#i got out before the EVEN BIGGER SNOW arrived

[foxsoulcourt]

If you're going on a solo adventure during a record (!) snowfall, it ReaLLy helps to be friends with a kind, helpful Q-kind of person

Dear @ato-the-bean, tHaNk YoU for your recommendations (beforehand), considerable mentoring (in the park) + downright hand holding through my non-MI6 issued phone (during the drive out). Without your extraordinarily calm Q-level-assistance I shudder thinking how the Yosemite leg of this adventure would have unfolded, especially the leaving part. Thx to your top notch research skills, I got out of the park before it closed for days to sleep soundly (!) in a beautiful room (!) with a belly full of delicious food + wine. A week later, my family + I are still singing your praises(!). 💜

[letsbangts]

baby, please come home || jjk

⤷ summary: when he's the only thing you want for Christmas

⟶ pairing: jungkook x reader

⟶ word count: 1.2k+

⟶ genre: fluff, angst (just a sprinkle), married couple au, established relationship au, christmas themed

⟶ content: husband!jk, dad!jk, pregnant!oc, oc is a slightly emotional expecting mother (eight months along), and koo being a deticated expecting father

⟶ warnings: none just some fluff with a dash of angst to make it sentimental because it's the holidays

↬ a/n: this isn't what I thought I would write for this request and I wasn't going to do it so soon but I got inspired & I thought it would make cute drabble so to everyone who reads hope you enjoy and let me know what you think! :) angel xoxo

˖⁺. ༶ NOW PLAYING ༶ .⁺˖ christmas (baby please come home) mariah carey 01:43 ─✮───── 03:07 ⇆ ⊲ II ⊳ ↺ ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ : ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

masterlist ˚.⋆˚.⋆˚.⋆ join my taglist

The snow is coming down all around you as if encased in a snow globe. You watch it fall around you as it makes its way to add to the thick layer already accumulated on the ground beneath your feet. You walk through the Christmas market, looking at the stalls and decorations. Your eyes glance at the bodies around you: families, friends, lovers — surrounded by many people, except for the one you want beside you the most.

The church bells ring, blending with the happy sounds of the town's excitement buzzing in your ears. You finally make your way to the heart of the town square; the carolers begin singing "Deck The Halls" just as you arrive. The usual holiday cheer you would feel is absent, along with the person who brings that joy.

Your mind takes you back to this day last year and all the fun it held, all the memories made together. Sipping hot chocolate with his arm wrapped around you, the hand-holding with both your hands stuffed in his coat pocket, and your cold lips pressed against each other to warm them with sweet kisses.

As you gaze up at the enormous Christmas tree adorned with pretty lights like those shining all around the town, the loss of the new memories you should be making together this year creates a lump in your throat. He should be here with you, with both of you.

You pull out your phone and tap his contact; the phone rings for a few seconds before Jungkook's face appears on the screen. A bright smile on his face that rivals all the lights around you. His face is so close to the camera that you can't see anything behind him, but the snowflakes in his hair, paired with his red cheeks and nose from the cold— just like yours—show that he is also outside.

You can't help but smile back at him, although it doesn't quite reach your eyes. As much as seeing him brings you happiness, you can't help but feel a touch of melancholy that his presence can only be through the phone.

"Hey, sweetheart."

"Hey, baby. I wanted to show you the tree this year; it keeps getting bigger, I swear."  

You hold the phone out and lower it, trying to fit the whole tree behind you in the screen.

"Whoa, that thing is massive! I'd hate to be the person who had to wrap the lights on it; there must be at least ten thousand on it."

You giggle at Jungkook's remark as you raise the phone to speak to him.

"It's so pretty here, Kook. I wish you could see it in person," you say with a sad smile.

"I doubt it's anywhere near as pretty as you, but I wish I were there too, darling. I tried everything I could to find a flight back in time, but as you can imagine, I wasn't the only one trying to make it back home for the holidays."

"I know, but it's unfair for them to send you away for work so close to Christmas. Then, to extend it even more, it's as if they were plotting to keep you away," you pout.

"It is unfair, and trust me, I pleaded my case to the airline agents to please let me get home to my adorable pregnant wife for Christmas, but it didn't seem to work on them. They're all Grinches, I swear," he tries to lighten the mood and continues, "Speaking of which, how are my two favourite girls doing? Let me see!"

You hold the phone out again to angle the camera to show your eight-month-pregnant belly. You sigh as you rub a hand over it.

"We're good, just missing you. She hasn't been kicking as much; I swear she knows that Daddy isn't here."

"I miss you both too, but I'll be back before you know it, and we can celebrate then."

"But it's Christmas Day; I need you here. It is our first one as a family, and we're not whole without you. I wish there were a way for you to come home, baby," your voice cracks as you look away from the screen, trying to hold back tears.

Jungkook catches a glimpse of your tear-filled eyes gleaming under the lights and sighs. The cold weather allows you to see his breath as it floats in the air.

"Hey, you know I would do anything to be there with both of you."

You catch him glancing up over his phone before he continues.

"Now, don't cry. You look too beautiful standing by the tree, surrounded by all the decorations like a Christmas angel, to feel sad. The old man selling cookies will be offended; he'll think you don't like their smell if he sees you," he smiles to cheer you up.

You wipe your tears and sniffle as you softly laugh. You look around, trying to find said man, until you eventually spot his stall emitting the delicious aroma, selling gingerbread and sugar cookies.

You furrow your brows once everything processes in your head. You look back at Jungkook on the screen.

"Wait, h-how did you know that?"

"I'm quite aware of how beautiful my wife is," he chuckles.

"No, I mean, how did you know there is a cookie stall in front of me, and an old man is running it? You can't even see it. Did the camera flip, and I didn't notice?"

A hand taps your shoulder, and you jolt at the sudden touch before turning around. Your eyes widen, and a gasp escapes your mouth as you come face to face with Jungkook. Your husband's smiling face is no longer on the screen but right before you, and your hand holding the phone falls to your side. He opens his arms wide for a hug as you stare at him like a deer caught in headlights.

"But you just—when—how did you get here?" you stutter in shock.

Jungkook laughs, and when he sees you make no move to come into his embrace, he steps forward and pulls you into his arms. You snap out of your daze and immediately wrap your arms around him.

He kisses your forehead. "I told you I would do anything to be here with both of you," he whispers in your hair.

"But there were no flights," you mumble into his chest.

"Yeah, but there were still some bus tickets available. It might have been a much longer journey, but I had to be sure I was here." He pulls back and holds your stomach with both hands as he leans down and kisses it before looking up at you. "There was no way I would miss spending Christmas with my family."

He returns to a stand, and you run your fingers through his hair before your hands settle at the nape of his neck. You gaze into each other's eyes and lean in for a long-awaited kiss.

You break apart just enough to whisper over his lips, "I love you so much. Merry Christmas, Kook."

"I love you too. Merry Christmas, Y/N," he whispers back, lips brushing over yours.

You lean back in for a passionate kiss but are interrupted by a kick to your belly. You both break apart with a gasp.

"Did she just?" Jungkook asks with a smile.

"It seems we're both happy that you came home," you laugh.

Jungkook joins your laughter as he takes your stomach back into his grasp and leans back down, giving it another peck before he whispers, "And I love you, too. Merry Christmas, my little angel." 

↬ a/n: there you go just a little drabble for you all to snack on before mutt pt2 ;)

[hyunjinsjeans]

He knows (Lee Know ver.)

Chan ver. | Changbin ver. | Hyunjin ver.

MASTERLIST

Synopsis: You married your best friend. You knew each other like the back of your hands. Lately, he has noticed you're holding back on him, why is that? He couldn’t know! You haven't told him, have you?

Type: Fluff 🧸, suggestive themes (sexually explicit) 🙈, female reader 💃

Warnings: sexually explicit themes, mentions of pregnancy

Word count: 2347

AN: Listen...I- had to do this. I had to do this and it had to be somewhat smutty because it's Lee Menace-to-society Know. I hope you like it because I plan to do a version for each member. I'm not sure what came over me, but I'm having a lot of fun writing these so I might as well share.

Minho was mean sometimes. He could be cold if he wanted to, but he usually saved that for whenever he was annoyed or you pushed his buttons too freely. Even as he showed you that side of himself there was always more reservation with it when it came to you. It was something the boys noticed early on in your relationship, when you had joined Hyunjin in making fun of a little sound your then-boyfriend let out at the first sip of his morning coffee. While you got a dirty look and had his nose pretty much pressed against yours as he threatened to help you quiet down, Hyunjin received a firm shoulder grab and got a handful of tissues shoved into his mouth.

This is why you felt so bewildered at his actions when you arrived at the camping site and he was extra nice.

While he usually let you do things on your own, trusting you were a fully functional individual... he did not even try to take the lead and ask you to start unloading the car. Instead, he grabbed the things from the trunk and began setting everything down near the spot you had chosen for the tent.

You pulled the zipper of your jacket up on your chin and waited for at least one simple call for help from your husband. When you realized he would not attempt to hand you any of the bags you went to the pile of stuff to start setting up the tent.

You had wondered the night before if maybe it was not the best time of the year to come out here and have a weekend away from the city, seeing as snow began painting the streets white, but you two loved camping and the serenity that being in the woods brought to you. With jobs of your own it was difficult to find the time to pack up and leave for even a day. The truth was you two didn't have much time to dedicate to your favorite hobby. Once you started setting up, you were careful not to slip on the snow around you. Minho hurried to your side once the car was unloaded, smiling at each other you handed him some of the bigger pieces of metal that formed the large frame and working together the tent was up in no time.

"Hmm, it's going to be quiet out here tonight," you told him once you started gathering the things to set up the portable stove.

Minho nodded, reaching out to hold you and stop you from moving a finger. Your husband wrapped his arms around your waist and stood behind you, his eyes closed and he sighed in relief.

He could smell the subtle coconut scent from your shampoo on your hair when he placed his chin on your shoulder. A fresh scent reminiscent of flowers emanating from your neck from your favorite perfume. The combination smelled like home to your husband.

He loved to have you all to himself, even if it was only when work allowed it. You had your own job and he tried not to stand on your way and be supportive the way you were supportive of him. As soon as he knew he would have some free time he would let you know so you two could coordinate and stay home together. Minho had felt the weight be lifted off his shoulders the first time you tagged along to an event. That was when the penny dropped for him, he was most relaxed when you were there with him. The kids told him too once they returned from the trip and it became clear you were a fundamental part of his life. There was no going back.

He wouldn’t say it out loud, but he loved to monopolize your time. As much as you would give him space to do his job and talk to his fans through lives and events, he always came home to sit next to you and put his head in your lap while the cats cuddled around the two. He liked cooking for you at night whenever he was home first, and if you made dinner it was a done deal that he would do the dishes while you helped him dry them and put them away while telling him all the latest office gossip. To Lee Know you were home.

So yes, he was guilty of being selfish when it came to sharing you, he knew that. He was the jealous type, the only forgiveness he had was for his members and your families.

He was aware he would have to share you someday, he let his nose rub against your neck as he thought about it.

"I'm not so sure about that..." he snuck his hands to your sides and as his chin rested on your shoulder he tickled you.

Your laughter filled the air in a moment and you struggled to regain composure in his grasp while all he did was smirk against your skin.

"Minho! Please!" You reached for his hands and grabbed them, his relenting movements allowing it.

If he had to share you with anyone, who better than your own children?

"Oh, you love it…" He watched how you intertwined your hands with his, making him hold you again, and now you pressed your back to his chest. "comfortable?"

You nodded with a childish hint of joy in your eyes.

"It's been so long since we came out here," you pointed out. "when was the last time we went camping?"

Minho put his chin on top of your head, "before the wedding."

You hummed.

It had been more than a year then, you sighed and pulled away to go find the bags with the things to make dinner. Minho all but ran to get the heavier things out of your hands, mumbling an "I got it" before he started setting up. You helped him with as much patience as you could gather, then once the two of you began prepping the ingredients for a quick ramyon you laughed talking to each other about the going on's at work.

He liked to hear everything from you, you could recite a weather report and he would be mesmerized. And you loved to hear him too, always waiting for him to be ready to speak, he was eloquent in great part because he was honest, although sometimes he could sound mean if he spoke too quickly.

Either of you was the kind to beat around the bushes, which is why he had been so curious the last couple of days.

As the group finished preparing for their upcoming comeback, Lee Know realized you were acting weird... He saw the little envelope on the coffee table just a few days ago. It was some test you had done at the doctor's office, and he did not mean to snoop. It was lying there, in plain sight, and he did not think much of it as he pulled the papers out and read through them. At first, he thought he was not able to understand its contents, then he saw the doctor's handwriting and the quite specific instructions at the bottom of the last page.

Why didn't he ask? It had something to do with the way you hid the envelope as soon as you had a chance. And the fact that you never mentioned your visit to the doctor, or that you had blood drawn. Your husband wasn't happy you were hiding things from him, but he respected your privacy. So he told himself he would give you time to bring it up on your own.

By the time you were done eating dinner, he considered enough time had passed and you had said nothing.

You cleaned up while singing a silly version of one of your favorite songs. Lee Know kept his voice down to enjoy your playful and chaotic performance, it brought a big smile to his face watching you dance around the small camp.

The two of you decided to call it a night and get into your warm tent. Your husband let you get under the covers first and then crawled beside you, pulling you against his side. You made sure the fluffy blanket covered him well while you put your head on his shoulder, your left leg perched over his waist.

“Y/N?” He whispered.

He did not want to sound harsh, on the contrary; he wanted to be smooth as he eased into the topic.

You brought your left hand over his stomach. "Hm?"

Minho was staring at you with a side smirk on his face, one that made it seem like he knew something you did not. And he kind of did this time.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" He squeezed your thigh and you nodded in response, swallowing.

"You can tell me anything too," you reassured him.

Cute, he thought. It wasn't him who had something to say.

He brought his hand to your face, cupping your cheek while his thumb caressed your skin.

"I missed this," he said.

You pushed yourself a little to the side and let your lips touch his in a short chaste kiss. With your eyes closed you kissed his plush lips a second time, this time his hand fell down to your jaw and neck, pulling you down against his hungrier kiss.

Your heartbeat quickened as you reciprocated. Your hands and knees found the plush covers and you held yourself above him, letting his tongue past your lips as he deepened the kiss. His hands found the hem of your shirt and hid underneath it, fingers squeezing your hips. You shifted your weight onto one of your hands and pulled away briefly to grab your hair and push it onto your left shoulder. Lee Know’s lips followed your own and he was propped up on one of his elbows soon enough, lips against yours.

You went to put a hand on his chest, to push him onto his back again, but he grabbed your leg and in a swift motion he had you flipped onto your back, his body now slotted between your legs as he laid kisses down your neck, finding the sensitive spot near your right ear. He gave a light nibble and heard you gasp. Your body reacted too, hips rolling against his in search of some friction.

Your husband gave in to his less noble needs and rolled his hips against you as well, this time you let out a moan at the sensation. Your hands finding his back and pulling him closer to you.

“What do you want?” He whispered in your ear. “Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you.”

You put your hand on the back of his neck as he continued to kiss and suck on your neck.

“You,” it came out as a shaky breath, but Lee know was being generous and he let it go.

“Me?” He smiled against your skin, feeling the way you pushed your body against his. “Hmmm, do you think we can do that?”

He rolled his hips against yours, his obvious boner pressed against your clothed core. Another moan left your lips and you went to cup his cheek and kiss his lips again. Lee know kissed you back, something in him found you endearing at that moment. You were clinging to him, he was sure he could make you beg but he didn’t want to. Not tonight at least. He had different plans.

“We can,” you assured him, eyes finding his brown ones above you.

He smiled at your blown out pupils, lust evident in them.

“Well, what did the doctor say about that?” He brushed his nose against your nose in what was a rare moment of tenderness from your usually quite rough husband. “I wouldn’t want to hurt my wife,” he gave your lips a gentle peck. “Or my baby…”

Your eyes widened and a pink blush washed over your cheeks.

“How do you know?!” You put a hand on his chest to push him back a little.

You stared at each other and Lee Know let out a light giggle.

“Take a guess, Jagi”

You blinked, "you found my results?"

Minho shrugged, "they were on the coffee table."

The two of you stared at each other in silence for a good five seconds.

"A-are you mad?" You asked, lowering your voice to an almost inaudible whisper.

Minho lowered his voice and shook his head.

"Not at all, why would I be?" he kissed your nose.

In fact he was a little proud of himself, proud of you. Deep inside he was excited about the prospect of showing off your round belly and have everyone know you were having his baby.

"…because we didn't plan it," you admitted.

He understood then that the reason why you had kept it secret was in part fear of how he would take it. Oh, if only you knew…

“Babe, I don’t care.” He said simply, “it’s here, it’s happening. We’re doing this.”

“I’m sorry, I forgot to take my pill a few times while we were in New York an-“ you began explaining.

“Shhh,” he rolled his eyes, a smirk on his face, “it’s okay, you don’t have to explain. I know, I was there and I didn’t bring a condom so it’s not like we can blame each other. It’s fine. I saw the papers. All I’m worried about is that you are okay.”

“I am okay,” you gave him a small smile, pushing his hair out of his eyes as he sighed. “The doctor said the baby is fine too.”

“Hmm,” he nodded in content, leaning down to brush his lips against yours slowly.

You breathed in his scent, strong like pinewood and citrusy. Your lips followed his and you let his tongue enter your mouth, savoring each other in the silence of a quiet night away from the busy city.

————

Likes, Reblogs and Comments are welcome! Thank you for reading!

[lvis44]

Cabin Fever - Pt. 1 // LH44

Lewis Hamilton x Y/N

Warnings: Swearing, Alcohol Consumption, Angst, Lewis being an ass, allusions to mental health struggles, 18+ MINORS DNI, not edited

Word Count: 5.6k+

Summary: He's your Sister in Laws best friend, you shouldn't even have to deal with him. Always seeming like a cocky arrogant prick, and now here he is crashing your family Christmas. Can you handle a full week of Lewis Hamilton? Or might he not actually be as bad as he seems?

Notes: Here is the beginning of my mini holiday series. A little bit of cheesy hallmark style enemies to lovers for your winter season! It will pickup quickly and I don't expect it to be too long but I'm excited to write some over dramatic cheesy angsty fluffiness! Best believe we will have it all lol

As always, I am not a professional writer and all of this is a work of fiction and is strictly for fun. Enjoy!

“Hey Y/N, everything is all set for when you land tomorrow! Dylan got you a rental car so you can go out whenever you want, it’s a bit of a drive from the airport but it’ll be so cozy once you get here! Oh my god I can’t wait, this whole thing is a dream come true.” Vanessa's voice cut through your voicemail loudspeaker as you applied your makeup. You were getting ready for a night out with your friends when you saw your sister in law's voicemail, you knew you couldn't ignore it, you knew she was in the middle of planning the family Christmas vacation, the one you were immensely dreading.  You decided on sending her a voice note back, not wanting to deal with the full three hour phone call that would ensue, making you late to your friends party.

“Hey V, thank you so much, and tell Dyl thank you too, I appreciate you guys figuring out the flights, let me know what I owe you guys later, I can’t wait to see you guys.” You say into your phone with forced enthusiasm, not wanting to go to the gathering in the first place. 

You grew up in New England, the winter season always took a toll on you. You didn’t like to ski or snowboard so once you were no longer a small child, the only thing that winter brought was shoveling and grey skies, both of which you hated. Once you were old enough and had enough money, you decided to move to the golden state, LA specifically, somewhere you would never see snow in your driveway again. Unfortunately your brother had remained glued to the winter life, settling down in snowy Colorado where he decided that his first family home needed to be celebrated by all. You couldn’t blame him really, it was bigger and nicer than anywhere you had ever lived. He and Vanessa were desperate for their first guests, eager to show off their beautiful new house and host both of your families at once. It seemed like a brag for Vanessa while your brother seemed to be in awe by the size of house they had moved into.

When you arrived at the club your friends were already deep, a few drinks ahead of you and in a much more playful mood than you were feeling. You were doing your best to let loose and have a good time but the nagging knowledge of your flight the next day was sitting heavy in the back of your brain. You were only half listening to one of your friends gush about some attractive man she was eyeing when you felt your phone buzz, a text from your brother Dylan to remind you of your flight as if it wasn’t the only thing you were thinking about already. You excused yourself as you headed to the bar in search of a new drink. While you were waiting a man appeared beside you, closer than you would have liked. You could smell the liquor on his breath before he even started speaking to you.

“Pretty girl having to buy her own drinks? Now this is just ridiculous.” He tried to flirt with you, his words slurring as they came out.

You forced out a polite laugh, before turning back to the bar, hoping the bartender would come soon.

“Oooh I see, she’s playing hard to get.” He said as if to someone else before he leaned closer to you. “C���mon lemme buy you a drink.”

“Doesn’t need you to, she’s got me, fuck off dude.” The voice came from behind you, immediately recognizable, Lewis. You wanted to roll your eyes, not particularly wanting to deal with him tonight but deciding he was better than the man that was currently ogling you.

“Shit, fine alright man, my bad.” The drunk man fumbled his words, seeming slightly startled and rather intimidated by Lewis. He started to stumble away, impressing you by how quickly he gave up but you couldn’t really blame him, Lewis had a certain aura about him that really told you not to mess with him.

As the drunk man left you felt Lewis take his spot next to you at the bar, not bothering to look at him, not really wanting to interact with him at all. You only knew Lewis through your sister in law Vanessa, they were family friends so he was around for important moments, holidays, birthdays, weddings etc. Those were the only times you ever interacted with him and every time you had left with a bad taste in your mouth. He seemed aloof, cocky, like he thought he was too good for the rest of humanity. He was annoyingly attractive and he knew it, you’d overheard him spitting game at more than a few women at your brother's wedding, and almost every single one of the women was falling for it. He had a way of carrying himself that just oozed arrogance, like everything about him was a level above everything and everyone else. You also had a certain distaste for the fact that every time you spoke to him he seemed to find a way to belittle you, talk down to you in a way that made you feel like a child despite being a fully grown woman. You had figured that you would be seeing him at some point this upcoming week, knowing Vanessa would have invited him for some part, but you didn’t think it would be at home in a club in LA that you first bumped into each other, never having done so before.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in Colorado?” He asks, his voice already holding that familiar layer of judgement that you’ve grown to despise.

“Flights tomorrow morning.” You tell him, keeping it short, hoping the conversation doesn’t need to be much longer than necessary.

“Flight in the morning and you’re out at a club?” He quizzes you and you can hear in his voice that he’s getting ready to offer you advice you really don’t want or need.

“Just wanted to blow off a little steam before a week in paradise.” You huff, waving to the bar tender yet again, not meaning to let the last part slip so sarcastically.

“You act like we’re locking you in a dungeon and throwing away the key.” He almost chuckles before downing the rest of whatever had been in his cup.

“We?” You ask abruptly, finally turning to look at him. You had been anticipating seeing him but the way he said that made it sound like he was going to be around quite a bit more than expected. It truly pissed you off that the second you finally faced him, you were checking him out, such a pretty face with such an annoying attitude.

“I’ll be in Colorado for the week.” He said plainly with a shrug.

“At Dylan and Vanessas?” You asked in an almost panicked tone that he immediately noticed.

“Jeez, chill out, I’ve got my own place out there. Little miss perfect won’t have to worry about mean ol’ Lewis all week, I’ll just be around here and there.” His tone was teasing as he said it, making you roll your eyes, unsure of how else to respond. Before you could think of anything to say the bartender finally arrived in front of you, Lewis was ordering something before elbowing you, prompting you to tell the man what you wanted.

“You’re welcome by the way.” Lewis said, his voice smug as the bartender walked away.

Once again you found yourself rolling your eyes before forcing yourself to thank him for the drink, “Thank you, but you didn’t actually have to buy me a drink.”

“Your eyes are gonna get stuck like that if you keep rolling them that hard.” He told you, an unamused look on his face.

“You sound like my father.” You grumbled.

“Well maybe he has a point,” He shrugged, “but I wasn’t talking about the drink, was talking about your stupid drunk man. Gotta find better company.”

“I didn’t exactly invite him over here, Lewis. And I didn’t ask for you to come rescue me.” You snapped.

“Well you're V’s sister in law now and she's my little sis so I kinda had to.” He stated plainly as the bartender finally returned.

You watched as Lewis turned on his charm for the man, thanking him and giving him a generous tip, showing the side of the man that everyone else seemed to see all the time, one that he never reserved for you.

“Enjoy your drink and then go home, don’t miss your flight because you were out partying or show up hungover. Just get yourself there in one piece, that’s literally all they ask of you.” His words are directed at you again, coming out with an assumed authority that baffles you.

“I’m a grown woman Lewis, I’ll be just fine.” You bite at him, annoyed that he thinks he has the right to tell you what to do.

“I know Y/N, I know.” He says with a sigh as he grabs his drink. You watch as he steps around you, leaving back into the crowd without even a proper parting word. It once again causes you to roll your eyes before making your way back to your own friends.

“Okay, hot man at the bar, do you know him?” Your friend Lillian was leaning on you almost immediately, digging for info on Lewis that second you were within earshot.

“Uh, kinda, not really, he’s kind of an ass.” You tell her, hoping to dissuade her.

“Well with a face like that he can be an ass to me anytime he wants.” She says enthusiastically.

You just humm in response, returning your attention to your drink, not really wanting to further discuss Lewis and his annoying ways or aggravating beauty. His words about not missing your flight bounce around in the back of your head, of course you had already been aware of not being late but now it was all that was on your mind. Between his words and Dylans reminder you suddenly felt as if everyone was expecting you to flake, not actually convinced you were going to show up at all. Before you could even finish your drink you were deciding to leave, truly not in the party mood any longer. As you made your way to the door you just knew he was watching you, you could feel it and you hated that he was getting the confidence of seeing you do exactly what he told you to.

