty?”

VIXEY: Vixey’s heart was beating very fast as she shook Mr. Ratigan’s hand. She had never done something like this before and she found it extremely intimidating. Googling “how to ask someone for an investment” didn’t really yield the results she’d wanted. She had spoken with Jun a bit, and obviously had convinced Seamus, but Mr. Ratigan was a proper businessman. Not a family friend she was basically asking a very large favor of.

When he gestured, Vixey took her seat again, glad he’d indicated for it--otherwise, she probably would’ve remained awkwardly standing for a few seconds too long. Her leg started bouncing under the table. She hoped he wouldn’t notice...or, she would, if she had even noticed she was doing it.

“Right, well, I believe I mentioned in my email that I was looking for support for my business venture.” Vixey didn’t believe this, she knew it. She had stared at the email several times, had Jun read over it, had her parents read over it, had Tiana and Barbie read over it.

“I am looking to--open a thrift shoppe on Main Street.” She said it all in one big breath and then smiled, nervous and sheepish, but also--a bit exhilarated.

RATIGAN: Well. That was rather a let down— but what had he expected? A part of him settled back now that he knew this was just a small, mundane matter.

Tiana’s Place had been a good investment. The woman had done everything in her power to ensure its success, as he knew she would, and he hadn’t needed to do anything but keep her books. All the while he had his own business running within it and should anyone (though he very much doubted anyone would) find the threads of it they would be led back to Ms. Truitt.

It had been nice having something so close to home. Sometimes running a network from the telephone could get exhausting, especially when working with some of the dimmest people the criminal world had to offer.

If he could do that again, he figured, why not? Ms. Chakroborty did not seem to have the spine Ms. Truitt possessed, which made this all the more enticing.

“That’s a smart venture. Ever since the last clothing shoppe closed I am sure everyone has been waiting for someone to save them from having to travel elsewhere.” He smiled. “How can I be of help to you?”

VIXEY: Vixey let out a little breath when he didn’t immediately get up and walk away. She had been half expecting it. She had no idea how to negotiate a business deal. This wasn’t what she’d gone to school for. It wasn’t something she had ever thought she would need skills in. Maybe it was easier than she thought it was going to be…

“I’m glad you think so,” Vixey gushed, meaning it truly. If he had thought the shoppe a bad idea and ended things right there well...months of Vixey’s work would have gone to waste. That was the last thing she wanted now that she had come this far. Vixey had already, possibly, wasted months of her life getting a degree in nursing, just to turn her back on that profession the moment her life got hard. If this fell through too, she would feel truly lost.

She didn’t know how upfront she should be. Asking for money felt like such an intimate conversation.

“Well, I was--pointed in your direction by a few contacts of mine.” There, that felt professional. Even if those contacts had just been Tiana and Simba. “They told me that you--are interested in investing in small businesses around Swynlake.” That wasn’t asking for money, she supposed. At least, not outright.

“I, uh, I have all my business plans and such here.” She pushed the bulky folder towards him. “With budgets and design ideas, marketing plans...that sort of thing.”

RATIGAN: Despite her avoiding the word completely he knew what this was leading up to. (It was all anything ever led up to these days, wasn’t it?) Ratigan admired her wish to skirt around the question, seemingly waiting for the right moment or signs from him saying that she could go ahead and ask for the money she was looking for.

He leaned forward to retrieve the folder, holding the spine of it against an open hand while the other was allowed to flip through its pages. This he could admire, most people would have told him they sent him something on his email he could open or present him with their laptop to scroll through, but a physical copy held weight— showed effort.

Of course he did not actually care about this clothing store and whether or not it would benefit him. Either way he would walk out of this unscathed, even if it did fail, both monetarily and in reputation.

He was more interested to know who she was and if he would be able slip things under her nose without notice, just as he had Ms. Truitt.

“Well done. It seems you have a clear vision and goal in mind.” He glanced up, but returned to the pages in front of as he asked again, “Clearly you’re in no need of advice so, what is it I can do for you?”

VIXEY: Was that clear?

It didn’t feel clear to Vixey. In fact, she needed all the advice and help she could get. She still felt horrifically out of her element. Vixey hadn’t ever wanted to open a business. She had gone to school to be a nurse and get bossed around by other people! She didn’t know how to be a boss and run a business. The idea was incredibly daunting.

There were so many questions she wanted to ask: how do you hire people? How do you fire them? How do you budget how much they should be paid? How do you get stock for something like a thrift store? What kind of insurance was best? Of course, these were all things she could read online or in books and she had but—

Asking a genuine businessman was preferable and she couldn’t bother Jun for all of it. She’d feel horrible, using him like that when he’d already helped her so much.

But, as much as Vixey wanted to open her mouth and let all these anxieties pour out of her, she knew she couldn’t. Ratigan was not the person to ask. She needed to project confidence. Poise. He wouldn’t want to invest if he didn’t think she believed she could do it. Vixey wouldn’t blame him.

So, instead, she just smiled and fiddled with her fork.

“Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say. Uhm, I am currently shopping around for investors.” Asking for money was not natural for anyone and certainly not Vixey. She had worked hard, her whole life, but it was her father who reminded her that he had started out that exact way. Moving to a brand new country and starting a farm. He had relied on investors and community members to help him through those first years. And then he had even given her the first loan—it was a modest thousand dollars, but Vixey was already anxious to pay him back.

“If you—flip to the budgeting tab, you’ll see I’ve worked out my first year of finances. I’ve already got enough to pay for most the rent from another investor. But, obviously, there is still a deficit in the budget.”

About 20,000 pounds, but saying that out loud was intimidating.

RATIGAN: No, it wasn’t, but if he was going to get this show on the road before the restaurant called closing time then he figured it best to attempt boosting her confidence level. If she thought he thought she was competent then it may be enough to get her say what she meant.

Other investors. Ratigan wished he could roll his eyes. Honestly, he should have prepared for that given this woman’s financial situation and seeming polite sensibilities. She wouldn’t want to up and ask a stranger for all of what she was looking for. It seemed to be like pulling teeth even now since she wouldn’t just come out and say exactly what she needed from him.

Multiple people being involved would be rather annoying. More eyes on the books meant less of a chance he would be able to do much of anything. Especially if they were all going in evenly and no one had more say over the other— except if she knew them personally, then she would value their opinion above all else since this was a small town and relationships always seemed to win out in the end. Unless it was the right person at the helm and a nudge in the right direction could persuade them to listen to reason rather than their social obligations.

“I see.” He wished he could shut the book, tell her he wasn’t interested, and not have to deal with the, no doubt, ridiculous people she’d already gotten involved. Unfortunately, she was friends with Ms. Truitt and, not wanting to jeopardize what he did have, Ratigan knew he would have to hear her out. “And may I ask why you think I’d be a good fit for you?”

VIXEY: The truthful answer to Mr. Ratigan’s question was simple: because he had the money.

Obviously, Vixey couldn’t say that. She felt a bit bad even thinking it. It was true, however. She didn’t know Mr. Ratigan, he had no personal reason to invest. They both knew this. It made Vixey feel horribly uncomfortable. Doubting herself once again. She wasn’t as bold as Tiana nor as level-headed as Jun. Maybe she wasn’t cut out to be a business owner after all. But, she had already sunk so much time into this.

She had a plan.

So, after a brief pause—thankfully there was food she could shove her face with in the meantime (made sense to her now why so many people did business over dinner)—she swallowed and cleared her throat.

“You have a lot of experience with business. Tiana told me about some of your other ventures. And while I have done a lot of reading and learning, I know that there is still much more I could learn. I found you appealing because of that. And you’ve already invested in Swynlake, so I thought you might be open to it and that it was worth a try.” She tried for a winning, confident smile.

RATIGAN: Usually Ratigan was a big fan of games like this. Someone coming to him in need and not wanting to say it out right for one reason or another. It would amuse him to no end watching the other person squirm or bristle until eventually something gave and they finally admitted defeat. Here it was all just so— boring. They were discussing something of no consequence. (To him, anyway, which was all he cared about.)

But, again, what had he really expected?

He went through the motions, making sure his microexpressions were accurate to what she was saying to him. Sheepish flattery at the compliments, nodding as she shared her thought process, and rubbing a hand at his cheek as he pretended to think it over. He already had. There was no harm to him whether he gave her the money or not. If she failed then it was what it was, he lost nothing. If she succeeded then very well, he would have helped another person in this town gain a business. Either way his reputation remained. It was only if he didn’t invest that he may stand to lose something.

“Are you simply seeking a loan from me? Or am I to have some sort of stake in this venture as well?”

VIXEY: “Oh, well--” Vixey was rather taken aback by how blunt Mr. Ratigan was being, but perhaps this was how it worked in business. Vixey surely wouldn’t know. It made sense, she supposed, that someone who was sinking money into something wanted to make sure that it survived to see a return investment. Vixey wouldn’t blame them. It was a very practical thing to do.

She smiled, a bit uncomfortably, though she managed to swallow it down and smile brighter.

“My original plan was just for the investment, but I would be happy to hear if you wanted to be more firmly involved. I’ll admit that all of this is rather new to me, so I would, at the very least, appreciate any advice. I’m sure you--when--if you’d like to invest--want to make sure it succeeds as well. I’d be all ears. Truly. And very grateful.”

RATIGAN: He chuckled, sitting forward now. “Well, in that case, my first piece of advice for you is to not admit to such naivety. When dealing with money people tend to become less than sensitive to the well-fare of others and more inclined to focus on themselves. Even if you’re working with friends and family— perhaps more so since they think those are the people that will be more willing to forgive them for their actions.”

After all, where would he be if not for the sins of man?

“If it’s advice you seek then I will give you the same deal I offered to Ms. Truitt. Where she wanted to learn how to keep her books, I could help teach you how to run a business. Whether that be marketing, management, accounting, or financing. You’re asking for—” Ratigan glanced down to the binder. “10,000? If you give me 10% ownership then I can provide that, my personal experience, and should anything else come up, and it will as that is the way of life, then you can always come back to me for whatever else it is that you need.”

VIXEY: Oh, that--well, that actually sounded really good.

It took some of the pressure off Vixey, as there would be someone who actually knew what they were doing at the helm. And the way he spoke, it was obvious that he had a lot of experience. Something which she sorely lacked.

However, Vixey wasn’t one to make any split second decisions. This was something she would have to talk over with her father. And probably Jun. And also Tiana. She needed to collect all the evidence and organize it, then make a decision when she was ready. 10% ownership was a big deal, even if it sounded relatively small. They would have to set up guidelines for how much say he would have and what that would look like moving forward.

Her brain started whirring as she considered all of these options.

“Thank you, Mr. Ratigan. That is extremely generous. Much more than I would have hoped for.” It was, also, she realized, very business savvy, because it meant he would get a say in his investment. A higher guarantee of a bit of profit, or, at the very least, breaking even.

“I will have to consider it, but why don’t you send over a contract for me to read? If your firm has one on hand, otherwise, we could design one together, though that might take a bit longer. I can--get my answer to you in a few weeks? I am hoping to have my petition submitted to the board by the end of July and the shoppe opened by September at the latest, so it would certainly be before that.”

RATIGAN: Good, he had been anticipating that answer. As naive as this woman was she did have some sort of sense about her. He would have been more concerned had she simply jumped at the offer and agreed to it straight away if only because he did not want to deal with someone so ridiculous. They could be entertaining, like how the court kept a jester, but those sorts of people were not to be kept around and given a direct line of contact. So long as she remained competent this whole ordeal would be tolerable.

“That’s alright. I can have one drawn up and sent to you in no less than two days' time. I’ll use the email you’ve contacted me with in case they need any additional information.” It would take less time for him since the law firm worked for him (under a different identity), but in the interest of appearing relatively normal he would give it a few days. Just enough to let it breathe but not too long to allow the deal to be lost in the weeds of the rest of her planning.

“And please, take your time. If there is anything I have learned in my days it’s that it is better to be sure of yourself and your decisions than rush into something and be left with regret.” Ratigan smiled, closing the binder and handing it back over to her. “If there is anything else I can do for you in the meantime, please, don’t hesitate to ask. Now or in the future.”

VIXEY: This all sounded good to Vixey. Almost too good. But, that was Swynlake for you. Close knit communities allowed for a kind of opportunity Vixey had not seen before. As a girl, she had wanted the opportunities of the whole wide world! All the things that it had to offer. Now, though, she appreciated the opportunity of connections, more than she ever thought she would.

It was nice to feel as if she had a place to land softly, where her grief could be a gentle thing she carried with her. And that she did not have to explain herself. Everyone understood, because they knew her and her family and had heard, one way or another. She had thought that kind of gossip would bother her. It had at the hospital. Somehow, it was easier here. Vixey didn’t feel…judged or pitied. And she had made friends easily, sliding back into routines she had once hated for their simplicity and now cherished for the very same reason.

“Thank you so much. Your offer really means a lot. I will definitely keep that in mind.” And probably write up a list of questions, fret about sending it, then send it anyway.

“For now, let’s just leave it at that. I don’t want to take up any more of your time.”

#bdrpratigan #ratfox #the investment #part two #lookbook

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et-lesailes · 5 years ago

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missing linc //chapter two

series masterlist

pairing: ceo!dad!steve x reader

word count: 1960

series summary: you are a college student working at a daycare full time during your summer break, and you have grown especially fond of one of the toddlers in your class, lincoln rogers. you are certainly not expecting to develop such a huge crush on his dad steve when you meet him for the first time, but you can’t help but be attracted to the businessman– despite the fact that he’s married. however, as intelligent and mature as steve comes across, he has a few secrets behind his marriage- one in particular he may never be able to make up for.

series themes: romance, drama, age gap, infidelity, smut in later chapters

chapter summary: steve comes late to pick up linc, and a little more background is given on steve and tiana’s relationship.

taglist: added in reblog

** please send an ask if you would like to be added to the taglist!

It was 6:05 PM and Steve had still not shown up, despite the daycare technically closing at 6. It was not too rare for some parents to run late, especially with rush hour traffic, and so you were not too worried. It wasn’t like you ever got to leave right at 6 anyways, considering you had to clean up and shut down the room.

It was only you and Linc in the room; Stephanie and the other children had left. The only people in the building were you and the director of the center, who was really only still there because she locked up the place after everyone was gone. Linc was starting to get fussy; his mother normally picked him up at five, and it was clear that the extra hour of being there was tiring him, especially after having seen every other child leave with their mothers and fathers. He was currently snuggled up to you on your lap as you sat against some pillows in the little cozy “library” area of the room, holding onto you tight with his head buried in your chest, whimpering every now and then while simultaneously dozing off.

By 6:13, you were starting to wonder if you should pull up Linc’s parents’ numbers on the computer and call either Steve or Tiana, when the man suddenly came bursting into the room. “Hey. My God, I’m so sorry.” He instantly apologized, and you could tell by his features that he sincerely felt bad. “I got stuck in a meeting and by the time I got out, traffic was terrible.” You smiled and shook your head, standing up carefully as you held the child close to you. “Don’t worry about it, it happens.” You reassured him it was alright as he walked over to you, and you smiled as Linc immediately perked up upon hearing his father’s voice, wide blue eyes now looking up towards the ones he had inherited. “He’s a little cranky, but he’s tired. He’ll probably sleep on the way back home,” you told Steve as you handed the toddler over, unable to help but coo fondly seeing him nuzzle up to his dad’s chest. “Hey there, my sweet man. I missed you so much today. I’m so, so sorry I’m late.” Steve murmured, and you felt your heart melt.

He looked to you and smiled, still apologetic. “Thank you so much. I was actually hoping you’d still be here with him, since he seems to like you so much-- I wasn’t sure what time you generally go home.”

“I work from 9-6,” you informed him with a smile, “so I’m pretty much always here with him, except for a little while in the morning. I think your wife tends to drop him off early.” You had really only mentioned that last part to see if he would want to talk about Tiana at all while you had him here, it didn’t hurt to be subtly nosy, right? “Ah. She goes into work pretty early, yeah, so if I’m not here that’s really the only time she can do it.” He explained somewhat vaguely, and while you were a bit disappointed, you also weren’t sure what you had been expecting- it wasn’t as though you had given him a reason to go off into a spiel about their relationship. “Well, tell her I say hi!” you said, but instead of letting you know he would, he changed the subject. “Are you leaving now too? Let me walk you to your car.” He offered, then playfully bounced Linc in his arms. “This little guy would be thrilled to, he’s a perfect gentleman you know.” You blinked and giggled upon seeing Linc clap his hands, nodding your head as you went to go get your bag. You had already cleaned up while it had just been you and Linc, and so you had nothing left to do to close the room- the cleaners would take care of the rest. “Sure, that’d be nice. Thank you.”

You could feel your director staring holes into your back as you walked out of the building with Steve, almost as if you were the couple picking up your child from daycare. Something about walking alongside him as he held Linc felt so right, but you dismissed these thoughts. You had just met the man, for God’s sake, and he was married. Not to mention he was way older than you; disappointment settled in as you realized he probably simply saw you as some type of little sister figure, maybe even a daughter. But what had you been expecting? He had a child and an extremely successful career, why would he look twice at someone who was just a teenager less than a year ago?

There were only three cars in the parking lot- yours, the director’s, and Steve’s. Seeing the shiny Mercedes practically glimmering a few spots away from your very average Nissan Altima was almost a bit embarrassing, especially as you indicated to Steve that that was your car, but he did not seem affected at all as he walked you over. “Thanks again, Y/N, and I’m sorry,” he spoke sincerely, and while it was not a big deal, you noticed he did not use the ‘Miss’ in front of it like how he had referred to Stephanie. In fact, you were happy enough he even remembered your name. Did that mean something? God, you really needed to stop overanalyzing this. “Of course. I love spending time with Linc, it’s really not a problem. He’s good company,” you giggled as you reached out to give him a playful poke on the belly, making him squeal in delight, clearly in a much better mood than before.

“Then maybe you’d like to come by and babysit sometime?” the CEO suddenly inquired, and you blinked before nodding eagerly. “I’d love to!” Honestly, it was not even about Steve or Tiana-- you genuinely loved taking care of the child you had grown so fond of, and being able to outside of work sounded fun. “Great. Let me get your number.” He shifted Linc to his other arm, pulling out a sleek phone from his pocket and going to his phonebook before handing the device to you with a charming smile. You forced yourself not to stare at it, taking the phone and inserting your name and number before giving it back. “Great. Thank you, this will be a lot of help. I’ll reach out to you soon.” He told you, and even though it was childish, you couldn’t help but feel excited that you would have this man’s number. ‘Relax,’ you thought to yourself, ‘it’s just for babysitting. It’s not like we’re going to be friends.’

“Awesome,” you replied with a smile, giving Linc one last squeeze on the hand. “I’m looking forward to it.” You pressed the unlock button on your key, but before you could open the door, Steve reached out and opened it for you himself. “It was nice meeting you today, Y/N,” he spoke casually, as if his charismatic self had no impact on your beating heart whatsoever. “I get the feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of each other in the future.” You got into the car trying to nod normally, having no idea what he meant by that-- you didn’t need to say anything, anyways, because he closed the door once you were safely inside, barely leaning down and giving you the same wink he did before walking off towards his car. You were left completely confused like before, wondering for the hundredth time that day if you were overanalyzing everything or if he really was showing some odd type of interest.

“Are you finished?”

Steve looked up from his phone as Tiana was standing up from the dinner table, holding her empty plate in one hand and Linc’s in the other. Linc was gazing at him adoringly from his high chair he just barely fit into, flouncing around with pasta sauce all over his face. “Yeah. Yeah, sorry, had an email I had to reply to.”

A lie. After getting your number, he had been far too curious. And so he had shamelessly looked you up on Facebook, scrolling through your photos with interest. He couldn’t deny they were cute. Pictures of you with friends, out to eat, at bonfires, sporting events, even at the beach wearing a particularly tiny bikini he stared at a little longer than he’d like to admit.

He handed his empty plate to his wife with a grateful nod, then looked towards Linc with a little grin. “Look at you, tiger, you’re a mess. Come on, let’s clean you up.” Locking and setting his phone face down on the table, he stood up and took the boy out of his high chair, carrying him over to the kitchen sink while Tiana began to put the rest of the food in the fridge.

“How long are you going to be home this time?” Tiana asked as Steve leaned over the counter to properly wash his son’s hands and face. “I’m flying out to Manila next week,” he answered, raising an eyebrow slightly while scrubbing sauce off the little boy’s ear, at this point not even surprised that it had somehow gotten there. “Why? You can have David over when I’m here, you know.” The woman immediately froze and Steve somewhat regretted saying it out loud. He didn’t even mean it in a salty way, but even then, the entire situation was… messed up, to say the least. “And make him more confused than he probably already is?” Tiana hissed, turning around and gesturing to Linc. “Than he’s going to be when he grows up and learns the real circumstances surrounding his parents? No thank you. As it is, David only comes here when he’s asleep, and as far as I’m concerned, you have no right to be upset about that.”

“I’m not. You know that.” Steve replied calmly, sighing. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it like that. That was me trying to be accommodating in-- in whatever this mess is. But how long can this go on, Ti? It’s been a year, almost two. Are we really going to keep living like this?”

“It’ll go on as long as I want it to,” she replied simply, the answer having been quite predictable based on their last few conversations about the matter. “Right. Until David finally decides he wants to lock it down, right?” Steve retorted, now unable to help but get a little more annoyed. “I know what I did was wrong. But now you’re just using me, and my money. In the beginning I let you because I felt bad. But this is too much.”

She widened her eyes, clearly shocked and offended, but before she could reply, Linc tugged on the collar of Steve’s shirt. “Baba?” he asked hopefully, and as stressed as Steve was in that moment, he felt some of it melt away thanks to his sweet, wholesome child. “Okay, yes. We’ll go outside and blow bubbles, little man. Really big ones.” He sighed deeply as he looked to Tiana. “We shouldn’t be having this conversation in front of him, anyways. But please. You know what I want, and I know you want it too, even if you’re in denial. So think about it. And stop letting David be a factor. This “secret” relationship you two are in is just juvenile, Ti.”

Turning around, he headed for the door to the backyard, first opening one of the cupboards to take out the tube of bubble soap. “C’mon, buddy. Show Daddy how you make super big bubbles, yeah?”

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers au #steve rogers smut #steve rogers x you #dad!steve #ceo!steve #ml

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themightyhercules · 4 years ago

Text

savages born from worlds apart | tia, herc, & jim

@tianabenoit, @rattlethexstars

Tia yawned softly, hiding it in her hair as she waited for her tray to be loaded at the bar. It had been a long day, between classes, her early evening opening shift at Gusteau's, and now her time at the Duckling. At least she didn't have to worry about being pawed at while she was at Gusteau's, but she'd managed to develop something of a reputation for her temper when touched without her permission. Luckily, it suited the atmosphere of the place and the owner's temperament just fine. When her tray was done, she shot a small but warm smile at the bartender for the night before she slid out into the crowd.

Reaching her destination, she dropped off drinks with a quirked eyebrow, "Anything else for ya?" Her New Orleans accent wouldn't go away, though it had softened some in her time away. After getting whatever else they needed, she drifted away to another table, tipping her head at the person sitting. "Welcome to the Duckling, cher. What can I get for you?" A mental countdown to the end of her night had already established itself in her head and she tried not to focus on it too much.

It was hard for him to wind down after work sometimes--hard for Hercules to wind down ever sometimes, always a bottomless well of energy and motion--and though he wasn't much of a barfly, it was one of the only options that late into the night. He didn't have a favorite, rotating through whatever the town had to offer pretty much at random. There had been a time he spent a lot of nights in those kinds of places, taking advantage of his looks and his newfound coordination, but it didn't take long to realize those girls didn't want to get to know him. Now, he stayed for a drink or two and that was all.

The Duckling only got skeevier after dark, but he didn't avoid those places on principle. He'd actually helped Meg out with a mugger not far from here, although she didn't seem all that grateful for his interference. He wasn't totally prepared for it when Tiana spoke to him. He was ready for someone to take his drink order, sure, but that girl? The waitress from Gusteau's that he could barely stutter out a word to? He hadn't known she worked here too. He knew how to seduce girls; it was easy when that was all they wanted from him, but having a conversation with them was a whole other kettle of fish. It took him a moment to find his voice, and he was relieved it came out steady. "Whiskey on the rocks, darlin'." Every girl was darlin' or girly, every guy pal or buddy. He hadn't heard her say much before this, but cher sounded like her version of that.

Tiana recognized the man in front of her, couldn't imagine anyone that wouldn't be able to remember him. Even to her, he was mouthwateringly muscular, but never failed to be polite, and even better, kind. Even when he seemed shy, which almost always seemed to be the case and she couldn't really understand why. He never seemed to stay very long unlike some patrons, which put him a leg up on them in her mind.

She watched him carefully, waiting patiently for his answer and ignoring the whistles from around her. "Whiskey on the rocks it is," she gave him a small smile and a nod. "Anything else? We've still got some food goin' on, if you want it. Loaded fries and such," she shrugged, trying to keep the distaste for it off of her face. Means to an end, that's all, she was quick to remind herself, as always.

She might have been able to ignore the whistles, but his jaw clenched at the blatant disrespect, and he had to make a conscious effort not to glare. People had a tendency to duck for cover when he started looking angry. "You get that a lot here?" He couldn't help it; he caught the eye of the nearest whistler and stared until he fell silent and looked away. He wasn't a violent person, but he looked like a violent person, and that was usually enough.

He turned his attention back to her, a smile coming easier now that the topic was food. Bar food kind of spoke for itself, but he rarely turned it down regardless of quality. "Sure. What d'ya recommend?" He'd learned to tell the difference between waitstaff who gave their honest opinion and ones who were just trying to sell whatever was about to go bad. She looked like an honest one, though he couldn't have said why.

