#i woke up at 6am to write this and went back to sleep

[rindomness]

he's scared of the dark. he's a necromancer. he likes swimming in cold water. he's a lich. he's lactose intolerant. he's been looking for his lich girlfriend for a decade. he's a scientist. he's always stressed. his family doesn't remember him. i didn't say his name but he popped into your head anyway

[hannieehaee]

Hi!! I was wondering if I could request a scenario(or reaction) where maybe you had a day planned with a member but they canceled to hangout with the guys, not realizing it was your birthday. I love your writing and angst so this would be perfect 4 me 🤭 thank you!! (Also for the member, maybe hhu 👉👈)

them accidentally ditching you on your bday - hhu

hhu, vu, pu

content: angsty, gender neutral, established relationship, mingyu's is a teeny tiny bit suggestive (they're mentioned to shower together, but nothing sexual occurs), etc.

part 2

wc: 2903

a/n: sorry it took me so long to get to this T-T i liked the prompt so i wanted to write something a lil longer hehe anyways tysm for reading and for requesting <3 pls lmk if anyone wants a vocal/perf unit version!

masterlist

seungcheol -

seungcheol always had a tendency of being a tiny bit extra when it came to his birthday. he expected all friends and family to be punctual on that day with a gift and some heartfelt congratulations. if you didn't wish him happy birthday at 12am on the dot, you were just not that good of a friend to him and he'd remember that moment with disdain.

in the same way that he was extra on his own birthday, he liked to do the same for his closest loved ones. he was always ready at 12 o'clock with some words of love and appreciation ready. he'd have had the gift ready months in advance. even on other people's special day, he wanted to stand out a little; show how good of a friend he was. there were no questions to he made about your birthday. you, his favorite person in the world. if he was ever going to make a day special, it was that one. he would count down the days until its arrival. it was always such a sweet gesture from him, you thought. which was why it was very weird of him to not be present right now. or all day, for that matter.

it was your birthday. you had planned this day with seungcheol a few weeks in advance. all you wanted was a calm day with your boyfriend, even cancelling plans on friends and family who had also wanted to keep you company on your special day. you were originally just going to eat a nice dinner with your boyfriend on whichever day of the week you had off that week, not minding whether it actually fell on your birthday or not. but your boyfriend had insisted on celebrating on the exact date, even telling you to call off work, claiming he would do the same once the day came. except those plans seemed to fall through.

you'd gone to sleep a bit early, deciding not to wait on your boyfriend to arrive from dance practice and just sleep in preparation for whatever cheol had planned for tomorrow. you assumed he would wake you up upon his arrival, which wouldve been a bit before midnight. you'd woken up confused when you had looked at the clock the next morning and noticed it was 6am, not having been awoken by him, nor spotting him in your room. he always left before you woke up, but today was supposed to be a day off for him, so it was all very odd. it continued like this for a few hours, until you gave up on waiting for his arrival and just called him. it was only 10am by now, so maybe he had left for some preparations not expecting you to wake up so early, but your phone calls went unanswered. for hours. it eventually became the afternoon. you had given up on calling him at around 2 oclock, realizing he just wasn't going to show.

by 5pm, you were beyond sad. the same man who whined and pouted at you if you dared wish him a happy birthday at 12:02am had also forgotten your birthday, clearly not even having called off of work that day (you'd checked his location some hours back, he was at the hybe building). he hadn't even bothered to check his phone all day either. you weren't usually one to get emotional, but this felt like a punch in the gut. you had gone out of your way to spend the day with your boyfriend, having been promised an amazing day, but were now just some forgotten rag, less important than his usual work day.

he arrived a little earlier than yesterday. whenever he left early in the morning, he arrived in the afternoon. it was now 6pm, and you had spent the whole day moping. you grabbed the cake you'd both left in the fridge a few days back, not caring anymore and just eating it out of sadness. that might've been cheol's first guess upon walking in, as you saw his smile fall the moment he landed his eyes on you, 'happy birthday' cake sitting across from you on the coffee table.

his eyes widened at the realization, and much more at your dejected appearance, "oh my god, babe, i'm so-"

you sighed, "you don't have to say it."

he quickly approached you, dropping his bag and coat before having hung them upon his entrance, "no! fuck, i'm so fucking sorry. i have no idea how it slipped my mind, i- i forgot to call off in advance, and it threw off my entire schedule. i swear i just forgot, i'm so fucking sorry, baby," he was rambling now, probably realizing how let down you were by his slip up.

"it doesn't matter, cheol. it's just a birthday. i'll just ... i'll just celebrate with my family next week or something. don't worry about it," you knew you didn't mean your words, but you also felt it useless to try and blame cheol.

"wait! it's only six. we can still do something! do you wanna go out? i'll take you to dinner. how does that sound?"

"i ... i don't really feel like it, cheol. i think i'll just go meet up with a friend. she called me last week asking to meet up, but i cancelled on her. i just wanted to wait for you to get back before i left. i'll see you in the morning," you knew you were being a little immature, but if he had wanted to be with you, he would've put in the effort.

"oh. you're sleeping over? but i thought ..."

"yeah. i'll just see you tomorrow when you get back from practice. yeah? bye, cheol."

you left without saying much else, feeling guilty at his look of rejection. you felt badly about leaving him on his own like this, but you knew there was no way for you to spend time with your boyfriend right now without feeling like an idiot.

wonwoo -

wonwoo had never felt like more of an asshole.

wonwoo had never been too big on birthdays, specially his own. to him it was just another day. it was only his family, friends (and carats, of course) who ever made that day special to him. if it had been up to him? he would probably even forget about the day, but he had the fortune to have a lot of people in his life who loved and cared about him enough to cherish that day as if it were a national holiday. and you were one of those people. you would always shower wonwoo with love, but you'd go a little extra hard on his birthday, catering to every need you think he may have and even going as far as creating an entire itinerary of things he enjoys to do throughout the day. you were a little ray of sunshine that would somehow make him look forward to his birthday, something very uncharacteristic of him. which was why he had never felt like a bigger asshole than right now.

today was your birthday. a day which wonwoo had looked forward to for two years now. he had wanted to celebrate your following birthday with you, maybe plan something elaborate for you for once, but he had unfortunately been on tour at the time, causing you to be separated during that day. this only made him want to put even more effort into your birthday next year, which was now. today. the day in which he had ultimately forgotten your birthday.

there was not much to it. he had a nice day planned for you. he wasn't too good with surprises, so he had let you know in advance, allowing you to prepare yourself accordingly. you both had work that day, so he had planned a candlelit dinner for you, having even learned how to cook your favorite foods just to add that extra layer of care. the original plan was to come home from work early - earlier than you - and follow the recipes he had gone over with mingyu a few times over the past few weeks. it was simple, concise and direct. there was very little room for failure. but it had still somehow managed to slip his mind. he wanted to blame mingyu for his insistence in going back to their shared apartment after practice, something about some game he wanted to show him. but he couldnt blame his clueless friend, it wasnt his responsibility to know your birthday. he'd sworn he would only stay for an hour and then promptly leave to go home to you, but one hour turned into two and then three. it was a genuine slip of his mind, but that didn't make a difference.

wonwoo was quite surprised upon picking up his phone from where he'd left it charging upon arriving to his apartment, not realizing it had stayed on do not disturb the entire time. he was welcomed by a myriad of messages from you, all of them ranging in emotion.

from jagiya 💘:

(4:25) nonu?

(4:25) are you coming home soon?

(5:07) okay, its been almost an hour now. is everything okay?

(6:35) baby?

(6:48) i tried calling you already. where are you?

(6:48) just checked ur location and ur at ur apt. did you forget?

(9:02) it's been over two hours now ...

(9:15) okay, nevermind. don't come. we can just do this another day.

(9:16) i'll be out with some friends. goodnight.

his heart dropped more and more the more he read. he immediately went to call you and spam with responses, but found no reply from you. it only served him right. he would now spend the rest of the night dreading how to make it up to you, feeling the worst guilt he'd ever felt.

mingyu -

you'd always thought of mingyu as one of the sweetest men alive. he had helped you restore your faith in humanity, seeing him as the prime example of what a man should be. he was the most selfless person you'd ever met. ever since you'd begun dating (and even before that, if we're being honest), he had always been at your beck and call, providing you with anything you could possibly need. he'd love and take care of you in ways that you hadn't imagined possible. you'd never been disappointed by mingyu. but now you realize maybe you had flown too close to the sun. mingyu was just human after all. you shouldn't have felt as disappointed as you did. but you couldn't help your emotions, nor did you want to blame yourself over this.

the issue at hand was, today was your birthday. today, at least basing it on prior years, was always filled with the utmost love and affection a person could ever experience. all courtesy of one kim mingyu. he would wake you up with breakfast, rush you into the shower and hold you close to him as he washed your hair and whispered words of affirmation in your ear. he would proceed to take you somewhere pretty and have a full on photoshoot as he hyped you up from behind the camera. he would plan some special outing for the evening and end the day with a moonlit dinner from the beautiful view from his apartment's balcony. it was always such a dream. but this birthday in particular had been the outlier.

he unfortunately had a comeback on the same week of your birthday, causing his schedule to be more hectic than usual. he had a few things scheduled for your birthday itself, but knowing mingyu you knew he would at least come home to you that night and shower you with as much love as his exhausted self could. but that never came. you waited and waited, knowing mingyu's day had ended hours ago. at some point you simply gave up and called him, wondering where he was, if maybe something was wrong. however, his response was one that left you feeling dejected, something mingyu had never made you feel.

"gyu? where are you?", you'd said as soon as he picked up.

"hm? hi, baby. i'm at the shared apartment. wonwoo hyung wanted to leave early today. what's up, baby?"

not even a quick 'happy birthday'? did he really not remember? you felt kind of embarrassed at having gotten your hopes up for yet another year of special treatment from your boyfriend.

"uhh, nothing gyu. just checking in. are you staying there tonight?"

"yeah. thought it'd be easier since it's a bit closer to the company than your place. is that okay? sorry, baby. i shouldve let you know beforehand," even when he was unknowingly hurting your feelings he managed to be a sweetheart.

"it's fine, gyu. have a goodnight. you must be tired."

"okay, pretty," he giggled boyishly at the phone, fully clueless of your feelings, "sleep tight. love you!"

"yeah, bye."

you'd never hung up on him before a quick 'i love you' before. it mightve a dumb thing to even care about, but you knew that to mingyu's romantic nature it meant everything. which is why you weren't surprised when twenty minutes later your phone began to be flooded by calls and messages from the man, at first wondering why you had hung up like that, only to then evolve into him begging for forgiveness as he explained that he had forgotten your special day, and that it had taken wonwoo's reminder that your birthday fell this week for him to realize his mistake. but this was now his problem to deal with. if he wanted forgiveness, he'd have to come and get it.

vernon -

vernon had a bit of a tendency of being forgetful. it only came hand in hand with his tendency of being a little distracted while out and about. he wasn't careless by any means, but he could sometimes be too in his own world to notice what happened around him. which would sometimes get him into hot waters with you.

he hadn't noticed your hints, he swears! he didn't hear the suggestive tones nor the subtle nudges you'd been giving him for the past month. he hadn't thought much of it when you began texting him about places you two should visit soon, nor when you'd began to talk more about certain interests you'd been having as of late. he had just assumed you were trying to make conversation, so he treated it as such.

when your birthday had actually come, vernon hadn't known it was anything other than an ordinary day. he woke up, making sure to not wake you in the process. he'd gotten up, headed to the company, and followed his regular schedule. it was a particularly busy day, so going on his phone had been mostly out of the question. the two of you weren't really in the habit of texting much throughout the day, usually choosing to just catch up with each other at night when you could lay in bed together and dissect each other's days. he spent a majority of the day fully disconnected from outside contact, focusing solely on the harsh new choreo they needed to memorize for next week's awards show. he knew you were aware it was a busy time of the year for the industry he worked in, so he felt it fine to stay a little extra time today without messaging you first. this was something that happened from time to time anyway, so it shouldn'tve been a problem, right? or at least that's what he thought until he finally plucked his phone out of his bag, where it had been hiding the entire day.

from: baby 😖:

(9:23) u left so early :((

(9:23) shouldve woken me up so i could say goodbye!

(12:58) nonnie, it's been a few hours now ... did u forget something?

(1:20) no reply still?

(1:21) did you actually forget? :(

(1:21) i've been hinting at it for a month. i thought u were being obtuse on purpose :(

(1:48) can u at least come home a little early today? im sure soonyoung wont mind

(2:35) okay, ill take that as a no :(

(4:48) hansol ...

(6:12) okay, i guess you're gonna be home later than usual today.

(7:10) it's my birthday btw, in case it didnt click by now.

(7:16) maybe you should stay at the dorms tonight. not really in the mood for you to spend the night. im sorry. love you

fucking hell. vernon had never felt like more of a careless asshole. he had spent the entire day away from you, completely clueless to the fact that it was the love of his life's birthday. you weren't one to ask for much, so he knew a simple happy birthday accompanied by even just his presence for a shared meal wouldve been more than enough to make you happy. but his stupid distracted self couldn't even muster enough care for that. he wasnt sure what to do now. should he go to your apartment and beg for forgiveness? or stay here, like a dog with his tail between his legs as he pondered some way to make it up to you? all he knew was that he messed up. hugely.

a/n: i hate writing unresolved angst but uhh yeah if u want a pt 2 lmk <3

[alotofpockets]

Loved | Alessia Russo

Pairing: Alessia Russo x Williamson!Reader

Summary: During your concert you surprise your girlfriend with the song that you wrote about her.

Masterlist | Woso masterlist | Words: 2.2k

You loved being on tour, playing your music for your fans, and traveling the world at the same time. However, there was also a downside to this part of your career. You had to miss your favorite people for long periods of time. Of course, there were many facetime calls with them, but it wasn’t the same as having them beside you. There were only a few shows left on your European tour before you’d fly back home to London, where you’d perform your final show at The O2. 

While on tour, you used every moment that you weren’t performing or out exploring the cities you were in on writing new songs. Being away from your loved ones sucked, but it also helped you in your songwriting. Your thoughts often on the memories you created with them. Right now you are strumming rhythms on your acoustic guitars, as your mind wanders to the first time that you met your girlfriend.

It was a little over three years ago. You arrived at your shared home with your sister around 2am, after being on tour. Leah had insisted on picking you up from the airport, but you declined time and time again, since you knew she would have training in the morning. After leaving your bags in the living room, you quietly made your way over to your bedroom. Upon entering you noticed that your sister was sound asleep in your bed. You didn’t think much of it, maybe she just missed you. So, you head over to her room but when you opened the door slightly, you noticed that her bed was occupied. It was too dark to see who it was, but you softly closed the door to Leah’s bedroom and made your way back to your own. After finding some clothes to sleep in, you slipped into your bed beside your sister. The moment that your head hit the pillow, you were gone, the tiredness of touring catching up to you.

Your night wasn’t long, as Leah’s 6am alarms woke you abruptly, “Leah, please shut that off.” Leah jumped at the sound of your voice. “Don't ever scare me like that again.” She said with a warning look. You simply shrug, “You’re the one in my bed.” Leah quickly turned off the loud ringing of her alarm and fell back on the bed hugging you tight. “I can’t believe you’re back, I’ve missed you so much.” You smile into her shoulder, “I’ve missed you too, Leah.” Your sister is about to get up when you pull her back down, “Are you not going to tell me who the girl sleeping in your bed is?” Leah rolls her eyes jokingly, “Of course I was, I just figured you wanted to sleep some more first. Her name is Alessia Russo, she-” You interrupt her, “Just joined Arsenal.” You were an avid football fan, and just like Leah, your favorite team had been Arsenal from a young age, so even when you were away you kept taps on your team. Leah nods, “Yeah, I told her she could stay here until she finds a place of her own, which worked out great because the house was feeling rather empty without you here.” You act hurt, “You just replaced me?” Both of you laugh, basking in the feeling of being together again. “How about after practice the three of us get lunch together, so I can introduce the two of you properly?” You nod with a smile, “That sounds nice.” Leah changes into her training gear before heading downstairs, you hear her and Alessia talking faintly but soon fall back asleep, not even hearing them leave. 