. . . 

Your morning had been hell, your flight having been delayed three times due to incoming weather. When you finally landed in Colorado you were well and truly in a cranky mood, one that only turned even further sour when the woman at the rental agency got snappy with you for being late for your pickup. You had tried to explain to her that your brother had made the reservation and that your flight was delayed but her attitude did not budge. She remained snippy with you as she grumbled about ‘finding you something to take��� before handing you the keys to a tiny sedan. When you approached it in the lot you were at your wits end, it's not that you needed something fancy or luxurious, it was the fact that the car you were looking at seemed as light as could be and evidently still had summer tires on it. There was a big winter storm brewing and you knew you still had at least a 45 minute drive to your brother's house, one that you hadn’t been looking forward to anyway. The snow was already coming down as you sat in the parking lot waiting for the car to warm up at least enough to defrost the windshield, you listened to the man on the radio talk about the incoming storm, saying it was set to be the biggest snowfall the area had seen in years and it was going to come down quick. You couldn’t help but grumble to yourself about your displeasure for the snow  as you texted your brother to let him know that you were getting on the road.

The storm thankfully decided to be merciful, only really beginning to pick up in the very last stretch of your journey, barely even causing any delay for you. When you got to your brother's house you could feel yourself letting out a sigh of relief, knowing that soon enough you would be inside a warm and cozy house with the people that you love, hopefully eating good food and having a cocktail. The moment your brother opened the front door you were met with the smell of a fireplace and something cooking for dinner, your tension slipping away just a bit more.

“Y/N! Thank god, I was getting worried when I saw the snow picking up.” Dylan said cheerfully, pulling you into the house to give you a tight hug.

“Hi Dyl, it’s definitely getting heavy out there but I think I missed the worst of it.” You can’t help but laugh slightly at how tightly your brother has embraced you.

“Come in, V’s got dinner going, Dad was just getting ready to make a round of drinks.” He rambles to you as he pulls you further in the house, reaching around to grab your suitcase off the porch.

“The Holidays can now begin, my other baby has arrived!”  Your moms voice carries loudly from the kitchen before you see her almost jogging in your direction, her arms wide ready for an embrace.

“Mom,” you laugh as she squeezes you even tighter than Dylan had, “you knew I was coming. Sorry I’m late guys, the airport was insane.”

“Sounds like you could use a drink Kiddo.” Your dad is next to pull you into a hug, not even having made it out of the foyer yet.

“I will take you up on that, I also need to change into something a little warmer, I dressed for cold LA not Colorado.” You admit as he presses a kiss to the top of your head, making you feel like a child.

“Yeah for sure, let me show you your room and then you can come say hello to everyone in the kitchen once you've changed.” Dylan says, grabbing your bag and already making his way up the stairs.

“This place is beautiful, Dylan.” You tell him earnestly as you follow him down the long hallway. It’s everything that you would imagine if someone told you they had purchased a Chateau in Colorado, deep exposed wood, high ceilings, massive windows. You were excited to see the rest of it, knowing Vanessa would be adamant about giving you a full tour. It was much too big for what they needed but you figured that didn’t matter as long as they were happy.

“Thank you, it’s really a dream come true. Never thought I would live in a place like this, much less own it.” He confesses as he swings open the door to a room at the end of the hall.

You offer your brother a warm smile before you turn to take in the room, suddenly stunned when you see the size and luxury of it. The room is expansive, massive windows on two walls and what appears to be a large balcony off the back. There is a sitting area in front of a fireplace and what appears to be a king size bed in the middle of the room. You can see another door off to the side and you can only assume it is a private bathroom.

“Dylan what the fuck? Why does it look like the master suite?” You ask him, overwhelmed, not having expected anything so grand.

He just shrugs with a smile as he steps further into the room, placing your luggage down next to the bed. “We just wanted you to be comfortable, we know this year has been hard for you and winter isn’t something you get along with, we’re just grateful you decided to come.”

“Dylan, I am not kicking you guys out of your room, oh my god.” You start to panic, immediately feeling guilty.

“No, you’re not,” He laughs at you, placing a hand on your shoulder, “this is a guest suite, it's just the nicest of them.”

You let out a breath before feeling guilty again, “No what about mom and dad, or Beatrice and Tom, they should be in here, I just need a bedroom, this is too much.”

“Stop, everyones already settled, and we all agreed that you should have your own space, away from the rest of us. It only seemed fair.” His voice is sincere, not giving you any time to rebuttal before he is leaving the room and telling you to get changed.

By the time you make your way back downstairs everyone has settled in the den with drinks in their hand. You had to wander a bit at first, following the sounds of voices and laughter. The room was cozy, still sprawling but the lights were dim and the furniture was plush. You could hear the storm truly picking up outside, the trees snapping back and forth in the wind outside the window making you grateful for the fire crackling in the corner.

“Perfect, Y/N, I have a drink ready for you right here!” Vanessa called to you as you walked into the room.

“Thank you so much, this place is beautiful.” You tell her as you settle into the seat beside her, taking the drink and giving her a small hug.

“Ugh, thank you, this place is just such a dream come true, straight out of a fantasy.” She gushes immediately, promising to give you a tour once you've had some time to relax.

“Y/N, good to see you, feels like it's been a while.” Tom, Vanessa’s father, speaks up from across the room, raising his glass of whiskey in your direction. You offer him a smile, feeling a moment of guilt wash over you, knowing you had been invited to a few celebrations where your paths would have crossed but had decided against attending.

“She’s a busy woman, always nice to have her around when we get the chance.” Dylan pipes up, offering you a subtle save, knowing you probably don’t want to get too much into your personal life at the moment.

The conversation thankfully moves on, Tom choosing to change direction and grill Dylan on everything that is going on for him with his company, ever protective of Vanessa even now that they're married and in this beautiful home. Your mother on the other hand chooses to come sit next to you and Vanessa, Beatrice following her shortly thereafter. They do ask about your life in LA but Vanessa's mother is more interested in hearing if you’ve had any celebrity sightings than she is about your woes in life. Your mother wants to show off photos of art projects she’s been doing to keep herself busy. You can’t help but laugh at the two older women as you settle into the evening, nursing your drink as you share amused glances with Vanessa every once in a while. Every so often you hear the wind outside pick up, the storm casting a white haze over the large window at the end of the room. When you hear the doorbell you glance around the room, unsure of who would still be yet to arrive, especially so late and in the storm. Vanessa looks confused as well, Dylan getting up to go check the door.

“Hey man, didn’t expect to see you for another day or two.” You hear Dylan greet someone enthusiastically.

“Yeah, I caught an earlier flight out trying to avoid the storm and ended up landing smack in the middle of it. Wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make it back this way in the next few days so I figured I’d stop on my way out to my house.” The familiar British accent carries through the house, Vanessa's face lighting up as she darts up from her seat, ready to go greet her friend.

You feel yourself deflate slightly, having been enjoying the casual and kind air of the evening, knowing his presence would definitely cause a difference. You hear their voices approach from down the hall, Tom and Beatrice standing up, excited to see the man they have long adopted as a son. You always wondered if part of Tom was disappointed that Lewis and Vanessa hadn't ended up together, merely from the way that Tom's attention would end up solely on Lewis when he was around, almost entirely ignoring your brother. 

“Son, always a pleasure. How was your flight?” Tom asks the moment Lewis appears in the room, pulling him into a fatherly hug.

“Good to see you, sorry to pop in unannounced.” Lewis starts politely, turning on the charm toward Beatrice.

“Never worry, you’re always welcome.” She gushes, so happy to see him. It does make you laugh to yourself, it’s not her house to extend the invitation to but you’re not surprised.

He gives her a warm smile before continuing, “Yeah, flight was alright, a little choppy but nothing too bad. The airport here was a disaster though, glad I’d left my car there, the rental lot was picked through and cabs aren’t taking anyone past town.”

“Yeah, Y/N was saying the airport was crazy, I think she got the last rental car on the lot.” Dylan says, suddenly making Lewis aware of your presence, his eyes snapping to you.

“You remember Dylan's little sister,” Beatrice begins before Lewis is politely cutting her off.

“Y/N, of course,” He nods at you in what seems a kind way before the jab lands, “good job making it here.”

To everyone else it sounds like a comment about the storm but you know, you can see in his eye that he's referencing your conversation the prior night. His comment about everyone wanting you to just show up, it makes you think about Tom's comment when you first sat down, everyone knows you are the weak link. Before you can even respond, Vanessa is ushering him further into the room, annoyingly placing him where she had been sitting, directly next to you. She wanders away, headed to make Lewis a drink, completely unaware of the tension she sat next to you.

“You just get here?” Lewis asks, surprising you that he’s bothering with conversation at all.

“Few hours ago.” You say simply, turning your attention to watch the snow swirl in a mesmerizing dance.

He just nods, following your gaze to the window. 

Before anyone has a chance to say anything else, Vanessa is returning with Lewis�� drink and announcing to everyone that dinner is ready. Lewis begins to protest, not wanting to intrude on a family dinner but everyone else is quick to shush him, telling him they would love for him to stay. Shortly thereafter you are all seated around a beautiful table, Lewis sitting directly across from you, a delicious looking meal placed in the center. Tom takes a moment to thank Vanessa for inviting everyone and being such a wonderful host, gushing about his daughter as he forgets to mention Dylan for even a moment. As the bowls get passed around the table you can’t help but notice that Lewis is ignoring almost everything that is placed in front of him, passing it along without a moments thought. By the time everyone is served you notice that his plate is only a salad, it makes you want to scoff, not even during his off season will he let himself indulge in something, too focused on his physique. You stay relatively quiet throughout dinner, just listening to everyone else chatter, it’s not until your mom asks Lewis what he has been up to since the season ended that you are caught off guard.

“I spent the last week in LA, needed some sun before winter.” He tells her, causing wires to connect in her brain.

“Oh! Y/N lives in LA, what a coincidence, I’m surprised you two don’t see each other more often.” The excitement in her voice makes you laugh as you quickly go to shut her down, not even registering that you had in fact seen him just the night before.

“Mom, it's a massive city-” You laugh.

“Well we actually saw each other last night.” Lewis says at the same time as you, stopping you in your tracks. He’s staring right at you as he takes a casual sip of his water before he glances around the table.

“Really?” Tom asks, leaning in like this is the news of the year.

“Oh come on, you didn’t tell them?” Lewis laughs, it’s hollow, not like the warm laugh you’ve heard directed towards other people. He knew you wouldn’t have mentioned it, he’s enjoying being the one to let everyone know you were out partying the night before family holiday.

“I mean, no I didn’t, but it’s not like it’s common.” You stutter out, weirdly flustered all the sudden.

“Yeah, ran into her out with some of her friends at a club last night, had to save her from a creepy drunk guy who didn’t want to leave her alone.” He tells the table casually, settling back into his seat.

“Well I’m glad you were there Lewis, I worry about her when I hear about her going out like that. This world is just getting too dangerous to be out flaunting yourself like that.” Your dad pipes up, making you whip your head in his direction.

“Dad, I wasn’t-” You begin to argue before getting cut off by Lewis.

“It wasn’t her fault. She was just there, shouldn’t have to hide away just because she’s a woman.” Lewis says firmly, looking at you again as if to seal his words, catching you off guard by defending you.

“Thanks.” You silently mouth in his direction. He doesn’t acknowledge it, carrying on with his story instead.

“But yeah, the guy left pretty quickly, he was harmless. I was surprised to see her though, figured she would already be here. I was glad to see you left when you did, with your flight this morning and all.” He continues.

“You were out too.” You quickly fire back at him, not enjoying the embarrassment in front of your family.

“Had a later flight than you,” He simply shrugs, a smirk forming on his face, “How was this morning, rough one?”

“My only issue this morning was the weather, thanks.” You say, a snip in your tone.

“Glad to hear it.” He says, getting comfortable in his seat as he thankfully changes topics. 

Thankfully the awkward air that had settled over dinner dissipated quickly and before you knew it Lewis was saying that he needed to get going, still needing to drive another hour to his own house. There was no hesitation before Vanessa and Beatrice were telling him to spend the night, not enjoying the idea of him travelling in the weather at night. You noticed his eyes flicker to you as he started to turn them down, part of you wondered if he was doing it because he told you he wasn’t staying with them but you doubted he was being that thoughtful. He stayed strong, adamant that he would be fine and that he really wanted to settle into his own place but that he would be back later in the week.You feel a certain relief as you see him finally manage to say his goodbyes, bundling up in his long woolen coat as he makes his way out the door. You can hear the wind when he stepped out the door and you did worry that his drive would be far from enjoyable but you didn’t feel like hanging out with him much longer. 

As you helped clear the table you noticed something on the ground, right below where Lewis had been sitting. You put down the plates in your hands with a huff, reaching down to grab what turned out to be a wallet. You internally groaned, of course he dropped his wallet, of course you found it, it would be wrong to send him on his way without it, especially in this weather. You let out a sigh, jogging to the front door, hoping he hadn’t left yet. When you pulled the front door open you were shocked, you almost couldn’t see the front steps mere feet from you.

“Holy shit.” You muttered to yourself, grabbing the nearest pair of boots by the door, haphazardly throwing them on in hopes of catching Lewis.

When you cautiously made your way down off the porch, wading through the rather deep snow that now covered the path to the driveway, you saw him clearing the snow off his car. His jacket was blowing in the wind and he had an arm up to shield his face from the blowing snow, much like you yourself did. You let out a sigh of resignation, there’s no way you could let him drive an hour in this, no matter how badly he got on your nerves. You continue to make your way toward him, snow falling into the borrowed boots making you wince.

“Lewis,” You call out to him, “what the hell are you doing?”

He turns toward you, a confused look across his features, “Cleaning off my car, what do you need?”

“I can see that,” You say as you get closer to him, rolling your eyes at his answer, “I mean why the heck are you trying to drive home in this? Just come back inside.”

“Came all the way out here to save me? I’ll be fine, you seemed pretty worried that I was staying here the other night.” He says, turning back to his car.

“Actually I came out here because you dropped your wallet.” You say plainly, not enjoying his attitude but catching his attention again.

“Shit, thanks.” He extends his hand, waiting for you to hand it over.

“No, you’re insane, just grab your bag and come back inside. You annoy the shit out of me but I don’t particularly want you dead on the side of the road.” You shake your head, stepping back from him to prove that you’re not handing his wallet over until he turns his car off and comes inside.

“Well that's nice to hear.” He says sarcastically.

“You dying right before Christmas would kind of ruin holidays for me forever, V would be distraught.” You throw at him, it being partially true.

“Fine.” He concedes through a huff, his shoulders slumping as he trudges to his car door to kill the engine.

You watch as he grabs his bag from the backseat before making his way toward you, gesturing impatiently for you to go so he can follow you back to the house.

“Besides, now I’m the hero that convinced Mr. Perfect to stay, I basically just saved your life.” You say teasingly over your shoulder as you start your way up the steps. You’re too focused on your own dig and not enough on the slippery stairs, your feet almost coming out from under you. Much to your embarrassment, Lewis is there with a steadying grip on your arm.

“Just saved my life and then tried to break my neck by falling on me.” He mutters, letting go of you once you're stable.

“Give me a break, I’m pretty sure I’m wearing Dylan's boots.” You argue, pulling away from him harshly.

The moment you are inside he is being swarmed by your family again, all so happy he has decided to stay the night, no one even paying attention to the fact that you’ve come inside with him. Dylan is quickly showing him to his room for the night, apologizing that it’s not very fancy. You decide to slip away up to your room, having gotten rather cold and wet in your time outside. The whole time you’re getting ready for bed you’re telling yourself that it’s only for the night. You won’t even notice that he’s here and he will be gone tomorrow when the storm has passed. That hope lasts very briefly until you hear a knock on your door. You naively swing the door open, assuming it's someone to come say goodnight, and there he is.

“What the hell do you want?” You groan.

He doesn’t respond, he just pushes off the doorframe pushing past you into your room as he lets out a long whistle.

“This might actually be nicer than my bedroom at home.” He says, still ignoring your question as he looks around the room.

“Yeah it’s beautiful. What do you want?” You ask again, eager for him to leave so you can climb under the blankets.

“So pushy,” He chuckles, turning back to you, “I believe you have something of mine?”

“Right.” You say flatly, moving past him to the dresser where you had thrown his wallet that had still been in your pocket.

“How much did ya take?” He asks after you hand it to him, flicking it open as if to inspect that all his cards are still there.

“Not nearly enough.” You grumble, sitting down on the end of the bed.

He just chuckles, taking another glance around your room before walking out of your room without a word, something he seems to be making a habit of. You groan when you see that he’s left your door wide open, reluctantly making your way off your bed.

“He’ll be gone tomorrow.” You mutter to yourself as you lean against the now closed door, and you can only pray it's true.

[misswynters]

Buddy, the snowman

featuring. s2 jayce x reader

a/n. i want everyone to picture s2 long haired jayce for this (my lil hispanic boy)

Piltover in winter was a different kind of magic. The city’s usual bustle slowed as the snow draped over rooftops, blanketed the cobbled streets, and softened the sharp edges of its mechanical marvels. The air was crisp, filled with the faint scent of pine, and for once, it seemed as if even the gears of progress paused to appreciate the quiet beauty of the holiday season.

You stood on the edge of the park, bundled in a thick coat, scarf, and gloves, waiting for Jayce. Who is always late, as usual. Snow crunched beneath your boots as you shifted your weight, your breath visible in the cold air. When he finally arrived, he was juggling a small box of cookies he’d picked up on the way, a thermos of hot cocoa, and his scarf, which he hadn’t managed to wrap around his neck yet.

“Sorry I’m late,” he called out, flashing you a sheepish grin. “I got held up by Mrs. Halloway. She wanted to tell me all about her snowflake shaped cookie cutters.”

You laughed, reaching out to grab the thermos before it slipped from his hands. “Let me guess, you were too polite to escape?”

“She cornered me at the shop,” he admitted, his breath clouding in the air as he finally wrestled the scarf into place. “But hey, I brought cookies!”

“Then all is forgiven,” you teased, linking your arm with his as you walked into the park.

The snow was untouched, sparkling under the late morning sun. Children’s laughter echoed from the far side of the park where a sledding hill was busy with activity. You and Jayce gravitated toward a quieter spot, where the snow lay pristine and the trees offered some shelter from the wind. “I can’t remember the last time I built a snowman,” you mused, surveying the scene.

“Then we’re fixing that today,” Jayce declared, already kneeling to scoop up a handful of snow. He packed it tightly, forming the beginnings of a snowball. “You start the bottom, I’ll handle the head.”

You raised an eyebrow. “You trust me with the foundation?”

“Of course. You’re the architect here, aren’t you?” he teased, his grin warm and inviting.

With a playful roll of your eyes, you got to work. The snow was perfect, soft enough to mold but firm enough to hold its shape. You began rolling the snowball across the ground, watching it grow larger and larger. Meanwhile, Jayce fashioned the middle and top sections, his gloved hands moving with practiced ease.

“Hey,” he called out after a while, his voice tinged with amusement. “Is this snowman going to rival the height of the council tower? Because it’s looking like you’re aiming for a structural masterpiece.”

You stepped back, admiring your work. The base was enormous, almost up to your waist. “Bigger is better ,” you retorted with a grin, dusting the snow off your gloves. “If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right.”

Jayce chuckled, hoisting the midsection of the snowman in his arms. “Fair point. But if this guy topples over, I’m blaming the architect.”

You laughed as he carefully balanced the second snowball on top of the base. “You’re not exactly the most careful engineer I know, Jayce. Remember that time you accidentally launched yourself across the workshop?”

“That was one time!” he shot back, laughing as he adjusted the snowball until it was perfectly centered. “And I still say it was an unintended success.”

“You’re lucky I was there to catch you,” you teased, rolling up the final snowball for the head. Jayce stepped aside to help you lift it, his hands brushing against yours as you both placed it on top. The snowman took shape quickly, its proportions absurdly exaggerated but undeniably charming. Jayce pulled a handful of random gadgets and bolts from his pocket, because of course he carried those everywhere, and started sticking them into the snowman’s torso.

“What are you doing?” you asked, watching in disbelief as he carefully attached a cogwheel where a button might go.

“Improving him,” Jayce said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Every snowman deserves a touch of innovation.”

You snorted. “This is why you can’t leave well enough alone.”

“I prefer to think of it as creativity,” he said, leaning back to admire his work. “What do you think? Too much?” The snowman now looked like a combination between a friendly holiday figure and an early prototype from Jayce’s workshop. His scarf draped around its neck (stolen from Jayce’s coat), the twig arms were bent at jaunty angles, and the “buttons” were a mismatched collection of gears and screws.

“It’s… unique to say the least,” you said, stifling a laugh. “But he needs a name. How about… Buddy?”

Jayce grinned. “I like it. He’s definitely our buddy now.”

The two of you stood back, admiring your creation. The late morning sun glinted off the snow. But then, out of nowhere, a snowball hit you square in the shoulder. “Jayce!” you yelped, spinning around to see him grinning mischievously, another snowball already in his hand.

“Consider it a christening for Buddy,” he said with a wink, launching the second snowball toward you.

You dodged, laughing, and scooped up some snow of your own. “Oh, you’re going to regret that!” The next few minutes devolved into a chaotic snowball fight. You darted behind trees, narrowly avoiding Jayce’s throws while lobbing your own with surprising accuracy. He wasn’t as agile as you, but his aim was scarily good, and more than once you ended up covered in snow.

When you finally called a truce, you were both breathless and laughing, your cheeks pink from the cold and exertion. Jayce flopped onto the snow, spreading his arms and legs to make a snow angel.

“Not bad,” he said between breaths. “But I think I won.”

“You wish,” you said, collapsing beside him. “I hit you way more times than you hit me.”

“Debatable,” he replied, turning his head to look at you. His brown eyes sparkled with warmth, and his smile was softer now, less mischievous. The two of you lay there in the snow, staring up at the pale blue sky. The world felt quiet, the only sounds the distant laughter of children and the occasional rustle of wind through the trees.

“Thanks for dragging me out here,” Jayce said after a while. “I needed this.”

You turned your head to face him, your breath visible in the cold air. “Me too. It’s nice to just... be for a while. No council meetings, experiments, or deadlines.”

“Just you, me, and our little Buddy,” he said with a chuckle, his gaze lingering on you for a moment longer than usual. You felt your cheeks grow warmer, though whether it was from the cold or something else, you weren’t sure. “And the cookies,” you reminded him, sitting up and reaching for the box he’d brought.

Jayce sat up too, brushing snow from his coat. “Right. Can’t forget about the cookies.” The two of you sat together, sharing cookies and sipping hot cocoa from the thermos. Buddy stood proudly nearby, a testament to your combined (if slightly chaotic) efforts. Pulling off your gloves, cradling the thermos in your hands. The warmth seeped through your fingers as you took a sip, the rich, sweet cocoa melting the chill in your bones. Jayce opened the box of cookies, offering you one before taking one for himself.

"These are so good,” you said, savoring the buttery sweetness.

“Told you Mrs. Halloway knows her stuff,” Jayce replied, his grin boyish as he took a large bite. “Snowball fights and cookies. Best day off ever.”

You leaned back, watching Buddy stand proudly in the distance. “I think we outdid ourselves with that snowman,” you said.

Jayce glanced at it, a playful smile on his face. “He’s definitely got personality. Though next year, I’m thinking we add some light-up features. Maybe a mini hammer.”

You laughed, shaking your head. “Of course you are. But fine, as long as I get to handle the design.”

“Deal,” he said, raising his cookie like a toast.

As the two of you sat there, sharing cookies and warm drinks, the soft glow of the setting sun painted the snow in shades of gold and pink. It was a rare, perfect moment of peace, one you knew you’d carry with you through the busier days ahead. And in the quiet of the winter evening, with Jayce’s laughter still echoing in your ears, you realized this was what you loved most about him: his ability to make even the simplest moments unforgettable.

As the sun began to set, painting the sky in hues of orange and pink, Jayce pulled his scarf from the snowman and wrapped it around your shoulders instead.

“You’re going to freeze,” you protested, but he shook his head.

“I’m fine,” he said, his voice gentle. “You’re the one who dragged me out here, so it’s only fair that I make sure you stay warm.”

You rolled your eyes but didn’t argue, leaning into his side as he slung an arm around you. “Same time next year?” he asked, his tone light but hopeful.

“Maybe, as long as you aren't late.” you agreed, smiling as you watched the last light of day fade behind the snow-covered trees.

taglist. @diffusebread @xxblairslairxx @thesevi0lentdelights @writingwisterias

[poke-me-with-a-stick]

Can I ask for more Penguin Danny?

Your wish is my command.

Honestly, I've had this one snippet stuck in my head for a while, so thank you for the excuse to write it ✨

--

Danny sat huddled with a few of the smaller penguins, relaxing into their warm feathers as much as he could as he took in the situation developing before him.

About two months ago, a group of scientists geared up for the harsh cold had arrived in the Arctic. They had taken up residence in the frigid metal building Danny had spent some time in when he first got here, bringing life and warmth to their base that hadn't been there when the teen needed it.

At first, they kept to themselves. Taking water samples from the snow and ice pools that covered the territory. But it was only a week later that they moved on to examining the colony that had taken Danny in. They would pull a penguin or two away from the group, giving them fish and krill while they measured the small creatures and attached a monitor to the animal's sleek feathers, releasing them back to the group to loudly squawk their tales to the rest of the birds.

Eventually, they made their way inwards, away from the penguin hunting hunting grounds and towards their nests. It was then that they saw Danny for the first time.

