#it is also enjoyable to work out after a couple mischievous days of eating a fuckton of sugar

[mingtinysworld]

Desire

Pairing; song mingi x f!reader x jeong Yunho

Genre: fluff, suggestive

Word Count: 1.3k

Summary: Your boyfriends are performing on stage, when an unexpected scene comes up. You feel an unquenchable thirst for them, and are left up to their judgement. Will they give you what you desire?

Content/warnings: idol Mingi, idol Yunho, established relationship, pretty suggestive but no actual smut,

A/n: I freaking loved this request. I actually daydream of Yungi way more than I’d like to admit. And that part of wonderland?? Like yes please, just let me be squished in between. Anyways, hope you enjoy!! Like, comment and reblog😘😘 - J

A Request by @bethelighthalazia

“Stop hogging her!” Mingi whines with a pout on his lips.

You chuckle from your position on the couch, back cushioned against Yunho’s firm chest. You can feel a rumble go through him as he lets out a hearty laugh. He continues with his sloppy kisses across your neck, making mischievous eye contact with Mingi.

You let out a content sigh, relaxing your whole body, all the tension disappearing. You close your eyes and enjoy the feeling of his warm lips on you, nestling further into him. Mingi looks on with a childlike envy, wishing it was him who was holding you in his arms.

His pout finally pierces your heart and you motion for him to come closer. You pat the space in between your legs, and he happily scoots across the couch. He settles sideways with his head resting on your chest. He lets out a breath he was holding and can finally relax. You give an endearing chuckle, feeling the love and clinginess emanating from Mingi.

You run your hands through his soft hair, Yunho also doing the same to you. You stay like that for the next 10 minutes, basking in the enjoyable silence. The first sounds of someone talking slightly startles you since you were so gone into a hazy headspace.

“We have to leave in 5 minutes.” Yunho reminds Mingi.

Your heart sinks. You knew it had to happen eventually. You couldn’t stay cuddled up for eternity, even if you wished so. Mingi and Yunho had to leave for rehearsals and their first show of their brand new tour. You know how hard they’ve been working, staying up for so many days on end, and only eating when you bring them food yourself.

Mingi groans in complaint, not wanting to leave your warmth. You cup his face and give him a promising peck on the lips.

“I’ll be watching you perform and I’ll see you after baby. It’s only a couple hours.” You reassure him.

He pouts once again, looking at you with his chocolate brown eyes. “I knoww, I just hate being apart from you. I want to hold you all day.”

“Me too baby, but I know you can do it. I’ll be cheering you on from backstage.” You give him a tight hug, trying to convey all your love in the action. Yunho kisses the top of your head as he starts getting up. He pulls Mingi up, even though he went completely limp to try to pull Yunho down with him. Yunho succeeds in hoisting him up and they both look at you with very different eyes.

Yunho looks at you with loving and kind eyes, while Mingi shows you wide and glassy eyes. You fondly shake your head at your big pouty baby and pull them in for another tight hug. Your voice is muffled against them as you speak next.

“Good luck with everything, I know the show is gonna be so amazing, as always. I love you both.”

They say their goodbyes and go to the managers car waiting for them. As the car starts to drive off they open their windows and wave at you like two elementary school kids. You laugh at their cuteness and go back inside to start getting your day ready.

You get picked up by one of the staff at 6pm, so you have plenty of time ahead of you. First, you get food ready of course. Lots and lots of snacks for all the boys, as you know they get ravenous after performing so intensely. You also prepare the cartons of water and banana milk. Sometimes you feel like a mother, feeding your children. But you know you love it.

Your next step is your hair, makeup and outfit. You choose to be on the more casual side, since you you’ll only be backstage. You pick an emerald green sweater with black, ripped jeans. You know Yunho goes crazy for the green, so you feel cheeky in a way.

A few more hours go by and it’s finally time to leave. You get a text from the staff, and leave to get in the car. Your whole body is buzzing from excitement. The entire group has been insanely secretive about everything they’ve been preparing. You honestly have no idea what to expect, no clue what the set list even is.

As you go backstage, you can hear the muted sounds of the crowd. There’s a certain energy in the air, that can only be associated with Ateez. You heart swoops with a thrill every once in a while as the anticipation grows.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the show begins. The group goes on stage as the crowd roars. You watch on the big tv screen, all eight boys being illuminated by the bright lights. You cheer them on, sending all your love and good vibes to them telepathically.

As they go through the songs you can’t help but stare in awe. No one performs like them, they truly are one of a kind. Next up is Wonderland, which is one of your favorites. You dance along with them, having memorized it by watching them practice for so long. It comes to the bridge and dance break and you sit down to catch your breath to watch more attentively.

You wait for Wooyoung and Mingi’s part, but it never comes. Instead, there stands Yunho, in all his glory, clenching Mingi’s shirt with all his might. Their foreheads touch as they stare daggers into the other, the tension palpable. You hold your breath while they swing on their feet slowly. They look like they’re ready to devour each other right on stage, and you unconsciously clench your thighs together at the thought.

They finally let go of each other, and push one another in the opposite direction. You exhale a breath you weren’t aware of holding and slump down in a daze. The rest of the show goes by in a blur, your only train of thought focused on being in between your two boyfriends.

You only come to when you hear the deafening cheers. You abruptly stand up and clap robotically, having paid zero attention to the rest of the concert. You go out to the hallway connecting with the stage and see the boys filing in one by one, sweat and adrenaline dripping off of them.

Mingi and Yunho approach you, with a knowing look on their faces. You wait expectantly, for what exactly you’re not sure. Mingi speaks first.

“How did you like it babe?”

Your mouth opens yet nothing comes out. They laugh at your lack of speech and at the quick reddening of your cheeks.

Yunho cocks an eyebrow. “Did you see something you liked?”

Your heart thumps wildly and you feel slightly lightheaded. “I-I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Your slight stutter and nervous laughter doesn’t go dismissed.

Yunho steps closer, bringing you in by your hip. He looks down at you, swiftly glancing at your parted lips. “I don’t know sweetheart, it seems like something has got you worked up.” He turns to Mingi. “Perhaps I’m imagining it?” Mingi catches on to the hint and plays along.

“Yunho I don’t think anything’s going on. The sweet girl is probably so tired from all this waiting, we should get her to bed.” This time, his pout is definitely a fake one. One you want to swipe away with your tongue, intruding his awaiting mouth. The way they talk about you as if you’re not there works you up even more.

You try to protest. “I’m not tired! Not at all.” They smirk knowingly, and look at one another.

“What do you think Mingi? Should we let her have us tonight?” His eyes glow with a sadistic glint.

Mingi smiles big and looks you straight in the eye. “I don’t think we should Yun.” At that you struggle out of Yunho’s hold. Trying to stand tall, you huff out in annoyance.

“You know I’m right here right? Stop being annoying and just kiss me already!”

They both raise eyebrows at your outburst. Yunho’s eyes darken while Mingi’s grow in hunger.

“I’m gonna have her first.” Yunho states.

Mingi growls slightly, pushing Yunho away from you.

“Like hell you are.”

[opalescnt]

ouggghhh i am healing somewhat... exercise is making me feel a lot better... liver pain is still daily & often radiates scarily into my chest but i can tell from the lack of malaise & increased energy. i must be healing on the inside

[rushipedia]

Hello!! I would like to request some Kitsune!KazuhaXReader headcanons or a little something, it doesn't have to be long! Istg he works so well as a kitsune- Please take your time with this, that is if you decide to go with it, declining is perfectly fine as well! -Mei (I hope its allowed to sign off with a nickname!!)

Kitsune!Kazuha x Reader

A/N: OMG I AGREE MEI...welcome to the anon list!! Since kitsune are known to be tricksters, I think Kazuha as a Kitsune would bring out the more mischievous glint in his eye... he's not as airy and mellow as he seems to be!! Kitsune or not. >:)

Gender-neutral reader for everyone's enjoyment!! Requests are open!! pls send one I'm so bored..ill give u a kiss... :O:O:O!!1!1! (or just say something! I will reply as long as its not inappropriate LOL)

Kitsune Kazuha would be very mischievous.

But mischievous in a way that he could easily play innocent.

Maybe around you, he lets loose a little bit, but nobody would believe you because their beloved wandering-samurai-kitsune is just so polite and proper.

I feel like if you were rather outgoing or timid- just someone who doesn't like to be bothered, maybe this would start out as something of casual enemies to lovers!

But the playful kind. Where you have picnics and yell gentle insults to each other when nobody is around.

Maybe he uses his tails to protect himself when he sleeps.

If you're close enough, maybe he uses them to protect you and keep you warm, too.

You probably travel together! Some days are spent fighting enemies and then patching each other up, and some are spent sitting quietly while he writes and recites poems.

Just because he's slightly more mischievous doesn't mean he's lost his poem drive!

Sometimes the poems are about you. Sometimes they're cleverly masked insults, sometimes they're cleverly masked love confessions.

Maybe he would fall in love first if you're not some hopeless romantic. He's just drawn to the way you banter with each other.

You've probably worked together to play a couple of pranks on the Inazuma locals, but they would never have guessed it was Kazuha.

If you get accused of being the culprit, he will step up to say he was also responsible (if he's feeling particularly nice, maybe he will take all of the blame).

However, it doesn't affect his reputation anyway. He is too beloved.

Make him some tea! Something warm to eat! It's rare that he gets a homecooked meal. He'll return the favor.

He might be a little slow to kiss you.

Hugs are probably more frequent. He's a very good hugger. He's had to say goodbye to many near and dear people. He might hug you for a little too long, don't say anything.

Back to kisses- your first kiss would probably be after some banter. Or maybe he writes a more blunt poem confessing his love- just so you don't misconstrue it as something else this time.

They might be chaste and frequent. Sometimes he'll be nice and give you an actual kiss.

His words can be harsh, but his hands are gentle. He loves you.

There is only warmth and affection in his eyes when he looks at you, and he'll do anything to protect you.

You've become his everything.

rushipedia ☆ 2021

[gubler-me-up]

Sky’s the Limit

Request: Hi! This is oddly specific so no worries if you don’t do it but I was wondering if you could do a Spencer X y/n where he (and the team) find out that Y/N has gymnastics training or trapeze training or aerial silk training and Spencer is just like 🤩 Thanks! Love your writing!!

A/N: Thanks for the request, anon! I’m not gonna front and say this one wasn’t a challenge to think of a good concept for. All I knew is I wanted to make it about aerial silk because it’s such an amazing talent. To my surprise, this turned out better than I expected and I hope you really enjoy it! Btw do you do gymnastics, trapeze and/or aerial silk? If so, kudos to you! (Btw I left the song choice up in the air, but while I was writing I was listening to The Weeknd - Loft Music)

Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!reader

Category: Fluff

Content warning: None

Word count:��2.8k

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

“I know it’s the weekend and all, but you’re sure in a rush, Y/N,” Morgan remarked.

You were running late for your dress rehearsal for your aerial silk performance at an open talent show taking place at National Theatre DC. You had done aerial silk dancing for years as a hobby. It was hard keeping up with it while working at the BAU, but an old instructor of yours contacted you about the opportunity. You thought it was a great chance to finally display your hobby to the masses.

“I’m running late for an appointment,” you said as you grabbed your bag.

“Oh? A Friday night “appointment” huh? Who’s the lucky guy?” Morgan asked.

You chuckled. “Not that sort of appointment, player.”

“Damn, I thought a certain someone finally made a move on you,” he said.

You were going to ignore his comment and be on your way, but you were curious about what he just said. You raised an eyebrow with a mischievous smile on your face. You went up to his desk and sat on the edge of it.

“Certain someone?” You asked.

He chuckled. “Oh yes, a certain someone. Matter of fact here he comes now.”

Morgan looked over your shoulder, so you followed his gaze. You saw Spencer walking up to you guys with a smile as he nervously latched his right hand onto his satchel strap. You didn’t think he liked you more than a friend, but according to Morgan it seemed as if you were missing something. So much for being a profiler.

“Hey, Y/N. Are you busy this weekend? I know you love classic French Noir films and they’re playing Pépé Le Moko tomorrow night, so I was wondering if you wanted to go watch it together,” Spencer asked.

You looked at him surprised before looking back at Morgan. He gave you his favourite expression: I told you so. You looked back at Spencer. He had an eager, glowing smile on his face. You were close to saying yes to him just by his enthusiasm.

You sighed. “I can’t this Saturday, Spence. I have a commitment I already have. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, that’s no problem. I should have asked you earlier,” he said.

“Yes, you should have,” Morgan chimed in.

Spencer gave Morgan a strong glare as he was getting ready to say something. Before you were put in-between another fight of theirs, you grabbed onto Spencer’s upper arm and gently squeezed. You were kind of surprised to feel a little muscle on him.

“Spence, have you been working out?” You asked.

He blushed. “Not really by choice. Morgan’s been forcing me to join him on his gym sessions.”

You looked over at Morgan. “You’re forcing Spence to work out?”

He shrugged and put on a sly smirk. “What can I say? I thought we should all gain as much upper body strength as you have, Y/N.”

“I don’t have any upper body strength,” you said.

Spencer grabbed your right bicep and gently squeezed it. You looked at him as he had his thinking face on. He soon noticed you looking at him which led him to let go of your arm and awkwardly clear his throat.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to do that. I was just admiring your bicep form. It’s well developed, even more than Morgan’s,” he said.

You giggled. “I don’t think my little muscles can compare to Morgan’s.”

“This time the kid might have a point. You have some serious bicep action on you. What’s your secret?” Morgan asked.

You hadn’t exactly told anyone on the team about your aerial silk training. You kind of liked keeping this certain talent hidden from the rest of the team. You were also nervous if you had them watch it would be the one time you’d mess up and break your arm. It was silly for you to think the worst would happen if your friends saw you perform since they were your safety net.

“I’ll tell you two another time, but for now I’m running late. See you two Monday,” you said as you picked up your bag.

“Have a great weekend, Y/N,” Spencer said.

You turned around and waved. “You too. Tell me how the movie is on Monday.”

“Will do,” he said.

You turned back around to make your way out of the bullpen. From behind you could hear the clacking of heels running towards you. You knew exactly who it was before you turned around.

“Y/N, hold on,” you heard Garcia say.

You looked at your watch. It was nearly six o’clock and you weren’t even out in the parking lot yet. You turned around and put up your wrist to show Garcia.

“Pen, I have to go,” you said.

“But I was wondering if you wanted to go-“

“Really, Pen, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

You rushed towards the elevator before she could chase after you. You didn’t want to be any later than you were already running. Whatever she had to tell you she would just text or call you about it if it was important.  

Your dress rehearsal went well and you were proud of your performance. You thought your choice of song added to the performance immensely. You felt as if you were dancing on air and you didn’t even think of all of your muscles having to work on overdrive to make sure you didn’t fall. You didn’t even think you worked this hard to take down an unsub.

You were on your way to the change room to get dressed and go get something to eat. You were starving since you didn’t have any time to stop and get food. Your food would have to wait a little while longer since you heard your instructor call out your name. You turned around to see him walking up to you.

“What’s up, Sam?” You asked.

“Well, I noticed you hadn’t asked for tickets for your guests. There are a few extra tickets if you have anyone to give them to,” he said.

You shook your head. “Thanks, Sam, but I don’t have anyone to give them to.”

He raised a questionable eyebrow. “Really? No one from your job? No friends you want to invite? Family?”

“My family lives in another state and so do most of my friends and the rest are busy this weekend. Thanks for looking out though,” you said before turning around.

“How about your coworkers?” He asked.

“They’re busy,” you said as you started walking away.

“Well, can you at least think about inviting some people? It would be nice if people in your circle could see how talented you are,” he said.

You stopped walking and turned around to look at him. He stared at you with such a proud expression on and you couldn’t help giving in to him. All he wanted was the best for you because he thought you were the best.

You stuck out your hand. “Give me the tickets.”

His face lit up as he reached into his pockets and pulled out the extra tickets. There were only two extra tickets. As you took them from him, you pondered on who you would end up inviting.

“Can’t wait for your performance tomorrow, Y/N. I’m sure your friends will enjoy it,” he said.

You smiled. “They sure will.”