From the first moment you met Alessia in person, the two of you connected instantly, as Leah had expected. During the lunch you had gotten to know Alessia a bit, as well as told them all about your tour. Alessia moved out about a week later, finding a nice apartment a few blocks over. Leah had been with Arsenal for years, and her teammates were as much her friends, as they were yours. So, like always, you met up with the girls often, getting closer and closer with Alessia as the months went by, until eventually she had asked you on a date. 

The first few months of dating Alessia were on your mind as you worked on the song. You both had to learn to speak each other’s love languages, as they were different from each other. Even while figuring out how to best show your love to the other, you felt nothing but love in whatever way Alessia showed it. You start testing out some lyrics, writing down the ones you like. When you had the general idea of the song figured out, the lyrics came easy, as did your love for Alessia. 

Before your flight back to London, you finished up the rough version of the song, and could not wait to sing it for Alessia. From the airport, you went straight to Colney, knowing the team’s training session was in progress. You stand to the side of the field as you watch the girls play, having gone unnoticed so far. When the whistle is blown to signal that their drill is done, Alessia is the first to notice you. She comes running your way and jumps into your arms. “You’re back!” You hold her tight and spin her around. “Hi, Lessi baby, I’ve missed you.” After putting her back down you share a short kiss before Leah joins in on the hug. Alessia stepped aside, but not going far, to give you a moment with your sister. One by one all the girls came to greet you, before heading back to training. Alessia kissed you once more before returning to training too, a “I’m so happy that you’re back.” Shouted your way from the striker that was running back to the field.

Once training was over, you headed back home. You still lived in the same apartment as three years ago, the only difference was that Alessia had moved back in, now sharing your room. Leah and Lia offer to pick up something for lunch, while you and Alessia have a moment together. You take her up to your shared room, and ask for some much needed cuddles. 

When you hear the front door open, you head downstairs to have lunch all together, and spend a couple of hours catching up. You check your phone to see the time, “Oh, I have to go in a bit for sound check. Leah, how many of you were coming tonight?” Leah starts counting on her fingers, “Let’s see, so it will be us three, as well as Beth, Kim, Laura, and Jen. So, that’s seven, for sure and a few of the girls weren’t sure yet. Can you put us down for twelve to be sure?” You smile, feeling grateful for how many of your friends were going to be able to make it. “Of course, I’ll see you guys there.” You hug Leah and Lia, before you kiss Alessia bye. 

Performing in your home country was always very special, it was also your favorite place to sing your song ‘Home’. “Thank you all for an incredible night so far.” You say looking out into the crowd. “As many of you know, London is very special to me. London is home.” The crowd erupts in cheer as they know what is coming next. “It’s an extra special evening, as there are a lot of people here tonight, that make London a home.” You look over to the friends and family section where your friends are gathered. “You know who you are.” The smile on your face grows when you see the girls cheering back at you.

You start strumming your guitar, “This is ‘Home’, hope you enjoy it.” The rest of the band joins in. 

‘Cause they say home is where your heart is set in stone

It’s where you go when you’re alone

It’s where you go to rest your bones

It’s not just where you lay your head

It’s not just where you make your bed

As long as we’re together, does it matter where we go?

You step away from the microphone, letting the crowd sing the rest of the chorus for you.

Home

Home

Home

Home

You continue the rest of your show with a few more songs from your setlist, as well as more interaction with the crowd, soaking in the last concert you’ll be giving for a while. The evening was coming to an end, having played the last song on your setlist but you weren’t done yet. “Everyone, can we get a big round of applause for Jimmy on the drums, Sarah on guitar, Brian on keys, and last but not least, Mandy on base?” You bow to them, as the crowd claps and cheers for them. The band makes their way off-stage, and you pick up your acoustic guitar for one last time this evening.

“I have one last song for you.” The enthusiasm from the crowd was immaculate, and you hadn’t even told them the surprise yet. “So, I have written a song over the past couple of days, and I would love to play a little bit from it for you tonight.” After the crowd calmed down again, you continued. “I have literally just finished this, it has not yet been recorded, and no one has heard it yet. With that being said..” You let your eyes drift back to the friends and family box, “Alessia, baby, this one's for you. This is ‘Loved’ for the first time ever.” You play the first few chords of the songs, while you watch your friends tease Alessia for her jaw dropping at the news. Alessia’s eyes stay focussed on you, as she watches you with a big smile on her face, seeing you become one with your music. Your eyes closed as you were strumming your guitar. Before you start singing, you open your eyes and lock them with Alessia’s.

I don’t need a hundred roses waiting by the front door

I don’t need a fancy house in the hills

You could rope the moon and bring me all the stars in heaven

It won’t change how I feel

Even though the arena was filled with thousands of people, the crowd disappeared around you, as you were singing to just Alessia. A moment you would never forget.

You don’t have to be a modern-day Shakespeare

You don’t have to be anything you’re not

You don’t have to give me diamonds to impress me

Just give me your heart

Make me feel loved, make me feel beautiful

Make me feel dance around the room Cinderella kind of magical

Make me believe that I’m all that you’ll ever need

Hold me close and make me feel a million kinds of wonderful

Baby, your touch, it’s more than enough

Make me feel loved

You were pulled out of your moment with Alessia as the crowd went wild once you finished the song. After taking a bow, you speak your final words to the crowd. “Thank you all so much for making tonight the best ending to an amazing tour. Thank you for coming out!” With that you run off the stage. 

Only a few moments after handing your guitar over to the crew, and another crew member taking your in-ear monitors from you, Alessia came running up to you, and jumped into your arms for the second time today. When you place her down on the ground again, you see tears in her eyes. “I love you so much, that song was amazing, and you are amazing. That was a beautiful performance, and I cannot believe that you wrote a song about me and then performed it in front of twenty thousand people.” You hugged your girlfriend tight. “I love you too. You inspire me everyday, darling. So, I wanted to do something special.” You share a sweet kiss with her, before taking her hand and walking down to your dressing room, where the rest of your friends were waiting.

You were so happy to be surrounded by your favorite people again, soaking in their laughter, smiles and hugs. Some girls wanted to go out for drinks, but you told them you had to rain check, since you were so tired. Alessia picked up on your words and offered to take you home, an offer you gladly accepted. She walked you to her white Mercedes, loving the opportunity to drive you around once again. Her hand was resting on your thigh, as the two of you listened to the radio. 

Back home all you want to do is take a shower and fall asleep in Alessia’s arms. Alessia being the amazing girlfriend that she was, knew exactly what you needed. “Why don’t you head up, baby, I’ll join you in a bit.” She pecks your lips before heading into the kitchen. When you’re done with your shower, clad in sweats and Alessia’s hoodie, you enter your bedroom, where Alessia was sitting in some comfy clothes surrounded by your favorite snacks. “I know you want to sleep, but your body needs some food after all the energy you put into that show.” You smile appreciatively, “You’re the best.” 

After enjoying the food that Alessia prepared, you cuddle into her side. Quickly falling asleep in the arms of your favorite person.  

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[asdfghjklmals]

SUGAR DADDY✩༶‧˚

GENRE + T/W: sfw, fluff. suggestiveness at the end. pregnancy comment. WORD COUNT: 2.2k words. TAGS: satoru gojo x fem!oc. boyfriend!gojo, established couple. adoptedkiddos! megumi & tsumiki. not an actual sugar daddy lol.

SYNOPSIS: for once, oc gojo girlfriend and the kiddos get to celebrate father's day with satoru. so the three try to find ways to make it special. AUTHOR'S NOTE: happy early father's day to all the dads out there! i will be busy this weekend, so i wrote a quick fathers day fic for satoru a couple days early 💚 oc gojo girlfriend is here and ready to get this day started! REMINDER: if you want to imagine yourself in oc gojo girlfriend's character descriptions instead, please do!

satoru gojo was usually the first one to wake up in the mornings, even on his day off.

there was something he enjoyed about the quiet, serene atmosphere before you and the kids woke up. maybe it was the appreciation of doing life with you and the giddy feeling he experienced when he looked over at your side of the bed to see the love of his life sleeping peacefully, or maybe it was when he went to check on the kids by cracking open their bedroom doors to see them also sleeping soundly without a worry in the world.

his body naturally woke up at 6am on the dot since that was the start of his morning routine, but this sunday morning, he felt something was off. his six eyes sensed that your cursed energy wasn’t next to him. (read ‘morning routine’ here)

he reached to your side of the bed, expecting to glide his fingers up your back and under your oversized tee (which was actually his t-shirt) to feel the warmth from your body like he always did. however, you weren’t there.

he didn’t even hear you wake up. you didn’t tell him you had plans today. there was no way you’d leave your shared bed without your coffee that he made for you every morning and good morning kisses all over your face.

he took a moment to collect himself before he started to panic. after a moment’s focus, he was able to sense yours and megumi’s cursed energy in the kitchen. he sighed in relief.

the white-haired sorcerer stretched his arms and legs and groaned, taking a deep breath. he looked over at his phone on the glass nightstand.

“7:30am?” satoru grumbled out loud.

he thought to himself, ‘how did i manage to sleep in so late? and why didn’t my alarm ring?’

he got up from bed and came to a halt.

‘is that coffee i’m smelling?’ he thought to himself again.

there was no way that you were up this early making him coffee, that was his job.

he opened the door to your master bedroom to peek out the door. he saw your black hair in a messy bun at the top of your head, his oversized t-shirt swallowing your body, his briefs hugging your hips loosely. he would never tell you, but he loved seeing you dressed down in his clothing. you looked beautiful in anything—especially in his clothes in the morning.

satoru chuckled as he closed the door and went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.

********************************

tsumiki sat at the dining table with half-asleep megumi.

“(y/n), what should i write for the first note for gojo-sensei's coffee?” she asked, markers spread across the dining room table with different colored sticky notes.

this was the first time you, tsumiki, and megumi were celebrating father’s day for satoru since you had became their guardians. even though it had already been a couple years since megumi and tsumiki became your children, coincidentally, satoru always had a mission or business trip during father’s day.

“how about… ‘we love you a latte, we cannot espresso how much’?” you suggested.

you definitely did not spend all night looking up puns and dad jokes for this occasion. satoru loved dad jokes.

tsumiki wrote down the pun in her recently learned cursive as megumi watched her. he jumped out of his seat and ran to the fridge to take out a cup of vanilla pudding.

“this is gojo-sensei’s favorite, right?” he asked you.

you nodded your head at him and went back to watching the coffee maker drip.

megumi sat back down and wrote in his own neat penmanship, 'thanks for ‘pudding’ up with me.'

you walked over to the family calendar on the kitchen wall and wrote on the acrylic whiteboard, 'you are re-mark-able, gojo-sensei!' you smiled and giggled proudly at your witty jokes.

over at the foyer, a box of donuts from satoru’s favorite bakery was sitting on the bench. megumi’s demon puppies were laying just below the box, enjoying the scent of the freshly baked donuts. you took kuro and shiro out on an early walk this morning as you waited in line at the bakery down the street. you knew satoru frequented that bakery, even though he would always deny it. there was no way he wasn’t a regular if you walked into the bakery together and they already had his double chocolate donut in a bag for him.

“what’s this? why is everyone up so early?” you heard your lover question in a curious, but sarcastic tone.

he knew exactly what today was.

kuro and shiro woke up and ran towards satoru, jumping on his legs, clawing for attention. he crouched down to pet them before megumi recalled them back into the shadows.

“i made you coffee.” you said with a sly smile, handing him a mug that said, ‘best dad ever’ with a pink sticky note tsumiki scribbled on attached to it. he took a sip of his coffee.

“thanks for trying babe, but how many sugar cubes did you put in here?” he questioned as he was hoping you’d put four in his cup.

“i put three of them in there… does it taste okay?” you frowned, you knew you put enough creamer, but you weren’t sure about the sugar cubes since satoru always made the morning coffee.

“close enough,” he kissed you on the cheek with appreciation, “so what’s this cup for? you pregnant?”

you glared at him and smacked his chest with the back of your hand as he hehehe’d into his mug. leave it satoru gojo to start off the morning with an inappropriate joke.

“it’s for father’s day, gojo-sensei!” tsumiki shouted happily, “did you see the note i wrote?”

he read the pink sticky note on his mug out loud, “we love you a latte. we cannot espresso how much.”

satoru had a huge grin on his face.

megumi tapped satoru on his waist and handed him his favorite pudding, avoiding all eye contact with satoru. his face a blazing crimson red. “happy father’s day, gojo-sensei.”

satoru recited out loud the blue sticky note attached to his plate of pudding. “thanks for pudding up with me.”

“ya don’t say?” he laughed as he ruffled megumi’s hair, the blue-haired child tried to grab satoru’s hand to stop.

“am i going to get in trouble if i have all these sweets this early in the day? somebody pinch me.” he peered at you to make sure he wasn't dreaming. you always nagged him for eating too many sweets. you wondered how he never had any cavities.

“because it’s father’s day, i’ll let it slide.” you winked your green eyes at him.

you handed him the box of donuts as he gasped, “you really went to stand in line at the bakery before they opened?” he was stunned.

“yes, so you better worship the ground i walk on.” you laughed as satoru pretended to bow towards you.

another yellow sticky note caught satoru’s eyes, “we donut know what we’d do without you.”

he started to smile widely. his heart swelling with love and adoration. he was eating these dad jokes up.

“oh, one last thing! we got you a card.” you raised your eyebrows at tsumiki and she ran to her room on the signal. the smiling child ran back to satoru to give him his father’s day card.

“it’s not a dad bod, it’s a father figure. happy father’s day, we love you.” satoru read out loud, laughing boisterously. “babe, you really did your research on these dad jok—wait, am i losing my snatched figure?”

he lifted up his shirt to examine himself in worry that he was losing his six pack.

you and megumi rolled your eyes at the white-haired sorcerer while tsumiki comforted him in his time of concern, “don’t worry sensei, (y/n) would still love you even if you didn’t have a six pack.” she smiled at him and he picked her up to hug her.

“thank you, my partner in crime!”

you didn’t think yours and megumi’s eyes could roll back any further.

********************************

you had the spent the rest of the morning making breakfast with tsumiki while satoru and megumi watched tv on the couch enjoying the donuts and coffee.

it was an easygoing day in the gojo/(l/n) household, and surprisingly, satoru was okay with that. he could hear your saccharine voice guiding tsumiki in the kitchen on how to dip the toast in the egg mixture. he loved hearing you speak to the kids because your tone was always gentle and loving.

he inhaled the scent of cinnamon from the french toast and the sweet maple syrup that was sifting through the kitchen into the living room’s open layout.

it was days like today where he wondered if he could always have this—a family to come home to, a lover as beautiful and caring as you, children as intelligent and loving as tsumiki and megumi, and a home to call a safe haven from the horrid curses outside of these four walls. he was truly happy, as a matter of fact, he was in a blissed out state. the smirk on his face wouldn’t fade even if you tried scolding him for leaving his socks around the house later.

“you look pleased with yourself,” you teased satoru at breakfast.

he cut into his french toast as the kids awaited a witty remark from him.

“i am pleased,” he laughed, a mouthful of food. “—and i’m just happy.”

his cerulean blue eyes looking into your emerald greens with adoration.

“happy father's day, satoru. i love you and i wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else." you said softly.

satoru grinned at you and the kids. he reached out his hand to squeeze yours. leaning in for a kiss on your lips that tasted like maple syrup.

"gross, can you guys not do that here? we're trying to eat." megumi complained, disgusted with his guardians for making out in front of him at breakfast.

tsumiki just smiled and laughed it off. she felt content knowing that her guardians loved each other. you and satoru made sure that tsumiki and megumi grew up in a home full of love.