She looked at him, her eyebrow quirked in curiosity. Most people around the Snuggly Duckling didn't care much, and she had gotten mostly used to it. "Sure, it's how they think they can get my attention," she shrugged lightly, her tray getting tucked under her arm. "They tend to learn they don't want my attention that way." It was the only way she had managed to make it so long int his place. Some of the patrons were amused by her temper and sassy responses to unwanted advances.

Tiana couldn't help but be a little curious about the difference in his attention towards everyone else versus herself, since it really wasn't warranted. "Honestly, if you're gonna get anything? Get the fried buffalo wings. They have to be made to order this late, so they're still good," she advised him, a slow smile threatening to form on her face. Food wasn't something she was ever willing to play about.

Hercules cared. He didn't have a spotless track record when it came to women, but there were acceptable ways to flirt and unacceptable ones that crossed right over into sexual harassment. "Don't blame ya." He rolled his shoulders back and made an effort to let go of that tension. She obviously didn't needed him to fight every guy in there for her. She had it handled. Somehow, that didn't come as a surprise.

"Sounds good," he agreed, not fighting a smile. It was an honest answer, and he appreciated her expertise. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her something else to keep the conversation going, but he didn't want to keep her from her work. "You need a bodyguard, just--" He chuckled, scratching his nose very obviously in the universal signal for a rescue. As if they'd need anything that subtle in a place like this.

She watched as he visibly relaxed, her eyebrow raising just a little higher at it. She wasn't quite sure what to make of him. Most of the people in this place didn't give much thought to her comfort, and she'd learned to accept it and ignore it. "Just don't be on the receiving end of it, and you'll be fine," she reassured him, not really sure why. She wasn't in the habit of warning people, after all. Not at the Snuggly Duckling. She heard the gruff voice of Platt shouting at her from his place at the bar and winced lightly before schooling herself.

"An order of fried buffalo wings, gotcha cher," she nodded, scribbling a note for it in her server book. "I'll get them in and be right back around when they're done. If ya need a refill, just catch my attention." She gave him a soft smile, something a little more genuine than most patrons got out of her. "Thanks," she murmured as she walked past him, heading back towards the bar. She paused at one of her slightly preferred regular figures, "You good, Jim?" Her head tipped, dark curls following suit over her black t-shirt as she did a quick check-in.

Jim couldn't possibly keep up with all the boarders in and out of the Benbow, but he made his way around to the Duckling every now and then to have a chat with Platt. He wouldn't admit it, ever, but there was something almost fatherly about the old barkeep, if you looked sideways and squinted your eyes. Lord and his mother knew Jim was in need of father figures, but he probably couldn't have picked a worse one, and any advice one got from Jonathan Platt was best taken with a grain of salt, if not the whole goddamn shaker. He was even actually legal to drink now, which promptly took all the fun out of it.

It didn't hurt that it gave him a chance to catch up with Tiana too, although he'd forgotten how quickly the patrons' harassment wore on his nerves. He couldn't stand bullies of any kind, never had, and he'd never learned well how to pick his battles. He was leaning back in a chair tipped onto two legs, his booted feet braced on the bar, the very picture of irreverence, but his rock crystal green eyes were narrowed in attention. He'd observed the exchange between Tia and the mountain of muscle but was too far away to hear any of it.

"Shit, if you don't want him, I'll take him," he said in a low voice, for Tia's ears only. He considered himself a free-wheeling bisexual and wasn't ashamed of it, but he also didn't feel the need to fight every goddamn homophobe in the place tonight. He preferred people who could have intelligent conversations; sadly, muscle didn't usually come with brains, but sometimes exceptions had to be made. "Good. You?" he said at a more reasonable volume, tipping her a nod. He wasn't above getting stupid drunk and causing chaos, but he had to be in the right mood.

Tiana tipped her head at Jim and sighed, shaking her head softly, "Now why would you go on thinkin' I'd want a man, Jim? Or them me?" Though Hercules could make her second guess that, if she let him, which she was very good at not doing. A long time ago, she'd learned to ignore her inner Lottie voice. She rolled her eyes lightly at him, shaking her head as she stepped to stand across from him. She could never understand why people tried to get so riled up on her behalf. She was plenty annoyed enough, thank you very much, and certainly didn't need anyone to fight her battles for her.

"It's alright, mostly quiet which is either good or bad," she shrugged lightly, narrowing her eyes at the sound of Platt hollering for her. "I'll get to you," she all but snapped at him, maintaining a pleasant smile as she looked over at the owner. "Whatdya want, and I'll bring it by on my next round?" She had to keep moving at this point of her day, or the exhaustion threatened to take over. She just had to make it to her sixth wind, as the second had come and go a job and two shifts ago.

"Every man in this room wants you, including that one," he said flatly. Not flattery, just a statement of fact. He didn't exclude himself from that population, in the way Jim was prone to wanting things just because he knew he couldn't have them. Tiana was way out of his league and out of his reach, and if that ever happened, they'd probably self-destruct in under a week. He wasn't good at relationships, and her bullshit tolerance was far too low to put up with him. But, still, it wasn't like the thought hadn't crossed his mind. He'd offered once, and she'd turned him down, and that was that. He wouldn't ask again, or he'd be no better than the rest of these lechs. No was no.

"Bad," he suggested. Quiet nights were boring nights, and boring and Jim couldn't coexist for long. There was no obvious mischief to be had right now though, and it seemed like a lot of effort to dredge some up when it was bound to present itself sooner or later of its own accord. He glanced at his beer, more than half gone, and decided it would do for now. "Beer. Whatever's on tap." He wasn't made of money, so he went for cost rather than taste. Most of his spare tips from the Benbow went to parts for whatever gadget he was working on.

Even though she disagreed, Tiana knew better than to argue with Jim on that point because they'd just wind up going around in circles. Her memory slid to the one time he'd tried to ask her out himself and she'd turned him down, gently but firmly, the way she did most things. It wasn't that he was unattractive, but he would drive her insane and she just didn't have the time. She barely had time in the world for herself, let alone someone else, honestly. Again, that inner Lottie voice tried to rise and she was quick to squash it.

After the bellow, she turned back to Jim and nodded, "Bad, because he can do that." She huffed lightly before nodding and going over to Platt, smacking her tray down a little too hard to put in orders and get her tray loaded with the drinks as she pointedly tuned out her boss. Normally, she had more patience with him, since he didn't exactly treat her terribly, but he also acted as though she was never leaving the job behind. She made her first round of drink deliveries before going back to pick up the whiskey and beer order, glad to see the wings done too. She dropped off Jim's beer as she walked past, giving him a light pat on the arm before going back to the mountain of muscle. "Here we go, whiskey on the rocks and those wings," she set them down along with a stack of napkins and a slight smile. "Name's Tiana, if you need to catch my attention for anything," she offered.

Hercules had settled back to people-watch and try not to spend too much of that watching his waitress. Though he occasionally found himself in conversations, that was how he spent most of his nights out. People were interesting from a distance, especially when they didn't know they were being watched. His gaze briefly settled on Tiana at the bar and the guy sitting there who seemed to be the only one not hitting on her. It was nice to know she had at least one friend in the place.

His attention had drifted to a fellow cheating at cards a few tables over. He thought that was bound to turn into a fight at some point, and he had to remind himself yet again that he didn't work here, and it wasn't his problem. That wouldn't work if a brawl actually broke out in front of him. "Appreciate it, girly." He pulled his elbows off the table to make room when Tia reappeared, with a nod of thanks. "Hercules. Nice to meet ya, Tiana."

"Hercules, huh? Well, it's nice to meet you too," an easy smile rose on her face as she got the introduction. She followed the line of sight where he'd been watching and chuckled lightly. "Which one of them is cheating tonight?" There was rarely a night in the Duckling when people weren't cheating at a game, cheating someone out of money, anything of that sort. She'd gotten disgustingly used to it in her time working there, but needs were needs and she needed to work as much as possible. The late hours were helpful.

"Hopefully this week nothing gets broken. I hate hearing Platt when they break his chairs," she wrinkled her nose at the very thought of it. Tiana had forgotten she had a witness sitting there to what was the closest to actual Tia any patron would ever see. She shrugged lightly and returned her attention to him. "Just stay out of trouble for me, 'kay?"

He didn't bother trying to explain his name. As far as he knew, he was Daybreak Bay born and raised, but his adoptive parents had long ago immigrated from Greece. He'd picked up a little of the language here and there, growing up. "The one in the hat." He nodded subtly toward the guy in question. She didn't look surprised by it, and he'd already gathered that it wasn't the most on the level place. The only thing that seemed out of place here was Tiana herself.

"Place could use a bouncer or two," he agreed. He wasn't volunteering, although he'd probably be good at it. He was already in love with his job. He flashed her a sweet smile that went all the way up to his eyes, trouble of an entirely different sort. "Yes ma'am." He hardly ever went looking for trouble. Sadly, trouble seemed to love his company.

It was a curious, different kind of name, but until she knew someone properly, she really wasn't one to pry much. Her eyes drifted over the regulars and sighed softly at who he pointed out. The portlier of the two wasn't quite as quick to anger, so it wasn't normally so bad when he was being cheated. "Oh dear. Here's hoping they've both had enough to drink." She contemplated taking another round over there to make at least a little distraction. They weren't normally too terrible.

"A bouncer?" Her eyebrow raised before she let out a slight huff of laughter, "Yeah, right. Only bouncer is Platt when he's been pissed off directly, or me bouncin' my tray off of someone's head." She didn't mind it so much, being known for a quick swing, though not the hardest she would admit. The smile he gave her made her blink a few times in rapid succession before clearing her throat lightly. "No need for the ma'am, seriously. Just Tia," she shook her head at him with a little tilt of a smile.

"Does that help?" He'd have thought more drinking made the problem worse. He couldn't help chuckling at that mental image. "Wouldn't mind seein' that," he admitted. She was tiny, but she had a lot of attitude. He nodded, trying to commit that to memory. "Ma'am" was maybe third after his other monikers, and he usually didn't think about them much before they slipped out.

"You wanna take a load off?" She didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave, so he nodded to the vacant chair across from him. He doubted he'd have dared to ask if she hadn't been working, and if at least half his brain hadn't settled into protective mode. Frankly, he was getting a little tired of the guy behind her checking out her ass, and if he was tired of it, she had to be exhausted.

"With those two, it does, usually. Others, no, never," she admitted with a little shrug. She'd been at the Snuggly Duckling long enough to have picked up on how the regulars all worked and how to deal with them when she had to. "Hang around here enough and I'm sure you will," she admitted. She wasn't exactly proud of her temper, but it came in handy and kept her out of trouble working in a place like this. Luckily, most people only caught on to the sass and not the sharp edge underneath it, so it worked out just fine.

His offer made her pause and look at her watch and back at Platt. "Just... gimme a second," she nodded, dashing off to set her tray behind the bar and looking at the owner to simply say "Taking a ten" before walking away down past Jim. She paused at him, double checked his glass. "Not a word, Jim, not a word," she warned him with a playful finger to his chest, tapping it gently once. "Let Platt know when you're ready for another one," she suggested before moving away to go sit down across from Hercules. Sitting with him was a better alternative than the dingy backspace where she'd be pestered by the cook, after all.

"Good to know." He nodded, giving the pair another brief look. He could be unruly when he was drinking too, but that was mostly behind him. Was he going to be hanging around here? He wasn't sure. It seemed creepy to be hanging around just because she'd been nice to him. Nothing had changed, he decided. He raised his eyebrows, surprised by her agreement. He'd expected an easy brush-off and to barely see her for the rest of the night. "No rush."

He sipped his drink while she was gone and tried to coach himself to be cool and not read too much into it. Not crushing on girls who paid a little attention to him wasn't one of his strengths. He nudged the basket of wings toward her with a small smile when she returned, a silent offering. "So you work the Duckling and Gusteau's. Ya got a third one in there?" Great idea. Make yourself look like a stalker, Herc.

She couldn't say exactly why she agreed to sit down with him for a bit, as it really wasn't something she normally did. Sure, getting to get off of her feet for a few minutes was never something to be discounted. It was simply that she normally didn't take company during what little down time she had. Tia wasn't one to be taken in by a pretty face, a sweet smile, or miles of muscles, she really wasn't. She didn't tend to trust any of those things, and for good reason.

She quirked an eyebrow but accepted the offer of a wing, though she paused when he brought up her work. "You must really get around to put together that I work at Gusteau's too," she prompted, looking at him carefully. She didn't feel under threat, though, which was amazing to her and he tried to get herself to relax. "But yes, there is a third one in there. Benbow Inn, I put in shifts there every now and then when they need me and I can."

Herc wasn't going to ask for her reasoning. It was too much like looking a gift horse in the mouth. It wasn't like he usually bothered women while they were working, so there wasn't really a precedent for him, other than the fact that his conversations with girls usually ended in disaster. Double that for girls who were ridiculously pretty.

Of course she picked up on that, and he chuckled lightly, heat creeping into his cheeks. "Ya kinda stand out," he admitted, shaking his head like he could just as easily shake off the bashfulness. He couldn't, but he could keep plowing ahead with the conversation. "Never been. You recommend it?" If the food was good, he'd give anything a shot. She was right about the wings, so he figured she knew what she was talking about.

She watched the color rise in his cheeks and it immediately helped her relax the rest of the way. Maybe she should be at least a little flattered by the attention and that she was memorable. Really though, she wasn't quite sure how she felt about it and she could deal with that later. "Stand out, huh? I don't know if that's a good thing or not," she admitted finally. She never thought about whether or not she stood out or blended in, only ever just working and doing what came with that. She was very good at what she did, though, and she knew that.

"I do. Miz Hawkins and her family run the place, so it's cozy for a bed and breakfast. Homecooked food can never really be a bad thing, in my opinion, so if you get the chance, you should go," she nodded. There were far worse places than the Benbow in town, and she thought it was a wonderful work on the part of Jim's mom.

"Guess it comes with its own problems," he agreed. Standing out had never been a positive thing for Herc until maybe the last several years. Even then, he wasn't sure he preferred it, though he had little to compare it to. He'd always been big and awkward. "Local? Even better. I'll give it a try," he promised. It would be an easy one to keep, since he liked trying new places around town, either for drinks or food. It also gave him a chance to talk to different kinds of people and, maybe just a little, keep them at arm's length by always changing it up. He thought he should ask her another question and keep the conversation going, but his mind chose that moment to go blank, so he picked up another wing instead. Nobody had ever accused him of being smooth.

"It does. I would say my best friend suffers from it, but she enjoys standing out," she chuckled, thinking of Lottie. That girl would never go unnoticed in a million years, but Tia would never blame her. She nodded in agreement, "I found it when I first moved here." It put her solidly in with Miz Hawkins and introduced her to Jim, for better or worse. She finally munched on the wing, watching him for a moment. "What do you do here, then?" Not everyone was like her and from someone else, she knew that.

"Maybe she'll teach us her ways," he chuckled, finding it hard to imagine. If Tiana hadn't learned from her best friend already, he doubted there was any hope for him. "Oh yeah? Where ya from?" He'd guessed from her accent that she wasn't from Daybreak Bay, but you couldn't always tell that way. He figured the question would come back to him, but he never knew how to answer it. He was proud of his job, but people seemed to have very specific ideas when they thought of firemen. Many of them stripper related, apparently. He cleared his throat, a small smile quirking his lips. "Ah, firefighter. DBFD."

Tiana snorted in amusement, "Yeah, no. She's been trying for years to drag me into spotlights alongside her. It's not for me." Bless her, but Lottie had tried princessing her more than once and it never came out well. "New Orleans, actually, long way from Daybreak Bay." She gave a little shrug, being away from home had never bothered her too much. The answer to her question made her smile easily in surprise. "A regular hero, then. That's kind of amazing."

"It's a nice talent, but it ain't mine either." He shook his head, not losing his smile. The spotlight was just a way for him to make a bigger fool of himself with more people watching. He kind of liked that they had it in common, although it was hard to imagine. She was well past pretty, and she seemed sure of herself. It was hard to imagine her being bothered by attention. "What brings you here?" There was real curiosity in the question. It was a nice town, but the world was full of nice towns just like it. Her approval made him uncomfortable, and he rubbed the back of his neck with a light laugh. He just never knew what to do with that. Agreement seemed arrogant; modesty seemed disingenuous. "I guess, yeah. I love it. Wouldn't wanna do anything else."

"It doesn't have to be for everybody, or life would be too full of divas," she pointed out with a little laugh. Diva was not something Tia herself would ever be capable of being, but she didn't care. She was happy hidden away in a kitchen with an apron on and a spoon in her hand. Her food could be in the spotlight, taking center stage, and that was as close as she wanted to be. "Gusteau's, actually. I don't just work there, I'm a student there," she shrugged, as though it was no big deal. She tipped her head to watch him, curious about his reaction. "What made you choose that?"

"Sounds awful," he admitted. Attention-seeking people weren't his kind, although they could be useful for drawing the attention off of him. That wasn't really his experience with it though. "You're a cook? Sounds like a great job." He smiled. It fit her, her expertise on the area's restaurants now making more sense. "I don't know. I wanted to help people. Ain't got the brains to be a doctor," he chuckled. The thought had never really crossed his mind, being a doctor that was. He hadn't done well in school. He was strong and fast, and the fire department put his abilities, both learned and natural, to good use.

"Exactly," she nodded. She wasn't really sure how she felt about the conversation being turned to focus on her and she shrugged lightly. "I love it, I want to run my own place one day." That was far from a secret once people entered into her circle in even the remotest sense. It was easy for her to talk about as a general rule. She chuckled quietly and shook her head, "Doctors are all well and good. But they're not the be all end all of helping people."

"You let me know when you do. I'll be there." He smiled, already thinking of it as a forgone conclusion. It wasn't hard to imagine her in charge of her own place. She seemed to have the right temperament for it. "You always liked cooking?" He was passable in the kitchen, but he couldn't manage anything fancy, and forget about baking. He'd almost forgotten he was trying not to mess this conversation up--which was usually when things went badly for him, but he never realized that until after. "Nah. Lots of ways to lend a hand," he agreed. He'd found one that worked for him.

She couldn't help but give him a bright, sunny smile at the very idea. "When it's open, I'm looking forward to it." She wanted to make a place where all kinds of people from different places could come together and enjoy the same thing. It was a way of building community all its own and she wanted to have that for herself. "As long as I can remember. I was little, I had my own steps in the kitchen to help me reach the pot," she admitted with a little laugh. They were some of her favorite memories, too. "Exactly. I'm glad you like the one you're in." It made her heart clench a little, the people who put themselves on the line for others. She couldn't help but think of her daddy.

"D'aww. Ain't that cute." He chuckled to imagine tiny Tiana, barely able to reach the stove, but determined to do as she pleased. "You got a specialty, or ya try a bit of everything?" He didn't have the slightest idea how cooking school worked. Did she have to learn everything, or did she focus intensely on a couple things? It had never occurred to him to wonder before. "Me too. Nothin' really fit before that. Didn't think it ever would," he admitted, shrugging. He'd been aimless before he wandered into Phil's. That helped him with himself, but it hadn't really given him a purpose like the fire department had.

"Yeah, yeah," she snorted lightly, amused despite herself. She hadn't expected her time with him to be so... easy. "In school? No. We're expected to be well-rounded," she shrugged lightly. "Personally? Cajun food, that's home coming out in me." It let her take some of home with her no matter where she went. "Why not?" She wasn't normally one to dig too deep, but she found herself curious about him.

The conversation had already gone on longer than he'd expected it to, and she was surprisingly easy to talk to. No doubt his brain would agonize over that for possible meaning later on, but for now, he was just enjoying the company. He nodded. Well-rounded seemed like a fair way to start off, but it also sounded frustrating if she already knew what she liked. "Sounds amazin'. Not much of that around here." He thought Daybreak Break could use someone like her if she decided to stay after she finished school. He considered the question, shaking his head with a wry smile. "Always had trouble fittin' in. Wasn't really good at anything. Kinda made a mess of everythin' everywhere I went."

She heard her name yelled from behind the bar and rolled her eyes, pointedly ignoring it for at least a little while longer. "No, there's not, but that's okay. I'm thinking I could bring it here. There's no reason for even more Cajun restaurants in a city already crawling with them," she pointed out with a little shrug. Bringing people together was easier when it was something new to bond over to start. She reached over and poked at his bicep muscle. "I can't imagine growing into those was easy, so I can picture that." She shot him a teasing smile before pulling her hand back and clearing her throat.

He heard it too, but he didn't ask. If she wanted to stay a little longer, he wasn't going to argue with that. "True. Market's wide open for one." He smiled. He liked the idea of Tiana bringing a little piece of her home to some new city, Daybreak Bay or otherwise. Though the fact that she had reason to stay here was nice on its own, and he wasn't going to look too closely at that. He chuckled in surprise when she reached across the table, clenching a fist and flexing for her out of habit. "Nah, it wasn't. I was a bull in a china shop 'til I wandered into The Coliseum."

She would wind up paying for ignoring him, but sometimes she did it purely on principle. It normally went she wound up getting the messy cleaning for the night, but it was fine. The longer shift didn't hurt her paycheck any, just her sleep cycle, which was already terrible. "Exactly!" It was a sound business decision at the core of it, and let her spread what she loved a little more. A quiet snort of laughter escaped her when he flexed, and she just shook her head at him. "At least you found it, right?"

He grinned as he lowered his arm, reaching to pick up the drink he'd mostly forgotten about. "Looks like we both did." At least in the sense that they had both found something that fit, anyway. He trusted her to know her own business, but he certainly didn't want to get her in trouble or be grounds for losing her job. He nodded toward the back where the yell had come from, presumably her boss or the owner or both. "Am I gettin' you in trouble?"

She couldn't help but look around her and steel herself. She wasn't there, not yet, and not by a longshot, but she knew what she wanted and that had to count for something. Until then, it was a long, hard grind to the finish line, but she knew she could do it. "Platt likes to think it'll scare me into submission. He's a jerk, but he pays better than most," she shrugged and slid out of her seat. "Doesn't mean I want to entirely piss him off. RIling him up is one thing, can even be fun. But..." She trailed off and shrugged, giving him an apologetic smile.

He didn't think of himself as that observant, but he could almost see Tiana put a wall back up as she looked around the bar. He hadn't noticed it was down while they were talking, but he realized it was the same for him. He'd almost forgotten where they were until Platt yelled for her. "Doesn't seem to be workin' so well." If she wasn't intimidated by this place, he doubted there was much that would get to her. He gave her a smile in return, trying to fight down a renewed surge of shyness. "It was nice talkin' to you, Tiana."

A quick grin spread over her face and was gone as quick, something that could be called mischievous if she was anyone else, "No, much to his dismay." She shot him a quick little salute, "You know where to find me." She didn't mind if he did, either. Sometimes it was nice to have someone to talk to that wasn't Lottie, but she wouldn't trade her best friend for the world. Slipping back over to the bar, she caught the towel Platt tossed at her with a scowl and turned her attention to Jim. "You good?"

"Not as good as you," he drawled, quirking an eyebrow suggestively. He chuckled and let his chair tip back to four legs with a soft thump. He probably could pick someone up there if he wanted to, but no one had captured his attention, and without it, there was no point. He could never tell exactly what would pique his interest, but he didn't do well with boring. A bored Jim usually led to Jim in all kinds of trouble. "How'd it go?" He wasn't expecting a lot of details, partly because he was him and not Lottie, and mostly because they were in front of Platt and everyone. But he had to ask.

Tia scoffed lightly at him and snapped her towel at him after a quick rolling twist of it. After, she leaned against the wood near him and wondered yet again why he let himself just sit there instead of chasing someone. "It was just a conversation, Jim. Aren't I allowed to have those?" Her eyebrow quirked up in his direction, a quiet challenge. She couldn't quite shake the little smile she'd been wearing, but an entertaining Jim could do the same to her when she was in the mood for it.

"Don't be such a tease." He sneered faintly when her towel cracked over him, mainly because he didn't move out of its way. That chair was a delicate balancing act, after all, as was his look of practiced insouciance. "It's encouraged, actually. But since when do you do that?" He would take 'it was just a conversation' from most people because for most people it was, but Tia rarely showed an interest in anyone. He grinned though, prepared to let it go. He enjoyed pushing her, but only to a point. Jim usually knew where the lines were. Whether he chose to acknowledge them was another matter.

"You would miss it if I stopped," she pointed out with an arched eyebrow and a slight smirk. She was so accustomed to Jim's nonchalance at this point, it didn't surprise her when he managed to stay balanced on his chair. She opened her mouth to retort before she paused to exhale sharply through her nose. "Tonight's been extra boring," she pointed out without missing a beat. "He was a nice way to ignore Platt and have a nearly valid excuse," she grinned sharply, her gaze darting to her ill-tempered boss.

#chat: tiana #chat: jim #tianabenoit #rattlethexstars #verse: lost dreams #savages born from worlds apart #scene #tw: harassment

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zankivich · 5 years ago

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The Arrangement: CEO’s Son/Dom!Shawn x Black Sub Reader Chapter 8

a/n: I hope you didn’t think I’d make it quite so easy. A little pull and tug is worth it sometimes ya know? idk how much longer I’ll be around. Most people don’t engage with the fics anymore and Shawn isn’t really the Shawn I fell in love with anymore. Life just kind of sucks at the moment. But I’ve got this chapter already written so I thought I’d post it. If you liked it and actually want it to continue? I might recommend letting me know tbh. Bye.

