#let's skip the ceremony and go straight to the party

[einaudis]

There's something about people getting married that makes me want to have a wedding.

[cheeseceli]

Falling in Love [deeper than I've felt before]

Pairing: Hyunjin × gn!Reader

Genre: fluff, slowburn

Warnings: reader drinks alcohol at some point, not proofread.

Request: part 2 of Moving On but can be read individually

a/n: it took a while to go to the plot but i promise y/n moves on lmao; the ending is a bit rushed? But creativity had left me sadly. Also this was posted accidentally so I'm so sorry if there is something which seems off

The day has come. And you still can't believe how dumb you were from accepting the invitation to go to your ex's wedding.

You were going straight to the biggest heartbreak you'd ever have, but there was no turning back now. You said you would be in the damn party so you will be there.

"Seriously Y/n, I think you shouldn't go." Yeji, a friend of yours, said while helping you figure out something to wear "Just tell him that you were sick or something. I can lie to him if you want"

"I said I'd be there and I'm not one to break a promise."

"It's barely a promise. He admitted himself that it would be awkward, it's better if you skip it. You're just torturing yourself at this point"

"I'm going. Besides, maybe that's what I need to finally move on. It's been 3 years already. I need that."

Yeji sighed. She openly disagreed with your point of view, there should be another way of moving on without shattering your heart into pieces, but she wouldn't insist anymore.

"We have some hours until the wedding. Let's go to the mall, we need something good for you to wear" she got up from the edge of your bed "unless you wanna go in pajamas."

And that's how, four hours later, you were fully prepared to the wedding. Even though you looked great, you still felt a pain in your chest because of the price you spent. The situation was starting to become a little ridiculous, you couldn't believe you wasted so much money on an outfit you'd never wear again because it'd probably bring a lot of bad memories.

This better have a good outcome.

But deep inside you were happy that Yeji made you put some effort in how you'd look because the place was beautiful. The decoration was really enchanting, with a lot of white and green flowers and you could even hear the sound of a piano. It looked like the wedding was designed to fit a disney princess' movie.

The guests were also gorgeous. Some of them were still your friends while some were "ex-friends", as you lost contact with them after the break up. There were a lot of people you didn't know there, friends and family of Changbin's partner you assumed. It looked like you could actually enjoy the night if it wasn't for the current scenario.

You ended up sitting in the table with all the other Itzy girls and for some moments you were able to forget the bad feeling in your chest. That was until the ceremony started.

Needless to say that you cried during the vows. They were so happy, Changbin was happy. At the same time that your heart was aching, you felt a a weight out of your shoulders. It was like you were finally given the chance to set free from your past and not be attached to it anymore.

Changbin wouldn't come back. You shouldn't wait for him.

It was less painful than what you originally thought. Seeing how he cried after seeing his partner and how he didn't hesitate to kiss them, you could even feel happiness. I'm happy you're happy at last. That's how you were able to clap and celebrate for the now married couple, along the rest of the guests.

Now, of course, you needed to drink. Realisation was still sinking in and you couldn't say congratulations to the couple while being sober. That's why you went straight up to the bar once people started to dance and sat down in the first free chair you could find.

"Y/n?"

You looked to the side and saw Hyunjin. The fact that sooner or later one of the stray kids members would show up slipped of your mind and you were actually surprised for seeing the boy in front of you. Even though you were still friends with Changbin, you barely talked to the kids. The last time you saw Hyunjin was two years ago, you think. He got even prettier, you noticed.

"Hey" you finally reply "it's been a while."

"I know right? Wasn't expecting to see you here though."

"I wasn't supposed to be here I guess... I might be leaving soon"

It seemed that Hyunjin understood the circumstances, it was reasonable your urge to leave. But at the same time, the night had just started and it's been a pretty long time since you last talked to everyone. They missed you. He missed you.

"At least have a drink with me" he proposes, already calling the bartender "I wanna know what you've been into." How could you say no?

So you and Hyunjin drank together while catching up with each other and God, you did miss a lot. Hyunjin was talking about every show they attended to while you gossiped about a drama that was happening in your work place. He showed pictures of his paintings while you showed pictures of your pets. He even gave you a minor spoiler of their next comeback. You laughed a lot during some hours.

While you were telling him about the last trip you did with some of your friends, a different song started playing and everyone got out of the center of the room. You looked at the commotion to find out it was when the just married couple begun their dance. You were observing them, so you failed to notice Hyunjin's gaze on you and his little smile. He truly missed you.

"Are you guys okay?"

You looked at him, taking a while to understand what he meant. By the time you comprehended it, he regretted and tried saying "I'm sorry, shouldn't have asked".

"We're okay" you answered "we should be at least."

"No hard feelings? Were you able to, you know, move on?"

"I'm moving on as we speak. I think this is my last chapter with him."

He was looking at you with curiosity. Like he actually wanted to understand your feelings, like he actually wanted to listen without judgements. So you kept explaining:

"Maybe I was ready for a while, I just didn't want to let go. I've never been good with changes. I just didn't want to lose the possibility of everything being fine without any change." you grew consciously of the man's attention on you, so you tried to brush it off by laughing "Sorry for the therapy session all of the sudden."

He giggled "Don't worry, I don't mind. I'm happy for you, to be able to keep going. Happy for both of you."

The dance was close to an end and everyone was cheering, but Changbin and his partner looked like they were in their own world, lost in each others embrace and smile. You could see their love in their eyes. That's what they deserved.

"I am happy too."

You were being genuine. Its like another weight was lifted off you. You were slowly collecting the pieces of your heart and putting them together. You were healing.

When the newlyweds finished their first dance as a married couple, the guests applauded in joy and went back to the dance floor when another song started playing. Hyunjin drank the last sip of the drink he ordered and stood up. You didn't want to admit but you were kinda disappointed that he was already going. You started to wonder if you had said anything wrong or said too much, that was until he offered his hand to you with a smile.

He saw your confused expression and explained it clearly“Let's dance. You're not planning on staying in this bar for the whole night, are you? ”

“I am, actually. Besides I'm going home soon, there's no need to-”

“C'mon Y/n. ” he interrupted you while moving forward to hold your hand “You cannot come to a wedding party and not dance to at least one song. I promise I'll stop bothering you after this.”

Hesitantly, you held his hand back and got up.

“Was my offer to stop bothering you so tempting? You're even smiling” he said, making you laugh.

“Shut up.”

The room was filled with couples and friends. You didn't notice that the song that was playing, falling in love by cigarettes after sex, required a slow dancing. You just noticed it after Hyunjin was really close to you, holding your waist with both hands and smiling dearly for you. You soon placed your hands in his shoulder.

“You weren't so bold before, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Normally you wouldn't invite someone to dance, you were always kinda shy. I remember I begged you to dance with me in my own birthday party and still you denied.”

“That was when I was a trainee, how do you even remember that?”

“Oh it made me cry for weeks”

He laughed, bringing you closer to him. You guys were barely dancing, you were just hugging each other and swinging from side to side.

“Were you always this dramatic?”

“You're one to talk.”

“Well...” Hyunjin said before sighing, like he was wondering what words to use for what he was about to say.“we can say that I regret not accepting your invite to dance back then. And who knows when I'll have another opportunity.”

You were the shy one now. You really didn't expect to Hyunjin to be so bold, even though he didn't say nothing considered too much and you probably were analysing to deeply. Trying to not blush, you decided to light the situation: "I say it was the alcohol that made you so straightforward."

"Oh that helped of course" he laughed. And you kept talking the most random things while being on each other's arms, dancing to a love song like it was something casual. When the first song came to an end, he was ready to say goodbye to you, even though that was the last thing he wanted in the moment.

"I don't mind dancing for another song" you said. You don't know what made you change your mind so quickly, but then you saw his smile and understood the change of heart. That smile was worth a lot of dances.

You probably danced for more than two hours. In slow songs you'd just hug each other while talking about your life, in happy songs you would dance like crazy and proceed to judge those who were better than you and sometimes you'd just follow hyunjin's lead to try to follow a dance routine. You just stopped when Hyunjin was covered in sweat and your feet couldn't handle anymore. Then you both went to the bar, laughing like that was the funniest thing to ever happen on your life.

"Y/N!"

Looking to the side, you were met with Yeji. You noticed that her breath wasn't even, which meant that she was probably looking for you for a while now.

“You're still friends with Yeji?”

“Yeah, we still go out sometimes. Why?”

“Just wanted to know.”

“I was looking for you everywhere” Yeji was now right in front of you, breathing heavily “Me and the girls are going back to the dorms, we need to be up early tomorrow. Do you want to go with us?”

You searched for your cell phone, wondering what time it was. It was a little bit past midnight. You wanted to be there for more time, you felt like the night was just starting, but sadly the Itzy girls were your only ride back home. That meant you needed to go now.

You glanced at Hyunjin, who was looking at with expectation. For a second you thought that he was trying to convince you to stay for a bit longer, to enjoy the night with him. But it couldn't be this, right? So you just brushed it off.

“Well, I'll be going then” he gave you a small smile, but he was averting his eyes, trying to not look directly at you, but still he got closer to hug you goodbye “I hope to see you around.”

“Don't go missing this time.”

You laughed at his little joke and he giggled back. You believe it would've been easier to go away if he kept looking at somewhere else, but now his eyes were on you and you felt like you couldn't move. You truly wished the night could be longer.

You had your thoughts interrupted when Yeji faked a cough by your side, making you and Hyunjin both come back to reality and making you get away from his arms. Only then you started to walk away, trying to not look as much as you could.

“Bye Hyunjin.”

He just nodded his head, trying to not say bye. You and Yeji started to walk away, saying goodbye to the ones you'd find in your way.

"Oh wait" you remembered your friend "I still have to congratulate Changbin and his partner, I didn't get the chance to do that earlier."

"They were talking to his parents last time I saw them. Do you feel better?"

"Kinda? I mean, it will take a while to be 100% over this but I already feel a weight off my shoulders."

Yeji smiled and, even though she didn't say anything else, you could see she was happy for your growth. Now you could only wish you would heal and find yourself in a better situation from now on. Maybe you could fall in love again, deeper than you've felt before.

Feedbacks and reblogs are very much appreciated!

[yumiblogs]

Here’s a request (if it’s okay with you) (: :

[inspired by Mastermind]

The reader has a crush on Seungmin/Felix and at an award show/party he’s there so she plans out how she will talk to him and everything. And maybe there’d be like a time skip to a few months later and she admits to having everything planned out (but you’re the writer so you can decide what you want to write)

Stalling the Truth // Stray Kids Felix / Seungmin

Masterlist

=============================

Felix x Female Reader

Backstory: (y/n is part of a girl group called POLLI3 (Pollie) under JYP Entertainement that consists of 4 members; Gaeyoung, Tsukki and Mayyu (wasn’t planning on giving them a group name but… why not) they are a rookie group.)

“Ughhh fine but you owe me those new earphones I’ve been wanting” Gaeyoung grabbed the sticky note as she power walked past Tsukki and Mayyu. Gaeyoung looked back and signaled Tsukki to follow the plan they set up.

All nervous, you turn to bow at the staff as Mayyu made her way towards you asking for help on setting her microphone to the right setting and tone. Glancing over at the other side of the backstage you spotted Tsukki inching her way towards Bangchan. Bangchan entertained as he was stretching with Jeongin and Lee Know, then Gaeyoung taps Bangchans shoulder since Tsukki chickened out last second.

Watching them talk for what seems like AGES, you watch as Gaeyoung side hugs Bangchan as she hands him the sticky note, you sigh in relief but you freeze as Gaeyoung point over to you causing Bangchan to look straight at you and wave flashing you a warm smile. You’re cheeks flush from embarrassment what the heck Gaeyoung was all you could think of as she grabbed Tsukki hand and walked back towards you and Mayyu.

You hit Gaeyoungs chest and arm like 5 times “what did youuu do? Why did Chan look at me!” You whisper-yelled at Gaeyoung as she held her hands up to her chest trying to defend herself “nothing! I just told him that you said hi…” you sigh as you place your hand on your heart acting like you were gonna get a mini heart attack “… and maybe told him about the whole plan making him laugh and wave at you” Gaeyoung closes her eyes as she says the last part fast hoping you’ll not process a word she just said to you.

“You WHAT” showing your fist at her as if you were to hit her but hold yourself back since you didn’t actually want to hit her but it was more of a frustrated type of reaction. “Hey, he doesn’t mind! Plus we all know each other and its pretty obvious that you like him so he was actually really into the plan” you look down trying not to panic.

“Done” Bangchan stood behind Mayyu, all four of you turned around “Chan what did you do…?” Tsukki questioned Bangchan as she tried to pull you together from you mini heart attack. “Dont worry, you’ll see” Bangchan smirked as he walked away towards the rest of his members at the other side of the backstage.

.

While sitting down surrounded by all the groups that were nominated that night, you are glad that you had the opportunity to be there and perform even though you were one out of a handful of rookie groups who weren’t nominated that night. As the ceremony was coming to an end, its time for all the groups to go on stage to say their goodbyes to their fans.

During that transition, groups would bow at each other and dance while waving at fans on the stage, suddenly you trip backstage while walking up the stairs onto the main stage. You grab the nearest hand that was stretched towards you from behind “omg thank-“ you pause looking down, that soft smile flashing towards you… a swift of warm lavender flower swell caught your attention as they helped you up. Noticing the heart shaped freckle on the side of his face as he smiled from ear to ear.

“watch your step, I also tripped earlier” Felix lightly laughed while letting you go “by the way, I’ll be happy to study French with you. Here’s my number, just don’t tell the staff okay” standing there in the middle of the stairway you took the piece of paper from Felix’s hand as he walked past yo pu to rejoin his group that was already on the main stage.

.

“Wait so that was your way of talking to me?” Felix laughed as he handed you a bowl popcorn “yeah… honestly I didn’t even know about the French class, I was just excited to have your number” you said popping a popcorn in your mouth “well look at this..” Felix pulled out his phone and took off the phone case, unfolding a yellow piece of paper then your eyes widened as you realized what it was “while being backstage, Bangchan handed me this… oh what is this? A sticky note saying ‘Bangchan do you know if Felix is seeing anyone at the moment? I’m just really shy to talk to him and-” Felix recited making his best impression of you “OKAY thats enough!” You snatched the sticky note out of his hand in embarrassment.

“How do you still have this?” You said trying to hide the sticky note “well im not gonna throw it away since that piece of paper is what led up to this very moment” Felix threw himself at you “well, in that case here “keep it secured cause im also that piece of paper exists” you look deep into Felix’s eyes then kiss his cheek “now play the movie, Ive been dyinggg to watch it” Felix grabs the control then presses play as he sits back wrapping his arm around you to hold you close.

=================================

Seungmin x Female Reader

“Okay so you’re gonna push me and then I’ll bump into him then-” you frantically explain the plan to Cheamin (your best friend) “I know I know im not going to forget, but don’t you think this is a little much? Why not just go up to him? After all we ARE friends” Cheamin tries to knock some sense into you “shhh hes passing by come on do it when he’s behind me”

Cheamin rolls her eyes while getting into place, as Seungmin is right behind you, you turn to the side and feel a push (from Cheamin) on your shoulder “omg im so sorry! Here let me-” you grab paper towels and press them onto Seungmin s shirt “shi- don’t worry its okay” Seungmin takes the paper towels from your hand and heads to the bathroom upstairs.

“Hurry!” Cheamin whisper yells at you as she pushes you towards the stairs you walk by Changbin as he hands you a shirt, you thumbs up him and head upstairs. Opening the door from the bathroom as it was slightly open, you walk in on Seungmin shirtless as he is washing his shirt on the sink.

“Hey..” you look down trying not to look at him “… here I found a shirt for you” extending your arm towards him you accidentally touch his chest “I’ll do it don’t worry” pushing him aside, you take over and try to remove the stain from his shirt.

“Say… im sorry about this, I really didnt see you behind me” you reach over to grab the soap “hey I said that it was okay, plus I get to spend some time with you” Seungmin leans on the counter next to you. “Hey you wanna… ditch this party? Its kind of-” Seungmin cuts you off by handing you a towel to dry off your hands “lets go”

.

“You know what the funniest part of all this was” Seungmin took another sip of his drink “what…?” You question actually wondering what he’s going to say “I knew about the whoooole thing” Seungmin smirked “wai- what?” You froze in place “yeah, I mean I kinda figured since Jeongin helped me with my outfit, the I couldn’t find my favorite shirt so I had to wear one I never wore… thats why I wasn’t that bothered when you spilled the drink on me” looking shocked you slapped your forehead.

“Wait, that still doesn’t explain how you knew the whole time” you looks over at Seungmin “well as you know, Han always leaves his phone unattended so-” Seungmin was explaining but you cut him off “he left the chat between him and I opened didn’t he?” He nods as he laughs “wait… dont tell me the rest of the members knew too?” Seungmin speeds up his pace as he tries to tun away from you.

“What the heck! I thought I was being sneaky!” You pout as you run behind Seungmin bet he turns around and grabs your hand before you could grab his “you are SO bad at this whole ‘planning’ thing, maybe just stick to telling one person” Seungmin pulls you close and pecks your lips “oh shut up..” you hit his chest and continue walking through the park.

Masterlist

[translations-by-aiimee]

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun - Chapter 17

Original Title:  二哈和他的白猫师尊

Genres: Drama, Romance, Tragedy, Xianxia, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 17 - This Venerable One's Shizun was Injured, This Venerable One is very. . .

What kind of Master of Ceremonies Ghost was this thing? They dealt with aphrodisiacs. At best, other people's aphrodisiacs would let average living people take about their prowess. This immortal was good. The dead could get hard with a small wave of the hand. The hand was truly a wonderful "aphrodisiac"!

He was watching with great interest when suddenly Chu Wanning stretched out his hand and covered Mo Ran's ears.

Mo Ran: "Huh?"

Chu Wanning looked extremely cold: "Such a ridiculous and obscene practice. Don't bother watching it."

"Then you should be covering my eyes. Why are you plugging my ears?"

Chu Wanning's face was expressionless: "Don't look, don't listen. Close your eyes."

Mo Ran: "Pff. Shizun, you are really. . ." He didn't even pay attention to his own red face. If he wanted eyes closed, he can do it himself.

Mo Ran couldn't help but be a little bit happy. Chu Wanning, a person made of ice and snow, had never even seen an erotic picture. At this moment, now that he saw intimacy up close, he would probably choke to death.

The dead couple came together, and gradually both of them became alive. Their dead throat, which was supposed to be silent, actually let out a raspy gasp similar to that of a living person.

Chu Wanning was obviously disgusted. He harshly turned away, not wanting to look again.

Mo Ran noticed this with great joy. He tried to get a rise out of the other. He smirked and knocked against his chin.

Chu Wanning quickly avoided him as if he were being stabbed: "What are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything." Mo Ran said sweetly and sneakily. With some sarcasm and teasing, he gave him a once-over like he was making a joke.

No matter how old this man is, this kind of thing still makes him blush. . .

No, it's more like a mixture of blue and red. It's quite funny.

"Shizun, didn't you tell us that we must see what the other party is capable of being doing anything? You should also see the ability of this Master of Ceremonies Ghost."

"What is there to see? Don't look."

Mo Ran sighed: "Why do you have such thin skin?"

Chu Wanning replied angrily: "It's improper and nasty. It really hurts my eyes!"

"Then I have to look at it." Mo Ran said, and he lay there nonchalantly. He looked outside again and he said, "Ah", "Wow", "Awesome", "Ouch" and so on. It made Chu Waning completely berserk, and the coffin board could not be held down. He whispered angrily: "Just look, what are you narrating for?!"

Mo Ran said innocently: "I thought you wanted to hear it."

Chu Wanning finally couldn't hold back. He strangled Mo Ran's neck, gritting his teeth: "If you make another noise, I'll throw you out to feed the zombies right now!"

Enough teasing. He couldn't push Chu Wanning too far. When he got anxious, Tianwen would quickly be summoned, so Mo Ran lay there obediently, staring outside, without saying a word.

As the ghost couple reached their climax, the male corpse let out a low growl, spasming and twitching on the female corpse. Suddenly a cloud of blue smoke burst out of them. The Master of Ceremonies Ghost opened her mouth and greedily inhaled the blue smoke until the last wisp of it was in her stomach. This time, he wiped the corners of her mouth gluttonously, and her eyes shone brightly.

It seems that these were the "benefits" that the married couple gave to it, which would increase its cultivation.

"Haha, hahaha—" When the Master of Ceremonies Ghost tasted the sweetness, it became even more radiant. When he spoke again, the misty and empty voice became clear, shouting and roaring. The sharp voice seemed to pierce through the long night. "Rise! Get up! All of you! Wait for the idiot and blame the girl! I kindly grant you intimacy! You offer me your faith! Get up! Get up! Everyone rise!"

Mo Ran's heart skipped a beat: It's over. . .

What is it going to do?!

The surrounding hundreds of coffins all began to tremble, verifying what Mo Ran was thinking. The Master of Ceremonies Ghost is going to summon all the corpses in the coffins to embrace so that it can absorb all their "benefits" at once!

Not caring about joking anymore, Mo Ran yanked at Chu Wanning: "Shizun!!!"

"Now what?!"

"Quick! Get out! Shi Mei is still trapped with the Chen's family daughter-in-law!" Mo Ran was going mad. "Let's go save him!"

Chu Wanning took a look outside. He didn't expect the Master of Ceremonies Ghost would have such a powerful hunger, not wanting to absorb from the pairs individually, but actually wanting to take a huge bite!

The trembling of the coffin next to them became more and more intense. It wasn't a stretch to think that all the pairs of the ghost marriages were inspired to start acting up in the coffins. This thought made Chu Wanning choke, his face growing even more ugly. At this moment, the Master of Ceremonies Ghost, who was standing in the same place and laughing for a long time, suddenly felt something. She abruptly turned her head. A pair of black eyes without focus stared straight past the others and landed on the coffin of Mo Ran and Chu Wanning .

It could feel, despite its low intelligence, that the coffin does not have the erotic scent it was familiar with.

There was no faith.

There was no. . .

Living people!!!

Suddenly it arched up, screaming and scrambling. The Master of Ceremonies Ghost's robe flapped up, a pair of blood-red claws stabbing through the coffin wood, piercing the thick coffin, straight into the coffin body.

Its attack was too sudden and Mo Ran was too late to react. Moreover, the space in the coffin was very small, and it was impossible to go anywhere. Seeing its head through the five holes made by the nine-yin white bone claws, its body suddenly fell -- Chu Wan Ning had already swiftly guarded him in his arms, blocking himself in front, and the five pointed claws of the Master of Ceremonies Ghost suddenly pierced into Chu Wanning's shoulder!

Deep enough to reach a bone!

". . ."

Chu Wanning stifled a grunt but he endured it and didn't shout out. The other uninjured hand was still burning with the sound-dampening spell, and he placed it on Mo Ran's lips, blocking the sound that Mo Ran would've made.

The claws of the Master of Ceremonies Ghost dug into the flesh and blood of Chu Wanning.

It had a muddled brain and it could only judge what was dead or alive by sound. Chu Wanning actually managed not to say a word in this situation, the blood bubbling down his shoulder. Mo Ran was held down so he couldn't see how serious his injuries were, but he could clearly feel Chu Wanning trembling slightly. . .

Living people. . . or dead people? It was impossible for a living person to have not made a sound. The Master of Ceremonies couldn't tell for a moment. The sharp claws shifted around in the flesh of Chu Wanning's shoulder, viciously tearing and scratching.

Chu Wanning trembled with pain. He spasmed, a cold sweat drenching his clothes.

But he was still biting his lip, protecting the disciple in his arms, as if he had really become a corpse and became a dead person, pressing against the edge of the coffin, like cast iron on the wall of the coffin.

The Master of Ceremonies Ghost seemed to confirm that anyone in the coffin wasn't alive anymore. It jerked its hand out, blood flying, and he could even hear the sticky sound of fingers being pulled out of the flesh, which made his hair stand upright.

Chu Waning's taut body felt like it had suddenly lost its strength. He let go of Mo Ran and gasped softly.

There was a strong smell of blood flowing in the coffin.

Mo Ran raised his head. Through the dim light leaking in through the hole, he could see Chu Wanning's drooping eyelashes, as well as the moist but stubborn eyes beneath them.

Those slightly provocative phoenix eyes, blurred with pain, but still more cruel and tenacious, a thin veil of mist filling them. . .

Mo Ran wanted to speak. Chu Wanning shook his head and he left the silencing spell on his lips. After a while, he took a slow breath and, with trembling fingertips, wrote on the back of Mo Ran's hand:

The sound-cancelling barrier was damaged, so they couldn't speak.

The Master of Ceremonies Ghost outside tilted its head, as if he didn't understand why, even though there was clearly no living person inside the coffin, he didn't follow its instructions, nor could it feel any of offerings of faith.

