#let's see if being away from her will make him understand now

[katsu28]

snowfall

pairing: lando norris x best friend!reader

summary: when plans with your family fall through at the last minute, lando invites you to come home with him for the holidays. (3.8k)

a/n: the big finale!!! lando is so best friends to lovers coded, i couldn’t resist. does it snow in the uk in december, probably not but it’s for the plot so bear with me pls <3 happy holidays everyone!!

“Yeah, of course. Yes, mum, I understand. No, I’ll be fine, I promise. Okay. Okay, I love you too. Cheers, see you when you get back.” 

You end the call with a heavy sigh, tossing your phone away from you on the sofa.

That was your mum on the phone, telling you that her and your father wouldn’t be home for Christmas this year. You’d planned on going home to celebrate with them like you always do, but for the first time ever in your life, it looked like you were going to be spending Christmas alone. 

It was bound to happen sometime in your life, really. You’re an adult now, still trying to find your place and your people in this world. 

Speaking of your people, Lando has just made his way into McLaren hospitality, head on a swivel until his eyes land on you. He takes notice of your downtrodden demeanor immediately, marches his way over to where you are with gusto and plops down next to you, bumping his shoulder against yours. 

“What’s wrong?” He asks bluntly, dark brows furrowed in concern. 

You inhale a deep breath, forcing a smile onto your face to respond. “Nothing. How was testing?” 

“Fine. Seriously, what’s going on? Why do you look so sad?” He demands, but not unkindly or rudely. Just simply how Lando is with you, direct and to the point. It’s one of many ways he is around those he cares for. 

“I was planning on going home to spend Christmas with my family, but my parents aren’t going to make it home in time,” You confess. Your finger picks at the loose thread of your sweater sleeve, a welcome distraction from the lump threatening to form in your throat. 

Lando frowns. “Oh. M’sorry to hear that. That sucks.” 

“Yeah. Looks like I’ll be spending the holidays on my own this year.”

“What? No, you can’t spend Christmas alone. That sounds so sad.” 

“I’ll be fine, Lando,” You chuckle, patting his knee. It does indeed sound sad, but you won’t have Lando all worried about you when he should be celebrating with his loved ones. He’s got a lot to celebrate this year, and you don’t want your situation to take away from any of it. “Don’t worry about it.” 

“Come spend Christmas with me.” 

For a moment, you’re at a loss for words. Lando is one of your best friends, sure, but joining him for something like this seems too imposing of you. Despite being close with his family, you can’t do this to them so last minute. After a long year, this is their time with Lando. 

You shake your head immediately, wrinkling your nose. “No way. I wouldn’t want to barge in on your family time.”

“C’mon, you wouldn’t be! My family loves you.” He shrugs. “I mean, you’re basically an honorary Norris already at this point, and I think my sisters might love you more than they love me.” 

That makes you laugh. “Shut up, no they don’t!” 

“Uh, yeah they do.” 

“Okay, maybe they do. I’m just that easy to love.” 

“Yeah, you are,” He says, smiling softly. Your head cocks to the side at the pure warmth in his tone, and it seems to make him snap out of whatever trance he’s in, because he gives his head a subtle shake. “Seriously, come home with me. It’ll be fun. Way more fun than just sitting around at home watching those boring home improvement shows you seem to like so much.” 

“Hey! Those shows are fun!” You huff, swatting him on the thigh. 

“Sure they are,” He says, still unbelieving. “So what do you say? Christmas with the Norrises, how ‘bout it?” 

You let out a breathy chuckle, nodding. “Okay. Yeah, that sounds lovely.” 

“Mint! I’ll go let my mum know.” He beams, bouncing to his feet. “Better let Flo and Cisca know too, they’d kill me if I brought you round and didn't tell them ahead of time.” 

“Lando?” You call after him. He whirls around with an arched brow, phone already in hand. “Thank you.” 

“Of course. I’d never let you spend the holidays alone.”  

Looks like this Christmas might not be so bad after all. 

-------

The first thing you hear when you climb out of the car at Lando’s family’s house is a shout of your name. 

Before you can even register who might be calling you, a little body crashes into your legs, arms wrapping around your knees tightly. Now you know who it is, and you grin. 

“Why hello, miss Mila!” You chirp, kneeling down to be at her level. She giggles loudly at the finger you boop against her nose, throwing her arms around your neck as best she can, and you lift her up onto your hip. “Are you excited for Christmas?” 

“Christmas!” She cheers. Lando wanders over to the two of you from the boot of the car at that moment, and the second Mila spots him, she grins even wider than you’d thought was possible. “Lala!!!” She squeals, reaching out for him. 

Lando takes her into his arms, swings her around a little bit, beaming brightly at the peals of laughter that escape her with every swing. “My goodness, you’ve grown! You might be almost as big as me now!” 

Lando’s brother, Oliver, emerges from around the house now with his other daughter nestled in his arms, raising his free hand in greeting as he makes his way over. 

“Guess my brother finally gathered the nerve,” He says cheerfully, clapping Lando on the back. Lando not-so-subtly steps on Oliver’s foot, garnering a hiss of pain from the older Norris. “To…make it home when it’s still bright out! Yeah, he usually doesn’t come around til the girls have gone off to bed.” 

“It’s nice to see you too, Oliver,” You chuckle, pushing aside your confusion as you give a small wave to the toddler in her father’s arms. She waves back shyly. “Thanks for letting me join you guys this year.” 

“Please, you’re welcome here anytime,” Oliver replies, sounding more than sincere. “C’mon, let’s head inside. Mum and everyone’ll be stoked to see you.” 

Mila wriggles out of Lando’s arms to come hold your hand, dragging you towards the house excitedly. You don't notice Lando and Oliver dropping back, nor the hushed conversation they have that is definitely about you. 

Much like both boys have said, the rest of their family welcomes you with open arms.

His parents tell you how good it is to see you again, and that they’re happy you’d decided to come home with Lando, Flo and Cisca glue themselves to your side immediately to catch up with you, even little Athena starts to warm up to you the longer she watches her older sister play with you. 

You feel right at home with all of them like you always do, and it makes you start to forget about spending your first Christmas without your own family. Though, in a way, Lando’s family is starting to feel like yours too. 

-------

It’s Christmas Eve and you can’t sleep. You’ve been at Lando’s house a few days now and everything’s been great—the food, the company. Lando. 

You’re used to him being a little forward with his affections towards others, because that’s just the way he is. So when he pulls your legs over his lap while you’re watching a holiday film with the whole family, or rests his head on your shoulder during Monopoly, you don’t think anything of it at first. He likes cozying up to friends and being close to them. But as the days go on, it starts to feel different this time. 

At first you just assume it’s because he doesn’t want you to feel awkward, but then you catch him staring at you a few times in a way you can only describe as pure fondness. While you're on the sofa cuddled up with Mila and Athena watching one of their shows. As you're helping Cisca figure out what to wear for her next date with her boyfriend, or helping his mum in the kitchen. 

It could be platonic, but it feels a little too intimate to be so. 

You don’t want to think too much into it, though. It wouldn’t do you any good to get your hopes up about the possibility of something more with Lando when it could just be all in your head. 

Sitting up in bed, you scrub your hands over your face. Too many thoughts run their way through your brain for you to fall back asleep, no matter how tired you may be. You glance out the window beside you, and suddenly your attention is captured at the scene outside. 

It’s snowing. 

Sure, it’s an ungodly late hour, but seeing snow makes you want to go outside. Doing your absolute best not to wake anyone up as you swing yourself out of bed and creep down the hallway, you make your way down the corridor to Lando’s bedroom. 

You knock on his door quietly, listening for anything that could give away whether or not Lando was up. For a few seconds, there isn’t a sound. Then you hear the clacking of a keyboard and the faint sound of him talking, and you know he’s awake. He probably didn’t hear you knock. 

Pushing open the door slowly, you pad into the room to see him slouched over in his gaming chair with his back towards you.

“Yeah, mate, I’m gonna tell her—no, I’m not! Fuck off,” He says. There’s a lengthy pause—whoever he’s on call with is talking, you assume. “I’m just—I’m waiting for the right time. Like, I’ll know when it comes, won’t I?” 

Your heart gives an involuntary pang in your chest and you sigh, having already had enough eavesdropping on this conversation. 

You pad towards Lando, going for a gentle tap on the shoulder. Your hand just barely touches his arm, but he jumps about a foot in the air, flinching so hard you think the poor boy might’ve given himself whiplash.

“Jesus! What the—don’t sneak up on me like that!” He yelps, pushing one side of his headphones above his ear. On the screen, you can see he’s playing Tarkov again. Alway playing Tarkov instead of sleeping, that boy. 

This time, it works out for you. Now you can drag out into the snow with you. Not that you weren’t going to do it anyways even if he was asleep.

“You couldn’t hear me! What was I supposed to do?” You huff. Squinting at the other username on screen, you smile, pushing into Lando’s space to reach his microphone. “Is that Max? Hi, Max!” 

Lando’s voice sounds a bit strangled when he relays Max’s response a few moments later. “He says hi.” 

“What else did he say?” 

“What? Nothing,” He replies quickly, swallowing hard. “Why?” 

“That was such a long pause, there’s no way he just said hi.” 

“Well, he did, so…it’s whatever. What’s, uh, what’s up? Everything okay?” 

Now you remember what you came here for. Grinning, you bounce on the balls of your feet. “There’s snow outside!” 

“No way!” He says earnestly, cocking his head to the side. He abandons his game in favor of shuffling over to the window and peering outside, letting out a pleased little noise when he sees that it is indeed snowing out in the garden. “That’s wicked.”  

“Will you come outside with me?” 

He exhales sharply, giving an amused chuckle. “Yeah, right. I’m not going outside.” 

“It’ll be fun!” 

“Don’t see what’s so fun about freezing my ass off in the cold,” He grumbles, but you can tell he just needs a little more convincing. You jut out your lower lip, giving him the pout of yours that he can never seem to withstand, and his resolve starts to crumble. “No, don’t do that. Stop that right now. I’m not going outside with you at this time of night.” 

“Please, Lan?” You plead, taking his face into your palms so he can’t look away. For a split second, his gaze seems to flicker down to your lips, but before you can process the tiny movement, he’s squeezing his eyes shut. 

“Oh my god, fine,” He groans, shoulders sagging. You beam, wrapping your arms around him in a quick hug. “Let me go tell Max I’m being held against my will and then we can go.” He crosses back over to his desk and mutters something into the microphone that you can’t quite make out. 

As you’re pulling on layers to guard yourselves from the cold, he pauses, turning to you with one shoe on. “You didn’t, erm, happen to hear anything when you came in to get me, did you?” 

“No, why?” 

You’re not sure why you choose to lie about what you’d overheard, something about Lando telling some girl something at the right time. He hadn’t told you anything about having a crush on anyone, but then again, these past few weeks have been hectic. 

“Oh, nothing. Just wondering.” He pulls the front door open right then, suddenly seeming so eager to get outside despite his previous grievances. Something in his tone hints that it might not be as nothing as he says it is, but you won’t push. 

You traipse out into the garden after him, making careful sure to close the door behind you so the cold doesn’t seep in. Fresh powder crunches underfoot as you make your way further out. 

The falling snow has already begun to coat everything out here in layers, and you drag your finger through it, smiling to yourself at the clean cut line it makes.

It feels like another world out here. In a life that is so often always hustle and bustle all the time, the quiet of this time of night in the countryside seems deafening, but in the best way. Peaceful can only begin to describe how you feel right now. 

“Why is it so fucking cold out here?” Lando grumbles, burrowing deeper into his three scarves. Along with the two jumpers and thick coat he’d shoved himself into before even stepping foot outside, he looks well freezing.

“Don’t be such a grinch, Lan. It’s snowing!” 

He scowls. “It’s freezing.” 

“C’mon, at least try to have some fun! You’re killing my vibe, mate,” You huff, bending down to scoop up a loose handful of snow to chuck in his direction. It scatters into the air before it even makes it to him, but hey, at least he’s laughing now. You turn to say something else, but you’re immediately stopped in your tracks. 

A snowball explodes against your forehead before you can say a thing, spraying bits of icy snow everywhere. 

“Oh fuck, I’m sorry!” Lando yelps, nearly tripping on his own feet in his scramble towards you. You’re too stunned by the snow dripping its way down your face to even register his words. “I wasn’t aiming for your face, I swear! Are you okay?” 

You blink owlishly at him, at the concern and horror mixing in his expression as he takes you by the shoulders to check you out. He uses his teeth to pull off one glove, tossing it off to the side as he reaches to brush the snow from anywhere he can reach.

“For a professional athlete, you really do have shit aim,” You huff, playful annoyance in your tone. 

Lando’s teeth dig into his bottom lip, eyes crinkling happily at the corners as he giggles quietly. “I know. S’terrible, innit? Good thing my job doesn’t require me to do any throwing.” 

“Good thing,” You echo. 

His palms cup the expanse of your cheeks, the pads of his thumbs brushing across your cold skin delicately, and he’s looking at you in that way again, the way that makes you feel like you’re the only other one in the world. Blue-green eyes like sea glass flit around your face, thick brows furrowing ever so slightly as he inches forward. Slowly, like he’s giving you a way out if what he’s about to do isn’t what you want. 

You’re holding your breath as he gets closer, closer, closer, until—

Fireworks. 

As if kissing your best friend isn’t cliche enough, all you can describe of the feeling of his lips against yours is fireworks, bursting in your chest like little explosions. 

“Wait—” You breathe, splaying a hand across Lando’s chest to push him back a bit before the kiss can go on any longer. Despite how much you want it to continue. He makes some sort of displeased noise out the back of his throat, pink lips turning down into a pout. “What about the other girl?” 

That gets him to pull back a little more, head cocking and nose scrunching in genuine confusion. “What other girl?” 

“I lied. I did hear you talking when I came into your room, you said something about waiting for the right time to tell her something. You can’t be kissing me if you like someone else, Lando!” You exclaim incredulously. 

He regards you blankly for a few seconds. Then he starts to laugh. You’re trying to save his ass and he’s laughing at you. You scowl at him. “Why the fuck are you laughing?” 

“Oh! Oh, that was so good! That was gold, really,” He splutters, tears in his eyes. You swat indignantly at him and he holds up his hands in surrender, doing his best to catch his breath. “There is no other girl, you muppet! I was talking about you.” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, oh. Guess this is the right time then, huh?” He says, chuckling nervously as he rubs at his reddened nose. “So, here goes it. I think I’m in love with you.” 

“Why?” You ask, disbelieving. It’s a blunt response, you’re fully aware, but you want to know. 

“What d’you mean, why? Have you met you?” He scoffs, like he’s astonished you even have the nerve to question him. “You’re amazing. You’re kind and funny and so smart, and you make people happy—you make me happy, even when I’ve had the absolute shittiest day, I know everything’ll be fine as soon as you find me. You know what I need, even when I don’t know what I need.” 

You’re at a loss for words hearing all this now. How has Lando been in love with you all this time, with you none the wiser? 

“Why’ve you never said anything?” You ask softly.

Lando smiles almost sadly, letting his hands drop back down to his sides. “You’re one of my best friends. I’d rather keep my mouth shut if telling you meant losing you. Losing what we have because you didn’t feel the same way.” 

That, you understand. The fear of ruining your friendship with Lando is one of the reasons why you’d kept your feelings for him secret as well. So to both of you, it was better to ignore your feelings and stay this close than to let the other know and possibly lose one of the best things in your lives. 

“We’re idiots,” You sigh, closing your eyes. 

“You’re not an idiot,” He says immediately. Then he frowns. “Wait, why would you be an idiot? I know I am, but why you?” 

You grab Lando by the collar of his puffy jacket, pulling him into a firm kiss. If he’s surprised, it only shows for a split second before he’s kissing you back fervently, drawing you flush against him by the hips. His nose against your cheek is much colder than before, but the warmth that spreads from your chest down to your toes is more than enough to remedy it. 

“Please tell me that means you do feel the same way,” He pants, looking entirely dazed when you pull away. 

You raise an amused brow at him. “No, I just kissed the living daylights out of you because I don’t feel the same way—what do you think?” 

“Best Christmas gift ever, is what I think.” He smiles warmly. Then he shivers, blowing out a sharp breath. “Now can we please go back inside? I can’t feel my face anymore.” 

Once you’re inside and have shed your coats and shoes and anything else wet with snow, Lando nudges you towards the kitchen. “I’ll make us some hot cocoa.” He murmurs, quiet so as to not wake anyone in the house. You pause, causing him to look back at you. “What?” 

“The package kind or the real kind?” 

“What sort of question is that? The real kind, of course,” He snorts. “With milk and everything.” 

“Oh, you do love me!” You say gleefully.

Lando rolls his eyes playfully, giving your hand a firmer tug that has you sliding right in under his arm on your socked feet.

Despite all his moaning and groaning about being cold, he’s pleasantly warm, and you sigh, nuzzling in closer. He welcomes your closeness, dropping a kiss to the side of your head as he shuffles his way towards the pots and pans cupboard with you latched onto him, not even trying to wriggle out of your grasp.

It feels natural because you’ve always been close. Though now, things have changed. Now, you can kiss him if you want to, instead of wondering what Lando would do if you did it. You’re not just friends to each other anymore. 

You press your lips against his quickly as he’s piling marshmallows on top of two mugs of hot cocoa, pulling back right after just to see his reaction to the impromptu kiss.

As expected, his mouth curves into a grin, dimples on full display. He flicks a marshmallow at you, and you reciprocate, tilting your chin up at him in challenge.

Soon enough, now you’re both chucking the tiny white sweets at each other, trying and failing to catch them into your mouths. The first of you to catch one of them is you, and you cheer, flinging your hands in the air. 

“Oh my god, shush, you! People are sleeping!” He breathes, lunging forward to press a hand over your mouth as you’re mid-shout.

Your eyes widen in comical realization and it makes him laugh, which makes you laugh. His hand falls from your face as you both fall apart in quiet giggles. 

You’re laughing because he’s laughing, he’s laughing because you’re laughing, and neither of you can stop until your sides hurt. 

“C’mere,” He murmurs, stepping in close and sliding a hand around the back of your neck. His gaze flits all around your face, taking in the sight of you with eyes that twinkle with happiness even in the darkness of the kitchen. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Lan." You smile.

He kisses you then, long and sweet and with such gentleness that it makes your stomach do somersaults. 

In the morning, you’ll need to figure out how you’ll play things with Lando’s family, and then everything after. But not now.

For now, you’ll watch the snow fall outside while you snuggle up on the sofa with the boy you love and a mug of not so hot cocoa. 

So maybe this Christmas hadn’t gone exactly as you’d planned, but really, you aren’t too sad about it anymore. You wouldn’t have it any other way. 

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[timmydraker]

Tim who has never been good at understanding the words of Shakespeare and Dickens.

He can understand metaphors and knows about philosophy, but he’s always struggle to truely grasp the tragedy and helplessness so may of them hold. The idea of someone being doomed from the start, by the author and the narrative or maybe just the world they were set in, just doesn’t really make sense to him.

Part of him knows it’s because he was born with a vintage silver spoon placed delicately in his hands, but there’s more to it than that.

See, most of the bad things that have happened to Tim have either been consequences of his own action or the fact that his friends and colleagues all have the same dangerous job.

To him it just makes sense that bad things will happen and so he can just… prepare for it. He can do what he can to fix it or move onto something else and push away his own feelings because what else is he supposed to do?

So, no, things like Hamlet and Dorian don’t really click for him

At least… until he thinks about Jason.

Born in poverty with a world surrounding him that would not bother to care or offer help to him purely because of how he looks of his parents.

A mother who loves him endlessly, only to fall into the drugs she tried to protect him from.

Finding out that mother didn’t even give birth to him, but the father that never showed anything other than distain and cruelty was still his own.

Being given Robin, hated by the first one for a time, only to die in the suit by the hands of a mad man all because his real mother sold him out.

Waking up in a coffin, digging himself out and roaming around catatonic and the only thoughts he can actually process is that he must be a ghost.

Being taken by a league of killers, lied to and trick and tormented into thing a perfect weapon.

Realise his mentor, who he once thought the father he deserved to have, has failed him and let his killer free because of something as fickle as a moral compass.

Seeing that mentor seemingly replace him with a perfect rich kid who doesn’t swear or complain or sneak off without permission from what he can tell.

Having no real friends in that time.

Having no one to trust because everyone had an ulterior motive. Everyone uses him.

And through out it all, even with all the hate and the bitterness and injustice he had been faced with, his first course of action is to make the home he first had and the only one he will ever have… safer.

To protect the kids like him from becoming statistics and killers, from the pain he felt and the false promises of the Batman.

Jason keeps honesty and integrity, even when no one else offers it to him in return.

Tim can’t understand Macbeth or Antigone or Othello, can’t see why someone would write something so morbid just to try and entertain.

But he can understand, or at least try to understand, Jason Todd.

Because that is someone who had actually been hurt for no reason. Someone who had been tormented by the universe, by fates and coincidence, with no real lesson being taught other than the world hates him.

Sure Jason has Roy and Biz and Artemis and Kori, but what about a brother?

Dick tried, he still does, but he fails Jason over and over by trying to make him ‘better’.

Damian doesn’t really care too much, not out of malice but there’s just not much of a connection between them.

Cass tries, but Jason is always awkward around her and that’s not his fault, you can’t hide a thing from her.

Duke liked Jason a lot, but again, the newest Bat is trying hard to find his place in the world of vigilantes and can’t quite find it in himself to be too close to Jason’s violence.

But Tim…

He’s morals have always been held together by the simple fact of ‘it’s not really that approved of’ and not much else. He won’t kill, but unlike the others he is happy to leave a Rouge in a sinking ship and not feel a hint of guilt.

He adores Jason’s Robin, he knows to some extent how much he lost with that, and now he knows that Jason might not need much more than a few good things.

Small things, nothing that will trick him into thinking the world is apologising because it won’t, but enough to show him that Tim thinks he’s still worth something.

Tim won’t try convince him to become a better person or to stop killing, he might ask him to be a bit more rational and probably won’t be able to stop himself from giving tips on how to run his business, but he wouldn’t ask for his violent brother to change.

Because unlike everyone else, Tim knows that violence exist for good reason.

If it keeps his Jason alive, Tim will gladly hold onto his blood soaked hand.

[musings-of-a-rose]

My First, My Last, My Always - a PedroStories Secret Santa Exchange Event

Pairing: Francisco “Frankie” Morales x f!reader

Word Count: 2751

Rating: Mature - 18+ ONLY!

