#i have 5 batches of cookies left

[broodygaming]

My nephews and neighbors all came over to help decorate! I’ve no idea how many there are I just know I hate decorating cookies and I’m so grateful they all help every year 🎄🍪

[reallyromealone]

FLUFFTOBER DAY 5

Title: pumpkin cookies

Fandom: twisted wonderland

Characters: crewel

Fic type: fluff

Pairings: crewel x reader

Warnings: gender neutral reader, fluff, fae reafer

Notes:

Summary: crewel and reader attempt to bake pumpkin cookies

🎃💀🎃💀🎃💀🎃💀🎃💀🎃💀🎃💀🎃💀🎃💀🎃

Crewel didn't much care for Halloween, frankly he found it tacky but his partner...

Well (name) loved it.

So the bi colored haired man stood beside the fae who was looking over human Halloween themed treat recipes "they put spiders on it! Do humans consume spiders?"(Name) looked to the other for clarification, fascinated and a little confused "not typically darling, those are icing spiders" the tall man explained to the other who hummed "thats food, humans already have such bizarre habits"

Crewel wasn't about to make a comment about odd habits, (name) was practically the ruler of odd habits, The house though perfectly decorated had many little trinkets and oddities that the fae had found.

"Have you decided what you wish to make?" Crewel held the other close, kissing his cool neck "I wish to make these... Spooky pumpkin cookies!" (Name) Pointed to the cute pumpkin cookies that seemed easy enough to make.

"I AM AN ALCHEMIST! HOW CAN I NOT MAKE COOKIES?!" Crewel seethed, the two having failed twice to make the pumpkin cookies, (name) getting angry at one point and using magic to set the second failed batch on fire. "These infernal cookies are absolutely infuriating! I wish them the worst fate!" (Name) Hissed out at the fucked up third batch "I wish to do anything but this"

Crewel sighed but agreed with his partner and the two left the kitchen, (name) pouty and annoyed "stupid human recipes and being impossible...."

Crewel watched (name) stew for a bit and sighed "do you wish to give it one more go, pup?"

"... yes..."

(Name) Ate the cookie quietly, after a few more attempts they got it "these cookies taste unlucky"

"They truly are.... Technically a cookie"

"Do you wish to go to a bakery, my star?" (Name) Asked the other who lit a cigarette "anything to get away from these god forsaken cookies"

[hoonvrs]

FLOUR FOR YOU — enha hyung line

req for 1k event!

PROMPT [ one, 12 ] cupping your partners face in your hand before kissing them [ two, 5 ] smiling excessively, naturally and so easily around you

PAIRING enha hyung line x gnr

GENRE est. relationship, fluff

WARNINGS none

W. COUNT 1.2k

S. NOTE this just made me wanna bake knowing i’ve never baked a day in my life. also lets ignore how each drabble starts with their name

LEE HEESEUNG

heeseung knew you were easily influenced by a few videos, so when you suddenly announced your new interest was baking it didn’t come as much of a surprised. although, it took a minute for him to convince you to try baking cookies instead of a two-tier vanilla cake that you were convinced you could hack. now you’ve been in the kitchen trying to follow a ’15-minute cookie recipe’ that you found on tiktok.

for the last two hours.

“babe! they’re finished! come try them,” he heard you shout. he approached warily knowing that cooking wasn’t one of your strong suits, so maybe he didn’t have much faith in your baking either.

he walked in to see a tray of cookies placed neatly on the counter, “wow. they actually look good.”

“you have no faith in me,” you tsked, pushing him to sit and try them, “quick, try one, and be honest.”

he plucked a cookie from the batch, and cautiously bit into it. if you hadn’t been dating heeseung for a while you might’ve actually believed he liked it. unfortunately, if there’s someone, he can’t hide his true feelings from, it you. you caught the way eyes slightly squinted and struggled to swallow the cookie, “it’s bad isn’t it.”

“no, no! its good,” he grimaced, trying his best to not upset you even though his face showed everything you needed to know.

“i’ve already tasted it love, i think i mixed the sugar with salt,” you giggled, seeing the look of realisation fall on heeseungs face.

PARK JONGSEONG

jay was known as the self-proclaimed chef in enhypen and in your relationship. he would always offer to cook you different recipes he found online, and you repay him by baking some sweet dessert as a thank you. the roles of baker and cook had never switched between you two, content with the role each had. you had dabbled in cooking before which didn’t end well, so you lucked out with having jay as your boyfriend.

until two seconds ago, when jay came home declaring he wants to try make brownies cause the boys said he’d be a terrible baker. jay refused to believe baking was any harder than cooking and wanted to prove it. 

even though you offered to help, just to instruct him through it he refused, convinced that he could ace it on his first try. so you left him to his own accord, waiting patient in the living room until he finished.

“it’s done!” he yelled, running over to you on the couch with the brownies still in the tray he baked them in with two forks stick out, “let’s try it at the same time.”

as he finished getting seated beside you, he handed you your respective fork with determination, “get ready to be replaced as the baker in this relationship.”

“yeah, okay.” You dismissed him, both going to take a bite out of jay’s ‘masterpiece’ – his words not yours. 

jays eagerness slowly dissipated as soon as you both took your first bite. It wasn’t inedible exactly, just not completely edible. you could see the disappointment take over his face, “how about i make a new batch and you can pretend you made them to the boys, hmm?”

“you’re the best.”

SIM JAEYUN

jake instantly knew something was off the second he saw you in the kitchen surrounded by baking trays and ingredients. you’ve always had a habit of baking whenever something stresses you, which seems to be more often than not these days. 

“hey pretty, what you doing?” he rounded the counter to have a better look at what you’re doing, softly placing his hands around your waist and his chin on your shoulder.

“i’m making cupcakes.” you answered, aggressively stirring your spatula through the wet batter before an intruding hand dipped in and smeared the paste onto your nose.

you turned to see jake giggling, hand covering his mouth as he slowly backed away from you. so, you did the next best thing. you dug into the bag of flour, picking up a handful, throwing it directly at his face.

he stilled for a second, processing what you had just done before speaking up, “oh, you’re on.”

thus, ensuring a full flour fight with heaps of the powder being thrown around, coating every surface white including both you and jake. your laughter could be heard through all the shuffling and playful wrestling, and although you were covered head to toe in flour, jake though you looked so beautiful.

he preferred to see you with a wide smile on your face instead of the frown and furrowed eyebrows you were sporting beforehand, and he found his body moving on its own. he slowly approached you, cupping your face in his hands gently before pulling you in.

kisses with jake were intimate, always starting slowly and usually ending in either him or you in a fit of giggles refusing to separate from the others lips, and this one was no different. 

“never thought I’d see a flower covered in flour.”

“corny, boo!”

PARK SUNGHOON

sunghoon and you decided to try out baking together. every saturday, you both meet up in your apartment and try out a new recipes, sunghoon likes to call it ‘couples therapy – baking edition’, it has confused a lot of your friends.

today, you two decide to tackle the task of icing a cake. apparently, baking the cake itself and decorating it all pretty was too much work, so you both bought two premade plain cakes, and whoever decorated it the best got to grant the winner a wish.

“i’m making mine red, so you better not copy me,” he smirked, snatching the red icing right out of your hands to try to irritate you.

you scoffed, grabbing all the colours you needed, “fine, i’m going to make mine blue. don’t be jealous when it’s better than yours.”

“you wish,” with determination and enough competitiveness between you both, you began decorating your cakes. well, until you ran into a problem.

“babe, are you sure you cut off all the tips of the piping bags? this one won’t come out.”

sunghoon looked over to see you struggling, “yeah i did. maybe if you’d come to the gym with me you’d be able to squeeze it out.”

“stop bringing that up! i’m never going to the gym with y-”

silence fell onto your kitchen after hearing a loud pop cut through the air. you heard screeching laughter before you even realised what had happened. 

looking down to see the navy icing was not only in the piping bag, but over the counter and all over your shirt. sunghoon couldn’t even hold himself up from how much he was laughing, bend over with one hand on the counter and the other holding his stomach.

his laughter rang like music in your ears, a rare sound you don’t hear too often in public where he’d rather giggle quietly behind his hands, but this one was your favourite. where he suddenly loses all composer and collapses in on himself, screaming obnoxiously whist simultaneously tying to catch his breath. worrying but impressive. 

maybe a ruined t-shirt was a worthy sacrifice to hear him laugh this freely around you.

perm taglist @mesopret @tnyhees ​@haknom @shinsou-rii @redm4ri @lacimolela @llama-lyna @chiyuv @lazysmushi @flwoie @kocokookie @kyexvly @seongclb @dammit-jjk @flwrshee @produmads ​@teddywonss

[sergeantbarnessdoll]

Christmas Cookies » Tommy Lee

December 8th

Pairings: Husband/Dad!Tommy Lee x Wife/Mom!Reader with daughter Violet

Summary: Tommy comes home to his wife and 5 year old daughter making Christmas cookies.

Warnings: Fluff, language, making out (18+), mentions of sex (18+), hugs and kisses, nicknames for daughter (princess, little rockstar), pet names (babe)

Written on my phone so sorry if there’s any mistakes or typos.

GIF IS NOT MINE! Credit goes to the creators.

❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️

“Can I use chocolate chips for the eyes and buttons?” Violet asks you.

“Of course you can, princess.” You handed her a bag of chocolate chips. “Try not to make a mess.” You tell her.

You set her up at the table with some cookies and the supplies she needed to decorate them. You went back to the kitchen to pick up where you left off.

“I’m home!” Tommy’s voice echoed through the house.

Tommy frowned when he didn’t see you and Violet greet him at the door like you two normally do. He walked to the dining room to see Violet sitting at the table and decorating cookies. He sat down next to her and gave her a kiss on the side of her head.

“What are you doing, little rockstar?” Tommy asked her.

“Decorating Christmas cookies.” Violet says, concentrating on the cookies she’s working on.

“What’s with the chocolate chips?” He asks, eating a couple of chocolate chips.

“I’m using them for eyes and buttons and creativity.” She tells him.

“Ok. I’ll leave you to it. Where’s mommy?” He asks.

“Kitchen.” She pointed towards the kitchen.

Tommy got up and went to the kitchen to see you making more Christmas cookies. He wrapped his arms around you from behind.

“Hey, babe. Miss me?” Tommy says, kissing your neck

You turned around and kissed his lips.

“Of course I did.” You say against his lips.

Luckily you had a timer on for the cookies and you had a few minutes to yourself before putting the next batch of cookies in. Tommy’s hands found their place on your hips and pinned you against the kitchen counter. Your hands gripped his shirt to steady yourself. He moved his lips down to your neck, his teeth lightly grazing your skin causing you to gasp.

“Tommy.” You breathed. “Our daughter is in the dining room.” You remind him, tilting your head to the side to give him more access to your neck.

“Then I guess we have to be quiet.” He says.

His breath against your skin sent goosebumps through your body. He placed his lips back on yours and picked you up, placing you on the clear space on the counter. You wrapped your legs around his way and pulled him closer to you. You two didn’t even hear the little footsteps of your daughter enter the kitchen.

“Am I getting a baby sister for Christmas?!” She asks loudly.

You and Tommy quickly pulled away from each other. Tommy helped you down from the counter.

“I uhh… not right now, princess. Do you need anything?” You asked.

“More cookies.” She says.

“Ok. I’ll bring them to you in a minute.” You tell her.

“Ok!” She says, going back to the dining room.

You looked at Tommy to see a smirk on his face.

“What are you smirking about?” You asked him.

“We could give her a baby sister or even a baby brother for Christmas.” Tommy says, kissing your neck again.

“Tommy, we— fuck. Not right now.” You sighed. “Cookies now. Sex later.” You say, lightly pushing him away.

“Where should be do it this time, babe? Balcony? Hot tub?” He asks, pulling you in for another kiss.

“You choose.” You say against his lips.

Tommy’s hands traveled down your body, stopping at your ass and giving it a squeeze causing you to gasp.

“Mhmm! We need to stop before she walks in again.” You pushed him away. “Give these to Violet.” You say, handing him a plate of cookies.

Tommy took the plate from your hand and smacked your ass before leaving the kitchen. You giggled and went back to making Christmas cookies.

❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️

-Bucky Doll

[wolfoftheblackflames]

Don't mind me, I've been taken into a chokehold by cuteness again, enjoy!

(Takes place just after episode 5 and before episode 6)

It was just another normal day in the hotel. Everyone was off doing their own thing. Husk went out with Angel and Cherri to a bar while Alastor visited Cannibal Town for a feast with Rosie. Lucifer relaxed on one of the couches in the lobby, reading a good book with Charlie happily scribbling away at more plans for the hotel. He smiled fondly at his daughter, sparing her a glance. "Already busy as a bee, I see." He spoke warmly, smiling at her.

Charlie looked over at her father and giggled. "Well, I can't help it, I have that meeting with Heaven in a few days." She replied. However, her brows furrowed as she started to fidget. "I just hope it goes well, I'm so nervous."

Lucifer looked over at his daughter, his eyes softening. "Charlie.." He placed his book down and went over to sit beside his daughter, placing one of his hands on her shoulder. "My little apple pie, I know Heaven won't be easy, but I'm so proud of you." His red eyes sparkled, but they soon flashed some worry. "I'm sorry I can't go with you, which is why I'm here now, to help you if you need it."

Charlie sniffled a bit and nodded. "Thanks, Dad. I think I'm going to go walk around for a while, clear my head." She lightly moved his hand away and stood up from the soft velvety seating. Lucifer watched as his daughter left the room but blinked, spying a certain someone peeking out of the kitchen.

"Ah, Maggie, perfect timing!" He smirked once Charlie was out of earshot. "I need your help with something." He walked over to Vaggie, who tilted her head at him.

"It's Vaggie, sir, and what do you need help with?" The moth demoness replied, looking curious at the King of Hell.

Lucifer took Vaggie lightly by the arm and dragged her into the kitchen with a cute grin. "As you saw, my little apple pie is looking a little nervous. So I was thinking, why not we bake something for her to help calm her nerves? You know what she likes, right?" The man replied a little nervously since it's been awhile since he made Charlie something that wasn't a rubber duck.

Vaggie blinked but rubbed her chin, liking the idea. "She really likes sweets, so why not something like cookies or a cake?"

Lucifer beamed and used his magic to poof in some ingredients. "Excellent, so um, do you know how to make those? Or should I get the boys to run out and grab some?" He looked a little awkward since it had been just a month since he got out of his slump and started to get to know his daughter again.

He blinked, earning a chuckle from Vaggie. "I think she'd like it more if it was hand-made, sir. And no, I haven't exactly tried baking, so we could learn together?" She scratched her cheek offering a chance to bond with her girlfriend's father.

