Tumgik
#like yeah i get kiki being a tease now Anyone Would.
ubepan · 8 months
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im a kikimari truther . man i too would try to seduce the butch bodyguard my father hired are you kidding me . this is top tier pairing
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grimm-writings · 5 months
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Can I please request a namari x shy female dwarf reader.
The reader is shy but admirers namari from afar ( especially her muscles😍). And namari likes to make her flustered. caging her against the wall, flexing her muscles.
(THERE ARE NO NAMARI X READERS ANYWHERE 😭😢🥺 SHE NEEDS LOVE TOO!)
sweet thing
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…ft! namari x fem! reader
…tags! fluff, headcanon format, reader is a dwarf
…wc! 1150
…notes! namari my darling my dearest!!!!!!!! my biggest flex is that her english va clocked me being extremely normal on main for their performance of her 😶 . twice . 
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Is anyone immune to Namari let’s be real here.
She may not have the most stellar reputation because of her father, but that doesn’t stop her from thriving where she can.  Under Mr. Tansu’s employ, she’s been making a better name for herself!
Namari knows what she wants in a partner but she falls apart in actually trying to communicate that.  She can be rather shy herself!
When it comes to you, though, she’s determined to make you see that she’s serious about you.  Your anxiety overwrites her own!
…That doesn’t mean she won’t go to Kiki and Kaka and ask for advice on how to woo you.  She still is pretty shoddy at that.
Honestly, you were mortified when Namari suddenly approached you one day and started talking to you as if you were any other buddy she hung out with.  You hardly speak.
Sure, she’s noticed you staring at her from across the bar, and you tend to be somewhere around the corner when she’s in public, but honestly she couldn’t be mad at it!
How can she, when every time she shoots a big grin at you, you immediately flush red and hide your face from her?!  You’re just adorable!
Namari asking you out is her avoiding eye contact as she tries to ‘casually’ ask you if you want to get some dinner together.  Once you’re out of earshot, she’s pumping her fist and celebrating to herself.  She scored a cutie like you!
“So, see you tonight?” Namari cocks her head to the side as she smiles at you.  Trying to play it cool is tough.  She has no idea how others do it without exploding on the inside. Your smile is enough to make the butterflies in her stomach fly more freely.  “I… yeah, tonight!”  You nod and grin, turning on your heel to walk away. Once you’re a number of steps away, you stop as the sound of whooping and cheering fills the air just when select conversations die down in volume.  Loud and clear, you hear Namari celebrate asking you out. You turn to her, eyes bulging in embarrassment, and Namari mirrors your expression. She tries to brush it off as soon as possible by sending you a thumbs up.  “S-Sorry!  Just real excited!” You can’t help but giggle.  Who knew she’d be such a funny person too.  “As am I!”  You call back before returning on your way with a dumbstruck grin.  “As am I…”
Once you’re officially an item, Namari is a super loving partner!  She has her boundaries – such as no PDA around her employers – but when you’re in private this dwarf is all over you.
She gets over the sheepish, unsure wall she previously found it difficult to pass through the more comfortable she gets around you.
Yep, this woman loves to tease.  She’ll pick up on things she couldn’t before now that she has the knowledge you’re attracted to her.  Oh, you were staring at her so often because you like her muscles?  Aw, how cute?  Wanna touch?
Take all the time you need to stare as she pushes you up against the wall with a grin.
She’s still pretty easy to fluster herself if you know what to do though.
(LEGS.  USE YOUR LEGS, I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT.)
Her favourite nicknames to use for you are “my girl” and “sweet thing”.  Your hers, and you’re awfully sweet to boot!
Namari opens her arms wide for you as you run into her embrace.  Her hugs are always the tightest, warmest.  If she weren’t so gentle with you she would have noogied you by now. Instead, she instead wraps her arms around your waist and picks you up.  You squeak and cling onto Namari’s shoulders as she swings and twirls you around in a circle and then places you down on your feet again. Your giggles are always so musical to the other dwarf’s ears.  It’s great to be home. “So,” she releases a breath of laughter with you, “how’s my girl been doing while I was away?”
Since dwarves probably grow body hair pretty frequently, Namari and yourself probably take a lot of days to have self care days!
(I am whispering directly in your ear, reader.  Shave your legs in front of her.  Do that and she’ll be sent to another dimension and the higher ground will be yours.)
If you’re too shy to be too personal with her, Namari understands, but that doesn’t mean she won’t try and help you out of your comfort zone with baby steps.  She’s super encouraging that way!
…Though if you’re like me and prefer a woman with some body hair then you better let her know before these self care days!  There’s some motivation for ya.
She’s so endlessly proud of you if you do end up standing up for yourself.
But depending on what you do…
Namari is quite privy to how people tend to talk about her at this point.  Even from across the tavern she can sense the sneering and gossipy whispers of a group in a booth further away. You worriedly glance at the group and then back at Namari.  “Aren’t you going to do anything?” “No point,” Namari sighs with a shrug.  “I’m used to it.” She goes to take another bit of her drink.  You ball your fists together.  She shouldn’t be. Namari stutters in confusion at you when you push the barstool out and hop off, marching over to the group.  She’s so surprised she couldn’t take the chance to stop you. “Do you have anything better to do?”  You ask the group.  They stop to stare at you.  Namari is sure that you’re about to stutter and shy away from the glares you’re being given, but you don’t. One of the people speaks up, “what, like you aren’t hanging around her?  Drinking an’ hardly speaking with anyone else!” “Namari spent all day in the dungeon actually making a living for herself.  She deserves a break.”  You remain steadfast, crossing your arms.  Even if you’re smaller than a lot of other races, you still use your bigger proportions to your advantage.  “And you’re here just day drinking?  I don’t see any spoils, armour or weapons under your table…  Goodness, what might your families say?” You soon return to Namari’s side to leave the assholes to ruminate in guilt.  Your girlfriend’s mouth is in an ‘O’ shape as she keeps her eyes on you.  You glance up at her, your shyness returning.  “W-Was that too much?” “Too much?”  Namari repeats.  “Sweetie, that was the most badass thing I’ve ever seen!” “H-Huh?”  There you go, flushing red again. Namari takes your hands in her own, squeezing them.  “Whaddya know, you ended up being my hero today!” The grin she gives you is the happiest you’ve ever seen her.  She really loves you, you know?
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i-am-kat-hi · 7 months
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Yall wanted headcanons, yall shalt recieveth
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Arturo styles Ace’s hair to make it look good.
#Couple Therapy
Their reaction ship is a cycle of “-I’m mad, I yell at you, we separate, I feel bad, I forgive you, we love each other again, something ticks me off so-” over and over again.
Arturo actually makes decent meals for them.
Don’t think they go easy on each other if they get intimate.
If either of them has a bad day, the other will hug and comfort them while they cry.
Arturo tries his best to help Ace care for himself.
Arturo also does makeup, Ace has tried it once and he looked kinda funny, which made Arturo laugh.
Every once in a while, Ace steals Arturo’s mask and hides it.
The way I squealed with joy for Aceturo cannot be explained with words. I fucking love Aceturo.
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Ace definitly clings to Levi’s leg when he’s bored.
Levi usually makes Ace eat food
Ace and Levi make it a tradition to sleep in together every saturday no matter what.
They either don’t show affection or shower the other in it.
They both get very intimate with each other, especially when they’re both in a good mood.
Levi makes all the clothing they wear, since he refuses to let other people make what he and Ace wear.
This is one of my OPTs, I adore this ship to death.
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Eden and Arei always bake cookies together. Arei would decorate them with swear words and Eden would draw faces on them.
Eden always kisses Arei goodnight.
Arei is very defensive of Eden and will do anything to make sure she’s safe.
Arei teases Eden often but the friendly type. Sometimes Eden drops a comeback which makes Arei proud.
When they kiss, Eden’s lips taste like sugar and Arei’s taste like lipstick.
They prefer to keep a romantic relationship, nothing too intimate.
The amount of hate these two get for being lesbian. Eden stays silent and Arei yells at them.
Lovely Lovely Lesbians <3
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Damn 2 Charuko requests-
Charles and Teruko sleep in different rooms
The two of them order doordash because neither of them can cook.
Teruko is usually the one to start a conversation, Charles ends it
Teruko will sometimes wear Charles’ spare lab coat when he’s at work because she misses him
Charles gives small forehead kisses to Teruko when she’s asleep.
They keep their relationship purely romantic, with no sexual stuff.
They have a small bird named Kiki. She’s a Conure.
When they aren’t busy, they watch romance movies at home.
Charles had to take Teruko to a lawyer to fix up her legal documents.
FUCK YEAH MY FAVORITE SHIP, LET’S GOOOOOOOO!!!!!
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Min has taught David perfect grammar for his speeches.
David and Min read books together. 
Since neither of them really go out, they order doordash.
To help David sleep, Min reads him some calming poems.
Min is always at the front row of David's speeches.
They bond over “society is fucking stupid”
David always moves Min’s bangs out of her eyes and Min takes off David’s starclips as an inside joke.
Rare pair I never thought of but like a lot now❣️
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Nico brought a black cat home once and David refuses to let anyone else pet it.
The two of them adore oversized hoodies so they might wear one together.
David is usually the one who takes the initiative when it comes to intimacy, of course, he never goes rough.
The two of them are 
Nico usually makes meals for the two of them. David will sometimes have to drag Nico into the shower with him so they can get clean. Man, I’m all for rare-pairs and I think this ship is cute <3
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How about both 😀
-Halloween Trio
Veronika and Arturo go on a lot of shipping sprees for fashionable clothing, with Ace having to carry everything.
Ace and Veronika agree to share Arturo, and Arturo watches in confusion.
Ace definitely loves it when Arturo hugs him. He sees it as a special occasion.
Veronika gives Arturo little pecks on the cheek and head pats Ace.
Ace is a rough kisser, Veronika goes a bit lighter, and Arturo gives light kisses.
They all have bracelets with each other’s names on them. FUCKING LOVE THIS POLYCULE.
-Acevid
They’res a lot of fighting between them.
They both call each other mentally insane.
Since neither of them really.. eats..their kitchen is very empty.
They rarely show each other affection, even if they want to.
Every once in a while, Ace will kiss David on the cheek.
Expect these two to have nightmares in the middle of the night, wake up crying, and hug each other for comfort.
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Teruko lets her guard down around Nico
They’re not very touchy or intimate with each other.
They usually don’t talk with each other, instead, they write little notes for each other.
They have three cats, Tractor(a Canon Cat), Lily(A grey cat), and Soju(Brown with white splotches of fur).
Nap times are common.
Teruko usually drags Nico to baths and showers.
SO MANY HOODIES.
Oooo this ship intrests me/pos
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Oh no…this ship…I can never escape it/lh
 They constantly fight but it’s more lighthearted.
They go all out in intimacy.
They sometimes have swear-offs, but David usually wins.
Teruko does David’s hair.
David gave up doing speeches and instead uses his new free time to hang out with Teruko.
The amount of injuries David has from Teruko’s luck is absurd. Teruko feels bad about this and tries to patch the other up.
Every once in a while, they have some wholesome moments.
Teruko calls David, “Stardust” and David calls Teruko “Nova”.
They have matching earrings. Teruko has a star earring and David has a moon one.
I LOVE. TERUVID.
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The two of them often go out to graffiti on old buildings.
Arei often plays pranks on Xander, Xander afterward would pick her up and suspend her in the air playfully.
When Xander cooks for the two of them, Arei always has a bottle of cold water prepared since Xander cooks really spicy food.
They take baths together and splash each other in the process.
If either one of them gets hurt, the other gets very defensive. They definitely enjoy their intimate time together. This is a ship I’ve never seen before, personally I headcanon Arei as a lesbian but I’m all up for rare-pairs!
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Whit makes the meals for the two.
Xander actually confessed to Whit the day before Valentinesday, since he knew Whit disliked the holiday.
Whit showers Xander with affection and Xander does his best to do the same.
They definitely enjoy their intimate time together.
Whit calls Xander “Xanxan”, and Xander calls Whit “Muffin” just because it’s cute.
Their ideal date is chasing each other on a grassy hill when it’s sunny outside.
Xanwhit is actually really cute now that I think about it.
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Teruko is almost always dragged by Veronika to see horor movies.
Veronika is very intrigued by Teruko’s luck, even if that means she’s getting into a lot of trouble due to it.
Even if she doesn’t show it, Teruko loves Veronika dearly.
The two of them are very intimate with each other, Veronika always starts it and they switch around. Both of them exploring each other.
Veronika works at a movie production studio and Teruko is the main actor.Teruko learned how to write just so she could write love letters to Veronika. Man, I love this ship sm. It’s honestly adorable to me.
----
GASP A LOT OF REQUESTS AND A LOT OF HEADCANONS! TYSM TO EVERYONE WHO REQUESTED SHIPS <333
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heliads · 2 years
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omg u do teen beach movie reqs?!🤧. could we have a seacat x f reader where he really likes us, and his friends are always trying to help him to make moves on us and that often makes our friends tease us, and everything is just sorta bubbly and cute? (r is a surfer, and she’s sweet and often rlly quiet, kinda the opposite of seacat). thanks, be prepared for more from me i just finished watching this movie☠️☠️.
yes yes yes. honestly figuring out jordan fisher was in teen beach movie was just as thrilling for me as finding out he was in teen wolf
masterlist
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There is a scene currently unfolding on the beach before you, one that you are trying your utmost not to notice. This task is growing more herculean by the second, because although you’ve all but buried yourself alive in your book, the sound of shouting is impossible to ignore.
From the few scant glances you’ve been stealing, you can get a rough guess of just what is going down. The surfers are out again, this time causing trouble of their own volition without even having to blame the bikers for it. The cause of all the commotion also seems to be centered around one boy in particular, the one with the dark brown curls and coral hat.
A voice from beside you interrupts your best attempts at staying oblivious to the proceedings. “You know, you are allowed to actually watch what’s happening. The rest of us have chosen to accept this as free entertainment.”
You glance over at your friend with a grin. You two are sitting side by side in a long row of beach chairs pulled out under the shade of a nearby house, one with an excellent view of the beach and the aforementioned scene. To your left, Giggles is sipping a fruity drink, and to your right, Kiki is calling you out for no good reason.
You grimace. “Yes, but if I look up from my book for a second, I might make eye contact with one of them due to all the stares they keep throwing my way. And if that’s the case, I might also realize that all of this has to do with me, and I don’t think I’m supposed to know that quite yet.”
Kiki laughs. “Y/N, how could you ever think that they’re talking about you?”
Just as she poses the question, one of the surfers flings his arm dramatically towards you, all the while shouting your name so loudly that a few nearby seagulls startle and take flight.
You arch a brow. “Yeah, I have no idea why I’d think such a thing.”
Besides, everyone on this side of the beach knows what’s going on. From the surfers to the bikers, this sort of strife has been the hottest news of the summer. Basically, Seacat is facing trouble from his friends because they keep teasing him about something:  namely, the fact that he likes you and can’t seem to muster up the courage to admit it.
That’s what they’re doing now, after all, trying to say anything they can to convince him to ask you out. The surfers are a good bunch with good hearts, but man, they can be loud. You can hear practically every other word from their conversation despite being fairly far away from them.
It’s not like you mind it, though. In truth, you would be more than alright with Seacat asking you out. Your worst fear is that he won’t be able to do it at all, and his crush will fade as surely as the tide. 
Thing is, you’ve been harboring a crush of your own for quite some time. You never thought your feelings would actually be returned, though– Seacat is unlike you in almost every way. He’s loud where you’re shy, exuberant where you’re quiet. You’re both still surfers, but that’s the most you have in common.
Still, you like him. Seacat has a character that makes him more fun than anyone else here, a way of making you laugh even when you swear up and down that you’ll never smile again. He sticks true to his friends and never lets a single detail go unnoticed– except, that is, when it comes to the fact that one of them may like him back.
This lands you back to square one, which involves the surfers all working together to get it through Seacat’s head that you actually do have feelings for him and he really needs to ask you out before it’s too late. You wouldn’t mind if they could be a little less obvious about it, though, because your friends are teasing you about it just as badly as Seacat’s are teasing him.
Next to you, Giggles rolls her eyes. “You might as well pay attention, it could actually goad Seacat into doing something. They’ve been having meetings like this all week.”
You pinch the bridge of your nose. “You think I don’t know that? Tanner has been following me around the beach to see if he can pick up on my favorite kind of flower to report back to Seacat. Eventually, they stepped on my towel so many times that I gave up and had to say it to you so he could overhear it and leave me alone.”
Giggles frowns contemplatively. “That does explain why you suddenly started talking about flowers yesterday. It didn’t make a lot of sense at the moment.”
You sigh. “None of this makes sense. I mean, when has Seacat ever needed encouragement for anything? He’s as confident as they come. Honestly, I think that’s just a sign that he doesn’t like me after all.”
Kiki and Giggles erupt in twin howls of outrage, both of them talking over each other to convince you how totally wrong you are to even suggest that.
“Honestly,” Kiki pleads, “the fact that he’s having trouble with asking you out shows that he clearly likes you a lot. I mean, why would he be overthinking things unless he really wanted to get this right?”
“Yeah,” Giggles adds, “plus, you and Seacat will be the cutest couple ever. I can practically sense it.”
“You say that about every couple here,” you point out, “even the ones that break up.”
“Well,” she sniffs, “this is different. You two are special.”
You laugh. “Well, I’m glad you’re certain about it. That would make one of us.”
Kiki’s face softens, and she reaches over to place a comforting hand on your shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I think the other surfers are making progress. Maybe Seacat will ask you out tonight, how about that?”
You smile at the thought. “We can only hope.”
Tonight is important, after all, it marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Big Momma’s opening its doors for the very first time. The restaurant has been home to surfers and bikers alike for as long as anyone can remember, so of course everyone will be coming down to celebrate.
You’ve heard that the dancing should be spectacular, so you and your friends will be taking the trip down to see it for yourselves, dressed your best and ready to have fun. If Seacat’s smart, he’ll choose this as the perfect time to ask you out. He won’t even have to pay for decorations.
The hour of the celebration draws nearer, and you feel yourself growing nervous. You have no proof that Seacat will ask you out, after all, only the speculations of your friends. If you’ve learned one important lesson, though, it’s that your friends are usually right when it comes to these sorts of things. They know what boys like, and that’s girls like all of you.
You straighten the collar of your outfit nervously. Your friends have assured you a thousand times that you look stunning, but that doesn’t stop a storm of butterflies from taking up roost in your stomach. 
At last, it’s time to go, and you head out with your friends in a rush of pastel colors and swishing skirts, flower crowns and tulle ruffles. There’s a crowd around the doors to Big Momma’s, and the throngs of people only grow once you step inside.
Despite all of this, you still manage to find Seacat immediately. He’s across the room from you, but the two of you lock eyes through all of the people. A soft smile appears on his face, and he starts to weave around the throngs of dancers to make his way to you.
By your sides, Kiki and Giggles exchange triumphant smiles, then discreetly slip away so that you’re alone when Seacat reaches you at last.
“You look really nice,” he says.
“So do you,” you respond.
He holds out a hand to you. “Want to dance?”
“Sure,” you breathe, and take his hand without a second’s hesitation.
He flashes a relieved smile at you and leads you out onto the dancer. You’re certain that you see at least half a dozen other surfers give him a thumbs up when they see that the two of you are together, likely the result of many hours’ careful planning.
When you’re in the middle of the floor, Seacat turns to face you again. The song is familiar, one of your favorites, and the moves come easily. Seacat’s a good dancer, the two of you live and breathe and do well together. 
You’d like to think that it’s a sign of something, and maybe he does too, that both you and him have been supposed to be together for all of this time. Someone or something out there cut you two from the same cloth, and now you’re figuring out what it means to never have to be alone again.
The song ends soon enough. The silence seems pressingly loud in the absence of the music, and it rings around the dance floor, weaving in between partners and groups and solitary figures. 
Seacat leans close to you, speaking now that it’s quiet enough for you to hear him. “I was wondering something.”
He freezes slightly, and you nod encouragingly. “Yeah?”
He takes a steadying breath, then keeps talking. “Would you want to go out with me? It wouldn’t have to be a big deal, of course. Maybe ice cream or a movie? Or both?”
He looks at you hopefully, eyes full of all the daydreams he’s been too afraid to believe in all of this time. Luckily for him, you don’t intend to crush those aspirations quite yet.
“I’d love to go out with you,” you say, and Seacat’s face breaks into a dazzling grin.
“Really?” He asks, then tries to seem more sure of himself. “I mean, yeah, that would be a lot of fun. Maybe this Friday at six? I can pick you up.”
You nod, smiling. “I’ll see you then.”
Just like that, you’ve got a date. Life couldn’t be better.
disney tag list: @rogueanschel, @lovesanimals0000, @thatfangirl42, @amortensie
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Don’t Go Breaking My Heart | Charlie Gillespie
Requested by anonymous: Hi! Could you possibly do a Charlie x reader fic where they are filming season 2 & there is a new character (fashion expert/can see ghost/a little bit of enemies with Luke at first) but off screen they are very close (always hanging out/on ig posts & stories/dance partners/they sing karaoke/adventure) & the whole cast likes to tease them about it but they deny any feelings however they are about to film a very important scene that involves their characters & might change everything between them.
Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x reader
Warnings: fluff
Words: 2,789
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Season 2. Finally Season 2. Everyone had been hoping, wishing, praying for a season 2 of Julie and The Phantoms, and after months of waiting, Netflix finally picked it up for a second season. After those months, the actors had just to wait a little while longer while the crew wrote up the first drafts of scripts and made it perfectly save for the actors to do their work. Once all of that’s ready and they’re good to go, the cast finally reunite again in Vancouver. They even meet some new cast members. Like you. You had auditioned for the role of Daniela Ramos, Julie’s cousin and Victoria’s daughter, and got it pretty much straight away. Daniela is a fashion student at a High School in Melrose Hill and Julie asks her for some help with costumes for her next gig with her band. To Julie’s surprise, Daniela can actually see the boys, even when they’re not playing, which causes for a lot of trouble in the band and family, especially between Julie and Luke. This is your first big role on the small screen and you’re the most excited you’ve ever been. You met the other cast members at the summer bootcamp before the filming process would start, and though almost everything had to be done with a face mask covering half of everyone’s face, it still was a lot of fun getting to meet everyone and spend the most fun summer ever. Every day, you grew closer and closer to everyone on set, and soon became best friends with Madi, Jadah, Savannah and Tori, doing plenty of sleepovers. Besides the girls, you also grew closer to Charlie, Owen and Jeremy, but mostly Charlie. For some reason, the two of you just clicked instantly. You have the same humor, the same taste of adventure, the same passions and dreams. You, Charlie and Owen even rented a place together to live in for the time being in Vancouver. You got even closer during filming, especially since you and Charlie have a lot of scenes together. “Oh my God, Luke, you’re so annoying!” you yell at him when the two of you are in the garage, taping a scene. It had taken you about ten takes and you still couldn’t help but giggle at the shocked face he pulled every time. “If I’m so annoying, Dani, why do you keep coming back?!” The angry face he pulls resembles that of an angry kitten, which just makes you crack up again. “God dammit, Y/N!” Charlie laughs now too as Kenny yells “Cut!” “Sorry! Sorry, guys! I promise I’m a real actor!” You hold your hands up in defense, then cough to get ready for another take. This time around, you could finally manage to get through it without laughing. “Yes!” Charlie exclaims when Kenny yells “Cut!” again. He holds his hand up for a high five, which you giddily give him. “Do you need any more takes, Kenny?” he asks the man himself. “Nope, you’re good! You can go on your break now!” he pats Charlie’s shoulder. “Nice job, guys!” “Thanks, Kenny,” you say, the smile growing on your face. “I need food, Gillespie,” you tell your best friend, linking your arm with his. “Let’s go get food!” The two of you head down to catering and sit down at a table with a plate full of food. “What are we doing tonight?” he then asks before taking a bite of food. You swallow your bite of food and take a sip from your drink. “Don’t you have a night shoot tonight?” you ask, remembering him saying something about a late call. “No, that’s tomorrow, after our dance rehearsal,” he replies after swallowing the food. “Oh! Okay!” You start thinking of things to do, “We could go to karaoke? Bring the others maybe?” He raises his eyebrows, looking at you questionably. “I’ve always loved karaoke,” you shrug with a giggle. “Yeah, okay!” Charlie nods his head agreeingly. “Karaoke it is!” The two of you smile up at each other, teeth showing, both of you glowing. “What are you love birds discussing?” Owen asks when he joins them, his voice muffled from the mask covering his face. He pulls it down to under his chin as he and Jeremy join the two at the table. “We’re thinking about going to karaoke tonight with the whole team!” you tell them, completely ignoring the ‘love birds’. “Ooh, fun!” Owen exclaims with a smile that nearly reaches his ears. “Yeah, we’ll leave after shooting the last scene tonight,” Charlie suggests, looking at you for confirmation. You nod your head agreeingly. That night, you and the rest of the cast head to the nearest karaoke place you know. You’ve linked arms with Savannah and Tori, giggling through the night, trying to keep your balance on your heeled boots. Meanwhile, without you realizing, Charlie has been keeping his eyes on you the whole way there. He finds it adorable how your giggle floats through the night air and your hips bump against the other girls’. He couldn’t lie, you had easily become the light in his life. “So, what song shall we begin with?” you ask the gang as you settle into the booth. “Pick the first one on the list,” Jeremy replies when no one else does. You nod your head curtly and press play on the first song, which is Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. You can already tell after that first song; tonight is going to be a fun night. You sing a couple of songs with the girls, there are many group numbers, and you even sing one with your roommates. After singing with Owen and Charlie, the latter points at you. “We’re going to sing together now!” he exclaims excitedly before turning around and picking a song for you to sing. When he’s picked one, he grabs your hand to pull you closer towards him. You blink a couple of times, unable to process what’s happening right now. The opening notes to Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee chime through the booth. You glance over at Savannah and Tori, who offer you an encouraging smile. Then you look at Jadah and Madison, but they’re too busy giggling and whispering, and it makes you wonder if that’s about you and Charlie. Your eyes dart over to the boys – Jeremy, Owen and Sacha – who just offer you suggestive smiles and eyebrow-wiggles. Charlie’s voice captures your attention again, and you turn to him. “I couldn’t if I tried,” you sing back to him. The encouraging smile on Charlie’s face calms you down a little up to the point where it almost seems like the two of you are the only people in the room. You have no clue what is happening or why it’s happening. All you know is that you’ve wanted it to happen sooner. Though you wouldn’t ever admit that to anyone. It’s the way he looks at you and the way he makes you feel like you’re the only person on this planet that matters. It’s been the way he’d looked at you since that first day of meeting him. “I won't go breaking your heart,” you sing the very last line to him ever so softly, not even looking at the screen anymore, but instead, looking into his eyes. “Don't go breaking my heart,” he sings back. The song ends and you both lower your microphones, staring into each other’s eyes. If it wasn’t for the rest of the cast breaking out into cheers and applause, you would’ve kissed him then and there. But it startles you, and you step away from him upon realizing how close you are and how that must look to the others. “So, when’s the wedding?” Madison asks teasingly, which makes the others laugh, and you blush. After that night at karaoke, the two of you had silently agreed to forget anything ever happened. Savannah said you were in denial, but you believed you weren’t. You told her it was just the atmosphere in the air that night, the both of you had consumed a little bit of alcohol and it might’ve just been that. No one stopped teasing you though. On every possible occasion, they’d ask you if you’d kissed him yet, or when your next date it, or started singing Don’t Go Breaking My Heart randomly. You just shook it off every time, finding it amusing how consumed the cast was with this ‘relationship’ you had with Charlie. There was nothing more going on than just a really, really tight friendship. Until the dance scene happened. Your character, Dani, was supposed to go to a school dance with her crush, but she was nervous because she had never slow danced with anyone before. When she tells Luke, he insisted on teaching her, saying he’d gone to plenty of school dances back in ’94 and ’95 before he died. You and Charlie know this choreography by heart, you’ve been doing it for weeks on end at bootcamp and during rehearsals. It had always just been fun and games, the two of you being immaculate dancers and bouncing off of each other so well because of your tight friendship. “I could teach you?” Charlie says as Luke, stepping closer to you. You raise your eyebrows at him. “I’ve gone to numerous dances in my days, Dani…” One corner of his mouth curls up into a teasing smirk. “Unless you want to embarrass yourself in front of… Jake.” He emphasizes the name of your fictional crush, to which you react with wide eyes and a blush spreading on your cheeks. “Come on, Dani!” He reaches out for your hand, which you place hesitantly in his. Dani being able to see ghosts, is also able to make them corporeal. The lights on set dim a little, except for one spot on the pair in the middle of the studio, and then the music starts playing through the speakers. Charlie starts singing the song they’d learned at bootcamp, one the cast wrote together during the quarantine. The atmosphere in the studio has suddenly become really intense. You can feel the butterflies erupting in your stomach as the man in front of you sings to you, mere inches away from each other as he leads you in this beautiful dance Paul Becker and Tori Caro choreographed for you. Just like at the karaoke booth, it feels like the two of you are the only people on set. Just you and him. You and Charlie. You and your best friend. There’s no denying you have feeling for him anymore. You knew you did, you just told yourself it wasn’t a good idea and suppressed those feelings, pushing them down. It worked for a while. Until now. “Cut!” Kenny yells after your scene. You step away from Charlie, glancing down at the floor as you try your hardest to hide your flustered face. “That was perfect, guys! It really looks like the two of you were in love!” he claps his hands in excitement, then tells them to do it again. After four takes of the dance, Kenny tells you to go and take a break. Without saying another word to Charlie, you rush off set and towards your trailer where you sit down on a chair, trying to calm your breathing. Charlie might not like you the way you like him. Admitting to these feelings might just ruin everything the two of you have. With this in mind, you grab your phone and text Savannah, asking her to come over to your trailer. Maybe she could help you. “Are you okay?” she asks when she enters and finds you staring at the ceiling. “No…” you reply and take a deep breath, “I think I’m in love with my best friend?” “Oh, sweetie…” Savannah sighs, and pulls you up to take you in a hug, “I know…” You pull her away again to face her properly. “What do you mean ‘you know’?” “Everybody knows,” she starts, “The two of you have been inseparable since the day you met, and everyone can see the way you look at each other. Plus, your duet the other night was a little intense for it to be a platonic one.” She chuckles, and you can’t help but chuckle too. She then grabs her phone from her back pocket, opening Instagram. “You know fans have caught on too, right?” She shows you the comments on some of Charlie’s pictures on his account. One picture is of the two of you, napping in Julie’s bed on set, cuddled up. He even posted pictures from your hikes on your days off. All of them are bombarded with comments from fans saying, ‘I ship it!’ or ‘Y/S/N’. Sav then opens her dm’s which are flooded with fans asking if you and Charlie are dating yet, and how the two of them are so in love with each other. “Charlie isn’t in love with me?” you deny, not believing one bit about it. “He is, though…” This does not come from Savannah’s mouth. Your eyes widen when you recognize the voice, and peek behind Savannah to find your best friend standing at your open trailer door. “Sav, can you give us a minute?” he asks the younger girl. “More than a minute,” she chirps, offering you a wink before leaving the trailer. Charlie steps in completely and moves until he’s in front of you. He takes your hands in his, and chuckles at your overwhelmed and confused expression. “Are you okay?” he asks, that beautiful smile of his persistent on his face. “Y—yeah? No? I’m not sure?” you sigh, trying to get your thoughts in order. “Charlie, wha—?” “Can I talk? I’ve been going over this conversation in my mind a billion times, and if I don’t say it now, I think I’m going to forget what I’m supposed to say…” You nod your head in response. “Y/N, I’ve been in love with you since the very first time I saw you walking in at bootcamp. You looked adorable with your little nervous smile and your polite hellos to everybody. I knew from that moment on that I wanted to get to know you better, and that I wanted to become more than just friends…I didn’t think you’d feel the same way, so I told myself that it was okay if we’d just stay friends. Especially since your character kind of hates mine and you bring Dani to life so convincingly, that I was almost sure you hated me too,” you chuckle at that, “But I can’t hide it anymore, Y/N. I am so embarrassingly in love with you that I could’ve kissed you after that scene we just did and that I could kiss you right now even though I’m—” before he can finish his sentence, you lean up and crash your lips onto his, your hands flying into his hair. He’s a little startled at first, but quickly melts into the kiss and presses you closer to him. “I am so embarrassingly in love with you too, Charlie,” you whisper when you pull away, pressing your forehead against his. “They’re going to be so relieved,” you tell him with a chuckle. He frowns his eyebrows at you. “Who?” he asks. You take his hand in yours and lead him towards the door of your trailer, pushing it open and making it bump against whoever was closest to the door. All of your cast mates scramble, trying to act natural while Owen rubs his forehead since he was the one that got a door in his face. “Ah, them!” Charlie chuckles. “Thanks for the door in my face, guys,” Owen says disgruntled. “That’s on you, buddy,” you tell him with a grin. “Don’t you guys have a scene to shoot or something?” Their eyes widen at the realization and, after yelling at the two how happy they are for them, rush to set in a hurry. “So, where were we?” Charlie turns back to you when everyone’s gone. “Don’t you have a scene with them?” “Shit!” he grumbles and jumps off the small steps in front of the trailer. He starts running towards set but turns around almost immediately to you and kisses your lips quickly, but sweetly, and then runs off. You watch him with an amused smile on your face. There was nothing to be afraid about after all and nothing changed between you two. You were still the best of friends, just friends that kiss and are in love with each other. But both of you happy.