Shawn’s point of view

The problem with taking a woman to Rome on the first date is that anything after that just seems silly. What exactly was he to do now? Invite her over to his apartment for sushi? Even he would walk out on that date! It didn’t help that the second they got back to New York, after a very long winded kiss goodbye, that she’d jumped right into preparation for the VMAs. That essentially meant he wasn’t going to see her for days, maybe weeks. VMA season sparked award season in general for the music industry. It might not exactly give an indication of Grammys, but with the award show always arriving right as the ellibility period for the more prestigious honor was ending, it meant that the VMAS was the beginning of the long haul to get your artist at the top of the charts and fucking keep them there. Which also meant that just like she was busy, so was he. The difference was she actually liked her job. And he had...oh how he hated his.

He’s sitting in a marketing meeting for Sarah Leone. Sarah Leone is his dad’s bid for best new artist of the year. Forget the fact that y/n had her secret weapon of Normani and Khalid on one management team, and that he sort of had a feeling she was going to do a solo album release directly before the grammy consideration deadline just to keep the industry on its toes, his dad was thoroughly convinced Sarah was his ticket. And in a lot of ways she was. Small town girl turned mega popstar in a little over a year, her debut album was set to make beautiful numbers. Unfortunately that wasn’t enough. His dad had a very direct line of vision and that vision was complete and total domination. So it wasn’t enough to have your music sell, he wanted his artists to be inescapable from the public eye. Enter this season’s publicity stunt: The MC.

His dad thought it was a clever way to reference Miley Cyrus. Back in the day he’d orchestrated Miley’s dating of a 20 year old when she was 16 to address her rebellious teen phase. What most people saw as a kid going off the rails, was actually a perfectly manipulated moment in pop history. Except the dick cake that lost her the walmart branding deal, that was all her unfortunately.

Sarah was supposed to be seen out and about with mysterious new “it” british singer, Ty Summers. He was 21. She turned 18 just months prior. The two had begun with a close knit friendship, and were now being guided through the early stage of good, whole-hearted, perfectly constructed, “love”. He peers down at one of the new stills for her headline of V magazine, and simply can’t believe she’s 18. The cover makes him uncomfortable, makes him feel icky. No one at the table notices. And his dad isn’t even there, because this is too low level for the kind of work he does anymore.

“Next, I want her in London for the UK press tour. We’ll have her position at Summers’ hotel for half of her stay. I want pap shots at dinner every night out of the week, and I want a prompt at the BBC interview to hint at their connection. We’ll take it from there.” Jaret, one of the senior managers rattled off. “Any questions?”

He twirled boredly in his chair far from interested in the inner workings of career management if none of it meant jack shit about what the artist actually wanted for their career. It felt like such a waste of his time.

“Quick question?” He sighed popping his pen slightly into the air.

“Yes, Mendes?”

“When does she sing?” He shrugged.

The room goes still. It’s a well known fact that Jaret runs the room. He runs the meetings, runs the decisions. He’s top dog on this particular client, and Shawn is merely there under his father’s orders as an informant and nothing more. He was there to make sure things ran smoothly, but he certainly wasn’t there to offer critique. Woops.

“And what exactly does that mean?” Jaret challenged.

Shawn simply shrugged. “Just seems like if we have a musical artist who we signed on the basis of her being able to sing, that we might at some point want that to be the focal point of her career. But you know, I could be wrong.”

“There’s just one thing wrong here Shawn...we did not sign anyone. I did. We don’t make decisions on the intricacies of her career. I do. You are simply a glorified intern. Nothing more, nothing less. And if you’re father wasn’t afraid you’d run off every two seconds I wouldn’t have to babysit your ass right now. So, why don’t you let the professionals determine next steps and play on the computer daddy bought you, or whatever it is you do?”

Ouch.

The room shifted from Jaret back to Shawn. No one went against Jaret. And yet Shawn was perhaps the most unpredictable thing about his father’s company at that point. Needless to say unpredictably was a hell of a thing.

“It must really upset you that I get paid more than you do doesn’t it?” He hummed.

Jaret’s face began to redden, his nerves tighter than his balls that Shawn had such a precarious grip on at the moment.

“Or does it upset you more that I could do your job better than you right now, today, without even the ability to hear the tonedeaf artists you sign that are just pretty enough and just old enough not to get your ass arrested?” He tilted his head in contemplation. “Perhaps it’s even that one time at the company Christmas party where your wife caught you screwing your secretary in your office and stopped crying long enough for me to make her cum before signing the divorce papers? But you’re right Jaret, I simply should just get back to daddy’s computer. My bad.”

“You little son of--”

“Big.” Shawn interrupted sliding smoothly from his chair and packing his shit up from the horrible meeting he’d had no interest in attending in the first place. “I’m big son of a bitch, Jaret. Just ask Sarah.”

Sarah of course being his wife. Ex wife of course. Ex wife number three if we’re being specific.

The door shuts close behind him to Jaret screaming and lurching across the table towards his empty chair. He’d probably hear about it from his dad later. But honestly who cared. Jaret was a creepy asshole, and he was always gonna be a creepy asshole. Sorry not sorry.

***

He’d be a little embarrassed at how aggressively he yanked at the door were it not for the hopeful look in her big brown eyes when he sees her for the first time. He can tell she’s had a long day because her hair is down out of its bun already, tiny spirals falling all around her face and cheeks. But, the way she falls into his arms is enough to make his whole entire day. Because it means that after all the shit she’d been through that day, she wanted to be with him. And that’s the only thing he cared about in the whole world.

“I missed you.” He sighed already capturing her lips in a kiss.

She hummed softly against him, fingers squeezing at his shoulders.

“Missed you too.”

He pushed the door shut with his foot, arms keeping her tucked tightly against him. He’s sure he’s smiling like a complete and total idiot but he can’t help it. It’s this new exciting thing where he no longer has to be afraid of how close he is to her, no longer has to hope he doesn’t stare too long. She knows. And not only does she know, but somehow she feels the same way. It felt like a dream.

He tugged her back towards his kitchen and helped her into a seat before he pulled out the leftovers from his own dinner where he “accidently” ordered for two.

“Tiana said you didn’t eat dinner.” He shrugged at her questioning gaze. “And this little italian place up the block always gives me more than I need.”

She bit her lip and peered from the container of chicken parm to him and back to the parm. He thought for a second she just might fight him on it. And then he remembered how much she liked to eat.

“You and Tiana conspiring against me must stop!” She snorted grabbing the fork clean from his hand to dig in.

He leaned against the granite counter with his chin propped on his hand. She was wonderful. And silly. And a little ridiculous. He kind of loved it.

“Yes, because making sure you consume more than coffee in a twelve hour period is definitely a conspiracy.”

She rolled her eyes. “Maybe so.”

“Maybe so.” He mimicked. “I missed the way you argue with me about everything. Feel like I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

Her eyes got wide and bright and she turned a grin towards him that he practically ached to lick off. She was gorgeous.

“You missed me huh? The Shawn Mendes has fallen head first into a little monogamy moment has he?”

Sometimes he liked to think that her favorite past time was taking the piss out of him. It sure seemed that way.

He rolled his eyes back at her and butted his head softly into her neck.

“And what if I have?” He whispered softly. “You have too. Right?”

His nose skimmed along her neck and she shivered. He smiled against her skin. She’d fallen just as hard alright.

“Yea I guess so.” She mumbled.

He pulled back and pressed a kiss to her cheek before grabbing her glass to refill with water.

“You should eat up. You’re gonna need your strength.”

“Excuse me?”

He refilled her glass from the refrigerator and placed in front of her before leaning against the countertop again.

“Oh. I just meant that I plan to fuck you until the birds sing. I don’t want you getting tired on me before I’m done with you.”

His favorite past time was saying the wildest things he could come up with to her in the simplest voice possible and then watching the way it made her eyes bulge in her sockets. God he loved it.

This time she simply stuffed a breadstick in her mouth and hopped out of her seat to start taking her jacket off. It seemed she might be just as needy as he was.

“Yep! Okay. You can come get it now!”

“I’m comin’, baby.” He grinned lifting her up into his arms.

“Goddammit. Carbs and dick. It’s like my birthday or something!”

His bedroom is way too far away. They’ve gotta figure out a way to get there quicker. But he chuckles into her cleavage as he knocks them against walls to stop and kiss her. Her thighs mold to his waist, ass full in his hands. He’s stuck on her completely. And the worst part is that she knows it.

He lets her legs back down to the floor only to press her against the wall of his bedroom, lips, teeth, and tongue beginning a trail along her neck.

“You make me never wanna go back to go work ever again.” She whined, fingers tangling in his hair.

“I’d happily quit if we could stay in bed for the rest of forever.” He murmured.

“Don’t tempt me!”

Maybe he would.

“Mmmm speaking of work, how hard you gonna make my job for me this fall?” He hummed biting down on her lip to solicit a yelp that drove him crazy.

“What do you mean?” She asked, fingers already tugging at his belt.

“I’m supposed to believe Normani’s not releasing an album before awards season?”

Her fingers came to a stuttering stop, and he recognized that her kisses weren’t really kisses anymore. His eyes opened to meet hers and instead of the lust from just moments prior, there was...anger?

“What the fuck, Shawn?”

“W--What? What?” He mumbled reaching for her as she quickly stepped out of his arms.

“Why would you ask me that? Since when the hell do you care when my artists release music?”

He’s a little flustered and his dick is hard and her yelling at him when his dick is hard is only just adding to the complex array of emotions that his brain would surely need more blood to process.

“I--I don’t know! I thought that’s what couples did right? Like they--they ask each other about work and shit. What did I do?”

“Couples?” She paused, all of the steam leaving her like a deflated balloon. “Are we--we’re a couple?”

At this point he’s pretty sure she’s gonna give him a heart attack.

“I….Aren’t we?”

“I--I don’t know. I don’t know, we’ve only been on one fucking date, Shawn. And just because it was wonderful and beautiful and romantic doesn’t mean that you get to ask me questions like that. I just… Shit. I need space.”

“Space?”

His heart leapt a little in his chest. He’d said that word before. “Space”. When people said they needed space it always meant permanent. It meant separation. It meant losing her. And the effect that her words have on him is a little surprising, even though he’s not processing nearly fast enough to catch on. All he can hear, feel, think, breathe is her not wanting him. And in this moment of fragility for him he’s not quite sure how to cope.

“Wait. Just wait a second. I don’t even know what’s happening right now!” He cried his hands held up in surrender. “Let’s just talk. Let’s just talk for a second okay? Tell me what I did wrong and I’ll fix it.”

“No. I don’t want to talk to you right now. I’m going home. I--I’lll call you later.”

She sweeps right past him, her fingers re-buttoning the same buttons she had giggled when he’d undone just seconds ago. He’s so floored by what’s taking place and he’s got no idea how to fix it. How to make her happy. He just wants to make her happy. And he doesn’t want her to go.

“Y/n. Y/n, please? Alright, just talk to me.”

Her fingers slip through his when he reaches for her and just like that she’s gone. And it hurts. It hurts far more than he knows what to do with. What the fuck?

***

*Three days later*

*y/n’s point of view*

A foul mood did not begin to describe what you were in. Everyone had been steering completely clear of you and rightfully so. Anyone who dare breathe wrong in your direction would get an earful. It wasn’t your fault. You hadn’t exactly been sleeping well. Your stomach was in knots. You were stressed as hell. But, none of that was allowed to matter. You had work to do. So, everything else got placed on the backburner.

You’re in your office taking a twenty minute “get your shit together bitch” break when a knock sounds itself on your door. Tiana had been the only one with balls to knock on the door in days, so you had no doubt who it could be.

“Come in, Ti.” You sighed still leaning pathetically across your desk.

The door slides open and unless Tiana grew several feet and turned into a white man over night, it was certainly not your assistant standing there.

“Hi.” Shawn mumbled waving awkwardly in your direction.

He was in a suit again. But not one of the ones from the red carpet that would make your thighs tremble. This must be one of his work ones. It looks too restrictive on his body. He’s wearing a tie, and your fingers itch to remove it, to dishevel him back into the man that you knew. The worst part is that even in discomfort he doesn’t look real. He looks like an ad standing there at your doorway. An absolute vision to behold. You had to remind yourself that you were angry at him.

“How did you--What are you doing here? Shawn?”

He quickly closed the door and strode over to you, at least having the good grace to keep his distance to the chair in front of your desk.

“You didn’t answer any of my calls. Which is fine I guess. I get that maybe you need space but...I really hate what’s going on between us right now.” He mumbled.

His knee is bouncing. You only recognize this because it shakes your desk in a gentle hum. His fingers twist and turn anxiously on your desk as if he’s fighting the urge to reach out and touch your hand. His lips are stress bitten and his hair looks like it’s been the victim of an attack as well.

“Really?” You asked, leaning back slighting your chair in confusion.

He raised an eyebrow. “Yes, really. What did you think I was just out living my best life since you stormed out of my apartment at one am without a word and ignored me for three days?”

“No, I just...I just didn’t realize it would have this great of an effect on you. I guess I--I didn’t know you cared that much.”

“You didn’t know that I care that much? What the hell, y/n?” He groaned. “Why are you doing this right now?”

“Doing what?! What am I doing?”

“You’re pulling away. We sat there in Rome and you asked me to promise you that I was all in. And I am. And now you’re scared, is that it? You don’t know what it might look like for us to be together in the real world, so you’re pulling away from me.”

Well that was certainly a read. You were flustered. Your lips opened and shut around nothing but air as you sat there at a loss for words. It wasn’t conscious, or maybe on some level it was, but Shawn scared the hell out of you. Rome was a beautiful, beautiful bubble, but a bubble nonetheless. The second you got back to New York you couldn’t help but wonder if it would actually work a tall. You were still so different. And much as you liked him, and shit you really fucking liked him, it was terrifying to place yourself into new charted territory. You were scared of him. Of the two of you together. Of what it could mean. And he never even needed you to say it, he just knew it about you instantly.

“Look,” He sighed. “I still don’t really know what I did wrong. I know I probably sound like I’m being a little bitch right now but...shit y/n I just got you and I feel like I’m losing you already. Like you’re not even gonna give me a chance to try to make you happy. Is that how it’s gonna be? Cause if it is just tell me okay? Tell me what you want.”

“I don’t...I don’t know. Okay? I don’t know.” You mumbled

The look that he gives you tells you that this hurts him. That you not being a hundred percent in is painful. Everything was just moving so incredibly fast. One second you couldn’t fathom the idea that Shawn would even want to do more than fuck you, let alone be leading the charge your relationship. It was fast. All of it. And you? You were scared.

“Okay. Well I guess just call me when you figure it out.”

He got out of his seat and headed for the door only throwing you further off your game. You didn’t know much about what you wanted. You just knew that you didn’t want him mad at you, and you didn’t want him to leave. It didn’t help that a part of you felt like you should be leading this matter. You were older, you were the woman. Never had anyone cornered you in the manner that Shawn was in this moment. It was completely different than anything you’d ever experienced.

“Wait--shit. Shawn don’t leave.”

He shook his head. “It’s fine. You’re not ready, and I was. Just…Call when you figure things out. Maybe I’ll talk to you later.”

And just like that he’s gone. Fuck.

***

It’s another long night. You’re tired. You’re heart is heavy. Your ponytail is too tight. And you wanna go to bed. But you have no interest in sleeping alone, and therefore are stuck at your desk again. There’s three different contracts waiting your signature on your desk, but the words have begun to blur. You tell yourself it’s not because you’re crying because you definitely aren’t. It’s just cause you’re tired. Yes.

“Hey, it’s late I’m gonna---oh lord. I haven’t seen you cry since Michelle Obama smiled at you on a red carpet.” Tianna gasped.

You sniffled. “Bitch I am not crying. Go home.”

She rolled her eyes. “Denial or delusion. Your favorite pastimes. Come tell Titi what’s wrong while I’m still awake.”

She plopped herself in the chair opposite your desk and reached for the tissues on your desk to hand to you. You take one begrudgingly.

“You haven’t let me call you Titi since college.”

“Of course I haven’t, “She giggled. “What kind of grown ass woman walks around goin’ by Titi. Now stop deflecting.”

Best friends are no good. They know you too well. It makes it way too hard to hide.

“I….I think I fucked things up.”

“With Shawn you mean?”

You nod slowly.

“Yea, I saw him come out of your office lookin’ like a kicked puppy. I couldn't even get him to laugh for me before he left. You never really said what happened though.” She nudged gently.

A sigh passes through your lips that feels bone deep. Your fingers twitch anxiously against the desk. There’s nowhere to hide here. You just have to be truthful. It’s the worst.

“We...We decided to give it a go. And he took me to Rome, as your meddling ass knows, and it was the most amazing thing I could experience. It was everything I ever thought it would be but...he made it more. And I kept thinking that he was going to stop at some point. I don’t know I thought surely it was gonna work, because how could it you know?”

“No, not quite sis. I don’t know. Maybe you can explain it to me.”

You bite your lip and twitch anxiously.

“I asked him in Rome one of our last nights there if he was gonna be all in. We talked about race and white supremacy and I told him that I needed someone who could stand with me in all of it, not just when it is convenient.”

“And he said…?”

“Well the fucker said yes.” You huffed. “He promised it even.”

“Shit.” Tiana mumbled taking a pause herself. “I would’ve never called Shawn Mendes to be a social justice warrior.”

You rolled your eyes. “He’s far from it, now. He’s still a white boy. But he wanted to try. He was willing to try for me.”

“So you can see how maybe I’m missing the part where you fucked up. This sounds a little like a black girl’s love story come true.”

“I went over to his place and he offered me breadsticks and dick, in that order. But then when we were getting to it, he asked me about Normani, Ti. He asked if I was going to ‘make his job harder for him’ by having her release her album before award season.”

“Oh lord, that poor bastard didn’t even know what hit him.” She sighed.

“I’m serious Ti!” You groaned. “I’ve been here before. I’ve had the music exec who wanted to get into my pants just to know what we were doing in this building. I--I can’t go back there. You and I both know that there’s nothing Manny Mendes would love to see more than one his little white girls on top and my people failing on the bottom of the totem pole. We work too goddamn hard for me to lose it.”

Tiana paused for a minute and stared at you. Her eyes were soul searching, the way they tended to be. She was as lovely and amazing as she was terrifying. She knew you better than you knew yourself, and she never hesitated to call you on your bullshit. Even if you didn’t know it was bullshit. Especially when you didn’t know it was bullshit.

“Girl, I love you more than anyone I’ve ever met in my life, but you are truly exhausting.” She sighed and held her hand up as a means to silence you before you even spoke. “Now if you’re not ready for someone to potentially love and take care of you that’s one thing. But if you are intentionally sabotaging yourself because you’re scared you gotta knock it the fuck off.”

“But Ti--”

“No, ma’am. If that boy wanted to know when Normani’s album was dropping he did not need to take your ass to Rome to do it. You have been scorned by this industry more than most will ever recognize, and I know that, and I validate that. But you ain’t in a relationship with Manny Mendes. You’re not in a relationship with the industry. It’s Shawn. And that man hates his dad and his dad’s company more than you do. I love you, but you’re being a bit ridiculous.”

“...Fuck.”

“Fuck, indeed.” She hummed. “You keep doing this. You keep letting outside factors affect everything, and that’s not sustainable. You have to trust him. He has to trust you. That’s the only way it works.”

You peered at her with tired eyes. The kind of eyes that a woman who’d been scorned one time too many might have.

“But what if he hurts me?”

“Than we pick up the pieces. We work at it until your healed. But you don’t get the love without faith. You’ve got to put yourself out there, babe.”

And that is of course how you end up at his place at midnight on Friday nonetheless. Ti had practically ushered you off, offering to close up shop for the night if it meant you would finally leave the office. You’re still in your work jumpsuit with the too tight ponytail and the makeup that you couldn’t wait to take off. The code lets you easily without having to let him know that you’re there. Perhaps that’s why you finally get to hear him this time.

The doors of his fancy apparently are surely made of thicker wood, so he must be sitting right inside the living room. Regardless you hear it in this soft, muted kind of way. It’s an acoustic guitar, the plucking of his fingers just as rounded and full. It’s beautiful and rhythmic and it makes you pause, your fingers still resting on the door knob because then the mother fucker starts to sing.

Maybe I had too many drinks, but that's just what I needed

I hope that you don't think that what I'm saying sounds conceited

When I look across the room and you're staring right back at me

Like somebody told a joke and we're the only ones laughin'

You’re fingers grip tight at the door knob, you’re mind both seemingly filled with a million thoughts and yet too overwhelmed to process any of it. His door is unlocked though and when you stumble inside the vision in your head comes to life. He’s sat on his floor by the fireplace with a guitar you’ve never seen upon his lap. He’s wearing a white tanktop and black sweats. The rosary against his neck nestles against what looks like perfectly tamed chest hair. He is as unreal as ever. And yet somehow, somehow that is not the most astonishing part of everything around you in this moment.

He pops his head up towards you. His fingers don’t still on the guitar at all as he seems to pluck out the melody he’d sung just moments prior.

“Took you long enough. Almost like you were outside eavesdropping or something.” He hummed.

“I...How did you even know I was outside?” You stuttered.

“I get an alert every time someone enters my code. I don’t just wait around for you all the time ya know.”

Rude.

“You...You sing.”

He peered at you, fingers still moving, his head tilted just slightly to the side as if you were as confusing to him as he was to you.

“I sing.” He affirmed. “Is that okay?”

“How come--I mean you never said anything.” You frowned. “That--That song. You wrote that?”

He nodded slowly. “I’ve been given a bit of inspiration lately. Is that what you came here for? To bust me in my hobby?”

This changes things. And surely it wouldn’t have mattered because Ti’ had already convinced you to suck it the fuck up and come over, but the fact that he’s got music in him and never said anything matters. Because there’s a lot he could have asked for. A lot he could have tried to get from you, and he hadn’t. It really didn’t matter to him at all. You were just a fucking asshole.

It occurred to you that you were still standing in the middle of his doorway, so you closed the door and moved slowly near him. He set his guitar off to the side as you plopped one of his decorative pillows in the spot beside him and sat down. Without his guitar, Shawn was a lot more fidgety. He took to playing with his rings on his fingers again, eyes soft and vulnerable pointed in your direction.

“So...Is this it? You come here to end it?” He asked.

You took a deep breath. “No. I came here to apologize.”

His eyes flickered up to your face, a hint of hesitance to them.

“I’ve never heard you apologize in my life.”

You rolled your eyes and punched playfully at his arm, the chiseled muscle probably hurting you more than it hurt him. He wasn’t wrong.

“The truth is...When you asked me about Normani’s release I didn’t think of it as you wanting to know about my day. I didn’t think about it as you wanting to be kind to me at all. I sort of, maybe thought you were snooping trying to figure out a way that you could hurt me.” You admitted softly. “Because--well because that’s what I’ve experienced in the past. And that’s not an excuse but it just is...it’s what I was feeling.”

He squinted his nose up and it would’ve been cute had you not been so flustered.

“Wait, you thought I was gonna hurt you? How?” He asked turning more in your direction.

You winced. “Like...by maybe taking it to your dad. Knowing whether or not Normani’s gonna release would be really beneficial to him.”

There’s a range of emotions that cover his face. First confusion. Then acceptance. And then anger.

“Why would I ever do that to you? What have I ever said or done to make you think that I would choose allegiance to my dad of all people over you. I hate my job, y/n. I hate that company. You know that better than just about anyone.”

“I know! I know that. I just--fuck. You scare me okay!” You whined. “I haven’t been in a healthy relationship in years. I’ve been fucked over in my job, in my relationships, in life constantly. And I didn’t exactly walking into our arrangement expecting to find a relationship. I don’t know how to do this, Shawn. I don’t--I’m not sure I truly deserve it.”

You glanced down at the floor in worry and fear. You wanted it. God, you really wanted it. But, shit if you weren’t terrified to try.

When he crawls into your lap, you’re a little taken aback. For how tall that fucker is, he certainly could use an extra meal or two. But, there’s something about the reversal of his thighs bracketing your hips the way that yours would usually do to his. There’s something about the way his thumb soothes at your pulse point as his fingers rest on either side of your neck. There’s something about the way that he looks at you with tenderness and kindness. It’s a little unlike anything you’d ever quite felt before. And it makes you soften beneath him with ease, all the fire running out of you at once.

“You are...the most hard headed woman I’ve ever met.” He mumbled softly.

You smiled sheepishly. “That’s what my momma’s been telling me since I was born.”

“Well she’s right. But I’m kind of crazy about you. And I don’t like fighting with you. And I don’t like being mad at you, or you being mad at me. I just want to make you happy. This is the first time in my life where I feel like I can make some good out of anything. You feel...right. I like you, and I want to take care of you, and I’d like to have something where we can both give each other that. I’m just as scared as you are, okay? I don’t fucking know what I’m doing either. But I wanna try. Do you?”

Was it really that simple? Could it be that simple?

“I do. I really do.” You whispered.

“Good. That’s all I needed to hear. C’mere.”

For him, it could be.

His fingers knot in your ponytail and he tugs your lips to his with zero hesitation. After a shitty week of back and forth it feels good to not have to think for a while, to let his lips work over yours. He’s dominant even here with his tongue and his hands and his hips. He could’ve made it soft and gentle, but that’s not really what the two of you were about. Or was it?

“I’ve got leftovers in my fridge.” He murmured running his thumb along your bottom lip. “Did you eat dinner?”

You shake your head softly and he quickly climbs off your lap to tug you towards the kitchen. It doesn’t go unnoticed to you that his guitar stays behind in the living room.

“Are we ever gonna talk about the singing thing?”