"just for that, megumi, i'm doing it again." satoru deadpanned the blue-haired child. he turned back to you and kissed you with a little more passion as you smacked his arm with the back of your hand, pushing him away from you.

"stop it... save that for later." you laughed while your adopted child gagged.

"you got it, boss." satoru winked at you.

EXTRA:

“so, what did you say about saving my kisses for later?”

satoru turned to face you. you started to laugh as he moved closer to you in bed, his body hovering over you. he pinned you down with his arms. you moved his arms and reached out to lock yours around his shoulders as you looked at him with a loving gaze.

“just because it’s father’s day, you think you can get away with anything, don’t you?” you teased him, booping him on the nose with your index finger.

“even if it wasn’t father’s day, i can always get away with giving my beautiful girlfriend kisses.” satoru mumbled into your neck, trailing kisses up your cheek, to your forehead, and then to your lips.

“satoru, stop, that tickles!” you shrieked, giggling loudly.

“nope, not stopping—”

a knock at your bedroom door interrupted the assault of kisses he was about to commit to your face.

“go get the door!” you pushed satoru off the bed as he caught his own fall swiftly. he stumbled to the bedroom door and grinned at you as you sat up in your bed.

“hey kiddos, what’s wrong?” satoru asked his two adopted children as he scratched the back of his head. they looked antsy.

“we couldn’t sleep.” tsumiki said with a sad face, “can we sleep with you and (y/n)?”

“i had a bad dream too.” megumi added.

“oh, well, tonight me and (y/n) were supposed to…” satoru trailed off, “damn it...”

satoru turned to look back at you with disappointment in his face, but you smiled at him and nodded. giving him the signal to forget about having a night together and to let the kids come into the room.

the white-haired sorcerer gave the two children the stink eye and muttered, “okay, you two owe me though.”

he opened the door to the master bedroom and tsumiki and megumi ran to the king sized bed, jumping into their spots while laughing.

you tucked the smiling children in next to you. you and satoru always slept on the edges of the bed while megumi and tsumiki slept in the middle. it was a tight fit now that the kids were older and bigger, but you both knew they would soon grow out of this phase.

“happy father’s day, sensei!” tsumiki chirped.

“yeah, happy father’s day, loser.” megumi chimed in.

“oh, you two soooo did this on purpose.” satoru grumbled.

the last thing you heard before you fell asleep was the laughter of your tiny unconventional family and satoru complaining dramatically about how he never gets any love.

© 2023 ASDFGHJKLMALS — ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PLEASE DO NOT COPY, TRANSLATE, OR REPOST MY WORK.

DIVIDERS PROVIDED BY @/ANLIAN-AISHANG

[jals-stuff]

Hihi! First of all I LOVE your writing and thank you for feeding us hungry Orter fans with your work (I have been STRAVING for his fic) so if you don't mind, I have a little request! So I imagine in a what if Orter has a crush on someone (aka us and ofc we gotta like the sandman back) who's always on a dangerous mission due to how strong they are who is ALSO his partner time to time and one day, they just went into a coma from overusing their magic. MAYBE when they woke up, the two will confess to each other or?? Idk I will let you cook 🧑‍🍳

(Sorry if my wording is a little confusing!)

good day/evening anon! your wording is just fine no worries

first of all, thank you SO much, this brightened my day by a lot, you have absolutely no clue what kind of serotonin torrent you have unleashed. I am glad at least some people like my writings, that's why I'm doing it.

I don't think this is 100% close to what you described, but I hope you'll like it regardless-

Should be gn!reader if I didn't mess it up...

warnings: SLIGHT SPOILIES, bit dark, mentions of death, bit of despair... not proofread I am so sorry.

word count: 2.8k

note: I apologise for any dumb mistakes because I physically cannot proofread myself at 6am but if I don't post it now I won't do it ever. please don't hate me anon

What if...

As much as he hates to admit it (to himself, of course), Orter had grown a little bit too fond of you. The way you greet him whenever you come back from a mission, or the way you always make sure to respect the rules and act logically while also protecting everyone around you when the two of you would go on missions together. 

The way you whine when your legs are tired after walking long distances, the way you always bring him a little something to eat when you know it’s going to be a long trip. You’ve always been good to everyone, much opposed to the cold man; but it wasn’t the only difference between the two of you.

Everyone has their own logic and, as much as you respected your own, his was quite different. While you wanted to take every single possibility into consideration, he preferred not to overload his mind with useless statistics and just think of a solution when the time comes.

However, a lot of things aren’t affected by logic, such as feelings, and how could the dense sandman guess that you were absolutely enamoured with him? These were variables he would’ve never imagined, even though he was painfully into you as well. 

Of course, he was your top priority, and protecting him from harm even though he was a rather powerful mage was of the utmost importance. He should’ve known that when the two of you recklessly charged into enemy territory in an attempt to weaken the devil’s quintuplets before they would be on the move.

Orter was a man of many things, but “what if''s were not part of his usual reasoning, and that was the biggest mistake of his life. However he only realised it too late when you had to break your own limits to make sure he’d go back safely. It was time to retreat, but the two of you had been completely cornered. 

Having a dormant god inside of your wand had many benefits, but Psyche was not an entity to be trifled with. The Soul Goddess would, each time you requested even a fraction of her power, take a huge toll on your stamina and sanity, and this time it was more than critical.

You were already exhausted from using so much of your mana, and now you were completely surrounded by Innocent Zero's sons. Unleashing your Psyche Inclination and ordering all of the quintuplets to sleep immediately surpassed your own boundaries.

You knew what would happen if you pushed beyond your limits with your personal magic, but it was completely worth it. After all, what was the point of living anymore if the only person you loved was dead? 

All of them were immensely powerful, and neutralising such strong enemies was not a meagre task. As soon as the last one fell to the ground in blissful slumber, you felt something rupture inside of you; like a used rope that suddenly lets go, your breath hitched and you collapsed to the floor. 

It was all pitch black, and your consciousness kept you company just long enough to let you hear Orter’s panicked voice calling out for you. Yet somehow, despite the fact that you were falling into the pitch-black abyss, you felt relieved that he, above everything and everyone, was safe.

But anything beyond the confines of your darkened mind was unknown to you and despite your multiple attempts to open your eyes and wake up, everything went silent.

“No, no no…”

Had you been awake, you would’ve been astonished at how Orter had never been that distressed before, at least not in front of you. The loss of his dear friend Alex Elliot had taught him a painful lesson not to get attached to anyone and to simply stick to the rules, but he had let himself fall for you, and now he was experiencing the trauma once more.

“Please, no… not them…” 

Not only were you unconscious, you had done this to yourself for his sake. He was aware of that fact; had you not decided to literally put yourself through such an ordeal, the two of you would be dead already.

But unlike his deceased junior, your heart was still beating and there was still time to save you. He had never run so fast in his entire life, carrying you carefully in his arms to bring you back to the Bureau’s infirmary, laying you down as gently as he could as the nurses rushed to assess your state.

You weren’t hurt, so to say, but the abusive usage of your personal magic had plunged you into a coma, and it was unsure if you would ever wake up from it. 

It looked like you were peacefully asleep, maybe dreaming of a better place you would possibly join soon; unmoving and slowly breathing, as if nothing had happened. Orter knew you could possibly open your eyes anytime, and it kept him distracted every time he would fill his paperwork or go on a mission.

Whenever he had free time, he would rush to the infirmary to check on you, make sure you’re still breathing, or even talk to you. It could help you come back to your senses, or so the nurses said, and as ridiculous as he felt when he talked to your inert body, he would’ve done anything in his power to bring you back, as slim as the chances were.

But then it suddenly hit him. What could he possibly tell you if you ever woke up? He would for sure apologise, but other than that? How could he face you after you had quite literally sacrificed yourself for him? He wasn’t even sure he could look into your eyes again.

Did you resent him for this?

Would you forgive his recklessness?

Would you give him this warm smile he had gotten so used to?

And would it be time for him to finally admit his feelings? You were right here, in front of him, yet you weren’t there. He missed you so dearly, the sound of your voice, the shit eating grin you’d give him whenever he was wrong and you were right, the way you’d laugh at his disgruntled expression afterwards…

All of these interactions he thought annoyed him were now severely missed and he would’ve given anything to even just see the colour of your eyes one more time. 

And see he didn’t, for what seemed to be an eternity. Everyday, when he’d come to visit you, a small part of him hoped your eyes would be open and you’d greet him the way you always did, but every time, he was met with your inanimate form, comfortably laid in the infirmary bed. 

His hope of hearing your voice ever again gradually vanished with every one-sided conversation he had with your unconscious figure, swallowing down his emotions with every word he said. He was slowly accepting the fact that you might just never open your eyes again.

The more this thought settled into his mind, the more desperate he grew, and suddenly, his usual mindset faded away and his brain filled with “what if”s. 

What if he had taken some time to listen to your suggestions, what if he had thought of a plan B like you always had? What if he had ever told you about his feelings, what if you loved him back? What if you didn't? What if you never woke up?

Dread took over on his other emotions and suddenly, it wasn’t hope that drove him to visit you everyday; it was despair. What if you never opened your eyes again? How could he ever live with your presence replaced by this horrifying feeling of guilt for letting you die in his place? 

You were surely powerful enough that you could’ve ran away on your own, and left him behind if needed; it would’ve been the logical, reasonable thing to do. But the heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of. Of course, he should’ve known that you would never leave him behind, but precisely because it was completely illogical, it never occurred to him that you would willingly let yourself be hurt if he had a chance to make it out alive.

Now he was sitting at your bedside and kept hoping you’d wake up, just open your eyes and talk to him, greet him and say everything was going to be fine, just the way it was before… it seemed like he hadn’t heard your voice in an eternity, and it was weighing on him the whole time. Like a burden he would have to carry forever if you didn’t wake up from this coma you had put yourself into for his own sake.

His eyes never left your figure as he spoke to you kindly, as if you were still awake. Of course, occasional visitors would look at him like he was a lunatic, talking to someone who was obviously not here to answer, but it didn’t matter to him anymore.

Orter was ready to abandon his image for your sake, sometimes even skipping work and breaking his own principles so he could hold your hand for another minute before going on yet another perilous mission. 

The thought of you dying peacefully in your sleep haunted his mind every single day, and his sorrow was great enough that, more than once, he did consider exhausting himself enough so he would be defenceless enough for an enemy to just take him out of his misery.

For weeks, months, his mind was plagued with the thought of you leaving him forever, of not being able to tell you about these feelings he thought were completely unnecessary. Shame and rejection didn’t even matter to him anymore and he just longed for the day you’d wake up and even just look at him. 

He was on a mission, the day he heard that one of your fingers had merely twitched. Breaking protocol was far from his usual behaviour, but he needed to see you. That is how he accidentally drowned an entire area in sand, catching both enemies and harmless monsters in his Antlion’s Nest. 

The rules didn’t matter to him anymore, it was a physical need to see if you were okay and to maybe, just maybe hear your voice. 

However, he walked in on something completely different. Many of the other Divine Visionaries were gathered around you in religious silence, observing you. He had to push through the crowd and his heart stopped for a second when he saw you. 

You were sitting up in your bed, slightly confused as to why everyone was staring like this. For you, mere seconds had passed but in reality it had been literal months. As your eyes travelled amongst the crowd, you saw Orter, who was also staring at you in utter disbelief. 

The infirmary was completely silent, and no one was moving, as if time had suddenly stopped. Ryoh threw a glance at the others and they just silently left. Now it was just you and Orter, looking at each other in both confusion and shock. He stumbled towards the chair that was resting near your bed and he slowly took a seat.

“Well… you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Upon hearing your voice, he let out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding. It was like all of his burdens were suddenly lifted off his shoulders and his head and arms simply collapsed against the mattress, much to your confusion. You raised your hand to reach for his hair and upon seeing how your nails had grown so much, you realised something probably happened.

“It’s been months! I thought you’d never wake up! I thought I wouldn’t hear your voice ever again. Why on Earth would you do such a thing? No, no... it was all my fault. I'm sorry, (Y/N), I'm so, so sorry.” 

He sounded angry, but he really wasn’t. You started connecting the dots and it took you a bit of time to understand that you had been unconscious for the past few months, worrying the poor sandman to death, though right now it didn’t matter at all. 

“I’m glad you’re alive, Orter.”

Although you had been unconscious for literal months, seeing the Desert Cane unharmed was such a huge relief for you. However, not everything was swell inside his mind. He still felt extremely guilty that you nearly died for him, and nothing could possibly pay back this humongous debt he thought he owed you. 

But seeing his relieved expression when he looked at you was enough of a payback. He had watched you wither away for months and now you were finally back to the world of the living, eyes focused on him and him only. 

You tried to stand up but as soon as your arms attempted to lift your form, they gave out and you started losing balance. Orter immediately stood up from his chair to catch you, wrapping his arms around your now weak body to support you, but even after you were back to your spot, he wouldn’t let go. He simply sat on your bed next to you, not letting go. 

Almost out of instinct, you rested your head on his shoulder and let out a long sigh, your arms raising up slightly.

“Please, just rest, you must be really exhausted.”

But his words just didn’t reach you, you needed this. After a while and a lot of effort, you managed to rest these weak arms of yours against his shoulders, on the sides of his neck, and he fell silent. You had no strength at all but he could feel you use all of your willpower to embrace him, and you also seemed like you wouldn’t let go.

He seemed fine with it as he slightly nuzzled your neck and closed his eyes, finally relaxing a little after this emotional rollercoaster. It felt so comfortable to finally be in his arms after such a long time spent longing for him, as if you were finally where you belonged. 

“I missed you.” Orter said quietly, close to your ear. His arms tightened around and you would've probably cried hadn't you been so exhausted. Your words were stuck in your throat and you could only nod and hum softly, your voice cutting inside your throat. 

His arms tightened around you further, holding you into a comforting hug, one of his hands gently going through your hair and keeping your head close to him. You exhaled again, wanting nothing more than to keep holding him. 

“Just don't let go. Please.”

Your voice was muffled by his embrace but you were close enough to his ear for him to understand your words, and you could've sworn you heard his breath hitch for a second as his arms tightened even harder around you.

“I won't.” He sighs into your neck, comfortably seated on the side of your bed, and you wanted nothing more than to lay back down and have him hold you, but you were still in the infirmary and it would've been very problematic to be seen like this.

“I won't, ever. I can't.” He held you even closer now, like he was trying to merge with you, your chest and his pressed against each other as if to share your heartbeats.

Although you had never seen Orter being this close with anyone before, it all felt very natural. Just like the way his hand slid from your hair to your cheek, like the way he moved away from you slowly, his usually cold gaze now soft and filled with something you weren't quite used to.

Just like the way he couldn't take it any longer and gave in to the physical urge to softly press his lips to yours. You didn't pull away, of course; the moment too precious to let surprise ruin it. 

You returned the kiss, your eyes now closed to take in the pleasant, wholesome warmth his embrace brought to you, after you'd been so cold for literal months. 

As nothing lasts forever, your lips and his slowly separated, but his eyes were now on yours again. 

“I won't let you fall again, (Y/N), I promise.”

You couldn't help but give a soft chuckle and his expression turned slightly puzzled. Of course, you two didn't share the same braincells.

“I've already fallen too hard.” You breathed out.

His eyes widened for a second before he regained his composure and brushed a few hairs away from your face to place them behind your ear.

“Then I guess we’re both down now.” he finally admitted, his expression just a little softer and his lips almost curved into a smile. 

You were suddenly thankful for Orter holding you so close, lest your heart would've jumped out of your chest. 

“I love you, just… in case it wasn't clear enough.” He awkwardly added, and you thought it was just adorable. Another chuckle escaped you with a nod.

“I know. I love you too.”

He hummed softly and sighed deeply in relief. 

That was one “what if” finally satisfied, and probably the first of a long list.

