#i just got some new dishes and all of them were made in china

[assassinregrets]

anyway if you've been putting off the purchase of a little treat from a fanartist in the us (or perhaps an expensive electronic device) you should probably buy that little treat (or device) before next year

[ballad-of-birdy-lamb]

heyyaaaaa can i pretty please request for an atticus x reader? maybe atticus grows a little liking for his new neighbor (reader) and has been inviting them over for dinner a little too often and his kids are like “you sure you don’t like them 🤔?” And atticus tries to brush it off but it’s very obvious

You never knew how much I really like you.

Atticus Finch x Gender Neutral! Reader romantic headcanon to (small) fic Summary: Atticus's feelings were beyond noticeable, even to Jem and Scout Warnings: None Word Count: 1.4k ₊˚⊹ᰔಇ.

The first time Jem and Scout see Atticus so red in the face is when they are walking back from returning Dill to his house. Their father was standing by your fence, smiling happily as you talked about your day. His cheeks were red as he admired you. When the two got close enough, they heard him ask you to come over for dinner. You accepted it as any good new neighbor does, said your goodbyes, and went back into the home.

“You’re real red-faced, Atticus,” Scout would point out, squinting to look up at her father. Atticus looked over at them and wiped his face, not realizing how obvious it was. He picked her up carefully and walked down the sidewalk back to their home.

“It’s from the sun,” he justifies casually. They felt it was off, he was in the sun all the time, grew up in the south, and they never saw him sweat or undone. His justification made little sense to them.

Atticus spent the night helping Calpurnia set the dining room up for dinner later that night, setting the table with the fine China the kids barely saw outside of very nice holidays or very nice guests. Each moment made Scout and Jem question him more.

“They’re just a new neighbor, why do they get the good China?” Scout would ask plainly, though her tone carried an odd judgmental characteristic. Atticus shook his head and set another plate in Jem’s usual spot.

“They’re still new to the town, it’s good to show them that they’re welcome,” Atticus answered and gave the girl the forks, motioning for her to help set up too.

The dinner was spent with Atticus (a little too cheerfully by Jem’s idea) asking you questions about your life before coming to Maycomb, what you did for a living, and how you were as a person. Scout and Jem would occasionally pipe in and ask you questions, mostly having to do with how you feel about random things (things they like, the Radleys, etc.).

The dinner would end well… that’s what Jem and Scout would say if they didn’t have to go to bed before you left. While they got ready for the night, they occasionally would hear your laugh with Atticus’s, and the sound of the dishes being put away. Just before you left, they got to their bedroom window, watching you leaving the house with a smile. Atticus was probably smiling too, again, a little too red-faced for Scout and Jem to think it was nothing but the sun.

Weeks would go by and seeing you over in their home wasn’t new at some point. The two would wait, watching the corner for Atticus to come home, getting bored from it, and look around to find him talking to you. You stood by your white fence and spoke with great joy on your face, a similar expression on their father's face. They could only guess what was offered by Atticus once they saw the fine China later that night.

“Do you think adults cannot have normal adult friendships?” Atticus asked, sitting down in the living room chair, the accusations of adoration finally spilled by Scout. The sound of sizzling food in the kitchen filled the home with a warm glow, not only from the smell but also from the warm orange light. Scout stood with a blank face and shook her head.

“No,” she said aimlessly. Atticus smiled slightly at her bluntness.

“You had them over twice last week alone,” Jem chirped as he walked from the dining room. “And all the food Calpurnia keeps making for you both are very nice.”

“I treat my guests well,” Atticus stated simply, picking up his book, and opening one of the pages. “I am nothing more than a friend.”

The dinner was spent again like the weeks before, Atticus getting more comfortable with the talking points, and accepting whatever witty comment you made with a chuckle. Scout would fake a gag if a topic changed to something more romantic than she would want her father to be a part of and Calpurnia would pull her away and give her a talk about being kind to her guests. But you weren’t a guest at this point! You essentially live here!

Atticus couldn’t hate you, neither could Jem and Scout. You were kind, even if their father found you fond in a way beyond friendship, it was slightly understandable. You spent your time telling them interesting stories about your life before Maycomb, odd stories about how you’d live before the simplicity of now.

“Atticus likes them,” Jem would say, sifting through his pyjama drawer. You had arrived that night barely an hour before their usual bedtime, only giving them a small amount of time to chat and ask questions.

“I know,” said Scout honestly.

The dinners get more personal, later in the day, there is more time for you and Atticus to be alone without the children needing entertainment, allowing adult talk. Jem and Scout being gone meant he was left with you, getting your attention more to how he truly acted.

The redness of his cheeks, the smile on his face most of the dinner didn’t just get past you. You have been over so many times there wasn’t a moment when you didn’t notice those things. By the end of the dinner, you found your way to the swing on the porch.

“How do you feel about me?” You asked after several seconds of awkward silence. The night had grown quiet, the only sound was the chirps of crickets and cicadas. Atticus sat so close the warmth of your thigh was felt by his own.

“What do you mean?” Atticus asked after clearing his throat. He gently took his glasses from his face and wiped the lenses with a handkerchief. You hesitated momentarily, wondering if you were overreacting and overthinking, or if your ideas were true.

“I mean…,” you trail off, turning your eyes to your hands. “Do you like me?”

Atticus wiped the lenses of his glasses carefully, smiling slightly at the idea. “I do like you,” he admitted, looking away from his glasses for a second to look at you. “You’re very kind, a good neighbor if you will.”

You muse at his answer and shake your head. “No! I mean to have feelings for me. Do you like me like that?” You hastily specify, watching him closely. Atticus moved slowly, taking his time cleaning one of the smudges from the left lens. It was horrific how slow he was moving to answer. “I’ve seen how you look at me.”

“I am glad you can see,” Atticus jokes with a small smile, placing his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. “I have grown a fondness for you… I wouldn’t say it grew as time went on, I thought you were attractive when I first saw you.”

Your eyes stayed on him as he spoke, taking in his words silently. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you at a romantic moment, over a nice dinner or something you would have preferred. But since you asked, I might as well confess,” his words flowed out naturally, like he was in front of a jury, confessing something minute.

“Prove it,” you challenge. It was mostly a joke, very obviously too, but part of you wanted to know he wasn’t just saying those things to get your hopes up. No, Atticus wouldn’t do that. Then again, you only knew so much.

“A kiss then?” He straightened himself and sighed. “I usually wait a bit, but lord only knows how long I’ve got. I might as well kiss you before I can’t.”

Your head went from a slow to a quick nod. Yeah, that is true. Getting a kiss in wouldn’t hurt anyone, definitely not you. Your face was beyond warm and if Atticus dared to touch your face now, he might ask if you’re sick, which wouldn’t be preferred for obvious reasons. “Yeah… yeah, that will do,” you mutter with a smile.

Atticus nodded and moved until your thigh squished against his. It was very obvious he hadn’t done such a thing in a long while, he was beyond rusty with you in his hold, his hands moving from your shoulders to your upper arms. The smell of sandalwood filled your nose as he moved his glasses to his head, letting them sit carefully before leaning in just enough.

His lips were warm, thankfully. You could only hope yours were too since it seemed your spirit left your body at that moment. Atticus was just as gentle when he kissed as when he spoke, keeping it intense enough to be romantic but not too much to be something more. Your hands, almost like instinct, help his lapel, needing to keep him close.

If only he could kiss you forever.

₊˚⊹ᰔಇ.

My TKAM masterlist

My request list

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - When good chemistry goes bad

May 2023 Wk 3 

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

La Pluie (Sat iQIYI) ep 4 of 10 - yes it jumped to the top of the standings, the kiss was THAT good, best of the year so far. So soft and yet so sweet and yearning and with a proper chemistry - body, breath, everything. Also... there was plot happening this ep, but who cares about that? Some additional thoughts, now my brain has rebooted from that kiss. I do suspect Pat of still being a player: he is awful smooth, and he may want revenge for being jacked along for 2 years (I would). Ep 4 is early for a kiss like that, which means pacing-wise we may be in for a separation/break up around ep 8. 

Step By Step (Thai Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 5 of 10 (MDL still says 12, but Gaga still says 10) - Pat, dear, your gay is squirting all over our screens. Meanwhile… That is the smallest presidential suite bed I’ve ever seen. Lucky for us of course. And lucky for Jeng. Me with the side dishes = UH OH. 

Our Skyy 2 (My School President) eps 9-10 - Alt reality where Tinn is in charge of the music club and Gun is the school president with the crush. Basically, it’s an excuse for them to play each others’ parts (which just highlighted how well they were cast, originally). Ultimately, Gemini is a better piner, and Fourth is a better tsundere. Although the reversed “holding it over his head” was v funny & Fourth IS a decent seme. (I also realized what I like so much about Fourth, like Saint he’s one of those rare full body actors.) Sound was a great uke and I loved how they changed his makeup for the role (did you notice?). TiwPor were as adorably ridiculous as ever. I liked the minor baby pairing for Aun, too. Still my NO SIGNING holds (although there was lots of dancing to counterbalance). In the end, all this really did was make me wanna rewatch the original. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. FYI The MV was a parody of HCTM, BB, 1k*. 8/10 

A Boss and a Babe (Fri YouTube) ep 12fin - It was a cute sappy ending for a cute-ish sappy-ish show. I cannot abide that the mom who condoned the rape of her daughter got forgiven. No. Stop it GMMTV. Review below. 

The Promise (Thai Weds YT & WeTV) ep 9 of 10 - I'm in trouble when I'm rooting for everybody BUT the main couple. I guess Nan doesn’t have a NO SINGING policy. Also I guess Nan was waiting for Phu all along? This show. ALSO could we not have just ended it here? 

Past-senger (Thai Weds Gaga) ep 11 of 12 eps - I don’t understand. What? Where did all these new characters come from? Do we care about the hets? Not even slightly. What is anyone doing? What’s going on? do I care abotu anyone anymore? No. Please make it stop. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Dining Table AKA Bokura no Shokutaku (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - OMG so adorable, so repressed, so reserved, so soft, so awkward, so special. Heart melting. Also. Hungry. The WAY Minoru looks at Yutaka when he’s eating (now that he knows the history). The way we got to see the exact moment that Minoru realizes he is in love. Perfection. 

Star Struck (Korea iQIYI & Gaga) ep 1-2 of 8 - Zuho (Kpop SF9 - noted good egg) opposite rookie actor Kim In Sung (the one with the crush). icky is being weird about it but it looks like Gaga also picked it up? Depends on your territory I suppose. Anygay: Friends since childhood, jock/nerd, puppy/cat and I sense bi-himbo confusion and pining introvert gay. There’s family strife plus class issues and it has some interesting things to say already about the nature of friendship, romance, and jealousy. I like it, weirdly reminds me of something that might have come out of China. Not early CBL, but some of the later stuff that was censored but hearkened to Addicted. This has the feel of what China could have made now (were things politically different). Because of this feel, I’m not confident in this being an HEA or even a true BL but it is interesting enough for me to bump it way up the ranks. 

Happy Merry Ending (Korea Thurs Gaga) eps 7-8fin - I get why SJ pushed JH away, but I kinda agree that SJ is too much work. Abused or not, I wouldn’t put in the damn effort - so I guess I’m glad SJ took a year off to figure his shizz out? Far be it from me to agree with a year break in a Kdrama, tho. I didn’t even mind that they were separated most of these 2 eps: it was nice to see a Seme told no, who actually backed off and did as he was told. Plus the running of the gays (how Japan of you SK). I’m assuming that this was the final episode and that Viki thinking that there are 2 more is bonkers? Because this felt like a finale. For me this one had a stronger finish than any other aspect of the show (odd when the couple spent the bulk of it apart). Oh! And someone give Shin Myung Sung (the surfer bestie) his own damn BL, m’kay? Review below.

Love Mate (Korea Thurs Viki) eps 5-6 of 8 - Longest elevator ride in the world. Honorifics discussion! My favorite! And, “there is only one bed but they slept together on the floor anyway” trope. A BL staple. Also the tie/lanyard grab. Another fav. Still pushy puppy stalker remains creepy manipulative obsessive warped hotness. Basically KBL version of trash and… I’m into it. We all got our kinks, I guess. 

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) - Such a cat. I’m reminded of Milk. It’s cute. They cute. I like it.

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 6 of 12 - So is the nude dining meant to be some kind of weird allegory for repressed gayness? 

It’s Airing But ...

My Story (Pinoy Sat YouTube) 10 eps - I bounced at ep 4. Someone will tell me if I should bother with the rest. 

House of Stars (Thai Mon iQIYI) 12 eps - I bounced at ep 3. Will binge if told it is worth it at end. 

The Day I Loved You (Pinoy YouTube) eps 6-7 of 10 - Terminal illness for the sunshine. I bounced at ep 6. DNF. 

Ended this week

Love Syndrome finished its run on WeTV (I stopped at ep 2) - anyone wanna weight in with thoughts on the ending and whether I should binge or not? I do love Lee Long Shi.

Happy Merry Ending - Stars Lee Dong Won (KNK) as an ex-idol turned wedding singer with an abusive ex and a panic disorder + the sunshine pianist who falls in love with him. Timid tsundere & sweetheart gay is an interesting match. They’re gentle together, almost kindly and there is a calm ache to their pairing. However, it lost its way as a BL, being more about the main character’s struggle than the romance. It had a strong finish but ultimately the premise & characters meant this was never going to be one of my favorites. 8/10  

A Boss and a Babe - With an inconsistent narrative and self-sabotaging characters this was not the Thai BL office romance I was hoping for. I spent most if it feeling manipulated without good reason and sorry for ForceBook. They did their best with a shoddy script (AGAIN!) and none of its flaws were their fault. This show was all over the place and so am I about it. It’s better than Enchanté but that’s not really saying much. 7/10 I guess

In Case You Missed It 

BL Express reported that Taiwanese production companies have announced 7 new BLs (4 of these from Vidol.) Stories range from office romance to crime drama. 

Someone did a survey on KBL watchers. 

Build Jakapan has been cleared of all charges. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting this week: 

5/26 Be My Favorite prev title: You Are My Favorite (Thai YouTube) Adapted JittiRain y-novel (2gether, FUTS, ToL, Vice Versa) one of those “rewrite the past to change the future.” Stars Krist (SOTUS) + Fluke Gawin (DBK, Not Me). Expect this to be v low heat, full of LIES and manipulation.

5/27 The Luminous Solution (Thai ????) 10 eps - Thana is having trouble at work and in his relationship. He can't seem to catch a break. So he makes a wish to change everything. The wish has a price.

5/27 Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari no Hajimari no Asa (Japan) - NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS (but that has never stopped Japan before) and no, I have no idea where to get it, why would I ?????  (Say it with me everyone: Oh Japan, must you?*)

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

This Week’s Meta Moments 

naturellement (Step By Step naming its trope.)

The Promise calling out the uke archetype, Mary Sue much? 

ALL THE DANCING. Live the dream! Live the trend! Live the trope! 

4 tropes in one! Drinking, piggyback, feed him, product placement. Very nice GMMTV & GeminiFourth. I’m impressed.  

nash

(all My School President’s Our Skyy - kinda a masterclass in using ALL THE TROPES and ALL THE BL references.) 

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

The unmitigated irony of so-called fans of ZeeNunew coming after this show for this moment (not to mention the self sabotage). Truly mind boggling. (Step by Step)

The two boys who didn’t win the boy but totally should have. This show makes me wanna drink too. Next week... soju! (The Promise)

Yes please and thank you GMMTV. (My School President) 

I do love the kinkification of Phi. (Boss & Babe) 

These tiny idiots it turns out are, in fact, totally hilarious. La Pulie (side dish friendship group)

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? Key & Taeyeon’s Hate that... (which if it wasn’t an OST SHOULD have been)

[sallysgrancanwrite]

Chapter Eighty-Three

Masterlist.

Dinner was finally ready. The turkey's stupid button, as Beth called it, had popped up so it was perfectly cooked. The skin was nice and golden brown. All the dishes were prepared and pies done. Chloe had even made some dinner rolls. It was the first time and they turned out great. When she was married Martha did most of the cooking.

“Emma, would you help Momma get the china, and set the table in the dining room?” Chloe asked Emma.

“Yes, Momma.” Emma said, sliding off Grandpa’s lap. She loved sitting on his lap.

“Be very careful with Grammys good china honey.” Chloe told her daughter as she handed her some to carry. She didn’t have to walk far with them because the china hutch was in the dining room.

Chloe got out the beautiful silverware from the drawer and box. She remembered having to polish these when she was younger. She hated doing it. It took her away from her friends. Doing it now wasn’t such a big deal. When you grow up your thinking and priorities mature.

“Chloe, make sure to put out some wine goblets for the adults.” Edith told her.

“Momma, can I have a pretty glass too?” Emma asked Chloe.

“You don’t drink wine honey.” Chloe replied.

“I know, but can I drink my milk out of one? Emma said.

“You go ask Grammy.” Chloe told her. “That’s up to her.”