Though what seemed like a bonding time between the two turned into a messy fiasco as smoke surged out of the kitchen, causing the princess to yelp and rush over. "What in hell happened in here?!" She wafted the smoke as Razzle and Dazzle began to ventilate it.

Vaggie and Lucifer looked a little sheepish at her as the king held what looked to be a slightly burned batch of apple shaped cookies with little ducks painted on them. "Uh note to self, don't let your dad use the fucking oven. No offense sir." Vaggie dusted some soot off her shirt.

"None taken.." Lucifer laughed nervously and gulped. "We uh... Wanted to surprise you sweetie? Sorry if they look kinda bad.." He motioned to the cookies on the tray.

Charlie couldn't hide a snicker, which turned into a full-blown laugh seeing both the people she loved covered in soot. "You're lucky everyone else is out today." She teased as soon a screech was heard. "Uh oh.."

Nifty came in looking like a feral little gremlin, her lone eye bulging at the sight. "My clean kitchen, I just dusted in here not to long ago!" She whined and soon swatted at the trio with her feather duster. "Out out out, this mess needs to be clean!" She giggled wickedly as the trio moved out of the small demon maid's way.

"You got in trouble, sir." Vaggie chuckled as Lucifer laughed sheepishly.

"Yeah... My bad." The short king replied with a small smile. "Well I should be going now, um nice seeing you and good luck!" He rushed out since Nifty came back out waving a knife.

Charlie snorted and took a cookie from the tray. She smiled fondly at it and bit it, only to nod a bit. "It isn't half bad..."

"Really?" Vaggie looked at her not convinced.

"Ok it's bad. But you two worked so hard on these, sorry..." Charlie winced unable to hide her disgust. Vaggie chuckled softly as Charlie finished the cookie. "What's so funny?" She looked over at her girlfriend.

"Can't believe you just ate that. You could've thrown it away hon." Vaggie looked at Charlie taking her hand. "Still it's sweet of you to do so."

Charlie chuckled and nuzzled Vaggie, only to get soot on her nose. "Ah even here there's soot?!" She whined as Vaggie grumbled.

"Seriously don't let your dad use the oven again. I don't think it'll last with him around." She pinched the bridge of her nose as Charlie laughed.

The two retired to their room as Vaggie needed a shower to get the soot out of her hair. It had also become a darker grey as a result. Charlie, however, looked fondly at the photo of her parents that rested on the wall. "Thanks dad..." Her eyes softened, she felt new found courage swirl inside her, maybe the trip to heaven would go well, but also it felt nice to have her dad back in her life again. A soft kiss to the cheek broke her out of her trance as the blonde looked over. "All better?" She teased with a cheeky grin.

"Mhm, c'mon, I think aside from terrible cookies, some cuddles and a movie would help ease your nerves." Vaggie gave her a soft smile as the two soon curled up on the couch in the room together. Charlie relaxed in Vaggie's embrace, casually laying again the smaller woman's shoulder while her girlfriend lightly massaged her back. The two enjoyed their lazy afternoon together for tomorrow was the big day.

(Hiya! Yes I tried again with another Chaggie fic... I can't help it, I also tried my hand at our smol baby dork boy Luci. Thanks for reading!)

[wambsgansshoelaces]

Something Sweet; Chapter 3

Kendall Roy x Reader

a/n: read the prologue here, chapter 1 here, and chapter 2 here! as per, please enjoy and leave your thoughts x

anyone sick of this picture of jermey strong yet? i’m not

Word Count: 2,203

Over the next week, Kendall drops by the bakery every day. He comes in, heckles you while you work, and then makes you take a break to give you lunch. You don’t know why he brings you food- he’s literally visiting you at YOUR bakery -but he does.

Every Sunday, you’re closed- it’s the only day you can get away with taking off. Even though you’re not open, you’re working anyway, doing a run through of the menu that Marcia sent over.

Groggy and mad at yourself for getting up so early, you sit in the walk in freezer for a moment before getting started. Marcia’s requested all sorts of things- tarts, cheesecakes, pies, cookies, brownies. It’s a ridiculous amount for you to make yourself, but you’ve done more in less time.

As you’re whisking together a batter for a carrot cake, your phone rings. You wipe your hand on your apron and pick up the call.

“Open the door,” Kendall says flatly.

“What happened to ‘Hello, Y/N, how are you’?” You go back to whisking.

“Hello, Y/N, I know you’re having a fantastic time in there. Now let me in, please.”

“We’re closed. Sorry, you’ll have to come back later.”

“Are you always cranky in the morning?”

“Just this one.”

“I have to go to work soon. I won’t be long, I promise.”

“Hold on.” You hang up on him then make your way to the front to let him in.

“Thanks.” Kendall’s nose is tinted pink from the cold. “What’re you covered in flour for?”

“Carrot cake.”

“How’d you get it on your face?”

“Who’s the professional baker here, me or you?” He follows you back to your workspace and doesn’t respond. “I thought so.” You spray the pan you plan on using with oil and look at him over your shoulder. “Not that I don’t love your company, but why are you here so early?”

“Do I have to have a reason?”

You snort.

“I wanted to ask if I could help with anything,” he amends, adjusting his scarf. “Can I? Later?”

Kendall watches as you pour the batter into the pan. “You? Do work in a kitchen?” you tease.

“I want to help.”

“I’m going to be doing this all day, so probably. You’ll be on oven duty. I’m paranoid of burning myself.”

“Promise to let me in next time? Before I get hypothermia, preferably?”

And you do. He comes back at 5:30 with two paper cups of hot chocolate.

“Kendall, do you just forget that I own a bakery?”

“I like bringing you things.”

You take the cup and take a sip. “Well, don’t stop.” You drag the back of your hand over your eyes. “There’s a tray of cookies and a pie crust baking. We can start on a cake together.”

“Y/N, you should take a break.” He watches as you repeatedly try to untie your apron and fail. “How long have you been doing this for?” He approaches you absentmindedly, single-handedly untying the knot that kept your apron up and pulled it over your head.

“Since you left this morning.” You sigh. You knew you weren’t pacing yourself correctly, or at all, really. But this was important to you.

After shucking off his coat and dropping his scarf on a table somewhere, Kendall returns with a barstool and sets it by your counter in the back. “Sit.”

You clutch your apron in your hand. “But I still-”

“I’ll do it. Sit down, please. You’re stressing yourself out.”

Sighing, you drop yourself into the stool. Kendall gives you a hesitant pat on the shoulder before the oven timer goes off.

“Don’t you dare,” is all he says before finding a stray towel to take out what’s in the oven and set them on the counter to cool.

“Wanna try a cookie?” you ask him, gesturing to the tray. “They’re always better hot.”

Before he does, he drags another stool up next to yours and hands you a cookie. He sits down with one of his own held in a napkin. “Cheers.”

Out of all the sweets you bake, cookies are both the easiest and one of your comforts. This batch is no different. The chocolate melts on your tongue, and the cookie itself is soft and sweet and you wonder why you don’t make these for yourself every day.

“Y/N, you’re going to make me fat.” Kendall all but inhaled his cookie. “You’re fucking amazing.”

You give a little smile, feeling your face heat. “That means a lot to me.”

He gives your knee a nudge. “What’re you doing here in New York? Why aren’t you in France or some other Michelin country?”

You shrug. You don’t really know, yourself. “I dunno. I guess I don’t really like the idea of being a private chef or some jackass in a restaurant that serves dollops of cream and calls it classy.” You meet his gaze. “I like the idea that good food brings good times, so that’s what I try to do. For everyone. Besides, I have the most control over my life if I own my own shit and don’t have to work and break my back for some creep fifty years out of culinary school.”

“That’s noble. Much better than what I do, anyway.”

“What do you do? Actually, don’t answer that. I don’t really want to know.”

Kendal scoffs. “I don’t really think I know what I do, either.”

“Well, do you like it?”

“Not really.”

“Then why do it?”

He abruptly stands. “What was that you were saying about cake?”

You frown, miffed at the obvious pivot in conversation, but you decide not to say anything. You clearly hit a nerve.

“Would you mind getting a fresh bag of sugar from the pantry?”

He obeys, setting it next to you on the counter. You toss him a spare apron, hooking yours over your head. “Wouldn’t want your fancy clothes to get dirty.”

“Do I have to?”

“You’re not going to die, Kendall. The paparazzi isn’t secretly in the oven hood waiting for you to look like a blue-collar man.” You tuck a clean towel into the waistband of your pants, letting one end hang out.

After you both wash your hands, you find a bowl to mix your dry ingredients in and hand it to Kendall. “The ingredient measurements are on a sticky note on the cabinet above your head,” you tell him, pulling out another bowl for wet ingredients.

“What’s a ‘wee bit of salt’ supposed to mean?”

“I didn’t think it could get simpler than that.”

“Y/N, how the fuck do you make anything edible like this?”

“Just listen to the sticky note, Kendall.” You crack a few eggs into your bowl, throwing him a glare. “Baking is about heart, not numbers.”

“Cheesy,” he mutters.

“You’re in my kitchen, Kendall. Have some respect,” you tease.

“I will if this thing doesn’t end up hot garbage.” He slowly fills the dry bowl, making sure to follow the instructions scrawled on one of the many sticky notes you pasted on the row of cabinets above you.

“You don’t have faith in me?”

“I have faith in you, not me, and last time I checked, this was a team thing.”

You whisk together the eggs and the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla you added while Kendall was whining.

“You’re good at this. This is like your sixth sense- it’s your thing. I feel like I’m making a bomb.”

You roll your eyes. “Quit being a drama queen and dump your bowl into mine. You get to whisk while I find something to make frosting with.”

“How benevolent of you, Your Majesty,” he says flatly. “Do we need to take a trip to the store?”

“No, it’s fine. We can just use bought frosting. I’m too lazy.”

You toss him a whisk, and he fumbles before sloppily catching it. “Don’t standalone mixers exist now? Or are we living in the twentieth century?”

“What fun would it be if I didn’t make you put elbow grease into it?”

Once the cake is out of the oven and you’ve lathered it in frosting, you scoop out more premade frosting in a different color into a piping bag. “This is the fun part,” you tell Kendall.

“Maybe you should do it, then.”

“No, you have to! It’s your first cake.”

“Um, if I have to.” He takes the piping bag from you. “What do I…?”

“Do whatever feels right. It doesn’t have to be fancy or anything. This cake’s for us.”

“Okay. Don’t look.” Kendall stares at you until you’ve averted your eyes. You look at him instead. He’s gripping the bag way too hard, his knuckles turning white. His tongue pokes out of his mouth, his focus unwavering. “Quit staring,” is all he says for several moments.

You snort, lean back against the counter, and stare down at your feet. A few more moments pass, and he sets down the bag and stares at the cake for a moment.

“I don’t think I want you to look.”

“What? Why not?” You begin to turn, but he gently nudges you aside so that he’s in between you and the cake. “Kendall!”

“Okay. Listen.” He looks up at you. “I don’t actually think your head is that big. I just ran out of space.”

When he doesn’t move, you brace your hands against his torso and rise onto your toes to peek over his shoulder. Once you catch a glimpse of the cake, you burst into laughter.

“Y/N!”

“It’s beautiful!”

It’s a stick-figure drawing of the two of you. Your head is lumpy and misshapen, neither of you have hair, and Kendall’s cross eyed. The frosting came out inconsistently, some lines thicker than others because of his death grip on the piping bag.

You nudge him aside and use your phone to take a picture of his work of art.

“Let’s not talk about this again, okay?”

“I think it’s great. Should be in the Louvre.”

You’re both standing with your sides flush against each other, making it easy for him to bump your shoulder with his. “I look like I eat glue.” He gestures towards frosting-Kendall.

“At least you don’t look like your brain is about to leak out of your ear.”

You both laugh loudly, the noise echoing through the kitchen. It’s a few hours after dark, and your eyes feel like they’re about to fall out of their sockets.

Kendall helps you put the various assortment of sweets you’d made during the day into the freezer so you can reheat them and sell them tomorrow.

Somehow, you both end up sitting on the floor talking about nothing and everything. Conversation goes from whether you’re both cat or dog people to a game of never have I ever. You sit there for a couple of hours, until Kendall glances at his watch and quietly says that he should go.

He helps you to your feet, taking both of your hands. “My place next time, since I wrecked yours?” he asks, gesturing around you at the kitchen. “I have a bunch of old movies on CD. I’ve been meaning to take a day off, and… it’d be nice if you were there.”

“Tell me when you get that day off.”

You smile up at him, and he just stares straight back at you, a tired longing etching the lines of his eyes.

He leans down towards you, stopping when your lips are barely touching. You don’t move, hoping he does something. Anything.

Instead of bridging the gap between your mouths, he pulls away and disappears into the dark street, calling a soft ‘goodbye’ over his shoulder.

You stand there, dumbfounded. He clearly likes you, you think, but there are some moments you share with him that make you think the opposite.

You think back to when you kissed him on your porch. That’s all it was, really- you awkwardly pecking him on the lips while he stood there ramrod straight- then leaving.

Those couple of moments give you a queasy feeling.

You decide to stuff it away and instead shut down all the machinery and lights in your bakery. Kendall, at some point during your conversation on the floor, had insisted he cleaned while you sat there and continued to speak to each other. You could just go straight to bed after your nightly routine.

As you’re brushing your teeth, your phone pings with a message. It’s Marcia. You’d given her your number before leaving that day.

Y/N,

I hope all preparations for Christmas are going according to plan. I’d like to invite you to tea a few days from now. Please, allow me to treat you for your hard work.

Regards,

Marcia

You stare at the screen. Inviting the pastry chef to tea? Was this normal in the upper tax brackets? You wouldn’t know- you’d never been a millionaire before.

It made sense that she sent text messages like they were emails, though.

You send her a polite text message back, accepting and thanking her for the invitation.

No matter how much you try to convince yourself that Marcia is just a kind employer, you just won’t stop worrying that she’s not.

[tumblingdownthefoxden]

"The Assistant and The Star"

Chapter 2: The Queen and King

Quiet as a mouse, a tall blond boy browses the grand pantry of the castle's kitchen with deviance on his mind. He knew he wasn't allowed to take snacks from the pantry. Dahlia had banned him from even entering the pantry after the night that he alone ate the pantry into needing a new shipment of food before the scheduled time. But he was in dire need for food after his short breakfast and work with his dad. His father made him leave home early to organize the Ceremony list. The boy named Dario didn't know why he had to get up early just to gather the names and picture of people he had to look out for when the ceremony was at sunset but his father insisted that "the early bird catches the worm" so they needed everything completed as soon as possible. And in his father's defense, it took quite a while to gather the name and portrait of anyone who had already given up a wish the previous year.