Taglist: @hannahhistorian92​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @thequirkybookaholic​ @parkeret​​ @lukeys-giggle​ @gingerxarmy​ @lovesanimals​
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euphoricsunflowers · 4 years
Text
a little jealousy — yoo kihyun
request: hiii! can i request jealousy!kihyun? that song just has me in my feelings lately. maybe smth cute with kihyun noticing reader has been a little close/interested in the other boys (shownu?? hehe) and him trying to be extra appealing and get their attention but reader doesn’t get it until he finally gets all whiny and needy and “please just look at me!”
a/n: just in case i need to say this: being possessive and extremely jealous is not attractive and please don’t treat people like they’re objects you own. this fic doesn’t contain anything like that but i felt the need to bring it up.
word count: 2.1k
content: sub!kihyun, dom!gender neutral!reader, it’s actually not soft dom wow look at me, oral (male receiving), hickies, nipple play, ruined orgasm, you just kinda stare at him a lot and he thinks it’s hot, the first 2/3rds of the fic isn’t nsfw it’s just kihyun being sad :((
summary: kihyun wants your attention, but it always seems like you rather give it to shownu. that changes one night when suddenly he has it all and he doesn’t know what to do with himself.
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maybe kihyun is just paranoid, but you’ve been getting way too close to shownu as of late. he doesn’t know if you’ve always been this close, if his growing crush (honestly, it was much more than a crush at this point) was the reason it was becoming more obvious, or if you were doing this on purpose. why do you feel the need to tease and taunt him like this? do you even know what you’re doing?
but… the way you look at him has to be something. you look at shownu with such bright eyes, you seem to lean in closer when he’s talking even though you’re right next to him and you’re literally touching thighs god why do you do this to him—
“kihyun?” you call out, breaking him out of his daze. he glances up at you, worried your gaze can see right through him and read all his thoughts.
“y-yeah?”
“shownu and i are gonna go grab coffee for everyone, do you want one?” you ask. if he didn’t think about what you were saying, he’d be in heaven. you were talking to him and your voice was so soft and pretty and oh my god he was so irresistibly in love. unfortunately, he hears exactly what you say, loud and clear, and it ruins any thoughts of bliss he might have had.
“no thank you,” he mutters, if a bit too harshly. he can’t help the tone, his heart is breaking as he speaks, but he rushes to correct himself when he sees the dismayed look on your face, “i’m sorry, i didn’t mean to say it like that. i’m just… having a rough day.”
you soften immediately, “oh, don’t apologize, kiki,” oh the way that nickname rolls off your tongue makes him want to hear you say it forever, “do you want to talk about it?” you ask, sitting beside him with a hand rubbing his back softly.
but this isn’t the kind of thing he can just talk about, not right now, and certainly not with you. he’s both conflicted, wanting all your attention, but before he can even answer, shownu is calling you away, and suddenly you’re already leaving him. you wave, smiling, though there’s still that worried glint in your eyes, but it vanishes the second shownu says something funny, and kihyun is left completely baffled.
hyungwon knows what’s up. he always seems to know what’s wrong with kihyun. it’s aggravating, because kihyun doesn’t want anyone to know his pathetic feelings of inadequacy, “i get it, shownu’s taller, more muscular, funnier, nicer, more—”
“i get it, hyungwon,” kihyun groans.
“—but, if you would let me finish, i also think if you would quit being a whiny loser and actually try to woo y/n, at least then you’d have a chance,” hyungwon explains. kihyun visibly loathes where he’s going with this conversation, but hyungwon doesn’t care, “y/n is never gonna notice you while you cry about it to me—”
“but i didn’t cry about it to you, though,” kihyun mutters under his breath.
“you look really good today,” you smile, taking a sip from your coffee. kihyun’s startled by your voice, causing the makeup artist to scold him a bit for making her mess up.
“yeah?” shownu smiles back. they were at a photo shoot today, with kihyun was still getting his makeup done when you started talking to shownu. he watches your conversation out of the corner of his eye. when more people in the room start talking, he can’t exactly make out the things you say, but he still sees the way you touch his arm and he still sees the way he looks at you like you’re everything.
because you are.
“i can’t believe i’m doing this,” kihyun whispers to himself, pacing back and forth.
to give context, minhyuk had overheard kihyun’s conversation with hyungwon, where he definitely didn’t point out just how much better shownu was. nope. that didn’t happen. minhyuk, being either the gracious friend or the devil that he is, decided he wanted to help, “what’s so bad about it? i think it looks good.”
there’s a lot bad about it. it does look good, to be fair, but seeing himself in this outfit makes kihyun flustered beyond compare, “you know how i was raised, minhyuk! this outfit is too…. somehow it’s both too much and too little,” kihyun yells, “god it’s so low cut. and this jewelry is a lot.”
“kihyun, either don’t do this or stop complaining,” minhyuk says, and kihyun just groans in response. he could just talk to you, like a normal human being, but no. he has to go along with minhyuk’s elaborate plan to capture your attention. this definitely won’t end well.
“fine, but promise you’ll delete the pictures you take afterwards,” he pleads, “this is so embarrassing…”
honestly, kihyun was disappointed. you barely did more than a double take— probably because you weren’t used to seeing kihyun wearing such an outfit— but didn’t even question it.
“c’mon, it’s not the end of the world, buddy,” minhyuk rubs his back, trying to comfort him, but it’s not helpful. it’s embarrassing to him to want your attention so badly just for you to give it all to someone else. , “besides, maybe scandalous isn’t their vibe, what if we tried—“
and try they did. kihyun really did whatever he could to get your attention, but it just wasn’t enough. you always went back to hang out with shownu, get coffee with shownu, sneak out in the middle of the night to go get snacks with shownu. kihyun was just convinced you were dating at this point, or, at the very least, you had feelings. and it hurt so much, because all kihyun wanted was your attention, your praise, your voice calling his name, and it wouldn’t happen so long as you wanted shownu more. he really tries to not harbor any resentment for his poor clueless leader and friend, but he just can’t.
but here you both are. it’s 7:35 pm, in the kitchen of the dorm, and kihyun is ready to hear ‘oh! kihyun! do you know where shownu is?’. he’s ready to be let down, disappointed, and miserable all night. he’s ready to once again be hit with the fact that you always choose shownu over him, over everyone else, but that doesn’t stop him, ”hey, y/n.”
you hum in response, and kihyun doesn’t know what to do with that. you frustrate him so much, making him want to pull his hair out. your attention is locked on your phone as you type, and kihyun doesn’t want to think about who he knows you’re talking to.
“hey, can we talk?” he murmurs softly, and you look up for a second, before nodding.
“just let me finish this text—”
“please just look at me!” he cries out, and it startles you, but he’s already started so he might as well finish, “i know shownu is more important to you, but please, just once, look at me instead.”
“what does that mean? you’re important to me, kihyun, i just didn’t think…” you trail off, but he’s invested in a response, eyes burning holes into you with their intensity, “i just didn’t think it mattered. you never seemed bothered.”
“yeah, well i was,” kihyun turns around to start pacing again, because god he really didn’t just say that, “i’ve wanted you attention for so long, but no. you always gave it to shownu, you were always with shownu, ‘oh i’m going to the store with shownu, you want anything?’, ‘shownu wanted me to ask you if you wanted us to bring dinner’, shownu this, and shownu that! i’m sick of—” kihyun turn to face you, and before he gets the chance to finish, he sees that you got up from the table seat you were at and are face to face with him. he feel so much smaller and less intimidating when you glare at him expectantly like that.
“you’re so sick of what, kihyun? finish your sentences,” you mumble coldly, and he’s left speechless for a moment, before pulling himself together.
“i’m… i’m sick of not being what he is to you,” he drops his head, because staring at his feet is easier then meeting your gaze. he sees you nod, though he’s not exactly sure why, but then your hands grab hold of his waist, and when he shrieks in surprise, you already have a plan for that. you lean in to kiss him before he makes too much noise, and he begrudgingly pulls back for a moment, “woah, w-what?”
“are you uncomfortable?” you ask, but he shakes his head, “then what’s the problem?”
“i-i’m just confused. why are you…?” he doesn’t even know what you’re doing, all he knows is that he wants it more than anything. he just needs to know why. are you doing it because you feel bad about what he just confessed? do you also have feelings for him and he just severely misread the situation?
“kihyun, i don’t love shownu, i don’t even like him like that,” and kihyun lets out a breath he doesn’t know he’s been holding. it’s like a weight off his shoulders after so long of hold it up, “and you’re prettier, if it makes you feel better,” you murmur, leaning in to kiss his neck, and god he feels so weak. he feels flushed at your compliment, his reaction is so physical that he’s sure you sense the way his body shivers at your words before relaxing with your kisses. your lips against his skin felt like fire and he was dying to get burned.
“oh g-god,” he breathes as you pull him away from the kitchen, into his bedroom. he’s in a complete daze as you kiss him deeply. he kisses back with a feverish intensity, and a soft whine leaves his throat when you pull away.
“tell me if you want to stop,” you mumble, pulling at the hem of his shirt, and he takes the cue to throw it off of him as quick as he can. you immediately make quick work of his chest, making it a beautiful canvas of bruises he doesn’t want to ever heal. he holds you close because god he finally has your attention and he doesn’t plan to give it up now. you kiss his stomach a bit, holding his waist tightly so he can’t squirm even though he’s really ticklish and you know that.
but that doesn’t last long when you’re pulling down his pants and rubbing him over his underwear and god he’s so hard it’s becoming painful. you pull of his pants and underwear until he’s completely naked, and it feels more revealing and more embarrassing because he’s just realized that you’re still fully clothed. however, you seem to read his mind, because suddenly there’s a gentle hand massaging his chest, and though he wants to whimper at the way you’re rubbing bruised skin, he doesn’t, “tonight is about you, kihyun. you wanted my attention, and now it’s yours.”
but he can’t handle this, he can’t handle your intense stare, the way you keep eye contact even when he’s so flustered he has to look away. even as his length disappears into your mouth (he honestly could have cum from just the sight of that), you still keep looking at him. he groans loudly, and he suddenly is aware of how loud he’s been. the others aren’t home yet, but… they will be soon.
any thoughts of the others disappear when he feels a sharp pleasured-pain when your mindless playing with his nipples gets harsh. he could easily cum with just your mouth on him, but you’re doing so much at once, and still staring at him that he’s just left to lie there and take it all. it’s not like you’ve accepted any attempts he’s made to pleasure you at all, so he resorts to just giving in and letting you focus on him, and he swears if you could you’d be smirking right now.
and suddenly, his body jerks, and he cries out loudly. you pull away just as soon as his orgasm is triggered, watching him hump the air helplessly, trying for more stimulation and miserably not getting it. the poor thing looks wrecked already, his hair’s damp from sweat, his hands grasp the sheets so tightly, and he’s babbling nonsensically, “w-why…?”
“oh, poor baby, what’s wrong? you got what you wanted, right?” he supposes you’re right, technically, but that was still so, so cruel, and by the way you’re smiling, he can tell you enjoyed being so mean to him. and the idea that you did was so enticing, “what do you say?”
“t-thank you,” he stutters, and you cup his cheek, cooing slightly.
“don’t worry, little thing, i’m nowhere near done with you and i doubt you’ll be as dismayed as you are now by the time i am.”
taglist: @lovingonrepeat @neosincity @sub-hoshi-enthusiest @rosethefae @staranonthoughts @maknaeronix @multidreams-and-desires @mellowriting
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vennilavee · 4 years
Text
doubles
pairing: levi x reader, ft baby kaiya (moon/stars universe) summary: it’s kaiya and levi’s birthday. and you have a proposition for levi. warnings: some suggestive themes (kissing, nudity, the use of the word daddy) but it’s very brief a/n: i struggle with writing holiday themed things so this is the closest i could come up with. enjoy and happy holidays :))
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Kaiya’s birthday being two days before Levi’s birthday was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because she loved sharing her special day with Levi, and a curse because it hardly gave you time to think about what to get Levi for his own birthday. And not to mention that their birthdays were both right in the middle of the holidays.
Every year since Kaiya was born, you and Levi at least put some multicolored lights around the house, spent a weekend decorating stockings to put over the mantle of the fireplace, and spent another weekend stringing lights up outside. You had even bought a five foot tall light up snowman for the front yard, which Kaiya had loved. She had nearly fallen over when she had seen it for the first time, and then immediately tried to hug it.
And Levi glared at it whenever he pulled out of the driveway. 
Even when it was just you and Levi, you’d both put some lights up around your previous apartment. That didn’t mean that Levi didn’t grumble about it the whole time.
For Kaiya’s third birthday this year, you had decided to combine her birthday party with a dinner for Levi over the weekend. And it worked out- Kaiya adores her father, and she had squealed when you asked if she would be okay with it. Levi had protested, not wanting to do anything for his birthday and wanted to give his baby the spotlight. It’s her third birthday, after all. His baby girl’s third birthday. But he had relented when Kaiya looked at him with tear filled eyes and her hands clasped together in pleading-
“Pwease, daddy! I wanna hab birfday wif daddy!”
And really, how could he ever say no to that? So you put Levi to work, asking him to pick up some gold and green glittery streamers the week before and some helium balloons the day of. Kaiya is with Erwin while you run around to pick up a cake and other last minute things. 
Kaiya had wanted a tea party with some of her toddler friends from the neighborhood park for her third birthday and if that doesn’t solidify that she’s Levi’s daughter, you don’t know what does. Her favorite colors right now were greens and yellows, and so that’s how the color scheme of the party goes. But you subtly include bits and pieces of Levi’s personality in there as well- with a silver birthday hat that you had bought specially for him and with his matte black teacup with his name engraved in gold lettering. 
She’s wearing a cute green glittery headband in her dark hair, black pants and a yellow long sleeve shirt with a big, glittery sunflower on it. 
She’s sunshine personified, Levi thinks. He matches her, with a dark green shirt and Kaiya gasps when you whisper to her that her daddy matched her-
“We gween!” Kaiya exclaims happily.
“We have the same birthdays, princess. Of course daddy will match you,” Levi murmurs, taking her in his arms and kissing her cheek.
It’s funny- Levi hardly ever graced you with public displays of affection and vice versa. But when Kaiya came along, he’s become a little more fond of little pecks and soft displays of affection. Kaiya eats it up, with big eyes.
His eyes. Her eyes are so inexplicably a reflection of his. 
“Gween nice, daddy,” Kaiya says, squeezing her Totoro stuffed toy close to her chest.
“It is nice,” Levi agrees, “What else is green the color of?”
“Umm… sky!” Kaiya shouts confidently.
“Good job, princess,” Levi murmurs, gracing her with another kiss to the cheek.
It makes you soft. Watching him carry her to her tea party with her party of three. Her two friends are seated in plastic blue chairs around the play table, while their parents linger with snacks in their hands.
You could combust, watching Levi take a seat on the small plastic chair and tipping his head so Kaiya can place a tiara on his hair. He only gives the kids a soft look, letting them fawn over him. Kaiya’s friends each pour Levi some imaginary tea from the teapot and with soft, toothy grins, “Happy birfday Uncle Levi.”
You take a video and pictures of him to save for later.
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Some snow still remains on the grass from a previous snowfall, covering your front and backyard in a pretty coat of paper white magic. Of course, by the time Kaiya’s friends leave and your friends arrive for dinner, Kaiya is asking to build a snowman and make snow angels.
Levi bribes her with cookies to get her to stay inside with him. She had only just gotten over a terrible cold last week and the last thing anyone needed was for her to get sick. Kaiya sits on Erwin’s lap, listening intently to a story he’s telling her about a space princess. Erwin feeds her half of a cookie and she wordlessly chews on it with wide, curious eyes.
You had cut a small cake for Kaiya with her friends and had gotten a bigger cake for both Levi and Kaiya to cut together. It’s a lemon cheesecake and you know both father and daughter will love it. Neither of them have a terribly fond sweet tooth, but this cake is just the right amount of sweet.
After all, you had baked it.
When dinner is over and you’ve refilled glasses of spiced wine for everyone, you bring out the cake with a hearty start of singing ‘Happy Birthday’. Everyone chimes in, Hange with her arms around your shoulders and Kaiya beaming happily. She reaches for Levi and pats his cheek, as if to say ‘pay attention’.
“Hap birfday, daddy,” Kaiya whispers shyly.
“Happy birthday, Kai,” Levi murmurs and pats her forehead fondly. Levi moves to stand next to you and lets Kaiya blow out the candles for him. Levi holds his hand above yours as you cut a slice of cake into sections to feed to both him and Kaiya.
“When did you make this?” Levi asks.
“Wouldn’t you like to know, birthday boy,” You tease and feed Kaiya the first piece of cake. She gasps and claps her hands enthusiastically.
“Mommy, it yum,” Kaiya giggles. You kiss her cheek and wipe away some stray cream. 
“Wanna feed daddy, Kiki?” 
Kaiya nods and you help guide the fork to Levi’s mouth. “Thanks, Kai,” Levi says, “Can I feed you?” With another nod, Levi gives Kaiya a small bite. Not wanting to have a sugar rush later in the evening. And finally, you feed Levi a piece of cake, smiling at Erwin when he tells you all to look at him for a photo.
You’re tempted to smear some cake on Levi’s cheek, just to irritate him but you ultimately decide against it. After all, you have something you want to say to him later.
“Hey,” You murmur with a grin, “Happy birthday, my love.”
The tips of his ears tint pink and you pat his cheek before cutting more slices for everyone to have. Mike helps you pass out slices to everyone and you smile at him in thanks.
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After everyone has had their fill of wine and cake, everyone begins to yawn and Kaiya even falls asleep in Erwin’s arms. It starts to flurry as well, light specks of white dotting the still air.
Your guests begin to leave after helping you clean up and after you give them leftovers to take home. After the hugs, happy birthdays, and promises that they’ll text you when they get home, Levi swiftly pulls you into his arms for a deep kiss, your knees buckling immediately.
“Is it my birthday?” You ask slyly, “You only kiss me like that when it’s my birthday.”
“That’s a fuckin’ lie,” Levi rolls his eyes.
“Yeah,” You say dreamily, “It is. You wanna go to bed or have another glass of wine?”
Levi wordlessly pulls you into the bedroom after making sure Kaiya is asleep, dropping kisses up and down your neck. His lips muffle your soft sounds, his hands gripping the curve of your hips and sliding down to your ass. He undresses you easily, peeling you out of your blouse and unbuttons your jeans. 
You’re in no rush. You only press against him, hands traveling the expanse of his broad chest and squeezing lightly.
“I wanna tell you something,” You mumble weakly, lips deliciously close to his ear.
He hums in response, pulling away to look you in the eyes. A hand comes to rest against your cheek, thumb caressing your cheekbone.
“I love you,” You say earnestly, “But also. I want another kid. I wanna give Kai a sibling. I wanna make you a daddy again. Wanna give me a baby, daddy?”
Levi rolls his eyes at your use of the word, swatting your ass lightly. “Kaiya would be a good big sister. And… I’ve been thinking about it, too.”
“Why didn’t either of us say anything then?”
“The idea was marinating-”
“Marinating? Don’t say that the idea of a second baby was marinating like meat in the fridge,” You joke, swatting his chest, “I was trying to be cute, by telling you on your birthday celebration. And you just compared our second baby to marinade-”
“I wanna make us parents again,” Levi whispers, cutting you off, “Want some of my marinade?”
“Do I ever,” You grin, licking a stripe up his neck, “So a second kid? You ready for it?”
“Are you ready for it? Are we ready for it?”
“I’m ready if it’s with you, my love,” You say softly, with a smile, “I’m ready for anything if it’s with you.”
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tags: @simpingmaize​ @captainchrisstan​ @alrightberries​
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sabraeal · 4 years
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Minimum Distance
If there’s one thing Obi’s sure of, it’s that this is Hisame’s fault.
Not the lockdown-- though honestly, he wouldn’t put it past the bastard if it meant having things go his way-- but everything else. This fucking party. That stupid fake dating plan. The kiss.
He scrapes a hand down his face. This whole ‘day trip’ is turning right into a disaster weekend and god, if he had the ability to fly right back to DC right now, he would. But instead he’s trapped here, in the middle of the New Mexican desert, in the Smart House of some elusive and shady billionaire. He must have kicked a puppy in the last life-- no, bags of puppies-- if the universe is exerting this level of karmic violence on him.
His back hits the door. He needs like, five minutes. Just until he learns how to breathe again.
Which he’s not going to do, if he keeps replaying that kiss in his head. You know, the only thing he’s been doing for the past twenty-four hours, including breakfast, where Rougis just stared at him with that grin on his face. Like he knew. Like he could somehow see every last mortifying second of his dreams last night, and thought it was funny.
Doc’s informed him this whole pandemic thing is serious, that there’s stuff with r’s and knots and things being close to two. He is tangentially aware aware of how a logarithmic scale works, and he’d never wish anyone actually sick, but-- if Hisame could just shuffle off this mortal coil in the next few hours, that would really pluck one of the bigger monkeys off his back.
He takes a deep breath-- more like a deep hiccup, honestly-- and lets the tension fall out of him. It’s fine. He doesn’t have time to stand here and freestyle mental scream. He has to work on getting them back home. Which means getting this Rugilia guy to sign off on funding.
And then he can hop on a plane, pandemic permitting, and get instantly fired for kissing his boss’s girlfriend. Bingo bango bongo. Job well done.
God, it would be just great if he could resist fucking up just one good thing in his life. At least Ryuu will still write.
Right, no time for catastrophizing. They’ve got a billionaire to woo. Or something.
He swings open his door-- no, it’s her door, but also his, because switching rooms seemed prudent when the guy holding all the keys spent a night trying to get Doc alone in a garden-- only to run into Doc. Literally. Right there. In her borrowed pajamas.
Whatever intel Rugilia had on her was clearly not as good as his, since Doc is really a matching pajama sets kind of girl, and not--
Well, after living with her for three years, Obi can firmly say he’s never seen a cotton teddy. At least, not on Doc herself.
He could get used to it, though.
“Oh, Obi!” She blinks, taking a step back. Adjusts her glasses, too. Tugs at a hem that is not going to get any lower, no matter how much she tries. “I was just coming to see you.”
“Ah.” He scrubs at the back of his head; it gives him as good an excuse as any for looking anywhere else. If he gives her more than a glance he’ll start counting freckles, and well-- they have separate rooms for a reason “Me, too. I was thinking--”
“The room thing isn’t going to work.”
He blinks. Blinks again.
“I mean...” Her cheeks bloom to a pale pink, the start of what’s sure to be a painful blush. “We should be sharing a room.”