With that little exchange over and done with, you went to the change room to get ready to go enjoy the rest of your night. It was the perfect night to grab some pizza, lose yourself in the universe of YouTube and fall asleep on your couch. What you really couldn’t wait for was relaxing all your muscles in a hot bath.

As you changed, you thought about the two extra tickets. It would be nice to have someone or in your case two people from the team to come by and watch you. In your head though you couldn’t get over this worry of embarrassing yourself in front of them. It was whatever to mess up in front of people you didn’t know, but in front of people you saw nearly every day was nerve-racking.

You took out your phone from your bag and went to your most recent text messages. You didn’t see a text from Garcia which meant whatever she had to ask you wasn’t that important or she found someone else to fill your spot. Either way you were glad she didn’t message you. You wouldn’t be able to bear her sad, puppy look if you rejected her invitation to any sort of outing.

You would ask Garcia to come but she seemed as if she had other plans in mind. There was JJ or Emily you could ask but JJ was busy on the weekends being a mom and Emily was always busy doing kid-free activities. Inviting Hotch or Rossi would be cute because they were like father figures to you, but at the same time you kind of liked them to be father figures from afar. Morgan probably wouldn’t shut up about your strength for weeks and encourage you to tackle more unsubs, so he was out of the question.

You opened your text conversation with Spencer. He liked artistic performances and according to Morgan he also liked you. It would be the perfect opportunity for you two to bond beyond work. Maybe you’d even take him out for ice cream after to celebrate. You’d have to make sure he’d take his Lactaid first though to make his ice cream experience enjoyable.

You started to type out the question you were dreading to ask anyone on your team. I’m performing an aerial silk routine. Interested in coming? I have extra tickets. You stared at it for a long while before erasing the whole thing and stuffing your phone back in your bag. You couldn’t gain the courage to do it and you knew that. You just took the extra tickets so Sam would stop begging you to bring people to the show.

In due time you would let the team know about your hidden talent, but your first public performance wasn’t the best time to debut it. You’d probably give the tickets to some people on the street and hope they would attend. You picked up your coat and bag to start your journey home. You had a long night of pizza, baths and nerves to overcome.

You paced back and forth as you waited for the act before you to finish. You were closing the show, so your adrenaline was pumping hard. The pressure you felt to end the show with a bang was unreal. You just wanted to represent the artistry of aerial silk as best as you could.

“Ready for your big break?” You heard Sam say from behind you.

You turned around to look at him. “Born ready.”

He chuckled. “With all that pacing you’re doing, it’s hard to believe that statement.”

“Oh, so you’re a profiler now too huh?”

“Not a chance. I’ll leave all that psychological horror to you, but I do know you’re nervous about your performance. I’m here to tell you you shouldn’t be, you’re amazing at what you do.”

You smiled. “I guess so.”

“Well, I know so. Especially with your friends in the crowd, you’ll feel even more confident.”

You were silent. He looked at you confused and then in shock. You quickly looked away from him before he could inquire about the tickets. It was too late for that plan though.

“You didn’t invite your friends? What did you do with the tickets?” He asked.

“Gave it to this lovely couple on my way home yesterday. Rachel and Keith are sitting in the front row as we speak,” you said.

“You what? Y/N,” he said in frustration.

“Do you hear that? I think I’m up next,” you said as you scurried on stage.

You walked to the centre of the stage and let your silks drop down to your sides. The crowd was cheering already which made you feel good inside. As you looked out into the crowd you could see Rachel and Keith, who were ecstatic to be there. You smiled as you continue to scan the audience with your eyes.

Your eyes widened when you saw a curly-haired man along with two blonde women, a dark-haired woman, a dark-haired man, an older man and a bald man. You squinted your eyes just to make sure you weren’t seeing things from the bright lights messing with your sight. It was true though, your whole team was there.

Before you could even process anything, the music started to play which meant your routine had to start as well. You decided it was time to just let it happen. Obviously some greater power in the universe decided to bring your fears to the light and have you overcome them.

You grabbed onto your silks and started to gracefully entangle yourself in them. You made sure your feet weren’t too loose and your hands were holding onto the silks tightly. You swung, you flipped and you dropped in one swift motion.

The cheer from the crowd was unbelievable. You had to admit it was even better knowing the team was cheering along with them. Sam might have been onto something when he told you the satisfaction of hearing the crowd cheer for you was worth it. All the nerves, all the rehearsing, all the sore muscles. He was right.

Every move you did, you made sure it was done flawlessly. You felt on top of the world as if you were floating in the clouds. Nothing was on your mind besides the lyrics floating in your head as you did your whole routine.  In no time you were done your routine and found yourself not wanting it to end. The only thing keeping you alive in the bittersweet moment was the crowd giving you a standing ovation. You even heard Garcia scream at the top of her longs with praise.

You bowed and then the rest of the performers came out on stage to take their bows. The crowd kept getting louder to the point where you couldn’t even feel your adrenaline pumping heart anymore. It felt amazing to drown the sound out with praise and love from everyone. Especially your supportive team.

After you got changed, you went out to greet the team as they stayed around after to wait for you. You waved at them with a huge, goofy smile on your face. They all started clapping for you again with big smiles on themselves.

“Glad you guys liked it. How did you even decide to come here?” You asked.

“Well, little speed boat, I was going to ask if you wanted to go to this talent show on Saturday, but you left so fast I didn’t have the chance to. I then proceeded to get everyone on board with me to come see the show and to our very surprise you were on the pamphlet,” Garcia explained.

You blushed. “Well, thanks for coincidentally coming out to watch.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about this before? We would have definitely come,” JJ said.

You shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess I was just nervous about messing up in front of you guys. I’ve never performed in front of an audience before, so everything was very high risk for me tonight.”

“Well, you pulled it off. Congratulations,” Hotch said.

“Thanks so much, sir,” you said.

“You did so great tonight, Y/N. Reid over here was so starstruck that I think he was drooling a little,” Morgan said as he playfully punched the side of Spencer’s face.

Spencer sighed in frustration. “Don’t listen to him, Y/N. I was not drooling, but I was definitely pleasantly surprised by your act.”

“He was totally drooling,” Emily said.

“Jaw on the floor,” Garcia said.

“Eyes wide in amazement,” Morgan said.

You smiled as they just kept describing how Spencer looked while you were on stage. You looked over at Spencer. His face was practically red, but he tried his best to hide it with his hand.

“Okay, kids, that’s enough bickering for the night. Dinner’s on me. I’m feeling for Italian,” Rossi interrupted.

“You’re always feeling for Italian,” Spencer said.

“I’m trying to help you get out of this situation and you’re coming for me?” Rossi said.

Spencer instantly looked away as if nothing ever left his mouth. Everyone else laughed as they followed Rossi out of the theatre. You and Spencer trailed along behind everyone. You grabbed his bicep again. Not to squeeze it, but to hold it close to you. He noticed and looked at you with his face still red.

“You know, even though Garcia, Morgan and Emily’s claims were exaggerated, I thought you were incredible tonight,” Spencer said.

You looked up at him and smiled. “I’m glad you think so. Seriously though, were you as starstruck as they claimed? Even a little?”

He smiled. “Maybe just a little.”

You giggled. “I’ll make sure to set up a VIP for you the next time I perform.”

He chuckled. “I’d love that.”

—–

MASTERLIST

[lonelyreputation]

The Optimist (Baker AU)

A/N: Hi! Hi! Baker!Shawn is here and as soft as ever! My mind is a bit scattered at the moment, but I can promise you it’s throughly edited!! Anyway…How is everyone doing?! I hope you had an enjoyable weekend!! 

Annnnd thank you for 100 followers! I've only returned to writing a couple of months ago, so thank you!!! You all are too kind and sweet :’) I have a lot of things written in my docs that just need some editing––so stay tuuunneed  

THANKS A MILLION for all of your support! Your kind words are music to my ears and really encourage me to write more!! Reblogs are never expected, but always appreciated!! 😌💞🌻 

REQUEST/PROMPT: Night wind carrying the scent of freshly baked bread 

Let’s Chat!! | MASTERLIST

Warnings: none :) 

Word Count: 3.6K

You leaned your back against the brick wall, resting your head against the cold brick as you looked up at the stars twinkling in the sky.  Seven minutes, I’ll give you seven minutes, your manager had said to you after you begged to have a little bit of a break after you had just finished serving a rude table.

In through your nose––don’t cry–––Out through your mouth.

You hated waiting tables.  You hated having to plaster on a fake smile at every table.  And you hated having to walk with an extra pep in your step when you were on your feet for four hours.  Most people you waited on were generally pleasant, but there would always be a table or two during a shift that would be act absolutely monstrous.

You pinched your eyes shut––don’t cry––as a soft breeze made its way down the little alley way you had escaped to.  You were sure that at least four minutes of your little break had passed and you dreaded having to walk back in with a sickeningly sweet smile on your face.

“Are you alright?”

You opened your eyes and turned your head to the right.  Standing inside the doorway of the building behind yours was a tall boy with curly brown hair.  He was wearing all white, but the apron tied around his front was stained with various shades of tan, and like the swipe of flour he had on his cheek, his apron was also dotted with spurts of flour.  He smelled of burnt sugar.

“Yeah, I’m––“ you sniffled as you brought the sleeve of your forearm to wipe under your nose, “I’m fine!  Don’t worry.” You had put on your well-trained fake smile in front of the boy.

He wrung out the white towel he held between his hands, he didn’t look convinced, “I tried walking back in, but then I thought you were gonna cry so I came back out.”

An awkward silence filled the air around you as you continued to study him.  He looked unsure of himself.  He seemed as if he wanted to help, but had no idea as to how to help you.  

“You work at The Optimist?” You recalled the name of the bakery that was located behind the restaurant you worked at.

He nodded his head with a genuine smile, “Yeah––I’m Shawn, by the way,” he took a few steps forward, crossing over from the bakery’s domain of the alley way onto the restaurant’s side and stuck out his hand for you to shake.

Scrunching up your eyebrows you hesitantly reached your hand out to connect with his.  He looked to be around your age, early twenty’s, and you didn’t know the last time you had shaken hands with someone your age when introduced.

Shawn dropped your hand, “And you work at The Sunflower?” 

You grimaced and Shawn took notice; his smile dropping into one of a sympathy.  You were about to introduce yourself, but one of your fellow waitresses skidded out the back door with wild eyes.  

“Y/n,” she sounded like she was relieved to have found you, but her tone was urgent and her eyes held terror, “You were supposed to be back two minutes ago, Diane is going insane looking for you.”

At the warning your friend gave you, your eyes doubled in size as you quickly tightened your pony tail––that no doubt had tiny strands flying about that didn’t make it into the hair tie––and bid the baker a quick farewell, “It was nice talking to you, Shawn.”

“Nice meeting you, Y/n.”

You didn’t get to see him as you quickly rounded the corner and rushed back inside before your manager, Diane, laid into you for taking a longer than necessary break.  

•••

Two days later, you found yourself back in the alley way.  And this time instead of begging for a break, you were allowed a whole hour to yourself since you were working a double shift.  You spent the first thirty minutes eating a dinner you brought for yourself, the next fifteen minutes sitting and staring at a wall, and then something in the back of your mind kept nagging you to head to the alley way.

The alley way smelled sweeter than the last time you were here.  The back door to The Optimist bakery was propped open and you were able to smell the aroma coming from inside.  You took a deep breath, hypnotized by the scent of yeast, and let it out only to take another deep breath in.

The smell was stronger than before, hot baked bread must’ve come right out of the oven, you thought.  It reminded you of your grandmother’s house where she was constantly baking loaves sourdough; warmth, comfort, and full of love. 

You caught a whiff of rosemary and closed your eyes in satisfaction.  Whatever bread they were baking in there was full of herbs that flowed out into the street.  If Heaven was on Earth, it would be in this alley way; just you savoring your time alone as the smell of bread breezed out into the night.

“Y/n?”

You opened your eyes to see Shawn standing in the doorway, wearing a concerned face much like the one he wore two days prior when you first met.

“Shawn, hey,” You greeted him with a genuine smile.

He returned his smile as his eyes lit up; he noticed your mood was considerably better than when you first met, “How are you?”

“Really good,” he tilted his head and squinted his eyes at you silently asking you if that was a real honest answer.  You let out a sigh and rubbed your hands over your eyes, “Kinda tired, I’m working a double today but I’m on a break now.”

“You seem better than a few nights ago,” he picked his next words carefully, “Are you feeling better?”

“I don’t want to bore you–––“

Shawn shook his head with a soft smile.  He sat down on the curb and patted the spot next to him for you, “Tell me all about it.”

You crossed over from the restaurant side to the bakery and sat close to your new friend.  You were only sitting about an inch away and you were able to catch a sniff of the sweet smell of the bakery from his apron, “Just some people being rude, it happens a lot so I’m used to it, but like when they start to question my capabilities? And talk about me when I’m serving their food as if I’m not there?” You sniffled as the memory of the dad of the family made a passing comment to his kids how if you don’t have any aspirations in life, you’ll end up like her replayed over and over.

“Hey,” Shawn curled an arm around your shoulder and pulled you in close to his side, “Some people are jerks, it sucks, but you’re a better person than they are,” his hands started to rub up and down your arm in a comforting manner, “Because it would never even cross your mind to disrespect someone right in front of you, and that says a lot about your character.”

You took a chance and leaned your head on his shoulder, “I think everyone should have to wait tables at some point in their life,” you sniffled out a laugh.

“That,” Shawn agreed with you, “or work in retail.”

You let out another laugh in agreement and the two of you stayed snuggled up next to each other.  Shawn continued to rub a comforting hand along your arm, pulling you closer into his side, and it was almost as if your head fit into his shoulder like a puzzle piece.  Shawn knocked your knees together which caused you to let out a giggle and a small smile.

“What time are you done?” He questioned.

You scrunched up your eyebrows and bit the inside of your cheek, thinking about his question, “Around eleven or eleven thirty? Depending what time the last table leaves and we have everything stocked up for the morning shift,” you lifted your head off his shoulder, already missing the close contact with him, looking into his eyes, “Why?”

He wore mischievous smirk, “Do you want a loaf of bread?”

“What?”

Shawn leaned his head back as he laughed at your confused face; eyebrows tightly pulled together with your eyes slightly widened.  He squeezed your shoulder tight, “I uh––I get a free loaf every shift, and I––Do you want it?”

“You don’t want it?” You questioned him, not knowing why any twenty-something year old would pass up the opportunity of free food, “You don’t have like a family to feed or anything?”

He shook his head, a long curl falling covered in flour fell out of place and dropped in front of his forehead, “I’m twenty-one, so I don’t have a family––or anyone––to share a loaf of bread with.”

He tacked on that he didn’t have anyone in a rushed tone, almost scared that if he didn’t get that part in, you would assume that there was someone else he would rather share his bread with.

“What bread did you just make?” If he was offering up his shift loaf of bread, you desperately wanted it to be the sweet herbal bread you had the pleasure of smelling all through out the night.

Shawn nodded his head with a smile, “Focaccia,” he said it as if he was reminiscing his favorite memory, “I’ll have a loaf of that out at eleven thirty.”

Before you could say anything else, your phone alarm rang, notifying you that you had to get back to work.  You let out a soft groan and rested your head back on Shawn’s shoulder, eyes closed, “I don’t wanna go baaack.”

“C’mon working girl,” he squeezed your shoulder one last time before pushing off the curb and reaching a hand out to you, “The sooner you’re back at work the sooner you can get your bread.”

You reached out and took his hand; it felt different than when you first connected hands in a handshake when you first met.  His fingers curled around your hand with care, his calloused hands from kneading dough were surprisingly comforting, and they were warm.

“I expect to be given nothing less than the absolute best loaf.” You held onto his hand for a bit longer before dropping it and walking over to your side of the alley.

Shawn let out a hearty laugh, “They’re all the best loaf,” he shot you a wink, “because I bake them all.”

You felt a blush creeping up on your cheeks, but decided not to face Shawn; you didn’t want him to know the affect he had on you at only your second conversation.  You shouted a see you later tonight over your shoulder and walked back into work with not so much of a fake smile, an actual pep in your step, and a little bit of flour on your uniform shirt.