It had been funny, at first. The coat clad researchers had frozen, before chatting frantically. With how long Danny had spent hiding out in the cold, he wasn't surprised that it took a while to understand what they were saying. It did filter in, though, the longer they hung around. Words that he knew, but didn't make a lot of sense in the limited context he had. Stuff like "baby" and "different" were obvious, especially when they gestured at him as they spoke. But other words, like, "unusually large", and "dangerous" confused him.

Was he a bit bigger than the birds around him? Yes, yes he was. But he didn't think he was unusually large for the species he was supposed to be. Then again, it's not like he had ever actually seen a baby emperor penguin before, so he had no real life reference. But they were big birds! Surely that meant they had big babies? And even if he was bigger than he was supposed to be, how was anything about this situation was 'dangerous'?

It didn't help his opinion of the researchers when they tried to move him away from the flock. Trails of treats were fine and dandy at first, and easily ignored by the teen seeing as he didn't need the same amount of food as an actual baby penguin of his size (perks of being able to feed on ambient ectoplasm). When he didn't seem inclined to follow the trail like some of the others, who had all come back squawking about the researchers manhandling them again, they tried a more straightforward approach.

The teen would never forget the day those puffy coats pushed gently through the throng of black and white bodies until they boxed him in on all sides. His panicked squeaky screeches had immediately attracted the attention of the birds, and those pesky puffy coats had some nice tears in them for the troubles they caused. After that, the researchers found themselves being chased by the entire colony if they came to close, angry screeches drowning out their own panicked yells and occasional yells of pain when a beak managed to find purchase.

As much as he appreciated the colonies fierce protection, the teen should have known that it would draw attention. Those researchers were out here for a reason, probably some sort of documentary on the wildlife that thrived in colder environments. Maybe something about endangered species or global warming. Whatever it was, it had them hanging around, taking pictures and writing in journals.

It should have been more obvious to him that something was bound to happen. Pictures, even when he looked normal to the mortal eye, could easily reveal a different truth. It didn't take long for pristine white coats to appear, scouting the area with ecto-trackers in hand a blasters holstered at their sides.

The confrontation a full month after the researchers arrived was a bit surprising, and it took everything in Danny's new fuzzy body to stop from launching himself at the men in black rip offs when they leveled their blasters at the colorful puff coats.

The puff coats were sturdier people than he thought, though. Instead of backing off, like anyone else would do, they argued. Blocking the easier paths to the nesting grounds, tampering with their equipment while they were distracted with whatever ecto readings they were getting, even resorting to throwing things when the came too close to trampling one penguin Danny had affectionately dubbed 'Steve'.

And now here Danny was. Cozied up with a decent group of mother penguins and their babies while the fathers took their turn to hunt. Watching as the guys in white ran around screaming. The cause of their screams? The child with a sword that was chasing them.

At this point in his (after)life, Danny shouldn't be surprised by anything. And yet, surprising things continued to occur. Maybe he should ask someone if he was cursed or something.

The penguins around him shifted, letting out warbles and startled peeps as they resettled. Danny shook himself, pulling his attention away from the potential murder occuring in front of him to look at the source of his new friend's unrest. And was once again reminded to not be surprised by the surprising things that occured around him.

The half Kryptonian child that sat next to him gave the teen a smile and a gentle pat before turning his attention to where his friend continued to swing his katana, catching one of the scanners and a bit of an agents hand with the wickedly sharp blade. The kid next to Danny winced and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Robin! Remember what Nightwing told you before we left!"

The sword wielding child tisked loudly, the sound muffled slightly by the snow that was beginning to fall, but resumed his fighting with a little more effort in not hitting the agents with his blade. The handle of his sword, however, was used just as effectively. The Kryptonian kid sighed, but didn't call out again, instead reaching out to pet some of Danny's fuzzy brown down feathers.

This was fine, Danny decided. It wouldn't be fine forever, but for now it was. And whatever came after this, he could always try throwing vicious penguins at it. It worked well enough the first time.

[hongism]

SWEET JUICE - s.mingi (18+)

➼ genre; fantasy, smut ➼ pairing; mingi x fem!reader ➼ au; strangers to lovers, magic au, witches/warlocks au ➼ warnings; explicit smut ➼ rating; m/18+ ➼ wc; 10.7k

the new apothecary in your small village is harboring a dark secret, you're certain of it, if only because he bears a starkly familiar crest on his shop sign - one that denotes the presence of magic.

part of the ...and it's snowing collab.

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➼ smut warnings; sex toys, unprotected sex, comeshots, begging, fingering, multiple orgasms, size kink, hand kink, mention of belly bulging, dacryphilia

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Normally, you aren’t one to be so deeply entrenched in the petty gossip going around town, especially when newcomers are not exactly scarce in these parts. This one in particular — the young man who moved here by himself and immediately set up an apothecary shop in the heart of the village — has been on the lips of almost everyone you’ve bumped into for the past week. Ever since the Summer’s End Festival, it seems all your neighbors can think to talk about is this mysterious lone wolf. Unfortunately for you, that means your interest has been piqued both out of nosiness and out of a potential opportunity.

“You said he’s nice?”

“Yeah! I mean, I didn’t meet him personally. I was busy running the stall while Yunho was doing all the socializing, but Gerda came over and she said he’s a rather nice and charming young man.” 

You appraise the man across the counter with a far less enthused grin. It doesn’t deter Seonghwa from his egregious nods of encouragement, however. So, you continue to pack away the little bundles of herbs that you’ve been preparing all morning into the man’s satchel.

“She says that about everyone under the age of fifty. I think it’s her duty as an old woman to say that. What did Yunho say about him?” 

“Hm, what did Yunho say about him…” Seonghwa brings a neatly manicured nail to his chin as he mulls over your question. You snap the buckle of his bag into its proper place now that you’ve given him all you need to and set your hands down on the counter. “He was fairly charmed too, I believe. I mean, in terms of the guy’s personality. You know his gaze goes in one single direction for all other aspects of things.” He flattens his palm against his cheek and doesn’t even bother to hide the smugness that creeps over his expression.

“Don’t get cocky now,” you cut in before Seonghwa can redirect the conversation towards himself. 

“Is it being cocky if I’m just repeating what he says all the time though? Oh my Seonghwa, you’re so pretty, the only man I could ever look at, I never grow weary of seeing your darling face. It’s truly romance at its finest.”

“Back to the new guy, Hwa.”

“Hmph. You’re more interested in him than you were in me when I first moved here!”

“You didn’t run a shop when you first got here. Otherwise, I would’ve been just as eager, promise.” Seonghwa narrows his eyes at you, lips drawing into what must be an attempt at a frown but it’s so half-hearted and soft around the edges that you can’t be sure. “I’m trying to establish a financially beneficial supply line with this guy. Thus, I need to know what he’s like so that I know how much bargaining I ought to prepare for before going to speak with him.”

“He’s nice, not much of a talker from what I could tell watching him from a distance, and he mostly stuck near the bonfire. Though it was still damp from the rain earlier that day, and autumn was already sending in her cooler breezes. Anyone who hasn’t acclimated to our lovely finicky weather acts like that when they first arrive here. Spoke to everyone who approached him. Talks with his hands a lot. Very—” Seonghwa makes a few vague gestures consisting of him just waving his hands in the air a bit “—big. Not quite taller than Yunho, but broader and like… meatier, I suppose. I wonder if I should give Yunho bigger meal portions actually, he might need it. Really, how does he stay so skinny even doing all the heavy lifting around the house? Do you have any herbs good for muscle growth?”

“Alright, I’ve had enough of you, that’s it.” Seonghwa’s protest comes immediately. “No, because last time you did this, you started asking me about concoctions to make his semen taste better, and that is not a conversation we’re going to be repeating!” He grabs his satchel off the counter as you hop up from your stool, though he still tries to appear very upset over the matter while pulling it over his head.

“Well, tell me when you’re planning on going over there at least. I can give you a meal before you go home since it’s a bit of a trek to get back here.”

“I’ll go tomorrow. There’s still some inventory left over from the summer that I need to sort out. And I need to prepare some decor for the Autumn Festival sooner rather than later. Ugh, I got so behind on my work it’s infuriating.” You’ve been slacking a little more than you usually do this past week on account of being bedridden for five days straight. You thought you were going to avoid getting sick at the end of summer for once, but your body had other plans for you and decided to push it into the start of the fall season instead. That’s the only reason you need this information about the newcomer from Seonghwa so desperately: otherwise, you would have been at that very festival and been able to witness the man for yourself.

“Oh, speaking of, everyone missed you last week! And told me to send you well wishes, which are obviously not needed anymore, but the sentiment is the same nonetheless, no?”

You send Seonghwa off with a few extra herbs pressed into his hands and wishes for safe travels. It ought to only take him fifteen minutes to walk back to town, but he came by rather late and the sun is already setting so you don’t want him to get caught alone in the dark on his way. He is kind enough to allow your nagging, only pinching your cheek when you tell him once more to quit asking about recipes and herbs to use on Yunho’s dick. 

Once you’re content seeing him reach the end of your garden path, you flick your wrist in the direction of your crops. The drizzle that suddenly starts falling from the sky is light enough to not be much of a hindrance to Seonghwa, though you’ll be certain to bring down some heavier rainfall after he disappears over the edge of the hill. Though your closest friend in the village, you still haven’t had the heart to tell him what exactly brought you to this remote place or what you were running from when you came. He only knows that you came here nearly eight years ago on your own and with nothing to your name, and by the time he and Yunho came along, you were already three years into building your business of selling herbs year-round. 

In truth, your witchcraft is not illegal by the nature of it being magick. Rather, you yourself are the problem being a witch in name instead of the formally accepted term warlock. Should anyone with any sort of agenda against you discover that you are a defector using your magick when you are no longer a practicing warlock, then you would likely lose everything you have here in this place. It took you two years just to find a town secure and remote enough for you to feel comfortable living in, and eight more to reach this point of stability. You don’t consider Seonghwa to be someone driven by monetary promise or swayed by others’ opinions, but there is just enough doubt that’s crept into your heart over the years to keep you silent.

“How depressing,” you mutter, turning back to your cottage and heading inside. You make the rain fall just a little harder to go along with your sudden decline in mood.

…

Perhaps, you think, there is some goddess out there who is keen on causing you inordinate levels of distress. Because although today was supposed to be nothing more than a calm and friendly meeting in the hopes of establishing a business partnership, you cannot push yourself to even approach the door to the new apothecary. The name of the shop is insignificant on its own — Mortar and Cauldron — and you wouldn’t think twice about getting up from this cursed bench you now find yourself on if that was all there was to it. Yet for some godforsaken reason, this man has deigned to put a symbol behind the name, one that mimics one of the crests belonging to the House of Ballads (the very one you defected from a decade ago). Some deity must surely be playing a sick prank on you.

There are a few routes you could take in this situation. You could pretend you never came and forget the idea of creating a supply line, missing out on some revenue sure but it’s not like you wouldn’t be able to make up for it in other areas. You could go in and confront the newcomer, demanding to know who he is and what he’s doing here on the off chance that he’s truly some bumbling idiot who has no clue what symbols he’s drawn into his signs. He could very well be a defector himself, you suppose, although it would be suicide to use one of the House’s official crests as one. Or you could simply play the part of the fool yourself, act none the wiser, and pretend to be the normal citizen you are. Even if this man were truly from the House, he would not recognize your face because you were never formally entered into the place. You had been merely part of a small church sect on the outskirts of the capital, far from the House of Ballads and all its operations. The name you held while there has already been burned to ash and nothingness, likely stricken from all their records as well the moment you disappeared. If they wanted you dead — well, they would have had you killed long ago. So, you seem to have your best course of action.

“I know my decor isn’t the most appealing, but I don’t think it warrants such a foul expression.” The voice resonates so close to your ear that you truly feel the vibration in your teeth, but moreso, it startles you out of your skin, and you all but launch yourself off the bench with an embarrassing yelp. Just behind the bench where you were, there stands a man you don’t recognize. Tall, with sharp features and equally piercing dark eyes, and dressed in black from head to toe complete with a scarf draped over his head to mimic the hood of a cloak. It doesn’t fully shroud his borderline psychedelic hair — an unnatural yellow shade that blends into a fiery orange-red and makes his head look more like a torch than anything else. “Hello. Sorry for surprising you like that, it wasn’t my intention to make a first impression in such a way.”

Ah. If not for your racing heart, you would have put two and two together far sooner, because obviously, this would be the mystery owner of the apothecary, considering how you recognize everyone in town.

“Would you like to come in and look around? I was simply across the street to get some bread.” He tilts his head back in the direction of none other than Seonghwa’s shop. One glance at the storefront gives you enough of a clue as to whose fault it is that you’re having this unsavory first encounter because said man is pressed up against the window and staring through it directly at you. You have to fight the urge to scowl at him until after your newcomer steps out of your line of sight. Seonghwa tucks a stray piece of hair behind his ear and sends you a far-too-cheery thumbs-up. You turn away with a less subtle middle finger. 

Despite the muggy weather and cooler temperatures, the inside of the apothecary is warm. It almost feels a bit humid thanks to the rain outside, but not unbearably so. And considering how long you were sitting out there getting rained on, you welcome the heat quite a bit. 

“You wouldn’t happen to be the friend Seonghwa mentioned, would you?” He catches you with the question as you’re undoing the knot holding your cloak around your shoulders. “I don’t recall seeing you at last week’s festival, though I didn’t have the chance to introduce myself to everyone then.”

“Oh, yes, that would be me. I wasn’t there because I was recovering from a nasty cold. Y/n.” You jut a hand out in his direction, pushing a smile to your lips as you look him in the eye, though thanks to his height, you feel as though you have to crane your neck just to do so. 

“Song Mingi. It’s a pleasure to meet you, y/n.” He doesn’t take your hand the way you expect; instead, he pinches the tips of your fingers and bends at the waist, lips grazing your knuckles so softly that you almost don’t feel the contact at all. What’s more startling is how hot his touch is, especially considering how he was just out in the cold. You catch a glimpse of his hand as he’s pulling away, but he’s simply wearing gloves. Knowing Seonghwa, he probably kept the man hostage with conversation for a long time before sending him out to speak with you, and your friend always keeps the house warm because of the ovens, so that’s likely where all the excess heat is coming from. Your staring lingers too long, and Mingi clears his throat quietly, bringing you out of your thoughts.

“Likewise,” you spit out, placing your cloak on the coat rack by the door.

“Were you looking for something in particular, or did you just want to see what sorts of things I have?” Mingi wraps around the back of the shop’s counter, and you take it as an invitation to approach. The glass cabinet serving as the surface is filled with a variety of things both familiar and not. Potions, vials, bundles of powders, and even some gemstones that carry a glow at their centers. The presence of magick here is undeniably strong, and it is not yours alone. There must be dozens of magickal objects here, though the ordinary person wouldn’t sense a thing. You don’t let your gaze linger on any of them for long before pulling focus back up to the man’s face.

“Well, I intended to come introduce myself first since we didn’t have a chance to meet at the festival. But beyond that, I wanted to let you know I grow all sorts of herbs and ingredients in my garden. I supply many of the local shops and stalls, especially during the winter seasons. The ground is particularly fruitful thanks to all the rain we get here.”

“Oh? Yes, I noticed rather quickly that there’s near-constant rainy weather here.” As though on cue, a bout of thunder rumbles in the distance.

“You truly chose a summer lover’s nightmare moving here,” you laugh. “Charybid is always in rainy season.”

Mingi hums and grins a little, looking to the window before saying, “I’m quite alright with it really. The heat of my homeland is far more unbearable in my opinion. You can tell how little I went outside there just based on how pale I am.” He flashes the back of his hand that’s still enveloped by a glove like he wants to prove his point, only to realize his little blunder and fall into a bout of awkward laughter instead. “But you said you’re a supplier? Do you have a local shop as well or…?”

“Local, though not here in the heart of town. If you follow the west road up over the hill, you’ll see a string of cottages. Mine is the one with the big front garden! Oh, and there’s a sign as well, of course.”

“That would be immensely helpful especially since I don’t have much space here to grow my own things. It’s a bit difficult to outsource supplies in this area too, isn’t it?” Mingi glances down at the open notebook sitting on his counter and skims the contents. “Would it be alright if I came by at the end of next week? That way I can finish unpacking and taking stock of everything I have.”

“Yes, that’d work just fine. You can come by any time you need, though I always advise against coming too close to nightfall because walking in the rain at night is an easy way to get sick.” You offer a smile, perhaps a little too pleased with how smoothly your business proposal went, but your enthusiasm seems to be received well given how brightly Mingi smiles in return. The air has begun to get more stifling, and you can feel sweat clinging to the back of your neck. It’s unpleasant now, a kind of warmth you’re not used to experiencing all the time because you don’t keep your home so toasty, but it reminds you of evenings shared with Seonghwa that always end with you wanting to escape out into the rain just for some respite. “I won’t take up more of your time, though. I promised to go see Seonghwa myself once I was finished here. I bid you well.”

“Thank you, and have safe travels home yourself. I look forward to doing business with you, Miss y/n.”

…

You leave your cottage in the wee hours of the morning, intending to water your crops before the sun rises, but those plans are dashed the moment you spot the man waiting outside your fence. You’ve seen him several times since your first meeting, though not here and solely in town. He hasn’t come this far yet despite his insistence that he would come over two weeks ago. Autumn is in full swing now, four weeks since the start of the season and five since the new apothecary came to town. You had not quite lost hope that he would be true to his word, but you must admit that you are caught off-guard seeing him at this hour and at your gate.

“When I said not to come at nightfall, I didn’t mean that you needed to come at the break of dawn!”

“I wanted to come before opening hours,” Mingi replies in a far clearer voice than your own. You’re still wiping the sleep from your eyes after all, and it seems he has been up for some time considering how he doesn’t appear tired in the slightest. The lantern at the end of your walkway is lit — strange because you thought you had remembered to blow it out the night before — and the glow combined with the first few rays of sunshine over the horizon is enough to illuminate the space between you and the man. “I was also out on a morning walk, so I figured it would be smart to find out how to get here before making a fool of myself. Beyond making plans to do so several times over and not once making good on those plans.”

You did gather much from your first impression of the man. Seonghwa’s word proved correct: Mingi is quite friendly, although a tad clueless but his kindness makes up for that, and you heard as much from your fellow townsfolk after you left his apothecary a month ago. After all, newcomers will be the talk of the town for weeks after their arrival, so you got to be privy to much talk about his character just from spending five minutes milling about the streets. He’s cordial each time you happen across each other in the village on top of that, full of never-ending apologies about his delay in coming to see you (to the point where you have to demand he stop apologizing three times before he takes the hint).

“Considering how I didn’t even make it to the front door, I’m assuming I did not wake you?” he continues when you reach the edge of the fence. You shake your head, undoing the latching and pulling the gate over for him to step through. 

“No, you simply caught me coming out to check on the crops before the rain starts.” You didn’t sense any rain coming today, but a little trip down to the pond can easily be arranged once Mingi departs. “This is only the front garden. I can show you the back as well, if you’d like, I have far more plants there.”

“You take care of this all by yourself?” he inquires, voice edging on awestruck, and your chest swells with pride.

“Yep! It is my livelihood, after all. But I am very enamored with the work too, so that helps me as well. These plants need more sun, and thanks to the location of this cottage, they receive it at least eight hours a day. Same goes for the plots on the left side of the house, but the ones on the right are not as sensitive to the sunshine. I keep the least temperamental crops in the back, along with some gourds that shops have a hard time finding at this time of year. My more cold-sensitive plants are in planters indoors, I have that small little greenhouse attachment on the side of the house as well as fungi and the like in the basement.”

“It seems you truly have a bit of everything then?”

“I try to at least. Whenever traveling merchants come for market days, I make a point to collect whatever seeds I can. I also like picking up gardener’s pamphlets! There are always good tips for how to make certain plants thrive, and occasionally they’ll mention ones I’ve not heard of so I know to be on the lookout for those things. If there’s ever something you’re in need of that I don’t have, I’d be happy to collect some samples for you from some merchants and we can discuss planting them too.” When you glance up at Mingi again, his jaw is hanging slightly open, eyes still bearing into you with that same wonder and disbelief. “Oh, sorry, I’m being a terrible host. Did you want to come inside for some tea or coffee? It’s still quite early.”

“That’d be great. Do you happen to have a catalog of all your crops as well?”

“Of course, of course.” You motion for him to follow you up to the house just as a few drops of rain start hitting your skin. Maybe you won’t need to go down to the pond after all. “It seems you came at the perfect time. Do you have some sort of potion that lets you predict the weather?”

“If only,” he laughs, ducking his head a bit to avoid the doorframe. He shrugs his cloak off upon getting inside, and once again you’re regaled by the sight of him dressed in all black. Though, today he’s forgone gloves and simply stuck to a long-sleeved shirt that extends past his hands. 

“You’re welcome to look around as I get the water on and all!”

“I’d be happy to do that for you.”

“Please, you’re a guest, that’d hardly be fair of me.”

“But I did accost you before dawn, so I’d like to think of it as a fair bargain.”

You purse your lips. “Okay, I’ll relent and allow you to do the water, but I’ll take care of everything else.” He drapes his cloak over the back of one of your chairs, very careful and meticulous about the way in which he lays it down, but you only watch him long enough to see him reach the sink. Turning your back to him, you busy yourself with finding mugs and prepping the coffee Seonghwa gave to you a few weeks back. You should’ve thought ahead and asked him for more since you were just over there, but it slipped your mind completely. Perhaps he needs some more lavender and rosemary, you could pack some and use that as an excuse to go back to see him.

When you turn around next, Mingi is already sitting at the table in the seat where he set his cloak down, and you make a small noise of surprise.

“Did you get the stove figured out already? I swear it takes me four or five tries to get it to come on right every time.”

“Hm? It came right on when I turned the knob. Is it not supposed to do that?”

You let out a huff of air while shrugging and set the mugs down on the table. “It never does that for me but that very well may be user error.” The sharp whistle of steam interrupts your thoughts. “Ah, and it’s heating up quickly too? Those remedies of yours are becoming more and more appealing by the second. You might be the town’s new miracle worker at this rate.” 

In truth, it’s making your skin itch a little. There was some odd presence of magick back in Mingi’s shop, and even now you feel something sharp prodding at your own magickal energy in your own home. It’s not a threat, not one that you can concretely act on yet at least, but it’s enough to make you wary. To let a witch into your safe haven is a dangerous and risky game to play, especially if it’s where the source of your power is. Thankfully, you were not so foolish upon moving here to do something as juvenile as that — yours is safely kept away in that pond down the opposite side of the hill and tucked into a small grove in the surrounding forest. 

“Oh, let me grab that catalog for you real quick!” You bolt up from your chair at the sudden realization, and Mingi seems to accept it as simply that. You grab the book from your shelf, also snatching up the charm you keep near it and slipping it around your wrist while you’re out of sight still. It won’t be enough to fully shroud your energy, but if Mingi is indeed poking and prodding at your aura in search of something, it ought to at least throw him off enough to sate his curiosities. You usually only use such an item when strangers come to town for those market days you mentioned to Mingi before, and it certainly is a first for you to have to use it in your home. 

He’s not budged an inch by the time you return, which is nice to see because he could either have started snooping around in places he shouldn’t or bolted without a trace. You set the book down before him, still wearing a faint smile on your lips.

“I just updated it at the start of the week too, so you have the freshest copy.”

“Wonderful, I’m starting to understand the name on your gate post more and more.”

“Ah, that.” Wonderland was simply a silly little name you came up with on a whim because that’s what this place is to you, but it stuck and everyone in town loved it so much that you could not escape the urgings to keep it as a name even if you are not a shop owner in the way that people like Seonghwa and Mingi both are. “It’s nothing terribly special,” you opt to say instead. The kettle starts whistling more egregiously, saving you from having to explain the name any further. You stand and go to grab the handle of the pot, only to scald your palm so badly that you nearly fall over backward. Mingi scrambles to get up, chair clattering against the ground as he rushes in your direction.

“Shit, I’m so sorry, I—”

“You’re sorry?” you blurt through gritted teeth, clinging to your hand and trying to will the pain away to no avail. “What are you sorry for?”

“I-I should’ve — I should’ve gotten that, I mean, my hands are…” he trails off, and you glance down at the now exposed hands that he’s put between you. From the tips of his fingers down to the first knuckle on every single digit, Mingi’s skin and nails both are the color of charcoal, like they’ve been permanently stained that way. Were you anybody else, you would not know what it means. 

“I’m fine,” you say. He’s a warlock after all, it seems. Of course he is. You have been teetering on the confirmation for weeks at this point, and it was silly of you to ignore the obvious so many times over. His uncomfortably warm touch and the stifling heat inside his shop were both dead giveaways. You did not forget to extinguish your lantern last night, nor did the stove simply come on by way of Mingi being deft at using the knobs. He lit the lantern himself, lit the stove himself as well though because he was unaware of how your finicky stove works, he made the flame too big and too hot, thus leading to the quick boil and unfortunate accident of you burning your hand. The symbol on his door sign should have been enough of a clue.

“Please, at least let me make you something to treat the burn. It’s what I’m good at after all, and it’s the barest of minimums I could do.”

If you kick him out now, then it will surely be obvious that you know something about his identity. Only daft idiots or people with something to hide would turn down the help of a healer such as himself. In the past decade, you have lost all semblance of good judgment because no amount of mental gymnastics can get you to refuse his help right now. You’re dooming yourself if he already knows what you are, but if he’s got even the slightest hint and you turn him away, then you would confirm it for him. You have to take the risk.

“Okay, I would really appreciate it,” you whisper, easing yourself down into your chair once more. Mingi’s shoulders visibly relax. “All these plants and I’m afraid I’ve barely got enough knowledge to make tea on a good day with them. Everything you need ought to be on the shelves behind the counter. Those are all freshly picked too.” When he turns his back to you, you let your meek expression drop and glare at the welt that’s already formed across your palm. Mingi’s magick does not appear to be volatile, meaning that he must have had some sort of formal training in his life. It’s common for fire warlocks to bear the same charcoal-looking scars that he has, mostly from overexertion of their kind of magick. You produce more sweat than is natural for a normal human being thanks to your affinities too. 