He hopes there’s an actual, medical doctor in this group of useless socialites, because he’s about to have a cardiac event, and Doc’s doesn’t have the right alphabet soup to handle that kind of thing. “UH.”
“No, no!” She waves her hands, and god, they’re so close her fingertips practically brush his chest. Which wouldn’t be a problem if she didn’t follow up with, “I just mean, we should be sleeping together.”
Oh, it’s too late for medical intervention now; he’s already dead. “Ah, Doc--?”
“I just mean,” she yelps, fingers fluttering nervously between them, making it real hard to not look down and get some solid ideas about her cup size. “I know we switched rooms. For safety.”
“For safety,” he echoes dumbly, because that’s the level of thought he’s at right now. Or at least, the level he can safely be at without risking a real containment breach on all the things he’s not allowed to think when Doc’s around, wearing almost nothing, and telling him they need to put their bodies in close, horizontal proximity.
“But if we’re trying to be a couple, I don’t think...” Her tongue pokes out, pink and spongy, and draws his eyes right to the lips he definitely shouldn’t be staring at. “Well, I just don’t think that we-- that you-- that it looks--?”
“You mean,” he says, so slow, like she’s a rogue possum and he’s animal control, “I don’t look like the kind of guy who wouldn’t be taking advantage of a king bed and silk sheets?”
“Ah...” She’s the one that blinks now, eyelashes fluttering against red cheeks that are begging him to take their temperature. “Not-- not the way you were, um...”
She lets the implication hand in the air, and god, fuck Rougis for putting that fucking idea in his head, for even allowing the memory of her against him like that, sighing into his mouth--
“I thought we were supposed to be keeping it on the down low,” he says, leaning in with a grin. “Since you’re slumming it with the help.”
Her mouth goes from sexy to scowl. “I’m not slumming it with anyone.”
“Right, right, I know that,” he assure her, “but Rugilia--”
“No.” It’s loud enough that he flinches, because fuck, he can pretend to be normal all the live long day, but the second a voice raises-- “Oh, Obi, sorry, I didn’t--” her palm wraps warmly around his arm, thumb rubbing over the cotton of his sleeve-- “I just meant that I’m not-- it’s not-- being with you isn’t slumming.”
It’s all a little much having her so close, having so little of her be clothed, and smell so good as she does. She must have taken a shower or something before rushing out here to make herself his own personal problem.  In any case, all he manages is a half-dubious, half-distracted hum.
“Besides,” she adds, one of her eyebrows rounding in a teasing arch, “as far as I was aware, doctors and lawyers were considered the same pay grade.”
Obi coughs on his own spit. “I’m not a lawyer.”
“And I’m not that kind of doctor.” Her arms fold neatly-- distractingly-- beneath her breasts, A cups giving off a distinctly B-cup vibe. “But Eisetsu doesn’t know that. I told him I was here about a vaccine, and you said you were here to keep me out of trouble.”
And with a man used to dealing with pharma rather than the academic side, the legal representation would be implied. Obi scrubs a hand through his hair, staring down at his silk pajama set, and tries to discern what about him says ‘went to a four-year college,’ let alone law school. “Me?”
“Well...” She really shouldn’t look at him like that, all coy from the corner of those big eyes, if he can’t give her a repeat performance of last night. “It only makes sense. I mean, who else does Zen hang out with.”
Now, that-- that gives him pause. Mitsuhide, lawyer. Kiki, lawyer. Doc, doctor, but Not That Kind. Him--
“Fuck me,” he breathes, “that actually makes sense.”
“It does,” she agrees primly. “I’d thought the keeping it quiet angle was more along the line of, uh, conflict of interest, rather than, um, other reasons.”
Other reasons, like that half of his other aliases were on No Fly lists. “Conflict of Interest?”
“Well, um...” Her flush is brighter this time, spilling over her cheeks and down her neck, flirting with the lace edging her neckline, and he certainly is feeling both conflicted and interested about how far it might go-- “There’s probably fraternization rules.”
He blinks. “Fraternization?”
“You know,” she says slowly, taking a step back, right into the doorway of her-- his room. “That employees can’t date or, um--” her skin’s barely a shade lighter than her hair-- “do other stuff. At least without clearing with HR first.”
It shouldn’t be so cute that a woman with a doctorate can’t say sex, but this is it, this is his type now.
“Other stuff, hm?” He steps close, their toes sharing the jamb. So close that when she sucks in a breath, shallow and quick, her chest brushes against his. “If we’re supposed to be fraternizing in this room tonight, a few things are going to have to change.”
She shuffles back, an arm’s length--one of hers, at least-- toes curling on the carpet. “O-oh?”
The thing is: Obi can’t resist a good joke. It’s why he works so good with the boss-man; no matter how transparent, how dumb it is, all his teasing crawls right under that lily-white thin skin of his and sends Wisteria climbing right up the wall. It’s satisfying.
So when he closes the gap between them with a single long stride, he expects Doc to just-- tell him to quit it. Yelp maybe. Slap his chest. Scold him, if he’s lucky.
But instead she just peers up at him, chest quivering, and doesn’t get the joke. By the way she’s looking at him, she--
Ah, well, it doesn’t look like she minds overly much either. Which is going to make this Not Funny real quick in a southerly direction.
Strange, he doesn’t feel much like laughing either.
“The bed.” His hips guide her back a step, then two. “For one.”
She really needs to stop him, to put her foot down, to really get it through to the parts of him below the belt that she’s not interested in bringing some realism to this little show they’re putting on.
Instead, she lets him herd her four more steps back, body following every slow, rolling suggestion of his. “Bed?”
“Yeah.” Her knees hit the edge of the mattress-- well, considering how tall these beds are, her waist. She wobbles, hands bracing on his chest. “We need to get this bed messy.”
Her breath sighs into the air between them, eyes so round, so dark, and--
She realizes what he’s about to do five seconds too late. “Obi, n--!”
Feathers fly everywhere. Damn, this Rugilia guy really did spare no expense.
There’s a long, quiet moment, Shirayuki staring up at him with confusion and betrayal warring in her eyes, and she-- she laughs. It’s all the warning he gets before he’s blind-sided, pillow knocking him to his knees, and god, she’s going to regret starting a fight with--
Tap tap. Tap tap.
They both freeze, staring at one another. That was on the door. Her door. No, his door.
“It’s Eisetsu,” comes the soft voice through it. “Can we talk?”
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Needed to get this campaign wrap-up rant off my chest...
This is the specific part that irked me:
MATT: "While he never voiced this in game, Caleb's feelings for Jester have been an important part of his journey. Did he ever come close to confessing? How was playing such a long lasting, one-sided love after our last campaign's bittersweet ending for a Vax and Kiki?"
LIAM: I was never going to do romance of any kind, one-sided or otherwise in this campaign, because I felt like we really explored that pretty heavily campaign one. I think you'll remember Jester drove Caleb nuts at the beginning of the campaign, and so it was nothing that I ever expected at all. And then when they were in, was it Rexxentrum wherever the dance hall was. And I alluded to this earlier, dancing was never anything that I imagined for Caleb, but it was just like, and you were asking him to dance, Jester was asking him to dance. I was like, "Oh, this could be an interesting way to like sort of seed my story, that we're not really around yet." And there was something about, not the dancing, but the way that Jester treated him kindly after the fact like his response was to be like, "I'm going to go fucking vomit in a street, and just be by myself," and she wouldn't let it happen. And that was just like this first little moment where someone was like-- Everyone in the Nein-- I want to answer another question while I'm answering this. I wonder if we had gone that different direction that we talked about earlier where we didn't go crime, and we had gone into Rexxentrum earlier, and if Caleb had started interfacing with his past earlier, I think he would have had a gnarlier, more severe trajectory in this campaign. If he had touched his past sooner, it would have changed what he was, but he spent way too much with the Nein, for when we finally did catch up to them, it was too late, that he'd already been healed enough by the Nein, it didn't matter. And everyone in the Nein had an effect on Caleb, they all had their love like in different ways; Yasha, he could relate to. Caduceus was like a guru that confused but inspired. Fjord, who Caleb thought was real hot at the beginning of the campaign, was a great leader and, like, just I don't know, I feel like he was his closest friend, outside of Nott, early in the campaign. Beau brought tough love. Veth was this ultimate support no matter what happened. But what started to happen with Jester was that she was treating Caleb like the person-- She was treating him as if he was the person he should have been. Like none of it had happened. And he became like-- It just got in him, but he would have never wanted to saddle her with all his shit. And the difference, like-- There was also a point in the campaign where I could see, in Yasha's absence, Beauregard warming up to her, and I already quietly been thinking and going like, "Well, I'll just have this little thing that maybe fans will see," and some did early on, like it was silent. It was all silent. And then I was like, "Well, Travis is never going to do it." Oh, Travis just came online, so the entire side of the table quietly like, "Oh," at Jester for a while. But Caleb knew that Beau and Fjord would've been far better for her, because they would have put aside anything for Jester and made her their number one. And Caleb knew that, as much as she like changed him and helped him in a very specific way, and and he quietly fell in love with her and like a Jane Austen, I'm never going to say it. That he would never have set aside the things that he was trying to do. He would never have set aside trying to either get back to his parents and fix that. He would never set aside trying to undo the Cerberus Assembly if he were strong enough, so, like, that was too all-consuming, and so he would never wanted to saddle her with it, so it was always going to stay inside. And there were multiple times in the campaign where Jester teasingly needled Caleb, and I was terrified that you would say the word "Insight check," multiple times.
LAURA: I think I did it once.
LIAM: Well, you must have rolled really low when you did because I did my best to like pull faces at you, and poo poo it, and do something silly to dodge out of those situations.
LAURA: Are you secretly in love with me?
LIAM: And yeah, you said that, and I went like (blows raspberries) that's fucking ridiculous with my face, and we moved on. (laughter)
LAURA: It's so funny when you joke about the whole table being in love with Jester because Jester had, like, no concept of it at all. Her whole upbringing was everybody being in love with her mother, and her whole, and she knew she's so different from Marion, in her appearance, and the way she presents herself that-- To her, that is what people want, that's what everybody would be in love with. And so there was never-- She would never have thought in a million years that Beau would have been interested, or that Caleb would have been interested, or that Fjord would have been interested. She tried to be Marion and when she was coming on to him in the early campaign, and obviously, it did not work. So she was like, "Okay, then-- Nobody's-- That's not going to happen for me." So it just like turned off in her brain, like nobody will.
TRAVIS: There was a moment where that stopped, too, because like you doing the thing that you thought your mom did and that worked, you know, Fjord's like, "I've never been flirted with before, I don't know what this is. Stop doing it." All that behavior stopped, and you like let the happy Jester fall away. Like, I think it was on the sea, right, like with the jellyfish scene. And then it all happened.
MARISHA: That's when you started crying. There was a few times where there was these moments of Jester smiling, but tears were streaming down her face.
TRAVIS: Yeah.
MARISHA: Trying to be the happiest person in the room. And then, yeah. I don't know. Jester always had this, but I think why Jester is so enigmatic, and so easy fall in love with is because she is the purest person in the room, so that it invites this kind of--
LIAM: Which doesn't even mean innocent, it just means the purest person--
MARISHA: Pure, yeah. It's just very endearing and it got in the way-- and this is almost going to sound condescending-- but almost in the way that a child is where if a little girl runs up to you, and they're like, "Look at this card, I think I want to cover the whole thing in glitter." You kind of have no choice, but to be like, "Yeah, that's a great idea."
LAURA: Yeah.
MARISHA: Cover the whole thing, and like, even if it's bad. She felt like almost like the perfect exercise for "Yes, and-ing." Like, the concept of "Yes, and-ing," because half of them were terrible ideas, but you were like, "Yeah, brilliant."
LAURA: Also, I feel that people are drawn to somebody who sees the best in them, right? You're drawn to somebody that loves you, and she just has an unconditional love for like everybody--
LIAM: She changes everyone she meets, including a hag in a hut.
MARISHA: Yeah.
TRAVIS: Yes.
Laura’s answer here is, for the most part, true. Jester was always pretty oblivious to people being into her. That was a pretty clear character trait. However, that still doesn't explain her roleplaying choices after Beau’s confession. And I wish someone was able to ask her about that and get a direct answer. Why was there a behavior shift? Was it just Laura trolling and teasing Marisha about it, or was Laura actually trying to force Beau to confess directly?
There was a pretty condescending post about this that I found in the discourse tag that said: I know it won't happen cause people never cared about what she says anyway, but Laura confirming again that Jester never knew about Caleb and Beau's feelings for her should be enough to stop the dumb takes like "bj was happening before the hiatus but then they decided to change it" or "Jester was falling in love with Caleb and she changed it" or whatever.
‘Laura confirming again’ Again? What other time has she said this?
‘Jester never knew about Caleb and Beau’s feelings’ Laura said that ‘She would never have thought in a million years that they would be interested’ and included Fjord in that section too, so whatever point this person’s trying to make is moot.
Countering that, I want to say, that nothing in Laura’s answer seemed to give the impression that Jester would have turned down Beau (or, hate to say it, even Caleb) had they actually confessed to her. There’s nothing in her answer to imply that Jester could not have reciprocated those feelings had she known. Nowhere did I get the implication that Jester was only ever interested in men and that Fjord was the only viable choice. (Laura still has not addressed Jester’s sexuality. FJ shippers love to ignore that, and still swear up and down that she’s straight.)
Now when Marisha piped in, she didn’t even focus on Beau’s feelings, and the depth of what she was feeling at the time. Instead, she’s wrote them off. Again. Intentionally minimizing and essentially doubling down on what was said in ep108. That it’s just so easy for anyone to fall for Jester, even going as far as calling her ‘pure’. Basically infantilizing her, by comparing her behavior to that of a child which yes, Marisha, does sound condescending. (You can add that to the list of ‘sparkles’ ‘confetti’ and ‘shiny’.) And that’s it. That’s the extent to which she talks about it.
Also, the fact that the Beaujester stuff was only brought up (very briefly and casually), as a sort of ‘b’ topic to WJ. Liam got to go off on this whole extremely long-winded reminiscing answer because he got a direct question about it. It’s like, “And none for Beaujester!” Once again, Caleb’s feelings being given more weight than Beau’s ever were. 
So, another kick in the teeth. Not so much from Laura. But from Marisha. The person who MADE THE CHOICE to inject Beau developing feelings for Jester into the canon narrative. The way Marisha talks about it now, it’s just a complete mind fuck as to why she made the decision to have Beau confess at all. Why even open that door? Even if she felt, at the time, that Beau would feel this way, she could’ve just kept it to herself. And not made waves about it. And not doubled down on it the following week. And not had continued for at least THREE MONTHS after that to roleplay Beau STILL having obvious feelings for Jester. I mean, come the fuck on.
Look at ep93 with the Hag. When Jester was telling the group that she gave the Hag something she had never given anyone before. Beau frowned and said, “Did you kiss her?” Beau had it so bad she got jealous of the Hag. Jealous of a fucking monster. Then ep94. Beau wanted to climb a tree to get a better look at their surroundings. Out of the blue, Jester smacked Beau’s ass to give her Guidance. She shot up the tree like a rocket and Jester was impressed. Marisha had to make it a point to say, “She thinks it’s the Traveler. It’s just ‘cause Jester smacked my ass though. I’m just very invigorated by THAT.” And of course ep99, with the sunburn compliment.
Marisha was definitely keeping this thing going, all the way up until the hiatus.
So why the weird answers? Why the vagueness? Why does she seem so insistent on driving home to the viewers that Beau’s feelings were/are no big deal. Does she think that talking about Beau’s feelings to the fullest and reminiscing (like Liam did) on a few of their moments would be some sort of insult to BY?
I will never stop being baffled.
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thdorkmagnet · 4 years
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The Princess and the Street Dog
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Hello everyone!! So today I am posting a birthday gift for my dear amazing friend @kikithefox231​. She had an idea for a Lady and the Tramp AU and I fell in love with it! Of all her incredible AU’s this one might be my favorite, haha. She also offered to make a cover for it and gosh it just turned out adorable!! Thanks for that Kiki and Happy Birthday, dude! You deserve it!
 Star's life had always been perfect. Ever since she could remember she had been living the life of luxury. She had been adopted by a lovely family of humans known as Eclipsa and Globgor. They treated her with so much warmth and kindness that she never felt unloved. She could do basically whatever she wanted: sleep on the bed at their feet, eat half of Globgor’s morning donut, and she was even free to bark and chase around as many birds or squirrels as she wanted. 
Yep, life for Star was pretty good.
Loving with a silver spoon would do that to you. Sure there was a problem or two from time to time but nothing that ever threatened her lifestyle. The biggest hiccup had been when Globgore and Eclipsa had a 'baby' as they called it and suddenly the attention was shifted away from her. She was pretty upset and even a little jealous until she had actually seen little Meteora and her heart had melted. She fell in love with the baby and her tail was wagging so much the first time she saw her, it was a wonder it didn't break off. 
So yeah life for Star was good.
Except....
It wasn't. Lately Star has been craving more. She wanted to see more than the small fenced-in enclosure she called home. Sure she loved her home and owners and couldn't ask for better but at the same time... she wanted more! She knew there was stuff out there that she had never seen before and she would love a chance to see it someday. 
Of course it wasn't her fault she had started having these thoughts, they had been implanted into her brain by the wild street dog known as Marco. Ever since he started showing up, Star has begun desiring more from her life than the pampered existence she knew. He would come around to bother her and tell her stories about life outside of fences, about railroad tracks and garbage cans and fire hydrants. Star pretended not to care but inwardly, her curiosity was beyond peaked and she secretly loved whenever Marco appeared, something about him just drew her in and she couldn't quite explain it.
Not that she would ever let it show.
Star was thinking about him as she laid out of the grass, letting the bright sunlight soak into her warm fur. She had had a very busy morning, fetching the newspaper, burying the bone Eclipsa had given her, barking at a group of stray birds that wandered into her yard, the usual stuff and she was enjoying some well deserved rest. Of course she was also trying to show off the new pink bow her owners had tied around her ears, it looked great on her and she was happy to gain attention over it.
But then her peaceful morning was interrupted as she heard a distinct set of pawprints heading her way. She let out a groan, while her heartbeat began to pick up its pace again. There was only one animal in the world those pawsteps could belong to, Marco's brash, confident stride too distinct to be anyone else. 
Star felt her heartbeat racing against her chest and her tail began to wag against her will. She did her best to hide her joy though, pretending to be asleep. She didn't want to let him know the effect he had on her, even though she was practically shivering with anticipation.
She felt the tiniest of smiles form on her face as she heard the gate to her yard creak open. She didn't know why but she loved the fact that Marco was there to see her. That he came all this way specifically for her. Something about that caused goosebumps to appear under her fur. 
She listened as his paws padded on the soft grass getting closer and closer but she didn't dare risk looking. Maybe if he thought she was sleeping he would leave and honestly even though she wanted to see him, she didn't want the temptation that came with him. His wild, chaotic nature was hard to resist.
But her charade proved ineffective when a cocky voice said, "Hello princess."
Star let out a fake sigh, pretending to be annoyed by the nickname he had given her, instead of the intense feeling of joy that rushed through her. "Why do you always have the worst timing? Can't you see I'm in the middle of something."
Marco lay down in front of her, their faces so close their noses were nearly touching. "Funny, to my eye it looks like you're doing a whole lot of nothing," he said with an intoxicating smirk.
Star huffed, sticking her nose up in the air like her friend Ponyhead had taught her, saying in a superior tone, "For your information it's called a nap."
Marco wasn't at all affected by her power, rolling around some on the grass as he commented, "Wow, I knew you were pampered but I didn't realize the pet life made you so lazy."
Star couldn't stop the growl at the teasing insult, her cheeks puffing up in the cutest way. "I'm not lazy!" She argued, shooting the street dog an annoyed scowl. "For your information I had a very busy morning!"
"Doing what? Getting a pedicure?" Marco asked with a sly grin, clearly enjoying getting under the cocker spaniel's skin. 
"No that was the day before," Star replied without thinking. But upon realizing her mistake she flushed, knowing how the argument was just made invalid. The collie broke out into laughter and Star resisted every urge in her body that told her to hide her blushing face from his gaze. Instead she simply settled for looking away and pouting. 
"Whatever, it's not that bad," she muttered under her breath. In a louder voice though she asked in an annoyed huff, "Did you come all the way here just to insult me?"
"Nope," Marco said, finally recovering from his laughing fit, stretched out his limbs and back as he spoke. "Actually I was on my way to have some real fun and figured I'd invite you along." The dog crossed his paws in front of him before laying his head on top, giving the pampered pooch a knowing smirk. "But clearly you're too busy to come."
Star saw through the dog’s attempt to manipulate her, his hidden smug and wagging tail giving him away in a heartbeat. But Star was not so easily manipulated and so she kept a straight face as she replied, "That's right. So why don't you run along and let me nap in peace." She turned her back to him and laid down closing her eyes while listening closely to see if he would actually leave or not. 
But even this was not enough to shake Marco as he trotted around her, now facing her again. "Oh come on," he pressed bending down so that his face hovered a few inches from her own. "Don’t tell me you aren't curious? Where's your sense of adventure? Don't you want more out of life than being a pet! Don't you wanna see what a dog's life can really be?"
Star didn't know how to reply to that, because she was curious. She did want to see what life off of a leash was like. She knew she shouldn't but she did and that burning desire made her hesitate. Marco's offer was so intriguing, could she really pass up this chance?
Marco could see her will breaking and added in a hinting tone, "Come on, princess. You know you want to."
"But-But Eclipsa and Globgor," she quickly stammered, but the excuse was halfhearted and she knew it. 
“I’ll have you back before they even know you’re gone,” Marco promised, giving her a trusting smile, one that Star found impossible to resist, her curiosity and the street dog’s pressure pushing her over the edge. 
She let out a long, drawn-out sigh, before finally saying, “Okay, fine.” But she added quickly, “But only because it’ll get you to leave me alone.” 
It was clear Marco saw through her obvious lie due to his wide smirk but thankfully he kept whatever comment he had to himself as he simply replied, “Cool. Glad to hear I finally convinced you.” 
“Not like I had much choice,” Star muttered sourly, stretching out her limbs as she finally stood. She made sure to not let her smile show, her excitement at finally getting to see the outside world making her inwardly giddy. But she did not want Marco to see that. 
Marco chuckled to himself at Star’s pouting and told her smoothly, “Hey, I promise you’re gonna love it and a street dog’s ode is his life.”
“Really?” Star questioned, raising a teasing eyebrow. She allowed the dog to lead her over to the opened gate. 
“Oh yeah, just because we aren’t pampered head to toe doesn’t mean we don’t have standards, princess.”
“Well, I suppose we’ll just have to see how true your ode is then, won’t we?” 
Marco gave her a confident grin over his shoulder, that caused Star’s cheeks to heat up. “Challenge accepted.” The two reached the gate and Marco waved a paw towards the exit, bowing his head low. “After you,” he said in what could almost pass for a sophisticated tone if Star didn’t notice the sarcasm dripping from his every inflection.
“Such a gentlemen,” she returned, playing along with his act as she trotted past him, keeping her head held high in a dignified manner. But she paused just a second as she reached the crosswalk, feeling anxious to take that final step into a world she didn’t know or understand. She didn’t pause for too long though, feeling Marco’s stare on her back, no doubt judging her hesitation and wanting to prove herself to the street dog she forced her paw onto the hard cement sidewalk. For some reason, Star’s body tensed up, her hair standing slightly on end as if she expected some disaster to happen the moment she left the safety of her yard. But nothing happened, the pair remained untouched and Star felt slightly embarrassed for the irrational panic. 
Marco grinned brightly at seeing the fussy dog finally stepping outside her comfort zone and his tail wagged happily as he watched her reluctantly standing on the sidewalk. He had been waiting for this moment for so long and he finally had convinced his crush to go on an adventure with him. He could see her start to rethink her decision though, indecision flashing in her eyes and he quickly said, “Come on, it’s this way.” And with that he headed off towards town, already coming up with the quickest route out of the fancy neighborhood. He held his breath slightly as he listened closely for Star’s pawsteps and after a couple seconds he heard her following along behind him and felt his heart leap in his chest. 
Star made sure to stick close to Marco as she stumbled along blindly behind him, the burning curiosity in her chest pressing her forward as her beloved home slowly faded in the distance as she journeyed into the unknown. 
...
Star was enchanted by the world outside her fence. She could only gap and wag her tail at every new sight that came her way, following along behind Marco. There were so many things to see, automobiles and fire hydrants and so, so many humans! Thousands of new smells invaded Star's nostrils and she couldn't help but sniff back eagerly. She wanted to know what all of it was and meant. 
She tried to keep her composure, especially when she caught a few smirking glances from Marco. She was a lady, after all. Still, it was hard to act sophisticated when you were left gawking awkwardly at something as simple as a window shop. Star jumped when a Jack-in-the-box popped up from behind the glass and Marco laughed. She tried to ignore the annoying tramp as well as her warm cheeks.
Marco led her over to some railroad tracks and they followed them for a short ways. Again, Star couldn't hold in her excitement as she asked, "Do you think we'll see a train?" 
"Probably not, the trains don't usually run at this time," Marco nonchalantly replied, boldly walking on the tracks themselves, while Star trotted next to them. 
"Oh," Star replied sadly, unable to hide her disappointment.
"Maybe next time, princess," Marco reassured her, giving her a tiny glance. 
Star didn't reply but her tail wagged just a little bit harder at the thought of there being a 'next time'. She hadn't been too sure about an outing with the street dog at first but she had to admit she was enjoying herself. Maybe she wouldn't mind having a 'next time' with Marco. 
Then the two reached their destination.
Of all the places Star had been imagining (since Marco had insisted on it being a surprise) an old rundown farm was not one of them. If farm was even the right word. The grass had been picked clean, only dirt and mud left. The house was falling apart loose boards and peeling paint making the place look hazardous. The only thing of even remote interest was a worn down chicken coop. Star gave Marco a skeptical look silently asking 'Is this the place?'
The mutt ignored his critical companion, breathing in the rustic air before sighing contintly, "This place never changes."
"Are you sure that's a good thing?" Star commented, wrinkling her snout.
Marco finally picked up on the pet's contempt and said confidently, "Trust me, Star. You are gonna love this."
"If you say so," Star replied, shifting uncomfortably on her paws, suddenly not sure about her decision to tag along. The dirt especially making her hesitant. Eclipsa hated having to give her baths and would usually ask Globgor do it. Star didn't want to cause trouble for her owners. 
But she was already here and she didn't want to turn back now, she would never hear the end about it from Marco. She had to prove to him once and for all that a pet could be just as wild and reckless as a stray. 
So, Star just took in a breath, gazing up at the wire fence that sealed off their entrance and asked, "So how do we get in?"
"This way," Marco replied, padding over to the fence and gesturing with his paw to a small hole just under where the fence was. He quickly widened the hole, using his front paws to scoop out dirt so both he and Star could fit easily under.
Star watched as the collie easily slipped through the hole, not a single patch of fur even grazing the fence line. He then turned, waiting for Star to do the same.
But she hesitated. 
Marco watched her stand there awkwardly for a second, before asking, "What is it now, princess?" A smirk grew as he added teasingly, "Afraid of getting a little dirty?"
Star's gaze narrowed slightly but she shook her head, causing her ears to flop back and forth. "No, it's just... my bow."
"Your bow," Marco repeated, an eyebrow beginning to raise. 
Star felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment, suddenly feeling stupid for bringing it up, but she lowered her head so Marco could clearly see the pretty pink ribbon tied around her ears, resting comfortably at the back of her head. "Uh yeah, Eclipsa and Globgor just bought it for me, I'm afraid it'll get ruined." Her voice grew softer and softer with each word, shame making her voice slowly break off, lost to the wind.
She waited for Marco to laugh or taunt her but surprisingly the dog didn't say anything, instead just gazing around thoughtfully at the fence. Star watched in surprise as his bright brown eyes searched for any openings, before they landed on a small gate. 