Warnings: Just like ao3, “creator chooses not to use warnings.” If you click Keep Reading, that means you agree that you’re the age to handle mature themes. Also by clicking Keep Reading, you understand warnings may not be complete in order to avoid spoilers for the story. 

Notes: @prolix-yuy My beloved LJ - when I got your name, I literally squeed! And then felt an immediate sense of “omg will I be able to write something worthy of her?” I thought and thought about what to write for you and then I had it. I have had this idea for a Frankie fic since I started posting back in late 2021, but I’d never written it. I even had a name for it and a plot line! Now I know it’s because I was saving it for you. Have a very happy whatever you celebrate and know that not only are you extremely talented, you are one of the nicest people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.

**This is for the @pedrostories Secret Santa exchange event!

**If you want to be added to the taglist, join here or let me know!

❤If you enjoy the fic, please consider giving me a warm beverage! (It is not required in any way!)

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**Reader is not described

Main Masterlist

Frankie Morales Masterlist

I met Frankie when we were 5. I had just moved to the neighborhood, in the middle of summer. Which meant no school, so no way to make friends. A few days later, as my parents were unpacking, I sat on the couch, leaning on the back of it to stare out the front window. To my surprise, on the front porch of the house across the street from me sat a boy. He had his head in his hands and looked a little sad and lonely, his brown hair and loose curls sticking at odd angles, like he had woken up and come outside. 

“Mom, can I go say hi to the boy across the street?” I ask, already getting off the couch. 

My dad glances through the front window, seeing the boy on the steps. “Sure. See if he wants to play soccer.” He tosses me a soccer ball that he had just unpacked, which I miss. 

I grab it and head outside, walking straight towards the boy. He doesn’t seem to pay me any mind until I’m on his lawn. He looks up at me, furiously wiping at his eyes. 

“Hi!” I say, smiling at him. 

“H-hi,” he replies, his eyebrows furrowing together.

We sat there in silence for a few moments. “Do you want to play soccer?”

He sniffs. “Yeah, sure.” He stands, coming to meet me in his yard. We end up just kicking the ball back and forth for a minute. His shoulders are still slumped, like he’s carrying something heavy. I stop the ball with my foot, taking a step closer to him.

“Are you ok?” I ask, my face full of concern.

“ ‘m fine,” he mumbles. 

“It’s ok if you’re sad. I am too,” I confess. He looks at me, cocking his head.

“You’re sad?”

I nod. “Yeah. We just moved here. My dad got a new job. I had to leave my friends.”

He nods. “Sorry about your friends.”

I shrug. “Thanks. So are you ok?”

He looks at his house and then back at me, coming closer. “I don’t even know you.”

I tell him my name. “But call me Rea.”

“Frankie….my parents fight a lot. Sometimes it’s too loud. I come out here to get some quiet.”

“Oh. Well, if you want, you can come over to my house whenever you need to get away.”

His eyes widen, filling with a light I hadn’t seen yet. “I can? You mean it?”

I nod, a smile forming on my face. “Yeah! We can play games, my mom makes great snacks, and my dad is building me a treehouse soon!”

From that day on, Frankie and I were inseparable. We lucked out in being placed in the same classroom that fall, Frankie taking me on a tour of the school. He told me what bathrooms were stinky and what kids were mean. He came over pretty much every day, my parents taking an immediate liking to him when I came back home with him. I did overhear them saying something about that poor boy, but they never complained. Frankie was there for family game night, pizza night, and movie nights. My parents took him to the county fair with us, the zoo, and our weekly trips to the library, where I would get every book they had on drawing and Frankie would pick out books on flying. He once told me he wanted to be a pilot. 

Middle school is pretty much the first time we spent away from each other, since some of our classes were different. He took shop and I took art, trying to hone my skills as an artist as it brought me so much joy. I don’t know how I would’ve survived middle school without his presence, his strength to help me through a really rough transition time. He would claim it was all me supporting him, but I think we just work well together.

In 8th grade, Frankie came over for pizza night as usual, us heading out into our treehouse after to hangout and watch a movie on a tv I had carted up there with a long extension cord. It had a vhs player in it and so we would watch whatever we could rent. We settled down and got comfortable, a bowl of popcorn between us. 

“Hey, Rea?” Frankie looks nervous, not quite looking at me. 

“Yeah?” My words are garbled because of the popcorn in my mouth.

He clears his throat, still not looking at me. “Have you kissed anyone yet?”

I stop chewing. I had wondered if the boys talked like the girls, as that’s all they could talk about. Kissing boys. I hadn’t thought about it at all, until it felt like I was the only girl who hadn’t kissed anyone yet.

“Uh…no. You?” My stomach fluttered like it had butterflies in it and I didn’t know why. 

“N-no.” We sat there for a moment, the movie continuing on in the background. “Maybe we could kiss each other? So we could say we did it?”

My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest. I hadn’t felt like this before, other than the time Frankie took my hand at the fair and guided me through the haunted mansion that we’d been through a dozen times a few weeks back. 

“Oh. Uh, y-yeah.” 

Frankie sits up, finally looking at me. “You sure? I just thought since we knew each other it wouldn’t be weird.”

I sit up too. “Yeah. Makes sense.” 

After a few awkward body shifts, he pressed his lips to mine and the butterflies in my stomach went wild. And when he broke the kiss I’ll admit, I was more than a little sad. His face still close to mine, he gave me a small smile, those dimples on display.

“There. Now we’ve each kissed someone.”

I didn’t realize it at the time, but that first kiss was when things changed, I think. We started high school that next year, our schedules separating us further. Frankie joined ROTC (Reserve Officer’s Training Corps) and I joined the art club, my parents surprising me with private instruction from a local artist that I admired. We still saw each other at lunch, and he was still over at our house more often than not, these days more because of whomever his mom was currently dating. But everything felt…different. I brushed it off, not knowing how to put it into words.

Then, our senior year, Frankie came to me with another proposition. Neither of us had been intimate with someone else, and who better than someone we know and trust? The boys had been talking about it and the girls had definitely been talking about it. I wasn’t against the idea of sex. I just never got around to it. So when Frankie proposed the idea at our weekly movie after pizza night, I agreed, that familiar butterflies in my stomach feeling coming flooding back. 

In true Frankie fashion, he came prepared and had studied. He set up the treehouse with extra cushions and candles, putting flowers everywhere, with some music in the background. He already knew about protection and knew how to use it, shyly admitting he had asked his friend Santi how to put one on. Frankie was gentle with me, making sure I was ok as we both shared this experience. After, we laid together in the blankets, Frankie holding me to his side as his fingers traced the skin on my hip, both of us content to just be with the other. 

Things didn’t technically change between us, aside from another romp or 2 in the hay, so to speak. I didn’t understand why he never asked me out until a couple months later, when he told me he signed up for the army. 

“Go to college, Rea. Get that art degree and make millions off your drawings. You’re amazing.”

And while I shed many tears, I did just as he asked, even driving him to the airport on his way to basic, where he gently kissed me and told me to live my life, but don’t forget to write. 

I wrote to Frankie often, chronicling my college life as he told me about his, once his time in basic training was up. We still had weekly calls where I would tell him about my drawings, and he would tell me animatedly about learning to fly helicopters and also that his friend Santi was with him too. 

I was the first one he told about going for a special forces group, Delta Force, and his acceptance there. Santi’s too. Sometimes it would be a few weeks between us chatting, but I understood. He was dealing with literal life and death scenarios. Or at least preparing for them. 

I picked him up every time he came home from tour, sometimes with a girl on his arm. I’ll admit the first time I saw it, a part of me envisioned leaping on the poor girl and tearing her eyes out. But I had remind myself that he was overseas and I’m sure it gets lonely and I’m glad he had someone to comfort him, no matter how much I wished it was me. I dated too after that, the longest one sticking around for about 8 months before I caught him cheating on me with his secretary. Which is incredibly cliche of him. 

I eventually graduated with an art history degree, getting a job at a local art gallery and selling my own drawings on the side. It was a pretty awesome deal, getting to work and do the thing that I love. I sometimes worry it would end badly, mixing business with pleasure. But it ended up being the opposite. 

Frankie and I still talked, but over the years our calls became less and less frequent. Sometimes I was away on an art bid and other times he was on a mission, gone for weeks at a time. He would still check in from time to time to at least let me know he was alive. His absence left a hole in my heart though. He was my one constant through life, the person I could share anything with, my first for a lot of things. The few words we did exchange helped me to get to the next call, which I know is unhealthy, but not matter what I did, I couldn’t fill the void he left behind. 

Present Day

“Are you sure you’ll be ok?” My mom asks me for the millionth time. 

I chuckle into the phone. “YES mom. You guys won a cruise! Go celebrate Christmas on the high seas. I’ll come visit when you get back.”

“Well…if you’re sure. I- no! You will absolutely NOT be wearing a speedo on the cruise! Rea I have to go talk some sense into your father. We’ll call you when we get back.”

I laugh this time. “Have fun mom.” In the background before I hang up, I hear my father playfully yell. “Hey! Give me back my man panties!”

My laugh turns into a sigh as I look around my condo. I had been packing to head to my parent’s home in the morning to spend Christmas Day and a few days after with them. I unpack and head into the kitchen, pulling out a couple of steaks to rest before cooking them. I’ll make extra and then not have to cook on Christmas. Sounds like a plan to me. I make some hot chocolate and settle on my couch, a thick Christmas themed blanket thrown over my legs. I’m about to take a sip when I hear a knock at my door. I set my mug down and toss the blanket off. My neighbor is a little senile and sometimes locks herself out of her apartment. In one of her clear moments, she gave me a spare key to let her into hers, in case it was during a time when her nurse wasn’t around. I unlock the door and open it, her name poised on my lips. But instead I���m met with the biggest, brown puppy dog eyes that I’ve ever seen. 

“Hey, Rea. You’re home.”

Shocked. I am stunned. “I..y-yeah. So are you?” Nice. Good one. 

He smile, those dimples showing off as he rubs at the back of his head, the Standard Oil Heating cap I’d given him from our road trip across the state still on top. “Yeah.” It’s quiet for a moment. “Can I come in?”

“What? Oh. Yeah! Come in.” I step back to let him in, giving him extra space for the bag slung on his back. He sets it down just inside the door, kicking off his boots too. 

“Are you ok?” I ask him, noting the scar on the bridge of his nose and a fresh cut on his cheek. 

“I am now.” Silence between us, like we haven’t talked our entire lives. Although it had been a few months since I’d spoken to him, outside of my unanswered letters. 

“Did you want some-” I start, hitching my thumb over my shoulder to point towards the kitchen. 

“I almost died.”

A hole opened in my stomach and my heart fell right into it. “What?”

He nods, taking the cap from his head to wring it between his hands, but not before running his fingers through those soft brown curls. “I can’t give you details. Classified. But I almost died. I mean, I saved us all, but if I hadn’t moved my head…”

“Oh Frankie!” I throw my arms around him, the time that we hadn’t talked dissolving in an instant. His arms wrap around me, his face pressing into my hair. 

“I love you, Rea.”

“I love you too, Frankie.”

“No,” He takes a breath. “I’m in love with you.”

Those familiar butterflies that only he seems to put there come back, like they’d never left. I break the hug and take a step back, trying to look at his face. Surely he’s kidding right? This is all some joke that I don’t understand?

“We were spiraling and the engines wouldn’t cut back on and all I could think about was you. How I had this amazing friend in my life for most of my life who never judged me for where I came from or what I wore, who always supported me no matter what, who let me get pineapple on my pizza even though she hated it just because she knows I like it. She always saw me for me. And how I was so fucking stupid for never seeing it before and yet, somehow knowing I’ve been in love with you since that first kiss. I made a promise that if I got out of there alive, the first thing I’d do is come tell you, in person how I feel. And I know it’s sudden, and I know you may not even feel the same. Hell, I don’t know if you even have a boyfriend. I know I’ve been a shitty friend lately, but I-”

I grip his shirt and pull him to me, pressing my lips to his. For a moment, he doesn’t move, shocked by my reply. But then he snaps out of it, his hands coming up to cup my face as he presses his tongue against my lips. I part mine every slightly, whimpering slightly when he pushes his tongue past my lips. One hand drops from my face, outstretched behind me as he walks me backwards, his hand hitting the wall before he pushes me up against it, that same hand cupping my face again before tracing down my body to squeeze at my hip. I wrap my leg around him, pulling him closer as my fingers tangle in his soft curls. But then he pulls back, just enough to look me in the eyes. 

“I take it this means you feel the same?” He’s smiling, but he’s also serious. 

“I’ve been waiting for this since our first kiss. But I don’t think I understood it then.”

Frankie groans. “What a stupid couple of assholes.” We chuckle together, his nose brushing against mine. 

He smiles, his eyes getting that big puppy eye look to them. “So you’ll be my first and my last?”

I smile back. “As long as you’re mine.”

Within a few months, we’re married. Our first, our last, and our always.

General Taglist:

@frankie-catfish-morales @chaoticgeminate @janebby @astoryisaloveaffair @balekanemohafe

@greeneyedblondie44 @hoeforthefictional @marvelousmermaid @hauntedmama @icanbeyourjedi  

@wretchedmo @sunnshineeexoxo @livingmydreams13 @adventures-of-a-noodle @sara-alonso  

@theewokingdead @punkerthanpascal @giggly-otter @f0rever15elf @phandoz 

@gallowsjoker @lovesbiggerthanpride @booksarekindaneat @charlispersonallyhell @xoxabs88xox 

@amneris21 @gooddaykate @avengers-fixation @paintballkid711 @harriedandharassed  

@ladykatakuri @practicalghost @withakindheartx @batdarkladyvampir @justanotherkpopstanlol  

@mermaidxatxheart @alexxavicry @justreblogginfics @kmc1989 @veryprairieberry 

@mysterious-moonstruck-musings @heartpascalispunk 

[that-one-ostrich-friend]

just a drink

older!sirius black x reader - just a drink

word count: 4k

summary: after a long meeting with the order sirius invites y/n to stay for… just a drink

warnings: kissing, mentions of age gap, absolutely infatuated sirius (bc i like men who shower me with compliments and affection) also slight dumbledore hate

a/n: once again i went insane with this. there are so many other things i should be writing for you but i just have to share this

     The room was dimly lit, the flickering candles casting long shadows across the mismatched chairs and the weathered wooden table. The members of the Order of the Phoenix sat packed tightly together, their faces solemn as Dumbledore spoke. The tension in the air was palpable, the kind that settled deep in the bones and refused to let go.

     Y/N sat near the middle of the table, between Remus and Sirius. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her jaw tight as she listened to Dumbledore outline the latest developments. Her patience was thin tonight, thinner than usual. The constant weight of the war, the sleepless nights, and now the decisions being made without enough consideration for their consequences—it was all too much.

     Dumbledore’s voice carried on, steady and commanding. “We need to establish a stronger presence near Diagon Alley. The Death Eaters are becoming bolder in their attacks, and we must be prepared for the possibility of a strike closer to the heart of wizarding London.”

     Y/N’s fingers tapped against her arm, her brow furrowing. She could feel the frustration building, a knot tightening in her chest. “I don’t see how that helps,” she muttered under her breath.

     Her voice was quiet, but Sirius, sitting to her right, caught it. He glanced at her, his lips twitching into a faint smirk. She always had something to say, always pushed back against authority when she thought they were wrong. It was one of the things he admired about her— her fire.

     Dumbledore continued, unbothered. “A visible presence in the area will serve as both a deterrent and a warning. However, we must exercise caution. Any unnecessary provocation could lead to—”

     “With all due respect, sir,” Y/N interrupted, her voice cutting through the room, “standing around looking official isn’t going to stop them. They already know we’re here, and they’re not afraid of us. If anything, it’ll just make us targets.”

     The room fell silent. All eyes turned to her, some surprised, others wary. Y/N felt the weight of their stares but held her ground, her gaze steady on Dumbledore.

     “Y/N,” Remus murmured beside her, his voice low and calm. He placed a hand on her back, a gesture meant to steady her. “Not now.”

     The touch was gentle but firm, and Y/N felt herself deflate slightly. She bit back a retort and leaned back in her chair, her arms still crossed tightly over her chest.

     Sirius’s eyes flicked to the spot where Remus’s hand rested on Y/N’s back. His smirk faded, replaced by a subtle tightening of his jaw. He knew the gesture was innocent—Remus had always been protective of her, just as he was with everyone in their group—but it still bothered him. There was an ease between them, a quiet understanding, that Sirius couldn’t help but envy.

     And yet, he had no right to feel that way. She wasn’t his.

     He leaned back in his chair, forcing his gaze away from them and pretending to focus on the parchment in front of him. But his thoughts refused to cooperate.

     The age gap. That damned age gap.

     It was the reason he hadn’t made a move, the thing that held him back every time he caught himself watching her for too long or thinking about her late at night. She was young, vibrant, full of life. He was weighed down by a lifetime of mistakes and regrets. What right did he have to want her?

     Dumbledore’s voice pulled him back to the present. “Now, onto the matter of Hogsmeade,” he said, gesturing to the map on the table. “There have been reports of suspicious activity near the Shrieking Shack. I’ll need volunteers to investigate—discreetly, of course.”

     Y/N straightened slightly, her interest piqued. Sirius could see the determination in her eyes, the way she was already considering the assignment. But before she could speak, Remus gave her a subtle nudge with his elbow.

     “Don’t,” he murmured, his tone light but pointed.

     She shot him a look, half annoyed, half amused. Sirius felt a twinge of something—jealousy, irritation, he wasn’t sure—as he watched the exchange. They had their own unspoken language, a bond that had formed over years of shared experiences and trust.

     The meeting dragged on, Dumbledore moving from one topic to the next. Y/N’s frustration simmered beneath the surface, evident in the way she tapped her fingers against the table or shifted in her seat. Sirius found it hard to focus. His attention kept drifting to her—to the way her hair caught the candlelight, the way her brow furrowed in concentration.

      And then there were the little things, the details only he seemed to notice: the way her lips pressed together when she was deep in thought, the soft sigh she let out when something annoyed her.

     By the time the meeting adjourned, Y/N had reached her limit. She stood abruptly, muttering something about needing fresh air.

     Sirius watched her go, his eyes lingering on the way her hair swayed as she walked. He wondered if she realized how captivating she was, if she had any idea how much space she occupied in his thoughts.

     “You’re not very subtle, you know,” Remus said, breaking the silence.

     Sirius turned to him, frowning. “What are you on about?”

     Remus smirked, his tone dry. “You’ve been staring at her all night.”

     “I wasn’t staring,” Sirius said quickly, too quickly.

     “Right,” Remus said, gathering his things. “Just try not to make it so obvious next time.”

     Sirius let out a huff of irritation, running a hand through his hair. 

     But it was hard to look away.

     As the room emptied, Sirius stayed behind, slumping back in his chair. The candlelight flickered, casting shadows across the walls. He closed his eyes, letting out a low sigh.

     The truth was, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He’d tried—Merlin, he’d tried—but she was always there, lingering in the back of his mind. Her voice, her smile, the way she carried herself with so much confidence and determination.

━━━━━━━•✧°•°𓅦°•°✧•━━━━━━━

     The cold outside felt like it seeped into her bones as soon as she stepped through the door, the chill from the air making Y/N shiver. She had rushed out earlier, frustrated with the meeting and the constant back-and-forth of words that never seemed to result in any real action. But now, standing alone in the cold yard of Grimmauld Place, she realized she’d left her coat and bag behind in the rush.

     With a resigned sigh, she turned back toward the house, the heavy wooden door creaking slightly as she entered. The warmth of the house immediately wrapped around her, but it wasn’t enough to shake the unease still lingering in her chest. She moved quickly through the entryway, making her way back to the sitting room where she had left her belongings.

     The house was eerily quiet now. The voices, the laughter, the bustling of the meeting—it had all vanished. The flickering candlelight in the sitting room seemed to magnify the silence, making everything feel still.

     She paused when she saw him.

     Sirius was sitting at the table, the same spot where the Order meeting had been held just a short while ago. His elbows rested on the edge of the table, his hands folded loosely in front of him, and his gaze was distant. He hadn’t noticed her entrance yet, his focus still on some faraway thought.

     Y/N’s steps slowed as she studied him for a moment, unsure of what to make of the stillness that seemed to surround him. He didn’t appear to have noticed her yet, his focus still on something she couldn’t see.

     She cleared her throat softly, breaking the quiet.

     Sirius looked up at the sound, his gray eyes meeting hers immediately, the hint of a smile pulling at his lips. For a moment, they just stared at each other, the weight of the past few hours hanging between them.

     “Forgot my coat,” Y/N said, her voice a little more subdued than usual as she gestured toward the chair where she had left her things.

     Sirius nodded, sitting up straighter in his seat. “You left in a bit of a hurry,” he said, a wry smile on his face. “Cold out there.”

     Y/N glanced down at her coat, then at him. “I guess I didn’t think about the cold.”

     “Would’ve figured you for someone who’d remember that,” he teased, but there was something softer in his voice now.

     Y/N stepped forward, picking up her coat from the chair. As her fingers brushed against the fabric, she hesitated. The frustration she had felt during the meeting had yet to leave her. The weight of Dumbledore’s decisions, the helplessness of their situation, had settled deep within her.

     Sirius observed her, his gaze softening. The silence between them was now something different, something more reflective. "You alright?" he asked quietly, his voice devoid of teasing now, the softness lingering in his words.

     “I’ll be fine,” she said lightly, tugging her coat tighter around her shoulders. “I just... I need to clear my head.”

     Sirius raised an eyebrow, the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “You look like you could use a drink. How about you stay for a bit?”

     Y/N hesitated. She knew what he was offering: a brief escape, a chance to let their shoulders down after the weight of the meeting. It was a kindness, one she rarely turned down when offered, but she wasn’t sure she was in the mood for conversation—at least, not the kind he seemed to want.

     She smoothed a hand over her coat, then met his gaze. "I don’t want to be a bother.”

     A small chuckle escaped him, though it didn’t reach his eyes the way it usually did. He was trying, she could see that, but there was a quiet undercurrent in his voice now, one that didn’t have the usual playfulness. It was something else—something deeper.

     “You’re not a bother. You never are.” He paused, watching her closely, as though he were searching for something behind her guarded expression. “Come on. Let’s just... have a drink. Relax a little. Please.”

     Y/N could feel the hesitation in her chest, that resistance she’d built around herself, but she also knew she didn’t want to go back to her flat alone—not after tonight. Not when she could still feel the sharp sting of everything they had just discussed lingering in her mind. Maybe, just maybe, a drink with Sirius would help take the edge off.