Would the House truly send someone here for you after so long? And to go through the effort of having them set up a shop in the heart of town? If they wanted someone to watch you, then it would have been easier and smarter to have someone take one of the cottages closer to you. Besides, Mingi has not been taking every opportunity to come find you or learn about you. Nor does he wear any ring to indicate his affiliation with the House. A sanctioned mage would surely make use of such benefits. Could he be a defector like you? Or one that never made it into the House’s grasp? 

He returns to the table with a mortar and pestle filled with some sort of salve that he’s already beaten down into a mush.

“Does it hurt badly?”

“Quite a bit,” you answer truthfully, only wincing a little when he turns your palm to the ceiling. It feels as though his fingers alone could sear your skin.

“I made extra for you to use over the next several days as well. All you need to do is store it somewhere cool and apply a little to the burn twice a day until the pain stops.” The mixture is so blissfully cold on your skin that you could cry, and even with Mingi’s warm touch massaging it into the burn, it feels like a heavenly relief. “If the pain doesn’t stop by the time you run out of salve, then please come visit me. I can make more and give you something to keep it from scarring.”

“Understood.”

“And y/n…” He squeezes your hand ever so slightly, and your breath catches in your throat. “You do not have to hide what you are around me.” His gaze finds yours. “You are a witch after all, are you not?” A witch. The word feels like a slap in the face.

“Are you associated with the House? Did they send you? What is it you want from me?”

“The House? Absolutely not. I left their good graces many years ago. I wouldn’t give them even an ounce of my time anyway.”

“So what? You’re a witch as well?”

“Yes, I suppose I am though I don’t make a habit of calling myself that. Simply an apothecary, much like how you are simply a farmer. Of sorts.” Mingi fidgets in his seat and looks closer at you. “I am genuinely not here to cause you harm or disrupt your life. I imagine we came here for the very same reasons in fact. I simply want to live by my own terms, not anyone else’s.”

“Get out,” you whisper. Perhaps there are hundreds of better ways to handle this, but you have never had to do such a thing in all your time here, and you cannot be faulted for acting out of panic and fear now. Your voice comes out louder now, “Get out of my home then! Get out and don’t come back d-don’t dare tell anyone.”

“The energy is permeating the entire house.” Mingi keeps his tone quiet as he continues to speak through your distress. “Your garden too, I felt it immediately. The rain — it’s in there as well. Sure, it’s always rainy season here but how much of it is because of you?”

“You know what the other name for my kind is, right?”

“You’re a water witch.” 

You retract your hand from his with a scoff.

“The House tends to call us Scyllans. Sweet temptresses of the deep, killers of foolish men.”

Mingi somehow has it in him to smile.

“Then I ought to be safe, for I am neither foolish nor a mere man.” He stands without saying another word, collecting his cloak off the back of his chair and slinging it around his shoulders. You can’t help but to stare at him, wary and on edge with every movement he makes even when he reaches the door. “My words hold true, y/n. I hope you think them over at least. And your secret is truly safe with me.”

…

You avoid going into town for so long that Seonghwa seeks you out five days after you go into self-imposed seclusion. It’s easy to keep him off your back at least, and from what you can tell, Mingi has not sought him out to expose your dirty secrets as of yet. The logical part of you understands that you ought to avoid angering the man because he does hold quite a bit of power over you right now. Fear keeps you captive instead, however. 

Two weeks and a day after that fateful encounter you had with Mingi, you dare to leave the comfort of your home. Not to go into the village — that is a step you are not prepared to face — but rather to visit your precious grove in the forest. You should have gone last week as it’s always been your habit to go once a month to rejuvenate your magick; however, you were so on edge that you couldn’t get beyond your back fence and promptly turned right back around. Tonight, you’re determined.

The skies are clear, not a single cloud marring her starry expanses, and the moon hangs high near the center of the sky. Even better yet, it’s a full moon. Ideal conditions for you to bathe in the pond and restore some much-needed energy. You set out forty minutes from midnight even though your trek will not take that long. You need only be there for the highest peak of the moon, so giving yourself this little bit of leeway should allow you all the time required to reach your destination. Despite yourself, you do glance over your shoulder several times on your way out of the house and garden. When you’re content with your loneliness, you set off down the hill.

It’s not as though you decided to dismiss Mingi’s words altogether once he left. You have put much thought and consideration into them, in fact, especially after Seonghwa came to see you and nothing had changed between the two of you. It’s no guarantee that Mingi didn’t tell anyone, but it’s something. The matter of him being a witch like you, well, that has been a contentious debate in your head. A true warlock calling themselves a witch is considered heresy to many, so you have to believe that Mingi is being truthful with you. You know enough about his magick to know for certain he is either one or the other. But at the end of the day, there is no way for him to prove as much. All he has is his word to back him up, and all you can do is either accept it as truth or deny it. 

Long ago, you had settled on the knowledge that you would likely be a rather lonely creature for the rest of your days. Finding Charybid and its people was a welcome blessing, but not a permanent one, and the friends you’ve made (especially Seonghwa and Yunho) cannot understand what it is you are or relate to you on any matter concerning witchcraft. You’ve long since accepted that loneliness as a part of you even if there are pieces of your heart craving warmth and understanding from another like you. 

If it were possible, could Mingi be that sort of person in your life? Does he crave the same thing? Is that why he confronted you to begin with?

You reach the grove with a heavier heart than anticipated. Moonlight creeps in through the canopy of branches overhead, glistening off the half-circle of rocks around milky green waters. The moon has already been charging the pond for hours, and you feel the pulse of magick resonating deep in you from the bottom of it. 

Stripping down to nothing, you drop your clothes into a pile near the rocks with your satchel and toe at the water. It’s frigid as expected, thanks to the encroaching winter that is coming closer and closer still. You sink into it fully and submerge yourself in the charged waters. Several meters down at the bottom lies your precious black pearl, glowing a deep purple shade to show exactly how much magick she’s stored since you last came. You let the waters hold you for some time until the dull thrum you feel around you turns into a hum that makes your skin feel like it’s full of electricity. 

It’s only then that you decide to emerge once more, breaking the surface of the water and letting air replace the magick in your lungs. 

Yet, you find that you are not alone.

Bent so far over the pond that he looks one slip away from tumbling down into it, none other than Mingi sits crouched at the edge. It’s far too late to pretend as though you haven’t made note of each other. Depending on which direction Mingi came from, he may not have even seen your belongings behind the rocks. You sink lower in the water until it comes up to cover your lips. 

“My apologies. I did not know you were here.” Just his gaze is enough to make your body warm. You tilt your chin up.

“Is that so?”

“I came because of the magickal energy, yes. Not because I knew you would be here.” He’s not far from you. The moon shines her pretty rays down around him, and you blame her for the insatiable tug in your gut that’s making you want to pull him into the waters with you. “I have been thinking about you though,” he admits under his breath. You imagine the words are not meant for your ears, but he doesn’t seem to realize he’s spoken them out loud. It takes little movement on your part to swim closer to him, and you only stop when he is perched directly above you.

“Do I look the part of a temptress now?” you inquire, hand breaking through the surface of the water to caress his cheek. 

“Incredibly so,” he murmurs. “I see why foolish men fall. Perhaps I am no better.”

“You know nothing about me.” You trace your fingers down to his chin. 

“I know enough.”

You shush him with a laugh and a finger placed directly over his lips. “The sun gives you her power during the day, but on nights like these, the moon offers me a fair exchange. Her power for my sexual energy. That is where a water witch’s magick comes from, and it’s what has earned us all those myths and urban legends about eating men. Now that you know that of me, should I trust you in return?”

“I am what I say I am. I am a fire witch. I defected from the House of Ballads five years ago. To answer your question, though, if…” His gaze has become lidded, focus drawing down to your lips with each word he tries to speak. You feel just as overwhelmed and foggy yourself, the excess magick seeping into you from all angles as the moon inches ever closer to her peak. “…you deem it wise.”

“I think some part of me might.”

“Did you consider what I said to you last time?”

“But of course. It wasn’t so long ago that I’ve forgotten already.” A sigh escapes you as you look up to where the moon can just barely be seen through the trees. “I’d like to give you a chance, if only because of morbid curiosity and the fact that I have made it a decade without finding another like myself.”

You inch up and graze Mingi’s lips with your own. His fingertips tickle the surface of the water, and the effect is nearly instant. Warmth surrounds you and draws a gasp out of you that has you curling away from Mingi’s face. He leans back.

“I cannot restrain myself well enough tonight. Not in the presence of such potent magick.” You are equal parts pleasantly surprised and grossly disappointed by his willpower. With a smile, you push away from the edge of the pond and head further into the water. Mingi almost makes the mistake of following you, teetering at the grassy bank.

“You are welcome to visit again. So long as I am not nude or compromised.”

“I-I—” His cheeks are stained a deep red by now.

“I do not intend to put on a show for you tonight, Mingi, but I am in desperate need of the moon’s energy. If that is all, then…?” Were the circumstances any different, you would consider your wording to be crude in that you are essentially asking him to leave so that you can fuck yourself with the crystal you brought along with you in your bag. 

He clears his throat and sits completely back on his heels, gaze wandering across your face. Licking over his lips, his eyes linger on the water droplets running from your hairline to your jaw. 

“I will come to you when the first snow falls,” he says. “So that you may have time to contemplate things further. My decision is already made, and I'm sure you're aware of it. Please… please let me know then what your choice is.” You want to retort that he doesn’t have the best track record thus far, but instead leave well enough and wave him away with a grin. A bout of laughter leaves your lips as soon as he passes through the clearing and out of sight.

“Are you testing me?” you whisper to the moon, receiving nothing but her monotonous glow in response. You wade over to the rocks where you left your belongings and quickly rifle through your pack in search of the rose quartz you brought along. It’s cold to the touch, unpleasant in comparison to the warm body that you just had with you and within your grasp. While the shape isn't perfect, it gets the job done in the absence of the real deal, and it serves its purpose just fine. Not like you have any other options as it is.

Part of you entertains the idea of having Mingi still here — from a practical standpoint, consummating the ritual with another magick user would be far more effective than using a crystal charged by the moon. But from a pleasure standpoint…

You dip your fingers between your legs, letting your body fall back to rest your head on the edge of the pond as you seek your core between your folds. The magick at your fingertips pulses through you and sends a jolt into your system just from the slightest brush. A soft mewl falls from your lips. You feel Mingi’s magick still permeating all throughout the water, clinging to your skin, and on your lips, you taste fire from that minute little kiss exchanged in a fit of passion.

No matter how hard you try, you cannot get your fingers deep enough inside your cunt. Instead, your thoughts are plagued by the visual of Mingi’s hands, his long fingers, the searing heat that emanates from them, and the all-consuming desire to know what it would feel like to have them inside you.

You cannot even bring yourself to waste time right now; slipping your fingers free, you plunge the toy in your other hand into yourself and sink it all the way in until the pressure in your gut is eased the slightest bit. It's blissfully cold against your walls; the coolness eases the burn that seems to be wedged beneath your skin and brings some clarity back to your mind. It does not, however, chase every thought of Mingi from your brain. In the haze of your vision, you can hallucinate him before you still, imagine him in the spot where he was not long ago watching you with those fiery intense eyes and urging you on. A louder cry of pleasure tumbles out of you as you're forced to twist and brace yourself on a rock to keep increasing the pace of the toy's thrusts inside you.

It ought to fill you with some degree of shame, you think, because who lusts so strongly after a stranger who poses something of a threat to your well-being and livelihood? But when your mind goes back to the idea of his large hands gripping your waist and hips as he splits you open on his cock, you can't be bothered in the slightest about the speed at which you're becoming invested in this man — all that matters is the speed at which you're thrusting the crystal dildo in and out of your pussy as an orgasm creeps up on you. You have to bury your face in the crook of your arm to have some semblance of sanity to cling to. And when you unravel soon after, it’s his name on your lips.

…

The first snow of the season is late.

You have been trying to avoid thinking about it solely on account of the superstition that mulling it over will only delay it further, but those attempts are futile. Because when you tell yourself to not think about it, you only end up thinking about it more, then you devolve into a sick cycle of reasoning with yourself and the moon and any deity out there who will give you the time of day. 

While you could set your pride aside for the sake of what it is you’re waiting on exactly, that is simply not in your nature. Additionally, you want to see whether Mingi will uphold his end of the bargain. He promised to come at the first snow. So you will wait for that day. 

Your gardens are thriving thanks to the lack of snow and the amplified support of your fully-charged magick, which is the only positive you can find in this situation while you essentially sit on your hands and wait. The downside is, however, that the temperatures are still steadily declining, and you always struggle in the winter to keep your home warm enough. Your specialty may be in water magick, but that does not mean you have any control or power over the temperature of said water, and everything around you tends to skew a bit cooler as it is. The thought of how cold you are and your house is and everything in between only pushes your thoughts more towards the lack of warmth and a potential source of it that will not come unless the fucking snow does first.

If you have to put up with seeing Mingi’s smiling face across the street while you’re pestering Seonghwa one more time then you may truly snap and lose all semblance of self-respect.

…

You’re knelt in a bed of rosemary when the first flakes of snow start to hit your skin. At first, you think it to be just rain but then a flurry touches one of the purple blossoms on the herb. The shout you let out is a terrifying mixture of joy and exasperation because at long last, your agonizing wait can finally come to a close. The way you scramble to pull yourself out of the dirt and rush indoors ought to be more embarrassing. It takes you all of five minutes to change out of your grimy gardening clothes and into something cozier and cleaner, though all you do is park yourself at the kitchen table with a mug of hot tea and stare out the window waiting for any sign of movement on the hill. The snow is coming down harder already, a billowing cloud of white that cloaks the dirt and grass on the ground. It doesn’t even occur to you to think that Mingi might not come at all, that he might have forgotten or worse — simply not chosen to come at all — because your patience has worn so thin over the past weeks that you feel relief just seeing the snow.

And luckily for you, Mingi is far more timely and true to his word than he was before. You neglected to keep track of the time, though you haven’t finished your tea yet by the time his lanky figure comes over the crest of the hill. You know it to be him instantly because his fiery hair is visible through the white all around him. 

You’re at the door before you can think twice, flinging it open and making your way down the path to the gate as though you aren’t in the biggest rush of your life. Behind him, there’s a trail of footsteps where the snow has melted under his feet, and the closer he gets, the better you can see how not even a single snowflake sticks to him in any way. Every flake that touches even the outside of his cloak simply melts upon contact, leaving him pristine in the sea of white falling around you.

“Did you wait long?” he asks upon reaching your gate. Somehow he manages to maintain a lilting tone that makes your brain itch. You want to kiss him so silly that all that smugness dissipates like the snow on his skin. “Y/n.” The breathy exhale of your name is all it takes for you to grab him by the collar and yank him down to your level. The warmth is so blessedly welcome. “Have you made your decision?” 

You slot your lips against his, licking at the seam of his lips without waiting for further invitation. He scrambles with the latch on the gate, though you’re of no help at all with how you’re trying to pull him over it, but once that pesky barrier is pushed open just a little bit, he slides through the gap and seals his body against yours. Even though the cold doesn’t seem to be affecting him much, his breathing still comes out in pants, like he sprinted the whole way here from town without rest. He clasps his hands around the back of your neck, thumbs caressing the underside of your jaw, and each kiss he plants on your lips is more searing than the last. It takes all you have to not trip over backward on your feet with him guiding you back towards the door of your home. The two of you don’t even make it through the door before he’s pushing you up against the doorframe and slotting a knee between your thighs. 

“Please, y/n, let me hear it from these pretty lips,” he begs. Your whole body is alight with something — either magick or lust or something in between those things that you can’t distinguish at present. The heat radiating off his body makes your head spin, and it’s such an intoxicating sensation that you reach your hands beneath the fabric of his cloak to be closer to skin.

“I trust you, I need you, I want you to have me,” you murmur back. Mingi pushes his lower lip out with the tip of his tongue. His gaze carries the same heat you’ve grown used to seeing all the time when you look at his eyes. Now, the weight of it feels heavier. Your breath hitches in your throat as he wraps an arm around your back, and his fingers dig into your side briefly. You’re pulled away from the doorframe and into the house only for him to slam the door shut and lock the snow out. What you aren’t expecting is to be flattened to the surface face first mere seconds later.

“I want to have you right here and now,” Mingi growls behind you. Every brush of his hands over your body leaves goosebumps in their wake along with the heat of his magick seeping into your skin. He takes apart your bodice carefully, pulling each string with a startling amount of care compared to his desperate rush to have you. A sort of fever takes hold of you, and with each piece of clothing he removes from your being, the more the fire in your belly roars. Glancing down, you see your clothes fallen into a heap on the floor, along with his cloak, then his coat, his shirt — each piece of fabric goes to join the pile until you feel bare skin against yours. The bliss of the contact is so immense that you let out a pitiful moan.

“Mingi.”

“Raise your arms over your head for me, y/n.” 

“Mingi,” you utter again, following the instruction without a breath of hesitation. He takes both of your wrists between just one of his hands and pins them to the flat surface of the door. Your chest trembles under your breaths. 

“I will not be rough with you unless you allow it. How I take you is up to you… whether it be me taking you apart gently or fucking you hot and raw right here and now.” You can’t take the sensation of his breathing down your neck without squirming. No matter how hard you squeeze your thighs together, there’s no relief for the pulsing need for pressure there. The moment Mingi catches onto your attempts, he wedges his knee between your legs and leaves you to rock back on his muscled thigh for some sort of escape.

“Please.” It’s as though there’s cotton in your mouth keeping you from fully forming any kind of sentence because although your thoughts are running at a mile per minute, you cannot seem to get more than one word out at a time. Mingi nudges you forward into the door once again. He replaces the pressure of his thigh with his unoccupied hand, cupping your cunt and dragging his middle finger along the slit of your folds.

“You’re coming undone already, my little witch.” Mingi suddenly flicks his finger forward over your clit, and your knees buckle. Your reaction delights him so much that he repeats the action two more times, and your body truly becomes putty in his hands. He keeps you up between the hand holding your wrists to the door and the one cupped around your sex, but you aren’t sure your muscles could keep you up on their own without the help. Especially not when Mingi gets more daring and pulls a second finger into the mix to tease the ring of your entrance with small, methodical circles.

“Put them in me, put your fingers in!” you cry out only for Mingi to roll over your clit once again. His cock is twitching against your ass, firm and big, and part of you wants to forget everything else solely to have him in your mouth and down your throat. 

“Is that how good girls ask for things?” He pinches your clit between his fingers until you’re whimpering out an apology and smearing drool across the door. “Ask again. Nicely this time, sweetheart.”

“Please f-fuck me with your fingers, please open me up for you, I w-want to feel you so badly.” Nonsensical babbling is enough for him, blessedly, because you’re not confident that anything more coherent than that could make its way out of you right now. He rolls the pads of his fingers up against your clit again before going any lower. His laugh is borderline sadistic when you curl your fingers into the wood, nails clawing for some sort of grip that will help you ground yourself. “Wanna come so—!”

“That’s it, come for me, lovely. Then I’ll fuck you nice and loose on my fingers while you’re coming.” Mingi retracts his fingers right when your gut clenches, and as your walls squeeze tight around nothing, he slips two digits into your cunt. Your lips part in a silent scream, moans caught in the back of your throat. Your vision goes white behind your eyelids though it lasts so much longer than what you’re used to getting from your own hand and toys. Perhaps it’s because Mingi doesn’t let up on you even in the throes of your orgasm, or thanks to your magickal energies intertwining in the most raw and intimate way imaginable. “Let me open you up some more first, then I’ll give you what you want.”

You blink your eyes open and look at Mingi out your peripherals, mouth wide open and cheek still pressed harshly into the door even though you’re the one keeping it there. 

“Do you want it too?” you ask out of the blue. Your voice is tight and strained. His fingers curl inside you.

“So badly,” comes his quick reply, “that it’s taking everything in me not to put my dick in you right now. But I don’t want to hurt you.” As though to emphasize his feelings, Mingi rolls his hips forward, and his cock rubs hard against your ass. “Doesn’t even look like it’s gonna fit in you, fuck.”

“Mingi, I need you in me now, like right this instant now, not in five minutes now.” The first orgasm has your vision hazy and legs wobbly, but that’s far from a concern to you at the moment. Your urgency pushes the man behind you to have the same sort of franticness, hurriedly slipping his fingers free of your cunt and readjusting his hold so that he can grip the base of his dick. You hold perfectly still for him as he lines himself up with your waiting hole that’s already sopping with arousal. Your pussy takes him in like it’s greedy for it, each inch sliding in and spreading you wider to accommodate to his size. One thing’s for certain: Mingi has a stupidly big dick, so big that it makes you wonder if you’d be able to feel it through your stomach if you put a hand there. 

Whatever shreds of patience he had left in him turn to ash the second he’s fully buried balls-deep in you. He doesn’t wait even a second before he pulls out about halfway, and the only stutter in his rhythm comes from him trying to find it. You’re suddenly rather glad that he’s keeping your hands up for you because the drive of his cock inside your pussy would bring you to your knees otherwise. The sounds of pleasure fill your ears — his low baritone moans tangled alongside your more throaty ones that crack here and there, the slap of his hips hitting your ass, and the thumping of the door as he fucks you so hard against it that it trembles. 

“Y-You’re so deep, I feel you in my stomach,” you choke out between moans. It devolves into a sob as Mingi shifts his angle upwards a bit and hits a new spot deep inside you that has you seeing stars. 

“Yeah? Your pussy is clinging to me nice and tight, lovely, I think you like it a little too much.” He has enough composure to still speak without crying, meanwhile, tears are starting to pool at the corners of your eyes as the overstimulation of your senses and nerves reaches unimaginable heights. “Bet your pretty little toy isn’t even half as big as me.”

Mingi thrusts so hard into you that his grip on your wrists falters, and one of your hands falls free. He doesn’t bother correcting it, nor do you try to keep it up any longer, instead rushing to get your fingers around your clit again. You’re so hyperfocused on chasing the high of another orgasm that you don’t warn him it’s about to hit you this time. He knows well enough when your body seizes for a moment before releasing every bit of tension in your muscles. Your walls flex around his cock, working him in time with the waves of your euphoria, until he can’t take it anymore and pulls free of your hole. He rests his length atop the cleft of your ass and thrusts a few more times there, then comes his release. Hot ropes of come shoot out from his cock, painting your naked back into a messy canvas of come and sweat.

Despite the sudden quiet filling the house, your hearing is hypervigilant and clings to every slight noise that comes from your partner, from his fight to get air into his lungs to the hand he now rubs over his spent cock. 

“You…” Your throat is too dry and you end up coughing instead of getting a sentence out. Mingi’s fingers trace small, unknown patterns into your hip. “You’re welcome to stay through winter. That’s my answer.”

“Through winter?” Mingi hums. He slips his hand around your waist and flattens his large palm over your abdomen. “What about spring?”

“Then too.”

“And summer?” He’s teasing you again. Somehow he still has the energy to do that.

“And summer and autumn then winter again. But maybe by the spring after that, I’ll be sick of you!”

“You won’t be,” he says through a laugh, lips brushing against the side of your head. You’re going to need better retorts if he plans on sticking around that long.

────────────

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this work belongs to caly / hongism (2023). do not copy, repost, or plagiarize in any way.

[lqveharrington]

Silver Roses & Fallen Snow

8: The Planning (series masterlist)

summary: You finally see Coriolanus for the first time in weeks, but it shakes the both of you to the core.

pairing: young!coriolanus snow x fem!reader

includes: explicit thoughts, explicit language, mentions of death, mentions of cheating

wc: 3.4k+

a/n: this series is the epitome of my life 🤍

To say you were shocked to see Coriolanus back from peacekeeping twenty years early was an understatement. The last time you heard about Coriolanus was a week ago and it was barely any information. You guessed that he could climb his way back up the ranks, but you would never know unless someone told you… However, you kept your shock from altering your facial features, but that didn’t stop Coriolanus from approaching your table. Luckily, Festus came back from grabbing his own drink before a certain blonde reached you.

“Hey, we have to go.” You shut your planner as he began to sit down, making him throw you a skeptical look. You opened your mouth, looking for a random excuse to leave the outing you wanted to take. “I… uhm, I forgot I have to meet Clemmie for the gala plans.”

He raised his brows in surprise. You rarely forgot about something, especially when you kept your planner with you every second since your father moved up the engagement. So Festus knew you were avoiding something with the way you kept your gaze locked on his and how you kept spinning the ring on your finger. “Okay. But just so you know, Clemensia won’t give away any details.”

You tilt your head with a faint smile on your lips. That part was true. Clemensia loved planning parties, so you hired her to become the Lovett family’s official planner. You took Festus’ arm when he offered it, quickly grabbing your hot chocolate and planner in the other. Unfortunately, before you could take a step out of the cafe, a voice called out to the both of you. A distinct voice that made you flinch at the mere sound.

Festus widened his eyes. So that’s why you wanted to leave. He didn’t have any issues with the young Snow himself, but Festus respected your wishes. He squeezed your arm in comfort and turned around with a tight-lipped smile. “Coriolanus! When did you get back?”

“Just a couple days ago. Dr. Gaul has kept me under her wings since I’ve arrived.” Coriolanus shrugged his shoulders when he came face to face with the both of you. He glanced over at you, frowning when you kept your gaze on your paper cup. He watched you for a little longer, making the silence unbearable for each party. Coriolanus cleared his throat, looking back at Festus. “How have you been?