"Hang on I got an idea," Marco said. The hound then began the grueling task of trying to open the small lock with nothing but his nose. It took several attempts, trying to tease the small clasp up and Star held her breath at every try, sighing in disappointment each time it slipped right back into place. 
Finally after several endless minutes, Marco managed to get the gate open, a small push from his paw allowing Star to easily enter inside. 
Star happily trotted inside, touched by Marco's kindness. "Thanks," she whispered shyly. "I really appreciate you doing that for me." She scratched a paw in the dirt absentmindedly. 
Marco shrugged. "Well I couldn't let you ruin something important to you because of me, what kind of friend would I be, then?"
Star was too stunned to respond to that, just staring at him, wide-eyed. The slight sparkle in her eye seemed to make Marco uncomfortable, coughing into his paw before turning away and adding quickly, "B-Besides, then I'd never get you to come out of your fancy cage again, soooo-"
Star smiled softly back at him, easily picking up on his attempts to cover up his compassionate act and simply replied, "Well thanks all the same."
"S-Sure, it's no big deal, really," Marco nervously stuttered, for the first time losing his cocky demeanor that Star had so heavily associated with him. Looks like there was more to Marco than she had thought. And Star couldn't help her curiosity as she wondered what other sides to him waited beneath his rough exterior. 
"Anyways," Marco continued in a desperate attempt to change the subject. "Let me show you what we came here for." 
"Oh please," Star said teasingly, trotting along beside him as he led her to the chicken coop. "The anticipation is killing me."
Marco gestured with a paw at the coop. "Here we are!" He said in a showy tone. 
Stars eyes narrowed in confusion. "I'm confused is it behind the dirty chicken coop orrr-"
Marco gave a fake laugh at the comment. "Haha, very funny. No, it is the chicken coop, Star."
"And why do we care about chickens, exactly?" Star asked, still not following Marco's train of thought.
"Easy. We're gonna scare them and then chase them around a bunch."
Star was startled by this answer, blurting out, "Why would we do that?"
"Because it's fun," Marco replied simply. 
"But we won't hurt them right?" Star asked nervously. 
"Naaahh," Marco dismissively answered, already walking up the wooden plank that led inside. "They love it. This is what they live for."
"Well, alright then," Star said wincing but still followed after her friend. She still had a point to prove, after all. 
Once inside, the smell of must and feathers filled Star's nose and she blinked a few times waiting for her eyes to adjust. The chickens all lay on small piles of straw that acted as their nest, each snoring peacefully, oblivious to the intruders in their home. The pampered pup looked over at her friend, unsure of what to do now.
But it seemed Marco was easily in control of the situation, shooting her a wink before sucking in a deep breath. Before Star could question what he was doing the mutt let out a loud series of barks that caused Star to flinch and startled the birds from their slumber, squawking and flapping around the coop wildly. Then they all rushed towards the only exit and Star barely had time to jump out of the way of the fluttering of a thousand feathers.
Star watched stunned as the birds scattered out across the yard, still clucking loudly and making a huge fuss as they scrambled around blindly. The pet felt a twinge of regret for scaring the birds until her eyes landed on Marco. The street dog crouched forward on his front paws, so his tail was sticking up in the air. It was wagging so quickly it was a wonder it hadn't lifted him off the ground. There was a playfulness in his eyes and his tongue stuck out just slightly and Star couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of the grown dog acting like a mere pup. 
Marco heard her chuckle and flashed her a winning grin that caused Star’s whole body to warm with affection and she smiled back at the mutt without even thinking. Then, without warning, the street dog launched himself towards one of the chickens causing it to squawk and scamper away as fast as it’s claws would allow. But Marco was on it’s tail in a second, following closely along behind it and letting out a few yips here and there to keep it motivated on escaping him. Star now outright laughed at her companion’s ridiculous display, his tongue now hanging fully out of his mouth as he chased after the bird, which zigzagged around the yard in some form of evasive maneuver. 
Star laughed harder and harder until her stomach hurt and there were tears in her eyes and still the mutt continued his hilarious display. Marco paused for only a second, panting wildly but clearly enjoying himself and he gave a slight incline of his head towards the lady dog, beaconing her over. Star shook her head, still thinking of her privileged upbringing, it simply wouldn’t be dignified of her. Marco’s eyes flashed with some kind of determination but quickly raced after the chicken again. 
This time though, he seemed to be guiding it in a specific path, cutting it off at several points and forcing it to turn and run and Star realized too late that he was leading it over to her. She shrieked and quickly moved out of the way as the chicken ran past, a few feathers flying up into the air and landing in her soft fur. Marco flew by her in a blur and she shot him an annoyed glare which he returned with a shrug over his shoulders. 
Star let out a huff, but a smile spread across her face a second later as she chased not after the chicken, but Marco himself, all thoughts of preserving dignity and respect lost as she gave into the tramp’s game. “Get back here, you scoundrel!” she barked playfully.
“You’ll have to catch me, Princess,” Marco shouted over his shoulder, delighted his companion was finally joining in on the fun. 
The two giggled as they raced around the yard, sending chickens fluttering into the air at every turn, the chickens themselves now forgotten as a game of chase broke out instead. Star, not used to running this much, found herself struggling to catch up to Marco but she refused to give up. Thinking quickly, she broke off course, running around the chicken coop and able to outmaneuver the hound. She let out a laugh of victory shouting, “Gotcha!” she lept towards him but he quickly jumped out of the way, causing her to land hard in the dirt. 
Star sat up quickly, spitting rocks and dirt from her mouth before growling as she heard Marco’s laughter. She rose to her paws, shaking the loose dirt off her shiny fur, before shooting her friend another glare. “Oh, that’s it, you’re on now!” she yelled, barely able to suppress her own laugh. Marco fake gasped before taking off running again and Star raced after him.
The two ran around the small backyard together and Star smiled brightly, enjoying the feeling of the wind on her face, the pounding in her heart, her ears flapping behind her. All of it. And all those days, living safe and secluded in her small home melted away as the feeling of true freedom overtook her. Marco hadn’t lied to her when he said she would have fun, Star was having the time of her life and she never wanted it to end! 
Star seeing several chickens pecking at the ground in front of her and Marco, smiled mischievously before letting out a loud bark, causing the birds to panic and scatter, several of them flapping their wings right in the poor dog’s face causing him to stumble back in surprise. Star used this opportunity to pounce on her companion, knocking him to the ground and pinning him under her weight. “Gotcha!” she shouted in victory, her front paws perched on his back and her head held high. “How’s that for a house pet?”
Marco chuckled, before rolling over on his back, causing her to slide off of him. The two lay on the ground for a minute, panting, staring into each other’s eyes as they smiled blissfully. 
“Alright, I admit that was pretty good,” Marco finally said, his tone full of some emotion Star couldn’t quite place, but there was a tenderness in her eyes that made her tail wag in joy. “I knew there was more to you than meets the eye.”
“Hmm, turns out there’s more to you, too,” Star commented shyly, suddenly looking away to hide her burning cheeks. 
“Like what?” he asked, leaning a little closer to her so their noses were almost touching. 
“Like… maybe you aren’t as annoying as I thought you were,” Star answered softly. The cocker spaniel found herself scooting closer to her companion. She didn’t know what she was about to do but she knew she wanted whatever it was to happen. 
“You might even be really… nice,” she finished.
There was now almost no space between them, their faces so close Star could smell Marco’s scent. It was musty and gritty but full of so much life and she wanted to know more. She wanted to know everything about Marco, wanted to be a part of his life in the same way he had become a part of hers. She wanted-
“Hey!” A loud voice interrupted the moment and Star looked over to see a human, an angry scowl on his face and a gleaming gray tool perched tightly in his hands. Star shivered at the hatred on the man’s face and she thought she saw Marco put a protective paw in front of her but it could have been her imagination. “Stop scaring my chickens, you mutts!” The man raised the shiny barrel so it was now facing right towards the pair of dogs and Star felt her heart drop. 
Marco let out a loud bark, which caused the man to jump and a loud bang rang through the air, hurting Star’s sensitive ears. The ground right beside her paw was stuck by something hard and fast, kicking dirt up into the air and terror shot through Star as she instinctively pulled her paw away from the sudden impact. “Run!” Marco shouted and Star didn’t have to be told twice. The two raced out the open gate, several chickens flapping out of their way and scattering into the street. Another loud bang sounded behind Star, who flinched but didn’t dare turn to see what it was, her heart racing quickly in her chest. 
She just focused on following Marco and not on the loud, angry shouts of the cruel man that grew further and further away. The street dog led them onto the street and Star didn’t hesitate to follow him, hoping he knew best. But at that exact moment, a car pulled out right in front of them and Star froze in terror. Thankfully, the car swerved to avoid hitting her, honking loudly in annoyance but sparing her life, thankfully. Star shook her head to free herself from her paralzed state and quickly chased after Marco, who was now quite a bit ahead of her. 
The street dog seemed to not notice his companion lagging behind as he swerved around several humans who now crowded the sidewalks. Star saw Marco disappear around a corner and quickly followed after him.
Star found herself in an abandoned alleyway and she sighed in relief to be out of the street and away from danger. But this was short-lived as she realized she didn’t see Marco anywhere. “Marco?” she called, trying to keep the quiver out of her voice. After the scare earlier the silence of the alley was unnerving to Star and she felt her body shaking some against her will. She tried to hide her fear but her body didn’t seem to want to obey as she shuddered and shook, taking hesitant steps farther into the dark, abandoned alley. Her voice grew quiet as she softly called out for her companion, getting weaker and weaker as she received no answer. Where was he? 
Star was starting to question if she had gone the wrong way, when she heard something behind her and her heart leapt in joy. “Marco!” she called hopefully. 
But her hopes were dashed as a pair of rough looking street dogs emerged from the shadows. Their fur was matted and dirty, their faces set in permanent snears, while their eyes burned with both hunger and anger in equal intensity, everything about them gave Star the creeps and she found herself backing away from them as they approached. They blocked Star’s only exit out of the alley, living her trapped with these vile creatures... alone. 
“Well look what we have here,” one of the dog’s said, the disgust in his tone clear and Star noticed there was a piece missing from his left ear. “A prissy pet has wandered into our territory.” 
Star shrank under the intense gaze, keeping herself as low to the ground as she could, trying to look as non-threatening as possible in the hopes they would leave her alone. But that seemed to be wishful thinking. 
“What’s the matter, little lady, wander away from your humans or did they throw you out on the streets like the rest of us?” the dog said again, clearly the leader. 
Star felt a sudden burst of anger at the comment and held her head high as she responded critically, “Perhaps if you weren’t so ugly or rude you would have a chance to live outside of the gutter. But it seems you two are exactly where you belong.” 
The two dogs just stared at her stunned for a second, not sure how to respond to the harsh criticism and Star felt a small burst of pride for standing up for herself. However, this quickly turned to regret as the dogs let out deep guttural growls, their faces filled with fury and Star instantly wished she hadn’t provoked them. 
“Well it seems the princess has quite a bark on her,” the lead dog said, his voice dripping with sarcasm and envy. He slowly stalked closer and Star backed away nervously, only to run into a large wooden fence, trapping her and leaving her at the mercy of these vicious creatures. Both hounds sneared at their prey’s helpless predicament, clearly enjoying Star’s looks of panic and quivering body, her fur practically standing on end. They moved torturously slowly, playing with their victim as they savored her terror. “Let’s see if your bite is just as sharp,” the lead dog growled. 
With that he sprang towards her, jaw opened wide, his fangs ready to sink into flesh and fur and Star screamed, turning her head away and squeezing her eyes shut so she didn’t have to see her own death. But at the last second, something flew over the fence, a flash of brown descending quickly and landing between Star and the street dogs, slamming into the attacking leader and knocking him to the ground. 
Star hesitantly peaked open an eye only for them to widen in surprise as she saw the determined, brash form of Marco now standing protectively in front of her. He was lowered to the ground in a defensive stance, the nails of his claws digging slightly into the smooth tile, looking ready to attack at any second. His ears were lowered in a threatening manner and his face had contorted into a chilling snarl, baring his fangs at the rival dogs, a deep growl echoing from his throat. Star’s mouth hung open as she stared longingly at Marco, in that moment she couldn’t think of anything more beautiful than the sight of her friend coming to her rescue. Her heart was beating violently in her chest but if it was out of fear or love Star couldn’t determine, ultimately deciding it was a strange mixture of both somehow. 
“Stay away from her!” Marco barked out in warning and Star felt a chill run through her. This dog before her was nothing like the annoying mutt she had grown to care for. The Marco she knew was all smooth smiles and playful looks, but this dog in front of her… he was a predator at its purest form. His every move, every inflection, every action was focused on one task only- to defend. Star realized she was seeing yet another side of Marco today. The true primitive animal that lay beneath the levels of charm and charisma. And yet, instead of fear, Star only felt herself falling all the harder for her companion. 
Because he was protecting her and that was all that mattered. 
The two dogs were not deterred by Marco’s death-filled glares, instead this only seemed to anger them more as the lead dog scoffed and snapped, “Oh what? Are you seriously going to try and tell me you are protecting this pet?” 
Marco only growled in response, his eyes narrowing and seeming to scream ‘Just try something I dare you’. 
The lead dog seemed amused by this as his and his partner started to circle around Marco, looking for an opening and Marco watched them wearily. “Didn’t realize you were so soft,” the lead dog taunted. “Can’t believe you would actually risk your life for an outsider. You’re one of us, remember?” 
“I am nothing like you!” Marco barked and that seemed to bring the tension to its boiling point as all at once a fight broke out. 
Star could barely track the flurry of claws and teeth and fur as the hounds mangled one another in any way they could. Marco fought valiantly against his two opponents, sinking his teeth into any patch of fur that drifted too close, while easily dodging out of the way of the others' attacks on him. 
The smaller dog managed to sneak up behind Marco and jumped onto his back, Marco letting out a howl of pain as its sharp fangs bit into flesh. But with a simple kick of his backpaws the other dog went flying, slamming hard into a trashcan and letting out its own yelp of agony.
The lead dog then caught Marco by surprise, as it snapped its jaw around Marco’s left paw, pressing down and drawing blood, staining Marco’s fur red. Marco again let out a cry of pain but was quick to retaliate, using his good paw to slam into the dog’s face, catching him right in the eye and the lead dog yelped and pulled away. 
But the lead dog shrugged off its injury, snarling and going in for the kill, its dripping fangs opened wide as it headed straight for Marco’s throat, ready to tear it out in one motion. But Marco saw the attack coming from a mile away, stepping out of the way and burying his own fangs in the back of the hound’s neck as he passed. He used the momentum to throw the dog across the alley, the vile dog slamming into the same trashcan as his partner, the two now laying in a heap on the ground. 
They recovered slowly, raising their heads as they looked over to their opponent with bleary, pain-filled eyes. Marco towered over them, his eyes flashing with murder as he growled sharply, “Had enough.”
The other dogs lost their nerve, shrinking in fear before the menacing Marco, whimpering nervously as the lead dog muttered, “Okay, okay, fine. You win. You and the pet get off easy, this time. But if I see you in my territory again-”
Marco stepped closer so they were now face to face, his eyes flashing dangerously as he growled, “Oh yeah and what are you gonna do?”
The lead dog struggled to keep a straight face as he backed away from the superior hound, him and his lackey now the ones shaking in fear. Marco let out a sharp sniff before declaring, “Now get out of here before I change my mind and finish what you started!” 
The two dogs didn’t have to be told twice as they ran speedily away, their tails tucked between their legs as they fearfully escaped Marco’s wrath. Star breathed a sigh of relief when the two dogs vanished from view but stared at her friend in concern as his body remained tense and alert. She approached him slowly, reluctantly, afraid he might lash out at her if she made any loud noises but he didn’t. He simply glared off into the distance, his posture threatening and calloused. 
“Marco?” Star whispered anxiously. She didn’t like seeing her friend this way. Now that the danger had passed she wished the annoying but lovable Marco would return to her, seeing him go from a carefree puppy into this wild animal was too much for her mind to comprehend. 
But slowly, cautiously Marco began to relax. His tight muscles loosened and his fur flattened back into place. His posture grew less rigid and more easygoing. His twisted expression melted into a vacant, far-off look and his hardened gaze slowly softened as he turned to address her. Star nearly fainted with relief, Marco still far from his playful self, but it was still much better. 
Marco blinked once as his eyes seemed to focus in on her face and he muttered softly, “Star.” He regarded her for another second, his brown orbs scanning her up and down before he finally added, “You okay?” 
Star nodded dumbly, not sure she could produce words right now, her throat tight from the terrifying ordeal. Marco gave her a worried look but sighed in relief saying, “Thank goodness. I was worried those jerks might have hurt you.”
“Do you…” Star began, before reconsidering, wanting to word this correctly to avoid upsetting her friend. “Does that happen… often?”
“What, the fights?” Marco asked, an eyebrow slowly raising. 
Star nodded, before explaining, “You seemed like it wasn’t your first.”
Marco scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Well to be fair, that was hardly what I would call a fight. Those two idiots had no idea what they were doing. I’ve been in way tougher scrapes then-” Marco cut himself off when he noticed Star’s eyes widening. He quickly corrected himself, plastering on a forced smile, “Uhh, I mean, it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m as tough as they come, Star.”
“I-I see,” Star muttered, not sure what else to say. Life on the streets must be hard if this experience was anything to go by and she wanted to cry as she imagined all the times Marco must have been hurt or scared. While she was busy living it up in a house where her every need was cared for, he was busy trying to stay alive. 
Marco, almost as if reading her thoughts, suddenly told her in a calm, even tone, “Hey, don’t worry about me, I love living on the streets even if things are a little rough sometimes. Life out here isn’t all bad, I swear. That just.. wasn’t the best example.” Marco rolled his eyes before adding, “I just can’t believe those mutts would attack you like that! If I ever see them again I’ll-” His gaze hardened and a low growl echoed in his throat as he thought of the two attack dogs.
Star quickly cut in before her friend could lose himself to his anger, blurting out, “No, no, I’m fine, really! They didn’t do anything to me! Although that’s mostly thanks to you.” She blushed slightly at this but gave him a bright smile. “Thank you, by the way, for saving me.”
“No problem, princess,” Marco replied, a cheery grin lighting up his face. “What kind of friend would I be if I let you get killed on your first trip into town?”
Star giggled slightly as she added playfully, “Oh yeah, is that more of a third trip kind of thing orrrr-”
Marco laughed and Star felt her heart thump against her chest at the sweet sound. “I see this experience hasn’t hurt your witty comebacks at all,” he said, giving her a knowing look.
“You wish,” Star replied with a teasing grin.
Marco opened his mouth to say something else, moving towards her in emphasis, but instead hissed in pain, cringing as his left paw touched the ground. Star’s eyes widened in concern and she asked worriedly, “What’s wrong?” 
The street dog lifted his hurt paw up, cringing in pain, and that’s when she saw the damage the two dogs had done to him. Blood was dripping from the wound, staining his fur red, and it hurt Star just looking at it. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?!” she shouted, moving closer to properly inspect the wound.
“But Marco quickly brushed off Star’s concern, telling her in a slightly strained tone, “I’m fine. It’s just a scratch is all.”
Star gave him a doubting look. “Are you sure? It looks pretty bad.”
“Nah, just gotta walk it off is all,” he said, before flashing a wide, goofy grin in her direction. Star felt her heart go out to her friend, her stomach churning slightly with guilt over him getting hurt protecting her. He was clearly more hurt than he was letting on and Star wanted desperately to help him in some way. She wanted to repay him for what he had done for her, some small token of her gratitude. And this seemed like the simplest way of doing that. 
She scanned her brain, thinking hard for an idea, when suddenly a thought popped into her head. She smiled softly to herself before turning her head as far around as it could. Marco watched her curiously as she shook her head back and forth a few times, finally managing to grab a loose end with her teeth, before she slowly pulled it loose. The bow came undone, the ribbon now hanging loosely in her mouth and she carried it over to her friend’s paw. She carefully began wrapping the stretch of cloth over Marco’s injured paw as the street dog stood there in stunned silence.
It took a bit of time, having to use her nose, paw, and teeth to tie the make-shift bandage into place, but slowly, meticulously she managed to wrap up the wound. And with a final tug on the ribbon, Star let go, moving back to admire her work.
Marco stared down at the ribbon in confusion, before looking back up at her, a tenderness in his eyes that did all kinds of crazy things to Star’s heart. “Why did you do that?” he asked, looking so baffled that Star almost laughed out loud at the strange expression.
“Well, I had to stop the blood somehow,” she replied instead. “It was dripping all over the pavement.”
“No, I mean, your pretty bow, you kinda just ruined it,” Marco said, his voice hushed. “Wasn’t this important to you?”
Star shook her head. “You needed it more than I did,” she replied simply. “Besides Eclipsa and Globgor can always get me a new one.”
Marco’s eyes flooded with deep affection, a fondness that went so much deeper than he seemed to be able to comprehend, and Star knew without a doubt she was finally seeing the whole Marco. There was a longing there, a need for companionship that he had been starved of for so long, but also slight fear, like he was afraid to give himself away to her, his guarded heart opening up just a little wider to let her in. And from the way his eyes roamed over her face, it was like he was seeing her for the first time. 
And honestly, Star understood all of this, because she was feeling it herself. 
But instead of trying to run from this feeling, she embraced it, welcoming it openly. Because she liked this feeling and she didn’t want it to stop. She wanted it to be a part of her and she hoped that Marco wanted that, too.
After a few awkward minutes of gawking at each other in silence, the spell was broken not by one of the dogs but by a car horn from the street outside the alley, the loud noise causing both of them to jump and bringing them crashing back to reality. Star shook her head, before staring up at the darkening sky, declaring nervously, “Oh no, it’s getting late. I should probably get back to the house.”
Marco nodded in agreement, although he seemed disappointed at this news. “Yeah, that would be best, I guess.” He turned to lead her out of the alley, his tail hanging limply between his legs and his ears lowered in sadness. “Come on, princess. I’ll walk you back.” 
Star stared back at him in sympathy before rushing to catch up, not wanting to risk being separated from him… again. She walked with him side by side, staring at his depressed face for a few seconds before saying softly, “Uh, hey. Thanks for bringing me along. Sorry for the trouble I caused you.”
Marco shook his head. “No, no, you aren’t any trouble. I’m just sorry things got so… tense back there. Looks like my efforts to show you the wonders of life off the leash didn’t work out so well, huh? You’ll probably never want to step foot outside your fence after all that.”
“Actually, I had a good time,” Star told him and he turned to her with shock.
“Seriously?” he asked, giving her a disbelieving look.
“Well, okay it got a little crazy and traumatizing there at the end,” she admitted before letting out an involuntary shudder. She gave him a bright grin as she added, “But I’m glad I decided to come with you. I never realized how boring and predictable my life was before. Or just how much I was missing out on. So thank you, for showing me.”
Marco was still giving her an incredulous look, still too dumbfounded for words. And Star found his awkward gawking adorable, adding sweetly, “But maybe next time we can do something a little more relaxing.”
This finally seemed to get Marco’s attention as he asked excitedly, “Next time.” His eyes shimmered with anticipation, his tail starting to wag, once again.
Star nodded. “Mmhmm ‘next time’,” she repeated, giving him a shamelessly flirty grin.
Marco’s eyes flashed mischievously as he declared in a hinting tone, “Well, y’know I do happen to know a little place here in town, if you’re interested.”
“Oh. What did you have in mind?” she asked, giving him a small nudge with her shoulder.
“It’s a nice Italian restaurant. The owners and I go way back and they are also generous with the hand-outs. Their pizzas are okay but their spaghetti is to die for.”
Star giggled, her heart thumping eagerly against her chest. “Sounds perfect.”
“So, pick you up at your place, late tonight? After the owners are asleep.” His eyes were full of hope and joy and so many emotions at once that it almost made Star ache. He was opening himself up to her again, letting his true self show and Star knew she had to grab on tight. Grab on and never let go. 
Because if she was being honest with herself, life with Marco was what living was really all about. 
“It’s a date.”
28 notes · View notes
captainillogical · 4 years
Text
Home Ch.4
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The domesticity of living with an alien who hasn’t quite had the chance at a normal life.
Distant Lands sequel.
Spinel/Reader
collab with my lovely wife @firstofficertightpants​
Today is another hot, bright day outside, and you have not had enough coffee to deal with it. Or any at all, actually.
Currently it's about an hour before your first lesson, and you're at Kiki's place - sitting on the toilet inside her bathroom in particular - trying to not panic.
"-and then! I told her if she wants to keep borrowing my jacket, the least she can do is NOT get mustard all over it! Can you believe her?!" Kiki huffs out next to your ear, dabbing more pigmented cover-up against your collarbone.
"Why the hell do you buy clothes that you know she'll keep stealing? You know she's not going to stop since you basically wear the same size." You reply, leaning into her brush. It tickles your skin, and you feel yourself almost sneezing.
"Because they're cuuuuuute, okay?" She whines, twisting her face in concentration as she smears makeup on a particular spot on your neck. "Wow she really did a number on you here.. are these teeth marks?"
"Pretend you didn't see them, just cover them up as best as you can," You plead, giving her The Face you know she can't resist. She rolls her eyes. "I just wanna look professional, you know?"
"They're gems, Y/N." She makes a point to jab you particularly hard on the side of your neck with her brush. "You seriously think they're going to care? Or notice?"
"Well, apparently a few humans signed up too, and I really would prefer to not get any more looks, er - more than the usual, anyway." You feel your phone vibrate in hand, and look down to see Steven giving you several thumbs up to your earlier text. 
"Why are humans signing up?" She asks, pausing momentarily.
"Not sure? But I'm blaming Steven on that." You reply, remembering to shoot Garnet a message as well about having her attend just in case you make a fool out of yourself in front of a crowd.
"Maybe they saw you with Spinel, and thought, hey, maybe the rest of us could-" 
A door slams against a wall, and you hear a resounding 'HEYYYYYYYY' from the hallway in a very familiar voice. Several pairs of footsteps are walking towards the bathroom the two of you are in.
Oh god, you need to go. You attempt to stand up from sitting on the toilet, and Kiki forces a hand on your shoulder with an "I'm not done!"
"Kiki!" Jenny pops her face into the bathroom doorway with an infectious smile. "What are you dooooooooo- whoa, Y/N?!" 
If you could clap your hands and disappear, you would.
"Heyyyyy Jenny," You greet her as flatly as you can, and then Lars also pops his head into the doorway. Oh. Great. "Lars. What are you guys doing here?"
Lars gasps dramatically, pointing to your neck. "YOOOOOOOUUUUUU-"
Kiki silences him with her palm over his mouth. "Dude I already told you, why are you being so dramatic right now,"
"You TOLD him?!" You screech, feeling completely betrayed.
"Well, YEAH, clearly you were going to just internalize it and dance around the subject!" She places her hands on her hips, makeup brush still in her fist. "I'm just expediting the process!"
"Tell him what!?" Jenny pipes in, completely engrossed.
"That Y/N's dating Spinel!" Kiki huffs out, like this is obvious information, and Jenny gasps.
“I wasn’t going to dance around the subject!! I just haven’t had the chance to shoot him a text yet..” You mumble, trailing off sheepishly. Okay, so, you know you should’ve told Lars already! It’s just.. Ugh. Talking about your feelings is hard. The face Jenny’s making is making you wish you could flush yourself down the toilet.
“You dumbass, were you seeing how long you could hide this from me?! After all I did for you.” Lars crosses his arms over his chest, miffed. “It’s whatever, I knew that was going to happen sooner rather than later, anyway. I was expecting like, two days, tops - with how you had talked about her.”
“Am I that obvious?” You ask flatly.
“Uh, yeah.” Jenny gives you a look. “Girl, you avoided me for an entire year after I asked you out, and then acted like nothing ever happened. I probably would have recovered my ego a lot faster if I knew your type was Gems.”
“My type isn’t GEMS,” You sputter, utterly amazed at the audacity of the three of them.
“Yeah but your neck says otherwise,” Lars teases, and you groan, covering your face as the other two howl in laughter.
“Remind me why I’m friends with any of you?” You say, muffled behind your hands.