     She sighed, stepping away from the doorframe. “Alright. Just one drink.”

     Sirius’s smile, though small, was genuine. It reached his eyes this time, and for a brief moment, Y/N caught a glimpse of something in his expression—a flicker of hope or perhaps relief. But then he masked it again, as he always did, with that ever-present, charismatic ease.

     “Excellent,” he said, gesturing toward the kitchen. “I’ll let you pick the poison. But if you say Firewhisky, I’m warning you, I’ll be pouring myself a double.”

     Y/N shook her head as she followed him through the hall. “I’m not in the mood for something that strong,” she replied, though she couldn’t hide the slight smile that tugged at her lips.

     He led the way into the kitchen. It was a small space, cozy even in its slightly outdated decor. Y/N had always thought there was something oddly comforting about the kitchen in Grimmauld Place—it was a place that felt lived in, not cold and sterile like the rest of the house.

     He moved to the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of something dark, his fingers brushing over it in a way that suggested familiarity. “How about this?” he asked, turning to her with a raised eyebrow. “A little bit of something to take the edge off without turning us into complete wrecks.”

     Y/N smiled at the offer. “I’ll try it. But I’m holding you to your word—just one drink.”

     “Of course,” he replied smoothly, though there was an edge to his voice now, a quiet sincerity. “I’m not trying to get you drunk, Y/N. I just thought... after everything today, maybe a bit of peace wouldn’t hurt.”

     He poured them both a generous measure of the amber liquid, handing her the glass with a soft smile. She accepted it, their fingers brushing ever so slightly as she took it, and she was suddenly very aware of how close they were. Sirius’s presence always had this magnetic pull on her. Even now, as he leaned back against the counter, watching her with those dark eyes of his, she felt something shift in the air around them.

     “So, what did you think of the meeting?” he asked, his voice low and steady, but she could hear the underlying edge of exhaustion in his words. He was tired. They all were. But Sirius... Sirius had always worn his exhaustion differently. He carried it with a certain grace, a way of making it look effortless when it was anything but.

     Y/N shrugged, taking a small sip of her drink. “It’s the same as always. We talk strategy, we pretend like we know what we’re doing, and we leave with the same uncertainty as when we came in.”

     “Yeah,” Sirius muttered, his eyes darkening as he swirled his drink. “The war doesn’t exactly give us much to work with, does it?”

     Y/N looked at him, her gaze lingering on his face. There was something about the way he said it, like he had seen the world through darker lenses than most. She couldn’t deny that part of her was fascinated by that—by the depth of everything he had been through. And yet, there was always a part of him that seemed so light, so full of life. It was that contrast that both intrigued and unsettled her.

     “I think we’re all just waiting for the next bombshell to drop,” she said softly, her eyes not meeting his. “And in the meantime, we try to keep it together.”

     Sirius watched her closely, his eyes fixed on the movement of her lips as she slowly sipped her drink. His gaze lingered, and for a moment, he forgot about everything—about the weight of the meeting, about the ever-present tension of the war. It was just her, sitting across from him, and the soft glow of the kitchen lights casting shadows across her face. His heart seemed to skip a beat as he noticed the way the soft candlelight made her eyes shine, the way the curve of her lips looked even more inviting with every sip.

     Y/N felt his gaze before she saw it. The weight of his attention pressed on her, as though his eyes were tracing every line of her face, every small movement. It made her heart beat a little faster, a warmth spreading through her chest despite the cool air around them. She looked up over the rim of her glass, meeting his gaze. His dark eyes were soft, but there was a flicker of something deeper, something more intense. Something she hadn’t noticed before—or maybe she had, but had ignored.

     “What is it, Sirius?” she asked, her voice teasing but with a subtle undercurrent of curiosity. “Do I have something on my face?”

     Sirius blinked, caught off guard for a moment. He cleared his throat and shook his head, trying to shake off the lingering thoughts. But the truth slipped out before he could stop it.

     “No,” he said softly, “just thinking... you’re beautiful.”

     Y/N’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, a small laugh escaping her lips. She set the glass down on the counter and crossed her arms, her gaze locking onto his. “Really?” she said with a playful smile. “You’re not so bad yourself, you know.”

     Sirius chuckled, though there was a touch of nervousness beneath the laugh. The air between them seemed to shift, the tension thickening, and for a brief moment, he forgot all about the age gap that had kept him at bay for so long. The difference in their years had been a wall in his mind, one he had built to keep things at arm's length. But now, standing here with her, so close, so real, it felt like that wall was crumbling away piece by piece.

     He leaned forward slightly, his voice low and rough. “You know, I’ve been thinking about something for a while, and I’m not sure if I should say it.” His heart was hammering in his chest, the words threatening to spill out before he could stop them. “But... would you want to kiss me?”

     Y/N’s breath caught in her throat at the question. It was so direct, so unguarded. And it was like the entire world seemed to stop for a heartbeat. She blinked, the shock of it mixing with something else—something warmer, something she hadn’t been expecting. She felt her pulse quicken, her eyes flicking to his lips before she caught herself.

     For a moment, she said nothing. Then, slowly, her lips curved into a teasing smile, the spark of mischief flickering in her eyes. “Why wouldn’t I?”

     Sirius didn’t need any more encouragement. The restraint he had held onto for so long—the years of wondering, of doubting—slipped away in that moment. He moved closer, his hands coming up to gently cup her face, and then, without another word, he leaned in, his lips brushing against hers.

The kiss was soft at first, but it wasn’t long before the gentle pressure of his lips grew more urgent, more insistent, as though the need to be close to her had been building for far too long. Y/N responded in kind, her hands finding their way to his chest, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt as she deepened the kiss.

     Sirius let out a soft groan as he felt her pull him closer, her body pressed against his. The intensity of the kiss surged, and he could taste the warmth of the alcohol on her lips, the tang of it mixing with the sweetness of her kiss. His hands roamed to her back, pulling her flush against him, his breath quickening as he kissed her deeper, harder, the world spinning around them.

     “Y/N...” he muttered against her lips, his voice thick with desire. “You’re... heavenly.”

     Y/N’s heart was racing now, her hands tracing the lines of his chest, feeling the muscles beneath his shirt, the heat radiating from his skin. She had never imagined this—never imagined that the distance between them could close so quickly, so completely. But now, with him so close, with his lips on hers, she couldn’t imagine wanting anything else.

     She pulled back just enough to catch her breath, her lips tingling from the intensity of the kiss. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, her gaze locked on his. “Sirius...” she breathed, her voice barely a whisper, but thick with emotion. “Kiss me again.”

     Sirius didn’t need any more prompting. He kissed her again, this time with a desperation that was new—raw and hungry. His hands slid down to her waist, pulling her closer as he kissed her with a depth that left them both breathless. The kiss was no longer soft. It was passionate, consuming, as though every doubt, every fear, was being kissed away in that one moment.

     He muttered a few curses, his lips trailing down to her neck, tasting the soft skin there. “God, Y/N... you don’t know what you do to me.” His voice was rough, strained, as he nipped gently at her skin, sending shivers down her spine.

     Y/N gasped, her fingers threading through his hair as she tilted her head back to give him better access. His lips were on her neck, hot and insistent, his kisses leaving a trail of fire in their wake. She couldn’t stop herself. She didn’t want to. Every part of her was alive with the sensation of him, the taste of him, the warmth of his body against hers.

     The kiss deepened once more, and without thinking, Sirius picked her up, his arms wrapping around her waist as he pressed her back against the wall. The sudden movement surprised her, but it only made the moment more intense, more real. She gasped, her legs wrapping around his waist instinctively, and he groaned at the closeness, at the feeling of her body against his.

     His lips moved down her neck, kissing her in slow, deliberate strokes, his breath hot against her skin as he whispered her name. “Y/N...” he murmured again, as though trying to make sure she was still with him, still there. “You’re... perfect.”

     Her heart raced as he kissed her neck, his lips trailing over the sensitive skin there. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. She only knew that she wanted more.

     When their kiss finally broke, both of them panting for air, they slid to the floor. Sirius’s head rested against her shoulder.

     Slowly he sat up, his hands still holding her waist. He looked at her, his dark eyes filled with a mixture of longing and something else—something deeper.

     “I was... worried,” he confessed, his voice low, vulnerable in a way she had never heard before. “Worried about the age difference. About whether you’d... feel the same. It’s always been in the back of my mind.”

     Y/N’s heart softened at his words, and she placed a hand gently on his cheek, brushing her thumb over the stubble there. “Sirius, I don’t care about that,” she said softly. “I’ve never even thought of it.”

     He leaned in to kiss her again, but this time, it was only a soft graze, a reminder of how easily he could lose himself in her.

     “You’re incredible,” he murmured, his voice rough with the emotions he could never fully hide. “So damn beautiful, so bloody lovely...” He chuckled softly, a spark of mischief lighting in his eyes. “It’s maddening, really.”

     Y/N’s chest fluttered at his words, at the vulnerability that she could hear in his voice. She leaned in, gently kissing the corner of his mouth, her lips lingering for a moment longer than expected. “I’m really glad you convinced me to stay for a drink,” she whispered, her fingers gently tracing the line of his jaw.

     Sirius’s breath caught at her words, and for a moment, he looked as though he might say something else, but instead, he moved, his hand rested on her leg, a soft touch that conveyed so much more than words could. Then, slowly, he shifted again, lying down with his head in her lap, the two of them surrounded by the quiet of the kitchen.

     He gazed up at her, his eyes filled with a kind of wonder, a touch of awe. “You’re so perfect, Y/N,” he whispered, his voice low and warm. “I can’t believe I’m here with you. I’ve wanted this. Wanted you. For so long.”

     Y/N blushed, a soft smile curling on her lips. She gently ran her fingers through his hair, enjoying the warmth of the moment.

     Sirius let out a breath, as though he’d been holding it for far too long. His lips turned upward in a small, tender smile. And for a long moment, they stayed like that—him lying on her lap, her fingers in his hair, the weight of everything unspoken and everything new hanging between them, untold but not needed.

[lunajay33]

Suppose to be You

•🖤🍑🏹🧟‍♀️•

Summary: You’re Shane’s girlfriend but when the apocalypse hits you find him changing and find yourself leaning more towards the only person who gives you the time of day, also you’re Rick’s younger sister

Pairing: Shane x f!reader, Daryl Dixon x f!reader

Warning: Shane’s a cheater obvi, harsh words, Merle

•Masterlist•

I first met Shane when my older brother Rick first started bringing him around the house, I never thought much of him but as we got older he started flirting and we only started dating when I turned 22, about a year ago, it’s been fun but then I lost my brother and then the world got taken over by walkers and that leads to now, camped out in a quarry on the outskirts of Atlanta

We took my sister in law, Lori and my nephew with us but after being here for a while Shane’s been treating me differently, like I’m just a burden to him

Sitting around the fire I’m sat across from Shane as he’s right next to Lori, I understand him wanting to console her her husband died, but he was my brother and I’m Shane’s girlfriend I just thought he’d try to console me even just a little

“You alright sweetie?” Dale asks from next to me

“Oh I’m fine thanks for asking though” I smile trying to brush it off but inside I’m hurting deeply like I’m loosing everything

“I think I’m just gonna head to bed early” I say standing up to leave, all Shane did was glance at me before his eyes went back to the fire, Carl got up and gave me a quick hug

“Night auntie y/n” he smiles, he’s always been the sweetest kid

“Night honey” I walk away as the cool of the night started to envelope me, instead of going back to the tent I went down to the quarry shore, I knew how to take care of myself around walkers I just need to be alone

I sat down feeling all the pressure weighing down on my chest, I lost my brother, then the world ends and now my boyfriend treats me like garbage, what else do I have…….whats the point

Finally letting the tears fall I let it all out before I hear branched snapping behind me, I turn nervously wiping the tears away sighing in relief when I realize it’s just Daryl Dixon, thankfully not accompanied by his ass of a brother Merle

“What’re ya doin down here alone” he asks his eyes squinted at me but for some reason he didn’t make me nervous

“Ummm just needed to get away, what’re you doing down here?”

“Just came back from a hunt saw ya down here……wanted ta check on ya”

My heart skipped a beat, something I haven’t felt in a long time now

“Come on let’s get ya ta bed” he huffed motioning back towards the path, it was a silent walk up to the camp but it was a comfortable silence

I got to mine and Shane’s tent when I hear his fast heavy footsteps heading our way

“The hell are you doing alone with Daryl Dixon” he groans gripping my arm and roughly pulling me away from Daryl

“Shane that hurts, he was just keeping me company” I look back at Daryl and I swear if looks could kill Shane would definitely be dead on the ground

“Get lost Dixon, go back to your dick of a brother” Daryl’s eyes landed on mine and I could see them soften before he left, the further the got the more I wanted to run to him instead of being near the person I should be safe with

“The hell were you thinking”

“Like you’d care” I sigh looking down to the ground

“What’re you talking about you’re my girlfriend of course I care”

“I can’t do this right now Shane I just wanna go to bed, I think I’m gonna stay with Carl tonight, Lori can stay with you bet she’ll love that” I brush him off and walk past him to the smaller tent Carl and Lori stayed in, thankfully they were still out so I could just finally have a moment of peace

How could I feel more peace and safety around a redneck man that I barely know, than my boyfriend I’ve known almost my whole life

I quickly drifted off to sleep welcoming the darkness

•

I woke up early the next morning to the subtle chirping of birds, I quietly left the tent trying not to wake up a still sleeping Carl

Looking around there wasn’t anyone up yet so I went at sat at the camp fire that still had some embers burning

“Hey, what’re ya doing up so early” I hear next to me seeing it’s Daryl again, usually he’d have a snippy attitude with the others in the camp but lately he’s been nice to me and I honestly didn’t care why I just needed someone to cheer me up

“Just couldn’t sleep much I guess, I’ve got a lot on my mind” I say poking at the fire

“Here” he grunted handing me a granola bar he must’ve gotten from his stash

“Thanks”

Then he was gone dissapearing through the thick tree line most likely going for a hunt again

Slowly people started to filter out of their tents and start getting ready for the day, I see Shane making his way towards me with his typical scowl that he never use to use towards me, I look away and turn my back to him

“Have you calmed down since last night” I scoff looking up at him as he towered over me trying to scare me asserting his dominance

“Just leave me alone, you only act like I matter when someone else is giving me attention, tell me do you even love me anymore?” He paused for a moment before answering

“Of course you just gotta stop being selfish I’m trying to console a grieving widow”

“Yeah well he was my brother Shane, did you forget that, just get away from me” I brush past him going towards the trees for some peace and quiet but when I’m deeper in the woods I feel him behind me squeezing my shoulder and he pushes me against a tree

“Shane what are you doing let me go”

“You better watch your mouth don’t forget who saved you when all this started” now he’s trying to guilt trip me

“I could’ve made it on my own, I probably would’ve been happier alone” he raised his hand before a bow zipped between us landing on the tree next to us

“You touch her like that again don’t think I would beat your ass down” Daryl growled coming closer taking my hand and putting me behind him as he stared down Shane

“You think you could take me Dixon, you may be a filthy redneck but don’t think I won’t take YOU”

“Shane just go away, why don’t you go check on poor Lori” I say holding onto Daryl’s arm tighter out of fear, a fear I’ve never felt around Shane before

He huffed before tromping off back towards the camp, when he was far enough away I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding as I let all the emotions flood me

“God Daryl I’m so sorry to get you mixed in this, I don’t…..I don’t know why he’s like this, he never us to treat me like this and I’m…..I’m scared to be around him now” he takes both my shoulders in his hands and makes me face him gently

“It ain’t yer fault peach, I’ve been around my share of angry men and he’s a ticking time bomb, ya can’t be stay around him”

“If you can’t tell I don’t have no where else to go” my chest felt like it had a thousand bricks on it

“Ya can stay next ta me, we got an extra tent”

“Are you sure, what about Merle won’t he be mad”

“I can deal with that grump, come on let’s get ya settled” I’ve never heard Daryl speak so much but I can’t complain he’s like my saviour right now

•

We got the little tent sat up next to him that was a bit further away from the others but I didn’t care much, the further I am from Shane the better

“Thanks for all this Daryl” I say as we both finally settle down around the fire he sat up since night was falling

“Look at this, my lil bro got himself some tail” Daryl was cut of before he could speak by Merle’s grating voice as he plopped down across from us at the fire

“Merle give it up”

“She staying here now, good ta know we got some action right next door” he grins that sends unsettling chills down my spine

“I’m not doing that Merle for the thousandth time, I just needed some space”

“Finally figured out yer cop boyfriend is cheatin on ya?” My heart stopped, suddenly everything made sense, why he always stayed with Lori, why they’d both dissapear at the same time, why Lori could barely look me in the eyes

“Oh my god I feel so stupid how did I not notice I must look so pathetic to everyone” I groan as I drop my head in my hands

“He dont deserve ya, he’s the pathetic one” Daryl said softly as I heard Merle’s steps retreating into his tent, Daryl must’ve shooed him off

“You know why my brother first got shot I was a mess, couldn’t leave his side I was always so filled with anxiety I was basically wasting away but one day Shane convinced me to take a day to myself so I did, I went home and cleaned up and everything, the next thing I know Shane is busting in dragging me to the truck telling me everyone is dropping like flies and my brothers dead, then suddenly he treats me like a piece of trash, only Lori mattered, and…..he almost hit me today, that’s not the man I knew something’s wrong with him, sure he’s always been a bit hot tempered but this is different and all I can think about is……what is he comes after me again but no one’s there to help me” I sigh finally letting everything off my chest

“Ya ain’t goin no where alone anymore, I’ll protect ya” he said gently placing a hand on my back for a moment before it was gone again

“I can’t ask that of you, I’m not your problem”

“Believe it or not, yer the only person in this camp that doesn’t drive me up the wall, I’d like ta keep ya around a lil longer” he smiled as his words cheered me up a bit, I’ve never seen him genuinely smile and it’s making me feel all light headed

“Let’s head to bed……it’s been a long day” I stand up heading to my little tent as he did his next to mine

“Night D”

“Night Peach” his gaze stayed on me for a moment longer before he entered his tent, only making me think what life would be like if I had met Daryl first maybe I’d me happier

•

Part 2 is on its way!! Lmk how you liked this chapter

[fandomfablesunleashed]

Imperfectly Yours

Ace x reader (she/her)

MODERN AU. Christmas movie rom-com vibe. Reader is the daughter of Whitebeard and is shorter than Ace.

This is how I imagine the cover to look like, if anyone's curious

Honestly, I feel like it could use some more work, but I really wanted to put it out here during the Christmas season. I doubt I’ll have more time to work on it soon, so here it is. Happy holidays to those who celebrate! ❤️🎄

English is not my first language

🫶 @captainportgasdace 🫶

Ficmas masterlist

Main masterlist

You stepped out of your car and looked around. While you had grown up in this small town, you hadn't been back for quite some time. The air felt crisp against your face, and it felt almost unreal being back. You took a deep breath in and looked towards the bar across the street. It was a familiar place to you, your dad's pub being as dear to you as your own home.

Without any more hesitation, you began walking across the street towards it, passing by the small shops on the sidewalk. Each one was decorated to match the Christmas season, with colorful lights being strung outside and in the windows. The sight brought a small smile to your face.

Opening the front door, you walked in, the warm air and smell of alcohol and food almost enveloping you entirely. The place was lively with the music and the sounds of multiple people chatting. You even recognized some of them as regulars.

You could faintly hear your dad talking to one customer before he finally looked up and saw you. His face immediately lit up into a big smile.

Your father, Edward Newgate—better known as Whitebeard—was a renowned figure in your small town. His bar, the Moby Dick, was nothing short of legendary, a place where he commanded respect effortlessly while making everyone who walked through its doors feel genuinely welcome.

“Long time no see,” he said, putting down a glass he was wiping on the bar and leaning on it with both hands. 

“Heya, Dad,” you said with a small chuckle. "Sorry, I haven't been back in a while. Things got hectic in the city.”

“You've got your own life going on; can't always be home. Now, give your old man a hug,” he said, stepping out from behind the bar, arms wide open to embrace you.

You chuckled, rolling your eyes. “You’re not that old yet, Dad,” you said with a grin, wrapping your arms around him in a warm hug. He hugged you back tightly.

When you pulled away, your dad patted your shoulder. “Still got plenty of life left in me,” he said with a hearty laugh. Then, turning to the room, he raised his voice joyfully. “My daughter’s home! Let’s celebrate! The next round is on me!”

A loud cheer erupted from the crowd, filling the bar with energy.

“Dad!” you scolded, laughing. “That’s not how you’re supposed to run a business!”

He only laughed harder. “Oh, don’t worry! I can afford to treat them every now and then—especially for an occasion as amazing as this!” Then, turning back to you, he gently guided you toward the bar, pulling out a stool for you before sitting down beside you.  “And how is the city life treating you, sweetie?”

 "It's alright," you said with a small smile. "I'm still working at that company, but things have been a bit hectic there lately. Kind of burned out on the whole thing."

Your dad nodded in understanding and gave you a sympathetic smile. "I hear ya," he said, patting your shoulder. "Work stress can get to everyone. You take some time off for yourself?"

You sighed, resting your cheek on your hand. “That’s the problem, Dad,” you said with a slight pout. “Every time I try to take a break, some new problem pops up, and I get dragged right back in.”

"Sounds stressful," he said. "Sounds like you could really use a break from all that, huh?"

You laughed softly and nodded. “Yeah, that’s part of why I decided to come back here,” you admitted with a sheepish grin. "Thought I could take a break from the city and come help you out a bit here."

Your dad’s face lit up with a wide smile. "Well, I'm glad to have the help, honey," he said with a chuckle. "I can never turn away help from my lovely daughter, of course."

Just then, something caught your dad’s attention. He looked past you with a wave. “And don’t worry, you don’t need to worry about me,” he said, with a reassuring smile. “I’ve got some help. Like this young man here.”

He pointed behind you, and you turned around to look. You instantly recognized the man walking into the bar, carrying a couple of boxes in his arms.

Ace.

He had definitely changed since you last saw him. He seemed more mature, his muscles more defined, and he looked even more handsome than before.

Your eyes stayed glued on Ace as he walked over to the bar, set down the boxes with a thud, and looked up to see you and Whitebeard watching him. He looked between the two of you, and a familiar big grin appeared on his face.

“Oh man, you’re back in town!” 

“Ace, hey,” you said, trying to hide your surprise. “Yeah, I’m back for the holidays.”

“Well, damn, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?” he said, glancing you up and down.

 “Yeah, it has,” you said, trying to ignore just how attractive he looked now. Not that he wasn't good-looking before. “Looks like you got a lot bigger since the last time I was here.”