Chu Wanning raised his head and glanced at it from the gap. His uninjured hand was encaged with golden light, and a willow vine flowing with flaming luster came out in response to the call.

He held Tianwen and narrowed his eyes.

The next moment, they broke out of the coffin!!!

The coffin exploded. Chu Wanning flew out like lightning. Tianwen was both accurate and quick and it strangled the neck of the Master of Ceremonies Ghost who let out an ear-piercing whine——

"Who are you! How dare you!"

Chu Wanning's answer was only one phrase: "Get lost!"

The large, auspicious red robe flipped out, like a cloud wave. He had been holding back just to land the right blow, so he immediately struck with one hand and Tianwen went for the neck! It decapitated the Master of Ceremonies Ghost!

A thick red mist along with a strange fragrance sprayed out from its broken neck. Chu Wanning quickly backed away, avoiding the fog, and sternly said: "Mo Ran! Thousand Killing Cuts!"

Mo Ran had already been waiting on standby. When he heard the order, he clutched the dark sword box in his sleeves, filled it with spiritual power, and blasted it towards the mutilated body who was reaching for his head.

The clay body split open, revealing a flowing red light inside the translucent body. Chu Wanning raised Tianwen again and tied up the immortal spirit body of the Master of Ceremonies Ghost. A scream came from the body of the headless immortal: "The mortals are safe! The mortals are safe! — Rise! Get up! Kill them! Kill them——!!!"

The golden boy and girl, who had no facial features, suddenly both had a pair of blood-red eyes light up, and with countless squeals and screams, rushed towards Mo Ran and Chu Wanning.

The coffins lying on the ground also shattered and the dead corpses lying inside rose and surged toward the two of them.

Mo Ran's gaze weaved through the crowd, looking for Shi Mei. Chu Wanning barked: "What are you staring at those corpses for? That's not going to do anything!"

The two of them and the Master of Ceremonies Ghost had already flown on top of a coffin, the slow-moving corpses slowly gathering around them. Mo Ran raised his hands to light an exorcism talisman. He cast it in all directions, sending an explosion through the crowd. But there were too many ghosts, another wave of them not far behind.

Mo Ran was flabbergasted: "This many people died in Caidie Town? How many married couples are there?!!!"

Chu Wanning said angrily: "Look at the cultivation level of the Master of Ceremonies Ghost. There are so many men and women who didn't die naturally! In all likelihood, it probably compels those who aren't married to commit suicide! Hit over here!"

Mo Ran waved another exorcism talismans toward the place Chu Wanning signaled, exploding a piece of white bone and dead flesh.

"Why isn't the Master of Ceremonies Ghost dead?"

"Ordinary weapons can't hurt it."

"What about Tianwen?"

Chu Wanning was furious: "Can't you see that it wants me to use Tianwen? This Master of Ceremonies Ghost moves extremely fast. If I let go of it, and don't get another grip on it, I'm afraid it will have already escaped!"

Those corpses were piled up more and more. Mo Ran, while fighting, was paying attention to whether Shi Mei was in the crowd, so as not to accidentally hurt him. A golden boy rushed over and violently bit his leg. He cursed inwardly, and he threw an exorcism talisman directly on the golden boy's face. He kicked it into the crowd of corpses and he exploded with a bang.

Chu Wanning said: "Have you seen Shi Mei and Madam Chen?"

After frantically searching, Mo Ran suddenly saw two swaying figures in the distance and said joyfully, "I see them!"

"Get over there and pull the two of them away! Get away from here!"

"Okay!" Mo Ran answered and then he was taken aback. "What are you going to do?"

Chu Wanning said angrily: "I can't raise my other arm, and I can't summon other weapons. I can only use Tianwen. As soon as I release the Master of Ceremonies Ghost, I'll destroy this entire place. If you don't want to die, get out as soon as possible!"

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

[tennessoui]

18 obikin!! Amnesia fics are super fun 🍆

18. One of them wakes up with amnesia (Option A because two people sent in this prompt number and I liked both ideas I saw for it enough to not want to pick) this involves an Obi-Wan that got deaged as well as lost his memories so he's Phantom Menace Obi-Wan. no i will not be explaining. hand wavey drabble fic writing.

--

The man has not stopped staring, but something in his intense gaze makes Obi-Wan feel safe. Almost. Well. On edge, yes, but. Protected. He has the strange feeling that he’d rather be under this man’s stare than anywhere else in the entire galaxy.

But he knows he’s never seen this man before in his life, the same way that he knows he’s twenty-five and that Qui-Gon Jinn is his Master, that he’s a Jedi knight-in-training, that he hates teas with mint leaves in them, that he’ll never say no to a drink with Quinlan, that--well.

He supposes none of that stuff could be true anymore. Vokra Che, who’s a grown and certified healer master now, had told him what had happened. An older version of himself had touched something he wasn’t supposed to. The closest translation they could find to the runes on the object was that it would transform the user back to their most balanced state. Obi-Wan’s had, apparently, been at the age of twenty-five. He hadn’t recognized the name Anakin Skywalker. He had never been to Naboo.

He throws the rest of his drink back and waves to the bartender to pour him another. He’d gone straight here from the Halls of Healing. He’d had a shadow the entire way, but the man has yet to try to talk to him at all. It’s infuriating.

His Padawan braid swings into his field of vision for a second. He tosses it over his shoulder. He’d been told. Qui-Gon had died. Obi-Wan wants to not think about it at all.

There’s a brush of a Force presence that’s both familiar and completely foreign next to him. The man has finally moved to his side. Obi-Wan’s jaw ticks at his continued reticence, the way he’s observing him but not talking to him. It just simply won’t do, but Obi-Wan isn’t feeling his kindest. He doesn’t want whatever this man is offering him with his silent, dour stares and his suffocating Force signature that keeps trying to tangle itself with Obi-Wan’s own. It’s rude is what it is.

He waves down the bartender and orders a drink for the man. “If you got mint, put it in,” he tells the woman who raises an eyebrow but shrugs, one pair of her arms busy with the drink. When she gives it to him he slides it to the man next to him without even looking at him.

“What--” the man asks. “I don’t--”

“You do tonight,” Obi-Wan says bracingly, throwing back half of his own drink. “We’ve both just lost our Masters, haven’t we?”

The man beside him flinches as if Obi-Wan had skewered him with his lightsaber.

“You are him, aren’t you?” Obi-Wan lolls his head to the side to look at the man threw half-closed eyes. “My padawan.”

“Anakin,” the man says so quietly it’s almost lost to the noise of the bar. “I’m Anakin Skywalker, yeah.”

Obi-Wan takes a drink reflexively, humming in disbelief. “You don’t look like it,” he says consideringly. At Anakin’s confused look, he elaborates. “You don’t look like you could have ever been a Padawan.”

The man pulls himself up, face darkening at the perceived slight. It’s almost too easy to rile him up, but now that he has, Obi-Wan finds he has no interest in fighting this man. Quite the opposite, really. That’s...something. He can’t tell if that emotion comes from him now or the older version of him.

Either way, Obi-Wan has no desire to stand in the way of whatever storm this Anakin is building up in his head, so he turns to face him completely and pushes both hands into his blond hair, raking down the scalp gently before collecting the strands into a poor imitation of the Padawan ponytail. “That’s better, I suppose. The hair threw me off.” He lets go slowly, making sure to tug at one of the strands at the last second.

Anakin has a very strange look on his face, but he’s definitely not angry anymore. He’s even shielding much more tightly now. Obi-Wan smirks into his glass as he takes a sip. He definitely remembers that trick.

“Do you know who cut it?” he asks, catching sight of the end of his braid again. The drinks are going to his head much more quickly than he had intended. Must be all the trauma his body has gone through in the past few days. “My braid.”

“I.” Anakin stutters, caught off guard. “You did.”

Obi-Wan feels like laughing but also a bit like crying. There’s a terrifying emotion rearing its head in his chest. It threatens to swallow him whole. “Well, I suppose I never liked to stand on ceremony.”

“You cut your braid in the fresher and then called me in and braided mine,” Anakin says distantly, as if caught up in the memory. “You wouldn’t let me hold it. I thought you were so mean. But I understood at my Knighting Ceremony. It was a part of me in my hand, a...starmap of all the places I’d been and the things I’d learned during my training. And there was only one person I wanted to give it to in the whole galaxy.”

“Did you?” He asks, taking a sip to hide how important the question is, how devastating the answer could be.

“Well. Yeah. But I guess I don’t know if you kept it,” Anakin cuts his eyes away from Obi-Wan’s and runs his fingers up the long stem of his drink.

Obi-Wan chokes on a laugh. “He definitely did.”

The other man’s face settles into a frown. “You don’t know that. You’re not him.”

“I’m enough of him. I’ve got--some feelings. In my head. Impressions.”

“Of me?”

“Of how he felt about you.”

Anakin’s eyes widen and then narrow with a sudden intensity that makes Obi-Wan want to shiver. It’s like being in the eye of a storm. His hold on the delicate glass in his hand becomes dangerously tight as he leans forward into Obi-Wan’s space, as if he can’t get close enough to him.

“What do you feel when you look at me?” he asks almost breathlessly. Obi-Wan blinks, trying to figure out if he’s being seduced or not. It’s sort of working. It’s all that focus, directly on him. Obi-Wan wouldn’t mind if that’s how the night ended. But sleeping with his former padawan who he can’t remember right now doesn’t seem like the best decision he could make.

But Anakin had liked it when Obi-Wan tugged at his hair. He’d arched closer to him. And now, the distance between them has been eaten away until they’re almost pressed chest to shoulder.

“Safe,” he decides to say, even though the word feels too small. “Sad,” which is mostly true but also an oversimplification. It’s a sort of nostalgia mixed with sadness, mixed with acceptance and resignation. “Warm,” because even after being denied entry to Obi-Wan’s mind, Anakin’s force presence has curled around Obi-Wan’s like some sort of krayt dragon, content to wait and guard and treasure. He leans forward, just until his mouth brushes against the skin of Anakin’s ear. “Coveted.”

Anakin definitely shifts at that, and when Obi-Wan pulls back enough to see his face, his pupils are blown wide.

Swallowing a grin, Obi-Wan swallows the rest of his drink in one go. “Drink up,” he tells Anakin in his most demanding tone, reaching into his pockets to pull out his older self’s credits to settle the tab. “I want to go.”

Anakin obeys immediately, making a face at the taste.

They’re out in the street within a few minutes, Anakin smacking his lips as if still trying to rid himself of the flavor. “I just don’t know why you had to order me that,” he complains, falling into step on Obi-Wan’s right.

Obi-Wan pauses and leans against the very unsanitary wall of the building, spreading his legs wide enough so that Anakin can come in between them. The man doesn’t seem to notice anything different, just steps a bit closer as a crowd of loud party-goers makes their way past them.

“I wanted to see if I liked mint,” Obi-Wan shrugs, raising his hand to rest on the skin of Anakin’s neck. He can feel the way his pulse is beating incredibly fast.

“Why would my drink help you with--”

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes. He commends his older self for being able to teach this idiot anything, even though he seems to have skipped over important lessons like Recognizing When You’re Being Flirted With.

Before Anakin can finish the thought, Obi-Wan twists his other hand in Anakin’s robes and pulls him forward until their lips are a hair’s breadth apart. “May I kiss you?” he asks because it’s only polite to.

Anakin’s eyes widen and then fall shut as he gives a little nod, finally stepping forward until their bodies are pressed completely together.

At least someone, although he doubts it was the older Obi-Wan, taught Anakin how to kiss. Obi-Wan’s toes curl in his boots as Anakin takes control of the action, moving his hands so one’s pressing against the wall behind them and one’s running up his scalp. Obi-Wan takes his time licking into Anakin’s mouth, allowing Anakin to explore him in return. One of them moans, which seems like as good a time as any to break the kiss.

“Well?” Anakin pants, diving in to place a short kiss onto Obi-Wan’s lips. “What do you think?”

The short answer is that Obi-Wan isn’t. He noses back towards Anakin’s mouth hopefully, sliding his hand down from his neck to rest on his hip.

“About mint,” Anakin elaborates when Obi-Wan doesn’t respond immediately.

“Inconclusive. Need more data,” Obi-Wan tries to kiss him but Anakin’s smiling too hard.

“Then next time you can get the awful drink, and you can get me the Alderaan Sunset,” Anakin is complaining, but he’s laughing too and that’s nice. Obi-Wan thinks that making Anakin Skywalker laugh is one of the best feelings in the galaxy, and he thinks his older self would agree, if the warmth sparking up in his very soul means anything at all.

[tinyboxxtink]

“God I love Weddings!”

Another entry for @storiesofsvu bingo!

I’m hoping “hooking up at a wedding” counts as “Wedding Date”....I mean, what’s more of a date than that? 😉

Warning: Smut. Duh. ☺️

You were a bridesmaid at Chloe, your closest girlfriends' wedding. You didn't know a lot about her husband, just that he was a fancy lawyer. But when you and your friends walked into the groom's room to meet the groomsmen, you were shocked to see just how good looking his friends were. One in particular. His brown hair was slicked back, gorgeous green eyes, and he was definitely working the groomsmen suits better than the other two duds. 

"Dibs" you whispered to your friends.

"Which one?" Chloe leaned in, having heard you.

'That one" you pointed to the man.

"Ah good choice," she smiled at you. Then in a very LOUD voice she announced to the best man.

"Hey Brad, Y/N calls dibs on Rafael!!!"

"Oh my god what is WRONG with you?!" You hissed, grabbing her arm as the rest of the bridal party giggled and taunted you. 

Rafael immediately turned and looked straight at you, his eyes brightened and a panty dropping smile crawled across his lips. He walked over to your group, eyeing you up and down.

"So is that how this works? You ladies just decide which one of us you 'want', like picking lobsters at a restaurant?" 

"Like you and your buddies weren't over there doing the same damn thing," you raised an eyebrow, making him laugh in amusement. 

"I like you," he extended his hand, "Rafael Barba,". 

"Y/N" you took his hand and gently shook it, trying not to swoon right there. 

"Alright ladies and gents, I will see you at the altar!" Chloe waved and walked out of the room, leaving you and your friends to get acquainted with your escorts.

"So, how do you know the groom?" You hated making small talk. 

"We went to law school together," He shrugged.

"Oh so you're a lawyer too?"

“...I’m the ADA,”  He looked at you with a dumbfounded stare, clearly shocked you didn’t know who he was.

“...Am I supposed to know what that is?” You looked back in confusion.

“The Assistant District Attorney,” 

“...Oh so you’re ‘big shot’  lawyer,” You smirked. 

“Something like that,” He smirked back. “And you?” 

“Oh Chloe and I grew up together,” 

“Oh, another Upper East Side princess? Lovely,” He rolled his eyes. 

“Excuse you?” You crossed your arms. “I also have a master’s from NYU, Mr. Business,” 

“In what, fashion marketing?” He gave you a tongued smile. He liked to push buttons; you were kind of loving it.

“No, in makeup chemistry,” You flipped your hair, drawing a hearty laugh from Rafael. “In journalism,” You added, making sure he knew you were kidding. 

“Nice, so a smart princess,” 

“Well I’m not gonna waste time waiting on a prince,” 

“Good,” He smirked. 

Before you could say anything else, the wedding coordinator was calling for all the “couples” to line up, ready to enter the chapel. 

“Shall we?” He presented his arm to you. 

“We shall,” You wrapped your own arm around him with a smile. 

You walked down the aisle arm in arm, and continued to stare at each other throughout the entire ceremony. You tried desperately to focus on Chloe, but Rafael’s smolder was too hard to resist. 

As the music played and the bride and groom skipped down the aisle in marital bliss, Rafael took your arm once again.

“Nice job keeping your eyes on your ‘best friend’,” He teased.

“Yeah I could say the same thing!” You teased back, nudging him with your elbow.

“I couldn’t help it, your cha chas are hanging out,” He half laughed, making you hit him harder. 

“They are NOT!” You hissed, self consciously pulling up your dress. You couldn’t help it if your boobs were not really made to be encased in clothes. 

“Oh ok, yeah they’re ‘not’,” He replied sarcastically. 

“You know what, I’m done with you,” You started to walk away from him, but he caught your hand.

“No you’re not,” He whispered, pulling you into a coat closet. 

“What the-- What are you doing?!” You squealed, the door closing behind you. You were now practically on top of Rafael, his arms were around your waist, your arms instinctively went around his neck as you practically tripped on your way inside the closet. 

“I thought we both felt a spark,” He grinned in the dimly lit closet. “And I’m never wrong,” 

“Really?” You scoffed.

“Tell me I’m wrong and you can walk right out of here hermosa,” He caressed your cheek. You stared at him for a moment, his green eyes were full of lust. His smile was intoxicating. Yeah, you definitely felt SOMETHING.

“....Alright stud you’ve got fifteen minutes, we have to be there when they cut the cake.” You agreed.

“Deal,” He grabbed you in a hungry, passionate kiss; his hands pulled down the up do you had your hair in, tossing the flowered hair clip aside. 

“Hey! I needed that--” You started to complain, but Rafael’s hand up your dress left you speechless. 

“I think you needed that more, carino,” He chuckled, running his digits in and out of you. 

“Fuck yes,” you gasped, fondling with his belt. You unzipped his pants to reveal a rather large erection sticking out of it. 

“Thank you God,” You mouthed to the sky. 

“Alright now, no screaming carino, we’re in a church,” He chuckled huskily, lifting your dress above your thighs and plunging straight into you.

You did your best not to moan as you slammed against the door, Rafael pumping in and out of you fiercely. As an alternative, you kept your mouth busy by gnawing on Rafael’s neck, causing his own stifled moans of pleasure. He pulled your dress down off your chest, so your very large “cha chas” were front and center. 

“Oh I see, are these the ‘sparks’ you felt, counselor?” You did your best to sound snarky, but the pleasure was too much. 

“Indeed, princess,” He growled, grabbing one of them in his mouth and sucking hard on your nipples. You wanted to moan so loud, and now his neck was out of reach. You felt it rising out of your throat, but before you could scream a hand flew over your mouth.

Thank God Rafael had made note of your pleasure faces, it was just in time for you to finish in a muffled scream of ecstasy, followed quickly by Rafael’s own shaking and final moaning. He slowly let you out of his grasp, as you fell against the door of the closet.

“Look at that, we’ve still got 10 whole minutes,” He laughed breathlessly. 

“Good, I have to go wash your baby gravy off of my legs, ya perv,” You shook your head and grabbed one of the nearby coats to wipe the warm trail of cum trailing down your legs. 

“Oh my god,” Rafael looked on in disgust.

“Don’t look at me like that, you did it!” You hit him while you wiped it off and haphazardly tossed the coat into the very back of the closet. Maybe it was a lost and found jacket. 

“Alright alright, check if the coast is clear princess,” He rolled his eyes. You cracked the closet door open a tad, making sure the guests had all exited the chapel. To your relief, the hallway was empty. You threw open the door and walked out, Rafael on your heels. You leaned down and picked up the flowered clip, gesturing to your hair.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you in there,” You nodded at him, indicating you were off to fix the damage. 

“I guess you shall,” He winked, giving you one last quick kiss. 

As he walked away, you couldn’t help but giggle with giddiness. 

“God I love weddings,” You smiled to yourself as you headed into the ladies room.

[twistedmusings]

A/N: Riddle is always so weird for me to write because I do see him as baby but the moment things get romantic I can so see him as the type that just...is more than ready to explore the romantic territory with you? Like yes he is baby but he would be so gentle with the smooches... But I digress.  I am making my way through requests, currently have five in my inbox so I might close it up once it reaches ten. Just to get the ball rolling since I am a baby blog u wu.  Warnings: None! Just tooth rotting fluff!  Straight from the cookbook section of our bountiful library, @lunalasolaris​!

Let me get that book for you! 

“Hey Riddle?” 

“Hm?” 

“What does a pinch mean?” 

Grey eyes look up from the cup of flour he was meticulously trying to measure as you hold up the recipe book in front of him. 

“Does it mean that we just put a little bit of the salt into the cake?” you point at the specific line, tapping it twice to emphasize your point, “Or we grab a pinch with our fingers and just...toss it in there?Cause I can grab a lot of salt in between my fingers if I need to.” 

Riddle frowns as he tries to remember how Trey used to bake some of his previous Unbirthday cakes. It was easy to break down his process but with how quickly he moved the Heartslabyul dorm leader found himself at a loss of what a pinch looked like. Of all the executive decisions he had to make, why was this one so difficult? 

He locked eyes with you, blushing when he saw how close you had gotten before pulling away and dumps the cup of flour into the small mixing bowl. 

"We don't want them to taste salty so we'll put only a small amount. What comes next?" 

"Eggs...three I think. Oh and we need to add them to the dry mix while it is being sifted." you grab the eggs and scoot closer to him as Riddle grabs the sifter, turning around to see you so close once again. 

You hold up the eggs and smile. 

"Ready?" 

It was nerve wracking being here with you. Not just nerve wracking, it was also stress inducing and blood pumping to have you so close after Riddle had come to a definitive conclusion about his feelings about you. It had come at a cost of many sleepless nights and the certain teasings of some of his oldest friends but once Trey sat him down and asked him how he truly felt about you, the words slipped so easily out of his mouth that even he was surprised at the lack of thought in them. 

Riddle likes you. Alot. 

It was the way you talked with him during Unbirthday parties, unbothered by rules and manners as you plopped yourself down next to him and spoke about whatever you had going on that day. Riddle thought that it sort of reminded him of Chenya, his friend always appearing out of nowhere with a similar grin yet his was always filled with mischief while yours was nothing more than a way for you to show how happy you were to see him. 

Or at least he hoped that was the case. 

You smiled at everyone. At Ace and Deuce whenever they did something silly, at Cater whenever he pointed his camera at you, even at Trey whe he would lean down and offer you one of the many pastries he had baked that day. But, and it might just be his own subconscious silently hoping for this, Riddle believed the smile that you had for him was special. The moment your eyes landed on him it was like watching a rose bloom. Those cheeks of yours would turn a soft shade of red as you approached him and pulled him into whatever activity you found yourself doing. 

Maybe that is how he had been roped into this situation with you. He had only dropped by Ramshackle to drop off something you had left in Ace and Deuce’s room but he knew that the moment you tugged on his wrist and pulled him inside, he was more than willing to do whatever it is that you were doing before he showed up. 

That activity being something you two weren’t particularly good at...baking. 

Riddle finally answered your question with a nod, having already dumped the contents into the silver sifter and grabbing onto the small handle. “I’ll start then.”

It had all turned out a mess. Your hands either tended to crack the eggs too softly that they wouldn't crack on the first try or they would be too harsh and immediately break the egg on impact, leaving both of you to fish out the remnants of the shells before Riddle went right back to sifting. Then came the mixing of the ingredients, Ramshackle not necessarily having the fanciest of gadgets you two instead had to mix everything by hand. It was a bit of a chance for him to show himself off for you but the moment he hissed at his muscles cramping up, you took the bowl from him and poked his cheek. “Chill out, dorm leader Rosehearts, I’ll take it from here~” 

How odd. Riddle was used to people calling him by his official title but in your cause it was almost alarming how much he liked it. 

A few more mishaps, staring at the cookbook and one call to Trey and soon you two were on the floor with a bowl of strawberries in between you as the cake baked in Ramshackle’s tiny oven. “Thank you for going along with this.” you munch on the end of a strawberry before continuing, “I was panicking when I first started so it was a heaven sent when you came along.” 

His heart skips a beat as Riddle clears his throat. 

“This is just what a dorm leader should do for another. I’m merely completing my duties.” 

You pout for a moment but grin as you scoot closer to him, “So if I wasn’t a dorm leader I would just be another face in the crowd?” It is like a shock of electricity shoots straight up his back, straightening him out as he corrects you. 

“No! You are still a student here...and someone who has attended many Unbirthdays and tea parties in Heartslabyul! I’m sure that if it wasn’t for that mishap in the dorm selection ceremony, you would have certainly been picked to be in Heartslabyul! To me you are not just someone in the crowd! You are--” He barely registers how close he had gotten, the bowl of strawberries pushed out of the way as you both stare into each other’s eyes. You hadn’t moved back. Your gaze was holding on strong to his as the hum of the oven became the only sound in the room. 

Hands so close, fingertips almost touching. “Riddle--I--I like--”

A ding interrupted your words, the little invisible bubble you and Riddle had created suddenly popping as you stood up and grabbed the oven mitts. 

You grin as you put the small container on the counter, Riddle cutting into the sides with a dull knife in order to unstick it from the pan. How wonderful was it when things came together that when you both watched the warm baked good slide out of its silvery confine you let out a sigh of relief and started to decorate.

“We almost ate half of the strawberries.” Riddle frowns as you grab the bowl from the floor. “I didn’t hear you complaining when I put them down! You are just as guilty as I if Trey doesn’t like the finished product.” 

He stops cutting the fruit into smaller pieces as he watches you spread the whipped cream along the sides of the cake. “...you...are you giving this to Trey?” 