“Okay,” Emma said, running into the kitchen.

“Grammy, can I drink my milk from your pretty glasses? Emma asked her.

“Can you be very careful and not break it?” answered Edith.

“I will, I promise.” Emma told her.

“Okay, I guess that would be alright.” Edith said.

“Thank you, Grammy!” Emma said hugging Edith very tight.

She ran to tell Chloe. She was so excited. “Momma!” Emma hollered. “Grammy said I could!”

“Okay, but no screaming in the house please.” Chloe told her.

“Sorry, I got excited.” Emma said.

“That’s okay, honey. I’m not mad.” Chloe told her. She had to be careful correcting her daughter after all the abuse from her father. He was terribly harsh and cruel to Emma. Chloe made sure to always let her know she wasn’t mad at her. She didn’t want to damage her anymore than she was already.

They called the guys to come sit down. As promised Emma got to sit by Alan, her new best friend.

“This looks and smells amazing!” said Alan. “I admit it is much better than a turkey dinner at the cafe. Not that the food is bad there.” He commented.

“No one should spend Thanksgiving alone.” Chloe told him.

“Okay honey, will you carve the Turkey please.” asked Edith.

Bob got out his good carving knife and fork from the hutch. The knife just slid through the meat.

“Chloe, go get the gravy in the kitchen. I plum forgot it.” Edith told her.

“Hand me your plate Beth. Do you want white or dark meat?” asked Bob.

“I’ll take either one. Thank you Bob.” She told him.

Chloe and Emma both liked white meat and Edith ate dark meat.

“Alan, what would you like?” Bob asked their guest.

“I’ll take some dark meat if you have some cut up.” Alan answered.

Chloe was genuinely happy this Thanksgiving for the first time in many years.

They didn’t celebrate Holidays with Michael. He would always get drunk and soon the abuse would start.

Emma looked happy too. She really liked Alan and he was very nice to her. It was good for her to see that not all men are like her father.

They ate themselves silly. Now for the enormous cleanup.

“Well, Alan, shall we turn on the game?” Bob asked him. “What would you like to drink? I can mix you one.”

“Actually a beer would be okay. If you have one.” Alan answered.

“Coming right up.” Bob looked happy to have a guy to hang out with and watch football with.

The ladies got to cleaning the food up. Emma went and got some Barbie’s and sat by Bob’s feet and played.

“Girls, let’s use the dishwasher today. There are too many dishes to do by hand.” Edith told Chloe and Beth.

Afterwards the ladies went back to playing a card game. The afternoon just flew by.

“Does anyone feel ready for some pie?” asked Edith. “Lord knows we have enough.”

“I will, dear.” replied Bob.

“I’ll take some as well,” said Alan. “What do you have?”

“We have sweet potato pie, coconut cream, blueberry, apple, and banana cream. “ Edith answered.

“I’ll take coconut cream.” hollered Bob.

“I’ll have the sweet potato pie.” Alan replied.

Chloe took the pies into the living room for the guys. They didn’t want to miss the game.

The ladies ate in the kitchen. They were tired from all the cooking that day.

“I’m beat,” said Beth. “But how are you holding up Edith?”

“I'm doing good. You girls did most of it today. It was a great help.” Edith stated.

With the game over, Alan stood up to get ready for home.

“Do you have to leave?” asked Emma.

“I’m afraid so, honey. I have to work in the morning.” He said looking down at the little girl with a smile. “But I’m sure I’ll see again sometime.”

“I hope you had a good day,” said Bob. “It was nice to watch the game with you.” Bob said, shaking Alan’s hand. “Don’t be a stranger. You’re welcome here anytime.”

Chloe got him his jacket and walked him to the door.

��Thank you for a wonderful day.” He said looking at Chloe.

“You are very welcome. I’m glad you have fun.” She stated.

He opened the door and for a moment he paused as if he wanted to say something but instead just turned to leave.

“Goodbye,” Chloe said

“Goodbye.” Alan said, walking to his car.

It was a great day, Chloe thought to herself. She enjoyed Alan’s company. For some reason she had a smile on her face.

“What are you smiling at?” Beth asked as she chuckled.

“Nothing. I’m not smiling at anything.” Chloe replied.

“Uh huh. How about at someone?” Beth asked.

“Oh, stop that Beth. We’re just good friends.” Chloe said turning red.

“Then why is your face red?” Edith teased her.

“It was cold holding the door open. It’s just from the cold.” She said defensively. “Emma, come on. It’s time for a bath and bed.” Chloe said changing the subject.

“But I don’t have school tomorrow. Can’t I stay up a little bit longer?” Emma asked.

“No, I've already let you stay up later than normal. Pick your Barbie’s up and get in the tub please.” Chloe replied.

Emma, unhappy from the answer, slowly picked up her toys and headed for the bath.

“I’ll be right there, bug.” Chloe told her.

Chloe went and got her some clean pjs and went to wash Emma’s hair.

“Are you washed up ready for your hair?” asked Chloe as she walked in the bathroom.

“Yes, Momma. Can we still read a chapter tonight?” She asked her mother.

“Yes, we’ll read a chapter. Let’s get you out of here.” Chloe said, finishing with Emma’s long blonde hair. It had been a long day and Chloe was ready for bed.

[beyondthepage]

London's Best Kept Secret

General Tso. Cereal chicken. Salted egg.

How can all this be related, you might ask? Meet the Po Bar, a Chinese-takeout restaurant that has quickly built its reputation with snake-long lines. Though it’s still new on the night-out dinner scene, it has become the talk of London. But why?

First impressions are everything—and Po Bar takes it to the next level. Upon entering the emperor-like door that resembles a snake, I was surprised to find out that there were only four tables in it. ‘Am I lost?’, I thought. Turns out I’m in the right place! As a way of building intimacy, Po Bar decides to only have four tables, embezzled in gold beads, which looks like something from The Great Gatsby.

Overlooking the ceiling, there were snake sculptures (yes, snakes all over again), that embodies the luck, the longevity, and the wealth of the restaurant. If you think four tables would make the restaurant dead silent, you’re wrong! Po Bar features an open kitchen, where you can have a peek of all the wok-banging magic happening.

What about the good, you might be wondering? For starters, I got the salted egg yoghurt parfait. At first, it might sound like something from Mars, isn’t it? But oh boy, did it live up to its hype! Even at the very first bite, I was taken aback. ‘No way!’, I thought. Moving onto the real deal—General Tso’s chicken. Bathed in crispy batter, this dish was oozy, salty, decadent—it had it all. If only my mum were here, we would go crazy on this!

Don’t get me started on the drinks. Right after devouring all that astronomically finger-licking goods, the chef turned up with a china-like glass filled with cereal-chicken latte. Yes, you read it right! Honestly, I was pretty sceptical at first. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? And again, everything in Po Bar passed my standard with flying colours. Even at the first slurp, you’ll be greeted with this odd texture, which is actually the cereal from the cereal chicken, and tasted nothing like your Starbucks order.

No matter how many times I passed by Po Bar, I would never ever forget all the goodness I had. Everything—the atmosphere, the food, the drinks—was just too good to be true. It was as if I was on a roller coaster ride, with all the fun! If you’re wondering where to go this weekend, Po Bar happily welcomes you. Have you made your reservation yet?

To start with, the review was written from a first-person point of view, which is supported by the use of pronouns like ‘I’ and ‘my’. Written in a chatty and colloquial style, the review is directed towards the younger audience, particularly teenagers or readers who are in their twenties. In terms of the form, the text started out with a shorter paragraph, before entering longer paragraphs filled with longer sentences in the body. This is done so in order to effectively capture the whole scene and experience of the restaurant. Throughout the test, a cheery feeling is maintained in order to keep the readers engaged as well as to entertain them. Hence the purpose of the text was not only informative, but also entertaining to some extent. In terms of the tenses, past and present tenses were used Both tenses are used in order to create the different timestamps of the author, one where they are writing the review, and one when they were in the restaurant, which allows the reader to have some sort of first-hand experience. Overall, the text is written with some humour in it, although there were some parts that might sound serious.

To start with, the text came out with a one-line paragraph—General Tso. Cereal chicken. Salted egg. Not only did this paragraph capture the attention of the reader, but also served as a hook, making the readers wonder why such foods are dropped in the first line. Then, in the next paragraph, the readers are directed to a clearer view, where the author promptly describes the big picture of the text, which was a review of the restaurant. In the second paragraph, rhetorical questions such as ‘How can all this be related, you might ask?’ and ‘But why?’ were used in order to engage the reader, making the text a two-way street between the author and the reader.

Several literary devices were used in the text. In the second paragraph, ‘snake-long lines’, which is a hyperbole, is used to show just how trendy and big of a deal the restaurant is. Allusions were also used in the third paragraph—The Great Gatsby—as well as in the first paragraph—Starbucks. The use of name-dropping well-known titles not only created a lively feeling to the text, but also allowed the author to express their interests of a different subject to their reader.

In the third paragraph, it all started out with a simple and short sentence. Yet when it is in the body of the paragraph, longer and wordier sentences are used, allowing the reader to have a full-on view of the dining experience. The inside thoughts of the author were also displayed in the text—’Am I lost?’, I thought—which shows that the text not only was some sort of review that highlights the external details, but also effectively serves as a window into the author’s mind. This makes the review to be more authentic and less advertisement-like. This is further supported with the text found in parenthesis—yes, snakes all over again—which reinforces the feeling that the review was genuinely and wholeheartedly written by the author. Group of three was also used in the paragraph—the luck, the longevity, and the wealth—to effectively describe what the restaurant stands for or believes in. Pronouns like ‘you’ could also be found in this paragraph, putting the readers in the author’s shoes, which again, allows the reader to give a first-hand experience. The adjective ‘wok-banging’, as well as the idiom ‘dead silent’ further supports the lively feeling of the text.

Onto the next paragraph, the author describes another point of focus, which is the foods of the restaurant. Even in the paragraph where everything seems to be all descriptive, the author still manages to capture and engage the reader’s attention with rhetorical questions. In this paragraph, shorter sentences were used, which shows that not much of a word can truly describe the foods of the restaurant, but also shows the excitement and the uplifting feeling of the author. ‘Taken aback’ highlights the author’s surprised feeling of the food, effectively making the reader wonder why such food could create that feeling. The author, again, displays their internal feeling—’No way’, I thought. The paragraph ended with an if clause, contrasting the other sentences while also showing a feeling of longing for the author.

The penultimate paragraph, which started with ‘don’t get me started’ shows how awe-struck the author feels about the food. While the phrase could be interpreted as a start of negative experience, it was the opposite. Again, the author effectively captures the highlight of the dining experience, in this case, the drinks. From the hyperbole used ‘astronomically finger-licking’ to the odd drink that was described, it made the reader wonder why such dining experience was this all about. Again, the author shares their internal thoughts about the odd drink with the phrase ‘pretty sceptical at first’. And then, the author engages the reader by snipping in rhetorical questions, which gives the reader room for interpretation. An idiom could be found in the paragraph—flying colours—which not only makes the text more lively, but also shows the various figurative languages used by the author.

In the closing paragraph, the author effectively exhibits their feelings and thoughts about the restaurant. Although descriptive adjectives were not used, it showed the author was impressed with the dining experience when they needed the first sentence of the paragraph with ‘never ever forget all the goodness I had’. Again, the author utilises a group of three in the paragraph, as well as metaphor, with the word ‘rollercoaster ride’. This just shows how the lively feeling is still well kept even at the end of the text. And then, the author shifts their focus to the reader, where they use rhetorical questions as well as the personification ‘welcomes’ to create an inviting feeling to the restaurant.

Overall, the text is written in a chronological manner, in which the author started out from entering the restaurant, to the drinks they had. This allows the reader to have a clear sense of time, which may be beneficial for those who are planning to visit the restaurant. Throughout the text, the author paces back and forth between their point of focus, to make the reader feel as though they were in the restaurant as well as to engage the reader by the pronouns ‘you’ or the use of rhetorical questions.

[karunanadar]

Reply for @emelinecormier

Emmy couldn’t help the questions that swirled around in her head and inevitably fell out of her mouth direction at the other; curiosity about design elements or the history behind them. Her friends fascination intrigued her, the woman speaking with a passion she recognized, one she felt every time she successfully created a new dish or found a fun kitchen toy to experiment with. Though she wasn’t so skilled with interior design, her own apartment very lackluster when it came to decor, she could still recognize passion in someone’s eyes when she saw it. “So we’re looking for cameras, got it.” She nodded her head, reassuring the other that she’d taken in everything she had said before her brow furrowed and she spoke up again. “Wait, so cameras for decoration? What makes them decoration and not just like... a camera?” Emmy couldn’t help but think of her newfound girlfriend, the photographer, and wondered if an old camera for decoration would be something she could surprise her with, make her feel more included in her new apartment even.

"That...is a fantastic question, and I'm so glad you asked it." For a moment, Karuna paused to run her fingers over an old china doll. It was a little worn, mostly in the hair and some spots where the paint had rubbed off, but still lovely and obviously hand crafted. "Take this doll for example. It's no less a doll, but it doesn't quite keep with the demand of modern dolls meant to be played with, ya know. That's how it is with the cameras. Most of the ones we might find here are usable if you got film for them or made sure their insides worked okay. But no one is really using film cameras anymore, it's all digital. That's the content and the supplies that are current and available and expected. Which means the other cameras, even if in working condition...they're just nostalgia and eye candy for people who are passionate about antiques or cameras." This particular shop was a bit of a hodge podge mess of disorganization and they'd somehow gone from dolls and shelf items to several racks of clothing items. "I had a friend once who loved to make stuff out of antiques. She took a lens from an old camera and literally fashioned it into a coffee mug. It was cute as hell. People...we just cling to nostalgia ya know. How things were done in the past, what we grew up with."

[peakyblindersxx]

I'm so shy to request a smut but you don't have anonymous option so I guess I'm gonna go like this shamelessly aha 😳👉👈 but would you mind writing for S1 Tommy and his wife? Like she's in the kitchen you know doing wife things cooking and such and he comes back home and he's in the *mood* so he just approaches her and lifts her apron with dress up and, boy oh boy, they have their way with lots of dirty talk? 💀 If you're not into this then it's completely fine! But don't publish this ask then because I'm going to die out of embarrassment 🤣🤣

a/n: hey babe! first of all, i’m so sorry i don’t have that option on, i’m about to fix it and never be embarrassed!! ty for requesting this, i loved writing it and i hope you like it :) i've got another tommy request as well as a tommy & john fluff that i'm working on next!!

let them wait - s1 tommy shelby x wife!reader

warnings: nsfw!! smut, choking, daddy kink, slight breeding kink if you squint

It was almost 9 pm when you heard Tommy’s car pull up out front, the shiny new Bentley rumbling to a stop. He had phoned you earlier, asking to push back dinner as he had some things he had to get done, sweetly crooning into the receiver that he promised he’d make it up to you. You wanted to be mad, but couldn’t, annoyance bubbling over into lust as he told you all the things he’d rather be doing right now, most preferably you. 

"Want you waiting for me wearin’ that black silk thing I bought you last week,” he’d rumbled, his cock growing hard with the thought of you spread out on the bed for him, the sounds you’d make as he fucked you. 

“It’s called a slip, Tom,” you’d giggled in response. 

He had grunted. “Don’t care what it’s called, long as I can get you out of it, darlin’.”

So, you’d headed to your closet, rifling through the various lingerie sets until you found the one you were looking for. Tommy loved spoiling you, ordering various expensive garments from Italy, France, and even China just because “I thought you’d look good in ‘em, Mrs. Shelby.”

He savored the taste of his name on yours on his tongue, feeding into his insatiability towards you. You were his, and he knew it, but nevertheless, Tommy fucked you like he had to prove it to the goddamn King. He was demanding, taking everything you offered, and you practically melted at the filthy words he’d whisper in your ear, even in the middle of your wedding night. “Fuck ‘em,” he’d growled, pounding into your wet cunt as he held you up against the wall, sending your vision spinning. “My house. My wife. Let them wait.” Even after an entire year of marriage, he practically had the libido of a teenage boy. You weren’t complaining, however.

You snapped out of your daydream, discarding all your other items of clothing to slip on other than the short silk dress, tying your apron on over it and putting nothing on underneath. You made your way back downstairs to the kitchen, short heels clacking against the wood. By the time the food was in the oven, Tommy had arrived. You heard his keys jingling as he opened the door, walking into the kitchen behind you as you stood at the kitchen counter, putting away a stack of dishes. He pressed himself against your back, his cologne wafting over you, pressing soft open-mouthed kisses to your shoulder as you felt his already hard cock press against your ass through his pants. 

“Y’look so fucking pretty,” he murmured, rough hands slipping up your dress, the metal of his rings cool against your inner thighs as his fingertips brushed against your aching core. 

“It’s all for you, Daddy,” you moaned, heart pounding as Tommy dragged a finger across your wet slit, earning a groan from him. 