When your shift was over, you raced back down to the alley way, quickly saying your goodbyes to the kitchen staff, busboys, and fellow waiters.  You were out the back door in no time and were met with the sight of Shawn holding, what you assumed to be the focaccia bread, wrapped in brown paper tied together with twine.

He handed the loaf of bread to you as the two of you made small conversation, him offering to walk you to your car.  Wanting to spend as much time with him, you accepted his offer, as he asked you questions about your day.  Unfortunately the walk to your car wasn’t very far, so the conversation was cut short, but Shawn promised to have another loaf of bread for you tomorrow night.

Once you were in your car and saw Shawn walking in the direction from where you had just come from––I swear my car is parked around yours, let me walk you, it’s no big deal––you rolled your eyes at his blatant lie and placed the bread in your passenger seat.  But what you hadn’t noticed before was a little message written on the brown paper with black sharpie.

Let’s get this bread! Haha, but really, I made this loaf extra special just for you :)

•••

Every other night you had worked for the next few weeks ended in the alley way with Shawn delivering you a loaf of bread and walking you to your car at night.  You had come back to your apartment with loaves of rye, ciabatta, baguettes, and even a Portuguese sweet bread.  With every loaf of bread you brought home, your roommate raised an eyebrow, her interest peaking with your new fascination for carbohydrates.

It was your day off, and while you normally spent it lounging about or going for a walk, you decided to pay a visit to Shawn at The Optimist.  While you normally would avoid the area where you work on your days off, you found yourself excited to be there for once. 

You parked your car in front of the bakery and flipped down the mirror to make sure you had nothing in your teeth before walking in.  Once you were out of your car and locked the doors, you threw your keys into your canvas tote bag and walked toward the navy blue front doors.

With each step, your heart rate began to increase.  You told yourself to calm down, that it was only Shawn, but for some reason that only made you even more nervous.  Nervous, but excited to see him.

A little bell chimed when you walked in and a voice as sweet as the pastry selection smelled, greeted you, “Welcome to The Optimist!”  She looked to be about seventeen; her uniform had her name stitched in cursive on the left side of her black collared shirt, Amelia, “What can I get started for you?”

“Is uh––Is Shawn here?” It didn’t hit you until you were up at the counter that Shawn might also have the day off.

She seemed skeptical to give you any information about an employee, which was fair, working as a waitress you’ve had people come and ask if a specific person was working.  And it was company policy to not give that information out.

You didn’t know if it helped your case, but you started explaining how you knew him, “I work at the restaurant behind you guys and I’ve struck up a friendship with him and I wanted to see if he was at work–––“

“Oh,” Amelia’s eyes widened as a smile blew up on her face, “You’re the girl he brings bread to.”

You felt your cheeks get hot, “Uh…Yeah, it’s nice that he––“

“He’s so sweet!” Amelia gushed as she rested her elbows on the glass counter top and folded her hands together to rest her chin on top of them, daydreaming off into the distance, “He stays so late to buy you a loaf of bread and give it you.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t really have to––Wait,” You tilted your head, “He stays late?”

Amelia nodded her head, “Way late.  Like sometimes I wonder if he just doesn’t want to go back to where he lives––But his roommate has come in every now and then and he seems really nice so––“

“What time do you guys close?” You crossed your arms over your chest.

“Eight or nine?  Our store front closes at eight but then we have to clean and that usually takes us until around nine––“

“Is he here?”

“Shawn?” Amelia asked as if he hadn’t been your topic of discussion.  You nodded your head slowly, “Yeah, he’s just in the back.  I’ll go grab him!”  

Amelia skipped away and called out Shawn’s name in a sing-song voice, “You have a visitor!” 

You were only waiting at the counter for a few minutes before Shawn and Amelia came out from a back room.  You instantly smiled when you saw flour dusting on the tips of Shawn’s curls.

“Y/n, hi––Wasn’t expecting to see you today.”

You picked at a loose piece of skin by your thumb, second guessing yourself if this was actually a good idea, “Yeah, it’s my day off and uh––I didn’t really have anything to do.”

Shawn let out a chuckle, “No, no…I’m glad you’re here,” his smile was infectious. He brought his hands around his back to untie his apron, “I’m gonna take like a ten minute break, is that alright, Amelia?”

He ducked his head to lift the strap of the apron above his head and hung it on a hook by the door the two of them had just come from.  Amelia started to ramble again, nervous that Shawn was going to go off far, but he quickly reassured the teenager that he was only going to be sitting at one of the little tables in the bakery.

Amelia seemed calmer and Shawn grabbed two paper cups, filled them with black drip coffee, and rounded the counter to you.  He handed you one of the cups of coffee as you followed him to one of the small circle tables in a little alcove that granted you some privacy.

It was the first time you and Shawn were hanging out not in the alley way and while it was nice to see him not in the middle of the night, it felt a bit out of place.  But you enjoyed the way the sun shinned through the windows and hit his face on all the right angles.  You even noticed a little scar on his cheek.

“Amelia likes to…Talk,” Shawn started off, “But she’s really sweet, real nice girl.”

You nodded your head and let out a laugh.  Her liking to talk was the understatement of the century, “She seems nice,” you took a sip of coffee, “But she also let me in on some details.”

“Did she?” Shawn smirked as he leaned back on his chair, setting his cup of coffee down on the white table.  When he crossed his arms over his chest, you looked down briefly to see how large his biceps really were; it seemed as if his white shirt was constricting his flexed muscles.  He seemed almost too muscular to be a baker.

You rolled your eyes at his nonchalance, “Yeah, like how you stay late?” Shawn’s smirk dropped, “And how you pay for the loaf of bread?” You waited to see if he would interject and say how she was lying, but he stayed quiet, “Why?”

Shawn shrugged as he avoided your gaze and looked out the window, “Dunno.”  You brought your foot up to his shin and gave it a small tap, edging him to say something else, “You seemed so…sad that first night and I wish I did something more so when I saw you the second time, the only thing I could offer you was a loaf of bread.”

Your heart melted at him expressing his want to cheer you up.  But little did he know, he offered you more than a loaf of bread that night.  He offered you an ear to listen to, then the next time he offered his shoulder, and now he offered you a friendship.  The loaf of bread was nice, but the non-physical possessions Shawn offered meant more to you than fancy bread.

“But staying nearly three hours or more after your shift has ended?” You picked at the top lip of your coffee cup, the white paper spiraling a little, “You could’ve been asleep, Lord knows how exhausted you must feel after working.”

You were waiting for another answer from him and you weren’t going to talk until he offered something––other than a loaf of bread––up.  He finally shrugged and reconnected his eyes with yours, “I like seeing you.”

It felt as if the sweet smells of the bakery infiltrated your body.  You felt warm, like hot bread that was just pulled straight out from the oven.  You felt comfort, like how the smell of sourdough bread reminded you of your childhood.  And you felt something else; not quite love, but more of an adoration for the baker sitting across from you.

“You could’ve just said that,” You said as Shawn twirled his foot around yours under the table.  A sheepish smile made its way onto your face, “I like seeing you too.”

Shawn’s smile shined brighter than the sun through the window, “That’s…Cool.”

You bit your bottom lip, trying your hardest to conceal the laugh that wanted to escape, but you also wanted to hide your growing smile.  All you seemed to do was smile around him.

“How about…” Shawn started speaking but his words trailed off as he looked at you.  His smile brightened when he saw your rosy cheeks, “How about I make dinner for you? I’m no chef, but I can cook a mean pasta.”

You let out a fake gasp of surprise,  “You mean you’re not a cook?!”

Shawn tsked himself, “Just a baker, sweetheart.”

Butterflies erupted in your stomach; sweetheart.  You wouldn’t mind if he called you that a million more times.

“But this time,” you gave him a pointed look, “I’m buying the bread.”

[bjy-on-ao3]

Fic Friday: Steamy Springs

(As usual, you can find the AO3 version of all my uploads [and some things I don’t post here to tumblr] via my Masterlist blog page.)

Okay, so, first off, happy birthday to this bastard who has lived in my head for...7 months now? Second, the timeline on this is reaching - We’re just gonna pretend they never caught him and fog isn’t an issue and this happens a bit before the anniversary of his arrival in Inaba (which seems to have been around early April?). But I wanted to do some stuff involving water/hot springs and such for this, so here we are.

I also don’t think the Amagi Inn had a co-ed bath, but let’s just pretend for the sake of this it does.

Summary Reader and Adachi take a trip to the Amagi Inn as a treat for his birthday, Adachi thinks that’s not enough of a present by itself.

Tags/Warnings Birthday Sex, Consensual Sex, Creampie, Established Relationship, Oral Sex, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Shameless Smut, Underwater Blowjobs, Vaginal Sex, Water Sex

Steamy Springs (F! Reader/Tohru Adachi)

Convincing Adachi to agree to take a day or two off of work to relax and enjoy his birthday had been a simple task. The relief that had dawned on him when you mentioned the idea was no surprise. As long as you’d known him, Adachi had been fond of being lazy and taking the easy route - whether it was slacking off on shift or doing the minimum work possible. All his dodging actual work had given you ample time to get to know him, though, so you couldn’t complain. More surprising, however, had been how easy convincing the police department to give him that time off had been. Though with the big murder case you’d heard about from the previous year being closed, it made sense there would be less work to do down at the police station and more wiggle room in schedules. 

The thought of enjoying the inn’s hospitality and traditional charm was exciting, though you had been looking forward in particular to the hot springs melting away every ounce of tension and stress. Not to mention, you knew if Adachi had his way there would be more to look forward to, as well - something less soothing but nonetheless enjoyable. The biggest upside to Adachi seemed to be not having to deal with the petty complaints of the townsfolk or getting yelled at by his partner, even if it was only a couple days.

You had arrived in the late afternoon, Adachi promising over the phone to meet you shortly after. His lagging behind worked out perfectly for your plans, however. When you arrived, you had set about dropping off your things in your room and briefly admiring the decoration and tranquil atmosphere.  You left for a little while to tend to several other things you needed to arrange for Adachi’s birthday. Perhaps it was silly you were making so much more of a fuss over it than he was, but you couldn’t help yourself. Preparations were completed quickly, mercifully with little hassle, and you returned to the room smiling to yourself and looking forward to the next couple days.

Returning to the room, there was no sign yet of Adachi. He was running later than expected. Knowing Adachi, you half expected there was something last minute he had forgotten about and needed to take care before he could head to the Inn. Shrugging, you peeled off your clothes and began the process of cleaning up and getting ready to indulge in the springs. Leaving a note on a table beside the futon, you made your way to the springs, already grinning stupidly in anticipation.

A muggy, swirling cloak of steam greeted you when you stepped out into hot springs area, and you took a deep breath, your smile widening. Surveying the edge of the water, you spied someone else - someone you recognized. Adachi was reclining languidly against the edge, leaning back on his arms, back facing you. Obviously he hadn’t been as late as you thought. You didn’t recall seeing any text or missed called, nor any of his clothes discarded in the room or bathroom though. You must have been in more of a rush than you thought. 

But you didn’t let the fact Adachi had made it to the springs first deter you, stepping closer to the edge of the bath. You took a moment to admire how relaxed he looked, as if he hadn’t a care in the world “Why didn’t you tell me you were here already?,” you asked cheerily, not wanting to startle him - he hadn’t seemed to have noticed you approaching beforehand, you assumed the lulling effect of the water was to blame.

“Took you long enough,” he shot back, ignoring your question, twisting around halfway and looking over his shoulder. The steamy haze and the heat of the bath painted a rosy blush across his cheeks and you had to admit silently it looked cute on him..

“Yeah, yeah,” you said, waving a hand dismissively while clutching your towel to you with the other, unable to suppress your smile. 

“The way you’re holding that towel, you’d think I hadn’t already seen it all,” Adachi remarked cheekily as you knelt at the edge of the water, before climbing carefully in.

You rolled your eyes half-heartedly before leaning back against the lip, seated a few lengths away from Adachi to give him space to stretch out his long limbs and relax, and grant yourself the same. You closed your eyes, sighing contentedly as the warm water quickly took effect. 

“You don’t have to sit so far away, y’know.” you cracked an eye open and gave Adachi a sidelong glance as he spoke. “I don’t bite.”

Opening both eyes, you turned to face him, crossing your arms over one another on the edge of the bath. “Ha-ha,” you began dryly, “that’s a lie and we both know it.”

“Yeesh, fine, but you like it when I do,” Adachi retorted, tossing his hands up in feigned defensiveness, a crooked, smug grin overtaking his features.

You sighed again, more for dramatic effect than a sign of relaxation, before moving and re-situating yourself within arm’s length of the detective, eyeing him purposefully. “Better?” you asked.

A small, mischievous sparkle in his grey eyes was your only warning before Adachi made his move. He acted quickly, leaving you no chance to dart away, grabbing you firmly by your waist. “A-Adachi, hey! Wait!” You had time to shout as he lifted you up and over, pulling you back down, settling your ass on his lap and pressing your chest against to his.

“There. Now it’s better,” he stated, sounding smugly satisfied. “Don’t you think so?”

There had been ulterior motives behind Adachi’s attempts to convince you to sit closer to him; the real reason he sounded so pleased with himself. Wriggling against his hold at first swiftly made you aware that Adachi had foregone a towel altogether while relaxing in the bath. Your squirming ceased and your glance flitted down briefly toward the beginnings of an erection poking between your thighs. You worried your lip between your teeth, fighting the sudden, overwhelming wave of heat that bloomed in you; a heat that had little to do with the sultry temperature of the hot springs. You swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the sensation and composing yourself before Adachi noticed how successfully he had flustered you and with such little effort.

“You could have just asked, you know,” you mumbled irritably into his shoulder, but you relaxed against his body. Denying you enjoyed being pressed so close to him would have been a lie. Just sitting in his lap, feeling the growing hardness between your legs, it was impossible to overlook how readily your body responded..

“Aw, but then I’d miss that surprised face,” he teased.

His hands twisted, smoothing over your waist and hips until they cupped your ass, pulling you more firmly against him, grinding you over his stiffening cock, his length taunting brushing your lips and making you let out a pathetic little gasp. He leaned forward hungrily, lips molding to yours in a way that was demanding, but shockingly restrained. Ordinarily when Adachi kissed you, it felt more like he wanted to eat you alive, but there was a more relaxed air to it this time. You weren’t going to stop and interrogate him over the difference.

Content to sit in his lap, you let him ravage your mouth, dragging his tongue over your lips until you parted them for him and slipping it inside. Despite the kiss being more docile than you were used to - a part of you dared think of it as almost sensual - there was an urgency and dominance in how his tongue twisted with yours, massaging but fighting it back down whenever you tried to win the upper hand. His hands kneaded your backside absently as he stole your breath away, and you involuntarily leaned harder into him, rolling your hips lightly.

By the time he broke away and started to pepper your neck with nips and kisses, each sloppier by the second, he was fully hard and throbbing beneath you. A sudden twitch of his erection made you shudder, your pussy clenching reflexively on emptiness, and your hips bucked again. Adachi let out a small laugh against the hollow of your throat that vibrated through you. “I think,” he started and you could feel the timbre of his voice rumble against your skin, “this could be a lot more fun,” he finished suggestively, moving down to outline your collarbone with the tip of his tongue where your towel had slipped down.

“I don’t know, Adachi…” you trailed off, pursing your lips, realizing that perhaps an open spring wasn’t the best place to be getting too hot and heavy.

“What? Worried about getting caught?” he returned, his lip curling a little in a taunting expression.

You set your lips in a hard line, a deeper frown, more indignant than worried. “Yes, I am,” you admitted huffily, cursing how the breathiness of your voice ruined your annoyance.

“C’mon, sweetheart. No one’s gonna know.” he coaxed. When you still looked unconvinced, he tried a different approach. “We’re here for my birthday. You wanna give me a proper present, don’t you?”

“Yes, but-” you protested, ready to explain you had plenty of things prepared for him.

“Then you shouldn’t have to think about it,” Adachi pushed, silencing your argument.

You gave in after another moment of consideration. “Alright.”

“Better get started then.”

You moved, angling your hips until the head of his dick teased your slit and pushed forward. But Adachi stopped you with one hand on your hipbone, his other hand migrating to the top of your head. “Aah, not like that,” he said, his voice playfully scolding. He pushed you away, pressing down on your skull and glancing down at the steaming surface of the water and his lap to illustrate what he had in mind.