Why was he so nervous? Trey liked to test everybody’s baking skills if they seem to have any or he just liked to tease those who couldn’t cook by teaching them how to figure it out all on their own. Besides, Trey was a third year and needed to concentrate on his future internship and not be issuing challenges to first years--!

“Yeah? He said that tomorrow’s tea party was going to be a ‘bring your own’ kind of thing?” you scoop a dollop of whipped cream on your finger and lick it off, further distracting Riddle. “Tea party…” 

“Yeah...he said you were having one tomorrow. Did you cancel it?” you give him a surprised look, “Have we been struggling with this baking stuff for nothing?” 

No. Riddle knew every single tea party that would be having throughout the academic year. And yes, they were having one tomorrow. There was one detail that didn’t sit quite right with him, however. 

Never in the history of the Heartslabyul dormitory had there been a ‘potluck’ tea party. 

Either those good at baking made the pastries for that day’s tea party or they would not be any tea party at all. 

Great Seven’s knew what would happen if any first years, Ace and Deuce specifically, tried to cook in the Heartslabyul kitchen. There probably wouldn’t be a kitchen anymore. 

Yet Trey had gone out of his way to trick you into baking a cake while also telling Riddle that you had left something behind in the first year’s room and that it was his duty to give it back--had he planned all of this from the sidelines and expected it to work?! 

“...no there is a tea party happening. I guess I just--Trey must have not told me about that certain detail.” 

“Well at least we have something to bring now!” 

You both look at your cake, the cutting of the strawberries a little sloppy as they somewhat slipped on the rushed icing job you had done. 

“...you know I don’t think anyone will notice if I do this.” 

Riddle’s eyes widen when you grab a spoon and dig into the top of the cake. “Hey--!” 

The spoon presses to his lips as you grin while holding it up to him. “Say ‘ah’” 

Was Crowley sure that you didn’t have any sort of magic? With the way he quickly opened his mouth Riddle would have thought he had been hypnotized. “So?” 

He nods at the taste, smiling when he notices the soft sweetness that came with a good slice of strawberry shortcake. “I--I think we did a really good job.” 

You grin and stand on the heel of your feet as Riddle licked his lips to get any extra whipped cream, eyes going right back to staring at you as you tug on his bowtie and bring him closer. “You got some right...here.” 

The pressure of your hold is light as your lips meet his, his body suddenly going lax as he drops his hold on the knife he had been using before so he could turn his body to meet yours. His hold is immediate, a hand touching your lower back and pressing you a tad closer to him as you both pull back to gauge each other’s reaction.

You are both red as roses, cheeks flushing and hearts beating so fast you were sure you could hear each other’s matching rhythms. 

“...did I get it?” 

He should be pushing you away and apologizing for such a needy display. Riddle hadn’t necessarily spent his time doing anything else besides studying and trying to bring pride to Heartslabyul dorm so this territory was rather new to him. 

“Try again...please.” 

Your lips met his again, this time his hold pulling you into the kiss as you cup his face and let him press your back against the kitchen counter. 

His second year was still starting, why not explore this path a bit more? 

[deathbyjoong]

ATEEZ Wedding HCs

Each member x fem!reader

Genre: Fluff, some slight suggestiveness

Note: I hope you guys like these! Let me know what you think! Shoutout to @bfyunho for being an angel and beta-ing for me 💕

Yunho

Your wedding will take place in a protected forest area on the West Coast in early October, with a large number of attendees at the ceremony and an even larger number of people at the reception

Yunho wears a classy white tux with a yellow lily nestled atop the lapel

You knew he was gonna be a giggly, blushy mess when he first saw you during the ceremony

But nothing prepares you for when you meet eyes with Yunho from the middle of the aisle

It’s like the world stops around you

Yunho is the only person in the world in that moment, with his eyes shining and his grin so wide you wonder if it hurts

He tries to play it cool when you get to the altar, but he can’t stop smiling. And you don’t want him to

He giggles in the middle of his vows and the whole audience goes aww

Listen he’s just a stupidly cute groom okay

When the officiant pronounces you husband and wife, he grabs you by the face and kisses you sweetly

You can feel his smile in the kiss, and you swear you feel the slightest bit of wetness beneath his eyes

The two of you hug as everyone claps, and Yunho parts from you with a soft kiss to your forehead

As the two of you walk back down the aisle together, he tries to cover his giddy laughter with a hand over his face but it’s so obvious that you’re the happiest two people in the world

The reception will take place on a nearby ranch, with an awesome DJ, open bar, and massive dance floor

Multicolor lights and lots of energy, with a special table up top for you and the groom to watch everyone make toasts

Yunho has an arm around your shoulders and the two of you watch fondly and laugh while people give toasts

Everyone in the wedding party will have flower crowns of yellow and white with green leaves, and you bet your ass Mingi is given an extra one so he can put it on Yunho at some point during the reception

Mingi doing a flower crown drive by and Yunho blushes but he looks so happy and handsome in his flower crown uwu

Especially because it matches your bouquet :(

When it’s time to leave, Yunho scoops you into his arms and carries you bridal-style (how else?) as everyone cheers and throws flower petals over you

You wave to everyone out of the window as Yunho drives the two of you to the airport, ready to begin the first of many adventures with his favorite girl

Mingi

Mingi has always been your summer sun, so of course it’s a summer wedding

The ceremony and reception are at a beachfront hotel, and you carry a rainbow of bright colors in your mixed bouquet

The flower that Mingi wears on his white tux is your favorite kind of the bunch, a pink dahlia that you picked out for him specially <3

It’s a beautiful scene, with ribbons hanging off of chairs, blowing softly in the wind

The soundtrack to your walk down the aisle is a simple string quartet along with crashing waves on the beach behind you

When Mingi first sees you walking toward him, he can’t help but let out a loud noise that sounds like something between a laugh and the word “wow”

He puts his hands over his mouth in embarrassment at his outburst, as the audience laughs along with you

Mingi tries to compose himself but just giggles in wonder at how he managed to land this gorgeous woman

Like he just cannot believe it

He gets emotional during the vows, and you can tell he’s a bit nervous about speaking even though he wrote these lines weeks ago and has been turning them over in his head ever since

You smile at him, hoping he can feel your love and encouragement

Mingi takes a moment to focus on you, just you

You mouth the words, I love you to him and his resolve returns

He finishes his vows with such conviction that you forget anyone is even watching--because these words are truly for you and only you

After rings are exchanged, you throw your arms around his neck and bring him to you for a kiss

It’s not one big kiss as much as many short kisses, because both of you are breathless and giggling

You practically skip down the aisle hand-in-hand, and Mingi is high-fiving everyone on the way out

The reception is a blast, with way too many people giving speeches, and more than half of those speeches centering around roasting you

But it’s all in good fun, and it’s a night full of laughter and celebration with all of your friends

You and Mingi are at the center of the main table, but you eventually get up and walk around together, greeting all of your guests and accepting gifts

Mingi keeps a hand on the small of your waist, making sure no one steps on your dress or bumps into you

This is also to keep himself calm, since he can get a little overwhelmed with all the activity and people buzzing around you both

His favorite part of the whole day is your first dance as newlyweds

He holds you close, and you whisper back and forth to each other as you sway slowly across the dance floor

He already knows this is gonna be the favorite moment of his entire life

Jongho

Jongho lets you choose almost all of the details of your venue and season, because he admittedly doesn’t understand all the fuss and he just wants you to have the perfect day

So it’s a fall sunset at a winery, because that’s been your dream setting since you were a girl

The vineyard looks stunning against the backdrop of autumn foliage, and even Jongho is impressed

In keeping with the autumnal theme, your accent color is maroon

You know Jongho thinks he looks best in red-based colors, so you gifted him a maroon silk tie to wear with his suit. The bridesmaids’ dresses and groomsmen’s ties are the same shade, and everyone looks gorgeous

You fully expected Jongho to keep a completely straight face during your walk down the aisle--the man isn’t always forward with his emotions

You were wrong, however

Jongho can’t help the adorable, gummy smile on his face when he first sees you walking to him

As you get nearer, you can just make out the faintest tinge of pink in his cheeks

He’s trying so hard not to be shy, but you’re so beautiful in your dress that he can’t help but feel like he’s seeing you for the first time

He has to look briefly at the ground to compose himself when you finally stand in front of him, shining like the sun

He doesn’t take his eyes off you a single time after that, beaming at you the whole way through through the vows

One of your family members is audibly weeping in the front row at how in love you both look

Jongho wastes no time in kissing you after you’re pronounced married, and can’t help but throw his arms around your waist and pick you up

The reception is an absolute blast, taking place that evening in a clearing that’s been set up with tables and twinkle lights

The one set of details you did leave to Jongho was the food and drinks, because his taste is, objectively, just better than yours

Jongho chose filet mignon with vegetables (much to San’s dismay) and a wine menu full of exquisite pairings (much to Seonghwa’s delight)

You cut the wedding cake together, and you can’t resist smearing some icing across Jongho’s cheek

He responds by sticking some on your nose, and everyone laughs with you

Wooyoung gives a hilarious speech that turns out to be quite sentimental and lovely, making you blush and bury your face in Jongho’s shoulder

When it’s time to make your exit, Jongho scoops you up and sings to you, all while nearly skipping to the gravel driveway, where a car is waiting for you

His laughter is music in your ears, and you feel the strongest happiness you’ve ever known--safe in his arms, knowing he’ll never drop you

Yeosang

It’s a summer afternoon when you meet your man at the altar, although the altar isn’t quite that--

The ceremony takes place in the gardens of an upscale hotel, with beautiful flowers blooming all around you. The “altar” is actually an archway decorated in red and white blooms and ivy fronds

Yeosang is wearing a classy black suit with a red tie, the same red of the roses in your bouquet and flower crown

His hair is blonde (his summer look) and slicked back. He almost looks prettier than you, truly the statuesque Kang Yeosang that his brothers always gush about

It’s not a huge ceremony, with the audience numbering no more than about eighty people--just close friends and family members deemed worthy

You’re in a simple but elegant dress, and it almost knocks the wind out of poor Sangie when he sees you at the end of the aisle

At first, his mouth just hangs open as you glide towards him, accompanied by the lilting music of a string quartet

He manages to gather his jaw off the floor and grins at you when you stand in front of him, blushing furiously

The officiant gestures for the two of you to join hands right away, and Yeosang takes yours with a small “hi”, which you return with a giggle

He gets through the vows just fine, but when you say yours, he fails to suppress a smile. He tries so hard to keep a straight face but just can’t bc he’s so giddy

When you’re pronounced Mr. and Mrs., he leans in and kisses you softly, giving your hands a gentle squeeze

He doesn’t let go of you for a single moment, even when his friends slap him on the back during your walk back down the aisle, hollering loudly and making him laugh

In the interest of keeping things lowkey, the reception is a cocktail hour (or four) in an event hall inside the hotel

The first dance is beautiful-- no complicated steps, just the two of you embracing as everyone looks on fondly

The music is curated by Yeosang himself, with Hongjoong’s help, and the drinks are flowing freely

A couple of hours pass and everyone is good and tipsy--including yourselves

It’s a good thing the event hall is spacious, because at one point, almost everybody is dancing

Sang spins you around on the dancefloor when he’s feeling brave, and you’re having so much fun that you don’t realize the time is flying

When it’s time to leave, people start whistling, and Yeosang is nearly the same color as his tie

He hides his face in your shoulder, and you cover his face with kisses

After saying your goodbyes to everyone, you whisper something to Yeosang, and he nods with a giggle

As requested, he carries you piggy-back to the car, as everyone waves you off

Seonghwa

We know Seonghwa comes from wealth, and the man is extra af, so of course the wedding is extravagant

It’s a winter wedding that takes place at a mountain resort, and pretty much everyone you or Seonghwa have ever known is in attendance

Your groom is in a black tux with an silver tie, and the bridesmaids are wearing dresses of icy blue

You do a pre-ceremony reveal in a side hall, partly because you want a moment alone amidst the madness, and partly because the two of you can’t wait to see each other

Seonghwa almost cries when he turns around and sees you in your dress and the pearls that he gave you

You giggle, fighting back tears, and walk up to him slowly

Hwa’s got one hand over his mouth, and the other pressed over his heart, and only moves them when you’re close enough to touch

He just holds your face in his hands and presses your foreheads together

You’re both smiling and laughing, even through the tears that are now falling freely

You hang onto his shoulders for as long as you can before your maid of honor tells you it’s time to get moving

The ceremony takes place in the grand atrium, with massive windows revealing the soft snowfall and forests outside

You walk down the aisle confidently and quickly, ready to just marry this man already

When the officiant announces Mr. and Mrs. Park, you don’t hesitate to put your hands on his shoulders and kiss him

Seonghwa holds your waist and the back of your head, keeping you close. It’s a sweet, passionate kiss that’s over in a matter of seconds but leaves you dizzy nonetheless

The reception takes place immediately after, in a grand hall decorated with flowers and lights everywhere

You and your husband are seated at the head table in the reception hall, which is perfect because you’re in your own little world anyway

Hwa gets really excited about feeding you pieces of the wedding cake, gently wiping icing from your lips between bites

During the toasts and speeches, he keeps kissing your hand and smiling to himself

Of course, you have to end the night on a high note--the traditional bouquet toss!

All the bridesmaids and eligible ladies are gathered at the foot of the grand staircase, giggling with excitement and pushing a little here and there to get the clearest shot

But you toss the bouquet with a little more force than you meant to, and it goes over all of them

Yeosang happens to be walking along after just having gotten himself some more food, and catches the bouquet without meaning to

He looks at the flowers in his hand, bewildered, as you and Hwa cackle above, and the ladies in the crowd look more than a little disappointed

Seonghwa never lets him live it down, giggling every time he brings it up

It’s more joy than Hwa thinks he deserves, but he’s unbelievably grateful for each moment

Wooyoung

You and Wooyoung have a spring wedding in a botanical greenhouse with a moderate number of guests in attendance

The greenhouse is massive, and filled with every kind of orchid you could imagine from floor to ceiling

It’s a cool, cloudy day out, so the greenhouse isn’t too hot. But light still spills in and illuminates all the colorful flowers

Wooyoung is waiting for you at the altar of rich green leaves and soft pink orchids (one of which has been plucked and pinned to his lapel)

He’s wearing a bowtie, one that he proudly picked himself because he thought you would like it, and a snazzy pair of shoes that he’ll be able to dance in later

When you emerge during the ceremony, the sight of you in your dress immediately brings tears to his eyes

Wooyoung wipes his eyes, but still sniffles a bit through his vows. If you weren’t so giddy, you would probably be doing the same

The officiant finishes his part and begins to announce, “I now pronounce you--”

He doesn’t get to finish, because Woo gets too excited and launches himself at you, grabbing you by the face and kissing you as everyone breaks into laughter

You throw your arms around his shoulders, kissing him back as best you can while giggling

It’s not a wedding for Wooyoung if the reception isn’t LIT

It takes place under a large outdoor hall, with an open bar, disco lights, and so, so much dancing

The first dance is the only slow dance of the night, and the two of you spend the rest of the songs swinging around wildly on the dancefloor with all your closest friends

He does a choreographed dance with the boys to an upbeat song of his choice, making sure to be extra cheesy when pointing at you and lip-syncing to you

Cutting the cake is a hot mess, but in the best way

You and your new husband nearly end up starting a food fight, but let’s be honest, what did anyone expect from Wooyoung and his girl

You get a little bit of icing on his tux, and he gets a little bit on your shoulder (which he offers to remove with his mouth if the two of you can sneak off)

You playfully smack him on the arm, but the idea is lowkey tempting

You’re mildly nervous when Yeosang gets up to make his Best Man’s speech, but Wooyoung assures you that he’s not gonna say anything too embarrassing

He does roast the two of you a little for being so loudly in love with each other, but he also makes both you and your new mother-in-law cry when he recounts the moment Wooyoung first told him he wanted to marry you

You hadn’t heard that story before, so when you glance over at Woo with tears in your eyes, he wraps you in a big hug and kisses your cheeks

You cling to him like velcro after that, which is fine, because he loves every second of it and returns the affection without a second thought

Inwardly, he hopes you’ll hold each other like this every day for the rest of your lives

San

You and San share a taste for all things modern, sexy, and sleek, so nothing makes more sense than a spring wedding on a city rooftop

Lavender is the obvious accent color choice for both of you, as purple has long been San’s favorite, and you think it suits both of you well

San is waiting at the end of the aisle for you wearing a classy grey suit, lavender tie, and the widest smile you’ve ever seen on him

The sun is setting over the city skyline, but in San’s eyes, it rises and sets on you alone

You carry a bouquet of lavender flowers, and a few are tucked into your hair

Your heart is pounding in your chest, but the sight of San, handsome and grinning, gives you the boost you need to keep moving

San says his vows without a hitch, but you get nervous while reciting yours-- there are a lot of people staring at you, and the pressure gets to you a little

When you stutter over your words, you catch yourself and look up at San, eyes wide

But he’s your rock, your mountain-- steadfast and gentle with you even when you’re not gentle with yourself

“You’re doing amazing,” he whispers to you, quiet enough that no one else can hear

His kind eyes and easy smile comfort you immeasurably, and you finished your vows with a renewed confidence

Upon hearing “You may now kiss the bride”, San wraps one arm around your waist and holds one of your hands with the other, kissing you sweetly as your guests erupt into applause

The applause turns to cheers and whistles when San whirls you around and dips you low, holding you in the kiss while he adds the extra flourish

The reception is just as perfect as the ceremony. It’s a roaring party set against the glittering backdrop of city lights, and lit throughout with twinkling lanterns

There are games, trivia, good music, and plenty of lively conversations

You and San make the rounds, making sure to greet all of your guests and thank them for attending, giving gifts, etc.

At one point you get separated, but you meet his gaze through the crowd

San is looking at you with so much love that you have to excuse yourself from your conversation with a family member and stroll over to him

Throwing your arms around him, and feeling his go around you, you kiss him once more and nuzzle your face into his neck

He holds you there for a moment, smiling to himself and basking in the moment-- trying to memorize every detail of it

It seems San isn’t just the winner of the day for having married you--he manages to kick everyone’s ass at limbo even while being a little tipsy

Afterwards, he returns to you with puppy dog eyes, and demands his prize-- “a kiss from the most beautiful woman in the world”.

You’re more than happy to give it to him, continuing the kiss even as someone whoops

You smile against his lips knowing that, despite what San may think, the luckiest person in the world is actually you

Hongjoong

You’ve always wanted marry the love of your life in an art museum

Hongjoong’s appreciation and love of art runs deep, so he agrees right away

You book the venue for springtime, when it’s bright and golden and still a little bit cool outside--your favorite time of year

Joong is in a neat, grey suit with a patterned bow tie that you picked out-- it’s mostly green, but with a quirky pattern that he loves

He gave you something as well-- before you even picked out your dress, Hongjoong made you promise not to buy wedding shoes

You were confused, but trusted him

Two weeks before the wedding, he hands you a box. In it, are a pair of designer shoes that he drew on and painted, customizing them just for you

They’re beautiful--not too plain but not too much either, and you cry when you first open them. Hongjoong blushes, pleased that you love them so much

The ceremony is in the Grand Gallery, with a glass ceiling and high walls covered in priceless masterpieces

You glide down the aisle with confidence and ease--seeing Joong at the end of it makes you feel like you’re walking on air

He whispers, “You look beautiful” when you reach him, and you reply, “You too.”

You’re wearing the shoes that he reformed for you, and they peek out from the hem of your dress

He gets misty-eyed during his vows, pausing for a second to breathe because he’s so overwhelmed with love. You respond by reaching up and brushing his cheek

He smiles at you, pure and sweet, and continues. The vows are beautifully written, eloquent, and poignant

But then again, you already knew everything he touches turns to gold

You make him cry again when you read your vows, and you get emotional a bit yourself as well

His hands are shaking when he puts the ring on your finger because he’s so excited-- you’ve both looked forward to this day for so long, and you can’t believe it’s happening

You hear a loud sniffle and look over at the audience to see Seonghwa and San holding each other and weeping in the audience

You can only giggle for a second before you’re announced as husband and wife

It’s a sweet and simple kiss, just the two of you holding each other close

Joong has his hands on your cheeks, and yours are on his shoulders

He nuzzles your nose after the kiss, just an affectionate brush accompanied by the smile that you love more than anything

Your first dance is to an orchestral version of “Twilight”, which he helped to rearrange

You rest your head on Hongjoong’s shoulder, and just watch his face as the two of you sway to the lilting music

His eyes are closed, and he looks completely at peace. The corners of his mouth are turned up slightly, and his hand is splayed across your back, holding you close

You press a kiss to his neck, and he does the same to your forehead

It’s heaven on earth, and you pray to anyone who’s listening that it lasts forever

[sunflowerim]

I LOVE YOU 3000!

-PART 48

After Harry, Niall and Taylor arrived at LAX, they stopped for a little to take pictures with the excited fans who'd spotted them on the airport. The management had arranged for their transport to the hotel and soon enough, they were fetched by cars sent by their teams.

Louis arrived a few hours later, with Zayn and Liam. He was among the set of hosts for the red carpet of Academy Awards as was Niall, Zayn had an invitation from both Harry and Taylor's teams, having designed both their outfits for the evening and the movie for which Liam was the music producer was nominated. They were greeted by enthusiastic fans too but managed to get out of the airport quickly.

And thankfully for everyone, Harry and Louis were staying at different places.

93rd Academy Awards

Situated at the heart of Hollywood, the red carpet is a very intricate program. The 500 feet long red carpet was adorned with artists, photographers and interviewers. Bleachers had been set up on one side of it which contained hundreds of enthusiastic fans who'd come across from different countries to have a glimpse of the glam event.

Stepping out of the limousine with Taylor, Harry tried ro calm his frantic heartbeats. It would be unwise to lose his cool in front of hundred cameras and so many highly esteemed artists and a certain someone.

He was clad in a striped red and dark blue suit and beside him, Taylor in a gorgeous body con dress. Zayn knew perfectly well what would suit the two of them. Harry nervously ran his fingers through his hair, which had grown out a bit and curled beautifully at the ends.

Numerous flashes went off as they made their way across together and the fans cheered and waved. Soon they were led to separate section which was roped off from the entrance ; the nominees were to be interviewed before they entered the building. Harry's heart skipped a beat as the air carried a voice with heavy northern accent, a voice he knew so well. Taylor had heard it too and to his utter horror, started leading them towards the voice. As they made their way through the crowd of people, he spotted Louis, having an animated conversation with Robert Downey Jr. He'd been nominated for his movie Dolittle. Louis looked so happy that Harry stopped dead in his tracks. He was seeing Louis laugh after a long time and he certainly didn't want to go stand in front of him and wipe it away.

Much to his reluctance, Taylor held his arm and walked over to Louis. Louis smiled heartily at Taylor and as soon as he spotted Harry beside her, his smile vanished, just as Harry had feared. Little did Harry know, that it took everything in Louis' power to hold his ground and not stupidly smile at Harry. Louis had been wondering for the past few days if he had indeed been hard on Harry and whether or not it was just a misunderstanding, but seeing him with Taylor again, sort of brought him back to square one.

"Hi," Taylor beamed.

"Hey Taylor, good to see you," Louis replied, looking around, possibly for Roman or somebody else to rescue him.

"Looking good," Taylor said with a smirk.

"Haha thanks," Louis blushed, "you look gorgeous."

"Thank you Louis. Are we on camera yet?"

"No, just one moment, someone will be here."

Louis was obviously confused at Taylor and Harry being in front of him. Had the list been changed? Why didn't anyone tell him? And WHAT are the odds of him getting the interview he dreaded.

In a few seconds a cameraman arrived and just when Louis was supposed to start, Roman appeared out of nowhere.

"Good lord, where have you been?" Louis asked.

"Sorry, something urgent came up," Roman replied and then turning to Taylor he said, "So Taylor, we have a special fan who has journeyed for 32 hours to see you. Would you like to meet her?"

"Why of course! Lead the way."

Harry made to join Taylor, but she just turned around and said, "I'll be back," leaving Harry with Louis and the cameraman, who was ready to start recording.

Seeing no way out, Louis decided to get it over with as soon as possible.

"So Harry," he started with an unusually high pitched voice. He cleared his throat and resumed, "this is your first time at the Academy Awards. How does it feel?"

Harry hadn't spoken even once when Taylor and Louis were talking. His voice seemed to have died away in his throat. At that moment, he just wanted to hug Louis and apologize. With great difficulty he regained his composure and replied, "I'm nervous obviously and also very excited. It's not everyday that I get to be in the same room with so many special people."

"Speaking of special people, it's really wonderful that both you and Taylor got nominated and it would be double the celebration if both of you won tonight."

Harry could feel the edge in Louis' voice, and tried to push back the pang of sadness that was rising in his stomach.