[heavyhitterheaux]

Stanley or Bust

First Lady of Private Garden Blurb

AN: Stanley cups in the nursing world is a VERY big deal lol I saw where Latto got one so I had to write something about it lol

Synopsis: You ask Jack to add to your collection of Stanley cups for Valentine's Day

Pairing: Husband!Jack Harlow x Wife!Reader

Requested by: @a-moment-captured 😘💕

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

Since you had gotten pregnant with your twins, your latest obsession had been Stanley cups and you were excited because Target was releasing a pink and white one along with a red one for Valentine's day at the location closest to you.

The doors would open at six in the morning on February 13th and you had a feeling that Jack was not going to allow you to stand in line and wait for the store to open and would have a fit if he found out you went and did it anyway after he told you no.

So, instead you were going to go ask him to get it for you. 

You hadn’t been able to sleep and made your way downstairs at around four in the morning and decided to start thinking about what you were going to cook for the day when you got the bright idea of organizing your Stanley cups that were placed in the cabinet.

Trying to reach the top shelf while standing on your toes, you felt Jack reach from behind you and get your pink and gray one down for you as he kissed the top of your head.

“My very pregnant wife is supposed to be sleeping. So what are you doing up?” He asked as you filled your cup with ice water knowing that you were going to end up peeing every five minutes.

“I was restless so I decided to get up.” You responded while shrugging before taking a sip of your water.

“Anything I can do to help make this last month and a half of you being pregnant more bearable?”

“Yes, actually now that you mention it.”

“Name it, baby.”

“Can you buy me another Stanley cup?” You asked as you batted your eyelashes at him and all he did was look at you.

“Baby girl, no. You have seven. You can only drink out of one at a time so I don't get the obsession.”

“But there's an exclusive one being released for Valentine's day at Target! The doors open at 6 am and I know if I stood in line you were going to yell at me.”

“You damn right because you have no business being on your feet for long periods of time anyway!”

“So, you’ll go and get it for me?” You excitedly asked while Jack was looking at you as if you had lost your mind.

“I am not standing in the damn cold at 6am for a cup!”

“But it's not just any cup! It's a STANLEY.”

“Baby, absolutely NOT. You have enough cups.”

“But I need the pink and white one with hearts!” You responded as you crossed your arms and began to pout.

All Jack did was sigh as he saw the pout on your face, but he wasn't budging.

“No. Final answer.”

It was February 14th and you woke up to your room being filled with pink and red balloons as you smiled to yourself thinking that Jack probably didn't get any sleep in order to do this for you.

Just then he came into the room with a gift bag in his hands and you immediately stretched your arms out wanting a hug from him.

“Happy Valentine's Day my sweet baby girl.” He said before giving you several kisses as he eagerly hugged you back.

“Happy Valentine's Day, smush. What's in the bag?”

“There's more gifts throughout the day, but this is the first one.” He handed it to you and you reached your hand in to pull out the two exclusive Stanley cups. You had only told him you wanted the pink and white one but he got you the red one too.

You instantly squealed and grabbed him to pull him into a hug and kiss him all over his face.

“BABY! Thank you, thank you!”

“My dick froze waiting in line to get them for you and I still don't think I can feel my fingers. I don't even know if my balls are attached to my body anymore.” All you did was roll your eyes over how dramatic he was being.

“Don't worry, your wife has plenty of time to warm you right back up.” You said while leaning over to kiss him.

“You better because I got the last ones.”

Jack just wasn't going to mention the 100 dollar bill he slipped to one of the Target employees to make sure that he got two for his wife.

And also wasn't going to mention that he only stood outside for ten minutes. 

FL Blurbs Taglist

@cmalass

@a-moment-captured

@alinaharlow

@harlowcomehome

@neon-lights-and-glitter

@hoodharlow

@nattinatalia

[togetherhearted]

Could I request Buddha, Qin and Nikola with a s/o that says/asks the most out of pocket things ever? the two of them can just be sitting quietly and she'll ask something that is so random they just have to look at her for a few seconds, I don't why I just thought about this, it's 6AM rn and I just woke up

Oh dear me..thanks for waiting. It's been hard to went back on track for writing. I hope it is fine!![also sorry Edison fans,aka me as well]

BUDDHA/QIN AND NIKOLA'S S/O OUT OF POCKET MOMENT

-Do you think candies have feelings?- Buddha stopped chewing on his gum as he heard your question. Your eyes were fixated on the candies in your palm. -Do I?- -I don't know- You put them back in the bag -Sometimes I wonder if we're not the only one feeling things- -Uh- The god went back on enjoying his sweets, popping another candy in his mouth with a satisfied crunch noise. -I never thought of that...-He admitted while putting his arms behind his back -Doesn't happen everyday to have asked this- You nodded. -Maybe they do, but it's not stopping me from enjoying them~ They must have a nice personality though, if they're so sweet-

Qin crawled under the luxurious covers of the bed. His arms sneaked behind you, pulling your body closer to his. He sighed in delight. -Tired?- You let him nuzzle his face in your neck. -Very much so. I think I'll sleep immediately- You gave a slight nod, closing your eyes as well. -Qin...do you think rocks are forbidden candies?- Qin shot his eyes open, rubbing them in confusion. -Excuse me?- -Yeah...like, pretty and shiny rocks. Maybe the coloured ones have different flavours. Oh.what about the gems- -Please...go to sleep...-

I think Edison's hair is actually a wig..- Nikola turned his head to you. He lifted his goggles, blinking in confusion. -Pardon?- -Yeah, Edison's hair.No way you can style them that way with your real hair- Nikola put down whatever device he was working on and sat. He tapped his index on his chin, pondering your thoughts. -I could ask him...- -Please do- Later that day Nikola crossed paths with the other inventor;after a quick nod exchange Nikola stopped the man on his tracks. -Say Edison- He turned his head to him with a dashing smile- Is that a wig?- Edison blinked a few times before taking a deep breath -EXCUSE ME?!-

[kaleldobrev]

Lookin’ at the Stars

Pairing: Beau Arlen x Mom!Reader

Summary: Beau takes you and your daughter out on a special family date to look at the night sky

Original Prompt: Requested by @deansbbyx | I don’t think Beau Arlen gets a lot of love so I was thinkin som fluffy family fic with him and reader

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: A whole lot of fluff

Authors Note: So this is my first time writing for Beau and I hope I was able to do his character justice! | Thanks to my lovely friend @thatonewriter15 for beta reading this for me | I hope this came out just as fluffy as you were hoping my friend! | If you liked this, don’t forget to like & reblog. I really appreciate it! Feedback is always welcome ♡

You woke up groaning to the sound of your alarm. 6am on the dot. For as long as you could remember you’ve never been a morning person; but that quickly changed once you had Amelia — your daughter who, despite being a pain in your side sometimes and thinks she’s attached to your hip, is honestly one of the best things that’s ever happened to you.

Once you had her, you had to become a morning person much to your dismay. In the beginning it was hard as prior to having her you never got up before 9am as you worked afternoon shifts — there was simply no reason to get up at 6 or 7am. But once the two of you developed a routine it became easier; the two of you working as teammates.

But today, for some reason, it felt even harder for you to get up. You felt drained, your eyes were still heavy, all you wanted more than anything was to get back to sleep. Your alarm went off again and you tried your hardest not to throw your phone across the room. With another groan, you shut off your alarm and got out of bed slowly, the hardwood flooring of your apartment felt cold against your feet. As soon as your feet touched the wood there was a knock on the door. Another groan left your lips; Amelia jumped out of bed and started running down the hall.

“Don’t worry mommy I got the door!” She beamed, her little feet smacking against the wood.

“Mel, let mom get the door okay?” You said, rushing out your bedroom door.

“But what if it’s —”

“It’s not him Sweetheart. He doesn’t come over this early you know that.” You said, and her face dropped. “Don’t be sad Sweetie. I know you want to see him, I want to too. But we’re probably not going to see him until later when he’s done with work.”

“At the Sheriffs office!” Amelia said, happy with herself that she remembered.

“Yes, at the Sheriffs office.” You smiled, slightly praising her.

Another knock came at the door and there was a part of you that was getting a little mad at the persistentness. It was 6 in the morning — who could possibly be coming at this hour? “Special delivery!” You knew that voice from anywhere, and it a matter of seconds that annoyance you had melted away.

Amelia looked at you, hands on her hips. “Told you it was your boyfriend!” She said, sticking her tongue out at you. You stuck your tongue out at her back, and she couldn’t help but giggle. Once opening the door you didn’t even have a chance to greet your boyfriend before Amelia was running past you to get to him. “Beau!” She called, and without warning jumped into his arms.

Not fully prepared for her to do that, the bag of what you assumed to be food almost fell out of his hands as he wrapped his arms around her, making sure she didn’t fall out of his arms. “Hey Kiddo,” he said, his voice in a similar joyful tone as hers was in. “How we doin’ this mornin’?” He asked, his accent a little bit more prominent than usual.

Amelia looked at him, her arms around his neck. “Good now that you’re here!” She beamed — you couldn’t help but agree with her answer.

Beau looked at you and smiled, and you couldn’t help but look at the two of them; happy that he had taken an instant liking to Amelia (and vice versa). “How about you darlin’?”

“You know I’m always happy to see you.” You grinned.

“You better be. Because I come bearing gifts.” He stated holding up a white paper bag.

“If that gift is food you are more than welcome to come inside.” You teased. “Let me take that since you’re too busy with your favorite.” You said, gently tickling your daughter in her side as she wriggled.

“Mom! Stop!” She laughed.

“Okay, okay.” You said kissing her on the cheek. “And one for you,” you said as you gave him a quick peck.

“Gross!” Amelia said.

“So, what brings you here so early? You never come this early.” You said, taking a sip of your orange juice.

“I uh, I took the day off actually.” He said, and you couldn’t help but look at him with disbelief.

“You? You took the day off?” You asked. “You never do that.”

“Yeah well, first time for everything.” He said. “Jenny insisted.”

“Ah.” Was all you said before taking a giant bite out of your breakfast wrap.

“I like her. She’s always so nice to me. And her hair is really pretty.” Amelia chimed in, mouth full of waffles. “Mommy when are you going to hang out with her again?”

“Probably this weekend Sweetheart. But we have to see, you know how busy she can be.” You stated; Amelia’s face dropped. “But I’m sure as soon as I mention you she’ll try and rush over.” You winked, causing her to smile. “You know how much she adores you.”

“Oh she sure does.” Beau let out a small chuckle. “I was thinking, you two don’t have any plans today right? Well, besides school for this one.”

“Not that I can think of. Why? What did you have in mind?” You asked curious.

“I was thinking, if you two are up for it, we could find a nice empty field somewhere, take some chairs, make some food, make a fire, watch the night sky.” He said, his voice sounding a tad nervous. It almost sounded more nervous than it did when he initially asked you out on your first date a few months ago.

“So camping without the camping?” You clarified.

“Essentially yes.” He said. “Think of it as a…family date night.”

“Family date night?” You smiled, loving the sound of that.

“That sounds like fun!” Amelia almost yelled. The only reason it didn’t come out as a yell was because her mouth was still full of waffles.

“What she said.” You said pointing to Amelia.

“Okay mommy how do I look?” Your daughter asked as she did a small spin to showcase her outfit. Like usual, she decided that she wanted to wear something sparkly for the occasion as she believed wearing something with sparkles was the epitome of fashion — reasons why she somehow convinced you to wear something sparkly on your first date with Beau, thankfully he found it cute.

“As cute as always Sweetie.” You said. “How about me?” You too did a similar type of spin as her as you showcased your outfit. It wasn’t sparkling (much to your daughters dismay), but you thought it matched her outfit well.

“You look beautiful mommy!” She said, side hugging you.

“Thanks Bean.” You said kissing her on the top of the head. “Now, I need you to make me a promise tonight okay?” You began as you kneeled in front of her, taking her hands in yours.

“No promises but I can try.” She grinned — she was becoming more and more like you each day.

You let out a small laugh. “I appreciate the honesty.” You smiled. “But, it’s gonna be a little chilly tonight so I need you to keep the jacket on okay?”

“But won’t the fire keep us warm?” She asked.

“Yes, but, we still need to keep our jackets on. You know why? Because it’ll keep us even extra warm.” You smiled.

“Okay.” Amelia said, a little disappointed.

“Can we shake on it?” You asked, now holding out your hand for her to shake.

“It’s a promise.” The two of you said in unison as you shook hands.

The drive to the field went like a blur but it was filled with song after song of you and Amelia singing to the radio as Beau chimed in during random verses. And like Amelia fashion, she found it the funniest thing whenever Beau would chime in, as he wouldn’t be as serious about getting the lyrics right like you and her tried to do.

As soon as Beau parked, Amelia went straight to the door handle trying to open the door. “Open the door! Open the door!” Her patience running thin.

“Alright alright. Don’t worry it’s not a race.” Beau said, his voice calm.

“Sorry sorry. I’m just excited.” Amelia said as she removed her hand from the door handle.

As you were about to speak to reassure her that she didn’t need to apologize Beau did it for you. “No need to apologize Bean. I’m glad you’re excited.” He leaned in. “Wanna know a secret?”

“Yes.” She leaned in too, whispering.

“I’m excited too.” He smiled, whispering back. “Alright, I’ll open the door in five. Want to give me a countdown?”

Amelia kicked her feet with excitement. “Yes! One…two…three…four…five!” As soon as your daughter said five, Beau unlocked the doors and Amelia — without hesitation, opened the door and jumped out of the car.

As you watched her get out of the car and run into the empty field you pulled into, you couldn’t help but watch her as she ran around in circles occupying herself. Turning to Beau you smiled. “Thanks for this.” You said, placing your hand on his cheek.

“No need to thank me. I wanted to do this.” He reassured you, placing his hand on your thigh.

“I know but…I really do mean it. I really appreciate you doing this for Amelia…for me.”

“I’d do anything for both of you. You know that.” He gave your thigh a squeeze.

“I love you.” You said, slightly whispering.

“Love you too.” He said, leaning in and kissing you. “Come on, let’s go get her before she burns the field down.”

You grinned. “You know she would if she could.”

“Well, I don’t plan on making any arrests tonight. Well…not until later tonight.” He winked. “And with…permission of course ma’am.”

“Permission granted.” You winked back, the two of you kissing again.

“Okay so I brought your second favorite thing besides waffles.” Beau began as he started reaching into a bag next to him. As he grabbed the bag he pointed at Amelia. “No peaking.”

“No peaking!” She repeated back shutting her eyes and placing her hands over them.

“Are you peaking?” He asked her and then looked over at you.

“She keeps her word.” You said rubbing your hands together over the fire.

“Alright. I trust you.” He said. “Quick, how many fingers am I holding up?” He asked, not even putting any of his fingers up.

“Beau!” Amelia couldn’t help but let out the biggest giggle. It was the type of giggle you hadn’t heard her have in such a long time — and that was something that genuinely made you smile.

“Alright alright.” He said. “Open your eyes.” As her eyes opened he held the bag of marshmallows in his hand and her eyes light up like Christmas tree lights.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” She exclaimed getting up from her chair and running toward Beau with her hands out. Before she asked her next question she looked over at you, slight puppy dog eyes. “Mommy can I have one now?”

You couldn’t help but smile. “Ask Beau Sweetheart.”

She turned to him, her hands still out. “May I have a marshmallow please?”

“Well, you did say please.” He said opening the bag. “Just one, because we’re going to make s’mores in a few.” He placed a marshmallow in her hand, her face continued to beam with joy.

“Thank you!” She said placing the entire marshmallow in her mouth.

“You want one?” He asked, a marshmallow between his pointer finger and thumb looking at you.

“Sure. What will it cost me?” You asked, getting up from your own chair and walking toward him.

“Hmmm,” he was deep in thought. “Kiss me?”

“I can do that.” You leaned down, your hands on either side of his face as you kissed him.

“Ewwww.” You heard Amelia say from a few feet away. “Adults are gross.” She said, scrunching her face in disgust.

