#it was His day yesterday but i was too busy to draw him anything so we're a day late

[tabooiart]

completely normal teenage boy

[rainyreading]

Hey! I love your Theo fics and I was wondering if I could request a Theo x Hufflepuff, granddaughter of Newt Scamander reader? I think it could be cute!

Maybe he notices her one day minding her business, and one of his friends calls her weird for the same reasons Newt was called weird in school? Whatever you like! thank you!

Weird

Theo Nott x Hufflepuff!reader

wc: 950

a/n: Sorry this took so long! Hope it’s ok.

Requests open

Theo was in the library with his friends. He wasn’t doing any work of course because he was distracted talking with his friends. They were talking about the quidditch match that took place yesterday.

Theo quickly glanced around the library and his eyes landed on you. You were sitting there reading minding your own business. Theo thought you were pretty. He admired your beauty. He thought you were so cute and loved how you weren’t bothered by others.

Draco caught sight of Theo looking at you. He decided to speak up. “You know that’s Y/L/N, she’s weird. She talks to animals and what not. I’d stay away from her if I were you,” Draco warned.

“Maybe she’s just misunderstood,” Theo reasoned.

“Nah mate i’d listen to Draco, she’s a freak,” Blaise commented.

“You guys are mean,” Theo responded.

“Trust us, we would never steer you wrong,” Draco threw an arm around Theo.

“Ok ok I get it,” Theo put a stop to their conversation.

“We are just looking out for you,” Draco explained.

“Yeah yeah i know, let’s drop it please.” Theo grumbled.

Theo and his friends continued hanging out in the library for a little while longer. Theo however was busy thinking about you. He couldn’t get you off his mind. You intrigued him.

After Theo’s friends left he decided to go up and talk to you, despite what his friends told him. You were minding your own business, reading your book.

“Mind of I sit here?” Theo asked.

“Um sure go head,” you replied. You were shy and a little nervous but he seemed nice.

“You’re really pretty you know that,” Theo charmed.

You blushed at his words. You didn’t think anyone noticed you.

“What’s your name?” you asked.

“Theo,” he said with a smile.

“I’m Y/N.” You stuck your hand out for him to shake, which he did.

“I’ve seen you around school, I’ve always wanted to say hi,” Theo began.

“Why didn’t you?”

“I was always too nervous, and now I just thought hey, it’s worth a shot.”

“Well I’m glad you did,” you answered.

“Me too.”

“So what are you reading?” Theo asked.

“Oh this? I’m just reading about the care of magical creatures.”

“Interesting!”

“Really? Cause I find it fascinating.”

And maybe it was the way your eyes lit up or the smile on your face but Theo could have sworn he died and gone to heaven. You were simply stunning and so lively. He liked to look at you when there was a spark of joy in you.

“Forgive me if this is too forward, but would you like to have a picnic at the black lake with me tomorrow?” Theo requested.

“I’d love too!”

“Great!”

——————

Tomorrow came fast. Theo couldn’t wait he was so excited to see you again. He planned out the whole thing. He brought a ton of food and he even got you flowers.

When you arrived at the black lake Theo gave you the flowers.

“These are beautiful, thank you!”

The two of you sat down on the picnic blanket, and Theo started to serve the food. What Theo’s friends might think if they saw him here with you was in the back of his mind, but he tried to ignore it and enjoy this time with you.

“Anything for you.”

You smiled at him, feeling really good about going out with Theo. He seemed really nice and you were excited to get to know him.

After the both of you ate you decided to just enjoy each other’s presence and talk.

“So what do you do on days you don’t have class?” Theo asked.

“Well I like to read, sometimes I go on walks around the castle. Then there’s spending time with my cat. I also like to draw. What about you?” You answered.

“That’s interesting! I usually hang out with my friends. I’d love to see your drawings sometime!”

“Really? I’m not that good,” you shrugged.

“I bet you are,” Theo implied.

You smiled at him. “Maybe someday.”

“What do you read about?”

“Mostly animals.”

“You really like animals don’t you.”

“Well my grandfather is Newt Scamander.”

“Really? No way.” Theo was impressed.

“Yep.”

“That makes a lot of sense.”

“Hahaha.”

“Have you ever gone swimming in the black lake?” Theo asked.

“No I haven’t,” you replied.

“Do you want to swim with me?” Theo grinned.

“Are you crazy?!”

“Come on,” Theo said lifting his shirt over his head.

You laughed at him. You were a little shy but you quickly stripped down to your underwear, ripping it off like a bandaid.

Theo did his best to avert his eyes from your body. You were breathtaking and he just couldn’t help it.

“Last one in is a sweaty oaf.” Theo called out.

You squealed as you jumped into the lake. The water was cold and it felt refreshing. You swam over to Theo.

Theo watched as droplets of water fell from your lashes. Theo went and held your waist.

“Is this ok?” Theo asked.

You nodded.

One hand came and brushed your hair out of you face then rested on your cheek.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Yes.” You replied.

Theo placed his lips on yours in a heated kiss. His mouth explored yours. Your lips were moving in sync. When the need for air became to strong you pulled away.

“You are a really good kisser,” Theo complemented.

You giggled, “Thank you.”

Theo was quickly falling in love, and he didn’t even know it yet. The last thing on his mind was what his friends would think. He couldn’t care less about their opinion because he found someone he enjoyed spending time with.

[dreamescapeswriting]

Easy Like A Sunday morning ~ BC

WORD COUNT: 2.7K

GENRE: comfort for family drama, argument between couple, established relationships, angsty, with soft ending

PAIRING: Chan x GN !Reader

⤜Copyright: © DreamEscapesWriting - January 2024

⤜MASTERLIST

The sun beamed through the cracks in the bedroom blinds as you lay with your head on Chan's chest, your fingers running up and down his chest softly as the two of you lay there for what felt like forever. Sundays were always the best for the two of you, neither of you had to work which meant you could spend all day in bed if you felt like it, which nine times out of ten you always did.

You'd lay in bed, tangled in the sheets enjoying the warmth of a lazy Sunday morning, doing nothing but eat and laugh together as you shared moments you couldn't wait to tell your future kids about.

"I love lazy Sundays with you," You said with a giant smile, your hands drawing invisible patterns into Chan's bare chest as he smiled and let out a content sigh. 

There was nowhere else he'd rather be than with you, work had been stressful to him all week and this had been exactly what he needed to unwind from the chaos of his boss. The two of you needed this time together to just relax, sometimes it was the only thing you had to look forward to after a shitty time at work.

"Me too...No rush...No plans," He sighs happily as he stretches his legs in the bed making you giggle a little at him as he finally stopped and wrapped his arm around your waist, 

"Just us, TV and lots of food." He finished as you let out a giggle. The two of you would always cook for one another, taking turns every Sunday to see who would cook for the other and this week it had been you.

So you'd made you both some breakfast wraps which had gone down a treat with Chan who'd already had three from you.

"We should do this on Saturdays too," You mumbled, turning to lay with your chin resting on your boyfriend's chest and smiling a little. Saturdays were usually reserved for spending time with your family but after the big blowout you'd had with them yesterday you were hoping you'd limit your time with them as much as humanly possible.

"I thought you were always busy on Saturdays..." Chan trailed off a little trying not to seem as hurt as he was by never getting to spend the full weekend with you but it was confusing for him. The two of you had been together for almost five months now and you'd never been free on Saturdays and whenever he asked you about it, you'd brushed it off as nothing or told him you were working. 

"Turns out I might be free more often now," You smiled weakly and looked at Chan who appeared to be elsewhere in his own mind so you bit your lip and turned his head to look at you.

"I love you." You whispered before reaching across and kissing him softly. Chan's arms wrapped around you as he pulled you closer to him, his worries melting away as he shared a peaceful kiss with you. As you moved to straddle his lap something sounded downstairs and you stalled completely, your hands resting on Chan's bare chest and you frowned.

No one else had a key except for Chan - who was present and accounted for and...

"Shit!" You hissed out, rushing over to the end of the bed and throwing Chan's clothes in his direction, you looked at him to see him frowning at you.

"What?! Who is it?!" Chan sat bolt upright, panicking as you rushed to find your own clothes, you didn't have time to explain anything to him right now, all you needed to do was hurry up and get dressed before someone walked into your room.

"Yn, this would be a bad time to tell me you're secretly married with a husband." Chan chuckled lightly trying to make you talk to him but you shook your head at him, whimpering a little as you heard the front door slam shut.

"I'm not..I-I just- You need to go."

"What? Why?" The confusion was written across his face as he got dressed, grabbing his bag from your hands as you swallowed a lump that was in your throat.

"Yn! Get down here! We need to talk!" Your mother's voice screeched from down the stairs making your whole body tense up so hard you were afraid you were never gonna move again.

"Y-You need to get out of here before they see you," Your voice barely grew louder than a whisper but Chan heard you as he frowned,

"Why can't they see me?" Chan's voice came out in a whisper too and you cringed as you heard your brothers rumbling around in the kitchen,

"P-Please." Your shakey voice made Chan panic but he nodded his head, a little unsure as to where all of this was coming through.

The two of you had been going out long enough that you could easily meet one another's family, hell, you'd already met Chan's and they all adored you. Whenever Chan had asked about your family, you'd told him it was "complicated" and that you weren't that close but for them to walk into your home it seemed pretty close to him,

"Explain to me what's going on." He wasn't demanding but more concerned, your mother sounded pissed off and he wasn't going to leave you alone if you were worried about them.

"I will...later, I'll distract them and you can go out the front door." You looked out of the blinds to make sure none of them were waiting in the back and you made your way to the bedroom door, your heart racing rapidly inside of your chest.

"Yn," Chan whispered, his chest aching a little at the thought of you hiding him like he was some kind of dirty secret. All of your friends had met him, even your co-workers but you weren't introducing him to the people that mattered most and it pained him.

"I have to go. Please just leave." You barely gave him any chance to fight you on it before you walked out of the bedroom door and headed toward the living room.

"It's too late for you to still be in bed, you shouldn't sleep so much." Your mother's voice carried to the bedroom and Chan waited until he heard you shut the living room door before making a break for it.

The front door to your boyfriend's place creaked open as you stepped inside, your shoulders slumped as you let out an exasperated sigh and kicked off your shoes. You expected to see Chan waiting for you with open arms but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Chan?" You called out before walking further into the home but something felt completely off about it all. The living room felt uneasy and the air felt thick with tension as you noticed the dim lights and Chan sitting in a chair staring at you with a frustrated look on his face. 

The air felt heavy as if it was carrying the weight of all the unspoken words between you and Chan from earlier in the morning. 

"Chan-" You started but never got to finish, 

"We've been together for five months and you've never introduced me to your family." You knew the two of you were going to talk about this tonight but you were hoping you could do it within the comfort of your boyfriend's arms.

"Chan, it's complicated." You breathed out, dropping your bag onto the floor and taking in a deep breath. You'd been trying to figure out where to start with this all day but you still didn't know how or even where to begin.

"Complicated? What seems complicated because they all seemed pretty happy to swing by your place today." He grumbled at you, you looked down at the floor before switching your gaze back to Chan who was staring daggers at you.

"They weren't invited." You mumbled a little because they weren't. They weren't supposed to use the key unless there was an emergency and after the fight you'd had the previous day you figured they'd never wanna see you again anyway.

"They're family, they come whenever they want. My family is the same." Chan reminded you and you rolled your eyes a little. Chan's family were great, they came around but announced it first, and sometimes sent a quick text to prepare him but yours weren't like that.

"Yeah, well your family is different than mine." Your family were different than most, they would drop by unannounced or call you at work demanding you leave and go to them right away.

"How?" He arched a brow at you. All day he'd been left to stew in his own thoughts and he'd come to one conclusion about everything and that was that you were ashamed to be with him and that was why you hadn't introduced him yet.

"It's-"

"Complicated," You both said at the same time before Chan let out a loud scoff at you, shaking his head before sitting down in the chair. This felt like a losing battle every single time he brought up the subject of your family,

"We've talked about it all before and you always brush it off. I feel like a dirty little secret."

"You're not a secret, Chan...It's just-"

"Just what?!" He finally yelled, losing his patience with you as tears built in his eyes. He wasn't the type to cry in front of you but he was losing his will and needed to know if there was something wrong with him that you would hide part of yourself away from him.

"They're just...They're different," Tears began to well up in your eyes as you stared at him. Your family had been one of the main reasons you swore off dating for the longest time. You'd never wanted to have to introduce anyone to your family so long as you could have helped it. 

"Are you ashamed of me? Is that why we haven't been introduced?" He questioned, staring at you as you sniffled a little, you never wanted him to feel that way because of something you were doing. It had nothing to do with him and all to do with your family,

"No...Chan, it's not that," You sighed shaking your head.

"I just need some more time to figure out how to handle this." You explained, taking in deep breaths but Chan was through with waiting if it meant hiding behind closed doors and sneaking out of the house like he was a teenager.

"Time won't solve anything if we don't face it! We're supposed to be a team...Yn..." You stared at him as you felt the doubt hanging over you like a dark cloud.

You'd been taught never to depend on anyone else no matter what but Chan had been breaking that thought ever since the two of you had met. He'd been breaking every lesson your family had hammered into you over the years and you loved him for it.

"Let me in, Yn...Let me be there for you,"

"I need...time." Your voice cracked as Chan growled a little, standing up and staring at you.

"How much time do you need? Huh? This affecting our relationship and I can't just keep waiting around for you to be ready." Your eyes landed on his as you shook your head. It sounded like he was getting ready to break up with you and the whole point of hiding him from your family was to avoid that,

"Chan, please." You pleaded desperately with him, reaching out for his hands but he stepped further away from you, shaking his head.