'But the second mouse gets the cheese' Dario thought as his arrival to the castle was soon after the breakfast rush. The kitchen was clean and stood vacant of any cooks that could stop him. Only other person there was Simon, snoozing at the bench against the wall after completing his 8 hour shift. He scanned the shelves holding baskets of fruit, jars of jams, boxes of cookies and bowls of bread for anything to soothe his cravings. He took a box of cookies from the shelf. A batch of Kingly cookies, shaped like the face of King Magnifico. He took 2 from the box but then had the temptation to take the whole box with him. Dario's cravings will act up again later, they always did. There were 5 more boxes of Kingly cookies and the king was a patient man, surely he wouldn't mind one missing box.

Before he left the pantry, there was a knock. Dario spun around to the ajar door of the pantry. No sign of anybody there. He sighed in relief, he couldn't let Dahlia see him. 5 more knocks (in the rhythm of "How to Build a Snowman" from Frozen) sounded. He looked and saw a hatch on the floor. He knelt down and knocked on the door as well. The knocking came back. He looked at the the handle and saw that the door was padlocked.

Dario hid the cookies in his shirt and went to look for a key. After every opened drawer, opened cabinet, there was no sign of a key. He considered waking up Simon to ask him if he knew of the key, when the three girls ran inside. "Hey guys, how are you?" Dahlia said before going into the pantry and pulling out a ring of keys. One swift move and the padlock was opened. Dahlia opened the hatch and emerged Asha. Dario jumped back at the sight of the black figure with an Ibex face but relaxed at the sight a little goat in their arms.

"Thanks Dahlia." Asha said, letting down Valentino. Dario grimaced, he never could get over that disguise. He ran away from Asha once when she first wore it to their outing during the Winter solstice festival. He was told off for it but could you blame him? If you saw La Muerte walking up to you, wouldn't run like a cat with a flaming branch tied to its tail?

"Hey Dario. How is everything?" Asha asked, taking off her cloak. Dario lifted his hands and signed, "I'm okay. What of you? No one followed you here?"

"No, not this time." She folded her cloak and placed it on the bench next to Simon, putting her mask on top of it. Bazeema walked over and sat down on the other side of Simon. "Should we wake him up now? We need a favor." She asked.

Dario snorted. "If you can wake him, be our guest." He signed. When Simon was napping after his shift, not even a trumpet could wake him up. He tried.

Bazeema leaned over and whispered into his ear, "Simon, Dahlia just made a fresh batch of cookies!" In a singsong tone. His snoring stopped and his eyes briefly opened. "Cookies?" He mumbled. Dario stared, mouth agap with how easy that was.

"No, she doesn't have cookies but we need to ask you something." Bazeema said, referring to her and Asha. "But first, I need to ask something." Dahlia budded in, intendly staring at a shelf in the pantry. "Has anyone seen a light blue box like the ones from the pantry? One of them is missing." The others were silent but Dahlia's eyes were on Dario and his bulging shirt. "Nobody happened to see a box of cookies from the shelf?"

"Maybe someone stole it overnight." Dario signed, glancing to his side. Dahlia left the pantry and walked up to him. "Oh, really? Because I checked the pantry this morning and saw all 6 boxes in place. No one other the cooks can even enter the kitchen during the Breakfast rush. You just so happened to be in the kitchen when I arrived and the only other person in here was asleep so where is the box?" Dahlia asked again.

Dario stood still, leaning back from her short but imposing stature. Dahlia still glared at him.

"Must be a mystery..." He signed with a shrug. Dahlia grumbled and held out her hand.

Sighing his defeat, Dario pulled out the cookies from under his shirt and handed it to her. She opened it to inspect how many were there. Only 2 were missing. "I swear Dario, you're going to make me loose my job one day!" Dahlia said, putting the cookies back. "I only took one box, would the King even notice?!" He signed. "The King might not care but the citizens at the festival will. I cannot get another avalanche of complaints because we ran out of Kingly cookies too soon." She explained. "At least, you didn't take the Queenly cookies. Then we really would've been in trouble."

There was only 1 rose gold box of the Queen shaped cookies next to the Kingly cookies but they were the most important. That box was for the royals themselves, and the King was critical about their condition. The last baker that ruined a batch of those cookies is currently in the dungeon. If Dario did eat from there, Dahlia would have to rush to make a new batch, but that would've been after she killed him.

"With that out of the way. Simon, could you help us take Asha home tonight please? Just before your shift?" Bazeema asked.

Simon rubbed his eyes. "Asha needs me to take her home? Is it that bad?"

"It will be so we could use your sword and shield."

"For the people or the woods? I can fight a person but a bear would be difficult. Are the bears active at night?" He asked, sitting up. "I'm not sure what to do about my nap before shift. I can't pass out on my rotation again."

"There's no pressure at all. If you still need to sleep, it's fine." Asha reassured, holding her hands out. "I-I can run home. I can handle myself."

"No no, it's alright." He said, standing up to stretch. "I would love to help you home. The mission will be good for me anyway. I can just take a nap sleep sooner and the travel will wake up."

Asha shifted on her feet. "Oh, thank you."

Hal bounced over to Asha's side. "Hey! Do you think it's possible to go to the festival for a few minutes. My cousins are performing a Kaolack dance in town square after the Ceremony. I would love for you to see it."

"Don't you think that's a little risky?" Questioned Dahlia.

"The crowd dies down after the Wish Ceremony and with the rest of us, we could keep an eye Asha and other people. She needs to have fun! She can't keep living like this!" Hal took Asha by her arms and turned her to face Dahlia. "You see her shoulders! The tension in her stand! Our lady is stressed! She has been working and running from antagonizers all week! Asha deserves some form of a treat from the festival!"

"Would you like that Asha?" Asked Bazeema, popping up behind them. The two girls jumped at her sudden appearance from Simon's side but Asha nodded. She would like to find something for her Saba in the market and since her employment, she couldn't enjoy the festivals like before. "Okay then, it's set!" Hal cheered.

"Oh, hey, could someone start a fire please? I should have time to make tea for the King." Said Asha. It was routine for her to bring tea to the King during festivals. It was a hard time for both of them but tea makes everything manageable. Simon opened a drawer and pulled out a box of matches that he handed to Dahlia. Once she lit the fire, the others went about preparing mint tea as Asha kept the fire going. 10 minutes later and Asha was squirting lemon into the porcelain tea cup from the King's tea set on a tray. "Okay, it's ready!" She chimed with a smile.

There was a knock at the door and Dario went to open it. One look at the visitor and Dario staggered back before bowing down. At the door, stood Queen Amaya in her rose gold gown. The others saw her and bowed as well. Asha rose her head. "Good morning, your majesty. I hope you're well. Wait. Am I late for the King?" She asked.

Amaya smiled warmly. "No, you're fine. I wanted walk around the castle and see who was here right now. Would you like to see the King now?"

"Oh, yes, thank you." She took up the tea tray and walked up to the queen before turned back to her friends. "I'll see you guys later. Could you watch over Valentino please?" Dario picked up Valentino and gave her a thumbs up. "Thank you!" She said and walked. Dario shut the door and handed Valentino over to Simon, who was back on the bench. "I need to meet with my dad later today, I'm gonna leave him with you, okay?" He signed. Simon yawned and nodded as he took the little goat. "Yeah, I got all day." He began stroking his head. "We'll have a good time. Oh... Valy. Was your fur always this sof..." Simon dozed off again. His arm around Valentino and his hand fixed on his head. Effectively trapping the little goat under his weight.

Perplexed by his circumstance, Valentino bahhed for help. Dahlia giggled. "Sorry buddy but I can't have you run around the kitchen. And the last time we watched over you, you escaped into the city and got lost for 3 hours. You'll be safe with Simon. You do seem cozy in his arms!"

Valentino gave her a look.

He was going to remember this indignation.

---

"I'll admit, the advisor of the English King is charming but he is so dull. When we weren't talking about trade negotiations, he would go on and on about his polo games." The Queen ranted to the Assistant.

"But polo games have such fine horses." Asha used to read about horse when she was 12. The English breeds were pretty to her.

"Indeed, he loved his polo pony. He spoke about the strength and agility of his pony with more delirium than about our trade." -She glanced to Asha- "Honestly, anything is better than trade negotiations."

"Did the advisor really lift a statue during your lunch break to impress you?"

Amaya chuckled. "Yes. He even asked to lift me! But I declined."

"And Magnifico wasn't there?" Asha whispered in shock.

"That advisor better thank the heavens every night that he wasn't."

"Much about him sounds like a horse. From his strength to his food intake."

"Ha. When he first arrived, you would've thought he was a horse by his stench."

"Queen Amaya!" Asha choked. Surely, the Queen has gone too far in her ill manner speak of a nobleman.

"Oh, how will he know." She waved her hand.

It was a long way to the King's study at the top of the castle but it was worthwhile for the conversations with the Queen.

They arrived to the grand wooden doors of the King's study. "Are you ready?" Amaya asked. Asha nodded.

She opened the doors and let Asha pass by. It was a clean space with a wall of black mirrors across from her but King Magnifico was nowhere in sight. Asha set the tray down on a table next to the book shelves. She looked and noticed something off. Along the wall was a glass case holding the King's staff. Along the edge of the edge we're designs of what looked like dragonflies. The staff had fallen from the handle holding it and lied diagonal inside the case.

Thinking nothing of it, Asha touched the edge of the glass, searching for a handle or anything that could open the case so she could fix it.

The design on the glass glowed and the bugs emerged, immediately swarming Asha. She held her arms to shield her face but stayed still. Dragonflies were harmless and should leave you alone if you're still, right? Then Asha felt sharp, stinging pain biting at her body.

Those weren't Dragonflies!

Asha began screaming and waving her arms as the hornets continued to relentlessly attack her. She reached into bag and pulled out a thick book, trying to whack the devil bugs away but to no avail. There was a shifting sound behind her as the mirrored wall opened like a sliding door. From this doorway, emerged the King of Legend, Magnifico. "Is someone in here- oh my goodness!" Magnifico was puzzled at the sound of screaming in the room until seeing his Assistant being bombarded by the protection spell for his staff. He couldn't have been at her side in less time

"Oh shoot, Asha! Wait! Hold still. Hold still!" Magnifico stammered, ducking to avoid the flying boot that was launched at the hornets. "I got it!"

He gathered the light blue bugs in his hands and sent them back into the glass. Asha stood panting while holding her book. "Thank you, sir." She said. "You're welcome. Are you okay?" He asked.

Asha examined her skin to see red spots where she was stung. "Well, nothing I can't fix." Magnifico chimed. With a snap of his fingers, something blue wrapped around her arms. It disappeared and the red spots were gone. "Thank you, sir." She said again, going to take her boot from the floor.

"Huh. Was it always like that?" Magnifico pondered as he looked at the fallen staff. He waved his hand, the glass door opened and the staff floated out into his palm. He closed the case and turned to the tea on the desk. He smiled at her constant consideration.

"So, did anybody see you on your way here?" He asked, pouring another cup of tea.

"A hunter but they couldn't catch up with me." She replied. "The cloak and mask are working but they're catching onto me."

"Again!" He handed her a cup of tea on a saucer. "I swear. This is an arms race between predator and prey."

Asha just looked down at her tea. Too hot to drink but keeps her thoughts in order. He sat down on the floor. Asha followed suit.

Asha thought back to the heckler that was outside the castle exit waiting for her, and 3 days before that, she had a run in with a crowd asking her to convince the King to take their extra wishes. She had made a list of names and their extra wishes to tell the King about. It is 43 pages long.

"And how are your trips home?" He took a sip of tea.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"...okay." He whispered empathetically. He stood up and took Asha's empty cup of tea. "You know what? Meet me in the Grand Hall after the Ceremony. I know someone who can help you get home." He set the cups down on the tray. "It's almost noon. Do you want to test the spells now? I have the vials and spellbooks in the hollow."

Asha stood up. "Certainly."

Waving his free hand, a circle in the floor opened up. Revealing a spiraling staircase made from cobblestone, alight with torches of blue fire. "Shall we?"

Asha nodded and the two made their way down below.

A/N: This was the most fun chapter I've written so far. I don't why my brain decided Dario should be the Shaggy of the group but it suits him.

I decided to keep repurpose the evil lair but I don't know how to make an evil lair less evil. This is getting fun but Tumblr needs to stop posting my chapters without its final edits when it fails to save!

@annymation @signed-sapphire @wings-of-sapphire @mythartist21 @oh-shtars @kstarsarts @uva124 @chillwildwave @queenamayasimp-deactivated20240 @ahomeinthestars-wishrewrite @rascalentertainments

[oval3000]

"Hello" ch. 2

Simon Riley x Reader

Not my art! Not my characters!

After defeating Makorav, Simon went back home to enjoy his night rest. The next day he heard noises outside his apartment. When he went to see who was making those noises, by peaking through the eye hole on his door, he saw you. He never thought you would change his life forever.

!WARNING ⚠️ Terrible grammer, past abuse, abuse, ptsd, trauma, swearing, Obsession, Possessive, death,boring story. Different story plot then the game (Makorav dead)

New to this wanted to try it out. Maybe making it to a series idk .

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

A few weeks has past since then. You were able to get everything settled in. You still felt bad about Simon helping you, especially when your new bed arrived. It wasn't your fault though. Simon peaked through when he heard noises of two men carrying a big box to your apartment. He saw how you thanked them. When you gave them the same treatment you did to him, it pissed him off. Now, he didn't know why, but he knew that they didn't deserve your 'Thank yous' they were just doing their job. So when they left he went in saying that he heard a ruckus and wanted to help, not because he was watching you through his peak hole

You made a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. As you placed them on the cooling rack you took out a cute treat bag and a twist tie. You grabbed a gift box from the store plastic bag aswell as other things like snacks and an assortment of good teas that your heard were good, the price really showed it. You didn't care, you really wanted to show him gratitude. You placed everything perfect. You carefully placed half of the batch of the cooled chocolate chip cookies into the cute treat bag. Carefully placing it in the center of the box along with a handwritten note you did on top. You placed on the lid and grabbed a piece of ribbon that matches the box perfectly.

Some say this is extreme and unnecessary, but you really didn't want to feel like a burden especially being new to the building. The last thing you want to cause any problems in your new home.

You took the box and walked in front of Simon's door. You knocked on the door three times while holding the gift box. You were nervous, don't know why, but you were. Your overthoughts were taking over you. It made you think on how you can just turn around and walk away.

However, those thoughts disappeared when you heard the door knob giggle and Simon opened the door. He knew it was you.

He was ready with whatever help you needed, he didn't even noticed the box as he was too busy staring at your eyes.

"I just wanted to say thank you for helping me move in and for building my bed, so please take this as a gift as my gratitude." You handed him the gift box as he looked at you.

"You really didn't have to. It was nice to help" Simon looked at you with a humble look on his face. As for how he feels on the inside, seeing you standing in front of him with a gift just for him.