The two of you pulled away and you took the marshmallow from his hands. “Sorry Mel, we’ll be more careful.” Beau said, giving you a look of amusement.

As the night went on, things started to wind down and it was finally getting to one of your favorite parts of the night: looking up at the night sky. Although it was something the three of you were doing a majority of the night between the laughing, story telling, and food eating, this was the first time the three of you weren’t doing anything but looking up at the sky.

“You know, I’ve lived here all my life and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of looking at the sky.” You said, Beau’s arm around you now as Amelia made herself comfortable lying on a combination of not only your lap but Beau’s.

“It really is beautiful,” he agreed. “You know, as much as I love Texas, I’ll give Montana this, it does have some beautiful views.” He said looking at you as he said it.

You felt yourself blush at his compliment. “The views have definitely gotten better since you came to town.”

“Are you two going to kiss now?” Amelia said, looking up at the both of you.

“We could but, you do think it’s gross.” Beau commented.

“I’ll allow it.” Amelia said.

Beau and you exchanged looks. “You sure Bean?” You asked.

“I’m sure mommy. I’ll even close my eyes.” She said covering her eyes with her hands. “Whenever you’re ready.”

You and Beau let out small laughs. “With the permission of Amelia, can I kiss you darlin’?” He asked slightly leaning in.

“Yes you may.” You said, leaning in as well.

“Are you two kissing?” Amelia asked her eyes still closed. “Cause it doesn’t sound like it.”

Beau and you looked at Amelia, both of you holding back a laugh. “Come ‘ere.” You said, fully leaning in now and kissing him.

Tag List: @jackles010378 @syrma-sensei @k-slla @deansbbyx @justletmereadfanfic If you'd like to be added to a tag list, let me know!

[judysxnd]

I would like to request an imagine where pedro is filming for the last of us and you stay with him on set and you cuddle in between takes.

I am so slowwwww!! I want to write so bad but it’s really hard!! I don’t have the right context, I don’t have a lot of time to myself, ugh! But I’m getting there, I am, but damn 😫

————————————————————���—————

Pedro has been filming the last of us for more than a month now. Which means that you haven’t seen him for almost two months now. They have been moving a lot to have the most realistic set. With that said, Pedro didn’t have much time to even call you. You both miss each other and it’s getting harder and harder each day. He is so far away that even on the weekend he cannot come home.

You wanted to join him, but work has been hectic and you’ve never been more busy. You were exhausted but kind of liked it. You didn’t have that much time to yourself, so you didn’t have time to really be alone and overthink. But even just the nights have been extremely rough. You never thought you would be the one becoming dependent on someone to have a good night of sleep, but here you are.

You’ve gotten so sleep deprived and stressed out with work that you couldn’t take it anymore. You miss Pedro too much, texting doesn’t cut it, so you decided to take a week off. On a such short period of time you were scared that you wouldn’t get a week, but your boss was very nice since you always work your ass off. You’ve talked with Pedro about it, and he has never been that much excited. You thought about surprising him, maybe talk to Bella and plan this together, but you were too exhausted. It demanded too much stuff to think about, so you gave up.

You packed on Sunday morning, and left in the afternoon. Pedro warned you about the weather in Canada, so you packed accordingly (even if you knew you wouldn’t do much between work and home). You arrived late in the afternoon, Pedro waited for you outside the airport. Once you saw him, your tiredness left away, and you ran in his arms.

“Hi” you said, relieved

“Hola cariño” he said, kissing your neck. You hugged for a few minutes, not wanting to let go of each other.

“I’ve missed you, like, so much” Pedro chuckled

“You can’t even imagine how I miss you too” he answered. Your eyes were closed, smelling him after a long time, like it’s been longer than just one month. Pedro was doing the same thing, his arms and hands around your waist, missing how good you felt in his arms.

You finally decided to move, the cold starting to hit too much. Pedro drove to his hotel. Barely in the room, you both went straight in bed, and in just a few minutes, fell asleep as you were cuddling. It’s Pedro’s alarm, at 6am that woke you up.

Pedro didn’t want to get up, his arms were holding you tight, kissing your neck and shoulders. He eventually got up, got ready and left, not forgetting to kiss you all over your body before leaving. As for you, you were a little bit jet lagged, not really, but when you go on a flight it always messes you a little so, you obviously didn’t get back to sleep.

When you got out of the room, you were met with a friend who was working with Pedro. He is a special effect makeup artist and was leaving to go on set. You decided to go with him, so that you could know how to go there, to see Pedro when he wasn’t filming. When you arrived, they were on a break from filming. Your friend had to go to the makeup trailer, and you joined Pedro, Bella and the rest of the crew. Pedro introduced you to everyone.

“If you excuse us, I have to show something to Y/n” Pedro said, taking your hand and leaving the group. You walked towards a trailer, and followed Pedro inside.

“What did you want to show me?” Pedro turned around to face you, and frowned.

“Nothing” he said looking around. You smiled.

“Please tell me this is not for what I think it is” Pedro laughed

“I didn’t even think that much further”

“So what were you thinking about?”

“Just cuddling” you laughed “it’s cold outside and I missed you. A lot.”

“Fair enough”

“But now that you suggested that..” he smirked

“Don’t even think about it” you playfully hit him, moving towards the couch

“You’re the one who thought about it” Pedro slowly followed you

“Because I thought you did!” you let your body fell on the couch, laughing

“But we will though” Pedro said as he sat next to you

“No” you stared at each other, a sexual tension rising

“We will see” he said, opening his arms, showing you to lay on him. “But for now cuddling is good for me” you smiled as you both adjusted yourselves to be in a good position.

“Let’s leave the rest for the hotel, it’s too risky here”

“Like it stopped us before! You didn’t say that the night we were-”

“I know!” You cut him off. You both laughed. You naturally both stopped talking, just resting in each other’s arms.

A few minutes later, some came to tell Pedro to come back on set. You decided to follow him, to watch him a little on set. You always loved watching him work. He is so into it, very focused, very passionate. There are not enough words to describe how a great actor he is. It is always impressive to see everything happen in front of you.

Each break from filming Pedro and you were cuddling, either in his trailer, or on set if it was doable. You know for sure that Bella took a few pics, they didn’t hesitate to make fun of you two, sending the pics to the both of you, and casually one on theirs Instagram stories.

It kept going on like that for the week. During the morning you were there with him, cuddling every time you could, during the afternoon you were sometimes walking around the city, discovering the country, but always came back to set to stay as much as you could with Pedro.

Unfortunately, the week ended, too quickly. Leaving Pedro again was extremely hard, but you both made sure to be closer while away (if it makes sense). And that’s what happened. You called each other a lot more, you tried to come every time you could, likewise for Pedro.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #321

I thought that today, I would be heading out at around 9am to Great Barrington to pick up J. The flight club plane was due for its annual inspection, and that's the closest place where it can get done. J was supposed to fly it there, and I was supposed to drive there by the time he arrived, and then bring him home.

...I love the drive to Great Barrington. As you saw from the couple video I made for you, it's a very pretty drive. Nonetheless, I think I was still pretty zonked out from yesterday's adventures. I was not sad when J woke me up at around 6am to tell me that one of the other club members already brought the plane there, and he was gonna go pick them up instead.

...I went back to sleep pretty much immediately. It was pretty fucking great!!

I think I woke up probably around 9am. At some point, J had sent along a picture that he took of the morning sunrise; maybe you'll like it:

From there, I had a pretty lengthy conversation with one of my friends in this space about the nature of childhood conditioning and the kinds of things that can be done about it. We talked some about projection, and how it relates to stereotyping, and the evolutionary mechanisms that predispose humans towards stereotyping, and all sorts of other fun stuff!

...I kinda wanna cover it with you now, but my brain is pretty sludgy, so I'm not sure I'd be able to articulate it right now quite as well as I thought I did this morning. Maybe I'll get into it some other time. But... to make a long story short... weird things happen when we turn our past abusers into templates, and then apply those templates universally to other people. We can't go around looking for signs of our past abusers in new people, because then we end up holding the actions of past abusers against new people. And we can't go around looking for people similar to our past abusers for the purpose of convincing them to love us in an effort to prove to ourselves that we never deserved to be abused in the first place.

...Only needed to learn that lesson the hard way like a million fucking times before it finally sank in for me. Holy shit. 😵

...And it's not that I'm dense. It's literally just that this shit is hard. In order to overcome our old conditioning, we have to defy our own biology in some respects. Brains don't like needing to rewire themselves. People aren't built for major changes in the composition of their "monkeysphere". People are built to stereotype for the same reason that asking, "but what if this jaguar doesn't eat me...?" used to cause people to get eaten by jaguars.

Unfortunately, our bodies still haven't caught up to modern times in a variety of respects, and that's just something we gotta work around.

...I spent a lot of the rest of today floundering. More specifically, I spent it doing leisure writing. I guess my body must have needed to rest; my mind felt kinda floaty, foggy, and unanchored for most of today.

...The nice thing about leisure writing is that, when I'm in that space, I feel... welcomed, wanted, enjoyed, and understood. I'm not misconstrued as having hostile or otherwise weird intentions in that space. In this space, I am fully safe. And... I don't find all of these things at once in very many other spaces.

...

Anyway, I was able to get the broth fully strained today! I squished the excess water out of the rest of the veggie scraps, and then I passed it into another bowl, through a wire mesh strainer lined with a folded cheesecloth. Like so:

The layered cheesecloth filers any gritty goop out of the broth:

We can use the cheesecloth to squish the excess water out of the gritty goop, just like we squished the excess water out of the veggie scraps. And then I washed the crockpot, and transferred the broth from the stand mixer bowl back into the crockpot. I'll stick it in the fridge, where the fat will rise to the surface and solidify so that it can be easily scraped off:

...It should be ready to be seasoned tomorrow!!! Hopefully I'll have enough energy to do it!

Aside from that... I don't have much else to say today, except that the little pumpkin seedling seems to be doing well:

...Maybe it's just my imagination, but it seems maybe just a little taller today. Don't you think so...?

...Hey, Sephiroth? Have you ever tried to grow a plant from a seed? If you have, then... what kind of plant was it? Did it do well?

...I think maybe I'll go to bed "early". I put that in quotes because it's supposed to be Daylight Savings Time, so all the clocks got set back by one hour recently. It's a lame and stupid thing that my country does that isn't actually useful. In fact, due to the disruption in people's sleep schedules, we usually see an increase in heart attacks and traffic accidents for a little while after the clocks are changed. I wish we'd stop doing it.

So the clock says 10:19pm. But my body thinks it's 11:19pm. Lame.

I'll stop writing and say good night, then...

Hey. I love you a whole lot. So please stay safe out there, with whatever you're doing at the Edge of Creation. Don't project your past abusers onto the rest of humanity, okay? Because it isn't fair. We might be biologically inclined towards stereotyping, but it still isn't fair to do, and we still gotta do our best to avoid doing it. Okay? Don't dehumanize other people by reducing them to templates that have been beaten into your skull by people who never cared for you.

Do your best. I'll be rooting for you. I'll do just about anything to support you, in whatever ways I can.

Count on another letter tomorrow. Maybe there will be something yummy in it.

Your friend, Lumine

[omg-i-think-i-like-you]

Steve loves a clean car. His BMW is always neat, in and out. He forces the kids to take all their garbage with them as they spill out of his car and looks for leftover crumbs after they ate, absolutely not caring when he begs them not to. He washes it thoroughly every Saturday morning, never skipping it. Everyone knows it's his busy morning, and don't bother him. Usually Robin comes over and makes herself at home, but she knows he won't even look at her until he's done.

"You don't think it's a bit much?" Eddie arrived a few minutes after Steve started cleaning one morning. It was a hot day and Steve was in his old short basketball pants, and wasn't wearing a shirt. He had music blasting from the car radio, and he ignored Eddie completely.

"Stevie," he tried again, walking closer to him, "come on..." He batted his eyelashes and smiled teasingly.

"Eddie, please," Steve said impatiently while scrubbing the back windshield. "I'm cleaning."

"I can see that, and that's why I'm asking, don't you think it's a bit much? you do it every week."

"No, I don't. It's important to me." He took a deep breath, not letting Eddie ruin this for him.

"I don't get it," Eddie shrugged, "it'll get dirty again the second all your munchkins get in tomorrow, so what's the point?" He leaned against the car with his hand, imprinting his palm on the window.

Steve was getting visibly angry now, trying to talk without raising his voice, "the point, Eddie, is that it's important to me, okay?" He threw the dirty rug into the soapy water bucket, crouching down to clean and reuse it, "please, make yourself busy, find something inside to eat, get in the pool, I don't care. just- please, let me finish."

Eddie shrugged again, "as you wish, Stevie boy, enjoy your pointless task." and he disappeared into the big house.

Steve pinched his nose bridge and took a deep breath, and then got back to his routine.

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

Steve woke up spooning Eddie from the back. He took a short look at his watch to see it wasn't even 6am. It was a Tuesday, and both of them didn't have work until the afternoon, so technically he could just go back to sleep and enjoy a late morning, but a plot has started to write itself in his head.

He stayed there for a few more minutes, hearing Wayne coming in and going straight to his room after his shift, and then he slowly detached himself from Eddie, doing his very best not to wake him up. He successfully got out of bed and out of the room, and closed the door behind him.

He opened the cupboard under the kitchen sink, looking for cleaning supplies. He found a sponge, some rugs and a bucket, a window cleaning solution and dish soap. He sighed and took them all out, and then grabbed a few plastic bags and slowly got out of the trailer, trying not to drop anything.

When he placed everything on the gravel, the sun started to come out and birds were chirping. He took a deep breath in, he loved the morning air, before everyone woke up it felt cleaner, somehow.

He opened the hose and started filling up the bucket with water, and added the dish soap. He then threw in the sponges and rugs and let them soak.

He opened the front door of Eddie's van, prepared for a mess, but not that much of a mess. Actual food was all over the floor, which made Steve wonder how the pedals even work. The dashboard was sticky and empty snack packages were all over the place, but mostly stuck between the chairs. Steve couldn't blame it all on Eddie, because he knew the Corroded Coffin guys took the van sometimes too. He also couldn't remember when was the last time he actually was in the van. When they went out together they almost always took Steve's car, mostly because Eddie's driving made Steve fear for his life, but maybe also because he just didn't feel comfortable in Eddie's car? He couldn't tell.

He started picking up trash into a plastic bag. In the beginning he went slowly, trying to touch as little as he can, but when his hand dipped in a brown thing he hoped was melted chocolate, he gave into it and grabbed piles of dirt, filling bag after bag.

When he was done with that, he started hitting the seats, making crumbs and sand and probably living things jump into the air. He then took out the car's carpets and shook them from all the crumbs he just dropped on them, banging them on the ground and giving them a wipe with a soaped up rug. He cleaned the air-conditioning vents, the windows from the inside and made sure the stirring wheel didn't glue to his hands.

He finished the interior of the car after 6:30am. He shut the doors and opened the hose again. He sprayed water all over the big van, getting it all wet. Then he took the soap, and squeezed the bottle, covering the car with green stripes.

He took one of the sponges out of the bucket and started scrubbing. He scrubbed every single inch on the van, the windows, the door handles, the bumper, the licensing plates, the wheel rims and even the exhaust. He knew it didn't make sense, but he did it anyway.

He opened the water again, washing the car from all the foam, and watched the dirt dripping down, exposing a shiny van, that smelled like clean dishes. He took a dry rug and went over the entire van, wiping away the excess water and leaving it nice and ready to go.

He got rid of the now dirty water bucket, washed all the rugs and sponges and threw away the ones that weren't usable anymore. He took everything back inside, put it in its place and hopped in the shower.

When he joined Eddie in bed, the latter mumbled in his sleep, "where did you go..?"

Steve kissed him on the cheek, "just the bathroom," and he fell asleep again with Eddie in his arms.