“Maybe let’s do one heavy thing at a time, aye? I’ll tell you sometime. I promise. For now, do you want egg drop soup or pasta?”

You climbed into your seat at his kitchen counter and quickly tugged at your jacket and ponytail holder.

“Pasta. And one of these days I’m gonna teach your pasty ass how to cook.”

“Sure thing, babe.” He snorted. “I look forward to it.”

***

Permanent taglist

@simpledomain @liliane106 @sinplisticshawn @xeuphorically-moonstruck@euphoric05 @daijanicole @bruhh-whateven @learning-howto-be-myselfx3 @decewill @goldiean @bruhh-whateven@justbeingoceana @loveylangdon @iloveshawnieboi@september-lace @valedictorian65 @disaster-rose@justbeingoceana @loveylangdon @bitchacho25 @sinplisticshawn@thecurlsofgod @lifeoftheparty74 @kamahriii

Arrangement Taglist:

@moonlightmendes22 @iloveshawnieboi@shawnsblue @cottoncandyshawn

@claredolphinbear24 @peterbrokenparker @shawnase@blackharry @shawnwyr @speakingofmari @moniehp@ydolansss

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is0gild · 4 years ago

Text

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 9

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 6,398

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

“What’s with the sour face? I know your idea of fun on a Friday night is locking yourself up alone in your room all by yourself, but come on! Going out with a few peeps for a night on the town ain’t gonna kill ya!”

I heaved out a sigh as Anna turned us into the same parking lot we’d just seen Xion’s car go into. “It’s not that, I just… I thought it was only going to be the two of us tonight. We haven’t seen each other since… well, you know… and so much has happened and I just wanted a nice evening, just you and me, talking and catching up.”

“And we can still do that,” she nodded, pressing a couple buttons on her dashboard. As the convertible’s top started to rise and all the windows slid back up, she parked in an open spot right beside Xion’s little blue Prius and powered down the engine. “But now we get to party at the same time! Besides, this way I can meet all of your new friends too!”

Snatching my Ice Palace cap off my head and tossing it into the back seat, I gave a tiny huff. “These people aren’t my friends.”

A couple of loud thuds against the left side of the car made us both jump in our seats before glancing to the source. Roxas and Xion had smooshed their noses up against the door windows, mouths wide open, lips suctioned against the glass and cheeks puffing in and out as they made funny faces at us. Anna snorted then burst out laughing, asking me, “Do they know that?”

“I wasn’t talking about those two. Lea and them are my friends. Well…” I snagged a pale tendril of my hair to twist around my finger as I worried my bottom lip between my teeth. “...sort of…it’s all still very new...” Then I shook my head and tightened my ponytail. “In any case, I meant everyone else that’s going to be at this thing. They’re not my friends because I don’t know any of them.”

“So this is how you get to know them,” she grinned, nudging her shoulder into mine. “Come on, sis, this’ll be fun! I promise!”

“Don’t go making promises you can’t keep,” I grumbled.

Just then, we watched Lea go sliding across the hood of Anna’s Porsche in one smooth motion, bringing him to my side so he could open the car door for me. He bent into a half-bow, sweeping one arm out with a smile, “M’lady.”

Anna giggled. “Ooooo, such a gentleman! I don’t believe I’ve gotten your name yet.”

“Lea,” he leaned into the car, stretching across me to shake hands with her. Once again, I caught the faint whiff of cinnamon and had to resist the urge to squirm at his closeness. He smirked at her and winked, “Also answer to Mr Hottie-With-A-Body.”

...so he had heard that.

Great.

Just dandy.

My kingdom for a rock to crawl under right now.

“And you would be the sister, I take it?”

She grinned, “Anna. I’m thinking I like you already, Mr Hottie-W-”

I discreetly pinched her arm, shutting her up.

He didn’t seem to notice as he looked past her to where the other two were still making like a pair of pufferfish against the glass. “And those gremlins out there are Xion and Roxas. They’re harmless, just don’t ever feed ‘em after midnight. Hey!” he raised his voice so they could hear him. “Knock it off already, twerps!” They both pulled away, Xion hiding a snigger behind one hand while Roxas razzed his tongue. Shaking his head, the smile returned as Lea at last backed out of the car to straighten up again, “Well then, shall we?”

To my credit, I only hesitated for a second before exiting the vehicle, tugging at the hem of my skirt slightly as I stepped out onto the asphalt. Ugh, I hadn’t even had a chance to change out of my work clothes before getting sucked into all of this, so I didn’t even have the small consolation of being dressed comfortably. My eyes followed Xion and Roxas as they ran ahead to 7th Heaven, or so the gigantic, yellow neon sign hanging above the door proclaimed. It was a rustic, wooden building with a small set of stairs leading up to the wraparound patio. There was a warm glow coming through the fogged windows and muffled music could be heard from within.

Anna pushed a button on her key fob and the Porsche beeped as all its doors locked. Then she latched onto my arm, practically skipping as we made our way to the entrance. Lea dashed out in front, taking the steps two at a time and holding the door open for us. As we climbed up onto the deck as well, I could now hear the murmur of voices and laughter coming from inside as well. I gulped, my stomach sinking.

If it weren’t for Anna clinging to me like a two ton anchor, I’d probably have made a break for the hills by now.

And she knew that, which was exactly why she was doing it.

Traitor.

And so it was that I, with little choice or say in the matter, was dragged by my sister into the dreaded bowels of El Diablo.

...I’m not sure what I’d expected to hear upon descending into the terrifying Underworld, but it certainly hadn’t been the perky pop beat of Barbie Girl.

A strange, but oddly fitting soundtrack for eternal damnation.

The music was coming from a small stage all the way in the back of the place where some young woman was badly singing karaoke under spotlights. Between us and her was a massive, dimly lit room packed with tables and people cheering her on as they drank their presumably alcoholic beverages. Off to one side was a long bar, crowded with customers and tended by a brunette who, ahem… could only be described as the very epitome of the term ‘one busty babe.’ The wall opposite the bar was lit up with flashing lights from a row of retro pinball and arcade machines.

“We usually stake out one of the back corners for ourselves and spread out from there,” I barely heard Lea say over all the noise. I glanced back at him to see him squinting as his eyes scanned the darkness before his face brightened and he pointed off to our right. “Over there! Follow me.”

Anna gave my arm a reassuring squeeze and I replied with a thin, shaky smile.

There were just... so… many… people.

We navigated through the throng behind Lea, his blazing hair like a guiding light in the shadows, showing us the way. With every step we took, the knots in my gut pulled tighter and my knees grew numb. This was it. It was time…

...to mingle.

(Shudder.)

The three of us came to a stop at a large table. Half the people seated were all still in their work duds too, making me feel a little better about my attire, but not by much. Everyone looked up to warmly greet Lea before all eyes turned to me and I resisted the urge to shrink behind Anna. “Hey guys!” Lea shouted over the roar of the pub. “This is Elsa and her sister, Anna! El here is the newest scoop slinger at Ice Palace, so you’ve probably already seen her around.”

“So you’re the fresh meat,” one woman smirked at me. I recognized her from the greek food place that was Ice Palace’s neighbor. “Pleasure. Name’s Megara. My friends call me Meg.”

“Tiana,” the girl sitting next to her in a cute green dress smiled.

“She’s a server at that lil Cajun grill also in the food court,” Lea supplied before cocking his head at her. “Boyfriend couldn’t make it tonight?”

She immediately frowned and averted her gaze. Meg gently pat her on the back, shooting him a tiny scowl, “Smooth move, ya knucklehead. They broke up.”

“Oops,” he chuckled awkwardly. “Hey, don’t sweat it, Tiana. You know what they say - gotta kiss a few frogs and whatnot.” Crickets from the table. “Heh, get it? Cuz you work at… aw, too soon?” He cleared his throat, “Oookay, moving on! Next, I’m sure you’ve seen these three over at Lucky Cat.” He waved a hand towards a familiar blue-haired chick, her stocky coworker with slicked back, chocolate locks, and what I was guessing was Roxas’s doppelganger, not Roxas himself. Lea pointed to each in turn, “Aqua, Terra, and Ventus.”

“You’re the place with the super sweet tabby I got to cuddle earlier!” Anna said excitedly.

Aqua laughed, “That’s Chirithy, Ven’s pet. He likes to bring him into work sometimes. The cat’s so well behaved, management doesn’t mind.”

Ventus scratched the back of his head with a lopsided grin. “Yeah, I’m lucky. He’s sorta become the unofficial mascot of our café.”

“Then Grumpy-Pants over here is Squall and-”

“That’s Leon,” a guy with a scar slashed across the bridge of his nose corrected with a growl into his beer.

“Riiiiiight, forgot you were rebranding,” Lea snerked. “He works over at Buster’s Swords, the replica weapon shop in the mall. And last but most certainly not least, this little one here is Naminé,” he indicated a petite blonde sitting between Ven and Leon, who gave a shy wave. “When she’s on the clock, you can find Nams at The Crayon Box for all your art supply needs.”

“Lovely to meet you both,” she nodded at us. “We’re currently rooting on our friend Ariel,” she pointed to the stage. It was only now upon second glance that I recognized the girl up there currently murdering Barbie Girl as the redhead from the fish store.

Lea winced as a particularly bad note was hit before he snorted. “Girl’s usually got a voice that’d put mythical sirens to shame, but she’s just getting over a cold. Couldn’t talk for three days. Now that she’s started getting it back, there’s no keeping her away from the mic. RIP eardrums.” Then he clapped his hands together once, “Alrighty, on to Table Numeros Dos!”

...numeros dos?

As in more than one? As in this wasn’t it? As in more people?

If I survived this night, it’d be a miracle.

At least the first table hadn’t been too bad. Everyone else had done all the talking, which was a-okay by me.

...unless… crud, did they think I was boring now? Or worse, that I was sticking my nose up at them? Well I wasn’t! Trust me, there was absolutely zero nose sticking up going on here! My nose was down! Way, way, way down! So far down, it was past the secret civilization of mole people and halfway to China by now!

Dammit, only five minutes in and pretty sure I was already screwing everything up. And I hadn’t even done anything yet!

Lea shifted a couple steps over to an adjacent booth against the wall and Anna followed, tugging me into a stumble after her. Grabbing the attention of this new group, he announced, “Yo, everyone! I’d like ya to meet-”

“Elsa?”

I locked eyes with a golden gaze I knew all too well at this point and blinked. “Rayne?”

She scrambled out of the booth to hurl herself at me and I staggered to stay upright under the sheer might of her hug. Then I heard her gasp, “Anna too?! Get in here, girl!” I grunted as Anna dogpiled into the embrace. “Haven’t seen you since you were an ankle biter at summer camp! What are you doing here?! In fact, what are you both doing here?”

“What are we doing here?” I repeated incredulously as we all pulled apart, my eyes flicking down to her belly then back up. “What are you doing here? Did you forget you’re, uh… drinking for two now?”

A squeal from Anna, “Oh my gawd, Ray-Ray, your friggin’ preggers?! Congratulations! Who’s the lucky stud who knocked dat fine ass of yours up?”

My sister, ladies and gentleman. Ever the classiest of dames.

Rayne turned, yanking her husband out of the booth and onto his feet beside her. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she smiled smugly. “This is Riku. Riku, meet Anna, Elsa’s little sister. And don’t worry,” she turned her attention back to me, rolling her eyes, “all my drinks are virgin.”

“Though Ray is what you might call an empathic drunk,” Riku snerked, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

I quirked an eyebrow, “A what?”

“The more people get liquored up around me, the drunker I get without sipping a single drop. It’s an odd phenomenon, I don’t do it on purpose, but not complaining either. All the perks of intoxication, none of the hangover!” Then she furrowed her brow at me, “But no, seriously, what are you doing here? This ain’t exactly your scene.”

“I kinda kidnapped her,” Anna hummed out a tiny, evil laugh. “She’s my hostage tonight. She’s gonna have fun whether she likes it or not!”

I was firmly in the “or not” camp.

Rayne grinned at her, folding her arms together, “Then that brings us back around to what you’re doing here… where did you even come from?”

As the two of them began to catch up while Riku listened in, Lea snagged my elbow, pulling me over closer to the booth once more.

Oh. Right. Socializing. I’d almost forgotten.

Ahhh forgetting. T’was a better, simpler, blessed time. Now, as I was presented with another small horde of new faces, I felt my heart rate spike and my chest tighten as the butterflies battled for dominance in my stomach again.

So be it. Once more into the breach! Come on, Elsa, you can do this!

“Now then, before I was so rudely interrupted-”

“Shove it, Red!” my roommate snapped.

“Screw off, Raindrop!” He stuck his tongue out at her, then sniggered to me, “Remember, verbal abuse says you care! Anyway, I’m sure you’re already very familiar with this mall rat we all know and love, given he’s almost a big an ice cream junkie as I am.” Sora beamed up at me from his seat. “But have you met this half-pint’s amazing, intelligent, beautiful and might I add way out of his league girlfriend, Kairi?”

He was gesturing to a pretty redhead dolled up in pink who smirked around the straw in her drink as she glanced out of the corner of her eye at Sora beside her. “Any comment to that?”

He shrugged, leaning back as he laced his fingers behind his head and his already impossibly huge smile somehow managed to get even wider. “Can’t argue facts!”

“She, like her boy here, is also a local mall rat, but we take pity on these poor schmucks who have nothing else in their pathetic, empty lives and let them hang out with us cool kids whenever we all get together like this,” Lea teased.

“Hey now, ex-mall rat!” she harrumphed before proudly puffing up her chest. “You’re looking at Mickey’s newest hire as of today!”

Lea arched an eyebrow, “No shit, really? Congratz, princess! Welcome to the crush of the daily grind. It sucks! Enjoy!”

Kairi snorted. “Please, it won’t be all that terrible. I’m gonna work a counter in the jewelry department. I can already tell my favorite part’s gonna be helping customers with the charm bracelets. Look!” she jangled the band she was wearing around her wrist before lifting up one of the little trinkets dangling from it. “This one looks like a thalassa shell star from my home, Destiny Islands!” Then she narrowed her eyes at Sora, one corner of her lips quirking up. “Now if only this lazy bum would get a job too, we’d be set!”

“Gimme a break, Kairi, I’m working on it!” Sora half whined, half laughed.

“Uh oh, do I smell trouble in paradise? We’ll leave the two lovebirds to it then,” Lea then turned my attention to a slender chick with short black hair sitting next to Kairi, who waggled her fingers at me with a crooked grin. “This is Yuffie! She works with Squ- ‘scuse me, Leon over at Buster’s Swords.” He lowered his voice to a whisper behind his hand, “She likes to steal the merch for her own personal amusement.”

She scoffed, “You shut your whore mouth, I don’t steal! I just… borrow for quality testing! I’m doing a community service here, really!”

He shook his head, “Uh huh, sure, whatever you say. So what’s on the menu for today?”

Couldn’t tell from where exactly, but she suddenly pulled out a pair of ninja stars as her lips curved wickedly. “Shurikens!”

“Nope!” Leon pressed one hand to the edge of his table, leaning his chair back onto its hind legs so he could stretch an arm across the booth and snatch the weapons from her grasp.

“Hey!” she lunged after them but only ended up faceplanting into her own table. “Give those back, jerkface!” He ignored her, just taking another swig from the bottle in front of him. “Wow, rude much?!”

This place was an absolute madhouse.

“Oof, that’s rough! Better luck next time,” Lea consoled her before pointing to the next person wedged into the booth, a girl with a blue bow tying back her brown hair. “And here we have Belle! Total bookworm, so no surprise her nine-to-five’s at Enchanted Castle Books.” She didn’t acknowledge us, just stared dreamily off into space while absently stirring the liquid in her glass with a straw. Lea sighed, “Yeah, she’s a real head-up-in-the-clouds sort.”

“I got this,” Yuffie chimed in before using a hand to shade her gaze as she raised her voice, “Hey, is that Gaston I see?”

Belle snapped out of it, eyes round in horror as she gasped, “Where?!” before ducking down to use the table for cover.

As Yuffie cracked up, Kairi swatted her in the shoulder, “Mean!”

“Gaston’s the local musclebound, meathead neanderthal who’s set his sights on Belle as his next conquest,” Lea explained.

“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Yuffie’s eyes gleamed as she produced a third metal star. “I’ll make sure he never bothers you again.”

“For the love of- another one?!” In a quick blur of movement, Leon had once again confiscated her toy, much to her dismay.

“Finally,” Lea jumped in once again, clapping his hand down on the shoulder of a carrot-top sitting on the end with giant purple headphones covering his ears, “this regular chatterbox is Neku, who gets his paycheck from Towa Records, the lil music store around the corner from the food court.”

Yuffie huffed, “I dunno why Orangeylocks even bothers to show up to these things since,” she leaned across the table to lift up one of his hulking muffs and yell into his ear, “he never bothers to take the stupid ‘phones off!”

He slapped her hand away with a glare and said nothing, simply crossed his arms and slouched further down into his seat.

Still I hadn’t said a word to anyone besides Rayne. Partly because all the anxiety was squeezing my throat shut - trust me, the terror was real. But even if I had been brave enough to actually make small talk with this pack of total strangers, it was impossible to get a word in edgewise. It was all just happening so fast. But hey, maybe I could get away with the whole not talking thing. This Neku guy seemed to be and he was getting along just fine. Maybe the secret was in the headphones.

Note to self: look into the possibility of purchasing ear buds with first paycheck in the hopes of avoiding human interaction at all costs.

“Okay, almost done, just one more table to go,” Lea chirped.

Hearing that was both a relief and a minor heart attack all rolled together. The good news: one more table, woo! The bad news: one more table, ugh!

As Lea led the way once more, I snagged Anna by the elbow. It was her fault I was in this mess, so there was no way I was letting her abandon me. She was my security blanket, dammit! She managed to get out a hasty “we’ll talk more in a minute” to Rayne before staggering along behind me. We were brought to the neighboring booth which took up a corner so it was slightly bigger. Thankfully, that didn’t equal a larger group seated here. Even better, I already knew two of the faces.

“Rox! Xion!” Lea grinned down at them. “So this is where you guys got to. Was beginning to think I might have to send out search parties. I-”

“Kristoff,” the name escaped my lips before I’d even realized it as I locked eyes with my coworker.

Make that three faces I recognized.

His eyelids drooped before he looked away with a harrumph, taking a deep drag from his mug.

Well fudge. Guess he was still mad about the phone.

This night just kept getting better and better!

“Brr, did it just get a few degrees colder in here? Ah well, forget it, just leave Lord Sourpuss here to his brooding,” Lea snerked with a roll of his eyes. “For the rest at the table who haven’t already had the pleasure, this is Elsa, the Ice Palace newbie, and her sister Anna who tagged along for funsies.”

He tossed a hand towards a guy with amber eyes, messy raven hair, and was the poster boy for goth fashion. “That ray of sunshine over there is Vanitas - living, breathing proof that all our moms were always right: your face really can get stuck like that. Wow, misery really does love company, huh? Just look at those identical scowls.” Both Vanitas and Kristoff looked highly unamused with Lea. He responded with a smirk, leaning down to bring his face closer to Vanitas, “What’s with the pout, widdle man? Did one of the other kids steal your binky?”

“Bite me, jackass,” he deadpanned.

“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” Lea waggled his eyebrows as he straightened back up. “Anyhoo, as you might’ve already guessed by just taking one look at the edgelord, Vaniboy here works at Halloween Town.”

“Halloween Town?” Anna echoed, tapping a thoughtful finger to her lips. “Isn’t that the line of shops that are kinda like Hot To-”

“Say that knock-off, poser, wannabe of a store’s name and die,” Vanitas sneered.

Lea said, “Don’t mind him, he’s just cranky cuz he missed out on afternoon naptime.” Vanitas flipped him the bird, which went totally ignored as Lea shifted his gaze to the other side of the table. “Woah, talk about a mismatched set. What are you two doing hanging out with Mr Negativity here?”

He was now addressing a sweet-faced brunette with bright green eyes and the boy beside her with sandy blonde spiked hair, a skull and crossbones printed on his shirt. The girl chuckled, “Oh come on, Van’s not that bad.”

“Yeah, once you get past his personality,” the guy sniggered. Vanitas just looked away with a soft tch.

“Meet Olette and Hayner. They- wait...” Lea glanced around the table a second time with a frown, “There’s usually one more of you. Where’s Pence?”

“Couldn’t make it,” Olette sighed, plopping her chin in her palm. “Had to finish his programming project for his Computer Sciences course. Said he’ll be at it all weekend.”

“Bummer,” Lea shrugged. “In any case, these two plus their missing amigo wait tables at Le Grand Bistrot, this hoity-toity restaurant on the opposite end of the mall from the rest of us. Though didn’t you guys get shut down recently for a rodent infestation?”

Hayner banged a fist against the table, “Ugh, will people stop talking about that already? We didn’t get shut down, it was one rat and it was just that klutzy garbage boy’s pet, got it?!”

A snort from Roxas. “Sounds fake, but okay.”

“Can it, pizza boy!” Hayner shot back.

“Touchy, touchy,” Lea tsked before his eyes made one more sweep of the surrounding tables. “Anyway, looks like that’s everyone! How ‘bout it? Got it all memorized? If not, don’t sweat it, it was a lot. And even more might show up later, who knows, these things are always sort of a random grab bag but that’s half the fun! In any case, feel free to take a seat.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, “I’m gonna go order a drink from the bar. Did either of you want me to grab you anything while I’m over there?”

“Is this a menu?” Anna picked up the glossy, colorful sheet of plastic from the table, looking over the list printed on it with a low hum. “I think a basket of the Cactuar Fries would be good for starters. As for drink, hm… Ooo, the Golden Chocobo sounds amazing! What about you?” she tilted it to give me a better look.

I shook my head, “Just water for me, thanks.”

Her tongue blew a raspberry, eyes returning to the menu. “That’s no fun. Lessee here… aha!” She smiled up at Lea, “She’ll have a Shiva, heavy on the rum.”

“I will most certainly not have a-”

“Got it!” Lea darted off across the room, cupping a hand to his mouth and calling out, “Oh, Tifa!”

Anna then proceeded to flump down into the booth next to Kristoff, giggling as she peeked up at him. “Hi! You’re cute!”

He blinked at her, all traces of the previous doom-and-gloom wiped clean off his face as it reddened slightly. “Uh…?”

She wiggled in closer to him, which seemed to fluster him more as he scrabbled over into Vanitas, who elbowed him back hard for making him almost spill his drink. Oblivious to the domino effect she’d created, Anna whipped her head back around to me and patted a hand on the space she’d freed up at the edge of the booth. “Whatcha waiting for, Sis? Sit!”

I stared blankly at her. She beamed back at me. I glanced over to everyone else. Everyone else watched me expectantly. I then flicked my gaze down to the open seat. It just lay there, being a cushion.

...psssst, dummy. Her telling you to sit? Was your cue to actually sit!

Still my feet didn’t budge an inch. Instead I looked over my shoulder back towards the door leading outside. So close, yet so far.

Clearing my throat, I took a small step backwards and held up a hand, “A-actually, you know what? I think I, uh... left something... back in the car! Yeah, that’s it! So I’ll just, er… I’ll go get-”

“I said sit!” Anna grabbed my wrist and jerked me down onto the plush bench beside her.

Well then. I guess I was sitting.

I suddenly felt a light brush of something against the back of my head and I twitched away, looking behind me. Rayne was leaning over the divider between our two booths, hands outstretched, apparently with the intention of petting both Anna and me. “Pretty,” she cooed in delight. “Pretty, pretty hair. So soft!”

From somewhere beyond the separator, I heard Riku mutter, “It’s starts.” His voice was muffled. I suspected due to facepalm. Taking a small bundle of my hair and tucking it between her palm and two little fingers, Rayne then set the other three fingers and hand to work unraveling one of Anna’s pigtail braids.

Anna didn’t seem to mind, instead just turning her gaze to the rest of our booth and flashing a smile big enough to rival one of Sora’s. “It’s so great to meet everyone! This is super exciting! Isn’t is just so exciting?” she asked me. I opened my mouth, but Anna was already gushing once more, “And oh my gawd, so, so, so, sooooo much fun! I’m already having a blast! Are you having a blast?” Again, this question was aimed at me. Again, I didn’t even get so much as a peep out. “Aaaah, lookit her, she’s having a friggin’ blast! This is awesome! So how long have you guys all been getting together like this? Who started it? Was it just a small group at first? Were you guys always friends even before these Friday nights began? Do you ever change it up, get food and drinks somewhere else? Or is it always the 7th Heaven? Why is it called the 7th Heaven anyway? What’s the story there? What’s the food like? No, what are the drinks like? Did I pick good ones? I hope I picked good ones! And I just love that they have karaoke here! Anyone else going to be singing later? Ooo, here’s an idea! We could all go up and sing one together!”

Typhoon Anna had struck again, leaving round eyes and silence in her wake.

I was guessing most everyone else at the table hadn’t even caught half of that, the torrent of words had been coming out in such a rush.

The hush over the table stretched until Vanitas at last broke it with a flat, “Yeah, no, I’m out. I’ve had about all the pep I can stand from that pack of idiots,” he flicked a wrist towards the half the table taken up by Xion, Olette, Roxas and Hayner, “without having to deal with… this,” he cringed, gesturing to Anna. Then he downed the rest of his beverage. “Later, losers.” And with that, he vaulted himself over the table, shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and slinked off.

“So…” Anna dragged out the syllable, “...he’s pleasant!”

Certainly one word for it.