"Yeah, definitely, I do hope both of us win."

"Well then good luck."

Harry smiled and stepped back from Louis, and instantly Taylor arrived again and took his arm as they made their way inside.

After an hour more of interviews, Louis found his way inside to where Zayn and Liam were sitting. They had arrived with him before the red carpet event began. Zayn noticed how flustered Louis looked and understood what the reason could have been.

"You okay Lou?"

"Yeah I'm fine."

"You don't look so good."

"It was very warm outside, I'm tired."

"Sure there isn't anything else?"

"No."

Before Zayn could press further, the lights dimmed out and the voice of the host boomed through the speakers,

"Welcome to the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.."

Harry wasn't sitting that far and Louis had to force himself to look straight ahead. He wouldn't let his eyes stray to where Harry was sitting with his girlfriend. Harry on the other hand, couldn't help but steal glances every once in a while at Louis' direction.

The ceremony proceeded pleasantly, other than the prickling sensation Louis was having, a feeling of being watched, everything was good and soon it was time for Harry's category.

"The next award is for the Best Actor and I'd like to call Leonardo DiCaprio on the stage to present it."

Louis stiffened. He was sure Harry was super nervous. He'd wanted to win this so badly.

With as much subtlety he could muster, he looked at Harry's direction, hoping to catch his eyes and at that very moment, Harry looked at him too, brows slightly furrowed with anticipation. He gave a little nod in Harry's direction and hoped that Harry understood him ; that he was proud of Harry no matter what.

Both of them looked away at Leo DiCaprio's voice booming through the speakers, "and the Academy Award for best actor goes to-"

Silence filled the hall and Harry could only hear the sound of his heart hammering in his chest. Louis' acknowledgement had been a comfort, but nothing had prepared him for this moment.

"--Harry Styles!"

The hall erupted in a roar of applause and cheers and Harry nervously stood up. After hugging Taylor and Niall and glancing once at Louis' direction, he made his way to the stage.

Harry had always been a shy person and currently a hall full of people, looking at his direction didn't make it easy for him. His heart was racing, given the adrenaline rush and he couldn't stop smiling. He was given the microphone to give a speech, but he just couldn't think of anything proper to say.

As the applause subsided, he started,

"Thank you so so much for the award. When I was working on the movie, I certainly didn't realise that we would come this far. My Policeman is an important movie and I feel lucky that I was chosen for it. Thanks to my director and my entire team who guided me throughout. Thanks to my family, currently watching me from home, who always supported me in everything and thanks to my loved ones for always wishing the best for me."

He let his eyes linger on Louis as he said this and a second later, the hall echoed with claps again.

The next category was for Best Actress and as expected, Taylor Swift bagged it. Confidence radiated from every inch of her face as she took the microphone for her speech.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting this, and was really nervous about it, even though my friend told me that I ought not to because this is like my 100th Oscar."

She air quoted the last word and winked at Harry as the people around laughed. "But thanks to the people who supported me through out the years and got me where I am today. I would be nowhere without you guys. Love you all." The applause after her speech was deafening. She was truly an icon.

For the rest of the evening, it became increasingly difficult for Harry to sit still. He couldn't wait for it to get over so that he could talk to Louis. But these things are easier said than done. As soon as the ceremony was over, he was being dragged back to his limo, as they were supposed to go to the after party hosted by Jennifer Aniston. It was more like a get together really and if Harry tried, he could get away, but Taylor wouldn't let him.

"Louis is coming too," was all she had to say to make Harry voluntarily come with her. This time Zayn got in with them too and they stopped at Zayn's studio for the change of outfits.

PREVIOUS / NEXT

INTRO

[jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets]

The Ever Handsome and Always Charming Dean Winchester

Title: The Ever Handsome and Always Charming Dean Winchester

Fandom: Supernatural

Pairing: Destiel 

Rating: Everyone :)

Tags: fluff

Summary: Just a cute little something I wrote for a friend :) @thebridgekid <3 A perfectly simple Dean and Cas wedding!

AO3

*** My works are not to be posted on any sites without my permission! But comments and reblogs are love! <3 Please and thanks!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Cas looked around the church they were standing in while they waited for the man they were there to meet, one of the Fathers of the church. It had been a while since he had been in one, since he had been in a house built for his father, at least not since he had decided to take off and leave his creation to fend for themselves. Being back inside one was… odd, to say the least. He was still angry with his father for leaving, for abandoning them when they needed him the most, and all those years before he had taken off while the planet almost died several times over. 

     “Agents,” the Father they were waiting for walked up to them, “how can I help you this fine day?”

     “We were wondering if you could give us some information on a member of your church,” Dean spoke, easily slipping into his agent persona, “Mark Marsden. He went missing a few days ago and was last seen here. Just wondering if we can ask you a few questions.”

     “Of course, Agents, if you'll follow me to my office we can speak there.”

     The Father led them through the church and through another set of large double doors, the room on the other side packed full and decorated to the nines.

     “I'll ask you to be quiet as we pass through,” the Father whispered to them, “one of our young couples is getting married. We’ll keep to the side and sneak into the back.”

     They both nodded, following the Father back to his office, but as they did Cas kept his eyes on the scene at the front of the church. He watched as they passed as everyone in their seats had their eyes glued to the couple at the front, many of them dabbing tears from their eyes as the Pastor spoke of their joining in the eyes of God. As they reached the front of the room where the Fathers office was hidden at the back, Cas remained outside the door while Dean went inside to ask the questions he needed to ask, and watched the remainder of the ceremony. He stood silently at the side and listened as the young man and woman recited their vows to one another, the longing he could see in their eyes as they did reminded him of green eyes staring back at him. 

     Dean finished up with the Father and left his office just in time to catch the end of the wedding, and just in time to see how intensely Cas was watching it all. The couple at the altar exchanged rings, and it didn't miss Dean's eyes when Cas clasped his hands together, very clearly rubbing his left ring finger as he did. And as the wedding came to a close, Dean's eyes were on Cas as the couple kissed to seal the deal. Cas had yet to take his eyes off of them, and the way Cas was staring at them when they kissed, there was something in his eyes that Dean had never seen before, a look that had him wondering if maybe…

     The couple pulled back from each other and the church erupted in cheers and whistles as they walked hand in hand down the aisle and outside, their guests following them out. It was enough to pull Dean out of his mind, so he pushed off his spot on the wall and walked over to nudge Cas with his elbow. 

     “Ready to go, man? We gotta go tell Sam what we found out.”

     Cas just nodded and followed Dean out of the church and back into the impala.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     They found themselves back in the church not too long after. They had gotten another small lead on their suspect from before, but they needed the Fathers help again, so here they were. Though this time the church was empty. The wedding party had long since filed out, surely to head to their reception, but Cas found himself being drawn to the altar at the front, standing at the bottom of the stairs just below it. He was only a few steps away from where the young couple had been standing not too long ago, professing their love for one another in the eyes of his father. 

     “Well, the good Father’s not here, no one is actually. We must have just missed everyone…” He stopped, finding Cas standing there, staring up at the flowery archway with that same strange look in his eyes from before, “Cas…?”

     “The idea of being joined with another being,” he began, eyes not moving from the archway in front of him, his voice almost a whisper, “to prove the strength of your bond, in front of the eyes of my Father... It's one that I never thought would matter to me but, after watching the wedding today I find myself feeling that perhaps it does matter to me.”

     “Cas,” Dean smiled to himself as he moved closer to Cas, standing beside him now, “are you, in your own weird way, asking me to marry you?”

     Cas still didn't turn to look at Dean, but let go a small smile himself, “I know my Father is not truly here, but wherever he is, he is always watching, listening. And our bond, Dean, is stronger than any bond ever formed or created in this universe. If any bond should be recognized by the eyes of God, it should be ours.”

     “So you are asking me to marry you,” Dean reached out and took Cas’s chin between his fingers, turning him to face him finally, “so why don't we do it right now then?”

     “Right now?” Cas quirked a brow at him.

     Dean shrugged, “You want to prove our bond in the eyes of God right? And like you said, he's always watching. So whether we do it here and now, or somewhere else, who cares?”

     “But there is no minister to officiate the joining.”

     “Do we really need one?” He asked, and Cas tilted his head in this typical Cas fashion that Dean loved so much. “The whole point of having a minister is because they are connected to God, right, but you're an Angel, one of God's children. I don't think it gets any closer to God then that.”

     “So right here, right now, just the two of us, you wanna get married?”

     “If you want to, Cas, then yes,” he nodded, his smile growing brighter and wider with every second, “we don't need anything big or fancy with hundreds of people we barely know. Just us, that's all we've ever needed.”

     Dean took another step closer to Cas, laying his head gently on his as he asked, “So, do you want to marry me, Cas?”

     Cas’s smile grew so impossibly wide he thought he might explode. Never had he ever thought he would be here, about to marry the love of his life. “Yes,” he breathed against Dean's lips, “I do want to marry you, Dean.”

     “Okay then, let's do this.” 

     He turned and held out his arm to Cas who took it instantly, and then he walked them up the few steps to stand at the top under the archway. Once they were there, he turned and took both of Cas's hands in his own and readied to make this Angel his in their own private little ceremony, just the two of them. Little did they both know, it wasn't as private as they had originally thought it was.

     Sam had entered the church not too long after Dean and Cas had. He saw the impala out front and knew they were both still there, and had walked in just in time to see the two of them walk up the steps together, and come to stand face to face under the archway. He had come to tell them that he had found a major break in the case and that they no longer needed the Fathers help. But when he found them up there together like that, holding hands and very obviously doing what he thought they were doing, he didn't have the heart to interrupt what he thought was a very long time coming. So he opted to stay quietly at the back of the room, and leaned against the wall to watch unnoticed by them.

     “So,” Cas spoke after a few moments of just staring at each other, “where do we start?”

     “Let's skip the, ‘we are gathered here today’, and jump straight to the vows.”

     Cas nodded eagerly, “I would like to go first, Dean.”

     Dean smiled at his eagerness and nodded in return, “Sure thing, Cas.”

     Cas squared himself and took a deep breath, holding Dean's hands a little tighter in his as he began, “Dean, I knew from the moment I laid a hand on your soul in hell that I was lost. I have been alive for millenia, and yet in all my many years, nothing has ever changed me the way you have in such a short time. The brightness of your soul, and the strength of our bond have made me into a better Angel then I ever thought I could be. You make me smile, you make me laugh, you make me finally feel loved and whole. I wouldn't be who I am right now without you, Dean. I love you.”

     Dean wasn’t one to cry at these kinds of things, not usually, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't a little choked up at Cas’s words. He knew that the Angel over the years had caused a monumental change in himself, but he never realized how much he had done the same for Cas.

     “Ok, my turn,” he cleared his throat before he spoke, holding tighter to Cas’s hands and feeling the tears welling in his eyes, but he didn't care, “in my life I have thought, many times, that I knew what true love felt like, but as soon as I saw you walking through those barn doors for the first time, I knew that all those other times I was so very wrong. The profound bond we share is something I have never felt, ever, in my entire life. And I don't think anyone, past, present, or future, will ever be lucky enough to feel the way we do, how strongly we do, through that bond. And I know it took me a long time to admit it, because we both know I'm a stubborn ass, but I have always known that I never want to be without you, Cas. I'm not the same when you're not around, I feel empty when you're gone, even if it's just for a few hours, I never want to be without you. And with you in my arms forever, I know I will be the happiest man on Earth. I love you, Cas.”

     Neither of them could resist any longer as the tears forced their way past their last defenses, streaming down their cheeks. “And now?” Cas forced past the lump in his throat.

     “And now,” Dean let go of Cas's hands for a second to wipe at his eyes, then to reach down into his pants pocket and pulled out a small wooden box. Cas’s eyes went wide as Dean opened it to reveal a beautiful silver ring, with a feathered line of black running through the center. “I've been carrying this around for a while now. I made it myself, but I wasn't sure if weddings or marriage was something that was for us, so I haven't said anything yet, but I was going to give this to you regardless of what we decided, at some point when I got the nerve up to give it to you,” he shook his head with a light chuckle and pulled himself out of his rambling, then held out his hand, “anyways, give me your left hand, Cas.”

     Dean’s shaking hands reached out to take Cas’s and clumsily slipped the ring on his finger. He admired it on Cas’s hand for a moment, before bringing his hand up to his mouth and pressing a light kiss to the ring. Cas smiled at the action, bringing his hand up to his face to admire the ring himself before something dawned on him that kind of upset him, “Dean, I do not have a ring for you.”

     “It's alright, Cas,” he shook his head, still smiling at his Angel, “I don't need one.”

     “But,” he frowned looking down at the ring on his finger, “this ring symbolizes that I am the other half of your bond, you have nothing to symbolize that you are the other half of mine.”

     “Okay, how ‘bout this then,” he took the ring off his right hand that he always wore, and gave it to Cas, “we’ll use this one as a placeholder for now, and then when we get back to the bunker you can make one like I did.”

     Cas smiled and accepted the ring, slipping it onto Dean’s left hand, copying Dean's action and placing a sweet kiss on it. “There, now everyone will know that you and I belong to each other.”

     “And now we have one more thing to do,” he took both of Cas's hands in his again and pulled him a little closer as he asked, “Castiel, do you take the ever handsome and always charming Dean Winchester to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

     “I do take you, Dean,” Cas took another step closer, now chest to chest with Dean, “and do you, Dean, take me to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

     “I definitely do, Cas. And now I pronounce us-”

     “Wait!”

     “What?” A small surge of panic shot through Dean.

     “Last names,” Cas stated so simply, and Dean let out a breath of relief and a slight chuckle, “I don't have one, what do we do?”

     “What do you want to do? It's your call.”

     Without any hesitation, Cas blurted out, “I want to take yours.”

     “I was hoping you would say that,” Dean whispered and leaned in to press their foreheads together, “in that case, I now pronounce us husbands, Mr Dean and Castiel Winchester,” Cas smiled at the use of his new full name, “and now I’m gunna kiss my very handsome groom.”

     “Please do.”

     Dean took no time in closing the small gap between them and pressing his lips firmly against Cas's, his husband. And as his lips moved in perfect sync against Cas’s he couldn’t think of anything else except finally, finally Cas was his husband, finally they were married, and finally he was Castiel Winchester. Forever his Angel.

     Sam had managed to remain quiet and unseen for the entire little ceremony. It was perfectly Dean and Cas, a secret wedding, just the two of them. And even though Sam wasn't supposed to be there, he was honoured that he was able to bear witness to the most perfect wedding he had ever seen. 

     He stood there long enough to watch them seal their joining with a kiss, and when it was obvious that they weren't going to be separating anytime soon, he decided to slowly back out of the room and let them have their time together. Besides, while they were distracted with each other, he had some work to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     They stayed in the church for a while, standing under the archway, kissing, holding each other, calling each other husband. Dean wasn't sure how long they had been standing there when things started to get a little intense. Their kisses turned heated and hands were starting to wander, so Dean pulled back from Cas who chased him with his lips, and was disappointed when Dean pulled back even further. “Cas, wait a second,” Dean laughed at the whine he let out while still trying desperately to get to his lips, “Cas, let's go back to the motel, we can lock Sam out and have a mini honeymoon.”

     Cas stopped trying to chase after Dean and pulled back to look at him. Dean wiggled his eyebrows at him and all he could do was nod enthusiastically while practically dragging Dean towards the front doors of the church. “Yeah, let's do that!”

     “We should let Sam know that we are married now,” Cas added as they exited the church and made way for the car, “but after our mini honeymoon.”

     Dean stopped dead in the middle of the parking lot, causing Cas to jerk to a stop beside him and look at him with a furrowed brow. “Something tells me he already knows,” he groaned and ran a hand down his face.

     Cas turned away from Dean and looked over at the car, and yeah, Sam definitely knew. The impala was completely decked out from hood to trunk. There were white streamers and paper doves all over the hood and roof, the entire ground surrounding the car was littered with confetti, empty beer cans from the trunk had been strung to the bumper, and the back window was painted with the words ‘FINALLY hitched!”

     They slowly walked up to the car, not exactly sure what to do about it, or how to even get in. Dean eyed a piece of paper stuck under the windshield wipers, and just as he grabbed it the devil himself drove by in his own car. He honked wildly at them as he passed, waving his hand out the window, then sped off down the road and out of sight. 

     Dean just shook his head and groaned, “Oh god,” as he opened the note and read it out loud, “Honestly, it's about time guys! Seriously! I'm really happy you both finally did this. I stopped by the church to tell you guys that I had a new lead on the case but I ended up being just in time to see your private wedding, and now you have an official witness. Also, don't worry about the case, I got this one. I made you two a reservation at an actual hotel in town, the Royal Stay Hotel, in the honeymoon suite, you can check in any time. The reservation ends Monday afternoon, so enjoy your four days off! Have fun newlyweds! Love, sam."

     “That was very nice of him,” Cas looked up at Dean, trying to gauge his reaction and smiled when Dean did too.

     “Yeah, it was. We’ll call and thank him later, but right now I just want to get you to that hotel room and get this honeymoon started!”

     “Should we get going then?” Cas smirked at him, giving him the same wiggle of his eyebrows that Dean had given him before. Dean just laughed and opened the door for Cas to get in, then ran to the other side to hop in. 

     He put the car in reverse and turned to pull out of the lot, and got a look at the back seat, “Oh my god,” he sighed, but couldn't even help the laugh that escaped him, encompassing his whole body as Cas looked back too.

     Sam had not only taken the time to decorate the outside of the car, but also the inside. There was more confetti and streamers in the back seat, along with bottles of champagne, several cases of beer, and a very unnecessary amount of condoms scattered all over the back of the car. 

     It took them awhile to stop laughing at the state of the back seat, both had tears streaming down their faces before they were able to catch their breaths again. And after their fit of laughter, Dean leaned over the seat to put his hand around the back of Cas's neck and pulled him in close. “You know, he is right about one thing.

     “What's that?”

     Dean smiled, leaning in to rub his nose against his husband’s, “Finally.”

     “Finally,” Cas agreed, and moved in to kiss Dean soundly once more, before taking his hand while Dean drove out of the parking lot.

End

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Hope y’all enjoyed it, always more to come <3 And if you wanna be tagged for furture Destiel posts just let me know <3

[barbasbodaciousbeard]

If You Love Someone, Let Them Go: Part 6

Summary: Since starting with SVU, Sonny hadn’t kept much terribly close to the chest. The squad knew about his family, growing up on Staten Island, the classes at Fordam. What was hidden was why he didn’t date. Sonny Carisi was also separated from his childhood sweetheart, a separation neither ever took to divorce. They had the same haunts. They’d grown up neighbors. Their paths crossed every few months, and divorce talks would turn into reminiscing would turn into a night spent together, sometimes sex sometimes just talking until the early morning. It always ended with one of them waking up alone however. How will that change when the squad finds out?

Pairings: Sonny Carisi x Original Character

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

April 2015

“You ready?” Sonny called as he came into her apartment. They’d agreed to skip the pretense and drive together, and Sonny had booked a hotel room within walking distance after confirming she’d be okay with it. His bag was in the trunk, and he grinned when she came out bundled up, the same Fordham sweatshirt she’d stolen under her coat and the little wheeled bag beside her. 

“Ready,” she grinned, stretching up to kiss him, and he felt like he could do anything. He took her bag despite her protest.

“I got us a room for the next two nights. We ain’t gotta stay both, but I thought it might be nice to go to dinner? I got both nights off, too.”

“That sounds real nice. I packed some real people clothes anyway.”

“Perfect. Now let’s get going. Bella said you guys got a make up artist coming.”

“Yeah. She got one and a hairdresser.”

“She’s definitely the one who wouldn’t wanna get herself ready.”

“Yeah. We gotta get there in time. What’re the groomsmen doing?”

“Playing video games and taking turns shaving and showering.”

“Not fair.”

“You look hot. You don’t need hair and make up.”

“You always think I’m hot.”

“That’s because you always are.”

“So are you. I got real lucky on the husband front.”

“You really think so?” She could sense the current under what he said. It wasn’t just Am I hot? but was also Are you lucky?

“Incredibly lucky. I got you.” He slammed the trunk shut, cheeks pink when he settled in the driver’s seat. It was familiar to drive with their fingers laced, and he smiled to see her wedding set in place. Bella had gone by the bakery to surprise her one day, and his sister was very pleased to let him know both rings were on her left ring finger. He’d told the squad the same day he told Olivia, and his ring had been on his hand every day since, the cross the only thing on the chain again.

“Think they’d notice if I do my own make up and hang out with you?”

“She really does have y’all going like two hours longer than Gina did.”

“Yeah. Gina was very ‘Let’s get down to business, get photos, and get married.’ Bella’s way more into the matching robes and face masks vibe. But she’ll be happy.”

“I’ll check in a lot, okay? I don’t like the video games Tommy does.”

“You just like Sims. It’s endearing.”

“It’s kinda fun.”

“You spent six hours building a house once.”

“I had t’make sure it was perfect. They were having twins, Tor.”

“I love you, you absolute nerd.”

“Your nerd.” 

“Damn straight.” Sonny dropped her off at the venue, checking them in at the hotel and dropping off their bags. He stopped by the bridal suite when he got to the venue, thankful the weather moved the ceremony inside now that he was out of the cold. 

“Dominick! No boys allowed,” Bella said, wagging her finger at him, hair in rollers. 

“I know, I know. I’m just bringing Tor the key and her charger, okay?”

“You got her key?” Gina asked, leaning back to look at him and lifting her brow. “That sounds like you’re sharing a room.”

“We are,” Victoria said plainly, taking both items gladly. All the girls had changed into robes, but she’d opted to stay in his oversized sweatshirt until the inevitable photos. A primal part of him liked knowing that.

“That sounds like a reconciliation,” the younger Carisi sang, and Victoria rolled her eyes. “And you two snuck out of the party early like you used to.”

“I’m real glad you approve of our progress, but if you put too much pressure on us, we might break again.” Victoria knew he didn’t mean it and just wanted them to drop it, which she was grateful for. They weren’t quite there, but she trusted he’d probably open up by the end of their weekend together. Even if he didn’t, she’d decided she wanted to start planning to see him more after the wedding. Several late nights with Margy and a bottle of wine had told her that much. If you prove you’ll be there and patient, he’ll probably feel less like he’s scaring you off, she’d told Victoria after another night analyzing their last four encounters.

“Fine. But just know I’m telling ma. Maybe she’ll stop being mean to Tor.”

“Ignore Bella. She’s been glaring, but I think Sonny talked sense into her at Thanksgiving. She’s mad at both of them now.”

“As she should be,” he shrugged, kissing Victoria. “See ya for pictures.”

“See ya,” she grinned, ignoring his sisters’ squeals. This marathon made her kind of tired. Her hair and makeup were done soon enough, and she was grateful the dress was a dusty, dark enough pink in person to look good on her. She liked pink on Sonny, especially since the sides of his brunette hair had started going gray, against the blue of his eyes. The bridesmaids, the two Carisi sisters, Victoria, and a couple of Bella’s friends, all posed together in the matching silky robes before slipping their dresses on. 

“And you thought that pink wouldn’t look good,” Sonny said softly against her ear before kissing her cheek. 

“You like it?” Her hands rested on his shoulders as she smiled up at him, and he felt giddy. It was official. This was how they acted before, no almost needed. 

“I do. Beautiful color on you. And damn, my wife got a figure.”

“You’re the best hypeman,” she hummed as she straightened his tie. “I ever told you how handsome you look in a suit? Or how pretty pink makes your eyes?”

“I can stand to hear it again.” There was the cocky smile he got sometimes. “I’m starting to look old, doll.”

“Nah. Getting hotter.”

“Even with the gray?” He’d been self conscious about it before, when the evenly dispersed gray in his dark hair could be mistaken for a dirty blonde. His temples gave him away now, but she loved it.

“Even hotter with the gray.”

“Stop being gross,” Teresa whined. “It’s like when you were getting ready for homecoming again.” She was rewarded with her brother and sister-in-law’s middle fingers, and Victoria was pleased with Gianna’s disapproval and the picture the photographer snapped. They took pictures, and Sonny was glad when they settled in the back of the venue. He could see the back of Olivia, Barba, Amaro, and Rollins’ heads, and the change in his dynamic with Victoria had him looking forward to showing her off at the reception. 

“Shoes off at the reception. I intercept ma?”

“How’d you know?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m supporting ninety percent of your weight, Tor.”

“Love you.”

“Do I need to hold ya until we walk?” 

“Not enough time to make a difference. But you’re a saint for offering.”

When Olivia saw Sonny with Victoria on his arm, it made sense why he’d been calmer the last two weeks. He’d been texting her more, though he thought he was sneaky enough no one noticed how he smiled at his phone throughout the day. She seemed to smooth his edges, and she and Amanda shared a look over the way the pair watched each other across the front of the venue. The ceremony was a quick enough affair, and Bella had decided to let her bridal party sit wherever they wanted. That led to Victoria stepping out of her shoes, pleased to be spared a big entrance. Heels in hand, she followed Sonny to the table his squad was at before dropping into her seat and giving a wave.