"I love you, Chan, and I want to be with you just give me...a little time to figure things out with them." You begged, watching as Chan's eyes softened a little.

"I want to be with you too Yn but we can't keep avoiding it. It isn't fair on either of us." You sighed a little rubbing the bridge of your nose and nodding, you knew he was right but it didn't make you feel any better about all of this,

"We're not teenagers, I don't want to sneak around anymore." He finished and you looked up at him.

"My family are...They have certain beliefs." You told him plainly, sitting down on the edge of his sofa and trying to figure out the best way to approach all of this. It wasn't religion-based but your family believed that certain things had to be a certain way for families to be able to work and grow. It was safe to say you didn't share a lot of their beliefs since you'd done everything you could to get away from them ever since you were at a legal age to do so.

"They have a whole thing about dating, I'm not supposed to date anybody without them giving their approval," You scoffed a little and shook your head as you finally let it off your chest, a weight felt as though it was coming straight off you as well

"You know, it took me almost six years to convince them to let me move out."

"Let you?" Chan asked softly as he sat down on the chair, staring at you as he waited for you to elaborate on it some more,

"I wasn't allowed to work either, they stopped me working. Claiming I needed to be a homemaker for your future partner."

"But you weren't married to anyone..." Chan hoped you weren't since the two of you had been dating for so long and you laughed dryly and shook your head,

"No, but they had plans for me and I broke them down so I wouldn't have to fit in the mould that they had for me."

"Yn.." He whispered, sympathy leaking from his words as he moved to kneel on the spot in front of you, your eyes finding his as you finally let the damn break and you told him everything.

"Every Saturday is reserved for them. I have to go around there, and we talk about work and life at home it was the condition they had for letting me move out...That and no dating," You laughed dryly and Chan moved to sit beside you, holding your hand tightly. 

"I hadn't told them about us yet because I didn't want them to rush me back to their place...To shield me away and I certainly don't want them to judge you." You looked at him with tears running down your cheeks.

"I'm scared I'll lose you." Chan grabbed your hand in his and squeezed them softly. There was no way on this earth that he was ever going to let you go without a great fight,

"You're not going to lose me...Ever and you're certainly not going to face it alone, Yn. I'm here for you, no matter what." He told you and you smiled weakly, you wanted to believe him but if your family were set on something they weren't just going to back down from it.

"I appreciate it, Chan, but they're difficult." You told him as he gently wiped the tears from your cheeks and shook his head, he didn't care how difficult they were he was never going to let you go through any of it alone.

"Then we can stay hidden as long as you need but sooner or later you'll have to face them...I plan on making you my future spouse and spending forever with you." Your cheeks began to heat as you looked at him, 

"We're in this together, I love you." He whispered before kissing your forehead, your chest tightening a little as you nodded.,

"I love you too and I'll tell them...eventually. I just-"

"We'll tell them together whenever you're ready." He said, cutting you off and kissing your cheek softly. You thought about it and laughed a little, they were going to hate you introducing a man you'd already been dating for months.

"They won't like it."

"Then they'll have to get over it. If they try and take you from me they'll have a big fight on their hands." He winked at you before you cuddled into his chest, relaxing for the first time since that morning and letting out a small and happy sigh.

"Let's go upstairs and finish our lazy day." He told you before you kissed him softly and made your way toward the staircase.

"I'll be up, I'm going to order your favourite." He chuckled as he watched you happily jogging up the stairs to his bedroom.

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[vminizzle]

Stop teasing

pairing : boyfriend!jungkook x f.reader

genre : smut, fluff

warnings : needy!jk, marking, dry humping, oral (f. receiving), unprotected sex, penetration

words count : 1.1k

A/N : hello loves, i hope y’all spent a nice week :) I’m sorry if I can’t post often, I’m kinda busy with college but I’m doing my best to write contents whenever I can. So here’s a little something I wrote yesterday. I apologize because it’s kinda short sorry. Have a nice weekend everyone love y’all 💕 reminder: english is not my first language

FEEDBACKS ARE VERY WELCOMED

M RATED

“Stop teasing.” you whined as Jungkook kept on caressing your thigh up and down, goosebumps raising after the soft touches.

“I’m not doing anything.” he smirked pretending he was focused on his phone.

Well, you were sitting on your couch, reading peacefully until Jungkook crashed next to you, this one playing with his phone.

All was nice, his presence bringing comfort until he decided to distract you. At first, it was a gesture of affection, like usual, your boyfriend would put his hand on your thigh drawing little patterns on the soft skin.

But this time was different, his fingertips were getting a little bit too higher, purposely grazing the hem of your panties, pulling at it a bit then retracting his hand to continue going up and down your thigh again.

Why was he like that ugh.

“What are you reading?” he bent near you, resting his chin on your shoulder his breath fanning on your exposed neck.

“seems really interesting” teasing dripping from his tongue. His hand wandered over your stomach until it reached your hip bone.

“Ok.” you sighed.

"I know you’re doing this on purpose.”

 “what? what am I doing?” he asked innocently.

You put your book away on the coffee table before sighing.

“What do you want?” you finally looked at him.

“I want attention” he pouted teasingly.

He’s so cute.

"your attention."

“Jungkook” You chuckled.

He smiled as you practically jumped on him to hug him tightly. His hands travelling to your hair to play with it.

“baby?” he talked making you hum waiting for him to continue.

"you look so beautiful today.”

“oh so I’m not beautiful the other days?” you raised an eyebrow.

“no I’ve never said that y/n” he whined.

“y’know, I- can we?” you looked at him waiting for him to continue.

“can we what?”

He looked down at his lap.

“look at what you did to me.” his eyes pointing to his boner. You looked at the confined little bump growing bigger.

“I didn’t even do anything” your cheeks heating up as he bite his lips.

“you were so sexy while reading this book darling.. and wearing my shirt without nothing but panties under it ” he groaned admiring your body. “you’re just so .. I can’t find the words.”

“oh lord ,stop why are you like that?” you laughed hiding your face behind your hands.

He chuckled before laying you on your back, spreading your legs to made room for him to lay in between them.

"do you feel it?” he pressed his crotch against yours making you whimper. Jungkook lowered himself a bit, grinding his boner against your light-covered clit making you bite your lips, hands clenching at his shirt. Getting the hint, he he kneeled to get rid of his shirt.

He bent down again, his lips hovering yours. When you cranned up a bit to connect your lips together he backed away a little, your lips chasing his for a kiss but he kept on teasing you. You whined giving up and let you head fell on your pillow “such a tease.”

He grinned before finally kissing you “making it fun baby.”

Jungkook sucked on your neck softly, painting a beautiful purple mark on the sensitive skin. He kissed his way down over your -his- shirt, he stopped when his lips reached your covered clit leaving a light kiss on it making you hiss “so sensitive.”

He kissed the inside of your thighs, leaving love bites behind his trail “oh lord stop teasing."

Jungkook laughed looking up at you “let me take my time y/n”.

“I was reading a book peacefully, you came to me disturbing my reading because you needed attention and now when I’m giving you what you want you’re teasing me.” you huffed.

“aw baby don’t be like that” he put his thumb over your pout caressing your lower lip.

He tugged on your panties waistband, looking into your eyes waiting for you consent. When you nodded he immediately got rid of it “fuck baby you’re dripping” he lowered himself between your legs, staring at your glistening lips making you look away embarrassed.

Jungkook disappeared between your thighs as his lips connected with your folds. His tongue entered you unexpectedly, your hands flying to his black locks as he massaged his thumb over your sensitive clit “yes Jungkook keep going.”

"keep your eyes on me baby” he ordered making you watch him eat you out fighting the urge to close your eyes at the pleasure he procured you. He started rubbing faster on your clit earning moans from you “I’m near I’m near fu-”

“c’mon cum for me my love” he didn’t have to ask twice as you cum right away all over his chin. He kept on drawing little circles on your clit to help you finish. 

He backed away with a victorious smile as he observed your state “so ruined.. cute” he stroked your thighs gently.

You rolled your eyes at his words “still down for me to..y’know.. or you too tired?” Jungkook asked a bit shy.

How is that possible?

“Come here baby” you pulled him on top of you wrapping your legs around his thin waist. “hurry! what you waiting for now?” you said before pecking his lips

Jungkook looked at you surprised before smiling. He got rid of his pants as fast as possible, positioning himself at your entrance. He rubbed the tip of his cock on your clit making you whined “you’re not going to tease again.”

“sorry” he chuckled before enteringyou slowly. He looked down at you checking on any sign of discomfort before moving in and out of you.

He held one of your hand, his other one resting on your waist as he picked up the pace after he notice pleasure written all over your face “Jungkook please” you bit your bottom lip trying to keep your eyes open to watch the beautiful man on top of you, sending you to another world.

He went faster feeling his orgasm coming “baby are you near?” you whispered a weak yes not fully ready to face your second orgasm.

“Can I- Can I cum?” you let a sob out.

"cum baby cum.” And here was your second orgasm, your warm release sending Jungkook over the edge as he abruptly pulled out raising your shirt up to cum on your stomach.

He watched in awe the sticky fluid painting your stomach.

“wow” he breathed out.

"well, I hope I gave you enough attention” you laughed.

"oh ya’ you did” he laughed hiding his face in the crook of your neck peppering soft kisses over the smooth skin.

—

A/N :  sorry if it’s not that good, i was a bit tired this week but yea. Anyways, hope you liked it tho :) ,,

[jungle-angel]

The Apples Of The Teacher's Eyes (Bob Floyd x Reader)

Summary: You and Bob have a little surprise for your students before the start of school vacation

Tagging: @bobfloydsbabe @bradleybeachbabe @sebsxphia Helena my dear, you officially have me desperate to write for Teacher!Bob and Teacher!Reader so any time you want a little short story or anything, don't hesitate to ask (lol).

"Alright my evil little henchmen, let's get down to business!" Bob announced, placing a huge, heavy old book onto his desk.

"To defeat the huns!" sang one of the students.

"Don't even start it Callum," Bob warned him. "I already had to hear it from the choir teacher and I don't need to hear it again."

Callum snickered as the students all moved the desks together while Bob fixed the chalkboard drawing he had made as well as the notes for the new lesson block.

"Alright," Bob announced. "So yesterday we wrapped up our studies on Ancient Rome and now we're starting the Vikings. How many of you guys in Mrs. Floyd's literature class started reading the Norse epics?"

Only a few had raised their hands.

"Ok so just a couple of you," Bob mused. "Well, we're gonna start right at the beginning by getting a lay of the land and the geography of the regions in this particular civilization. Then we're gonna get into key figures, battles, events and all that before we get into any kind of literature, music or mythology."

Bob's students couldn't have been more excited. Both him and you knew how to make these things come alive and jump right off the pages. The scratch of the chalk and the hushed whispers of his students were the best parts of his day, second only to coming home to you.

He knocked at the chalkboard with a free finger, his hand still holding the chalk with smears of stray dust coating his fingertips. "Here we go guys," he said. "Lay of the land.....what can you tell? Alonso?"

"Alot of ocean all around so it must've been a seafaring kind of society," Alonso Garcia answered.

"You would be right," Bob pointed out. "Anybody else? Birdy?"

"I remember from our geography main lesson that there were also rivers, fjords and lakes which made boat travel a staple part of life," Birdy O'Connor answered.

"What else? Elen?"

"I noticed too that there's lots of islands that fly off the peninsulas too," answered Elen O'Neill, the curly redheaded girl in the front row.

"All very excellent points," Bob answered. "Twenty points to Gryffindor."

The students laughed a little before Bob continued on with the lesson.

"Now if we remember too," he continued. "People were more likely to settle in and around the sea rather than further inland....."

"With a damn good reason," you joked, poking your head in the door and scaring the ever living shit out of Bob.

"MRS. FLOYD!!!!!" the students shouted.

"SHHHHH!!!" you shushed sharply, holding your finger to your lips. "Do not.....I repeat.....DO NOT wake the baby."

"Oh my Lord you brought the baby?!" Elen gasped.

All of your students clambered to see the little carseat you carried on your arm, carefully moving aside so you could set it on the desks that had been pushed together. Inside was yours and Bob's newborn son, August Robert, who was so tiny he looked like he was being swallowed up by his blanket.

"Oh my God he's so cute!"

"He looks just like Mr. Floyd."

"Look at those little cheeks!"

"Oh my God, I wanna get married so I can have one!"

Bob blushed and bit his knuckles when he heard that out of Elen and so didn't you.

Auggie started to squirm a little, a wakeful little coo making everybody fall quiet as Bob moved to unbuckle him and pick him up. "Shhhh.....shhhh......you're ok.......you're ok," Bob whispered, bringing Auggie carefully to his chest, blanket and all, the baby's whimpering quieting right down as soon as Bob began to gently pat his back.

You and the students couldn't help but take picture after picture on their phones of Bob with the baby, the besotted look on his face making you melt.

"Alright guys, let's get back into it," Bob announced.

"Aw c'mon!" groaned the students as they sat back down.

You laughed a little before Bob kissed you. "You're supposed to be at home resting Mrs. Floyd," he whispered, still gently rocking Auggie in his arms.

"And miss all of this?" you chuckled. "Hell no."

Bob smiled and kissed you again, loving the thought of you sitting in on the main lesson and the ooing and ahhing from the students as he both taught and rocked Auggie at the same time.

[winchesterwild78]

Always Protected

I’ve got requests- ignore them if you want, but I had to try.