After another quick internal debate on whether you should indulge him so much, you edged back and took a deep breath. You sank beneath the water, closing your eyes and guiding yourself by touch, wrapping a hand around his cock and pumping it up and down a few times. You carefully eased the head into your mouth, doing your best to keep a tight seal, lest the spring water trickle in. You continued until you had completely wrapped your lips around his length, the tip brushing the back of your throat. 

From there you hollowed your cheeks and began to suck, rolling your tongue along the underside and wriggling it against where the head met his shaft when you pulled back up. You eagerly stroked whatever part of his length your mouth didn’t take, cupping and massaging his balls with the other hand. You ignored the burgeoning ache in your lungs for as long as you could before drawing back and taking a second to catch your breath. You glimpsed Adachi’s face briefly, even more flushed than before, his eyes rolling back. You heard him groan, “Ah man, I didn’t think that could get any better.” And then you were below the surface once more.

You repeated the process once more, sucking him off as best you could while considering the water surrounding you and taking a breath when you couldn’t last any longer. When took him into your mouth for a third time, Adachi’s hips were twitching against yours, and you felt more than heard the muffled groans breaking over the surface of the water above you. Your heart jumped in your chest as his hips bucked suddenly, your held breath threatening to escape. You scraped your nails on his thigh lightly in a warning he subsequently ignored, and his hips rolled up again.

You choked around him, water churning and some of your held breath bubbling out around you. You had no choice left but to resurface earlier than before to replace it and tell him off. His hand returned to the back of your hand though, pressing you down. Your heart skipped another beat, this time in panic. He thrust into your mouth again, rougher, and you dug the nails of both hands into his legs sharply and fought against the pressure on your skull.

All at once, the pressure vanished and instead Adachi was tugging you to the surface. You coughed a bit, panting and breathless, glaring at him disapprovingly. “Running out of breath already, baby? Thought you could last longer than that,” he mocked meanly, though his voice was strained and breathy.

“If you’d stop trying to fuck my face while I’m down there, I could,” you spat back irritably.

”Oh, so sorry, sweetheart.” ‘Yeah right’ you told yourself. “You just suck my dick so well I can’t control myself. You forgive me, right?” He stroked your cheek with the back of his hand, the gentle gesture not matching the tone of his voice.

You just frowned at him, continuing to glare and try to catch your breath. You shook off his hand, giving an annoyed huff and folding your arms over your chest, your towel having dropped beneath your bust.

“Aw, don’t be like that,” he cooed, coaxing you back into straddling him. You tried not to think about how turned on feeling him throbbing between your thighs made you. He reached forward, groping at your chest with his other hand greedily and sharply pinching one nipple, and the simmering heat in your belly your irritation hadn’t dispersed intensified. “I bet I know just how to get rid of that sour look,” he said, moving both hands to your hips.

Before you had time to say anything, he positioned you over his length and pulled you down, impaling you on his cock completely and making you gasp. “Aah, Adachi,” the sultry words rolled off your tongue without thinking, breaking your displeased facade instantly.

Forgetting quickly how upset you were with him, distracted by the satisfying, aching fullness between your legs and the devious, hungry look on his face, you ground against him feverishly. Bracing your hands on his shoulders, you raised your hips and pushed back down, letting your head roll back as he stretched you all over again.

Adachi took the opportunity as you withdrew again and sank down to bend forward, pressing his lips to your throat. His breath against your neck was cool compared to the spring water, even his lips seemed colder, and you shuddered. “Mm, keep moving just like that,” he urged, sighing when your heat enveloped him all over again. He leaned further into your neck, and between a slew of rough bites you heard him groan against your skin. “Fuck, I love it when I get to take it easy,” he purred, sounding thoroughly pleased and breathy.

Even running his mouth, Adachi was still far quieter than you. You rose back up and speared yourself on his cock again and again, sometimes stopping to grind yourself against him, hoping to add more friction to the scandalously blissful and lewd feeling of his cock spreading you open. Knowing in the back of your mind that you should be quiet, that you should try as little as possible to attract someone’s attention from beyond the spring, you couldn’t hold back. Coming back down, savoring each hot inch, combined with the touch of Adachi’s mouth, the friction, and the steaming spring water was ecstasy, near dizzying. Your mouth hung open, a chorus of moans drifting out into the thick, steam-choked air, obscene and growing louder by the thrust.

“Listen to you,” Adachi jeered, his lips whispering over your jaw up to your ear. His tongue snaked out and he bit down, and you gasped between cries. “I thought you were worried about getting caught. Doesn’t sound like it,” he continued, loving taunting you when you could hardly compose the will to keep your mouth shut, let alone try to refute his words. “Or were you just playing hard to get?” Adachi finished, a chuckle tickling your skin.

“F-fuck,” you sputtered incoherently for a moment, fighting off the moans and trying to gather your words. “I’m trying, I can’t, I-”

“Let me help you get that mouth under control, sweetheart,” he cut in, a smug glee seeping in among the husky undertones. 

His hand swept up, covering your mouth in a grip that was hardly gentle, but you didn’t care. Focusing back on the sweet ache between your legs and the coiling, overheated spring tightening in your belly, you stopped trying to be quiet. Even with his hand muffling them, your cries were loud and desperate, and among them you heard Adachi let out a shaky sound that belied the effect they had on him. When he spoke again, you could hear the strain creeping into his voice, a strain that grew more clear each time your hips met his.

“Fuck, you’re still making so much noise,” he observed, the fingers of his other hand digging almost painfully into your hip, flexing tighter and letting go in rhythm with your pace. “Maybe I should just let you scream; someone’s gonna hear at this rate, anyway.”

He pulled his hand away, and you were back to crying out unsuppressed into the heavy air again, nearly screaming, head dropping back again. His hand moved down, disappearing between your bodies and coming to play between your thighs, stroking your clit smoothly. Your pace faltered as you strove to press yourself into his touch, devolving more into grinding against him than riding him, your moans tapering off a bit, if only from the heavy, panting breaths spilling over your lips.

Displeased with your slowed pace, Adachi bucked his hips harshly up into yours, at the same time pushing you toward him with the hand on your hip. His fingers slowed until their pace was tortuous and you were whining plaintively. “Don’t get distracted now,” he warned you. “This is for me, isn’t? Are you gonna make me do the work?” He asked, his voice equal parts irritable, aroused, and smug.

“Ah, n-no. Fuck.” you quickly denied, shaking your head hazily. Biting down on your lip, you attempted to correct your pace, until you were riding him again, hard and fast, thrusting your hips even more eagerly against him as he resumed the motion of his fingers between your folds. It was a struggle not to fall back into only grinding against the delicious sensation of his fingers that further inflamed the molten tension in your abdomen.

He sighed and groaned again, all annoyance gone from his voice. “Good girl, that’s more like it.”

Despite his complaints of being made to ‘do the work’, Adachi couldn’t stop himself from matching your tempo the closer he drew to release. He could feel the familiar buildup and tightness of his own orgasm in his groin, and the way his thick, labored breathing mirrored yours. The promise of pleasure encouraged him to rock his hips to meet you as you sank down, and your moans pitched even louder, airy and clear and carnal, only adding to the urgency. His hand on your hip was a vice, holding the soft skin in a grip that was sure to bruise shades of purple and blue, and his fingers on your clit were became rushed and messy.

You reached your orgasm before Adachi, but only moved your hips more desperately against his, ignoring the oversensitivity trying to dissuade you. It was far too small a displeasure to stop you, to drown out the tingling waves of heat that surged outward from your core and made it hard to think. Even in dumbstruck pleasure, you moaned his name, as if it were the only word or thought that mattered.

“Mmph, this was supposed to be my present, but I think I’ve got something for you, sweetheart,” Adachi growled sleazily into your ear. The matching thrust of his hips against yours picked up, faster and harder until each rocked you with tiny aftershocks of pleasure as you dipped down from your climax. “You’ll be good… for me and… take it all, won’t you?” It was his turn to struggle for words, his speech interrupted by feral, bawdy noises.

“Yes, Adachi, yes, yes,” you moaned brokenly. The volume of your cries had lessened, but their number hadn’t, Adachi’s brutal pace still driving your own and dragging out the pleasure of your orgasm, even as it started to ebb away.

He mumbled some unintelligible, filthy praise, before stiffening against you, the hand on your hip urging you flush against him. He leaned in, biting sharply along your collarbone and the swell of your chest. When he finished inside you, you could feel the thick ropes of warmth fill you, and his panting breath puffed over your overheated skin. He held you still and tight against him for a bit, giving a few more shallow thrusts into your cunt, and eliciting soft, tired gasps from you. With a shaky breath, you collapsed forward, laying your head on Adachi’s while he rested on the soft curve of your chest. 

Eventually, you gathered enough of your strength and breath to pull away and lift yourself off Adachi’s softening cock. Instantly you were met with the lean strength of his arms, caging you in and preventing you from going far. “Where do you think you’re going?” He asked impishly, and even though he was still recovering, you could tell his appetite was hardly satisfied.

“Adachi… we can have more fun, just… can we get out of the baths at least?” You asked, hoping he would see reason. “I’m feeling lightheaded.” You weren’t sure if it was the heat or the sex or the combination, but you knew you wouldn’t survive another round with Adachi if the encroaching dizziness took you over.

He sighed dramatically, as if a change in location was a huge favor to ask of him “Fine, but you’re going to have to make it up to me.”

[takingcourage]

Bring to a Simmer

Pairing: Jaime x MC

Word Count: 2,200

Summary: Arden attempts to make the inaugural batch of ‘Dad and Arden’s Stroganoff,’ but with Jaime around, staying focused is more easily said than done. 

Note: This is just a silly little oneshot inspired by some optional dialogue from the “remembering mom” diamond scene in Chapter 13. I thought it could be a fun premise for a story, especially with a side of Jaime Lewis there to spice things up. Gosh, I’m going to miss this book. 

This also fulfills a request I received for kiss prompt #8 (the playful kiss on the tip of the nose). 

“I’ve got the onion sliced, pumpkin.”

Up to her elbows in flour, Arden looked over her shoulder toward to check her father’s progress at the breakfast table. “Great! I’ll bring the mushrooms over in just a minute.”

Turning her attention back to the recipe card in front of her, she mashed at the sticky dough again. It never looks this way on Bake Off, she considered, worrying her inner cheek against her teeth. But then again, they’re usually making pastry, not pasta. The thought made her feel slightly better, but she still had very little faith that the pasty substance before her was going to end up resembling anything close to her mother’s stroganoff noodles.

She pried one hand away from the clumpy mass, grimacing at the feeling of her very messy fingers sticking to the paper of the flour bag. How had her mom always managed to make cooking look so easy? Even a simple four-ingredient pasta dough was enough to tempt Arden toward a delivery service.

It’s not about the finished product, she reminded herself. This is about remembering mom and making new memories.

Picking at the excess lumps of dough from between her fingers, she wondered how she’d keep her father involved in the process once all of the ingredients had been chopped. His leg had been particularly bad today, which meant that he couldn’t spend much time on his feet without his trusty cane by his side. Unfortunately, canes and cooking didn’t mix particularly well.

“Can you see Jaime working out there?”

She smiled at his inquiry, lifting her eyes momentarily to catch a glimpse of the man at their fence line. “Yep, he’s hard at it. You’ll be really happy with how it looks, dad. I promise.”

“Your mother would have put me in the dog house if she’d seen how bad I let it get. I just…” His voice grew wistful as the sentence trailed, and Arden had to take a deep breath to steady herself.

“It just didn’t seem as important without her around. I think she’d forgive you.” 

The front yard had been a point of contention ever since her mother had fallen ill. Melinda Gale had always taken great pride in her plants, the perfect picket fence, her trailing ivy – all things that Harry only tended to on her behalf. In recent years, the yard had been gradually falling into a state of disrepair. 

Thank goodness for Jaime and his powers of persuasion. He’d been gently nudging for several months, and after coming home from the hospital, her father was finally ready to accept the offer. Arden was just glad that the matter had been resolved without too much nagging on her part.  

That’s not all I’m grateful for, she mused, sneaking another glance out the window. 

She’d known Jaime was attractive for years, but if possible, he’d grown even more gorgeous to her in the past week. Maybe it was because she’d been out of work and had had more time to appreciate him. Maybe it was because she’d seen every inch of him on the night after the gubernatorial debate and knew exactly what was hiding underneath those work clothes. Or maybe it was because she loved him. That word still made her pulse skip every time she thought it. 

Beyond being very nice to look at and prompting irregular heartbeats, he was also incredibly skilled at repairing fences. In a single afternoon, he’d managed to replace the missing and broken pickets, paint the entirety, and purchase new balusters for the front porch. His abilities seemed to go on without end. 

Arden’s own talents felt questionable at the moment, though her hands were becoming less laden with dough the more she rolled and patted the clump into submission. She gave it a final smack, drawing her hand away slowly to determine whether the consistency was ready for rolling.

Although she’d never assisted her mother in the process of making dough, she did have an idea, more or less, of what the final result should look like. The mass on the counter wasn’t an exact replica, but she didn’t think that her attempt was too far off.

At the table, her dad inhaled a sharp breath, but it was several long moments before his words came. “I’m glad you talked me into this, honey. I think your mom would probably get a kick out of watching our struggles in the kitchen.”

“So do I.” Smiling faintly at the thought, she sidestepped to the sink and began the chore of cleaning her hands.

“And she’d be even happier to see how well you and Jaime are getting along these days." 

Arden yanked the kitchen towel a little harder than intended, causing the cabinet door it hung from to squeal in protest. 

Her father clearly needed something else to keep him occupied.

Carrying in the colander of button mushrooms, she set them before the man without a word. As she traded him for the plate of onion slices, she caught the mischievous grin slanting its way up his face. 

"I’m not as blind as you think I am, Arden.”

“I know.”

“And he’s been looking at you like he wants to haul you off and marry you." 

She knew that too. 

Thankfully, her back was turned by in time to hide the blush spreading over her cheeks. "We’re still figuring things out,” she answered evasively. Pulling the largest pot from the oven drawer, she set about filling it in the sink.

“I know I promised not to tell you how to live your life anymore, but he’s the only man I know who’s good enough for my Arden.” She ought to just kiss him sometime. She’s been half in love with him since they were kids. 

Arden pretended not to hear his thought or his comment over the running water. Her father might claim to have seen things, but he’d missed an awful lot of kisses that had passed between them in the last couple of weeks. Beyond that, he didn’t have the faintest idea that she’d spent the night next door after the insanity of the debate. As she waited for the pot to fill, she snuck another look through the glass.

Jaime was removing his shirt.

Her skin flushed again at the sight of his toned, tanned body. Her hands ached to glide along those perfect abs – to wrap her arms around his neck so she was pressed flush against the heat of his chest. Sleeping with him had been incredible. Waking up in his arms, nothing short of divine. 

They hadn’t discussed their plans for after dinner, but maybe she could talk him into another sleepover…

With a start, she realized that the water was spilling over the side of the pot. She drained the excess quickly, vaguely aware of the sporadic sound of chopping coming from the breakfast table.

Her father didn’t say anything, but there was a distinct twinkle in his eye when she returned to the table with the beef. 

_____

 Thirty minutes later, she’d managed to produce something that vaguely resembled stroganoff. Arden counted it as something of a marvel that she hadn’t given up the whole cooking endeavor in favor of just standing and staring out the window. She knew he wasn’t doing it deliberately, but Jaime had been putting on quite a show.

Wielding a paintbrush, standing back to consider his work, wiping his brow – everything he did set her blood on fire. As the evening had worn on, the pan before her received less and less of her attention. The sight through the window had proven too tempting for her to resist. 

His work on the fence complete, Jaime had switched to trimming the bushes in front of the house. As he skirted around the plant, she caught his eye. Arden sucked a breath at his wink.

"I’ll be right back,” she promised her father, hardly taking the time to make sure that he was still cutting romaine hearts for their salad.

Jaime’s eyes were on her as soon as she passed through the door, the shears falling to his side. “The view from the kitchen wasn’t enough, I see. Did you decide it was time to get up close and personal?” 