“Means a lot to Bella and Tommy you all came,” Sonny said, taking her shoes and tucking the wall by his chair. “This is my wife, Victoria. Tor, meet Rafael Barba, Olivia Benson, Nick Amaro, and Amanda Rollins.”

“Nice to meet all of ya. I’ve heard a lot.”

“Wish we could say the same,” Rollins said, and Victoria immediately recognized what Sonny had meant. No venom. Just protective of her occasional partner. And Benson was definitely the mother hen, shooting the blonde a look as Amaro and Barba concealed smiles.

“Get it all out now,” she joked, rolling her eyes. “Married into this family nine years ago.”

“Been putting up with Carisi that long? I’ll petition the pope for sainthood.” The three piece suit. The snark. Barba was just what she expected. 

“Think she deserves it,” Sonny chuckled, arm flung easily over the back of her chair. “I can be a pain in the ass.”

Conversation started to flow easily, and he was glad Victoria was tough enough to bite back at Rollins and Barba when they referenced anything touchy. Tommy’s family filled out the rest of the table, and he was glad to see the trial had brought them around to agree that what happened to Tommy was wrong. Teresa and Tommy’s brother gave the speeches, and he liked seeing the squad join in as Bella threw the bouquet and Tommy threw the garter. 

“Bella caught my bouquet, remember?” Victoria smiled up at him.

“Yeah. And Freddy Esposito got the garter.”

“Both of ‘em got married this year.”

“Was delayed for us. Our friends from back then are just now getting married.” 

“We’ve been married nine years and aren't even thirty. I think we were ahead of the curve.”

“But now my baby sister is married and pregnant.”

“Dom, you do know she and I are the same age?” Sonny blinked, squinting at her. 

“You’re fucking with me, right?”

“We’re both twenty-seven.”

“No way Bella’s twenty-seven.”

“I like how you can fully separate me and Bella graduating together.”

“I forget,” he shrugged. “You always picked me anyway.”

“Then married you. Duh. Long game.”

“I hear people making noise.”

“They’re cutting the cake. Amaro has the garter half in his shirt pocket, and a three year old caught the bouquet. The same age you think Bella was when she caught mine.”

“Shut up,” he laughed, pulling her to stand at the edge of the dance floor to watch the first dance. His arms slid around her waist as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

“He wouldn’t have to stoop so low if you’d wear your damn shoes, stellina.”

“Ma, leave her be.” Gianna rolled her eyes, but Sonny squeezed Victoria as the music started. “She’s coming back around. Called ya stellina instead of Victoria.”

It was kind of fun to watch the four members of his work family loosen up around the room. Amaro and Rollins were across the dance floor and not fooling anyone. Barba wasn’t sure what to make of any of the Carisis or Sullivans, but since they’d easily figured out that Olivia was not involved with him, the singles from both families had circled the man who was suddenly the most eligible bachelor. The best part was how hard Olivia ignored his visual pleas to be saved as she talked to one of Tommy’s uncles. It was nice not pretending work and personal life were separate; the squad had taken him in like he hadn’t anticipated, and now his family was taking the chance to accept his squad. 

When the first dance was over, Sonny pulled her onto the dance floor, holding her flush against him in a way he hadn’t been brave enough to before. They’d talked every day the last two weeks, and he’d realized they really had hit the turning point. The songs weren’t slow, so his chest was against her back as his hand splayed over her stomach as they swayed. Both their voices were off key as they sang along to each song with the rest of the guests on the floor. Nick and Amanda were wrapped up in each other, and Olivia and Rafael seemed perfectly entertained, so he didn’t feel bad slipping out after a couple hours. 

“I know you two. Go ahead and dip. You stayed for all the important parts,” Bella had grinned, bumping Victoria’s hip with her own. “I’m the only sober one here, so this is gonna wrap up earlier than anyone realizes. Baby and I gotta sleep.”

“You sure?” 

“Positive, Tor.” That was all it took for Sonny to lace their fingers, duck out of the venue, and start the couple of blocks to their hotel. At first, she wore the heels and walked,  but he quickly realized it was the shoes, not the wine, making her unsteady.

“That’s it,” he said, squatting in his suit. “Hop on.”

“My bag’s heavy.”

“I can handle it, babe.”

“You sure?”

“You don’t hop on, we’re going spider monkey front carry, and we both know that always ends in me tripping more.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and Sonny held her thighs, careful to keep the fabric under his palms to save her some modesty. When they were outside the room, she slipped the key from his breast pocket, helping him push the door open before he dropped her on the bed. 

“Thank you,” she sighed, toeing the pumps off and letting them fall. 

“Glad to be of service.” A little salute as he started to strip out of the suit and hang it. “Thanks for always ditching early for pajamas with me.”

“Glad to be of service.” She hung the dress and tucked the strapless bra away, and when Sonny turned from the closet, he saw her in the oversized sweatshirt again as she pulled the blankets back on the bed. He hadn’t bothered for two. They’d had that option every time but hadn’t used it when they were fighting. 

“Comfy?” He ran a hand through his hair, breaking up the gel before flopping beside her.

“Very.”

“It’s literally nine o’clock. Are we old, Tor?”

“Old? No. Codependent? Maybe.”

“We been living apart a year and a half. Maybe we’re just a clique.”

“Very true. We’re like if the plastics were millennials who had been married a decade.”

“We should write that script.”

“Forget law school. Teen movie parodies based around our marriage.”

“Perfect. I’ll drop all my classes tomorrow.”

“I missed you. It’s been nice talking all the time.”

“I missed you too,” he murmured, watching her with his cheek pressed to the pillow. 

“Regardless of if you’re ready to tell me, I wanna keep talking a lot.”

“I’m ready. I just was going to wait. Don’t wanna ruin our weekend.”

“I feel like you’re going to tell me and realize I don’t care as much as you thought. Unless you fucked somebody.”

“First, last, and only, Tor.” He rolled onto his back, taking a deep breath, and Victoria knew him well enough to know this really was going to be the moment. She sat up, legs tucked beneath her. Leaning towards him a little, she put her hand on his chest and rubbed what she hoped were soothing circles as he put his hands behind his head. When he was nervous, Sonny talked to the ceiling, just needing her to anchor him.

“Just trust me, okay?”

“I trust you, vita mia,” he murmured, and that particular Italian term of endearment let her know it was really happening. “You remember when my hours changed? End of 2011. Became a detective. Acted funny when you took me upstate. A year before I fucked up and forgot your birthday bakery combo dinner.”

“Of course.”

“I was working homicide.”

“Okay?”

“It really fucked me up, Tor. What I seen, it was so bad. The women. There were so many women, and they’d be so pristine. One of them was in a fuckin’ dumpster even. But he took all the time to give her a bath and do her make up and get her dressed. And you know what that always told me?”

“What?” she whispered, taking the hand that went from behind his head to rest on top of hers.

“It was their husband or boyfriend. The person who they trusted. And their faces were so peaceful, Victoria. They knew what was coming. And I’d go talk to people. You know what they’d say? They weren’t surprised. They’d seen it. They’d heard it. Those men hurt their wives and girlfriends. Took advantage of the fact they trusted and loved them. I started seeing you when I saw them, Tor.”

“Sonny,” she whispered, hating the way his voice sounded. It was thick with emotion, and he’d closed his eyes. She was well aware that if he opened them, they’d be rimmed red and tears would be falling. “This is what you couldn’t tell me?”

“You’re so proud of me. I didn’t want to disappoint you. I couldn’t sleep and it hurt so badly. I’d wake up freaking because I thought it was you. I’d never hurt you, but my brain just- I don’t know. And then you’re so good. You deal with cakes and fondant and cannoli and things that make people happy. I was so scared that if I talked about it, it would blot out the light in you. I felt like the only light I had was you. I think I pulled away because of that and it snowballed. When it got so bad, the last six months? It got to the point I thought all that darkness and the stuff I was seeing and the stuff my brain was picturing would- fuck- leak into you through osmosis or something. When I wanted to tell you, my brain would just change the words I wanted to say.”

“Sonny, I didn’t know it was like that,” she murmured. 

“You couldn’t have known. I wouldn’t tell you.”

“I should have figured it out.”

“Don’t do that, doll. If you’re willing to trust me to tell you moving forward, I just want to move forward.”

“I shouldn’t have left, Dominick. You were hurting, and I just abandoned you.”

“I was depressed. I should have told you or talked to someone. Being depressed doesn’t make it okay to neglect you. I need to take care of myself.”

“And I should have stuck with you. Figured out the why.”

“You did though. I’ve known that I can come to you for the last two years. I just couldn’t get past myself. Doc’s been working through it with me. Says I gotta learn that dad bottling it up wasn’t good. It works better for him and ma because she couldn’t read him when they met. I never had to tell you so I didn’t know how. And then dad doesn’t believe in men sharing their feelings. It’s easy to ignore that for the good feelings. I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t tough enough.”

“I didn’t know how to tell you how I was feeling. I knew you saw dark stuff and I was scared to make it worse. I didn’t want to pressure you.”

“Are we okay?” His voice was almost pleading, barely a whisper as his eyes finally opened to look at her. She laid against him, cupping his cheek as his hand flew to rest on hers. They were both crying, and she hated it. She hated to know that it was such a stupid miscommunication. If she’d pressed on it, taken guesses, asked around, maybe she could’ve helped him not hurt. This new squad seemed good for him, and therapy was helping. She probably needed to address their relationship more in therapy, learn how to ask for what she needed. They had to an extent, helping her hold out as long as she had for him to open up.

“We’re okay, Sonny. I’m so proud of you.” She was nudging his nose with her own, not dropping his gaze. 

“Thank you for being so patient.”

“I’d have waited for ya forever. First, last, and only, Sonny.”

“Come home.”

“We gotta consolidate now,” she teased gently. “But I’ll come home.”

“It’s in Brooklyn now. You’ll like it. I didn’t even get rid of that stupid dog statue.”

“He’s a very important dog statue.” 

“I love you, you weirdo.”

“I love you too, nerd.” He missed laughing with her, even when they were both crying. The relief that flooded him was suddenly exhausting. Not telling her had been heavy on him for a long time, but he didn’t expect his body’s physical response to the openness. He felt like he did before he went on this pointless journey to hide the bad parts of his field from her. She knew what he did. She kissed him, slow and sweet and loving, and Sonny’s arms snaked around her. They’d kissed plenty since she left, but there was always a hesitance behind it. Unsureness around their status. Now, he was kissing his wife, not his estranged wife. Even if it took time, they were working towards her coming back home. They hadn’t had sex since their ill fated first run in post separation. It was slow and sentimental, and afterwards, he had a half second of panic she’d disappear. Instead of pulling away like his gut wanted, he curled around her frame, nuzzled into the crook of his neck. 

“I missed that,” he murmured. 

“Me too.” She rested her hand on his, and he could feel that she was smiling in how her cheeks moved. He felt greedy, wanting to feel every bit of her skin he was able to before he fell asleep. When he woke to find her still there, he was relieved, and even better, she’d twisted in the night, leg hooked over his hip and her chest pressed to his. They’d spent most of the night talking or tangled together, so they’d slept in until ten o’clock. He checked his phone to be sure everyone had made it through the night before. Once he reminded his mom he was spending the weekend and really wouldn’t be at Sunday dinner, he settled back in to watching her. After a while, she started to stir, pulling him closer. She’d been right, everything had changed once he told her. He didn’t feel like he had to keep any space between them.

“Morning, beautiful,” he whispered, and she stretched her arms over her head.

“Heya, handsome.” She pressed a kiss to his lips, and it took all his attention not to take her again. He’d made plans for the day, and he was determined to stick to them. Even if they hadn't reconciled, she was a sucker for the beach, even when it was cold, so he’d planned to take her to lunch, take her to get her nails done, and take her to walk the little shops he’d found. It would make her smile, and he’d missed the little trips they’d taken before. Other than going to the cabin, something she’d planned, it had been years between work and school and money. For their tenth anniversary, he was already planning, even though there was just over a year to plan. He wanted to take her back to New Orleans, just the pair of them together now and no disappointment on her part that her mom was there but ignoring her. 

“I planned a day for us.” His hands trailed her spine, and he realized something else had shifted since he told her the reality. While he thought it wasn’t possible, he felt even closer to her. The men in his family, though well intentioned, had always told him it would be viewed as weaker to share his emotional world with anyone. They thought it was a little girly for him to be as sappy with her as he tended to be, tearing up at weddings and when he talked about how proud of her he was. But the bad things? Those were weaknesses that would drive her away. The realization that the depression and inability to separate work from her didn’t scare her off made him realize that letting her see it wasn’t going to break them. Hell, it seemed to bring her closer.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Lunch on the beach. Little walk on the beach after. Manicure- I know you, Tor. Don’t try to say you got one for Bella’s weddin. You love them but won’t take yourself ever- and then we can walk around some of the little shops and stuff.”

“That sounds like a real romantic day, Dom.”

“What can I say? I learned my lesson about not being romantic.”

“I’m excited to come home.”

“Me too, Tor.”

Tag: @cycat4077 @fear-less-write-more

[cosmiccandydreamer]

Insecure chapter 4

Paring (Otis driftwood x Reader)

(I do not own these gifs)

Masterlist is here please see warnings ⚠️

Mama and Baby were ecstatic on the wedding day; this was the happiest day for them. Rarely do they go to do such wholesomeness without ulterior motive like murder? The whole family helped with the event, Baby. You headed into the nearest small town to look for a dress, mama. Tiny cooked ( well tiny held things and watched), Hugo and Rufus helped set up the backyard decent with an archway. Otis, of course, was getting into fights with everyone, grumbling and bitching, but no one's spirit was dampened; they knew he just wanted things to go off without a hitch. “ WHAT ABOUT THIS ONE?” Baby squealed, holding up a bedazzled skimpy ….dress? If you could call it that. ‘’Mmmm, sugar that looks like floss on a hanger, I could see wearing that on the honeymoon but not that ceremony,” you chuckled lightly, chewing on your lollipop and looking back at the dresses, nothing here seemed to be standing out, and you were starting to get disappointed. You were not high maintenance, and a simple dress would be fine, but these weren't you. “ Baby, maybe we should look elsewhere, or I can just wear something I got at home. ‘NO, we are finding you something because this is the best store in town and you deserve something nice!!. 

She skipped along to the other rack of dresses along the wall. You signed and watched her jump around from rack to rack; you loved her so much. She was such a free spirit, never seemed to have a bad day, and up for a good time; you couldn't believe you were finally going to be sisters officially “ unofficially.” You hoped this was what he wanted and didn't get cold feet at the ceremony. God, what if he did. The thought of that was terrible. Having been lost in your head, you didn't notice her hop up behind you with a new dress. ‘ LOOK! WHAT DO YOU THINK? DO YOU LOVE IT OR DO YOU LOVE IT?” She wiggled the dress in front of you, waving it and flashing her megawatt smile.

You have to admit this was a beautiful dress; it was a v-neckline embroidered spaghetti strap lace dress. It was an eggshell white and looked like it would fall right at your ankle. You walked over and lightly touched it; you pictured you and Otis exchanging vows in this; it was perfect, not too flashy, and not too casual. 

Well, it was perfect until you saw the price. "Holy shit, Baby, we can't afford this! Have you seen the tag?" You pointed at it and started to slowly put it back toward the rack. " Ah no no, no no, this is the one we are getting your eyes lit up, and you'd look so beautiful; just wait, we're taking this home today" she shoved the dress Into your hands and walked over to the cashier who was a young early 20 something which had been burning holes in the back of her head this whole shopping trip. I mean, who could blame him? Baby was drop-dead gorgeous, and she knew it.

She skips over to the unsuspecting victim and turns on the charm; leaning over the counter, she twirls one of her golden curls in her fingers and smiles. " Don't you think my sister would look pretty in that dress Mr .. (a male name you like)? "Oh yeah, she would look great," he stuttered a bit and ran his head over the back of his neck nervously, little beads of sweat appearing on his forehead, he was already nervous, and Baby was just getting warmed up. 

"So .. here's the problem, handsome," her voice thick with flirt and sass. "I promise to my beautiful sister over there that she would be able to wear that dress on her wedding day tomorrow, but it's a little out of our price range. Do you think maybe there's something you could do?" She pouts and leans over the counter a bit more, looking at him from under her lashes. " I don't know I could get in trouble, oh," he stutters, and his sentence is cut off when Baby grabs the end of his tie and slowly pulls it toward her. " Oh please It would mean so much to us, and I could make it up to you! maybe you can come over to our house this week, and I can show you how much I appreciate your generous nature" she smiled at him and turned her head; she knew she had him right where she wanted him. It was always fun to watch these interactions. It was like a dance or something or a lion stalking its prey. " I um I think maybe I can do something um just don't tell anyone " gulp "ah ok?" " Of course, sweetums, this will be our little secret" Baby took his hand and wrote down her address with the pen she took from his front his pocket; you laughed a little knowing the fate that awaited the poor fellow, she strutted over to you taking your hand in hers and led you out the door. Back at the house, the party was in full swing, every member of the house was partaking. 

Spaulding was, of course, the officiant; he seemed to be almost as happy for this event as you two. What can he say? He loves to love! Finally, the moment came: one a buzz of excitement. Baby, of course, was your maid of honor and tiny walked you down the aisle. Otis wore his most  clean flannel and surprisingly non ripped jeans ( he owns a pair of those ?!) His eyes widened, and a smile crept along his face seeing you come toward him in that dress. He couldn't believe how stunning you were and how lucky he was that you were going to be his forever. "Why, hello there, beautiful'' he lifts your hand and kisses the top of it, he leans back a little and eyes you up and down " shit, mamas, all this for me?"

Looking up at him and staring right into his blue eyes you smile " all yours handsome.” "ALL FUCKING RIGHT LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED.  SURE THESE TWO WANNA GET THIS OVER WITH AND GO STRAIGHT TO THE HONEYMOON. YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING HAHA! '' Spaulding's booming voice ripped through the backyard, causing you both to snap out of your love trance. " Alright, happy boy, you wanna go first? And try not to royally fuck it up in front of the lady hmmmmm?" " Shit shut the fuck up, cutter" he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tiny scribbled on paper that looks like he wrote and erased about a million times; he clears his throat " um yeah, so I wrote these, and I hope you like em and yeah here we go welp I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, the only home I've ever had, and that home is you.” He nervously put the note back into his pocket and cleared his throat; he read the vows fast as if to hurry and get past this vulnerable exposure as quickly as possible. 

You were shocked, to say the least; saying that you weren't expecting much in the romantic department was an understatement, the fact he was able to muster up these words completely melted your insides. " So what the fuck? You just gonna stare at me or something? What are you getting cold feet now, a woman? You're just staring .. say something!"  You look at a deep breath, suddenly aware of all eyes on you. alright y/n you can do this; you took a small piece of paper from your bra and opened it. " So I couldn't find the words for what I wished to say * clears throat," so I had to borrow them; in the words of Pablo Neruda: “I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way than this: where I do not exist, nor you.” Small awws and comments erupted in from the small crowd, "

WELL HOT DAMN THAT IS SOME HEARTWARMING SHIT" Spaulding well basically screamed, he took out the long hunting knife from his pants pocket. He handed it to you " ladies first, my dear" You had predicted that there would be some apprehension about slicing open your hand with a giant knife but the look Otis was giving you all the courage you needed, he was looking at you with a deep burning hunger, one that sent fire to your stomach and tingles to your core. With a deep breath, you sliced hard and fast into your left hand, never breaking eye contact with him; the pain was intense but forgotten, overshadowed by the lust growing more and more intense by the second you wanted your husband, and you wanted him now. You handed the knife back to Spaulding " alright happy boy, you're up" you clenched your hand close, feeling the warm blood flowing through your fingertips. Otis had a large grin by this point, hastily taking the knife and slicing it into his palm way faster than you did. 

He moved closer, taking your hand and pressing it into his, the blood from you and him mixing. " I now pronounce you sick bastards husband and wife! " And with that last statement, Otis grabbed your face with his clean and bloodied hand, pulling you into a deep kiss; you linked your hands around his neck, pulling him closer.

Breaking the kiss, he takes your hand and slowly licks your large gushing cut, staring at you deep in the eyes the entire time; this dark, sick so very erotic scene made you take a deep breath in and bite your lower lip breath hitched. You softly whispered, "Otis…"..  his eyes had become large and dilated with lust. That last whisper from you was enough to push him over the edge " Alright, y'all can get the fuck out. I'm about to do unspeakable shit to my wife, see y'all next week, no one bothers us, or  I'll blow your head fucking off.” With that, he threw you over his shoulder and with a smack to your ass he took you into the house. 

[aperrywilliams]

For You, for Me and for Us (Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader)

(Not my gif!)

Masterlist

———————

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Summary: Spencer and Reader share their feelings in a very special occasion for their family.

Word Count: 2169.

Warnings: Just a reference of sex (not explicit). Pure fluff. I need some of this sometimes.

A/N: This one is short, I promise. I got some inspiration from the Goo Goo Dolls’ song “Boxes”. If you can, listen it while, before or after reading. Remember my friends: impressions, comments and any reaction are welcomed. Thanks for reading!

——————–

We'll have tiny boxes for memories

Open them up and we'll set them free

There'll be bad days and some hard times

But I'll keep your secrets, if you keep mine

You are the memory that won't ever lapse

When twenty-five years have suddenly passed

Wherever you take me, it's clear I will go

Your love's the one love that I need to know

——————–

It was a hot July night. The patio had a beautifully decoration: a lot of white flowers hanging from the windows and walls. There were ten tables settled around the dance floor. All the guests sited enjoying dinner. The background music was calm, perfect for the moment.

Spencer and I were sitting at the main table looking at the guests who were staring back at us with big smiles. Some even raising their wine glasses in celebration attitude to us.

"This night has been exhausting, don't you think?" I said to Spencer in a minute. He glanced at me with a nod.

“The day in general has been exhausting. My feet hurt and I miss my bed right now,” he replied with a pout.

"You shouldn't complain so much. I'm the one who is wearing heels tonight,” I growled as I moved my feet in circles motions remembering the discomfort I was feeling at the moment.

"The shoes I'm wearing aren't the definition of comfort either, so we could say I share your pain. Also this tux is less comfortable than I thought." His words were accompanied by a grimace.

"And we have a lot of night and dance ahead..." I added to make our torture more miserable.

"I think we could skip the dance, right?" Spencer suggested winking at me.

"Spencer, I know you don’t like to dance but, do you want to disappoint all the guests? such bad host!." I said teasing him.

“It’s a wedding. By definition the most important thing in a wedding should be the ceremony, not the dance,” he complained.

"It's a party anyway. And at parties there is dancing. And the hosts dance. Period.” I said in a severe tone.

“I don't know where you got that rule from, but I'm not going to argue with you about that now. Look over there!". He shook his head, pointing to one of the tables.

I turned around a bit to get better vision. I couldn't help but smile when I saw our daughter doing photos with her fiance - now her husband - and the guests of one of the tables.

"She looks so beautiful...". I said barely holding my breath. I was so thrilled to see her right now. I felt my eyes fill with tears of pure emotion.

"She is beautiful. And in that dress it reminds me so much of you when we got married,” added Spencer. In his eyes I could only see love and adoration for her.

"Have you seen her so happy before?". I asked him, taking his hand and squeezing it gently.

"I guess I can't compare this to the times she was a little girl and we ran around the house pursuing to each other or playing tickle war," Spencer replied with a sigh.

"You're right. They are different things”. I rested my head on his shoulder. At that demonstration of affection, Spencer began stroking one of my cheeks with his thumb.

“That were the times when she really needed us. Now for her we are disposable. Now we are just her annoying parents.” Spencer said in a melancholic tone and perhaps unaware that he had voiced his thoughts out loud.

"And where did that come from?" I asked raising my head to look him in the eye.

"Uhm?" He looked back at me confused. Indeed, he didn’t realize he had said the last thing out loud.

"Spencer Reid, about the last thing you said… why are you so annoyed?" I asked him.

"I’m not annoyed (Y/N). I’m jealous.” he confessed a little ashamed. I burst out laughing.

"Why are you jealous?, she won’t stop loving you because she is married now." I tried to explain to him.

"I know, but I won't be her favorite man in the world anymore..." Spencer said with a shrug. There I understood.

I don't know if it will be something that happens to all fathers. When I married Spencer my dad had the same concern. It seems true that when you're dad's little girl, it most difficult to them let you go.

Emi has always been Spencer's favorite. In addition to being the oldest of our three children - after Emi, came Theo and then Abby - she is the one who missed him the most when he was away from home, the one who loved the most his bedtime stories, the one who most insisted to him to go out to the park and play with her, the one who could be always running around him in the house while he was reading on the couch.