If you could I’d like (all plus sized/curvy reader):

Beau Arlen- meets reader in town, takes her out, maybe dancing, I picture him to be super protective if someone says something to her about her size. LOVES him some thick girl

*This is for you 😁 I hope I bring your vision to life. Thank you for trusting me with a request!!*

Characters:Beau Arlen x Plus Size Reader

Warnings: Language, insecurities, physical violence, Fluff,

A/N: This is my 2nd request and I’m so excited to write it. I wrote it fast so please forgive any mistakes. This does not follow The Big Sky story line. I’m working on these requests fast because I’m inspired. 😁

All work is my own, don’t take it!!

Minors DNI 18+

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

“Come on Beau, you’ve got to get some food. You’ve been here all night and all day. When was the last time you actually slept?” Jenny asked. “I think yesterday afternoon I fell asleep at my desk. Jenny I have to get this solved. It’s driving me crazy. I’m missing something I know I am.” He grunted as he stood. “Go get something to eat. It will help clear your head. Get it to go if you want to. Just please go. We need our sheriff in too shape.” She pleaded. “Okay Hoyt. I’m getting it to go. I’ll be back. Want anything?” He asked as he grabbed his jacket. “Nope. I’m good thanks” she smiled.

Beau got in his truck and drove into town. He had to park further away from the diner because it was lunch time. As he walked down the street greeting people he smelled something amazing. There in the once vacant shop was a new bakery. How did he not know a bakery was opening. The smell coming from inside was drawing him in. He pushed open the door.

You were busy with a customer when you heard the bell chime above the door. “Welcome in. Please take a look around and I’ll be right with you.” You said without looking at the person who came in. You finished with the customer you were helping and noticed a very tall man standing with his back to you. He was looking at the dessert case on the opposite wall. You came around the counter and approached him. “Hello. Welcome in is there anything you’re looking for specifically today” you asked him.

He turned around and oh lord this man was gorgeous. His eyes were a beautiful shade of green and wow was he beautiful. You swallowed hard and shifted a little bit. “Oh I was walking by and smelled something amazing coming from in here and had to stop by.” His voice was like smooth whiskey.

You smiled and said “oh it could be the pecan pie I have in the oven.”

Beau’s eyes went wide. “You have pecan pie too? I’m from Texas and we love our pecan pie.” Beau said. “Yep I sure do. It has to cool but I can save you some if you want.” You smiled. “Yes. That will be perfect. I’m going to grab some lunch and I’ll come back later if that’s okay.” He said.

“Yep. Sounds great. I’ll save you some” you smiled. He nodded and smiled and headed towards the door. He stopped and turned around looking at you again and smiled. You blushed and started helping the next customer.

Beau walked over to the diner with a smile on his face. He couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful you were. Your smile, your y/e/c eyes, your curvy body, and your kindness. He knew you were new in town and he wanted to know more about you.

He decided to eat at the diner and while he was there he chatted with some of the people there. “Hey Sheriff Arlen, how are you today” Ms Carol asked from behind the counter. “I’m good. How are you doing” he smiled. “I’m good honey. I’m thankful for Miss Y/N next door at the bakery. She’s been helping us out with our desserts recently. I can’t keep up with the desserts like I used to and she offered to help us out. She’s a sweet girl. She won’t take any money either. She just swings by for some lunch when she gets a chance.” She told Beau.

Beau smiled. Wow she really is sweet he thought. “That’s really nice Ms Carol. I’m glad you’ve got some help.” He said. The bell above the door rang and you walked in. “Hey Ms Carol. Here’s your pies and some cookies for Mr John. I hope he gets to feeling better.” You said as you handed her the food. “Oh Y/N you are such a sweetheart. Thank you and I know John will love these.” She hugged you.

You looked over and saw Beau sitting at the counter. You smiled at him and he smiled at you. He extended his hand “we didn’t get properly introduced, I’m Beau Arlen. I’m the temporary Sheriff here.” “Hello Mr Arlen, Sheriff, I’m Y/N. It’s nice to officially meet you. Well I need to get back. Don’t forget to come by and get your pie.” You smiled. “No ma’am I won’t forget.” He smiled.

You nodded and said goodbye and left. Ms Carol was watching and smiled at Beau. “Beau, you know she’s single, right? Maybe you two could go out to dinner or something fun. You both deserve it.” She winked. Beau smiled and nodded. “Maybe Ms Carol. Maybe.”

He got up, paid his tab and headed back towards your bakery. He walked in and the sweet smell of the shop filled his nose. The place smelled like home. His mother loved to bake and the smell was bringing back sweet memories of her. You were stocking the case when he came back in and you greeted him with a smile.

“Welcome back Sheriff. I have your pie right here.” You handed him a full pie. “Please call me Beau, and you didn’t have to save the whole pie. Thank you Y/N.” “It’s my pleasure, Beau. The sheriff deserves his own pie. Especially a Texas boy.” You smiled and winked. “How much do I owe you Y/N?” He pulled out his wallet. “Nothing. This one is on the house” you told him. “What?! No, I can’t let you do that. Please let me pay for it.” He pleaded. You stood firm and shook your head no.

Beau knew it was a losing battle. “Well, then let me take you out to dinner as a thank you.” He said. You stood there with your words caught in your throat. “What do you say Y/N? Let me take you out tonight” he said. “Okay sure. I close at 6 so let me go home and change and you can pick me up at 7:30 or I can meet you there.” You said. Beau moved closer to you “I’ll pick you up and it’s a date.”

You bit your lip and smiled. A date?!? This gorgeous man was asking you out?!?

The rest of the day flew by and it was time to lock up and head home. You got home and got in the shower. You had no idea where he was taking you so you wanted to dress comfortable but nice. You decided to wear a pair of your favorite jeans that hugged every curve of your body perfectly, a nice top that showed off your cleavage just enough and a pair of boots that had a little heel. You put on a little makeup and your hair was half up and half down.

You took a step back looking in the mirror. You always had problems with your body. You carried a little more weight than you should and you were curvy. Most of your clothes hid your body well. The outfit you picked did just that. You liked Beau. You were just worried if he could like you, curves and all.

There was a knock at your door. You took a deep breath and opened it to see Beau standing on your porch. He was dressed in a pair of jeans, a button down shirt and a pair of worn cowboy boots. The wind shifted and you smelled his cologne. It was heavenly. “Hello Beau. Come on in. I’m almost ready.” You stepped to the side. He walked in and sat on the couch.

You finished getting ready and as you walked into the living room he stood and stared. “You’re absolutely beautiful Y/N. Wow!” He said and you blushed. “Thank you, Beau. You look very handsome tonight.” You smiled.

He guided you outside by the small of your back and opened the truck door for you. You climbed in and smiled. He got in and started the truck. “So where are we going” you asked. “I’m taking you to a restaurant a town over. Great food and music.” He smiled. You nodded.

He reached his hand over and took yours. “Is this okay” he questioned. You smiled “more than okay.” The drive to the restaurant was good. The two of you talked about life and how both of you ended up in Montana. You thought it was sweet he moved there to be closer to his daughter.

When you arrived at the restaurant Beau got out and came around opening your door. He offered you his hand helping you out of the truck. As you got out you lost your balance and started to fall. Beau caught you and for a moment you thought he was going to kiss you. He didn’t and you were a little disappointed.

As the two of you walked into the restaurant hand in hand a group of drunk men came out. They took one look at you and Beau and started talking about your weight and one of them went so far as to moo at you. You tried to ignore it but they kept going.

Beau stopped walking. “What the hell is y’all’s problem” he seethed. “No problem at all. How do you fuck her? Slap the leg and ride the wave?” The taller man said. Beau let go of your hand and stepped in front of you and between you and the men.

“You need to shut your mouth and leave before I shut it for you.” Beau growled. “Beau, come on. Let’s go. It’s okay. Please” you begged him as tears pricked your eyes. He turned and looked at you. His face was angry but softened when he looked at you. “It’s not okay. Nobody should ever speak to you like that.” He said.

“Beau, I’m used to it. I just want to go inside.” You told him. He nodded and smiled. Beau put his hand at the small of your back and led you inside. The two of you sat down and ordered your food. While you were waiting on the food the two of you talked more and got to know each other better. The food came and a comfortable silence fell between you two.

You excused yourself and went to the restroom. You steadied your breath. Beau was amazing and you could see yourself falling for him. You were scared though. How could he be with someone like you, and would he want to. Screw it you thought. He asked you out so that’s something. Throw caution to the wind you thought.

On your way back to the table a man that had been at the bar stepped in front of you. “Where you off to in such a hurry there princess” his alcohol smelling breath engulfed you. “Excuse me. I’m heading back to my boyfriend.” You said as you nodded towards Beau. “That string bean is your boyfriend? Honey a big girl like you needs a real man.” He said as he grabbed your arm.

You screamed for him to get off you and this caught Beau’s attention. Before you could process what was happening Beau was by your side pulling you to safety. The man had about 2-3 inches on him but Beau stood his ground. “Keep your hands off the lady” he growled. “Oh come on man I’m just trying to show her what a big girl like her really needs” he said laughing. Beau stood in between you two now. “I said back off. Don’t make me tell you again.” Beau said.

The man grabbed your arm again and pulled you hard causing you to yelp in pain. Beau knocked the guy flat on his ass and pulled you into his arms. “Are you okay darlin” he asked. Tears were streaming down your face and you shook your head no.

Beau paid the tab and helped you outside. You climbed in the truck and he held you as you cried. “I’m sorry Beau. I’m sorry you had to defend me because of my size. I’m sorry the man grabbed me. I understand if you don’t want to see me again.” You sobbed.

“Oh sweetheart. You have nothing to be sorry for. That man was a jackass and he had no right talking to you like that or putting his hands on you. I love the way you look. You’re so beautiful to me. I’m sorry people don’t see how beautiful you are. Inside and out.” Beau wiped away the tears from your face.

He leaned over and kissed your lips softly. When he pulled away he looked at you. “Was that okay” he asked. “More than okay, Beau. It was amazing.” You whispered. “Good because I’ve wanted to do that since the first time I saw you this morning and if you’re okay with it I’m going to do it again.” You smiled and nodded.

This time the kiss was deeper and passionate. Oh the way he kissed you set your soul on fire. He started the truck to drive home and he held your hand again. You knew Beau Arlen was going to be one of the best things in your life. You knew he was going to protect you, defend you and love you. You knew with him your heart would always be protected.

Tags: @nescaveckdaily @kr804573 @k-slla @jackles010378 @jawritter @xx-spooky-little-vampire-xx @roseblue373 @cheynovak @jassackles @chriszgirl92 @suckitands33 @arcannaa @n-o-p-e-never @ladysparkles78 @smoothdogsgirl @hobby27 @manicjk

[y-rhywbeth2]

Next stage in the 'who has a bigger body count' competition Astarion started yesterday, while praying I can use a calculator correctly:

Bhaal VS Cazador: Deaths in Baldur's Gate over the last 15 years.

I counted about 22 active Bhaalists (including Orin, Sarevok and Durge), who, having to murder once every ten days, have about 12,045 kills between them. However, as briefly mentioned in game, most of them do not reside in Baldur's Gate and also Bhaal's clergy are usually a little nomadic, so this wouldn't have been too highly focused on the Gate.

They do need to kill a living thing every day, so that's also another 108,405 dead things which may or may not be human/oid.

As for the vampires, assuming they don't have a massive herd of blood dolls:

While vampires do need to feed a little less as they age, it's still not that much lower.

A typical Fledgling vampire must drink 12 hit points worth of blood in every 24-hour period. The source of this blood is immaterial; it can come from living victims, fresh corpses, animals, or even sealed “caches" of chilled blood. - Van Richten's Guide to Vampires

The typical person, people with adventuring classes being rarer, has 4 hit points. Or less. Sometimes you're lucky and 5e upgrades them to 1d8 with an average of 4. Add in older editions and level drain and normal people do not survive being fed on by vampires.

Judging by talking to Astarion, Cazador does drain his prey dry more often than not.

So on average Cazador has needed 3 kills a day, and over the past 15 years that's 3 kills every one of 5,475 days. Which is apparently 16,425 dead bodies. (7000 is small change to vampires and Archdevils alike, apparently. I keep coming back to this, but Mephistopheles' deal is extremely and suspiciously cheap.) Each spawn has needed about 12 rats each: 65,700 rats dead each, 459,900 rats altogether. I assume they feed the corpses to the ghouls.

Cazador forbidding his spawn human blood actually makes perfect sense. Aurelia and Astarion have been with him for most of that 200 years. Cazador has murdered at least the equivalent of 73,000 people, if those two also feed properly it's now 219,000 people. Petras and I assume Violet, are about 100: 109,500 kills each (or more). 438,000 people. Yousen is 60 (65,700), Dalyria less than 50 due to being a Peer (54,750); Leon's less than 12 (13,140). Altogether this 'family' would have killed aprox. 571,590 people over the last two centuries.

The Western Heartlands' city and town populations, circa 14th century, were:

Baldur's Gate: 42,103 Elturel: 22,671 Evereska: 21,051 Berdusk: 20,242 Iriaebor: 16,193 Scornubel: 14,574 High Edge: 9,716 Asbravn: 5,668 Hluthvar: 5,668 Beregost: 2,915 Secomber: 1,417 Daggerford: 891 Corm Orp: 810

Census indicates the Western Heartlands' total permanent population was 163,919, of which Cazador would have consumed the equivalent of 44.53%. I can only assume that he either fasts a lot or mixes in some animal blood (which would not have made him fun to be around for the spawn), or we're drawing off of VtM logistics and he has control of blood banks and a herd of living people he keeps alive plus just feeding off of his spawn to top him up between murders (which does explain the human staff).