She rolled her eyes. When she looked up at him again, she was taken aback by the glisten of sweat all over him. With his chest mere inches from her face, she could discern each perfectly sculpted ab, and her fingers twitched with longing at her side. Arden wondered idly how much it would scandalize the neighbors if she started making out with him in her father’s front yard.

Still not prepared for this view?

She reddened at his thought as their eyes met, his sweaty hair obscuring vision from one side. “I’m still getting used to...” she gestured vaguely at his stomach, much to Jaime’s amusement. “But I actually came out to give you a dinner update. It all just needs to simmer for about twenty more minutes and then we’ll be ready to eat.” 

“I’m looking forward to it. I should reach a pretty good stopping place shortly, so I’ll have time for a quick shower before we eat.”

Arden’s mouth grew very dry at the appealing mental images his suggestion graced her with. Distracted, her gaze wavered from his face for a moment – not long enough to satisfy her desire, but certainly long enough to attract his notice.

"You keep looking at my chest, Arden. Is everything okay?” Not that I mind. I’ve only been hoping for this for years.   

Knowing she’d been caught, Arden dropped all pretense and stared openly. She sighed and lifted her face to his. “I’m just thinking again how much I’d like to kiss you right now.”

Jaime bristled with pleasure. “You wouldn’t get any complaints from me if you did, but I am pretty sweaty at the moment. We should probably wait until after dinner.”

Someday, she’d have to tell him that she didn’t mind him being sweaty. In fact, she’d found sweaty kisses with Jaime to be extremely enjoyable just a few nights before. With that memory in mind, she was inspired. “Can I just have one for now?” 

He ran a hand through his hair, uncovering both eyes. The deep brown pools were gleaming with equal parts humor and desire. “I thought you’d never ask.” 

Arden tilted her chin, lips poised and eager for contact. Jaime’s mouth was warm and soft as it descended on hers, the salt of his sweat making her relish the experience even more. Body responding of its own volition, she had to pinch herself to keep from throwing both arms around his neck. Even after he’d pulled away, it took a moment for her to regain full control of her senses.

Just as her head cleared Jaime caught her by surprise, leaning down a second time to brush his lips gently across the tip of her nose. 

She wrinkled the bridge instinctively. “What was that for?”

“I couldn’t help it,” he explained. “You’re just so damn kissable, Arden.” 

“So are you. Please tell me there will be time for more kisses later?”

“I was hoping you’d suggest that.” He stretched out his free hand, skimming the pads of his fingers along her forearm. 

“The mind-blowing, earth-shaking kisses that are full of ten years of pent-up desire?”

He chuckled at her description. “You know those are my favorites. And I don’t have any plans for the rest of the night.” 

“Mmmhmmm.” His little half smile was doing funny things to her stomach. It wasn’t long before she’d lost all track of what he’d been saying. 

Should I put my shirt back on? 

His thought managed to get her attention, and she recoiled. “Don’t even joke about that. I’m enjoying the view way too much.” 

“You can enjoy it as much as you want after dinner.” 

“That feels like too long to wait.” She took another step toward him, forgetting both sweat and propriety in her need to touch him. 

“Arden,” he cautioned, though she knew from the yearning on his face that he wasn’t going to tell her no. 

Was that the door?

His thought corresponded with a click from the porch, followed by the beat of her father’s cane.

Their heads swung toward the doorway where Harry Gale stood, watching them both with an arched brow. Maybe she doesn’t need my encouragement after all... After taking a moment to collect himself, he announced, “Your pan boiled over. I got it off the burner, but I’m not sure what to do next.” 

Arden stared at him dumbly. “I was just….I, um.” She swallowed hard and forced her thoughts away from the man beside her. “I’ll come figure it out.” 

Her father retreated back to the house, leaving her alone with Jaime once more. 

“Go do what you need to do with dinner. I’ll finish up here and be in in a few minutes,” he told her, trailing a finger along her inner palm. Before she could pull away, he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. 

“See you then,” she promised, breaking the link between them. As she hurried up the porch stairs, she decided that an addition to her mother’s recipe was in order: 

Step 1 - If Jaime is outside, close curtains on the kitchen window. 

[ghosthunthq]

from good friends and true

For: @dreams-of-kalopsia

From: @samantha-girlscout

You asked for a glimpse of your fave. Well… I hope you don’t mind a whole fic about him. 

It’d been an especially tiring day. He’d had a couple of tests and an unexpected amount of homework had been assigned for the weekend. Add in the especially long train ride and all he wanted to do was make something simple at home and go to bed.

But, a figure standing just outside the entrance to his apartment building gave him pause.

“Oh, hey Yasuhara,” She said as she gave him an awkward wave from where she stood.

Yasuhara blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected any of the gang to come and visit. It wasn’t as though he was keeping his residence a secret from any of them. Or that none of them were welcome. He just hadn’t taken the time to update anyone besides Naru. But, he supposed, it wasn’t all that surprising considering just how close Mai and Naru had become over the past two years. 

He returned her wave and gave an easy smile.

“Hey, Mai! What brings you all the way out here?”

“Well…” She dug the toe of her shoe into the ground below and did her best to hide a bag behind herself. “I was just in the neighborhood and thought it’d be a good idea to stop by and say hi!”

Yasuhara raised an eyebrow at her. “Oh? Isn’t your school about an hour away?”

Her eyes widened as she realized that he’d caught her. “Yeah,” she laughed. “I guess I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing. It’s been a while since anyone’s heard from you.”

He winced. Yeah that was mostly his fault. He was getting pretty invested in his studies and hadn’t quite remembered to reach out as much as he’d planned.

“Sorry about that.”

“No, it’s okay.” She smiled. “I figured that since the office is closed today it’d be the perfect opportunity to check in.”

“Well thank you for that. Did you want to come in?”

“No, I just wanted to stand outside and talk.” Mai rolled her eyes.

“Well, suit yourself. I’m going inside.” He started towards the entrance.

“Wait! I was just kidding!” Mai waved her hands in an attempt to placate him. “I’d love to come up.”

“I don’t know…” Yasuhara pretended to think about whether he wanted to let her come up or not. It was hard to not break into a grin at how hard she was trying to not seem overly eager, but also not be left behind. Eventually he broke down and laughed. “Alright, alright.”

Mai sighed in relief and laughed a little herself.

“Follow me,” he said as he led her into the entrance of his apartment complex. There wasn’t a whole lot on the first floor besides apartments and a small office. “Hope you don’t mind climbing stairs. There isn’t an elevator here and I’m on the fifth floor.”

“I’ll be fine.” Mai laughed. “So how’s school going?”

“Hey, that’s my line.” He laughed as Mai stuck her tongue out at him. “It’s fine. Just lots of home work, but I wouldn’t expect any less. How about you?”

“It’s going pretty well. It’s been pretty tough working and studying for exams.”

“Do you need some help?”

“Maybe?”

“Well, I’m always willing help if you need it.” He came to a stop before his door to unlock it.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Mai smiled as she followed him inside. 

He flicked on the light, revealing his small apartment. “It’s not much. I think it’s even smaller than yours.”

“It’s fine. In fact I think it looks pretty cute!” Mai toed off her shoes and walked into the center of the studio apartment, looking over what little he had. Besides his bed, a small bookshelf, a floor table across from a television, and a small night stand, he had no other furniture. There were a few pictures on the walls, mostly taken with his high school friends and the SPR gang, and one poster that he’d snagged at one of Monk’s concerts a while back. Otherwise the walls were bare.

Yasuhara took off his own shoes and set his bag beside the door. “ I was thinking of making some ramen noodles and then just chilling out. Did you want any?”

“No…” Mai turned and watched him as he turned on his electric kettle and pulled out a package from his half-stocked pantry cabinet. He then pulled out a drink for each of them from his fridge. As he turned to offer one to Mai, he found that her face was concerned. “Yasuhara, have you been eating well?”

He arched an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“What have you eaten this week?”

He had to stop and think. “Mostly instant noodles…” She frowned. “But I was planning to cook this weekend! I just have long days is all.”

Mai sighed. “C'mon. Let’s go get something. My treat.”

“Mai, I’m perfectly fine with—”

“Nope.” She walked over and turned off the kettle and put the package back. She then grabbed his arm and tugged him towards his door. “Let’s go.”

He tried to dig his feet into the ground, but he found himself sliding on the wooden floor. “Mai!”

“I’m not taking no for an answer, Yasuhara.”

He sighed in resignation. He could tell that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with her. “Fine. But I’m paying for myself.”

“No. I said I’d pay, so I’m paying.”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose under his glasses. She really could be stubborn sometimes. He was pretty sure that if he wanted to pay he’d have to steal the bill or something if he wanted to keep her from spending too much money on him.

He’d watch for an opening.

It took far less time to get downstairs. He was pretty sure that it was going to be pretty tiring to have to climb up the stairs again after this little escapade, but he couldn’t say that he minded all that much.

It was nice to have some familiar company after nearly a month of trying to make new friends. Not that he didn’t enjoy them, most of them were pretty nice. But he hadn’t been able to hang out with them much outside of classes so they weren’t much outside of convenience friendships, yet. So it was nice to spend time with an old friend.

“Where should we go eat?” Yasuhara asked as they started walking towards the road.

“I’m thinking… Barbecue.”

Yasuhara’s eyes widened. “Mai, that’s usually expensive. Why don’t we—”

“Doesn’t matter! C'mon!” She grabbed his arm and dragged him in the direction of the nicer restaurants.

“Y'know I think it does matter. I know you don’t make a whole lot. I’d hate to put you out.”

“It’ll be fine. Trust me, okay?”

He sighed. “Fine.”

“Yay!” She didn’t let go of his arm as she continued to lead him away from his apartment. “This is going to be so fun!”

“Yeah.“  They slowed down to a more easy pace. "Hey, how’s everyone else doing?”

“Pretty good. Everyone’s been kinda busy lately, but I think Naru’s found a case for us to do in a few weeks. He hasn’t said much about it, but apparently it’s a few hours away and is taking  a bit of coordination.”

“That’s good.” He felt a bit sad at the prospect of missing a case, but it was bound to happen. “If you guys need any help from Tokyo, just let me know.”

“Will do! Though depending on how crazy it is, don’t be surprised if Naru asks you to come out for the weekend”

He laughed. “I’ll be sure to keep my schedule open.”

It took a while for them to finally get to the barbecue. It was an enjoyable walk as they passed quite a few shops and some parks on their way. Mai kept fawning over all of the cool things that were in his area. He had to admit that he was in a pretty great location, but hadn’t really had the time to go exploring like this to find out what exactly he had.

“Do you think we should have called ahead?” Yasuhara asked as they approached the crowded entrance.

“Naw, we’ll be fine.” Mai smiled, a small mischievous glint lighting up her eyes. She walked up to the counter and greeted the hostess. “We’re here for the Taniyama reservation?”

“Right this way, ma'am.” The woman said as she started leading them towards the back of the restaurant where a couple of party rooms were located.

As they walked along, Yasuhara tried to catch Mai’s eyes in an attempt to ascertain what exactly was going on. No matter what, had she planned to drag him here? Also, why were they heading to a party room? There were only two of them so they should only need a small table, unless—

Unless everyone was here.

The door opened and a wall of sound hit him as everyone from the SPR gang shouted “Surprise!"  Well, everyone save for Naru and Lin, of course.

"What’s all this about?” Yasuhara asked as he and Mai entered the room.

“Well, a little birdy told us that we missed your birthday last month,” Monk said as he patted the open cushions on either side of him. “Add in the fact that it’s been a long time since all of us hung out, and we all thought it was about time to organize something.”

Yasuhara raised an eyebrow at Mai.

“It wasn’t me. My job was just to get you here.” She covertly glanced at Naru as she took the seat to the right of Monk and next to Masako.

Yasuhara looked to the man sitting at the head of the table. He was reading something, probably something paranormal related, but he looked up when Yasuhara sat beside him on the other side of Monk.

Naru shrugged. “There’s a case coming up that I needed to speak to everyone about. Considering the office is closed in the evening, this was the most logical type of place to gather.”

“I suppose.” Yasuhara wanted to tease his boss, but his attention was stolen away soon enough with all of the gifts that were thrown into his lap. Some were far heavier than others and he nearly dropped all of them when Ayako tried to put her large gift into his arms as well.

“Calm down there,” Monk said as he helped set the gift to the side. “Wouldn’t want you to break my gift.”

“Considering who gave it, I’m sure he wouldn’t miss it.”

“Excuse you. I’ll have you know I worked really hard to find something that he’d like.”

“Oh? Was it a CD of your band?”

Yasuhara looked down at the small package in his hands that Monk had handed him. It did have a very particular shape to it…

And from the look on Monk’s face, Ayako probably hit the nail on the head.

“Oh my god, Monk,” Mai said through her hand as she tried her hardest to not laugh at his expense. “Don’t tell me you did!”

Monk looked away, embarrassed. “It’s the first copy of the newest album,” he muttered as Yasuhara tore into the wrapping paper. “No one else has a copy yet and it’s signed by everyone. You mentioned you liked our music so I thought—”

“I’ll only accept it if you sign it with a kiss.”

Monk spluttered. “Wh-what?!”

“Well how else would you sign it? C'mon I’m sure Ayako has a spare tube of lipstick.”

“Like I’d waste a tube on a miscreant like that monk,” Ayako pulled her purse tighter to her body and glared at her compatriot.

“What’d you say? I’ll have you know that I look way better than you do in all shades of lipstick! I just. Don’t feel like wearing it right now!”

Yasuhara lost all composure and laughed out loud at the scandalized face that Ayako gave Monk. As if the thought of him looking better than her was ten times worse than the idea of him using her lipstick. It was just too much!

It took a little while for he and the rest of the group to calm down enough for him to finally speak up.

“I love it Monk, thanks.”

“No problem, kid,” Monk groused as he glared at Ayako.

The rest of the gifts were a bit more practical. Ayako gifted him a large box filled with various kitchen supplies.  Something he’d, admittedly, neglected to buy for himself. Mai gave him a blanket. It felt handmade and from the tag that she’d sown into the corner, he was pleasantly surprised to find that she’d knitted herself. Masako gave him an ornate set of chopsticks and some teas. Lin gave him a gift card to a convenience store nearby. John gifted him a set of high quality towels. And, lastly, he received a set of paranormal books from Naru.

It was far more than Yasuhara ever expected from any of them.

There were a lot of things that Yasuhara expected to change when he went off to college. The most of which was getting to spend less time with this group. He wasn’t sure why, but he’d just figured that they’d all go their separate ways eventually. But it seemed as though he’d been wrong.

He should have realized that it wasn’t necessarily an option at this point, though.

They were his family, after all.

[imagine-loki]

Packless Monsters

TITLE: Packless Monsters CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 11/? AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you’re a werewolf who ends up in the company of Loki in the Avenger’s tower after saving Pepper’s life RATING: M NOTES/WARNINGS: Also on AO3 click here

     “I apologize in advance for tomorrow,” you told the group a couple days later at dinner. They were all going out on a mission after the meal. You still hadn’t started going on missions with them yet. Cap was still strategizing on how to best add your abilities to the group dynamic, so you stayed with Loki most of the time. It was rare for him to be called out with the others.

    “What’s tomorrow?” Tony asked stupidly.

    “The full moon, doofus,” you replied sourly, fighting the urge to growl at him. Your wolf still hadn’t forgiven Tony, so you tended to be more short with him than the others. Your temper was already bordering on short right now.

    “I think Tony meant why do you need to apologize for tomorrow, love?” Loki said calmly from the chair next to you, sipping equally calmly on his tea. You saw the smirk of his enjoyment at your taunting of Tony.

    “Because my temper will be much shorter than usual until after the full moon tomorrow night,” you explained, staring at your nearly untouched plate. You hated talking about things like this, but they deserved to know.

    “We can handle the Hulk’s temper. You can’t be nearly that bad,” Tony quipped. You glared at him across the table, though he had a point.

    “Thank you for the warning,” Cap said firmly to shut Tony up. “We should get going,” he told the others. “Loki, I got an update that there will be enhanced. Suit up, you’re coming too.” Loki looked up, shocked, then looked at you.