While she physically has few Spencer attributes - like his nose - she certainly inherited much of his intelligence and the love of learning new things and always be rambling about everything.

Given that, I'm not surprised that he's more concerned and vulnerable. I’m, too, but I can understand that their special bond makes this more difficult for Spencer right now.

"Don’t worry. You won’t stop being her favorite. But you’ll have to learn to share…”

"Only if you can assure me he'll make her really happy. If he ever hurts her in any way, I swear I’m capable of…”. Just imagining Emily suffering for something immediately awoke in him anger and despair. I guess that will never change.

“Calm down Reid. You seem crazy acting like this right now. Look, now they are at the BAU table.” I told him. I was trying to he would focus on something else and stop imagining things.

While he watched in that direction I could see a bright smile on my husband's face. Despite the years, the BAU were still part of our family. At least those who remain. Life and the time’s passing are unforgiving, no matter what we do to try to avoid it.

"Wow, long time since I saw JJ and Will. They seem to be less affected by the years than we are,” said Spencer.

"Speak for yourself, old man. I still feel like a 30 years old woman.” I said jokingly.

Looking at him his eyes clearly said 'you're kidding right?' I moved closer so I could whisper in his ear.

“Come on Spencer . It’s not so bad either. You still do a good job in bed. So don’t worry so much either.” I said with a playful smile. Spencer blushed. I can't believe I still have the ability to make him blush after all these years together. He tried to change the subject by alluding to the other guests at the table.

"Hank is equal to Morgan when we started at BAU. He has exactly the same features and posture. And Morgan looks like he's hopefully 50 years old. The bastard aged like wine." I couldn't help but laugh at the comment.

“The gym years seem to be helping after all. We should have trained more with him when we worked together,” I said. Spencer nodded at my statement.

"I wish Prentiss was here," Spencer said at one point.

"Me too. I'm sure Emi misses her too.” I added, squeezing his hand gently.

Prentiss was the godmother of our Emily. Although Spencer had been JJ's friend for long before, with Prentiss the friendship was developed over the years and became very strong and lasting. Just like my friendship with her. I owe a lot to Prentiss, among other things, having come to work at the BAU. For all that and how much she supported us during our relationship, we decided to give her name to our first daughter. Unfortunately, Prentiss had passed away less than a year ago, positioning herself in the BAU's 'remembered' club, along with Rossi and Hotch.

All these losses reminded us that the years do not pass in vain, but that the love for them does not cease even though the time is implacable. They will always be part of our family and our hearts.

"What are you thinking about?" Spencer asked me after noticing I was silent looking at our daughter doing photos with the rest of the guests.

"About we made such beautiful children." I replied laughing. The truth was I didn’t want to reveal my true thoughts of that moment. But I have never been able to hide those things from Spencer, he always realizes when I’m putting something away. Sometimes he pushes me to say it, other times he lets me keep my little secret thoughts.

"I know. But that is not what you are thinking." This time he was going to pressure me to tell him. After a sigh I started to speak.

"It's just... I don't know. Sometimes it seems so surreal that we have been able to stay together all these years and manage to start a family on our own. After all the things we've been through… I don't know, did you ever have doubts about that?” I asked him.

Spencer released my hand to settle on the edge of the chair so he could look me straight in the face. He took my cheeks in his hands to make sure I made eye contact with him.

“(Y/N), this is an accomplishment of both of us. And despite of our ups and downs I'll never regret having bet on us. You’re and will continue to be the love of my life. You gave me some wonderful children and you make me immensely happy. And for every day that passes, the love and adoration I feel for you does not decreases in the least”. He sealed his words with a deep kiss, full of love, which I reciprocated with equal intensity. When we pulled away we both smiled.

"Jeez Spencer. I don't know how you manage to say all those things and make me cry.” I said trying to hold back tears that started to roll down my cheeks. He began to dry my tears with his thumbs. I could see that he was equally touched, with watery eyes, also leaking a few tears.

"Now we are old grumpy and crybaby," he said with a huff. I could only nod. The age and emotions of that day had us very sensitive. I rested my head on his shoulder again, watching the photo tour in the guest tables.

"When we got married, did you think we were going to be like this now?" I asked him suddenly.

"Maybe only in dreams," he replied.

“It's been a little over 25 years since that day." I said with a sigh. He looked at me with those loving eyes that captured me from almost the first day.

"And not a day of these 25 years have I doubted us" boasted the very cheeky.

"Don't lie, Reid. We haven't had a dream marriage, either.” A light blow to his forearm was what he received for such audacity.

“I know baby, but what effect do a couple of days have on the 9165 days we been married? In my opinion they do not statistically affect the result” he defended himself laughing.

"Such nerd! shut up and kiss me," I replied, before taking his tie and pulling him closer to give him another kiss.

"I love you too (Y/N)" he told me when we pulled away.

Our intimate moment was broken when Emily approached the table and stared at us with her hands resting on her waist.

“I'm sorry to interrupt you lovebirds, but it's time for the waltz . Are you ready dad?” Emily asked.

"We were just talking about it with your dad. How anxious he was to dance tonight.” I said teasing Spencer. Emily started to laugh. She knew as much as I did that Reid almost hated to dance in public. Spencer gave me a disapproving look as he got up from the chair.

"I’m ready if you are, Emi." Spencer answered as he took our daughter's arm.

"Perfect!. Mom, come on!. You have to dance too!”

"I will baby. Let me finish my glass of wine. In the meantime, try not to let your dad stumble on the dance floor,” I said, laughing. Spencer just shook his head without even looking back at me.

I saw them walking arm in arm to the dance floor. Sure I'd join them, but I wanted to look at both of them first. It was one of those moments that I wanted to witness and treasure in my memory and my heart by my own. The love of my life with our first fruit of love. A journey that started a new story this day, a new story for Emily, for Spencer, for me... for us.

——————–

[quazartranslates]

Welcome to the Nightmare Game - CH103

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

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Chapter 103: Slaughter Secret Society (V)

{cw: slight nsfw, sexual harrassment - I’ve marked the start and end of the scene in question with ++ and included a summary at the end if you wish to skip this.}

Help: How do I pretend to be a gay man without moral integrity but keep my moral integrity at a hedonistic party? Urgent, online, etc.

Answer: Hold steady first, then look for straight men to flirt with.

Qi Leren, who had made up his mind, calmly talked and laughed with Mrs. Kathleen. Obviously, when straight women and gay men know each other's orientation well, neither side will be too distracted. Qi Leren felt that this was probably called courtesy-flirting.

Fortunately, the bottom line of Mrs. Kathleen's moral integrity was still there, and the communication between them was limited to courtesy-flirting instead of courtesy-sex. She quickly recommended her male subordinates to Qi Leren, and showed him her "goods" in a row like a salesman.

The utterly hopeless Qi Leren looked at the group of coquettish men despairingly.

He, absolutely, did, not, want, to, go, one, round, with, men!

"Most of my subordinates like women, and these are not exclusive to men. Don't you like them?" Kathleen always paid attention to Red’s face. Although he kept smiling, he was always absent-minded and seemed to be not interested in her subordinates.

Ashley looked at Red nervously. The mask covered half of his face, revealing his deep red lips. He took a sip of wine and pointed towards a pair of men and women in the corner who were exchanging life experiences fiercely. "Is that man your subordinate too?"

Mrs. Kathleen looked intently and smiled softly, "Oh, Sid? He’s the lover of a female subordinate. Apart from his body, there’s really nothing commendable. If you insist on me saying it, his performance in bed is fine. Are you interested?"

Red’s mouth hooked up, and he lifted Mrs. Kathleen's hand and dropped a kiss on it. "Thank you for your recommendation."

With this, he left Mrs. Kathleen and a melancholy Ashley, and walked to the corner with the light gait of a cat.

The whole party scene is full of unpleasant smells, the smell of wine, smoke, and various drugs all mixed together, making people indulge in desire, and the crazy music was earth-shattering. Young men and women dancing on the dance floor got carried away, and the pressure of survival was forgotten. They indulged in passion and unscrupulous actions.

It was sad and pathetic.

Obviously, there was lively music everywhere, and there were people who had fun everywhere, but at this moment standing in the crowd, Qi Leren felt very lonely.

After all, this wasn’t a place where he should stay. He had to find a way to get away without being noticed…

He vowed to force himself to keep his eyes open to the end, mind over matter.

"It's the most pleasing thing in life to light a cigarette afterwards." A mysterious man dressed in a mask sat down beside Sid. Sid, who was entering the sage time*, paused. Instead, his female companion gave a charming smile and moved to kiss the mysterious man in front of her.

*{E/N: “sage time” means being post-orgasm. I’m pretty sure the implication is that Sid and this girl just got off together.}

A slender finger touched her lipstick-covered lips to stop her: "I'm sorry, madam, I'm not interested in women."

The woman rolled her eyes, picked up the clothes that had fallen on the ground and put them on her body, and walked away without looking back.

Sid, who’d been abandoned by his female companion, looked at the mysterious man warily. He’d never seen this man at the party. He remembered that Mrs. Kathleen had told them that a distinguished guest would come to the party this time…

Wait, what did he just say? He wasn’t interested in women? Then the question was coming. He is sitting here to…

Sid's cold sweat immediately flowed down.

{++}

The man in front of him looked at his body with great interest: "Your muscles are very good, and your ass is also quite firm. I once had a lover as strong as you, but unfortunately he’s dead. Seeing you reminds me of him."

Sid, a straight man who was forced to be naked in front of a gay man, felt deep pressure. The man in front of him had long legs, a thin waist, and white skin. At first glance, he was the type that was easy to play. Apart from gender, he was impeccable. He also knew clearly that he couldn’t offend the man in front of him, but… But heaven, have pity on him. He was a straight man!!!

His dull reaction seemed to make the man in front of him only more interested. As light as a cat, he rolled over and sat on him, slowly lighting himself a cigarette. The thick smoke made his slightly upturned lips have a charming allure. "Would you like one?"

"...Okay ...Okay."

The man straddled him, his long fingers stroking his muscles. The cold fingers aroused goose bumps on Sid's skin. He crouched on him like a snake, put a cigarette in his mouth, and then lit him up with the cigarette he was holding.

The faint light burning from the cigarette butt was very ambiguous in this hidden corner. The masked man flicked the cigarette butt and the ashes lightly landed on Sid's collarbone, burning slightly. The man breathed a sigh and blew away the ash that had fallen on his skin.

The smell of the smoke cascaded over his naked skin, even more arousing than the sensation of the cold fingers.

The man laughed in a low voice, and the light brown eyes hidden behind the mask stared at him: "But compared to a cigarette, don't you want to try the one I have lower down?"

Sid’s face suddenly changed. What, this shameless gay guy wanted his chrystanthemum?!

"Hm? What? If your technique is good enough, I don't mind trying again, as long as it can make me feel good..." The man pushed his knee towards the place where he was still weak, and he let out an embarrassing sound, tempted by the proximity.

The pale Sid looked at Mrs. Kathleen for help, but the latter nodded to him, telling him to do it!

As a straight man, he never expected to encounter such a crisis. If he couldn’t get it up… would he be killed? However, the desperate Sid was left unrequited. The mysterious man whispered an address into his ear, then climbed off of him, adjusted his clothes and smiled at him: "I’ll be waiting for you there. Don't make me wait too long."

{++}

With that, he walked lightly through the crowd and returned to Mrs. Kathleen.

"Do you allow take-away?" Red said cheerily, and Mrs. Kathleen clinked her glass.

"Of course, but you don’t need to. There’s a back room here that has everything you want," said Mrs. Kathleen.

"When people ‘communicate’ with each other, it’s also the time when people are least prepared. I prefer to be on my own site," Red said lightly.

Mrs. Kathleen expressed her understanding and politely sent him out of the door: "The selection ceremony is in a week..."

Red took his cloak from the waiter and put it on his body. He took off his mask and said to Mrs. Kathleen, haughtily and reserved, "It's just a ritual without suspense. The winner can only be me."

"I wish you all the best," said Mrs. Kathleen.

"Thank you for your kindness. Oh, have my 'pizza' come to me in half an hour. I have to prepare some 'good things' first. " He smiled and turned away.

As soon as he walked out of the bar, Qi Leren gave a long sigh of relief. Although he stayed in it for only half an hour, it felt like a year. As a great young man in the 21st century, he really hadn't seen this kind of battle before. He’d almost let his expression slip several times. Fortunately, he was covered by the mask and finally didn't show his feelings.

Qi Leren had considered rejecting Mrs Kathleen's "kindness" directly, but doing so would obviously cast a shadow over their cooperative relationship. The best way was to make a proposition first, and then find an excuse to send the person away. Time is short, he had to hurry and meet with the extra sent by the Trials Office who would make a guest appearance, together put on an act with him for "Mr Takeaway", and then drive the man back on the grounds of "I met a hotter one on the road, so you can go back and continue to pick up girls". The perfect plan.

Back near his temporary stronghold, Qi Leren whistled, and then went back to the house to wait for the people in the Trials Office to contact him. Soon he heard a slight footstep on the second floor, and he whistled again to signal that there was no one else in the room.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer, and someone came down the stairs. Qi Leren looked up, and his calm expression instantly solidified on his face.

"Ning... Ning Zhou?" Qi Leren, dressed in strange clothes and heavy make-up and smelling of alcohol and tobacco, immediately jumped up from the sofa, looking both embarrassed and nervous.

Ning Zhou's eyes stayed on him for a few seconds, then he frowned and asked coldly and stiffly: "What is it?"

Qi Leren felt awkward enough to burst into tears. Could he tell Ning Zhou, who was conservative and introverted, that he needed someone to undress and help him now? He had to replace him!

"Who else is nearby besides you?" Qi Leren asked, deathly pale.

"Miao Li."

“……”

Heaven will kill me!

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The author has something to say:

PS: Can you imagine how much the heart collapsed when the author modified this text to unlock it...

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Editor’s Notes: 

Summary of ++: “Red” acts suggestively towards Sid in a way intended to make him uncomfortable. Sid is instructed by Mrs. Kathleen to go along with it. Before anything can happen, Red pulls away and tells him to come to his house later so they can continue.

So, as indicated by BMBL’s end note, this chapter as it’s currently found on JJWXC has been edited from its original version due to being locked for sexual content, ~however~ the version you have just read is the uncensored one! I’ve been using two different mtls (the one I originally read and the one available on mtlnovel) and I was surprised to find that the one on mtlnovel is the uncensored version! Imagine my shock when I went to compare a sentence and suddenly there were butts.

For those curious, there’s actually not a ton different between the two. The censored version has removed Qi Leren commenting on Sid’s butt, several mentions of naked skin, one mention of Qi Leren stradling Sid, the mention of Sid’s “chrysanthemum”, and Qi Leren’s wandering knee. Also, it’s worth mentioning that any time I’ve used the word “sex” here, it was either censored or replaced by some innuendo originally.

Please look forward to the next chapter, it’s a good one ;) ;) ;)

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[writingchalamet]

Just On Set

squishybebe asked:

Hii, I love your last imagine it was great thank youu...  Could you do another imagine where you're a singer and Timothee is playing your love interest in your music video, so you guys have to film some cute and intimate scenes...

A/N: I’m using the song ‘Kiss it better’ by Rihanna. This turned out a bit steamier than what I originally planned 💖 anyway stay safe and have a good day and thank you for 500 followers!!

It was the second day of filming for your latest music video, you had spent the day yesterday filming your close ups and glamour shots but today you were to be joined by Timothée Chalamet, who would be playing your love interest in the video. You were supprised he agreed to do the project, music videos not really being his fortes, however you had met him a few months prior at an award ceremony after party, and after gushing about how incredibly talented you thought he was for a good ten minutes you expressed how much you’d love for him to be in one of your videos. He somehow agreed and here you are.

Your hands fumbled around in your lap shaking slightly while you sat in your hair and makeup chair, the anticipation of Timothée’s arrival was making you a nervous wreck. “Would you calm down! You’re gonna be fine!” Your makeup artist Kiera insisted, taking a brush to your lips touching them up.

“I know but it’s just nerve wracking, he’s this big talented actor who I happened to run my mouth off to and now he’s coming here to play all lovey dovey with me! And I’m no actor what if he thinks I’m shit and leaves!” An exasperated sigh fell from your lips, with a huff you sat back in your chair throwing a strop in a toddler esque manner.

“Yeah she’s just through here” you hear faintly behind the door before there’s a sudden knock on it. You pull your robe closer around your body, “come in!” You yell, hearing the hinges creak lightly as the door slowly opened. It revealed your publicist and none other than Timothée standing in the door frame, hair styled away from his face in sweeping waves. He gives you a soft smile. “Hello sorry to barge in while you’re getting ready, but I’m really looking forwards to working with you today” he steps forward, extending his hand to you to shake.

You take his hand, his grip was firm but friendly. “It’s a pleasure really, I’m looking forwards to it” Keira teases your hair one final time “there we go you’re done” you lean forwards in your chair and look in the mirror, “You look lovely” Timothée smiles from his lingering stance behind you. “Thank you” you smiled back. “Right well I better go and get dressed and I’ll see you on set” Timmy lenses you a final smile before stepping outside of the room. You rose from your seated position and dropped your robe from your shoulders leaving you in your ‘costume’ for your first shots of the day.

You walk through the halls of the humongous house to the first set location of the day, in the dining hall. Your heals clicking along the hard wood floors caught the attention of Timothée as well as the director as you stepped inside of the room. “My beautiful angel, you look gorgeous, are you ready to begin!” Paolo the director yells across the room striding towards you taking your face into his hands, you had worked with him many times and become very close friends over the years. Your eyes looked in Timothée’s direction and softened from your nervous stance slightly. “I’m ready if you are” You let out a soft giggle. 

Getting into position, you were both seated at opposite ends of a twelve seated dining table, a nice contrast to how close you would become later on throughout the shoot. The producers and runners fixed up a few things in the shot before the cameras started filming. “Ready! Roll music...Action!” A couple of lines of the ‘song begin blasting out from the speakers behind the director. 

 Been waiting on that sunshine boy I think I need that back, can’t do it like that no one else gonna get it like that.

You sat across from each other, two camera men standing by each of your sides, catching each of your nuances. Your head lifted and you directed your eye-line towards Timothée, his eyes meeting yours at the same time. You tilted your head the camera moving forward to catch your actions more closely. Timothée’s hands lay down on the table before his chair screeches, pushing it back, so he can move into a standing postition. Your takes a more wide angle shot as you sit up straighter in your chair. Timothée straitens his tie, the camera getting a close up shot of his hands working on the material around his neck. ‘CUT’ The music stops rolling and the camera men roll their cameras back into the original positions.

“That was beautiful, you both look sexy and fierce I love it!” Paolo shouts from across the hall. You giggle shaking your head you look up and see Timothée sharing a laugh also. “Are we ready to move on or do you want to refilm anything darling?” His precocious mannerisms always made him so much easier to work with, “no I think we got it!”

So I argue, you yell, but you take me back, Who cares when it feels like crack, boy you know that you always do it right

“Action!” The music blares through the speakers once again, and the camera pans out on Timothée striding towards you, you casually play with one of the diamonds falling from your ear, a smirk placed on your face. Timothée reaches you, standing behind your chair, one of the camera men moves to the other end of the table where Timothée once sat and the other stood next to you getting the close up. Timothée’s arms encased you, one travelling slowly down your body and the other moving around your neck and shoulders, he leaned down as if to whisper in your ear, leaving a kiss at the connecting part of your jawline. Your head rolled to the back of the chair. One arm lifted to caress his face whilst the other raised to hold the one around your chest. You both leaned in lips grazing, your eyes fluttered shut.

“CUT! Ugh I could cut the sexual tension in here with a knife! Jesus you two are hot!” His strong accent only made you laugh harder. You pulled away from each other, sitting up straight again in your chair, Timmy was leaning on the back of, you look up to him and give him a shy smile which he gladly returned.

“Right so your next shot in this location is the steamy make out session where you get to throw her around the room a little Timothée, okay, and then we’re done with this location! Okay, shall we take 5, get some air before the sex tape comenses okay darlings!” Paolo expresses every nuance with his hands flying all over the place and the over extended enunciated words. You nod towards him raising from your chair and walking towards the refreshments table for a bottle of water, Timothée follows persuit, opening a bottle and taking a big gulp.

“How are you finding it so far? Are you enjoying yourself or are we putting you off music videos completely?” You quiz the green eyes boy before you. He smiles brightly before nodding his head.

“I’m really enjoying myself, it’s a beautiful location, and Paola is hilarious and my scene partner isn’t horrible so what’s not to like” he jokes, you hit his arm jokingly shaking your head. “No in all seriousness, I was quite nervous coming into set today, I know that being in music videos can be seen as quite gimmicky, but I think that after people see what we’ve done here they’ll love it” your eyes light up and your heart feels like it’s skipped about ten beats.

“Okay darlings, time to rock and roll!” You whip your head round at the sudden boom of Paolo’s voice re-entering the room, and move back towards the table.

Man, fuck your pride, just take it on back, boy take it on back boy, take it back all night , just take it on back, take it on back

“Action”

Timothée’s arms come around under your bum lifting you into the dining table, you leaned back arms spreading out across the span of the table back making the perfect arch. Timothée leans forward placing kisses along your jawline and shoulders, the camera draws in close to your face capturing your mouth fall ajar and a gasp fall from your painted red lips . The camera followed in an extreme closeup shot as Timothée’s hands travelled down your heavily jewelled body down to your thighs, the second camera caught your head sharply falling back on the beat of the music, your movements becoming rhythmic.

“Cut! Okay let’s move to the doorway!” The music paused, Timothée lifted himself from your netheregions, offering his hands to you to help you down from the table.

You accepted and moved towards the doorway of the dining hall, “okay darlings are you alright for me to position you?” Paolo asked, you both nodded and allowed him to step in, “okay darling, if I can get you to just lean against the doorway with your back arched like this..” he moves you into place, your back arched, one arm delicately placed above your head. He moved one of your legs so it arched forwards. “And then Timothée darling, you slip yourself in hear, oh first take your suit jacket off, there we go. You place one hand behind her neck and the other around her waist, oh yes just like that, beautiful, and then one of your legs in between hers, so when you go to ‘slam’ her into the wall she’ll be balanced on your leg and can hold the stance. Beautiful darlings, ready!” He steps away from the frame.

“Action!”

Timothée did as instructed, pushing you back into the wall but raising his leg to keep you steady, the hand on your neck comes up to caress your check before he dives in, his lips touch your with such ferocious force you don’t know if you can keep up, it may have been the tension that had been building up between the two of you all day that had finally been released. Your lips moved against him like clockwork, finery and in perfect time with each other. His arms held a strong grip around you. His lips moved to lay kisses on your neck, your head spun backwards against the door frame, arm lifting to grip the solid wood above your head.

The camera came to a close up shot of your face just as your mouth fell agape, eyes fluttering shut. Timothée’s movements were rhythmic against the beat of the music blaring through the speakers. His head lifted once more and he placed his forehead softly against yours, and smiled gently.

“AND CUT! Oh beautiful! Darlings you are just breathtaking to watch!” You step away from each other, your assistant running over and wrapping you in your robe. You grab a bottle of water from the table beside you and take a large gulp. “Do you wanna have a look on the monitor at the shots?” Paolo’s eyes light up, proud of him and his teams work. You nod enthusiastically and move towards the monitors set up by Paolo’s chair, he presses play and you see part of your video finally coming to life for the first time and you’re in love. You have to admit you and Timothée work well together. Each of your movements compliments the other really well, and you both just look good together.

“It’s really beautiful Paolo, thank you!” You pull him into a side hug. “Right beautiful people, go and get ready for your next scene and I’ll see you in the gardens”

The flowers in the garden popped with colour, the grass a vibrant green that seemed to make the yellow in your dress stand out even more. You spot Timothée as you make your way through the gardens and travel over to him. He’d had his hair styled differently for the next shot, looking more slick. He looked handsome, you noticed how much the yellow complimented the green in his eyes. And how his hair styled away from his face somehow made his bone structure that more prominent.

“Are you ready to dance lover boy” you teased as you approached the boy. “I am, I don’t know if you are!” He joked standing up from his seated position, one arm picking up one of your hands, the other moving to your waist to spin you out. You let out a squeal as he dips you to the floor almost, his firm grip on your waist the only thing keeping you from falling. It’s then that you notice the closeness of his face to yours. His nose brushes against yours gently, the beginnings of a smile apear on his face.

“Well, well, well darlings! What do we have here! Save that chemistry for the cameras please! At least until the shoot is over! Are you ready to proceed” Paolo wiggling his eyebrows at the pair.

Timothée practically swigs you back up almost giving you whiplash, and stands a few feet apart from you. He clears his throat. You nod to Paolo that you were ready. For a moment you had forgotten where you were and what your purpose was for the day, it was only the two of you.