I'm not counting the amounts of rats and mice consumed, but honestly I think there's money to be made hiring your spawn out as a pest control service. Assuming they don't drive themselves out of business.

There is absolutely no way the 7000 spawn in the cells should be anything but feral howling messes who are scrabbling for rats and bugs and cannibalising each other, assuming they haven't just shrivelled into the state of torpor from lack of blood to fuel the magic keeping their bodies animate. There is no feasible way to keep them fed. I don't even think there are enough rodents in the city to feed them...

Meanwhile Bhaalists have been active for 130 years since the end of the Bhaalspawn crisis, and have killed around 4,745 people each in that time. Luckily, they've been quite low in number, mostly nomadic, and only recently had a revival (which is still low population) so that probably not too many.

Verdict: DnD maths is poorly thought out and the vampires win the murder competition by goddamn miles. While Bhaal wins overall, due to having 1300+ years of murders to his name, Cazador's recent activity is higher, and Astarion has been accomplice to the number of murders that Durge only dreams of. Durge is still winning in the sadism and first degree murder count though.

[messenger-of-stupidity]

So I went hiking yesterday and climbed on some old lime factory ruins and saw some graffiti. (Lots of it actually.)

So here's what I think the redacted characters would graffiti (if anything):

David: No. He wouldn't graffiti. Man prolly believes in the sanctity of nature and leaving things either as or better than he found it

Angel: Cock and balls.

Asher: Jigglypuff. He wants everyone to behold the splendor.

Baabe: honestly, despite the fact I hc them as an art nerd, I don't think they would graffiti. Maybe with chalk so that way it's temporary. But idk what they would say.

Milo: either "Milo was here" or "Shut up Asher"

Sweetheart: doesn't matter. It's a mess. Because "Art is abstract, Milo. Besides, it kind of looks like that time Aggro spooked you and you shifted and made a mess in our old apartment"

Sam: he wouldn't. He's on the same wavelength as David.

Darlin: some kind of inside joke so that way everyone in the pack (and clan) knows they were there.

Vincent: a purposefully cheesy inspirational quote in the shittiest lettering you've ever seen.

Lovely: a smiley face because they just want their life to calm down so they can enjoy immortality with their stupid boyfriend.

Porter: he wouldn't, but not because he cares about sanctity or whatever. He just doesn't see the point.

Treasure: nah. They don't see the point either. They also don't have a marker or spray paint or anything with them. Porter just kinda zipped them into the middle of fucking nowhere all of the sudden. Somehow they lost a shoe on the way.

Elliot: yes. Boy is making a whole landscape because it's in his DNA and his inner Bob Ross is screaming at him that there's no mistakes, only happy little accidents

Sunshine: they put a sun and a little river for Brachium since he can't deface property with them :(

Blake: he's bringing a powerwasher to destroy all the graffiti

Bestie: they weren't aware it was an option because Blake is sheltering them from the existence of graffiti to keep them pure.

Aaron: no. He doesn't have the time

Smartass: they're busy too.

Ollie: no. He'd rather be inside playing board games

Baby: no, they're inside watching Ollie explain a board game for three hours

Ivan: yeah. Idk what, but he is

(I'm not doing Ivan's listeners)

Guy: it's just memes. There pepe the frog. There's rainbows and telling people that "they're putting chemicals in the water to turn all the frogs gay"

Honey: they put Guy's phone number so he gets spammed because his graffiti tastes are as good as his humor. Make of that what you will.

Geordi: no. He's too anxious about getting in trouble to even think about it.

Cutie: yes. They're putting passing people's thoughts on the wall.

Camelopardalis: no.

(He has too many listeners and I isn't remember them and they dint have enough personality for me to be able to tell)

Vega: no. It's too human.

Warden: once. They felt bad and tried to get rid of it afterwards. It was just a stick figure with horns.

Hush: yes. He saw it once and wanted to try it. Now he's wanted in twelve states for defacing government property. He just copies what he's seen.

Doc: nope. They never understood the draw.

Damien: nope. He's a rule follower

Lasko: no. He's too anxious

Dear: yes. But it's just dad jokes.

Huxley: once. He felt bad about it but it was certainly an experience. It was a tree and a stick dude.

Gavin: absolutely. It's hilarious. It ranges from just crude jokes to just random circles. No one knows the meeting, but it's becoming like a mini legend in Dahlia. If you find the holy circle (because it's a perfect circle. He has good wrist control) you have to leave an offering. He's making a cult by accident but he still finds it funny

Freelancer: yes, but only because Caelum saw Gavin doing it and thought it looked like fun and he wanted Freelancer's help.

Caelum: he drew a bunch of shaky smiley faces to "brighten peoples day. Because when they see all these smiles, they'll want to smile too, and that will make them feel good. Which makes me feel good. Which helps me make others feel good. Which makes me feel goo-"

Morgan: no.

Seer obscura: no. But they were tempted to give vague warnings to people to try to help them

[youvebeenlivingfictional]

indy and teasing them about how messy their work area is getting (while subtly trying to clean up around them)?

Send me a comfort prompt!

Sure thing nonnie :D

"So is there where all the mugs have gone?"

"Hm?"

You lean in the doorway, eyeing the sprawling mess on and surrounding his desk. He's standing, hands braced on the desk as he shifts from foot to foot. You've hardly seen him in the last few days. He's been so occupied with his upcoming excursion. You can't blame him entirely; you're happy that he's going in with a plan at all. But, you're a little worried as well. You know Indy won't sleep on the flight, and you're almost certain that once he's landed, he definitely won't rest.

Indiana hardly looks away from the map, simply adjusts his glasses and reaches blindly for a glass. You dart in, catching hold of one that he accidentally tips to the side. He glances over toward it, then takes hold of it and swigs it. You watch as he swallows thickly, then winces.

"...Cold coffee?" You ask.

"Yesterday's," He grumbles.

Very cold, then. You roll your eyes, rounding the desk to stand at Indiana's side and peering over his shoulder, brows raising as you eyes the marks that he's made.

"Is that the most efficient route?" You ask.

"As far as I can tell."

"What did Sallah say?"

"He confirmed my suspicions."

You hum thoughtfully as you slowly reach out, gently straightening a stack of books that seems set to teeter and topple. You look back down at the map, taking hold of a mug nearby and gently drawing it toward yourself. Maybe you can take a couple of the ones sitting on the bookshelves as well—

"Cut that out."

"Hm?" You hum nonchalantly, resting a hand on Indy's shoulder. "What are you...I didn't do anything."

Indiana shoots you a sideline glance, brows raising. You give him a bright smile, holding his gaze as you reach out, gently sliding another mug toward yourself. He reaches out, whacking your wrist. You grasp, drawing back.

"Indy!"

"You need to let me work."

"You need to surrender your damn mugs," You grumble, straightening and taking hold of the few within reach. "And watch your attitude."

"When's dinner?"

"You tell me."

"I can't cook, I'm busy."

"I'm busy, too. Washing your mugs."

You only get a step or two away before you feel Indiana's arm curl around your waist, tugging you to a stop. You raise your brows as he turns you back toward him, cuddling you into his chest. You raise your brows as he leans in, brushing his lips against yours. You smile, leaning into his chest and giving him a warm kiss in turn. You draw back, taking in his warm expression for the first time in a few days.

"You're still making your own dinner," You warn before turning, drawing yourself from Indy as he looses a petulant grumble.

[softspeirs]

hello! could i please request "remembering things they told them" for mota - dealer's choice on characters and/or ocs?💕 — @shoshiwrites

A/N: @shoshiwrites My gut said more John Egan so here we are. This follows this loosely but you don't need to have read it first.

two. dark skies (i remember)

Three cups of coffee the next morning is barely enough to get her out of bed and moving, but she's back in the pub bright and early. They don't do breakfast, but they open at noon, and she promised herself she'd try to put the day before out of her mind.

She's wiping down the bar when she hears the door open. "We're closed--" She stops when she sees Major Egan. He's twisting the brim of his hat in his hands and looking anywhere but at her. "Morning, Major." She says. "Unfortunately we're still closed... no matter how many of those shiny pins you have on your lapel."

His smile is small. "I just wanted to--" He sighs, looking skyward like he's trying to find the right words. "Look, I'm sorry I was an asshole last night."

He doesn't apologize for his language or look at her like she's going to be offended, which she appreciates.

She still doesn't like the look in his eyes. It's... blank. A bit of remorse there, but something else, too. Something dark and closed off, and she hates that she can tell. That she's spent enough time trying to guess what he's thinking that she can tell his moods apart.

"It's alright, Major."

"No it isn't." He's firm, but not unkind. From behind his back, he pulls out a small, small bouquet of flowers.

She doesn't think she's ever seen Major Egan look anything than confident, cocky, and sure of himself. But this look? She wishes she had a camera.

"I remember you said you like daisies," he says quietly, holding it out towards her, his free hand rubbing the back of his neck.

She's taken aback - the idea that he remembers anything she's said when they've been surrounded by everyone else is crazy to her. "That's-- no offense Major, but I thought you were three sheets to the wind when this conversation was going on."

A group of rowdy aviators, each one of them bragging about the nicest thing they ever did for a girl, and then the competition to see who could outdo the other... it ended with her chiming in from the bar that all she needed was a picnic and some daisies and she'd be happy, just like most other girls her age. No grand gestures necessary.

This feels like a grand gesture, sort of. Her heart rate kicks up when she takes the flowers from him, their fingertips brushing.

"Did you pick these from some unsuspecting housewife's garden?" She asks, narrowing her eyes.

His eyes light up with amused indignation. "Did I--" His voice is half laugh. "I'll have you know I gave some of my hard earned coin to Mrs. Henderson down the road for these."

"You didn't have to do that."

He shrugs. "I know-- I know you were just looking out for me when I came by here last night. You didn't deserve my... bad attitude."

She doesn't know what to say. She has no idea what he's going through. She has her own heartbreak every time she opens the door for business and sees fewer and fewer airmen walking through the door. But these men, his friends? How is he possibly handling that?

"You, uh... you let us in here night after night and have never kicked us out even when we deserved it. And I... I don't know." He shrugs. "Buck went down yesterday. And I'm angry as hell and all I wanted was to drown it."

She looks down. "I'm sorry I turned you away."

His eyes are clear when he meets her gaze. "Don't be. You were right." He rolls his eyes at himself. "But don't go tellin' anyone I said that."

"You're flying today." It's not a question.

"I have to--" He shakes his head. "It's my job." He straightens, drawing himself back to his full height. "Anyway. I just wanted to..." he trails off, gesturing to the flowers still in her hand. "I should go."

He turns, and she remembers him like that the night before, telling her she shouldn't get attached to any of them. She remembers, but suddenly she doesn't care.

It's too late anyway.

"Bucky." She says his nickname for the first time, and he turns faster than she expected, his eyes widening with-- hope? Surprise? "Take this. For luck."

She hands him a single daisy. Takes a deep breath, raises herself up on her toes and presses a kiss to his cheek.

It all happens in a second. A heartbeat.

And it's that second, that heartbeat that she plays over and over again in her mind later that night when Captain Rosenthal's plane comes back alone.

[strawberrymilk-sunshine]

what if mc is actual shrimp .. like a shrimp merfolk ? > <

I have actually thought about shrimp mer mc before...

Warning(s): some yandere behavior, size difference, some kind of stockholm syndrome near the end

"Heyyyy, Shrimpy~! Wanna go for a swim with me~?" Floyd asked you one day.

"No, that's alright, I'm kinda busy today." You responded.

But he didn't care. He was already dragging you along with him.

He brought you to the pool that NRC definitely has, and shoved you into the water... and then, you disappeared. Your uniform was floating in the water, but you were gone.

"Fuuuuuck, Shrimpy disintegrated........" Floyd said to himself.

Then, he saw a small... something moving around in your uniform. He jumped into the pool and moved your clothes around to get it out, and... well, he was surprised with what he saw.

"Ehe... I guess I was right to call you Little Shrimpy, huh~?"

You see, you were a tiny shrimp mer. Thankfully, the potion you take that turns you human also makes you normal human sized.

You know for a fact that Floyd Leech knowing this information spells nothing but trouble for you.

"You're so... small!" Floyd happily said, lifting you up out of the water and into the air. "You're so tiny, and cute, and... defenseless~" He gave a wide, toothy grin. "I wonder what you'd-"

"If you try to eat me I will fucking bite my way out of you do not test me, Leech." You angrily said.

"I'd like to see you try that, but eh, it's not worth the pain..." Floyd rolled his eyes. "So, Shrimpy, is this why ya didn't wanna swim with me?"

"...yeah, i-it is..." You said, crossing your arms and looking away.

"Ahaha! Were you embaaaaaaarrassed~?" He playfully asked.

"No, I just... I was..." You paused. "...scared."

"Hah? Scared of what?" Floyd asked.

"Of... well, o-of you."

"Of me? Haha! There's no reason to be scared of me, Shrimpy! Morays don't eat shirmp! Octopi do, though. So if there's anyone in Octavinelle you should be afraid of, it's Azul!"

"No, that's not why!" You yelled. "You're so unpredictable, I... didn't know if I'd be safe around you..."

"...oh. Ok, yeah, I got it." Floyd said, before setting you back down into the water. He crawled out of the pool and his body (very messily) transitioned back into a more human form. "I'll... see you later, Shrimpy."

What a weird interaction.

When you saw Floyd in class the next day, he happily patted the seat next to him, inviting you to sit beside him.

During Trein's lecture, he kept sliding you drawings that you kept sliding back trying to say that you're trying to focus on the lecture.

He stayed close to you in the hallways, and made this weird growling/shrieking noise at anyone who got too close to the two of you...