He felt you squeeze his arm, opting to keep the conversation short and sweet for your sake. “It’s been pretty busy.”

Coriolanus tilted his head at the curt answer. He sent the male across from him a puzzled look before responding, “I won’t keep you two long since you looked like you were going to leave. I have to head back before the Plinths rebuke their offer anyway.”

You furrow your brows at his words, finally looking up. His words intrigued you, but you suddenly felt suffocated. Your breath hitched in your throat. You didn’t take a good look at Coriolanus earlier and now you wish you hadn’t looked up at all. He was fucking jacked. What the hell were they feeding him in District 12? Sure, he looked… Pretty much the same. But his build got much bigger and his hair was still growing out from its buzz cut; Of course, you couldn’t help but eye him when he wore such a revealing shirt. You wondered how much stronger he got and how he could—

No. You stopped wondering. You weren’t dating him anymore. Feeling your face warm at your thoughts, you flickered your eyes back from his form to his — now — sapphire-colored eyes. A small smirk played on his lips as he caught you in the act, making it harder for you not to roll your eyes at his antics.

Now was not the time to think about your past relationship together. Even when he looked so fucking hot. You averted your eyes again, mentally cursing him for having such a strong effect on you.

Coriolanus tilted his head down as he smiled to himself. You had shown your cards to him, yet he knew why you didn’t act upon your feelings. He knew that you hadn’t forgotten about his past actions during the Games, causing him to act differently when interacting with you. He spoke softly when he finally acknowledged you instead of just staring — voice laced with an emotion you couldn’t place.

You grip your planner tighter, heart constricting at the sound of your name falling from his lips. Of course, his voice did something to you too. You respond politely, catching a glimpse of his dimples before it disappears. “Coriolanus.”

“How have you been?” He glances at the ring adorning your finger again.

This time, you catch him staring at the fine piece of jewelry, making you hide it once more. “I’ve been okay.” You say quietly. Not even a second later, your mouth went dry, your mind slowly wandering back to sinful thoughts when you catch his hand rubbing his jaw in thought.

Another awkward silence encapsulated the three of you. You and Coriolanus stared at each other, lost in a multitude of thoughts. It’s been over a month since you last interacted with one another and it wasn’t like you both left off on a good note.

Festus glanced between the two of you before clearing his throat when he saw your eyes glaze over. “Sorry to cut our conversation short, but we need to get going. Clemensia is waiting for us back at Lovett Manor.”

Coriolanus snapped his head back over to the male, forgetting he was present. “Go ahead, I’m still waiting on drinks for Tigris and Grandma’am.” His regret-filled eyes met your gaze again, softly speaking. He didn’t really want you to leave yet. Not when he just saw you again for the first time in a while. “It was nice catching up with you.”

You gave him a sad smile and nodded, following Festus out of the cafe. Seeing Coriolanus Snow again was not on your planner.

“Tigris?” Coriolanus entered the Snow penthouse with drinks in tow. He knew by your reaction at the cafe that you were in touch with Tigris more than he thought you would be. Passing the rebuilt and redecorated rooms of the penthouse, he continued to call out for his cousin. He knew he could get more information about you out of her. “Tigris?”

“I’m in here!” The blonde shouted from her new sewing room that was all bought for by Strabo Plinth. She dabbed at the sheen of sweat on her forehead as Coriolanus entered with her tea. “Oh, thank you, Coriolanus.”

He hummed and pulled a chair out, straddling the seat as his cousin sipped the hot tea. “You’ll never guess who I saw today.”

“Who?” She gave a satisfied sound as the hot liquid soothed her throat.

Your name fell from his lips effortlessly — a turned-down smile replacing his cool display. Tigris chalked it up to her cousin missing you dearly, making her rub his back comfortingly.

“How is she?” Tigris sat across from Coriolanus. She watched his smile widen just a little before it dropped. “Coriolanus?”

He snapped his eyes back onto hers, “I was wondering the same thing, Tigris.” Coriolanus clasped his hands together to stop his fidgeting, urging himself not to reach for the silver rose tucked underneath his shirt. “It occurred to me that when you called me, that wasn’t her first time speaking with you after I left. She wouldn’t have been too comfortable looking for you in the coffee shop if she didn’t.”

The older blonde raised her brows, stunned at her cousin’s sudden accusation. Although it was quite correct, she felt that he would do something that wouldn’t be lawful if she admitted to talking to you more often than he thought. “Well, we spent the afternoon catching up, Coriolanus. It had been weeks since I last saw her in person before you called.”

Fuck it. He reached for the necklace and twisted the charm between his fingertips. “So you called her? What did she tell you?”

“If you’re so interested in her life, ask her yourself.” Tigris stood up and walked over to the sewing machine, rubbing her temple in exhaustion. “Coriolanus, I’m tired. We had to sign off on all the contractors for the penthouse and then move back in within a week. They’re still refurbishing the place as we speak.”

“I would ask her myself, Tigris. But she won’t listen. She wanted to leave the second she saw me.”

“Maybe because you cheated on her!” Tigris put her hand out toward him. She wore a look of exasperation as he looked at her, stunned by the words. “Coriolanus, if I were her, I too would avoid the person who cheated on me. Especially when that person said they have loved me since we were children.”

Coriolanus stared up at her like she was insane for shouting at him. Yes, he cheated on you. But it was all for you wasn’t it? He could have come up with a better idea, but he was desperate to win your father over for you. And it wasn’t like he sought Lucy Gray out in the Districts. Sejanus clearly did so. However, Tigris made her point. He knew he had to gain your trust once more; he just didn’t know how.

“Now get out, Coriolanus. I need to finish this dress before the gala.”

Oh. He thought, pushing out of the chair. He quickly shut the door and took quick strides to his room, glancing at the photo on his desk. The gala might just work.

“Hey, didn’t I say not to do that? You could seriously get hurt if you fought with someone untrained.” Finn caught your wrist in a swift motion, eyebrows creased at your tense body and face. “What’s wrong?”

You huff and push yourself out of the rink, leaning against the pole. “Did you know Coriolanus is back from peacekeeping?”

He raised a brow and tossed a water bottle toward you. “No, thanks for the information on blondie though.”

Rolling your eyes, you continue with your spiel. “Anyway, we kind of ran into each other at the cafe. God, it was so awkward, Finn! He kept looking over at me when he would talk to Festus, and I swear, he purposely smiled with his dimples to get a reaction out of me. And when I tell you that he’s like—“

“Uh-huh. No, keep talking about how much you like your ex.”

“What?” You throw him a dirty look. What could you have possibly said that made him think you liked Coriolanus?

“Well, you kept talking about him for starters. I mean, all our conversations end up with you talking about him at some point.” Finn nudged your arm, watching you glare at him with intensity. “You asked!”

“I didn’t mean to say it out loud.” You mutter, spinning the ring on your finger again. It wasn’t your fault Coriolanus looked different…

Stop! You’re not dating anymore!

Finn gives you a worried look as a scowl makes its way to your face from your thoughts. “If you need a reminder, he cheated on you. He broke your trust when you thought everything was going to be fine.”

That sobered you up fast. Coriolanus cheated on you with a tribute. From District Twelve. Sure he apologized many times, but you couldn’t bring yourself to trust him after that. What if he cheated again? What if he lies to you again? No, your broken heart couldn’t handle another day where it could be back-stabbed and absolutely shattered once more.

“Are you okay?” Finn tapped your hand as you snapped out of your dazed look.

You nodded and cleared your throat. You could worry about Coriolanus any other time. Right now you had to train. Especially when the gala was fast approaching. There were other things that you needed to get right before fixing other mistakes like what you were going to do about Sejanus’ death.

His death was surprising. He had been careful when talking about his rebel plans with others he could trust. Which meant someone had betrayed him. But who? Of course, Sejanus wouldn’t tell another peacekeeper about his plans — that was too risky. That meant someone in the District betrayed him. You just had to figure it out.

You relayed your thoughts to Finn, who gave you an intrigued look.

“How are you going to do that?” He blocked your jabs, the mind weighing the options of the set plan.

“Well,” You roll your shoulders before aiming toward his boxing pads again. “The Lovett Gala is coming up, and my father requests more staff as he intends to invite most of the Capitol Elites. He was going to hire more lower-class Capitolites, but since he felt like being… Generous, he decided that he was going to hire those from the poorer Districts.”

He raised a brow, “You really thought this all the way through.”

“Of course.” You give him a quick smile. “And you’ll have an invite. You won’t have to sneak in with the staff.”

“How kind of you.” Sarcasm dripped from Finn’s voice. “I have to put on my best suit.”

“You own a suit?” You tilt your head to the side.

Finn swept your legs, “And your session is officially done for the day.” He pulled you up when you apologized, squeezing your arm. Finn removed his boxing pads as you quickly lost the gloves. He knew you were joking, but his advice seemed fitting for both your plan and your smart mouth. “Please think about your choices before you commit. I don’t want you to be pushed into trouble.”

You gave a curt nod, half listening to his words. Trouble was nothing your mind and heart couldn’t handle.

For weeks, you had been looking for something to take your mind off Coriolanus. And you thought boxing solved your issues, but seeing him reset your entire progress. You were thrown off guard, and the only way to deal with the issue was to face it. But how could you? Coriolanus is, was, the epitome of your entire life. And somewhere deep in your heart, he was still buried there. No, you needed to avoid him for as long as you could.

“Clemmie, I don’t think we need two orchestras.” You read her notes and glance at all the other photos and drawings scattered around your room. When you don’t get a response from her, you look up to find her running around your room to find another pair of notes. “Clemensia, you need a break.”

She stops shuffling through a stack of papers and looks over at you with a quizzical expression. “The gala is in exactly one week, and you’re telling me to stop?” The raven-haired girl flicks through the papers before finding the one she needs, handing you a copy.

You read through the paper, finding it to be an invitation list of all the prestigious Capitolites. Some you recognized; some you didn’t even know existed until now.

“We can’t stop until everything is sorted out. And your father requested that at the end of the gala, you and Festus need to make an announcement on your engagement since you didn’t make the papers when he proposed.” She waved a hand in the air and scrunched her nose. “Honestly, your father is kinda crazy. Sorry.”

“He is.” You shrug but continue to scan over the list, a small frown tugging at your lips at Coriolanus’ name. You twist the end of the paper with your finger, hoping that this is just a draft. “Are we inviting all of these people?”

“Uh,” Clemensia glanced over at your paper and then back at hers. She pulled a face before flickering through another stack of papers. “I think so. That was the list your father handed me a couple of days ago.” She handed you a small, card stock paper. “These were the invitations he chose to be sent out. They just need to be hand delivered today and you should be getting RSVPs as early as tomorrow morning.”

You carefully take the navy blue invitation from her hand, running your fingers over the indents of the words. “But why would my father invite the Snows? I thought he hated them?”

She let out a sigh, “Honestly? I think it's a given that he has to invite them. If not, there would be questions. The Snows and the Lovetts have been bound together since before you were born.”

Raising a brow, you eye the invitation again, slipping it underneath your comforters. “Right, we have to keep appearances up.”

“Mhm,” Clemensia put her hands on her hips and clicked her tongue at the mess. “I really need to get more organized.” She continued to push the stacks and drawings out of her reach, still looking for a specific piece of parchment.

“Anyway, since you’re visiting the modiste later this week, you need a new dress for the gala. Your father wants blue for the theme, but since you’re the hostess, you can pick whatever you please to stand out.” She smiles when she finds the parchment, quickly shoving it into your hands. “Do you like it?”

Your eyes widen at the drawing. The intricate design of your manor’s interior for the gala was beautifully done. “I love it. Clemmie, it’s amazing!”

“Thank you.” She did a faux bow and grinned wider. “All I needed was the approval from you to get this design done.”

You squeeze her hand, “It’s beautiful. The Capitol will be dying to know who designed this all.”

She gladly accepts the compliments before switching back to head planner mode. “The invitations are being sent out right about…” She eyes the clock on your wall before nodding her head. “Now.”

The doorbell rang at the Snow Penthouse, causing Coriolanus to lose his train of thought. He was trying to read a book covering the subject of animal mutants for Dr. Gaul but the thought of seeing you earlier kept his mind occupied. He wanted so badly to apologize in front of the entire cafe, ready to beg on his knees for your forgiveness — but he had more dignity than that. He wasn’t some dog. Instead, he believed he found another way to talk to you. One where you knew you couldn’t escape right away.

The sound of the doorbell ringing again echoed through the penthouse, making Tigris roll her eyes at the impatience of the person. “Coriolanus, can you see who’s at the door?”

He begrudgingly stood up from the sofa and ran his fingers through his short hair, smoothing out any creases in his dress shirt. Coriolanus flung the door open and gave the Avox a bored look, “Yes?”

The Avox handed him the navy blue envelope, nodding at him before taking their leave — leaving a confused Coriolanus. He flipped the envelope to see the Lovett seal, curiosity filling his mind. He shut the door and peeled open the envelope, eyes scanning the cardstock. So your father did invite the Snow family still. Coriolanus bit the inside of his cheek and made his way back over to Tigris, waving the invitation at her. She furrowed her eyebrows at him, tilting her head in agitation.

“What?” She placed her clothes down as she stared at the invitation with zero interest.

��This was at the door, I thought I should let you know.” Coriolanus handed her the cardstock with confusion. “I didn’t think they would still invite us.”

Tigris huffed, “Coriolanus, her father cares about their image as much as we do. They’ll invite us because if they don’t, everyone will wonder exactly what happened with you two. No one knows the full extent.” She handed him the invitation back as she continued to make a silver dress. “Do you wish to go?”

“I was going to ask you that. It’s addressed to you.” He leaned against the doorway with an annoyed look on his face. “I can’t accept it with your name on it.”

“Just RSVP and I’ll take you.” She stopped the urge to roll her eyes at how dense Coriolanus could get whenever the conversation would switch to you. “Honestly…” She muttered as he walked out of the room with the invitation clutched in his right hand.

So the Lovett Gala it was.

Coriolanus’ plan was officially set into motion and your plan was just getting started.

taglist 1: @peterparkerluvvbot @nathaslosthershit @springholland @psychicpuppyarcade @whodis-26 @coconut-dreamz @slytherinholland @lacysversion @perks-of-being-jojo @itzmeme @noodlesketchbook @upsidedownjill @mizuki80 @unclecrunkle @tiaamberxx @bxtchopolis @starrynightstory @namelesslosers @lugiastark @dangelnleif @aemondsb1tch @witchsbitchestime @ace-spades-1 @ordinarylokix @kookie29 @secretsicanthideanymore @angelscrime @ms-longbeach @rosieleej @alpha-mommy69 @loklaufeysonssgodess @aoi-targaryen @imaginebeingmentallystable @sighsophiia @innercreationflower @cascadingbliss @edb954 @castellandiangelo @nowitsmissing @lookclosernow @httpfandxms @goobitagoobre @vxnilla-hxrddrugs @captainbabybear @becauseseaotters @mvdhvtterxx @moonisu @boredperson120 @kuroosbby001 @dcylight-fciry (comment to be added!)

©lqveharrington - all rights reserved. do not copy, translate or share my work on other media platforms

[vivwritesfics]

Poly!Landoscar where they’re on winter break and reader takes them to her home town which is super snowing, ski/snowboard village type vibe? (I’ve got Colorado in my head for some reason🤣) Maybe she’s got a really big family and they all share a cabin for a holiday in the winter?

Making my way through blurb requests tonight (don't be surprised if this is the only one I end up doing)

Snow. It didn't often snow in England, where Lando spent a lot of his Christmases before he met his partners. It didn't snow where Oscar was from, either.

So, when Y/Ns family invited the boys up to the family cabin in Denver, they jumped at the chance. A snow day was exactly what they needed this Christmas.

With the length of the flight, Y/N, Lando, and Oscar decided it best to spend at least two weeks up there. A week with Y/N's family and a week in the cabin.

During their week in Y/N's home, the three of them shared Y/N childhood bed. It was a squeeze for the three of them, who were used to one of those bigger than normal beds. But it was cosy and comfortable in the cold climate that the boys weren't used to.

Lando and Oscar were like kids out in the snow. Lando threw snowballs as Oscar tried his best to build a snowman (but Lando kept aiming for the snowman, hitting the head off of the body). When Oscar was finish, Y/N came out with a spare hat and scarf. She wrapped it around the snowman, standing back to admire Oscar's work.

On the second week on their holiday, the throuple, along with Y/N's parents, set off for their holiday cabin. Y/N's siblings and families were to meet them their. Her brother and her sister both had families of their own, partners they had married and a gaggle of kids each.

Y/N had warned Lando and Oscar about the gaggle of kids on the drive up. "They are wild, feral demons," she said, driving behind her parents. "Don't let them bully you, okay? Because, you show one sign of weakness, and they'll be on you."

"Should we be scared?" Asked Oscar. When Y/N drove (which wasn't very often, only when they were in the states for insurance reasons), Lando would be in the passenger seat and Oscar would be in the back. If it was Oscar driving, Y/N was beside him and Lando was in the back. And, if it was Lando, Oscar was in the front with him.

"Terrified, more like," Y/N answered as the cabin came into view.

The cabin was a part of one of those skiing villages. It was owned by the entire family, Y/N's parents, aunt and uncles on both sides. They just had to stay coordinated enough to ensure it was being evenly shared.

Y/N parked up beside her parents. "Game plan is we settle in and hit the slopes," she said and pushed open the car door.

The boys grabbed their things from the back of the car. They didn't let Y/N carry anything as she led them into the cabin, following her parents.

When they got inside, Y/N's parents were stood in the foyer. "We've been thinking," said Y/N's mother as the boys set their things down, "that, because there are three of you, you guys should get the master bedroom."

Y/N's brows furrowed. "Are you sure?" She asked them.

With his jaw clenched, Y/N's father nodded his head. "Just remember, we'll be in the room next door," he said, staring past her, at Lando and Oscar.

After they unpacked their things, Y/N took the boys skiing. They started on the easiest slope, since Lando and Oscar didn't have as much skiing experience. They had some, but not a lot.

Once the skiing was done, Y/N took Lando and Oscar to the café in the skiing village. She'd been going there since she was a kid, most of the staff being friends she knew from high school.

After ordering three rounds of hot chocolate, Y/N joined the boys by the window. As she sat down, they were by the window, watching as the snow fell. "This is amazing," Lando muttered as he cupped his hand around his hot chocolate.

***

Y/N's siblings had arrived that evening. It had taken the kids three hours to break Lando and Oscar.

Y/N and her siblings had all been ice skating since they were children. The sisters had played hockey while growing up and now the kids did the same.

As soon as they'd met Lando and Oscar, the kids had been trying their best to get them to take them skating. It didn't matter that they couldn't skate, but it was what the kids wanted. They'd been screaming, jumping up and down on the sofa as they screamed at Lando and Oscar.

And then the boys agreed.

The kids settled down for the night, with the promise of going skating the next day.

The skating... wasn't going well. Lando and Oscar were like bambi on the ice, with the kids skating circles around them. They were tripped up, falling flat on the facing several times.

Y/N's laugher wasn't helping. She stood on the side lines, watching and high fiving the kids as the skated past her.

And then she got onto the rink. "Osc, grab a hold of Lando," she said as she grabbed Lando's hand. Oscar placed his hands on his shoulders as Y/N began skating backwards, pulling them along. She was constantly looking around, keeping an eye on her nieces and nephews.

They managed to trip her up once, with her, Lando and Oscar falling into one pile. But they didn't mind, the three of them erupting into giggles. "Kind of the best snow day ever, right?" She asked and leaned forward to kiss Lando.

She kissed Oscar, too, the kids behind them letting out a series of 'ew's.

[blueberrypancakesworld]

I will stay with you in the dark and beyond

Josh Wahsington x fem!reader

warning : fluff, hurt/comfort, kissing, mental health issues

Summary : A preparation for the meeting after the tragedy, ghosts of the past still haunting him. Cold snow on them as she realizes she just has to stay with him this time…together against the dark abyss inside him.

Info : In short i have to write for ud again (and this is the second time i deleted the first version yayyy) so i hope you like it and Josh just needs some love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Snow flew down and up the big dark mountain as the bus stopped at the single stop in the middle of nowhere. The light broke through the early evening as two people got off the bus, knowing full well that this nowhere held a grisly and bitter sweet secret.

The snow began to creak under their sturdy shoes as they made their first steps off the road and onto the grounds. ,,Still as cold as ever," she muttered, pulling her hat a little more over her ears to protect them from the cold and especially the wind.

A glance to her side, however, let her know that her friend seemed more like an excited child and not a freezing one who still had a long climb ahead of him. ,,As always…but if you're cold, I can keep you warm," he grinned and approached his friend, his hands playing with the bobble on her hat before he pulled the sleep tightly around her neck to keep the cold out.

His green eyes showed love and joy but she knew it had been different a few hours and days ago. She had seen how this journey had weighed on him and how he had tried not to let it show. ,,Josh, my hero," she said, but she knew that if she brought it up now, it would not only ruin his mood but also his world for the day.

She knew how stubborn he could be, she also knew that he always appreciated her help, but now that they were here. It was different. The mountain as they started to walk up seemed bigger, scarier and colder, as if after a year everything would be less inviting, as if she was looking out for them but not in a good way.

But at the latest when Josh took her hand, she felt his cupped hand run over hers, a smile on his lips and always a sweetly cheeky saying and an even worse joke. ,,How about a kiss for the passage," he suggested as they arrived in front of the large iron gate that separated the still wild area from the private one and also told other people they weren't allowed in.

While Josh had climbed over the wall with ease, she knew that with her backpack and not exactly the best grade in sports, it wouldn't be so easy, it was cold, the stones might be icy and who knows what else. ,,A kiss?" she asked curiously, stepping closer to the gate, her hands gripping the cold ice as she was forced to carry her hand and still feel Josh's hand on hers as he stepped closer to the gate.

Green soul mirrors looking back at her, a smile on his lips as he saw her lean forward, but it was he who crossed the last barrier between them.

A brief, intimate kiss, a kiss that she knew would not be the first or the last on this chilly evening. The gate opened shortly afterwards and Josh let her through, putting his arm around her as they walked side by side, laughing and admiring nature to bridge the silence.

A short break in the cable car where she rested her head against his shoulder and he told a little trivial story from his school days about Chris and him. A story of amusement and yet she saw the amusement and the glint of envy in his green eyes.

Eyes that had a goal after they had left the last stretch behind them as they crossed the last few meters and arrived in front of the wooden hut. ,,Frozen like every year," she heard him say as she held the backpacks for a moment and turned away from the forest that lay cold and dark behind them but now saw that Josh had learned.

She smiled as she heard the click of a fire train You've learned not to get a cold from this again she thought back to the last time they were all still standing here outside the door and it had taken so long that the first two days were spent in the beds and they had a cold. ,,And yet you've learned not to make us sick again," she joked, squeezing past him before finally putting down her bags and backpacks and looking inside.

It really hadn't changed, how could it have since the incident a year ago, no one had been here except a few white plush covers had been thrown over the furniture to keep out the dust.

Walking further in and placing her jacket on one of the chairs, she was in the process of removing the platsik covers when she saw Josh still standing at the open door.

Green eyes that seemed to see something in the interior reminded her of what was going on in his head. ,,Josh? Are you all right?" she asked uncertainly, moving from the couch towards him and slowly taking his hand in hers, seeing how he still didn't quite realize where he was.

That it was no longer the tragedy of a year ago, that his medication was supposed to be working. Questions to which she had no answer but suddenly, before she could reach for her cell phone, he seemed to catch himself again.

,,Yes-yes, I'm fine…just distracted for a moment, let's unpack" he interrupted her, ignoring the open door, the snow and the furniture and taking the things they had with them before heading upstairs and down to the basement one by one.

,,Josh…I won't leave you alone again," she said resolutely, closing the door and making a fire in the fireplace before setting to work on the glorious meal that was canned rafioli while she listened to his mumbling in the house from time to time between their conversations.

But he seemed to have caught on, at least for today, as they sat together on the couch again, the TV showing something trivial about bears and their hibernation while they sat under the covers together and enjoyed their feast.

,,You are a true master chef," he praised and took the empty plate from her hand when she saw the smirk on his lips, ,,Well, what can I say, I'm just the best," she replied and put her hands on her hips before she felt Josh pull her slightly towards him.

She held on and she felt his hands grip her tighter and tighter almost as if he was afraid she would disappear, disappear like his sisters, like everything they had experienced.

But she allowed it, knowing that in the time that had passed Josh had gotten help, that in the dark times they had shared together she had been afraid for him when she had seen him at his darkest point and had run away.

But now, never again, she would stay with him, she knew that now, she knew she would stay with him. ,,I'm here Josh…I won't leave you," she reminded him and pulled him even closer to her, feeling a shaky breath come over his lips as he mumbled a thank you before she felt something slightly wet on her shirt.

She didn't have to let go of him to know that he was crying into the crook of her neck, hiding his mind from the house, the world that had taken his siblings from him. ,,Together, the two of us and the other one, we'll get everything sorted out, you hear?" she continued, stroking his back slowly, giving him all the time he needed before she heard him sniffle several times and he slowly detached himself.

My brave darling she thought as she looked into his face her hand I put to his cheek he nestled against it lightly seeking help green teary eyes looking into hers seeking help meeting giving help.

The pain that was behind the green and he seemed to realize now just how much her Josh had suffered…that he had apparently never left the darkness of the night a year ago.

That he hadn't found his way out alone and probably wouldn't if she left him. ,,Thank you for everything for being here and not leaving like her," he murmured, the hint of a smile on his lips that had stopped trembling.

Before she slowly came closer to him, waiting to see if he wanted a kiss, if he needed affection, the moment of calm passed with his slow nod of assent and she kissed him.