“Christ, got nothin’ on underneath, and you’re talkin’ like that? I’m going to have to take you right here, over the counter, sweetheart,” Tommy rumbled, lifting up your skirt to reveal your already-dripping core, your cheeks flushing at the feeling of being exposed like this, the granite of the counter cool against your face. He took his time drinking you in, watching the way your pussy clenched when he placed his thumb just to the right of it, spreading you open. 

“You like when I look at you, darlin’?” You couldn’t think of the words to respond, frozen in Tommy’s gaze. A sharp slap to your ass jolted you out of your haze.

“I asked you a question,” He reprimanded, a shiver running up your spine at his demanding tone. He was used to getting what he wanted, and you were all too happy to give it to him.

“Yes, Daddy,” you whimpered, legs trembling in anticipation. Your heart was almost pounding out of your chest, just waiting for him to touch you, something, anything. Tommy loved how desperate you looked for his touch, yet you refused to move or even say anything, knowing the consequences if you did. You were his, and he knew it. He took advantage of his position, slipping a finger inside you abruptly, the cool metal of his rings a contrast to your already-wet heat. The noise that left your mouth in response was so obscene, Tommy almost wanted to shove his cock inside of you right there and then. Yet, he held himself back, reveling in the way your hips moved against his hand as he added another finger, curling them slightly to press up against your g-spot. “Please, Daddy,” you managed to get out. “Need you inside me.” 

Tommy’s eyes dilated with lust. “Since you asked so nicely, darlin’,” he replied, freeing his already-hard cock from the confines of his pants. “Can’t help meself when you look so sweet beggin’ for me.”

You let out a moan as Tommy pushed himself inside you, grunting as your cunt stretched around him, walls fluttering as his dick pressed up against your cervix. “Already dripping, aye, sweetheart?” He chuckled, sending vibrations through your body. Before you could respond, Tommy was fucking you relentlessly, cries of pleasure falling out of your mouth as he pounded into you. 

“Can’t help yourself, can you?” he grunted, before reaching around and placing two of his fingers in your mouth. “Should keep ‘ya quiet.”

You couldn’t help but suck on his fingers like they were his cock, eliciting a groan from Tommy as he somehow increased his pace. “Keep doin’ that, you’re gonna make me put a fuckin’ baby in you,” he vowed. 

You weren’t even able to find the words to respond, stars flashing across your vision as Tommy fucked into you even harder, moaning around his fingers. You couldn’t help yourself, and he loved it. The thought of Tommy filling you up with his cum put you over the edge, and you came not once or twice, but three times as he fucked into you persistently, crooning in your ear how beautiful you were when you came. Finally, you found the strength to respond when he carried you to the kitchen table, his hand around your throat as your eyes met his blue ones.

“Want you to come in me, Daddy. Want you to fill me up,” You cajoled, looking up at him from under your eyelashes. Tommy let out a grunt as he rammed his cock into you at a bruising pace, sending your eyes rolling back in your head. The sight of you undone for him sent him over the edge, his hot seed spilling inside of you as Tommy kissed you, both of your chests heaving in pleasure. 

Tommy pulled out of you with a grunt, eyes glued on your cunt dripping with him. “Meant what I said, you know,” he said. 

You smiled lazily up at him. “Should stay on my back then. They say it helps with getting pregnant.” 

Tommy couldn’t help but press his lips onto yours with fervor. “Christ, woman. Gettin’ me hard again already.”

[drabbles-mc]

Game Day

EZ Reyes & Angel Reyes & Sister!Reader

Day 11 of the July Prompts and a request from @cherieann-2001​: football and How about American Football game with Ez/Angel/and Baby sister Reyes? They all like three different teams within the same division so whenever two of the teams play each other there is a lot of trash talking etc. But they love one another at the end of it all.

Warnings: language, alcohol

Word Count: 1.6k

A/N: The Reyes Family deserves happy times together and that’s all I have to say about that.

EZ/Angel Taglist: @garbinge @ly--canthrope @noz4a2 @queenbeered @sincerelyasomebody @sadeyesgf @thesandbeneathmytoes @appropriate-writers-name @tomhardydallasstarsgirl @sillygoose6969 @louisianalady @gemini0410 @paintballkid711 @chibsytelford @yourwonkywriter @sesamepancakes @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @plentyoffandoms @georgiaaintnopeach @twistnet @themoonandthewicked @bucky-iss-bae @enjoy-the-destruction @encounterthepast @rosieposie0624 @mylittlelonelyappreciationtoo @mijop @xladymacbethx @blessedboo @holl2712 @lakamaa12 @masterlistforimagines​ @kkim120​ @toni9​ @shadow-of-wonder​ @crowfootwrites​ @redpoodlern​ @punkgoddess-98​ @black-repunzel99​ @lexondeck​ @mrsstevenbuchananstark​ @berniesilvas​ @lovebishoplosamiguelgalindo​ @helli4nthus​ @angelreyesgirl​ @starrynite7114​ @lilacyennefer​ @luckyharley1903​

“You guys ready to lose?!” Angel called out as he flung open the door to Felipe’s house.

You were fast at work in the kitchen, laughing and shaking your head at the dramatics of his entrance. Over the years, despite everything that had ever happened in the Reyes family, all of you still managed to come together during football season. Sometimes it felt like you only came together just to give each other shit over your teams, but it was nice that some things didn’t change, didn’t get lost.

He looked around and quickly realized that you were the only one in the kitchen, if not the entire house. Walking over, he placed a kiss on top of your head, “Hermanita,” he glanced around once more, “you the only one holding it down out here?”

You chuckled, shaking your head, “No, Pops and EZ are out back by the grill,” you looked up from the pan in front of you, “Feel free to go and help.”

“Nah,” Angel chuckled before going and grabbing a beer out of the fridge, “I’d much rather stay in here and bother you.”

You rolled your eyes, “Damn, and here I was thinking that you were actually going to offer to help.”

“You want my help?” he cocked an eyebrow.

Your sigh turned into a laugh, “That’s a fair point.”

“When’d you get here anyway?” he asked before taking a swig of his drink.

“This morning,” you covered the pan on the stove and turned the heat down, “Had breakfast with Pop before you boys could show up and disturb the peace.”

“What are you two troublemakers up to in here?” EZ asked with a chuckle as he walked inside, a plate in his hands piled with food that Felipe had been cooking outside.

“Oh, nothing,” you smile, “just figuring out how we’re going to celebrate when the Chiefs choke tonight.”

EZ scoffed, a smile on his face, “Big talk for a girl whose team is already out of the running,” he grabbed himself a fresh beer from the fridge and took a drink, “Brave of you to wear those colors around here, considering,” he nodded towards your jersey.

“This isn’t gang territory,” you laughed as you leaned back against the counter, “Besides if Angel can wear his, I can wear mine.”

“You can all go change,” Felipe said as he walked in with the last of the food, shaking his head all the way over to the counter.

All three of you laughed, knowing and loving that he always put on an annoyed front when you were all there. You knew that if the three of you showing up and causing a ruckus every weekend was really a problem, he wouldn’t hesitate to kick you all out. But he enjoyed it as much as the rest of you, even if he didn’t want to admit it. Time together with the four of you was rare, and no one knew and felt the value of it all quite as much as your father did. For all his grumbling about the yelling and the shit-talking, and shaking his head at the amount of food that three of you would burn through, you would always show up to a full fridge every Sunday morning when you came to have breakfast with him. And the living room would always be clean and set up perfectly for all of you to hang out there later. You loved him, though, so you let him continue to pretend to be bothered by it. It kept you and your brothers amused, after all.

“We gotta get you one, too, Pops,” Angel said with a laugh.

“One what?” Felipe didn’t look amused at all.

“A jersey,” he gestured to himself, “I feel like these are your colors.”

“No way,” EZ chimed in, shaking his head, “He’s not gonna—”

Felipe interrupted, cutting off the discussion before it could continue, “Is it done?” he looked at you and then nodded towards the stove.

You nodded, laughing at his dismissal of the heated debate that was about to take place, “Yea, all set to go. Was just waiting for you and Boy Wonder to finish grilling.”

“Boy Wonder?” EZ looked at you with raised eyebrows.

“What? Sounds like an upgrade from Boy Scout if you’re asking me,” Angel smirked.

“I’ll demote him again after his team loses,” you laughed.

“They won’t,” EZ shook his head, adamant about his position, “No chance.”

“We’ll see,” your voice was singsongy as you helped get everything together.

You were listening to the two of them going back and forth as you started bringing everything to the table. You might’ve all been grown, with your own lives, problems, and responsibilities, but something about getting together for games at Felipe’s turned all of you back into punk kids again. It was all jokes and headlocks and pushing each other off the couch after dinner. And Felipe would always sit and watch from his chair, fighting to keep a straight face and not feed into your antics but smiling and laughing along with you. But you could always see it in his eyes, even when he was watching you trying to tackle Angel to the floor in the middle of the living room, he’d rather have you all there than anywhere else in the world.

The game was well underway, and the now-empty dinner plates were all stacked off to the side. EZ kept promising that at the next commercial break he’d bring them into the kitchen, but it never happened.

“Oh!” you bumped his shoulder with your own, “Called it! Choked!”

EZ laughed shaking his head as he gave you a shove back, sending you into Angel’s side, “You sound more and more like him every damn day.”

“There are worse brothers to take after,” Angel laughed as he draped his arm around your shoulders, tucking you into his side and preparing to put you in a headlock.

“Angel,” Felipe spoke up, waiting for you all to look at him, and all he did was give a slight shake of his head, causing Angel to let you go.

“You don’t gotta protect me, you know,” you laughed, “He’s not even that strong.”

“Pfft,” Angel shook his head, “That’s it, you’re done.”

Your scream turned into laughter as he threw you in a headlock, threatening to pull you down onto the floor. You turned your body, managing to pull your legs up and press your feet against him, pushing yourself away and getting him to break his hold on you with a laugh. He easily lifted and move your legs back off the couch, shaking his head.

“Not even that strong,” he muttered as he returned his attention to the game, “Bullshit.”

“I mean,” EZ chuckled as he got up to finally bring the plates into the kitchen, “she did get out of that pretty quick.”

“Shut up,” Angel crumpled a napkin and threw it at him, “Aren’t you supposed to be watching your team lose?”

“Don’t make him drop those dishes,” Felipe spoke up, “Or you’ll be buying me new ones.”

“Oh,” you chimed in, “don’t let Angel pick out China patterns. Please.”

“We’re supposed to be friends, you know,” Angel chuckled, “If I can’t trust you on game day, who can I trust?”

“No one!” you laughed as you reached down, grabbing the napkin he’d thrown and chucking it back at him, hitting him square on the forehead.

“Heads up!” EZ called as he walked back into the living room, carefully lofting a beer bottle to Angel. He sat down, handing you one before passing you the bottle opener.

The three of you settled down a little now that you had fresh bottles, not wanting to spill anything on your father’s couch. That ran the risk of genuinely frustrating him. And you knew that the spiller would be the one who either had to clean it, or replace it. That wasn’t a responsibility that anyone wanted on their shoulders.

EZ was in his glory as the game came to an end, his team managing to come out of it all on top. He stood up, holding his arms out, “Called it!” he turned back to you and Angel, “And you thought they were gonna choke.”

“They did for a while, there, Boy Scout,” Angel piped up with a chuckle.

“Still won, though,” a cocky smirk was plastered across his face.

“Shut up,” you swiped the bottle caps off the table and tossed them all at him with a laugh.

You leaned forward, elbows resting on your knees as you ran your hands down your face. It’d been a long day. Good, as they always were, but you could feel yourself starting to get tired. You glanced over at your father, chuckling quietly when you saw that he was passed out in his chair. You nudged Angel with your elbow, nodding over to the chair with a soft laugh.

“It’s exhausting dealing with you two knuckleheads,” Angel said with a laugh.

“Learned from the best,” you shot back with a smile.

You draped a blanket over your father, leaving him to sleep in peace. The three of you all cleaned up the kitchen and living room, restoring it to its former glory. As much as you wanted to say goodbye, you knew that Felipe would just be mad that you all woke him up. So with that, you all made your way outside. Their bikes were parked alongside your car, and there was something so reassuring about the sight of them all lined up together.

“Alright,” you gave them each a hug, “Stay outta trouble. Love you.”

“Love you,” Angel swung his leg over his bike, clipping his helmet on.

“Love you,” EZ smirked as he walked over to his bike, “And you can just call me whenever to tell me that I was right about the game. You have my number.”

You shook your head, smiling as you unlocked your car, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

[jaehyunzzmilk]

dinasty (part 2)

pairing: prince jaehyun x concubine reader

word count: 3.4 k

genre: Historical Mafia AU, smut, light angst

summary: after the perfect escape, you have to find a way to fit in your new life, leaving the past behind may seem easy when you're working for 4 princes and one of them is interested in you, right?

notes: hello again, part 2 is up and we have a new love triangle, thank you for liking the first part so much, and prepare for even more surprises

this doesn't have any relation to real facts and history, it's just pure fiction for entertainment purposes

warnings: violence, blood, cheating, unprotected sex, oral (female receiving)

main characters: jaehyun (prince), yuta (samurai, villain), ten (thai mafia, villain), kun (China's emperor warrior)

Reality - Part 2

Part 1 here

"- Nice tattoo!" the man says.

It was dark and his face was only visible through the moonlight.

You freeze, the man stays still looking at you like you were his prey.

You try to cover your body but your only reaction is to grab your stuff and run, praying he wasn't gonna come after you.

Arriving at your room, breathing heavily you try to think about what just happened. A guy like that had to be a prince or someone really important. Ms. Lee told you to be lowkey and on the first day you let a man see you naked in the bath area. "Whatever" You were just too tired to think, you didn't do anything wrong anyway, so you were gonna pretend that it didn't happen. The Korean Palace was gonna punish you for going to the wrong bath?

Suddenly you realize Kun's necklace isn't with you. "Fuck, I must have dropped there" but now it's too risky to come back and look for it so you decide to do that tomorrow. You lay down on your mattress and try to fall asleep.

-

Next morning Ms. Lee showed you the rest of the Palace, the kitchen and assigned your tasks. It was a lot of work and details, each of their meals had to be perfectly planned. They had someone even to taste the food before them so they know it's not poisoned.

"- I'm gonna be responsible for the King's meal and you're gonna be responsible for the four prince's meals."

-Four?

"- Yes, Taeil, Doyoung, Johnny and Jaehyun. Now you should prepare their tea, they always drink green tea in the morning."

While preparing the tea you wonder which one you saw at the bathing area and if you should tell Ms. Lee what happened yesterday.

You're walking with the trays to the dining place when you try to talk to her.

-Ms. Lee!

-"Yes"

-So yesterday...

You realize you still don't know much about Ms. Lee and even if Kun trusts her, you don't. Also you can't help but think that serving tea was much better than your life at the concubine's house, so you try quickly to think of something else to say.

-Well, yesterday… Before I met you… this man helped me at the harbor, he was wearing black clothes and had a samurai sword.

-"Stay away from him!" She turns at you. "They are dangerous, they will kill everything and everyone on their way, people you don't want to mess up with."

By Yuta's facial expression when you mentioned Ms. Lee's name you weren't surprised she said those words, you wonder why but she wasn't gonna be the one to give you the answers. Otherwise, you still weren't afraid of him, he was gonna be the last of your problems here.

-"Now let's get in there, first you bow and then you serve them the way I showed you, don't look at them in the eye and don't say anything." She says.

In silence, you enter the dining room along with the other servants behind you bringing the food plates and you stop in front of the tables on the floor where all the princes are. There are two on each side, the two oldest and the youngest, all of them are sitting on cushions, they all have long hair and are wearing beautiful hanboks.

-"Your highness, may I introduce you to your new servant 'y/n', she is my niece and she is gonna work with me in the kitchen from now on." Ms. Lee said while you bowed, you were still too nervous to look up and look at them. "Now, may we start with the tea." Ms. Lee turns to you and signs that you can go and serve them.

Holding the teapot you go to the first prince, the oldest, Taeil, he is very handsome, with his light brown hair, face delicate and mature at the same time. Slowly you pour the tea into the cup by his left, he doesn't do anything, just stays still looking down and you wonder if you did something wrong. On his right it's Doyoung, after you pour the tea he gives you a small nod which makes you feel calmer. He is also very handsome, shiny black long hair, perfect posture, he sure looks like a prince. On the other side, Johnny, you can feel he is looking at you, the first to say "thank you" after you pour the tea. His face is gorgeous, even if he is sitting down you can feel how tall and strong he is. And then, Jaehyun, the man from the bath. You freeze when he looks directly at your eyes, you try to stay calm and pour the tea but can't help but shake a little bit. He is the definition of perfection, he had perfect skin, perfect face, everything about him.

Jaehyun keeps staring at you even when you stand up and comes back to Ms. Lee side.

-"Seems like someone likes our new servant!" Johnny says laughing. The other boys look at him but Jaehyun remains silent and serious, still looking at you.