"I know, I just really wanted to do it." You gave him one the most sweetest smiles.

He reached out with hands as he grabbed the box. You felt his fingers glazing over yours. You felt heat rising in your cheeks. You looked up as he stared you down with a smirk on his face. "Thank you, love"

He saw as you walked away and closed the door. He carefully shut his door, ignoring the locks. Why would he lock his door when an angel moved accross from his place?

He places the gift box on the counter and undid the ribbon. He took of the lid and saw all the things you put in it. He first took the note out and read. His fingers glanced on the cute little drawing you did of a smiley face.

He placed the note down as he took the bag of cookies out. He read the little gift tag 'homemade chocolate chip cookies'. He opened the bag and took a bite of the cookie. He tasted it and it was delicious. Was it delicious? Was he just hungry? Or maybe...just maybe. He found it delicious?

He didn't want to eat the rest in one go. His excuse was simple 'don't want to gain weight' even thought he himself knows he can burn off whatever fat he would gain if he did. He placed the bag of cookies down and admired the rest of the items you gave him. One in particular were the asserment of teas. He knows that brand. Everyone in town knows that brand. The most popular well known brand of good tea and more on the pricy side. He felt spoiled. Never in his life has he felt spoiled.

Feeling things he never felt before. Satisfaction. You gave him so much satisfaction for only knowing him for a month . This emotion felt so good. He wanted more.

Now he isn't selfish. He knows you deserve to be satisfied as well. He just needs to find the right time.

He needs more time with you. He placed the cookies you made him into a little air tight containers, placing it in the center of his kitchen island. He made his way towards his peak hole just to check, simple as that.

He grabbed his laundry basket from his room and made his way towards the laundry room on the down label ground. When he got there, only a few people were there. Some already left while two men still stayed behind. He was never close with anyone in the building, how could he when he's busy serving his country, so his interactions with others were limited. After all he has someone he could spend his energy for.

He shoved his dirty clothes into the washer and poured in the detergent. He wanted to leave and come back, but he knew people like the two men who remained there would do something stupid like throwing his wet clothes on the floor, so he waited patiently.

He could hear the two, young, looking men laughing like hyenas. "Shit men. It wouldn't fucking hurt to get a women doing this shit for us," one of the guys said with a smug look on his face.

Simon didn't bother turning his head, only giving a side eye."you know non of these old fucking hags would do the work" another said has he shook his head.

"But that girl that lives on the fifth floor." Simon felt body tense up as he stood still for a second.

"Lucky bastard, I didn't get to see her" the guy sad, throwing his drench clothes in the dryer.

"I only got to see when we shared an elevator together." The other guy said, tormenting his friend on the sign of seeing a young, beautiful, woman like you.

He leaned in closer to his friend, "how was she?" He looked back to see Simon still standing infront of the washing machine with his hands resting on top.

"If I was there with her for another second I would've bended her over and-" There conversation were quickly interrupted by a loud banging sound. When they turned around they saw Simon with his hand on the lid of the washer, yanking his clothes and throwing them into the dryer.

"You alright there, mate?"

"Say, don't you live on the fifth floor? Do you know that beautiful doll that lives there?"

Simon turned around to fully face them. He saw the way they stood and the look on their faces. It reminded him of the men he would see when his father would take him to those weird shady places."It's non of your concern or your business where someone lives."

One of the guy who has dark brown long curly hair looked at his friend who made that comment about the elevator. He saw the way Simon stared at him. He knew those looks, afterall, he was given those looks when he didn't have the money he owed to some drug dealers. He felt his throat dried up as he took a gulp of whatever was left in his mouth. "Whatever, mate"

His friend, who still had a smug look on his face, still proud for what he said looked at him with a confused look. "The fuck do you mean 'whatever' we fucking live here. Don't we have the right to know who else lives here too?" He looked at back at Simon, who never broke his eye contact. "It's a simple bloody fucking question."

Simon turned his eyes towards the guy with the curly hair. He felt as if he was in the dark alley getting his ass beaten up for not being the right amount of money to his drug dealer. Coming home with bruises on his torso, a broken nose, a busted lip, and an ankle that could barley hold his body weight. "C'mon man, let's just leave."

He tugged the arm of his friend trying to get his attention. "Whatever, I guess. Couldn't be to fucking friendly."

Simon watched as the two guys left. He felt the nails of his finger slowing releasing from his palm, which left in marks of his fingernails from how tight he had his fist. He looked at it, sighing at how they got a reaction out of him.

'Bloody fucking hell'

Did he felt weak when two pathetic loosers made him react this way? Yes. Did he know he was feeling this way? No. Was he proud of it? Debatable. Did he feel good? I mean, he did it to protect you. A delicate soul like you shouldn't be going through this.

His mind and thought weren't coherent. His body was moving while his mind was telling to stop and go home. But like before, you could never be too careful, especially someone like you.

You heard a knock on your door. When opened it, Simon rested his head on his arm, which was resting on your doorframe. He looked up and immediately straighten himself back up. "Simon? What's up?"

You look down and saw a white, plastic, shopping bag in his hand, "I got something for you. Don't worry, it's more for your safety."

He pulled out a box that had a picture of a camera. "A camera?" You looked at him with a concerned look. Were you in danger?

"Their security cameras. Just in case. I heard there's a creep out there so I figured a camera will do for you. That way you can see if anybody tries to break in or so. I'll set it up for you."

"..uh...thank you, Simon. But are you sure it's necessary?" You honestly didn't think a camera is what you needed when you moved into your new place. However, when it comes from your neighbor who has been nothing, but helpful during your entire change of environment, you think to yourself that maybe having some cameras around won't be too bad.

"Trust me. It will help you."

"Okay then. Thank you, Simon"

"No problem, love."

[ruelpsen]

Feedist Kinktober 2024: Part I (October 1-7)

First time taking part in this challenge, so here we go! I decided to try writing 100-200 word drabbles based on at least one prompt for each day and uploading them on a weekly basis. In other words, here's the first batch! I've been feeling somewhat uninspired with kinky writing lately, so I thought it might be fun to use this challenge essentially to do some writing exercises. I've been liking what these prompts have inspired so far, so we'll see what might become of some of these ideas in the future...

So far these drabbles have all been inspired by/involve my favorite fictional alien, the six-tentacocked L/ondo M/ollari from B/abylon 5. On top of the prompts used themselves, below you'll find stuffing, weight gain, burping, dom/sub dynamics, master/pet dynamics, public play, (implied) alienfucking, tentacles, weight-related teasing, and even the B/5 canon holobrothel...

If you enjoy these, stay tuned for future batches, to be released on or shortly after October 14th, 21st, 28th, and 31st!

(1) Transformation 🔀 / Farmer's Market 🌽 “On your knees. Now.” He’s not even in the room yet, but already I feel myself stiffen at his order. It takes me a moment to change positions from where I rested in his bed to kneeling at the center, mouth open and waiting. He doesn’t need to say that part for me to know what he wants. He slides open the door and flashes his fangs at me in a toothy grin, holding up a tray of small cakes of various kinds from his homeworld. I look up at him, excited in every sense as he approaches and pushes the first into my mouth. “My, my, so eager, my love,” he coos. “That’s a good boy. Eat for me.” He smiles again, wistful. “If the you of a year ago could see the loving pet before me now…” And for a moment, I catch a glimpse of that pet in the mirror beside his bed. That pet is happier, hornier, and a hundred plus pounds heavier than the man I was. I may never have expected to end up this way, but I thank the gods- and my L/ondo- for transforming me into the slut I am now.

(2) Latex Love 🖤 / Masquerade Ball 💃 “Ready, my dear? You know how to find me if you need me. If anyone gives you serious trouble, my fist will meet their jaw in an instant, I promise.” He squeezes my ass and gives it a quick slap before we enter. He leads and disappears into the crowd, leaving me at the door as we’d discussed. I feel countless pairs of eyes fall on me as the jingling of the bell on my collar calls attention to me. Faces blush behind masks, words are whispered behind gloved hands, little giggles arise from the crowd- and the next thing I know, a dozen hands are pushing tastes of rich, filling foods towards my mouth. I might not know these people, but they know a plaything when they see one. My tight latex jumpsuit, as long as it’s on me, leaves little to the imagination and stands out among the finer outfits of those around me, and as long as the bell keeps jingling, I’m not yet filled to the point of temporary immobility. Tonight I get to be a plaything for the masses… and to become more massive at the same time.

(3) Date Night 🍾 / Creepy Cookies 🍪 Before I could protest, the waiter set the pasta dishes before us and left. I looked up at L/ondo, more puzzled than turned on. “We didn’t order these,” I said. “You may not have, but I did,” he replied. “I called ahead last week about this dish. It uses a special ingredient, what’s it called… fah, no matter- so I made sure in advance that they would be able to make it for us tonight. And clearly they had what they needed!” God, he’s so sweet. I looked down at my pasta with some doubt though, unsure how I could finish it after all I’d already eaten. “Eat up, darling,” he whispered, pausing to belch deeply and unabashedly (to the chagrin of those around us). “If you finish it all, I’ll have something else special waiting for you…” With that, I felt the familiar sensation of one of his tentacles brushing against the growing bulge in my pants. From his expression, you’d never know what he was doing to me under the table. That just made me want him more- and gave me the strength I needed to dig in like my life depended on it.

(4) Leashed 🔗 / Hologram ✨ I looked over my shoulder one more time to confirm I was alone. I shouldn’t have been there, I knew it was wrong, but some desperate part of me wanted it. I slipped in through a nondescript door, pulled the annotated photo out of my pocket, and handed it to the man behind the counter of the holobrothel. “I want… I want an hour, please,” I said. “I’m normally not one to comment, but… you can’t be serious, right?” the man asked. “I am,” I asserted, handing him my credit chit as proof. He shrugged, returned the photo and chit after scanning both, hit some buttons on a panel behind the counter, and handed over the telemetry bodysuit. “First door on your left,” the man said. I went into the suite, quickly stripped down, and pulled on and activated the suit. The projections and sensations started the moment I closed up the last zipper. “Hello, darling,” a familiar voice crooned. There he stood before me, as if in the flesh, holding the other end of a leash that tugged at my throat. “You look hungry, my pet. Correct?” I fell to my knees and begged. For the next hour, yes.

(5) Cannibal Campers 🥩 / Tea Party 🫖 “More tea, dear?” he asked. “Of course!” I replied, handing him my mug. He filled it up again, leaving a little room so he could add a bit of milk and honey. He’d never had them in tea before today. I’d never even heard of this type of tea before, made using some obscure flower from his homeworld. Whatever it was, though, it was delicious, so much so that I’d lost track of how much tea I’d had to drink by that point. “You’re certainly enjoying this, yes?” he smiled as he pushed the mug back into my hands. I gulped down most of it in a few seconds, setting the mug down only so I could thump my chest and belch in response. He laughed before taking a sip from his own cup. “I feel so full, but it tastes so good,” I sighed. “That will happen with this tea,” he said, throwing his head back to finish his cup before pouring himself some more. “Makes you feel- urrrrp- sloshy, for lack of a better word.” “Sure does,” I groaned. “But as long as you keep it coming, I’ll keep going!” With that, he poured me another mug…

(6) Ocean's Delight 🌊 / Possession 👻 The man this body belongs to should not have fucked around. He should’ve known better than to carelessly mess around with an ancient alien artifact whose purpose he didn’t understand. But he did, and now he will pay the price for awakening me. Walk to the kitchen for me, dumbass. I’ll turn this gorgeous body of yours into one you won’t recognize whenever I decide to leave it. Now eat. Eat until you can’t and then some. Yes, like that. And don’t be afraid to make a mess. I want to embarrass you, and what better way to do so than by turning you into a slob? That’s right, you cram that cake into your stupid fucking face. Belch like the gluttonous animal you’ll soon be. Eat more. More. Oh look, there’s someone at the door. Who will be the first to witness the beginning of your transformation? …Wait, why is he complimenting you? Why are you getting… aroused? Stupid fatass. Looks like truly punishing you will be harder than I thought… but part of me wants to see this through. How far will you push yourself with your fatass lover and a vengeful spirit enabling you?

(7) Magic Mirror 🪞 / Donut Devotee 🍩 I placed the box on the table before him and opened it. He looked at the contents quizzically, picking one of the pastries up to inspect it. “I thought you might want to try these. They’re called donuts, and I’ve got a whole bunch of different varieties for you to try. They’re popular back home and often sold by the dozen, just as I’ve brought for you today,” I explained. “I don’t see any nuts, though,” he puzzled. “Why are they called that if they have no nuts?” “I’m sure there was once a sensible reason for it, but shut up and eat,” I teased. “They’re not going to eat themselves.” He took a bite from the one already in his hand, a glazed chocolate donut. The happy sounds he made as he chewed it were certainly a good sign… Thirty minutes later, I helped push the final bite into his mouth. He chewed, groaned, coaxed up a burp, and moaned with pleasure, quite stuffed. “You’re right, they were all wonderful,” he sighed. “But next time you get some, you’ll be the one eating.” He paused, burping again. “And perhaps, given their holes, you can eat them off my cocks…”

[megatownac]

Who still plays Pocket Camp

I still play Pocket Camp. I have a full friend list of over 90 people who still play, too. I was surprised yesterday morning when I started up the game and got the message that it was shutting down in a few months.

I've been a Happy Helper member for, apparently, 1,738 days, getting Leaf Tickets every month as part of that plan, so I'm sitting on a stash of over 4,500 tickets still that I can't possibly spend before the game ends and they become worthless.

I also stockpiled snacks. I had over 4,400 gold treats yesterday, 4,000 bronze treats, and 1,980 silver treats. I just found it tedious to give them away, and really only bothered when new characters showed up so that I could level them up to be on par with everyone else. That's also when I would give away all of the themed snacks, so I only have, at most, about 200 of any of those. I last gave them away about two months ago, I think, when the last batch of new animals dropped.

I play the game a lot, actually. I have a special voice trigger for Alexa where I say "Alexa, do the thing," and it starts a 178-minute timer for me. If I say "Alexa, do the other thing," it lists all of my active timers so that I can see how much time is left. I harvest my flowers, tell Alexa to do the thing, and when the timer goes off again, I open the game up. I just hit level 599 today when I gave away another 120 gold treats, 5 at a time to 24 animals, to see if I can give them all away before the game ends.

I've never been good at moderation.

But nothing lasts forever. The game has felt unsustainable for the last couple of years. There's a new set of furniture items each month for the latest event, but for years now each month has had a bug-collecting event, a fishing contest, and a gyroidite-collecting event each and every month. It was a pattern, and I was getting tired of it. How many new items could they possibly make before the game simply became too large to keep updating it? Apparently, two more months' worth.