She could take away his worries for today at least, because something she knew was healing was the love between them and that, despite the pleasure, the future did not depend on it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[ckret2]

Ya know, as someone who suffers from a physical disability myself who read your recent post, i'm sorta curious for more details on how both Scalene and Bill viewed their shared condition. Scalene in particular, by your post, seems to have had a weird combination of pride in it (how it made her exotic and all) but also, being ashamed of mentioning it and going out of her way to medically correct it in her own child...How would you describe her, and, for that matter, Bill's, feelings?

(For anyone arriving late, this is a follow up on this post here.)

You know how some disabilities end up with a public perception where they're adored for certain "positive" aspects but people still don't understand (and are ableist about) the less positive aspects? Like how depression is romantic when it's "brood romantically like a goth heroine" but gross when it's "can't get out of bed, shower, or meet social obligations"; autism is cute when it's "hand-flapping stimming and getting super interested in a topic" but annoying when it's "noisy stimming & body rocking, won't stop talking about a topic I'm not interested in, and poor social skills"; or the face of albinism is "supermodel with porcelain skin, snow white hair, and crystal blue eyes" and never "cross-eyed sunburned dude perpetually squinting in the sunlight"?

I imagine that her condition is like that, and that she zealously latched onto the positive perception of her condition and worked that for all it's worth; but she wants to be perfect, she wants to be admirable, she wants to be beloved, so the parts of her condition that aren't "popular" have to get hidden and dealt with privately as much as possible. The pageant stage is for showing off her curves; standing funny to try to relieve her side pain is for when people aren't watching.

It's okay to have a disability, but god forbid you look disabled.

Though I wouldn't characterize the medical treatment she got for Bill "going out of her way" to try to correct it. For the most part, things like braces & physical therapy weren't for aesthetics or public perception, but actual quality of life improvements. Without that early intervention, he'd be dealing with serious chronic pain & mobility issues before adulthood.

It's like how if you have significant scoliosis as a child, wearing a back brace during your puberty growing years helps protect you from getting such a crooked back as an adult that you need spinal surgery for the pain. Even if you have no negative feelings about having scoliosis, avoiding a major invasive surgery in 30 years is probably a sound medical decision.

... It just turned out with Bill that more benign issues got swept in with the actual problems.

For Bill's part, the condition is something he'd been led to believe as a child would be a much bigger problem in his life than it ended up being. For one thing, the way the condition presented in him made him a squishy baby, but not as flexible as his mom as an adult. (Though she also worked to increase her flexibility, against every single doctor's advice ever.) And for another, he got turned into an energy being more or less at peak health, after all his childhood medical interventions did their job and before his condition inevitably started to decline in adulthood; and when he doesn't age, doesn't change, doesn't even have a physical body, the condition doesn't progress. He got the best possible outcome, and he feels weird about it.

He'd never claim he's unhappy to not be dealing with chronic pain—that'd be a dumb thing to be unhappy about, and anyway Bill is sooo happy and mentally healthy and nothing ever bothers him ever!!!—but, unspoken, he has a strange sense of loss around it. Another thing missing from the life he "should" have had. Caught in a perpetual limbo where Health Problems™ are always looming 10-15 years in front of him, and have been looming 10-15 years in front of him for a trillion years.

[hunnylagoon]

The Killing Moon

PT1: Camp Spirit

Ellie Williams x Reader

Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.

Premise: You are a camp counsellor who comes back year after year to be at peace in the one place you love the most. Though there is something different in the air, could it be love or maybe an ancient evil you’ve mistakenly awakened?

Warnings: slight mentions of violence / mentions of monsters and cryptids / raunchy humour / spooky?

The Killing Moon Playlist

PART TWO: The Colour Wars

Week One of Summer Camp

Camp Honey Hills is what you could call 'off the radar'. It sat way up past the hills and forests of Oregon, relatively untouched by the urban nightmare of the city. It stayed peaceful and undisturbed as leaves shed from trees and snow covered every inch of ground, but the camp was alive for one season of the year. Even in the quietness of preparing for the campers to arrive you could still hear counsellors laughing with one another and that's how you could tell the camp was waking up from its ten-month slumber.

"Anyone in the White Tail Deer Cabin, over here!" I held my hand up and waved to the kids piling out of the buses, carrying duffle bags bigger than themselves. The first day of camp was always the most stressful, the only thing to get you through was the idea that it would be over soon and we could get to the fun part of summer.

I already had a handful of girls crowding around me, all of them were either ten or eleven; depending on how you look at it, I either got blessed or cursed that I was assigned to a cabin of older girls. While the younger ones were wild and untamable, the older ones tended to be snarky and standoffish, these girls we’re leaning toward wild.

"Hi," I look up from my clipboard to see a scrawny girl, she has long black hair in two French braids, a summer camp staple. "My thing says that Ellie is my counsellor and I don't know who that is."

"All good," I bend down to her height, "It's that pretty girl over there," I point at Ellie, she's talking to one of the girls in her cabin, and her dark eyebrows are furrowed at what I can only assume to be an absurd question. "You're in the Grizzly Cabin, looks like I'll be seeing a lot of you."

The girl doesn't answer me with words, from the way she's looking at me you'd think I just told her that I sat on her hamster. She gives me one last side glance before she struts off and lugs her duffle bag behind her. "That weird girl said I was in your cabin," I hear ever so faintly in the distance, Ellie bites back a laugh.

I shake off the not-so-subtle cruelty of a pre-teen and go back to yelling for all of the girls in my cabin. So far I had seven of the eight campers I was supposed to have, I was in the lead and if I collected all of the girls in my cabin first, that would be more points towards the camp cup. You should know that I take the camp cup very seriously, it really isn't anything more than a trophy that Tommy and Joel give to a cabin but I haven't lost it in the past five years that I've worked here. 

"Is your name Tamar?" I point at a stubby ginger girl, "You look like your name is Tamar," I was on the hunt for the eighth girl in my cabin so I could win the arrival day points. 

"Uh, no," She said, looking as muddled as scrambled eggs "My name is Marcy."

"Then get out of here, Marcy," I look past her and nod at a girl with skin the colour of ebony wood "Are you Tamar?" This girl looks around to double-check that I'm talking to her before she shakes her head no.

"Who's my counsellor then?" Marcy who stands at a maximum of what looks to be a mighty 4'3 is peering into my soul with her icy blue eyes and I almost shudder, all I could think is that someone needed to get this four-foot-nothing girl some contact lenses.

"Your counsellor and cabin should be on the slip of paper that administration gave you."

"I lost my paper."

"Um," I glance around at the other counsellors, collecting their campers. My eyes settle on Abby, she's wearing a Camp Honey Hills T-shirt. She looks like she's got everything more put together and organized than any other counsellor so I decided to dump this kid on her. "It's that blonde girl with the big muscles, you better hurry because she'll crush you if you aren't there in time."

Marcy looks at Abby and then back to me with wide eyes at my words before she scurries away. As I watch her roll up to Abby's group, I quickly realize that there is no way she is in that cabin. Abby got the oldest group, consisting of fourteen and fifteen-year-olds and I was sure that Marcy, with all of her missing teeth, was no older than nine. I avert my eyes to avoid any wrath.

I spot Jesse who is trying to wrangle up his boys who are already rough housing and throwing each other in the dirt. Somehow he always ends up with the returning campers or the savage ones who would surely put my head on a stick before taking a shower. 

"Is this the White Tail Deer Cabin?" A girl with pale skin and brown hair stares me down, she's tall for her age and lanky.

"Are you Tamar?"

"Yeah," She says it like she's annoyed.

"Perfect," I smile, turning to my group "Alright girls, that's everyone," I turn to look in Tommy's direction "I said that's everyone," I enunciate louder to be sure he can hear me, each of my campers gives one another a snide glance. 

Tommy presses his lips together in a thin line and answers me with a thumbs-up. He already knew I would be the first to get my group together, I always was. He and Joel are the camp directors, they were talking about something before I called their attention.

Marcy points at me and Abby looks in my direction, her eyebrows knit together. Great, now I was being snitched on my nine-year-old. Abby calls out my name but I'm already ushering my girls towards the cabins "Who wants to see the cabin?"

In just moments, I'm long gone and walking the trail to the girl's cabins. Breathing one last moment of peace, the earthy bitterness in the air, droplets of last night's rain slipping off leaves. It made me want to savour every moment in the forest I had before summer ended and I had to go back to stuffy dorms and lectures along with people as boring as the city itself. I've never been able to fathom why anyone would dream of the city, of the drug users and creepy men roaming the streets. Concrete everything and headaches from blue light, every day that I was away at college I dreamed of coming back here, I counted down the days I could turn my phone off and disappear from the world for a while.

The boys may have had a shorter walk to their bunkhouse but the girls definitely got the better view. It also didn't hurt that the circle of cabins was right beside the pasture so we woke up to watch horse grazing, unless you don't like horses, then you can just ignore them I guess.

"Okay, ladies," I open the door to our cabin, a little carving of a doe above the doorframe. "This is our cabin, go ahead and claim your bunks, I don't care who goes where, just don't fight about it and no one set up on my bed."

"How do we know which one is yours?" One of the girls, Leslie, asks. 

"Because it's the only one that's set up," I say, bluntly and I see the realization hit her like it was a math equation that finally clicked in her head "You guys can unpack and I'll go over the cabin constitution in a minute."

As my campers piled into the cabin, ravenously fighting over who got which bed, I saw Ellie walking up with her girls. Our cabins were right next to each other, we shared a little porch that Maria decorates with plants while Ellie and I neglect them until they're wilted and we try to save them so we don't get yelled at. Alternatively, dump the responsibility of nurturing plants on one of your campers, kids love to water stuff and feel important.

Ellie's campers begin to walk up the porch and into the cabin, one of her girls runs up to me "I wanna be in your cabin again," Lana pouts, I had her last year and I can't say that I have a least favourite camper but if I could, it would definitely be Lana. "Ellen is so mean."

"Well, maybe she would be nicer if you said her name right." I look up to see Ellie who mouths a 'Thank you'  "Call her Ellie and maybe you two can be nice to each other."

Lana looks between the two of us before wordlessly walking into the cabin in trail of the other girls. "It's shaping up to be an interesting summer."

"We've survived worse," I cross my arms "Do you remember Tucker? That kid Jesse had who managed to tie a piece of dental floss around a wasp and carry it around with him all day like a balloon."

"He was a little weird but he was chill," Ellie jokes, like every other counsellor, she's wearing the Honey Hills T-Shirt and Demin shorts, her auburn hair pulled back into a half up half down style "How about that girl in Dina's cabin who wrote Reid letters pretending to be Priya?"

I laugh "I can't believe it went on so long."

"I can, Reid's a fucking idiot." She says "He pronounces chutney like chut-uh-ney."

"Oh my god, I hate that so much," I was obviously dragging on this conversation, hunting for reasons to talk to her "And the way he says Ibiza and Cuba and like everything." 

"Do you remember when he joined the women supporting women club in high school?"

"Please don't remind me, that was awful," I chuckle "The worst part is that he ran that shit like the navy."

"Are you coming inside?" Chloe pokes her head out the door.

"I guess so," I answer "Uh, I'll see you at the campfire," I tell Ellie before stepping into my cabin and seeing pure chaos. The four bunkbeds that were pristinely set up just hours ago were now clad in each girl's personal bedding, ranging from Chloe's neat colour scheme of light blue and white to Kim's mismatched quilts, fuzzy pillows, and bright orange sleeping bag. They were still working on getting everything set up, specifically getting the fitted sheets onto the twin-sized waterproof mattress. Some of the girls were even beginning to tape up photos of their friends and family from back home. "Wow, looks great girls."

"Can we go to dinner yet?" Leslie asked, her twin braids hanging over her pink hoodie.

"No, it is three o'clock but we will go over the cabin constitution."  A couple of the girls let out groans of disapproval "First you always listen to me, do as I say not as I do. Respect others and their belongings, please don't hurt anyone or yourself. Maintain personal hygiene and do not go anywhere without telling someone where. Also, we have shower schedules, showers are absolutely mandatory, and no one will talk their way out of it. On Friday's we have tuck shop, and everyone gets a twenty dollar allowance for that, no you do not actually touch the money it's part of the camp package, I take your orders and come back with candy. We have campfires every night, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are mandatory to attend even if you don't eat which I strongly encourage you do."

"Do we have to go if we're sick?" Tamar asked me.

"No."

"But you just said it was mandatory."

"It's mandatory if you aren't sick."

"But you said-

"Stop," I clasp my hands together "I know I'm older than you guys but I promise you can tell me and ask me anything." I smile, looking around "Any other questions?"

"Can we swear?" Valentina asks, she's kicking her feet off her bed on the top bunk. Her skin is the colour of copper and she has a little dusting of freckles over her button nose.

"I don't really care just don't do it around other adults and don't tell them that I told you that."

"What's the wifi?" Morgan was typing something on her phone which was by far more expensive than the model I owned. Dina had Morgan in previous years and I wasn't too thrilled to be in charge of the (as she claimed) disrespectful blonde monster sent from hell to ruin her life.

"We don't have wifi, we hardly have service," I tell her "And you aren't even supposed to have your phone here but you can't do anything on it anyways so it doesn't matter."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Leah chimes in, she's sitting on the ground with Oliver and slowly but surely braiding her friend's hair.

"Not at the moment, no."

"So are you a lesbian?" Olive follows up for her friend.

"Um," I press my lips together, my mind failing me, "I think we're good on questions, who wants a camp tour?" No one says or does anything, they just kind of look around awkwardly "That's too bad, you're getting one."

Everyone gathered around the crackling fire pit on splintered wooden benches. The warm glow of the campfire flickered in the midst of a cool summer night, casting dancing shadows on the faces of worn-out campers who were ready for bed. 

Tommy had given his speech to sike up the kids for the rest of the summer, he made sleeping in the woods sound like a lot of fun. "We're giving you tonight to settle in but I promise that starting tomorrow we are hitting the ground running, activities from morning until dark, this will be a summer to remember," He smiles brightly "I don't wanna babble too long so I'm gonna give the attention to Miles who is going to kick off our campfire by playing the guitar for us."

Miles sat directly across from me in the first row of benches so I could only see him through the orange flames of the fire. "This is an original song I wrote, so far it's untitled but I'm open to ideas," He made himself comfortable with the guitar, readjusting it to sit in his lap properly. 

"What do you wanna bet it's about?" Ellie whispers into my ear from beside me. Since the day cooled into the night, she's thrown on a gray hoodie to keep herself warm. You would be an idiot to ignore how pretty she looks illuminated by nothing more than stray stars in the sky and a campfire.

"I'll put five bucks on sex,"

"Sex?" She raises her eyebrows "I don't think he's stupid enough to sing a song about sex in front of kids, I'm gonna say it's about being a tortured artist."

"It could easily be both," I look down and see Ellie's muddied converse "We break even if he does both." The fire roared before us like our own miniature hell.

Miles clears his throat and lets his curly blonde locks fall over his forehead. Beginning to strum, he made that weird face he makes every time he plays guitar, where he scrunched his eyebrows together "Baby, maybe, I just wanna do you, do you, do you wanna do me? do me underneath the moonlight," He's too lost in his song to see the horror on every counsellor's face "Baby, baby, maybe I will steal you, steal you, just so I can feel you, feel you, maybe that would heal you."

I cover my mouth with my hand to stop me from cackling. The older kids were on the verge of laughing themselves while the younger kids seemed utterly confused. "Holy shit," I mutter so quietly that my words got blown away with the wind.

Ellie didn't try to stop her laughter, just hide it, she buried her head into the crook of my neck so no one could see how red her face was. She was far better off than Dina who was laughing so hard that she was clutching her stomach and nearly falling over, Miles seemed to be oblivious to all of this. In Dina’s defence, it was difficult not to laugh at a song so wildly inappropriate and bad in general.

Miles had far from the best voice, he just sounded like every other white guy who sang Wonderwall at a girl, not to her but at her "Sticky thighs are you wild now or just a memory? I heard your broken cries and looked into your eyes under the moonlight, so do you wanna do me, do me, so I can heal you, heal you, from the inside-

He stops abruptly when Joel takes the guitar away from him "How about Sawyer tells us the camp legend instead."

Those who knew who Sawyer was looked towards him, Miles was trying helplessly to get his guitar back from Joel who was holding it just slightly out of reach. "It's been a while since I've told this so forgive me if-

"No one cares, just tell it," Ashlynn said. She was one of the counsellors who clearly didn't want to be there, which meant all of the campers thought her to be the coolest; in all fairness, she was cool. Ashlynn had bleach blonde shaggy hair, so light that it almost looked white. Her eyeliner was always a little smudged and she was only there to keep the kids alive, she tended to be the first to opt out of group activities and go to bed early.

"Okay well, it starts way back in the sixteen-hundreds, on these very grounds there was a small village," Sawyer put on his best storytelling voice which was just him lowering his voice an octave. "They lived in peace for decades, and throughout all of those decades there was a woman named Abigail who never seemed to age, while all of her friends and family developed wrinkles, their hair turned gray, and their bodies sagged, Abigail still looked nineteen even at her alleged age of sixty-seven." 

The new campers seemed enraptured but returning kids and counsellors seemed bored out of their minds, I even spotted one boy who's been attending this camp longer than I have, mouthing the words of Sawyers tale.

"They accused her of witchcraft and she was shortly exiled far up the hill into what we now call the Honey House. They left her with nothing more than a hunting knife, a canteen of water, the clothes on her back, and a small portion of seeds. The villages burned down her home in town along with everything inside it. If you think that is the end-

"Think again!" Dina cut in, getting up from her spot and squeezing herself beside Sawyer. "With Abigail gone the villagers thought they would be safe but just days after Abigail was exiled, anomalies began to appear-

Sawyer chimed back in "At first they were harmless, pixies, gnomes, jackalopes, nyiads by the rivers and dryads in the trees. The creatures appearing slowly began to appear more and more dangerous and at last, the snatchers arrived-

"Like a muscular and tall emaciated human. The most terrifying creatures to ever be seen, they roamed just outside of the village and lured children in, they slurped the flesh right off of the children's bodies like prey and wore the clothes of their last victim. They have no lips just a bloody gash and when they don't eat, the gash begins to reseal, leaving nothing on their gray faces but large and pale sunken eyes the size of my fist!" Dina clenched her hand into a fist and held it up for everyone to see.

"Their fingers are long and rotted, long curls of claws on each of their ten spindly fingers. The males are devoid of all hair and the females hardly have hair at all, just small plugs of greasy and matted strands. Their teeth are sharper than fangs and are rotten black and yellow, a foul odour escaping each time they open their disgusting gashes of a mouth. Though the snatchers were the most feared among villagers, they were also being terrorized by other creatures, such as pine devils who slithered from the forests at night and attacked families. There was ghouls who would take on the form of the last corpse they devoured and of course, the wampus which was half-man and half-cat, would stalk villagers.”

"Like a furry?" One of the boys from Jesse's cabin peeped.

"No," Sawyer exasperated "Like a scary and intimidating cat-man."

"So does it look more like the Cat in the Hat or like Cats the Musical?"

"It doesn't look like either, it's a terrifying man that is covered in fur and looks like a cat but is also a man."

"So Cats the Musical?"

Dina ignored the comment and continued with the story "After a year the village population had been cut in half and everyone thought it to be the witch, they figured that Abigail had cursed them for exiling her so they lit up their torches at sunset and marched up the hill to the Honey House. Abigail pleaded with them and explained that she hadn't cursed them but during her residency in the village she had warded off each evil spirit and creature with her witchcraft but she no longer could protect the village after they burned her home down and all her supplies inside of it."

After muttering to Jesse to get his cabin in order, Sawyer picked up when Dina left off "The villagers begged for her forgiveness and apologised for their cruel acts in the hope that Abigail would rid them of the monsters, Abigail said she would but in return they grant her return to the village, so the townfolk agree-

"With all her supplies to ward off the creatures gone, Abigail resorts to a blood ritual. She tells the townfolk that they must complete the ritual before sundown. She creates five pentagrams made of sticks and twine. Abigail races around the village to place the pentagrams and avoid the creatures while she does so, the villagers ward the monsters away from her with their torches. At each pentagram, Abigail slices her palm open and squeezes her fist to drip blood onto each one, then she ignites the pentagram with a torch and utters an incantation. She slashes her thighs and calves to get enough blood and in a last-ditch effort, she cuts her wrists open to finalize the ritual," Only the younger kids had been paying any attention to the story, they seemed downright terrified, clinging to one another but trying to play it cool.

"I fail to see how this is any less inappropriate than Miles's song," Cat mutters with one girl huddled into her, her arm slung over the little girl and rubbing her back to soothe her.

"Once she had completed the ritual, Abigail said that no creatures should return to the village. She is bleeding out in the middle of the town square but the town doctor only watches her, and refuses to help so she begs the appointed mayor to bury her beside her mother, he answers by saying 'The graveyard is sacred and we will not let it be tainted by filthy witch blood' in her final breath she plunged for the mayor and drags her bloody palms down his face, cursing him. Once she is no longer breathing her body begins to rapidly age into the appearance of the sixty-eight-year-old woman she was supposed to be. The townsfolk cut Abigail's body into five parts, two legs, two arms, and the torso with the head still attached and buried her on the border of the village."

Everyone sat in silence "Is that the end?" someone asked, though they were in the back row of benches and I couldn't see who it was.

"Yup," I answer "Abigail gets renamed as 'the girl that time forgot' in folklore and she never gets revenge on the townsfolk for betraying her after she laid down her life for them." I had never liked the legend. Young boys thought it was cool and gory and fifteen-year-old girls thought it was poetic and tragic but I hated it to death. Other camps have fun light-hearted legends about playful forest spirits or secret villages of fairies deep in the woods but we got an edgy story about a woman who just wanted to be loved.

"I wish she let the snatchers eat them all," Ellie said the same thing that she says every year, she wasn't wrong, that's how I wished it ended too. 

"Just wait until one eats you," I joke.

"Nah, I'd kick it's ass."

"I'm sure you would but right now you owe be five bucks.”

"No, we didn't pick this legend, it's true," I heard Jesse's voice cutting through the conversations of the crowd.

"Bullshit," Mordecai said, he was one of those kids who thought it was cool and edgy to be an asshole and act older than he was. He despised summer camp but every summer his parents forced him back much to our dismay.

"It's not," Bowie jumped in "The snatchers come back to visit us sometimes." 

"Yeah? I thought Abigail banished them with blood magic."

"The spell is growing weaker with time, it's slowly wearing out and there hasn't been a witch to revive it," Jesse was a good storyteller, he should've been the one to deliver the camp legend. He found a way to enrapture people with his words.

That's when I decided to call it a night for my girls, the longer you stayed at the campfire, the more outlandish stories the guys would tell and I learned my lesson last year that it is very easy to give ten-year-olds nightmares. "Whitetail deer, we're heading out," I stand up.

A few of the girls had groans and complaints while others seemed happy to leave. Ellie looked up at me from where I stood and did the same "Grizzlies, we're leaving too,"

"You're just saying that because you wanna hit it, Williams," Dean said between obviously fake coughs into his fist, causing Ashlynn to bite back a smile and Miles to playfully punch him on the arm. 

"Dean," Tommy gave him a stern look and said nothing else, Dean took the hint and ceased his laughter.

"Headcount," I say looking at the girls in front of me "Chloe, Leslie, Kim, Leah, Tamar, Morgan, Valentina, and Olive." Each of them stands in a close-huddled bundle "Alright, don't go off trail."

The walk back from the campfire was gorgeous during the day and borderline mortifying at night. Since the foliage was so thick you could hardly see the sky if you looked up and at night the little piece of clearing that was the trail was pitch black, we were guided by nothing more than mine and Ellie's flashlights.

The two of us had been trailing behind the girls in silence to keep an eye on everyone until Ellie felt the urge to speak up "Uh, by the way, that thing that Dean said about-

"I don't care."

"You don't?"

"Yeah he's a dick and his cabin looks like a wooden prison cell." 

"It does," She furrows her eyebrows in thought "It’s like he's conditioning his campers for war."

I didn't notice when I did this, it must've been a subconscious thing but I mindlessly reached for Ellie's hand to hold. I used my free hand to keep the flashlight focused on the trail and campers ahead of us. "Sawyer has to walk back to the bunkhouses across the camp with those little monsters."

"Payback for all of the pranks he's pulled with Bowie," Ellie mutters. Sawyer took pride in initiating the prank wars every single summer the same way I strove to win the camp cup. His pranks weren't also lighthearted and fun, he and Bowie organized this prank where Sawyer put a bag over Tyson's head and dragged him to the administration office in the middle of the night and then pretended to shoot Bowie dead in front of him. Tyson quit the next morning and Sawyer got a hefty write-up.

"So are you still talking to Cat?" I ask.

"Nah, that was never gonna work out."

"Because she's too hot for you?” I joke.

"What? No," She whipped her head to look at me "Why? You wanna get with her or something, you have my blessing."

"I'm good, I'm a little preoccupied at the moment."

"Who with?" Her voice dripped with accusation. Ellie's hand clenching just the slightest bit tighter on mine.

"Work? You should know that I don't date at camp, to think that I thought you knew me," I tease her.

"What about that summer with Chandler?"

"That doesn't count," My smile drops and I fight the urge to shiver at the memories. Before I was a counsellor at Honey Hills, I was a camper and I happened to have my first kiss at age thirteen with a boy named Chandler, our braces got stuck together.

"Everyone saw, so it counts," I can't quite make out Ellie's face in the dark but I can hear the smile in her voice "Remember how Joel had to pull out the pliers."

"You need to stop before I sacrifice you to the Honey Hills Snatchers," I look ahead on the trail and I could've sworn my heart stopped "Stop!" I yell and all of the girls look back at me, I drop Ellie's hand "Where is Olive?"