The two boys woke up around 10am, stumbled out of bed and walked into the kitchen to make breakfast. Steve was cooking eggs while Eddie made them both coffee when he gasped and ran out of the trailer. Steve looked through the window to see Eddie running and then standing in front of the van in shock, turned off the stove and ran out too.

He placed himself next to Eddie who slowly turned his head towards him, "what the fuck..." He whispered.

"What?" Steve asked, innocently.

"Did you do that..?" Eddie was still half whispering, and opened the driver's door, "Steve!" He sat in front of the wheel, "this entire car smells like you! you did this!"

Steve completely forgot he sprayed his aftershave in the car when he finished cleaning. He also couldn't tell from Eddie's tone whether or not he was happy about this whole thing, so he just said, "yeah..?"

Eddie jumped back out and hugged Steve tightly, and then gave him a wet kiss on the cheek, "thank you."

Steve, who was utterly confused, pushed Eddie away a bit, examining his face, "are you okay?"

Eddie beamed, "of course I'm okay! my van is clean and smells like you, and you did this all for me. I honestly don't deserve you, Stevie."

"What??" Steve threw his hands, "I thought it'd piss you off! I did that to piss you off! why aren't you pissed off??!"

Eddie was the one confused now, "why would I be pissed off? also, why would you even want to piss me off in the first place?" he crossed his arms and tapped his bare foot on the gravel, trying to erase the amused expression off his face.

"Because," Steve opened, "You always annoy me and tease me about how me cleaning my car every week is pointless, so I thought you just hate clean cars altogether, so I decided to clean yours. You're supposed to be pissed because you think clean cars are pointless." He finished and crossed his arms too, mirroring Eddie.

Eddie started laughing, loud and hard, and came to hug Steve again, "Gosh, Stevie, my sweetheart, I love your clean car. I love how you're so tidy, I love to see how the kids subconsciously copy you and clean after themselves, I love how you always put everything back in place, I love how there are never dirty dishes in your sink, and never piles of dirty clothes waiting to be washed. I love how you mindlessly pick up my stuff around my room and dust the record player, I love how you change my bedsheets. If anything, me picking on you for cleaning your car was out of pure jealousy. I wish I was a bit more like you. I know we never take my car because it's so messy, but I wish I could drive you some places without feeling bad about the way it smells," Steve made a face and Eddie giggled, "Okay, I don't have to drive, but thanks to you, we actually can take the van now. It's a lot more compatible for road trips and camping. We can do those things now." He smiled and Steve smiled too.

"I'm sorry I did it behind your back..." Steve said looking down and Eddie held his chin back up.

"No, it's for the best. I don't think I'd be able to handle the embarrassment, seeing the condition of this car," he made a disgusted face, "thank you for bringing it back to a normal state. I promise I'll try to keep it as clean as I can." He put a hand on his heart and Steve released a chuckle.

"Yeah, okay," He raised an eyebrow, "or you can just ask me to do that, I actually do enjoy it."

Eddie rolled his eyes and pushed Steve into the van, "I still don't believe that, Stevie boy."

He started the car and they drove off, with Steve holding onto his seat and begging Eddie to slow down.

[capriclonus]

hiiiii! I just binged your DJ Shadowheart fic and I don’t fucking know how to use tumblr but that is the best fic I’ve read in a WHILE, literally was near tears reading it like it was just so fucking good. I stayed up too late reading it and my spouse woke up and caught me🤣… so I went to sleep at 1am and then woke back up at 6am to finish it. I’m planning my next reread already. And saw your posts on here about Princess/guard fic or witch Shadowheart fic with shae’zel and just wanted to say I cannot wait to consume those too and just—fuck I’m not gonna be able to stop thinking about your writing all day. So thank you!

(am I supposed to actually ask a question on these things? if so: how are you doing this fine Saturday?)

This is incredibly fucking sweet, thank you so much. I stayed up too many late nights writing it, too, ha! I'm glad your spouse managed to rip you away from it to get a decent night's sleep (but also equally glad that my story compelled you to stay up in the first place!!!)

It has been so damn exciting how many people have loved this work. It really was a massive passion project of mine and I put a lot of myself into it, and it's been really really rewarding seeing how it paid off. I am honestly so flattered you came to tumblr to tell me just how much you enjoyed it---I've just seen you've left a comment on the fic itself, too, and I'm beaming ear to ear right now!

The princess Shadowheart/personal guard Lae'zel fic will take a while, but I do hope people enjoy it! I'm not sure anything will top 'Give It Up For DJ Shadowheart' purely because I put so much soul into it, but I do just hope I can continue to make people smile.

YOU ARE SO WELCOME and THANK YOU so much for leaving me this ask, it has fuelled my little writing furnace and inspired me to write right now! Took a day off yesterday but you've made me very excited.

(And no you don't have to ask anything, but I am having a very good Saturday, thank you! I hope you are too <3)

[laurenairay]

Déjà-Brew – E. Pettersson

Here a little fic I wrote for @ryngrvs​ birthday celebrations!! I chose the bingo strip of: ‘unrequited love’, ‘handwritten notes’, ‘mutual pining’, ‘you make me better’, ‘golden retriever x black cat’.

I had a lot of fun writing this and creating all the little things that went into it, and I’m definitely indulging in the fantasies of my teenage barista self. And yes, I definitely fudged the Canucks schedule for November. I hope you enjoy this C! Happy birthday 💛

Summary: Elias Pettersson walked into a coffee shop one morning and met Joanna.

Word count: 8.2k

Warnings: light angst, fluff, pining

*

Elias was restless. He had a call scheduled with his agent first thing this Monday morning, 9am, but it was only 6am and he couldn’t sleep. It was ridiculous really, that on a rare day off training, his body woke up anyway, but here he was wide awake with no hope of slipping back into sleep. There was no point just lying there, staring up at the ceiling either. So with a sigh and a brief close of his eyes, he pushed himself upright, reluctantly kicking the warmth of the duvet away. A brief run outside would be productive at least, right? And he could definitely zone out enough to not have to wake up fully. It was better than lazing around and he could absolutely use it to humble-brag to his teammates later – perfect.

By the time he stepped outside into the brisk September air, Elias did regret trying to be proactive a little bit, but it was too late now. He’d committed to it, and it would make the trainers happy if nothing else. So he set off, music providing the perfect backdrop to drown out the sparse early morning commuter traffic, leaving him to lightly jog down the streets of his neighbourhood in an eerily empty bliss. He knew he didn’t spend enough time exploring his surrounding area, noting the cafes and bars and restaurants in passing that he didn’t recognise, all of them still dim in the grey morning light. Maybe he should do this more often – coming out and seeing the world while it was relatively empty, cementing his place in the city that he hoped to call his own for a long time to come.

He ran and he ran and he ran, losing himself in his thoughts until his watch beeped loudly, telling him he’d run a full 3 miles; 45 minutes had flown by, without evening realising it. Elias winced as he slowed down to a stop, realising he was a long way from his apartment now, and turned around with a quiet groan to start the journey back. The sun was starting to rise now, just around 7am, so he knew the world would start coming alive soon, something he was hoping to avoid. It wasn’t that he didn’t love the fans, especially the little kids who were always so happy to see him, but at this time in the morning it was the last thing he wanted to do, to make polite small talk when he was only thinking about coffee and breakfast.

Actually, coffee wasn’t a bad idea.

By the time he’d made it back to his neighbourhood, to the cafes and bars and restaurants he’d passed earlier, he noticed one little light on. A coffee shop – exactly what he needed. Déjà-Brew. Huh, a pun he didn’t automatically hate. That was something new. And it only 7.30am, so it was too early for anyone other than office commuters to be around, which was even better.

Elias found himself slowing down to a stop outside the shop, turning his music off and tugging out his headphones, noticing there were barely any customers. Perfect. He’d been hoping for, and expecting, the warmth that hit him like a wall as he opened the door, the familiar scent of freshly-ground coffee beans, the cosy armchairs and rickety tables, and the splashes of colour in the artwork across the walls.

What he wasn’t expecting was the beaming smile that greeted him the moment he walked through the door.

“Good morning Sunshine!”

That…that was a lot of pep.

“Um, hello?” he offered, a lot more hesitant that he expected.

The girl behind the counter just laughed, smile staying present, and tilted her head, copper hair shining in the bright lights of the store.

“What can I get for you, on this beautiful day?”

Still cheerful, still upbeat, still smiling. And as he walked up to the counter, he noticed exactly how beautiful that smile was, matching the person wearing it. That was a weird thought. But it was true, all the same.

“A large cappuccino?” he asked, saying the first thing that came to mind.

“Sure thing! What name, and is that to have in or take out?”

“Elias. Take out. I’ve got to get back to a meeting,” he admitted, a little sheepishly.

What had prompted him to say that? He didn’t even know this girl…and yet here he was, blurting out things that she didn’t need to know.

But she just giggled, nodding. “Rather you than me – thank you for stopping by our little store anyway!”

Elias found himself smiling softly as she scribbled down the order on the side of the cup, her good mood infectious, something which he was sure was one of the main reasons she was at the register this early in the morning. The girl passed the cup over to her colleague to start making the order, before ringing up his total.

“That’ll be $4,” she said, that pretty smile still in place.

He handed over a $10 bill. “Keep the change.”

It was the least he could do, right? To say thanks for putting him in such a good mood? Especially since it wasn’t always such an easy feat.

“Awesome, thank you! Your coffee will be ready soon, and you can pick it up just down the end there.”

He just nodded, earning another beaming smile back, leaving him a little stunned in the best way as he shuffled down the counter to wait. He watched as she immediately put the change in the large tip jar on the counter, humming happily to herself even as she whipped out a cloth and wiped over the surface on her side that didn’t need wiping. Endlessly optimistic, a positive energy he’d only seen from Brock on his good days, and he wondered how much of it was real. Even just thinking that, he knew he was at least a little wrong for doubting her positivity, because as far as she knew no-one was watching her, and there she was carrying it out – so it wasn��t for show. Who was this girl? What was her deal? What was it about her that made her occupy his thoughts like this?

“Large cappuccino for Elias?”

He tore his gaze away from the girl behind the counter, hoping there wasn’t a tell-tale blush on his pale cheeks, and stepped up to retrieve his coffee. But what he saw written on the side stopped him in his tracks. Other than his name and his coffee order, there was an extra message…just for him?

image description: handwritten note, have a wonderful day! with a drawn cartoon sun.

“Just so you know, Jojo really is that cheerful 100% of the time. It’s genuine.”

A deep voice startled him out of his thoughts, making Elias glance back up at the counter to see the male barista who’d made his drink looking at him in amusement.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Elias murmured.

The barista just laughed, nodding his acknowledgement, before leaving Elias to glance down at the cup one last time. Jojo. A beautiful name to match a beautiful smile and beautiful face. Okay now he was just being ridiculous. What was it about this girl that had him so intrigued? Whatever it was, he couldn’t get caught up in it right now – he really did have to get going. But maybe he could come back? That wouldn’t be too weird, right? It wouldn’t do anyone any harm if he came back to see her again, right?

As Elias walked out of the shop, he caught eyes with the pretty girl – Jojo – behind the counter again, finding himself smiling slightly as she waved goodbye, and it was all he could do to raise his coffee cup in salute as he walked out the door. Maybe a little bit of positivity like that would be good for him, every now and again.

And damn, the coffee was good too.

~

Joanna watched the coffee shop door close with a small smile on her face, replaying that adorable dorky little salute over in her head. That wasn’t the interaction she’d been expecting this dreary Monday morning, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to complain.

“Of all the people you could’ve served this morning, it had to be Elias Pettersson,” Carl mused.

She glanced up at her colleague, raising an eyebrow at the grin on his face.

“What’s so bad about that?” Joanna frowned, “You were the one who actually made his coffee?”

“He’s famous? And cute as hell? And you just acted as if he was anyone else?” he laughed.

Oh, she knew who he was. She wasn’t blind – and this was Vancouver. But why wouldn’t she treat him like anyone else?

“He wasn’t here for a team thing. He wasn’t even wearing any merch. He was literally being just a normal person coming in for coffee,” she shrugged, “I wasn’t going to make him feel awkward about that.”

“Only you, Jojo. Only you,” Carl teased.

Joanna rolled her eyes, smiling fondly, and just shook her head. While she watched hockey like any other Canadian, she wasn’t a superfan – Carl on the other hand absolutely was – and even then, she wasn’t going to treat poor Elias like an alien just for the crime of existing in the coffee shop she worked in. Aside from the fact she was only working part-time around her college classes, Joanna actually quite liked working at the shop; she’d been there since she was 16 so she had the routine down well, she adored her ridiculous co-workers, and she loved the opportunity to brighten someone’s day just by smiling and greeting them. Maybe it wasn’t much to some people, but it was more than enough for her.

And if Elias Pettersson became one of those people whose day she brightened? Well, then she wasn’t going to stop any time soon.

*

“Howdy partner!”

Elias found himself back at the coffee shop two weeks later, now in the first week of October, unable to come in before this Monday morning with training and the roadtrip schedule. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the barista, her copper hair and beautiful smile, even to the point where Nils and Brock teased him about his abnormal spacing out, but he’d refused to admit what – or who – occupied his thoughts. No, this was something he wanted to keep for himself, while he was still processing his thoughts about it all. About her. Was he stupid or creepy or weird for not being able to get someone he’d only met once out of his mind? He hoped not. Even so, when he realised he had the Monday morning free, he’d made up his mind to go back to the coffee shop ahead of training later in the morning, not needing the excuse of running. If nothing else, the coffee was damn good. That was how he justified it to himself anyway, rather than letting himself feel like a weirdo for hoping for the chance to see her again.

But there she was, bright smile and cheerful greeting.

“Howdy?” he mused.

“Eh, I’m trying something new this week,” she shrugged, unphased.

There was just something about her optimism that lifted his mood.

“You can’t win them all,” he said simply.

She gasped dramatically, hand clasped over her heart, earning laughter from her colleagues and a small smile from him. Adorable.

“You are a tough guy to win over – I’ll remember that,” she grinned, “Large cappuccino, right? Elias?”

Heat flared on his cheeks at her teasing – he loved that about her, that she made him feel so comfortable – and she remembered his order? After only one time?

“Yeah, that sounds great, thanks,” he nodded.

She hummed to herself as she scribbled the order onto the cup, passing it along to the girl standing next to her before she looked back at him.

“That’ll be $4,” she said, smiling.

He passed over $10, same as the previous time. “Keep the change.”

“Thanks! That’s so kind of you,” she said cheerfully.

Elias didn’t think it was anything particularly kind that he’d done, but he wasn’t going to complain if it got her to smile at him like that. He moved along the counter to wait for his drink, same as last time, and in no time at all the girl behind the coffee machine called out his name. Just as he’d hoped, there was a message written in the pretty cursive handwriting from before.

Image description: handwritten note, in case no-one said it today – you’re great!

Elias let out a soft laugh, a small smile spreading across his lips at the little message. Yet again, the barista’s positivity was infectious. What did the male barista last time say her name was? Jojo? No, it felt weird ‘knowing’ her name when she had never told him it herself. The normal thing to do was to ask her himself, right?

Thankfully there was no other customers at the counter, and she was still standing there by herself, so Elias walked back down to see her, a knot in his stomach that he was trying to ignore.

“Thanks for the message,” he mused.

“Ah, just a little something to make your Monday morning a little brighter,” she shrugged, although a pleased flush dusted her cheeks.

So cute. So ridiculously cute.

“I bet everyone appreciates it,” he added.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment before smiling wryly.

“I don’t write them for everyone,” she admitted, blushing a little harder.

She didn’t? So he was an exception here? Well, that was good to know. Very good.

“In that case, I should probably ask the name of the girl who makes me smile on a Monday morning,” Elias said smoothly.

She laughed, but in a way that he knew wasn’t at him.

“Joanna. Most people call me Jojo,” she said sweetly, smiling up at him.

Joanna. Even more beautiful. While the confidence was still with him, he smiled properly at her, earning a wide smile back.