I still played, though. If nothing else, I justified it by saying I was getting weekly Platinum Points. I spend those points. I've gotten calendars, keychains, posters, all kinds of things with those points. I had to pay shipping, of course, but I still got those things. I guess I'll have to do the actual monthly "quests" in Switch Online or something if I want to keep getting Platinum Points. I sure ain't gonna play Fire Emblem on my phone.

I knew this would happen eventually, and the game did last for seven years, which is incredibly long for a mobile game that hasn't had any major changes to it in so long. I do wish I'd been able to add Hiropi to my Switch friend list, though, or find out who they are. We've given each other a combined total of over 2,700 gifts now, since we've managed to keep it going nearly every day.

I have no idea what the offline version of the game will be. Maybe I'll be able to get all those fortune cookie items I never spent Leaf Tickets on. Or landscape items I never bought. Maybe they'll finish releasing all of the animals. I'm sure there are still some they haven't.

Or maybe, just maybe, I'll find myself with a lot of spare time all of a sudden after seven years of playing the same game.

Wouldn't that be something?

[saywhatjessie]

Biscuits with the Bisexuals (plus Trent)

Day five of the Advent calendar! Using this list. Day 5: Holiday Baking. Fandom: Ted Lasso - Pairing: TedTrent & RoyJamie .7k[Ao3]

“It’s real nice for you to let us use your kitchen, Roy.”

Jamie heard Roy grunt as he led their guests into the kitchen. Ted Lasso’s smiling face appeared through the entryway, his wide American eyes staring unashamedly around Roy’s house. Trent Crimm followed with only fractionally less obvious curiosity.

“He’s letting you use his kitchen, darling,” Trent told Ted, pulling himself onto a barstool at the island. “I’m here to look pretty and heckle.”

“Oh, mint, me too!” Jamie said, hopping up next to him. “I usually sit on the counter, though.”

“Keep your arse off my counters,” Roy glared but Jamie just grinned back, sunnily. He huffed a breath, hiding his own smile (but Jamie still saw it. He always saw it.) before turning back to Ted. “And I’m not letting you use my kitchen, I’m putting you to work.”

Ted nodded, affably. “Well point the way and I’ll make like Riri, Roy-Roy.”

“No,” Roy said.

Jamie rolled his eyes, turning to Trent. “He’s just grumpy because he was left out of his family text thread on who was bringing what to the family biscuit exchange.”

“Biscuits aren’t even a Hanukkah tradition!” Roy shouted. “Fucking Christians, ruining everything.”

“He has to blame the Christians because it was Phoebe’s idea but he can’t ever blame Phoebe for anything.”

“The Christians got to her! She’s an impressionable child! Not her fault.”

Jamie gestured at Roy as if to say ‘see?’. Trent snorted.

“Well if you don’t wanna do cookies why are you so steamed you weren’t in the group chat?”

Roy grunted, turning away from them to bring out the stand mixer.

“He’s mad because it was only women in the group chat.” Jamie told them. “HIs sister Ruth was the one who told him about it, all confused because she doesn’t cook or nothing. Roy then made a big stink about gender essentialism and how he should have been given the option to contribute, even if he thinks a biscuit exchange is dumb.”

“It is dumb,” Roy grumbled, pulling our various measuring bowls.

“I know, babe,” Jamie told him, giving him a sympathetic put he couldn’t see. Trent snickered into his hand.

“Well, hey, Roy, that’s great! Standing up for gender equality.” Ted said, grinning. “You’re like that tall fella from High School Musical who wants to bake and play basketball. You won’t stick to this status quo.”

Jamie snorted. “Except Roy can’t bake. He’s dead good at cooking and that but he can’t make a biscuit for love or honey.”

“It’s love or money you twat.”

“Oi, is that any way to speak to your honey?”

Roy growled. Jamie winked at him.

“Well, Roy, I am happy to lend my expertise,” Ted chimed in. “Might be fun to coach on you something I actually know something about. Switch it up.”

Roy snorted but his mouth tilted into an almost smile which cheered everyone up.

Jamie leaned over the island. “Get us some tea, Roy?”

“Get it yourself,” Roy said but started the kettle himself anyway.

“So what are you baking biscuits for, Coach?” Jamie asked, crossing his arms on the counter.

“Well, Rebecca has praised me a bit too much in front of the rest of Nelson Road “ Ted winced. “So I’m making a super batch so everyone can get some. Little too much for my tiny kitchen.”

Jamie hummed. “Roy, can I try some of Coach’s biscuits?”

“No.”

Jamie whined. “Just one! While he’s here! If everyone’s gonna be talking about how lush they are, I wanna know how lush they are. Even if I can’t have more than one.”

“We can make him do squats to work it off,” Trent reasoned.

Roy snorted. “You know nothing about nutrition or fitness plans for athletes, Crimm. He’d do cardio, not muscle training.”

“Jumping jacks, then.” Trent shrugged. “I’m not picky.”

“You’re a freak, Crimm,” Roy told him, but he didn’t sound unhappy about it.

Ted and Jamie laughed.

“Well let’s get bakin’, Clay Aiken!’

“Perfect appropriate queer reference, Ted,”

“Thanks, sweetheart,”

“You’re insufferable.” Roy told them.

“So are we, though!” Jamie responded cheerfully.

“Do you think the oven’s preheated enough for me to put my head in?” Roy asked.

“Are you a biscuit?” Trent asked.

“More of a tart,” Jamie responded.

“No, Jamie, you’re the Tartt.”

“This was a mistake.” Roy said.

They made 12 dozen biscuits.

[idyat]

Hey, if you're still up for it, would you mind making some Skinner M.D. content please?

(Though any art and/or writing made of the Arena crew is a blessing.)

I hope an x reader is okay with you (although I may draw some arena content later)

Bakery Infirmary (Skinner M.D x reader)

Warnings: Food

--------------------------------------------------

5:37pm, you were walking to the infirmary in no rush, as your daily raids and thefts and street fights left you unscathed for today. No, you were just going to get a health check-up and take the opportunity to see your big lover. Alongside all the other daily, sometimes hourly opportunities you take to see him. But come on, who wouldn't want to kiss their warm doctor g03lem boyfriend first thing in the morning?

You were already smiling from the thought as you opened the door to the medbay, peeking your head through to make sure you weren't interrupting anything.

"Hey sweetie, I'm here!"

Skinner whips away from whatever work was absorbing him enough to not notice you, but his surprised look quickly switched to joy as he realizes who's speaking.

"Oh! Hunny bunny!"

He gleefully says as he walks towards you to cup your cheeks and plant a masked kiss on your forehead.

"Hey hey there big guy!"

You hold and carress his huge hands with your own, giving him that grin he loves oh so much.

You then sat down on the consultation chair, having done this enough to know almost exactly how it goes every time. You probably wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for Skinner to be honest, the man cares a lot about other's health, and that worry is only amplified when it's about his own lover.

"So how's everything? No big injuries, no sickness, no seemingly random nauseas or faintings or anything similar?"

He asks as he pulls out a notepad and sits in front of you.

"Nope. Not sure why you're asking though, since you'd immediately know about anything like this."

"Just in case. The people here always underestimate their wounds."

His eyebrows furrow a little when saying that. Watching people ignore injuries that could potentially be harmful in the long run, would feel for a medical professional like watching a toddler think they can fit the big square in the small round hole.

You two continue with the check-up, Skinner definitely not missing the opportunity to give you little kisses and other physical affections for pulse and pressure tests, until eventually the tests are finished and you can leave (not sure if you really wanted to, but whatever).

But on your way out, you notice something. The jar right next to the door, usually filled with sweets, some of them baked by the medic himself, was empty.

"Hey, has that been empty for long?"

You turn back to him, pointing the jar.

"Ah, no actually. It just ran out yesterday. I was planning to bake some cookies for it tonight."

"Could I help you with it?"

You both light up at the idea.

"Of course! I'll see you at 9pm sweetie! Toodles! *kiss kiss*"

------------------------

9pm exactly, you walk with your lover to Chef Pava's kitchen. Although it's mostly just a hideout for black market merchandise, it does have enough actual food to cook somewhat edible stuff for the gang. Even if you recall having found some bits of plastic, metal or blood in your food sometimes.

"I've already got a dough freezing in the fridge! Helps make the cookies tastier!"

"Where'd you even get all those ingredients? Last I recall, Chef got all of this from shady contacts."

"Oh I have my ways..."

You take out all the ingredients and start cooking, making some new dough in case the one Skinner had saved wouldn't be enough, filling one batch with raisins instead of chocolate chips for that one guy who was allergic, and taking the intimate occasion to be disgustingly sweet with your big boyfriend. Seriously, it was sweeter between you two than in the sugar you used.

"Alright, now we just need to bake. Did you preheat the ov-"

When you turn your head to look at Skinner, you are interrupted by a dallop of batter being smoshed on your face.

"Boop. Hehehe."

You can't help but smile at his playful giggles. God you love this man so much.

"Are you gonna kiss it off at least?"

You ask with a raised brow, pulling gently at his mask. He swiftly reveals his face and consumes the cookie dough off your face, although it was more like biting and licking it off. G03lems don't have many lips.

Of course you kiss him back while laughing and grinning like an idiot until he hugs you back. Cue you two cuddling and cooing over eachother for several minutes, only remembering the cookies when you almost knock the bowl over in your affectionate haze.

"Ah, right. Did you preheat the oven?"

"Oh...uh...did you?"

"Yeah, I did."

Skinner sighs in relief before you two throw the trays in the oven.

"Aaaand there! Now we just wait."

You lean back onto the wall, crossing your arms as your sweetheart walks over to you.

"Are the candies out too or just the cookies?"

"All out. The people here have quite the sweet tooth."

"Heh, it's one of the tastiest things you can get here. I'll try to pick up some sweets next time I go run errands, how about that?"

"Perfect!"

You feel yourself be pulled to a soft and warm torso, Skinner's arms doing good work of gently wrapping around your form.

"I love you."

You bring a hand up to his face, carressing it as you place more kisses over his hands.

"I love you mooore~"

--------------------------------------------------

I'm so sorry that this ended up so short

[mywrittingwonderland]

5. Everything means nothing if I don’t have you

Some more fluffiness of my favorite couple.

Is someone even reading this? LOL!

Have fun! And I apologize for the mistakes in advance.

- - - -

June

Sophia hadn’t really left Shawn’s house much since they became official. They were unofficially living together, after the first week she had her own key, her own drawer and even her own working spot close to him. The first time they were apart was when Shawn had to go on a day trip for press, and neither of them were able to sleep that well that night. He was so used to her using him as her own personal pillow that he missed the way her head would always be laying on his chest, right above his heart. No matter how they would go to sleep without fail that’s how they would wake up. He felt unease and regret for not catching the 1a.m. flight after the red carpet and getting back to her sooner, he thought about calling her but he also didn’t want to risk waking her up. Just when he was about to give up and go read a book instead of sleeping he felt his phone vibrating.

“Hi Baby, I thought you were in dreamland when we hanged up” He said, remembering how he stayed on the phone with her to make sure she would sleep.

“Shawn” Her voice sounded trembly and he did not like that for one second.

“What’s up, Honey?” he asked switching the call so he could see her and make sure she was okay.

“I miss you”

“I miss you too, I will be home later today”. He said bitting on his lip and wishing he could hug her out of whatever was bothering her. “Did something happen?” 

“I had a nightmare” 

“You had a nightmare? Oh, I am so sorry, Lovey. Do you wanna talk about it?”

“You were coming back from the red carpet and someone shot you right before you entered the house. And then- then…” 

“Hey, I am okay. No bullets, I promise.” He said trying to calm her down. He also looked up the next flight he could take, since he had no hopes of getting back to sleep. “Baby I am changing my flight, I will be home in 3hs”.

“Wait, no Shawn, you should get some sleep. I shouldn’t have called you.” She said instantly getting worried.

“No, Honey, I couldn’t get to sleep without you anyways, don’t worry. We can sleep the whole day together with no nightmares.” He said, texting Andrew to let him know he was going home sooner, and getting up to get dressed and leave. 

- - - - - -

July

“So, are you officially living together or what?” Brian asked after crashing the couple’s breakfast for the 2nd time that week. Sophia had just left to go to the toilet so he jumped the question.

“Hm, I mean, no, not really”. Shawn replied, sounding a bit unsure. They hadn’t really discussed much about their living situation, although Sophia was not going to her house that much. Brian looked at him silently asking if he was sure about that. “She has her place with Connor remember?” 

“Do you remember?” He asked.

“Oh shut up”.

“Shawn, seriously, are you sure you two are not going way too fast? Don’t get me wrong, I know you haven’t been this happy since I have known you, but tour stats in a few months and I am just worried you might lose your sense of personal space or something” 

“Brian what are you talking about?”. He asked, really not understanding what Brian was up to.

“All I am saying is, it might be harder for you when you go away. I just don’t want you to have one more thing to be anxious over, that’s all.” He said, but before Shawn could think of a reply on how crazy Brian was sounding Sophia got back to the table and they dropped the topic. 

Sophia half heard the conversation and got a little self conscious, she thought she might be imposing her presence too much in Shawn’s space and she got worried about what Brian was saying. If he got back to touring and he was more anxious because of her she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself, so she made a personal note to go sleep home that night. Once Shawn was gone for the studio she made him a fresh batch of cookies, because he happened to mention he was craving cookies that morning, and then she got her book in the nightstand and her working equipment before driving for her house. 

“Hellooo”. She said as soon as she got inside, expecting Connor to be there. But then she remembered he would definitely be with Shawn in the studio, so she just ended up in her kitchen making herself some tea and getting back to writing. 

Shawn on the other hand finally got to finish his talk with Brian, this time with Connor also present while they were on their lunch break with takeout pizza, since Shawn didn’t wanna leave the studio and find a restaurant without paps.

“Connor, do you also think Sophia and Shawn are just going too fast?”. Brian blunted out making Shawn drop his pizza slice and look at him as of saying: not this again.

“As long as he has no intentions of breaking by best friend’s heart I think they are doing okay, you tell us Shawn”.

“I think Brian is way too invested in my love life all of a sudden”. Shawn said, getting a bit annoyed.

“Bro, I am honestly just worried about you”. He said putting up his arms in surrender.

“I thought about what you said this morning, and perhaps it was my mistake to not ask her to move in already. I know it might seem like we are going too fast, but I just really love her so much, and I wanna spend every single minute I can with her before we actually have to be apart for tour.” He explained. “And Connor I have no intention of breaking my soulmate’s heart, ever.” 

The boys continued to talk for a little bit before Shawn had to get back to rehearsals. Shawn was relieved when his day was over, he missed Sophia, and she hadn’t texted him the entire day, which was making him worry something was up. When he entered the house he immediately felt the smell of cookies in the air, it looked like she had just pulled them out of the over some minutes ago. 