He chuckled and flexed his arms.  “A lot of lifting and stuff like that—made me bulk up a good amount.”

 “Yeah, I see that,” you said, trying not to stare too much at his toned arms.

“It’s kinda my best feature now,” he joked.

You almost protested his words but stopped yourself. While his muscles and body were obviously impressive, you had always liked his face more than anything. That cocky grin that always got to you, and those freckles…

His freckles used to make him look cute when you were kids, but now they only added to how unfairly handsome he had become. Damn him for growing up so well.

You tried to brush the thoughts away and crossed your arms. “Well, I see you've gotten even more arrogant and smug than before, somehow.”

He let out a barking laugh at your words, that same cocky smirk still on his face. “And you still have those snarky remarks.”

You rolled your eyes as he laughed at your quip but couldn’t help a smile of your own. “Well, you're still easy to taunt.”

Before Ace could come back with a retort, Whitebeard cut both of you off. “You two can flirt later,” he said, a slight smirk playing on his face.

Both you and Ace immediately became flustered and stumbling over denials.

“W-we weren’t—!” Ace protested, glaring at Whitebeard, though the intensity was lost behind his flushed cheeks.

“Sure you weren't,” Whitebeard chuckled, still watching your faces burn. “While you've been busy making a name for yourself in the city,” he said, “Ace here has been a big help around the bar while you were gone.”

Your face was still flushed, but you glanced at Ace at your dad's words, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “You’ve been helping out here?” you asked.

Ace smiled sheepishly, hands shoved into his pockets. “Yeah, after I got back from my travels, and with Sabo and Luffy moving away, I needed something to keep me busy,” he said with a small chuckle. “And Pops was nice enough to let me work here and help him out.”

Whitebeard chuckled and reached over to ruffle Ace's hair, like he was still a kid. “He's definitely a loudmouth, and can be a pain in my ass when he's bored,” he said, and Ace protested, but Whitebeard waved him off. “But he's a good worker and has been a huge help around here.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle as you watched the two of them, clearly entertained by Ace’s protests. “I bet he keeps things interesting around here,” you teased, smirking at him, and he stuck his tongue out in response.

Whitebeard chuckled again, letting go of Ace's hair. “He certainly keeps things from getting dull,” he said with a warm smile. “And he gets along with the regulars just fine, which is a plus. and the girls are always all over him,” Whitebeard joked, and Ace’s face turned red at the comment. You laughed, watching his tomato-red face, finding it amusing how easily flustered he was.

“They are not!” Ace argued, looking between the two of you, but the blush on his face made it clear he was lying. 

“Yeah, I bet you're a hit with all the customers,” you remarked, leaning back against the bar with a smirk. “Girls must be swooning all over you every day.”

“Shut up,” he mumbled. “It's not that bad…”

 “Damn, I hope my presence here doesn’t scare your fan girls away.”

“Fan girls… they are not fan girls! It's not that many!” Ace protested again, trying to cover his embarrassment with annoyance, but the blush on his face betrayed him, making him look like a pouting child. It was kind of adorable.

 “Sure, sure,” you smirked at him. 

“Hey, a customer is a customer,” your dad finally chimed in with a grin. “I’m not about to complain about some extra business—even if it’s just for the chance to ogle him.”

"Pops!" Ace protested again, looking betrayed, while you continued chuckling, enjoying his reaction.

Whitebeard continued to make fun of Ace's protest, clearly reveling in his reaction. Slowly he stood up, his towering figure casting a shadow over the bar. “Since you'll be in town for a while, and you'll be helping out here too, I have a few things for you to keep in mind,” he said as he fixed you with a knowing smile. You rose to your feet as well, nodding toward Ace with a playful smirk.

“Catch you later,” you spoke before following your dad toward the back of the bar.

Whitebeard and you stepped away from the lively clamor of the bar, moving deeper into the quieter, more secluded space. You paid close attention to what your dad had to say, listening as he went over the recent changes and new things that you needed to know for your time here.

You took in all the information given to you, making mental notes of the changes and additions to the bar's operations. You nodded along to his words and asked a few questions to clarify some points, making sure you had everything straight in your head.

While going over the new things in his bar, your dad also took the time to talk about Ace and how much he had helped since he started working here. He spoke highly of Ace's dedication, work ethic, and reliability. He even laughed a little, shaking his head fondly. He clearly liked that boy.  

“And he might even make a good son-in-law one day,” he added, his tone suddenly teasing, a mischievous glint dancing in his eyes.

“D-dad, that's-!” you stammered, the warmth creeping up your neck. Embarrassment washed over you in waves at your dad's cheeky suggestion.

Whitebeard, always one to enjoy your reactions, couldn't help but laugh at your state. He smirked, glancing between you and Ace, who was hard at work behind the bar. “I’m just saying,” he continued, his grin widening, “you two would be a good match.”

“Dad, that's—I mean… no, I—” The flustered stammer was all you could manage as you tried to find some coherent response to his teasing.

Whitebeard let out another rich laugh at your discomfort, thoroughly enjoying every moment of it. With a sly grin, he gave you a gentle pat on the back, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Just something to think about,” he said with a wink, clearly relishing your embarrassment as he turned to walk back toward the bar, leaving you baffled. 

Deep down, you couldn’t deny that the idea of being with Ace wasn’t entirely unappealing, even if it felt a little embarrassing to admit. Still, you reminded yourself of the reality. You were leaving for the city soon, while Ace would stay here. Thinking about something that couldn’t happen felt pointless, so you convinced yourself he didn’t feel the same way and decided not to dwell on that anymore.

When the bar finally closed for the night and the customers had left, a few workers and some friends stayed behind, socializing and enjoying themselves a bit more. You lingered as well, chatting and catching up with some of the bar's staff. As you looked around, you spotted Ace in a corner, talking to a few of the other workers.

For a moment, you simply watched him. His laughter rang out warmly, his easygoing charisma drawing the group closer. You admired the way he carried himself, effortlessly connecting with those around him. Finally, gathering your thoughts, you stepped closer and called out to him.

“Hey, Ace,” you said.

Excusing himself from the group, he turned his full attention to you and approached, leaning casually against the wall beside you.

“Hey,” he greeted, his smile growing as he met your gaze. “What's up? Need something?”

You smiled back warmly. “My dad told me how much you've helped out here,” you replied, your voice filled with gratitude. “I just wanted to thank you for everything. I really appreciate it.”

Ace shrugged, brushing off your thanks. “It's no big deal,” he responded. “I was just lending a hand. Besides, it’s nice to keep busy.”

You exhaled softly, your expression tinged with worry. “Honestly, I was a little concerned about how things would go here while I was in the city,” you admitted, guilt creeping into your voice. “I felt bad leaving for so long.”

“Hey, don't worry about it,” he comforted you. “We managed just fine while you were gone. And besides, it’s not like you were slacking off or something. You were working hard and doing your thing.”

You couldn’t help but beam at his reassurance, a small weight lifting off your shoulders. “Yeah, I know. But still… I couldn’t stop myself from worrying about this place and everyone here.”

“You worry too much,” he said, his fond smile making it hard not to feel at ease. “This place is in good hands. We're all doing fine—you don’t need to stress yourself out so much.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” you admitted, exhaling as some tension left your body.

Ace leaned casually against the wall beside you, his posture relaxed, but his eyes sparkled with curiosity. “So, how’s city life treating you?”

You chuckled softly, rolling your eyes at his teasing. “Oh, you know, it’s the city,” you replied with an exaggerated shrug. “Hectic, busy, chaotic—exactly what you’d imagine.”

Ace grinned, a flicker of nostalgia crossing his face as he tilted his head slightly. “You always used to complain about how overwhelming the city was when we were younger,” he said, his voice warm and thoughtful. “So, what is it now? Have you grown to like it, or do you still prefer the quiet life?”

His words surprised you, and for a moment, you just stared at him. The fact that he remembered such a small detail about you from years ago struck a chord. “I’m impressed you remembered that,” you answered. “I didn’t think you paid much attention to me back then.”

Ace shrugged, a lopsided smile tugging at his lips. “Of course I did. I might’ve been a bit of a handful, sure, but I wasn’t blind to everything around me.”

His words left you smiling, warmth blooming in your chest. It was such a simple thing, but the thought that he’d noticed and remembered something about you felt deeply touching.

You decided to steer the conversation back to safer ground. “I wouldn’t say I love the chaos,” you admitted, shaking your head slightly. “But I’ve gotten used to it, I guess. I can handle the hustle and bustle a bit better now...”

“So, you've learned to adapt to the city life, huh? I must say, I'm a little disappointed. You always seemed like more of a small-town type of girl.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment or insult?”

“Take it however you like,” he said with a carefree shrug. “I’m just surprised the city hasn’t driven you completely crazy yet.”

You hesitated for a moment, considering whether you should reveal how difficult the city life had been for you. The urge to tell him the truth was there, but a part of you was reluctant, unsure if you wanted to open up about the struggles you’d been facing. You glanced at him, uncertain if you should share your truth.

After a few moments of internal debate, you decided to take the leap. “Actually,” you began, your voice quieter than usual. “If I’m being totally honest, it kind of has driven me crazy. Living there by myself has been… harder than I thought.”

Ace’s expression softened when he heard the vulnerability in your voice. There was surprise in his eyes, but also understanding. He tilted his head slightly, listening more intently now.

“It’s just…” you continued, your voice faltering a little as you spoke. “Living alone, everything feels so chaotic, so overwhelming. I’ve been struggling to adapt, to keep it together on my own. Maybe I’m not cut out for this kind of life.”

You let out a small, bitter laugh, shaking your head at yourself. “It’s ironic,” you said, your words carrying a sense of regret. “I used to dream of escaping this small town, to see something more, to do something different. But now that I’m living in the city, I find myself missing the simplicity and comfort of this place more than ever.”

Ace opened his mouth to respond but paused when you glanced at him, waiting. He thought for a moment, then ran a hand through his hair, his eyes thoughtful. “I get that,” he said, his tone more serious now. “I’ve felt that way a lot during my travels.”

“I missed the familiarity,” he continued, his voice softening. “The comfort of being somewhere you know, with people you care about. That’s partly why I came back.”

You looked at him, your eyes slightly widened. Hearing that he could relate to your struggle made you feel a little less isolated. “Really?” you asked, not even hiding surprise in your tone.  “You actually missed this place, even while you were out there seeing all sorts of different places?”

“Yeah, I did,” he nodded. “There were moments when I was far away, when the road stretched on and on, that I found myself missing this small town. The people, the way everything felt familiar… After a while, the constant moving, the not having a place to call my own, it started to wear me down, I guess.”

Your heart softened at his words, and you found yourself relating more than you expected. You had always seen Ace as someone who thrived on adventure, always moving, never tied down. Hearing him say that even he missed the comfort of stability gave you a strange sense of connection. 

“So, that’s why you came back?” 

Ace’s smile widened slightly at your question, and he gave a casual shrug, though there was something deeper behind it. “Partly,” he replied, his voice carrying a thoughtful tone. He paused for a moment, as if weighing something.

“Partly?” you pressed, your tone a little more insistent, urging him to share more. “What was the other reason?”

Just as Ace opened his mouth to respond, the sound of Whitebeard’s booming voice echoed through the bar, cutting your conversation short. “It’s getting late,” Whitebeard announced, his voice carrying authority. “Time to close up and head out.”

You and Ace exchanged a look, the moment slipping away too quickly. You both knew there wasn’t enough time to continue your conversation now. You let out a small sigh, your curiosity still swirling inside you, left unsatisfied. There was something in Ace’s eyes, something he hadn’t shared yet, and you found yourself wondering if you’d ever get to hear it.

You wiped the last of the spilled beer from the counter with a rag, your eyes scanning the empty bar. The clinking of glassware and the muted hum of the old jukebox had faded into silence, signaling the end of another long night. You'd been home for a few days now, back in the sleepy town where you’d grown up, and the quiet had started to finally feel familiar.

You sighed as you stood up from the counter, glancing at the clock. The bar’s last patrons had left hours ago, and it was finally time to close. Just as you moved toward the back to grab the cleaning supplies, the door swung open again, the sound of the bell jingling.

“Hey. You still here?” Ace’s voice called out, playful as ever.

You turned and saw him standing in the doorway, his jacket slung over one shoulder, the familiar grin on his face. You couldn’t suppress a smile. Ace D. Portgas. The same as ever. He'd always had a way of showing up at just the right time, or maybe it was more like the wrong time, depending on how you looked at it.

“Of course I’m still here,” you replied, setting the rag down. “You don’t think I intended to leave without cleaning up, do you?”

Ace chuckled, walking into the bar like it was his second home—because, in a way, it kind of was. Whitebeard saw Ace as part of the family, after all, and he reminded you about that far too much, hinting how much he would love for it to be official.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’ve got your work ethic and all that, but c'mon, take a break. You’ve been at this all night.”

You shook your head, laughing. “I’m fine. You know how it is, Ace. People come in, they want to drink, and we keep it running. Besides, someone has to make sure Dad doesn’t overdo it on his own.”

“You know, it’s not your job to babysit him.”

You shrugged, leaning against the bar yourself. “Someone has to.”

Ace just rolled his eyes and started to help out. You were still surprised why he showed up here now, but you weren't to question him, especially when he was helping you out. 

“You seen the festival yet?” Ace asked you suddenly.

“Festival?”

“The Winter Starlight Festival,” he clarified. “It’s a big deal around here. You must remember that.”

You raised an eyebrow, leaning on the counter again. “No, I haven’t. I’ve been… busy with, you know, running the bar and getting back into the swing of things. I’m sure it’s the same old thing.”

Ace’s grin widened. “No way. You have to see it. It’s part of the charm. You grew up here, you can’t skip it now that you’re back.”

You rolled your eyes playfully. “I wasn’t exactly planning on reliving my childhood.”

But Ace wasn’t deterred. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the counter, and looked at you with that mischievous gleam in his eye. “Well, too bad. You’re coming with me tomorrow night, no excuses. I’ll drag you if I have to.”

You hesitated for a moment, then sighed, your smile softening. “Fine. But only because you’re not going to let me hear the end of it if I don’t.”

Ace straightened up, looking pleased with himself. “I knew you’d come around. It’s going to be great. You’ll see.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re relentless, you know that?”

“And you love it,” he shot back, his grin widening.

You rolled your eyes again, but there was warmth in your chest you hadn’t expected. Maybe, just maybe, you could use a little more of the charm this town had to offer—and a little less of the city hustle that still clung to you.

When you went to the festival, the night came alive with the vibrant hum of the winter festivities. Lanterns were strung across the town square, casting a warm, golden glow over the snow-dusted ground.

You pulled your scarf tighter against the sharp winter chill, glancing at Ace beside you. His grin was as bright as the lights surrounding them, his cheeks flushed pink from the cold—or maybe from the excitement. He was holding two steaming cups of hot wine, one of which he handed to you.

“Here, this’ll warm you up,” he said with a wink.

You took a sip, sighing at the way the spiced drink thawed your insides. “I almost forgot how charming this festival is.”

“Almost?” Ace raised an eyebrow, mock-offended. “Come on, this is the highlight of the year!”

You laughed, bumping your shoulder against his. “Maybe. What’s next, the snowball fight tournament?”

Ace smirked, shaking his head. “You wish. I signed us up for the partner’s sled race.”

Your eyes widened. “You what?”

Before you could protest, the announcer’s voice boomed over the speakers, calling for participants to gather at the starting line. Ace grabbed your free hand, tugging you toward the race area.

“Oh, come on,” he said, his voice laced with mischief. “You’re not afraid of a little friendly competition, are you?”

The sleds were lined up at the top of a hill, each designed for two people. You groaned when you saw the steep slope and the sharp twists in the track.

“This was your idea of fun?” you asked, glaring at Ace. He only grinned wider.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got the steering, and you’ve got… uh… balance.”

“That doesn’t sound like an equal division of labor!”

“Relax,” Ace said, climbing into the sled and patting the space behind him. “I promise I won’t get us killed.”

Grumbling under your breath, you settled behind him, wrapping your arms around his waist. “You’d better not.”

When the whistle blew, the sleds shot forward down the hill, the crisp wind biting at your face. Your initial scream of protest quickly turned into laughter as Ace expertly navigated the twists and turns, leaning into each curve with practiced ease. You gripped him tighter when they hit a jump, the sled briefly airborne before landing smoothly.

By the time you crossed the finish line, you were both breathless, laughing, and covered in snowflakes that clung to your hair and clothes. You didn’t win, but it hardly seemed to matter.

“See?” Ace said, his eyes sparkling. “Told you it’d be fun.”

You shook your head, your cheeks aching from smiling so much. “You’re impossible.”

“Yeah, but you’re stuck with me for the rest of the festival,” he replied, offering you his hand to help you up.

As the evening wore on, you both wandered between the booths, sampling festival treats and watching the performers. But it wasn’t just the music or the festivities that kept you there. You couldn’t help but feel a warmth in your chest that had nothing to do with the amount of hot beverages you’d consumed.

You were starting to realize that the small, quiet moments with Ace—no matter how absurd—were the best part of being home.

The next day, you dedicated your time to transforming the bar into a Christmas spectacle. You adorned the space with festive decorations, creating a cozy and merry atmosphere. Garlands and tinsel hung from every available surface, while Christmas trinkets and baubles were strategically placed around the bar.

You were standing on a stool, tying a garland around one of the bar's rafters, when you heard the door creak open. You turned to see Ace walking into the bar.

“Hey, Ace,” you greeted him, a small smile on your face. “Just the person I wanted to see. Would you mind giving me a hand with something?”

Ace raised an eyebrow at your request, a hint of curiosity and amusement in his eyes as he took in the sight of you balancing on the stool with the garland in hand. “Oh?” he said, walking closer to you. “What do you need me to do?”

You chuckled at his response, lowering the garland from the rafter. “I need help with these garlands,” you said, gesturing toward the rest of the undecorated areas of the bar. “They're a bit too high for me to reach. Could you hang them for me?”

Ace looked at the remaining garlands and the high areas of the bar, a cocky grin appearing on his face. “Sure thing,” he said with a smirk. “Step aside, I got this.”

You stepped down from the stool, watching as Ace confidently climbed. You couldn’t help but chuckle at his overconfidence. You handed him the garlands and stepped back to watch and guide him if needed.

Ace took the garlands from you, and he hung them with ease, his eyes darting around the bar to ensure everything was perfectly placed. You watched him, a small, impressed smile playing on your lips. You had to admit, Ace was surprisingly good at this unexpected task, and he seemed to be enjoying himself a bit too much.

Ace finished hanging the last of the garlands and stepped down from the stool, a satisfied smile on his face. “There you go,” he said, a hint of pride in his voice. “Perfect placement, if I do say so myself.”

You chuckled at his pride and rolled your eyes playfully. “Yes, you did a great job,” you admitted, a hint of sarcasm in your voice. “You're such a natural at Christmas decorating.”

“What can I say? I'm a man of many talents,”

You folded your arms and looked at him. “Speaking of which,” you said, your tone slightly coy, “do you think you could help me get a Christmas tree for the bar?”

Ace raised an eyebrow, pretending to think for a moment. “A Christmas tree, huh?” he replied, a sly smile spreading across his face. “I suppose I could spare some time to help you with that.”

“Oh, thank you,” you spoke, your voice sincere. “I've been struggling to figure out how to get one all by myself. It's a bit challenging to transport a Christmas tree by myself. And I didn't want to trouble Dad.”

 “I can imagine. Don’t mention it. I’ll help you get the tree. I was thinking of getting one here anyway.”

“Great,” you said, a hint of excitement in your voice. “I really appreciate your help.”

“No problem. I can't have you struggling with Christmas decorating all by yourself. Besides, it'll be fun.”

You smiled at his easygoing attitude, once again noticing how willing he always was to help. “Fun, huh?” you said with a slightly sarcastic tone. “I'm sure hauling a Christmas tree to the bar will be a blast.”

Ace chuckled, his smirk widening. “Hey, any activity can be fun with the right company,” he said, his eyes meeting yours briefly.

You felt a slight flutter in your chest at his words, but quickly pushed it aside.  “Oh, so I'm the right company, huh?” you teased.

Ace shrugged. “Of course,” he said nonchalantly. “Who else would I prefer to spend my time with on a Christmas tree-picking adventure?”

You couldn’t resist a small jab. “One of your fangirls, maybe?”

Ace shook his head, the smirk on his face unwavering. “Nah,” he said, his tone casual. “They're too clingy. I prefer you and your sarcastic remarks.”

A hint of satisfaction and something resembling flattery crept up on you, but you quickly regained your composure. “Better not tell them that.”

 “Don’t worry,” he chuckled. “I don’t need them getting jealous over our little Christmas tree-picking adventure.”

“Oh, I'm sure they would be devastated,”

Ace laughed and pushed himself off the wall. “Let’s go find ourselves a tree.”

As you both turned to head out, you caught a glimpse of the clock hanging on the wall of the bar. It was earlier than you initially thought, and a look of realization crossed your face. You paused for a moment and looked back at him.

“Wait a minute,” you said, furrowing your brow slightly. “Why did you come here so early?”

Ace, already heading towards the door, stopped in his tracks and turned back to you. He raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. “What do you mean?” he asked, feigning innocence.

You stood there, arms crossed, a skeptical look on your face. “I mean,” you continued, your tone slightly amused. “It’s a lot earlier than you should come in.”

He scratched the back of his head and shrugged casually. “Yeah, I guess I did come in a bit earlier today,” he admitted, trying to maintain his nonchalance.

“Why is that?” you asked, a small, puzzled smile on your face. “What brings you here so early today?”

Ace scratched the back of his head again, his casual demeanor faltering slightly. He looked a little awkward and admitted, “Well, actually, Pops may have mentioned that you were coming in early to decorate the bar. So, I thought I'd pop in and see if you needed any help.”

You were taken aback by his sudden shyness, a rare sight from the usually confident Ace. “Ah, I see,” you said, a soft smile spreading across your face. “So, you came in to offer your assistance, huh?”

 “Yeah, figured I might as well lend a hand if you need it.”

You sensed his slight discomfort and decided to ease the tension. “Well, I did use a hand,” you said, your tone lighthearted. “Especially since you were so good at hanging garlands.”

“Yeah, I do have a talent for decorating.”

“Sure, sure,” you teased. “Now, come on, let’s get that tree, and we’ll see later if you can decorate one as well.”

“Oh, you doubt my tree-decorating abilities? Challenge accepted.”

“Just don’t disappoint me.”