They give the first sip to their tea. Taeil stops and smells the cup.

-"Did someone… put ginger on the tea?" He asks.

Ms. Lee turns at you with her eyes wide open.

-"Did you put ginger when you were making the tea?" She says in a low voice. - Yes, that's how we usually drink it in China, I'm so sorry.

-"Don't..." Taeil says taking another sip "- From now on keep in that way". You see Jaehyun smirking with the corner of your eyes.

Your whole body relaxed, you felt like you were going to faint. Ms. Lee bows and tells them to excuse both of you. As soon as you enter the kitchen's door she grabs your arm.

-"You have no idea how lucky you were this time young lady, Taeil is the most picky to all the food we make, when he started speaking I thought I was gonna have a heart attack"

-Me too! But I'm so sorry, I swear I'm not doing anything again without asking you first.

-"Good! Now get back to work"

-

Later after you finish your schedule you come back to the bath area to look for Kun's necklace. You look everywhere but it's nowhere to be found.

-"Looking for this?" Jaehyun stops behind you holding your necklace.

You turn around and he comes closer to you.

-"I asked if you're looking for this?" Now he is inches from you.

-Ye- yes!

Jaehyun walks behind you and gently moves your hair to the side, putting the necklace on you.

-"Does that belong to your boyfriend?" He is so close it's almost he's whispering in your ears. You get goosebumps.

-Excuse me?

He smirks and comes back to look you in the eyes.

-"I fought in the war 2 years ago, I remember those from the chinese soldiers." He tilts his head to the side and looks at you from head to toe. "Or you did?"

-A prince fighting at the war?

-"And a very bloody one but yes... it would be a shame being a prince and let your people alone bring victory to your country"

-It does… belong to my boyfriend.

You hold your necklace in your chest.

-"And where is your precious boyfriend when a pretty face like you is talking to the enemy in another country?"

-It's complicated!

-"I have time!"

-Why? Do you want the full story to snitch on me?

-"Sweetie if I wanted to snitch you out I would have already!"

He was right.

-You wouldn't believe if I told you anyway!

-"Try me, I've seen it all"

You both sit on a stone beside the water.

-Well, when I was 9 my family was struggling, we didn't have food, money, anything… so my father sold me and my sister to a concubine's house. She went to a different house than mine so I never saw her again actually. But anyway after years of being a slave in all forms to that house I fell in love, to someone from the thai mafia, of course things got out of control, I was so dumb. When I tried to run away he found out and did this tattoo on me, I was in so much pain because I fell off the roof trying to run away that I didn't even felt the pain of the needle, I just stayed there, still. Then I met Kun, I fell in love again, he helped me to escape, and it worked.

-"And I assume that story of being Ms. Lee's niece is all lies."

-Yes! She helped to raise Kun and met his mother so it's the only reason she's doing this until he arrives.

-"Oh so he's coming."

-He works for the Emperor and he said they would kill both of us if he ran away, so he is gonna wait a little bit and ask to retire, he wants to do it the right way, then he'll join me.

-"If you allow me to say this but… I would never have let you to come alone, sometimes you don't have to do it the right way" He gets up and walks to the exit of the bath. "But I'm glad he did and we could meet"

You give a small smile with the corner of your lips.

-"Oh and by the way..." He turns at you. "The staff's bath area is on that way." He points to his left.

-I know now. Thanks.

He smiles and leaves.

-

Weeks passed and you were getting used to your new life. You were doing your job right, even making some different dishes from your hometown to the princes. Meanwhile you unexpectedly started spending time with Jaehyun. Since your conversation at the bath, you both got closer in a natural way. On every free time you had you spent time together, you mostly liked to walk on the garden because it was more private, he told you about his childhood, how he had to give up on so many things to be who the kings expected him to be, how he felt like he was on a prison his whole life and how he found joy on learning how to fight because it was the only way he had to express himself and not follow the rules. You were surprised at how wholesome he was, he made questions about your life in a way that you know he wasn't being just pity, he was interested in how other realities exist outside the Palace.

One afternoon Ms. Lee asked you to go to the flea market to buy fruit for the dinner's banquet. You went alone since now you were familiar with that.

Because of the summer there were a lot of different kinds of fruits on sale. You bought peaches because you knew Jaehyun likes it. After buying everything you needed you see some crowd gathering between the market, you approached them and notice some weird men you've never seen before. They were thieves. They were on their horses, destroying the sellers' stands, pushing everyone in their way, they even tried to put a food stand on fire. You saw a little kid who got lost from their parents and was crying right in the middle of the path where the thieves were. You run in his direction and catch him, putting him safely to the side of the road, when one of the men slaps your face "Get out of the way slut!"

The slap was hard so you fell on the ground when suddenly you see another group of men coming that way, they all had black clothes and katanas. The samurais. They were so fast, they fought the thieves in a blink of an eye. There are people running and dust everywhere, you feel a hand on you. "Let's get you out of here" you recognize the voice, Yuta holds you and takes you to a safe place.

-"Why every time I see you, you're in trouble? Didn't I tell you to not walk around alone?"

-I was just buying stuff at the market when they came out of nowhere.

-"You're bleeding, let me see your lips" Yuta takes the fabric that was covering his mouth and carefully wipes the blood on your lips.

-"You're gonna need ice if you don't want to get bruises..."

-Don't worry, I've had worse wounds! - You laugh.

-"You didn't tell me where you came from"

-You didn't either, and why are you doing this? Helping me when you told me to stay away?

-"Well you should!"

-I'm not afraid of you.

Yuta looks at you, his mysterious gaze turns into vulnerability.

-So, I will tell you my story if you tell me yours! - You say.

-"Years ago the king had a deal with Osaka’s emperor, since he traveled there and they proposed to do an alliance and protect each nation together, but when the war happened and the emperor asked for the samurais to fight on their side here in Korea. We came and it was all a trap, a lot of us died, the emperor stole our ships and made all his people be afraid of us spreading lies, that we were dangerous. Since we couldn’t come back home we settled ourselves here, but the funny thing is every time the small villages are in danger, like what you saw today, it’s us who come first to help them. You asked me why I saved you, where I came from, we take care of everyone, no matter what."

-I'm sorry!

-"Now your turn, what’s your dark pass?"

-Apparently like you I was also a victim of the war in my country, but other than having a sword and fighting I was just a concubine trapped in a house for so many years, let’s say I just involved myself with the wrong people and ran away.

-"It’s called a katana… the sword. And maybe I can teach you how to fight." He smiles.

-Me?

He gives you the sword.

-It's much lighter than I thought.

-"Careful, it's lighter but the blade is gonna be the sharpest of all swords. Here... You must hold like this!" He took your hands and taught you how to hold the sword, carefully he showed you some self defense moves.

-"Now if someone ever tries to slap your face again, you do this..." Yuta grabs your wrists and pins you agains't a tree, you can't move obviously, he is so close to you and you feel the sexual tension building.

-"Get away from her!" You hear a familiar voice screaming. It's Jaehyun.

Jaehyun gets off his horse, he was mad, you never saw him like that. You jump in front of Yuta.

-No wait! He saved my life! - You scream.

-"What? Y/n do you know who he is? He is a murderer." Jaehyun looks at you.

-"If you arrived 10 minutes earlier you could have joined us but the little prince was busy at his Palace right?" Yuta provokes him.

-"That's enough!" Jaehyun comes closer but Yuta doesn't even flinch.

-Please Jaehyun, let's go!

You grab his arm and take him away from Yuta.

- "This doesn't end here bastard!" - Jaehyun spits at Yuta's direction.

-

You come back to the Palace with Jaehyun and he takes you to the bath area.

He is sweating, you could see his veins popping because of how mad he was.

- Jaehyun please, everything is alright, you need to calm down!

- "No it's not, look at you, you're hurt" he grabs your face and touches your lip with his thumb.

- It's ok now, I was at the market when some thieves arrived, I was protecting a little kid who was gonna get hit by their horses, they got mad because I was in the way but I swear it was nothing and Yuta helped me and everyone in there!

- "What? How do you know his name?"

- When I arrived from China he saw me at the harbor, I was so weak from the trip he helped me and even took me to Ms. Lee! I don't care about your old family issues, he helped me and that's all.

- "I'm sorry I'm just… the Palace guards heard the thieves were at the market and when I knew you were there I got my horse and went after you, I just couldn't let anything bad happen to you y/n!"

He grabs your face with both of his hands and kisses you. You try to push him but still can't open your eyes and break the kiss completely "Jaehyun we shouldn't..."

- "If you don't want it then tell me to stop" your heart is beating so fast, you swallow hard and look up at Jaehyun, "I know I'm not the only one feeling this" He says kissing you hard again.

He is right. "Touch me" you say, grabbing his hands and placing them on your breasts. When he is caressing his hands on your breast he removes your necklace, dropping it on the ground. He unties your dress and slides the fabric until your lower body, he is on his knees in front of you and he passes his hands on the back of your thighs until your butt and kisses your thighs slowly. He keeps eye contact with you and licks your clit, you moan and grabs his hair in response to his tongue going faster.

In your head it felt so wrong because you were in love with Kun, but Jaehyun made you feel so needy, mind and body.

Jaehyun gives a hard lick on your clit and makes his way up to your stomach leaving a tray of kisses until your breasts, he sucks one nipple while his other hand and flicks the other one. He gets up and kisses you, the kiss was so wet, for a moment you forget that anything else exists while he kisses you hard, licking and sucking your bottom lip. He takes off his clothes, his hard dick slaps on his toned abs, pre cum leaking over his tip. Jaehyun lifts you up "Let's go inside" taking you to one of the hot tubs.

When you felt the heat of the water on your body, the feeling of pleasure and lust took over you, Jaehyun pulled you down onto his lap and gave you another kiss, you wrapped your arms around his neck when you feel his tip on your core. "Oh my god" you scream while his hands holding your waist puts you down until his whole length was inside of you. The feeling was so different, you got a harder friction because of the water and you start moving up and down to get used to his size. Jaehyun's shoulders and biceps tense while his cock is stretching you out. You bounce on him screaming in pleasure, body trembling as he helps you to move faster.

He was pushing all the way into you, hitting your g-spot. You arch your back and moan his name, clenching every time he enters you. You're almost out of breath when he sucks your neck and presses his thumb against your clit. "Jae, I'm gonna..." you can see he is close as well as he sucks your neck even harder and moves his finger faster. You scream when you feel your orgasm, your arching pussy made his cock tighter while he couldn't hold it anymore and released into you as well.

You both stay in the water for a bit recovering from the climax, he pulls you to his chest and you close your eyes.

-Am I dreaming?

-"I think the reality right now is better than your dreams."

"Reality" you thought, back at your own senses you couldn't help but be disappointed at yourself. Because of you Kun was risking his own life to help you to run away and now you're with the prince of the place he arranged you to work for. Maybe you were just a filthy concubine, maybe you deserved everything they did to you, even your tattoo. You roll your body and rest your head at the border of the hot tub, a tear coming out of your eye.

-

Part 3 coming soon

[parkersroses]

1:32 AM | harry styles.

summary: a series of moments in yours and Harry’s life together that seemed to occur around 1:32 AM.

pairing: harry styles x fem!reader

word count: 3.6k words

warning(s): nothing but fluff with a bit of husband!/dad!harry

a/n: (disclaimer: gif is not mine and belongs to @harryisart) hope y’all like this! i thought it was a cute concept. reblogs/feedbacks are very much appreciated <3

It was half past midnight.

You couldn’t sleep and it was practically driving you insane. You blame yourself for having a last minute coffee before bed. So stupid, you thought.

You tossed and turned in bed, drank some water, even tried counting sheeps; but to no avail, you could not get a wink of sleep. You sighed, thinking of ways to get yourself to sleep; you were lucky that tomorrow - well, today - was Saturday. 

You grabbed your phone from your nightstand, groaning as the bright light from the screen hurt your eyes. You scrolled through your contacts to find the number you were looking for. Harry.

You stared at the contact photo he personally set, your thumb hovering on the call button. You remembered the day you took the picture. It was the both of you lying on the hammock he had at his house. You were all cuddled up and he thought it would make a great picture. So, he snapped a few pictures, some of them which you both pretended to be asleep for the joke of it. 

You smiled at the memory but remembered why you wanted to call him. You hit the call button and waited for his response. 

You heard the line being picked up. “Hello?” you heard Harry say, his voice hoarse and deep from the sleep he had woken up to. 

“Hi, Harry,” you said softly, a sheepish grin on your face appeared. Harry chuckled on the phone. “‘Ello, love. Any reason you woke me up at nearly one in the morning?”

You buried your face in your pillow in embarrassment, grateful how he couldn’t see you right now. “Couldn’t sleep. Was wondering if you could help tired me out or somethin’,” you said sheepishly. 

Harry laughed at this. His girlfriend, his silly, lovely, and beautiful girlfriend, waking him up just to ask for sleeping advice. If he was being honest, he actually liked the fact that she called him. It gave him the excuse to go visit and cuddle with her. At this point, he should’ve just asked her to move in with him. 

“Hmm,” he hummed as he got up to grab a shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

“Hmm?” He heard you copied back. 

“I can think of ways to tire you out, love,” he said teasingly, and he could imagine the blush on your face. “Harry,” you whined, prolonging the ‘Y’. He chuckled at her. “What? I’m just saying I got a lot of options,” he said innocently as he grabbed the keys. 

Your eyebrows furrowed at the sound of keys being picked up. “Wait, what are you doing, H?” you asked as you sat up on the bed. “On my way to tire you out, love,” he said casually as he locked his door. 

“Harry, no. You don’t have to come over. Just stay at home, and I don’t know, talk me to sleep or something?” you said questionably. You didn’t actually think he would get up and walk out the door just to visit you because you couldn’t sleep. “Where’s the fun in not visiting my girlfriend in the middle of the night? Besides, I might stopped by somewhere to buy some snacks,”

“Harry, I don’t think-,” You’re cut off by the sound of his car starting.

“Sorry, love. Engine’s too loud. See you in a bit. Bye!” he said quickly, prolonging his ‘bye’ as he hung up. You stared at your phone in disbelief, scoffing at Harry’s childish behaviour as you put your phone on the nightstand. 

You might as well wait for your loving boyfriend to come help you sleep. 

“You know you didn’t have to come over,” you said as you sat by the island, watching Harry put away the bags of snacks he managed to buy. He scoffed in response. “And what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t attend to my girlfriend’s call for help?” he said dramatically. 

He walked over and gave you a gentle kiss on the forehead as he hugged you. You sighed happily into his chest as you breathed in his faint cologne. “So, what are we going to do?” You asked, your voice muffled against his shirt. 

He unwrapped his arms and proceeded to pull you with him to your room. “We’re going to watch The Notebook because you tend to fall asleep halfway through the film, nearly every time,” he said sarcastically. You were about to object that statement but realised that he did have a point. “Hmm, fair point,” you said, sitting on your bed as he set up the movie. 

“Scoot over, bubs,” he said as he walked over to the other side of your bed. You cuddle on his side as the movie started to play. 

“Harry,” you said, looking up to his face. “Hmm?” he hummed as he looked at you. 

“I love you,” you said, feeling a little blush forming on your cheeks. It was the first time you said those words to him, nevertheless, you couldn’t be more sure of loving him. Harry smiled at you, his dimple making an appearance. “I love you, too,” he said, leaning down to give you a gentle kiss. 

And he was right. Nearly halfway through the movie, you already sound asleep. He paused the movie and switched off the television as he adjusted your position on the bed. 

It was 1:32 AM when you both fell asleep together. 

❊

You were sitting on the kitchen floor with Harry. Boxes of plates, cups and other kitchen appliances surrounded you. Some were filled with porcelain and China dishes that you might not even use and instead just put them on display.

You both finally did it. You finally moved in together. It did take a lot of Harry convincing you about it, but with his impossibly good way of charming you, you managed to give in. 

You found a moderate-sized house, nothing too big and fancy but nothing too small either. The thing that sold you the most was the amazing backyard, complete with a pool and large space for outdoor activities. It was perfect to the both of you. 

You were still in the process of putting everything in place. The bedroom was the first to get done, mainly because Harry was excited to make love to you as many times in your new home. It felt really good to call it that.

It was already late, nearly one. You were tired to say the least but you wanted to put things in their places as much as possible because you couldn’t stand to bump into another box. Harry let out a big yawn as he put away the last dishes of the current box. 

“Close your mouth, bubs,” you said, not looking up at him as you started to open another box. “Y/N, maybe we should take a break,” he said as he attempted to pull the box away from you. You pouted at him. “There’s still so many things to put away, though,” you whined a bit.

Harry chuckled as he cupped your face in his large hands, the coolness of his rings sending shivers up your spine. “And we can do them in the morning or the afternoon. We just moved here 3 days ago. We got time, there’s no rush,” he said softly. 

You sighed but you knew he was right. You were beginning to feel tired too and sleeping sounded heavenly at the moment. You glanced outside the glass sliding door and an idea popped into your head. 