He escorted you to the cafeteria, got food for you (crab with butter, yum), shared some of his food with you, yelled at people who tried to mess with you, it was so... strange.

"Sooo, (Y/N), didja feel... safe around me today?" Floyd asked, walking with you to the Hall of Mirrors.

"Wait. Did you do all this just because I said I felt scared of you yesterday?!" You asked.

"Well, yeah. Why did you think I was doing all this?"

"What the hell, Floyd?!" You yelled. "N-No, you-! You can't just-!" You couldn't form any words.

"Huuuuuuh? What's wrong, Shrimpy?" Floyd asked, a sad look on his face. "You don't hate me, right? I didn't do anything wrong! I did what you wanted from me! I-I was less unpredictable today, right?! THAT'S WHAT YOU WANTED, RIGHT?! YOU DON'T HATE ME, DO YOU?!"

You pushed him away from you and ran into the mirror that led to your dorm.

"But I did everything right..."

You awoke to a loud sound late into the night.

Something grabbed you by the hair and pulled you out of the bed.

"Hiya. I realized that no matter what I try, you're not gonna feel any less scared of me, so then I thought there's gotta be a way to make you forcefully feel less scared, ehe!"

You recognized that voice immediately.

"Just so you know, if you try to struggle, get away, yell for help, anything... I'll squeeze ya good. I'll break your ribs, legs, arms, whatever I need to in order to get you to comply. You don't wanna risk that, do you~?"

You knew he wasn't lying. He would do that to you and he wouldn't care.

Floyd dragged you back to his dorm, and began filling a sink with water.

You see, the thing about your body is that, even when under the effect of a potion, you'll revert to your true form when exposed to water. (Floyd will too, but that's not the point)

Floyd shoved your face into the water.

"If you see something pretty, keep it somewhere safe. Keep it close to you. Make sure you're the only one who can see it. That's what Jade says about his terrariums, at least." Floyd said, lifting the rest of your slowly-shrinking-back-to-normal-size body into the sink. "You're about terrarium sized. I got you one that's filled with water! Ehehe... I'll keep you inside of it... and slowly, slowly, slowly, you'll become dependent on me. And of course less scared of me!!"

You were scooped up out of the sink into a glass bowl filled with water, a few plants, and rocks.

"Ahahaha!! You look so cute like this!" Floyd happily said. "I'll take you back to my room, and we can start our whole little bonding experience! Oh, and don't even think about tying to escape. You know dehydration and drying out is deadly to us merfolk. So from now on, until I say otherwise, that bowl is your entire world."

You don't know how much time passes behind the glass.

Eventually, this life... gets to you. Something snaps within you.

And then you realize the only thing you can trust in this new life is the hand that gives you food, and the heterochromatic eyes that look at you from the other side of the glass.

What was his name again?

...

Come to think of it... what was your name...?

...oh well. It's not like that matters anymore.

"You seem so passionate about that one." Jade said, gesturing to the glass bowl filled with water, rocks, and plants. "I'm surprised you don't have more terrariums!"

"Oh. Nah, I'm not that into it." Floyd responded. "I'm not doing this for the same reason you do it. I'm doing it to make a certain someone feel less scared of me." He dipped his hand into the water of the bowl. When he lifted his hand out of the water, there was a tiny shrimp mer holding onto his hand. "Ta-da~! It's Shrimpy!!"

"That looks like (Y/N). Is... is that (Y/N)?" Jade asked. "How strange. Why did you do this?"

"Because they said they were scared o' me. I assumed this'd be the best way to make sure they weren't!"

"Ah, I see. I suppose I understand your motive, but..." Jade paused, looking uncomfortable. "...never mind. I'll leave you and (Y/N) to your... um... whatever it is you're doing."

Floyd didn't mean to make you dependent on him like a pet, but he didn't care. After all, regardless of how it happened, he got what he wanted.

You weren't scared of him anymore.

[gachawolfiebloom]

Two Hearts In The City of Love

Chapter 1: Summer Destination

Tags: Love, Love Confession, Romance

"MAARRRIIOOOOOO HEEELLLLPPPP!!!"

Luigi burst through the door of his house to find his brother, casually eating spaghetti at the table. He looked up from his favorite food with an annoyed expression. "What do you want Luigi!? Can't you see Mario is busy right now!?" Luigi tackled Mario and began shaking him while yelling "I GOT FIRED FROM MY JOB! PLEASE HELP!"

Mario didn't see what the problem was. "Pfff, what does Luigi need a job for? Stay home and be a bum like Mario!" He struck a cool pose and put sunglasses on before Luigi nervously walked past him. "You don't understand Mario! That job was supposed to cover our life savings. If I can't find another one..."

He opened a closet that was supposed to hold coins and bags of money in it, but only cobwebs and dust was inside. "Then we might be EVICTED!" Mario squinted his eyes and raised a hand up to his chin as he peeked inside the closet. "Mario thought he saw some money in here yesterday..." Luigi sighed and told him "Don't you remember what happened yesterday?"

~Flashback~

Mario was taking a walk through Mushroom City, but looked incredibly exhausted. He panted and croaked out "Mario's so hungry..." He then spotted a spaghetti truck that was delivering to the Fresh Spaghetti Tubbie factory. His eyes lit up and was determined to give chase to that truck so he ran into the road and punched a driver out of his car. He then proceeded to run a red light, go over the speed limit, and when Frankie was crossing the street, the last thing he heard was the honking of a horn before Mario ran him over.

The truck driver was going on his merry way, until Mario drove out in front of him. "AHHH!" The driver slammed the breaks, but it was too late. Mario hopped out of the car at the last second and danced while the two flaming vehicles behind him were sizzling in smoke. He opened the storage compartment and...

"WHAT!? JUST TUBBIE CUSTARD! THIS IS BULLCRAP! WHERE'S MARIO'S SPAGHETTI!?"

Just then police sirens flared and several officers came out of the cars. "STAWP RIGHT THERE!" A few hours later, Luigi enters the police station and waves to the receptionist. "Hello Luigi! Here to bail out your brother again?" He sighed and nodded. "How much?"

"All of your life savings."

~Present Time~

"Ooooo right." Luigi took a deep breath and looked his brother straight in the eye. "I can't keep bailing you out all the time. We need to find me a job and find you a way to stay out of trouble." The two boys tried to think of a solution until Mario was about to say something. "Mario, if this has anything to do with Spaghetti or your deals with Bob, I don't think that's gonna work."

Just then the TV in their living room started playing static and then a weird ad started to play. It described that there was a lottery going on and the winners would be announced tomorrow. Mario seemed convinced, but Luigi had his suspicions. "This doesn't sound right Mario...are we sure that this isn't a scam or something?" Mario brushed it off and convinced him "Relax Luigi! You wanted money right?"

"Yes, but-"

"THEN LETS-A GO!"

He grabbed Luigi and sped off to a store where the commercial said the lottery was being held. The two boys went to the counter when a familiar ally waved to them. "Shroomy?" The two said in unison. "Well golly gee! Hello boys!"

"You run the lottery?" He nodded and handed them a ticket. "There you go! We'll announce the winner tomorrow afternoon!" Luigi took the ticket and saw that their number was lucky 21, one of the digits that was considered to be good luck by superstitions. "O-o-okay thanks." He gave Shroomy a few remaining dollars and the two them headed back home and awaited the drawing of the winning ticket.

~The Next Day~

Mario was vibrating in excitement on the couch while Luigi held tightly onto the ticket. The suspense led up as the announcer said "And the winner is...LUCKY NUMBER 21!" Both men gasped as they looked down at the ticket and sure enough, it was their's. "YIPPEE!" Mario cheered while Luigi stood in awe. "Wow! We did it. I wonder how much money we won."

"Congratulations number 21! You win 8 tickets to Paris, France!" Mario stopped celebrating and Luigi's eyes widened. "WAT!" Mario ran up to the TV and shook it. "YOU STINKY ANNOUNCER! MARIO THOUGHT HE WAS WINNING INFINITE SPAGHETTI! MARIO WANTS A REFUND!" Luigi was lost in thought with what to do with this until he cried out "Mario wait!"

"What? Mario wants his money back!" Luigi placed a hand on his shoulder and said "This might not be a bad thing. It could actually be great for all of us!" Mario's brain caught on fire because he couldn't understand the nonsense from Luigi's mouth. "We could invite our friends to come with us on a vacation! I could look for a job and there's plenty to do there so you stay out of trouble."

Mario actually did like the idea of a vacation. Last year's was definitely not as relaxing considering they had been trapped in a western simulation. There was just one last thing to convince him. "Will there be spaghetti?" Luigi smiled and said "I'm sure we could find something." That was enough for the fat Italian to hear. He gave his brother a thumbs up and replied "Okey dokey!" Luigi couldn't wait to show the tickets to their friends. "I'm sure they'll love the idea!"

"YOU WANT US TO DO WHAT!?"

All of the crew had came over to Smg4's castle and were sitting on the couch in the game room. Turns out, they weren't as impressed with the tickets as much as Luigi hoped for. "Isn't Paris really far?" Meggy asked. "And very crowded?" Tari also added. "Well yes, but I thought a vacation would benefit us all."

"Benefit us? Remember how beneficial our last vacation was?" Three shot back. Just the thought of it made Meggy shutter. "Mario promises it won't be anything like that! You're onboard right Smg4?"

Four looked up from his computer and made a wincing face at his best friend. "I don't know Mario. We're all a bit busy right now." Mario was not going to miss out on his spaghetti so he slid down to Four's feet and put on his best puppy dog eyes. "Pleeeaaasseeee Smg4! You never hang out with Mario anymore." He began tugging on his overalls and crying all over the floor. The whole ordeal was making Four uncomfortable.

Luigi pulled out a pamphlet that he had gotten with the tickets. "There's many things to do there like a GameStop store, Olympic Games on July 26, Casinos, and many historic sights." Once Luigi mentioned casinos, Bob didn't even think twice. "HELL YEAH! I'M GOING TO GO PACK RIGHT NOW!" Tari did think that a gaming store would be pretty interesting. "That does sound cool. What do you think Meggy?" She stood up and said "Well Wren has already been defeated and I have been wanting to go see the Olympics in person."

Tari squeezed Meggy's hand as if to tell her not to worry about Wren. Meggy offered a small smile in return and said "Count us in Luigi!" Boopkins wasn't sure himself, but he did like spending time with his friends. He tugged on Luigi gently and asked him "Will there be anything on anime?"

"I guess?" Boopkins cheered and pulled out his body pillows. "Did you hear that girls? We're going to Paris!" Mario rolled around on the ground and cried "You don't want to hang out with Mario or let him have spaghetti!"

"It's not that. I just..." Four sighed and rubbed his temples. "Fine Mario. I'll come. Just please stop acting like a 5 year old." Mario immediately sprung up and hugged his best friend. "Thank you Smg4!"

Four looked up and saw Three, crossing his arms and pretending not to care. "So what about you Three? You in?" He sneered and said "NO! I HAVE WORK TO DO AT THE CAFE!" Luigi showed him the tickets and said "But there's 8 tickets."

"Then get one of these chicks to go with you!" He pointed behind him, where Saiko was practicing her guitar and Melony was taking a nap. Saiko looked up and shook her head. "Me and Kaizo are practicing for our upcoming show and I think she's going to be out for a while." Melony surely was a heavy sleeper.

"Then find somebody else Luigi!" Three was about to leave when Mario tried the same schtick that he had with Four. He clung tight to Three's overalls and would not let go. "What the hell!? Get off me idiot!" He tried to shake Mario off, but it was very ineffective. "Pleeeeeeaaaaasssseee Smg3? It won't be the same without you!" Three tried pulling him off with no success.

"FINE! Just let go!" Mario instantly threw himself around Three, except he wasn't as much of a hugger as Four was. "Personal space Mario!" Luigi looked at the tickets and said "Alright well it says that our flight is at 8:00 AM tomorrow morning so we all have to wake up early."

Everyone was advised to start packing and go to sleep early so they would be ready to go. As they all left the room, Meggy and Tari chatted about what they were going to do there, Bob bragged to Boopkins about all the loot he was going to earn, and the brothers were figuring out the arrangements for where to stay and what to sign up for. "Don't forget the all you can eat Spaghetti buffet!"

"I'm...not sure they have that." Mario then noticed the two boys and rushed up to them. "This is so exciting for you two!" They both had confused glances on their faces. "Why's that?" Mario explained "Because Paris is the most romantic city in the world!" His face changed into a smug grin and said "Mario can't wait to see Smg4 and Smg3 wooing over each other!"

They both blushed and Three shot back "NO WERE NOT!" Four flustered backed him up by saying "Right! This is just a vacation amongst friends. Nothing else." Mario wasn't buying it. "Surreee." Luigi called out for him and he said goodbye. He loved seeing the two develop feelings with each other over the years, but they never admitted it to one another. "Maybe Mario could help set up a date for the two." As he walked back home, he figured that he could try helping the two confess while they were up there.

Four could tell that Three was still pretty red so he tried to help. "Sorry about him. I don't know why he does that." Three muttered "Uh huh." The two stood in silence till Four spoke up. "Well I guess I've got to get ready. See you tomorrow? He gave a patient smile to Three which made him even more flustered. "Whatever..." He covered his face with his hand and left before his cheeks became more hotter.

Three had went back to managing his cafe and once it was closing time, he put up a sign that said the cafe was going on break. He didn't want to do it, but thanks to that stupid Italian's efforts and that cute annoying smile of Four's, he had no choice. Before bed, he made sure to call Karen to dog-sit Eggdog and pack for the trip.