All of the campers look at each other for answers, and then Leah opens her mouth "She saw a rock that was shaped like a heart and when off trail to get it."

"Well I'm not seeing a heart-shaped rock or Olive but it's super safe in these woods so no need to panic." 

"No one's panicking," One of the girls in Ellie's cabin says, she was the same one who called me weird during arrival.

I run one hand down my face in exasperation, using the other to keep the flashlight trained on the girls "Everyone, stay here with Ellie, I'm going to be right back," I look at Leah "How far back did she go off trail?"

She shrugs "How am I supposed to know? I don't have a tape measure."

"Sweet," I answer before marching straight into the pitch-black woods. It was almost scarier to be in the dark with a flashlight instead of no light source, it felt like I had been in a video game or horror movie and I was about to get my throat slashed by a maniac in a mask. 

Every rustle of leaves or snap of twigs made me feel uneasy. I knew the woods were safe like I had told the girls but that didn't stop irrational fear from bringing up stories of cryptids and cuts from murder podcasts. If you ever played that shitty Slenderman game, you'd know exactly what I'm looking at; not Slenderman himself, just an eery forest.

I called out for Olive, my imagination running wild with thoughts of unseen dangers lurking in the shadows. The forest seemed to come alive around me, its inhabitants whispering secrets that only the night could hear.

"Olive?" My voice echoes into the night, I did what I could to ignore whatever fear I was feeling. I had walked through these woods a million times, I knew every pathway better than I knew the city. This forest was like home to me, it didn't feel right to be so on edge.

I couldn't help but jump when something loud snapped beneath my sneaker, instinctively I brought my flashlight down to look at it, moving my foot out of the way. It had been a pentagram made out of sticks, wow really funny, it might've scared me if Ashlynn and Bowie hadn't made dozens of them and laid them around camp last summer to scare the shit out of kids. It had broken in half beneath my weight.

There was a possibility that I was going crazy in the five minutes I was alone in the woods because I thought I heard a rustle but the beam of my flashlight revealed nothing but the dense thicket of trees and the inky blackness beyond.

Something charged behind me, wrapping its skinny arms around my torse and I couldn't help but flinch. "Olive," I turned my head and brought the flashlight to shine down on her "Don't run off in the dark ever again, you scared the shit out of me."

"I'm really sorry, I won't do it again," She said. I tried to pry her off me but she was hanging on like a Koala, eventually, I got her to settle for just holding my hand. "It was stupid."

"Don't beat yourself up too much, you're ginger and that's punishment enough," I was hastily yanking her along so we could get back on the trail and shortly back into the comfort of the cabin "Did you get your rock at least?"

"Yeah," She held her palm out, the rock was an oval with the littlest indent in the middle, but I let her act like it was shaped like a heart. 

"How'd you get so far out?"

"I grabbed the rock and then I saw a cat and I followed it."

Cat? "You must've seen Buckley, he's friendly," I tell her. Buckley was the resident dog at camp, he was probably older than me and wandered around before settling at Tommy and Maria's cabin for the night.

A moment after I dragged the little girl along we broke past the tree line and into the clearing of the trail. I looked around and spotted Ellie and the girls a good 40 yards or so behind. Clutching Olive's tiny hand in mine I walked towards them, flicking my flashlight on and off to catch their attention.

"Finally wrangled her," I let out an almost nervous laugh.

"You said not to go off trail," Tamar wrinkled her nose.

"Yes, Tamar, I know."

I don't know how late into the night it was when I was awoken by every girl in my cabin squabbling with one another. I got up and turned on the flashlight that I kept on my dingy bedside table "What's going on girls?"

"The snatcher is coming to get us!" Leslie cried, and I mean cried. Her face was red and puffy, her eyes were so glassy that they reflected any and all light, hot tears streaming down her round face.

That's when my annoyance turned to concern. Oh god, I was going to kick Sawyer and Dina's asses tomorrow morning and Joel for even suggesting the camp legend even though it made my campers too afraid to sleep year after year. "No, snatchers aren't real, they were made up in the sixteen hundreds to keep kids away from the forest."

"We heard it!" Morgan chimed in.

"Guys it's just the placebo effect, you've convinced yourself that it's real-

I froze when I heard a long scratch down the door and a wet guttural growl. It was low and deep, shaking me to my very core. Whoever was on the other side began to scratch harshly on the door, jiggling the locked door handle. When the handle didn't budge it began to slam itself on the door, each thump louder than the last. It was still groaning and grumbling in a harsh, awful voice.

The girls screamed, Olive and Leah, were hugging each other tightly, clenching their eyes shut. Valentina had a bottom bunk and slipped beneath the bed, covering her eyes with her hands. Leslie (like I had mentioned) was a blubbering mess, crying and hyperventilating too hard to get any words out. It looked like Morgan was trying to call someone on her phone and Tamar had her knees tucked to her chest, hugging herself. Both Kim and Chloe threw their blankets over top of them, pretending to disappear.

The voice sounded again except this time I realized it wasn't just a growl, it was a word "Girrrrllllls." Then it began to scratch the door all over again. When I tell you this voice was the most unsettling thing I've ever heard, I mean it. It was wet and phlegmy whilst being course and grumbly. From the very beginning, I had known it was a prank.

I marched towards the door flicking on the light in the cabin on and dropping my flashlight, before hammering my fists on the door "Fuck off!" I kicked the door, the sound stopped for just a moment before it slammed itself against the door.

Each thud against the sturdy wooden door reverberated through the night like a thunderclap. Whoever was sent to scare us was sure doing a good job. Their breathing was low and heavy almost as loud as the banging of the door itself. "Don't open the door," Leslie heaved out between sobs.

The girls huddled together in terror, their breaths hitching in fear as they strained to discern the source of the horrifying sounds "Girrllllllssss," It grumbled again "GIRRRLLSSSSCOMMOUT," I could see the door moving with the force of whoever was deeply committed to this role. The growling slowly morphed into a screech or maybe it was something more like a hiss.

I was almost at my breaking point, the first day of camp and I already had to deal with these bullshit pranks. I decided to slam my body against the door, matching whoever was on the other side "Go back to your cabin, you piece of shit!" I kept banging my fist and slamming my palms against the door until I heard them scuttle away. 

Reaching for a baseball out of Valentina's open duffle bag, I swung the door open and saw the slender figure of what I assumed to be a teenage boy running to the pasture "Tell Sawyer to eat shit!" I yelled before throwing the ball at the figure, it hit them but it didn't do much, they just stumbled for a split second before disappearing into darkness. 

"What the fuck is that noise?" Dina shouted from her cabin, I could tell I had woken her up from a nice sleep from the way her puffy eyes were squinting in my direction. A few girls poked their heads outside from the doorframe behind Dina.

"What happened?" Now Priya was walking towards my porch. Her long black hair was braided perfectly and she had her silk sleepmask pulled onto her forehead. She still looked put together in a hoodie and bunny pyjama pants.

"Can you guys shut the fuck up?" Ellie opened her door and looked me up and down.

"Be quiet!" Abby shouted from an open window in her cabin. By this point, I was sure everyone in the girl's bunk houses was wide awake and I would be getting a stern talking to by either, Tommy, Joel, or Maria, honestly, I didn't know which was worse. 

Confusion quickly grew on Ellie's face, she lowered her voice "What's going on?"

All eyes were on me for answers but I didn't have any. Despite convincing myself it was a prank, that didn't stop my hands from shaking. "It was one of the boys playing a prank, don't worry about it, he's long gone by now."

"Fucking Sawyer," Dina murmured walking back into her cabin and slamming the door behind her. 

"Are you girls okay in there?" Priya asked, looking at the mortified girls in my cabin, concern etched across her bronze face. "It was a dumb joke, you're all okay now." 

Priya had invited herself into my cabin to offer her solace to the probably traumatized little girls, while she was doing so, I pressed myself flat against the front of the cabin, between mine and Ellie's doors, trying to process how I was going to find a way to make these girls unafraid.

"They do that prank every year and it's almost crazy how it's literally never been funny," I tell Ellie while I stare straight ahead at the pasture they faded away into.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Ellie stands next to me, leaning against the wall "We'll get them back tenfold."

"Those girls are all gonna wanna call their parents and I'm so fucked," I drag my hands down my face. I didn't want to see the look on Joel's face when I tell him about this. There's gonna be sixteen parents who will spam call the camp and verbally harass me over the phone, this wasn't my first rodeo. Sure the prank was shitty but I guarantee no one is leaving this summer with newfound trauma to tell their therapist in a decade. 

"Relax, he's just gonna chew out the boys for pulling this shit again."

I looked at her for a moment, the silence hung between us like birds on a wire before I lunged in for a hug. She was a little taken aback but didn't seem to mind "I just need a hug, don't make it weird."

"Okay, wasn't planning on it," She teased. I took a deep breath in and caught the scent of firewood, petrichor, and axe body spray, an Ellie classic.

“I'm really glad I have you as a friend," I mutter into her shoulder, so quietly that I wasn't even sure she heard me. I let us stay like that for longer than I probably should've before breaking away "Okay, I gotta be a grown-up and deal with this instead of letting Priya do recon."

She nodded pressing her lips together in the same awkward way the socially inept guys from high school did "See you for breakfast?"

"For sure," I smile and walk back into my cabin to see Priya sitting next to Chloe with one soothing hand rubbing her back. "Thanks, Priya, I'll take it from here, you outta get back to your girls."

Priya had this maternal way about her, I wasn't sure what it was but she sure had the ability to nurture. She started at camp last year and I was happy to see her return. She gave her farewells to all of the girls who had only met her minutes ago and were already attached.

"Can I be in her cabin?" Kim asked, she had finally calmed down.

"No, you're in my cabin where we have fun like this every night!" I forced a smile on my face trying to get the girls back into a good mood.

"This isn't fun at all," Tamar, said, bluntly may I add.

"Yeah, this sucks," Morgan added on.

"Guys, listen," I began "I'm super sorry this happened, I need all of you to know that it's just a really bad prank, it happens every year to different cabins. Boy being boys- sorry I shouldn't say that because you guys are young and I know their gender shouldn't excuse their bad behaviour but what I'm trying to say is guys are assholes."

"Yeah, they're assholes!" Olive repeated.

"Maybe don't shout that," I pointed at her "But they are and if you want I will storm down to their cabins right now and yell at them until they cry."

The cabin began to erupt in shouts of no, little girls with wide eyes, frantically shaking their heads. "Please don't leave us alone," Leah pleaded. 

"Okay, I won't, I'll yell at them in the morning. Do you guys want me to leave the lights on?" Everyone answered with a 'yes' to my question.

"Where are you going?" Valentina asked me, peeking out from beneath her thick layers of blankets.

"To my bed?”

"That's too far away from us."

I let out a deep breath "Alright, I'll just bring my sleeping bag onto the floor and I will sleep in the middle, okay?"  Nothing better than sleeping on the hardwood floor in the middle of four bunkbeds and eight ten-year-old girls.

Surrounded by the shallow breathing of girls far too startled to sleep, I decided that tomorrow I would wake up dressed in adventure, straddling a star. Every day that follows I will guide these girls to the moon and back.

A/N: Hi y’all, I’ve been gone a hot minute because of medical issues and whenever I have time to write, I’m too tired to. Anyways, we’re back and better. I know I should probably finish my other series but I’ve had this one drafted for a while and since I’m super sick and basically confined to my house for the next week I’m hoping to get this series done. Thanks for reading!

@readbydayana

[duskstargazer]

[1935]

Henry had heard Edward in the yard, chatting with Percy about his incident in the tunnel. Henry had heard Edward laughing, even as he got to the part where the big green engine was walled in.

Henry thought about how often James told him he ‘didn’t work hard enough’. Probably because James always got stuck with the brunt of the work Henry wasn’t able to do.

But the worst of it all came from Gordon and Saint. Two of the biggest and most powerful engines on the railway - and they seemed to have it out for Henry.

“You’d never catch me stooping to such lows for the sake of attention.” Gordon grunted, disgustedly.

“Mr. Special Steam himself!” Saint guffawed, close behind his bigger blue ally.

Henry’s crew had been called into a meeting with The Fat Director. Henry was left in the snow covered yard, holding in his tears.

Even after everything, even after the Welsh Coal arrived, they still thought him a failure. Maybe they were right.

“I would recommend putting a little less concern into the words of others.” A soft voice murmured, not far away.

“W… who said that?” Henry cringed at the noticeable waver in his voice.

“I am only someone that aims to provide some… much needed assistance.” The voice continued. A yellow glow came from close behind the green engine.

Henry looked around. The telltale sound of chuffing indicated another engine close by.

The green engine looked to his right again, and jumped. A little yellow engine stood next to him. A small engine, like what he’d see at the Works Station. An engine that seemed to float between the rails, instead of standing on them.

“How…” Henry began, in a flummoxed tone, “are you d-”

“Now, do understand that I do not give such favors out frivolously. But, your situation is a delicate one. Not to mention, quite tragic. Just this once, as a courtesy, I will make an exception if you so desire.”

“…”

Henry blinked. Was this real?

“Are you… a genie?”

“Should that better aid your understanding of my offer, I will allow the epithet.”

“I thought genies weren’t real. Just some cautionary tale. Y’know, ‘be careful what you wish for’ ‘n’ all that.

The ‘genie’ gave an unimpressed look.

“Okay. So, am I supposed to-”

“Gaze into my lamp if you so desire, and state your wish.”

Henry took note of the engine’s ubiquitous lamp. The black metal seemed an unnatural dark tone, and the light within - well it wasn’t a standard bulb, but a literal small blue flame.

Henry bit his lip. One one hand, he hardly believed in genies - even in spite of the apparition before him. On the other hand, what really did he have to lose? It wasn’t like anyone was around to see him wishing aloud.

“I…” He swallowed a lump in his tubes, and stared into the flame. “I wish I was a proper engine. An engine that could stand with or against the others and have the physical strength to do so. I wish to be a different engine, and to not need ‘special coal’ anymore.”

As Henry spoke, the flame grew bigger, and burned brighter, as if deriving fuel from Henry’s very words as he spoke them.

“Won’t that be nice.” The engine murmured, in a barely audible tone.

“What?”

“Consider your wish granted, Henry. Good luck, and may your fears regarding signals, junctions, and frosty weather be overcome.”

“My what? I’m not afraid of- wait, how do you know my name?!”

The engine began glowing a blinding gold, then seemed to explode into light. Henry shut his eyes.

When he opened them, it was as if the golden engine had never been there at all. Henry had to pause, and ask himself if any of it had been real.

He heard people walking, crunching through the snow. His crew returned.

“Well, Henry,” said the driver, “we’ll be out early tomorrow. We’ve got to take the Flying Kipper.”

[get-caitjinxed]

Just had a Christmassy idea. snow storm super cold leading to cuddling. But Caitlyn is literally the definition of freezing 24/7, and Jinx is a literal furnace.

I'd like to the it's because of the shimmer, but could be swapped. Jinx could also call Caitlyn cold blooded, so bonus

anon, i bestow upon you something super sweet and incredibly soft

"Cait, be honest with me here for a second. Are you a lizard?"

Caitlyn scowled. Jinx's initial tone had implied she was being serious, and it had made her heart skip a beat. It was foolish of her to think that Jinx was ever being serious.

The two of them were standing outside Piltover's main enforcer precinct, waiting on Vi so they could all go to dinner with Jayce and Viktor. It had started to snow on their walk over. What had begun as a gentle dusting had grown heavier and heavier as they got closer to the station. By the time they arrived, the snow was ankle deep and showed no signs of stopping.

"And what has compelled you to ask me this?"

"Your hands are so cold."

Jinx's fingers were entwined with hers. For once, Caitlyn wasn't wearing gloves. Not by choice, mind you. She had forgotten them at home.

Caitlyn wiggled her fingers, freeing them from Jinx's grasp. Jinx pouted at the loss of contact. Caitlyn rubbed her palms together and exhaled into them, a cloud of breath escaping her lips. Jinx mimicked her, trying to create an even bigger cloud. While she was distracted, Caitlyn snatched Jinx's hand out of the air and clasped their hands together once more. She felt Jinx's palm flexing against hers.

"Hmm. Still cold."

Caitlyn scowled again. "I'm not sure what else you want me to do about it."

"Did I even ask you to do anything?"

Jinx looked up at her with wide puppy dog eyes. The ever-cold Caitlyn felt a bit of heat rushing to her cheeks, and she looked away.

"It's not my fault you're freakishly warm," she muttered.

Jinx let go of Caitlyn's hand, and she was about to snap at her, but then she felt Jinx undoing the buttons of her overcoat. She slipped inside like it was made for her to fit in it. Her thin arms snaked around Caitlyn's waist, holding her tight. Warmth radiated off Jinx like... well, a radiator.

"Perks of being all shimmered up, I guess? I don't really get that cold anymore, but at least I can help when you do." Jinx was speaking directly into Caitlyn's chest, her voice muffled by the fabric of her jacket. "And you can keep me cool in the summer!"

Caitlyn smiled softly. She reached around and did up a few of the buttons, effectively trapping Jinx inside her coat. Jinx tightened her grip, pressing herself as close to Caitlyn as humanly possible.

"Cold-blooded Kiramman," she murmured.

"Is that a new nickname?"

"If you want it to be."

Caitlyn bent her neck down to kiss the top of Jinx's head.

At that moment, Vi stepped out of the precinct and made a loud, exaggerated gagging sound.

"You two are going to give me diabetes," she said, face twisted in disgust.

Jinx giggled from inside Caitlyn's coat as she turned to face her sister. "You're just jealous," she said, sticking out her tongue.

"Hurry up, Vi, we're already late," said Caitlyn, unaffected by their banter.

Vi trudged through the snow towards them. "And how are you planning on getting anywhere with this little creature?" She ruffled Jinx's hair.

Caitlyn pulled her arms out of the sleeves of her overcoat, bent her knees a little, then reached down and grabbed Jinx by the thighs before hoisting her upwards. Jinx got the message and wrapped her arms around Caitlyn's neck. Without a word, Caitlyn started to walk off in the direction of the restaurant.

"I hate you guys so much," Vi grumbled as she followed after the happy couple.

[chelseaknoo]

25 days with Eminem

Eminem x reader

Day 11

The next morning, excitement buzzed through the house as everyone prepared for a trip to the winter wonderland that had just reopened. Snow blanketed the ground, and the crisp air made it the perfect day to enjoy the seasonal festivities. You were helping bundle Jackie into his tiny puffer jacket and hat while the girls were chatting excitedly about what they wanted to do.

Marshall came downstairs, tugging his beanie over his head. “Alright, let’s make this quick. I don’t want to end up in another ice-skating disaster.”

Hailie smirked, zipping up her jacket. “Don’t worry, Dad. We’re not putting you on any skates this time.”

“Good,” Marshall grumbled, adjusting his gloves. “I don’t need any more bruises. My back’s still mad at me.”

“You’re so dramatic,” Alaina teased, pulling on her boots. “You barely fell, like, three times.”

“Three times too many,” Marshall shot back, shaking his head. “Y’all treat me like I’m a stunt double.”

You chuckled, placing Jackie into his stroller. “Let’s focus on keeping Jackie entertained this time. He’s ready for some winter fun, aren’t you, buddy?”

Jackie giggled, flailing his little arms. Hailie leaned down, cooing at him, “Are you ready to see all the pretty lights, Jackie? Maybe we’ll even meet Santa.”

“Don’t tell him about Santa yet,” Marshall joked. “That dude’s gonna steal all the credit for the gifts I paid for.”

Stevie laughed, tossing her scarf over her shoulder. “Relax, Dad. Santa’s harmless. It’s your wallet that should be scared.”

As everyone piled into the car, the chatter didn’t stop. Hailie and Stevie were debating which attraction to visit first, while Alaina was looking up a map of the park on her phone. Jackie babbled along, clearly picking up on the energy.

“Alright, who’s riding the Ferris wheel with me?” Alaina asked, scrolling through her screen. “It’s got the best view.”

“Not it,” Marshall said immediately, raising his hand. “Last time I got stuck at the top for thirty minutes. Never again.”

“I’ll go with you,” Hailie offered. “But only if we hit the hot cocoa stand after.”

Stevie leaned forward from the backseat. “What about the snow maze? I heard it’s bigger this year.”

Marshall groaned, glancing at you as he drove. “Why does everything y’all pick sound like a survival challenge?”

You grinned, reaching over to pat his arm. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll keep you safe in the maze.”

“Yeah, sure,” he said with a mock glare. “Until you ditch me for the shortcut.”

The kids burst into laughter, already enjoying themselves before they even arrived.

---

At the winter wonderland, the place was alive with holiday cheer. Strings of twinkling lights hung from every tree, and the air was filled with the scent of cinnamon and roasted marshmallows.

“Alright, first stop—snow maze,” Stevie declared, grabbing Alaina’s arm.

“Hold up,” Marshall said, pointing at the stroller. “What about Jackie? I’m not chasing him through a maze if he crawls off.”

“We’ll keep him in the stroller,” you said, locking the wheels. “He’ll be fine.”

As you all entered the maze, it quickly became clear that “keeping it simple” wasn’t in anyone’s vocabulary. The girls took turns guessing which direction to go, while Marshall muttered about how cold it was.

“I think we should go left,” Hailie said confidently, pointing down a snowy corridor.

“Nah, it’s definitely right,” Alaina argued.

“Y’all are gonna get us lost,” Marshall said, pulling the stroller closer. “And guess who’s carrying Jackie when that happens? Me.”

“Don’t worry, Dad,” Stevie said with a grin. “We’ll leave breadcrumbs like in the fairytales.”

“Breadcrumbs?” Marshall repeated, incredulous. “You think Jackie’s not gonna eat those?”

Everyone burst into laughter again, and Jackie joined in, his little giggles echoing through the maze.

---

After finally finding your way out (with Marshall muttering about “never trusting their instincts again”), you all headed to the Ferris wheel. While the girls took turns riding, Marshall and you stayed on the ground with Jackie.

“I think he likes the lights,” you said, pointing at Jackie’s wide-eyed expression as he stared up at the glowing Ferris wheel.

“Yeah, but he’s definitely my kid,” Marshall replied. “Look at that face—he’s already trying to figure out how much this is costing us.”

You nudged him playfully. “Let him enjoy it, Scrooge. It’s his first Christmas, after all.”

---

Later, you all gathered at the hot cocoa stand, warming your hands with steaming cups of chocolatey goodness. Jackie was happily snuggled in your arms, his tiny hands clutching a soft peppermint stick the vendor had given him.

“Alright, what’s next?” Hailie asked, looking around.

“I vote for food,” Stevie said, raising her hand. “All this fun has made me hungry.”

“Finally, something I can agree on,” Marshall said, sipping his cocoa. “Let’s eat before someone drags me into another survival challenge.”

-

As the massive Ferris wheel slowly rotated, you and Marshall sat in the gondola with the girls and Jackie, who was snuggled in your lap. The view from the top was breathtaking, with glittering lights stretching across the park and the snow-covered ground reflecting the glow like a magical wonderland. Everyone was pointing out different attractions they could see from the height, laughing and chatting about the fun they'd had so far.

“This is amazing!” Alaina said, leaning slightly forward to get a better look. “You can see the entire park from up here.”

“It’s definitely a vibe,” Stevie agreed, snapping pictures on her phone. “This one’s going on my story.”

Marshall leaned back, one arm draped over your shoulders, the other holding onto Jackie’s tiny hand. “It’s a good view,” he admitted. “But I still don’t trust these things. It stops too much.”

“Relax, Dad,” Hailie teased, smirking at him. “You’re strapped in. What’s the worst that could happen?”

At that moment, as if on cue, the Ferris wheel came to a halt at the very top. The slight jerk startled Jackie, and his bottom lip began to quiver.

“Oh no,” you murmured, bouncing him gently in your arms. “It’s okay, baby. Mommy’s got you.”

But Jackie wasn’t having it. His face scrunched up, and he let out a wail loud enough to make everyone on the gondola wince.

“Ah, there it is,” Marshall sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “I knew this was too peaceful to last.”

“Maybe he doesn’t like the height,” Alaina suggested, looking concerned.

“Or the fact that we just stopped,” Stevie added, her eyebrows furrowed.

You shifted Jackie in your arms, trying to soothe him. “Shh, Jackie, it’s okay. Look, we’re all here with you. See? Daddy’s right here.”

Marshall leaned closer, rubbing Jackie’s back gently. “Hey, little man, don’t worry. Daddy’s got you, alright? We’re just... hanging out. Literally.”

That only seemed to make Jackie cry louder, his tiny hands flailing as if to express his displeasure.

“Great pep talk, Dad,” Hailie said, rolling her eyes but laughing. “Super comforting.”

“Hey, at least I tried,” Marshall shot back. “What do you want me to do, sing?”

“Actually, yes,” you said, giving him a pointed look. “He likes when you hum to him. It always works.”

Marshall blinked at you. “Right now? In front of all of you?”

Stevie grinned. “Yes, *Dad.* Show us your skills.”

With a deep sigh, Marshall leaned closer to Jackie, who was still crying but had paused for breath. He started humming softly, a melody that he often used to calm the baby at home. His voice was deep and steady, and despite himself, Jackie’s cries began to slow.

“There you go,” Marshall murmured, rubbing Jackie’s back again. “See? Nothing to be scared of, little guy.”

Jackie hiccuped, his tears subsiding as he snuggled closer to you. His wide eyes darted around nervously, but he seemed to trust that everything was okay with his family surrounding him.

“You actually did it,” Stevie said, looking impressed. “Wow.”

“Told you I’ve got the magic touch,” Marshall replied, smirking.

“Okay, don’t get cocky,” Alaina teased. “He just needed some reassurance.”

The Ferris wheel began moving again, slowly lowering you all back toward the ground. Jackie, now calmer, let out a little giggle as the gondola swayed slightly.