“Hey, wanna go swimming?” you asked excitedly. Harry’s eyes widened at this and let out a small laugh. “Love, it’s nearly one. We should get some sleep, don’t ya think?” 

“Yeah, but I really wanna go swimming. In our pool,” you said and Harry knew he would never get tired of hearing that. Their pool, their bed, their couch; their home. 

He sighed, knowing he couldn’t just deny this innocent request of yours and smiled at you. “Fine, let’s go change,” he said. 

You smiled cheekily and stood up. “Who said anything about changing?” 

You quickly rushed out the back door, taking Harry by surprise as he hurried after you. You could imagine his shock as he saw you stripping out of your clothes, down into nothing. 

Fuck, he thought as he was entranced by your beautiful body. 

“Are you coming?” you called out to him and smirked as you jumped into the cool water. Harry broke out of his trance and quickly undressed so he could get in the pool with you. 

He quickly got in the pool and cursed as he was submerged into the freezing cold water. You giggled at him and swam gently towards him. “Feels nice, doesn’t it?” You smirked at your boyfriend. 

“Yeah, great! It’s not like my balls are freezing in ‘ere,” he said sarcastically. You hummed as you wrapped your arms around his neck, your legs around his hips. He was quick to hold you in place by your thighs. 

“You’re mean. Stripping off naked in front of me just to get me in this bloody pool. Mean, I tell ya,” he said as he pouted at you. You giggled at his silliness and pressed your forehead on his. 

“You love me, anyway,” you said teasingly. “Yeah, I might just reconsider that,” he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at you. You gasped dramatically and began to pull away but he kept you stuck to him. “No, don’t go! You’re very warm, lovie,” he whined as he buried his face in your neck. 

“I do love you, darlin’” Harry said lovingly as he kissed the base of your neck, making you smile at the gesture. 

You both continued to swim around until you decided to get out of the freezing water before you turned pruny. You carefully made your way to your now shared bedroom, leaving a wet trail behind because you didn’t bother to bring out towels. 

It was 1:32 AM when you finally fell asleep in your shared bed; your shared home. 

❊

Harry slowly parked his car in the garage, shutting off the engine. He turned to you, smiling as he saw you sleeping in the passenger seat even though you insisted on staying up to keep him company.

You had gotten back from an event that Harry had attended. It was nice to feel the glitz and glam sometimes but even Harry would agree that it would become too tiring to handle. They ended staying back quite a bit until they realised how late it was and decided to go home then.

Harry gently shook your shoulder as he tried to wake you up. “Lovie, wake up. We’re home,” he said softly. You groaned a bit as you were disturbed from your slumber. Your mind was hazy and your vision was blurry as you looked around. 

You sighed and closed your eyes for a bit. “I fell asleep, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, felt a bit lonely actually,” Harry joked. You were always the one to think that you should be awake to keep him company as he drove, that and making sure he didn’t crash. 

You smiled sleepily at him, “Sorry, bubs.” You said, kissing his knuckles.

“No worries, darlin’. Let’s go to bed now, yea?” He said, already unbuckling his seatbelt, you doing the same. 

Your mind was still hazy from your sleep so Harry had to help guide you upstairs to make sure you didn’t trip and fall. You fell on your bed on your stomach, sighing into the soft comfortable mattress. Harry chuckled at this but knew if he didn’t help you out of your dress and clean off your makeup before bed, he’d be in big trouble.

“Lovie, c’mere. Gotta clean you up,” he said gently, slowly lifting you off the bed and guided you to the bathroom. You whined in exhaustion but followed him anyway. He began removing makeup gently and making sure you washed your hands and feet. Both of you were lucky to have showered earlier before leaving. 

You sometimes felt like Harry was too good for you. But you loved how it showed how much he loved to take care of you. The simple things he did truly warmed your heart.

“Can I wear your shirt?” You asked, sitting on the bed in just your underwear. Harry was already ahead of you by lending you his white shirt. “You forgot that I know you too well,” he smirked at you as you sheepishly put on his shirt. You’ve always had a habit of sleeping in his clothes so tonight was no surprise to him.

After putting on his sweatpants, he began to tuck you in bed. He gave you a gentle kiss on the forehead before pulling away. “No, come back,” you whined as you reached out for him.

Harry chuckled as he kissed your palm. “Just gonna get some water for us, lovie. Be back soon,” he said assuredly. When he came back, he turned off the lights and quickly got in beside you. 

You cuddled with Harry, burying your nose in his neck as you soaked in as much warmth as you could. “I love you, Harry,” you said with your eyes closed already. 

Harry’s eyes wandered on your features as you began to drift off to Dreamland. He brushed off the hair that was covering your face because he loved seeing your face before drifting off to sleep. Your head leaned in a bit to his palm that was resting on your cheek. 

Harry was truly in love with you, he realised that a long while ago. And he knew you felt the same. One year down into your relationship and he had never been more sure of spending the rest of his lifetime with you. 

He closed his eyes and sighed into his pillow. “Y/N,” he whispered in the dark. He heard you hummed in response. “Will you marry me?” He asked softly. He kept his eyes closed, feeling afraid of your answer.

Harry felt your hand on his cheek and he sighed at the feeling. “Harry, look at me,” he heard you whispered. He opened his eyes, seeing you looking at him with watery eyes. “Of course I will,” you said tearfully, smiling at him.

Harry let out a breath of relief. He leaned in to give you a kiss which you quickly gave in. Breaking away, he wiped off your tears that you didn’t realise were running down your cheeks. 

“Let me get your ring, yea?” Harry said happily as he got off the bed to search for the ring he bought for you weeks ago. You giggled at him, feeling an overwhelming sense of happiness and warmth.

It was 1:32AM when you slept with a ring of your finger, right next to your fiancé.

❊

It was cold but the fireplace filled the room with a lot of warmth. Some Christmas music was playing softly in the background. 

“You look very cute, darlin’,” you heard Harry say as he sat down next to you on the couch, handing you a mug of hot chocolate. Both of you were repping your Christmas sweaters in honour of the holiday. 

“Hmm, thank you, bubs,” you said as you carefully sipped on your hot chocolate. 

Both of you had a small Christmas eve dinner together with your families. When they said it was the most magical time of the year, you couldn’t deny that statement. It was because your home was filled with joy and laughter, drinking up on some warm milk and glasses of wine.

It was already past midnight, which meant it was already Christmas morning. While you agreed to wait until the morning for opening presents, you still were tempted to give Harry one gift that you’ve been saving. 

“Hey,” you said as you looked up to him. Harry hummed in response, sipping his drink out from his pink mug. “Got a present to give ya,” you said smiling at him. You kissed his cheek and put your mint green mug down on the coffee table as you got up to get your gift for him. 

Harry whined as you left your spot from beside him. “Babe, let’s do this in the morning. Just want to cuddle with my wife,” he called out to you in a whiny voice. You giggled as you rummaged through your drawer. Grabbing the red box, you hurried down to your husband, nerves building up as you approached near him. 

You sat down again next to him and handed him the box. Harry shook the box a bit to get a hint of what was inside. “If it’s something you’re gonna wear f’me later, then I don’t want it,” he said as he wiggled his eyebrows in a teasing manner. 

You rolled your eyes at him. “Just open the damn box,” you said as you sip on your drink again. He hummed in response as he took off the lid of the box, rummaging through the paper tissues inside. 

“I’m just saying, love. If it’s lingerie, might as well put it on-,”

Harry paused on his words. His eyes were fixated on the sonogram that sat in the middle of the box. Shakingly, he lifted it up to his face, rubbing his eyes as if to see if they were tricking him. But it was there. 

Harry looked at you with wide eyes and you could see the tears starting to form in them. You smiled nervously, not knowing if his reaction was a good one. “Y-You’re pregnant?” he asked, his voice wavering as he spoke. You nodded at him, tears escaping your eyes as you put a hand on your growing stomach. “I’m pregnant,” you confirmed with your voice cracking.

It was the most heartwarming reaction you thought as Harry broke down in front of you, wrapping his arms around you as he laid his head on your stomach. You laughed tearfully at him as you held at his shaking body tightly against you. You felt him pressing kisses on your clothed stomach and you could feel your heart bursting at the gesture. 

“We’re having a baby,” he cried out.

“We’re having a baby, bubs,” you repeated his words as you rubbed his back.

Harry pulled away and cupped your face, kissing you passionately in which you returned. You could feel the tears on your faces as you kissed, giggling at how much of a mess you both were. 

“I love you,” he mumbled out into the kiss. To him, no other Christmas present would ever top this. And it truly was a merry Christmas.

“I love you, too,” you said lovingly. 

It was 1:32 AM when you both slept in each other’s arms, Harry’s hand on your stomach, where your little love was growing. 

❊

Harry was awakened from his sleep when he heard loud crying. Sighing, he turned to see you still sleeping and huddled up in the blankets. He got out of bed, stretched his muscles a bit, and put on some sweatpants before attending the crying child. 

Parenthood was indeed a challenge to the both of you and you couldn’t deny that. It was hard at first adjusting to the new chapter of your lives, with all the sleepless nights and cleaning up baby puke, but you managed to pull through. Though it seemed like maybe this was another one of your sleepless nights. 

Harry opened the nursery door, the crying of his baby appearing louder than before. “Hi, sunflower,” he cooed as he walked over to the crib where his baby girl was writhing against the blankets. Little baby Rosie’s cries seemed to tone down after seeing her father. She lifted her chubby arms to him, implying that she wanted to be held. 

And who was Harry to deny this request to his daughter as he lifted her out of the crib. He grabbed the little pink blanket that he sewed for her - fatherhood really changed him. Harry cooed at his daughter who was staring at him with big wide eyes, the green eyes reflecting his. It was a notable inheritance, look-wise. Rosie babbled a bit to him and Harry nodded at her to make it seem like he understood. 

Rosie was gripping one the little blanket Harry gave her when he felt a pair of arms wrapped around his waist. He smiled as he felt you putting your head on his shoulder, sighing tiredly as you looked at them. He pressed a kiss on your forehead, turning his body a bit so you could see your daughter. 

“Bed’s cold,” you pouted as you stroke Rosie’s head gently. Rosie cooed at the gesture before nuzzling her head against Harry’s chest. “Sorry, lovie. Our little sunflower here wanted some company,” he said chuckling at the little baby in his arms.

You smiled as Rosie’s eyes were threatening to close. You sighed deeply as you pressed a kiss on Harry’s bare shoulder, which sent some shivers throughout his body. Harry could never get over with your every kiss and touch you laid upon him. He realised now how lucky he was to have come so far with you, despite the fights or arguments you had before. 

“C’mon. She can lay with us,” you chose to say because nothing would warm your heart more than sleeping with your husband and daughter. Harry nodded and carefully carried the nearly sleeping baby into your bedroom. He laid Rosie in the center of your bed, putting her blanket over her little body. 

As you got in your bed, Harry grabbed your arm. “Kissy?” He asked, pouting his lips at you. You giggled at your husband’s silliness and leaned forward to give him a kiss, humming at the feeling. “I love you,” you mumbled softly as you tucked yourself in next to him and Rosie.

“I love you, darlin’,” he said in return. 

And it was 1:32 AM when Harry fell asleep next to his beautiful little family, feeling grateful for everything that has happened in your life together.

[deada55]

Halloween at Eleven

synopsis: Nathan and Pickles' halloween as new middle-schoolers.

content warnings: vomit, suicide reference; both in the second half.

for kloktober day 31, free choice!

Halloween at Eleven

    “Nathan? It’s seven o’clock-”

    Rose loaded a bag of candy into a uranium glass mixing bowl and looked out the window to the kids starting to tool around the sidewalks. A little pumpkin held a babysitter’s hand and toddled up the road, too small to hold his own bucket for candy without tumbling over. 

    Nathan came down the hall in his completed costume and a face full of chunky grease paints slathered on with some cosmetic sponges and an old paintbrush. He’d done most of the work himself, and used puffy paint and Liqui-Stitch to glue on felt bones, made from patterns traced from anatomy book plates from the library, to an old black shirt and Rit-dyed sweatpants. 

    Oscar raised the question last night, and how was Rose going to fight it if Nathan so seamlessly agreed? If he were ready, she’d have to be, and she ought to be grateful that he was coming to a… a “bildungsroman” moment on his own accord and not getting shoved into it from pure necessity. Middle school was tough.

    “Ooh, good job, Nathan. I like what you did for your face.”

    He didn’t react, but he picked up the plastic pumpkin from the dining table.

    “Be home at 8:30, ok?” She wouldn’t panic until 9:00- he couldn’t stand wearing a watch. With as little as he looked at her, he must have been excited to go. She got a reluctant hug and kissed the side of his head (to keep the makeup intact; she was careful of it.)

    She walked him walk down the first couple feet of road before bursting into a run down out of the cul-de-sac.

    “There he goes.” Oscar’s arms crossed over her thumping chest. The weight of him pulled her shoulders back and kept her hands from lunging forward for the dishes. His breath turned her head away from that window, and she couldn’t sit and wait to see if Nathan would come sprinting back with a bloody nose.

...

    Molly sat back and sighed at her aching hands, but the outfit was complete even after a week’s worth of overtime at the School Board office and fighting the insurance company over inhalers. She would have refused to make costumes altogether this year if she had to make two of them, but Seth had some plans with his little school friends, leaving her with a McCall’s pattern for a stupid little suit guaranteed to get Pickles punched in the stomach if kids these days had any sense at all. If she’d known Star Wars would have been such a big deal, she wouldn’t have taken him to see it in the first place.

    It didn’t help that she’d taken him to see it during several daytime showings, just to give her two hours to herself. Seth usually stayed home, which ended up fine, but every time she left both of them to their own devices, Pickles ended up making a terrific mess, like the time he took a whole blister pack of Benadryl and ruined the shower curtain with a bright pink spray of vomit, or cleared out the emergency coffee can money (that only her and Seth knew about, the nerve!) or broke his brother’s closet rod clear in half with a noose.

    He looked like an idiot, but she sent him out with a suit made out of an old set of sheets and a Star Wars pillowcase. She tried to warn him yesterday about how stupid he’d look, wandering around with a toy mask when he was in middle school, but he kept talking until she’d had all she could take of the sound of his voice and went to bed.

    “Bye, Mom! I’ll be back-” 

    “Sure, Pickles. I think you better be going now.”

    He looked back at her with a pout that made her want to shatter the glass door of her china cabinet to give him something real to frown at. Once he was out of the doorway, she locked the door behind him.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

April 2021 Part 4 

it’s my birthday week! *raises a glass of pink milk* 

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Second Chance Ep 4 - oh noes my babies are all so sad! Teen angst for the win. Tropes included: crying in shower, a very significant hand hold, & striped shirts. (At this point over half the cast has been in stripes.) 

Love Machine Ep 1 - not gonna lie, I barely made it through the first half, this is a short run LOW budget experimental web series and it’s not good. Dropped.  

Lovely Writer Ep 9 - I like it when LW gets serious because there are fewer dumb sound effects, but oof Aey, poor baby. How many Aeys have I known over the years? Rejected, broken, angry, lonely, and lashing out. On a different note, I haven’t see the “sex drug made us do it” plot device since 1980s Johanna Lindsey. Props to that cocktail rearing its ugly head. (yeh yeh) ZOMBIE TROPE ALERT. (Is this the point where I remind the world at a-play doesn’t have to hurt? Well, it doesn’t! Toys, prep, and lube people. Sheesh.) Anygay, zombie trope is put safely back underground. Please don’t let it rise again? (I KNOW, I’ll stop now.) So this was a rough episode, especially the back end. (Okay now I’ll REALLY stop.)  Seriously tho, BL doesn’t do a massive coming out family drama scene often. I liked LW’s handling of this one. Hard to watch but compelling. 

Close Friend Ep 1 (OhmFluke) - very cute snapshot into a LTR featuring an overworked music producer and his student BF. That’s the chassis for this whole series, each one has to do with the song & is a portrayal of that song’s message. Essentially, the theme of this one was remembering to make time for your partner. I enjoyed that. OhmFluke gave us easy casual familiar affection and a kiss, but no BL tropes, just romance. 

Fish Upon The Sky Ep 3 - Pi is a total spazz & the ghost story bit was... well, it was something wasn’t it? Lots of tropes: fixing his clothes, wound tending, drag baby around, piggyback, head in lap, hand hold, and ending on a drunk kiss. I just noticed Pi uses guu/mueng with Mork, but Mork’s a year older. (So I have a new entry onto the linguistic brats list.)  So rude and presumptuous. Also I gotta say this, don’t wear watches when you’re working on a cadaver, mmky boys? 