Four was not so focused on the trip. He said he was going to get ready, but instead he got sidetracked and went back to making videos. All he had remembered to do was take out a suitcase. By the time he was finished, he looked at the clock and was certainly not expecting this time. "12:00!" It was very late and he hadn't even started packing. He sighed and it seemed that the best course of action was waking up early so he could pack before everybody else got here.

He set an alarm on his phone and got into bed. Actually confessing to Three in Paris. The idea made him laugh. Sounded like a cheesy movie type thing. Besides, he didn't really like Three like that...did he? The idea wandered in his mind for a while before his eyelids gave out and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 2: Another Crazy Plane Trip

[kiwi-channn]

just a drawing

(Part 4 the last part)

Older Simon Riley × fem reader (artist)

∆ artist reader sees ghost while he is patrolling her city and she wanna draw ghost but he refuses ∆

Part1 - part2 - part3

...........🌻🌻🌻..........

In the base ... Ghost was in the training area... He just finished his regular exercises ... His shirt reeked with sweat smell and gun powder.... And he sat down and started cleaning his knives....

And Soap was lifting some weights near him....

"Hey.. pass me some water.. l.t"

Ghost looks beside him to pick his water bottle... And his phone starts going on and on with many new messages....

Soap takes the water bottle from ghost as he looks at him with a stupid smile... Ghost just looks at him with an unmoved expression...

"What?... Why the stupid smile?.." ghost says calmly in a tired voice..

"Nothing.. l.t... it's just that... You have someone waiting at home?.." soap says as he gives him a look of "I know it"...

"No ... It's just a friend..." He affirms ... As he ignores her texts.. he knows that it's her ...

"Just a friend?... And who is it?... you never had any friends that text you so much like this..."

"It's none of your business..." Ghost snarls.. hoping to shut him up and to shut his mind too...

"Aww... L.t is in love~..." soap teases him more...

As he heard this sentence... He felt so angry all of a sudden... He doesn't wanna hear this... And he stands up and looks at soap... His brown eyes are getting too dark...

"I said it's nothing... So don't talk too much.. shut it" he says with a so cold voice...

Soap didn't expect him to get so mad... He felt sorry for his friend who never reveal his true feelings..

"Okay okay... Calm down.. l.t..." then soap shut up and went back to lifting his weights...

And ghost just sits back down... Then opens his phone...

..................

She was waiting for him to text her back... And her phone buzzed with an upcoming new text... So she quickly opens her phone to see it ....

"Don't text me again." That's the only message she got after sending him three messages.... She doesn't understand what happened all of a sudden...

"Why?.. Did I do something wrong?.." texts him back... But he didn't even read it.... She just waits and waits .. but no response... Which made her feel so sad and embarrassed at the same time... Sad because she thought they were getting closer... And embarrassed because he just acted so rudely and coldly like it's nothing... So she closed her phone and decided to leave it for now... Maybe he had a bad day ... She tells herself with a tired sigh...

......................

It has been a couple of days and he hasn't responded yet... She looks at their texts so much... And she went yesterday to the place they first met.. but he wasn't there either... She curses herself because she doesn't know anything about him ...

She finished her art classes for the day... And she chooses to walk for a bit to ease her mind... She can't stop thinking about him....

...: y/n...

She heard her name and looked behind her... And finds a classmate of hers ... Dexter...

"Hey... It has been a while... How have you been, Dexter?.." says kindly, smiling a bit... Trying to get that lieutenant out of her head...

"Yeah... where are you heading to?..." He asks her with a cold smile... Which made you uncomfortable... Something is wrong...

"Um.. nowhere.. just going home... And you?"

She tries to be as kind as she can.. Maybe she is just thinking too much...

"Me too... Let's go together..."

"No no..." She refused immediately which was a bit off... But she can't shake off the feeling of uncomfortably... "I mean... I am gonna go to the store too.. to buy some stuff... So no need to... See you..." She quickly said then walked away from him... And she feels his gaze burning on her back...

......................

After about a few hours... It was already midnight...

He was laying down on his couch at his small apartment....he can't stop wondering what she is doing right now?.... And his phone starts buzzing with a call .. he looks and finds it... But he doesn't respond...

And she calls him again and again... And he finally responded for the third time...

"What is it?!.." he says angrily when he opens the call...

But to his surprise comes shaking and so quiet like she is trying to hide...

"Simon... Please.. help me..."

He sits up and gets so freaking worried...

"What happened?... Are you okay?.."

"Hurry up... I don't know what to do..." Whispers quietly as she starts crying which makes his heart stop for a moment...

................

(An hour ago...)

She was making herself some noodles... And suddenly she hears some weird sounds at the door.. like someone is trying to open it with a screwdriver... Which made all the color run out of her face...

And she slowly walks up to the living room and turns off the light... And the sounds stopped....

A few minutes went by without any sound ... And she huffs ... thinking whoever was there gave up and left...

And she texts a few friends to tell them about what happened... But again she hears some sounds at the door .. but this time it's someone knocking on the door... Light knocks ...

She didn't dare to answer at all... Her heart is pumping loudly as she doesn't know what to do....

And the knocking became more violent...

"Open up!... I know you are in there... Y/n.." she hears an angry yell out ... She doesn't know who it is.. but it seems familiar.... And she steps back away from the door...

She doesn't respond at all... Hoping he will think nobody is here and leave... But he didn't stop...

"Y/n.... Open the door... Or I will break it..." That person yelled and kept on yelling... While he knocks violently on the door...

She gets inside her bedroom... And locks the door ... Pushing her nightstand against the door to block it... And she calls the police... But she doesn't know if they will come on time... So she starts calling ghost .... And he told her that he will come right away...

And that man broke her door and rushed inside calling for her... And after a few minutes.. he starts pushing her bedroom door...

"Open the door.. y/n... I just wanna talk... Okay... Just open it..." He tries to talk calmly to make her open the door...

"No!... Leave me alone... You crazy meniac..." She screams angrily....

"y/n please.. open for me... It's me .. Dexter.." he says in romantic way ... Showing how crazy he is...

She feels so surprised... She knew that something was off with him... He always acts in a creepy way for months... But to break down into her home?!... She just stays silent... Hearing him yell ... And she covers her ears with her hands...

Suddenly she hears some fighting outside... And that man yelling at someone else... She feels scared to open the door... So she just gets closer to the door and listens carefully...

After about 10 minutes... The fighting sounds stop and it becomes so quiet... Playing with her nerves... making her more anxious...

"Y/n.. open the door... It's me.." she hears his calm deep voice and she feels so relieved... More tears filling up her eyes... And she quickly opens the door but she has no power to push the nightstand away from the door... All power left her body...

She sees his tall figure roaming over the door ... Her heart skipped another beat to see him... She can't believe that he really came to save her ... And he pushes the nightstand back... And gets inside...

She tries to speak but her voice isn't coming out... It's just tears that are falling more... And she buries herself in him... Holding onto him with shaky hands...

He doesn't say anything... He just holds her close... Squeezing your body so tight... Like he wanna put you inside his heart... Closing his eyes ... He can't stop thinking about what would have happened if he didn't come before he breaks the other door... His heart breaks as he hears her gasps as she cries... Soaking his shirt ...

The police came and took him... And she wasn't so surprised when she found it it was Dexter... Her weird classmate... She felt something was off with him... But she still didn't expect him to try and break into her apartment... She can't stop thinking about what he wanted to do with her if he got her...

She was standing out of her apartment as the police took Dexter away... And you were just looking at him... And then feels ghost holding your hand gently.. telling you that he is here... Making your heart race ...

Then he holds her hand and pulls her down the stairs with him..

"Um.. Simon?... Where are you taking me?.." she says quietly...

"Somewhere safe... You can't stay here tonight..." His calm voice comes so gentle to her... Making her want to cry again... But she holds herself together...

....................

And after some time... They reach his apartment and he lets her in ... And tells her to take a nice shower to calm her nerves...

Y/n comes out of the shower... Wearing Simon's white shirt because she didn't bring any clothes with her... His shirt was big on her... Almost reaching her knees...

He couldn't not check her out as she came out like this... Making his heart move again... But he quickly looks away from her..

"Thanks for letting me borrow your shirt... It's so comfy..." You say quietly...

"No problem.." says calmly..."come.. sit down..." He pats the place beside him on the couch

So she moves and sits down beside him... And for some reason she feels so nervous... And she jumps a bit when he gently touches her hand... Putting his hand over hers...

"Do you know that guy?.." he asks her gently...

She still can't get used to his gentleness... And she blushes a bit ...

"Yes ... He was my classmate... But we weren't so close or anything ..."

"I see... You gotta be careful who you trust..."

She looks at him... She finds him looking at her and she can't look away...

"Should I be careful around you too?.." you ask him so quietly... Your body is still trembling.. you can't get that out of your head...

He feels your trembling hands... And he gets a bit close to you... Staring into your eyes ... Searching for any sign of refusal of worry ... He doesn't wanna do something you don't want...

"You can't trust anyone... People you know can hurt you the most... Y/n..." He whispers softly... Getting a bit more close to her... Looking over her face... Taking in your features... And he stops at your lips... Can't look away from them...

"I don't think you will hurt me... Will you?..."

You whisper back to him... Your heart is pounding more as he gets closer to you... He is wearing his balaclava.. so all you can see is his eyes... The way he looks at you makes you shiver...

And he gets closer and closer until he is just a few inches away from your lips...

"Never hurt you..." He whispers so softly... Under your trance...

And he pressed his lips on yours... You just feel the fabric of his balaclava... But it still makes your heart so warm...

After a moment... He gets his head back away from your lips... And without a word, he raises his balaclava above his lips... And you could see his thin-shapped lips... His strong sharp jaw... And before you could look more at this part of his face that he revealed... He pressed his lips against yours again... Kissing you so gently... So you close your eyes and kiss him back.. taking in his taste... And it seems that he drank tea before... Then he deepens the kiss more, and holds your arms tightly... Pushing you down on the couch... And you two go to your special world... A world with only you two... And you never expected it but he is so gentle and kind... And all you can both see is each other... He felt so in love after many years... He hasn't felt like this for so long... Like he can't think about anything else .. just you..

Will he let you draw him now?

[sweetbottletops]

I wish mental health days were more accepted even a few years ago. Mitsuki’s perma-eyebags were exceptional this chapter. She’s really starting to look more like those future glimpse sketches.

Ch. 92

Mitsuki went with the western breakfast. (cc: Cafe Collaboration.)

I feel like Agu enjoys drawing his arms. There was so much arm. MA-18 for arm.

She was waving off Aya’s concerns yesterday but now that her song writing high burned off overnight she’s got a case of the nerves. Stage fright isn’t so bad when it’s the stage you picked for yourself, but she really doesn’t like eyes on her at school specifically.

(Is AC sickness like sleeping-with-wet-hair or forgetting umbrella as specific Japanese causes for getting sick?)

This is extra funny when you remember the CD shop is connected to their home.

Joe doesn’t seem to take mental health days himself. He’s been tightly wound for probably six years running. Mitsuki doesn’t seem familiar at all with him just closing up shop because he’s in the mood.

Confession time. I had to clear my schedule and watch School of Rock* for the first time tonight. I looked at the date it came out and I must have been busy. Yes, for the whole year.

It was free on Paramount+ and I got back into Stardew Valley this week (I will romance you, Haley. Stop struggling.) which is a perfect game for multitasking.

*I have seen High Fidelity, Almost Famous, Empire Records…I’m not completely uncultured.

Joe turns into a school boy when it comes to Kanna. “…you think she’ll come too?” Aw shucks, Joe. She’s waiting for you to ask anything at this point. It’s cute he immediately thought to include her. I wonder if that was their family movie.

The family head patting pecking order is:

Kanna > Joe > Mitsuki

Kanna having a serious job thats prematurely aging her vs the Kogas. See, this is what they bring to the relationship.

Meanwhile not in the group chat…Aya is going to be so worried when Koga doesn’t show up at school after the talk they had. She’s gotten used to being relied upon since around the sprained ankle situation, but Mitsuki has to reach back as well.

[harley-sunday]

Feels Like Home [03]

Summary: When an unexpected three-week break between Monza and Singapore finds Daniel back on his farm in Perth he’s desperate to use this time to clear his mind, figure out his future in Formula One, and find his way back. He didn’t expect a new neighbour, a sassy two-year old, and three alpacas would make him realise that sometimes, what you’re looking for is right in front of you.

Pairing: Daniel Ricciardo x reader (unnamed OFC)

Warnings: Language

Word count: 4.6k

AN: Daniel in this chapter is just... Oof. I hope you like it, if you could take some time to leave a comment that would mean so much :) ♥

Masterlist

“Alright, Boss,” Daniel jokes with a wide grin, “tell me what to do.” It’s his first official day as her farmhand and even though she told him yesterday what she expects from him he might have been too busy looking at her to really hear anything she said. 

“Well,” she draws out, looking from him to the alpacas and back, “it’s Sunday, so it’s time for their weekly bath, maybe you could-”

“I’m sorry, what?” Daniel eyes the girls suspiciously, not sure how he feels about bathing three killing machines who could take him out in a second. Try explaining that to Blake, he thinks to himself with a wry smile.

“Well yeah, I mean, they’re outside all week long, so I usually take them down to the river on Sundays and give them a nice wash.” She nods towards her truck, “There’s a bottle of shampoo and a brush in my truck.”

Ok. He’s got this. This is nothing compared to driving a race car at three hundred k’s per hour, right? It’s just three alpacas, and they’ve probably been bathed lots of times before, and if she can do it he surely can. Right? Daniel swallows hard, mentally preparing himself for the task at hand by taking a deep breath, trying not to show fear because he’s convinced the girls will pick up on that and- Ok. One at a time. He'll start with Blanche, she's definitely the least threatening, then Babs, and Betsy last.