“Vani bail early?” Lea rejoined us. “No shocker there, he usually does. He's always been more of a lone wolf. Make room, Fun-size!” he looked down at where Xion was seated at the opposite end of the booth from us. She scooched to clear a spot for him and he plopped on down, setting a full, opened bottle on the table in front of him bearing a red label that boasted the title Ifrit Amber Ale. “Ladies, your drinks n’ fries are gonna need another minute. Someone’ll be by to drop them off when they’re ready.”

A small smile braved my lips, “Thanks, how much do we owe you?”

Or rather, how much did Anna owe him? Since A, she was the one that’d ordered it all and B, I’d yet to earn a single cent to my name.

Soon though. Payday was coming.

He batted a hand, “Don’t worry about it, my treat. And, uh,” he snerked, “you might want to keep a closer eye on what Raindrop's up to over there.”

I blinked. I had been feeling a faint tingle in my scalp as Rayne had continued to play beauty salon back there this whole time, but I’d just been ignoring it. Now both Anna and I turned to discover she’d weaved locks of our hair together into one thick, auburn-and-platinum braid. “I made a pretty!” Rayne giggled, punctuated by a hiccup.

Biting back a grin, Xion called, “Hey Riku! Control your woman!”

A hand shot up and grabbed Rayne by the scruff of the shirt. With a squeak, she disappeared behind the booth separator.

“So,” Olette shook her head, one corner of her lips tugging up, “how are you liking it over at Ice Palace?”

...shoot, she was talking to me, wasn’t she?

I was so not prepared for this.

Glancing up from where my fingers had already begun disentangling the braid Anna and I shared joint custody off, I pursed my lips to one side. “Hmm, well… it’s pretty good actually. This is my first job ever, so I was a bit anxious.” Understatement of the millenia. “But it’s been going well. And I like the people I work with and get along with them and uh…” I eyed Kristoff out of my peripheral, who still seemed rather dazed by Anna and the apparent lack of the phrase ‘personal boundaries’ in her vocabulary, “...and they like me and are very kind and welcoming and… certainly not mad or anything at me for, oh I don’t know, hypothetically lobbing and busting their phones, like I would ever do something so silly as that, why would I even mention such a thing, that’s so random,” the jumble of words finished in a weak chuckle.

It was beginning to become clear to me that the tendency to babble might run in my family.

Only mine was of the nervous variety, whereas I don’t think Anna had a nervous bone in her body.

At last sensing my gaze on him, Kristoff shook himself out of his stupor and looked back at me. Then he frowned, narrowed his eyes and stared down at the table, nursing his drink once more.

“Oh yeah,” Xion snorted, “I can definitely feel the love simply overflowing from that side of the table.”

“Sounds like a sweet gig,” Hayner chimed back into the conversation with a smirk as he crossed his arms. “But then, anything’s gotta be better than working at some lame dump of a pizza place.”

“Ouch, shots fired.” Lea cocked an eyebrow, “What’s with the drive-by, my dude?”

Roxas snickered, “Ignore him. He’s still just sore about the whole rat thing.”

“There wasn’t a rat thing! I told you already, it was just some dumb pet so it doesnt count!”

“Sure,” Roxas sighed, “Just keep telling yourself that, man.”

“That’s it!” Hayner snarled, slamming both hands down on the table as he rocketed up to his feet. “It’s time we settle this like men!”

Olette groaned, burying her face in her hands. “Tell me you did not really just say that, you total caveman.”

Hayner stabbed a finger towards Roxas and growled, “You.” Then jerked a thumb into his chest, “Me.” He pointed at one of the arcade machines, “Struggle 9000. Loser buys rounds for the table for the next five Fridays.”

“Come on, you two,” Olette interjected, “is this really-”

Lea clamped a hand over her mouth, one index finger held up to his lips, “Shush, I want free booze.”

“You’re on!” Roxas shot back, eyes flashing. Then the both of them were ducking down and crawling under the table to exit the booth before dashing over to where the video games awaited them, elbowing each other the whole way.

“Wanna go root the boys on?” Olette asked Xion.

“Pfft, root nothing. I’m taking on winner and curb stomping his ass. Play my cards right and I’ll have them both buying our drinks for weeks to come.”

As Lea slid out of the booth so the two of them could get up and leave, Olette laughed, “Oh, I bet Hayner would be simply thrilled by that prospect.”

“Please, you think that bonehead’s gonna come out the champ?” Xion scoffed as they walked off. “Rox has got him beat, no contest.”

“Wanna bet?”

That was the last thing I heard from Olette before a happy shriek barely an inch to my left drowned out anything else that might have been said.

Gee thanks, Anna. Really, who needs hearing in both ears anyway?

Our order had arrived, which apparently was what had gotten her so excited. A heaping bowl of shoestring fries now steamed in front of us, covered and smothered in some chunky green sauce. Anna’s drink started out orange at the bottom and faded into a yellow at the frothy top where in the absence of one of the standard teeny decorative umbrellas, it was instead garnished with a fluffy, yellow feather. My drink was a chilly, neon blue color and served in a tall, skinny glass with wafting mist and a frosted rim.

“Bottoms up!” Anna singsonged, clinking her beverage to mine before chugging down half of it in one go. I pulled a face at her, scrunching my nose with a grimace. She puffed out a content sigh as she put the glass back down at the table. “Ah, that’s good!” Then her eyes darted between me and my drink a couple times. “Well? What are you waiting for? Get your drink on, gurl!”

“No thanks,” I nudged the Shiva away with a fingertip. “Someone has to drive us home, so I guess that someone’s going to be me.”

“Pssh, details,” she waved a dismissive hand while she tested out one of the fries. Eyes lighting up, she shoveled a couple more in her mouth before pushing my drink back towards me. “C’mon, one sip won’t kill ya! Besides, you’re hurting Lea’s feelings over there, he spent his hard earned munny on it just for you!”

“Nah, it’s cool,” he shrugged and grinned. “You do you, El!”

“Dude, work with me here! You’re supposed to back me up on this, I-” Anna cut herself off in a gasp. Seemed there had been a lull in the karaoke, so someone had kicked on the big vintage jukebox off to one side, which was now pumping regular tunes out of the overhead speakers. “I love this song!” Her hand clamped down around Kristoff’s wrist, “Dance with me!”

“Wha-?!”

I was all but shoved out of the booth as Anna bolted off, dragging a wide eyed and stumbling Kristoff behind her. I watched her go, shaking my head with a tired smile. Anna would never change. But then, who’d want her to? She was kind of perfect the way she was, chaotic energy and all. Sighing, I took a seat again and looked up.

That’s when I froze.

Because that’s when it hit me.

Somehow, my booth had gone from being packed to being empty. Well, almost…

There was still me.

And there was still a certain redhead.

And to be fair, my plan had been to spend the evening with a redhead. Just said redhead was supposed to have been petite, female, and my sister. The redhead before me now? Checked off none of those boxes.

So instead of the night of sisterly bonding like I’d been looking forward to, I’d somehow wound up in a bar.

At a table.

With Lea.

By ourselves.

Just the two of us.

Alone...

Help! SOS! Frantic smoke signals! I was not mentally or emotionally equipped to deal with this situation!

Commence cardiac arrest in three… two…

Author’s note: Hi, yes, welcome to Cameo Palooza, where we got references coming out the wazoo! This chapter and events in next chapter were originally all supposed to be one chapter, but the references just kept going and going… I honestly didn’t expect them to go on for as long as they did, but here we are xD Not gonna lie, I took an odd amount of pleasure in giving Lea and Elsa drinks to match to their respective elements/summons. Also lil fun fact: There are real alcoholic beverages out there called the Shiva and the Golden Chocobo, just google it if you’re curious and I think the recipes should pop up like the did for me! Also, there are in fact green Cactuar Fries out there in the real live world too - I’ve seen foodies post pictures!

Next chapter… how will Elsa deal with this latest challenge in human interaction she’s come face to face with? Will this be one step closer to strengthening the bond of her new friendship with Lea? Or will it all end in utter catastrophe thanks to her awkward penguin ways? Will we ever find out the secret of the Cactuar Fries’ green ooze? Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to any new followers out there (howdy! :D) and to those of you who’ve liked and reblogged previous chapters, seeing that always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

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erikismybitch · 6 years ago

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Waiting In Vain: Chapter 8

No Vacancy

Trey could not stop kissing her . From the moment she arrived , when she slept and couldn’t feel him and even to wake her up. He couldn’t stop. It was spring, a little before Easter so the early mornings were dark. Trey liked to sleep with the tv on, but on mute so he could be aware of everything around him. He could see her sleeping due to its light. He looked down at her , Marley’s face was snuggled into his armpit. She snored lightly , that’s how he knew she was really sleep . He kissed the top of her hair , the aromatics from her hair products alowed him to get a taste. Kind of like coconut. Then he kissed her face , so much so that Marley had waken up . Marley kissed back because she was nice , and it was nice waking up to affection.

Two weeks had passed by and Marley was ready to go . Trey lived in a full house . Not only with people, there were kids also .Kids with no structure or manners , they were up all night and loud. The one time Marley tried to correct Treys nephew , his mother got offended. So from then , she vowed to never say anything again . It was like walking on eggshells. The house was in constant movement, never a single moment to chill . Too top things off , the house was not very clean . She didn’t feel safe, just a burden .

Marley had sent Trey and one of his friends to get all of her stuff from her apartment. What was left of it after Tiana destroyed some stuff. Trey wanted to handle her in the violent way he knew how , but Marley put an end to that . After some time to herself , Marley understood slightly why Tiana was so upset . She had a right to be angry & a lot of the stuff she destroyed wasn’t important. Though , her actions online were harsh and Marley did not deserve that . And she would never forget it.

Suddenly, the walls of Trey’s room started to fill with hues of red and blue . It was still so early that Marley thought it was a part of her dream, until she heard the police siren .

“Fuck!”

Just as Trey yelled in panic his eldest brother came into the room , just as distraught as he. The cops began to bang on the door and announce themselves .

“OPP’s is here, clean up!” He shouted and rushed off into the hallway. That meant hide everything that would send you to jail . Trey eased his way to the blinds , he peaked through them , giving him a view of the front porch .

“It’s the same two from last time” he sighed . “Aye get up , help me” Trey poked at Marley’s side roughly . Marley shot up from the bed and went straight to his closet . The top left , Trey’s South Beach Lebron shoe box is where he stashed the mass of his drugs . Pills , weed , coke , Marley knew exactly where everything was. She had a lot of practice . It wasn’t her first go round so she knew what to do .

“Same cops from last time , he said?” Marley questioned Trey as she started filling the bathroom sink pipe with narcotics.

“They got it out for me, or somebody snitching ” He continued to hide things . “Let em In!” He yelled to his brother .

“Do they have a warrant?” Marley sat on the bed, trying to hide the fact that she was a nervous wreck .

“It don’t matter , they do what they want to do anyway”

The cops were let in. And began to raid each room, with total disregard for the children who were sleeping peacefully. Speaking loudly about how they “...better not be hiding anything because that will only make it worse” The children cried and mothers complained, but were quickly warned that they would be arrested if they didn’t shut their mouths .

The cops made it to Treys room. Unbeknownst to Marley , there were two cops and one was of color . From experience, she knew them to be the worst ones . They just walked in, without acknowledging anyone. It’s like they knew exactly where to go . They waisted no time knocking down things and ripping into every nook and cranny of Treys room . The mess they were creating was so unnecessary, almost personal . They even opened his wall vents to check. Trey leaned his body on his wall , pretending to be unbothered .

“Do you guys have a warrant?” Marley spoke , the two cops pretended not to hear her and continued to destroy Treys room . So she spoke again . “Can I see your warrant , you can’t just come in here and do this” her voice shook with fear . Trey advised her to just stop talking , and so did the cops .

“Will I get arrested for talking?”

“Who are you?” The black cop interrupted, he put a little fear in Marley . He could tell because she stepped back towards Trey for protection.

“I’m his girlfriend” Marley said almost as a question, not like a statement. The two cops looked at each other with raised brows.

“And you live here?” The white one said this time , putting much emphasis on the word “here”

“Nah officer , she don’t” Trey tried to answer for her.

“I was talking to her , boy”

Trey clinched his jaw , holding himself back from retaliation . He did not want to go to jail , or end up dead. It was best to just keep quiet , and let them destroy the house because they wouldn’t find anything. Trey had been hit twice this month by the same cops . It had to be someone giving them the green light .

“Got something you want to say to me?” The cop continued to push Treys hot buttons , clearly pissed that he couldn’t get the response he wanted . They just needed any excuse to arrest him .

“Nah, I’m good” he bellowed, refusing to give the cops the satisfaction.

The white cop turned to Marley and asked for her information. Things like if she had any felonies or open cases , did she have an address, even if she was on drugs. Marley answered each question honestly, even though the cops didn’t seem to believe her . Once they were done pestering everyone at this ungodly hour they began to head out .

“What happened to the girl who was here last time , she told us she was your girlfriend too” The black cop decided he couldn’t leave without aggravating the situation even more . When the two cops saw the look of confusion on Marleys face , they laughed and slapped five . They left , obnoxiously letting their sirens go off before they drove off.

Marley asked Trey who they were talking about .

He lied

“Just some girl I was talking to , she outta’ the picture now “

Marley didn’t care if he was having sex with other women , they weren’t together any more . In fact , jealousy was the furthest thing from her mind in the moment . There was a woman in his house, Trey never brought people here , especially ones he didn’t trust .

“Then you must really like her”

“What?” Trey responded quickly , and loud in efforts to scare her away from the topic .

“I mean, she must be somebody if you let her in here” she tightened her head scarf , it was slipping down . Then a yawn slipped from her lips . It was still so early.

“Cops just came in here and fucked my house up , and you think I want to talk to you about some bitch” he snatched something that was in close proximity to Marley , making her flinch .

“You know what !” She shouted , with so many “could be” insults at the tip of her tongue , but she couldn’t seem to let them out . “I need to go, this wasn’t a good idea” Marley began to load her clothes in her suitcases , the cops had went through them and her things were all over the floor . Trey tailed behind her as she packed .

“Stop being dramatic, where are you going to go?” He teased .

Marley dropped the UGG boot that was in her hand. Her expression was one of realization, her lips formed a wide “o” shape . “You think I need you ?” She gave off a sarcastic laugh as she notioned her hand around the room . Putting more emphasis on the chaos around them . “I don’t need this!” She assured him .

“You sure needed this when you called me crying”

Marley kissed her teeth and kept packing her things . Once she went into the bathroom to grab her hygenic belongings, he knew she was serious .

“So-so you just gone leave? “ he stuttered .

“Trey” Marley held her hand up to stop him from interjecting . Her mind was already made up .

“Just tell me where you’re going”

Marley continued to ignore him . She didn’t need this . Police searches, the constant noise, now his Lies . Her therapist would shit bricks if he knew the situation she’d gotten herself into . “Mar” Trey grabbed her hand gently .

“I’m going to stay at an extended stay until I find an apartment” she told him.

“Baby I can’t let you st-” she pulled her hand away from him, he brought his tone down a notch . “Can I at least pay for it?”

“You don’t have to” she declined his offer , knowing that it would help her financially. Marley didn’t want to depend on anyone for anything anymore.

“Just the first week, then after that I won’t bother you”

“Fine”

Trey helped her pack all of her stuff , the loaded it into her car . He peeled a few hundreds from his pocket and gave them to her . It was more than a weeks stay . He kissed her forehead a few times then let her go .

“She’ll be back , she always comes back” Treys brother had been standing on the porch watching . Trey nodded in agreement, but for some reason, he felt like this was the last time.

#i have the flu #erik is coming

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wakandascrystal · 6 years ago

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The Nanny

Pairing - Erik x Black!!reader

genre - Angst, jealousy, fluff etc.

summary- When a job opportunity that you couldn't miss comes up you choose to leave your husband and kids with help to cater to them through the 4 months but as soon as you return it seems like mommy has been replaced.

A/N - I wrote on and from my way to school sorry if it seemed rushed

“Nah...Hell no. You ain't going.“ Erik shouted as he held the letter from your firm in his hands. “Did you even read past the first line.” “I don't need too. Don't have too. They can find someone else who doesn't have a life to take care of there messy war stuff for them..” “Erik...you don't understand. I need this. If.... If I win this case I will be helping people.... This is a big opportunity from me..for us.“ He scoffed getting up to slowly power walk around the kitchen. “What about the twins and Nala. You gonna up and leave me alone with them as well.“ You wanted to curse him out. how small and selfish can he be. Erik was being ridiculous. He knew this is what you were working up towards. You were Very good Lawyer but taking on an international case like this one Erik was holding in his hand would solidify your foot in the door with the big boys but Erik didn't see that. You took off your apron and held his hands trying to make him understand how much you needed this. He couldn't look you in the eyes- that's how angry he was. “Baby it's just 4 months. I'll be back. It not like am leaving for a whole year.“ he let out a breath. “Erik this is big. Huge! Other lawyers dream to handle a case like this and I was chosen to do that. My hard work is paying off baby. Am going to the UN…..the fucking UN…..A black women at the UN ...do you know how good that looks for us...for the black community. Listen they can call me whatever they want to but when am done they won't be to help the fact that the baddest black bitch in law saved the world.” Erik couldn't help but smile looking away from you. He loved it when you were passionate about your job but he didn't want you to leave either. “And I won't only have the support of my peers but also the loving support of my Husband….” It sounded more like a question but Erik didn't catch on. “Okay let's say I do let you leave for 4 whole ass months….How am I supposed to manage the kids? I know am a good father but I don't know their schedules and play dates and diets. All I know is that Aaden and Kwezi don't eat seafood.” You couldn't help but blush at your husband. He was thinking about. You could tell. That all you wanted. “First of all your an amazing Father and Don't worry I have a plan. What you thought I was going to leave my babies stranded. Not this Momma. I went on this certified site on the internet and found a nanny.” “(Y/N) You know how I feel about you and the Internet.” “It's nothing like that E. She's perfect I interviewed her a couple of times last week. We had brunch and we bonded. I showed her Our schedules, Important dates and am so lucky no one's birthday is soon.” You went back to the stove to check the curry you were cooking for dinner. “Don't worry Baby I told her about your basketball team and that Nala has dance class on Wednesdays and Fridays. That grandma comes to visit on the weekends and that you Elijah and Jordan and them have poker night every Sunday and that she should prepare snacks. I also told her the boys play soccer and football and that we…-” You felt Erik's strong arms slip around your waist. He back hugged you placing his chin on your shoulder. “Damn....Am gonna...miss you” Your heart dropped. You turned to meet his gaze. “I'll be a phone call away. You know this.” Your voice was softer since he was so close to your face. “And we got 4 days before I leave.” Erik lifted you and started kissing you on the kitchen counter. He moaned into your mouth and you lost your mind. He didn't waste time pulling your dress up and panties down. “Erik...the kids ...are upstairs..they ...can come down anytime and see.” You tried to form a sentence as he kisses your inner thighs. Planting wet kisses that were turning you on. He spread your legs wider and went it, dragging his tongue on your pussy and skillfully sucking. Your moaning got louder and louder. “E...E!” “Mommy are you okay?” Your legs wrapped around Eriks face so quickly so that Nala wouldn't see her father face between her legs behind the counter. “Hey, baby. You up from your nap.” Your 5-year-old daughter rubbed her eyes and yawned at the top of the stairs. He curls all over the place she pouted. “Mommy I'm hungry and ...Aaden and Kwezi Are playing with Daddy's shoes again.” You felt Erik twitch between your legs. He hated how the twins put on his Jordans on and play around with them. “Baby go tell the boys to leave daddies shoe alone before I come up there..and tell them to get ready for dinner.” The sleepy little brown girl ran up and did as you said...Gave Erik enough time to give you a mind-blowing orgasm. After lunch, you sat the kids down and told them what would be happening. The twins were really not that bothered . They maybe thought you were going for a weekend and coming back like you usually do but Nala sat on your bed holding her Tiana princess doll with tears in her eyes. “Mommy cant I come with you. I'll be good I promise I won't make a mess of things.” You heart dropped when her tears fell. “Nala I'll be back sooner than you know.” “But whos gonna braid my hair and help me pick pretty clothes to wear.” “I have someone very special for that and when mom’s done saving the world. Daddy is going to take us to Disneyland.” Your promise of the trip did nothing. She still looked sad “I will always be here and i will always love you okay.” She nodded and wiped her tears away. After you put the twins and Nala to bed Erik helped you with packing for the trip. He was silent the whole time. Handing you all your old and ugly granny panties thinking what the hell you need your red lace g strings for. You packed for about 1 months worth of clothing the rest you would buy on the way there. After the awkward packing section with Erik. You offered him a back massage. He didn't answer you with a yes but you knew he wanted it. After pushing him on the bed and oiling up his back you started kneading him it with your scented vanilla and strawberry oils. “You tryna make me miss you more.“ You bite your lip trying to hold back a laugh. “No...I do this every week E. What makes this message any different ?“ “Now you leaving...You gonna leave me for some French Nigga? “ A wave of emotions came over you. You were angry and pissed. Why would he think that? “You really think I would do that to you?“ You didn't stop bring your pressed thumbs down his back. He didn't answer.

“I dont know the African soccer players there... They might steal your ass from me.“ “Erik! You really think I would throw away my kids and husband for a man I don’t even know??“ He jumped slightly shocked by your outburst. “Damn baby, Chill.“ “Don't tell me to chill when you laying here calling me a cheater.“ His eyebrows pulled together, confused and mostly worried. “It was a light-hearted joke (Y/N).“ “Don't joke about that.“ You uped and rolled off his back. Power walking to the bathroom your eyes started watering. The reality was starting to hit. you were going to be away from Erik and the kids for 4 months and a meaningless joke got you triggered like this. Seeing your young daughter’s eyes wall up broke your heart. You have no choice you already committed yourself. Erik later followed you into the bathroom leaning on the door frame. "It's going to be okay. I can't believe I'm saying this but.....Am proud of you.” “You know me so well you can tell am nervous.....“You gave him a nervous giggle trying to wipe the tears off your face. “Yeah come on lets sleep. The sooner you go the sooner you come back“ He slowly drifted of to bed and you tucked him in planted a kiss on his cheek. That's when you started sorting your papers and work files, pulling out your laptop checking emails with your partners who were across the country. Your flights and Hotel bookings had been sent to you. Your Rep in France had emailed you saying how the cases were proceeding and how many people would be involved. After sorting that out you went to bed and cuddled into Erik's arms. “Am going to miss you too..“ you said softly between his light snores.

The day arrived and you were over prepaid. Dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a black cut of top you stood in front of your family. Your luggage surrounding you at your feet you tried to make the mood less depressing as it was. “Don't worry too much okay. I will phone daddy every day and I can speak to yall like I do every day. We can facetime and skype.You can still tell me about school and soccer practice ...don't be shy and Nala please take care of daddy okay. And boys leave daddy's shoes alone. I mean it.” Your small daughter was in Eric's arms fighting back tears again but lucky the doorbell rang distracting you from the sad scene. “She’s here”You opened the door and let in the new housekeeper. She was dressed in Vans a dress and a light cardigan. Her curly hair was tied up and she looked pretty and youthful but mostly happy and excited. She was Cuban but her voice was very much New york.“Okay everyone this is Frida and she will be helping while I'm gone. Please respect her and listen to her..am talking to you two .“ You pointed to Aaden and Kwezi “Okay mommy,“ they say in unison. “Frida this is Aaden and Kwezi and this is Nala.” They waved but didn't smile “And this is my husband Erik.“ After everyone met everyone and you showed her the house and how all the appliances work .You also gave her the needed advice then your shuttle to the airport arrived. You kissed Erik goodbye as he helped you with your bags and that was it..you were on your way to Paris. It was tiring, gruelling and testing emotional time for. You had to stay up drinking unhealthy energy drinks just to keep your energy levels up to come up with new develops to your case. Knowing that people lives were at risking made you even more stressful but hearing Eriks voice would calm you down instantly. You missed your babies. Erik would let you speak to them and make sure they still fine. After seeing videos of women mistreated and being stripped of there children you become worrisome of your little ones but if motivated you and gave you the extra courage you needed.

“You look tired?”

“and you look beautiful.” You couldn't help but blush like a highschool girl at your husband. Facetiming with the different time zones was a bit funny but you managed.

“We saw you on the news today. The kids almost lost their minds, It was for a few seconds but they saw you looked so ...heroic....I couldn't believe that is my baby girl.” You face heated up again.

You knew some news outlets were covering the story but you didn't want to send out an open letter to the world to catch you on the 7pm news.

“I've got a huge team behind me am just the face of this whole thing.”

“Bullshit. dont play that with me am no.-” You heard his door open and a women speaking...It must have been Frida. You understood then waited then

“- Hey baby ...look I need to go call you tomorrow.”

By the time you try stop him the call was over. That was rude and uncalled for. Why did he end the call? did it have something to do with Freya?

You started noticing strange things happening as well.

Erik would miss your calls or if he didn't you only spoke to the kids. The -- Give daddy the phone line was met with a He says he's busy. The distances between You and Erik was growing and he seemed to be distracted.

2 months in you noticed Erik wearing new clothes and when you asked if he went shopping he said

‘‘‘Nah ...This Fri got it for me”

Fri who the fuck is fri last time you checked your house keepers name was Frida. What they got pet names now??

“You letting her buy you clothes??“ You sounded worried.

“Nah it's not like that. She just picked it up by the Mens when we went shopping.“

He saw your face scrunch up.

“Baby you stressed. Wake up and take a shower am going to sleep am tired. Bye“ He cancelled the call. You were starting to get used to him cutting you off like that. Yet you had no time to worry about his actions at the moment.