Y-Destiny Ep 4 - look MaxNat have great chemistry, this ep had loads of great tropes (e.g. cheek kiss, rooftop, public claiming via phone), it’s not their fault I’m just not wild about these characters. I do like Nuea’s wanna-be idol wardrobe though. And Sun is sporting the red bag version of Tharn’s black bag that I wanted so bad in TT2. (I wonder if I can score a knock off when I’m over there?) Regardless, I basically grinned all the way through this installment, so that’s another thumbs up from me for Y-Destiny. Who knew I’d come around? Man would I love to see these two get their own series. 

Brothers Ep 12 - teacher/student exposed! But the power of boys on phones will overcome all. No KhunKaow for me, so of course I found this ep tragically disappointing. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 6 - MuRen is officially a yaoi manga character in the flesh. H4′s outright mockery/subversion of tropes “don’t touch him he’s mine,” + “touch my lip & think of kissing” makes the fact that other (way more damaging) tropes are being blithely utilized without critique almost - dare i say it? - insulting. YongJie is trash but I’m the one who feels like trash because I want to forgive him. How aptly abusive & dysfunctional we all are. I don’t know whether to applaud H4 or start drinking. (Maybe this is the show I should invent a cocktail for? Who am I kidding? This is totally a jello shots show.) 

Friend or Lover (Taiwan) Ep 2 - I thought this was only a microfilm but turns out it’s a web series. It’s cute. I’m enjoying it. 

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam) Ep 3 - subs take a while to drop but it’s still better than average. I like a secret identity trope, I love a grumpy/sunshine pairing, and the side couple is great but this ep was slow. With only 6 total (I assume) they better get the main couple together next ep or the improved quality of this series will be sacrificed on the alter of pacing issues. 

Word of Honor (China) Ep 28-30 - slowed down to focus on bad guys (yawn...ooo Scorpion...yawn again). Then baby gets kidnapped, other baby goes crazy, and old friends turn up. We end on DOOM because mathematically this was an episode 11. All boxes checked.

Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korea) Ep 3-4 - how is this show SO DAMN CUTE & weirdly wholesome at the same time? Another one of those: Will Korea resolve this satisfactorily in 4 short eps? But I seem to say that half way through every Korean BL. These days, I have complete faith. Warm fuzzies for everyone. 

Stand Alones

Color Rush movie is the same as the series. There is a stinger at the VERY end (untranslated) but which I’m assuming has something to do with the missing mother. Is this a possible indication of a 2nd season? Hopefully someone will eng sub the stinger and post it out into the universe. So yeah, Color Rush movie = To My Star style, sadly, not Wish You. That said, I did enjoy watching with different subs. The first version I watched was fan subbed, and they were better on English colloquialisms. Viki’s subs are better on Korean colloquialisms. 

Breaking News 

Bunch of new press on Thailand’s I Told the Sunset About You 2 AKA I Promised You the Moon. Here’s a master post on the subject with all the links you could ever want. It will start airing May 27th 8 pm (Thai time) on LINETV.

New Thai Bl Golden Blood got a teaser trailer. Stars familiar side dish Gun Napat (Techno from LBC) as a rich kid who needs a bodyguard. Yeah, it looks to be the Thai version of Where Your Eyes Linger which is FINE. I love me a bodyguard romance. DO EETTT Thailand. Trailer contains ALL the tropes: dry his hair, piggyback, cooking together, and more, plus good smooches. It looks GREAT. Also cheeper to make then KinPorsche and it might get funded due to of residual enthusiasm. Also GOOD TITLE. 

Close Friend got another teaser trailer this one for Talay & Yoon (no subs). 

Taiwan has a new BL coming out... eventually. Looks to be a new franchise like the HIStory series with different couple(s) each season. It’s the first Taiwanese BL from a major in-country network. The first installment is titled Be Loved in House: I Do (seriously Taiwan, could we talk about your titles?). It stars a familiar face, Aaron Lai from HIStory: My Hero. It’s a grumpy/tsundere boss/employee office-set BL with some forced proximity to push them together. (Nods to Japan.) No release date, but (unlike Thailand) Taiwan usually doesn’t make announcements without content & serious intent. 

Gossip 

Taiwanese BL NOVEL Miracle dropped a trailer, no subs or translation. According to YouTube comments it was supposed to be part of HIStory3 but MODC took on its slot. Still it’s kinda fun to see what might have been.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something. 

[nebula-jazz]

Your World part 3

Alpha Bakugou x Reader

The city was oddly calm as you stared as you stared at the light pollution on the skyline. You had no idea what time it was because you had escaped your stuffy apartment in favor of the small balcony out in the chilly spring night.

You let out a puff of air and idly watched the small cloud disappear into the night. You wore a very small shirt that had crawled up your abdomen to show a noticeable scar from the arrow from all those years ago along with some sweats that Kiri had bought you a couple of Christmases ago. You heard a deep sigh from behind you and you twitched slightly; then when back to your mindless stare back on the horizon.

"You've gone quiet again." the dragon said quietly. You didn't think that you were meant to hear it. You let out a humorless laugh anyway. You could basically hear the deep worried frown that would etch his face.

"How long has it been again? I lost count." You asked the stars, knowing they wouldn't give you an answer to the hidden question.\

"Several centuries." was the reply. You didn't reply. "Your sinking again. Should I get Kiri? Or the reincarnate of my owner?"

you wanted to turn and glare at him but you were to tired to do so. You reached to grab the pack of cigarettes' that you had grabbed on the way home from the store. But they were gone, more than likely grabbed or burnt in the hands of the dragon.

"Ang-" he stared but you cut him off.

"Don't. Just don't." You said through a strained voice.

You often when through bouts of omega depression after so long without your alpha. The dragon, along with Mina and Kirishima, had been the ones to keep you alive. You always guessed that it was for the fact that they didn't want their friend's sacrifice to be in vein.

you sank lower into the chair that you were sitting in and burrowed further into the small nest of blankets that you had dragged out into the cool air. you felt your inner omega struggle to lift their head.

a vast difference between now and a week ago from the last time you had saw the reincarnation of your alpha. You two had barely met and he had you over almost every night with a new dish for you to 'try'. Each one almost made you burst into tears except for the rare ones that were actually new.

Bakugou had left last Sunday for a mission that was across the ocean and in China. You had grown so used to the alpha being around you and 'accidently' rubbing his scent onto you for the past two months that this week has hit you harder then you ever thought it would. he had told you the day before he left that he was leaving and had came to your apartment to gently kiss your forehead goodbye before he left, you had given him a key in the middle of the second month with how much he was over. He thought that you were sleeping but you weren't.

the dragon watched as your breathing got slower and your scent less vibrant. His nonexistent stomach churned as he saw you get worse and worse and the hours passed he eventually slipped away to hopefully speed his 'owner' along. He saw that Bakugou was on the bottom floor looking tired, he dragged his feet as he tired to make his way across the floor.

The dragon was getting impatient even watching him. Honestly! did he forget that he has an omega now? the dragon thought to himself and tried to remember how he would get his owner to move faster to the small angel before. He spun in a circle above the blonde's head as he tried to think fast. He knew that when Bakugou would get to his apartment he would immediately fall asleep and in turn would be much harder to bring the omega out of their depression. He eventually got the idea to implant a small amount of panic into the blonde.

Since the dragon was essentially a ghost and the blonde was just like his original owner getting Bakugou to listen to him was a no brain. And implanting that small thought of omega depression, that small bit of anxiety was easier than it should have been.

Suddenly Bakugou was much more awake than he was. A disturbing thought had entered his brain from no where that set his heart racing. He wanted to tell himself that his unofficial omega was fine and that they were sleeping calmly in their bed. In fact he did tell himself that all the way home. But he just now realized that the usually potent smell of the omega could not be smelled in the lobby like it usually would. He couldn't even smell it at all.

So Bakugou bypassed the stairs that he would normally take for exercise and anxiously paced the elevator. When the elevator opened his anxiety only grew when he couldn't even smell them down the hallway.

Bakugou ran. He didn't even stop by his apartment to drop his bags. He dug furiously through his carry on for the small handmade key chain that the omega made for him. Their keys so small and fragile dangling at the end. He barely had time to think how ironic that was when he shoved them into the door and threw it open.

He saw that the apartment was in disarray apposed to its usually clean and tidy look. He couldn't even smell them in here either. he called the omega's name now terrified. he was damn well ready to tear the entire apartment apart to find his omega.

He saw the slightest of movement outside on the balcony and he rushed to it. He nearly threw up the horrid plane food when he say the state of them. their once flushed cheeks were a pale white and they were barely breathing.

As if they were about to blow away in cool night breeze Bakugou gently lifted the omega up into his arms and burred his face into their scent gland. Looking for even the slightest hint that they were not completely in the depths of omega depression. His tense shoulders relaxed when he smelled their honey and garden smell. He could bring them back. He settled on the couch and placed your face into his neck and turned the TV on low. He did not plan on sleeping until your scent was able to be smelled without detecting then he fully planed on making you your favorite spicy curry. His anxiety didn't fully disappear until you nuzzled into his neck and finally relaxed.

Tags

@miramet

[thedistantdusk]

Arcadia, Chapter 1

My submission for the 2021 Hinny birthday challenge for the HG discord! Thanks to Liza for organizing, to @accio-broom for the Brit-pick, to @secretkeeper13 for the beta, and to anyone else who helped (I'm probably forgetting a few folks, apologies).

The challenge theme this year was content based on TV! This is an (extremely loose) X-Files AU, but you absolutely don’t need to be familiar with X-Files to understand this :D

TW (spoilers): swearing, references to (severe) mental health concerns, (eventual) consensual relations

___________________________________________________________

D A Y  + O N E

The woman probably finds herself charming as she stands in their driveway, her hands clasped in frozen excitement.

But Ginny just finds her creepy.

Really fucking creepy.

Harry drops hired car into first gear as they pull in. This woman— the head of the village council, Ginny reckons, the one she spoke to on the phone— wears perfectly-pleated Chino pants with a lavender jumper draped across her shoulders.

Her attire is standard for a posh village… especially a new-build village, one with a covenant and loads of stupid rules. It’s the woman’s eerie, opened-mouthed grin that shoots a chill up Ginny’s spine.

Her stark white teeth glint in the sun, but her smile doesn’t move an inch… and the longer Ginny stares, the more unsettled she grows. The only thing larger than her grin is the mane of yellow hair that surrounds her face like an ersatz halo.

Harry clears his throat as he turns off the car; Ginny realizes this is the first sound either of them has made since leaving London.

Awkward.

She reaches for her door handle, but the random woman gets to it first.

“You must be Jenny and Henry!” she shrieks, yanking on Ginny’s shoulders before she’s even unbuckled. “Oh, sorry! Love, do let me get the strap!”

Ginny’s on her feet and pressed to the stranger’s perfumed bosom before she has a chance to tell her she can manage just fine herself, thanks.

“Lovely to meet you in person!” the woman cries, nearly shaking with enthusiasm. It’s not until Ginny’s returned a weak squeeze that the vice-like grip around her middle weakens.

Rubbing her aching shoulder, she sneaks a glimpse at Harry; while she fought for air, he apparently climbed out of the car, only to stare at the two of them like a deer in the headlights. Now his elbow’s at an awkward angle, his hand behind his back, which could only mean one thing: he’s reaching for the wand in his back pocket.

Shit.

Ginny shakes her head and hopes her eyes convey what her lips can’t: She’s just a standard Muggle weirdo. Relax.

“I’m Jane. Jane Connors. In the flesh!” The woman (whose voice Ginny now finds painfully familiar) throws her hands in the air and twirls on the spot. “I take it you’re Jenny and Henry Petri!”

Harry interrupts with a booming chuckle before Ginny says a word; in three quick steps, he’s wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “That’s Pee-tri, actually. Like the dish,” Harry— Henry— adds with a wink. “And speaking of dish…” His eyes travel over Ginny, his voice going all deep and silky.

She bites back a shudder, hating the way her stomach drops as his fingers graze her arm. All that keeps her grounded is knowing the truth: Harry’s good at his job, nothing more. The only reason he’s suddenly become a skilled actor is that his career demands it.

Hers does too, she reminds herself firmly. And if she has any intention of successfully completing her first solo mission, she needs to get her shit together. Now.

Ginny blinks up at Harry, appropriately sobered; his eyes glimmer with mirth. As suspected, he’s only doing his job. Touch is just part of the assignment description. He has no way of knowing what it does to her— because really, truly, it shouldn’t.

And maybe if she keeps telling herself that, it’ll eventually come true.

Harry winks at Jane, tugging Ginny against his side. “My new wife and I had a long journey from the city! We were hoping to get some alone-time before tucking in, I’m sure you understand.”

Jane looks puzzled. “You— but it’s 5:43!” An uncomfortable giggle burbles from her lips. “You must be moved in by 6. Surely you’ve read the covenant rules?”

“Erm… may have missed that one,” Ginny lies. “There’s quite a few, see. We’re used to—”

But Jane shoves her fingers into her mouth, cutting her off with an ear-piercing whistle. Just as quickly, another chill races up Ginny’s spine. People up and down the street emerge from their semi-detached homes and race towards them, their faces in downcast unison.

They’ve all been watching. Waiting for the signal. Ready.

Ginny’s not sure how long ago the Department of Mysteries delivered the moving van and left it on the street, but the horde of random people aren’t fussed with the details, either. Within five seconds of Jane’s whistle, the strangers throw open the back door and begin an unloading process that reeks of military precision.

“Here’s the house key!” trills Jane, pulling it from her pocket. “Oh, and Petris!” She turns to Harry and Ginny, wagging her finger. “I’ll also need a copy of your car key, ASAP. We’re firm believers in the buddy system here in Arcadia.” She returns her attention to the stone-faced neighbors, who are now scurrying to the door. “This way, friends— right this way!”

“I— that’s really unnecessary,” Ginny says, bewildered, as people rush inside their new house, boxes in arms. “We’re perfectly able to—”

“Nonsense!” cries a man with grey sideburns as he takes a box from the back. “We’re neighborly here. You’d better get used to it.”

“Yes!” chimes another voice. A chubby man wearing a Polo and a golden necklace emerges from behind the lorry, hurrying up the walk. “We’re like a family here. We all— oh no!” He lets out a startled cry as a box labeled FINE CHINA topples from his arms and lands on the pavement with a thump.

He rushes towards it, face falling, but Ginny’s main concern is the box’s silent descent; she runs over, making a mental note to have a word with the designer of these props. Would something noisy and fragile have killed them? For fuck’s sake...

“Sorry,” the man says with a pained wince. “I’m just so clumsy. I-I promise, I’ll—”

“It’s fine,” Ginny soothes, dropping to her knees. “Don’t worry, really. We aren’t too big on dishes.”

Maybe if she keeps him talking, he won’t realize it’s bloody empty. Seriously, this is amateur shit. Luckily, he’s too distracted to notice.

The man offers a sheepish smile. “I’m Mike. Mike Snodgrass. You may have seen Mike and Jess in the resident guide, but erm…” He trails off, sadness in his voice.

Ginny cocks her head to feign confusion, but of course she’s familiar with Jess Snodgrass, 25, reported missing last November. Her photo’s been on Ginny’s desk for almost as long. Even now, Jess appears in Ginny’s mind with such startling clarity that she can almost see her beside Mike... all 5 feet of her, with curly red hair, bright blue eyes, and a lopsided grin.

Jess Snodgrass… Arcadia’s third missing person. The first to disrupt the couples-only disappearance pattern.

Mike shrugs. “But erm… it’s just me now,” he repeats. “I’m a primary teacher at Saint Julian’s, just up the road.” He nods to his left. “So if you’ve got any homework or school questions, give me a ring!” He pastes on a smile that doesn’t match his eyes; it’s an expression with which Ginny’s well-acquainted.

“I’ll have to remember that, Mike Snodgrass,” Ginny says, shaking his hand.

She immediately regrets it.

Seeing Mike Snodgrass on paper is one thing, but touch makes him human. His hand feels big and warm, his smile earnest and sweet; he reminds her so strongly of Neville that her stomach aches. Ginny breathes through her nose and focuses on the way his necklace — a medallion of Saint Julian, appropriately enough — sparkles in the sun.

“Like I said, I’m all alone,” Mike repeats, offering his hand to help her up. “If you ever need anything, Jenny, don’t hesitate to ask!”

Ginny taps her chin. “Actually, I do have a question! I reckon it’s just a rumor, though. You don’t have to confirm or deny.” She winks at him and leans in as a woman in a fleece jumper rushes past.

Mike’s smile widens, his face brightening… and ah fuck, that one hurts, because she’s about to break his heart.

“Mike…” Ginny murmurs, studying his expression. The more she says his name, the less he reminds her of Neville; she wants to keep it that way. “With everyone being so bloody hospitable here, how come there are so many disappearances?”

Mike stops bobbing. His smile vanishes as quickly as the former occupants of Jenny and Henry’s new home. When Ginny looks back into his eyes, her gut plummets with a sensation of wretched familiarity.

Because she expected sadness on his face… the same type she saw when he mentioned Jess’ name. Sadness she can deal with; sadness is painful, but she sees it all the time.

She sees something worse, though.

Fear.