    You rolled your eyes at him. “The preternatural creature can spend a few hours alone in her locked house without a babysitter, oh high and mighty god,” you teased him.

    “Maybe we should leave you a babysitter,” Tony chuckled. You glared at him in reply, tempted to throw the salt shaker, or your dinner knife, at him, but stood with the others instead, choosing to ignore him.

    “I’ll get the dishes,” you told Cap. He nodded and everyone separated to go get ready. Loki touched your arm as you started gathering the dishes so you could wash them. It was the least you could do.

    “Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Loki asked you softly.

    You huffed and rolled your eyes at him again. “I’m fine, Lo,” you teased. He glared momentarily, an automatic response to the nickname, but laughed, grumbling something about an annoying puppy. You had somehow gotten away with shortening his name, and Thor thought you were the most amazing person for managing to do so without getting stabbed.

    His expression sobered when he saw you wrap your plate and shove it in the fridge, intending on eating it later, and knowing you wouldn’t. “Love, have you eaten anything all day?” His voice and expression were nothing but concern.

    “I’m not hungry,” you replied instead of answering that question. You hadn’t eaten more than a few bites of anything all day, but you couldn’t tell him that. Most days you ate as much as he and Thor did. You couldn’t lie directly to Loki, so you had a tendency to lie with the truth. It was a well practiced skill among the werewolves. So much so that many became lawyers.

    “Y/N,” his voice was an unhappy warning. He looked you over more closely. “You’re flushed,” he said softly and touched your cheeks, then your forehead with his ice cold hand. “Tell me, love,” he bid you softly when you melted under his cold hands. You laid your head on his chest and would have purred if you were a cat when he placed his hand on the back of your neck.

    “It’s the full moon,” you told him. You didn’t know how to explain what you were feeling to someone who wasn’t a wolf, who didn’t get this way every stupid month. There was no way he’d understand the feeling of heat, anxiety, over-fullness of power, near sickness at the moon’s call. “I-I can’t explain it. I swear I’m fine, or I will be after tomorrow,” you amended before he could claim you were getting too close to the line of a lie. He hesitated, but Cap called for him to hurry up.

    “Very well,” he finally said softly.

    “Go on, you have work to do,” you teased and pushed him to the elevator, your hands firm against his back while he fought with all the maturity of a jelly-legged toddler.

    He paused at the elevator to use magic to change into his battle armor, then turned back to you. “My room is kept cool,” he reminded you. “You’re welcome to spend the evening there if it would be more comfortable.” He had noticed that you melted under his icy hands.

    “Thanks, I’ll consider it,” you replied and stood up on your toes to kiss his cheek. He shifted with a mischievous grin and kissed you lightly on the lips instead. The kiss was chaste, his lips soft on yours, but you felt the shock of ice down your spine when his lips met yours. You looked up at him shocked when you were back on your feet. You hadn’t expected it, or how much you would enjoy it.

    “I’ll return as soon as I am able. Be safe, little wolf,” he bid you with a smirk at your shocked expression and was laughing as he got into the elevator to go meet up with the others at the jet upstairs.

[iiintoxiiicated]

Robstar Week 2018 - Day Four

uwu hit me w that ROBSTAR KUSH

lol i mean,, i GUESS it’s also kinda dickkory because-

no whatever lets just uHhHhH get into the story

DAY FOUR: TOKYO NIGHTS

“It is most delightful that we are able to visit Tokyo once again,” remarked Starfire as she stepped into the airport, a yawn escaping her mouth. She rubbed at her eyes and if it weren’t for her yawn, the Tamaranean wouldn’t appear tired in the least. She beamed with excitement through her drowse, clinging to Robin’s hand while guiding him toward their baggage claim.

“I remember how much I admired the city the last time we were here,” Starfire continued as she floated beside her boyfriend, hands still locked together. Her feet were asleep and numb, leading her to stumbling insanely when they touched the ground. It was in her best interest to continue flying. “It is a relief we are able to partake in the festivities without worrying about the likes of Uehara Daizo and Brushogun.”

Robin nodded in agreement, his free hand gripping the booklet he had taken with him from Jump City. It contained various English to Japanese phrases that would help him if he miraculously got separated from Starfire. Thanks to the booklet, he’d know enough to get around.

He squeezed her hand. “Just remember to minimize the use of your powers,” the dark-haired teen warned. “Even though we stopped Uehara Daizo and his troops, Tokyo doesn’t see entirely fond to us. Remember what I told you?”

Starfire lowered herself to the ground, stumbling a bit with her footing. She cast around a curious gaze to see if anybody in the airport had noticed—which, they hadn’t, being so consumed in the crowd. The Tamaranean hero brushed aside her ruby locks shyly as she looked at Robin. “Yes; you are under the alias of Richard Grayson and I am Koriand’r.”

“Kori Anders,” Robin repeated, emphasizing the space that split it into a first and last name. “And call me Dick Grayson. It’s another way of saying Richard.”

Kori sighed and trudged on through the airport, weaving effortlessly through the swarm of people that hurried to catch their flight. She tucked another strand of hair aside. “I still do not entirely understand why we must celebrate our anniversary under the cover. We have saved the people of Tokyo! Why must they incriminate us?”

“Because, Sta- Kori,” Dick began, just barely correcting himself in time as they passed by another family, “I don’t think all of them know the real story behind Brushogun and Daizo. They just see us as the bad guys who came in from America and started messing with the police. A lot of them don’t believe Uehara should be in prison; they only see us in the wrong. I don’t want to risk anything while we’re here to celebrate.”

As they neared the baggage claim, Dick continued, “Plus, it gives us a bit of privacy. We’re heroes, sure, but we never get to live the lives of regular teens. Using our real names—that people don’t know—will let us get away with a lot more while on vacation. We can enjoy ourselves without worrying about the mobs of people who know us and love us, or know us and loathe us.”

Kori nodded in agreement, her eyes lighting up as she spotted their bags on the conveyor belt. She dragged Dick along with her to retrieve them, hosting her own hot pink one onto the ground as Dick did the same with his black one.

She kicked it onto its side and pulled at the handle, dragging the luggage on its wheels through the busy airport. Kori glanced back for a trace of Rob- Dick, letting out a relieved breath when she noticed him trailing not far behind her. She slowed her pace so they walked side-by-side.

“Do you recall the last time we were here?” Kori asked suddenly, startling Dick into alertness. She smirked to herself while her eyes affixed onto the carpet. “Besides all of the crime fighting. When we shared that moment on the top of a building watching the sunset?”

Dick smiled at the memory, even if the ending of it wasn’t so happy. He nodded, “I believe I recall that. The sunsets here are beautiful. It’s too bad we were too busy hunting Brushogun to admire one of the sunrises.”

“Well, we are here now,” Kori pointed out with a shrug as they laced their hands together again. “And this time we are not hunting anybody down. May we finally have the fun?”

He leaned over to press a kiss against her cheek, humming thoughtfully. “In a little while,” assured Dick with a small grin. “We need to check into our hotel first. We’re going to be here for a whole week, after all.”

“Oh yes!” Kori exclaimed, her feet detaching from the ground as her joy got the best of her. Dick squeezed her hand a little tighter as a reminder, watching as she instantly plopped back her feet back on the floor. The Tamaranean blushed though continued, “When you surprised me with the tickets, I did not believe that we were going for a whole week! You are usually too busy with the work to take a vacation.”

Dick scoffed, “Am not! I am more than capable of taking a vacation.”

Kori lifted a brow. “Dick, it is a chore to get you out of the Tower to go grocery shopping. You have even prohibited me from going because there could’ve been villains running amuck!”

“That was for your safety,” insisted the black-haired teen as he tugged on his luggage. “There were reports of Johnny Rancid out and I didn’t want you going alone! Who knows what could’ve happened if you ran into him?”

Kori rolled her eyes as they walked out of airport, the glass doors sliding shut behind them. She followed her boyfriend as he searched for the car rental where Cyborg had a reservation put in for them. “I am more than capable of looking out for myself,” she mocked with a smirk, taking note of his irritated glance back at her. “But that was unnecessary! We were lacking the milk for the cereal and-”

“Less English and more Japanese,” Dick teased, smiling at her irritated expression. He got on his tiptoes and pressed a kiss against her lips that seemed to put her at ease. “Please. I can’t find the sign to the car rental.”

Kori rolled her eyes again, though not long after a mischievous smirk made its way upon her lips. “My Japanese has become a touch rusty.” She set her jade eyes on a fine young man walking their way, making sure Dick could see who she gestured to. “Perhaps I should-”

Dick snatched her hand and dragged her past. “Nevermind. I’ll find the car rental myself.”

The rest of the day had breezed by; sad news for the two Titans on vacation. They’d spent their time acting as tourists in Tokyo, watching sumo wrestlers and trying exotic foods. They stopped by a couple of stores and picked up a couple of souvenirs for their fellow Titans back in Jump City as a thank-you for their help in organizing the trip.

Kori laid in the king-sized bed their suite had to offer. With the money that Dick had (which he seemed to acquire out of nowhere, shocking the other Titans), they were able to afford the finest hotel in Tokyo, as well as dine at the finest restaurants.

But the Titans were curious as to where this kind of money was whenever they needed it, though Dick insisted he knew a little somebody in Gotham who helped him out. Legally, of course! He’d never accept stolen money.

“Exhausted,” Kori breathed out as she nuzzled against the pillows. “I am utterly exhausted. The festivities we participated in were most enjoyable, if not equally tiring. Though I believe what I am feeling is the plane-lagging-ness.” She let out a yawn.

“You mean jetlag,” Dick corrected gently.

He smiled as he tugged on an old black shirt that he planned to sleep in. He tugged at the covers gently, urging Kori to float up and allow him to pull over his body. The black-haired teen patted at the free spot beside him, inviting the Tamaranean to join him.

Kori glanced at the lamp with a sigh. “You have left the light on for me to get. Again.”

Dick snickered under his breath, watching as Kori floated over to the switch and gave it a gentle flick. He opened up the covers and waited until she buried herself in them before speaking.

“Sorry, babe,” he began with a half-yawn, “but that’s your punishment for making me eat raw octopus earlier at dinner. It was still squirming!”

Kori rolled her eyes as she snuggled into Dick’s side, turning so that she was the little spoon. Even if it was slightly uncomfortable—as Kori was typically the big spoon—she still let out a quiet hum of pleasure. “That was nothing compared to the freshness of meals on Tamaran. It was delicious, either way. The sushi was glorious! As were the wrestlers of sumo and the mini markets we have purchased the souvenirs at.”

The Tamaranean let out a breath, her shoulders sinking as she did so. “Tokyo is indeed glorious, though I believe I find myself to be enjoying it more the second time around. We are doing everything we did not have the time to do on our first trip. It is… relaxing to be here with you. Exploring the streets of Tokyo, as well as the mini markets…” she trailed off with another yawn, her lips twisting into a slight frown. “Though, I do feel a bit of the homesickness.”

Dick tightened his grip around her reassuringly. His eyes were closed though he was listening to her as she rambled on drowsily. “There’s no need to feel homesick, Kori. Enjoy your time here because the next time we go on vacation won’t be for a long while. It was hard enough to convince myself to take a week-long break from watching over Jump.”

“As I have said before, you are utterly consumed with your work.”

“I prefer the word determined.”

Kori clicked her tongue, shaking her head only slightly as her locks tickled at Dick’s arms. “You are silly,” she remarked in a teasing tone, twisting in her position to press a kiss against his cheek. “A… what is the word? Ah, a workaholic, though silly. Have I said that I am beyond excited that we are here in Tokyo? Just you and I?”

Dick nodded with a confirming hum. “Many times, babe.”

“Well, I will say it again.” She blinked open her eyes, turning to stare at Robin, batting her lashes. “I am beyond excited to be accompanying you in Tokyo without the crime fighting. Even if I feel the slightest bit of the homesickness, you are my reminder that wherever I may be, I am home when I am with you.”

Dick leaned forward and pressed their lips together for a brief moment before he withdrew. He pressed his forehead against hers and felt the corners of his lips turn upwards into a smile. Dick squeezed her sides gently though reassuringly, letting out a breath.

“You’re my home, too, Kori.”

[lord-andrew-hanbridge-blog]