You both walk over into position by the blossomed bushes. The sunlight was bouncing off of your skin warming the surface. “So this is the scene that’s going to be in slow motion baby, so make use of that dress I want you lifting and dropping it and Timothée maybe spin her or something!” Paolo spoke with enthusiasm picking up parts of your dress making them fly around the air.

“Okay ready darlings! Action!” Stepping out of shot back into his chair.

What are you willing to do, Oh tell me what you're willing to do? (Kiss it, kiss it better, baby)

As soon as the direction was called, Timothée pulled you in close by your waist, dipping you down again this time a little slower than before, the movements feeling more intimate on camera. A fan had been turned on to help with the movement of your dress, you raised your bare leg gently wrapping it around his waist as your back arched, Timothée pulled you up to meet his eyes, two strang hand around your back, you lay yours gently around his neck, one caressing his jawline.

One camera man moves in quickly with a dolly, as you lip sync the lyrics ‘kiss it, kiss it better baby.’

Timothée leans forward as you tilt your head back allowing him to place another tender kiss on the skin of your neck.

“Aaaand cut! Oh that was beautiful!” You were expecting him to take a step away from you but he remained close with his arm draped over your shoulder. A warm tingling feeling surged through your body putting a warm smile on your face.

“Right I want to do one more shot here, just a short one over a guitar riff, just of you being cute” Paolo winks at the two of you causing a deep red to rise to your cheeks, you know he can sense you’ve developed a bit of a crush for your costar for the day and he just loves to taunt you. But honestly who wouldn’t.

Timothée turns to you a sense of excitement in his eyes, “we could possibly do something simple, just like lying down on the grass and have the odd few touches, if you catch my drift” he rambled on some of his words overlapping in places where he spoke too fast.

“I love it, simple but effective” you reply and nudge him with your arms. You move to a more open area of the garden where more sunlight was hitting, and plonk yourself down on the ground. For the second time that day Paolo came and set you both into a position, lying on your side, held up by one arm with one leg straight and the other arched, he positioned your dress in the ‘floatyist’ way possible as he liked to called it. Timothée lay opposite you in a similar position. His close proximity to you made it almost impossible to breath.

Paolo stood away from you, eyeing the finial positioning one more time. “Okay you look beautiful, are you ready?” You both nod, he steps out of frame and takes a seat in his directors chair. “Action”

A guitar riff sounds through the speakers on a continuous loop. Timothée’s hand grazes the skin of your face working it’s way along your body, travelling along your slender shoulders, across your hips and tracing patterns on your legs. You nuzzle your head into his neck and look back to see his eyes boring into your own, you could detail every emerald and amber fleck merging together, the corners of his mouth curve into a smile, he leant in and placed a short but tender kiss on your lips. Unscripted and unplanned, your breath caught in your throat and you felt your cheeks turn pink. You could hear the gasp from Paolo behind you.

“And cut!”

Sunlight was glistening through the large windows, pouring into the and bouncing from the crystal chandeliers that hung high on the ceiling in technicolour streams. There was a king sized four post bed covered in white sheets, floating down from each of the posts and draping down onto the floor. The rest of the rooms furnishings were kept simple but still extravagant. The room was bright and vibrant in colour, leaving a nice contrast to your final look of the shoot.

Timothée’s gasp was audible as you entered the room. Then there was silence and you swear all you could hear was the sound of your heart beating out of its chest. You sauntered over and took a perch next to the curly headed boy sat on the bed. Paolo came rushing in with the creative director followed by the large fan ready for one of the shots.

“Are you having fun mr chalamet?” You quiz the boy as he watches intently as the producers and runners set a few things for the shots. “Yeah I am, it’s nice to hang out with yo-“ his sentence was cut short by Paolo clapping his hands in front of your faces, “oh y/n you look breathtaking darling! Now let’s plot through these last scenes, I’m ready to see some steamy intense passion!” Turning on his heals he walks towards his chair.

You shrug your shoulders at Timothée laughing shaking your head quietly. You raise from your seated position and walk further into the room. Timothée stays in his seated position slightly hunched over with his hands casually resting on his knees. You loved watching the shift of Timothée getting into character, going from this bubbly smiley to brooding and smouldering in a matter of seconds. It sent shivers up your spine.

“Action!”

I've been waiting up all night, Baby, tell me what's wrong, Go on and make it right, Make it all night long

Your head lifted on the beat, lips parting. Timothée’s head raised his head slowly his eyes daringly meeting yours. His hands slide up his thighs a few inches where he pats instructing you to come over. You take three steps towards the boy, that’s all it took. Your leg raised and stomped it’s self up on the bed. Timothée’s hands wrapped around the leg sliding up the nylon fabric of the stockings. Your head rolled back on the beat. His lips lowered to press a kiss on the inside of your thigh, your fingers interlaced themselves in his loose curls, stroking down the side of his face.

You lifted your other leg to kneel on the other side of Timothée’s lap before sitting yourself in a straddling position. His eyes flickered down to your neck. Placing delicate kisses along the base as your head gently fell to the side, his hands wrapped around your waist and yours reached back up to take a hold of his curls. His head pulls back and you look into his eyes once more before lip syncing to your lyrics “make it all night long”

“Cut! Oh beautiful! Just beautiful! Do you need a break from all the sexual tension or are we okay to move straight on!” Paolo raised his eyebrows a smirk increasingly apparent on his face. “We can move on” you laugh moving back to lay on the bed for your next and final shot of the day.

“Okay let’s try the fans!” The fans switch on causing all the tulle and silk drapes hanging from the bed posts to float around the air. The flying fabric as well as the rainbow streams beaming through the room from the chandelier really set the ambience in the room, and made it feel almost dream like.

You laughed as Timothée’s curls began to blow in the wind as he edged too close to one of the fans. Paolo almost had a fit until he saw you pull him back towards the bed and fix his curls, gently twiddling them around your fingers putting them into their somewhat ‘disheveled’ style. “Okay there, that’s better” you giggle brushing the final curls away from his face.

“Positions people! Come on I have 5 cats to get home to darlings!” You laugh again at Paolo clapping and snapping his fingers at you taking your time to get into position.

“Okay ready action!”

Ooh do what you gotta do, keep me up all night (all night), Hurting vibe, man, and it hurts inside when I look you in your eye

With all the tulle and silk flying around the room the camera had a more blurred vision of the pair of you. You laid back on the bed, body elongated against the bed, arms stretched above your head. Timothée began crawling on top of you, placing kisses along different parts of your body as he made his way up. When he reached eye level with you, one of his hands moved like silk against your skin, along your shoulders and tilted your chin up. You raised a hand to his shoulder and pushed him back up slightly this time rising with him.

You both sit up to a kneeling position and face each other for a moment before leaning in on the beat. His long arms encase your body holding you close, while your own wrap around his neck. He draws you in for a kiss, you hesitate for a second just before your lips meet to look into those eyes. His lips perk up into a smile before he presses them against your own. For just a second you completely forget about the world around you, with tulle flying around in the air it made everything feel that bit more romantic. His lips move melodically against your own for a short time before drawing away, but still keeping your close proximity.

You see the camera that had once been in a close up shot of the pair of you, pan out on the dolly and the music comes to a stop from the continuous loop it had once been playing on. “Cut! And that is a wrap ladies and gentlemen! Well done and congratulations miss l/n on another beautiful shoot!” A few of the crew members cheer and you clap along thanking them for their hard work.

The fans are switched off and the silk and tulle gradually float back to their original spots beside the bed. Your assistant comes running over to you with your robe which you gracefully slip over your shoulders. “Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication to this Timothée I really appreciate it, it’s been amazing working with you today” you nod your head to the curly headed boy flashing him a genuine smile, in which he returns.

“It was my pleasure y/n truly, and if you ever have anything else lined up in the future you think I’d be suitable for, please let me know I’d be honoured to work with you again!” He spoke with enthusiasm his hands fumbled in his lap. “Oh of course I would be honoured to have you again! It’s been lovely seeing you Timothée, I hope we can do this again sometime..” your words draw out, longing to stay in his company just a little longer.

“Right well I should go get ready to leave, I can’t exactly walk around town like this can I” you half joked standing from the bed, Timothée joined you and shoved his hands into his pockets awkwardly looking to the ground. “No, well I mean you could but you might get a few stares” he laughs softly. “Thanks again Timmy, and maybe I’ll see you soon” you turn and give him a brief hug, he says his goodbyes. And just as you’re walking out the door you hear your name being called.

“Y/n!” You turn around to look at the hopeful boy who seemed to have a certain glimmer in his eyes. “Would you maybe wanna go grab some dinner after this? Somewhere where there aren’t any cameras” he smiled cheekily and you could feel your heart thumping in your chest.

“Oh thank god you asked! Yes, let me go and get ready, and I’ll see you in a lil bit okay” you lean forwards and leave a peck on his cheek. Pulling away you see the same gleam in his eyes that you had felt. And a warm buzzing feeling had overcome you, and you couldn’t help the Cheshire grin that had plastered itself all over your face as you walked back to your dressing room. What a wonderful day to shoot a music video!

[ceealaina]

Title: Who Do You Want Me to Be? Collaborator Name: ceealaina Card: TSB - 4008 IHB - 2007 Link: AO3 Square Filled: TSB A1 - Tony Stark/James Rhodes IHB G3 - Guilt Ship: IronHusbands Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Friends to Lovers, Pining, Pre-Iron Man 1 Summary: It's the early 90s and Rhodey's just returned stateside with a shiny new promotion. So of course Tony turns up like a one-man USO troupe to help him celebrate. And all of a sudden Rhodey's seeing Tony in a whole new light. Word Count: 7908

Rhodey sighed and rolled his neck, trying to stave off the headache he could feel building in his skull as he listened to the hold music. After he’d come back from Kuwait there had been medals, and ceremonies, and promotions, and now he was halfway through his extended leave. He’d been excited about having three straight weeks off when they’d first offered it to him, but his family had only been able to get time off for about a week, leaving him to entertain himself for the rest of the time. Some of his Air Force buddies were here too, and the hotel they’d been put up in was really nice, and he wasn’t… not having fun, exactly. But he’d been feeling antsy and unsettled and maybe a little lonely -- especially when all his friends had brought their girlfriends along to stay. 

The hold music clicked off then and a moment later there was a soft, feminine voice on the line. “Stark Industries, Tony Stark’s office. How may I direct your call?” 

Rhodey rolled his eyes a little -- not at her, just at the idea of his dumbass former roommate having a personal assistant. “I’m calling for Tony, please.” (Obviously, he resisted the urge to add. Why else would he be calling Tony Stark’s office.)

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid Mr. Stane has asked that all Mr. Stark’s calls be held today. May I take a message?” 

“Oh, uh…” Rhodey fought back a sigh. “It’s Captain Rhodes, calling for Tony please.” 

“Oh, of course!” she said, her tone changing. “I’ll put you right through. And if I may, congratulations on your promotion, Captain.” 

“Thanks,” Rhodey told her genuinely, grinning despite himself as he imagined Tony going around telling everybody in the office, down to his damn secretary. The hold music came back on but it was just a few seconds before it clicked off again. 

“Hey handsome,” Tony’s voice drawled down the line. “How’s your leave going? Partying it up? Knock anyone up yet??”

“Jesus,” Rhodey muttered, laughing a little as he flopped back on his bed and scrubbed a hand over his hair. “You never stop, do you?” 

“Don’t lie, you love it.” 

Maybe it was Rhodey’s imagination, or maybe he was projecting, but he thought Tony sounded tired. 

“Yeah, I do,” he agreed, unable to keep back a little sigh at the admission. 

“Hey, you alright?” Tony’s tone was teasing. “You’re sounding awfully maudlin for somehow who just got about a metric shit ton of commendations from the Air Force.”

Rhodey huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, I’m good,” he promised, scratching at his chin; he’d skipped shaving the last few days. And then, because he’d had just enough beer with dinner to keep him honest, “It feels weird celebrating without you here, man.” 

“Hey, you know I’d be there if I could, right?” Tony sounded agonized, and Rhodey felt his stomach sour with guilt. Tony’s parents had barely died a year ago, and he had a ton on his plate. Rhodey should have been checking in on him more, not making him feel guilty for not dropping everything to fly across the country and keep Rhodey company. “I’m really sorry.” Tony gave a little laugh but it sounded forced and even more exhausted than before. “I’d much, much rather be there, believe me. This is… Well it’s just that there are these deadlines looming, and Obie’s been really pushing me to come up with the next great thing, and since my parents--,” He choked on the word, cleared his throat, tried again. “Since dad died the board’s been on my ass, and everyone’s got ideas about what I should be doing and saying and how I should be behaving. I just couldn’t get away.” 

“Hey, no, come on.” Rhodey shook his head, even though Tony couldn’t see him. The other man still sounded pained, like he was letting Rhodey down and it killed him, and Rhodey was gonna shut that idea down fast. “It’s totally fine, Tones, I promise. I miss you, but I can still survive without you, you twerp.” 

Tony snorted. “You sure about that?” 

“I’ll get by. And hey, when things settle down I’m sure I can get a couple days off. We’ll live it up like it’s 1985.” 

“So… Cheap beer and terrible videos?” 

“You know it baby.” 

“Yeah, alright.” Tony hummed. “I miss that,” he admitted quietly. “No stakes. And I miss you too, Honeybear.” 

“Obviously,” Rhodey told him. “I’m a goddamn gift, Stark.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony told him. And then his voice shifted, obviously talking to someone. “Yeah, I know. No, I didn’t forget Obie, I just had something come up. I’ll be right there, I promise… Just let me finish this call.” 

There was a long moment of silence, long enough that Rhodey wondered if Obie hadn’t let it go, if Tony had had to hang up on him. 

“Sorry,” Tony finally said, just as Rhodey was wondering if he should hang up too. He sounded completely deflated, all traces of good mood evaporated. “Board meeting. Guess I better go.” 

“Man, I thought CEO meant you’d have more freedom,” Rhodey teased, trying to make Tony a little brighter. But there was no trace of humour in Tony’s voice when he replied. 

“Yeah. Me too.” There was a shuffling of papers. “Shit, okay, I really better go. Obie’s gonna be pissed if he has to come back to get me again. Have, like, an entire bottle of champagne for me, yeah?” 

Rhodey smiled despite himself. “Sure, Tones,” he agreed. “Don’t work too hard.”

The line was dead before he finished the words. 

***

Despite everything, Rhodey woke up feeling better the next morning; talking to Tony always seemed to have that effect, even if he was a chaotic disaster child. He was still lonely -- especially after watching Mikey literally feeding his girlfriend waffles at brunch the next morning -- but it felt more tolerable after that. 

And then, just as a group of them were making plans to do something for the afternoon, he heard a low whistle from behind him. “Hey sailors,” an extremely familiar voice drawled. “Enjoying your leave?” 

Rhodey whipped around so fast it was a miracle he didn’t injure himself, watching as Tony sauntered into the room, wearing his sunglasses inside like a complete asshole. “I know you know it's the Air Force, you absolute jackass,” he told him, grinning wide. 

Tony just shrugged, his smile just as bright, and Rhodey got up to give him a huge hug -- no delicate ‘bro’ hugs for them. He could feel Tony sink into it the way he always did when he got a proper hug and Rhodey squeezed him a little tighter, letting go just before it got weird. 

“What are you doing here, man? I thought you were in LA.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Dude, I’ve got like a fleet of private jets. What’s the point of being CEO if I don’t get to fly them at my whim.” 

Rhodey just gave him a pointed look and Tony shrugged again.

“I don’t know, you sounded bummed on the phone, and I don’t trust the US of Army to be showing you boys a proper good time, so I snuck out.” 

“Again, it’s Air Force, and you know that.” Rhodey was still grinning. “It’s good to see you, Tones.” He cleared his throat then, realizing he’d been staring at Tony, and steered him towards his friends. “Come on, come meet everyone.” 

Tony, of course, immediately charmed everyone, making the rounds and introducing himself and laughing like they were all old friends before pulling up a chair at the table and stealing the rest of Rhodey’s waffles like he couldn’t afford his own. It felt nice, right, the way things were supposed to be. He was maybe a little worried about the sudden decision to just take off, but it wasn’t like Tony’s relationship to spontaneity was a new one. It was probably his version of sticking it to the man, or just his best friend being his normal over-the-top self when it came to showing his affection for their friendship. 

Or maybe, Rhodey reconsidered when he saw the activities Tony had booked for them, he was working out his 'I'm-as-good-as-Captain-America-right-Dad?' issues. 

“Jesus man,” he said, laughing as he read over a copy of itinerary that Tony’d had his secretary print out and fucking laminate for everyone. “You’ve got helicopter tours of the city on here. What are you, the one-man USO girl troupe?” 

Tony just looked over from where he’d been writing down the contact info for some exclusive wedding venue for Matt’s fiancée. “That’s for later, baby,” he purred with a ridiculous, lascivious wink that had Rhodey busting out laughing. The whole thing was insane and over-the-top and ninety million percent Tony, and everyone seemed onboard so Rhodey figured, why not?

And the day was a blast. Overdone it might have been, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a great time. Tony had won everyone over in about five seconds flat, and the more ridiculous his antics the more they seemed to like him -- not that Rhodey was surprised, since that described their entire relationship. And he loved having Tony there with him, hadn’t even realized just how much he’d missed having him by his side. 

Tony had, apparently, planned some big dinner and party for them all at the hotel, so after a packed day everyone had gone back to their rooms to rest and get ready. Rhodey had had just enough time to dump his wallet and keys and strip off his shirt before there was a knock on his door. He wasn’t even surprised when he opened it and found Tony on the other side, leaning coquettishly against the frame. Rhodey snorted but didn’t acknowledge his positioning further, just left the door open and turned back into the room. He could practically hear Tony pouting at his lack of response, but he followed him in anyway, flinging himself across Rhodey’s bed. 

“Hey handsome,” he purred, dragging his eyes up and down Rhodey’s bare chest. 

“You’re hopeless,” Rhodey told him, throwing his t-shirt at Tony’s face. 

“Wow,” Tony mumbled, words muffled from underneath the fabric. “Rude.” 

Rhodey laughed, grabbing a dress shirt from the closest. “Hey,” he said, sitting on the side of the bed and smacking Tony’s leg. “How’re you doing, man? Like really. Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you even doing here? You okay?” 

“Huh?” Tony pulled the shirt off his face, giving Rhodey a borderline-manic smile. “Fine, great, excellent.” He sat up fluttering his eyelashes at Rhodey. “Why do you ask?” 

Rhodey rolled his eyes at him. “Don’t do that, Tones. Come on.” 

Tony shrugged, suddenly fascinated by an invisible stray thread on his pants. “I don’t know,” he mumbled, like he was five. He looked back up at Rhodey, his eyes suddenly tired. “I’m running the company. It’s busy.”

“Busy,” Rhodey replied dryly. 

Tony rolled his eyes at him. “There’s… It’s a lot. And Obie’s, I don’t know… Different, I guess, when I’m the CEO, and… I don’t know. It’s weird not having you around, and you know me, I don’t think things through so I just figured, why not? And now I’m here.”

“Mmm,” Rhodey considered this a moment and then turned to Tony with a bright grin. “Are you saying I’m your happy place, Stark?” 

“You know it, Honeybear,” Tony retorted, and he was obviously going for dry and sarcastic, but there was something a little too sincere in his voice, a shy little smile unwillingly teasing across his lips. 

“Hey, it’s okay, baby,” Rhodey told him. “I’ll be your happy place. I make you feel all warm and safe and squishy inside, that’s totally fine with me, man. I’m very comfortable in my masculinity.” 

“You’re very stupid, is what you are,” Tony retorted, but that little smile had turned into a full-fledged grin, and the stress lines around his eyes were fading a little. 

Rhodey flicked Tony’s nipple, just for the strangled wheezing noise he made and the way he clapped his hand to his chest, staring at Rhodes like he had some kind of virtue to protect. “Takes one to know one,” Rhodey informed him childishly before sobering a little. “Seriously, Tones, don’t overdo it though, alright?”

Tony blinked back at him innocently. “Overdo it? Me?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know, that’s your middle name or whatever. I mean it, though. You need a break, take it. Not that I don’t appreciate it, but this is a lot. We’ll survive without a round of helicopter paintball or whatever you have planned next.” He rolled his eyes at the look on Tony's face. “No, that’s not a suggestion.” 

Tony pouted a little before he relented. “Rhodey, honey, I promise, this is a break for me. I’m having a blast.” 

“Yeah, alright.” Rhodey smacked his leg. “Come on then, Captain Overdo It. Somebody said something about a party downstairs. You wanna borrow my shower? Maybe a fresh shirt? You stink, dude.” 

“I don’t stink,” Tony scoffed. “I’ll have you know my cologne is imported, and very expensive.” He made a show of sniffling his own armpit and then wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, okay, maybe I’ll grab a quick shower,” he said before suddenly sitting upright so fast he nearly gave Rhodey whiplash. “Oh, no wait, I just remembered! I, uh… Left something in my room. I’ll shower there. Meet you downstairs?”  

He was gone before Rhodey could actually give him an answer, leaving him shaking his head as the door fell shut behind him. “Whatever, weirdo.” 

***

Rhodey occupied himself with his Air Force buddies, drinking and shooting the shit while he waited for whatever crazy surprise Tony had cooked up now. He was upstairs long enough that Rhodey was just considering going up to make sure he hadn’t gotten trapped in the shower curtain or something when Mikey’s jaw dropped, eyes going wide. “Oh my god,” he muttered as the room erupted into jeers and catcalls. 

Rhodey spun around and nearly fell off his stool as Tony sauntered into the room in a vintage Captain America USO girl costume, complete with halter top, red and white flared miniskirt, and a pair of ridiculous starry blue heels. “Oh my god,” Rhodey echoed, completely able to look away. 

Tony stopped a few feet away and cocked his hip, the heels and the angle making his ass even more gorgeous than usual. “Hey sailor,” he purred with a ridiculous, over-the-top wink, and Rhodey couldn’t even find it in himself to remind Tony once again that they were Air Force, not Navy. Tony just smirked at him. “Told you I was going to show you boys a good time.” He stilled then, waiting for some kind of a reaction, and there was the slightest bit of hesitation creeping into his smile. 

“Jesus Christ,” Rhodey finally managed, shaking his head and laughing, and Tony relaxed again. “You are an absolute idiot.” 

Tony shrugged. “That’s not what the shareholders say,” he answered, and without skipping a beat he closed the distance between them and plopped himself in Rhodey’s lap, sitting sideways and stealing Rhodey’s beer. 

“Yeah, sure, help yourself,” Rhodey grumbled, signalling the laughing waitress for another. He let his hand settle on Tony’s leg since there wasn’t much room anywhere else, especially now that Tony had gotten past his skinny twink phase. The fabric was a little stiff beneath his fingers, and he peered more closely at Tony’s costume. “Wait, is this an actual USO costume?” 

Tony shrugged, unphased as he stole Jake’s fries. “Dad had some weird shit in his Captain America collection. ‘S mine now.” He shot Rhodey a bright smile over his shoulder as he popped another fry in his mouth, winking at him in the process. 

“Jesus,” Rhodey muttered. He shifted his legs a little, the left one starting to go to sleep. “You’re fucking heavy, man. Is there something wrong with the chairs?” 

Tony just squirmed his ass a little harder on Rhodey’s thighs. “Well, you know. You’re the only one here without a girlfriend, so I figured I’d step in.” 

“Just helpin’ out, huh?” Rhodey asked dryly. 

“Exactly.” Tony agreed. “Just helping out.” 

Rhodey shrugged and resigned himself to spending the evening like this, shifting into a slightly more comfortable position and then pinching Tony’s side hard for good measure. He yelped, loudly, and Rhodey cracked up, nearly dumping Tony on the floor in the process. He looked up a second later in time to catch the end of a look shared between Mikey and Jake and frowned a little. “What?” 

“Nothing!” Mikey said quickly, Jake holding up his hands innocently. “Just, you know… This explains so much.” 

“Explains what?” Rhodey asked suspiciously. 

“Well, I mean… You’re very…” He trailed off, looking for the right word, and Jake snickered. 

“Uptight?” he offered. 

“And this explains that,” Mikey said.

Rhodey blinked back at them, not following, and Jake gestured toward Tony, distracted with talking to somebody else. 

“You left all your stupid at home.” 

Immediately Tony whipped around to face them. “You calling me stupid?” he asked, face lighting up. “Awesome.” 

“You are stupid,” Rhodey told him.

“Awww. Love you too, Honeybear.” 

The thing was, Rhodey was so used to Tony being Tony that he didn’t even give his behaviour a second thought. The constant flirting, the sexual innuendos, the way he strutted around in those ridiculous heels like he wore them every day, arching his back in ways that seemed strategically designed to draw Rhodey’s eyes to his ass… It was all the same Tony he’d known every day since he met him. And sure, as the night went on and the booze flowed his eyes drifted to Tony’s ass even without Tony’s doing everything he could to draw attention to it, but that was nothing new either. It was just… How they were. 