As you walked toward the door, you didn’t notice how Ace mumbled quietly behind you. “I'd never want to disappoint you…”

His voice was soft, barely audible, but he had said it regardless.

Unaware of his whispered words, you continued walking to the door, your mind focused on the upcoming tree-picking adventure. Little did you know the impact of those soft-spoken words that had escaped Ace’s mouth.

After a small drive in Ace's pickup truck, you and Ace reached the tree-hunting spot. The area was filled with rows of Christmas trees of various sizes and species. The smell of pine filled the air, and the trees swayed gently in the cool winter breeze.

You glanced around at the vast array of trees, a touch of awe on your face. “Wow,” you said, a hint of excitement in your voice. “There are so many to choose from!”

Ace stood next to you, his hands in his pockets, scanning the trees with a critical eye. “Yeah, there's quite a selection here.”

You nodded, your eyes darting from tree to tree. “Right,” you agreed, a determined expression on your face. “We need to find one that's just the right size and shape for the bar.”

He chuckled a bit at your determined expression, finding it somewhat endearing. “Don't worry,” he said, a note of amusement in his voice. “I'm sure you will find the perfect one.”

You shot him a quick glare, your determination unwavering. “Oh, I will,” you said, your tone slightly sassy. “I won't settle for anything less than perfection.”

As you surveyed the trees with keen focus, you didn’t notice the subtle shift in Ace’s expression. Your remark about not settling for anything less than perfection seemed to hit him in a way you hadn’t anticipated. His jaw tightened, and for a brief moment, his usual carefree demeanor evaporated.

“Hey, what do you think of this one?” you asked, turning to him and gesturing to a tall, full tree.

Ace blinked, shaking off his thoughts as he glanced at the tree you pointed out. He forced a casual tone. “Looks pretty good,” he said, his voice returning to its usual easygoing cadence. “Should make a nice centerpiece for the bar.”

You studied the tree, your eyes dancing over its lush branches, a pleased smile curling on your lips. “Yeah, I think you're right,” you agreed. “It has the perfect shape and size, plus it's really full and lush. Let’s go get it!”

“Alright then,” he said with a smirk. “Lead the way, Christmas tree connoisseur.”

You shot him a playful glare. “Hey, I just know what I want,” you defended with a small smile. “You haven’t even tried to help me pick a tree.”

“Well, you seemed to have it all under control,” he teased. “I didn’t want to interrupt your quest for perfection.”

The bitter edge that had briefly crept into his voice when he mentioned your search for perfection didn’t go unnoticed by you. You shot him a questioning glance, but before you could ask, the salesman, a jovial middle-aged man, approached with a friendly greeting.

“Are you both here to pick a Christmas tree today?”

You smiled politely at him, momentarily distracted from the conversation. “Yes, we are,” you replied. “We’d like to get this one here.”

The salesman examined the tree you had chosen, nodding approvingly. “Excellent choice,” he said with a grin. “This one will look lovely in your home.”

You opened your mouth to correct him, but before you could speak, Ace quickly interjected with a smirk.

“Yep, she’s got a good eye for these things,” he said, his voice still laced with mockery. “She won’t settle for less than perfection.”

The salesman chuckled, clearly interpreting the playful banter as a sign of affection. “Well, it seems you’ve got yourself a determined partner,” he remarked, nodding at the tree.

You shot Ace a pointed glare, clearly unimpressed by his teasing or the salesman's assumption. But before you could respond, the salesman continued, “Shall I bring it over to checkout for you?”

“Yeah, that would be great,” Ace said, his voice casual.

The salesman nodded and walked off to get a tree and arrange the payment. You stood for a moment, your gaze still locked on Ace, not hiding the irritation in your eyes.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart? You look a bit irritated.”

“I’m not irritated,” you huffed, your tone sharp. “I just don’t appreciate your mockery, that’s all.”

“Oh, come on, I was just teasing,” he said lightly. “Can’t a guy have a little fun?”

You rolled your eyes. “I just don’t understand why you got so hung up on my comment about wanting perfection,”

As soon as the words left your lips, Ace’s playful smirk faltered. His expression hardened, his jaw setting. “Let’s just pay for the tree,” he muttered, his voice more serious.

Without another word, Ace turned and walked toward the salesman, leaving you standing there, your confusion mounting. What had just happened? Your comment about perfection had clearly struck a nerve, but why?

Shaking your head, you let out a quiet sigh and followed him to the salesman. “All set to pay for this beauty?” the man asked.

“Yes, we’re ready,” Ace replied politely, though his voice was a little distant.

You waited silently beside him, your curiosity about Ace’s reaction still nagging at you. You glanced at him briefly, noting how his jaw remained tense, but you said nothing. Not here, not now.

The payment and arrangements for the tree felt like a blur to you. Your mind kept drifting back to that moment—Ace's abrupt shift in mood, his strange reaction to your words about perfection. You couldn’t shake the feeling that something deeper was going on, but for now, the Christmas tree was the priority.

“Ugh, can you shift it a bit to the left?” Ace grumbled, his patience wearing thin.

“I'm trying!” you retorted, your voice matching his frustrated tone. “It's not exactly easy when you're stuck holding all the branches.”

“Well, maybe if you had chosen a slightly smaller tree, we wouldn't be struggling like this,” he fired back.

“Oh, like you were any help with choosing,” you shot back, your eyes narrowing. “You just stood there making weird comments.”

“I-”

He was about to spit out a retort, but before he could, you both heard a booming voice come from behind you, “What's all this noise about?”

Turning around, you saw the large figure of your dad approaching, a curious expression on his face.

“Uh, we, um,” you started, suddenly feeling a bit sheepish at being caught bickering. “We're just trying to bring the tree in.”

Whitebeard eyed the large tree you were struggling with and chuckled heartily. “Quite a big one you've got there.” 

Ace shifted his grip on the tree, a hint of embarrassment on his face. “Yeah, it was the only one that fit her standards,” he said, casting a quick glare your way.

You shot him a withering glance in return, not appreciating his comment. Whitebeard let out another hearty chuckle, amused by your banter. “I see,” he said, crossing his arms. “Well, let me give you both a hand, then.”

Both you and Ace accepted the help gratefully, and with his assistance, you finally managed to maneuver the tree through the doorway and into the bar’s main room. Exhausted, you leaned against the bar, taking a moment to catch your breath.

Whitebeard looked over the tree and gave an approving nod. “Not bad, not bad at all,” he said, a satisfied smile on his face. “It’ll make for quite the centerpiece for the bar.”

You nodded in agreement, your earlier irritation with Ace momentarily forgotten. “Yeah, it looks perfect,” you expressed, a slight sense of accomplishment in your voice.

“Looks like you two make a pretty good team, even with the bickering,” he teased, which earned him a small mock-glare from both of you.

 “We manage, don’t we?” Ace said, glancing at you with a small smirk.

You rolled your eyes, but a hint of a smile tugged at the corner of your mouth. “Yes, we do.”

Whitebeard watched the exchange between you two with a knowing smile, not missing the slight tension in the air. Deciding it was time to leave you both be, he patted you both on the backs.

“Well, best leave you both to it then,” he said, a hint of mischief in his voice. “I'm sure you've got plenty of decorating ahead of you.”

You both nodded and thanked him for his help, watching as he made his way back toward the back.

“I've got it from here,” you said the moment your dad left you two alone. “You don't have to stay for the decorating part.”

Ace, who had been leaning against the bar, looked a bit surprised at your statement. “No way! I'm helping.”

You were taken aback by his insistence to help, surprised that he was still willing after the previous bickering. But a small, relieved smile tugged at the corners of your mouth. “Really? You want to help with decorating?”

Ace pushed himself off the bar and straightened, a smirk on his face. “Of course. Can't let you hog all the fun, can I?”

You chuckled, a feeling of gratitude fluttering in your chest. “Alright then, if you insist,” you said, your tone softer now. “I'm not going to turn down the help.”

Ace chuckled lightly and began rolling up his sleeves. “Let's get started then.”

You nodded and dug through the decorations you had left there earlier, pulling out string lights, tinsel, and various ornaments. Together, you started decorating the tree, hanging the lights, and placing baubles carefully on the branches.

Ace teased you lightly as you worked, making fun of your attention to detail and your need to have everything just so. You rolled your eyes at his comments, but a small smile lingered on your face as you adorned the tree.

Surprisingly, you worked together well, bantering back and forth as you decorated. The tree slowly took shape, lights twinkling and baubles glittering under the glow of the bar's lights. As you stepped back to admire the progress, Ace let out a low whistle.

“Looks like all of your perfectionism wasn’t for nothing,” he said, a hint of teasing in his tone. “This tree looks quite impressive, I must admit.”

You laughed and nudged him lightly, a genuine smile on your face. “I told you I knew what I was doing.”

You stopped and looked up at the tree, observing the nearly finished work. “There's only one thing missing,” You turned to Ace, holding up a small star for a tree topper. “Can you grab a chair and place this on top?”

“No need for a chair,” he answered confidently, and before you could respond, he stepped forward and easily picked you up in his arms.

You let out a surprised gasp, your eyes widening as you found yourself being lifted into the air. “Hey, what are you doing?! Put me down!” you protested, even as a small giggle escaped your lips.

 “Don't worry, I've got you,” he assured you, walking closer to the tree. “And I'm not putting you down until this star is properly placed on the tree.”

You grumbled lightly, but your complaints were half-hearted, and you secretly enjoyed the sensation of him carrying you. You reached the tree, and he held you up next to the topmost branch.

“Ready?”

With a bit of a flourish, he lifted you higher, steadying you against the tree trunk. You placed the star at the very top, and he lowered you back down to the ground. A triumphant smile spread across his face as he looked up at the fully decorated tree.

“See? We made it just fine without the chair.”

“Show off.”

As you both looked at each other, you suddenly became aware of your proximity. Your bodies stood mere inches apart, his hands still resting on your waist. The realization sent a small flutter, but neither of you made a move to step away.

Your breath hitched slightly as your eyes met, and you could feel the solid warmth of his hands through the material of your shirt. You swallowed, your heart thudding in your chest. But rather than stepping back, you remained where you were, strangely aware of every point of contact between you.

Your gaze dropped to his hands on your waist, his long fingers splayed against your sides, and you swallowed again before looking at his face once more. His own eyes flicked down to your mouth, and your lips parted slightly in your shared surprise.

All the playful banter of earlier was gone, and now the silence between you was broken only by the sound of your breaths, mingling together in the small space between you.  Then, as if by some unspoken cue, you both leaned in towards each other simultaneously. 

Your lips were just a breath apart, and just when you thought you would feel his lips on yours, the bar door opened loudly, punctuated with the sound of the bell above it. 

You snapped apart abruptly, both jumping back as if waking up from a dream. The cold air was a cruel blow against your heated skin, and the reality of the situation dawned on you. The spell was broken, and you were left standing there, awkwardly apart and aware of how close you'd come to kissing one another.

You both turned to see who had entered the bar, finding several familiar faces of Whitebeard's friends. A few of them raised eyebrows in surprise at the sudden distance between you two; one of them—Marco—even winked knowingly, but no one mentioned anything out loud. They all came in, chattering away, but neither of you could fully focus on the conversation. Your thoughts were still stuck on that interrupted moment, the memory of how close you'd come to crossing a line burning in your mind.

Soon after, your father joined you, and surveyed the room, his face lit up with approval. “Well, well, what do we have here?” he boomed, making his way over to where you stood. “Looks like you two have been productive.”

A surge of panic bubbled up inside you as you scrambled for something to say, your mind racing through possible responses. What would Ace say? What could you say to brush past this? 

But before your thoughts could spiral out of control, Whitebeard mercifully continued:

“The tree looks splendid. You've done a fine job indeed.” 

You both turned to your dad, doing your best to appear composed, though your racing hearts betrayed you. “Thanks,” you managed, your voice wavering just slightly. “We, uh, got it all done.”

“Yeah,” Ace added, “um, we did.” 

You grimaced internally about how awkward both of you sounded, wondering if your father would figure something out or, worse, comment on it. 

Whitebeard’s sharp eyes flicked between the two of you, a knowing glint in his gaze. A sly smile tugged at the corners of his lips, but he chose not to address it. Instead, he gave you both hearty pats on the back that nearly knocked the breath out of you. “Good work,” he said warmly. “I’m proud of you both.”

You cracked a brief smile in return, though the charged energy from earlier still coursed through you. The memory of how close you had been persisted like a flame refusing to burn out. 

Soon, Whitebeard launched into a conversation about the holiday season and the upcoming celebrations. You nodded along, replying where needed, your words measured and careful. But no matter how hard you tried to focus, your thoughts kept drifting back to Ace. Each time your eyes accidentally met his, a flicker of shared awareness passed between you before you both quickly looked away.

The almost-kiss had changed something—a crackling tension that neither of you knew how to address. You continued interacting with others, keeping with a casual conversation. Yet, beneath it all, your pulse quickened with every stolen glance, the unspoken moment between you refusing to be forgotten.

It was just a few days after the near-kiss accident, and the bar was quieter than usual. The holidays were fast approaching, and you had spent most of the day restocking and preparing for the annual Christmas party Whitebeard hosted at the bar. Yet, your mind kept drifting back to that one moment—the one you couldn’t quite shake.

You could still feel the warmth of his breath as he leaned in just a little too close, the way your heart had skipped in your chest when he looked at you like that. It had felt like the perfect moment… You’d nearly kissed him, but you didn’t. Neither of you had. And neither of you had said a word about it since. It was as though it hadn’t happened at all, like the moment had been a figment of your imagination.

You pretended it didn’t happen, and both of you went back to your routine, working side by side in Whitebeard’s bar, the tension between you buried beneath the normalcy of your lives.

You were just about to step into the back to grab some more supplies when your phone buzzed on the counter. You glanced at the screen. It was a number from work—a colleague from the city you hadn’t spoken to in weeks.

“Hey,” you answered, walking into the back room. "How’s city life? Anything changed?"

His cheerful voice filled the line as you absently scanned the shelves, picking out a few items you’d need later.

“Yeah, it’s been a while! How’ve you been?” You picked up a few things, putting them together for easier access later. “Oh, no, I haven’t had the chance to—wait, what? You want to go on a date?” You paused your action, surprised by his question. 

“I’m flattered, really. But no. I’m not—no, it’s not that. I’m just not interested like that.”

You finished your conversation quickly, grabbed the items you wanted, and headed back to the main room, slipping behind the bar. Ace was there, wiping down the counter with a level of intensity that felt... off. You turned to ask him a question, but the tension radiating from him stopped you. His jaw was set, and the cloth in his hand moved aggressively over the same spot. 

“Hey, everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” he muttered, clearly trying to avoid eye contact.

You furrowed your brow. “You sure? You’re acting kinda weird.”

Ace let out a short, humorless laugh. “Weird, huh? Like you care?”

That was not the answer you expected. “Come on, what’s up, Ace? You’ve got that look in your eye.”

He stared at you, his eyes narrowing. “That look in my eye?”

“Yeah” you said, crossing your arms and leaning slightly against the bar. "That look. The ‘I’m-a-little-annoyed-but-I-don’t-want-to-tell-you’ look.”

Ace didn’t respond right away, instead shifting his gaze to the empty glasses in front of him. After a long beat, he looked up at you, a bitter edge in his voice. “You know that guy from the city must be perfect for you. He asked you out, didn’t he?”

“Well, yeah… but—”

He cut you off before you could finish. “You’re the city girl, the one with the perfect job, the perfect life. And then there’s me… I’m not that. I have nothing to offer. You wouldn’t want a guy like me. You can’t settle for less than perfect. I was so stupid to believe otherwise.”

Without another word, Ace turned on his heel and stormed out of the bar, the door closing with a sharp bang.

“Hey, kid. You look like you’ve got something heavy on your mind.”

You looked up, surprised to see the concern etched into your father’s weathered face.  You hesitated, fiddling with the rag in your hands before sighing. “It’s nothing, Dad. Just the usual holiday stress.”

The bar was alive with the soft glow of Christmas lights; the smell of spiced cider filled the air, and cheerful decorations hung in every corner. But something was missing. Or more like someone.

Ace was nowhere to be found.

He hadn’t come back, and no matter how much you told yourself it didn’t matter, the truth was unavoidable. The empty space where he should have been felt cruelly obvious, hitting you with an ache that settled in your chest.

Was it too late to fix this?

Your dad's gaze stayed fixed on you, his eyes sharp and perceptive despite the softness of his tone. “Don’t give me that. I know when something’s bothering you.”

You bit your lip, your fingers brushing against the counter as if grounding yourself. “It’s Ace.”

Your father didn’t press for details. He didn’t need to—he already knew. “Ace, huh?” he said with a knowing chuckle. “You two have always had a funny way of dancing around things, but I can tell something’s different now.”

Your shoulders slumped, and you let your gaze drift to the empty stool where Ace usually perched, cracking jokes or lending a hand. “He… said some things. Things that I don’t know how to process… And then he left… And now, I don’t know what to do about it.”

Whitebeard leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms with a thoughtful nod. “Listen, kid. I know you’ve been through a lot in the city. You’ve always carried the weight of everything on your shoulders, always thinking about everyone else first—even your old man. But what about you? What about what you want?”

“Dad, I don’t know what I want. I—”

“You do,” he interrupted gently. “You’ve always known. You’re just scared of admitting it. You’ve always been afraid of choosing the wrong thing, of making the wrong choice, but sometimes—sometimes the right choice is the one that makes you the happiest, not the one that’s safe or easy. And I can see it, kid. Ace is important to you. He’s always been, even when you didn’t want to see it.”

You took a deep breath, your resolve solidifying as you straightened. “Thanks, Dad. I think I know what I need to do.”

His hand landed on your shoulder, heavy and reassuring, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Go get him. I’ll hold down the fort here. And you both better show up for the Christmas party. Happy and disgustingly in love.”

Grabbing your coat, you slipped out of the bar, heading for the small apartment where you knew Ace stayed when he wasn’t on the move. You knocked first, but there was no answer. So, you pushed the door open—just a crack.

“Ace?” you called, stepping inside.

The apartment was lit only in a soft, dim light, the only source a string of flickering Christmas lights wrapped around a tiny tree in the corner.

At first, you didn’t see him, but then your eyes found him—sitting by the window, his back to you, staring out into the snowy night. He didn’t even acknowledge your presence at first.

You swallowed, feeling the familiar flutter of nerves crawling up your spine, but you knew this was something that couldn’t be left unsaid. Not anymore.

“Ace,” you said again, stepping closer. “We need to talk.”

He didn’t move, but his voice—low and heavy with exhaustion—came out before you could continue. “Thought you might show up.” His tone wasn’t angry anymore. It was just… resigned.

“You should’ve waited until the end of that phone conversation. Or at least hear me out later.”

That finally caught his attention. He turned his head slowly, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes. “What do you mean?”

But instead of answering him, you asked, “When we talked the first day, you said that missing familiarity was partly the reason for you to come back. What was the other reason?”

Silence.

“Ace,” you pressed gently.

“You,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “I missed you, and I was hoping you would come back too.”

“Then why didn’t you just call or text—”

“When I got here, your dad kept talking about how good you felt in the city, and I knew there were better guys there for you than me. And I was right…”

You exhaled, the weight of his words pressing against your chest, but you forced your body to relax. You stepped back, crossing your arms, your heart beating faster. “I turned him down. The guy? I turned him down. I’m not interested in going back to the city with him. I don’t want that.”

Your heart beat a little faster as you met his gaze. You didn't plan on saying this, not like this. But now that the words were coming, you couldn’t stop them.

“Don’t you get it? I don’t want perfect, Ace. I have no idea why you ingrained that thought in your brain. I don’t want someone who has it all figured out. I want something that feels real, something that feels safe and comfortable. Something I can count on.”

Ace’s eyes flickered with confusion, but you could see the shift, the moment the words started to sink in. You took a deep breath, steeling yourself for the final part.

“And what I want…” Your voice softened. “What I want is you.”

“You want me?” His voice was barely above a whisper, but it was full of disbelief.

“Yeah.”

Before he could say anything else, you stepped forward, closing the space between you in an instant. Your hands found their place at the back of his neck, pulling him into you as you kissed him—soft, slow, but certain. This time, there was no hesitation.

And at that moment, you realized you didn’t need anything else. You weren’t looking for perfect. You were looking for this—this moment, this connection, this person who had always been there, waiting for you to see what was right in front of you.

[mehiwilldoitlater]

No pressure but really liked the yandere macaque so what if reader was found by some miracle by DO or by someone else and had escaped the mountain what could Macaque do then🤨

You thought that after the torture, the Kills, and the so many bodies, you would finally get used to the violence, that in the end you had at least enough stomach to not throw up. Instead, while he was holding the severed head of another monkey, with his annoyed face that seemed like the one of a parent that is scolding his child, you had to put your hands on your mouth to resist.

"So," he said, with a calmness that made you shiver, "should I know something about this young one?"

Your eyes Met those two orbs, now completely drained from their life. You averted that gaze, feeling your guts moving and contorting in your body. He stopped closer, moving that head to the left and right.

"He was roaming not far from her... saying something about searching for the Lost One... and about some message..."

You started to shiver uncontrollably; the knowledge struck you like thunder. He looked at you, sighing, reminiscing about how easy it was to see how ready you were.

"May I know something about it? ...Have you sent some message around?... Did you?" He kept that head high ,treating it more like something trivial, as a broken vase, not what was left of a living being. You tried to cower in the corner, trying to not look at it, to not smell the blood, or hear it dripping on the floor. You felt his grip on your stump, a bad habit that he had when he started to get angrier, harshly twisting you around, forcing you to stand closer to the head and to face him and your own actions.

"I'm talking to you! Answer me, did you or did you not send a message?!"

"YES! YES! I'M SORRY, PLEASE, I'M SORRY!"

You tried to cover yourself with your good arm, afraid of some kind of repercussion. Instead, he just sighed, and after a loud thump, the head that was thrown away, he gently guided you into his arms, caressing your shoulders, comforting you in that sorry state. You didn't dare to even lament yourself in your cry; you were too afraid to even make a sound.

"I know, Draling... I know you're sorry... I know you hate this thing... but I have to..."

His voice was sweet like honey and soft like a breeze, and everything seemed so wrong on your ears, and yet you kept listening to his words.

"I can't let them hurt you... and I can't let you leave... the more you try to run, the more I have to kill them; do you understand?"

He spoke as if he were talking with a child that had made a mistake or misbehaved. It was his trick, tripping and guilting you to make you believe that it was your own responsibility if he had killed every kind of monkey that had tried to rescue you or even crossed those mountains. You even started to believe those lies.