“Um, because you have no other options?” Kiki grins, and you put your hands down just to lightly kick her on the shins, and she chokes out a snort.
“So, what’s the occasion? Why are you dolling up Y/N?” Jenny peers over at you, taking in the new.. upgrades to your appearance.
“She’s got some lessons today, and wanted to look more professional,” Kiki rolls her eyes, like somehow you wanting to not talk to a class looking like you got half-mauled by a sea lion is ridiculous. “Speaking of, did you want me to cover the scar on your face?”
“Ehhh, leave it. I don’t really care about that.” You look at the time on your phone, knowing you need to leave soon. Spinel has texted you a few words of encouragement coupled with quite a pile of heart emojis, and you have to school your face into not smiling at it like some sort of cheese ball.
"I think you look cooler with it anyway," Jenny tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, her gold earrings shining in the light of the bathroom. "Makes you look like you won't take shit from anyone."
"What about my scar?" Lars asks. "Is my face scar not cool??"
"Yours looks more like you fought a raccoon in a dumpster." Jenny grins, and you can't help the laugh that comes out of your mouth as Lars sputters at her response.
The four of you chat for a little while longer while you finish up with Kiki, Jenny asking way too many questions about your personal life - but this time, you don't feel uneasy at all about sharing some of the details with her. 
-
You're standing in the middle of Little Homeworld near the town center, coffee in hand - surveying the area as people and gems hustle around you. You probably should've also grabbed something to eat, but it's kind of too late now. Steven's bringing you lunch after this anyway.
It's twenty minutes until your first lesson, and you're starting to see a few gems show up early. They had to relocate where you'd be having the class - originally they had given you a decent spot under some coverage, but because the attendance got so high they moved you to the literal town center for the space. There's a lot of gems (and some humans) around, and most of them are either working on small construction or going about doing their other jobs. You watch three Amethysts a few yards away struggle to lift a large sheet of glass for what looks like a new cafe. Huh. The gems are really trying for inclusivity here. 
You turn around to look at your chalkboard that Garnet placed here for you, and write out a giant welcome sign on it, along with the class title and your name. You could've probably written it a little more eloquently.. eh. The gems aren't going to care. There's some sudden yelling coming from around you, so you turn to look - one of the Amethysts nearly dropped her side of the glass because someone bumped her — aaaand it's Spinel, with Bismuth next to her, who are reading over some blueprints.
You stand there, hoping Spinel hasn't seen you. She doesn't know your class got moved, but you're positive she was supposed to be working with not Bismuth today. Great. You don't need a reason to be any more anxious about this than you are, even if seeing her pink hair kind of sets you also at ease. 
More people and gems walk by loudly, and you start to wonder if you're going to need a megaphone. You grab your stack of papers, and go over your notes on your bench while you bide your time until it's noon.
About five minutes pass, and someone sits next to you on your bench. 
"Heyyyy." A familiar voice speaks, and you look up - you're greeted with the smiling face of that rose quartz you've bumped into twice. "Fancy meeting you here."
"Oh, it's you," You reply, a bit off-guard. You weren't expecting anyone to sit and chat with you, nonetheless the very specific gem you keep randomly meeting. 
"Saw you sitting here, and wanted to say hello before I went to this class I signed up for," She holds out her hand, her bright smile not making you feel as uneasy as it did the previous day. "I realized I never introduced myself. You can call me Rosie, if you want. The other quartzes have taken a liking to it."
"Rosie, huh.. that's actually a nice name. Mine's Y/N." You return her smile, and shake her hand.. which is strangely soft.
"Are you here for the lesson too? I'm pretty excited about this one, this has to be the most interesting class they've got on the current schedule right now." She leans in, putting an arm up on the bench back for support. More gems have started to gather in the centre now. 
"I am, but I'm actually the one teaching it.." You reply almost sheepishly, and her eyes widen in response.
"You're teaching it?!" She lights up immediately. "I thought it was just gonna be one of the other gems! No wonder so many came here from Homeworld for this!"
"... you're pulling my leg, right? How would any of them have heard of this? We only posted this class within the last week, and just on the singular board." You feel the bubbles of dread in your stomach. Or maybe that's just the excessive caffeine.
"I heard a couple talking about fliers over there, I'm not sure, but they were so excited." She takes a second to look around, and lowers her voice briefly. "I heard that one of the Diamonds wanted to attend, even."
WHAT. Your brain cannot deal with this information.
"B-but they're not, right?" You hear your voice waver, and you push your creeping anxiety down. "I don't think I can deal with a Diamond here, today."
She laughs, and it's not mockingly. It's almost sweet, actually.
"That would be something, wouldn't it?" She winks at you, a light smile on her face. "But no. I don't see their gaudy ships, so I think you can rest easy."
“Phewwwww,” You dramatically wipe your hands down your face, and let out a groan. “I was so worried there for a sec. What would the Diamonds care about interacting with humans, anyway? So absurd.”
“I have no idea,” She giggles at your antics. “Your guess would be about as good as mine.”
You see Spinel staring in your general direction, and your heart rate speeds up when you see her eyes connect with yours. Her face lights up like you’re the best thing she’s ever seen in her life, and you can’t stop the goofy smile that breaks out on your face. You wave at her, and she nearly drops the box she’s holding to enthusiastically wave back.
“Who’s that?” Rosie asks, face turned to peer at Spinel way over there.
“My girlfriend.” Is what comes out of your mouth automatically, and she whips her head back to stare at you with a strange face.
“You’re dating a gem?!” She hisses out, clearly shocked as her eyebrows shoot up into her hairline.
“Yes - jeez, why does everyone always react this way - and it’s not THAT weird, before you ask,” You say, feeling your face heat up in embarrassment.
“And a Spinel, of all gems? No offense.” She looks back over to stare at said pink-haired gem, before turning back to you. 
“What’s that supposed to mean?” You give her a look, taking immediate offense to her statement. She brings her hands up in defense.
“I didn’t mean it like - It’s just, Spinels seemed to always be designed for friendship; not romance. I’ve physically witnessed three dating catastrophes between them and other gems, in my time.”
“Well, my Spinel is perfectly fine.” You say, and it comes out a little more aggressively than you had wanted, and she recoils a bit. “But thanks for your concern.”
“I'm sorry, it wasn’t my intention to offend you.” She at least has the decency to look apologetic. “How long have you two been dating?”
“We just started this week..” You answer.
“New relationship, huh.” She looks like she’s studying your face, and you’re not sure how you feel about it. “I do wish you two the best,”- There’s a sudden low murmur in the group of gems nearby you, and you look over to see what they’re mumbling about.
Fucking hell.
Jasper, yeah THAT Jasper, is standing over in the now pretty fucking large crowd of gems that’s gathered to attend your class, and you don’t know whether to laugh or scream. 
“Whoa, she’s huge.” Rosie does a double-take at said gem, eyes widening hilariously.
“Yeah, a huge bitch. Jasper fucking hates humans, why the hell is she even here?” You groan, hoping that maybe she’ll just sit quietly and not make any remarks or heckle the other students.
"You know her?" She asks, amused by your response.
"Unfortunately, thanks to Steven." 
"That kid is some kind of magnet for problems of all shapes and sizes." She laughs, shaking her head.
"You don't even know the half of it.." You give her a tired look, and she laughs even more. She asks you a few more questions about Steven and your life, and you answer them truthfully while attempting to distract your anxiety.
-
A hundred gems is your turnout. A bit over, actually, and a handful of humans too.
You maybe feel just a little in over your head with this, but, well.. it's too late now. You spot quite a few gems you've seen before in the crowd, as well as Onion of course, and your neighbor George. You even spot Buck sitting in the middle of a group of Lapis who look like they're discussing heavy gossip with him, and he's actually engaged. Interesting.
There are.. so many eyes peering at you. You've never talked to a crowd this big in your entire life, and public speaking has never been your strong suit. But these gems came here for a specific reason, and goddammit, the thought of Pearl or Sour Cream teaching this instead in your place just doesn't sit right with you at this point.
You greet the class once the volume dies down enough, and a wave of enthusiastic greetings come back at you. You see Garnet in the corner and she gives you a thumbs up, and honestly it makes you feel a lot better that she's here.
You start off with your orientation notes, and talk generally about the basics, mainly about the similarities between gems and humans as common ground. Literally only about three minutes into this class, and a quartz that is most likely from Homeworld raises her hand. You call on her.
"Is it true that humans eat their younglings?" She shouts out from the middle of the crowd, her vibrant purple hair half covering one of her eyes. 
"Er," You stumble on your words, a little perturbed that that's the first question you get. "No, humans don't eat their young at all, you're probably confusing us with some other species."
She nods, like that sounds like the right answer, and then about twenty more hands shoot up.
"Let's save the questions until I at least get through this pile of papers, guys," You insist, and a noise of disapproval comes from near the front left side of the group. You turn your head, and.. it's fucking Jasper. Does she know that you'd throw hands with her if it were not for the fact that you're trying to be professional? 
You completely ignore her, and continue on with what you were previously talking about.
A good 20-25 minutes pass, and you're now in a good place to stop so people can ask their questions. A few humans you don't recognize ask you about how you know so much, and you answer truthfully. You briefly talk about living with Steven and the Crystal Gems, and how easy it was to co-exist. 
A LOT more hands pop up after that. 
"This might sound strange, but how do you ask a human to be friends?" The Lapis you call on asks. 
"You can just ask. Humans do it too. Sometimes people prefer to form them naturally though, but if you guys are already talking then it's a good sign." 
"But what about if they scream at you?" Another gem blurts out, and you curb the bark of laughter that wants to escape from your mouth.
"Generally speaking, what do you do if a gem screams at you? Same principle. Guys, humans and gems are way more similar than you think, and communication is key in this." At least your voice is steady, and you don't really feel as anxious as you were before, since the class seems to actually be going smoother than you had thought.
The giant hand of the Morganite in the middle of the crowd waves frantically, and you call on her with amusement. It's kind of cute how excited and interested a lot of the gems are. "You seem to have a ton of gem friends, and I have no human friends! Could you be my first?" She yells at you.
"Oh, I don't see why not," You answer truthfully, feeling a bit sheepish and taken aback by her request. Once those words leave your lips though, half the crowd starts shouting - ME! ME TOO! COULD YOU BE MY FRIEND?? - and you can't help feeling a little flustered as you try to calm the class down, taking a few more regular questions to keep it going.
You don't even realize through the noise of the center of little Homeworld when you spot a camera crew at the edge of your crowd, setting something up. It's the fucking local news station, what the FUUUUUUUUCK. You try not to outwardly display your internal panic and it's proving to be one of the hardest things you've ever done.
"When did you get that scar?" Jasper stares at you from her seat, pointing to your face.
You freeze momentarily at the lack of tact in that question, and that's when you spot Spinel off to the side of the class, at the edge of the crowd of students. Your brain stutters.
"U-um. It was during an accident with my girlfriend." You blurt out quickly, and instantly regret those words. You should've fucking lied or something because you can see Rosie narrowing her eyes at you in the front.
"Is that why you look like that now?" Jasper grunts out, crossing her arms. If you could throttle her you would in a heartbeat.
"Yes." You state firmly, meeting her gaze. She looks a little surprised at your answers. "Anyway, moving on." You hear a few murmurs in the crowd after that, opting to ignore how anxious it makes you.
You answer a few more questions, and try to not look at Spinel who keeps raising her hand with the rest of the gems. Shouldn't she be working?! Oh god, of course the camera crew is actually filming something - you can barely offhandedly hear the reporter spouting off something about little Homeworld into the camera as it pans around him. 
Your heartbeats are hammering in your chest, but you move onto more questions and try to keep your cool. Eventually you can't ignore how obnoxiously your girlfriend is raising and waving her hand trying to get your attention - several gems around her keep pointing at her so you'll give her a chance.
Oh, little do they know.
You sigh, resigning to letting her ask a question.
"Spinel." You call on her with a pointer finger as neutrally as possible, which is way harder than you had thought.
"Finally!" She cries with a fist pump, and a few people around her chuckle. "I just wanted ‘ta ask, is it possible for a gem and a human to fuse?”
You feel yourself freeze on the spot, taken completely by surprise. There’s a couple murmurs among the crowd.
Why the fuck is she asking that.
“U-um, no, unfortunately there’s no way to do that because of the differences in our biological make-up,” You say, feeling your face heat up in embarrassment - there are so many eyes staring at you.
“Well that sucks!” A random gem in the crowd shouts, and quite a few gems erupt in laughter. 
You try your best to wind them down and finish with their many, many questions.
It isn’t long until the class is over - you had only taken up hour sessions, and you’re so thankful for it. The class went over well, and many gems walk up to you to chat and shake your hand, and the local news station seems to be interviewing a couple gems on what went on - you guess there’s some sort or segment they’re doing on Little Homeworld, and today just happens to be the day they chose to do that.
You avoid the camera crew as much as possible as you tidy up your belongings, and Spinel walks up to you as you gather your papers in your arms.
“That went pretty good!” She beams at you, looking proud. You squash your feelings of affection that overwhelm you - you wish you could kiss her if you were not in public.
“Yeah, and if you ever ask me a question like that in my classes again, I’m actually going to ban you. I’ll even put up a photo of your face so the other’s know to barr you from the class.” You scoff at her, and she completely disregards it, getting a little closer to you to give you a look that you recognise as her challenging you.
“That wouldn’t work on me anyway,” She grins, hand raising up to tuck the stray hair that just flew into your face - she looks to the side of you briefly as you hear footsteps and speaking - 
FUCKKK, THE REPORTER IS WALKING RIGHT OVER HERE.
Your eyes dart back to Spinel, body posed to leave. “U-Um, I gotta-”
“Ma’am! Maaaaa’am!” You hear the reporter shout at you. 
Cool cool, keep it cool. Just breathe. You want to vomit.
"You two look pretty close." He remarks as he jogs up to you, slightly out of breath. The cameraman follows him, and if you could run you would. But you'd rather not be turned into a local meme, so your feet are firmly planted in the spot. "I wanted to catch you before you left, Miss Teacher!" He smiles brightly at you - that you know is just for the camera. 
"I was just finishing up." You smile politely. 
"I wanted to ask you a few questions regarding the class you just held if that's alright with you?" He asks, adjusting the small mic on his collar. He also holds up the microphone that the logo of the local news station is emblazoned on.
"Sure." You feel your nerves go haywire. This is way, waaaay too much pressure for you, you feel like you're going to faint, the fucking cameraman just winked at you.
"What's your name, firstly." 
"Y/N." You answer him with just your first name, and he gives you a look. 
"Last name? You gotta have a last name." He insists. 
You tell him your last name, and his eyebrows furrow before they shoot up into his hairline.
"Last name, last name?" He implores, holding the microphone closer to your face.  "Like, -last name- the lawyer working on that Gem case in Empire city, -last name-!?"
Oh. You forgot about your father. 
"Y-yes," You stutter out in a panic, and instantly regret waking up this morning.
God fucking dammit.
86 notes · View notes
kaalamarii · 4 years
Text
Victor/MC part 1
Sup demons it’s ya boy.
Look who decided to post something. First a few notes...
This was getting really long (like the longest I’ve ever written actually!) and I worked/am working very hard on it. I just wanted to get the first part out and will hopefully get the second part out this weekend. 
MC is not at all how she is in the game in this fic.
There’s no smut in this, but will be in the next one 😉 so no warnings here except language.
anddddd I guess that’s it. Hope you enjoy. 💕
MC chewed her lip, eyes scanning her kitchen where piles of dirty dishes and a mess of ingredients taunted her, an embarrassing reminder of her failed attempts at baking. She cursed herself, wishing she was listening as Kiki asked if she’d be willing to make a cake for a company bake sale. “Sure, uh huh,” was her exact response as she focused more on beating her high score on Doodle Jump than the meeting. (Willow later made fun of her for that… “who even plays Doodle Jump anymore?”)
Standing amongst the disaster that was her kitchen, she sighed, picking up her phone and hovering her thumb over Victor’s number in her contacts, for once not giggling at the nickname “Bitch” she had oh so affectionately given him. God, she did not want to call him. Admitting defeat was difficult enough already without the LFG CEO’s insults.
MC shook her head, turning the screen off and shoving the phone into her bra. Sure enough there’d be a shop or two open still and she could get a mix and call it a night. That would be preferable to asking Victor for help and getting berated for “not being able to follow directions” or whatever he might say. MC grabbed her wallet, adding it to her very handy boob/phone holder bra.
Luckily for her, there was a shitty little corner store within walking distance and it wasn’t cold out. It was a bit dark, but she had walked there on several different occasions, at later times than this-and oftentimes intoxicated in some sort of way-so she wasn’t too nervous to make the small trip.
After a ten minute walk she made it to the store. A bell rang as she entered, the lone cashier welcoming her in a monotone voice, eyes not budging from his magazine. She let out a very informal “‘Sup”, though the cashier didn’t seem to notice or care.
“Do you have cake mixes here?” she asked, earning a sigh and an eye roll from the worker. Still not looking at her, he pointed her to one of the aisles. She thanked him before heading over. Squatting down to get a better look, she took a box off the shelf and looked it over. Vanilla should work, she thought, and read the instructions on the back to make sure she had everything else she needed for it. 
MC heard the door ring again but didn’t think much of it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure. “Think I can trick people into thinking I made this from scratch?” She asked, holding out the box to the stranger beside her. He didn’t answer, and she looked over at him, jumping at the sight.
“Jesus Christ!”
“Victor’s fine, thanks,” he replied, taking the mix from her and narrowing his eyes at it. “Really, box cake mix?”
“What are you doing here?” MC asked, crossing her arms. “Also, did you just try to make a joke?”
“Somebody pocket dialed me,” The CEO held his phone up to show her that he was currently on a call with...her. 
MC’s face heated up instantly, and she pulled her phone out of her boobs (much to Victor’s surprise and confusion) to see that, indeed, her phone was on and had been on a call with him since she had left for the shop. She sighed as she hung up the phone and shoved it back into her bra, bracing herself for his insults. 
Victor’s eyes followed the phone into her cleavage unintentionally. The lightest of blushes brushed over his cheeks, so light that MC didn’t even notice. “Haven’t you heard of pockets?”
“Why do I need pockets when I have a perfectly good set of tits to store my stuff in?” she retorted, placing her hands over her aforementioned breasts, giving them a squeeze.
“Goodness gracious,” the CEO griped. “You really are a hot mess.”
“At least I’m hot, right?”
Victor scoffed, ignoring her quip. “You need to pay more attention. I don’t appreciate random calls this late at night.”
“Late?” MC teased, looking down at her phone and pressing the side button to turn on the screen. It illuminated her cleavage as she read the time. “It’s only nine, grandpa.”
“It’s dark out,” he replied, once again ignoring what she said to him. “You never know what creeps are out this time of night.”
“Oh, like the one I just ran into?”
Victor’s eyes darkened as he looked down at her. “Cut the attitude.”
MC didn’t have a chance to talk back as Victor set the box of cake mix back on the shelf. “Were you actually going to buy this nonsense?”
“I agreed to make a cake for the company bake sale and it turns out I’m not a baker.”
“Don’t you make pudding?”
She shrugged. 
“Whatever. I’m not going to let you buy that and I’m most definitely not going to let you give it to anyone else. Come on. We’re going to Souvenir and we’ll whip something up.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“I won’t take no for an answer.”
Victor wrapped his hand around her wrist, guiding her to his car. MC was surprised by how gentle his hand was on her, how he led her but not forcefully, but almost protectively. She looked up at him, taking a moment to admire his profile. She couldn’t help but smile. He was an asshole for sure, but she still always enjoyed spending time with him, and she couldn’t help but feel excited at this late night trip to Souvenir.
At Souvenir, MC waited patiently as Victor rummaged through the kitchen, grabbing flour, sugar, and other ingredients as well as measuring cups, mixing bowls, and the rest of the various items they needed. She hopped up onto the counter, watching him. He was a handsome man, that was for sure, but whenever he cooked, she found him drop dead sexy. He wasn’t even cooking yet, but already had that focused look on his face, eyebrows furrowed and lips in a tight line. She wasn’t sure of his feelings for her. Hell, she wasn’t even sure of her feelings for him, but seeing him like that, she couldn’t help the absolutely raunchy images running through her mind.
“Were you raised by wolves? Get off my damn counter.”
His annoyance at her made her chuckle and she slid off, feet hitting the ground with a soft thud. 
“How many times have I told you not to do that? Not only is it unsanitary, you could fall and get hurt.”
“I’m not a child.”
“Then quit acting like one.”
MC sighed. “You know, you don’t have to do this. I can just go home and buy a premade cake from the grocery store tomorrow morning.”
“Pointless of you to say considering we’re already here,” he argued, “Plus I am not letting you give up that easily. You promised you’d make a cake and you’re going to make one. A real cake, not some crap from a store.”
MC couldn’t help but giggle from his choice of words. “Oooh, you said crap.”
Victor rolled his eyes. “You really are a child.”
“Box cake mixes aren’t that bad, you know,” she said as he handed her an apron. She pulled it over her head and tied it around her back. “Sometimes junk food can be satisfying.”
“What do you mean? I eat desserts.”
“Yeah, but you eat, like, fancy dessert. Not junk food. Like, don’t you ever want to go get a shitty fast food burger or milkshake?”
“I would rather die.”
“You are so dramatic!” MC said with a chuckle.
“Why would I want to eat something that can be described as ‘shitty’?”
Victor rolled his eyes as she once again found humor in his language. She had heard him cuss before and he didn’t really understand why it was so funny to her. He’d never let himself admit that he found pleasure in her laugh.
“Because it tastes good! Even though it’s bad for you. It’s like a guilty pleasure.”
“Are you quite done?” he questioned, the usual irritation in his voice. Not letting her respond, he continued, “ I preheated the oven and greased the pans already, so now you need to sift the flour and baking soda.”
He spoke as he rolled his sleeves up and also donned an apron. MC couldn’t help but look him over, admiring the muscled arms and chest pressing against his button down shirt as he moved. He handed her a sifter. “Use this.”
MC looked at it, confused. 
“Don’t be intimidated. It’s simple,” he told her. He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around to hold her hands. With one hand, he guided her to the bag of flour and together they dumped some into the top of the sifter. With his other hand, he placed hers on the crank on the side and began moving it. MC looked up at him and he smiled ever so slightly. “See? Idiot proof.”
Realizing the close proximity between them, Victor cleared his throat and moved away from her quickly. “Measure out the sugar next,” he told her. “I’ll do the butter. We have to add them together in the mixer.”
Victor handed her a measuring cup, and their fingers brushed together as she took it from him. MC paused for a moment, looking up at him, searching his serious face to see any hint of emotion. None.
 He watched as she carefully measured out the sugar, adding it to his butter in the mixer. MC didn’t see the small smile on his lips as he watched her.
He turned on the mixer. “Now we have to put in the eggs.”
MC nodded, grabbing an egg and cracking it into the mixture. Part of the shell fell in and she let out a “shit!” before reaching in and swiping the piece out with her finger.
“What are you doing!” Victor’s voice boomed, making her jump.
“What?”
“You don’t touch the mixture, you idiot!”
“My hands are clean!”
“It’s still disgusting. Furthermore, don’t just crack the egg into it like that. Crack them in a separate dish.”
“Why does it matter?”
He scoffed, taking the eggs from her. “So you don’t get a shell or a bad egg in there, obviously.”
MC scoffed right back at him before putting her finger into her mouth and licking the ingredients off.
“For fuck’s sake,” he murmured, though she heard it.
“What? You’ve never licked cake mix off your fingers?”
“No, I’m not an animal.”
“Try it.”
“Absolutely not.”
MC poked another finger into the mix much to Victor’s chagrin. She held her hand out to him. “Just do it.”
“If I do it, will you stop touching the mix?”
“I’ll consider it.”
Victor sighed, face twisted in disgust as he leaned forward to tongue the mixture off of her finger. His gaze met hers and for a moment they stared at each other, each one waiting for the other to move. Though Victor was the one to pull away, standing up straight, shoulders stiffening. 
“Well, that was awful. Wash your hands and we’ll continue.”
MC frowned, disappointment and embarrassment settling in. She often felt this way around Victor. Though he annoyed her, there were certain little moments when something he’d say or do would make her heart flutter, and for a split second she’d wonder if there was something between them. She couldn’t help but feel happy at the thought of it, though she tried to bury it. There’s no way that Victor was into her that way. He barely tolerated her.
And, she scolded herself, what would really come out of it even if he was interested? He was her boss. He was an asshole. And she was a moron, as he often reminded her. 
MC took a breath as made her way to the sink to wash away the traces of their tongues on her hand. Victor instantly noticed the change in her demeanor. He didn’t say anything but watched her out of the corner of her eye. He, of course, knew all too well about those shared moments, and had to stop himself often from admiring her. It was inappropriate, and could mean danger for her, and he only wanted what was best for MC. 
❤Part Two coming soon ❤
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tartagilicious · 4 years
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our future > gavin, mlqc
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ok… here comes the actual birthday fic — happy birthday, one of my biggest comfort characters ever <3 I’ve grown to be so attached to him over the time I’ve been playing mlqc, and though I really can’t even put into words how much I love him, he just makes me feel so happy. I truly hope all of us can find someone that makes us feel the way, fictional or real. //w.c 2330 // not a request.
[toothbrush by dnce]
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I’ve only ever met one person I would call truly noble. In the glint of his amber eyes, I've seen more kindness and effort for reform than I have in anyone else -- slowly chipping away at the person everyone had expected him to become to reveal the man he had always wanted himself to be.
My sentiment means very little compared to all that Gavin deserves, but, I’m proud of him. I know very little people that could make it out of such a deep hole, littered with familial and personal issues that even I don’t quite understand. And I thank the deities of fate every day for giving him the chances he needed to get through everything unscathed.
I watch my apartment door open to show his face, suddenly contorting in what I’d call a lost kind of surprise at the small group cheering for him -- as if something about a surprise birthday party doesn’t make sense. But it quickly fades to be replaced with a more familiar happiness, soft like in days of the past.
Yet, his smile is the only thing that remains unchanged in my memory. His spirit has since grown stronger, his body firmer, his sense of justice tighter -- but all of it still belongs to the same man that I have always known.
“Boss!”
Kiki had hissed my name thrice before I realised anyone was calling me that day, and as she smiled mischievously, I knew exactly what she was up to. She must have peered over my shoulder and--
“So, about Gavin.” She had pulled over a seat to sit next to me, in which I quickly clicked off the tab I was on and found something more work-appropriate. Party planning could wait until I was off of work, anyway.
Kiki startled me by asking, “It’s his birthday soon, isn’t it?”
Flashes of the tab I had closed out of flooded my memory, and stammering, I nodded.
“Y-yeah, it is. Why?”
“I think we should throw a party for him! Just as thanks for being so helpful with Miracle Finder, y’know?”
I thought for a moment, painfully aware of Kiki’s eager expression in the corner of my eye even as my mind screamed obscenities. The aforementioned plans held a certain weight in my heart, dragging my mind down with everything I'd be unable to do in the scenario of a party. But, in an effort to keep from having to expose those plans, I swallowed my complaints and agreed.
It’s better this way.
I dropped down onto my bed later that same day and groaned into the pillow, my brows furrowing as I cursed my inability to say no. This wasn’t the end of the world, surely it’d still spin regardless of how the day is spent -- granted that the things I planned to say to him that day aren’t pushed back too far.
That form of reassurance immediately failed to wipe the frown off my face.
Rolling over in a huff, I caught a near perfect glimpse of his gift sitting wrapped on my vanity, its bright and slightly messy packaging mocking me almost more than I could take. Oh, what a day to be reminded that what goes around, comes around.
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Truthfully, the idea didn’t taste as bitter in my mouth the next morning. That didn’t excuse the nauseating feeling of anxiety it left behind, but it was progress nonetheless. I opted to keep my breakfast down and stow his gift away from my prying eyes.
It was the beginnings of a busy day, starting with countless bullets in my planner being scribbled out to make room for the new circumstances. The only thing that had remained unchanged was the guestlist, comprised of the close staff he was aware of on Miracle Finder and Eli. A part of my eagerness faltered looking at the rest of the blacked out page, but all I could do was hope that during our meeting, Eli, the first invitee, had what it would take to bring my spirits back up.