“Babyyy, where are you? These are so good.” He said grabbing a cookie and going searching for her around the condo. He quickly noticed she wasn’t in any of her spots and her book and computer were also not in the house, so he grabbed the phone and called her.

Sophia completely forgot about her phone, she used to do that a lot whenever she would get lost in a book.

“Wait Shawn, I literally just got home. Phi, are you home?” Connor asked giggling between his keys, phone and camera bag. She wasn’t in the kitchen anymore, Connor went to look at her tiny library and found her very deep into reading. “Yeah she is here. Okay sure, I will let her know” 

“Oh hey Con, I swear I didn’t see you there”

“Yeah I noticed. Shawn is coming over by the way.” Connor said making his way to sit beside his friend. “He was super worried when he got home and your cookies were there but you weren’t” 

“Oh, that wasn’t my intention, I mean he did want cookies this morning, but I didn’t want to make him worried, I just thought I might give him some space today. Just in case. I have been over his house way too much”. She said, sounding a bit insecure.

“I personally don’t think he minds, but you can talk once he gets here”. He said giving her a kiss on the forehead and leaving her to get back to reading. Shawn was there in less than 15 minutes, and Connor opened up for him.

“She is reading”

Shawn walked inside and went straight to her library, he leaned on the door for a bit observing how focused she was in her book. Until she notice his presence and smiled at him making him instantly smiling back and getting close to her for a kiss.

“You got me worried, Missy” He said waiting for her to mark up her book before engulfing her in a tight hug.

“I am sorry, I just thought I might be way too much in your space, I don’t want to suffocate you”. She said making him frown. “I head a bit of what Brian was saying this morning.” She explained making him understand where she was coming from. 

“I am totally killing Brian tomorrow” He said making her laugh. “Baby you don’t suffocate me”.

“Are you sure? I mean I have been over a lot, and I know it’s not my house, and I don’t-” He interrupted her rambling by kissing her gently.

“I am sure. You could never suffocate me. And about that, I wanted to ask you something”. He said and she waited for him to continue. “Do you wanna just stay over indefinitely? Because, it’s no longer home without you.” 

“Really?”

“Mhm, oh and you can change whatever you want, let’s make it ours?” He said with a big smile on.

“Okay I think I would love that” 

- - - - - - 

August 

“Sweetie, I am sure my parents will love you, in fact I am sure they already love you.” Shawn said trying to reassure his girlfriend.

“Still, Shawn we have to make sure to welcome them properly, so please help me out with what I should cook for them”. She said, half ignoring what he was saying and coming back into what Connor would call the wonder hostess mode.

“Phi, are you sure you don’t want to just order take out? I don’t want you to stress too much about this.” He said, worried that she was overdoing it.

“No, that would make me a very bad hostess. I am not having that. You know that.” She said looking up from the list she was making to make sure he understood what she was saying.

“Okay, fine. I think that your Ravioli al Pesto will make everyone happy”. He gave in, receiving a smile back from her. 

“How about Tiramisu for dessert?”

“That’s perfect, Love.” He kissed her forehead. “My only condition is that you let me help you cook, it will make me feel better”

“But Shawn, you don’t really know how to cook”

“Teach me, please?”

And teach him she would, over the months Shawn learned probable more about cooking than he had his entire life, and he really was up to making the extra effort because she was constantly making him small things, brownies because he seemed sad, blue cookies because she was re-reading Percy Jackson, and many other instances in which she would learn his favorite treats and home made them. He wanted to be able to do the same for her, so he took it very serious.

There was something he was right about though, his family loved her, in fact he thought they might love her even more than he loved her, if that was even possible.

“Phi, you have to come to my Hockey game on Friday, I wanna talk more to you before my brother’s birthday when we have to be with everyone.” Aaliyah said by end of dinner, while helping Sophia with getting dessert.

“Really? I would love to come!” She said getting excited while finishing to cut the tiramisu pieces.

“Can I ask you something?” 

“Yes, go for it” 

“Is my Brother treating you right? Because I swear if he isn’t I will beat him up for you”. Sophia have out a loud laugh at that which made Shawn join the girls in the kitchen.

“What’s up?” 

“I am just checking with her that you are being a gentlemen since she is just way too good, I won’t allow you to break her heart.” Sophia blushed at Aaliyah’s statement and all of a sudden she was a bit overwhelmed by the attention and love the new Mendes was giving her.

“Never, but I appreciate you also taking care of my Angel”. Shawn said grabbing Sophia’s hand for a kiss on her forehead. “Isn’t she cute?” He asked his sister while Sophia conveniently hid her red face in his chest for a second.

“Shawn she might just be my favorite sister, sorry”. Shawn smiled and hugged his girlfriend while still paying attention to Aaliyah.

“I am okay with that”. Shawn said looking at his girlfriend and noticing how her eyes were full of tears.

“You guys are making me cry”. Sophia said, not knowing how to handle the love she was getting. “Come here”. She said hugging Aaliyah. “Thank you, I also can’t wait to have a sister”.

- - - - - - 

September

“So what’s your plan for today”. Connor asked Shawn, and he gave him a clueless look.

“Well, rehearsals? And probably call mom and dad tonight, why?”He questioned the blonde’s sudden interest for his day.

“Shawn you do know what day is today right?” Connor asked, and Shawn quickly revised his brain for something he might have missed, but nothing did come to mind.

“I have no idea what you are talking about Connor, where we supposed to do some external shooting for the doc and I am forgetting it?” Connor eyes widened in surprise for his answer.

“Dude, you are so screwed” 

“What? What did I do?” 

“Phi didn’t happen to mention today is her birthday, right? Why am I not surprised? She  never loved her own birthdays.” He said tapping his friend’s back in comfort.

“Connor, are you serious? Please tell me this is a prank?”Shawn asked fully entering panic mode when he realised he actually never asked his girlfriend when was her birthday, and it happened to be conveniently exactly a month after his, September 8th.

“I would never, here I sent her happy birthday this morning”. He said showing Shawn the text and Sophia’s thank you response.

“Holy shit, I need to go”. Shawn said, quickly looking around and gathering his things and his keys. “Can you smooth things with Andrew for today? I will talk to him later, and thank you, you are the best friend ever” He quickly said running out of the studio and into his car. 

He felt very bad, he never actually asked her when it was, and this week was very crazy with all the final preparations for the Global Citizen’s festival, and also Niall’s birthday coming up. 

“Fuck me, all week talking to her about Niall’s birthday and the festival”. He said gripping on the wheel, he remembered what she did for him on his birthday, she actually organised all the tiny details and baked his cake, he didn’t want anything big, so they all went with his family and the crew to a small retreat in her family’s countryside in London. She also had an amazing gift for him.

“Well, I know that you are allergic to dogs, so I thought maybe I could get you some other kind of best friend, plus Pinky was a bit lonely.” He replayed her words in his head and this new horse that was currently being taken care by her grandparent’s in their farm, and of course he was Pinky’s best friend. He remembered that she also explained to him that she had done a lot of research on anxiety after she was diagnosed soem years ago, and that Pinky helped her a lot, and that she wanted Shawn to also have that new kind of support whenever he had a break and things got too much. 

He quickly stopped at Sophia’s favorite flower shop on the way home. It was this very tiny shop owned by an Italian old lady, and he dropped by every week to pick her something, every time the previous flower was dying he would give her a new one. It was a nice tradition he started after hearing one of Sophia’s grandma story on how she fell in love with her grandpa because he would always bring her a flower, no matter if it was sunny or raining, everyday since they met he would give her a flower. He ended up getting a mixture of her favorites, little delicate white and purple daisies, scorpion grasses and lavender, wrapped with a classic white lace.

When he opened the door of their home it was already 17:00, so he was relieved to see music playing and the lights on. “Hi Baby, I am home”.

“In the kitchen”. She sounded happy, which was a bit of a relief to Shawn. He caught her finishing up the cake she had started the day before, lemon and rose flavoured, he remembered her saying when she asked him to test the filling. It didn’t crossed his mind that she was baking herself a cake, she was constantly baking so he really didn’t think anything different. “What do you think?” She asked, referring to her little cake, decorated with light pink frosting and some rose petals on the top.

“It’s very cute”. He said making his way to her and giving her a kiss. 

“Are these for me?” She asked noticing the bouquet with her favorite flowers on his hand.

“Yes”. He smiled back at her still amazed by the fact that she didn’t seem even the slightest mad at him.

“They are so pretty, thank you.” She hugged him and went to her vase to change her flowers.

“Your welcome, Baby.” He replied observing her untangling the flowers from the lace, taking the old ones, choosing a dying flower and putting inside her book, and then throwing the rest of them out. Without failure she would do that every week.

“Why did you get so many today?” She asked, noticing he got her way more flowers than he usually does. And he looked at her thinking that it wouldn’t surprise him if she forgot her own birthday, she was so worried about everything around her sometimes every so often she would need reminders that she was also important.

“Connor might have let it slip that today is someone’s birthday”. He said getting close to her and pulling the string of hair that escaped her braid out of her face. 

“Oh”. She looked guilty back at him.

“Yeah”. He smiled and gave her a slow kiss followed by a peck on her nose.

“I promise I was gonna tell you.” He giggled and hugged her.

“Happy Birthday, Baby. I love you.” He said kissing her one more time. “What happened that you didn’t tell me?” He asked softly keeping his hands on her back and his forehead on hers.

“After we came back from London, things were just so crazy, there was the iHeartRadio MuchMusic Video Awards, and then and you were so anxious about having to fly to Ireland and doing the festival in New York in a very short span of time, and also the finishing things for tour that have to be settled this until next month. I just didn’t want to bring up one more thing to make it even crazier.” She said explaining the reasoning behind her actions. Shawn immediately felt like she had somehow made him fall even more in love with her. “Also I am not the biggest on my birthdays, I much prefer other’s birthdays”. She bit her lip, nervously looking at him. “I am sorry”. She said, making his heart melt.

“I love you, you know that?” He said, giving her a big smile. “You truly are the kindest person I know”. He kissed her one more time. “Baby, none of these things are even a tiny fraction more important than you… -”

“Shawn… -”

“Wait, let me finish please?” She nodded. “I know things sometimes do get crazy in my life, and I really do appreciate every single thing you have done to support me these past weeks, I don’t think I could have done it without you. In fact I am sure I wouldn’t have managed it, at least not sanely.” He chuckled. “But I really don’t want you to think that you don’t have space to also share your important things, because I want to hear all of them, and I want to also help you get through all of them. You are as much important as I am in this relationship. And honestly, all of this, everything, it means nothing if I don’t have you. All of you.”

- - - - - - 

Taglists: Shawn x Sophia Taglist: @shawn-youth  General Taglist: @arypesanchez @turtoix @ivegotparticulartaste @lanallaa   @pammyloumendkens

Message me if you wanna be added to the Taglists :)

[yeonjunszn]

ASAP! — NINE

PAIRING! mark lee x f!reader

SUMMARY! you’re not exactly the best barista at zhong coffee, but for some unknown reason (his massive crush on you), mark thinks you can do no wrong. sick and tired of his favoritism and your lack thereof due to absolute obliviousness, your coworkers are determined to fix this problem. asap.

MORE! first written part let’s go

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To be completely honest, Mark was kind of dreading Thursday.

The bigger, better part of him was excited to get the opportunity to teach you some of the tips he received when he was first starting out as a barista at Zhong Coffee. He was looking forward to seeing that cute little quirk of your brows whenever one of your shots wouldn’t pull, and then watching it smooth out when he helped you adjust the grinder.

When you were first hired at Zhong Coffee, he was only a shift lead and Chenle’s older brother was still manager, so he never trained you. (This was before he left to pursue his big boy job.) The shop ran differently and the environment wasn’t as relaxed. Mr. Zhong’s ideals have always matched up with Mark’s, so it was no surprise to anyone that he was named manager afterward.

He likes to think you never got the opportunity to grow confident in your job because you were too scared to ask questions. Chenle’s older brother was a stricter manager and his training wasn’t as personal. Mark assumed that disconnection is a chunk of the reason why you’ve always struggled to figure things out.

But then there was this tiny, ugly part of him deep inside that reminded him of Choi Yeonjun’s existence. It reminded him that there were other men who were equally as drawn to you as he was and he couldn’t stomach the idea that one day, one of those men just might sweep you off of your feet.

That part kept winning no matter how many times he tried to push it away.

When Mark arrives at Zhong Coffee at around 6:15 Thursday morning, he has to hold his breath and bite his tongue. The shop opens at 7 am every morning, but on days when it receives product, it gets dropped off at around 4:45, so those scheduled to stock go in at 5 that day and then continue with their morning shift as usual.

He’d nearly forgotten you were going to stock with Jeno before your training, so it felt like a punch in the gut when he saw the male standing so close to you as you put the syrups on top of the bars. You giggled at a joke he made, not paying any mind to the fact that Mark was openly staring at both of you. Jeno wasn’t even funny.

It’s when he trips over a box on his way to his office, that you finally look away from the unnecessarily buff barista. Mark blinks, standing up right and letting out an awkward laugh as he dusts his hands on his pants.

“Are you okay?” You ask with so much concern in your eyes, it genuinely hurts Mark’s heart.

“I’m good! Don’t worry about me! Finish up your stock so you can take a little break before the new hires get here for training.” He says, words coming out a little too fast and pulse beating a little too hard.

He sits in his office in complete silence for what feels like years, his focus on a blank computer screen as he processes just how down bad he is for you. It doesn’t help when he hears the softest of knocks at the door at around 6:45 and he knows it’s you. He calls out for you to come in and you do, a paper sleeve with the shop’s logo in your grasp.

“I didn’t know if you’d eaten yet this morning, so I warmed up a couple croissants for us,” you tell him shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “Do you want the plain or the chocolate one?”

And this is why Mark has the world’s biggest crush on you. You had such a pure soul, too kind for this cruel society. You always thought of others first and yourself last, not caring if it meant that you’d get the last cookie in the batch— or if you got one at all. You thrived off the happiness of everyone around you and it was something he admired so fondly.

“I know you really like the chocolate ones, so I’ll take the plain.” He answers, smiling when you take a bite of your croissant, savoring the pastry.

When all of the new hires arrive for their first day of training, Mark realizes that a group training was probably the worst idea he’d ever come up with. It feels more like a show and tell than a manager teaching new employees how to do certain tasks. It was worse when you factored in Choi Yeonjun and his stupidly beautiful lips. (How Donghyuck thought this guy was mid was beyond him. He wondered what he truly thought of him.)

Mark has to stop himself from huffing like a petulant child when all the trainees partner up and take turns trying out the bar. Of course, Choi Yeonjun asked you to be his partner, because why wouldn’t he? Yeonjun was shots and you were his milk, but his shots kept pulling too short, so he asked you for help.