Tony was back in his lap again, his weight oddly comforting. Rhodey hadn’t even noticed his hand snaking around Tony’s waist until it was suddenly vibrating beneath him. 

“What the hell?” Rhodey yelped, voice way too high. He snatched his hand back like something had bit him and Tony nearly laughed himself sick. 

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, pulling out a monster of a cell phone. He wiggled the ringing device. “Top of the line,” he told him before he glanced down at the caller id and his face fell a little. Rhodey felt his heart clench sympathetically as Tony blew out a deep sigh. “It’s Obie,” he said. “I, uh… I should take this.” He gave Rhodey a smile, but even in his half drunk state, Rhodey could tell it was a little forced. “Back in a flash.” 

With Tony gone, Rhodey leaned back and let the voices and music and laughter and general sounds of the party wash over him as he sipped at his beer. He was vaguely aware of Jake wandering off too, and Mikey sliding over to the seat beside him, and he grinned when Mikey clapped him on the shoulder. 

“Having a good time?” 

“Uh, yeah,” Mikey agreed, gazing around at the light show and DJ that Tony had brought in from somewhere. “This is insane.” 

Rhodey shrugged, vaguely aware that he was grinning. “That’s Tony.” 

“Yeah…” Mikey glanced around and shifted a little closer. “Hey, Captain?” 

“Mmm?” 

“I’m not asking, and you’re not telling, but please god, kiss your boyfriend he explodes.” He grinned then, and while Rhodey was left blinking back at him, he gave him a wink and wandered off after Jake. 

“No,” Rhodey said weakly, even though Mikey was far enough away that he never would have heard him even without the noise of the party. “He’s… I’m… We’re not…” 

But the thing was, why weren’t they? If he was really, truly honest with himself, in the way that only came with a bit of a buzz, there’d always been something there, an extra side to their friendship that they’d never quite touched on. The flirting, the grand gestures… They’d been dancing around each other for years, really, and apparently hadn’t even been that subtle about it. 

Abruptly, Rhodey shoved his chair back from the table he was sitting at, looking around the room for Tony. He had no idea what he was going to do or say to him, but now that it had been pointed out, he couldn’t stand another second of letting this hang over them without doing something about it. 

There was no sign of Tony in the bar, probably still on the phone, but Rhodey noticed a promising looking side door, half propped open. Slipping through found him in a concrete back hallway of the hotel where, more importantly, he could hear Tony’s voice bouncing off the walls. He followed the sound, and found him around a corner further down the hall. He was still on the phone with Obie, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and a pinched, tired look on his face that Rhodey didn’t like at all. He didn’t appear to have heard Rhodey, though through some trick of acoustics Rhodey could hear Obie’s voice filtering through the tinny speakers of the phone, demanding to know when Tony was going to be back from his distraction of a vacation. 

Rhodey wasn’t wasted by any means, but he was just drunk enough for it to seem like a good idea to step forward and take the phone out of Tony’s hand. Tony’s eyes snapped open, and Rhodey had the brief thought that they really were gorgeous, even when looking confused, before he held the phone up to his own ear. 

“Hey Obadiah?” he said down the line, not even stumbling over the name as he cut off whatever the other man was saying. “Fuck off.” 

Tony’s eyes went even wider as Rhodey punched the off button. “Rhodey… What?” His tongue flicked out against his lower lip, a nervous tic that he’d had for years, but Rhodey’s eyes focused on his lips with the motion.

Rather than speaking, he let his arm drop to his side and stepped forward, closing the distance between them. His other hand came up, curling around the back of Tony’s neck, and Tony inhaled sharply, lips parting. Rhodey couldn’t resist then, leaning in to kiss him. 

It was soft and sweet at first; he’d meant it to just be soft and sweet. But then Tony made a soft noise, his hands curling in Rhodey’s shirt, and without quite meaning to Rhodey deepened the kiss. The phone dropped to the floor with a loud clatter as he pushed Tony up against the wall, having just enough presence of mind to cradle his head so it didn’t smash into the concrete. His other hand dropped to Tony’s thigh and he moaned softly into his mouth at the brush of bare skin beneath the fabric of the short skirt, pressing his own thick thigh up between Tony’s legs. 

And then the press of Tony’s hands against his chest changed and he was shoving instead, enough force behind it that Rhodey staggered backwards. His balance was off and when he regained his footing Tony was staring at him, a slightly shaking hand clapped over his mouth. Rhodey couldn’t quite find the words to ask what was going on and Tony regained his composure, drawing in a deep breath before he lowered his hand again. 

“What the fuck are you doing, Rhodes?” he asked, and his voice was low and cold but there was hurt in his expression, not anger. 

“I mean…” Rhodey shrugged helplessly because he’d thought it was kind of obvious, but that didn’t seem to make Tony feel better, hiding his face as he stooped to pick up his phone. 

“I’m not your drunk, pity, gay experiment, Rhodey,” he said quietly, before turning and striding off down the long corridor. 

Rhodey sighed, and thumped his head against the wall.

His first instinct was to take off after Tony, to try and explain what he’d been thinking. But while he wasn’t drunk drunk, he clearly wasn’t sober enough to not be a total moron, and the truth was that he hadn’t been thinking, he’d just… Wanted. So instead of going after Tony, or going back to the party, he wandered through the confusing back halls until he found an exit, slipping outside into the night air. 

It was cold out, but it was refreshing after the sweltering heat of the party and Rhodey’s head felt clearer almost as soon as he was outside. Still, he wandered around for a while, trying to get his thoughts together before he ambushed Tony again. Suddenly kissing him after years of supposedly being straight probably hadn’t been the best way to handle this.

He was shivering in his shirtsleeves by the time he made it back into the lobby. The party still seemed to be going strong, but he ignored it in favour of the elevators, heading up to Tony’s room on the top floor -- penthouse, of course. He drew a deep breath before knocking, and there was a long moment of silence on the other side of the door, long enough that he was worried Tony was going to ignore him entirely, before his voice finally filtered through the thick wooden door. 

“It’s open.” 

Rhodey let himself in, locking the door behind him, and followed the faint sounds of splashing water to the bathroom. He found Tony stretched out in the bathtub, up to his neck in a thick layer of bubbles. He was focused intently on the faucet, although his eyes flicked briefly over to Rhodey at his appearance. Not wanting to corner him, Rhodey leaned against the bathroom door frame, hands in his pockets.

“Rich guy like you leaving your hotel room unlocked while you’re in the tub? Doesn’t seem like the safest idea.”

Tony just shrugged, still not meeting his eyes, and flicked at some bubbles. “Think I’m safe. They’re supposed to have pretty good security here. Although I guess they’re letting just anyone up here now,” he added, the words void of their usual snark. Rhodey sighed. 

“Hey, so, I’m an idiot.”

Tony snorted. 

“First of all, are you okay? Second of all, I think I’m missing something here. Third of all, why are you hanging out in this whirlpool. You have something approaching Olympic-sized at home, I know you do.” 

Tony finally looked over at him then. His hair was soft and curling from the steam and he shoved a stray strand impatiently out of his eye. “Well, you’re definitely missing something. But I guess I like this tub because it’s here.” 

“Right. That makes sense.” 

“... Where you are.” 

“Oh.” Rhodey felt his stomach swoop. “Oh.” 

“Yeah.” Tony let his eyes cut away again. “Guess we’re both idiots, huh?” 

Rhodey huffed out a laugh. Tony’s cheeks were flushed, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t just because of the heat of the water. “So all of this was…?” 

“For you? Yep,” Tony confirmed dryly. “You know how I am with self control.” 

“So why’d you run away when I kissed you, then?” 

Tony looked over at him with an arched eyebrow. “Because you were drunk.”

“Not that drunk.”

“And I didn’t want you to regret it when you sobered up,” Tony continued, ignoring Rhodey’s interruption. “And… And… Maybe I was panicking a little. Like sure, I guess I did all this to show you I liked you but then I started thinking what if you only like me because I did all this? I wanna bang you like a screen door in a hurricane, but I never expected you to know about it, you know?” 

Rhodey couldn’t help it, he started to laugh, and Tony groaned, burying his face in his wet hands, soap suds dripping down his arms. 

“You wanna bang me like a screen door in a hurricane, huh?” 

Tony groaned louder. “Shut up,” he grumbled, words muffled by his hands. 

Rhodey ignored him, moving across the room to sit on the side of the tub and pull Tony’s hands away from his face. “That all you wanna do?” he asked softly. 

Tony blinked up at him with those ridiculously wide, beautiful eyes before he shook his head. “No,” he admitted hoarsely. “I want to take you out to nice dinners, and galas, and watch movies like we used to but with cuddling and making out and… I want to be the one you come home to when you’re on leave, I want to be your home and… And…” He faltered, trailing off, and shrugged. “I want it all.”

Rhodey grinned down at him. “Definitely both idiots,” he agreed. “Because I want all of that, too. I just didn’t realize how much until now.” 

Tony’s breath caught and he shifted a little closer. “Yeah?” he asked, licking his lower lip. “You promise you’re not drunk?” 

Rhodey planted a hand over his chest. “I swear it.” 

“Good,” Tony breathed and then his wet hands were fisting in Rhodey’s dress shirt, yanking him in for a rough kiss. Rhodey yelped against his mouth as he nearly lost his balance, felt Tony’s lips curl into a smile against his before they found their rhythm, the kiss even better than the one in the hallway downstairs. 

 “Shit,” Rhodey breathed when they pulled back again, lips brushing against Tony’s with the motion. Tony laughed softly in return. 

“Shit,” he agreed. “Is this even real?” he added, sounding absolutely delighted by the fact. Rhodey immediately reached up to pinch him hard in the arm, and Tony cried out, swatting at him in return. “What the fuck, Rhodes?”

“You asked!” Rhodey said, grinning, and got a faceful of water splashed in his face for his trouble. He had to splash Tony back in turn and the two of them ended up splashing and smacking at each other until Rhodey did lose his balance, slipping into the tub with his legs still hooked over the side. Tony nearly drowned himself, he was laughing so hard, slipping under the water and sloshing it all up over the side and onto the bathroom floor. “Stop laughing,” Rhodey grumbled, although he was laughing too. He smacked Tony’s leg under the water as he bumped up against him. 

“Sorry,” Tony said, not sounding it at all. His eyes were sparkling as he pulled himself upright a little, leaning into Rhodey’s shoulder. “Guess we should get you out of those wet clothes, honey,” he added, barely getting the words out before he was snorting with laughter again, draping himself across Rhodey. 

“You’re hopeless,” Rhodey told him, snaking his arm around Tony’s waist. “Don’t know what I see in you.”

“Too late,” Tony told him. “You already said you like me. Can’t take it back now.” He stilled then, suddenly very interested in the button on Rhodey’s cuff. “Uhh, you do, right? Like me, I mean? I mean, I know you’re my best friend but… This isn’t just a sex thing for you, right?” 

“Tony…” Rhodey just shook his head. “You're hopeless,” he repeated, waiting for Tony to look up at him again. “It’s not just a sex thing,” he promised. “I like you, Tony. I really like you. Even more than as my best friend. I might actually be a little bit in love with you, I just haven’t had enough time to process it yet, but…” He trailed off, pretending to consider. “Yep, I’m definitely at least a little bit in love with you.” 

Tony’s eyes were shining, and he cleared his throat. “I’m maybe a little in love with you too, Honeybear.” 

Rhodey gazed at him a few minutes longer, his own throat feeling a little thick before he patted Tony’s leg again. “Well, if we’re all on the same page then I think that demands a celebration party.”

Tony’s nose wrinkled. “You want to go back downstairs?” 

“I was thinking more along the lines of room service? Pizza, champagne, movies on TV… I think I was promised cuddles and making out?”

Tony gave him a slow, sweet smile, leaning forward to kiss him again. “Yeah,” he said, grinning against Rhodey’s lips. “That sounds perfect.” 

It was a little longer before they managed to extricate themselves from the cooling water of the tub, and get dried off and dressed -- since naked cuddling seemed a little weird, when they hadn’t done anything more than kiss. Rhodey borrowed some sweats while Tony ordered the room service, which meant they ended up with the most expensive champagne the hotel had on offer. 

By the time Tony was pouring a second glass for them, Rhodey was feeling loose and bubbly, partly from the champagne but mostly just from how right everything felt. They hadn’t done anything, were just sitting side by side, watching Lethal Weapon like any number of nights at MIT, but it still felt like he’d found something he hadn't even known he was missing. So when Tony passed him the refilled glass, he set it on the nightstand instead, turning back to Tony and curling a hand around his neck, drawing him in for a slow kiss. 

“Oh.” Tony hummed happily against his lips, squirming closer as he kissed him back, and when they pulled apart again that flush was back on his cheeks, along with a pleased smile. “Hey.” 

Rhodey snorted, kissed him again. “Hey.” 

Stretched out and reclining against the pillows as they were, it wasn’t long before they shifted lower, until they were lying on their sides, facing each other. Their kissing picked up, less exploring and more intent, and Rhodey was hyper aware of everything about Tony, the way he was panting into his mouth, the soft, needy little whines that occasionally slipped past his lips, the way his ankle was rubbing between Rhodey’s own, a poor replica of what he really wanted. Tony’s ratty old t-shirt had rucked up and Rhodey’s free hand had settled on his hip, stroking over the warm skin until Tony was shivering against him. 

Tony pulled back suddenly, his hair even more fluffed up and falling into his eyes. Rhodey couldn’t resist brushing it out of his face and Tony’s nose wrinkled, like he thought he could hide how pleased he was by the action. 

“You’re such a sap,” he whispered, leaning in to suck at Rhodey’s lower lip. It was Rhodey’s turn to shiver, doubly so when Tony slid a hand up under his t-shirt and dragged short nails down his chest. Tony smirked and moved closer until they were pressed together head to toe. Rhodey could feel him hot and hard against his hip, and Tony moaned when the sensation had him twitching against Tony’s tip in turn. “Are we, um…” His voice was hoarse and he gave Rhodey a crooked grin. “Are we doing this?” 

“Are we doing this?” Rhodey repeated, laughing when Tony groaned and ducked his head against his neck. “Is that the famous Stark charm you’re always bragging about? Christ, how do you ever get laid?” 

“I hate you,” Tony grumbled, but Rhodey could feel him shaking with laughter against him. He took advantage of Tony being distracted to roll them, easily flipping Tony onto his back so he could straddle his waist and lean over him. Tony stopped laughing, staring up at him with wide, soft eyes, and swallowed hard. 

Rhodey grinned, grinding down against Tony a little and grinning at the near-gasp that slipped past his lips at the sensation. “So what do you want to do?”

Tony groaned and his hands slipped down, clutching and squeezing at Rhodey’s sides. “Christ, Rhodes,” he grumbled. “You’re gonna fucking melt my brain here. I want… I want…” Suddenly his mouth dropped open, expression changing into one of disbelief. “Oh, fuck me.” 

“I mean, that was what I was getting at,” Rhodey teased, laughing when Tony swatted at his shoulder blade. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, come on. What’s wrong? You’re in a hotel room with a gorgeous man between your thighs. What more could you want?” 

“Lube,” Tony muttered, sounding distraught, and Rhodey blinked. 

“What?” 

“I don’t have any lube,” Tony whined, his cheeks flushed again. Rhodey had never seen him blush this much in his life, and he was kind of enjoying it. This may have been an unfortunate turn, but he couldn’t help laughing anyway. 

“Are you sure you’re really Tony Stark? Aren’t you some kind of self-proclaimed sex god?”

Tony huffed and squirmed. “It’s not… I didn’t… I had some, but then I… I came here to see you, asshole. I wasn’t planning to hook up.���

“I’m sorry, didn’t I just see you in a vintage USO costume with the express intent of hooking up with me?” 

“I didn’t expect that to work!” Tony wailed, burying his face in his hands. “Please hand me a pillow. I need to smother myself.” 

“Hey, no, come on.” Since Tony was still hiding his face, Rhodey ducked down to kiss over his neck, tonguing at a tendon that had Tony moaning. “I’m sure we can figure out something to do instead.” 

“Yeah?” Tony asked, voice coming out breathy. His hand moved to scratch over the back of Rhodey’s head, and his hips rocked up against him. “You want me to put the skirt back on?” 

Rhodey laughed into his skin. “Maybe later,” he hummed, lifting his head again to give Tony a wink. “Besides, it was the heels that really did it for me. Your ass is incredible, man.” 

“Finally,” Tony huffed. “You know how many squats I’ve been doing, waiting for you to notice?” 

Rhodey rolled his eyes. “Of course you have,” he muttered, kissing him again. Tony melted against him -- so easy -- and Rhodey took advantage to wrangle his arm between their bodies, cupping Tony’s cock through his pants. He was hot and thick even under the fabric and Tony moaned at the touch, legs falling a little further open. 

“Christ,” he gasped. “Little warning.” 

“Aww. Where’s the fun in that?” Rhodey asked, squeezing and then stroking up his length with his thumb.

“Fuck,” Tony choked out. “You’re a goddamn menace.” He squirmed and wriggled underneath Rhodey, hauling on his t-shirt. “Come on, I wanna see you.” 

Rhodey grinned and sat back on Tony’s thighs, pulling his t-shirt off over his head. Tony made a soft, pleased, humming sound at the sight, eyes fixated somewhere around Rhodey pecs before dragging over to his biceps, and Rhodey preened at his obvious appreciation. He waited a moment before arching an eyebrow at Tony. “You gonna reciprocate there, hot shot?” he asked, flicking Tony’s nipple again. Tony made the same, hilarious sound, but this time it was followed by his eyelashes fluttering and a low moan, his hips arching up. 

“Every time,” he muttered, sounding breathless. His eyes were heavy lidded and he grinned up at Rhodey from under thick eyelashes. “Every time you do that it goes right to my cock, jackass.” 

Rhodey felt his cock twitch at the thought, at the idea of Tony, trying to hide how affected he was. He pulled Tony up off the mattress to kiss him again, wrestling with his shirt in the process. It took a few tries but he got it off, letting Tony fall back against the mattress again before following him down. Tony whined when their bare chests pressed together, wriggling around until he could get a leg on either side of Rhodey’s, grinding up against his hip. 

“Shit, Rhodey,” he gasped. “You’re killing me. I’m gonna lose it here.” 

“Yeah?” Rhodey ground down against him, doing his best to ignore the way his own cock was throbbing in his pants in favour of teasing Tony. “You that close already?” 

Tony shrugged, utterly shameless. “You’re hitting all my buttons here, Honeybear. And, you know… I’ve been thinking about this for awhile. Fantasies come true. You…” His eyes fluttered again when Rhodey rubbed over his nipple. “You know how it is.” 

“Mmm,” Rhodey hummed, groaning softly when Tony’s fingers scraped over a sensitive spot on his hip. “Yeah, I do.” 

He kissed Tony again and wriggled his hand further down between them, shifting and pressing at the waistband of Tony’s sweats until they were sliding down over his hips, his cock popping free. Rhodey rocked back on his elbows far enough to get a look at him. He’d never really thought about men like this before, but Tony was gorgeous. 

“What?” he asked, teasing him instead of saying it outloud. “No thong?” 

Tony was panting, but he still managed to give Rhodey a smirk. “Maybe next time. Let’s see how good you are first.” 

Rhodey narrowed his eyes and then he was curling his hand around Tony’s cock, turning whatever he’d been going to say next into a low whine. Tony rocked his hips up into Rhodey’s grip, and his hands moved to grip tightly at his biceps, hard enough that Rhodey was pretty sure he’d have little fingerprint bruises left behind. The thought turned him on more than he expected and he squeezed around Tony’s cock again, rocking down against him. There was precome beading at the tip and Rhodey dragged his thumb through it, using it to slick Tony up more and filing away the noise he made at the touch for future reference. 

“Christ,” he groaned, out of breath himself now as he buried his face in Tony’s shoulder, teasing his skin with his teeth. Tony groaned. “You’re so fucking hot.” 

“Could… Say the same to you,” Tony gasped, fingers squeezing harder at his arms. “Fucking come on, Rhodes.” 

Rhodey pried his spare hand away from where he’d been clutching Tony’s side, reaching down to shove lopsidedly at the waist of his own pants. Tony picked up on what Rhodey was doing, sliding his hands down over his ass until they’d gotten his sweats pushed down too. He pulled his hand away briefly, ignoring Tony’s petulant whine at the loss, and spit in his hand, curling his hand around both their cocks, pressing them tight together. Tony gave a full body shudder at the feeling, one hand gripping hard at Rhodey’s ass, the other scrabbling over the back of his neck. Rhodey could feel him twitch against him, the feeling almost setting him off, and he closed his fist a little tighter, jerking them off hard and fast. He’d thought it might be a little weird, being with a guy -- he’d never touched a dick that wasn’t his own before. But it wasn’t weird at all, it was just… Tony. They’d always done their best to help each other feel good. This was just taking that to another level. 

And it felt really good. 

Tony’s body was hot against his, wound tight as he arched into Rhodey’s grip. They’d given up kissing, panting against each other’s mouth as everything spiralled higher, and Tony was making occasional little high-pitched whines that made Rhodey want to lay him out, pin him down and take his time exploring his entire body, finding every little spot that made him make that sound again. 

Later, though. For all his teasing of Tony, he wasn’t going to last that much longer himself. He could feel his balls drawing up tight, Tony’s thighs tensing on either side of his hips. He moved his free hand back to Tony’s chest, more of a rough drag than the sensual slide he’d been going for, but Tony didn’t seem to mind when he pinched his nipple again, making him cry out. 

“Come on, baby,” Rhodey panted against his lips. “Wanna see you come.” 

Tony moaned loudly and then his back was arching, mouth falling open as he spilled over their cocks. One of his hands moved to close over Rhodey’s, squeezing tight around the two of them, and Rhodey nearly choked as he came too, the force of it taking him by surprise. 

It was a long moment before he felt like he could breathe again, before he became aware of Tony panting and cursing softly beneath him. Pushing himself up on shaking arms, Rhodey pulled back far enough to collapse on his back beside Tony, sprawled out and panting. He wasn’t even surprised when Tony immediately squirmed around to cuddle up against him, head pillowed under his shoulder. Grinning, Rhodey let his arm curl around Tony, running his fingers absently over his skin.

“Shit,” Tony muttered, turning his head to place an absent kiss on Rhodey’s pec. “That was fucking…” 

He trailed off, apparently out of words for the first time, and Rhodey snorted. “Technically, I haven’t fucked you yet.” 

Tony made a pained noise. “Do you think there’s a 24-hour pharmacy around here somewhere?” he asked, moving like he was going to sit up, though he settled right back in when Rhodey’s hand closed over his arm.

“Jesus, Tones. Give me a chance to catch my breath, huh?” 

“What, are you old?” Tony teased, though he seemed happy enough to just stay there, snuggling. They’d never turned the TV off, and whatever movie was on now was a comforting buzz in the background. 

“Yup,” Rhodey agreed. “So ancient. Anyway, I think I’ve got a better idea.” 

Tony shifted a little more, turning enough that he could see Rhodey’s face. “Yeah? What’s that?” 

Rhodey cleared his throat, feeling absurdly nervous despite everything they’d just done. “You’re going back to California tomorrow, right?” 

Tony sighed, long and tired. “Yeah,” he admitted. 

“Well, I’ve got another week’s vacation left…” 

He trailed off, leaving it hanging, but Tony knew exactly where he was going, pushing himself up on his elbow to grin down at him. “Yeah? Really? You wanna come with me?” 

“I mean, if you’ll have me…” 

“If I’ll have you, he says,” Tony was still beaming, even as he rolled his eyes, then put on his best affected ‘East Coast Wealthy’ accent. “Yes, Captain Rhodes, I would love to have you join me at the California home for the next week.” Then he waggled his eyebrows at him. “You’re on vacation? You can be my kept man.” 

“I’m regretting this already.”

Tony ignored that, flopping back down onto the pillow. “I’ll get you a silk robe, you can spend your days lounging around, making yourself pretty, sunbathing in the nude… Have dinner waiting for me when I get home from the office.”

He was giggling now, and Rhodey smacked him without looking, catching him somewhere around his stomach. “I ain’t cooking for you, man.” 

“That’s fine!” Tony assured him, rolling up onto his side to flutter his eyelashes. “We can order in. I am very rich. Just as long as you’re in your best heels and pearls.” He gave Rhodey a ridiculous, over-the-top wink. “Other clothing is optional.” 

He looked ridiculous, and so absolutely pleased with himself, and Rhodey couldn’t believe it had taken him this long to realize he was in love with the man. 

But he hadn’t gone this long without knowing that if he encouraged Tony he’d never stopped, so instead of telling him how in love with him he was, Rhodey shoved him onto his back again and kissed him until he stopped giggling. 

(In retrospect, that probably didn’t have quite the dissuading effect he was going for, but Rhodey couldn’t find it in him to mind all that much.)

@tonystarkbingo @ironhusbandsbingo