“I usually take all three of them at the same time,” she says then. “They get a little antsy when they’re separated.”

Oh. Ok. He risks another glance at the girls who are huddled together in the corner of the paddock, eating some grass and probably having a better time than he is right now. But. One alpaca or three alpacas, same difference, right? So why does his voice come out all high and squeaky when he tells her, “Yeah, nah, no worries.” 

Next to him he can hear her let out a laugh and he’s about to tell her that this might not be the best idea but then her hand is on his arm and she looks up at him with a mischievous smile, “I was just messing with you, Daniel.” 

“Oh, thank God,” he breathes before he composes himself. Or tries to, anyway, “I mean, I was going to do it but-”

“Yeah, nah, I could totally see that,” she jokes, her hand squeezing his arm as she winks at him. “Why don’t you fill up their feeder inside and I’ll get started on cleaning out the shed?”

“That I can do,” Daniel agrees easily enough. He takes the bucket of grains out of her truck and starts making his way over to the shed. As soon as he opens the gate he can see the alpacas hurrying over to him and so he makes a quick dash to the shed to avoid being trampled to death by a herd of angry alpacas. Or at least, three very hungry ones. Still they catch up with him and he lets out an embarrassing yelp when Blanche head buts him in the back, “Jeepers, Blanche!”

“She likes you,” she says from where she’s leaning on her pitch fork. 

“I like you too,” Daniel tells the white alpaca in a soft voice, trying not to spook her, “but I’m gonna need you to keep your distance, ma’am.” 

***

When you hit the call button you take a deep breath, trying to settle the nerves in your stomach that have formed a nice little knot there ever since Granddad suggested asking Daniel to help you out and gave you his number, and bite your lip while you wait for the call to go through. 

He answers with a hesitant, “Hello?”

“Hi Daniel, it’s-”

“Well, hello neighbour,” he says then and you swear you can feel his megawatt smile beaming at you through the phone. “Everything alright? Is this you calling me to tell me what an excellent job I did today?”

“Uhm, no-” You can’t help but laugh, “But sure. Thank you for today, Daniel. You did an excellent job.”

“Thank you, that sounded very genuine and not at all prompted,” he laughs.

You nod, even though he can’t see you. “I uh-” you clear your throat, trying to get rid of your pinched voice, “I wanted to ask if you maybe could do me a favour tomorrow?”

“Hmm,” he hums in reply and you think you can hear him sit down somewhere, “that depends.”

“On?”

“On what the favour is. I’ve got no problem feeding the girls but if you’re going to tell me that because it’s Monday it’s time for Oscar’s his weekly bath I might-”

You can’t help the laugh that escapes you, “No.” A little cheeky then, “That’s not until next Friday anyway.” He chuckles and you can feel your nerves settle down a little, “I do have to take Granddad into town tomorrow though. The doctor wants to see him for a follow-up and so I was wondering if you maybe could watch Ellie for an hour or two? Mrs Mackenzie was supposed to watch her but she’s not feeling too well, so- Normally I would take Ellie with me but it’s right around her nap time and she gets a little grumpy when she doesn’t get enough sleep so I’d rather-”

“You want me to hang out with Miss Ellie?”

“Well, she’d be asleep for most of it,” you try to reassure him because he sounds a little- hesitant, maybe. “Really it’s just babysitting her for two hours tops but if you don’t-”

“I’d love to,” he interrupts you quickly. “What time do you need me to come over?”

“We have to leave at one-”

“I’ll be there.”

You can’t help the smile that grows ever wider, “Thank you so much, Dan. I really appre-”

“Stop it,” he counters, no doubt with a grin. “I’m happy to help out.”

You have to bite your tongue to keep from thanking him again and so instead you simply say, “Perfect. I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Yep. Catch you later, neighbour.”

***

“Thanks for another great workout, Mikey, it’s been swell,” Daniel says once they’re done with their Monday morning session. “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

Michael eyes him suspiciously, “You’re awfully chipper today-”

“What?” Daniel chuckles and shrugs, “Am I not allowed to enjoy working out?”

“You are,” Michael draws out, “it’s just that usually you don’t.”

“It was a good workout, mate,” Daniel says as he claps Michael’s back. Of course he knows exactly what brought on his good mood, because he’s been looking forward to babysitting Ellie all day, but he doesn’t necessarily need Michael to know that. 

“Sure,”

“What?” Daniel says again. “Don’t doubt yourself, Mikey. Your workouts are great!”

“I’m not sure what’s going on here,” Michael says, circling his finger in front of Daniel’s chest, “but keep up with the flattery, mate. It’s better than your usual complaining.”

“Awesome.” Daniel risks a quick glance at his watch then and sees it’s already a quarter past twelve and he still needs to shower and- “It’s been swell, mate. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yep,” Michael agrees bluntly. He narrows his eyes at Daniel then, “Do I need Blake to schedule a drug test or something?” He lowers his voice, “Are you involved in illegal activities, Dan? I mean, I’m not against the use of CBD oil but I don’t think smoking weed is-”

“Out!” Daniel pushes his friend towards the door with a shake of his head even though he can’t help the smile that tugs on the corners of his mouth, “Don’t be a nosy Nellie, mate. It doesn’t suit you.” 

Michael gives him the finger but then heads to his car and so Daniel turns on his heels and heads for the shower, and if he’s already picked out the outfit he’s going to wear, so what? It’s efficient.

He’s out of the house twenty minutes later and when he pulls up in front of Oscar’s house there’s still ten minutes to spare. Daniel knocks and then lets himself in like he always does, finding his neighbour in the kitchen, enjoying a cup of tea, “Hiya Oscar.”

“Hi Danny,” Oscar replies, his face lighting up with a smile.

“How you doing, mate?”

“Not too bad,” Oscar agrees easily enough. As always he’s a man of little words and doesn’t really elaborate. Instead he nods to the ceiling, “She’s just putting Ellie to bed, shouldn’t take long.”

“Oh, that’s ok,” Daniel says as he sits down in one of the kitchen chairs after helping himself to a cup of coffee.

“Listen, Dan,” Oscar starts and for some reason Daniel knows whatever comes next is important, “they’ve been through a lot, both of them. It wasn’t easy when Ellie’s dad-” Oscar shakes his head, “That’s not really my story to tell but I need you to understand that she doesn’t trust people easily, so for her to ask you to watch Ellie, the one person who means more to her than anyone, well-” he locks eyes with Daniel, “It’s a big ask from her and a big responsibility for you. Don’t muck about, son. Ok? Not just now, with babysitting Ellie, but with her as well. I might not be as quick as I was before but I won’t hesitate to hunt you down if you ever hurt her.”

“Understood,” Daniel says with a nod because he does. He could tell she was hesitant to accept his help when he first offered it and even more so when she called him yesterday and so he wants to do anything but hurt the trust she’s put in him. 

“Good,” Oscar says, taking another sip of his tea.

When he hears her coming down the stairs he leans in a little closer to Oscar and tells him, “I’m not gonna let her down, promise.”

“That’s a big promise to make, Danny,” Oscar counters with his eyebrows raised.

“I know,” Daniel gives him a big smile, “but I intend to keep it.”

It’s then she walks into the kitchen, “Hi.”

“Hi,” Daniel beams back at her, a little taken aback by how different she looks out of her normal work clothes because even though she’s wearing jeans and a simple black top she looks absolutely gorgeous. He clears his throat and tries not to stare when he asks, “Ellie’s asleep?”

“Yep,” she nods. “Out like a light. I doubt she’ll wake up before we get back but just in case there’s a bottle of milk in the fridge that you just need to heat up and if she wants she can have a banana.”

“Gotcha.”

“You have my number so call me if there’s anything, ok?” She waits until he nods before she casually adds, “She likes you so I don’t think she’ll mind you being there but if she does throw a little tantrum-”

“I’ll call,” Daniel adds, trying to reassure her that he’s got this while still basking in the fact that Ellie likes him. 

She turns towards Oscar then, “Ready to go?”

Daniel helps Oscar to her car and promises once again to call if there’s anything before he heads back inside and settles on the couch with his phone, making good use of his time by catching up on some emails.

Ellie wakes up somewhere around two-thirty and Daniel’s on his feet at her first cry, a little nervous when he walks up the stairs to where Oscar told him her room is. The little girl is sitting in her cot, looking at him with big eyes and so he lowers his voice, trying to let her know it’s ok when he says, “Hi Miss Ellie. How you going?”

Ellie looks up at him, her little eyebrows knitted together as she studies him for a moment, but then she must recognise him because she holds out her hands to him, “Danny.”

“That’s right,” Daniel says as he picks her up and kisses her cheek. “How you going, sleepyhead?”

She leans back a little in his arms, looking over his shoulder, “Momma?”

“Momma’s taking Granddad to see the doctor, sweetheart,” Daniel explains as he gently wipes her hair out of her face. “She’ll be back soon.”

Ellie seems to think about it for a second but then seems content with his answer and lets her head rest against his shoulder, “Milk?”

Daniel laughs, “Yep. Let’s go get you some milk, huh?” He pokes her side then, “And maybe a banana?”

Ellie’s head shoots up, her eyes wide, whispering a quiet, “‘Nana?”

“Banana,” Daniel confirms quietly as he turns around. He makes his way down the stairs carefully before he walks to the kitchen and sits her down in her high chair. 

Ellie’s quietly singing to herself as he waits for the microwave to heat up her bottle and at first he can’t make out what she’s going on about but then the microwave beeps and it’s quiet in the kitchen again and he hears her loud and clear, “Danny, banana. Danny, banana. Danny, banana.” 

Daniel presses a kiss to the top of her head as he puts her bottle down in front of her, “You’re the coolest kid ever, Miss Ellie." When she smiles up at him he grins back at her, "Don’t tell my niece and nephew I said that, ok? Our little secret.”

***

It’s close to three when you pull up to the house and part of you wants to rush inside, to check up on Ellie, and Daniel, but you know you can’t just leave Granddad behind. Instead you turn to him, “I’ll go ask Daniel to come help, ok?”

Your granddad grunts something in reply and you can’t help but smile because you know it’s nothing personal, know it’s just because he hates not being able to do something as simple as getting out of a car on his own and if anything you admire the way he still cares about his independence. 

You hear him continue his rant as you step out of the car but don't really pay it any mind, music coming from the house drawing your attention instead. When you walk past Homer, who's curled up on the old couch on the front porch, he looks at you as if to say he doesn't know what's going on either. You pat his head and tell him, "Good boy," before you let yourself in and head for the kitchen.

The loud music means they haven't heard you come in and so you allow yourself a moment to take it all in - Daniel with the sleeves of his t-shirt pushed up, excitedly showing off his tattoos to Ellie, pointing at them and explaining to her what they are. Ellie seems absolutely enthralled by all the pictures etched into his skin, her little fingers now tracing the lines of a cupid on his arm. You feel something settle inside of your chest as you watch your daughter and Daniel together, both of them so at ease, and it's something you haven’t felt in a long time. Before you have time to explore it some more your daughter spots you and so you push yourself off from where you were leaning against the doorframe and walk over to where Ellie’s sitting in her high chair, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, “Hi bub. You having fun?"

Daniel nods, "She's been like this ever since she woke up half an hour ago," just as Ellie points at Daniel’s tattoo, “Cupid!”

“Yeah, that’s a cupid,” you agree with a smile, trying your hardest not to stare at Daniel's tan arms but failing miserably and so you clear your throat to distract yourself. 

If Daniel notices anything he's kind enough not to mention it and instead puts his sweater back on. Once that's over his head he looks at you with a grin, "What you do to the old man? Leave him behind at the nursing home?"

You laugh and shake your head, "He's in the car. Would you mind helping him out?"

"On it," Daniel says with a click of his tongue, pointing a pair of finger guns at the two of you before he pulls a face and turns around. 

Both you and Ellie watch in silence as he walks out of the kitchen, Ellie letting out a quiet, "Danny," when he turns the corner and you letting out a heavy sigh at the same time. When Ellie looks up at you, you smile back at her, drawing out a "Yeah."

Ellie, bless her, claps her hands in response and then blows a raspberry at you.

You comb your fingers through her hair absentmindedly, "Same, bub-" Another sigh then, "Same."

Daniel and Granddad make it inside not much later, but it’s only Daniel who returns to the kitchen, running a hand through his hair as he says, “He asked me to put him in the living room.”

“He’s a little grumpy,” you whisper with a wink. “Hasn’t had his afternoon nap yet so-” you see-saw your hand and let the rest of that sentence hang in the air unspoken.  

“Gotcha,” Daniel says with a grin, looking a bit unsure of himself. He shakes his head then and points at the window, “I don’t know about you two but maybe we could go for a walk? It’s nice enough outside and I don’t mind stretching my legs for a bit.” 

You look down at Ellie, “You wanna go for a walk, bub?”

Ellie’s eyes light up and she whispers a happy, “Yeah,” before she looks at Daniel, “Come with?”

“Yep,” Daniel nods. “I’m definitely coming with, my friend.”

“I’ll just go get her changed real quick,” you tell Daniel as you pick Ellie up from her seat. “Shouldn’t take long.”

“I’ll wait outside for you,” Daniel offers with a grin. “Wouldn’t want to disturb the old man during his nap.” 

When you come down a little later, Ellie in a pair of pale green dungarees and a fleece made from Alpaca wool, you find Daniel sitting next to Homer on the porch swing, albeit with some distance between them. You can’t help but tease, “Cautious of the dog too, Ricciardo?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replies with a nod, rubbing his hands on the fabric of his jeans. “Although I trust him more than I do the alpacas.” 