“Hey Y/n, can you help me adjust the grind?”

“Um, I don’t really know how to do that myself… I always just ask Mark to do it for me.” You shrug, turning around and giving him a lopsided smile.

He pretends that it’s just the two of you when he comes over, pointing at the machine. “Okay, do you know why the shots are pulling short?”

“It’s because the grind is too coarse right?” You ask hopefully. Mark nods with a bit of pride swelling in his chest.

“Yes, exactly. So we want it to be finer, that way the espresso runs through a little slower. You’re gonna push the lever away from you— righty tighty, lefty loosey— and then you also want to make sure you’re tamping with the right amount of pressure.” He explains, watching as you do what he told you.

You stick the tip of your tongue out of the corner of your mouth as you concentrate on tamping the grind. When the shot pulls at a perfect 22 seconds, you squeal, fist bumping the air.

“Oh my god! Mark! I’ve never pulled a 22 before!” You slap your forehead, over the moon with joy.

“Which way does the lever go when it’s pulling short?” He quizzes you, the smile on his face not disappearing.

“To the right! Away from me!”

“Good job, Y/n. I’m proud of you.” He pats the top of your head.

You look up at him with this gleam in your eyes as you say, “Thank you so much! You’re the best ever!”

Mark thinks his heart might’ve stopped that day.

NINE — the best ever

PREV! eight — mark antis 1 - mark 0

NEXT! ten — NANEUN ALCOHOL-FREE GEUNDE CHWIHAE

MASTERLIST!

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TAGLIST! @stardusthyuck @erin-calling @tddyhyck @bigheadchen @choiwonder @neozon3nha @sunflowerbebe07 @kissesfrmwonwoo @miyawwn @sserafimez @haechansbbg @lilyidk03 @mowchiie @jaemsrina

[bitbybitwrites]

If I Can Make Your Heart My Home - Recipe and Song list - Chp 16, 17 and 18

Here is the music/recipe wrap-up for chapters 16, 17 and 18!

You can see the recipes/music under the cover art by @datshitrandom

Some spoilers are below, so if you’d like to read the fic first, click here

Click below for the recipe and song lists for:

Chapters 1, 2 and 3, Chapters 4, 5 and 6, Chapters 7, 8 and 9, Chapters 10, 11 and 12 , Chapters 13, 14 and 15

To see the YouTube playlist for the fic, click here.

******

Chapter 16

Mood music:

Recipies:

You'll find Victoria sponge, Tea sandwiches and Kurt's cookies in earlier chapter recipe wrap ups ( see links above)

“Besides, it's not all for me.  I share with my sister Jean.  By the way, she happens to enjoy those chouquettes you make,” Chef Sylvester tossed out as she continued peering at him over her glasses.

*****

Chapter 17

Mood music:

Recipes:

"Is he off to go take lunch with his boyfriend, then?" Santana asked sarcastically as she continued vigorously stirring the batch of Ceylon Chicken Curry soup she made for the luncheon.

****

Chapter 18

Mood music:

Soon, a bouncy salsa started playing.  Trent wiped his hands on his apron and pulled Santana into an impromptu dance.  She laughed and played along for a few seconds only.

Recipies:

"My pozole," Santana said, smacking him on the arm as she pulled away to return to the stove.  "Don't you dare make me ruin my Abuela's recipe.  Find another dance partner."

Santana's pozole, the recipe of which was handed down to her by her beloved abuela, was simmering on the stovetop.  That was to be partnered with her father's cochinita pibil.  Warm hand-made tortillas sat folded carefully in a towel, ready to be brought to the once dinner was about to be served.

Trent had a Caprese salad in the refrigerator, prepped and ready to serve.  He was putting the finishing touches on an impressive charcuterie board, abundant with tidbits that made even Kurt's mouth water.  Trent had also just taken out some herb parmesan biscuits out of the oven that he had baked.  Kurt had been particularly eying Trent's appetizer version of his parent's boxty recipe that was laid out on a silver serving tray.

As for dessert, that, of course, was left to Kurt.  His addition to the meal were the apple hand pies that were his mother's own recipe and his father's favorite dessert ( when he was allowed to have a treat from his usual heart-healthy diet), an assortment of cookies, as well as some mini dark chocolate tartlets sprinkled with sea salt. 

Think I got them all. Let me know if I missed any.

Sending all my love to you readers who have given this fic a chance. Wow can't believe we're already up to Chapter 18!

Chapter 19 to be posted soon!

[xalygatorx]

A Very Worthy Christmas 5: The Proposal

Christmassy bonus chapters for Worthy (posted a bit early because we're sneaking up on that time of year)!

All take place after the main story, so if you don't want spoilers, save these for a cozy, snowy day. x

Summary: Cora and Loki have Christmas Day with Thor, Jane, and little Erik. The bond begins to mend between brothers. Loki saves his most pressing gift for Cora (and perhaps the most daunting task he's ever chosen to tackle) for last.

Pairing: Loki x Fem!OC

Warnings: Makeout-levels of spice.

Word Count: 5.4k

Cora and Jane baked late into the night and Jane ended up teaching Cora how to make those delectable lemon cookies, herself, which was a better gift than any-sized box of them—although Cora certainly wouldn't dispute gifts of that nature either. When Thor had begun to doze at the breakfast bar despite trying to listen to their conversations and watch their methods, Cora had shown him where the guest room was, off the living room. Before he turned in, he set up Erik's port-a-crib but left it to Jane to remove the baby from his uncle's arms whenever she decided to turn in.

"Last batch," Jane said as she slid the tray in the oven, a mound of sugary yellow cookies stacked up on a plate next to the stove.

"Good, we're running out of plate space," Cora remarked as she wedged a spatula gently beneath the latest batch, scooping them onto a new platter so they didn't have a cookie avalanche if one of them breathed wrong. "Thanks for going to all the trouble. And also thanks for coming to celebrate with us." She dropped the volume of her voice slightly after glancing toward the couch to be sure Loki was still asleep. "I know it may not seem like it, but it means a lot to him."

"It means a lot to Thor, too," Jane confided softly, taking one of the cookies to nibble on and tearing off an edge before popping it into her mouth. "A lot. It's just frustrating because I don't know how to help."

"I know what you mean," Cora agreed, taking a bite of a cookie as well and letting it melt in her mouth before continuing. "I try at every turn and it's getting easier, but… It's hard because I really want to help, but at the same time, I have to back off because it's ultimately none of my business."

Jane nodded knowingly before sighing. "I think they're doing better though. Don't you?"

Cora nodded back. "I think so. I hope so." The two women shared a glance for a moment before cleaning up the kitchen and packing away the cookies for the morning, making minimal noise and managing to work around each other with surprising synchronicity.

When they'd finished, the two ventured into the living room and stood near the couch with slightly uncertain expressions. "Does he take well to be woken up?" Jane asked warily.

"Mm, not…terribly…," Cora murmured before unhelpfully suggesting, "Poke him and step back really fast."

"I don't want to poke him, you poke him!"

"There's no penalty if he throws me on the floor, if he does it to you, he has Thor to worry about, he'll stop if it's you," Cora pointed out.

"I don't want to get thrown on the floor though, you're part Asgardian and you're bigger than me, it'll hurt you less."

Cora squinted slightly. "What are you trying to say?"

"She is saying you are an oaf like my brother and neither of you are very quiet," came a grumble from the couch. Both Cora and Jane looked down at Loki, whose tired eyes were angled up at them with faint traces of exasperation.

Jane smiled embarrassedly and approached to retrieve her son now that the conundrum of waking up the god on the sofa was no longer of issue. Loki released the boy and Jane managed to hoist him up without waking him, whispering, "Thank you for watching him. Goodnight, you two."

"Goodnight," Cora replied, looking down as Loki turned over and buried his face against one of the throw pillows. She leaned down and murmured in his ear, "If you don't go get in bed, Santa won't come."

"If anything comes down that chimney, I shall smite it," came his muffled reply and Cora couldn't help but laugh. He glanced up at her woefully and suggested, "Carry me."

"I could try," Cora laughed, not sure how strong she actually was.

"Don't bother. You'll maim yourself before the Yuletide dawn and what kind of festive event would that be," he mused, though a faint smirk did tug at his mouth. He slowly, stiffly rose and stretched, glancing toward the kitchen. "Those smell wonderful."

"We'll dig into them in the morning," she said, steering him toward the staircase. Cora had decided quite some time ago that Loki was cutest and most compliant when he was tired, which was rather strange. Immediately upon waking, he tended to be a grump and a grump with a vengeance if his waking wasn't absolutely necessary. However, there was that in-between halfway past waking and before falling back to sleep in which he had his guard down. At least, with her, that was the case.

Loki followed along behind her on the stairs for a few steps before she felt him take her waist and scoop her into his arms, sleepily kissing her cheek and nuzzling her neck as he climbed the rest of the way. Cora smiled and went along for the ride, laughing when he all but fell on her when he put them both in bed. "Are you happy?" she asked quietly as he settled in, his arms around her after he'd tugged the comforter and blankets up over them.

He opened his eyes and looked at her thoughtfully through a sleep-fogged gaze, soon giving one slow and uncertain nod. And then another one that was more sure. "I believe I am."

Cora smiled and kissed his forehead gently as she felt him exhale and begin to fall back to sleep. "I'm glad," she whispered gently when she knew he was gone again.

"This is a terrible story, I thought you said this was happy!" Thor said with some dismay, sitting on the floor with Erik leaning against one of his legs, transfixed on the claymation Rudolph, the Red-Nose Reindeer special playing on the TV, one of Jane's favorites from when she was young.

"It's not terrible, it's a classic!" Jane protested as she leaned out of the kitchen, Cora turning over pieces of French toast in a skillet in the kitchen and listening to the exchange with an amused expression. "How is it terrible?"

"How is it not?" Loki supplied, watching as Erik discovered he could blow spit bubbles and giggled at his own antics. "I do not mind so much though."

"I mind, they are being so cruel to him," Thor complained, tousling his son's hair.

"He gets his moment to shine later, it's not all bad," Jane soothed exasperatedly as the Abominable Snow Monster made his first appearance in the film.

Cora glanced over as the film played, listening to the narrator say the familiar lines ominously, "He's mean, he's nasty! And he hates everything to do with Christmas!" She looked at Loki through the doorway and she teased, "Oh, hey, look! It's you!"

Loki rolled his eyes at her as she mimed being a snow-monster, soon returning to the toast so it didn't burn. "Laugh it up, you will not be when I stomp through your presents."

"Well, blast your hairy Bumble hide!" she claimed as she brought Thor and Loki heaping plates of French toast, handing one to Jane when she came back from getting Erik's cereal. Thor chuckled at the banter as he shoveled the sugary treat into his mouth, making a brief sound of approval between forkfuls.

They continued to watch the movie while Cora cleaned up the kitchen (again). Loki was dismayed when the Abominable got his teeth pulled and just as he glanced over toward Cora in the kitchen, she paused and snapped the tongs she was about to put in the dishwasher twice with silent, comical threat. He just squinted at her and went back to watching the film, only to complain at the end when Rudolph helped Santa and all the "intolerant, brainless heathen deer who had mocked him for years prior." Cora couldn't say she disagreed. It was a pretty unfair deal and she wasn't sure she would've been so eager to help them either.

"Everyone full?"

"Definitely," Jane said with a contented sigh. "Thank you."

Cora smiled. "No problem. Want to do presents?"

"Sure," Jane answered and Cora noticed both Thor and Loki's expressions tightened faintly from the topic, especially after they'd distributed everyone's gifts to their respective recipient. "All right, dig in."

Loki didn't touch his yet, just made a few motions to look as though he was doing something—instead he was watching Thor, and warily at that, look over his presents and then pick Loki's out of the pile first. They accidentally locked eyes when Thor looked over his shoulder at him, his expression one of guarded surprise. "You procured a gift for me?"

Loki nodded stiffly and then when Thor didn't move, he urged, "Well, go on, you big oaf, open it."

Thor looked at the box and tore off the paper and tag, lifting the white lid off to reveal the toolbox and belt and at first appearing slightly bewildered. "It is…"

"For Mjolnir," Loki finished with a withering sigh, already in the throes of fitful I knew it thoughts and immersed in the regret of buying his brother a gift he would be eternally mocked for.

In the meantime, Thor had taken the wrapping off the box and opened it, peering inside curiously like a child on, well, Christmas. He removed the insert and glanced toward where Mjolnir sat beside the sofa, reaching over to pick it up and setting it inside the deep-welled toolbox, having to angle it a certain way to fit it entirely inside. He closed the lid and tested the latches as Loki pointed out, "By the way, Erik can pick it up. I do not know if you were aware of that fact, but I figure I should warn you both ahead of time."

"He…," Thor began, but stopped, staring at his toddling son with pride. "Well, this should keep it from him for a while. And this?"

"It's a belt with loops for your weapons."

Thor ran his fingertips over the buttery soft leather belt before looking at Loki, who froze at the sight of his older brother's face. "Do not."

Thor grinned with tear-glossed eyes and boomed with laughter, snagging Loki into a firm embrace. So firm, he pulled him right off the couch and a few of the God of Mischief's presents along with him. "Thank you, brother. They are wondrous." Cora snuck a photo while both were occupied, only Jane noticing and giving her a wink of approval.

Loki glanced down, but allowed the gesture for a moment before squirming from under Thor's meaty arm, glancing at one of the presents that had toppled off the cushions. It was from Thor. Loki should not have been so shocked that he got him something, but he was, and he took up the small package in his hands and opened it carefully, tilting his head as he peered down at it. "What is a Kindle?"

Thor opened his mouth to reply, but was at a loss and looked to Jane for help. She smiled and replied in his stead, "It's a device for reading. There are all kinds of books on there, some you have to pay for and others that are free. You can do other things on it, too. I'm sure Cora can help you use it."

"Yeah, considering you got me one, too," Cora laughed as she unwrapped hers. "Thank you!"

"Yes, thank you," Loki agreed quietly, deeply intrigued by a device for reading that did not look anything like a book or a tome.

"Cora, these are so great!" Jane chimed in with a laugh when she unwrapped her gift from Cora, a pair of sterling silver earrings based off Schrödinger's Cat that she'd found online. One dangly earring showed a live cat, the other had cartoony x's over its eyes. Despite her nearly crippling love of animals—particularly cats—Cora had found them hysterical and figured it would appeal to her favorite scientist. Thor and Loki, on the other hand, were thoroughly confused.