The bus was mostly empty on such an afternoon -- kids in school and adults at work. Yet, of course, a certain someone still somehow managed to show up.
I was broken out of my thoughts by a tap on my shoulder, the smooth yet irritating voice of its owner letting my heart sink a bit further into my stomach. Begrudgingly, I looked up at Shaw’s expecting eyes and sigh.
“The seat’s open, you don’t have to ask me.”
His similarly amber eyes peered down at me through lilac bangs, but his short observation session ended with a simple shrug. Shaw had very little problem plopping right down next to me as if we’d known each other forever, even adding the polite touch of music blaring from his headphones.
I stared for a moment, but shook off whatever thoughts had begun to creep into my mind and turned my attention back over to the open planner in my lap, the page depressingly blank. I couldn’t focus for what seemed like eons, but I looked up to realise that it may have something to do with the unwavering gaze trained on my face.
“Shaw?” I questioned, unable to keep a small smile from my face as his eyebrows suddenly flicked up. “Is something wrong?”
“Working on the bus? I didn’t take you for such an overachiever.”
I snorted, twirling the pen between my fingers absentmindedly as he took out a single earbud. “I guess a busybody like you wouldn’t know.”
“Care to tell this busybody what you’re up to, then?” He hummed and pointed curiously to the scribbled out block of text with his finger. I could feel the temperature in my face rising with each passing second, yet I tried my best to answer him regardless.
“I-I’m trying to plan for someone’s birthday…” I started, laughing awkwardly as Shaw retracted his hand with a teasing smile. “I just had to scrap some things, that’s the mess.”
“Nice, who’s the lucky guy?”
I’m instantly taken aback. “How would you know if it’s a guy?”
I could tell that my reaction had pleased him, and internally kicked myself when he chuckled.
“Is it going well?”
“...I think so.” I said, unaware that I had said this more to myself than him. “I couldn’t let him down for something so simple, anyway.”
Shaw’s teasing words didn’t come as I expected them, and when I looked up to see his smile, my actions staggered. He seemed suspiciously happy to hear about my lacklustre plans, but I didn’t let that get to me. I had an entire afternoon to worry about before diving into whatever was going on in that man’s head.
Though, at the moment, Shaw isn’t the one that should be capturing my attention.
Gavin stands in the entryway now with Eli and Minor on either side of him, actively being showered with wishes of a good birthday and positive comments alike. The man in the centre of it has a wistful smile curling his lips, growing almost imperceptibly wider as the seconds pass.
Though betraying him are his eyes, openly showing the contentedness that I had been hoping to see. A similar small smile appears on my own lips, yet I fail to recognise that my body’s mechanics are no different from Gavin’s.
At least he’s enjoying this.
I feel guilty and self entitled for even thinking in such a way, especially being the only one that the turn of events has inconvenienced. Everything has a right time, it just seems that tonight just wasn’t mine.
My chest grows hotter instinctively when I notice Gavin break away from the excited pair, as if my irrationality is trying to tell me he knows what I’m thinking. But, through everything, his calm and familiar smile comes to wash over me like a bucket of cold water.
“___~” Gavin drags out my name knowingly, the tips of his ears a buzzing red from all of the interaction. The nature of his smile is similar as he takes me into his arms, only enveloping me fully when I begin to laugh.
And, It may be my delusion, but his grip around me somehow seems a bit tighter than usual.
I settle gratefully into his shoulder as he begins to speak, though truthfully, I can’t bring myself to focus on more than a few words:
“Thank you.”
I feel accomplished to still recognise a similar glow in his eyes around an hour later, curiously following the homemade cake that Minor places down in front of him. The icing looping daintily overtop of it reads as a messy “Happy Birthday!”, and my heart swells when he smiles upon reading it.
Surrounded by the people I care about, my circumstances are momentarily forgotten. It really is the little things that count.
The night from then on goes up in a semi-chaotic flame orchestrated by Minor, who seems very determined to make this a night no one will forget. At one point, he even thrusts a noisemaker into my hands, to which I can’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of.
People begin to trickle out some time after the clock chimes midnight, passing me their thanks and Gavin a last wish before leaving. The quietness slowly returns to my apartment, but throughout all of this, I can’t help but notice that Gavin makes no attempt to leave with everyone else. It’s subtle, but the way he lingers around everyone tells me enough.
The only thing I don’t quite understand is why.
Then, I remember the gift in my nightstand. It’s been sitting there, alone but not necessarily forgotten, for a few days, abandoned with my original plans. But, if Gavin really does intend to stick around, then maybe I can still make good use of it.
True to expectations, Gavin says goodbye to the last guest while standing by my side. In the next moment, it’s only us left in the silent apartment, held together by nothing but the sounds of our breathing.
“Thank you, ___.” I turn to him when he suddenly speaks, and find myself startled by the gentleness his eyes possess. “Thank you so much for such an amazing day today. I might have said it last year, but I still want to be honest: so many things have happened since then, and it wasn’t until today that I realised that all of the good things that have happened to me, they’re because of you.”
An embarrassed tint bites at my cheeks. It’s not often that Gavin shares his feelings so openly, and I certainly hadn’t expected such an average experience to draw them out.
I smile. “My life changed for the better when you came back into it, this was the least I could do.”
It’s now his turn to grow shy at my words, and I can’t help but giggle.
“Here,” My laughter fades through my words as I wave for him to sit down on the couch. “I have one last thing for you, so just wait there.”
Gavin doesn’t refute like I expect him to, and instead, he does what I say. But, I don’t miss the tenderness in his gaze even as I turn away.
My heart beats in anticipation as I walk down the hall, almost out of my chest by the time I stop in front of the correct drawer. I’ve backed myself so far into a corner that even if I did want to chicken out, there would be no excuse -- so, I take a deep breath and wrap my hand around the small package, letting the scent of paper cajole me.
He’ll like it.
I repeat that sentence like a mantra as I hand it to him, settling beside him as he opens the box. A huge weight in my heart lifts to see the surprise and excitement in his eyes, and I internally sigh with relief.
“Though it doesn’t have a tracker in it or anything...” I trail off with a small laugh, paying homage to Gavin’s small but running white lie. “I still want you to look down at it and know that wherever you are, I’ll always be there for you.”
Gavin holds up the homemade ginkgo bracelet so it catches the light, its appearance reminiscent to the one he had given me when we first met again. Its charm is slightly bigger than mine, and the chain still faintly smells of the store it was bought from, but that doesn’t even seem to phase him.
“Thank you, ___.” His expression is so unguarded that I almost hesitate. “This is the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever received.”
My face flushes under his compliment, but I quickly pick myself up again and offer to help him put it on. He smiles appreciatively before dropping the small chain bracelet into my palm, holding out his hand.
My embarrassment turns into slight satisfaction when I clasp it around his wrist, my estimation in sizing turning out to be correct. Though, the glint in my eye is long forgotten when Gavin’s hand comes up to rest on the back of my head in a tender gesture.
Heat emanates from where he touches me, so, similarly, I let my fingers over his wrist linger for just a second longer. Painstaking moments pass where neither of us speak, until finally, his hand leads my gaze upwards.
His lips that land on mine remind me of a thousand memories at once.
Gavin tastes of brisk mornings spent in the music room, warm only due to the hot chocolate a curious senior had left for the girl who practiced there every day. He tastes of every compassionate word shared to me, between nights spent dancing in the sky and afternoons around Loveland investigating the truth -- of a unique comfort and familiarity.
It’s in these moments that I realise how much we’ve gone through together, and how much our future truly holds.
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andinewton · 4 years
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Mixer-ed Emotions - Jealous!GavinxMC
Finally!
I know, I’ve taken days over this!  But it ran into 12 pages and took all day for me to reread it just to make sure it made sense!  I’m going to dedicate this to @voltagesmutter​ for listening to me tease sentences and quotes from it as I fought my own body to get any damn work done!
Mixer-ed Emotions
Jealous!GavinxMC (Emci)
Summary:  When you agree to make up numbers at a mixer you don’t realise Gavin is doing the same.  With misunderstanding after misunderstanding and some irritating attendees, will Gavin get to ask you his question when another man shows a lot of interest?
Warnings:  Swearing, threats, violence.
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‘C’mon, Willow, do I have to?’  You whined, dragging your feet much like a child being taken somewhere they didn’t want to go.
‘Yes, you do.  You agreed to help me out.’  Your colleague glanced back at you with a stern look.
‘When I said I’d do this to help you out I didn’t realise you meant it was tonight!’
‘I wouldn’t have needed your help if it wasn’t short notice.’  Willow turned and linked her arm with yours, pulling you along.  ‘And you know there’s no commitment involved, you’re just making up numbers.’
‘But a mixer?  Seriously?’
‘I know you hate the idea but it’s for one night, you are under no obligation to either attend another or decide maybe you like one of the guys tonight and go home with him…’
‘I won’t be going home with anyone!’  You gasped, wide eyed at her suggestion.
‘Sure, okay, you won’t be going home with anyone.’  She shrugged with a smirk.  ‘Anyway, we’re here, and you’ll know more than just me so relax, you’re among friends.’
‘That’s what I’m afraid of.’  You muttered as she opened the door to the bar, the noise hitting you like a solid wall immediately.  With a sigh, you entered, hoping this evening wouldn’t be a bad as you imagined it could be.
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You had a large table at the back for the ten participants.  So far you knew Willow and Kiki, as well as two women from another company who you shared the office building with.  Three of the men were there and Willow assured you that the last two were only a block or two away, according to her phone waved at you when you pointed out you could leave as the numbers weren’t even.
‘Why would you want to go and leave now?  We just got here!’  The man seated opposite you was already a few drinks in and he showed no sign of letting up.  All you had established from his inane consistent drivel was that he was some hot shot in sales, had to turn down several women to make himself available for tonight, and that he loved himself almost as much as he loved the sound of his own voice.  You had so far nodded along with his stories but you really had hoped the other two guests having not arrived might be your chance to escape.
‘We did but if the numbers aren’t even it’s not exactly fair on the other girls, is it?  So if I leave then it’ll be one step closer to even.’
He leant in, breathing fumes all over you.  ‘Or we could both leave and visit this little hotel I know not far from here.’
‘Or we could not.’  You leant away from him as the door to the bar opened, showing Minor rushing through it and towards the table.
‘Sorry, Willow, my friend was running late.’  Minor grinned as he ran his fingers through is unkempt hair, his eyes meeting yours a moment later.  ‘Oh, hey, boss!  Didn’t know you’d be here!’
You narrowed your eyes, his words seeming to imply that perhaps he did, but what difference did that make?  You were knocked out of your pondering by the guy who loved himself tapping your arm.
‘So, are you actually the boss or is that some kind of honorary title because you’re bossy?’
‘Actually, I own the company.’  You gave him a deadpan stare.  ‘I am literally the boss to three people at this table.’
‘Ohhh, a ballbuster, huh?’  He nodded before taking another slug of his drink.  ‘Well, good luck to you, it’s a mans world out there and it’ll all be for nought once you get married and start popping out babies.  But I guess your husband could take over the business, probably make it more profitable too.’
‘We’re already profitable.’  You replied.  ‘And I have no plans to get married or have children in the foreseeable future!’
‘That all changes when you career women meet the right man.’  He laughed.  ‘Same story, every time.’
‘Sorry I’m late.’
Your open mouth full of some choice words snapped shut as you turned toward the new voice, seeing Gavin standing at the end of the table, looking sheepish and like he didn’t want to be there.  He didn’t seem to have noticed you yet and you wondered if it was too late for you to make a break for the bathroom and escape through a window.
‘Huh, new guy.’  The salesman slung his arm around the back of your seat territorially.  ‘Being late makes a bad impression.  Now, take me.  I was early, had a bottle of sake on the table ready for your arrival.  That’s husband material.’
‘Drinking half the bottle before anyone else gets here though, that’s not.’  You retorted but you were still side eyeing Gavin as he took his seat, one of the women from the other office shuffling closer to talk to him.
‘I’ll buy another.’  He snapped his fingers for the wait staff, finally leaning away from you and allowing you to take a breath of fresher air.
Your eyes were back on Gavin in seconds, like something drew you to him, and this time he was looking back at you, a mixture of surprise and horror on his face.  You guess you were the last person he was expecting to see here tonight.  The woman was talking to him animatedly but you could tell from the look on his face that he was only being polite, his eyes clouded over and his gaze just as dark.
‘Now we’re all here I’ll get our food brought out.’  Willow waved to the bar where the manager, apparently a friend of hers, acknowledged her with a smile and headed into the kitchen.  In minutes several platters of finger foods were delivered and arranged on the table within reach of everyone.  You were happy of the distraction and picked up a mozzarella stick, biting the end off while the guy continued to talk about himself.
Your mood had been bad enough before Gavin’s arrival but now it was worse, stolen glances his way showing the woman hand feeding him food from the platters.  Gavin wasn’t one for PDAs and he blushed easily, you could see the rose on his cheeks from here, but you were unsure whether or not it was from being embarrassed or because he was enjoying himself.  You huffed a sigh, just as you caught the last few words the man beside you.
‘Don’t you think?’
You looked at him while trying to hide your confusion, having no idea what you were supposed to be agreeing on.  ‘Will you excuse me for a moment?’  You got to your feet without another word and headed towards the bathrooms at the back.
‘Don’t be too long.’  He called after you and you rolled your eyes.  Never again, favour to a friend or not.
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Just as you reached the door you noticed the outdoor seating area and decided to detour.  You didn’t actually need the bathroom just an escape from the inane conversation…and Gavin being so damn happy with another woman.  You took a deep breath in through your nose of the cool night air but it did little to clear your head or heart.  You knew this was a stupid idea, you just hadn’t known how stupid.  Which was very.
‘Hey.’
You jumped as the voice of the very man you were thinking of spoke from the door, turning to see Gavin strolling towards you with his hands in his pockets, head lowered, a sheepish expression on his face.  You turned back around immediately, swallowing hard as so many emotions ran through you.  You didn’t want to see him, you didn’t want to see anybody, and even now you were considering scaling the fence and escaping this entire event.
‘Can we talk?’
Oh you hated that phrase.  It was never the start of a fun conversation, it never ended well.  ‘I don’t see that we have anything to talk about.’
‘Then rather than talk, just answer me one thing.  This is what you blew me off for?  Some mixer with random guys who could be anyone?’
‘I didn’t blow you off.’  You argued as you sensed him stop behind you.  ‘Willow asked me to make up numbers a couple of hours before you asked me to dinner and I’m not one to go back on a promise to a friend, no matter how stupid.’  You muttered the last to yourself.  ‘And what about you?  I ask for a rain check and you start food play with the first woman who looks at you?’
‘That’s not what…’
‘I don’t even care any more.’  You interrupted him mid sentence.  ‘I’m done for the night.’  Heading back towards the restaurant you half expected him to try and stop you, and when he didn’t you weren’t sure if you were disappointed or relieved.  You went to the table, grabbed your bag and jacket, telling Willow you would see her at work before leaving to calls asking where you were going from at least three people, one you were sure was the chatty show off.
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You pulled on your jacket as the first spots of rain fell from the sky, quickly turning into a deluge as you walked, wanting some distance between you and the restaurant, between you and Gavin and his little foodie friend.  You tried hailing a cab but they were all taken and that left you with no choice other than to walk to the nearest station.
You had almost made it when your arm was grabbed from behind and you spun, half ready for it to be a mugger, half ready for it to be Gavin, either way you were ready to swing your bag and cause as much damage as possible.  But it was neither one.  Yeah, of course it was that jerk from the mixer.
‘Where are you heading?’  He asked, drawing you to a halt as you stopped the progress of your bag swing.
‘Home.’  You stated firmly, proud that your voice held firm despite how churned up you felt inside.
‘I’m not going to say no to that offer.’  He grinned.  ‘I have a car parked not far from here.’
‘That’s not what’s happening here!’  You shook his hand off your arm.  ‘I am going home, alone, end of story.’
‘Don’t be a prude.’  He scoffed, catching your wrist with his hand in a firm grip you were unsure you could break.  ‘You’ve been coming on to me all evening and you aren’t leaving me with blue balls.’
‘Don’t flatter yourself!’  You swung your bag at him only to have your other wrist caught and wrenched behind your back with the other.  You suddenly found yourself very up close and personal with this douchebag with no way out.  ‘Get the fuck off me!’  You growled, but it only made his grin broaden, his eyes darken.
‘If I didn’t know better I’d think you’re getting a kick out of this.’  He closed the distance between you, his tongue protruding as he approached.
Your heart leapt in your mouth as fear dragged its cold fingers up your spine.  This wasn’t how you wanted tonight to go, none of it was, and you were beginning to wonder if you had been cursed from the minute you had to turn Gavin down.
‘If you want to keep that attached to your body you’d better rethink your entire position.’
You had never been so relieved to hear Gavin’s voice, the jerk before you freezing before looking back over his shoulder.  ‘This doesn’t concern you, pretty boy.  I’m just getting what I’m owed from this prick tease here.’
‘Emci is a lot of things,’ Gavin remarked casually as he slowly walked to stand parallel to the two of you, keeping his movements measured and cautious, ‘but that isn’t one of them.’
‘What do you know?’  He released one of your arms as he leant threateningly towards Gavin.
‘I know you have three seconds to get your damn meathooks off her before I make you.’
The man laughed, long and hard, as though this was the funniest thing he had ever heard, which gave you the opportunity to make eye contact with Gavin.  He nodded infinitesimally for you to side step away from the man as far as you could, and you were only too happy to oblige.
‘That’s your three seconds, junior, what are you going to…’
He didn’t get to finish.  A gust of concentrated wind hit him square in the chest, jarring his hand from your arm as he staggered back into a parked car.  You stumbled away from him and towards Gavin with his hand reaching towards you encouragingly.  The moment you reached him he had you close, his eyes never once leaving his target.
‘You okay?’
‘Been better.’  You nodded rapidly.  ‘But yeah, I’m okay.’
‘You son of a…!’  Your brief chatter was broken by the man dragging himself to his feet, drawing a knife as he did so.
‘You brought a knife to a mixer?!’  You yelled, not quite believing your eyes.  You could have been in a lot more trouble than you imagined.
‘That bitch is mine for the night and I’m not going to let a kid like you take her from me.’  He slashed out at nothing, almost a warning shot, Gavin backing you up a step to give you more distance.
‘See, that’s where we differ.’  Gavin replied.  ‘I don’t just want her for a night.’
‘Gavin, be careful.’  You warned him as he showed no signs of retreat.
‘I’ve got this.’  He assured you, keeping you one step behind him.
‘You’ve got nothing!’  The guy lunged forward the knife swinging through the rain, but his wrist was met by Gavin’s foot, the sound of the two meeting resonating loudly.  Whatever tough guy facade this guy had put on dissolved in an instant, the knife flying from his grip as he grasped his wrist, crying out loud like a wounded animal.
‘Okay, let’s get out of here.’
‘But what about him?’  You had been unable to take your eyes off the man until now, looking up at Gavin as he wrapped both arms around you.
‘I’ll get his details from Willow tomorrow.  He’s going to have to explain himself down at the station.’
‘But…’
‘No buts.’  Gavin interjected.  ‘I want you safe.’
You didn’t know how to argue with that and Gavin took your silence as permission, taking you both into the air on a wind that pushed the rain away from you.
🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍
Minutes later Gavin set you both down outside your apartment building, following you inside in silence to ensure you got in okay.  You put your key in the lock and opened the door before turning to Gavin.
‘You should come in a dry off a bit.’  And, without waiting for a reply, you went inside.  Kicking off your shoes you headed to the bathroom and grabbed two clean towels from the shelves, draping one over your own head before going back out to find Gavin standing just inside the closed door.  ‘Here.’  You passed him the towel and headed into your kitchen, planning on making yourself a coffee to help calm your nerves which were even now causing tremors to run through your body.
You were leaning heavily on the countertop waiting for the coffee to drip through when Gavin spoke from behind you.
‘Are you okay?’
You sighed long and loud before replying.  ‘I don’t even know.’
‘You’re not hurt though?’  He must have stepped closer.  His voice was still low but it was nearer now.
‘Not physically.’
‘I know being attacked can be traumatising, you don’t have to be hurt for it to affect you.’
‘You think this is about that dick with his overcompensatingly large knife?’  You looked over your shoulder at him.  ‘Do you want a coffee?’
‘If you don’t mind, but you seem kind of…on edge.  If you’d rather I go…’
‘And you know what else?’  You spun on him.  ‘Why would you let that woman finger fuck you with food?  I happen to know she’s known as the office bike!’
‘Office…bike?’  He looked thoroughly confused by your statement.
‘Yes, the office bike!  As in everyone has had a ride!’
‘A ride…oh.’  Gavin flushed pink all the way up to his ears.
‘If you hadn’t come after me chances were you were onto a good thing.’  You took two mugs out of the cabinet, fixing them automatically to how you both liked it.
‘I wouldn’t call that good.’  Gavin winced.  ‘And what about you?  Listening all doe eyed to a knife wielding maniac all night?’
‘Doe eyed?’  You glared at him.  ‘I was zoning out, he was so boring!’
‘Well, I was force fed so much food I almost gagged!  It’s not my idea of a good time!  I wanted to take you out to dinner tonight and ask you to be my girlfriend!’
‘Pass me the milk!’  You all but screamed it at him, not knowing how else to react to what he had just said other than to finish making the drinks.
‘Here!’  He slammed it down on the countertop beside the cups and for some reason that broke you.
You sputtered a laugh, bowing your head as you tried to keep it in, shoulders shaking with the effort.
‘Emci, I’m sorry.’  Gavin spoke rapidly.  ‘I didn’t mean to upset you, please don’t cry.’  His hand fell on your shoulder and you finally looked up at him, you face a barely kept grin.
‘We are such idiots, Gavin.  Stupid, stupid idiots.’  You shook your head.  ‘If I’d known you wanted to take me out I would never have agreed to stand in for Willow, and if I had known you were going to be there tonight I’d have paired off with you.’
‘Maybe then you could have hand fed me.’  He asked tentatively.
‘And I wouldn’t have an asshole draw a knife on me.’
‘But then he might have cornered some other girl.  At least this way he’s getting reported.’
‘That’s the bright side you’re getting out of this?’  You looked up at him in disbelief.  ‘I just told you I’d rather be with you, and you said you were going to ask me to be your girlfriend, and something about wanting me for more than just a night?’
Gavin flushed cutely as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.  ‘I might have said something like that.’
‘Something like that or that exactly?’  You pushed.
‘That exactly.’  Gavin’s blush darkened a few shades.  ‘You aren’t making this easy, are you?’
‘And the whole asking me to be your girlfriend thing?’
‘After tonight I’m not as sure as I was that you’ll say yes.’
You stepped forward and brushed his wet bangs aside.  ‘Why don’t you try me?’
‘Now?’  His eyes went wide.
You shrugged.  ‘I’m all ears, if there’s something you want to ask.’
‘Right.’  He cleared his throat before taking both of your hands in his.  ‘I had this whole speech prepared for how to ask you but I have totally forgotten it, so, here goes: Emci, I’d really like it if you’d consider becoming my girlfriend.’
‘Huh.’  You nodded as he looked at you expectantly.  ‘To the point, sweet, very you.  Having considered it, as you suggest, I would have to say…’
‘Please, Emci, don’t leave me hanging.’  He begged.
‘Umm…yes!’
‘Yes?’  Gavin looked at you in disbelief, his face splitting into a grin when you nodded.  ‘That’s…amazing!  So great!  Can I…can I kiss you?’
You nodded happily and his hand came up to caress your cheek, thumb brushing over your cheekbone as his lips drew closer to yours.  Your heart raced, your pulse loud in your ear.  The butterflies in your stomach took flight as his lips…pressed softly to your cheek.
You looked up at him in surprise as he leant back again, his cheeks redder than you had ever seen them.
‘I don’t want to rush you.’  Was the noble sentiment that came out of his mouth, but that wasn’t what you wanted to hear.
‘Oh, Gavin.’  You sighed, before stepping into his personal space, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, and pulling him down for a long, slow kiss.  As you came away from one another you kept your eyes closed for a moment, savouring the tastes and sensations of Gavin’s lips, sighing contentedly as you opened them again.  ‘Totally worth almost getting stabbed for.’
‘Nothing is worth that, and I’m going to teach you some more self defence.  My girlfriend needs to be able to protect herself when I’m not around.’
‘Your girlfriend.’  You pondered it a moment.  ‘You know, I could definitely get used to that.’
Gavin pulled you closer once more, ducking his head for another kiss.  ‘Me too.’
🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍
You were woken early the next morning by the text tone on your phone.  Reaching out you grabbed it and dragged it into the blankets with you, squinting at the bright screen.
Willow:  Well, you were right!  You didn’t leave with anyONE from last night, you left with two!
You still felt warm and fuzzy from Gavin’s goodnight kiss on your balcony and you couldn’t muster the anger you held last night.
MC:  Yeah, and one of those two ended up in jail.
Willow:  Wait, jail?  What happened?!
MC:  We’ll talk at work on Monday.
Willow: 😬
Checking the time, you nuzzled back into your pillow.  Gavin was meeting you for lunch, but until then, you could stay contentedly snug and relive the best parts of last night.
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artificialqueens · 4 years
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You're All I Want (for Christmas), Part 1 (Branjie) - Kiki
A/N: College ending for the semester means I am trying to force myself to feel as festive as I possibly can by writing Christmas fics lmao. I hope you guys enjoy this, it’s gonna have another two parts and I had so much fun writing it, hope you enjoy! 
Summary: A classic Christmas past, present & future fic. Brooke and Vanessa meet at a club one night and hope to have the best Christmas ever.
12th March 2018:
Brooke Lynn had never wanted to be at home more than she did right now. It was Detox’s birthday, one of her best friends from college, and while she should be excited to spend the night celebrating with her friends, all she wanted to do was go home, have a hot bath and go to sleep. She had been absolutely killing herself at work recently, trying to impress the senior partners at the law firm she worked at which had meant pretty much little to no relaxation time and the one night off she could afford to take would have to be spent in a club? Not ideal, at least not for Brooke.
She walked into the club with Nina at her side. Nina had spent the last ten minutes outside the club giving Brooke a pep-talk as to why she shouldn’t bail on this birthday party and eventually Brooke agreed to stay for at least an hour or two. Brooke knew that the reason Nina wanted her to stay so badly was so that she wouldn’t be left alone with Detox’s work friends but Brooke could understand that. She wouldn’t want to be left alone with complete strangers in a club either.
They handed their coats into the coat check and as soon as they turned the corner, they were straight in the middle of the club’s dancefloor. It didn’t take long for them to spot Detox in the massive booth that she had reserved for them, dancing on the table and drinking straight from a bottle of champagne. Nina rolled her eyes fondly at the birthday girl and Brooke knew deep down that this was going to be a messy night if Detox had her way.
It seemed as though they were the last two to make it to the club. There were only two empty seats left at the table and after they had said hi to Detox and wished her a happy birthday, the two girls sat down opposite each other. Brooke turned to her left to say hi to whoever she was sitting next to, just to be polite, but what she saw took her breath away. The girl next to her presumably worked with Detox and considering they worked in the fashion industry, all of Detox’s friends always looked phenomenal but Brooke was absolutely overwhelmed by this girl’s beauty. Brooke had to physically make an effort to close her mouth because if she didn’t her, her jaw would have probably been on the floor in a matter of seconds.
“Hey…I’m Vanessa.” The girl smiled brightly at Brooke and Brooke knew that she must look like an absolute creep considering that she had just been staring at her and not saying anything. Brooke quickly recovered and was able to hold a conversation with Vanessa without making herself look like an idiot. They talked about work, about how they knew Detox, just basic things that strangers would talk about. But there was something about how at ease Brooke Lynn felt the entire time she was talking to Vanessa. It was easy…almost familiar.