And not day-to-day fear. This isn’t like hating needles or avoiding clown movies. Mike’s face is filled with the sort of wide-eyed, gripping, primal terror that seizes your insides in a vice. This is how you’d feel if your entire family were held captive in a dungeon, and a single word to the wrong person would spell their deaths.

Or how you’d feel if your ex-boyfriend were the corrupt government’s most desired fugitive… and you still fancied him very much, indeed.

“I… n-no idea,” Mike finally stutters, blinking. Then he sucks in a deep breath through his nose, his expression brightening again.

“So what do you and Henry do for work?” he asks in a booming voice, his grin now unnaturally wide. “We’ve got a carpool to the city if you’re interested. Reducing our carbon footprint is of utmost importance here in Arcadia!” He finishes by spreading his hands in each direction before placing them on his hips, that shit-eating grin still plastered across his face.

In another life, Ginny might’ve laughed. There certainly would have been a lot to cackle over, if she had the luxury of easy laughter. After all, she may as well be living in an am-dram nativity performance, complete with an overeager Joseph beckoning her to the stables after her harrowing desert journey.

Now, though, his reply only fills her with sad, professional detachment. Because fucking hell, how much did this poor man rehearse to get that line right?

She takes pity on him and snaps the bait. “My husband and I work from home,” she says, matching his volume. Someone’s clearly listening; it’s the least she can do. “You won’t see us out much.” Ginny brings the box to her hip. “And seriously, don’t worry about replacing the dishes, either. We mostly do takeaway.”

“No, let me bring you new ones,” Mike insists, his eyes pleading. “Tomorrow? Would that be—”

“What is this?” a voice demands from the back of the truck. Ginny peers around Mike’s shoulder. The man with the gray sideburns stares inside the lorry with a look of disgust.

“A trampoline!” Harry says, stepping aside as another neighbor races past. “We’re thrilled to put it in the garden, aren’t we, Jenny Cakes?”

Jenny Cakes. Is he fucking serious? Two can play at this game, prat.

“Indeed we are, Hen,” she croons, leaning into his side. “Jen and Hen.” She heaves a dreamy sigh and stares into his eyes. “We even rhyme!”

“Rhyming or not, this isn’t allowed,” the man barks, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’d have to apply for a special exemption with Mr Gogolak, but in the meantime…” He checks his watch. “5:53. Seven minutes. It’ll have to go in the garage tonight. I’m Oliver, by the way— Oliver Skinner.”

Harry gives him a theatrical scowl. “I’d say nice to meet you, but those who are enemies of trampolines are generally enemies of mine.”

Ginny bites the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, but Oliver remains unamused. He raises his pointer finger as if to say something, but Harry gets there first.

“Onnnnly kidding!” Harry winks and claps his shoulder. “Hope we can be fast friends, Oliver.”

Oliver just glares back. “Count on it.”

_______________________________________________________

Ginny’s taking this whole thing very seriously. Not that Harry blames her.

Her voice echoes against the walls of the empty home as she paces around the sitting room, her camera flipped outward to record.

Despite his five-year Auror career, Harry has no real concept of what Unspeakables do. Which, he supposes, is by design. He knows they… know things. Secret things. Things you’d be happier not knowing. He also knows that Kingsley isn’t fond of them. Or perhaps it’s Attica Monkstanley, Ginny’s boss, who King dislikes in particular. Attica’s famous for her refusal to disclose anything — ever. This ranges from potential terrorist plots to her favorite type of sandwich. Thus, Attica isn’t particularly popular. After a career built on helping absolutely no one outside her department, the request for Auror backup on an undisclosed, top-secret endeavor went over about as well as a hippogriff stampede in a posh tea room.

Harry sighs at the blank walls of their would-be living room. King’s in charge now. Big in charge. He or Robards were the obvious choices to accompany Ginny — sorry, Unspeakable GW — on this mission, but when you’re Big In Charge, you call the shots. The shot King called was to pass the assignment to Robards, who in turn passed it to Harry; Robards decided he didn’t need to (direct quote) “take off a week from pre-existing assignments for some fake marriage, new-build village bullshit in the arse-end of Muggle nowhere.”

Admittedly, Harry’s in a bit of a lull at the moment. He’d been assigned to track and recover Yaxley, but that trail went cold on the border of Romania. Harry’s certain he’s just beyond their reach, maybe hiding in a cave, but seeing as how Harry’s not Big In Charge, his opinion doesn’t exactly matter.

Which is precisely how he’s found himself in this bland house in the village of Arcadia, pretending to be married to his ex-girlfriend… who, incidentally, he’s still hopelessly infatuated with, even five years after he ended things.

Because Harry Potter is nothing if not pathetic.

There’d been no realistic way to decline the assignment, though. Not that he’d tried. Seriously, imagine explaining that to your boss: “Mm yeah, sorry King, I can’t do my job because I still wank to the memory of Unspeakable GW riding my—”

Ginny’s narration jerks him from his thoughts. “It’s 6:15 PM on our first day of the assignment,” she dictates into her phone. “Auror Potter and I are secured in the home, posing as Muggle couple Jenny and Henry Petri.”

“Pee-tri!” Harry corrects, throwing his voice across the room.

He hopes he’s loud enough for the camera to detect, but he isn’t exactly brave enough to find out. Harry picks up their empty curry boxes and scampers into the kitchen without so much as a backward glimpse. He may have been forced into this assignment, but he’ll be damned if he can't have a bit of fun.

Her narration stops as he dips out of sight; if Harry were the gambling sort, he’d bet all the gold in Gringotts that she shot him a two-fingered salute away from the camera.

For some fucked up reason, the thought stirs something warm and exciting that lies dormant in his stomach. What’s worse is this feeling almost makes him smile.

No.

Harry draws a breath as he enters the kitchen.

As Kingsley’s told him several times, this arrangement is strictly business— regardless of his past with her. And in retrospect, yeah, the whole setup is an easy way for King to A) refuse responsibility himself, and B) put Monkstanley in a tough spot if it goes pear-shaped.

Harry pops open the rubbish bin. This is just the sort of liability King’s always looking to avoid, really, but— wait. He blinks down into the bin to make sure he’s not just seeing things, but nope… for some reason, the interior is divided into three sections, each in a different color.

Huh! Harry mulls this over before picking the blue bin at random and tossing the containers in. Maybe he’d know what each color meant if he bothered to read the covenant rules. Fortunately, he had much more exciting plans that particular evening involving Ron, loads of butterbeer, and a Canons/Falcons match from hell.

Whatever. Surely Arcadia would make an effort to clearly explain their recycling system if they really cared about the planet.

He returns to the living room just as Ginny’s providing a more in-depth introduction. “Right. I’m Unspeakable GW, badge number”— her voice becomes garbled gibberish, an extra level of concealment, before slipping back to normal speech— “and we’re here to investigate the series of unexplained Muggle disappearances in the village of Arcadia. As this may involve a potential escapee from the Thought Chamber, the Department thought it best for me to investigate. The Thought Chamber’s been my area of expertise for four years…”

Harry sinks into the sofa as she continues; he’s unsure if he should be sad or impressed that this is teaching him more about her job than she ever shared. Not that she did this for long while they were actually together, mind. Nonetheless, his chest flutters again with that stupid bittersweet pride as Ginny scans the room with the phone camera. All of this pageantry is necessary for her job, he knows. Careful documentation. Detailed recordings.

But for fuck’s sake, look at how much she’s done! She’s the youngest Junior Unspeakable in history, soon to become Senior, if this mission works out. She’s composed, she’s eloquent, she’s graceful. Another smile threatens to break through before Harry suppresses it; he just hopes that there’s someone in her life to remind her of how special she is.

She’s really dressed for the part, too. Harry’s certain that none of this is actually in her wardrobe. Seeing her out of jeans and a jumper is off-putting, but she’s done it so damn well. She once told him that most of her clothing choices were based on how easily she could wear them flying.

He swallows the sadness creeping up his throat. He doesn’t even know if she still flies, but she doesn’t in this outfit, that’s for damn sure. Her trainers are impeccably white, with a floral button-up blouse done up to her neck. She’s a bit like a young, beautiful Aunt Petunia; Harry reckons this is more or less the goal, but when she turns around to describe the stairwell, his eyes drop to her arse.

Shit.

He glances away as quickly, but he got a good look. Her casual trousers are rolled at the ankles, but they’ve done nothing to make her look… plain. Harry shuffles on the sofa, desperate for anything else to think about. Somehow, Aunt Petunia’s face still puckers in his mind’s eye, but now he can’t escape the mental image of her bent over the oven of 4 Privet Drive, only this time sporting a round, perfect—

“Potter’s here for backup,” Ginny says, returning to the sitting room. “I’m on primary investigation.”

Thank God; he sighs at the welcome distraction before remembering that bantering with her has always been an effective palate cleanser. So he does that, instead.

“Well, you know what they say,” Harry calls, leaning back against the cushions. “There’s nothing less interesting than the suburbs. Which is why I could never do your job, Jen.” He ends with a wink, resting his hands behind his head.

Ginny arches a brow, holding the camera in front of her. “And please take note, Attica, that the next time this happens, I’ll be the one to choose the names.”

She means it casually… he knows she means it casually. But something in her words pricks him. Irritates him. Wedges beneath his skin.

“Quite an assumption I’ll ever spend this much time with you again,” Harry mutters under his breath.

Shit.

He freezes. He didn’t mean to say that out loud, at least not so… bitterly. Once upon a time, he possessed the social graces to think before replying like that— but days of interpersonal nuance are long gone. They belonged to a carefree teenager with few thoughts aside from the next time he’d run his fingers through the thick, red hair that currently swayed in a long ponytail.

By the time he looks back up at her, Ginny’s face is filled with disappointment. And she’s closed her phone.

“I’ll have to redo that last bit of filming,” she says with a sniff. “But for what it’s worth?” She raises her chin. “You didn’t mind spending time with me in the distant, distant past, Auror Potter.”

Ha!

That was a tremendous understatement.

He’d been in love with her. Stupidly. Disgustingly. The first six months after the war were a blur of sex and mourning. They’d been so punch drunk and delirious that they probably used each other’s bodies more than either of them knew. He really thought they’d have a future, though… that they’d end up getting married and buying a house. Except theirs would have been different than this one. Filled with far more character and history and warmth. Their home would have smelled like baking bread and sounded like kids giggling and felt like a soft blanket on a cold night.

But none of that had anything to do with the way he snapped. So why bring it up, really?

“Sorry,” Harry whispers, tucking his hands beneath his bum. “That… I didn’t mean. I’m sorry. I just meant that we don’t see each other much, and…” He lets out a slow breath. Best to stop talking before he digs himself deeper.

“I forgive you,” Ginny says quietly. A full second passes before she offers him a smirk. “As long as I can still call you Pookie Pie in front of the neighbors.”

Harry blinks at the carpet with a sad smile. “Deal.”

[electronicgrowth]

Can’t Get Enough Part 9

A/N: *Gasp* she’s alive! What? Here’s the next part, this is purely fluff. Like tooth rotting fluff. But let’s go! 

Summary: The two most stubborn people in Knockemstiff, Ohio have eyes for only each other. Lee Bodecker is determined to become the town’s next sheriff. He knows that image is everything. Billie Dechswaan doesn’t care about her image at all. All she wants is to leave Knockemstiff and never come back. But Lee has other plans for her. Both are far too stubborn to give up their own plans. What happens when they can’t get enough of each other? 

Lee had decided that he would take the next day off of work. He wanted to get Billie settled. Unless his idiot deputies couldn’t handle things. Lee planned to let Billie sleep in. She really deserved it. But she woke with the sun. She got up before Lee, carefully extracting herself from his grip. She grabbed her nightie off the floor, where it had been carelessly deposited the night before. Her next move was to quickly rummage through her bag in search of a robe. 

The house was still silent, Billie decided that this would be the best time to get cleaned up for the day. She took her time in the bathroom washing up and fixing her hair and makeup. Finally, when she was satisfied with her work, she checked on Beth. The little girl was still sleeping soundly. Billie smiled, it was a rare occasion that she woke up before Beth. Her poor baby must be so exhausted from yesterday. 

Billie made her way to Lee’s kitchen. She dug through his cabinets in search of food. He was woefully understocked. She would have to make him take her to the grocery store later. She managed to find coffee, milk, sugar, eggs, and bread. She had hoped she’d be able to make something beyond just eggs, toast and coffee for breakfast. But aside from beer and whiskey that was all Lee had in the kitchen. 

Thankfully, Lee’s coffeemaker wasn’t too challenging to figure out. So, Billie managed to brew some coffee. She’d wait until Lee and Beth woke up to fix them breakfast. While she waited for that precious coffee to finish, she looked in his other cupboards. All his dishes and cups were horribly mismatched. Billie felt a wave of guilt crash over her. If they would have had a regular wedding five years ago they could have nice china that matched. Or if not china, at least a nice set of dishes that looked good together. Billie became even more distraught as she thought of all serving bowls, pots, pans she and Lee were missing. She should pay for all that, she thought, after all it was her fault they weren’t having a regular wedding. She had some money from selling her furniture in New York. But that couldn’t possibly cover everything she needed. Nervously she paced. Then she saw her car in the driveway. Knockemstiff was a small town, she didn’t have much need for a car. Lee had the cruiser and it’s not like him to begrudge her a ride to the grocery store or her mother’s if she asked. 

Yes, selling her car would allow her plenty of money to buy everything they would have gotten as a wedding gift. Maybe she could even spring for a couple new pieces of furniture for the living room. Billie was staring out the kitchen window when she felt strong arms hug her middle. She jumped in surprise, but immediately relaxed into Lee’s arms. 

“Whatcha thinking about so hard, baby? I can practically hear the gears in your head turning,” he hummed in her ear. 

“Oh just thinking about selling my car,” she answered, turning around to look at her man. 

“Why?” Lee chuckled, as he pulled a pair of coffee mugs down from one cupboard. 

“To cover the cost of all the wedding presents we never got,” Billie said, quietly. 

“What do you mean?” Lee asked. 

“Well, if we would have had a big wedding, we would have gotten money for all sorts of things like china, serving dishes, and other odds and ends you need when you get married,” she sighed thoughtfully. 

“Sugar, I have plenty of money stashed away. You don’t need to sell your car to get those things. We’ll get a catalog from the store and order anything you want,” Lee smiled. 

“I knew you would say that. You’re too sweet on me, honey. I don’t want you to spend your hard earned money on anything like that. It’s my fault we weren’t gifted it,” Billie replied, “Plus, what do I need a car for anyway? It’s a small town, I can walk most places.” 

“If you want to sell the car, I’ll help you get a fair price for it. But don’t feel like you need to. Then we can deposit the money into our bank account and it won’t matter where the money came from,” Lee suggested, pouring two cups of coffee, handing her one. 

“You’re right,” Billie conceded, following him to the dinner table. 

“What else am I missing that all married couples need?” He teased, sitting down at the table. 

“Well, not something that a married couple need, but we should probably think about getting Beth some stuff for her bedroom.” Billie sat down next to him, draping her legs across his lap. 

“She can have anything she wants. We should go to the toy store, let her pick out some new toys,” Lee thought aloud, rubbing his hand up and down her legs, “We should also move her into the bigger spare room.” 

“Why?” 

“Don’t you think you’ll want the small room to be the nursery?” He asked as he took a sip of coffee. 

“I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” She smirked back at him. 

“Well, after last night maybe you need to get thinking about it, sugar,” he taunted. He patted his thigh, and Billie took that action as an invitation. She perched herself on his thigh and wrapped her arms around his neck. Lee pressed his lips against hers. He breathed her in, inhaling her deeply. He couldn’t remember if she always tasted this good. He couldn’t remember if it was always this nice to hold her. He only knew that she felt right. 

Billie was just about to run her tongue against his when they heard a small giggle. Billie broke up apart from Lee, she blushed as she looked over to see Beth standing near the threshold of the kitchen. 

“Mommy, what are you doing?” Beth inquired, walking over to the table. Billie looked at a loss for words, cheeks red in embarrassment of being caught by her daughter. 

“Mommy and daddy were just kissing because they love each other,” Lee answered, “Right mommy?” 

“Right, yes. That’s something that mommies and daddies do when they want to let the other know that they love them,” Billie stumbled over her words. 

“Okay,” Beth said, already moving on. She pulled the other chair next to Lee back and climbed into it. “Can I have apple juice?” 

“Daddy doesn’t have apple juice, sweetie. We’ll have to go to the store later and get you some,” Lee answered. 

“I can make you scrambled eggs and toast, how about that?” Billie offered. 

“Okay,” Beth replied. She’d always been an easy kid. 

Billie finished the carton of eggs and the milk making scrambled eggs for the three of them. When she finished she brought Beth’s small plate and Lee’s regular sized plate to the table first. 

“Tell mommy 'thank you’,” Lee gently reminded Beth. 

“Thank you, mommy,” Beth parroted. 