You click your tongue, “Better not let the girls hear that.” Ellie starts wriggling in your arms and so you put her down, watching as she wobbles over to the apple orchard, where Granddad put up a swing for you in one of the trees when you were Ellie’s age. You look at Daniel and shrug, “Guess we’re going that way.” 

Ellie’s surprisingly quick on her little legs and already waiting for you at the swing by the time you catch up with her. Daniel doesn’t hesitate and picks her up so he can put her into the seat, gently pushing her once she’s in, drawing excited giggles from her, his own smile growing wider with every push. 

You and Daniel talk about the farm mostly, how it was back when you were a kid and how much has changed since your grandmother passed away a few years ago. When he asks if you could ever see yourself moving here full time, you hesitate, “I’m not sure.” You shrug then, “I think I could manage what little livestock we have now but I’m not sure if I could be the best mum to Ellie if I have the farm to worry about.”

“Hmm,” he agrees quietly, encouraging you to go on.

“It’s a lot of work,” you explain. “I mean, if it wasn't just me maybe it’d be different but-”

“Can I-” Daniel stops himself but when you nod, because you know what he’s going to ask, he clears his throat and continues, “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but where’s Ellie’s dad?”

“Dunno.” You smile to let him know it’s ok, “We were together for six or seven months before I found out he was married, so I broke it off and told him I never wanted to see him again. Two months later I found out I was pregnant.”

“Does he-”

“He knows about Ellie, but he already has a wife and kids so-” You look at Ellie, “He signed away his rights when she was born and asked not to bother him anymore.”

“Wow,” Daniel shakes his head. “What an a-” He looks at Ellie and corrects himself just in time, “What a despicable human being.”

You shrug, “It’s fine. For me it’s better this way but-” you swallow hard, trying to get rid of the lump that has started to form in your throat, “I worry about the day Ellie’s going to ask about him, you know? Can you imagine? ‘Oh yeah, funny you should ask, kid, but your dad doesn’t want anything to do with you.’” You scoff, “I hate that he’s put me in that position but on the other hand, if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have her so-”

“If it’s any consolation,” Daniel says with a hesitant smile, “she’s a carbon copy of you, both the way she looks and her personality. People will always know she’s your kid.” 

“That’s very kind, thank you,” you tell him with a warm smile.

Ellie decides then she’s had enough of the swing and holds up her arms, “Out.”

You can’t help but laugh and nod at your daughter, “You heard her, Daniel. She wants out.” 

Daniel laughs and picks up Ellie, lifting her onto his shoulders before he turns to you, “Why don’t you show me your favourite place on the farm?”

“My favourite place,” you echo slowly, trying to choose between the little creek over in the Burned Oak paddock or- Looking at your daughter then, who is giggling with glee from being so high up, the choice is easy, “Ok. Let’s go.” You lead Daniel through the orchard to a field that at first glance doesn’t look like anything special but you know in a few months time will look completely different.

When you reach the gate you look at him from over your shoulder, “This is it.”

“Ok,” he draws out, probably not sure if you’re joking or not.

“You’ll have to come back in December,” you tell him, without thinking much of it, without fully realising you actually want him to come back, want to have him in your life for more than just the two weeks you’re promised now, “the entire place will be covered in poppies. It’s beautiful.” You poke Ellie’s side then, “It’s why her second name is Poppy.”

“Because you love the flowers so much?” Daniel guesses.

“That and because she was born on December third, when they are in full bloom.” You take your phone out of the back pocket of your jeans and pull up your picture gallery, scrolling back to a picture of Ellie’s second birthday, where you took a few pictures of her surrounded by thousands of red poppies. You angle your phone to Daniel, “See?” 

“Oh wow.”

“Right?” You smile at Ellie, “A very pretty girl in the middle of some very pretty flowers.” 

Ellie yawns in response and when you look at the time on your phone you’re surprised to see it’s already close to five. You look at Daniel, “We should probably head back. Don’t want the wrath of Granddad unleashed on us because of dinner being late.”

Daniel laughs, “Yeah, nah, we could do without.”

***

It’s been less than a week since Daniel offered to help out on the farm, but already you’ve settled into an easy rhythm. You still do your chores around the house in the morning, make lunch, put Ellie down for her nap, and spend some time outside until your granddad calls, have a coffee break, head back outside again together with Ellie for an hour or so until it’s five o’clock and it’s time to make dinner. Or, well, warm up dinner. The meals Daniel brought you only require a few minutes in the microwave and save you so much time. 

Daniel usually shows up around five-thirty, entertaining Ellie long enough for you and Granddad to finish your dinner in relative peace before you take Ellie upstairs to get her ready for the night while Daniel and your Granddad drink a cuppa and gossip about the neighbours and whatever footie game was on that day. By now Granddad is a lot more independent around the house, but getting him ready both in the mornings and at night is still something you need to help him with. He seems a bit happier though and in the end that’s all that matters.  

Once Ellie is asleep, you and Daniel head outside, taking your Granddad’s ute out to Eagle’s nest to tend to the alpacas. More often than not, Homer jumps into the back of the truck once you set off, having taken a special liking to the alpacas ever since they arrived on the farm a few years ago. 

It’s where you find yourself today, an unusually warm Wednesday evening, with Homer dozing off next to the fence while you and Daniel clean out the shed so you can put in fresh hay later. The warmer weather means both you and Daniel have ditched your jackets, Daniel even going as far as taking his sweater off and working in only a t-shirt and so you keep finding yourself stealing glances at his arms and the way his tattoos stand out against his skin. 

Of course Daniel catches you looking, “Like what you see?” 

Is he flirting with you? If he is, it’s working because you feel the heat rise to your cheeks but try to shrug it off, “I’ve seen better.” 

“Hmm,” he teases and throws you a wink. “Let me know if it’s too distracting, babe. I’ll put my sweater back on.”

Babe? Oh God. He really is flirting with you. Fine. Two can play that game, you decide as you lean on your pitchfork, “Are you flexing right now?” You laugh when he seems confused and tease him some more, “Oh my God, you are. You are actually flexing your muscles.”

“Am not,” he shoots back, throwing his spade aside and taking on one of those ridiculous bodybuilder poses, one leg bent as he turns his torso towards you and pumps the muscles in his arms, “Now I am.” He goes through a whole array of poses and ends up with his back towards you, flexing his butt cheeks.

You hate the giggle that escapes you and so you try to play it cool and applaud his efforts instead, holding up an invisible sign, “Ten out of ten, Danny. You have impressed the judges.”

“Judges-” he echoes, “or judge?”

Biting your bottom lip you scrunch your nose, “It takes a lot more than that to impress this judge-” then, because why not, “-babe.” 

“Oooh,” Daniel draws out and puts his hand to his chest, pretending to be hurt by your comment, “way to kick me down, boss. Jeepers.”

“You wanna impress me?” You nod towards the last of the dirty hay, “Clean that out for me and then we’ll talk.” 

“Or,” Daniel starts, taking a step closer to you and making you look up at him, “I could take you out to dinner on Friday.”

You nod, your throat a little dry from how close he’s standing, “Or you could do that.” 

[mommopurinn]

"The red of setting sun", Akira x Shoutarou SS

“I feel like the time has stopped. Like I’ll always be here with you, never ageing.”

“......”

“So I don’t mind if this sunset continues forever.”

“I wouldn’t mind it either. It’d be nice if the time has really stopped.”

Railway crossings with the lowered gates, the backs of tired people, the persimmon trees in someone’s garden were all passing by the train window, basking in the orange light.

I was looking at it standing by the door. Autumn was slowly taking its toll; it made me feel strangely relieved, and I let out a quiet sigh.

    

Akira-kun was standing right next to the Soshigaya station ticket gate.

His hair was even more ruffled than usual, and he was wearing round glasses, which didn’t suit him at all.

According to his words, all influential mangakas wore glasses, so he felt more motivated when wearing them.

This all meant that he had a deadline coming.

Of course, these glasses were fake and didn’t have lenses in them.

He pulled his hands out of the haramaki and opened them towards me.

“Welcome back, Shou-chan~!”

…But why did he sound like he was on the verge of tears?

When I slowly approached him, he hugged me tightly and started patting my head and shoulders.

“What’s gotten into you?”

“I came to pick you up!”

“Aren’t you busy drawing your manga?”

“I was so worried about you, I couldn’t do anything else…”

“You’re too anxious. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Nothing to be scared about.”

“That’s good to hear.”

But even when Akira-kun finished checking if I was okay, he still looked upset.

If I smile at him, he'll smile back.

With a forced and bitter smile, as radiant as the setting sun.

“Let’s go home together.”

We walked at a distance too small for friends, too big for lovers, but just enough for a family.

     

Actually, the world has been coloured by the sunset for two days already.

For some reason, the night hadn’t come after the evening yesterday, and, of course, without the night, the morning didn’t come either.

The hands of the clocks struck 12 or 7, but the landscape remained just as it was at sunset.

     

When I say ‘world’, I mean just the small place where I live. But for everyone else, it only happened in the Setagaya district.

“Can we stop by the greengrocer shop?”

“Sure. What d’you wanna buy?”

“I thought that yesterday’s curry would taste better with eggplants.”

“Shou-chan, you’re a genius.”

I didn’t understand why the sun wasn’t setting or why we were led to think so.

Strange events like this happened quite often and usually resolved by themselves without any explanation.

And that’s why people on the streets seemed to continue living by the clock with the usual expressions on their faces.

It was half past seven.

Hearing the trumpet of the ramen shop made me feel strange.

As if I were dozing off, and everything surrounding me has been a dream.

“I heard that nights when the sun doesn’t set are called white nights. Seems like they happen often near the South Pole.”

We bought a big autumn eggplant and were heading home when I started telling Akira-kun what I learnt today.

“They said so on the radio in the cafeteria where I went for lunch.”

“Nah, no way we’re gettin’ those in Tokyo.”

He hunched over more than usual, his chin dropped, and walked a bit uncomfortably.

He was the only one in the town who seemed to be nervous.

“It’s too creepy that the sun’s not goin’ down…”

“If you leave Setagaya and go to Shinjuku or Machida, the sky will go back to normal. And when you return to Setagaya, it’ll be sunset again.”

“It makes no sense, really~...”

“What if we’re seeing a rare natural occurrence now?”

“No way it’s natural…”

Not holding any worries like Akira-kun, I blinked slowly, looking at the strange sunset.

He became even more anxious, seeing how low my sense of danger was.

“Well, at least it’s not that troublesome that the night doesn’t come. You can just wrap yourself in the futon when sleeping, and the sun won’t bother you. And it feels good to wake up when it’s bright outside.”

“You’re too quick to adapt…”

“Do you really hate it that much?”

“‘Course I do… Night’s good because it’s night; mornin’s good because it’s mornin’.”

“And what’s good about the night?”

“At this season, the bell crickets are creaking. And the moon looks pretty. Yesterday, we couldn’t see it at all because of this sunset.”

“...”

“Sunset’s also good, but I don’t wanna miss other beautiful things ‘cause of it.”

“You sound just like a writer today.”

“Mangakas are writers too, y’know?! Our sensitivity is what sells our works!”

After that, Akira-kun scowled at the sunset.

But I still couldn’t see it as anything but dazzling and beautiful.

“Akira-kun, do you ever feel suffocated when looking at the setting sun? Sometimes I get scared by it. …But not today.”

“?”

“I finally understood why my chest hurts so much at sunset. The sinking sun and the day ending turn into loneliness, sorrow, and sentimentality, and it makes me feel miserable.”

But now I’m calm.

The never-ending sunset made me feel safe.

“I feel like the time has stopped. Like I’ll always be here with you, never ageing.”

“......”

“So I don’t mind if this sunset continues forever.”

“I wouldn’t mind it either. It’d be nice if the time has really stopped.”

“......”

“But it’s not like that, right? I still have my deadline tomorrow, and the trains still run on time.”

…He’s right.

I flipped the calendar, and the curry I ate in the morning tasted better than yesterday, having sat overnight.

“It’s boring to see the same scenery every day. I hope everything comes back to normal soon, so I can see different landscapes with you~”

“Akira-kun……”

“Even when the night comes and the morning comes after that, we’ll always be together. And, ‘course, even when we become old geezers.”

Akira-kun held my right hand.

His hand was hot after being warmed in the haramaki.

And his smile was soft—not bitter at all.

I thought that his vermilion-coloured cheeks were way more beautiful than the sunset.

Suddenly, the feeling of anxiety overcame me, and I dropped my head.

“...Usually things like this end quickly. Why does this one go on for two days already?”

“Well, maybe the guy who usually deals with all this got into some trouble?”

“That would be bad…”

“Or maybe they’re daydreaming like you just now.

“......”

“But they better come to their senses soon and do something about it!”

He raised his eyebrows and showed me a thin and comical smile, fitting for someone playing a supporting role.

I couldn’t help but smile in return.

“How’s your audition today?”

“Horrible.”

“Thought so. So I bought you a ‘get-better-pudding’.”

“I’m glad. Genuinely.”

“And if it went well, it would be a ‘celebration pudding’.”

“How convenient.”

“I also got a 'request pudding’... Can you help me put on solid colours when we get home…?”

“I’d do that even without the pudding.”

When we got closer to our house, the sun suddenly went down.

First Venus twinkled in the sky, then the bell crickets started creaking.

Curry was even better than in the morning; just as I thought, the sweetness of the roasted eggplant made the taste stand out.

Nothing happened—nothing at all. Just another day went down as usual.

     

Please, tell me if there are any mistakes or places that sound weird