Detox kept ordering rounds of shots for the table and was refusing to let anyone get away with not taking one. Everybody had been on the dancefloor and doing things that normal people would do when they went to a club, but not Brooke and Vanessa. They had spent the entire evening getting closer and closer to each other on the couch after each shot was brought to them.
Brooke swore she had never laughed as much as she did that night. Vanessa’s stories were hilarious and the way she told them made Brooke captivated by her every word. She genuinely believed that Vanessa could read the phone book to her and Brooke would still be highly entertained. Vanessa’s humour aside, they seemed to have an amazing connection considering they had only met two hours ago. Brooke found herself opening up to Vanessa more than she would to her own family members and that said something about how approachable Vanessa was.
After the third hour of talking to Vanessa, Brooke knew she had to get her number. She couldn’t let her get away without asking her out on a date. She knew that they were both tipsy but surely Vanessa must feel how intense their connection is too, right? Brooke was working herself up to ask Vanessa, all of her usual confidence with flirting with women completely gone, when something ruined her chances.
That something was Nina. She had been out dancing with Detox and the rest of the group and came back to the table and loudly announced that she was going to puke all over the floor if she didn’t get out of there immediately. Any other night, Brooke would have laughed at Nina since she is notoriously known for being bad at holding her liquor, but tonight Brooke found herself being a bit upset that her night was being cut short, which was a big change to how she felt at the beginning of the night.
Brooke apologised to Vanessa but of course Vanessa understood that she had to take care of her friend. Nina bolted towards the exit of the club, leaving Brooke to grab all of their belongings and run after her, hoping that Nina didn’t puke on the floor before she got there.
Vanessa was sad to see Brooke go. She hadn’t felt a kind of connection like that with anyone in a long time. She awkwardly went to go and join Detox and the rest of her work friends on the dancefloor knowing she would immediately get teased by everyone for spending her entire night with a stranger. But damn, to Vanessa, it had been all worth it.
20th March 2018:
Brooke was sitting in a local brunch spot with Nina waiting for Detox to show up. She always knew in advance that Detox would be late to everything that wasn’t a night out in a club but every time it still managed to shock her. They had been waiting for half an hour now and Nina had not stopped apologising for how drunk she had gotten the week before at Detox’s birthday party. Brooke was hoping Detox would show up soon, not just so they could order their food but so she could stop listening to Nina apologise for the hundredth time in a row.
Finally, Detox decided to grace them with her presence and they all ordered their food and of course, Detox put an order in for three mimosas and Nina immediately turned it down. Nina started to, once again, apologise for how drunk she had gotten and Brooke had, once again, reassured her that it was no big deal and that it happened to all of them every once in a while. Detox told them the stories of what had happened after Brooke and Nina left the club and from the sounds of it, Detox had gotten even drunker than Nina had.
“Vanessa had to bring me back to my place, I could barely fucking remember my own address!” Detox laughed while telling the story which seemed to comfort Nina a lot, but Brooke couldn’t help becoming more interested in what Detox had to say once she mentioned Vanessa’s name.
“Vanessa seemed really nice…” Brooke said kind of quietly, trying not to show the effect that Vanessa had had on her. In reality, Brooke had not stopped thinking about her. She could still hear her laugh and could still picture the excited look on her face when she was talking about something she was passionate about…but Detox didn’t need to know that.
Detox raised her eyebrow, clearly picking up on Brooke’s unsubtle words. “Nice? Really, B?”
“Yeah, we talked for a bit and she was a really nice girl.” Brooke tried to act completely uninterested but she knew that it wasn’t going well for her.
“A bit? Brooke Lynn Hytes, you spent the entire night with her.” Nina said while laughing and Detox joined in, both of the girls clearly enjoying that they had something to tease Brooke about. Brooke rolled her eyes in annoyance and realised that this wasn’t going to be as easy as she had previously thought.
“Fine, can you please just give me her number, D? I really wanna talk to her again.” Brooke Lynn admitted and thankfully, Detox had a smile on her face and seemed impressed that Brooke had just asked for what she wanted instead of being too proud to admit that she had a crush on someone.
“Finally, I was waiting for you to ask…she’s been bugging me all week for me to give you her number, she can be the most annoying person when she gets her mind set on something,” Detox picked her bag up off of the floor and started searching through it, taking out a small business card and handing it to Brooke. “Here. Vanessa’s a wild one but she’s got a heart of gold, hope you enjoy.” Detox ended her sentence with a wink and Brooke could feel her cheeks heat up with embarrassment. She decided to wait until she got home to send the first message to Vanessa and she was beyond excited.
As soon as she got back to her apartment, she got changed into some comfier clothes and sat down on the couch with her phone in her hand. She didn’t know how to start off the text to Vanessa. She didn’t want to appear desperate or uncool. But she also didn’t want to sound like she didn’t care. She decided to just play it safe and say hi, even though she knew deep down that it would probably be an extremely boring text for Vanessa to receive.
B: Hey, it’s Brooke Lynn from the club. Detox gave me your number, how are you?
As Brooke pressed send, her heart rate immediately sped up. She hated how lame she sounded but she couldn’t help but stare at her phone waiting for a response. Thankfully, Vanessa replied almost immediately.
V: Well well well, Miss Brooke Lynn Hytes. You took your damn time texting me, didn’t you? ;) 
B: Actually, Detox only gave your number to me an hour ago. She made me ask for it before she gave it to me lol
V: Aww, so you wanted to talk to me again? That’s sweet :)
Brooke felt like she was in middle school again. Texting Vanessa was just as addictive as talking to her in real life had been. They hit it off again right away and started talking about random things; how their weeks had been, how work was going and how much Vanessa wanted to adopt a kitten. After an hour and a half of texting and enough flirting to last a lifetime, Vanessa had enough.
V: So Brookie, when are you gonna ask me out on a date?
B: Lol, how about I ask you now?
V: Seems like a good idea, you should never keep a lady waiting
B: Dinner next Saturday? Promise not to keep you waiting again
V: Can’t wait <3
27th October 2018:
Six months later, Vanessa and Brooke were still together. Brooke asked Vanessa to be her girlfriend on their second date and since then, they were inseparable. Every moment they had off work was spent in either Brooke or Vanessa’s apartment (usually Vanessa’s since it was bigger) and they would cook each other dinner and just hang out, enjoying each other’s company.
Vanessa was in her kitchen making pasta for her and Brooke to have for dinner that night. Brooke was coming over as soon as she finished work, which was any minute now, and Vanessa was nervous. She was going to ask Brooke to move in with her. Realistically, she knew that it might be too soon to ask but Brooke’s lease was coming to an end soon and she knew that Brooke hated her own apartment so the timing was perfect. Brooke hadn’t renewed her lease and that gave Vanessa hope that maybe she was thinking about moving in together too.
Another factor that made Vanessa think this was a good idea was that they had said “I love you” to each other after just one month of dating. Vanessa had a smile on her face as she stirred the pasta sauce whilst thinking about their relationship. She knew deep down in her heart that their relationship was meant to be and that moving in together was the next logical step.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door and Brooke let herself in. As soon as Vanessa heard Brooke’s voice, the nerves came rushing back. She knew that there was no backing out now.
Vanessa had timed the dinner perfectly; it was ready as soon as Brooke had got there. She served the pasta into two bowls and handed one to Brooke and they sat down and enjoyed their meal together. Brooke noticed that Vanessa seemed different today, she was her usual energetic self but in a different way. Instead of seeming excited, she seemed nervous and jumpy. After they finished their meal, Brooke asked Vanessa what was going on and while Vanessa had an entire speech prepped in her mind about how she wanted to ask Brooke, all that came out was: “Move in with me.”
There was a deafening silence in the room that made Vanessa even more scared and just as she was about to start rambling all of the different reasons that had made her even think of saying that, Brooke simply replied by saying “Okay.”
“What?” Vanessa was shocked. Brooke planned everything out in advance. She had thought it would at least take some convincing to get Brooke to even consider the idea of moving in with her but no, she had agreed almost immediately.
“I said okay, I’ll move in with you.” Brooke replied like it was no big deal and got up to go hug Vanessa. Vanessa had an enormous grin on her face and decided that a hug was not enough. She grabbed Brooke’s face with her hands and gave her a massive kiss, not allowing either of them to come up for air until Vanessa was satisfied. Brooke picked Vanessa up with ease and brought her over to the couch where she laid her down and kissed her some more.
After a while, it hit Vanessa that this was really happening. Brooke was really going to move into her apartment. Their apartment. They were going to live together, see each other every single day. When she woke up in the morning, Brooke would be the first person she would see and when she went to sleep, Brooke would be the last person she spoke to. She was beyond excited.
“So what are you thinking about Christmas? What kind of decorations should we get?” Vanessa asked with a tone that was so serious yet so endearing to Brooke at the same time. She laughed at her girlfriend’s eagerness and wrapped her arm around her side.
“October isn’t even over yet, babe. Let’s make it through Halloween first.” Brooke said with a laugh while she placed a kiss on the top of Vanessa’s head which made Vanessa giggle.
“Okay, fine…but if I find out you’re one of those bitches who likes those tacky colourful lights on their Christmas tree instead of white ones, I’m not gonna be happy.”
10th December 2018:
Brooke Lynn walked out of the café near Vanessa’s office with two takeaway coffee cups and a paper bag in her hand. She had gone to work super early that morning so she could finish earlier and surprise Vanessa by picking her up from work. She picked up some of the luxurious hot chocolate and some champagne truffles (two of Vanessa’s absolute favourite treats) and walked into the large building in Manhattan where Vanessa worked. She took the elevator to the 42nd floor and walked over to the area where Vanessa’s office was located.
Vanessa’s eyes lit up every time Brooke walked into the room and Brooke didn’t think she could ever get tired of seeing it happen. Vanessa quickly ran over to her girlfriend and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before grabbing the hot chocolate and telling Brooke how much she loved her, which of course, Brooke replied to instantly.
“You guys make me nauseous, stop being so in love,” Detox said loudly as she walked by with a ton of files in her hand. “Some of us have to work, we can’t just have our girlfriend pick us up and leave at five o’clock on the dot.” Brooke rolled her eyes fondly and Vanessa turned around to face her.
“Shut the fuck up Detox, maybe if you arrived to work on time you could actually leave on time for once!” Vanessa stuck her tongue out at Detox which made Detox break her bitchy façade and laugh back at her. Brooke loved sharing a best friend with Vanessa, it always made hanging out with people so much easier when they already both wanted to hang out with the same people.
Brooke noticed that Vanessa had been a little down recently and she was on a mission to cheer her up. Her mom was going to visit her grandmother in Puerto Rico and Vanessa wasn’t able to take that much time off work to be able to go with her so it was going to be her first Christmas that she had ever spent without her mom. Therefore, Brooke had made it her own personal goal to make sure that the entire festive period was super fun for Vanessa so she didn’t even have time to think about missing her family.
As soon as they left Vanessa’s office, they went to pick out a Christmas tree for their apartment because Brooke insisted the real ones were nicer to look at and smelled better than the fake ones. Plus Vanessa had never owned a real tree before and Brooke’s Canadian heart just couldn’t accept that.
When they got the six-foot tree back to the apartment and got it all set up in its holder (meaning Brooke got it set up while Vanessa watched), Vanessa revealed all of the boxes of Christmas decorations that she had ordered in the last few weeks that she couldn’t wait to put up. There were a ton of different baubles for the tree, Vanessa had decided on a red and gold theme with, of course, the white Christmas tree lights. Vanessa even got a star to go on the top of the tree that had “B&V” written on it which made Brooke a lot more emotional than she cared to admit.
Once they were finally finished decorating and Vanessa had finished her rendition of All I Want for Christmas is You, the apartment looked like a Winter Wonderland. Vanessa knew that Brooke didn’t love Christmas as much as she did and that all of this was done to make sure that she was feeling okay about not being able to see her family and that made it all the better for Vanessa. Knowing that Brooke would do whatever she could just to make sure that she was okay made her happier than anything else ever could.
16th December 2018:
Vanessa had her surprise for Brooke planned since September and she was extremely proud of herself for not ruining the surprise and telling Brooke everything immediately. She even checked with Nina and Detox to make sure that Brooke would absolutely love what she had planned for her and they agreed that, yes, she would enjoy it a lot.
Brooke used to be a ballet dancer and was good enough to be a professional but had to quit because of an injury that didn’t heal properly. Vanessa figured out quite quickly after knowing Brooke that ballet still meant a lot to her and was still one of her passions, even if she couldn’t do it the same way she used to. Brooke told her stories of how her parents used to bring her to see a ton of different ballet performances any time they left their hometown of Toronto to visit New York City because, in Brooke’s opinion, that’s where all the best ballet shows are. Brooke especially loved it during the Christmas season because that’s when her absolute favourite ballet, The Nutcracker, was performed.
And that was exactly what Vanessa had bought them tickets to go and see. Vanessa knew that Brooke would never buy the tickets for herself. Working at a law firm was such a demanding job and she knew that if Brooke had time off, she would spend it with Vanessa instead of watching a ballet performance. So that’s why Vanessa felt that it was a necessity for her to spoil her girlfriend and treat her to something she wouldn’t even dream of buying for herself.
Since it was a Sunday, neither of them had to go to work and they spent the day relaxing in their apartment not doing much. But around three o’clock, Vanessa told Brooke that she had a surprise planned and that they needed to start getting ready and putting their fanciest outfits on and to be ready for six o’clock.
Vanessa worked for a fashion company, it was her job to choose and put together outfits for the brand to then go on and sell so when she saw how put together Brooke’s personal style, it made her very happy. Vanessa took her time curling her hair and noticed that Brooke was practically busting with excitement and Vanessa was overwhelmed with joy.
They hopped in an Uber and went to Brooke’s favourite French restaurant and Vanessa felt so sneaky that Brooke believed her when she said that was the surprise. Brooke was so happy with having dinner but little did she know what was coming next.
“I love you so much, V.” Brooke said as they were sipping on their wine and eating their meal.
Vanessa smiled and felt her heart tug with joy. “I love you too, baby,” Vanessa had to stop Brooke from taking the dessert menu when the waiter offered it to them and Brooke looked so disappointed. “We have places to be, Brooke Lynn. We can order your cake next time.” Vanessa paid the bill and took Brooke’s hand. Brooke was already asking her a million questions about where they were going next and it took every fibre of Vanessa’s being to stay quiet until they finally reached their destination: the Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts.
Brooke’s jaw dropped when she realised what building they were standing outside. “V…you didn’t.” Vanessa reached into her clutch bag and took out two tickets that said “The New York City Ballet’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker”.
“Yup, Brookie…I did.” She waved the tickets in front of Brooke’s stunned face and Brooke grabbed them from her hands in shock. Vanessa watched as her girlfriend’s face went from shocked to ecstatic in just a matter of seconds and she was so happy that Brooke had reacted just how she had wanted her to. Brooke grabbed Vanessa’s face and kissed her like her life depended on it.
“Careful, babe…we’re going to the ballet, you can’t ruin my lipstick. I gotta look all fancy.” Vanessa said, taking out the small mirror she kept in her purse and making sure her makeup wasn’t ruined. Brooke laughed at her girlfriend’s dramatics and took her hand, leading her inside. They took their seats quickly and the show started at exactly eight o’clock.
Vanessa had never been to a ballet show before so she didn’t really know what to expect. She was grateful that she was at least a tiny bit familiar with the Nutcracker as it was probably one of the most well know ballet storylines. But she didn’t watch much of the dancing. Brooke’s eyes were glued to the stage, she had a massive smile on her face throughout the entire performance her eyes were sparkling with delight. Vanessa spent most of the performance watching Brooke. Watching how happy the surprise had made her made Vanessa feel so proud that something she did had made the person she loved so happy.
22nd December 2018:
Brooke woke up on Saturday morning to the sound of a text notification on her phone. She felt relieved when she saw that Vanessa’s side of the bed was empty. She had gone to finish off her Christmas shopping and Brooke needed her gone to be able to collect and set up her Christmas gift before she got home. She was beyond excited to see Vanessa’s reaction to what she had got her. She just knows that Vanessa is going to love it.
At first, Brooke had been a bit disappointed that she couldn’t keep the gift hidden until Christmas Day but that would have been impossible given the circumstances. Vanessa would definitely hear the gift making noise throughout the day. Plus, all of the shelters were closed on the 25th.
Brooke quickly got dressed and braced herself for the cold weather. She walked the short walk to the shelter near their apartment and almost immediately after she arrived, a tiny kitten in a travel cage was brought out to her. Brooke fell in love with him instantly.
She brought him home and was again thankful that Vanessa was gone for the morning so that she could get all of the supplies set up for their new family member. She had somehow managed to order most of the things online and keep them hidden from Vanessa which she thought would be a lot more difficult than it actually was. Usually Vanessa could tell when Brooke was hiding something but thankfully Brooke was able to keep it together this time. She went to the closet in the guest bedroom and lifted up the blanket that she had used to hide all of the supplies. She got him a new bed, a collar, some food and a food bowl, a litter tray and probably about twenty different toys. She knew that she may have gone slightly overboard with her purchases but could guarantee that Vanessa would love all of it.
After she gathered all the supplies and brought them to the living room, she opened the door to the cage and tried to coax the kitten out. The people at the shelter said it might take a while for him to be brave enough to come out so Brooke decided to start setting up his bed and give him the space he needed. As soon as she was done setting up his new sleeping area with all of the different blankets, he slowly walked over to where Brooke Lynn was sitting on the floor.
Brooke was so happy that she had met the little cutie a few times before bringing home. Now he wouldn’t be with total strangers as he had been able to get used to Brooke, even just a tiny bit. Brooke was being very still so that she wouldn’t frighten him and he immediately cuddled into her side and began purring. Brooke didn’t think she could love an animal as much as she currently did and she had only owned him for about ten minutes.
She picked his tiny little body up and sat down on the couch with him, gently stroking his head. The kitten started to fall asleep and Brooke swore she had never felt as peaceful as she did in that moment. That all changed when she heard Vanessa using her key to open the door. She leapt up off the couch and put the kitten into his new bed and rushed to the door to greet her.
“Hi baby,” Vanessa said as she opened up the door with about ten different bags in her hands. “What have you been up to?”
Brooke Lynn could barely contain herself. “I have a surprise for you.” As soon as Brooke said that, Vanessa heard a tiny bell ring and as she turned the corner into toe living room, she saw what created that noise. It was a bell attached to a collar…on a tiny little kitten. The exact type of kitten that she had told Brooke she wanted.
The kitten was standing in the middle of the room just staring up at her and Vanessa almost died from how cute he was. She ran straight to him and held him in her arms and it was clear that it was love at first sight for the both of them. The kitten rested his head in the crook of her arm and Vanessa never wanted to move a muscle again in case she disturbed his rest.
Vanessa immediately started crying and Brooke knew that it was a happy cry. Vanessa often cried when she was overcome with love and Brooke was so happy to see it happen now. Brooke walked over to her small family and wrapped her arms around Vanessa’s waist.
“So what are you gonna name him?” Brooke whispered, not wanting to startle the cat.
“Thackery. His name is Thackery.”
They spent the rest of the evening obsessing over his every move. Vanessa’s Instagram story was about thirty minutes long full of videos of her cuddling the cat and the cat playing with Brooke and even the cat falling asleep. It was safe to say that Brooke Lynn’s Christmas gift for Vanessa was a success.
24th December 2018:
Christmas Eve had always been one of the most peaceful days for Brooke and Vanessa. it was their first ever Christmas that they were spending together but they both had their own family traditions that helped make the day an extra special one.
Brooke woke up to the smell of pancakes being cooked and felt her stomach growl with hunger. As she walked to the kitchen, she felt herself being eternally grateful that the companies she and Vanessa worked for were one of the nice ones that actually closed on Christmas Eve.
When she reached the kitchen, she found Vanessa already dressed, flipping multiple pancakes on the stove and adding blueberries to them. The kitchen counters were full of bags from the grocery store and when Brooke took a peek inside them, she saw nothing but baking ingredients. Brooke simply raised an eyebrow at Vanessa who immediately began to explain.
“We have to make Christmas cookies because its my family’s tradition and we have to make the chocolate Christmas cake that you love because it’s your family’s tradition. Duh.” Brooke laughed at Vanessa’s response and was flattered that Vanessa always seemed to remember the little details about her childhood that Brooke told her.
“Babe, I don’t think we’ll be able to eat all of that.” Brooke said and watched as Vanessa immediately rolled her eyes when she heard Brooke’s words.
“We will eat nothing but dessert for the next few days if we have to, this is a necessity.” Vanessa said seriously and Brooke tried her best to hold back a laugh. She decided to just agree with whatever will keep Vanessa happy and once they finished their amazing blueberry pancakes, they got to work.
They spent at least three hours baking that day and both of their creations turned out really well which filled Vanessa with delight. What they failed to notice was Thackery climbing on the counter and getting flour all over his paws and leaving the tiniest little pawprints all around the apartment. Usually, a mess like that would make both of the women angry but they couldn’t find it in themselves to be angry at Thackery. He was just too cute to be mad at.
Once they had Thackery’s mess cleaned up, Brooke made them both a cup of hot chocolate and they sat down on the couch all cozied up with their blankets.
“What movie do you wanna watch, babe?” Brooke asked, knowing that Vanessa has an extensive list of favourite Christmas movies and that they would probably end up having a marathon of all of her favourites. As Vanessa began to list the pros and cons of each movie she was considering, Brooke knew that this was the best Christmas Eve she had ever had.
25th December 2018:
Vanessa had been lying in bed for what felt like hours. The alarm clock on her nightstand let her know that she had been awake since 6am and while that would have been an acceptable time for her to wake up at on Christmas morning as a child, she figured that Brooke wouldn’t appreciate being woken up at the crack of dawn as much as her mother used to.
As soon as the clock changed to 7am, Vanessa decided that she couldn’t possibly wait any longer and woke her girlfriend up by kissing her over and over again until her eyes began to flutter open.
“Merry Christmas, B.” Vanessa whispered as Brooke opened her eyes properly for the first time that morning. Brooke pouted her lips slightly, signalling that she wanted a kiss from her girlfriend, which Vanessa happily obliged to.
“Merry Christmas, Ness.” Brooke wrapped her arms around Vanessa and Vanessa lay her head on Brooke’s chest. For the first time that morning, she felt totally calm. But she knew that if they lay there for much longer, they would fall back asleep and Vanessa just couldn’t accept that. Not when there were gifts that they had to give.
Vanessa spoke to Brooke’s mom and found out that she always made French toast on Christmas morning so Vanessa had to carry on that tradition for Brooke. Vanessa finished her breakfast in about two minutes and spent the rest of her time telling to Brooke Lynn to eat faster so they could start exchanging gifts.
Brooke finally finished her food and they headed to the sitting room where the Christmas tree was (Brooke had managed to convince Vanessa to let her delay the process by making a quick cup of coffee so she could match Vanessa’s energy levels) and Vanessa immediately sat on the floor and got ready to give Brooke everything she had gotten her. There was one gift that she was the most excited about and she couldn’t anticipate how Brooke was going to react.
Brooke decided that she wanted to give Vanessa her gifts first which made Vanessa’s nerves grow slightly but she forgot about all of that when she was able to start opening up her gifts. Of course, Thackery was Vanessa’s main gift from Brooke and he sat watching his two moms from his bed, still not awake enough to join in on the fun.
Brooke had still made sure to get Vanessa lots of little things that she could put under the tree to keep her girlfriend excited. She got her a ton of her favourite makeup products and Vanessa was insanely happy about that. She also got her some massage vouchers for a new spa that opened up near where they lived and she got her some Italian cooking classes with a professional chef that they were gonna take together since Vanessa adored Italian food.
Vanessa was so happy with everything that Brooke had gotten her and decided that she would give Brooke her smaller presents before she gave her the big one. She got her some clothes that she had designed which made Brooke love them even more. She also got her a ton of books that she thought Brooke might be interested in and a bottle of her favourite perfume because she noticed Brooke was running low.
There was just one box left under the tree: it was a small box and Brooke guessed it must be some sort of jewellery item. She opened up the box and it was a necklace, but when she looked a bit closer, she saw that there was a ring on the necklace where a charm or diamond would usually be. She held her breath as she read what it said on the box: “I promise to be yours forever”. Brooke Lynn could feel the tears coming into her eyes and Vanessa was so happy that she didn’t react badly.
“Just to clarify, I’m not proposing to you or anything…it’s a promise ring that you can wear around your neck and one day, it’ll be your engagement ring.” Vanessa said softly, taking the necklace and moving Brooke’s long blonde hair out of the way so she can put the necklace on her. Brooke’s hands immediately went to hold the ring as soon as it was on her and she finally let the tears fall from her eyes.
“I fucking love you so much, Vanessa. I can’t wait to wear this ring one day.” Vanessa wrapped her arms around Brooke’s neck and they shared a kiss filled with so much love that Vanessa thought she might just get down on one knee and propose properly right then and there. But she contained herself. All she knew was, she had never felt so in love as she did in that moment.
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cilldaracailin · 4 years
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Now I’m Here
And that update only took three hours!
Anywhoo, Hello my Tumblr Lovelys. I am finally here with the next part to this story. Hold onto your hats!
This part is dedicated to my best Tumblr buddies @primaba11erina​ @fuseburner​ and @hitmeonmytspot​. That is all I need to say!
xxx
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3
“When we love someone, we make it our business to protect them.”
It was just after eleven thirty when Robyn and Taron took to the stage together for their duet, both giggling as the music for Don’t Go Breaking My Heart came on. It was just a ridiculous and obvious choice and both enjoyed singing it even recreating the famous Kiki and Elton dance moves along the way. It went down a hit with his friends and once they took their seats, the talk turned to the topic of New Year’s kisses. Robyn had learnt that there were four couples among them, Calvin and Jess, herself and Taron who were the single ones.
“Well Robyn, I can be your new year’s kiss, if you want.” Suggested Deian. “Rachel won’t mind.”
“No but I will.” She replied. “And I have already asked Taron so sorry Deian. You are out of luck.”
“Dammit. Thought that might have worked.”
Robyn looked to him. “Was Rachel involved in his decision?”
“I only meant it as a kiss on the cheek.” He said as his cheeks reddened.
“Hmm yeah alright. Still I have it sorted but nice try.”
Robyn and Taron were back sitting on the soft chair at the wall of the pub and with everyone else distracted as they spoke about why you had to kiss on new year’s and their best and worst ones she turned her body to face Taron who was taking a drink from his bottle. His whole body just looked so relaxed and content and he hadn’t stopped smiling and laughing all night and she had found herself feeling the exact same way as him.
“So, I am your new year’s eves kiss then?” He asked her. “What about our boundaries?”
“New Year’s Eve kisses don’t count.” She answered him, enjoying the shy smile that filled his lips. “It’s the rule.”
“The New Year’s Eve kisses rule.”
“No Robyn’s rule.”
Her answer made him laugh out loud. “Well if it is Robyn’s rule, I guess I am under obligation to follow it.”
“Yes, you are. You look so happy Taron. I am adding this look of yours to my memories.” She moved a little closer to him so she was leaning a little into his side, slipping her right hand into his left.
“I am. You said earlier you needed this? Well I needed it too.”
Taking themselves out of the conversation for a few minutes, they quietly sat together, drinking from their bottles, just soaking up the atmosphere around them. There was an excited energy building as the clock ticked closer to midnight and as the call came for the last minute of the current year, everyone was on their feet. Robyn and Taron found themselves just standing up as they were and taking the space at the end of the table, while the others at the table spread out around the space in front of the make shift stage.
Robyn was secretly glad the group had separated from them. She didn’t mind the bit of teasing that herself and Taron were getting, she had expected it but she was grateful for the little bit of privacy the space gave them. It had played on her mind, the tradition of the New Year’s Eve kiss during the day as Taron slept on her lap and she as going to ask him but chickened out at the last minute so in a way she was thankful that Deian had made the decision for her and even more so that Taron was willing to be hers. They had kissed before so she didn’t really see much harm in it though the tingly feelings all over her body told her otherwise.
“You would have to wear heels.” Taron’s voice broke through her thoughts.
“Sorry?”