“You’re welcome, honey,” Billie responded as she came back to the table with her own plate. Breakfast was easy. Billie could feel a routine forming. She made breakfast and then cleaned the kitchen, while Lee found a cartoon for Beth to watch on tv. Lee had a color tv and Beth was hypnotized by it. Lee pretended to read the paper, but he kept sneaking looks at Billie. He watched her move with grace around the kitchen, humming to herself as she washed dishes. She was so beautiful. 

Billie could even imagine this routine with a new baby, and she smiled at the thought of it. She could imagine getting up before everyone else, just like today, and doing her own routine. She would sit in the quiet until the baby woke up and needed to be fed. She could nurse while Lee sipped his coffee and talked with her. Then when Beth got up she could make breakfast and Lee could play with the kids. It was a wonderful thought. When she was done cleaning she joined Lee on the couch. Beth was sitting cross-legged in front of the tv, eyes glued to the screen. 

Lee was quick to throw an arm around her. 

“Should we do the grocery store before or after the funeral?” Lee asked, normally he wouldn’t subject Billie to either option, but the house was out of food and he refused to let Beth go hungry.

“Before is probably better. I’ll be too tired after,” Billie sighed. 

“If you want, we can go to the diner after for dinner. I would offer to cook but I admit that I’m no good at it,” Lee chuckled. 

“The diner will be good,” Billie smiled. 

“So, where did we land on what we’re going to tell people?” Lee broached the topic delicately. 

“You mean about being married or about having a kid already?” 

“Both.” 

“I don’t know. The gossip is just going to be terrible if we’re truthful, but I don’t feel right about lying and saying I was married in New York and Beth isn’t yours.” 

“I know.” Lee hummed, “You don’t think we could possibly get away with saying we were married all these years, do you?” 

“No, probably not,” she laughed quietly. 

“Well, it will be easiest to just say that you got married while you were in New York and he passed away. And we reconnected after he passed and we planned to get married in a few months time, but we just did a quick ceremony when we heard about your dad,” he suggested. 

“You’re okay with saying that Beth isn’t biologically yours?” 

“Even if I claim that, I’m still the man raising her, she’s my daughter if we’re married,” he answered, “Plus, I can’t have all those terrible gossips in town talking about you. It would drive my insane to hear even one bad word about you.” 

“That’s awfully sweet of you,” Billie smiled. 

“I’m always sweet on you,” Lee chuckled. 

“What about the actual wedding? Are you worried at all about doing that after we said we already were married?” She asked. 

“We could always go down to the courthouse this morning,” Lee coaxed. 

“So, what? We’re going to go to the courthouse to get married, go get groceries, and then go to a funeral?” 

“I’ll marry you anytime, anyplace.” 

“Let’s do it then.”

“Really?” Lee beamed. 

“Yeah, let’s go.” 

That’s how Lee, Billie, and Beth ended up at the Ross County courthouse at 10:00 AM on a Thursday. Billie had called her mother and Sylvia to come and watch. Joy was ecstatic and brought Clara and Wesley along with her. Sylvia just brought baby Rose because Tim had to work. Billie wore a simple mid-length, white, sleeveless dress. Lee wore his only suit. And Beth wore her favorite yellow dress with white flowers on it. She was very excited to be the flower girl, even if her only job was to hold the bouquet while her parents exchanged vows. Billie was very worried that she and Lee didn’t have wedding bands, that all she had was her engagement ring. But Lee promised that they would go to the jeweler over the weekend and rectify that. 

The ceremony was short and sweet. But Lee was elated. After years and years, he’d finally made her Billie Bodecker. Joy kissed Lee on both cheeks and thanked him, with tears in her eyes, for loving her daughter. He blushed, but he hugged Joy a little tighter, he figured she needed it. 

Next on the list of events for the day was the grocery store. Everyone waved at Lee. No one said a word, but they stared curiously. Billie paid them no mind as she led Lee through all the aisles. She spent the longest time among the spices, trying to decide which were an absolute necessity for a home. Finally, Billie seemed content with what they had in their cart. At that point, Lee was carrying Beth around just to make sure they wouldn’t lose her as Billie tore through the place. They went up to the checkout and Lee helped Billie unload the cart. 

“What have we here, Sheriff?” Asked a grating voice. Billie stiffened. She hadn’t recognized the woman whose checkout she’d chosen, but she would know that voice anywhere. Tammy Mitchell. Tammy and Billie were always at odds. If Billie had something, Tammy wanted it. It’d been that way from the time they were young all through high school. This had been especially true with boys. Lee was the only exception because Tammy never knew they dated. And now she couldn’t take him because Billie had the ring. 

“Tammy, you remember my wife, Billie,” Lee smirked. He knew of the long-standing feud between the two. He decided to play it up for Billie’s sake, almost as a wedding gift. 

“Billie Dechswaan?” Tammy scoffed. 

“Well, it’s Billie Bodecker now,” Lee bragged. 

“Hi Tammy. It’s been too long,” Billie said as she plastered a giant smile across her face. 

“Billie, I thought you were living in New York,” Tammy faked cheerfulness, “And you have a kid.” Tammy sneered when she saw Lee holding Beth. 

“Well, Lee and I reconnected after my first husband passed. And we were going to have a big wedding in a few months, but my dad dying sped everything up. I guess God just really had a plan for us,” Billie smiled. 

“So, when did you two get hitched?” Tammy feigned interest as she began scanning groceries, essentially tossing them to the bag boy. 

“Well, Billie got back into town yesterday, so we went down to the courthouse this morning,” Lee replied. 

“No big wedding then?” Tammy said with insincere concern, “That’s not very fair to you Sheriff. It’s your first time being married after all.” 

“I don’t need a big wedding. I got the best wife and I woulda married her any way she would have me,” Lee looked over lovingly at Billie. He was hamming it up a bit, but his words still made Billie’s stomach flip in happiness. Lee was quick to pay Tammy and take the bags from the bag boy. Tammy scowled at them as they left. 

As they were walking out of the store, Lee leaned over to Billie and said, “So, how was that? Get your revenge on Tammy?” 

“You have no idea how sexy you are to me right now,” she whispered back to him. Lee smirked. He would gladly piss Tammy Mitchell off everyday if it made Billie happy. 

@greeneyedblondie44 @bxnnywriting @kitty4860

[junicai]

Relationship with WAYV

➣ KUN ☾ karia

if it wasn’t for dotae potentially coming to kill him, he would steal aria into wayv

he’s the cool dad? 

they can’t spend a lot of time together because none of their schedules match up, but aria takes every third or so weekend out to come have dinner in the wayv dorms

she’s surprisingly close to the china line, and its a combination of ten dragging her to his dorm for an entire month and them just kinda adopting her when they realized she was a foreigner as well 

yuta can fight them, she’s one of them now

he doesn’t like to baby her a lot, and she really appreciates the break from being the “maknae” so to speak 

however does that stop him from giving her the forehead kithes? no

aria sad? forehead kith

aria mad? forehead kith

aria smad? forehead kith + kuddles (kun cuddles)

he has sent her a passive agressive text when he found out that she wasn’t eating enough again and had almost passed out

but he finished it with a heart so its ok

if she isn’t smiling at all times, someone will die

aria feels like she can trust him with a lot; that no matter what she tells him, he’ll never out her or make fun of her

kun actually took a two-week online course to learn how to make traditional japanese dishes when aria mentioned missing her parents

he originally was going to learn how to make irish dishes, but he changed his mind after seeing what they were

“im not giving my kids boiled cabbage and mashed potatoes what kind of post world war-”

wants to give her a chinese name but hasn’t yet because he hasn’t found the one that fits her right and he wants it to be perfect 

aria teaches him japanese phrases in exchange for him teaching her a little bit of mandarin

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT.

aria saw kun’s back as she entered the practice room, the man standing with three other members in the centre of the floor before the choreographer came in to start their practice. coming up behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist, peeking her head around from where she was. “hi!” she smiled brightly.

“hi,” ten chuckled, showing her the camera that had just filmed all of that. 

➣ TEN ☾ tenaria

Whipped(TM)

so so gone for her its upsetting actually

yangyang and aria share the position of his baby 

except aria willingly accepts the title while yangyang would rather fling himself from a rooftop

ten’s instagram is half his cats, half miyazu aria

he posts her dancing practice on his story a lot, with a variety of captions ranging from “thats my baby  ♡( ◡‿◡ )” to “yah that’s not right...(눈_눈)”

such an enabler for her bad ideas 

aria wants to go shopping at 4am? ten agrees, now they’re sitting by han river eating ice cream

pls he’s gonna get her in so much trouble one day

when they walk together, ten likes to take her hand and put it in his pocket 

its under the pretense of not wanting her to get lost 

he just wants to hold her hand

yes he has lost her in a shopping mall, and NO it wasn’t his fault

ten always complains that they never have schedules together and he misses his baby 

“we have superm-” “I NEVER SEE YOUUUU (ﾉಥ益ಥ)ﾉ”

if they’re in the same room ten is either watching her out of the corner of his eye, or is actually wrapped around her like a boa constrictor 

hugs n kithes all around

only he is allowed make fun of her mistakes in dancing 

anyone else gets deaded. he will fight for her honor how dare you insult his baby 

sm give these ttwo a dancing duo video pls 

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

the first and only time aria and ten had a duet was during their last concert on superm’s first world tour. during the second half of ten’s solo performance, aria emerged from the left side of the stage, coming to join him in the centre stage. no one had ever seen aria as serious as she was then, both herself and ten becoming completely different people in the moment. midway through, aria spun with her back to ten and leaped backwards into the air - eyes closed - completely trusting ten to be where she needed him to be to catch her. 

➣ WINWIN ☾ winria

a love hate relationship at its finest

they don’t actually hate each other it’s just really funny to pretend that they do (especially because yuta complains that 2 of his favourite people aren’t getting along)

winwin is so savage towards aria but it’s ok she claps back twice as hard

at first, before czennies had seen enough of their dynamic they thought that they actually did hate each other

but that’s not true they just don’t know how to express, affection, without brutally insulting the other with a loving tone

they are, surprisingly, the most stable pairing in 127 - they have a dynamic and rarely stray from that, which is a good comfort for the fans

despite what they might say to each other, they don’t mean any of it - and winwin has been seen several times raising his eyebrows with a questioning look at aria to make sure she wasn’t taking any of his playful jabs to heart

oh god the flexibility

the entirety of nct is terrified of them

the day sm gives them a circus act is the day that kun and taeyong have a heart attack

quietly supportive of each other - catch aria “playing” with a water bottle and not getting up to get it when it conveniently rolls across the floor and into winwin’s leg

he makes sure to save some new chinese sweets whenever the wayv members get packages from their familes, and sneak it into aria’s room before the managers can catch her breaking her diet

not really physically affectionate with each other, which played into czennies idea that they didn’t like each other but aria cleared it up in a vlive

“winwinnie and I, well. we don’t hug a lot because i know he doesn’t like it as much as i might, so i try to show him i care with other things :)”

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT.

winwin and aria going in to each other on knowing brothers, to the point where the mc’s had their eyes popping out of their head and waved about to stop the segment before aria could start attacking winwin’s cooking methods-

nothing is off limits when it comes to them

➣ LUCAS ☾ arihei

besties 

please they’re so cute together - tol child next to tini child she barely comes up to his chest :(

bear hugs

he just swamps her in his arms, and when he doesn’t feel like being bent over he picks her up 

complains that she’s too heavy but then immediately after will throw her around like a softball 

someone tell this man to be careful with her she’s not a barbie doll 

singular braincell energy

don’t get it wrong, they’re both super smart 

so it’s just - being smort together, but then nearly dying because neither of them remembered that you couldn’t eat raw cookie dough when there are eggs in it

she adores how he’s so confident in the things that he does - like convincing the entire nct fandom that he was fluent in english? king behaviour

so aria looks up to him (literally) but also because she wants to have that confidence some day 

lucas says they’re not close and then aria pouts and he takes it all back

nczennies made a 14 minute compilation titled “lucas melting like a popsicle in australia for aria” 

and literally what the title tells you, this man goes :(( when he sees her 

lucas was actually the person to convince her to go ahead with the [redacted] proposal - and reminded her that it was too good an opportunity to pass up just because she felt like she was outgrowing the boys

he’s so proud of her

and she’s so proud of him 

they’re so proud of each other and it makes nczennies want to cry because they never are seen together 

sm stop separating the platonic soulmates first markhyuck and now arihei smh

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT.

during a photoshoot, aria was standing off to the side of the boys, dressed in white suit to contrast the boys’ black ones. the photographer was calling out to her to get her to move closer, but she couldn’t hear him from so far away, and so lucas (who was on the end) just walked over to her, gripped her by the biceps and lifted her vertically and to the left a little bit. 

“luc-LUCAS?”

“you had to move :)”

➣ XIAOJUN ☾ arijun

honestly these two aren’t super close, just because their schedules never matched up until the NCT 2020 promotions

even when aria was dragged to the wayv dorms, xiaojun kept his distance from her because he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable 

even so, when they were filming Make A Wish together, they seemed comfortable enough around each other

there was a mutual agreement to not try fill the silence with awkward small talk, so they sat in silence when left alone together

they’re both shy :( someone needs to get them to talk to each other :(

even so, aria was all supportive smiles and thumbs-up when she saw him getting nervous before their first public stage as the unit 

he was a little intimidated of her at first, but also really curious about how she was holding her own against the other members

not only physically, but her vibes are tiny let the man be concerned ok

his first impression of aria was just: small quiet? she was sitting apart from the other boys in the practice room, and he almost wanted to go over and ask her if she was ok; before she was approached by donghyuck and her face broke into a bright smile 

aria’s first impression of xiaojun was: eyebrows he was really handsome? at first, she thought he was in the wrong room, seeing as the SM modeling auditions were happening in the next room down

any arijun shippers are starved of content im so sorry guys 

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

currently still up for debate between the fandom :(

➣ HENDERY ☾ aridery

ah these two 

you might as well sign a waiver if you decide to do anything with them, because they can and will get you killed 

kun can testify

ten’s the enabler but hendery is the do-er

super giggly around each other, for no reason at all

hendery could pick up and throw a basketball and suddenly aria’s on the floor in literal stitches 

have a secret code 

no seriously

they don’t text in words, they just send various reaction memes and a colourful variety of emojis to convey emotions and scenarios 

it’s become quite a beautiful language actually 

got some nice proverbs in there

they’re like, cousins but the ones you only see at family reunions but get so hype to see them

that energy 

asides from the chaotic, murderous vibes they possess as a duo

hendery knows what it’s like to miss home, to miss your parents, etc etc

and so he tries to make aria feel as home as possible - especially with wayv, because they’re all foreigners who know how she feels 

whenever he gets packages from his parents who have sent things over, he always makes sure to keep some of the small treats/sweets back for aria

1. because he knows she’ll appreciate the thought and she gives good hugs

2. because he knows she’s on a diet constantly and never allowed eat these things when she’s in the dorms with managers around 

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

filming the Resonance “Wish” event, aria was put in a skimpy minimalistic mock-suit to differentiate from the others’ clothes. unfortunately, that left aria with a little too much shoulder and chest on display than she would like, and she was noticeably uncomfortable with her clothes, constantly pulling it up and even going so far as to just hold it with her hands. 

hendery saw this, and knew he was finished filming his segment for the time being, so he pulled off his own jacket and tossed it over to aria, who caught it with a grateful smile. “thank you,” she mouthed to him, tugging the dark blue material over her shoulders.

➣ YANGYANG ☾ ariyang

aria. has 9 days of age on this boy and will never let him forget it

“respect your elders you brat” “9. DAYS.”

european pals 

they feel so cultured when they get asked about europe, and then are kindly reminded by hendery that A. Germany started 2 world wars, and B. Ireland was just a British colony until 100 years ago. 

they both hit him for that

aria teaching him curse words in irish and yangyang teaching her curse words in german? more likely than you’d think 

they met before yangyang’s debut was announced, in a practice room that had let them accidentally overlap their practice times 

instead of working it out between them, they actually just started to alternate their songs - and the other gave them some good, constructive criticism 

most of the time

when they found out they were going to be in 90s Love together, they were so happy 

it was going to be their first official schedule together

all the behind-the-scenes videos are just aria and yangyang being children and then ten coming over and cooing at them 

they love ten, but they will trash talk the man behind his back 

yangyang confessed to her that he sometimes feels nervous when speaking korean, like he’s going to make a big mistake

so she tries her best to teach and correct him where she can, and make him as comfortable as possible 

if you look at any of the 90s Love promotions - aria is always beside yangyang

he bit her ear once

she doesn’t know why and he won’t tell her

but now when she makes fun of him, he threatens to do it again 

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

aria skating onto the rink during filming, and yangyang following her because she promised to teach him how to skate backwards.

“ok just, think like you’re leading with your heels. press your knees in, and push outwards, with you-no no that’s forwards. go backwards yangyang.”

“no no no thats a WALL YANGYANG STOP-”