Days passed and The case was going very well. The enslaved women and their children were relocated in Canada but you and your team had to go back to the states to make things permanent for them and also to start up a self sustaining campaign that will help other women and children. You wanted to tell Erik you were heading to New York but a notification from Eriks friend on Instagram got your attention. It was a picture of Erik with the kids....Very family portrait type of Style pic. He had Nala on his lap and the boys in front of him. You smiled knowing that was the family you were going back to when this messy was over. But ever so slightly to the left of the shot...right on Erik shoulder was a pale arm that draped on him. Erik’s friend had tried to crop out someone but left the arm. After searching and searching and searching you found Freda’s page and there was the full picture. She was right there posing as if she was part of your family. Dressed in a summer dress her arm was around Erik. They looked like a family. They could definitely pass a a family.

This worried you. Had erik replaced you or something...that can't be right. Maybe they were going on a family trip. But why would Erik not tell you.

You were pacing around your hotel room now, phone on your ear waiting for Erik to pick up but he didnt?

You didn't know what to do so you tried your mom.

“Momma you up?“

“Girl do you see the time??“ You missed her voice

“Äm sorry mamma I just need to speak with Erik is he near you. Can you give him the Phone.“

“Near....What are you talking about doll I haven't been By the house since you left.“

“Mamma dont play me right now ..you know you always come to stay the weekends and watch the kids.“

“Well that fancy Freka Freya Frewa whatever the heck you call her said She dont need me and that I should here at the home.“

“WHAT?!?! You dont come cause we need you ..You come cause I want you there. You family The kids need to be near you. That's what I want....So you telling me the past 3 months the Kids haven't seen you.“

“That what i said doll“

“And what did Erik say.“

“Oh Chile“ You couldn't feel her roll her eyes

“That no backbone having ass negro has been a yes man to that women since you left.“

“So whos be taking you to the hospital for you check ups.“

“Nah i have the one Saint marys home have......“

“Mamma You know I hate the Cheak ups they provide..That's why I work so hard so I can take you to the private hospitals..where they treat you right....Am so angry Mamma. Am gonna kill them both.”

She just laughed but you knew that laugh it was the one filled with sorrow.

You were ready to give Erik a piece of your mind. How dare he neglect your mother. Let other women buy him clothes.

When you landed in NY. You tried to be calm and level and it worked. No one noticed the breakdown you were having inside. You wanted to go home and strangle your husband. Thoughts like those weren't really good for a person but one night holding your phone up in the air you waited for Erik to pick up. He didnt but you were greeted with Khwezi’s face. You couldn't help but melt

“Mama.Hello?“

“hey Kwezi how are you?“

“Am good. I scored twice today at soccer practice. You didn't hear this from me but am going to be a soccer legend.“ You giggled at you over dramatics son

“am very proud of you baby. Where’s Aaden?“

“Him and daddy are out For a bit. Freya wanted so Japanese or Vietnamese food so they getting it for her.“

The only place that served Japaneses food was the next town which wasn't that far but was still too far to just go for a housekeeper. What made it worse was how late it was.

“Okay how is Daddy been lately? Yall being good like I asked.“

“Mom, Dad has been amazing he let Aaden get earrings in his ears I was going to get them to but you know me and pain aren't really vibing right now.“

You stopped breathing. How could Erik make such a decision without your say. Give the boys freedom to do what they want on or to their bodys was supposed to be talked about not him letting them do anything. And his running fucken food uber for the housekeeper now.

“Sooo Hows FrIda?” Your voice changed and your smart son noticed that you were trying to dig.

“Why? What's in it for me?“ You rolled your eyes. This one's definitely Eriks son.

“i dont know maybe I might buy you the new PS4 accompanied with any 4 games of your choice“

His eyes blow up

“Okay. Let me go to a more suitable spot.“ After 5 minutes of him running he was back facetiming you. You notice the background to be his and his brother tree house.

“Okay mom, frida has taken over. I mean big time. She don't cook what you said she must and our school lunch is not what you said it should be either.....And Nala hates her.“ You took full offence. You sat up and he noticed.

“Wait before you say anything just listen. She asked dad to change around some furniture and she's stays with dads friends during poker and plays with them. And daddy took her out ...without us. Leaving us with his friend ”

Your little snitching may as well told you they were fucking... Your blood was running. It took you 1 years to get a conversation going with your crush Erik in Uni but this bitch has his attention within a month and his taking her on dates. Not that Erik is anti social it just that he doesn't fuck with a lot of people. That show he is. Or has he may be changed.

“Kwezi get out the cold. Go bath and tell daddy to call me when he gets home.”

“Okay I miss you. We all do.”

“I miss you to. Ill be back soon.“

He didn't call you back that night.

2 weeks left and you were free to go home and reclaim your household. That night before going to be interviewed about to success of your case. You face timed Erik. You didn't expect him to answer but you did. “Erik Baby am so mad at you right now?“ “....What happened? I heard you won the case.“ “yes but it's You. How are you gonna tell mamma to not come and be with the kids?“ “What ?? She said I said that. That's funny cause I remember her telling me You said she should stay away while you away... “ “Why the fuck would I say that E. I always what my mom to be with us on the weekends.“ “Well, I don't know Cause Frida told me you changed her mind and sent her a text.“ What... It made sense. That bitch was trying to get rid of you. Steal your man and take your kids. But You didn't have time for that. “Erik am coming back soon... Like in a weeks time. I heard you took her on a date as well you left my kids unsupervised.” He sighed “first Sean was with them and no it wasn't a date it was her Birthday I was taking her out for a stake.“ “I don't care if it is her anything you don't do that... when I come back And ama need her out when I come. “ “What's the hostility about.” “No hostility just me wanting my life back. I will also...Erik, what's that on your neck?“ The red blush marks on his neck were all of a sudden highlighted now that you noticed “Oh yeah.....this.... i...I hurt myself.“ “...Why are you nervous...“ he let out a sight “Why are you drilling like I did something.“

Why are you drilling like I did something.“

“Why do all our face times end with us fighting and you cutting me off.“ “I....I don't know “ Erik’s I don't know really meant I don't want to have this conversation anymore.

“See you when I get home then.“ For the first time, you hang up on him. You thought it would feel good but it didn't. You felt like shit and you were losing your husband.

You had taken a shower and wiped your fresh tears off your face when you started scrolling Instagram. You went on to Frida’s page and she had posted a semi-nude selfie of herself. The roundness of her breast just behind her arm. Her curves refected of the mirrors and shower glass. She pouted her lips and curled her hair her neck sprinkled with red heckey. But something was a bit off...the gold sequence in the background of the bathroom tiles seemed so familiar to you

The black tiles and with the golden finished that she had tried to blur up looked very much like your own bathroom. You didn't want to be rude but there was no way she could have a bathroom like that. Erik almost killed you when he found out how much you were willing to spend to decorate the house. most of it was in the Bathrooms and the kitchen. You spend most you time in the bathroom and kitchen why not make them look expensive. So there she was standing naked in your bathroom taking pictures. You felt so disrespected and humiliated.

“This can't be.....He got hickeys and she got hickeys and she's naked in my bathroom. Mama ain't around. She buying him clothes. She's in family pictures and hangs out with the Eriks friends....“

You didn't want to think about it but maybe Erik was being unfaithful. The rude way his been speaking to you and he's been so quick to defend FrIda too. No matter what happens moving forward your first priority was your children now.

What would you do?

Tags : If you didn't want to get tagged am sorry.

@thebeautysurrounds @hearteyes-for-killmonger @imaginewhoever @myboyfriendgiriboy @sweetsexysavagery @killmoncoochie @killmongersaidheyauntie

#killmonger #erik #erik x reader #black panther #Erik Stevens #Erik killmonger x Reader #tchala #mbaku #e

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writinginstardust · 6 years ago

Text

Pining For A Prince | Part 2

Pairing: Keith x Lance

Warnings: some swearing and mentions of drinking/sex

A/N: We must thank god for strangers who can’t keep their mouths shut for they may be the key to ending the pining of my two favourite idiots. Also I’ve not been to American Disney in forever so I’m working off very limited knowledge of how stuff works there but I’ve googled and like the tunnels and stuff under the parks are a real thing, they just might not be exactly as I’ve made them but like who cares? Let me know what you think!

Word Count: 2793

At the happiest place on Earth a new day brought with it a very tired and grumpy-looking group of 18-24 year-olds and one surprisingly chipper 20-year-old attempting to carry a frankly outrageous number of caffeinated drinks. That 20-year-old was of course Lance because apparently he was the only one who had anything close to a healthy sleep schedule.

“Morning everyone!” He greeted as he entered their favourite lounge area under the park.

“He brought coffee! Thank god, I think I might die without it!” Allura was the closest to being awake of them all and called out the second she saw him. Immediately he was charged by all his friends as they scrambled to get their caffeine fix.

“Alright guys, let me put these down and then you animals can kill each other for your coffee.” They backed off and gave him room to get to one of the tables but were back at it before he even had a chance to grab his own drink.

“Lance, sweetie, you are an angel. Thank you!” Allura pressed kiss to his cheek as she passed with Romelle who grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

“Thanks doofus!” that was Pidge who was clearly so tired she hadn't noticed her costume wasn't on right and the sight made him chuckle a bit before a warm hand clapping him on the shoulder drew his focus. He turned his head and was met with a sleepy smile from Keith. It was probably the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life and he felt his cheeks flush as it brought to mind a very vivid image of what it would be like to wake up to that every morning.

“Thanks man. And thanks for ordering it the way I like, Shiro always refuses to.” Another surprising thing Lance had learned about Keith was that instead of the expected bitter black coffee, he liked the most sickeningly sweet stuff Lance had ever tasted. It was honestly disgusting and he didn't understand how Keith could drink it like that but with his odd coffee taste, who was he to judge?

“No biggie, I know what you're all like without it.”

“I'd argue that we're a delight without the caffeine but I was about ready to kill someone just for a sip when you turned up.” The statement came from Nadia and knowing her as Lance did, he absolutely believed it.

“Looks like I got here just in time. You guys enjoy, I've gotta get changed.”

“Oh shit, me too!” Apparently Keith had only just realised he was still in his own sweatpants and t-shirt rather than his costume.

“You're hopeless in the morning. C'mon dude, let's go. You too Matt, you've forgotten your tights.” Lance grabbed their hands and tugged them into the changing rooms, not thinking about the fact that he was about to see Keith in a state of semi-undress that his body likely couldn't actually handle.

It took him longer it should have to get in costume, his eyes frequently being drawn to to Keith. It wasn't his fault. Keith was really, really hot. It's not like he hadn't known that before but suddenly being confronted with the reality of Keith's abs- Lance's brain short-circuited.

“Hey Matt, come help me with this would you? Shiro normally does it for me.”

“Sorry, I've got coffee to drink and a little sister to annoy.” Matt, who had until then been doing absolutely nothing, flashed them both a cheeky grin and grabbed his untouched coffee before rushing towards the door. “I'm sure Lance would be happy to help though!” And then he was gone. Bastard.

“You mind?” Keith seemed unconcerned with Matt's sudden, odd behaviour and oblivious to Lance's internal struggle between wanting to be close to him and wanting to run away at the thought.

“...Uh, yeah okay.” He shrugged in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner and made quick work of sorting out the last of Keith's costume. He might have lingered, hands smoothing down some of the fabric for longer than was necessary, but he would deny it happened if Keith decided to call him out on it.

“Thanks.” Keith’s voice was unexpectedly quiet and strained and Lance flicked his eyes up in surprise, not having noticed just quite how close their faces were, breath mingling in the small gap between their lips. Lance was too startled to move away or in fact do anything but stare. He’d never been quite this close to Keith before and was caught in the violet of his eyes, even more beautiful up close, he could get lost in those eyes for days.

After a few more moments had passed and Lance had still failed to move or react in any way but staring in awe, Keith’s cheeks developed an adorable blush that he knew was going to be stuck in his mind all day. Keith cleared his throat and that finally broke his trance. He stepped back quickly, feeling his own cheeks heating up and praying that the older boy wouldn’t notice.

“Uh, yeah...no problem dude.” He flashed him a quick smile before hurrying to finish dressing himself, needing to not be alone with Keith any longer. Footsteps passed close behind him as Keith made his way to the door and Lance tried not to look at him, still feeling awkward. He breathed a sigh of relief when the door finally shut and closed his eyes, leaning against the wall. Images of Keith’s soft smile, his cute blush, his beautiful eyes flashed before him and he groaned, scrubbing at his eyes to try and get rid of them. They wouldn’t go.

“Fuck,” he breathed out. It was going to be a tough day.

It only got worse a couple of hours later. A little after the park opened they were all still lingering near the castle meeting guests and taking photos. Normally by then many of them would have left, Lance and Allura off to New Orleans Square, Pidge to Pixie Hollow, the princesses to Fantasyland, Matt pretty much wherever he pleased, but they’d all got caught up by the sheer number of guests wanting to meet them today.

A cute little girl in a purple dress and mouse ears came up to him, eyes wide with the wonder he saw countless times a day.

“You’re prince Naveen.”

“I am little one, what can I do for you?”

“I wanted to tell you that you’re really pretty.”

“Why thank you, you’re very pretty too.” The little girl blushed and giggled at the compliment.

“But don’t you think Tiana is the most beautiful?” Her gaze strayed to where Allura was entertaining a family with 4 young children and Lance followed it. He knew what the girl meant, Allura was stunning. Movement behind her caught his eye as he watched and he flicked his focus to it, spotting Keith leading a girl of about 11 in a little dance, both of them smiling brightly. God it was adorable.

“You’re right, Tiana is very beautiful. You want to know a secret though?”

“Yes!” The girl’s smile widened further and she wiggled about in excitement.

“I think Prince Eric is really pretty too.” He whispered it to her and she giggled again before whispering back.

“Can I tell you a secret too?” He nodded. “I think he’s pretty too.” Lance grinned.

“I think you should tell him that. Just don’t tell him what I said. Pinky promise?” He held out his little finger and she wrapped her own around it.

“Pinky promise.”

“You know, I think Princess Tiana would like to meet you, we should go see her now, it looks like she’s free.” The little girl glanced over and sure enough the family previously occupying Allura were just getting ready to head off. Lance took her hand and walked the few feet between them and Allura.

“Princess, I’ve got someone for you to meet. She thinks you’re really pretty.” The little girl blushed but smiled anyway. They spent another minute or so talking with her and allowed her parents to take some photos before they each gave her a quick hug and she skipped away in the direction of Ezor and Keith. He looked over at said boy and felt his stomach flip. He really shouldn’t have mentioned thinking he was pretty but his mind had been occupied with him and it had slipped out. It was okay though, it’s not like Keith would find out.

“Stop staring, you’re being obvious.” Allura whispered, smirking when he turned back to her. The crowd had thinned significantly and they were finally able to head off to New Orleans Square, walking slowly arm in arm.

“Maybe I will, but only if you stop looking at Romelle every 30 seconds. You’re the one that’s being obvious.” He smirked right back. Two could play at this game.

“I really don’t like it when you’re right.” She let it drop after that and they continued walking, stopping every now and then to talk to a few park guests, neither noticing their crushes gazing after them.

A gentle tug on his costume brought Keith’s attention away from his conversation with Ezor and down to a giggling little girl with mischief in her eyes.

“Hey kiddo, you need something?”

“I need to tell you something but it’s a secret so you can’t tell anyone else.”

“I promise I won’t say a word.” He crouched down and allowed her to lean in and whisper in his ear.

“Prince Naveen thinks your pretty.” Well that wasn’t what he expected at all. He felt his cheeks heat up slightly and he leaned back to look at her questioningly.

“Did he tell you that?” She nodded vigorously.

“Yep, do you think he’s pretty too?” His eyes flicked involuntarily over to Lance who was walking away with Allura and he felt a dopey, in-love smile spread across his face.

“I think he’s very pretty. You can’t tell anyone though.”

“I promise.” He didn't believe that at all, assuming she'd probably made a similar promise to Lance, but seeing as she'd already talked to him he felt his secret was probably safe. She didn't say anything more and ran off back to her parents leaving a very mentally whiplashed Keith in her wake.

He spent most of the next hour completely unable to focus. Sure he managed do his job well, pretending was second nature by now, but his mind was racing a million miles an hour. What had Lance meant by calling him pretty? Was the child being totally honest? Did this mean Lance might like him as well? Or was he reading too much into the compliment? He didn't want to get his hopes up though and wasn't sure what he'd even do if Lance did like him back, there was no way he'd ever be able to actually ask him on a date himself, even being certain of his feelings.

He groaned as he entered his usual break lounge, why did having feelings have to be so difficult? James, looking very nice in his Flynn Rider get-up, Romelle, Nyma, and Adam all looked up as he entered, the four of them calling out half-hearted greetings from where they relaxed, recovering from the heat as best they could before having to brave it again.

“Hey guys.” He grabbed some water and flopped into a seat beside Adam, making no further attempt at conversation as he continued thinking about what Lance had apparently said.

“Something on your mind?” Adam was looking at him quizzically, he'd learned to read Keith pretty well over the years they'd known each other.

“Nothing to worry about,” he lied, faking a reassuring smile that he knew Adam would see right through anyway. Luckily for him, or unlucky as the case may be, a new voice interrupted.

“So, Romelle, tomorrow: Allura, me, Nadia, James, Hunk and Shay, beach barbecue and drinks? You in?” Of course it was Lance, the one person he couldn't be around right now. “Oh, hey Keith!”

“Hey Lance,” he said it so quietly he wasn't sure the other boy even heard and shrunk in on himself at Lance's gaze on him. Lance studied him for a moment longer confused by the awkward response but shrugged it off quickly. A knowing glance between the two boys and smirk from Adam made Keith want to curl up and die.

“Romelle?” Thankfully Lance turned his attention back to the girl.

“I'd love to come, I'll need a ride though and if you're all drinking…” she trailed off. Romelle lived too far from their favourite, virtually unknown, little beach to walk.

“You could stay with Allura for a couple of days, she said she doesn't mind.” Keith could hear the plotting tone in Lance's voice. At least someone was likely to get their happily ever after soon.

“Sounds great.” Romelle was definitely blushing and Keith was with everyone else in hoping this might finally get the two girls together. “Keith should come too though. You've got the day off right?” And now everyone was looking at him expectantly, Romelle with a wicked smile. Maybe Keith wasn't as invested in her happiness as he thought.

“Uh- is there any point if I can't drink with you guys?” Keith lived as far away as Romelle and he'd never been thankful for that until now. It may just be his ticket out of a day of Lance-induced torture.

“You could stay with me if you want?” Did Lance really have to be such a considerate friend all the time? Really? Keith couldn't deny that the chance to be alone with Lance, spend the night with him, would normally have been a gift but today it seemed more like a curse. Of course now he had no good reason not to go. It would be weird not to accept the offer.

“Alright then, you're sure you don't mind?”

“Yeah it's no problem dude, everyone's still on for dinner at Hunk's tonight yeah? V can catch a ride home with Axca, Shiro can take your car, and I’ll give you a ride if that's okay? Like no offense, but I do not trust your driving.” Keith contemplated arguing in defence of his driving but ultimately just nodded his agreement to the plan. Apparently one night at Lance's was becoming two and this was really not going to be good for his heart. “Awesome. I'll see you guys later then.” He waved and left the lounge allowing Keith to relax again at last. For about five seconds. Adam leaned over and whispered to him.

“I know I'm not technically the big brother but I'm doing this on Shiro's behalf.” Keith didn't like where this was going. Anything done on behalf of Shiro was not a good thing in his books. “Have fun on your date and remember to use protection. We don't want little Keith and Lance hybrids running around just yet.” Keith so nearly smacked him for that.

“How is it that you of all people have such a poor understanding of how biology and gay sex work?” He glared. “And it's not a date.” He added as an afterthought. He kind of wished it was though.

“Sure it's not.” He couldn't be bothered to argue anymore and instead opted for rolling his eyes and shoving Adam away, sinking further into his seat and spacing out again. Lance, once again was at the forefront of his mind and he spent a long time trying in vain to figure out what on earth he had meant when he'd said he was pretty. He continued drawing blanks and had only succeeded in giving himself a headache by the time Ezor shook him back to reality.

“Come on, break time is over, we've got kids to entertain.”

“Right,” he said, still a bit dazed, “coming.” He was about to say goodbye to the others when he realised they'd all already left. If he hadn't been so preoccupied with Lance thoughts he might have realised that obviously they wouldn't still be there, his break had started later after all. However, unfortunately Lance, whether present or not, had an uncanny ability to completely scramble his thoughts and throw out any sort of logic he might have.

Sighing, Keith scrubbed a hand over his face and went to a mirror to check his appearance, touching up his costume makeup a little and smoothing his hair back in place. He followed Ezor back through the tunnels and out into the park, desperately trying to push the last lingering wisp of Lance from his mind but it clung on stubbornly, not unlike Lance himself. It was going to be a long day.

#klance #keith x lance #keith #lance #keith kogane #lance mcclain #vld #voltron #klance fanfic #voltron fanfic #klance fanfiction #voltron fanfiction #vld fanfic #disneyland AU #klance fluff #Fic - Pining For A Prince

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enixamyram · 6 years ago

Text

Curious Archer Christmas Chapter 4

So I apologise. Saying I'd post one chapter a day was probably not the smartest thing I've said since I have to deal with work and my own Christmas preparations. In fact I almost separated this chapter into several to make up for it but I have all the other chapters all planned out already and don't want to give any of them up. So I'm just gonna post when I can - some might be posted a couple in one day and it'll definitely go over the 25th but hey, it just means I'm making Christmas last longer!

If things really get messed up, I will finish it over New Years but it will be in between my other stories which I will be started up again as promised. So Thanks to everyone for clinging on and I apologise for the false hope XD

“So what kind of presents do you normally get your parents?” Alice asked suddenly, scrunching her napkin into a ball and dropping it onto her plate.

The question seemed to have come out of nowhere and the pair sitting opposite her looked up. They were momentarily confused as to why she was asking them of all people before remembering that Alice hardly had the most normal of upbringings, nor that many people she was comfortable talking to with. And on top of that, she didn't exactly have a normal parent in all the realms either… But then, thinking about it, neither did any of them. Maybe that was why she was asking them the question.

“You don't mind me asking, do you?” Alice asked, very conscious of the hesitation.

“Of course not.” Ella said quickly. “I mean, I don't really know what I would have gotten my parents, but Lucy got me a few things over the years. Though I doubt that's what you're looking for.” She smiled knowingly. “Thinking of a gift for your father?”

“Yeah,” Alice admitted.

Ella glanced at Henry who frowned as he thought it over. “Well, it's Rogers so... Well, there's a whole load of stuff you could get him, to be honest.”

“Yeah but... Nothing I’ve seen seems right.” Alice mumbled, looking down at her plate. Robin and her mother had already listed an endless number of things she knew her papa would like well enough, but despite that, Alice still knew none of it was good enough. It was their first Christmas, ever! She wanted to make sure she did it right for both of them.

“Lucy once told me she always knew the perfect gift for everyone, but only when she saw it.” Ella offered. “So maybe you just haven't seen the right thing yet?”

“But what if I don't see it in time?” Alice asked.

“I'm sure you will.” Ella said softly.

Henry suddenly clicked his fingers, grinning at the two of them. “Here's an idea. Why don't you and the other girls have a big shopping day out of town together? You can all help each other with buying gifts and you might have better luck if you go somewhere outside your comfort zone.”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Ella gasped excitedly. “I don’t think many of us have had a chance to leave since the Realms were united. What do you say, Alice?”

“Yeah, that’d be good.” Alice nodded, feeling incredibly relieved to be offered any kind of help. She’d been thinking about presents for her papa and Robin ever since she Robin mentioned her aunt asking about what she wanted a couple days ago. While there were a number of things she would have loved to get them both, she was limited by both money and what was actually available to her. Storybrooke and the United Realms were all lovely, but even they were limited, especially as they didn’t have any proper shopping centers like Alice remembered from back in Hyperion Heights during the curse.

“It's settled! I'll call Tiana and Regina.” Ella said, already reaching into her purse for her phone.

“Hey, maybe Snow and Emma would like to join too?” Henry offered.

“Perfect! It'll be a full day with everyone together!”

C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S

“How... The hell… Did we lose... Everyone?!” Robin shouted, looking around the crowded mall where there were no familiar faces with her, apart from that of Alice standing by her side.

C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S

Earlier, With Lucy and Ella:

“It’s a shame Tiana couldn’t come.” Lucy noted sadly.

“Yeah, but being a Co-Queen of the realms as well as running a food truck can keep you pretty busy.” Ella nodded, only half joking.

The two of them were trailing behind the rest of the small group, with only a few small select bags between them. Unlike Emma and Hope, who were both weighed down with a ridiculous amount of shopping on either arm, neither Ella, nor Lucy were very big on spending money, even as gifts for their loved ones. Much like back in the Enchanted Forest, they had gotten one thing for each person they shopped for, and none of it was too expensive because there didn’t seem much point in throwing money away needlessly.

So far it had been a good day for everyone. They had all managed at least a bit of shopping done and in between that, they had spared time for a fast food meal with good laughs all around, even after Zelena nearly got into a fist brawl with a stubborn woman who had tried to take her chair while she was momentarily in the bathroom. Regina attempted to play peacemaker along with Emma to defuse the situation, but after the woman physically spat on Regina’s silk blouse, Emma surprised everyone by cutting things short with a fist to the woman’s face. It had been a good blow – Ella was particularly impressed by her mother in law – but good blow or not, it didn’t stop them from being asked to leave the restaurant.

“Still… I miss spending time with her.” Lucy said sadly, sighing and looking down at her feet. “We used to see so much of her back in the Enchanted Forest, and she was the only Queen back then. Now we’re lucky to catch up once every couple of weeks.”