"That's why you must stop sending messages...stop trying to get away from me...understand?"

You nodded; your hiccups were stuck in your throat and made you jump here and there, or it was his hands that were roaming too far?

"You must feel so bad... Let me take care of you..."

And while he kissed your neck, you started to zoom away in your thoughts. It was easy that way.

///

Every time he left, you used those moments to find a way to escape. You thought that, if you were lucky enough, you would be able to get as far away from him, cover your tracks, and maybe be able to find some help.

Then you lost your arm, and then he started to bring dead people that had found your messages...

You stopped; those moments were made now for something else. You liked to stay in the grass, alone with your thoughts and the soft wind on your skin. You preferred to close your eyes.

It was easy like that, to imagine being so far away from that nightmare. And, like that, you could pretend to sleep, and, at his arrival, he would just take you back to your bed and leave you be.

You hated his kindness. It felt wrong, used to make you feel guilty about your resistance to his love. But even the idea of loving him was just wrong...

You didn't want to love him, but what if giving in was your only way to finally stop the pain?

Abandon yourself to him... Maybe it was easier that way...maybe it was the only way...

When you felt a pair of steps coming closer to you, a sigh escaped to your left. He had come back sooner than the others. Days, he must have found food quite easy this time...but...what was that?

You kept your eyes closed, and yet you wanted so badly to open them up. You felt a rush of adrenaline, like a calling. Your heart pounded in your chest...was that a panic attack?! No, no. It was different! You still could breathe correctly!

Was that another of his tricks?! No, it didn't seem like that...

And this feeling seemed familiar... When did you feel it before?

You decided to finally open up your eyes, and when you did, you felt like a warm wind had rushed towards you.

Instead of those black pitch eyes, you met a pair of brown and warm eyes; they seemed gentle and ready to start a fire at every second. His ragged clothes moved with the small breeze, showing the many signs of struggle that he just endured climbing the mountain, fighting the demons and monsters. A brown chocolate fur, a few scars and cuts here and there...

You met him before... the day that you realized that the Macaque had lied to you.

He had found you,After months from your first encounter, he had found you! The first time he saw you and the macaque, he knew something was wrong, especially since he had found out your role in this story.

He was searching for you even before actually meeting you, sensing your presence on these lands; the calling of his Destiny resonated with yours.

And then you had disappeared again... No, the macaque made you disappear, holding you away from whoever tried to rescue you. The many heads on pikes that he had encountered along the road were quite the message...

But now that he was there, in front of you, all of the fear and thoughts were gone. What really mattered was that he had found you at least.

He made one step ahead in your direction, and suddenly you awoke from that trance. The images of the many monkeys killed by your captor came like a cold wave. No, he wasn't supposed to be here! 

In one move, you rose up and started to walk away as fast as you could, trying to reach the house.

"WAIT!" His voice followed you like a prey; his bare feet resounded behind you, "Don't go! Please, I'm here for you!"

"Stay away!" You try to control your voice: "You can't stay here; go away!"

"I can't! I've been searching for you for so long! He had taken you away and—

"I know what he did! Now leave me be!"

"Stop! Look at me at least!"

He had reached you, and his hand tried to grasp yours to hold you and stop you, but he felt nothing.

In his fingers, he didn't feel your warmth or your flesh, only air and the fabric of your robe.

You felt his grasp only when the sudden pulling of your sleeve made the hand slip from your shoulder, revealing, still covered in bandages, the clean cut of your arm. The macaque had ripped it off from your body, and to save you from infections, he had to cut the damaged tissues and use a piece of red-hot iron to cauterize. And he was kind enough to let you sleep while he fixed the damage that you have done by denying your love for him.

"...what...what is..." His confusion met your look, and a river of ideas came when he saw those pitiful eyes. You tried to cover your mouth, feeling tears coming in your eyes, full of shock from the fact that he had seen what the macaque did to you. He let go of your sleeve, looking at your good arm holding your trembling body, and attempted to calm you down from what had happened. You didn't dare to look at him; you wanted just to hide in that house and never come out in fear of being seen again.

He didn't need to hear you; he was smart enough to know what he had seen and to understand that your reaction was connected to your injury. 

"Did he do this to you?"

A small movement in your shoulder was a clear response. 

He felt a fire in his chest, diacamping in his veins like a poison. His breath became heavier, and his hands squeezed to the point that the knuckles had turned white. He felt a growl trying to escape from his chest.

The macaque did this to you... He had hurt someone who had no fighting skills, and the monkey knew that he did it because you had done something that the macaque had disliked.

Maybe it was the connection with the Bián Huá, but even you were still now a total stranger; he felt a deep sense of hunger for what had just happened to you.

He was furious, and he felt shame for not being able to protect you. Now, he wanted nothing more than to crack open the head of that macaque.

But seeing you like that made him remember that he wasn't there for him. He took a big breath, trying to calm down a little...his face turned back to a gentle one.

"...I'm...Sorry... I wanted to meet for so long... Tell me how I can help you!"

"I don't need your help!" You were fighting with every being of yourself to speak without crumbling, "I need you to leave before he comes back!"

You wanted to believe that you were used to the pain and the fact that many had died because of you, but you were a terrible liar. You wanted to be strong enough, cold enough, maybe an insensible bastard, but no, you had to feel all of the guilt. And this connection between you and this monkey, you felt that if anything was going to happen to him, that would have been your breaking point.

But he... he knew that he would have never forgiven himself for leaving you behind.

"I can't just leave you like this!"

"Please," you begged now, "if he comes back and finds you, he'll... he'll kill you! I can't... I can't take it anymore... Please leave!"

So it was this? You feared that he couldn't handle the macaque?  In some way he should have felt his pride hurt, but in the way that you were saying that there was nothing of it.  All those monkeys killed on the road, all of them came for you, and he had made sure that you felt responsible...

"I'll leave," he said with some determination, "but you have to tell me this to my face! Tell me that you want to stay here, and I'll leave you alone! But just tell me NOW in my face!"

You thought that maybe, with enough time, you would be able to accept that fate. You really wanted to be strong enough to accept the pain, to indulge in his own fantasy, and to protect others from his sick love.

"...I don't want you to trust me... it's too early for that, but just know that I would protect you..."

But you know you weren't; you weren't strong enough to hold it together, to not crack in a spiral of madness. It was easy to succumb, but you didn't want that at the same time.

And there he was...After months, he came. After the fear and tears, he came. Despite the danger, he came.

He came for you. You could just accept everything; you just needed to tell what you needed...

But, with tearful eyes, you met his pleading gaze.

"...help....me..."

///

A whistle echoed around, a simple melody. Heard some time ago from you while he was walking towards your shared house. 

He was in a good mood. After that last problem from the other day, he had found fewer creatures roaming his mountain, meaning that his warnings were making their effects. He wanted to create a small heaven for you and him, and no one needed to find it. 

He had found some good pheasants ,fat enough to be roasted and being served as dinner! He Remembered the last time you had pheasants, it was the day that he had decided to finally stop starving you after your silent treatment. You were so cute with your check-all stuff up on food!

He started to humming happily, thinking about your feast when he stopped in his tracks, his heart perching around, his face now painted in a worried expression. One of the main reasons that he had chosed that mountain was that it was quiet, very quiet, and his warnings, still unmatched from everyone, could get a single cricket even from km apart.

His power didn't allow him to have eyes in the future like in the past, but he was still capable of hearing from a great distance, listening to conversations from houses apart, hearing the songs of the phoenixes in the skies, and hearing the cries of dragons. He had learned that what had led him to calm in his stressful nights was your heartbeat, a rhythm that reminded you that you were there and alive.

That rhythm now was absent.

Leaving the pheasants behind in his rush, he started to march upon the mountain towards the house that he had always made sure was harmless for your own good.

No, no, you couldn't possibly be that broken already. Yeah, he had always been harsh, maybe a little too rough with you, and took drastic measures when needed, but he wanted you sane and safe! He wanted you complacent towards his affection, never too far in his own madness!

Did you find any poisonous herbs around the area? No, he was smart enough to have cleaned around, even from the most harmless mushroom! Did you harm yourself?! Maybe you broke a window, or maybe you had used part of your robes and...

The single image of your hanged body made his muscle move faster. When he reached the house, the fear of the worst made him rip away from the wall the door, throwing it away like it was nothing. He called for you, frantically searching for a single trace of you everywhere.

He found nothing; the lunch that he had left for you was still on the table, completely cold and untouched. The bedroom was empty; everything was like he had left it in the morning, just like in the living room and in every other part of the house. When even in the bath he had found no trace of your lifeless body, a sigh of relief escaped from him.

You were not dead; you were alive; simply, you weren't there...

Ah...you weren't there...you just disappeared... His teeth start to clench, feeling his own blood boiling in his veins. You had finally managed to leave the mountain, but how?! Even with a body with both arms, it was suicide trying to leave that place, especially without a trained body and agile like his own!

Like a monkey, he exited the houses and started to sniff around. He detected his own smell, your own, and... another scent... a male... someone that he had met... the Destined one...

He started to growl; he had found his secret heaven; he had found you! That DAMN MONKEY! He had really ruined everything he had conquered, right?! Can't he just let this one slide, eh?! Leaving you alone with him?!

Then, his growling stopped...he started then to chuckle, then a laugh, then more, more strong and sinister.

You really didn't learn your lesson, huh? You were enjoying seeing so many of his own kind dying and getting killed by him, eh? Darling, you were just as evil as him...

He retrieved his weapon and prepared a few other trinkets, slowly approaching the road and searching for your scent and heartbeat and the stench of the other one. You wanted to get chased? Fine, if that was the way to show his love to you, then he was ready to rip his rival's heart out of his chest and gift it to you.

He was coming for you, and you had better be ready.

[writing-blog-iguess]

Online Matchup 12

Summery: Something seems to be going on with Jason. Instead of pushing him, Y/n lets him be and talks to friends.

Warning: swearing

I Tag list: @teapartydreams @adorabluesposts

ao3 Series master list

A/n: Happy holidays! Have a filler, it’s a little angsty but it ends in a happy. I know I've been just posting just this pic. I'm having a bit of a hard time ending the other fics but hope to get them done in January. That is my goal.

—————

March 22

Y/N (7:37 am)

How’d it going today?

Y/n (8:58am)

I burnt my breakfast

I don’t even know how that happened

I looked away for a minute and the next thing I know

The smoke detector went off and there’s smoke in the kitchen

D:

I’m so sad

Now I don’t have anything to eat and I’m late for school

Y/n (10:00am)

I am not sure why I thought getting my engineering degree was a good idea

Nothing my teacher is saying is making sense

I want to go home

Y/N (1:28pm)

So, classes are done but now I have to work

With the amount of sleep I didn’t get

Work is the last thing I want to do

Y/n (3:43pm)

I made another fire again today

Downside, they docked my pay a little

Upside, I get to go home early today

So there’s that

Y/n (4:39 pm)

I hope you’re doing okay

Y/n (5:04 pm)

Hey Steph?

Is Jason okay?

Stephanie

What do you mean?

Y/n

I don’t know

I haven’t heard from him today

I just want to know if he’s okay

Stephanie

He hasn’t talked to you at all today?!.

Y/n

No, and we didn’t get into a fight

Did something happen?

Stephanie

Yeah, but I don’t think I’m the one who should tell you

Y/n

Yeah I understand

There are some things he hasn’t told me

I know that much

Stephanie

I’m sorry

Y/n

No worries

But could you tell me if he’s doing okay whenever you see him?

Stephanie

Of course

Y/n (5:14 pm)

Do you think you’ll see Jason today?

Roy

Um, I’m on my way to him now

How’d you know?

Y/n

Wild guess

I know he’s dealing with something but I don’t know what

Could you tell him I’m here for him if he ever needs me?

Roy

Why can’t you tell him yourself?

Y/n

He hasn’t been talking to me today

And I didn’t want to push if he doesn’t want to talk

The last time we went no contact, we both pushed each other away

Roy

That asshole

Y/n

Just be nice when you see him

Roy

I was

But now I should give him shit for what he’s putting you through

Y/n

No don’t

This is nothing compared to whatever Jason is going through

Roy

If I didn’t know better

You already know what’s he going through

Y/n

But I don’t

I just know that it’s bad if he’s not talking to anyone right now

Roy

You really care about him huh?

Y/n

I’m not afraid to admit it

Roy

Good

Jason needs someone like you on his side

I’m glad he has you

You threw your phone on the couch after reading Roy’s message, and bit your thumbnail in thought. Roy’s words had a deeper meaning now then before you knew the whole truth. And wondered if they would hold the same weight after they realized you went behind Jason’s back to find the truth.

It wasn’t something you needed to worry about now. There was something more pressing and you weren’t sure what to do but wait.

Sighing, you stood from the couch and made your way to the kitchen. After eating supper, you retrieved your laptop from your room and set it on the table.

Staring at it for a good minute or two, you made up your mind and turned it out. Once logged in, you went through the motions and found yourself in the Batcomputer again.

There was nothing for you to do but watch and wait. And that’s what you did for the rest of the night, you watched and listened as they talked out plans and watched as Oracle fought against the Calculator.

Scared of being discovered, you were debating whether or not you should leave. But you couldn’t, not until you knew Jason was okay.

But the decision was made for you when Oracle forced both you and Calculator when she rebooted her system. You gave her credit and wondered why she didn’t do that earlier.

With nothing to do, you slumped against your chair and hoped everything turned out in their favour.

“Jason you have a minute?” Roy called as the Outlaws made their way out of the building with Riddler in tow. Jason nodded, and the two of them branched off from their friends.

”What’s up?” Jason asked when they were far enough away from prying ears.

“Have you talked to Y/n lately?” Roy asked, and Jason flinched at the mention of you. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“Are they doing okay?” Jason asked, rubbing the back of his neck. Roy shrugged and said he didn’t know. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

“Exactly that, I don’t know,” he answered, “I just know that they’re really worried about you and wanted you to know that they’re there if you need them.”

“I’ll always need them,” Jason said without a second thought.

“That’s probably something you need to tell them, not me,” Roy said and looked towards their friends. “Look, everything seems to be okay here now. And I doubt Batman needs our help right now.”

“Probably because he’s being a stubborn asshole,” Jason muttered and Roy ignored it with a shake of his head.

“Why don’t you go see Y/N?” Roy suggested, “it would ease their mind a bit.” Jason shook his head at the thought.

“Not yet,” he said, “not until we deal with Joker. The last thing I need or want is for Joker to find Y/N.”

“Fair enough. Then at least answer their texts,” he said, “that’s something you can do without Joker knowing.”

“Suppose you’re right,” Jason said, sighing in defeat.

“I’m always right,” Roy said, gaining a laugh out of his friend.

“Not always,” he said and walked off towards his bike. He pulled out his phone. Scrolling through his messages, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Jason (12:35 am)

You set two things on fire today

One might think you’re a pyromaniac

Y/n (1:09 am)

:O

I am no such thing

i set ONE thing on fire and burnt my eggs

There is a difference

Jason

No I don’t think so

It’s the same thing

Y/n

Well then I guess your seeing a pyromaniac

Jason

I’ve dated worst things

Y/n

Ex-fucking-cuse me?

What could possibly be worse than a pyromaniac?

Jason

A serial killer

Y/n

YOU DATED A SERIAL KILLER?

Jason

Okay, not technically

Y/n

What does that mean?!

Jason

Means she was apart of the league of assassins

And given that their job description is basically their title

It's the same thing

Y/n

I can feel you shrugging like its not a big deal

But it is

And I worry for you and your taste of women

Jason

There’s nothing wrong with my taste in women

Y/n

Says the guy who dated a women who kills for a living

And me, who’s and I’m quoting here

a ‘pyromaniac’

Jason

Nothing wrong with a little arson

Y/n

My goodness

Judging by that statement alone, I think you’re the pyromaniac

Jason

Well, I mean I have done a little arson myself

So I’m not one to judge

Y/n

……

Jason

Wow, six dots

I must really made an impression

Y/n

You’re lucky your pretty

Jason

I knew it

You’re only into me because of my looks

Y/n

-_-

I’m going to bed

Jason

No, no no wait

I went a little to far, I’m sorry

Y/n

You’re forgiven

Can I call you? Or are you too busy for that?

Jason

Not busy persay, just I’m with my friends and I’m not yet ready for you to meet them

Y/n

Afraid I’ll run away?

Jason

Something like that

Sometimes they can be a little too much

And protective

Other then that, I wouldn’t mind hearing your beautiful voice

Y/n

Oof, maybe I should go to bed

I’m red like a tomato

Jason

Sounds like a sight to see

Y/n

I’m sure it is

…

Are you okay?

And don’t just saying something cheesy like

Jason

I’m better now that I’m talking to you

Y/n

You son of a bitch

I told you not to say something like that

Smooth fucker

Jason

But I am telling the truth

Something came up last night that triggered something

I had to leave town for the day, but my friends showed up and we talked.

Roy said something about you being worried

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you

I just, I needed to deal with it before I could see you or talk to you

Y/n

No I get

Probably didn’t help with all my messages

But I’m glad you’re feeling better

Still dealing with it?

Jason

Yeah

But once it’s done, I’ll come and see you

Promise

Y/n

Take your time with it, I don’t mind the wait

I’m just glad you to hear from you

Jason

I’m so glad I met you

Y/n

Me too

[sirhamburrger]

ᯤ feat. yoichi isagi, meguru bachira, hyoma chigiri, rin itoshi, seishiro nagi, kenyu yukimiya, ryusei shidou and oliver aiku ᯤ tags/cw: bit suggestive (shidou you freak), petnames ('sweetheart' in isagi's, 'love' in rin's, 'babe' in shidou's), rin is mean (affectionately), shidou being a freak in the minecraft bedsheets, but also really sweet, hopefully not that ooc, i have a semi-serious, semi-casual relationship with minecraft ᯤ a/n: no reason for this whatsoever no prompt no nothing just take this love child between me and my insomnia *shoves this into your arms and runs away* || divider by @sister-lucifer

yoichi isagi:

ᯤ is just kinda average at it. like he truly is just okay at it. ᯤ he’s so competitive though (he would ‘race you to that tree over there’ 😭 but ᯤ he doesn’t know how to sprint so he always loses to you) ᯤ he likes the little sounds the eyes of ender make when you place them in the end portal frame ᯤ defeats the ender dragon with your help but makes you go ahead of him when exploring the nether ᯤ “hey uh sweetheart? why’s that green thing flashing white and making a noise” ᯤ favourite mob: chickens (they’re funny)

meguru bachira:

ᯤ he l o v e s minecraft so much it’s unbelievable (he was probably one of those kids who grew up playing it) ᯤ he loves trying out different hacks he sees on youtube. he knows that 99 percent of the time they don’t even work, but “there’s a 1 percent chance it will, and i’m feeling lucky today!” ᯤ lets you practice your shooting skills using his avatar as a dummy ᯤ cannot wire redstone for shit ᯤ tries to get the rarest (dumbest) in-game death messages ᯤ baabaabaachira experienced mid-life crisis while being attacked by tropical fish ᯤ favourite mob: cave spiders (they look scary in a cool way)

hyoma chigiri:

ᯤ plays for the mobs. will protect his lovelies with all his heart. ᯤ when he got his first minecraft dog, he built a little kennel made of cherry wood for it, only for it to fall into a pit of lava deep in the caves on day 5 ᯤ he cried for five hours ᯤ once you dyed all his sheep pink and he started to tear up just from looking at them ᯤ “hear me out, okay? i think we should get a pet axolotl.” and it’s legal in japan, so you do! (her name is hyoma jr) ᯤ has a huge minecraft zoo ᯤ favourite mob: parrots (they can sit)

rin itoshi:

ᯤ is mean to you at first. he’ll be like “why do you suck at this” and “i could do that too” ᯤ then he gets his hands on the controller and can’t figure out the controls for half an hour ᯤ “… love?” ᯤ “… yes, rin?” (you, amused) ᯤ “… how do you jump…” ᯤ its subtle charm does grow on him after a while. he plays on creative mode and just explores the server on a horse he named sugarcube ᯤ it’s cute watching him play (you send photos to sae) ᯤ favourite mob: sheep (all they do is eat grass and don’t bother you)

seishiro nagi:

ᯤ i will subvert expectations here and say that nagi doesn’t even play minecraft that much because he doesn’t like it ᯤ “such a hassle to play this game… there isn’t even any storyline you can just do whatever you want… and i don’t want to have to decide what to do” ᯤ he ends up finding a passion for building elaborate traps for you to walk into ᯤ absolute beast at parkour. he performs triple neos to perfection ᯤ if he’s a streamer he plays on twitch for the fans but he complains as he does it ᯤ favourite mob: bees (they’re just cute)

kenyu yukimiya:

ᯤ he doesn’t really play video games so understandably he gets off to a slow start ᯤ but once he gets the hang of things? he’s unstoppable. breezing through achievements like nobody’s business ᯤ he’s really excited about it too like “did you see that?? i just killed a zombie!” ᯤ it’s truly the culmination of 18 years of not touching a single game as a child/teen and now playing a sandbox game ᯤ feeling confident, he starts a hardcore world. (he dies from hunger.) ᯤ he's the kind to look up the most beautiful minecraft seed numbers, key them in meticulously and just take in how amazing they are ᯤ favourite mob: foxes, specifically the orange ones (he loves all things forest biome)

ryusei shidou:

ᯤ we all know he’s a very artistic kind of guy so he’d be geeking out over the textures and which colours would go best with each other ᯤ he doesn’t shower for a day because he’s playing creative (my lil stinky 🫶) ᯤ he builds the most beautiful multi storey houses!! and he’s like “if it were real we could live in there together 🥺“ ᯤ “why is the bedroom huge with like twenty beds…” (you, concerned) ᯤ “oh we’re gonna need space babe. for activities.” ᯤ but he doesn’t stop there; he learns how to make entire cities and landscapes and frankly they are masterpieces - think shovel241 (i freaking LOVE his videos they’re so satisfying) ᯤ favourite mob: endermen (he thinks they look badass)

oliver aiku: 

ᯤ meh he’s pretty good ᯤ raged when he first found out fall damage was a thing and again when he discovered hunger and drowning as death messages ᯤ is obsessed with speed runs and parkour for some reason (he’s really bad at both though) ᯤ is the guy who makes “100 MINECRAFT FACTS YOU DIDN’T KNOW” videos with his friends sendo and lorenzo ᯤ you once saw him set up an experiment to see how many blocks a llama can spit and died laughing ᯤ would absolutely kill you in-game just for the fun of it ᯤ favourite mob: cats (especially the black ones)

say hi to hyoma jr. it is not optional.

bllk masterlist || general masterlist

© sirhamburrger 2024

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

As a person who was genuinely made uncomfortable when I discovered Viv does all this crap like 🍇-romantification, I appreciate this blog so far.