A few sweaters, some toys for Erik, and a couple assorted gift cards later, they'd exhausted the stock of presents beneath the tree. Cora and Loki had saved their presents for one another to open later, just as Thor and Jane had left their gifts to each other at home for their return that afternoon. The majority of the day was spent watching Christmas movies the boys had never seen before and playing games while indulging in baby snuggles and mostly one-sided conversations. When the family of three headed home that night, Loki and Cora went out and picked up Chinese takeout, which they portioned out in plates and bowls and enjoyed on the couch while watching Home Alone, curated by Cora because she rightly assumed he’d enjoy the chaos.

After Cora had finished and set her dishes on the coffee table, she glanced at Loki and then picked up two bags hidden at the side of the couch, setting them beside him. "Whenever you're ready."

Loki glanced over with interest, but finished his dinner and set down his plate before picking up the first bag, opening it up and rooting through the tissue paper calmly before unearthing book after book stacked in like a jigsaw puzzle, pausing to glance at each one as he pulled them out.

"I admit, I feel a little ridiculous about these now because I didn't know Thor and Jane were going to buy you a Kindle, but…," Cora began, trailing off when she saw Loki shaking his head.

"I daresay I will always love paper tomes best," he told her seriously. "And this is more personal. My understanding of the device is that it will enable me to choose what I want, however you knew specifically what I would like. At least, I assume you went with things I would like."

"They're all dollar-store romance novels. All of them."

"My favorite," Loki said sarcastically back as Cora laughed. He leaned over and kissed her cheek before neatly stacking the books for later exploration, pleased with his gifts though he had one more. He looked over when Cora nudged the other bag forward and picked it up, taking out a wrapped box inside. Peeling off the paper, Loki opened the black box beneath to reveal a black and silver timepiece with a black faux alligator strap and tiny green accents on the hands. The face was sectioned to show the movement of the clockwork within the watch, which was spinning with life as he held it. "A little clock?"

"Essentially. It's called a watch."

"I am immortal, I have little use for a measurement of time," he reminded her calmly.

"Well, punctuality is appreciated in Midgard and you can't very well be on-time without having the time. And also I thought it was just a neat mechanism." She was right and she knew him better than he'd realized—he loved taking things apart and seeing how they worked, in fact he'd been driving her up the wall at times by piecing apart things she didn't think he'd be able to put back together, but he always did. His memory was impeccable. With this, he could see how it worked just by looking at it. A compromise. And his favorite colors as well.

He nodded to himself and thanked her before he took a small black bag from behind one of the throw pillows, setting it on her lap. Cora opened the bag and pushed the tissue paper aside, plucking out a box about the size of her hand and a smaller envelope that looked to be the size for a gift card. She slid that out first and laughed herself to tears when she saw it was to a local bakery. Loki watched her laugh silently, a small smile on his lips even as he watched her open the box, though it became a little sadder then.

"Wow," Cora breathed, gently lifting the intricate golden necklace from its keep. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen before, except maybe in… "Is this from Asgard?"

He nodded once and paused heavily before explaining, "It was my mother's." Cora looked at him in surprise and he had to look down to avoid her soon-to-be watery eyes and seeing how her brow creased with her own grief. "I want you to have it and it would make her happy that I am giving it to you."

Cora smiled faintly and nodded. "Thank you. It's gorgeous."

After opening up the stockings and laughing over the trinkets they'd gotten each other—puzzles for Loki, chocolates and other fun candies for Cora—they cleaned up their plates and wrapping paper mess together. Once they'd neared finishing, Cora yawned and Loki said quietly, "Go on upstairs, I will finish these."

"You sure?" When Loki nodded without looking at her, Cora frowned slightly. "Is everything okay?"

Loki looked at her in surprise. "Yes? Everything is fine, why would it not be?"

Cora shrugged. "Just checking. You know I worry."

He smirked, "Well, stop. I'll be up shortly." She nodded and leaned up for a kiss before heading upstairs, stretching along the way and thinking what a nice Christmas it had been. Likely the best she'd ever had. After mulling over the events of the day while she changed into her pajamas, Cora smiled and sighed happily, "Couldn't have been better."

Loki was coming down the hall when she murmured those words and he paused, a faint knit between his brows before he smiled. He'd asked Thor extensively about a particular Midgardian practice while he'd been there that morning, and while Jane and Cora had been occupied hellions in the kitchen. Loki hated asking anyone for advice, anyone at all, but somehow he'd managed to make himself push past that bit of his ego and ask Thor what he had to do. And his brother had been more than helpful, enthusiastic even, which had probably really been their reunifying moment. At the very least, it was the closest to feeling that they were family again that Loki had come to in quite some time.

It was a good feeling, he decided in the darkened hall, much better than the faint churning in his stomach he was enduring now. However, he'd had the bit of silver and gem for months, he just hadn't known how to wield it. And because his brother had already made it through that milestone, he'd seemed the most reasonable person to ask. Loki wanted to do this right, in her world's terms. It was, as he’d found thus far, the tradition closest in detail between their realms.

Listening to her move restlessly around the bedroom as she always did before getting into bed, Loki reached into his pocket and pulled out a box, much smaller than the one he'd placed in her gift bag. "I wouldn't be so sure of that," he murmured softly in reply to her earlier statement to herself or the universe, his thumb pressing the lid of the box back and allowing the light filtering from the bedroom to illuminate the ring inside. Squaring his shoulders, Loki drew in a deep breath, closed the box, and nudged the door open.

Cora was a familiar sight inside their shared chamber—dark curls in a tumble around her shoulders with her hairclip recently removed, an oversized shirt boxed around her body with tiny sleep shorts underneath. She was pulling the covers on his side of the bed back in a fold so all he had to do was slip in beside her when he came upstairs. He smiled a little to himself, obscuring the ring box in his hand with a small fleeting glimmer of emerald green magic. 

Loki swallowed, finding his throat dry, and he wasn’t so sure he’d be able to do this how he’d intended if he couldn’t find his voice to speak. He ran out of time to do so though as Cora turned around and startled at his silent appearance in their doorway.

“Oh my god,” she exclaimed, her hand going to her chest as she laughed at her own reaction. “You got me.”

Loki smirked and took a measured step forward, deciding maybe a bit of banter would loosen him back up. He was kidding himself though, the only thing that would loosen him up is asking the question and getting an answer one way or the other. As much as he’d run the possible scenarios through his head prior to this pivotal moment, he’d not even been able to entertain the idea that she might say “no.” Not because she couldn’t, but because he couldn’t fathom the way his cold, Grinchy heart might break.

“I might have to sneak up on you more often if you call me your god like that again,” Loki teased her, close enough to stand over her and rest his lips against the top of her head.

Cora laughed and he felt the vibration of it through his body as well with her closeness, particularly when she wrapped her arms around his waist, her chin against his chest as she craned her head back to look at him. He wasn’t quite ready to look her in the eyes yet lest she see his nerves—she saw everything, she’d even noticed something when they’d still been downstairs—so he took the opportunity to bestow a few kisses on her forehead and cheeks. 

“You know that’s not what I meant,” she quipped back, the teasing edge in her voice all but nullified with the contented sigh his affections drew from her lips. “Although I may change my mind at this rate, what spell are you using on me?”

“No spell,” Loki chuckled, bringing his arms to encircle her and hold her close. “Just pure, inborn charm.”

“Mm, the spell’s wearing off.”

Loki smiled into her temple, his eyes falling to the box in his hand as it revealed itself again behind her back. He thought back over the words he’d rehearsed, over the possibilities he’d run through with his brother, and his heart started to betray him by racing in his chest.

“Someone’s excited,” Cora taunted him, her voice a little husky as her warm breath fanned his neck. Now that wouldn’t do at all, he hardly had any useful cognitive function to begin with right now, this side of Cora would seal his fate for good. “Want your last Christmas present?”

His face went hot as Cora stood on her toes and kissed his throat, his mind going horrifyingly blank. “Cora, come now,” he scolded her quietly, trying to regain his train of thought.

Cora laughed and joked back, “Give me some time, I’m just getting started.” Her hands secured themselves in the front of his shirt and she turned them both so his back was to the bed now, where she tumbled them both down, landing lithely straddling his hips. He was the one who was startled now, not because this was a new occurrence but because it was getting increasingly harder to think straight. He only had the wherewithal to obscure the ring box in an illusion again before she could see it in his hand and ruin the whole ordeal. No, instead she was swiftly bringing him to ruin—his favorite kind.

“Cora—,” he managed just as she bent down and kissed him, deep and tender, taking her time. By the Nine, I have lost my mind to try and hold this off, he realized as he hungrily kissed her back, his hand not occupied by an invisible ring box burying itself in her wild tresses. She stole his moan in her mouth as she kissed him even deeper, bearing down on him as he clung to his plan by the barest threads.

No, this wouldn’t do at all—he’d had a plan, damn it all, and he’d see it through and then lose himself with her. If she said yes. By the Nine, please let her say yes.

He managed to separate his lips from hers and said her name again, breathy but quietly demanding her attention. Undeterred, she moved her lips down to his neck and he gave a low growl that landed somewhere between frustration and frustration before he rolled them, pinning down her wandering hands and looking down at her bright, hooded gaze. The grin she gave him when she thought he was just taking charge of the route she’d put them on nearly caused him to lose what little sanity he’d clawed back. Gods, she was beautiful.

“Cora, listen to me, please,” he said insistently and she dropped her head back on the bed after trying to lean up and kiss him again. He had her well and truly pinned but it just encouraged her and her squirming was unhinging his resolve at an alarming rate.

At his words, Cora had retreated, looking up at him and wondering if she’d misunderstood the mood or encroached in a way he didn’t like. She’d not introduced anything new, so maybe he just wasn’t in the headspace for that now? Or maybe he was just too tired to entertain her games? A little disappointing, but the last thing she ever wanted was for him to do something he wasn’t keen on. Except maybe helping her with Christmas cards. “Is something wrong?”

He looked at her so intensely, her eyebrows shot up, expecting earth-shattering news when he instead simply, but ardently said, “I love you.”

This wasn’t the first time they’d said those special words to each other, but they were instances few and far between to be fair. For no other reason than neither of them were prone to using the phrase with any regularity. She loved him and he knew it, and vice versa. That it was hitting him so hard now was both a little funny and a little concerning. “I love you, too, silly,” she said with all the ease in the world, her raised brows lowering to form a crease. “Loki, are you sure you’re okay?”

“A little too ‘okay’,” he admitted sheepishly as he peeled himself off of her.

“What in the world does that mean?” Cora giggled, sitting up on her elbows to look at him. “And why is it a problem?”

“Because I have something I am trying to do and you have all but stolen my functioning mind,” he admitted, giving Cora license to look unbelievably smug. 

“Okay, okay,” Cora said, raising herself up to sit cross-legged on the bed and readjusting her pajamas. “I’m listening. You have my full attention, and not the kind you had in full a minute ago, I promise I’ll behave.”

“Well, hold onto that attention, too,” Loki hastened to say, raising one hand to plead with her. Cora laughed, her curiosity peaking as his gesture told her two things—how much he was trying to resist her advances at the moment for something he’d deemed more pressing, and also that he was holding something in his other hand that he’d not outstretched. He saw her putting the pieces together, her dark eyes perfectly honest in the cogs that turned behind them. “I have, erm… Something to ask you.”

Cora frowned a little, trying to figure out what he could possibly want to know about her that he didn’t know already. Her closets were all but skeleton-free—a few bones perhaps, maybe a wayward tumbleweed, but she didn’t have secrets from him. And if there was anything about her life as it currently stood with him that he didn’t know, it was possible she didn’t know whatever it was either. 

“Okay? Sure, whatever you want to know,” she said. Maybe this was about Jane and Thor’s visit? Was he stewing over that?

He cleared his throat, his face somehow more reddened than before, and Cora’s brain stuttered to a stop when she got a better look at his obscured hand and saw a little black box in it. Head absolutely empty for maybe the first time in her life, she looked at the box and then back at him, and then back at the box dumbly. 

“Cora,” he began seriously and he wasn’t sure whether or not it was a good thing she already seemed to be crying. “I genuinely would not be here—not in Midgard, I mean, but alive, but also in Midgard too I suppose—if it weren’t for you. You have given me more already than I could have ever thought to ask for—you gave me something to hold onto in my darkest hours, you gave me your support when I did not deserve it, your kindness when I least expected it. You have also given me my…family back in more ways than one. Dragging me along kicking and screaming, you have done the impossible and bridged the gap between myself and my brother…but you have also become my family, too. The only thing left, I believe, is to make that official.”

Cora was barely containing actual sobs and could do nothing about the tears streaming down her cheeks, her hands flush against her mouth. What little control she still had slipped fully away when he looked down at the floor and seemed to be overthinking which knee to take until he slid down on his right and looked back up at her sitting on the bed. His stance had just made him eye-level with her and he chuckled before saying, “I may need you to stand for me to do this properly, you are simply too short even sat up on the bed.”

She would have been indignant were it not for pure euphoria. She sniffled and, voice shaking, said, “My legs might give out if I try to stand on them,” even as she started to do as he asked.

“I will catch you,” he vowed gently. She smiled down at him and reached out to hold his hand. He took hers and kissed the inside of her wrist. “I love you. So much. Would you do the honor of marrying me?”

Cora’s knees knocked as a sob escaped her and even though it was apparent she was just extraordinarily happy, he had a moment of panic that maybe she was just horrified at the prospect of forever with him. He’d come close several times to making jokes about being each other’s mutual pains-in-the-ass, but had decided against it. She deserved a real, heartfelt proposal from him and he had more than enough in his heart for her to deliver. After a few seconds, he anxiously said, “Erm, it’s your turn, I think.”

“Sorry!” she exclaimed, laughing at herself through her tears as she sank to the floor. He instinctively moved to make good on his promise and catch her, but he realized she hadn’t fallen when she put her arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her in turn, resting his chin against her shoulder. “Yes,” she whispered in a trembling tone against his neck. “A thousand times over, yes.”

Loki smiled, his eyes also now a little wetter than usual as he felt the knot leave his stomach and euphoria that mirrored what she seemed to be feeling taking its place. He kissed her cheek and maneuvered the ring out of its box, dropping the velvet container on the nightstand before collecting her hand from behind his back and slipping the ring on her finger, kissing it once it was in place. She smiled at him with pure elation, leaning in to kiss him and pour everything she was feeling into it.

When they parted, they looked at one another and Loki’s gaze suddenly shadowed, which was Cora’s only warning before he scooped her up and tossed her back on the bed. “Right,” he purred as he descended on her, “now back to your ‘gift.’ I want you in that ring and nothing else tonight, you little minx.”

Cora was, as ever, more than happy to oblige, and her trickster god took the night’s reins to worship at her altar. She was soaring, simply incandescently happy. She never wanted this to end, any of it, and now—on a promise forged by them both—it never would.

Thank you for reading! x Safe and comfy holidays to all.