“I know, sweetie,” Ella said, reaching around to rest an arm on her shoulders.

Lucy slouched slightly, leaning against her mother for support. She didn’t want to let anything ruin their good day, and tried to force a smile back on her face but it looked as fake as it felt and she knew her mother could see right through her. Lucy had long since accepted that changes were a part of life, but she still hated people drifting apart. Especially when they were her friends she was drifting apart from.

For her part, Ella knew what Lucy was feeling. She sometimes missed having Sabine as a roommate and she even more missed every day meet ups with the Queen, inviting her round to their home or spending a night or two at her castle for celebrations like Lucy’s birthday. But things had changed. Not only was she Queen of an unstable new Realm, but she was also struggling to keep The Rollin Bayou going as well – especially with places like Granny’s now her biggest competition. Sometimes Ella regretted leaving her work there, especially since she had been the co-founded it. But after reuniting with Henry and Lucy, Ella had decided it was time to follow her own dreams for a change and working in a food van just wasn’t one of them.

But more than her own sadness over losing the closeness she used to have with her old friend, Ella was worried about Lucy’s disappointment over it. Her poor baby no doubt missed her godmother greatly. And while Ella was already planning to invite Tiana round to their home for New Year’s, she knew that would do little to cheer Lucy up right now. And Ella didn’t want her daughter to spend the long ride home in misery.

They passed a nearby store and the sight of it gave Ella a sudden idea. It was probably dumb, but hey, being silly was always the best kind of fun and she was sure it would cheer Lucy up.

“Hey! Guys! We’ll be right back!” Ella called, not pausing to see if they heard her – which they did not – before grabbing Lucy’s arm and dragging her towards the same store.

“Where are we going?” Lucy blinked, letting herself be pulled along.

“In here.” Ella said, pulling Lucy through the entrance.

It turned out to be a shoe store. One that was practically deserted, except for a single young woman being assisted by one of two employees while the other stood by the counter, looking incredibly bored. The same employee seemed to grow bored of hanging around and moved to begin sorting through the men’s shelf just as they entered the store. When she caught sight of them from the corner of her eye, she quickly replaced her bored expression with a friendly smile instead, though it was one that still looked more sleepy than anything else. Ella gave an acknowledging half hearted wave before steering away from her and taking Lucy towards the women’s section in the far corner.

“Why here?” Lucy asked, following her mother to a stop, far away from the other people in the room.

“Because, we need to see if it fits!” Ella said dramatically, dropping her bags to the floor and picking up a white sandal with a short heel in Lucy’s size.

Lucy blinked before realizing where her mother was going with it. She burst out laughing at the sheer idea, drawing attention from the employee and customer across the room, but ignored them both as she quickly dropped onto a nearby stool. Kicking off her trainer, she let her mother dramatically try and squeeze the shoe on, purposely twisting it left and right so it appeared to be a struggle.

“Hmm,” Ella mused. “Guess this means you’re not Cinderella then.”

“Well what about you?” Lucy jumped forward, taking the shoe and swapping places so she was kneeling in front of her mother. Naturally the shoe was far too small for her mother’s feet, but Lucy made a big play of pretending to try and put it on, then stood back and sighed dramatically. “Guess that means you’re not Cinderella either. You must be a step sister.”

“I don’t think so!” Ella laughed. “You must have the wrong slipper.”

“How many glass slippers are lying around?” Lucy challenged, all thoughts of Tiana wiped from her mind as she and her mother tried on several different shoes, pretending each was the glass slipper and purposely making sure none of them would fit.

“Um…” Came a voice. “Can I help you ladies find a pair in your size?”

Ella and Lucy, who were laughing too hard to notice her approach, looked up to find an employee standing over them. She eyed the mess of shoes the two of them had made and there was a definite distain in the way she was glancing back at them.

“Uh…” Ella said, fighting her giggles. “Yeah, sorry. We’ve changed our minds.” Lucy quickly gathered the shoes, putting them back on the racks and shelves, albeit in a slight mess and out of order, some a few spaces apart from their pairs.

Once everything was at least off of the floor, they hurried from the store before they could be scolded any further, still giggling about it as they did. And with both their moods back up, they happily moved to rejoin their friends…

Only to find they were nowhere to be seen.

“Where’d they all go?” Lucy blinked, looking around. “I thought they were going to wait for us.”

“Oh great.” Ella mumbled.

“What happened?” Lucy asked, still looking at the crowds buzzing past.

“They must have wandered off without us. I thought they heard me…” Ella said, biting the inside corner of her mouth.

“So what do we do?” Lucy asked. “We can’t get home without them!”

Ella paused to think it over, glancing down towards her purse before shrugging. “Not much else to it about it. We’ll wander round and try and find them but if not then we’ll just call a taxi for a ride home. It can drop us off just a little away from the border and we can walk the rest of the way.”

“What if the driver asks why we want to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere?” Lucy asked.

Ella shrugged. “I’m sure we can act a convincing lie. So what do you think; camping close by or cabin home in the middle of nowhere?”

*C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S*

At The Same Time With Emma and Hope…

Leading the group across the crowded floor, Hope and Emma were showing just the slightest struggle at holding onto all the bags in their arms. They were both pressed down on with the multi coloured plastic bags that were beginning to leave red marks along their skin where the weight of it all was close to bruising. But despite the heaviness of it all and the weariness that kept trying to get to them, neither woman let that slow them down. The shops in Storybrooke only had so much for them, so when Henry had suggested they rent the mini bus and drive to the next town over to do their shopping in a proper full out centre, the two of them jumped at the chance.

“How much time do we have left?” Hope asked, while still craning her neck in order to look at the stores lining up along their sides, watching out for anything they may have missed during their original walk through.

“Well we should probably think about heading back soon, so think of any places you want to go and we’ll head there quick while we have the chance.” Emma explained, walking a little faster to keep up with Hope’s enthusiastic pace.

“Well, let’s go to the second floor then!” Hope said, breaking into a fast walk that was a small step away from being a light jog. “I think I remember a cute little beauty parlor we never went in close by.”

“A beauty parlor, huh?” Emma teased, still moving to keep up. “Since when have you been so conscious about that kind of stuff?”

Hope blushed slightly and shrugged, stepping onto the escalator before finally coming to a short pause. “I dunno. Just felt like a change.”

“Oh sure,” Emma grinned, standing a step behind her. “Nothing to do with a cute boy coming through town sometime this month?”

“Mum!” Hope complained, blushing even harder and hurrying off the escalator and onto the second floor.

Emma laughed as she followed her, knowing very well what boy Hope had in mind. She’d been crushing on him ever since they had met at the beginning of last year and while he didn’t officially live in the United Realms, he had family there which meant he visited often enough. Killian didn’t know about Hope’s crush yet, and neither were very eager to tell him. Emma was pretty sure he’d try a ‘papa bear’ act and had already planned out the ways she would shut him down before he got started.

Inside the store, Hope buzzed up and down the walls, glancing in at all the items on sale. She’d never been overly into these kinds of things, even while all her friends started to midway through school. Hope was much more interested in perfecting her swords skills. The closest she ever came to caring about her looks was her hair. Out of everything, Hope’s long dark blonde/light brown hair was her proudest feature and she took care of it better than anything else she knew. A couple kids had tried teasing her about it, but her short temper mixed with her swordsmanship abilities meant the teasing didn’t last for very long.

But as Emma had already guessed, that was something that had changed drastically after Hope met with a certain young man. She didn’t think she’d ever find someone she’d like after her nasty break up with Melody a while back, but that had most definitely changed. Now Hope wondered why she was ever even thinking of the possibility of never moving on… Not that she’d managed to have a proper conversation with him yet. Each time he visited, half the town surrounded him and Hope wasn’t about to make a fool of herself with an audience watching.

“Find anything you like?” Emma asked, tucking her phone back into her bag. She’d texted Killian to see how his ‘guys evening’ was going with Henry, Rogers and David and was amused to hear that Snow and Red had accidentally crashed the party.

“This!” Hope said excitedly, pointing towards a whole make up kit. It was a head sized box, black with purple lining, and the picture posted above showed it held everything one woman might need. And maybe a little extra… Or rather, a lot extra… And at a steep price too…

Emma pressed her lips together and watched Hope’s eager, wide eyed expression as she looked back at her. She was so excited, normally something she only got whenever she learned a new technique from one of her many teachers back in Storybrooke. And like all other times, Emma found it near impossible to actually say no to her. From the moment she had been born, everyone – including Emma herself – knew that she would always be wrapped around her baby girl’s little finger. Not that Killian was any better, at least.

“Sure. Go for it. Think of it as an early Christmas present!” Emma said, adding the last part to make herself feel better more than anything.

“Thanks, mum! You’re the best!” Hope beamed, rushing to grab a box from beside the display and taking it straight to the cashier.

The makeup box used the last of Emma’s money. She double checked but there was nothing but a couple pennies left. Guess that really was the sign that it was time to end the day then. At least they’d managed to get most of their present shopping done with, and the rest could easily be done back in Storybrooke.

“Okay, come on, time to call it a day.” Emma said, leading Hope back outside, their bags rustling and bouncing as they walked.

“Can we grab something to eat before we go?” Hope asked. “Like Chinese takeout or something?”

“We just had lunch.” Emma snorted, walking without pause or thought.

“But I’m still hungry.” Hope moaned, stomping her feet slightly in the start of a tantrum.

“Come on, Hope. I don’t have any money left for food.” Emma sighed. “What if I text your dad so he has something ready as soon as we walk through the door?”

“Yeah, I guess that’d be okay.” Hope sighed, the paused and glanced over her shoulder. “Uh… Mum… Where are the others?”

Emma looked around and froze. “Oh shiiii-uger.��

“Shit.” Hope said for her.

“Language.” Emma scolded, but didn’t sound angry as she pulled out her phone and tried calling Regina. She held the phone to her ear and waited only for the ringing to cut short. She must have her phone off… Emma tried calling Ella and Alice, but neither answered their phones either. She tried twice more when suddenly her phone began to flash red in the corner, warning her about the low battery. Emma bit back a curse. Maybe she shouldn’t have texted Killian so much throughout the day.

“Anything?” Hope pressed, putting her bags down at her feet when they grew too heavy to hold.

“No…” Emma mumbled, sighing and glancing around at the crowds. “My phones gonna die soon.”

“So what do we do? My feet hurt. I don’t want to have wander around anymore, mum.” Hope complained, wincing and rubbing at the aching along her arms.

Emma hummed before sending one last text to Regina, Ella and Alice. “I’ll tell the others we headed home ahead of them.” She stopped short of hitting send. “Oh… We can’t. We don’t have a ride. Robin’s got the keys to the mini bus.”

“Can’t you break into it?” Hope asked, thinking back to the stories she’d always been told of her mother’s life before Storybrooke.

“Well yeah but then everyone else would be stuck.” Emma groaned, putting her own bags down. They really were getting too heavy to hold.

And now Hope was getting too tired to keep standing around and began moaning loudly. “Then call a taxi.”

“Hope, we don’t have any money. And even if we did, we can’t get a normal taxi to drop us off all the way back home.” Emma groaned. “Maybe I can call- Shit!” She said, forgetting about her language rule and swearing aloud as her phone officially died. “And now we can’t even call your dad for a ride.”

“So what are we going to do?” Hope asked, feeling a rise of panic.

Emma breathed deeply and reached down, picking her bags back up. “Guess we walk it.”

“Walk?! The whole way?! It’ll take ages to get back home!” Hope shouted, drawing nearby attention.

A quick glare from Emma sent them back walking before she turned back to her daughter, trying to keep the frustration from her tone. “Hope. It won’t be that long. And we don’t have any other choice. We don’t have a phone or money, so unless you want to hang around here until closing or walk around in circles looking for the others, we’re just going to have to suck it up and head back on foot.”

Hope looked appalled at the idea, but when Emma started walking around her and down towards the closest lift, she had no choice but to gather her own bags and rush after her or otherwise be left behind. She was not looking forward to the long walk home, especially with so many bags weighing them down the whole time and while wearing a pair of shoes that looked lovely, but were new and therefore starting to pinch at her heels. But in the end it was as her mother said; they had little choice in the matter.

*C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S*

Meanwhile with Regina and Zelena…

What had started out as such a good day was quickly becoming a disaster.

After Ella and Lucy had disappeared on them, Emma and Hope had run off somewhere right after and hadn’t even bothered attempting to come back for whatever reason. When Regina checked her phone to see if either pair had called her, she found she had forgotten to switch it back on after switching it off to stop the constant buzz from Snow with pictures of the ‘boy’s day’ she had accidentally crashed.

And now Zelena had gone and disappeared on them as well!

What happened to simple communication?! A quick, ‘I’ll be right back,’ wouldn’t kill anyone!

Regina paused, trying to take a moment to spot where Zelena had gone off. She had only just disappeared so she had to be close by somewhere, right? Regina had just spoken to her a second ago and without magic she couldn’t get away that fast, right? Neither Robin, nor Alice seemed to have noticed and just as Regina was about to grab their attention to keep from losing the as well, she caught sight of a fluff of red hair off to the side.

“Zelena!” Regina called, rushing over and grabbing her arm before she could disappear again. “Where the hell did you go?!”

“I was trying to find Ella and Lucy,” Zelena said, shrugging her off. “But I swear, the place is even more crowded than when we arrived!”

“Well come on. We need to catch up with Robin and Alice before we lose-” She trailed off when she turned to find the younger girls had already vanished into the rest of the crowds. “-Them…” She finished weakly.

“Where’d they go?” Zelena asked.

“I don’t know!” Regina snapped. “I was too busy looking for you!”

“Hey, don’t blame me. I was trying to help find the others.” Zelena scowled.

“Well why couldn’t you have told us you were before running off like that?!” Regina demanded.

“Oh well I’m so sorry for trying!” Zelena snapped.

“Alright, enough!” Regina waved her hands between them, stopping the argument. “We don’t have time for this. We have to find everyone. Now come on.”

Letting her sister take the lead, Zelena followed Regina down back into the crowd and along the first floor of the shopping centre. They rushed as best as they could, nudging past the people who got in their way but making sure not to get separated from one another again. It wouldn’t do to find the others if they still lost one another in the process and had to start their searches all over again.

But despite their best efforts, the two of them were unable to find anyone else and after a couple hours of endless searching, they were finally running out of options and places to check. They tried finding someone to make an announcement over the loud speakers like they saw in movies, but the only woman who had the slightest bit of control of that sort of thing didn’t appear to want to be of any help, claiming that unless a child was involved then there was nothing to be done about it, otherwise everyone would use them as a phone service for lost friends. And she didn’t seem any more inclined to help then after Zelena began throwing insults at her – several involving a number of choice swear words – finally having to be dragged away by Regina, still kicking and screaming like a child.

“Okay, well now what do we do?!” Zelena snapped, sulking over the way Regina kept her from telling that ugly cow what she really thought of her stupid rules. She wished Emma was still around. She’d like to see another display of her earlier aggression back when they were having lunch. “We could wander around this place all day and not find them in this crowd! For all we know, they could have all gone home already and left us here.”

“Zelena, you are not helping!” Regina snapped back, stalking slightly ahead in her frustration.

“Well neither are you! You’re just running around like a headless chicken!”

Regina came to a sharp stop and started to retort, only to stop herself short, forcing herself to breathe deeply and calm herself down instead. Zelena was right about that much, as much as it pained Regina to admit. She couldn’t help anyone by running around in a huff, or getting more annoyed with the situation, especially as there really was nothing to do about it. They should have planned for this better, but since it was their first real time leaving the United Realms in such a big group for a day trip, none of them had even though twice about the possibilities of getting lost and separated.

When Regina continued to hover silently for a moment, Zelena stepped up beside her and shrugged. “So what do we do now? Keep looking for them or head home?”

“I don’t want to just leave them here.” Regina said instantly.

“Well we can’t help them by staying.” Zelena said. “If we go home, we can give them a call or use a spell to find out where they are.”

“True…” Regina mumbled, chewing her lip before sighing and nodding. “Okay. Let’s head home. We’ll have to call a ride since Robin has the keys. We can get them to drop off at the gas station closest to the town line then walk the rest of the way.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Zelena nodded, eagerly to be back in her comfort zone. The paused; “How are we going to call for a ride exactly?”

Regina rolled her eyes. “We have phones, don’t we?”

Zelena snorted. “I meant, who do we call? I don’t know any cab numbers off by heart and I’m pretty sure it’s been a while since you had to call for one either.”

“Well then we’ll ask someone.” Regina said, not in the mood for Zelena’s negativity. “I’m sure there will be something in a place like this.”

“Whatever. Let’s just find out whoever we need to call and head to the closest gas station. It’s the on down Bradfield, so it shouldn’t take too long to get to by car.” Zelena said, following Regina back towards the crowd, searching the people for a friendly face – and secretly hoping they’d accidentally discover the others at the same time.

“No,” Regina said suddenly. “We head towards Preston Way, down passed the crossroads and to that gas station.”

“Crossroad? We never passed any crossroad. We went over the bridge and-”

“What car did you ride in?! There were no bridges on the way here.”

The two had come to another stop and were glaring at each other. People passed by and shot them curious looks but no one paused to see what happened next and after a moment people stopped staring and began avoiding looking at them altogether, like they were afraid of being caught in the tension that was rapidly building between the two young women.

“This is going to be a long trip home.” Regina grumbled after a long silence.

“If we even get home.” Zelena retorted irritably.

*C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S*

Finally, Back With Alice and Robin…

Robin sighed, sitting back on the bench and glaring at her phone like it was the small silver devices fault that she couldn’t get through to everyone. Shortly after they had begun looking for the others, she had received a text from Ella, checking that she and Alice were okay and letting them know she and Lucy had made it home safe. Ella was trying to contact everyone else as well, but had so far only been able to get through to the two of them. She promised they would keep trying, but they had already sent Henry and Chad out to find Regina and Zelena, so hopefully they'd be able to track them two down before something happened to the now magic-less witches.

“You okay?” Alice asked, moving to sit beside her, placing their shopping bags at their feet.

“Yes,” Robin sighed, reaching up and rubbing her head. “Ella and Lucy are home safe, and I trust Emma can take care of herself and Hope just fine. But where the hell did mum and aunt Regina get to? They were right behind us when we were passing the sports shop and then just disappeared! You’d think they would have paid better attention to where they were going of all people.”

“Maybe they went to look for Emma and Ella? Or got pushed away by the crowds?” Alice suggested.

“There’s not that big a crowd,” Robin insisted bitterly. She knew the people from Storybrooke weren’t as used to the hustle and bustle that Margot had experienced in her travels, but come on! This was a light gathering at most, yet they all acted so stunned when they walked through the doors that morning. Sighing again, Robin rubbed the last of the headache from her temples and slouched down slightly. “So what do we do? Hang around waiting for them all day?” Robin groaned, finally pocketing her phone.

Alice glanced around at the crowd still fussing past them in a rush to finish off their own shopping. When they had first gotten here, Alice had been a little nervous at just how intense it was as much as everyone else, and had clung onto Robin’s hand for the first few stops. But gradually she began to relax, finding more courage and browsing the shops without hesitating until she felt just like everyone else. But sitting down, looking up at them all, knowing some of the friends were lost in amongst the crowd, it was suddenly intimidating all over again.

“Maybe we should head home.” Alice suggested finally.

“Now?” Robin blinked.

“Yeah,” Alice said. “I mean I know you’re worried, but we both know everyone can handle themselves and it’s getting late. Plus, we have a better chance figuring out what to do when we’re back home.” She glanced around helplessly. “I’m feeling pretty useless just sitting here waiting for them.”

Robin thought it over for a moment before nodding. She stood up and clapped her hands together. “Yeah. You’re right. I’m not sitting here all day when they’re all probably back home anyway.”

Alice smiled and stood, grabbing the bags she had dropped. “It was fun until everyone started disappearing.” She noted as they began walking for the car park.

“Yeah, did you get everything you wanted?” Robin asked.

“Pretty much,” Alice said, then cringed. “But I still don’t think the present for papa is right. What I got him is nice enough,” She said, referring to the wallet she had gotten with a pirate anchor on the front cover. “But it isn’t the perfect gift I was hoping for.”

“Well there’s still time to do some more shopping before Christmas day.” Robin noted.

“I guess…”

Robin could tell Alice wasn’t convinced. She was putting far too much pressure on herself to get the most perfect present for her dad. And if she kept it up, she was just going to end up so disappointed.

“Come on.” Robin said, nudging Alice gently, trying to cheer her up. “I’ll make up some hot chocolate when we get back.”

“Yeah, sure.” Alice said, forcing a smile and trying to appear like she was more cheerful than she really was.

It seemed there was nothing else Robin could do for her. At least not while they were out and about like this. Once they got back home, it would be easier to make her forget about her problems but until then, they still had to put up with a long drive, and it was hard enough getting here, what with Alice’s travel sickness.

They had discovered, while driving to Storybrooke back when they were looking or help against WishRumple, that Alice was very weak to motion sickness. She could last for short journeys, but the longer it took, the more uncomfortable and unhappy she became and if the trip was a really long one then she would be physically sick. And it was made even worse by the fact that Robin had been driving on the way to the centre and therefore unable to comfort her, instead having to leave that to Emma and Ella. And to make matters even worse, now they would be going home with just the two of them so there was no one else to comfort her at all.

As they approached the mini bus they had rented to get their group here – now no longer really needed since losing half said group – Robin glanced nervously back at Alice, seeing her face paling at just the sight of the vehicle. If nothing else, then at least they knew Robin could take all the back way roads in order to get home. It would take twice as long, but they would avoid all other traffic and they could make as many stops as needed this time round. And even just a brief five minute stop seemed to help Alice’s stomach settle somewhat.

“You ready?” Robin asked, climbing inside and dumping their bags on all the empty seats available to them.

“Yeah,” Alice nodded, slouching in her seat beside Robin. She really was ready to just be home.

“We’ll make it nice as easy as I can.” Robin promised, starting the vehicle and pulling out of the parking space.

*C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S*

“I’m really sorry.” Alice breathed, leaning heavily against Robin as they wandered through a wooded area into a small cottage like town; searching for a place they could get a drink of water.

“Stop apologizing.” Robin insisted, giving her a one arm hug. “It’s fine. I like it. We’re making a good day last longer!”

Alice smiled sadly at her and took a deep breath through her nose, already feeling a little more at ease. She suffered the sickness badly, but it didn’t take very long of being out on her own two feet for the feeling to start passing.

The town they had wandering into was on one of the most deserted roads home. It was something close to run down, like the kind of place that didn’t appear to get very many visitors passing through it. Robin could tell, not only because it had a lingering old feel to it – what with all the buildings faded colours of grey and brown and a series of crocked fences and overgrown weeded gardens, like they didn’t care to keep up appearances any more – but she and Alice couldn’t help but notice that almost everyone they passed glanced their way. When they all looked up at them, they watched the pair wander by for just enough time to almost be awkward. Only when they were all but on top of them did each person finally give them a slightly suspicious – yet still friendly – smile before turning back to their daily tasks and leaving the girls be.

It was not the brightest of places but Alice saw it as being very quaint and simple. She almost found the little houses and cobbled stone roads cute, and liked how everything matched so perfectly, even with the smoky smell drifting from the chimneys. The only problem was that everything was so neat and tidy and similar, that it took Alice and Robin a moment before they found somewhere to rest.

They nearly walked right past the only place in town before realizing that while it looked like someone’s home, it had actually been remodeled so that the first floor was a cozy little café. There was a tied off area to the stairs where the owners no doubt lived, but their living room and dining room had been combined into one with a series of tables chairs and even a sofa by the window, and a counter had been set up in front of the door that led into the kitchen. There were also a series of trinkets spread out across the side for sale, mostly things with the town’s name on and nothing of interest but Alice was oddly fascinated, wandering over and looking at everything while they waited to be served.

Just as Alice began to finger a square gold and silver keychain, the kitchen door swung open and an older woman appeared holding a bottle of polish in one hand and a yellow rag in the other. She jumped at the sight of them but quickly put on her best smile and rushed to the counter.

“Oh, hello, ladies!” The woman said immediately, standing straight and beaming at them as she dropped her cleaning rag onto the bench behind her. “What can I do for you?”

“Can we get some water?” Robin asked politely.

“Of course!” The woman turned and ducked under the counter, opening a mini fridge and pulling out a plastic bottle.

“Anything else?” The woman asked brightly.

Alice accepted the bottle while Robin debated whether or not she should pick up a coke for herself while they were here. But before Alice could take her first sip, she paused as something caught her eyes. It was sitting on a hanger in front of her on the edge of the counter top. She reached out and picked up the object, holding it carefully between her fingers. Most of the counter items were just a series of ugly looking pens, pads, key rings and an endless line of sweets and chocolates that Robin would have happily gorged on if not for the fact that she did a quick double take on the outrageous prices for them.

But in amongst the rest of the tacky items, there was something that stood out as actually quite nice and unique. It was that, that Alice picked up and she found herself staring down at it in awe.

“You like that?” Robin asked.

“It’s perfect.” Alice breathed, looking up at Robin. “This is it. Papa will love it!”

“That too, please.” Robin nodded.

“Of course!” The woman smiled, ringing it all up.

Alice pressed her lips together and looked at Robin, smiling softly. “You ever think some things happen for a reason?”

Robin was about to snort at the idea, rolling her eyes for emphasis but stopped herself short. She glanced from the item in her hand back up to Alice’s wide eyed expression. And she found herself thinking back to all the events that led to their first meeting, and then all the meetings they had after that – including the one they had when they were cursed.

Yeah. Maybe Robin did believe all things happened for a reason.