For months I've been trying not to interact with hazbin because of viv's actions, which genuinely makes me sad cause I really liked the show (not including episode 4).

I understand darker skin not suiting your style (like mine) or having trouble with different proportions of characters due to where they're from or something (like me) but the fact that she made all the bad guys that way really doesn't scream "I have trouble drawing ____!"

⚠️YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO REPLY OR READ FULLY⚠️

Hi! Totally get this all dw, I just got out of the hospital however so if I explain weird please forgive me 😬 also dont take all of this as me giving specifically you a lecture, this is just me letting my thoughts flow out to whoever is reading 🤝

Also theres leaks in this! If you people don’t want leaks be sure to not read past “read more”!!

Its been brought to my attention that the information in the next paragraph is not true and Vivzie did not design or draw these characters! So she apparently just actually can’t draw them at all

Viv has absolutely no problem drawing POC! I mean just look at the human designs for the succubi in Helluva boss

These designs are wonderful and very diverse! But out of these characters, the ones that are important are Verosika and Vortex and even then these characters are side characters. And on top of that, technically they’re only really coded as POC since these aren’t their true bodily forms, but hey thats a topic for another time. Let’s just ignore that for now and say they 100% are POC, they’re still side characters. She can draw POC wonderfully, she just has issues… making them important.

For characters like Alastor (who was only made POC to get away with demonising a closed religion) we don’t see him as his human form. I mean to be fair why would we- but also why did he turn white when he died?? Why did his entire hair texture change. This is a problem for Vivzie where she doesn’t want to commit to representation or feels she doesn’t need to. Vivzie could’ve made Alastor’s design look more like his leaked human design or couldve just altered his colours a bit, but she didn’t do this because she feels so connected to her original high school OC design that she cant bring herself to change him. Like look at this.

Yeah it’s got a different style, but this is the same guy; he’s just weirdly marketable now. It’s incredibly easy to tell that Vivzie didn’t want to change him if she didn’t 100% have to. Lets take a look at Alastor’s old human design.

This guy definitely looks like he could be Alastor! He’s got the same sort of hair but shorter in the back and a little more combed, but looking at this you can still tell it’s Alastor. However this guy doesn’t exactly seem mixed, right? That’s because he isn’t! Back way way in ye olden days when Alastor went from race ambiguous to white, he just kind of looked like that! And there’s no problem with him being white! Good for him on doing that! I guess!? But when you look his design now, things start to come off as a bit odd.

This is where you non-leakers go read somethin else

This is an entirely different person now. Not just race wise, but personality, the way he presents himself in the arts pose, and just overall the actual look of the character. He looks conniving yes, but he doesn’t look like Alastor. This is not a face matchup.

Now, you definitely can have your ugly little red thing design and still use that human one! You just have to not be too chicken to actually change your character so it makes sense. Let me demonstrate.

Shocking how easily this design can fit the human one while still maintaining the original aesthetic of the base design isn’t it! This Alastor looks like the provided new human design. If you don’t want the character to change, don’t change them physically. And if you do, follow through on it and don’t be a wimp. I don’t see whats so hard to grasp about that to this lady. If you want to keep that same ugly fucking bob then just keep him white. She literally only changed his race so she can use it as an excuse to appropriate vodou. Vivzie can draw POC, she just doesn’t want to when it comes to actually having to change a character. Anyway, good day!

[rizzoreads88]

I just want to tell you even though I have never shipped elriel its so nice to see at there are some elriels out there who love Lucien.one thing I can stand about most elriel shippers is they try to villianize Lucien all the time.

Hi anon,

Ohh man is this going to be a loooonngg response ….There are a lot of Elriels who still like Lucien. However I can understand what your saying too as I think at times certain shippers from both sides tend to try and paint Lucien/Azriel in a bad light depending upon who they ship…

Some E/uciens say Azriel is incel who feels entitled to woman and only cares about sex while some Elriels say Lucien is a coward and didn’t help Feyre enough. While neither are perfect( because no one is )none of this is true about either. I think both sides of these arguments contradict each other.

⭐️Lets start with the “Lucien didn’t do enough to help feyre” and he’s a coward argument

Do we forget Lucien was putting his life on the line UTM to help her whenever he could? He was also thrown into the second trial and almost died for being her friend… in Acomaf when everything was going wrong between her and Tamlin Lucien did try to help them both. And neither listened. (I don’t see how anyone can blame anything on Lucien seeing as he wasn’t in that relationship and Feyre was a grown ass woman but I digress). Then in acowar Feyre uses him as a pawn to try and make Tamlin jealous not even caring the repercussions it could have for Lucien. After all this when Feyre was escaping the spring court to go back to the night court Lucien was willing to die by the weird Hybern twins so she could escape…Lucien has helped Feyre in many ways. She would have never gotten back to the Nc without him or survived the trials UTM without him. He also did try to help her AND tamlin and neither listened… “well all he did was talk to them that’s not enough” What are you supposed to do when two grown ass adults are in the throes of PTSD and depression and in a consenting relationship if they won’t listen to anyone? Not to mention while this is going on Lucien is busy trying to protect the spring court citizens, gets attacked and injured by amaranthas beast, is trying to help Tamlin rebuild the spring court and dealing w his own mental health issues too. He’s being put in the middle of Tamlin and Feyre and tries to help them both and they don’t listen but “he didn’t do enough”? I’m sorry what a senseless argument that is…

Let’s look at the flip side… if you blame Lucien for not “helping feyre enough” do you blame Azriel for not helping feyre or nesta as well? Azriel had no issue going along with Rhysand taking away feyres bodily autonomy or lying to his high lady… Azriel said nothing when everyone found out Nesta could make made weapons but Amren & Rhysand felt she shouldn’t know about her own body (Rhysand seems to have a pattern of keeping info from women about there own bodies🥴), Azriel said nothing when Amren lied about court laws to manipulate Nesta into the house of wind or when they actually locked her in the HOW. How about in HOFAS when rhysand exploded rooms out of his anger for Nesta and he triggered ember, azriel said nothing to defend Nesta or call Rhys out and azriel had actually been around Bryce and got to know her more then them. You can’t say Lucien is a coward and didn’t help Feyre enough if you don’t hold that same smoke for Azriel in all these situations either. Let’s also not forget Lucien went on a dangerous mission to find their dad and Vassa and helped fight in the war. Lucien is no coward.

⭐️Now let’s move on to Azriel is just a incel who feels he’s entitled to women and only wants sex…

If you truly feel this about Azriel after Acosf and Hofas you don’t understand his character. Sorry not sorry. This man has never once acted entitled to a woman. “ well he literally says in his bonus chapter he feels should get elain because she’s the third sister”. No he doesn’t. He was asking how it’s possible the three of them came into their lives and rhysand and cassian fall in love and are mates to Feyre/ Nesta but he has feelings for Elain and yet can’t be with her. He was questioning fate over Elain. We know this because he then goes on to question his own damn religion over her too when he questions the cauldron over her. Friends let’s be so for real here…. You don’t hang out in the garden until the wee hours of the morning with someone, you don’t risk your life not caring you could die to rescue someone and then carry them while your bleeding out and won’t go get looked at until you know there ok…. You don’t save someone’s gift for a year and look at it every night… you dont lend someone your most prized possession that you never even let your best friends or anyone else touch… if you just feel only lust or entitlement to them. You and I both know Azriel has deep feelings for Elain. The antis know it too no matter how much they try and act like they don’t.

Let’s look at the flip side of this… if you hold this against Azriel do you also hold this against Lucien? Remember when Lucien left with feyre to go to the Nc to see if Elain was worth it? Or how about the first thoughts he had when he saw her at the spring court being “Touch her, smell her, taste her—“ even though he noticed how her depression had made her so thin… “well those are mate instincts” your right they are but that was still one of the first things he thought… so again you can’t act like azriel is a incel who only wants elain for a booty call and is entitled to her when Lucien thinks lustful thoughts about her and doesn’t even know her like Azriel does.

✨At the end of the day BOTH Lucien and Azriel are good men. Let’s not forget Feyre even talks about how good of a man Lucien is to Elain. We all know how the inner circle feels about Azriel as well. It is evident by both of thier actions they both have great hearts. I hate when either sides put either down because of the ships. You can still love a character and ship them with whoever.✨

[toasttt11]

allergy

October 24, 2024

Gemma looked out the window as the plane started to descend over Michigan, she was excited to play in Detroit for many reason, one she gets to finally play with Luke as this will be his first game back, two her parents and Luca will be at the games, three Luca was coming with some of his friends who she has missed and four she gets to see Ellen and Jim. The only downsides was she was leaving soon after the game so she would get a lot of time with her everyone but maybe like a hour and Adam wasn’t coming.

“You excited?” Luke nudged her softly making her look away from the window and at him.

Gemma immediately sat next to Luke when they got on the plane as Luke would be joining them for the road trip and she’s been wanting to sit next to him.

“To play with you definitely.” Gemma grinned looking extremely excited to play with Luke again, they only have just recently gotten to play with each other at Worlds over the summer.

Luke’s face shifted into a soft smile at her words, he was looking forward to play with her again, “I’m looking forward to that too.”

Luke nudged her softly making her laugh slightly and nudge him back.

“Is Adam coming?” Luke asked with a curious look but he had small look in his eyes that Gemma didn’t know what it was.

“No, he couldn’t come.” Gemma smiled tightly as she really is missing her brother and hasn’t seen him in quite a while.

“I’m sorry.” Luke softly mumbled wrapping an arm around her shoulder, he understood wanting your older brothers at your games but they couldn’t, he had a lot of games that he wished Jack or Quinn could’ve came to.

“It’s okay.” Gemma mumbled back understanding why Adam can’t come but she still missed him.

Gemma leaned her head on Luke’s shoulder till the plane landed and they could start getting off the plane and into the bus.

Gemma sat next to Luke again on the bus as the bus was loaded up and then they headed to the rink and they would end up being a bit earlier than normal then they are for warm up’s.

Gemma was wearing a white suit that had purple flowers scattered across the suit and purple loafers.

The team arrived quite earlier to the arena so they were having team lunch at the rink before they started warming up later.

Gemma plopped down with Luke next to her and Jack stole the other spot next to her and Brett sat down next to Luke, Jesper, Jonas, Dougie and Nico on the other side of the table.

The eight at the table waited for the rest of their teammates to get up and get their food before they got up and got their food too.

Gemma made a very excited sound as she saw spring rolls as they at some of her favorite food ever making Luke laugh fondly as he watched her and she grabbed a few putting them on her plate.

Gemma headed back to the table with Luke and they were the last back and Gemma had such an excited smile as she picked up a spring roll and she was about to take a bite but frowned smelling something.

“Luke.” Gemma whispered trying to only catch Luke’s attention but most do the table looked over, “Can you test it?” Gemma whispered, she has a very bad allergy with peanuts and she can kinda smell peanut butter in the spring rolls.

Luke is really the only one who knows about her allergy besides the devils chefs who didn’t travel with them today and the trainers know.

Luke immediately grabbed the spring room not wanting her holding it if it has peanuts and he took a bite immediately tasting peanuts in the sauce, he quickly grabbed the springs rolls off Gemma’s plate.

Gemma let out a long disappointed sigh seeing Luke taking the spring rolls knowing what it means.

“Wait why can’t you eat them?” Jack looked confused and he frowned at Gemma’s disappointed face.

“It has peanuts.” Gemma spoke dejectedly as she just wanted spring rolls.

“Are you allergic?” Nico asked with a sad frown, he felt terrible he didn’t know one of his teammates had an allergy especially as she is a rookie and he’s know her for two months now.

“Yeah mostly everything bothers me but airborne.” Gemma explained to the boys at the table, she didn’t really bring up her allergy often and she didn’t check the food she grabbed because she has gotten so use to the devils chefs knowing she can’t have peanuts and if there’s peanuts on something they label it.

Brett got up from the table and walked away as the rest of the body asked more about her allergy.

Brett came back a few minutes later with a plate in his hand and handed it to Gemma, “Peanut free spring rolls.” Brett gave her a kind smile, he had noticed that she was very happy about the spring rolls before the peanuts and he saw the chef making more at the kitchen so asked him to not put any sauce on them.

Gemma’s whole face lite up in a beaming smile, “Thank you!” Gemma immediately started eating a spring roll humming happily as she munched on it.

Gemma finished lunch and sat around for a little while just talking with a lot of her teammates before they all started getting ready for warm ups.

Gemma was sitting in her stall after warming up with team and she put her hair in a low ponytail and spit the ponytail into two braids with her red ribbons tied on the ends.

She was chewing on a pregame snack when Keefe walked in, “Alright we have a special guest for the line up today.” He had a mischievous smile as he glanced at Gemma making her eyes furrow and Luke grinned knowing what it was as he planned the person to come with Nico.

“You can come in.” Keefe called out and Adam walked in with Gemma’s Devils jersey on.

Gemma’s jaw dropped as she saw her brother walk into the room.

Adam grinned at her shocked look, “If you couldn’t tell by the jersey i’m here for Gemma.” Adam proudly showed off the jersey he had on making the boys all cheer and clap.

“Starting on right wing Bratt! Starting on center Jack and starting on left wing Gemma!!!” Adam announced the starting offensive line making the whole cheer and clap.

“On defense on the left side Hughesy and the right side Pesce!” The room cheered even louder for the pair for their first game back.

“And in the goal Markstrom!”

Gemma immediately got up once Adam was done and quickly hugged her brother, “Hey Adamo.” Gemma mumbled in italian.

“Little sister.” Adam cooed back in italian, it was one of his favorite things about being with family was speaking in their native language.

“I didn’t know you were coming?” Gemma looked confused as Adam told her he count come.

“Lukey helped me surprise you.” Adam told her making her nod, “Go play your game i’ll see you after.” Adam pressed a kiss to her forehead and she waved bye as he walked out.

“You speak Italian!!” Nate looked flabbergasted as the whole room heard her speaking Italian.

“My family is from Italy?” Gemma replied back titling her head confused.

“Oh.” Dawson grimaced realizing it was kinda obvious.

“Another multi language speaker in the room.” Timo patted her shoulder with a proud grin as she walked by to Luke’s stall.

“Thank you.” Gemma gave him a thankful look knowing he helped Adam surprise her.

“Course Emmie.” Luke smiled back.

Gemma headed to the ice and warmed up before the game started.

Gemma looked up at the stands and saw her family, some of her brothers friends and Ellen and Jim Hughes in the stands all together, she wave up at them as Jack and Luke skated over and waved at their parents and Luke’s friends.

The game started and half way in the first half of the period Gemma passed the puck to Nico during the penalty play and he scored the first goal of the game.

The red wings quickly scored their first goal and in thirty seconds later they scored their second too.

Second period started and Luke passed the puck up the ice to Gemma and Gemma quickly skated around the defenseman and easily getting the puck into the goal.

Gemma beamed quickly skating to Luke and hugging him as he got his first point of the season.

Third period started and the red wings scored again and Nico scored again on the power play with Gemma and Jack assisting.

It was tied 3-3 getting close to the end of the third period when the red wings scored again.

With thirty seconds left in the game the red wings player wrapped around the empty net and hit the puck at the goal just as Gemma got there trying to stop the goal and he slammed into her once the puck went into the goal knocking her harshly to the ice.

Michael Rasmussen stood over Gemma after he smacked her to the ground and started chirping her not letting her get up. He kept his legs around her stomach looking down at her making extremely uncomfortable especially with what he was saying to her.

Timo immediately was skating over and shoved the player away from Gemma and slamming him into the boards

Jack quickly went to Gemma as Stefan quickly skated in front of Jack and Gemma standing protectively in front of them as the other red wing players came closer.

Gemma winced as she tried to move off her back, she got rattled good hitting the ice that hard and it didn’t feel good. Jack rested a hand on her shoulder helping her slowly sit up as the medical trainers came out to her after she didn’t get up right away.

Gemma slowly stood up with the help of Jack and Stefan, it didn’t feel like she injured anything but her whole back was already getting sore.

Gemma headed to the bench with Jack holding her and even if she said she was fine and Stefan staying close by with the trainers.

Keefe told her to go down the tunnel to get checked as there was only thirty seconds and gave her a stern glance when she tried to argue.

Gemma gave Luke a reassuring nod as she saw his worry and headed down the tunnel with the medical team, she had a quick exam and was quickly cleared of no injury just taking it easy and heat her back later.

Gemma walked into the locker room and the boys were already all in there and she reassured all of them she was fine and she quickly headed to the shower wanting to be with her family before they have to leave.

Gemma put her suit back on and brushed our her wet hair and grabbed her things and quickly looked at her phone seeing a lot of worried texts from Macklin and quickly sent him a text she was okay before seeing Jack and Luke just finished up too and she walked out with them seeing both of their families and friend waiting together.

Gemma slowly walked to her brothers hugging them both at the same time as they gingerly hugged her back seeing her hit the ice good.

“You played awesome.” Adam proudly smiled at his baby sister as they pulled back ruffling her wet hair slightly.

“Amazing.” Luca smiled proudly.

Gemma saw her mom was waiting for hug looking worried and she hugged her, “I’m fine Mama.” Gemma softly whispered making her mom nod softly.

Gemma hugged her dad after she hugged her mom.

“Mrs. Hughes!” Gemma beamed as she walked over to Ellen and Jim, Ellen has always been in awe of Ellen and loves watching old games of Ellen playing.

“Gemma.” Ellen smiled fondly at the young girl, “How many times have i told you to call me Ellen.”

“A lot?” Gemma sheepishly answered as Ellen hugged her softly.

Gemma waved softly as Jim sharing a nod and smile with him.

“Little Fants!” Nick grinned as she walked over to the Umich boys, he tossed an arm over her shoulder giving her a side hug.

“Hi Molds.” Gemma softly spoke to her old teammate.

Gemma unfortunately only got a few minutes with her friends and family before she had to head to the bus.

“I’ll see you thanksgiving.” Gemma mumbled as her mom hugged her as tightly as possible with her sore back.

“I know.” Julia smiled bittersweet and cupped her daughter’s cheek looking at her proudly and kissed her forehead.

Gemma said bye to her family and friends and leaned into Jack’s side as they walked to the bus.

Gemma let out a small sigh as they walked away, she now just wanted to get home to Macklin and luckily he would be home when she got home as he had a home game today.

[adormeee]

bff!matt and fem!reader

what you need

⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅

As you arrive at the triplets house excitement runs through your veins.

You just came back from a date with a guy you’ve been talking to for a while now and, things are blossoming between the two of you.

As you walk into their house thankful that your close enough to them that you know the code to their house.

You see matt and nick in the living room watching gravity falls. “Guyssss!! guess what!!” you shriek happily sitting next to matt on the couch.

“Hey how did it go??!” Nick is quick to ask; you were on the phone with him the night before telling him how nervous you were or what you should wear what will the outcomes of this date be. So he knows what’s up.

On the other hand matt doesn’t really know what’s about to come out your mouth but he loves to listen to yo talk, he doesn’t know when he started catching feelings, but lately they have been growing more.

And the way you are so close to him makes him go crazy.

“okay so basically he took me to this nice outdoor dining place it had the most beautiful view i have seen! and then we went to a park walked around even got some ice cream and at the end of it all he gave me a kiss!.”

You dramatically sigh laying back down on the couch with your hand resting in your forehead.

“girl that’s literally soo amazing like whattt!! you deserve itt” Nick looks at you admiration in his eyes.

Meanwhile Matt was not expecting you to say what you just said. I mean he knows you were talking to someone but damn, he didn’t think things were going this good; in his mind the date would’ve been a disaster and he would’ve swooped in and saved you.

He didn’t wish your date ended badly he would never wish that especially on you but, something in him wished that it would’ve been him taking you on that date.

“Matt hello? did you hear what i just said?” he snaps out of his train of thoughts once he sees you talking to him “what?” “i said you think he might take things to the next level?”

“Yeah yeah for sure” he gives you a reassuring smile.

“Waitt girl your sleeping over right?? cause i have these movies and they seem so good we need to watch” he stands up stretching “mhmm you know i am and for a movie night for sure.”

Matt watches as you and nick run up the stairs the only thing in mind is only him being with you or rather inside of you.

time 2:03 am

You yawn checking the time on your phone seeing how late it was you you check over your shoulder seeing nick snuggled into the blanket fast asleep.

Your feet touching the cold floor, you stretch arms a little bit before walking out his room.

Quietly walking down the stairs trying to make sure you don’t step on a floorboard that could creek loud enough to wake someone.

You make your way to the kitchen getting a bottle of water.

Matt walks into the kitchen after finishing his round on fortnite trying to take his mind off you.

He quickly regrets walking out his room right now he sees you doing a normal task drinking water but just seeing you makes his heart warm.

“Hey” you slightly jump you didn’t expect anyone to be awake at this time. “hi, i didn’t think anyone would be awake right now “

He chuckles at your semi-hyper state.

“So umm…” come Matt tell her no one’s around he thinks to himself “i’ve been needing to talk to you, ‘bout something kinda serious.”

Your eyebrows furrow not understanding, what could be so serious and why can’t it wait till the morning.

He walks closer to you until he’s inches away “I think i’m inlove with you and I can’t bare hearing you talk about another guy knowing i could do everything he does times three.”

He lets out a shaky breath he didn’t know he was holding in.

Your eyes widened at this confession, you always knew matt had something special for you but you didn’t expect it, being him inlove with you.

“matt i-“ something about this eyes, the dim light from the hood of the stove illuminating him so perfectly.

“I understand if you don’t feel the same but your everything in my eyes and if i have to risk everything for you i w-“

You shut up by crashing your lips on him both of your hand landing on both sides of his jaws dropping your water bottle. He quickly melts into the kiss both his hands wrapping around your waist.

The kiss gets more heated he slowly lowers his hand sitting on top of your butt, he slowly kisses you down to your jawn , to your neck, delicately sucking your soft skin.

You softly moan your arms around his neck pulling him closer. “Does he touch you here like this?.” he whispers as he squeezing your ass.

Soft whimpers come out your mouth “mghh matt” loving his hands and mouth on you. Matt walks you both backwards until your back hits the cool counter.

“Jump” he whispers into your ear, you quickly react to his request. Your ass touching the cold counter top sending shivers down your spine your thin pijamas aren’t helping you whatsoever.