“Oh, now you’re happy,” you said, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “You just wanted Daddy to sing, huh?”

Marshall chuckled, sitting back again. “I’m charging for performances next time.”

“Noted,” you said with a laugh, leaning into him. “But don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it.”

As the Ferris wheel reached the bottom, everyone sighed in relief, glad to be back on solid ground. Jackie was now babbling happily, as if the crying episode had never happened.

“Well, that was an adventure,” Hailie said as you all stepped off. “Let’s not do that again anytime soon.”

“Agreed,” Marshall muttered, holding the stroller steady while you strapped Jackie in. “I think I’ve had enough near-heart attacks for one day.”

You smiled, giving his arm a squeeze. “You did good, though. Your singing really saved the day.”

He glanced at you, a playful smirk on his face. “What can I say? I’m a man of many talents.”

The girls groaned in unison, and you all laughed as you made your way toward the next attraction.

As you walked past a row of colorful attractions, Jackie suddenly pointed his tiny hand toward a nearby kids’ ride. It was one of those slow-moving trains that looped around a small, snowy track. His face lit up with pure excitement, and he babbled enthusiastically, as if demanding to go.

“Look, he wants to go on that!” you said, smiling at Jackie’s reaction. “How cute is that?”

“Yeah, cute,” Marshall muttered, squinting at the ride. “But that thing moves slower than my grandma’s walker. You sure about this?”

“It’s for Jackie,” you insisted, giving him a look. “You can’t say no to that face.”

The girls exchanged glances. Hailie shrugged. “I mean, it’s a kids’ ride... I don’t think all of us need to go.”

Stevie nodded. “Yeah, Jackie will have fun without us. We’ll, uh, cheer him on from here.”

“Oh, no,” you said firmly, spinning to face them. “We’re all going. Family bonding, remember?”

Alaina groaned dramatically. “Really? On a train that probably takes an hour to go fifty feet?”

“Yes,” you replied, grinning. “Now come on.”

Marshall sighed, holding the stroller while you unbuckled Jackie and placed him in your arms. “I’m just saying, this feels like a trap.”

“You’re such a baby,” you teased, poking his chest. “Jackie wants us to go. Don’t ruin this for him.”

“Fine,” Marshall relented, glaring at the girls. “Y’all better not try to bail on this.”

---

Once you were all seated on the miniature train, the absurdity of the situation hit everyone. Marshall, somehow squeezed into the tiny seat beside you, looked completely out of place. The girls sat in the car behind you, whispering and giggling about how ridiculous they all looked.

“This has got to be the lowest point of my life,” Marshall said, deadpan, as the train gave a jerky start.

You laughed, bouncing Jackie lightly on your lap as the train began to chug forward. “Stop complaining! Look at Jackie—he’s having the time of his life.”

Jackie was indeed delighted, clapping his hands and squealing as the train rounded the first corner at an almost comically slow pace. Marshall glanced at him, his features softening.

“Alright, fine,” he admitted. “It’s cute. But can’t they make this thing move faster?”

“Don’t tempt fate,” Hailie called from behind. “If it goes any faster, it might fall apart.”

“Or we might,” Stevie added with a laugh. “These seats are not made for people our size.”

Alaina leaned forward, resting her arms on the back of your car. “Mommy, I think we’re the oldest people to ever willingly get on this ride.”

You turned to her with a mock glare. “Don’t call me ‘Mommy’ just to guilt me into letting you off the hook next time.”

“I’m just saying!” Alaina protested, laughing. “This is a ‘Jackie thing.’ We’re just the extras.”

As the train made its slow journey around the track, the absurdity seemed to dissolve into genuine fun. The girls took turns making silly faces at Jackie, who giggled uncontrollably. Marshall, despite his earlier protests, pointed out little decorations along the ride to keep Jackie entertained.

“Look, buddy,” Marshall said, pointing at a snowman figure by the track. “That’s Frosty over there. Cool, huh?”

Jackie babbled something incomprehensible, waving his tiny hand at the snowman.

“He’s definitely talking to it,” you said, beaming. “Marshall, he gets that from you.”

“Me?” Marshall asked, feigning offense. “You’re the one who talks to the TV during movies.”

Hailie snorted. “She’s got a point, Dad.”

---

By the time the train came to a halt, Jackie was still laughing, his cheeks rosy from the cold and excitement. You scooped him up, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“See? That wasn’t so bad,” you said, giving Marshall a teasing look.

He stretched as he climbed out of the tiny seat. “Speak for yourself. My knees are filing a complaint.”

The girls gathered around, still chuckling at the memory of Marshall crammed into the small car. “I think that ride was worth it just to see Dad stuck in that seat,” Stevie joked.

“You’re welcome for the entertainment,” Marshall shot back, shaking his head. “Y’all better remember this next time I say no to one of your crazy ideas.”

Jackie squirmed in your arms, still pointing toward the train, clearly wanting to go again.

“Nope, buddy,” Marshall said, leaning down to kiss the top of Jackie’s head. “Daddy’s retiring from train rides for today.”

You smiled, bouncing Jackie lightly. “We’ll find something else fun for you, sweetheart. But I think Daddy needs a snack break after this one.”

The family strolled away from the train, still teasing Marshall about his reluctance, while Jackie clung happily to you, his giggles ringing in the crisp winter air.

As you all approached the towering drop ride, your group paused to stare up at it. The ride loomed high, with seats that lifted riders to the top before plunging them back down in a freefall. Jackie let out a happy squeal from his stroller, seemingly oblivious to the chaos the ride promised.

“This is going to be awesome!” Stevie said, bouncing on her heels. “I love rides like this.”

“Speak for yourself,” Marshall grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I don’t trust anything that takes me that high just to drop me.”

“Oh, come on, Dad,” Hailie teased, nudging him. “You’re not scared, are you?”

“Scared?” Marshall scoffed. “I’m not scared. I just have... common sense.”

Alaina grinned. “Right, common sense. That’s what we’re calling it.”

“Hey,” you interjected, laughing, “someone has to stay back with Jackie anyway. He’s too little for this.”

Marshall’s eyes lit up with hope. “I’ll do it! No problem. I’ll stay with my boy.”

“Nice try,” you said, shaking your head. “But I was thinking I’d stay back. I’m fine skipping this one.”

“No way!” Stevie protested. “You *have* to come. It’s a family thing.”

“Yeah,” Hailie chimed in. “Plus, we all saw how Dad managed on the ice yesterday. We’re not letting him weasel out of this.”

Marshall’s jaw dropped. “Weasel? I’m not weaseling. I just think Jackie needs his dad.”

You smirked. “Or... you’re chicken.”

He frowned. “I’m not—oh, come on!”

Alaina laughed. “You kind of are, Dad. Admit it.”

Marshall muttered something under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck. “Fine. But if I pass out up there, y’all better not make it a TikTok.”

“We make no promises,” Stevie teased, already pulling out her phone.

You bent down to Jackie, who was babbling and playing with the straps of his stroller. “Alright, baby boy, Mommy’s going to stay with you. We’ll cheer everyone on from down here, okay?”

Jackie clapped his hands, clearly more interested in your attention than anything else. Marshall, relieved, let out a breath. “Thank you,” he said quickly. “You’re the real MVP.”

You rolled your eyes. “Don’t think this means you’re off the hook. You’re going up there.”

“Yeah, Dad,” Hailie added, grabbing his arm and tugging him toward the line. “Time to man up.”

---

As the family made their way onto the ride, you parked Jackie’s stroller in a good spot to watch. He was delighted, pointing at the colorful lights on the tower and babbling excitedly.

“Look, Jackie,” you said, crouching beside him. “There’s Daddy and your sisters. Let’s wave to them!”

Jackie raised a chubby hand and waved, although it was unclear if he knew who he was waving at. Meanwhile, up on the ride, Marshall was clearly having second thoughts.

“This thing looks a lot higher up here,” he muttered, gripping the harness. “I don’t know about this.”

“It’s fine,” Stevie said, grinning. “It’s just a quick drop. You’ll survive.”

“Hopefully,” Alaina teased.

“Y’all better pray I don’t die,” Marshall shot back. “I’ve got songs to finish.”

From your spot below, you could hear their banter and couldn’t help but laugh. The ride operators counted down, and the platform rose slowly to the top. Jackie clapped again, loving the movement, though he couldn’t quite understand what was happening.

When the ride reached the peak, there was a long pause. You could just make out Marshall's voice yelling, “This is a bad idea!” before the drop.

The entire family let out a collective scream as the seats plummeted toward the ground. Jackie, startled by the noise, let out a squeal, though it was unclear if it was fear or excitement.

When the ride finally came to a stop, everyone stumbled off, looking a mix of exhilarated and terrified. Marshall staggered toward you, his face pale. “Never again,” he said, pointing a finger at the girls. “Y’all are cut off.”

“Oh, come on,” Hailie said, laughing. “You didn’t even pass out!”

“Barely,” he muttered, glancing at Jackie, who was giggling in his stroller. “Your son’s lucky he didn’t see his dad cry.”

You grinned, standing up to kiss his cheek. “You survived, though. I’m proud of you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Marshall replied, shaking his head but smiling. “Next time, I’m sticking with the baby.”

After Marshall's reluctant triumph on the drop tower, the group wandered deeper into the Winter Wonderland, with Jackie babbling happily in his stroller. The bright lights and festive music made everything feel magical. When the group spotted a row of carnival games, the girls immediately zeroed in on the flashy prizes.

“Ooh, look at those stuffed bears!” Hailie said, pointing to one of the stands. “We *have* to win one for Jackie.”

Stevie squinted at the game, which involved throwing rings onto impossibly small bottles. “Yeah, sure. This is totally not a scam.”

“It’s for Jackie,” Alaina reminded her. “We’ve gotta at least try.”

Marshall groaned, crossing his arms. “Y’all realize those games are rigged, right? They *want* you to lose.”

You smirked, nudging him. “What happened to your competitive streak, huh? Scared you can’t win?”

“Scared?” Marshall scoffed, rolling up his sleeves. “I’ll win the kid a bear, alright. Watch and learn.”

---

The first game was a classic: tossing rings onto bottles. Marshall handed over a crisp twenty-dollar bill and got a handful of rings, narrowing his eyes at the setup. He tossed the first one and missed by a mile. The second bounced off the rim of a bottle.

“Alright, I’m getting the hang of it,” he muttered. The next three attempts all went wide. “What the hell? These bottles are like... anti-gravity or something.”

Stevie snorted. “Anti-gravity? Sure, Dad.”

“Let me try,” Hailie said, stepping up with determination. She tossed her first ring, and it barely grazed the edge of a bottle before falling. “This is impossible.”

The attendant smirked, clearly enjoying their struggle. “Almost had it there. Want to go another round?”

“Of course,” Marshall grumbled, fishing out another bill. “This time, I got it.”

By the end of the game, everyone had taken turns, and no one had landed a single ring. The attendant handed Jackie a consolation prize—a tiny keychain of a snowman.

Marshall glared at it. “Twenty bucks for a keychain. That’s highway robbery.”

Jackie grabbed the keychain, giggling as if he didn’t care about the loss.

---

After admitting defeat, the family moved toward the biggest attraction in the park: a massive roller coaster that twisted and turned high above the ground, decorated with glowing Christmas lights.

“Now *this* looks fun,” Stevie said, eyes lighting up.

Marshall groaned. “Oh, come on. Another ride? Haven’t y’all tortured me enough for one day?”

“Dad, you’ll love it,” Hailie teased, dragging him toward the line. “You survived the drop tower, remember?”

“I barely survived,” Marshall muttered, but he followed along anyway.

You leaned down to Jackie. “Sorry, sweet boy. You’re too little for this one. But don’t worry—Mommy and Daddy will scream loud enough for both of us.”

Jackie giggled, reaching for the flashing lights on the ride. You handed him off to the ride attendant, who watched over strollers and little ones while the rest of the family boarded.

---

Once everyone was strapped in, the coaster began its slow climb to the top. Marshall, sitting next to you, gripped the safety bar tightly. “I don’t like this already.”

“Relax,” you said, laughing. “It’s just a roller coaster. You’re going to love it.”

“Doubt it,” he muttered, glaring at the enormous drop ahead. “I hate being high up.”

“Then why did you agree to come?” Stevie called from the row behind.

“Because y’all bullied me into it!” he shot back, which made the girls burst into laughter.

As the coaster reached the peak, everyone braced themselves. When it plunged, the entire family screamed—except for Marshall, whose yell was more like a long string of curse words that made the girls laugh even harder.

“Did you just yell, ‘I’m suing someone’?” Alaina asked between screams.

“I might’ve!” Marshall yelled back.

The ride twisted, turned, and looped, throwing everyone in every direction. By the time it finally slowed to a stop, Marshall was slumped in his seat, looking defeated.

“That’s it,” he said, voice hoarse. “I’m officially retired from rides.”

You laughed, reaching over to squeeze his hand. “But you made it, babe. I’m so proud.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, staggering off the ride as Jackie giggled from his stroller, clearly amused by his dad’s disheveled state.

“Let’s just agree,” Marshall said as the family regrouped, “next time, Jackie and I are sticking to the train.”

[redux-iterum]

Charred Legacy: Chapter Twenty-Nine

(AO3 counterpart here.)

Fireheart was grateful for the snow that arrived that morning, powdering the territory and covering up the tracks he and Cloudpaw had left on their visit to Rosy. They had arrived home a little late—a bit wet from rolling in snow to get the scent of Rosy off of them—but no one said anything to them about it, merely greeted the pair and went about their business. Cloudpaw, luckily, stayed quiet and ate his dinner like nothing was amiss.

“He’s getting taller already,” Ravenwing remarked while he, Fireheart and Greystripe sat together, observing Cloudpaw chatting with Brightpaw and comparing their prey.

Greystripe swallowed part of his pigeon. “Maybe he’ll catch up to his width.”

“It’s just his fur, really,” Fireheart said. “He’s smaller than he looks. That coat is really long.”

Greystripe tilted his head, watching Cloudpaw. “Huh. Longer even than ThunderClan’s usual. Interesting.”

“His pelt doesn’t change his height, though,” Ravenwing said, gesturing with a flick of his paw. “He’s going to be bigger than you, Fireheart.”

Fireheart twitched his whiskers. “Who isn’t in this Clan?”

Ravenwing snorted and Greystripe chuffed, reaching over to ruffle Fireheart’s head like he was a young apprentice. Fireheart shoved at his broad paw with no real bite, Greystripe jokingly yanking it back like he’d been struck.

After a small pause, Greystripe spoke. “It’s pretty wild that you both have apprentices. I mean, I wouldn’t have expected that when we were apprentices, or even first graduating warriors.”

“It’s big, yeah.” Fireheart chewed at his mole’s remaining foot. “You should get in on this, Greystripe! It’s really fun. I mean, it’s work, but it’s good work.”

Greystripe shook his head. “Oh, boy, no way. I am the last cat that should get an apprentice. I’d have no idea what to do.”

Ravenwing looked up at him. “No, the last one who should get an apprentice is Darkstripe, but he has one. You could do it.”

“Eh.” Greystripe lolled his head to the side. “Maybe one day. Not now, though. I’d be floundering.”

“It would mean that we could all train our apprentices together,” Fireheart offered. “And that’d be fun. It’d be like when we were training!”

“Oh, that’s a good idea.” Ravenwing turned to Fireheart now. “We should take Cloudpaw and Snowpaw out together tomorrow. We can try hunting at Sunningrocks. I’ve been meaning to take Snowpaw there anyway.”

Fireheart brightened up. “Let’s do it! Greystripe, do you want to come?”

“To Sunningrocks?” Greystripe said dryly.

“Oh.” Fireheart’s mood fell a bit. “Right, yeah. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about me.” Greystripe flicked his tail in a dismissal. “We can go out another time. Speckletail’s probably going to put me on a patrol tomorrow, anyway.”

“We can change where we’re going—” Ravenwing started.

“It’s cool, bud,” Greystripe said, firm but friendly. “Go ahead. Tell me about it when you get home. I’ll try to find some prey for you all while I’m out.”

Ravenwing and Fireheart exchanged glances, Fireheart saying, “If you’re sure, then.”

“I’m sure.” Greystripe went for his pigeon again, ending that conversational trail with a chomp.  

The next evening, the pair of mentors and their pair of apprentices set out early at an easy trot—fast enough to cover a distance without being too brisk for conversation.

“This is a good exercise for you,” Fireheart told Cloudpaw. “Can you talk to Snowpaw without Ravenwing telling you what he said?”

Cloudpaw balked. “Yeah, of course! I’ve got it!”

Snowpaw, watching his mouth, glanced up at his own mentor questioningly. Ravenwing signed what Fireheart could tell more or less translated to, Talk to Cloudpaw without us. Snowpaw nodded at this and turned his head to the smaller apprentice and started signing. Fireheart caught “walk” and “prey” before he looked ahead again, tail high.

“We got lucky,” Ravenwing said suddenly, quietly. “He’s quick to learn and he’s got a good attitude. If he argued about anything, I don’t know how well teaching him would go. Still…”

Fireheart blinked. “Has there been some problem in training?”

“Not anything that’s his fault.” Ravenwing shut his eyes briefly, face lined in concern. “He’s doing great on pretty much everything. But every time we go out into the forest, especially now…” His eyes went pale. “All I can think about is a dog sneaking up on him, with its scent hidden by the snow. He wouldn’t hear it crashing through the bushes. By the time he smelled it, it’d be too late.” Another drop in volume. “I don’t know if he can ever be out here alone.”

Fireheart tilted his head in a sympathetic half-nod. “Maybe when it’s spring, he could smell enemies better.”

“Among everything else, sure, I guess, but they could smell him too,” Ravenwing murmured. “That’s the main thing that I’ve been thinking about—even as quiet as he is, he doesn’t know when he’s being loud. He could push right through a fern without thinking about it and he’d alert every animal in the woods to his location. And it doesn’t help that with his fur, he sticks out in every season except now.”

“Frostfur and Whitecloud do, too,” Fireheart said reassuringly. “They’ve been just fine all their lives.”

“But they can hear,” Ravenwing returned. “And– well—”

He peeked back at his apprentice, who had just signed something that had Cloudpaw chuffing hard.

“Frostfur told me she had a brother,” he continued to Fireheart. “He was deaf, too. And he just walked into the woods without telling anyone where he was going, and– and they never saw him again.”

Fireheart’s eyes widened. “She had a brother? She’s never said anything about him.”

“It’s a bad memory for her. She only brought it up because I asked about deafness in her family.” Ravenwing shivered. “And now all I can think about is Snowpaw forgetting to ask me to go with him one night, and not seeing a shadow or smelling a fast-approaching scent…” The shivers intensified. “I know I need to let him grow on his own. I know. But that’s so much easier to say than to do with a special apprentice.”

His eyes cast downward, his ears back against his head, he looked so much smaller, like he was trying to compress himself as he stood. Neither of the apprentices had noticed the shift in his mood, but Fireheart could hardly bear it. Gently, he reached his tail over and pressed it against Ravenwing’s side, the best he could do without leaning right into him mid-walk.

“I’ll tell you what I told Frostfur,” he said soothingly. “You’re not the only one who can take care of him - if he even really needs to be taken care of in the future. He’ll be alright. We’ve got all of ThunderClan to assure that.”

 Ravenwing didn’t say anything, but his head lifted a bit and his ears relaxed. He sighed out a slightly shaky breath. “…Okay.”

Fireheart gave him an encouraging blink and lifted his tail away once the stress disappeared out of his friend’s eyes.

The pair went quiet after that, both half-listening to Cloudpaw chattering about something to do with battle practice. Fireheart glanced back once to see Snowpaw’s ears and whiskers twitching out a story about fighting a cat (going by the flick of exposed claws, he seemed to be referring to Thornpaw), and Cloudpaw’s eyes shining in amazement.

When they reached Sunningrocks, a singular, stretched-out hole in the clouds overhead hovered directly above the river. The stars, thickly populated, shone down exactly on the water. With the usual white splashes where the current hit a rock, the effect was quite dazzling. Cloudpaw even stopped for a moment to stare at it with a whispered, “Wow…”

“This is Sunningrocks,” Fireheart said to him, pausing in his steps. “How do you like it?”

Cloudpaw recovered enough to look around, turning his head this way and that to examine the long stretch of land. He finally said, “It’s so open! Why didn’t we come out here before?”

Ravenwing gave Fireheart a cheeky look. “Your uncle really hates it.”

“I don’t hate this land,” Fireheart protested. “I hate that anyone even fights over it. It’s just some rocks—”

“We are not getting into this tonight.”

“Then why did you bring it up?!”

Cloudpaw had a brief look of worry that he lost as soon as Ravenwing chuffed and held up a paw in submission, saying, “Alright, sorry. He asked.”

Fireheart grumbled indistinctly and started for the water, crooking his tail for Cloudpaw to follow him. They stopped at the shoreline, Cloudpaw experimentally tapping the water with a paw and making a face when his pads came back wet.

“RiverClan really swims in this?” he asked. “It’s super cold. Wouldn’t they be wet all night?”

“Our fur is meant for it!”

The toms looked up (Snowpaw lagging behind). Over the crest of the slope leading down to the river, a colorful group of RiverClan warriors padded closer. Most of them looked surprisingly delighted. Their leader, the ginger-and-brown calico Leoparddawn, glared across the river, eyes zeroed in on Fireheart.

“We stay nice and dry close to the skin,” a brown tortoiseshell added, calling over the current. “It’s just the outside of our fur that gets wet.”

Fireheart lifted his tail. “Good evening! Is that you, Mosspelt?”

“Fireheart! Good to see you!” The tortoiseshell took a step into the water, eyes glittering with curiosity. “Who’s that lovely point you’ve got with you?”

“Oh—” Fireheart nodded to the cat in question. “This is my nephew, Cloudpaw. He came to live with us.”

“How generous of your Clan,” a grey-and-white molly said. “Didn’t think they cared about any kittypets. Little lad, you’re far too pretty to be living in the forest! Where’d you get a coat like that?”

Cloudpaw didn’t appear to know what to do with the many eyes on him. “Um… m-my father, I think. I used to be all white.”

“Ha!” The grey-and-white molly trilled. “You kittypets never fail to amaze me. I’ve heard about the crazy colors you all come in. What a lucky cat you are! I’d give a lot of fish to be pointed.”

“Vain, vain, vain,” a black tom said, shaking his head in disappointment. “You’re going to give ThunderClan something to lord over us.”

Cloudpaw still looked a bit startled and lost, but at Fireheart’s nudging he bobbed his head, saying uncertainly, “Um, thank you.”

“Look at the little thing, you’ve made him shy.” Mosspelt gave the patched molly a light shove with a paw.

“My apologies, kittypet.” The molly exaggeratedly bowed in submission.  “You’re fine where you are. Unfortunately.”

“Enough of that,” Leoparddawn said sharply. “We’re supposed to be on a patrol.”

The black tom rolled his eyes with a wink to the ThunderClan cats. “She’s got us parodying you, can you believe it?”

Fireheart squinted jokingly. “Are you telling me you’re actually doing hunting and border patrols now? Not just taking walks and lounging on rocks?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe!” Mosspelt sighed dramatically. “I don’t know how you ThunderClanners could enjoy this brisk pace. I can’t even look in the water for a spirit without someone yelling at me.” Her eyes creased in amusement. “But I suppose Crookedstar made her deputy for a reason.”

Thank the stars Greystripe isn’t here, Fireheart thought at the glare on Leoparddawn’s face darkening into a fierce scowl. She’d probably swim across the river to kill him, if she meant what she said back then…

Ravenwing spoke now. “Is there any news on the dogs?”

“Thank the Three and all their halls, we have nothing,” the black tom said. “I haven’t a clue where they could be. Perhaps they’ve run off for greener pastures.”

“We can’t find them, either,” replied Ravenwing, but he didn’t look particularly happy.

Leoparddawn jerked her chin to her followers. “We’ve found out who was talking. We need to get back to work.”

The RiverClan cats groaned in unison, waving their half-tails farewell and trotting back up the slope after their deputy. Fireheart called goodbyes and turned to Cloudpaw and the approaching Snowpaw.

“They’re nice, aren’t they?” he asked.

Cloudpaw nodded. “They’re kinda weird, but I think that could be cool.”

Snowpaw waited until Ravenwing joined them to sign a question to his mentor: who was that cat?

“Spotted?” Ravenwing said, over-mouthing his words. At a nod, he continued. “Leoparddawn.”

Snowpaw tapped with his tail along his own pelt, batted his eyelashes, and then made a deeply-wrinkled, ugly face and shook his head.

Ravenwing chuffed and nodded.

“What’d he say?” Cloudpaw asked.

“He thinks her coat is very pretty, but that grumpy face ruins her looks.”

Cloudpaw trilled, and even Fireheart couldn’t resist a snort.

“He’s not wrong,” Cloudpaw said with an affectionate nudge of the older apprentice’s shoulder.

“That doesn’t mean he should say it,” Fireheart said, his whiskers twitching and tail curling.

Snowpaw, with an expression of absolute delight at his joke landing, puffed out his chest.

Ravenwing purred and shook his head. “Alright. Fun as that was, we should get these two hunting.”

“We don’t have to hunt in the river, do we?” Cloudpaw asked, his amusement replaced in an instant with apprehension.

“Not if we don’t want Leoparddawn coming back and biting our tails off.” Fireheart cocked his head in beckoning. “Come on. We’ll see if anything’s still awake out here.”

The apprentices set off together, spaced out enough to let them sniff the air without getting in each other’s way. Fireheart walked slowly after them, Ravenwing at his side. The clouds closed up the hole in the sky, the air still and the only sound around them being the soft hiss of the river.

It could be a worse night, Fireheart supposed.