“Our first squishy hug of the new year is not even going to be a proper squishy hug. I can’t get a decent squish on it when you are the same height as me.”
Laughing Robyn heard the twenty second count down start. “Well look at it this way, it means you get a second squishy hug later when the heels are off.”
His full-face grin appeared, his dimples showing and his green sparkling eyes were stunning as he looked at her. “I am holding you to that.” His head turned as the ten second count-down started. “You sure?” He asked her.
“I wouldn’t want it with anyone else.”
With a nod of his head he started to join in the with the last five seconds. He felt her move closer to him and heard her say the last the last three seconds with him. Even though the cheer went up around them, Robyn and Taron heard none of it and keeping complete eye contact with each other, it was Taron who made the first move, placing his right hand on Robyn’s cheek, his left around her waist pulling her right into him, her hips squished against his. His eyes did a quick sweep of hers and when Robyn moved her head into his, he closed his eyes and let his lips touch hers. It was the sweetest of kisses and longer than the pecks they had before, Taron titling his head so their noses didn’t bump together and once Taron pulled back, he watched as Robyn licked her lips, while he bit his lower one a little. He grinned when Robyn put her two hands on his face and her right thumb wiped away her rose pink lipstick that lightly transferred and stained his lips after they kissed and without hesitation, kissed his soft lips again before adding another to nose and forehead, lingering on his forehead. Aside from his lips, it was the favourite place that Robyn kissed him and it seemed that the stupid smile on his face just couldn’t be wiped off that evening and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her tight, Robyn returning the hug around his waist.
“Happy New Year Robyn. I am so thankful for everything you have done for me and being in that 7/11 at the same time as me and just being my best friend in every way possible.”
“Happy New Year Rocketman. Same goes for me too.” She enjoyed the kiss he placed on her temple. “And the ultimate bragging rights haven’t ended just because a new year has started.”
He lifted her gently off her feet, chuckling. “I am a doomed man.”
It was the presence of his friends, coming over for hugs and kisses to celebrate the New Year that broke their hug and soon everyone had crossed their arms and held hands with the person standing next to them while Auld Lang Syne rang out loudly through the pub. Robyn was squished between Jess and Phil while Taron was another four people away from her. She looked to him and saw that he was looking her way too and she had to double take when she saw how dark his eyes were and the slight look of desire on his face. It made her sing the wrong words to the song while both her hands fell out of the shaking rhythm before she had to stop and start again to make sure she was shaking in time. Her lips still burned in the best way from their kiss even though it was the purest and most innocent of kisses, Robyn found herself nearly wanting for more and her thoughts were all kinds of messed up and muddled. She knew without a doubt that she had feelings for Taron but lately her feelings of friendship were becoming unclear as to whether they were actually really for friendship or for love and she had to scold herself when imagines appeared in her head of her actually pushing the Welshman over the table and just kissing him till she was breathless, never mind him. The image made a wonderful warm feeling fill her and as she took another look to Taron, who was still smiling beautifully, Robyn was realising that she falling for Taron and falling hard.
The cheery drunken singing ended and a loud applause filled the pub, another round of hugs going round all. It was only the vibrating in the pocket of jeans that made her realise that her phone was ringing. She pulled it out and saw that her mam was calling her. She answered the call but found it so hard to hear anything as the noise in the pub increased tenfold since they rang in the new year.
“Hold on mam. I am just going to go outside.” Robyn searched for Taron and finding him mid laugh with Calvin, she squeezed past the people around her and over to him. “Hey I am just going outside to talk to my mam.” She gestured to her phone.
“Want me to come with?” He asked her.
“I won’t be long. Just the typical happy new year call.”
Taron watched as Robyn made her way through the maze of people until he couldn’t see her any more.
“Taron mate, you have it bad.” Calvin came to stand beside his friend. “You do realise you haven’t kept your eyes off her all evening?”
Deian came to stand with them too. “You are completely under her thumb.”
“Fuck off.” Answered Taron, trying to disguise the truth in what his friends had said by taking a swig of beer from his bottle.
“I wouldn’t blame you though.” Grinned Deian. “She is not only gorgeous but feisty and absolutely in love with you too.”
Taron looked to his best friend. “Whatever Deian. We’re friends.”
“Friends my fucking arse Taron. She sticks close to you, touches you all the time, kissed you for New Years Eve which by the way, lingered longer than a normal ‘just friends’ kiss and wore that outfit to make sure you kept your eyes on her all night.” Taron scoffed at his friend, taking another swig from his beer. “And you are just as bad as she is. Jesus Taron, I haven’t seen you fall this hard for a woman in a long time.”
“Of course I love her but not in a romantic way. It’s just the circumstances that make it look like it is more.” His friends looked to each other and then back to him. “What?”
“Such a load of fucking bollocks Taron.” Answered Calvin. “That woman came to visit you twice here in Aber and went to New York for four hours to see you too and you are fawning off to hers the day after tomorrow. I hate to tell you mate, but you are utterly in love with her and you know it and from what I can see, she is just as much head over heels for you as you are for her.”
Taron placed his beer on the table. “Fine. Fuck it.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I love her alright? Like butterflies in my stomach, electricity fizzing stupid crazy love her.”
Calvin and Deian looked to each other and grinned. “Knew it.” They said at the same time.
“But I am not going to do anything to fuck this up. I did something so stupid that already had her so mad at me, I don’t ever want to give her a reason to walk out on me.”
“Taron she’s fucking crazy about you!” Laughed Calvin. “You do realise she stood in front of you when we were quizzing her to protect you at all costs from whatever questions we had. She hasn’t stopped laughing and talking with us and she killed it with the karaoke.”
“She is used to preforming on stage.”
“Fuck off Taron. She did that to show off for you.” Replied Deian. “That woman could have just stood there and sang the song and still won but she didn’t. That was all for you.”
“Maybe it is you who wants to throw her on the table and kiss her senseless, not the other way around.” Winked Calvin, enjoying how Taron’s cheeks blushed red immediately. “I wouldn’t blame you. Man, her body is…” Calvin caught the warning look from his friend and stopped speaking, holding his hands up. “Ok ok Jesus sorry.”
“She is still the woman who saved my life. A little bit of respect please.” Warned Taron but his voice softened. “It’s just… I just…” He ran his hands through his hair again. “It scares me. I have fallen very quickly for Robyn.”
“She’s cute and absolutely keeps you in the corner of her eye at all times. She is constantly watching you.”
Taron rolled his eyes. “I don’t want to ruin my friendship with her. I need her more as a friend than anything else.”
“I think the anything else would be pretty fucking amazing Taron.” Said Deian.
“Deian….”
“What? I am just telling you the truth. I can see how close you both already are. Jesus Taron, you’re my best friend and I am unbelievably glad Robyn was there for you but I also see the love between you both and it is not just because she saved your life. There is more than that connection there. There is honest and genuine love between you both.”
“I can’t risk it.”
Calvin sighed. “Or you could have something so much more than what you already have and it could be fucking mind-blowing Taron. It’s something you deserve and I know without a doubt she would look after you and out for you and would never take advantage of you in anyway. Taron from what you have told us about her, she is probably the one woman in the world apart from your mum who has always been there for you no matter what.” Calvin turned to Deian, watching as their friend’s face turned a little sad.
“Look Taron.” Deian placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You may use a lot of excuses to not do something about this but I can see you want too and she is absolutely all in too. I will be here to support you mate no matter what you do, you know that. Calvin too but just think about it. It’s all butterflies and fizzing electricity now but imagine how you will feel if she meets someone else. I know we said she loves you, but without honest feelings being out in the open, you are not being truthful to yourselves and it leaves it open for someone else to step in and if that happens, you can say goodbye to these little visits she gives you.”
Taron’s face fell into shock as he took in his friends’ kind but truthful words. The thought of Robyn meeting someone had never really came into his mind and it made his stomach drop and not in the good way. “She is my best friend. I don’t want to lose her.”
“You won’t.” Confirmed Deian. “She will always be there for you but in the future do you want her as a friend or a girlfriend and don’t start thinking about what could happen if things went horribly wrong. There is the better chance that things will be brilliant and so much more exciting and you can throw each other on the table and get up to all sorts of fun. She is already quite feisty, imagine what else could be!”
Taron couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Do you need another warning and you have a girlfriend.”
“I am just saying out loud what the two of you are thinking!” Deian grinned.
“She is fucking gorgeous Taron. I have already been there and back.” Calvin laughed as he took a step back as his friend went to playfully hit him. “And that accent? Does she speak Irish? Bet it’s sexy as fuck if she does.”
Taron’s face showed annoyance for a second before he laughed out loud at his friend’s wink and he shook his head. “She is beautiful.”
The three laughed. “You fucking sop.” Grinned Calvin.
“But she’s sexy as fuck.” Taron added chuckling, getting caught up in the banter with his mates. “Alright ok. I need to get my shit together before she comes back.”
“Before she does, can we talk about this sharing a bed thing? Man, Taron, does she wear cute little pj’s to bed?” Asked Calvin.
“Maybe I will go and find her instead.” Taron took a long drink from his beer and started to walk away but turned back to his friends. “Look if you are thinking about Robyn like that, can you not tell me? I really don’t need to hear it.”
His two friends grinned at him. “What? That we imagine her as an Irish goodness wearing nothing but an Irish flag and…”
“And I am walking away now.” Taron shook his head, chuckling to himself as he made his way through the punters to head for the door. His mind was completely on overdrive and not only because he was thinking things about Robyn he knew he shouldn’t be thinking but because he knew his friends were right. He absolutely loved Robyn and his feelings were getting harder to ignore every time he saw her but even though he didn’t want to ruin their friendship, even more so when he got a glimpse of how easy it was to do so, he also didn’t want another man to sweep in and take what possibly could be his. With a heavy sigh he pushed open the door of the pub, enjoying the cold rush of ocean air which he hoped would take the heat away from his cheeks and stepped onto the footpath looking for her.
Robyn also had enjoyed the fresh air once she stepped outside finally being able to hear her mam on the phone and the conversation they had was quick, Lizzie asking her how her day had been so far and if they were any New Year’s Eve’s kisses, Robyn rolling her eyes when her mam teased her for kissing Taron. The call ended on a bright note, Lizzie reminding Robyn that she was under strict instructions to bring Taron over for a cup of tea when they got back to the Ireland the next day.
Shoving her phone back into her pocket of her jeans, Robyn smiled to herself, brushing her hair behind her ears, smiling more as the pink strands ran through her fingers. She knew her hairdresser was going to kill her but it was worth it to see the surprise in Taron’s eyes in New York. Her whole body softened as she thought of Taron. Beautiful, handsome, soft and cuddly Taron who had been nothing but a perfect gentleman the whole day and had been so attentive to her while at the pub. A simple touch to her arm or how he moved his body closer to her, steering the conversation away from the topic of them when needed and their shared kiss was still completely on her mind. She absentmindedly touched her lips, closing her eyes and sighed. Behind her closed eyes, Taron’s face was grinning at her and as his tongue gently wet his lips, his head moved closer to her and her breath hitched and even with the cool breeze, her whole body felt on fire.
“Oh Robyn Quinn, you are in trouble.” She chuckled out loud and she then felt a presence behind her. “Ok you found me.” Her smile quickly faded when two hands stretched around her waist, gripping her tightly through her top.
“I found you.”
Robyn thought it was Taron behind her, but as the hands squeezed her tighter and slipped in under the material of her top around her stomach, a body pressing hard up against her back, she knew immediately it wasn’t him. Not only because Taron would never even think about touching her in such a way, unless he was tickling her, his hands were soft and strong but always so light when he touched her, while these were rough and course and pulling their hips harder against her, grinding disgustingly against her.
“Robyn eh? Beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”
She struggled against the hands holding her and had to use her elbow to dig into their ribs before the person let her go and she took a large step forward and spun around. A tall man with full face beard and incredibly dark eyes, so dark they looked black stood in front of her smirking. “I like them feisty. You are stunning. Got your New Year Eve’s kiss yet?”
Scowling Robyn, went to walk past and around him to head back to the door of the bar, but found herself being pulled into a very uncomfortable embrace again. She struggled to free herself this time as their arms fully encased her body. “I like it when you wriggle Robyn.” She turned her head as he tried to run his nose down her cheek. “Hmm you smell delicious. I’m Pete.”
“I don’t fucking care. Get your hands off me.” Robyn pulled at the hands that clung to her but they stayed firm.
“Ugh yeah baby, grunting just turns me on!”
As Robyn tried to dig her elbow in again, she suddenly felt a rush of air against her back as Pete was wrenched away from her.
“Get your fucking hands off her.”
Taron had heard her voice as soon as he stepped outside and knew there was trouble and as he looked to the right, he saw Robyn being held firm in a strange mans arms and watched as she struggled for less than a second before he was over at the commotion and had pulled the man from her and immediately stood in front of Robyn, pushing her right behind him, Robyn’s hands going to his waist, her body pressed tight up against his.
“She your girlfriend mate? Sorry didn’t know.”
“She’s my friend,” Growled Taron angrily.
“Oh, just a friend?” Smirked Pete as he stepped closer. “Tell you what, you ever had a girl in the middle? I am sure she would be a wonderful candidate!”
It was a feeling of anger Taron had never felt in his life and he didn’t hesitate as he used his two hands to push hard on Pete’s chest. “Don’t you even dare say that, you fucking arsehole.” Satisfied that he had given Pete a fierce enough push to knock him to the ground, Taron turned back to Robyn.
“Are you ok? Did he touch you?”
“I’m fine Taron. He didn’t.” Robyn saw the immediate concern in his eyes and gently rested her left hand on his right cheek, knowing a simple touch would calm his rising anger down. “I am good. I promise.”
“Robyn…” He thumb stroking his cheek, felt so lovely and warm and a stark contrast to the cold of the sea breeze that had cooled his skin down.
“Taron, I am absolutely fine. Let’s just go back inside.”
With a nod of agreement, Taron went to take her hand when he felt a rough tight hand on his shoulder. Pete had stumbled when he was pushed but didn’t fall over, managing to keep his balance and he saw that Taron was turned away from him, speaking in hushed whispers to Robyn. He then stepped forward and pulled hard on Taron’s left shoulder, spinning him around and before Taron could get his hands up to defend himself, Pete landed one incredibly hard punch to the left side of Taron’s jaw. With the surprise hit to his face, Taron felt the full force of it and found himself hitting the ground on the left side of his body, his elbow and arm landing hard on the concrete.
“Taron!” Robyn was by his side on the ground in seconds, her hand going to his face, noticing the blood on his bottom lip and the bruise already forming under her hand.
“Jesus Christ that fucking hurt.” Taron winced as Robyn’s hand rested gently on his face and he appreciated how she helped him sit up. His left elbow throbbed and he could taste blood in his mouth. He lifted his arm and turned it around, the underside of his arm scraped and bleeding.
“Taron, are you ok? Can you move your arm? Your fingers?”
Robyn was having flashbacks from the 7/11 but as she held his arm in her hands, he easily moved his fingers, wrist and elbow. “You tosspot. Starting a fight.”
Taron was about to answer her, ready to defend his actions but Robyn was harshly pulled to her feet, Peter wrapping his arms around her again. “Well I guess it is better just one on one. Means I can have you all to myself.”
The Welshman scrambled to his feet, ignoring the slight ache in his elbow and made to run towards where Robyn was when his male friends got there first.
“Hey arsehole! I would let her go if I were you.” Deian took two strides towards Pete and wrapping his arms around Robyn’s waist, pulled her hard towards him and then into Taron’s arms as he stood waiting for her with all of his friends.
“So it’s turning into an orgy then?”
Taron heard and felt the growl that Robyn made against him as he held her extremely tight against his chest.
“Piss off Pete.” Calvin stepped forward. “You are drunk and she is taken.”
“But yet she needs a whole group of men to stand up for her? Nothing but a cheap whore.”
Deian thought Taron was going to go for Pete but it was Robyn who powerfully pulled herself from Taron’s arms, taking advantage of his sore left arm, pushing on it so he winced, letting his grip loosen a little and she took the steps closer to the man who tried come on to her and with one solid move, slapped him brutally across his face followed by an intense push on his chest, which made Peter step backwards a few times. “Would be a snake of a man to try and slither his way into a pair of pants he could never get into. Think you are a man? Fuck no. Nothing but a piece of shit.” Robyn took a step forward and gave Peter another fast violent push, putting all of her weight into it and this time Pete couldn’t keep his balance and toppled over, earning a round of applause from the group behind her, all of Taron’s friends cheering her.
Robyn resisted the urge to dig her heel into Pete’s crotch but instead turned around to look at all the smiling faces looking her way, Taron’s bruised face with the widest grin.
“Fucking Christ!” Laughed Deian as he swung his arm around Robyn’s shoulders. “No wonder those men with the guns shook in their boots in Florida.” They walked the few paces back toward the group.
“Fucking tosspot.” Robyn murmured as she stood next to Taron. “Are you ok?”
He grinned. “Feeling a bit embarrassed.” He touched his jaw and winced.
“Don’t be. He completely blind sighted you and played dirty. Your back was turned. I know you would have gotten him had he not done that.”
“Jesus Taron, Irish women are aggressive.”
“Hey!” Robyn wheeled around to look at Calvin. “I prefer the term spirited and you never mess with an Irish woman. Taron can fill you in on why when I am not around.” She turned her attention back to Taron. “You need ice and something to clean up that arm. You are pretty scratched up.”
“Yeah let’s go back inside.” He took a look towards Pete on the floor but Deian walked to stand beside him.
“I wouldn’t worry about him Taron. He won’t try anything again. Not now when he has seen all of us.”
Taron nodded. “Thanks man.” He gave his friend a hug. “Thanks for helping Robyn.”
“She is fucking awesome.”
Taron laughed as he let his friend go. “And she can hear you.”
“Hey don’t knock him. I am fucking awesome!” She grinned. “Come on let’s go in. It’s freezing out here.”
Together they walked back towards the door of the pub, an excited natter running through them, Calvin holding it open for them all. The heat of the room was wonderful after being outside in the cold and while Robyn went to the bar with Deian, the others made their way back to their tables, ready to relay the story to the girls.
“I can get a pint of water and a glass of ice please?” Asked Robyn. “And if you had a clean cloth?” The barman looked at her. “Tripped outside, cut my knees up.” With another look, the barman nodded and went to get what she asked for.
“So, you are a little firecracker.” Grinned Deian as he stood beside her.
“I don’t take shit like that.”
“Yeah I noticed. Taron really has his hands full with you.”
Robyn chuckled. “He is used to it by now.”
“You really went to New York to yell at him?”
Robyn turned to look at Deian. “He deserved it.”
“Oh I don’t disagree with you. I like that you called him out but he is a good guy Robyn. I’ve known him my whole life.”
“Hey, I know he is. He just did something shitty and we’re over it.”
“I have noticed. You two are so touchy feely with each other.”
Robyn grinned. “Affectionate I think is the word you are looking for.”
“He does like a hug.”
“He gives good ones.”
Deian grinned. “So these kisses, how did my boy do?”
“You want to talk shop with me?” Laughed Robyn as she thanked the barman for the glasses and cloth. “I don’t kiss and tell.” She went to walk away but turned back him. “Thanks for what you did out there. Pulling me from Pete. I may have got my shove in but I wouldn’t have if you and the others didn’t come out.”
“We thought we might have caught you and Taron making out but that wasn’t the case.” Deian took one of the glasses from her. “You mean a lot to him Robyn. He really loves you. Sometimes it makes him a bit stupid.”
Robyn didn’t answer him as she knew right well how stupid Taron could be and as they reached the table, she could hear Calvin re-telling the story of what happened outside with over exaggerated details and enthusiasm. She slipped in past Taron and sat beside him on the soft seats so his left side was to her right. “You sure you’re ok?” She asked him as she put the glass of water on the table with the cloth, nodding to Deian as he gave her the glass of ice.
“Yeah I am ok. Are you? That fucking arsehole had his hands all over you.”
“I am absolutely fine. Thanks for coming to defend my honour. Sorry you got the brunt of that punch.” Robyn pulled her bag up from the floor and untied the silk scarf accessory that came with it, leaving it on the table beside the glasses.
“I did such a great job.” Taron rolled his eyes.
“Hey, your back was turned. Not your fault.” Robyn dipped the clean cloth into the water and turned to face him.
“Are you getting a sense of deja vu right now?” He asked he as she placed her left hand on his right cheek to keep his head steady as she carefully dabbed at his split bottom lip.
“Very much so. Sorry.” She cringed as Taron winced. “Good thing you still have a week before you are back to work.”
Taron smiled a little. “I am beginning to think you a magnet for trouble Miss Quinn.”
“Only when I am around you Mr. Egerton.”
Robyn dropped the cloth and picked up the glass of ice and poured some into the silk scarf and tied a knot in it. She lightly placed it on his jaw. “Think you can hold this with your right hand and I can clean up your arm.”
With a nod Taron, took the scarf and pressed it against his skin as Robyn had.
“So, is this basically what the 7/11 looked like?” Asked Deian as he watched Robyn carefully took care of his friend.
“Pretty much. Except there was a lot more blood.”
It only took Robyn a few minutes to clean Taron’s arm up, the scratches not as bad as they looked once the little dots of blood were all wiped away. It was his jaw that looked the worst, his little split lip a sign of how he stood up for her and protected her.
“Your mother is going to kill you.” She whispered to him as she ran a finger lightly down his jaw as she guided his hand with the ice away, moving her head a little closer to him so she could examine the bruise.
“Not this time. This time I did good.”
“She will be proud of her little boy.” Robyn smiled.
Taron laughed, wincing a little as his jaw stung. “Ow.” He whinged a little.
“Aww my poor little rocketman.” Robyn grinned, leaning in to kiss his cheek.
“Hey enough of that now!” Calvin shouted at them over the loud music which was playing when they had walked back into the bar. “Keep all this PDA’s for when we are not around. Now it is time to dance! It’s not your feet that got whipped Taron, just your face.”
Robyn tried not to laugh but the facial exchange between the two friends was brilliant and as Taron frowned, Calvin laughed harder.
“So Robyn you are Irish, there must be an ability to dance in there somewhere.”
“Well actually now that you mention it, I am a world champion Irish dancer.” Robyn enjoyed how Calvin’s grin slowly turned into a jaw dropping shocked face and normally she would be able to hold her serious face for much longer but she broke and started to laugh, enjoying hearing Taron laugh beside her. “Oh Calvin. It is just too easy to wind you up.”
“So it’s gotten to that stage of the evening, has it?”
“I think we are pretty close enough now for the slagging to be returned and someone needs to have Taron’s back.”
“Oh I think you might have more than that Robyn.” Smiled Calvin. “So maybe not the Irish dancing but you have been on stage and can sing, you have to have some sort of rhythm.”
Robyn grinned. “Just ask us to go and dance instead of walking around the topic. I love dancing.”
“Right then, will the two of you get up, stop being so cute with each other and come and dance!”
Robyn didn’t catch the look between the two friends as she pushed the bloody cloth into the pint glass with the ice and got to her feet. “You two go and I will meet you there. I am going to get rid this.” She stepped past Taron and made her way to the bar.
“You wanna give up with the hints there Calvin?” Questioned Taron.
“I don’t need to give you any hints Taron. It is so bloody obvious to anyone looking to you both.”
Taron stood up, moving his arm at the elbow, wincing a little as it hurt a bit. “Just let it go ok?”
“Yeah sure.” Smiled Calvin as he threw his arm around Taron’s shoulders and walked him towards where the stage for the karaoke had been, now dissembled for the nightclub, music and dance for the rest of the evening. “So, have you and Robyn ever been dancing before?” He felt his friend stall for a second. “Oh and this evening only gets better.”
The dance floor was literally hopping as the DJ played the most popular songs from past and present and Taron laughed as Robyn got excited every time the next song came on, singing along when she knew the words, making them up when she didn’t.
“Best song ever!” She cried as Manic 2000 came on, grabbing Taron’s hands and making him jump up and down, Taron giggling stupidly as she sang along knowing the song word for word.
When then classic eighty’s rock songs came on Taron cheered and swung out of Calvin and Deian as he sang along, somehow keeping in complete key, Robyn sneaking herself in between him and Calvin, to help them sing too.
It was when the first slow song played, Robyn and Taron looked at each other for a second before they shrugged shoulders, grinned and moved closer together, Taron’s hands on Robyn’s waist and hers resting over his shoulders. Others in the crowd coupled off and those who were left standing alone, quickly made their exit back to their seats.
“I like this song.” She said.
“You like all the songs.” Chuckled Taron as he took her hands from his shoulders and carefully spun her around, bringing her back into his chest and closer than before.
“I know but this song is lovely.”
“Are you a romantic at heart under all of that fiery exterior that I admire so much?” He whispered to her.
“Maybe.”
Taron smiled and wrapped his arms a little tighter around her, dipping his head into her neck, enjoying how Robyn slipped her hand into the hair at the base of his neck, while the other rested flat on his lower back. Madonna’s Crazy for You played through the speakers and the slow dance, which should have been awkward wasn’t and they found an easy sway between them. Robyn tucked herself a little tighter into Taron’s warmth. She was already feeling warm from all the dancing, but the heat from Taron was always a different kind of warmness and it made fuzzy feelings happen in her whole body.
“Robyn?”
“Hmm?”
“Thanks for coming to ring in the new year with me.”
“Thanks for inviting me. This is so much better than eating Chinese food in my pj’s and then going to bed at five past twelve.”
Taron laughed and took her hands to spin her around once more, enjoying the giggles that came from her as she spun back into him.
“You’re such a tosspot.”
“I know.”
Swaying again, Robyn sighed happily. “But you’re my tosspot.”  She mumbled into his shoulder, hoping he hadn’t heard her but her mumble turned to a groan as the next song came on.
“Oh Taron, no. We are not dancing to this.”
With the biggest grin on his face, he took her hands away from his back and took a step away from her and started singing along to Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, over acting with his arms bringing her in and out to him, spinning her around more and more, catching her in his arms and dipping her dramatically.
“Jesus Taron!” She laughed taken by surprise and grabbing a hold of him tight but knew she was very secure and safe in his arms.
“I just want to be with you, right there with you, just like this!” He sang dramatically through deep laughs as he pulled her carefully back up into his arms and lifted her up gently before letting her slide down his chest.
“You’re a nutjob!”
“A nutjob? Well that is a new one.” He grinned.
“Another great song!” She laughed as Time After Time played straight after and she went straight to singing it, Taron laughing as she took one of his hands and made him spin around and taking control of the dancing, took both his hands and made them walk around in a circle in one direction before turning and going back the other way. He full belly laughed, his laugh getting caught in his throat as she acted out the second part of the first verse, walking away from him theatrically, while still holding his hand only for him to pull her back dramatically right into his chest and started to do a quick sort of cha-cha step, Robyn catching onto his footwork quickly before coming back together again close to sway in each other’s arms, both singing along to the words.
The song ended halfway as the set changed to another pop classic and with a look at each other, they headed off the dance off back towards their tables, Robyn still bopping along to the Justin Timberlake song that played, still nodding her head as she down, Taron going to the bar to get them a drink. Half of Taron’s friends were up dancing, while some were at the bar getting another drink, the remainder chatting loudly over the music.
“Best new year’s ever.” Robyn sighed as she took a drink from glass of water Taron had given to her as he sat down, taking his own long gulp too when she was done.
“Yeah? You think?” He asked as he settled in beside her, throwing his left arm around her, his fingers tapping the beat of the song lightly out on her left bare shoulder. “Even with what happened outside?”
Robyn grinned. “What is new years without a little drama?”
Taron chuckled. “You kicked his arse Robyn. That slap echoed around the street.”
“He fucking deserved it. Tosspot.” She snarled as she took the glass from Taron and took another drink. “I don’t know if I can top this night. Though things can pretty mad at a hurling match.”
“Well I know you are pretty good at using a hurley so I won’t need to worry about you when you are at home. I actually don’t think I need to really worry about you at all.”
“I am still very glad you came outside though. Thanks Taron.”
“Anytime chicken.” He leaned over and kissed her temple. “Anytime.”
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