Matt is squeezing your thighs playing with the hem of your shorts, “can i?” he looks into your eyes waiting for any kind of approval “please matt” with that matt mentally curses himself for getting hard with your plea.

He gets on his knees pulling off your shorts with your underwear all together. He takes in the sight in front of him your soft legs your pussy already dripping wet.

He slowly dives in licking your outer walls. You instinctively grab his hair whining loving his tongue on you. You look down at him, his eyes already looking at yours as he digs his tongue deeper in you.

I love it when you’re looking down at me i’m looking up at you

Matt fastens his pace pushing in one his fingers inside of you. “Ma-Matt please don’t- mghh stop.”

He’d never thought he would be hearing you say this not even in his wildest dreams.

He feels you squeezing around him “you almost there pretty girl?” as he add another digit into you.

Your back arching feeling your stomach tighten. Matt stops his movements quickly getting up and kissing you one hand on your thigh another on your neck.

“I want you to cum on my dick yeah?, you think you can do that for me?”.

You quickly nod wanting nothing more but feel him inside of you.

He pulls down his pants cum pre-leaking through his boxers. Feeling like a teenage boy in a wet dream.

He slides down his boxers, his erection popping out hitting his stomach. He quickly a lines himself into your entrance before pushing himself into you.

Both of you moan of the feeling, “shittt your so fuckin’ tight.” he groans slowly moving back and forth.

You grab his forearm for support as he quickens his paste. “Matt fuck-“ your head lays onto his shoulder as he holds your waist pushing himself deeper and faster.

You squeeze around him, “Don’t-Don’t stop please.”

I’m the drug in your veins

“Let me be the only one that- fuckkk” matt groans as he’s so close to his high “that you fuckin need not want.”

Hes what you want, I’m what you need

Biting your lip, you come down from your high releasing all over him trying not to wake up the others.

With a few finally thrust Matt quickly smashes his lips against yours as he cums inside of you muffling the kinds of noises he would’ve been letting out.

Let me take the friction from your lips

“Please y/n I can fulfill your needs i can be so much better for you.” He whispers into your ear

Ima love you girl the way you need, ain’t no one gon’ stop us.

⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ ⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅

authors note // finally posted a matt blurb wooo (i’m also like lowk kinda high asf so this fic could be so ass)

[meimi-haneoka]

"With hindsight" Part 2 - a Yuna D. Kaito retrospective/analysis

Welcome to the second part of my retrospective on Yuna D. Kaito!

I remind you this is just a collection of scenes about Kaito from the whole story that I will be revisiting with the hindsight that Chapter 70 finally gave us. I'll try to give what I think is the right interpretation, but of course these are just my thoughts on the matter.

Continuing from Part 1, here we get into the heart of the story, while we find out more and more hints for Kaito's plan...but also hints for what's really in his heart.

My main goal with these posts is showing that the recent development didn't come out of the left field but there were actually subtle (or less subtle, but misunderstood due to prejudice) hints for it all along.

In this particular post, at some point, there'll be talk about heavy subjects related to life and death. The paragraph will have a warning beforehand, just to be sure, and you can skip to the next section if you want.

"The greatest magic artifact...Akiho-san herself" - Volume 6

After the huge event of the first time-rewind happening just merely a couple of chapters earlier, the end of volume 6 brings another earth-shaking revelation, along with many more important info.

First of all, since he completely dropped his "mask", we're shown for the first time how Kaito is immediately aware when Sakura creates a new Card. But that also confirms that he didn't meddle with those events, not in the beginning at least.

As I said previously, Kaito is someone who tends to act and intervene only at the last minute, when he cannot really avoid it anymore.

Even though the Card created by Sakura was so pivotal to the success of his plan, he really didn't intend to make her produce it by force. He still had time, so he hoped she would create it on her own without needing to resort to harsh methods. Another indication that he really wasn't keen on hurting Sakura at any moment of this plan. He was just standing there, going "oh!" when he could sense a vibration in the magic that suggested that Sakura's powers went out of control again, and soon another Card would be born. He just had to wait for the right one. A game of patience. Definitely a challenge for someone like him, used to obtain everything immediately, thanks to his magic.

We also get the first mentions about his plan: we acknowledge that he indeed needs a Card created by Sakura in particular, but that any of those new created ones will still be very useful to his goal (almost all the Cards in fact acted as "characters" for the story he prepared in Clockland).

We're informed that Momo is the guardian of the Book Akiho holds so dear, and that Kaito is trying to make that Book work to activate a forbidden spell.

Indeed, as we well know from chapter 70, everything went exactly as he wished for: they went inside the Book, he created the Clockland story using his memories and those of Akiho + Sakura in order to turn them sisters later on, the transparent Card he wanted was produced at the very last moment and he "piggybacked" Sakura's wish to exchange roles with Akiho to make an exchange himself.

But the biggest revelation (and one of the biggest misunderstandings) is that Kaito mentions "that's why I never returned it....the greatest artifact created by the Magic Association and that Clan...Akiho-san herself".

After this page, all the red flags and sirens probably went off in everyone's head, "omg he abducted her", "he wants to use her", "he's deceiving her"...but....to be honest, seeing the chapter with the first part of Akiho's past, and seeing how unhappy she was, we should've wondered immediately if that wasn't for the best.

Because it was.

He literally saved her life by never returning her to her clan.

Still, the sense of distrust in Kaito after this scene here (powered by that seemingly manic smile) persisted for long, long time in the fandom. And that was exactly what CLAMP planned us to feel like. Or rather, they wanted to see if we'd be able to get rid of this feeling the more the story went on.

Time magic at the behest of the Association - vol. 7

Just want to point out this small detail here - it tends to be forgotten, but Kaito didn't learn time magic when he decided to escort Akiho around the world, nor was given that ability by Momo.

He already knew how to work it, and has been using that dangerous type of magic ever since he was a kid, at the orders of the Association. Eriol obtained that information during his research.

This connects to chapter 70 because it made sense for them to impose a spell like the Seal of D on Kaito.

They knew he could use time magic, they knew he had no qualms in using it, and therefore that made him all the more dangerous to escort such a precious magic artifact in their eyes.

But most of all, this scene here confirms how Kaito himself was used and abused by the Association, in a similar way to what happened to Akiho. Scared of the terrible side effects, they ordered an emotionally stunted boy to use that magic on their behalf, well aware that it would've shaved off his life span. He didn't know any better, had a bleak existence because of how he grew up, he didn't have desires, so he couldn't really muster a will to refuse the orders.

"The boy didn't understand what was fun in that" - Volume 7

When talking about Kaito's past, CLAMP keep telling us "he didn't care for anyone, he didn't know what was fun in doing something with someone...spending time with them".

It's something they keep hammering because it's very indicative of how Kaito changed profoundly thanks to Akiho.

Now he experienced what's good in doing something for someone (not only all the things he did for her as her attendant, but also the very plan he set into motion, the sense of accomplishment we see in his final smile in chapter 70 comes directly from that), he experienced how good it can feel to spend time with someone (there's no doubt he loved spending time with Akiho, otherwise when given the chance - the time rewind at the date later on - he would've avoided it).

The only problem is.....he hasn't understood why yet. What really makes the difference here. Or rather, he stubbornly refused to acknowledge it till the end. And that stubborn ignorance led him to go on with his plan, thinking he was doing something good, oblivious to the effect this will have on Akiho later on when she'll find out what happened. That's why Momo cried "blockhead!!" in rage before he disappeared in chapter 70.

"Happy ending for whom?" - Vol. 7

And here we get HUGE, huge hints for what was coming up in the future.

Kaito was exhausted (Momo checks on him with a worried face) and fell asleep on a sofa, dreaming of his past and the moment that changed his life forever. The moment when the Association decided to tell him that they had just executed a magic ritual on the girl that he had certified as "magicless, like a blank book" long time before, in order to turn her into a magic artifact. Not "any girl", but the daughter of the only person who treated him with humanity for the little time they interacted with eachother.

If he was still dreaming of it now, years later, it meant that the event scarred his heart in a way that he didn't even fully understand himself. And we'll get confirmation of this only in chapter 60, 29 chapters after this one.

Kaito mentions that his dream looked "like a picture book", and Momo poses a clever question: "Does it look like this book will have a happy ending?".

We all took this question as figurative back then. But to imagine she actually was meaning it in a literal way, that we would really witness the characters becoming protagonists of a story set up by him! Again another hint under our noses.

Kaito confidently replies "It will (I'll make sure of it)", but that's when Momo (oh, I love her so much) comes with another sharper question that hits the bull's eye fully: "And that...will be a happy ending for whom, exactly?". My gosh. I don't know how Kaito didn't start second guessing after a question like that.

Because it's true, even though this might be the happy ending he imagined for Akiho (at his own expense, but he didn't care), it didn't even occur to him that this might not have been what she wanted at all. It didn't occur to him because of the complex feelings that his sense of disgust for himself and his guilt for what he had done to her were stirring in him. But we'll find out more about that later.

"She's really loved...by all the people involved with her" - vol. 7

Man, you can really feel we're halfway through the story, because in volume 7 are starting to surface a series of hints that become more and more specific to the revelation of Kaito's plan.

Kaito and Momo had just sensed that Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun came to Japan on behalf of Eriol, and Kaito knows very well that Eriol is venturing in scheming that far for his dear Sakura's sake.

And then....Kaito becomes sad? melancholic? for one moment...with a quite painful expression.

"She's really loved...by all the people involved with her"

This expression here kept me (and I'm sure not only me) wondering for long, long time. Years. It's apparent he's feeling a pang of sadness because Sakura's blessing with people who love and care for her wasn't granted on Akiho as well. But was he only feeling sad for Akiho? And what exactly that expression represented, was there envy for it? Longing?

Did he resent Sakura for the blessing of a loving entourage?

Now we know he really didn't. Of course the idea that CLAMP wanted to instill in our heads was that Kaito wanted to exchange the girls and felt envy/resentment towards Sakura, for the countless, shameless luck and privileges she was blessed with. I had fallen for that interpretation too for some time, because it kinda made sense. Seeing his past, his background, his upbringing...and the fact that Sakura was basically a stranger to him.

And Momo's further comment that Akiho loved Sakura too, with the subsequent silence from Kaito, was really staged by CLAMP in a way that could suggest Kaito was having second thoughts about his plan, because if he hurted Sakura, Akiho would've been sad.

But now it doesn't really seem like that was the case anymore. We know he never intended to hurt Sakura, nor exchanging them, from the very beginning.

I think here his storming feelings are originating not only from Akiho's situation, but also from his own need to be loved. A need that was naturally born in him along the years, but could not find its way to be acknowledged and expressed properly. And Momo mentioning that Akiho loved Sakura as a friend only contributed to make him feel even more alone, outside that "circle" of people loving eachother. He's excluded from this, because in his head he won't ever have someone who loves him. He's a bad person with a locking seal imposed on him that will swallow him whole at the end of this journey. Which is why...

"Because it's about you, Akiho-san" - Vol. 7

...when Kaito nonchalantly blurts out "Because it's about you, Akiho-san" in response to Akiho's question on how does he know perfectly everytime she's coming home to let her find her afternoon snacks ready, Momo becomes livid. So much that she wants to send him flying with a kick.

Because Akiho of course cannot help but running away, red in the face like the reddest tomato, in front of such sweet declaration of affection from him. It's like he's saying "you're important to me, so of course I always know everything about you, I have a sixth sense for you" and that would be perfectly fine, if it weren't for his otrageous obliviousness. His "?" face in front of a raging Momo is further proof of that. Remember when she said, in the Drama CD 2, "it's true they say people know the least about themselves"?

He's uttering it himself and yet he doesn't understand the full meaning of the words that are spilling out of his mouth. Nor he understands the effect they have on Akiho (because he's oblivious to her feelings as well).

Kaito never ever admitted that he's doing all of this for Akiho's sake, never spelled out that he cares about her and loves her in his own way. Even though it's apparent to everyone by now. And this obliviousness, or this refusal? to see the truth is precisely the reason why the success of his plan will only bring misery to Akiho in the long run. Despite he wanted (deep down in his heart) nothing more than making her happy.

"I will read more books" - vol. 7

If we exclude the scene where Kaito gets closer to Akiho during stopped time at the end of Vol. 5, this is the first time we clearly see Kaito hurting for something. The first time he clearly lets slip a sort of weakness in front of Akiho. And you can guess it, it's got always something to do with her.

This is the very first, timid proof that what little Kaito said on that fateful day of some years earlier had wrecked him in every possible way and had pushed him to give all of him to make things right.

Akiho says something really innocent, "I will read more and more books! I will memorize so many more things...!" because poor her, she just couldn't bear to keep embarrassing herself in front of her most important person with her clumsy, ignorant takes.

Little did she know, she had just pierced his heart with a knife at that very moment.

Because "reading more books" is not just an innocent, healthy activity, but in her case can also actually mean to push herself one step closer to death. And since it all started with something Kaito unintentionally said, the mere thought wrecks him more than 100 spells attacking him.

Kaito defends his 'family' - vol. 7

Allow me to comment on this scene, because I really need to point out something that will be more subtly connected to what happened in chapter 70 (we get into dark thematics related to death, so beware and skip to the next paragraph if you're sensitive on the matter).

The Magic Association tried to attack the Shinomoto mansion, likely to take Akiho back. Of course Kaito sensed it and counterattacked, using time magic.

Here he commented "As long as they continue to not include time magic (in their spells), due to their weakness and fear of its devastating effects on their bodies, it's going to have the same result every time".

The thing that immediately becomes apparent for people reading this for the first time is that Kaito not only betrayed the confraternity of people he was once part of, but he also despises them, thinks very little of them and probably has done so for quite some time (with all the reasons of this world).

Then, it's also very apparent how he indirectly poses himself in contrast to their actions: "they're weak and cowards, that's why they don't use time magic. While I have no qualms in using it. I am not afraid of what will happen. No one is gonna stop me".

Then....if we dig deeper...we also find something more personally concerning Kaito, in his sentence.

He's indirectly showing he acknowledged that they kept using him when he was a child to perform tasks that required time magic, because they were too coward to use it themselves. He acknowledges they used him, and lord only knows when that realization came about, probably after starting his journey with Akiho and staying away from that toxic environment for some time.

And that realization came with his greatest act of rebellion.

"I hate myself, I'll always be alone and am not interested in continuing living this life, but at the very least I won't ruin myself at your behest anymore. I WILL BE THE ONE to decide how and what to exhaust my life on". It is of course a terrible, horrible way to see the worth of his own life, but at the same time a desperate scream for self-determination that personally I can't ignore. For how horrible it is, this is Kaito calling the shots for what concerns him. He's not existing for the use and abuse of other people anymore. And this is also part of why he shows that self-satisfied smile at the end of ch. 70, although mixed with other emotions.

Of course, he made such decision with a mindset of someone who got nothing to lose. Nothing, or no one. And this is where he was terribly wrong.

Rewind & the silencing spell - vol. 7

Sakura produced the Rewind Card, and for the first time ever, we get a comment from Kaito indicating that, although it's not exactly the one he was looking for, it went quite close.

Now that we know that the Card he was looking for is Exchange, we can infer in which ways Rewind went close to it, but wasn't exactly what he was looking for.

I think Rewind was simply incomplete for the full plan Kaito had.

Rewind showed to be capable to change the appearance of someone to make look them like they were in a previous state. In Syaoran's case, it made him look like when he was very little, because that was what Sakura was thinking about when she created the Card. Even if Kaito wished, thanks to Rewind, to restore Akiho's situation back to when she wasn't turned into a magic artifact yet, that would've been only a superficial change. Rewind doesn't seem to have (for now) the full potential of the time-rewindings operated by Kaito. Sakura didn't actually travel in time to bring a little Syaoran back from those times, as Syaoran still had his own teenager conscience. The "change" doesn't operate at deep level, basically, and so it was insufficient for Kaito's plan.

Furthermore, in this same scene, we see him activating the silencing spell on Syaoran. Again, a move made at the very last moment, when Sakura had already found out that she was the one giving birth to those Cards. To be honest I still don't feel like this was malicious at all. He could've thought up so, so many harsher ways to stop them from interfering with his plans if he meant any harm to them. Messed with their minds, made them forget (Eriol did so with Yue!!), I don't know.

Instead, he chose this way, exposing himself even further, because why only mentions of Akiho and Kaito would get "blocked"? Of course that made so apparent that the spell came from him, and he somehow wanted Syaoran to know it did. Probably as a way to suggest "it's me, please don't interfere more than this". Of course, as I said before, Kaito is not here to f*ck around, so he found himself forced to use this silencing spell, or cutting off Eriol from communication, or to use all the time-rewinds he used.

The first decision I've ever made for myself - vol. 7 and vol. 8

I look at the first picture of this paragraph and I laugh, because I remember when this chapter came out people were making fun of Kaito, calling him "creep" for spying on a middle school (a swimming class, at that 😅). But looking at that smile now, with the hindsight of what we know...it's such a sweet smile. He seems genuinely happy to see Akiho enjoying her time with all her classmates. He loves to see all the bonds she created.

But that heartwarming feeling lasts very little, as his "half-assed" (as I always call it, what was that 'wave' for?) attempt to make Sakura create a new Card triggers Akiho's book, and for the first time ever we see it in action, making her lose her conscience completely.

The proof is that "Akiho" doesn't talk with her usual voice, but with the voices of the Association and the Clan. As you can see, at her feet, we see the same "book pages" that will engulf Kaito at the end of chapter 70 too (therefore almost confirming that's where he is right now, inside the damned book).

As both Momo and Kaito confirm, the spell that will eventually crush her soul is still very much active on her and not too far from its final goal. We get a glimpse of a very sorrowful expression from Kaito while he says with his own words that probably those people are hoping that the spell will crush Akiho's soul. This expression alone shoul've already been enough to confirm what Kaito's intentions were. But also how much he felt responsible for that atrocity.

Kaito doesn't have a choice, he will use *more* time magic to put some sort of "seal" on the book inside Akiho (freezing its time), full aware that this is just a patch and won't solve any problem definitively. But at least it should keep everyone (Sakura & Syaoran included, since it activated mostly in their presence) safe while he tried to bring his plan to completion.

Also...I can't help but point out how he softly caresses her face again before starting his spell, such a sweet gesture that almost seems as if saying "sorry" for performing a magic on her without the girl being aware.

Once again, he allows himself to be this sweet with her only when she's not aware of it. Knowing what we know now, it's no wonder why.

And here it is...probably the most important scene beside the one where he made a choice and said "I'll go".

His first conversation with Akiho.

For him, this wasn't really the first 'meeting'. Indeed, later on he will talk again about this moment and he will specifically use the japanese word for "conversation". Because although from afar, the very first time he met her was through the magic sphere.

Of course she was way too little to remember. So while for her this might have been effectively her first meeting with him, for him it wasn't, and his kind, sweet smile is proof of that.

He went there already knowing who she was, her background, who she was the daughter of, what happened to her, and prepared so that he could make her feel at ease from the very start. Of course someone must have taught him this, because before this scene he used to have such a dead stare. He looked like he never smiled once in his whole life.

My idea is that, after making his contract with Momo, she "trained him". For his smiles and everything else. Taught him how to interact properly with other people, since he was so averse to it beforehand.

This theory I have comes from the fact she's the one who told him, in one of the Drama CDs, "please laugh more properly! even it's a fake laugh!".

Anyway, this scene is so powerful because it's not only drawn in such a "fateful meeting" way, but also because this fountain and rose garden will appear later on in Clockland too, summoned by the magic of Momo's book browsing through Kaito's memories.

While other people might argue that this is also the place where he met Lilie once, I'd daresay first meetings and talks are more likely to leave such a big impression on someone. When he met Lilie there, it was one of their regular meetings (and clearly not the first one), while with Akiho it was the meeting that would start their journey together, and start the process of how his whole life would change thanks to her.

It's definitely not by chance that he's remembering this important moment while he discloses to the readers for the first time that "I made a decision that day. The first decision I've ever made for myself".

Stopping the time of the book inside Akiho proves to be very arduous.

So arduous that Kaito is sweating and panting at the end of it.

Not only that, but the book itself activates some sort of "defense" (that black matter that comes out of Akiho, the same black matter that comes out when she loses consciousness) and literally attacks Kaito. You can see it hitting him in several spots.

He looks stubborn and unstoppable, though. Even with the magic of the book hurting him, he still pushes through with his spell for the sake of Akiho.

Momo is taken aback because she didn't know *anything* of this idea of his, and she's really mad when he's done.

Always for the same reason.

Because while he can realize her change of mood without any problem ("You look even angrier now" "Ah, you can understand *that* just fine, hm? And yet you don't understand what's really important"), he hasn't understood Akiho's feelings nor his own, yet. And he keeps insisting in disregarding his life like it's nobody's business. The very core of the problem that will persist till chapter 70 lies all there.

Small detail I like to point out: Kaito's time magic isn't infinite. After he exerted himself on stopping Akiho's book, the magic he used to stop time for everyone literally starts to crumble apart, signifying that its effect will vanish very soon. This will happen again later on, in a *very* different situation.

Whenever Kaito's magic focus falls short, whether it's due to physical or emotional matters, his magic is affected and falls apart.

And with this scene of the beginning of volume 8 I will conclude this second part of my analysis! 💜

I have to be honest, when I started this "project", it was totally propelled by the strong feelings that chapter 70 gave me, but I thought I would finish this in 1, 2 posts maximum....but along the way, I found myself wanting to talk about so many scenes 😂that I'm not even sure I'll be able to finish this within the 3rd post 😂😂😂especially cause later on there'll be more and more hints scattered around...god help me 😅

At this point I can say for sure that part 3 will come after the release of chapter 71, so see you later for my monthly translation + commentary post!! 😉

[hauntingblue]

Strong world is the nami and luffy twins manifesto written by oda this is my one piece.

You see luffy's finishing attack with his giant hammer being fueled by lightning which is nami's main weapon with her clima tact and she even made the guy steer the islands towards the cyclone so even if the lighting isn't produced by her the lighting is provided by her either way so luffy AND her finished that guy and even luffy attacked after nami announced how he will lose which also means nami knew and trusted luffy to end him after that and of course he did and

Oh my god luffy making nami explain herself about the message he left on the tone dial and being pissed that she didn't trust him to save and protect her but he got so mad and didn't hear the whole message and she asked luffy to save her omg....... she knew after all that they will come and win..... I love this ending I am going to walk into the sea now goodbye.

Why are whitebeard and ace on the ending credits I already cried. Watching aces part again cause he looks so good. Hello alive dead wife

[ouellette]

local girl still thinking about her ex almost 2 years later, sentenced to death by firing squad