Later, she just wished she could figure out what the reason was for Zelena and Regina getting lost and drifting five hours further away from home than when they started.

Fun fact, this little "cottage run down town" and the cafe inside someone's home was inspired by somewhere I went on my last holiday. It was cute but it clearly didn't get many visitors and the stuff the cafe was selling was pretty naff but I like the idea of Alice finding her perfect gift there. The gift will be revealed later btw ;)

#Once Upon A Time #Curious Archer #Alice Jones #Robin Mills #Ella Mills #Lucy Mills #Emma Swan #Hope Swan Jones #Regina Mills #Zelena #Mad Archer #Curious Archer Christmas #OUAT Fanfiction

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descendantshh2 · 7 years ago

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Don’t Be Afraid - Harry Hook x Reader

Requested: I was wondering if I could request a Harry hook X reader imagine where the daughter is the of princess Tiana. Maybe something about the reader trying to help Harry get over his fear of alligators/crocodiles (they could be playing a game to try and guess each other's fears) since Captain Hook is obviously terrorfied of the creatures where as Tiana's and Naveen's best friend is literally a saxophone playing crocodile. I know it's very long and specific but I feel like it could be quite cute xxx

A/N I would like to thank @jugheadismyking for the request I had so much fun writing this and I hope you love it (:

You're parents met as frogs down in the Bayou where they soon married and became King and Queen of Maldonia . They moved to Aruadon once they found out they were having a daughter. You grew up both in the Bayou and Auradon which both were about 10 mins away from each other. You lived a happy life and you even made some amazing friends in Auradon one them being Harold Hook aka Harry. He was your best friend and you knew everything about him but for some odd reason he never wanted to come to the Bayou with you. "Harry lets go to the Bayou common it'll be a nice get away from 'Boredon'" you begged. Harry was a Villain if you are wondering why he's in Auradon is because King Ben arranged for all Villain kids to be welcomed. You and Harry both clicked when he first arrived and you guys have been inseparable since. "Y/N ya know I can't swim dear" Harry laughed. You knew this was a lie. He was a pirate for crying out loud and you even heard Jay tell you the story of how he drop Harry's hook in the water and how Harry quickly jumped in and swam for it. "Harry you're lying to me" you pouted "let's make a deal let's play a game of truth or dare and whoever loses gets to do what the winner says" you smirked. Now Harry's eyes shifted towards you beaming. He never turns down a challenge. "You're on" he smiles.

"Y/N we're gonna get in trouble" Harry laughed quietly as you were attempting to draw on King Adam while he napped in King Bens office. Harry dared you to draw on King Adam after you dared him to put tiny fish bait in Evie's hair brush and in Jay's shoes. Harry signaled you to keep quiet as you finished the mustache on the Kings face and bolted towards the door. You and Harry ran down the hall laughing till tears poured down your faces. "You truly are evil Y/N I'm impressed" Harry said and you giggle trying to catch your breathe. "Okay Hook you've had your fun now it's my turn" you smirked. Now before all this you have always had a tiny crush on Harry because of how incredibly close you two had became. Even though he's a Villain your parents loved him and accepted him for who he was.

You loved Harry but u could never tell him because you thought I would ruin your friendship and you didn't want that. "Common love I'm not getting an younger here" teased the pirate with extremely dreamy eyes. You had to stop yourself from getting lost in them. "Grab you swim suit Hook let's go down to the Bayou because I dare you to do a back flip from the tree my parents hid in when they were frogs." you smirked as Harry's eyes widen. "You mean the Bayou with crocodiles and alligators?!" Harry panicked but quickly changed his attitude to cool "I mean the Bayou where I can't swim?" He coughed. Strange right? "Yes Harry and if you don't do the dare then I win Hook"

Before you guys knew it you were in a light green two piece swim suit and Harry in his red swim trunks with the remainder of your guys clothes off to the side as well as towels. You slowly walked into the water and u reached till the water touched your waist. In this very Bayou is where your parents fell in love and married and you smiled looking at all the water Lily's around you.

Harry's POV

I started at Y/N as she walked around the water giggling trying to catch the water Lily's. Her body gracefully walking across the water. I was in love with her but I could never tell her. She was the only person who treated me like a regular human besides Bens family. Her father and mother took me in. And here I am falling in love with her as I watch her in the Bayou. She catches me staring and I blush but send a warm smile her way. "Common Harry the water is great." She giggled. Her laugh sends vibrations through my body. Gosh I think I'm in love. But there is no way I'm stepping foot in that water. My father has told me crazy story about alligators eating men whole. OH HELL NO.

Y/N POV

'Why was Harry so scared of the water. I mean he knows how to swim he told me.' you thought and frowned. "Common hook you do the dare or I win!" You shouted. You loved the Bayou but you never told Harry your uncle was an alligator and his name was Louise oh and he also plays the trumpet in a Jazz Band. You were scared that even your best friend would laugh when he found out. "Y/N you ready love!" Harry shouted. You didn't even notice he has already climbed the tree. You gave him a thumbs up and smile "let's see it hooky!" You laughed. Harry rolled his eyes and before you knew it he did a front flip into the water making the water around you splash. You laughed and cover your face to avoid the water getting in your eyes. When everything had calm down you looked around the Bayou for Harry but he didn't come up. "Harry!!" You yelled but nothing "Harold Hook!!" You called out louder. You began to panic as tears started to fall, your head was spinning at this point. Then you felt two strong arms around you. You screamed and struggled "Let go of me!!" "Lass calm down it's just me!!" Harry laughed but immediately stop when he saw your face. You punched his bare chest and cried "Don't do that Harry!! I thought I lost you!!" You wrapped your arms around him "I'm so sorry lass.." Harry hugged back wiping your tears "you will never lose me" You guys stared into each other's eyes leaning in slowly as you closed your eyes. Until suddenly Harry screamed bloody murder getting outta the Bayou and climbing on the highest branch of the tree. You huffed "Harry if u didn't wanna kiss me then you didn't have too!" You were mad at this point at how Harry reacted to both of you almost kissing. "A-a-a" Harry stuttered his face pale like if he's seen a ghost. "Spit it out Hook!!" "Alligator!!!" screamed Harry "Get outta the water now now now!!!" warned Harry. You looked up at him confused. Then you remembered you parents announced that your uncle Louis be the owner of the Bayou. Maybe he thought the alligator would hurt you but then again why did Harry react like such a girl? You turned around and saw your uncle Louis swim towards you as he stood on his two feet "Y/N its so rude of you not to introduce me to your boyfriend. You are my favorite niece after all" Louis huffed then smiled at you. "Niece? What?" ask Harry in confusion. Wow you had a lot of explaining to do.

After explaining to Harry that your parents met a few friendly creatures along their journey to becoming human Harry settled down a bit. "Harry he's friendly come down from the tree" you laughed slightly "I don't think your boyfriend likes me" frowned Louis "He's not my boyfriend Louis" you sigh and stared at Harry "Okay lass I'm coming down" harry took a deep breathe and slowly climbed down not taking his eyes off of Louis. Harry quickly darted and stood behind you. That's when it hit you. Harry Hook was afraid of alligators. "Harry are u afraid of alligators??" You giggled looking up at him "N-n-no" Harry lightly huffed "Louis growl" you smirked. Louis let out a big growl which caused Harry to yell like a girl. You and Louis laughed. "Okay Y/N the Jazz band is expecting me soon so I have to go. Take care little one and you too Harry." Louis smiled as he swam away.

"Y-y-your uncle is an a-a-alligator" he stuttered still in fear. You smiled and walked over to Harry. "Yes Harry and I never told anyone because I was scared of getting made fun of but clearly your terrified of him" you laughed. Harry gave you a straight face "very funny lass very funny" "You should've seen your face and your scream" you laughed harder teasing Harry. "Alright princess common" he rolled his eyes as he handed you a towel and dried himself off with one. "Harry did u want to kiss me back there in the Bayou" you shyly asked. Harry stared at you and took a deep breathe "Y/N you see wh-" you cut him off "Because if you weren't then that's totally fine Harry it's not like your my boyfriend or anything so that means I can't be mad at y-" but now you were cut off by Harry's lips crashing on yours. You were surprised for a moment but quickly kissed back. You guys kissed roughly and you tugged on his hair as he wrapped his arms around your waist. Both of you pulled away breathing heavily. You two smiled. "I love you" whispered Harry. This made you smile wider "I love you too hooky" you giggled as you two walked back to Auradon hand in hand.

"Just wait till I tell everyone about your girly scream" you teased and ran off laughing. "Don't you dare!" huffed Harry chasing after you.

A/N Really hope you like this imagine and if this is not what you wanted i am deeply sorry. But overall it was fun writing this and don’t forget to message me for a request. xxx

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can-youimagine · 7 years ago

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Princess (Rafael Casal x Reader)

Summary: Rafa. Disney. What more do you need?

TW: Mild swearing, mildly suggestive content

A/N: @megabooklover18 and @stardustandmoon have been a huge help in writing this (also they’re just incredible people)

Masterlist

“Tell me,” you beg.

“Nope. But if it makes you feel better, we're almost there,” Rafa responds.

For your five year anniversary, Rafa was taking you somewhere he knew you would love.

“Fine,” you grumble, leaning back with a sigh. You close your eyes as you relax into your seat. He somehow managed to keep the destination a secret from you, even on the flight. All you knew was that you were in Florida. You left incredibly early in the morning and were dying to know where he was taking you.

You must have dozed off in the car because you wake up to Rafa gently shaking your shoulder. “I would carry you in, but one, people would stare, and two, I think you’d want to see this.” He helps you out of the car and grabs your purse from your seat before setting it on top of the rest of the luggage. You gasp and cover your mouth in awe of the beautiful building in front of you. “Where the hell are we?”

He smiles and starts walking toward the building, bags in hand.“Why don’t you find out?”

You follow behind him and take in your surrounding. Everything about the place is incredibly beautiful; you wish you knew where you were. Suddenly, a kid wearing a pair of black mouse ears runs past you. You look up at him in awe. “Rafa? Did you…?”

The two of you approach the entrance, where a bellhop greets you. “Welcome to Disney World, princess,” Rafa says.

You jump up to hug him, wrapping your legs around his waist. “Oh my God! I love you! Thank you so so much!”

He chuckles and kisses you. “Let’s go check in.”

The receptionist smiles and watches you as you both approach the front desk. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen an adult as happy as you.”

You blush slightly. “I’ve always dreamed of coming here.”

She hands you the keys to your room and tells you how to get there. “Have a magical day! But not too magical. There are children next to you,” she added with a wink.

~~~

Your jaw drops as your boyfriend opens the door to your room. The room is so much more than you could have ever imagined. The golden walls provided contrast the deep blue floors. The headboards of the two queen beds have a beautiful painting of a river surrounded by trees. You walk past the bed to the pictures of princesses that are staged to look like they are visiting Tiana. Rafa watches you fondly as you walk into the bathroom and gasp at the faucets that are shaped like Genie's lamp from Aladdin. You turn around and hug Rafa. “Thank you! Thank you so so much!”

He kisses the top of your head. “I’m glad you like it, baby girl.” He lays back onto the bed, pulling you with him. You stay like that for a bit before you off of him and stand up excitedly, hyperactivity coursing through you.

"Rafa, what are we gonna do first?" You squeal like a small child on Christmas morning.

"Well, it's still pretty early. Wanna grab breakfast?"

You nod excitedly. “Let’s go!”

"Then please follow me, m'lady," Rafa says taking hold of your hand.

You smile and kiss his cheek. “Why thank you, kind sir.”

~~~

You walk into the dining area near the lobby and grab a Mickey-shaped waffle each before sitting by the window in front of a large water wheel.

“It has been so hard to keep this a secret for so long,” he says after taking a bite of his waffle.

“How long have you been planning this?”

“Almost a year,” he answers, causing you to gasp. “I wanted to make sure it will be perfect.”

You blush and bite your lip. “This is all too much, really.”

“Well, too bad. You’re just going to have to deal with me treating you like the princess you are for the next seven days.”

You laugh slightly, shaking your head. “You, Rafael Casal, are going to be the death of me.”

“Is that so? Well, the least I can do is make sure you die happy.”

You blush and change the subject. “What do you have planned for today?”

“Well, I figured since we are at the Most Magical Place on Earth, it only makes sense for us to go to Magic Kingdom first.”

Your smile widens, and you jump up from your seat. “Let’s go!”

He laughs and follows you out of the food court area to the bus stations. The two of you get on the bus with a young couple that has three small children, a group of college-aged students, a single mother with her son, and an elderly couple, who you sit across from.

The elderly woman leans across the aisle and gently taps your knee. “Is this your first trip?”

You nod excitedly. “Yes.”

“I remember when Earl took us here for our honeymoon. I was just as excited as you are. Is he-” she points to Rafa “-your husband?”

“No, we're just dating.”

She smiles. “He's a good guy.”

“What do you mean?”

She responds, “Very few men would take their girlfriends to a place like this.”

~~~

You’re overcome with joy when you step into the park. You grab Rafa’s hand and lead him to a hat cart just past the entrance, inside the park. You pick up a pair of Minnie Mouse ears for yourself and place a pair of the classic Mickey Mouse ears on him. He hands the man working there the money and walks through the park with you. “We have a FastPass for Splash Mountain in an hour. What do you want to do until then?”

“Jungle Cruise doesn’t seem to have a long wait if you want to do that.”

"Of course, whatever you want.This trip is for you." Rafa responds wrapping his arms around you.

~~~

Even as the two of you eat lunch in the West Wing, you can barely believe that all of this is real. Everything is just so magical. “Thank-” you start before Rafa cuts you off.

“You can stop thanking me for this. Just have a good time. I know you how stressful your job can be. You deserve this. Just take a week off. Enjoy yourself.”

"But, I don't deserve this,” you start, your voice slowly rising. “It doesn’t matter how stressed I am. You! You live this life of creating art and getting it done by a deadline, and yet, you added more stress to your life to make me happy. I have no clue why or how you did it, but you did, and I am incredibly grateful for that. For you" You look around and notice everyone is staring at you two. You look down at your hands, avoiding his gaze.

He smiles slightly and takes one of your hands in both of his. “(Y/N), you deserve all the stars in the sky and so much more. You make my life complete. I never worry about the music or the deadlines or anything else when I’m with you. Being with you is more than enough repayment. You don't need to feel constantly indebted to me."

You glance up at him. “I’m sor-”

“Nope, you’re not allowed to be sorry either.”

“Fine, but as soon as we get back home, I will be thanking you for everything,” you respond.

~~~

Rafa may have planned the trip for you, but as soon as the fireworks started, he was the one dragging you through the park to see them. Standing with him under the stars and fireworks makes you forget about the rest of the world. Parents take their children out of the park in a hurry once the fireworks end, but you and Rafa don’t move. He kisses the top of your head, while the families rush out of the park. “Ready to go, baby?”

“Not just yet,” you respond.

He hums in response and kisses the top of your head.

~~~

By the time you do manage to pull yourselves away from the park, the two of you are completely exhausted. As soon as you enter the room, you throw yourself onto the bed with the suitcases on it and take off your shoes. Rafa chuckles and makes it to the other bed before collapsing onto it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this tired,” he says.

You chuckle. “You obviously didn’t know me in college.”

Slowly, you get up and change into a t-shirt and pair of Nike shorts before curling up next to your boyfriend under the royal, white sheets.

“I love you,” he whispers into your hair, but you are already asleep.

~~~

The next five days are spent at the various parks and having the best time of your life. Sadly though, all good things have to come to an end.

You wake up early the morning of your last day there, go get breakfast (bringing some back for your boyfriend), and stand out on the balcony, overlooking the river. Since it is so early, there is no one out to bother you. You smile at the lizard that climbed up the railing.

Everything about the morning is so...peaceful, calm, serene, they don’t even begin to describe how you feel.

You squeal when you feel a pair of arms snake around your waist. “Rafa!”

He kisses your cheek. “Good morning. Thank you for breakfast.”

“So, what’s the plan for today?”

He turns you around to face him. “Magic Kingdom again. No real plan though.” He seems a bit distracted, but you decide not push it; he’s probably just tired. “Ready to go?”

Once you get to the park, Rafa leads you to Fantasyland, stopping at the castle walls. He mutters something about wanting to take a picture before quickly pulling out his phone and handing it to the closest cast member, whispering something to her before coming back over to you. Slightly confused, you stand next to him and wait for the cast member to take the picture. She gives him a thumbs up, causing him to turn to you.

“(Y/N), oh God, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do this. These past five years have been the most amazing years of my life. You’ve stayed with me through some of my worst moments. Every day I wake up with you in my arms, I get the same feeling I did when I first saw you. I know I’m supposed to be good with words, but you always take them away from me, which is why this is so hard. I love you, (Y/N), and I always will. I have never been the kind of guy to get married, but you changed that about me, and I am so glad you did,” he pauses, kneeling in front of you and pulling a ring out of his pocket. “Will you marry me?”

You cover your mouth, unable to speak, but the smile that has overtaken your face answers for you.

He jumps up and engulfs you in a hug before sliding the ring onto your finger.

~~~

The smile still hasn’t left either of your faces by the time you make it back to the room. You giggle and wrap your arms around his neck as soon as he shuts the door. “I love you.”

He bends down to kiss you. “I love you, too.” He kisses you again but you pull away. “There are children next door.”

He shakes his head. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

#rafael casal x reader #imagine #hamilton #? maybe #i have no clue how to tag things #rafael casal

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j-philly-b · 7 years ago

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OUaT 7x02 – Thoughts & Observations

“I’ll send an SOS to the world; I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle.”

- The Police, Message in a Bottle

Ugh, seriously? We’re back to this bullshit? I thought we were done with the realm that shall not be named. But no, instead we’re going to be reminded of it on a weekly basis. Or at least I will be, because my anger over that entire plotline is unflagging.

But I am talented in unhealthy avoidance techniques, and will likely continue on because (1) I am a glutton for punishment, (e) Colin O’Donoghue’s face, and (!) I can’t stop myself from trying to puzzle this show out. Hi, my name is Joanne and I can’t get OUaT.

Random Thoughts:

I was not prepared to say goodbye to Killian Jones, he of the multiple redemption and hero arcs. It was that and the high expectations I had for a story written by Jane and Jerome that left me in a pit of despair after the episode was over. I’ve gone through my stages of grief, I am almost at acceptance, almost.

I am relieved that CS have their happy ending/beginning together in SB. While I’m in the they don’t need a baby to be happy camp, it’s a fine development and everyone’s fic with a CS kid post-S6 is perfectly valid and canon compliant. So there’s that!

I know that many viewers, including myself, took Emma and Killian’s concern as an implication that they had a difficult time conceiving, maybe even suffering a miscarriage at some point. I’m going to go the lighter route and assume that Killian’s penchant for leather pants and skinny jeans slowed down the baby making process, which is why we saw him show up in the alt!EF in regular blue jeans.

I loved how Killian jumped into action and was instantly stabby as soon as he and Regina showed up in response to Henry’s call. Struck me as a very strong parental instinct to go on the offensive like that when you get a distress call from your kid.

Emma tells Henry that she has to give Henry what he gave her – family, and she starts by giving him Hook 2. Then Henry keeps Regina – and no one in SB is complaining because obviously Regina has absolutely nothing in SB and can walk away on a whim, what else do you do with a middle-aged woman with no spouse or child to look after?

I’m bitter because I can’t believe A&E or J&J put me in a position to feel defensive over Regina.

Interesting that being in the alt!EF meant that Regina and Emma’s magic wouldn’t work. But here’s the thing, Regina’s use of magic in the beginning showed us two things – her magic worked when she was protecting her TL, but didn’t work when she was to cast a locator spell. Subtle foreshadowing of what was to come later with Emma and Hook 2.

Hook 2 using Killian’s blood to become him may have created a deeper connection than simply surface appearance. So not only was Emma able to connect to him by recognizing the man he could be, used to be, but maybe whatever it is that makes TL a physical manifestation was also able to recognize something in Hook 2 because of that blood connection? I’m not being clear, but I think this blood connection and TL is going to come up again for Hook 2 and his daughter. I am really leaning toward the daughter being created using some form of blood magic.

So Hook 2 has a daughter and now we’re going to be following his story. In a way, it makes sense, it allows CS peace and to continue living their happily ever after without unnecessary angst and separation. I just don’t know if I feel as invested in Hook 2 as I was in Killian Jones.

I had work it out in my head when Hook 2’s path diverged from Killian. I’m going with the wish realm diverging at the point of the flashbacks in the Cricket Game – in the wish realm Snow’s attempt to banish Regina worked, and she was no longer a threat to them from that point on. Therefore, Hook 2 never sang with Snowing and did not kill his father to leave Liam 2.0 an orphan out for revenge.

“I’ve always tried to do good.” Where did that come from with Hook 2? Did he turn around when his daughter was born? Was that his “you can be a part of something” moment?

I’m assuming his fall back into darkness was when his heart was poisoned/cursed and he was stopped from seeing his daughter. I’m just… ARGH!!! Another Hook redemption arc? Yeah, I’m still not quite over it yet.

Hook 2 roaming the realms looking for TL to cure his poisoned/cursed heart and then trying to use Killian’s connection with Emma for that purpose tells us what? That Hook 2 thought himself incapable of TL, and maybe now feels guilty that he didn’t try hard enough or believe in himself enough to save his daughter? That now that he has his second chance he will fulfill his role as his daughter’s white knight?

I like the carry through to HH and seeing that Rogers does not like hearing Henry’s daughter referred to as a vulnerability.

Roger’s curse memories of Emma are not too far afield from the truth. Their cursed personalities aren’t too far off from their true-selves either. Very unlike Regina’s curse when she tried to suppress people’s true selves. We’ve seen how Jacinda isn’t afraid to push back against Victoria, how Rogers, Regina, and Henry were able to come together easily, and how Rumple is on the periphery of that as well. So was the curse cast for evil intent or not?

Ok, so I think I called it last week with Weaver being the one to get Rogers promoted and reassigned to him. I’m sticking with my theory that Rumple knows what is going on and is more involved in the curse than we think at this point. It was more heavy-handed in this episode, mainly because there was more Weaver in this episode, but I’m fine with a Rumple that plays on both sides of the fence. I’m wondering if Weaver’s relationship with Victoria is a case of keeping your enemies close?

Interesting that Weaver was not included in the final scene with Roni, Rogers, and Henry.

Also interesting that Weaver doesn’t push Roni when she says no, not the tactic we’ve been lead to believe he usually follows.

The shot of Weaver and Rogers from behind the bookcase in Henry’s apartment was great. The view of them was slightly obscured, Rogers is in the light, Weaver is in the dark. I like how it framed their characters at that point in time.

The matching denim jackets of Rogers and Weaver, was there a Starsky & Hutch in the alt!EF?

So Weaver was testing Rogers’ moral core, why?

Hook 2 is very good at strategizing, probably all the chess, but Rogers was way ahead of Weaver when he thought to grab Henry’s keys before they left the apartment. Not a surprise that Rogers has a healthy distrust of Weaver and can look out for himself.

Random Observations:

Why are there no evil Kermit memes with Hook 2 in the hood confronting Killian?

Captain Youthful!

I also liked Killian referring to Hook 2 and his existence in the realm to be ignored as a bad dream, not real, a cracked mirror, and a twisted version of the truth.

Why do LT and Tiana jump to Henry being in love with Cinderella/Jacinda? They’ve known each other a total of ten minutes.

THE HAND!!!

Henry is a total hipster.

“I gotta hop.” “You must have a fairy godmother somewhere.” Tiana gets all the good lines.

Lady Tremaine uses that wand a helluva a lot for someone who doesn’t rely on magic.

Ok, but what did Gabrielle’s teenage daughter think about her mother getting all up in Colin’s face like that?

Tune in next week when Weave tests out his Welsh accent!

The Nancy Drews! Even before Weaver pulled the book off the shelf, I knew what they were by the yellow binding. My dad bought me one a week for a little over a year when I was kid. I’m getting teary just thinking about it…

Henry looking for buried family and “keeps hitting dead ends”? Yeesh

Ivy wearing a green shirt with fleur de lis in her first scene with Jacinda – green for a reason?

Jacinda can save herself. We get it, we’ve also heard it before.

How exactly did Hook 2 wind up stabbed?

Emma does have a little bit of a bump when they’re sitting on that log.

Why is Killian so angry when he throws that bean? Does he know Emma has terrible aim when it comes to portals and he’s worried she might run on the wrong side of it?

Henry creeping on Cinderella’s bedroom.

Of course Killian has another magical method of communication. Shellphones, messages in a bottle, does he keep a coop for talking seagulls on the Jolly Roger as well, enchanted semaphore flags?

Ok, Killian and Regina discussing Emma was about 10x more overdramatic than it needed to be.

Emma is “the mother [Henry] wanted, a hero.” That’s gotta be a kick in the gut to Regina.

God damnit Henry, operation glass slipper is still going on and now you’re staring operation next chapter? Get your shit together kid.

Colin wetn super-irish at the end when Rogers was telling his story to Henry, yes?

Were the hair extensions for Emma totally unnecessary? Or are saviors like Samson and lose their power if they get a haircut? Wait, is that why Rumple got a haircut at the beginning of s6? It was a hint that he was a powerless savior?! AHA! I’ve cracked the code!! Sorry, there are certain storylines I will never not be bitter about

Why is Tilda Swinton doing adverts for Lyft? Someone write an androgynous preternatural character for that woman stat! Speaking of, I need to rewatch Orlando, it’s been way too long…

#ouat 7x02 #ouat speculation #ouat s7 spec #thinking it ouat #random thoughts & obs

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