“Nice to meet you, Joanna.”

“Nice to meet you too, Elias.”

The sound of the coffee shop door opening broke him out of the little bubble they were in, and he cleared his throat, taking a step back to find a sense of normality again. What was it about this girl?

“Thanks for the coffee. See you soon?” he asked hopefully.

Idiot. Of course he’d see her if he came in here while she was working. Idiot.

“Yeah, see you,” she nodded, still smiling.

Well at least she wasn’t laughing at him going from smooth to foolish. That was something at least.

~

She felt like she was on cloud nine. Joanna could only smile to herself as she wiped over the counter after Elias left the shop – he’d actually come in again! And he’d talked to her, even asked her name! It was stupid feeling so giddy after such a short conversation, but damn it he was cute, okay?

“So that was interesting.”

Joanna turned her head to look at her colleague, smile still on her face even as the customers she’d just served moved to a table to sit down. Carl, her usual Monday morning co-worker had swapped his shift with Jessie, the barista who usually worked Tuesday through Friday, so Joanna still knew her well – even if it through her usual routine off, it was still nice to see a friendly face this early in the day.

“What was?” Joanna asked.

“I haven’t seen the two of you interact before, but Carl was right – he’s definitely interested,” Jessie mused.

Of course Carl was gossiping. “He’s not interested. Why would someone like him ever look at me twice? I’m nobody.”

Oops. That came out a little more self-deprecating than she’d intended it too. Not that she was wrong, but still.

Jessie pursed her lips, shaking her head. “Baby, no-one holds a conversation that smoothly if they don’t think you’re cute. And you are not nobody – you are Jojo, queen of the cash register and future empress of sociology. He’s lucky to get those cute little messages from you on his cup, let alone the time of day.”

Joanna blushed, shaking her head.

“You know who he is,” she said, voice soft, “Next to him, I’m literally nothing.”

“And yet he smiled because you treated him like a normal guy. Own that. If nothing else, it’s a bit of flirting to liven up your Monday,” Jessie shrugged.

She was right. Jessie was so right. Joanna had never been someone who viewed the world so negatively, and she wasn’t going to start that now.

“Yeah, that’s true. I can own that,” Joanna said firmly.

“Damn right you can,” Jessie laughed. “Now, where did Carl put the oat milk?”

*

Halloween was both the joy of her year and the bane of her life. Joanna loved the fact that she got to dress up and have some fun with her friends watching spooky movies – in fact, she and a few of her college friends had a standing tradition for after her shift – but it also meant that she had to dress up at work.

So there she was, waving in Carl as he arrived to start his shift at 7am, both of them dressed in full pirate regalia. That was the theme this year; all the people who worked on Halloween decided on co-ordinating outfits, as a fun way to pass the time. Last year they’d decided on superheroes (and Joanna had made a killer Black Widow, if she said so herself), with the previous years including greeks and romans, cheesy 90s romcoms, and even Ghostbusters. It was the only thing that made the working on the day of Halloween worthwhile – even if it took her a little while to get used to all the stares that people sent her.

But she powered on, trying to ignore the fact that she was dressed a little ridiculously. It was Halloween, after all, and she knew for a fact that a good proportion of their customers would probably be wearing costumes at all, so at least that was something to look forward to.

Speaking of things to look forward to…Elias. He’d been in one other Monday this month since he’d asked her name – why Mondays, she still had no idea – but seeing him for a third time this month? Amazing.

“Ahoy matey!”

Oh wow, that one was bad, even for her. But Elias just laughed, immediately smiling at her, and all of a sudden it didn’t matter that she was wearing a tri-corner hat and a billowing white shirt. Funny how that worked.

“Ahoy to you too. You guys are really into Halloween huh?” he said, glancing around at all the decorations they’d put up this morning.

“Oh you have no idea. This is pretty tame for us – and at least the theme could be worse?” she mused.

Elias laughed again, nodding his agreement, leaning on the counter with his elbows as he smiled at her. “Yeah we’ve had some pretty bad group costumes. One year was the Shrek characters. Another year was Minions.”

Damn, yeah okay, she had definitely gotten off lightly with pirates then. Although knowing Elias, he probably pulled off whatever costume he’d worn. Cute as hell – Carl had been right saying that the first time he’d come in.

“Alright, you win,” she giggled.

“It got us a few laughs and a lot of smiles, so it was worth it,” he shrugged, although his cheeks flushed with a light pleased pink.

How sweet.

“Are you having your usual?” she asked, smiling up at him.

“Yeah, go for it,” he nodded, smiling back at her.

Joanna swung her copper braid over her shoulder – still not used to having it out of its usual high ponytail – humming to herself as she scribbled down today’s message. Hopefully this would put a smile on his face too. While Carl made the large cappuccino, Elias stayed up by the cash register, the two of them making small talk about past Halloween experiences, Joanna fully taking advantage of the lack of early customers to take these little extra moments with him. It was things like this that got her through the day, a smile like his on such a pretty face, and the fact that he was willingly talking with her rather than moving along? Well that made all the difference.

“Here you go.”

Carl’s amused voice broke them out of their conversation, Elias taking the cup from her colleague with a dry laugh.

Image description: handwritten note, smiling at strangers never goes out of style.

Elias looked over at her with a little grin, making her let out a breathy laugh even as she allowed herself to indulge into melting into a puddle at the warmth of his gaze.

“You are incredibly sweet, you know that right?”

“Oh, it’s nothing really,” Joanna said, feeling her cheeks heat up in a blush regardless.

“I don’t think you realise how much of an impact you have on people,” Elias shrugged, leaning casually against the counter as he smiled at her.

What a smile it was.

“And yet she’s single as hell, such a shame.”

Joanna flinched at the sound of Carl’s passing remark, cheeks flaring now as she glared at his retreating back, wishing the ground would just swallow her up. It was bad enough that she was dressed as a pirate, but he had to tell Elias of all people that she was single? Why?!

“Their loss.”

“What?” she said, looking back at Elias.

But he just shrugged, still smiling that sweet small smile at her. “All those guys who don’t realise how amazing you are. It’s their loss,” he said simply.

Oh wow.

“Working here as well as taking full-time classes takes up all my time, if I’m being honest,” she said, trying to regain at least a little of her dignity.

“Makes sense,” he mused, “what are you studying?”

She stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out why he was interested in that kind of mundane information, but his intense gaze didn’t change at all. He really was asking her about herself…to get to know her better? Well, she wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.

“I’m studying sociology at UBC. There are so many different aspects to it, like gender equality to law to race and discrimination, and I just love it,” she admitted, smiling shyly now.

It wasn’t often that people asked her the finer details about her life, especially not people like Elias, so the fact that he was still smiling at her after her explanation? Well, that felt good. It felt really good.

“Sounds like you get to do a little bit of everything that actually matters in the world – I can see why you love it,” he said warmly.

And there go the butterflies in her stomach, swirling a merry dance.

“Exactly that! Gives me a chance to narrow down what I want to do with my life, and now that I’m in my final year, I’m excited to see how it goes,” she grinned.

In truth, she was leaning towards going into counselling, having loved the aspects of those modules in particular, and she did have an internship already in place for this summer as she was graduating…so she could only hope that her grades continued to take her on the path she wanted to journey on. It was a little scary, if she was being honest, knowing that all too soon she was going to be released out into the world with no safety barriers around her – but that’s also what made it so exciting. She was going to get to explore a brand-new adventure that she genuinely enjoyed, so what could be better than that?

And if that fantasy included Elias by her side while she took that next step? Well, that was between her and her daydreams, wasn’t it?

“I’d better get going, as much as I’d rather stay here talking to you. You’re much more interesting than most the people I know,” Elias said dryly.

His faux-reluctance made her laugh – like she could compare to his teammates, really – earning a little pleased smile, and she waved him goodbye as he exited the shop. Maybe one day she’d find the courage to flirt with a little more intention with Elias, take that chance on a guy like him – could it be worth it?

~

Joanna’s words, her simple sweet words on his cup, paired with that brilliant grin she sent him as she was talking about her degree, played on his mind the whole drive to the arena, and he found himself unable to stop the smile on his lips even as the team pulled a stupid Halloween mascot jump scare prank for their social media channels. At least he didn’t shriek, just flinched, but even then he could tell the people running it were surprised at his smile as he walked away.

Nothing was going to change his good mood today. Not even a dumb prank. He’d held a full proper conversation with Joanna, finally, and he was finding out more and more about her each time he saw her. He loved it, loved that he was getting to know her so organically, and the fact that she was still taking the time to write those little messages for him? It was everything to him. And now he even knew that she was single too. Even if it was all one-sided infatuation on his end, and she was just being friendly, having these little moments with her made him feel like nothing ever had before. So yeah, he was smiling – he couldn’t help himself, and he didn’t care.

“Okay is this another prank?”

Elias broke out of his thoughts to see Nils and Brock standing in front of him, making him crane his neck up to look at them where he was sitting in his stall in the locker room. Even Thatcher and Quinn were watching him curiously from their own stalls, sending a stab of panic through him that he quickly tried to repress. They knew nothing. And they would continue to know nothing.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Elias said dryly.

“I mean, that’s more like the Petey we know and love…but smiling to yourself like that? What’s gotten you so happy this morning?” Brock teased.

“Hearing you shriek like a little kid at the jump scare?” Elias said, raising an eyebrow.

Brock’s cheeks flushed as the few guys in the locker room laughed, but he was undeterred, like Coolie with a bone. Damn it.

“I bet it’s the same reason he’s been spacey for weeks,” Nils smirked.

“You’ve been spacey? Are you okay?” Quinn asked worriedly.

Oh no. Not the Quinn Hughes puppy dog eyes. Those things were lethal.

“I’m perfectly fine, thank you. I just…”

He trailed off, knowing that if he admitted that he’d met Joanna that he would never hear the end of the teasing.

“Oh man, Petey met someone,” Nils grinned.

Damn it.

And when he didn’t immediately correct his countryman, the 4 men around him all grinned, making Elias groan. Perfect, just what he needed.

“Who is she?” Brock asked, eyes wide with excitement

“Or he. No judgement,” Thatcher added.

That man was a blessing. Not an accurate blessing, in this case, but a blessing all the same.

So Elias sighed. “She. I’ve been going to a new coffee shop and she works there.”

Cue the immature coos and fluttering eyelashes. His teammates truly were the worst.

“So Petey has met a cute barista and is getting his flirt on. Cute!” Nils teased.

“No, no flirting,” he said quickly.

At least, only that little bit of smooth-talking today? That didn’t count, right?

“No flirting? Come on, a pretty boy like you isn’t going to flirt with a cute barista?” Brock laughed.

His laughed stuttered as Elias kicked him in the shin, but that just earned snickers from his other teammates.

“She doesn’t flirt, she’s just being nice,” Elias muttered.

Their laughter abruptly cut off, only making him groan again.

“Oh buddy that can’t be true,” Thatcher frowned.

“You wouldn’t be smiling like that if there wasn’t something there,” Quinn agreed.

If only he could wrap Quinn Hughes in a blanket and protect him from the world.

“He’s right – we all know your smiles, and that was a rare one,” Brock said, as serious as he ever got.

Was that an insult? He wasn’t sure at this point.

“It’s nothing. There’s nothing to talk about,” Elias said shortly.

Thatcher pursed his lips, Quinn smiling sadly at him – only making Elias cringe internally – but Brock and Nils just frowned.

“If you want to talk about it, you know where we are,” Nils said firmly.

Yeah, right.

“But don’t give up just yet, bud. If your time with her is making you smile like this, then I would bet that it’s making her smile too,” Brock added.

He walked over to his own stall after clapping Elias on the shoulder, Nils going to his own too, leaving Elias to his thoughts. Could Brock be right? Joanna was such a bubbly smiley person as it was…but was there a chance he made her smile all by himself? Was there hope after all?

*

The weeks kept passing, and every Monday he was able to, Elias went into Déjà-Brew. He didn’t know why he made it a habit of going only on Mondays, especially when he had other days free when he could go to, but even though he spoke to Joanna a little more each time he visited the coffee shop, he still hadn’t plucked up the courage to ask her what other days she worked. All he knew was that Monday mornings were definitely her opening shift, and that Monday mornings in the shop were the quietest days, so if he could guarantee getting at least a little of her attention on his on that day then he was going to stick with it.

It made sense in his head at least anyway.

Elias managed two visits in the first few weeks of November, more than any other month so far (at least that he’d had the courage to do), and he found his thoughts growing more and more consumed with the little snippets of information he’d managed to gain about her. Joanna was 21 years old, studying sociology at the University of British Columbia, had two younger brothers she adored, had lived in Vancouver her whole life, and her favourite colour was forest green. And those were just the immediate details. There were dozens of little facts about her he was collecting like a dragon with its hoard, and he savoured them all. He knew that he wasn’t sharing as much as she was, but he still found himself talking about his family and how much he missed home in Ange, and she seemed to grow in confidence in asking him about himself too. It was everything, everything he didn’t know he needed, and Elias found himself coveting those few minutes with her when he was able to get them.

And there was the fact that maybe Brock and Nils were right after all – while Joanna was always already smiling when he arrived to the coffee shop, her smile seemed to kick up a few notches the moment she saw him, which was something that made his own traitorous heart beat that little bit faster. He knew he needed to find the courage to do more than just talk to her in passing, needed to take that next step, but there was that niggling voice at the back of his head that told him not to ruin this easy friendship they already had. Was it worth risking everything if she was just being friendly? Was it worth spending so much time caught up in his head when hockey should be his 100% focus? Was he just being ridiculous and delusional in the first place?

How was he supposed to tell? And what was he supposed to do about it?

No, he needed to stop being so stupid about this. They were just talking – there was nothing bad about that. Those little moments on Monday mornings were something he treasured, and considering that Joanna seemed just as happy to see him as he was to see her, he wasn’t going to ruin that for him. For either of them. He just needed to keep his head cool, not get over the top or overwhelmed with it, that was all. He could do that at least, right?

*

The Monday after Thanksgiving weekend was always a little quiet, in Joanna’s experience, and this year it was no different. She’d only served a couple of customers since opening an hour ago, and already she knew that today was going to be a long day. She could feel it, in her bones, and she found herself hoping for something to liven up the day. At least Carl would be joining her any moment, no doubt full of hilarious family drama stories, so she could handle the last 15 minutes on her own before he arrived. Hopefully.

Within minutes, the door opened, and she desperately tried to ignore the way her heart started beating that little bit faster. Elias.

“Sup, homeslice?”

When Elias just mumbled as hello in response, Joanna winced. Maybe not her finest greeting.

“That one wasn’t a winner, huh?”

It was only then that Elias seemed to process her words.

“Oh no, it’s really not you. I had a rough day yesterday,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Ah yeah, overtime loss. Must’ve felt pretty rough,” she grimaced.

A few of the staff from the coffee shop went over to Jessie’s last night to watch the game, Joanna included, and they’d all watched the frustrating game on the edge of their seats. It had been a tough game to watch, if she was being honest, so she could only imagine how he felt.

“You watch hockey?”

The confusion in his voice confused her.

“It’s Vancouver? Hockey is a must?” she mused.

“You know who I am?” Elias said softly.

Ah, okay, now she got it. Did he really think she didn’t know?

“Was I not supposed to?” Joanna teased.

His pale cheeks flushed, making her smile softly.

“No I, uh, I didn’t mean to be arrogant. You just…never said anything,” he winced.

Bless his heart.

“Well I figured you were coming in here as just Elias, not Elias Pettersson number 40 for the Vancouver Canucks. So I didn’t think you’d want to be fawned over, when you were just being you. Was I wrong?” Joanna asked.

She didn’t think she’d been reading him wrong all this time. But had she? He’d seemed so normal…

“No, you’re not wrong at all. No-one’s ever-”

His words were cut off by the door opening and two women walking in, new customers that ended their privacy, Carl appearing behind them as well. It had been quiet all morning and now people had to come in?! No-one’s ever…what? Treated him like a normal human being? No, this wasn’t the time for it, whatever he was about to say. Time to get back to reality.