Foreign boy and the Strange girl

   She ran around playing with her white witch hat and toy broom in the  grass during  a warm summer day. She was playing by herself, like any other day really. All the other kids thought playing with her would infect them with witch cooties as she would always obsess about Shiny Chariot or magic. Yes, it did upset little Akko, but she learned to smile it off. Though at times she must admit it was hard ignoring the sentiment.    "Ka-Boom! I defeated the greatest evil forces with my magic!" she shrilled with energy as she lifted her hand that had a branch up in the air. Akko then heard bunch of squealing and commotion going on which caught her off guard. She blinked a couple off times because almost nothing "commotion" wise happened in her hometown. Maybe it was someone famous or maybe...someone is in trouble!    Akko picked up her toy broom and ran toward a bush that  leads to the other side. She would use the bush  to see what was going on while maintaining a low profile. Coming to a halt before going inside the green push, she placed her  Shiny Chariot hat and toy broom aside to avoid them getting damaged and  she squeezed her way inside the bush to hide and seek the mystery.    Step one was accomplished and her hair was probably tangled up in the small branches. She moved a bit of the green bush to see through and finalize her mission. It looked like it was a boy about about her age. He didn't look like he was having a good time being surrounded by other kids as he swung uncomfortably in the playground swing. He also didn't look japanese at all, he must be a foreigner. She kept making many observations about the young boy her age and she suddenly realize what she was doing and blushed.    "Stop it Akko" she yelled at herself. The yell that Akko thought was in her head, was loud enough to get the bored boy’s attention. The swinging noise came to a sudden stop and Akko wondered where he went. She poked her head out of the bush to get a better view. Her nose hit another nose and she saw green forest eyes in front of her. It was him!    "Too close!" she scrambled to say as she pushed him away. The boy's bottom came in contact with the grass and he was bewildered by her action. He looked up to see her face red and twigs and leaves hanging on her short brown hair and she waved her hands around. Suddenly he heard the snarky comments from the other kids that were following him like vultures in the playground.    "What was the word dad said before? Oh that's right they were a bunch of  kiss ass" thought Andrew as he turned to see the kids having a growing mischievous face.   " Eww, Akko was trying to cast her evil spells."   "Hey, big nose witch where is your hat? Did it fly aways because you are gross?"    " Akko didn't you shower? Looks like you been playing with the pigs!" The children all begun to ridiculed Akko who was holding her hands in front of her chest and rubbing them nervously. They always do this to her, but never in such a huge crowd and they were probably doing it more now, so she would look terrible in front of the foreign boy who would go back to his country and tell his friends, who would tell someone else and then everybody in the whole world wouldn't want to be her friend! Call it overthinking, but Akko was sure it was a possibility.    Andrew saw the girl with leaves in her hair began to tear up from what the kids were saying. He only knew basic words and a bit more in Japanese, but body language was enough for him to know they were bully her. Not thinking twice Andrew stood up and reached out for her hand, pulling her as both went through through the bush to the other side. Once in the other side she stopped him, but to his dismay.   "Wait, I have to get my hat and broom!" exclaimed Akko as soon bent down to get her special hat. Within a matter of seconds the group of voices questioning what happened in front of them, got louder. Andrew reached for Akko's broom to and he shook his head up to signal her that they need to move on. Akko got up and grabbed his hand to let him know she was ready. Andrew was again a bit startled by her straightforwardness, but couldn't say anything as the kids manage to spot them. To him, talking could wait. Both of them ran as fast as their little legs could carry them.    Strangers they were and together they ran to without a destination, away from others. Akko, who ran behind him, and grabbing his hand tightly wondered if he even knew where they were going. She suddenly thought of a bakery near them, they could hid. Andrew suddenly felt a pull and heard Akko saying "Over there" after she began taking the lead.    "I bet she placed a spell on him! That's why is is running with her! " pouted a bratty girl who was  leading the group of bullies.   Andrew felt Akko's grip on his hand loosen, must have been what the girl said that upsetted her more. He wasn't the best in cheering others up, but he grabbed her hand tighter to show that they were in the mess together and that he was in no spell. Akko rose her head in surprise as they continued running to the bakery and quickly looked back at him flashing a tearful, happy smile that caused Andrew to blush a tiny bit.    The elderly baker was about to close the shop until she saw little Akko running with a friend rapidly into her shop.    "Akko?" asked the old lady looking confused over Akko's sudden rush to her shop.    "Turn the sign to close, please Granny!" shrieked Akko letting go of Andrew's hand and grabbing ahold of Granny's apron.    "Fine dear, but please explain why you have this poor boy out of breath.", the elder lady asked gently after turning the shop's sign to 'Close'. Akko approached her Granny once more to explain to her, leaving Andrew to look around the bakery. He has never been to a Japanese bakery before, so he was automatically curious eyeing the furniture and decorations in the bakery.Soon his attention was drawn to the sweets behind the counter. After Akko finally explained it all to her Granny, the old woman  couldn't help but smile at the young boy for showing her granddaughter an act of kindness she didn't get from other kids.    "Want to dry a cake? Granny makes the best!" she spread out her arms to emphasize how good they are and suddenly heard both their stomachs grumble from hunger. She began to laugh brightly and Andrew felt his mouth curve into a smile. Before he knew it, he was laughing along with the girl called 'Akko'.    "Take a seat, kids. I'll come back with some of my famous vanilla cake and milk" the old lady went to the back of the shop to bring sugary delight to the kids. They both sat down in the table furthest from the window. Few seconds later she arrived with their cake and milk and gave them space as she had to clean up the shop.    "Andrew, Andrew Hanbridge, is my name. " he mumbled out covering his mouth with the palm of his hand in weak attempt to hide his blush.    "Andr-,And-ruu, Andrew!" Akko practiced saying his name as it was in a different language with curious sounds. She began to giggle once more and Andrew just gave a lazy smile back.   "Thanks for helping me out there, I promise I don't to bad things with magic! Shiny Chariot only makes people smile"   "It was nothing big, you really believe in magic, huh?"   "Do you think it's weird?"   "I haven't seen it myself, so I can't judge. Once you learn a spell, then I'll judge"   "Deal! We are friends now right?" she asked with hopefulness in her eyes.   "We were friends at the moment  I grabbed your hand, Akko." he said nonchalantly as he continued to eat his cake. Akko blushed and felt as if her hair stood up with what he told her. He was her friend! She hadn't had a friend in a while! But then she remembered he would probably leave since it appears he came for a bit.    "But you will leave Japan eventually." whimpered Akko looking down sadly at her cake. Andrew stopped and looked at Akko.    "We can be penpals, I'll tell my butler to hand you my address and you give me yours" he said in a warm smile. Akko wiped the little tears that invaded her eyes and agreed happily with him.    Granny was smiling as she heard the young kids talk to one another. She was most of all happy Akko had a friend her age and didn't find her enjoyment of witches and magic weird. Being an adult, she knew Andrew's parents would probably worried about him. He also probably came from an esteem family as he was wearing fine clothing that simply yelled out high class.   "Excuse me young gentleman, but your parents are probably worried sick. Why don't you give them a call and let them know you are here?", she reached for the bakery's phone to hand it to the young boy who agreed and began to dial the phone.   "Did you call your parents?" asked Akko with her mouth full of cake that earned her a glare from Granny.   "My butler is coming to pick me up. My parent's are probably still in the meeting." he picked up the napkin to clean a crumbs off his face in a mannerly way. Akko notice he went full serious when it came to talking about his parents. She should ask him to play! He had helped her when she was feeling down, now it's her turn. She bounced off her seat and grabbed Andrew's hand to get his attention.   "While we wait for your butler, come play with me! I have toys. Maybe not cool ones, but they work!" she begun to walk with him toward the back of the shop that connects with Granny's house.    "Alright, don't make me play anything too girly." he requested as they got to the living room filled with toys.    "Okay, I'll be the mom and you will be the dad! Not too girly,see." she smiled and grabbed her baby doll rocking it back and forth.    "Fine. I'm home." Andrew shyly muttered out, to show Akko he would play. Akko smiled once more and she continued their game of house.    "I'm going to give you my welcome home kiss!" She began to get close to him.    "Wha-h" Andrew spoke up with his face being tomato red as Akko gave him a innocent kiss on the cheek that sent his facing burning red.

[albinzadamski]

Baby Proof: How Safe is your Home?

When my partner first told me she was pregnant, I was ecstatic. I personally think that’s one of the few moments in life when someone really experiences complete and untainted joy. The words ‘you’re going to be a father’ are rivalled by very few others. Seven months down the road, however, I think it’s fair to say those emotions had become overwhelmed by a singular just as powerful one. Fear. I’m sure many of you can relate to this or have at least seen it in your other half, but as the due date gets ever closer, the more panic starts to take over. I have to confess I had a bit of a mid-life crisis in my twenties. It was probably not enjoyable to witness.

Much to the surprise of my wife, I went on a huge spending spree buying anything and everything baby related. This probably would have been okay, but I went slightly overboard. Cupboards, wardrobes, and tables soon began to resemble strange objects you’d expect to discover at Disneyland as I piled them up with toys and colourful bouncers. In almost every room, space quickly disappeared. Anything that looked like a sharp edge was covered by a soft rubber cap. Door stops and plug socket covers roamed free and would turn up in the strangest places, on one occasion I even found one in my work briefcase. I think it surprised my boss just as much as me when I opened it up in front of him.

Then the big day finally arrived and as my baby grew into a toddler and finally a mischievous little girl, I realised there was never any reason for me to worry that much.

Don’t get me wrong, the threat of safety hazards for young children in the home is certainly real, over 2 million children in the UK experience a household injury every year that results in a trip emergency services. However, there is no need to go crazy with gadgets and plans. A lot of child safety is common sense and I want to share my experience with you so that you can decide what steps are best to take for baby proofing your house.

Finding the right Room in Your Home

How much space is there? Where is the window located? Is it upstairs or downstairs? Maybe you’re like me and my wife, you don’t have a choice where your baby will be sleeping, as you only have a one-bedroom home but if you can choose, do it wisely.

Remember, you are going to be spending A LOT of time going to and from this room. If it’s up 3 flights of stairs you’re going to regret it. If it has a low window or one near the cot you’re going to have to make sure nothing can get in or out through it. You’re also going to want to make sure that fingers can’t be caught in it. We got some restrictors and they worked great.

Upgrades

Now I’m going to ‘nerd-out’ a little bit. Because I never cared about doors until I had a kid. Now that’s all changed. A door is not just a door. The door you chose to put in your child’s bedroom will either take you to Narnia or Hell. Different styles definitely have different advantages. I wish I’d known this during the pregnancy.

At first, we kept the standard door in the bedroom, it was probably the one that was there when we bought the house, but after just weeks I noticed the problem. It swung inwards. When our baby was first born this was a problem as we didn’t have much space and it would knock things over waking her up. It was also noisy to open and close. You don’t know how loud a door closing is until you’ve just spent 4 hours rocking a screaming baby to sleep.

Finally, we had the problem that we wanted to leave it slightly ajar so as to be able to hear her if there were any issues. Door stops left awful marks in the carpet and were a trip hazard, not using them meant a small draft would slam the door, often waking the baby. It was driving me mad. So I went online and decided to get a bi-fold door. Installing it was a pain, but no sooner had I put the final screw into the wall did I notice the difference.

This new door style gave me more space, didn’t slam and could be easily left slightly open. Internal bi-fold door designs are not only great for babies but as my little girl grew into a toddler I didn’t have to worry about opening it too quickly and finding out she was behind it.

Additional Equipment

My most important tip is probably this, be careful where you get anything for your baby. Paying that little bit extra is definitely worth it. Cheap products can sometimes be faulty and dangerous. Hand me downs can often be invisibly damaged or contaminated with mould and other nasties. Research what you should or shouldn’t accept from your friends.

As your child gets older safety gates and plug socket covers are a good investment but aren’t essential for when your baby is first born. Plug socket covers are cheap, so maybe at first just get a few for the low-down plug sockets in your baby’s regular rooms. If you put them in every socket charging your phone will become a living nightmare.

Those little rubber cubes for corners are also great. Just don’t be like me and buy hundreds, they can also become annoying after time and aren’t even useful everywhere. The same can be said for cupboard locks. Slowly install them as your child grows otherwise even simple tasks like getting cereal in the mornings can become time-consuming and drawn out.

Hazards

The ultimate piece of advice is not to add things, but to take them away. If you have the luxury of time before your child’s birth, take a quick tour of your house and lock up anything you think could be sharp or dangerous. Well, don’t literally lock them away, just put them in drawers that are high off the ground and nowhere near anywhere you put your baby.

Parents often joke about it, but kids will seriously try to eat anything, and I mean anything. Our youngest went through a stage of eating plant pot dirt. Literal mud. He loved it. As soon as he could crawl off he went as fast as he could straight to find some soil to munch on. It was awful, but we quickly learned that for a few year’s plant pots had to be high off the ground or they would end up as lunch.

The lesson we got from that rather funny situation was to analyse all the ground level items we had and ask ourselves ‘could we eat this if we tried to?’ If the answer was something we had to think about, up on a shelf it went.

The other thing we noticed was that kids love sticking their fingers in places they shouldn’t. Holes in the floorboards and gaps between walls all needed filling, even the garden gate needed some adjustments. If there are any small holes in your home, I can guarantee your child will think about putting their finger in it at some point, so think ahead and plug them with something.

The Bathroom

If you are expecting or have a young child, you’ve more than likely read or heard about how to deal with things like how to run a bath to the right temperature. What you probably don’t know is that the bathroom offers a lot more dangers than even the kitchen.

Simple things like always putting the toilet seat down are essential. When they’re younger babies will often pull down on things just because they can and if it’s on a toilet lid, it’s not going to end well.

Make sure you clean up any water off the floor after a shower, what is just a small dirty puddle on your floor to you, to a child it can look like a great opportunity to have a splash or worse yet, a drink. The same goes for soap bars, shampoos, and toilet brushes. Both can seem like a lot of fun to a small child and if they’re not trying to eat it, rest assured your house will quickly resemble a modern art gallery. Unfortunately, soap squiggles won’t improve the value of your home and are particularly frustrating to get off.

I think the golden rule, we learned as a couple would be that nothing is sacred. When you are willing to get rid of things completely just to ensure that your child Is safer, you’re moving in the right direction. If you ever find yourself building a ‘baby-proof zone’ just to protect your trophy cabinet from dirty fingers, it might just be time to reconsider your priorities. I promise you now, keeping your home safe from babies is just as hard as keeping your child safe, so make some sacrifices now while it’s easier, because the longer you leave it the harder it will get.

https://www.otomo.co.uk/

from Otomo - Blog https://www.otomo.co.uk/blogs/news/baby-proof-how-safe-is-your-home from Otomo https://otomouk.tumblr.com/post/175480790733

[readbookywooks]

8 As I stride toward the elevator, I fling my bow to one side and my quiver to the other. I brush past the gaping Avoxes who guard the elevators and hit the number twelve button with my fist. The doors slide together and I zip upward. I actually make it back to my floor before the tears start running down my cheeks. I can hear the others calling me from the sitting room, but I fly down the hall into my room, bolt the door, and fling myself onto my bed. Then I really begin to sob. Now I've done it! Now I've ruined everything! If I'd stood even a ghost of chance, it vanished when I sent that arrow flying at the Gamemakers. What will they do to me now? Arrest me? Execute me? Cut my tongue and turn me into an Avox so I can wait on the future tributes of Panem? What was I thinking, shooting at the Gamemakers? Of course, I wasn't, I was shooting at that apple because I was so angry at being ignored. I wasn't trying to kill one of them. If I were, they'd be dead! Oh, what does it matter? It's not like I was going to win the Games anyway. Who cares what they do to me? What really scares me is what they might do to my mother and Prim, how my family might suffer now because of my impulsiveness. Will they take their few belongings, or send my mother to prison and Prim to the community home, or kill them? They wouldn't kill them, would they? Why not? What do they care? I should have stayed and apologized. Or laughed, like it was a big joke. Then maybe I would have found some leniency. But instead I stalked out of the place in the most disrespectful manner possible. Haymitch and Effie are knocking on my door. I shout for them to go away and eventually they do. It takes at least an hour for me to cry myself out. Then I just lay curled up on the bed, stroking the silken sheets, watching the sun set over the artificial candy Capitol. At first, I expect guards to come for me. But as time passes, it seems less likely. I calm down. They still need a girl tribute from District 12, don't they? If the Gamemakers want to punish me, they can do it publicly. Wait until I'm in the arena and sic starving wild animals on me. You can bet they'll make sure I don't have a bow and arrow to defend myself. Before that though, they'll give me a score so low, no one in their right mind would sponsor me. That's what will happen tonight. Since the training isn't open to viewers, the Gamemakers announce a score for each player. It gives the audience a starting place for the betting that will continue throughout the Games. The number, which is between one and twelve, one being irredeemably bad and twelve being unattainably high, signifies the promise of the tribute. The mark is not a guarantee of which person will win. It's only an indication of the potential a tribute showed in training. Often, because of the variables in the actual arena, high-scoring tributes go down almost immediately. And a few years ago, the boy who won the Games only received a three. Still, the scores can help or hurt an individual tribute in terms of sponsorship. I had been hoping my shooting skills might get me a six or a seven, even if I'm not particularly powerful. Now I'm sure I'll have the lowest score of the twenty-four. If no one sponsors me, my odds of staying alive decrease to almost zero. When Effie taps on the door to call me to dinner, I decide I may as well go. The scores will be televised tonight. It's not like I can hide what happened forever. I go to the bathroom and wash my face, but it's still red and splotchy. Everyone's waiting at the table, even Cinna and Portia. I wish the stylists hadn't shown up because for some reason, I don't like the idea of disappointing them. It's as if I've thrown away all the good work they did on the opening ceremonies without a thought. I avoid looking at anyone as I take tiny spoonfuls of fish soup. The saltiness reminds me of my tears. The adults begin some chitchat about the weather forecast, and I let my eyes meet Peeta's. He raises his eyebrows. A question. What happened? I just give my head a small shake. Then, as they're serving the main course, I hear Haymitch say, "Okay, enough small talk, just how bad were you today?" Peeta jumps in. "I don't know that it mattered. By the time I showed up, no one even bothered to look at me. They were singing some kind of drinking song, I think. So, I threw around some heavy objects until they told me I could go." That makes me feel a bit better. It's not like Peeta attacked the Gamemakers, but at least he was provoked, too. "And you, sweetheart?" says Haymitch. Somehow Haymitch calling me sweetheart ticks me off enough that I'm at least able to speak. "I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers." Everyone stops eating. "You what?" The horror in Effie's voice confirms my worse suspicions. "I shot an arrow at them. Not exactly at them. In their direction. It's like Peeta said, I was shooting and they were ignoring me and I just. I just lost my head, so I shot an apple out of their stupid roast pig's mouth!" I say defiantly. "And what did they say?" says Cinna carefully. "Nothing. Or I don't know. I walked out after that," I say. "Without being dismissed?" gasps Effie. "I dismissed myself," I said. I remember how I promised Prim that I really would try to win and I feel like a ton of coal has dropped on me. "Well, that's that," says Haymitch. Then he butters a roll. "Do you think they'll arrest me?" I ask. "Doubt it. Be a pain to replace you at this stage," says Haymitch. "What about my family?" I say. "Will they punish them?" "Don't think so. Wouldn't make much sense. See they'd have to reveal what happened in the Training Center for it to have any worthwhile effect on the population. People would need to know what you did. But they can't since it's secret, so it'd be a waste of effort," says Haymitch. "More likely they'll make your life hell in the arena." "Well, they've already promised to do that to us any way," says Peeta. "Very true," says Haymitch. And I realize the impossible has happened. They have actually cheered me up. Haymitch picks up a pork chop with his fingers, which makes Effie frown, and dunks it in his wine. He rips off a hunk of meat and starts to chuckle. "What were their faces like?" I can feel the edges of my mouth tilting up. "Shocked. Terrified. Uh, ridiculous, some of them." An image pops into my mind. "One man tripped backward into a bowl of punch." Haymitch guffaws and we all start laughing except Effie, although even she is suppressing a smile. "Well, it serves them right. It's their job to pay attention to you. And just because you come from District Twelve is no excuse to ignore you." Then her eyes dart around as if she's said something totally outrageous. "I'm sorry, but that's what I think," she says to no one in particular. "I'll get a very bad score," I say. "Scores only matter if they're very good, no one pays much attention to the bad or mediocre ones. For all they know, you could be hiding your talents to get a low score on purpose. People use that strategy," said Portia. "I hope that's how people interpret the four I'll probably get," says Peeta. "If that. Really, is anything less impressive than watching a person pick up a heavy ball and throw it a couple of yards. One almost landed on my foot." I grin at him and realize that I'm starving. I cut off a piece of pork, dunk it in mashed potatoes, and start eating. It's okay. My family is safe. And if they are safe, no real harm has been done. After dinner, we go to sitting room to watch the scores announced on television. First they show a photo of the tribute, then flash their score below it. The Career Tributes naturally get in the eight-to-ten range. Most of the other players average a five. Surprisingly, little Rue comes up with a seven. I don't know what she showed the judges, but she's so tiny it must have been impressive. District 12 comes up last, as usual. Peeta pulls an eight so at least a couple of the Gamemakers must have been watching him. I dig my fingernails into my palms as my face comes up, expecting the worst. Then they're flashing the number eleven on the screen. Eleven! Effie Trinket lets out a squeal, and everybody is slapping me on the back and cheering and congratulating me. But it doesn't seem real. "There must be a mistake. How. how could that happen?" I ask Haymitch. "Guess they liked your temper," he says. "They've got a show to put on. They need some players with some heat." "Katniss, the girl who was on fire," says Cinna and gives me a hug. "Oh, wait until you see your interview dress." "More flames?" I ask. "Of a sort," he says mischievously. Peeta and I congratulate each other, another awkward moment. We've both done well, but what does that mean for the other? I escape to my room as quickly as possible and burrow down under the covers. The stress of the day, particularly the crying, has worn me out. I drift off, reprieved, relieved, and with the number eleven still flashing behind my eyelids. At dawn, I lie in bed for a while, watching the sun come up on a beautiful morning. It's Sunday. A day off at home. I wonder if Gale is in the woods yet. Usually we devote all of Sunday to stocking up for the week. Rising early, hunting and gathering, then trading at the Hob. I think of Gale without me. Both of us can hunt alone, but we're better as a pair. Particularly if we're trying for bigger game. But also in the littler things, having a partner lightened the load, could even make the arduous task of filling my family's table enjoyable. I had been struggling along on my own for about six months when I first ran into Gale in the woods. It was a Sunday in October, the air cool and pungent with dying things. I'd spent the morning competing with the squirrels for nuts and the slightly warmer afternoon wading in shallow ponds harvesting Katniss. The only meat I'd shot was a squirrel that had practically run over my toes in its quest for acorns, but the animals would still be afoot when the snow buried my other food sources. Having strayed farther afield than usual, I was hurrying back home, lugging my burlap sacks when I came across a dead rabbit. It was hanging by its neck in a thin wire a foot above my head. About fifteen yards away was another. I recognized the twitch-up snares because my father had used them. When the prey is caught, it's yanked into the air out of the reach of other hungry animals. I'd been trying to use snares all summer with no success, so I couldn't help dropping my sacks to examine this one. My fingers were just on the wire above one of the rabbits when a voice rang out. "That's dangerous." I jumped back several feet as Gale materialized from behind a tree. He must have been watching me the whole time. He was only fourteen, but he cleared six feet and was as good as an adult to me. I'd seen him around the Seam and at school. And one other time. He'd lost his father in the same blast that killed mine. In January, I'd stood by while he received his medal of valor in the Justice Building, another oldest child with no father. I remembered his two little brothers clutching his mother, a woman whose swollen belly announced she was just days away from giving birth. "What's your name?" he said, coming over and disengaging the rabbit from the snare. He had another three hanging from his belt. "Katniss," I said, barely audible. "Well, Catnip, stealing's punishable by death, or hadn't you heard?" he said. "Katniss," I said louder. "And I wasn't stealing it. I just wanted to look at your snare. Mine never catch anything." He scowled at me, not convinced. "So where'd you get the squirrel?" "I shot it." I pulled my bow off my shoulder. I was still using the small version my father had made me, but I'd been practicing with the full-size one when I could. I was hoping that by spring I might be able to bring down some bigger game. Gale's eyes fastened on the bow. "Can I see that?" I handed it over. "Just remember, stealing's punishable by death." That was the first time I ever saw him smile. It transformed him from someone menacing to someone you wished you knew. But it took several months before I returned that smile. We talked hunting then. I told him I might be able to get him a bow if he had something to trade. Not food. I wanted knowledge. I wanted to set my own snares that caught a belt of fat rabbits in one day. He agreed something might be worked out. As the seasons went by, we grudgingly began to share our knowledge, our weapons, our secret places that were thick with wild plums or turkeys. He taught me snares and fishing. I showed him what plants to eat and eventually gave him one of our precious bows. And then one day, without either of us saying it, we became a team. Dividing the work and the spoils. Making sure that both our families had food. Gale gave me a sense of security I'd lacked since my father's death. His companionship replaced the long solitary hours in the woods. I became a much better hunter when I didn't have to look over my shoulder constantly, when someone was watching my back. But he turned into so much more than a hunting partner. He became my confidante, someone with whom I could share thoughts I could never voice inside the fence. In exchange, he trusted me with his. Being out in the woods with Gale. sometimes I was actually happy. I call him my friend, but in the last year it's seemed too casual a word for what Gale is to me. A pang of longing shoots through my chest. If only he was with me now! But, of course, I don't want that. I don't want him in the arena where he'd be dead in a few days. I just. I just miss him. And I hate being so alone. Does he miss me? He must. I think of the eleven flashing under my name last night. I know exactly what he'd say to me. "Well, there's some room for improvement there." And then he'd give me a smile and I'd return it without hesitating now. I can't help comparing what I have with Gale to what I'm pretending to have with Peeta. How I never question Gale's motives while I do nothing but doubt the latter's. It's not a fair comparison really. Gale and I were thrown together by a mutual need to survive. Peeta and I know the other's survival means our own death. How do you sidestep that? Effie's knocking at the door, reminding me there's another "big, big, big day!" ahead. Tomorrow night will be our televised interviews. I guess the whole team will have their hands full readying us for that. I get up and take a quick shower, being a bit more careful about the buttons I hit, and head down to the dining room. Peeta, Effie, and Haymitch are huddled around the table talking in hushed voices. That seems odd, but hunger wins out over curiosity and I load up my plate with breakfast before I join them. The stew's made with tender chunks of lamb and dried plums today. Perfect on the bed of wild rice. I've shoveled about halfway through the mound when I realize no one's talking. I take a big gulp of orange juice and wipe my mouth. "So, what's going on? You're coaching us on interviews today, right?" "That's right," says Haymitch. "You don't have to wait until I'm done. I can listen and cat at the same time," I say. "Well, there's been a change of plans. About our current approach," says Haymitch. "What's that?" I ask. I'm not sure what our current approach is. Trying to appear mediocre in front of the other tributes is the last bit of strategy I remember. Haymitch shrugs. "Peeta has asked to be coached separately."

[imagine-loki]

The Sound of Silence

TITLE: The Sound of Silence CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 43/47 AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you are mute, and Loki comes to Avengers tower for the first time. Loki asks you a question and you answer through sign language. Loki looks at you crazy and thinks your making fun of him, he starts yelling saying that you should respect him since he’s a god and prince.  RATING: T+ NOTES/WARNINGS: Also on AO3 Click here

    You had meant to stay out of trouble, really, you had.

    [How long will the workmen be here?] you asked Tony after Thor had left.

    “Two days,” he replied and handed you a box. You nodded and stood on your toes to kiss Loki’s cheek before you headed back upstairs to throw some clothes and stuff you didn’t want to get hurt by the workmen. There wasn’t a lot you needed for just a couple of days, so the task didn’t take very long. You grinned when you walked across the hall and saw that Loki had left one of his dresser drawers open and completely empty. He’d emptied it out for you. Thoughtful husband. You put the clothes away and set Lokibear safely on top of the dresser with the bear you’d given him, and then went to return to your activity of reading on the couch in the living room with your Loki.

    *

    “Kid, can you go help Bruce in the lab?” Tony asked later that afternoon. You looked up at him confused as you shut your book.

    [I know nothing about the lab] you reminded him.

    “Bruce will walk you through whatever it is he needs,” Tony added. You shrugged and shut your book, wondering what he was up to. You started to take Loki’s hand to bring him with you, but Tony and Cap wanted him to stay. Ah, that was probably whatever this was about. So you headed down to the lab to see what bullshit excuse Bruce had come up with for you being there.

    “Hey, Y/N,” Bruce said when he let you into the locked lab.

    [What’s going on?] you asked when you stepped inside.

    “Cap and Tony want us out of the way when the workers arrive,” he explained. “The Hulk doesn’t like intruders in his house and the press doesn’t know you’ve lost your powers so the team doesn’t want to take any chances with your safety. So you’re stuck down here with me until the main floor is clear of strangers,”

    You huffed and rolled your eyes. This seemed like awful planning. Bruce smiled. “I really could use a hand, though, if you’re up to it?” You nodded and dove into helping him with whatever experiment he was working on. It wasn’t bad work, but definitely not your cup of tea when you didn’t understand a thing that was going on.

    “Doctor Banner, Mr. Stark wished for me to inform you that the main floor of the tower is clear. The workers are currently working on Miss Y/N’s room,”

    “Thank you, Jarvis,” Bruce told the AI. He turned to you. “You’re free to go, Y/N,” he told you with a small smile. He had a soft spot for you since the Hulk liked you so much. You stuck your tongue out at him, but nodded and left the lab to get to more enjoyable activities. You thought kicking Loki’s ass at video games sounded much more enjoyable.

    “What did Doctor Banner need?” Loki asked too innocently when you returned to the living room.

    [Like you don’t know that we were chucked into the lab for safety] you told him. He gave you an innocent look.

    “My lady wounds me with her words,”

    “Drop the innocent act, loverboy, like you weren’t intimidating every worker who passed through here and pleased as all getout that Y/N was safely away from where they’d be,” Nat replied. You grinned at her and offered her a controller. “Thanks, but Clint and I have to go out for a little bit. Keep your husband from killing the workers, ok?” You nodded and passed Loki a controller so you could play video games with him.

    *

    You were already yawning your way through dinner and kissed Loki’s cheek once you had finished eating. [I’m for bed. Healing Asgardians are sleepy creatures] He chuckled and stood. [There is no way you’re tired] you reminded him, perfectly capable of walking to bed alone.

    “There are strangers in the tower. I’m walking you to bed,” he told you firmly. You huffed at your silly overprotective husband, but wouldn’t argue with him on this point. You’d been abducted from under his nose once for your powers. That threat was still very much at the front of his mind, even when you didn’t have your powers anymore. The public didn’t know that, so the bad guys wouldn’t know your powers were gone either.

    So you let him walk you back upstairs to his room. You didn’t really think anything of it, or the noises of the workers from your room, until one of them walked out of your room to get something from the supplies in the hall, stepping directly in front of the pair of you. Loki snarled, shoved you behind him and summoned two daggers all in one move.

    “Oh shit,” the worker said and did probably the smartest thing he would do and raised his hand in surrender, dropping whatever it was he had come out here for. “Mr. Loki,” he said too politely, but didn’t dare move further. The god was enraged by this man’s very presence. And Loki still saw him as a threat, specifically to your safety. You grabbed Loki’s arm, felt his muscles bunch to lunge at the man. You weren’t physically stronger than him and without your powers you couldn’t keep him from killing the man just for being a stranger and existing in your hallway. Shitshitshit. Nor could you call for help. He was too blinded by rage and fear for you to let you talk him down from it either.

    You wished more than anything that you were out of this hallway. You wrapped your arms firmly around Loki’s arm and planted your feet, drawing a second while you prayed for some inspiration on how to fix this. For some reason, you thought of Worthington the bear. He wasn’t useful here. But could magic be? No, that was ridiculous. You’d used magic once and barely had an idea of how it worked. And yet. You needed to get Loki out of here.

    Now.

    So you concentrated, feeling for the same power that had summoned the bear and wished more than anything to be safely back down in the living room, imagining the living room in all it’s detail, and especially your couch. The air around you shimmered and you swayed, falling into Loki as he whirled to catch you. “Y/N!’ he exclaimed, dropping the daggers to hold you on your feet. You were in the living room standing in front of your couch.

    “What’s going on?” Cap demanded as he and the others rushed over. “You said you were taking her to bed,”

    Loki helped you sit on the couch. “Foolish love, that is way too big of a magic for someone just learning,” he told you, but his voice was kind and proud and he kissed you.

    You snapped to get Jarvis’ attention and signed quickly, letting Jarvis translate your words for the others. “A worker came out into the hall,” it was still strange hearing Jarvis speak your signs. “Loki nearly stabbed him, so I brought us back down here,”

    “Tattletale,” Loki told you warmly, and kissed your forehead. “Lie down, dearest. That was way too large of a magic for just your second time using Asgardian magic.” You looked up at him stupidly. He sighed and laid you down on the couch before you fell over, dizzy and giddy from using magic. Power still seemed to shimmer around you and you fought not to giggle at the feeling. “Breathe,” he told you gently, kindly, you could hear the hint of amusement.

    “Of course, overprotective Asgardians,” Nat sighed. Apparently she had come home from whatever mission she had been on. “We’re dumb and should have known that with your wife injured and without her…original powers you’d be…antsy… about her safety.” The rest of the team agreed that they’d been dumb and looked relieved that all of the workers were still alive.

    “What’s wrong with the kid?” Tony asked instead of admitting that letting workers on the floor of the tower with the dangerous god and his wife was probably not the wisest decision ever.

    “She has gotten Asgardian magic since she became Asgardian,” Loki explained as he brushed your hair back away from your face. “And has used her powers all of once since we found out she has magic. Teleporting two people is a large spell, especially for a novice, and she is… high? is the proper term? from drawing too much power. She’ll be alright in a minute,” Loki explained. “Stop that,” he scolded you lightly when he caught you raising your hand to watch the power swirl as you moved your hand. His voice was amused, though.

    “Maybe we should come up with different sleeping arrangements until the workers are done with your apartment,” Cap suggested, looking to Tony. This was his tower and arrangements were his jurisdiction.

    Tony was pulling up a screen. “Wish we could just chuck you two into a hotel until the renovations were done,” he grumbled.

    “I see no problems with that,” Loki replied with a mischievous smirk.

    Tony scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Your brother grounded you, remember? So we have to put up with the angry god trying to kill the workers until he gets back from his pleasure jaunt to Asgard.” You all knew that Thor was working while he was gone and not at all enjoying his discussions with Odin.

    Nat scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Morons, the lot of you. Loki, just steal Thor’s room until the renovations are done. He’s off world and not using it and his room is two floors up from yours, so you won’t see the workers and they’ll have no access to that floor, so Y/N will be safe,”

    Loki smiled at her. “Excellent idea, Lady Natasha,” he told her warmly, earning a surprised look from everyone. He scooped you up into his arms. “Come on, love, you need to rest.” The air shimmered around you again and you reappeared in Thor’s room.

    [Thor won’t mind?] you asked, exhausted now that you were coming down from your high. Loki tucked you safely in Thor’s bed and it was a chore to keep your eyes open.

    “No, dearest, he won’t, not at all. Now get some rest, that was an awful lot of magic you used. I promise I won’t kill the workers as long as you are safe, my love,”

    You reached up and touched his cheek. /I love you/ you managed to tell him mind-to-mind, though you didn’t know how you knew how to do it.

    He smiled brightly, but with tears of joy in his eyes. He leaned down to kiss you and couldn’t keep the joy and excitement from his lips on your either. “I love you more than anything. Oh how I’ve missed your voice, my darling,” you smiled at his obvious and infectious joy. “But that is quite enough magic out of you today, dearest. I’ll start teaching you properly tomorrow.” He kissed your forehead and you finally closed your eyes to get some much needed rest.