“Are you having your normal cappuccino?” Joanna asked, smiling softly.

“Yeah, thanks,” Elias nodded.

Joanna chewed her bottom lip as she scribbled on the order, hesitating before writing today’s message. Hopefully she wasn’t coming across as too forward. Hopefully she wasn’t being too much. She stayed silent as she quickly made his cappuccino, Carl still signing in for the day, as Elias moved along the counter, but she kept glancing over at him, watching his exhausted figure as closely as she could. When she finally put the lid on the coffee cup and passed it over, she didn’t move away from her spot, waiting for Elias to pick up his coffee order with bated breath.

Image description: handwritten note, stop to take a minute and breathe, with a drawn heart.

His cheeks flushed a light pink again, and he immediately looked over to her, smiling softly in a way that made her heart skip a beat.

“Thank you, Joanna,” he murmured.

“Any time, Elias,” she murmured in response.

She ignored Carl standing next to her as she watched Elias walk out of the shop a little hopelessly, butterflies making havoc in her stomach.

“Oh Jojo, you’ve got it bad,” Carl teased.

“You have no idea,” she sighed, moving back to the register.

~

Elias slumped down onto Brock’s sofa as soon as he arrived at his house, ignoring Nils staring at him from across the room as Milo immediately curled up next to him, head resting on his thigh as Coolie curled up by his feet. If the dogs could tell something was wrong with him, then there was no doubt that Nils and Brock would too. Not ideal. But then again, why had he come over to Brock’s if he didn’t want a little comfort?

“Well don’t you look a picture of positivity?” Brock mused, passing him a cold beer.

Elias took it without a word but didn’t take a sip, just picking at the label instead.

“Oh it’s even worse than I thought,” Nils murmured.

Elias wasn’t sure if he was meant to hear that or not, but either way he didn’t respond.

“Okay buddy, out with it. What’s happened? It can’t be the overtime loss yesterday, right? Like, I know it was rough, but it wasn’t that rough?” Brock prompted, sitting down next to him.

Neither dog moved, making Elias smile minutely, but he just shook his head. “No, it wasn’t the game.”

Nils hummed sitting down in the armchair on his other side, leaning forward on his elbows to look at Elias critically for a few moments.

“It’s the coffee shop girl, isn’t it?” he eventually said.

There was no teasing in his tone, no jokes to be made that would’ve riled Elias up, but he still sighed, finally taking a sip of the beer that Brock had given him.

“Oh Petey, she didn’t turn you down, did she?” Brock winced.

Hah, that would require Elias to actually ask her out.

“I didn’t ask her out. It’s just…she’s so sweet. And kind. And smiley and positive and happy, and I don’t think she’s interested in me at all,” Elias mumbled.

There it was, all out in the open, vulnerable for his two closest teammates to see. It made him a little nervous to expose himself like that, if he was being honest, but it was done now. He couldn’t take it back. All he could do was avoid their eyes and focus on giving Milo the attention he deserved.

“Why do you think she’s not interested?”

“Her colleague said that she’s super positive and friendly 100% of the time. That was one of the first things I learned about her, so I don’t know if it’s just me reading into things wrong,” Elias explained sadly.

At this point, Elias didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. His head was swirling with all the interactions they’d had, and he hated that he couldn’t trust his gut instinct, couldn’t believe all the wonderful conversations they’d had. What was wrong with him?

“What aren’t you telling us?” Brock said softly.

“What?” he said, frowning.

“What’s caught your eye about this girl that you haven’t mentioned before?” Brock said, “There’s something, I can tell.”

Elias chewed his bottom lip absent-mindedly, before deciding to just tell them everything. What could it really hurt, at this point.

“Joanna writes messages on my coffee cups. Like, sweet little phrases, just to make me smile. And she told me herself that she doesn’t write them for just anyone. And we’ve been talking, more and more each time I’ve gone in there – she’s so smart, and sweet, and kind, and she’s just so interesting. But I don’t know if I’m just creating this fantasy in my head because she’s kind of perfect to me.”

He lifted his eyes to see Brock mouthing the word ‘perfect’ to himself, eyes wide like he was a little stunned. He didn’t bother looking over to Nils, dreading his reaction to his outburst. It wasn’t like he talked about his feelings like this on a normal basis, and to be honest, he was kind of regretting talking about it at all.

“Maybe she’s just hard to read? Like, you’re really difficult to read and your face is full of the exact emotions you’re feeling all the time,” Nils suggested.

Was that an insult? He wasn’t sure at this point. It wasn’t like he could hide his resting bitch face, but he didn’t think he’d been doing that around Joanna.

“I don’t think she’s hard to read,” he sighed, “But maybe I just suck at reading how people truly feel. Vancouver is different to Ange. People act differently here.”

Wasn’t that the truth.

“Petey, have you even actively flirted?” Brock asked, raising an eyebrow.

“What?”

“You are a bit of a grumpy cat,” Nils agreed, “Maybe you think you’ve been flirting but she doesn’t know you’ve been flirting.”

He cursed the day that Nils discovered North American memes.

“Bud, you’ve got to make a move,” Brock said firmly, bringing Elias’s attention back to him.

“Oh my god it’s her place of work. I’m not going to be a creep,” Elias shot back.

But Brock just rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “Not like, grab her and kiss her because, ew, consent. I meant like, making a statement. Doing something bold.”

Elias pursed his lips in a frown, mulling over Brock’s words as he took a sip of beer to buy himself some time to think. Doing something bold? Like what? He wasn’t exactly a bold move person – he was chill, cool, casual, no pressure. Something like that was the opposite of his usual persona…but maybe Joanna was worth pushing the boat out? Especially after such a sweet message this morning?

“What could I even do?”

The grins that spread over Nils’ and Brock’s faces sent an unsettled pang through his body, but he ignored his flight response just this one time.

“Okay, so I have some ideas…”

*

Halfway through December – well, the 11th – and it was officially two weeks too long since Joanna had taken a chance on being vulnerable with Elias, since he found out that she’d known who he was the whole time. The more time that passed, the more she regretted every moment of that encounter, especially the little heart she’d put on the cup. It was beyond unprofessional, even as friendly as the two of them had gotten, and she hated the thought of him avoiding coming into the shop just because she’d been dumb for a few minutes.

Was she thinking too much into it? It wasn’t like he’d done anything other than lightly flirting with her – he could’ve just been passing the time of day, not slipping into dangerous feelings territory like she was. And even just thinking like that made her cringe, made her feel like an idiot, but she couldn’t help it. All she ever wanted to do was make people smile, and the thought of Elias potentially feeling too awkward around her now? No, she couldn’t face that.

All she could hope was that he would eventually come back into Déjà-Brew, to give her a chance to get them, and herself, back to a bit of normality. Was that too much to ask?

Thankfully, while she was still working out the front of the shop by herself just before 7am, Elias walked through the front door, hesitant smile on his face. Okay, play it cool. She could play it cool, just be friendly, be her usual positive cheerful self. It wasn’t that hard.

“What’s up buttercup?”

Aggressively normal. Ouch. By the slight crease in his brow, even Elias could tell that her positivity was a bit forced this Monday morning, and Joanna internally grimaced for even feeling like she had to overcompensate for how vulnerable she got last time he came in. But what else could she do?

“Are you having your usual cappuccino?” she asked, smiling a little less intensely.

She wasn’t sure why she had to ask that. He always said yes, always said the same thing. But it just felt like part of the routine they had, and she didn’t want to change of that if she didn’t have to. She just wanted things to be normal.

“Yes. But, um, I have this now,” Elias murmured.

He seemed to hesitate slightly, before he pulled a reusable to-go cup out of his coat pocket. What was all of that about not changing routines? About being normal?

Joanna felt her heart break a little bit as she looked down at the to-go cup he’d placed on the counter in front of her, realising he didn’t want her handwritten note this time. That’s what this was about, right? Message received. She didn’t think that she’d crossed the line last time – he hadn’t seemed offended or awkward with it – but clearly she’d crossed a line. Message received. Silently, she picked up the travel mug, biting her bottom lip in humiliation…until she noticed there was already a note on a sticky label on the cup.

Image description: handwritten note, I like you a latte.

Her lips parted in surprise, not daring to glance up at the guy in question. He specifically wrote this…for her to see? He wrote a coffee pun, just for her?

“It was a close call between you mocha me smile and where have you bean all my life?”

His voice broke her out of her stunned thoughts, and she finally looked up at him to see him smiling shyly at her.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh wow. That…that was unexpected. Wow. Butterflies dared to dance in her stomach, excitement soared through her blood, but she tried valiantly to push them down.

“You really put the effort in there, huh?” she said, smiling softly back at him.

“You’re worth the possible soul-destroying rejection,” Elias mused, shrugging.

Rejection?

“What?” she asked, confused.

Elias sighed softly, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, before he took a shaky breath. “I know that I’m hard to read, and maybe I’ve been watching too many CW shows with Brock, but I figured that if I don’t take a shot here then I’m an idiot.”

“Elias…” she breathed, trailing off.

He just smiled wryly at her, cheeks a little flushed but seemingly undeterred.

“You make my Monday mornings better. You make me better. And I really hope I’m not reading things wrong and being a pressurising creep in your place of work…but would you like to go out with me some time?”

Her lips parted in surprise, but that didn’t stop a wide smile spreading across her face.

“Oh my god. Wow. I, uh, absolutely,” she said, nodding, laughing a little incredulously, “I would definitely like to go out with you.”

Did she just say that? Did she really just say that?

The look of relief that spread across Elias’s face made her smile even more, and as he sent her a beaming smile back, her heartbeat started to race. No wonder he smiled like that so rarely – it was a danger to society, clearly.

“Really?” he asked, sounding like he didn’t quite believe his luck.

What a ridiculous notion.

“Really,” she nodded, her smile a little shyer now. “I never thought someone like you would ever been interested in regular old me.”

“Well regular old me, I’m Just Elias in here, remember?” he mused.

She laughed at his teasing smile, nodding at the use of her own words.

“Alright Just Elias, it’s a date,” Joanna said happily.

As he passed her his phone for her to input her phone number – and wasn’t that a concept she never imagined happening – she ignored Carl smugly collecting money from their colleagues, too consumed with the giddiness of Elias actually asking her out. He asked her out. She was going on a date with Elias Pettersson. No, Just Elias, just Elias the guy that made Mondays her favourite day of the week.

“There, now you have my number too,” Elias said, smiling sweetly at her.

Joanna smiled sweetly back at him as her phone buzzed in her pocket, just nodding.

“I look forward to seeing what you plan for our date,” Joanna said, taking a chance on flirting a little harder than usual.

The intensity in Elias’s gaze made butterflies tease at her stomach.

“I look forward to taking you on your last first date,” he said smoothly.

That concept, paired with his slight smirk, made her head spin and the butterflies riot. Now she really couldn’t wait for their date. “That’s a pretty bold statement, Elias,” she said softly, smile tugging at her lips.

“Being bold got me your number, didn’t it?” he mused, although his cheeks flushed slightly.

She couldn’t argue with that. Both of them stepping out of their comfort zones had gotten them where they were right now, and quite honestly, she was thankful for it. Never had she so openly flirted with anyone, and she could imagine he rarely took the chance that he had taken with her. So if being bold was the way to go? Well, she couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

[arcanemoody]

It's 3:45pm.

I'm in Chicago.

I'm sucking on my fifth menthol cough drop of the day.

Day 4 of being sick during what was an accidental four-day weekend -- because I had blood draws yesterday and took a sick day AND my district closes the schools for general elections.

Rocket's and my polling place is literally next door at the elementary school, so we woke up at 6am (the time polls open across Illinois), threw some clothes and masks on, and walked next door to go vote. After that, we hit the pharmacy to get sinus meds and cough drops for the illness that is nerfing us both today. Got drive-thru breakfast after that, came home, tucked in and went back to sleep.

My blood draw was at 9am yesterday and lasted less than 20 minutes, so I ended up sticking around North Halsted for a while longer, shopping, reading, getting coffee (highly recommend Pedestrian Coffee next time any of you are in Boystown. A cafe you can actually walk in, get coffee and have a warm spot to sit down and plug in for a few hours is vanishingly rare these days).

Managing my symptoms: had some serious sound auditory sensitivity last week, particularly when topics like the election came up among co-workers and students. Moderate nail chewing and picking (I have since painted my nails and that's helping). Moderate overheating -- exacerbated by the 3-layer masks I've switched to as cold/flu season (and "gray rock" season) hits, so I'm adding a folded fan to my EDC. No itches, minimal dysphoria.

Things I feel positive about today: taking my meds, getting some much needed sleep, recognizing that I'm still sick and any work I get done around the house is good enough. My loan servicer followed up on the IDR app I submitted, so I scanned and sent them some more info; with any luck that will get me back on a payment plan so I can get some more PSLF payments logged. Writing and editing. Watching spooky stuff and avoiding the news.

[shion-yu]

Gave myself almost-pneumonia and my couch looks like a damn stock photo.

Since the whole time I’ve been like, “Am I living one of my shitty fanfictions? Coz this sucks.” Let me tell y’all a story.

Cold weather sucks as a severe asthmatic. I moved to the South so I didn’t have to deal with the frigid winters of upstate NY. I’m basically on and off sick until Spring comes (and then there’s allergy season but I digress). I think it’s helped some, but my lungs are just fucked up ok?

Anyways I went to a concert last Saturday and it was freezing. Then I went to the zoo on Sunday with a friend and it was also cold and swarming with kids who don’t know how to cover their mouths when they cough. It was a great weekend but by Tuesday I was sick - great. I had some warning bc my friend I went to the zoo with said they got sick yesterday. But it just seemed like a minor cold and I’ve been through this a million times, I truly did not think it was gonna get too much worse. My asthma was mostly under control and I rested a lot all week.

Thursday I’m more tired, but I start nebulizer treatments and even skip ice skating class and reschedule it for Saturday bc hey, I’m responsible. But Friday I start to feel worse. Like to the point where everybody at work is like wtf go home and one of them told me she’s gonna get me holy water. But it’s okay, it’s still been SO much worse and I’m really fine.

Saturday morning I wake up and I feel like I’m cured. So I go to ice skating class. And maybe I take a little walk in the rain. Bad fuckin idea. By the end of the day I’m having full blown asthma attacks one after the other and sweating like crazy. My abdomen is aching from coughing so much that it hurts to sit up. But I really don’t want to go to the ER. Not again. So I message my pulmonologist and hope I can just say never mind I’m good now by the time he answers on Monday.

That brings us to today, Sunday. I woke up at 6am after only 4 hours of sleep because I can’t stop choking. I’m sneezing and coughing up fluorescent green stuff, my throat tastes like blood and I have a fever. I really, really didn’t want to go to the doctor but it’s time. I drag my sorry ass to urgent care where the entire hour I sit in waiting, everybody who walks by gives me a ‘goddamn’ look because I’m coughing loud enough to alert the entire damn office. I’m so embarrassed bc what if they think I’m being dramatic and wasting time - again? I awkwardly explain my situation and the doctor sends me for CXR. When it comes back he says “Well, you don’t have pneumonia yet but see alllll this stuff here? That’s inflammation. I’m gonna prescribe antibiotics and (way heavier) steroids and you might have bronchitis already but your asthma is so bad that it’s indistinguishable by now. Also with your lungs you probably won’t be able to tell you have pneumonia until it’s pretty bad.”

So anyways, that’s my week. At least I got a lot of writing done for Whumptober - didn’t have to dig very deep to find enough misery to go around to all my fav OCs lol.

[nevvaraven]

Can someone help me I woke up at like 6am today and I think I read a microfic where James smashed a watermelon between his thighs and then I went back to sleep but now I’m gaslighting myself into thinking that was a dream? Was it real? Did someone write this? help