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something-tofightfor · 2 years ago

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Competing For Christmas 5: Holly Jolly Christmas (The Event)

Pairing: Modern Din Djarin x Female Reader

Word Count: 13,100

Rating: M. Language.

Summary: It’s a good day to build some snowmen... and also, apparently a good day to find out some secrets.

Author’s notes:

Got carried away with this one, but I had very specific things I needded to include. Needless to say, 6 won’t be coming out tomorrow ... I haven’t even started it yet. Sorry about that.

Questions, concerns, comments? My inbox is open!

I’m so glad that everyone still seems to be enjoying this story. I hope that this chapter answers some of the questions that you might have about Din’s past - and in a way that makes sense!

* reference pictures of the snowmen that they make can be found on the masterlist page!

To get alerted when I post new chapters/stories, follow @somethingtofightfor-shares and turn on post notifications - you can also ask to be added to my tag list (link in bio or at the top of my taglist reblog)

Masterlist / Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5.1

“So let me get this straight.” Cara eyed you from over the sandwich she was eating, the woman leaning closer as she spoke. “He was the one that put a stop to things?”

“Yeah.” Sipping from your straw, you nodded. “He’s the one that put an end to it last week at my place, and then last night, the guy went from hands on my back under my shirt and kissing my neck to telling me that we couldn’t continue in the span of like five seconds.”

“Weird.” Stacy frowned, head moving from side to side. “Did he say why?”

“No. He just said that it couldn’t go any further yet, but he’d explain some other time.” You hadn’t meant to spill everything to your friends, but when they’d asked who you were buying a tree skirt and extra ornaments for and you’d immediately given his name, they’d demanded to know more over lunch.

And you’d spilled - the details of the trivia night, the way he’d taken care of you when you were sick, the kiss you’d shared under the mistletoe at the community center and the following ones the previous night.

Cara’s eyes widened at the admission, the woman keeping them on you while you finished up, but it was Stacy that had cut in, asking you more about the man himself - and what you’d been able to tell them was surprisingly sparse.

So you focused on what you did know - that he was kind and thoughtful, eager to learn and willing to let you teach. You told them about the way he was with Grogu, and about how many of the competition elements and things relating to Christmas in general were new to him, thanks to the way he’d grown up. And you ended it with telling them that unlike so many other men, Din hadn’t pushed you for more - urging you past the point that you were comfortable with when it came to physicality, even though it was clear that it was something both of you were interested in.

“Have you looked him up at all? Cara wiped at her face, chewing. “I know you said he doesn’t have social media, but there’s got to be something about him online.”

“I haven’t.” It hadn’t occurred to you to do so, but after Cara’s suggestion, it seemed like an immense oversight on your part. “To be fair, though, I just found out where he’s from yesterday, so -”

“What’s the name of the place?” Stacy was on her phone, eyes moving from the screen to you and then back. “Mala-”

“Mandalore.” Sighing, you rested your chin on your hand. “I don’t know how to spell it, but -”

“Oh, shit.” Stacy’s eyes widened, Cara leaning over to look at her phone’s screen. “It’s a small country in northern Europe, they’re known for their exports of some sort of steel variant called beskar. I guess it’s used to make spaceships and planes?” She glanced up. “Really valuable shit. But the country’s not even as big as the state of New York, so it’s rare.”

As she continued to read from the screen, you contemplated pulling your own phone out but chose not to, sighing as the woman asked you how to spell Din’s last name. When you told her, she typed and then scrolled for a few seconds, her frown deepening. “What? What’s that look for?”

“Nothing’s coming up. Not even a LinkedIn page for him here.” That’s weird. “Are you sure that Din is his full name? Like it’s not short for Brandon or Aidin or -”

“No, I’m positive that that’s his full name. At least… that’s what he goes by at work. It’s on his badge, and it’s on payroll like that, too.” But it could be short for something else, and …

“Holy shit they have a king.” At that, Cara’s attention was fully drawn to Stacy’s screen, and you had to admit that yours was too. A king? “And he’s hot as hell.” You stood from your chair and circled around to where they sat, pushing one of the unused chairs away from the table behind yours to stand between your friends, eyes on her phone. “No clue how old he is or anything like that, but look at him.”

You did - focusing on the page she was scrolling through, images of a bald man with broad shoulders and sharp - but kind - eyes filling the screen. “Don’t a lot of those tiny little European nations have kings and queens or whatever the equivalent term is? Dukes and lords and -”

“Yeah, but this one’s got an actual name for it. Mand’alor. It’s in some other language, but -”

“Mando’a.” You mumbled the word, surprised as your friends both turned their heads to look at you. “What? Din mentioned it a couple times. He trained Grogu to follow commands in it, and …”

“Ok, so he’s not hiding where he’s from entirely.” Stacy returned to scrolling and you looked, too, reaching out as you gasped when you saw a familiar face on the screen. “What?”

“I know her.” Blinking rapidly, you leaned in. “That’s one of Din’s friends. He showed me a picture of her a couple weeks ago because she won some sharpshooting contest.” And he sent her a picture of me… “Why is she on this page with their king?”

“What’s her name?” You racked your brain, trying to remember if Din had told you, and then it came to you - another unfamiliar sounding one, but one that was difficult to forget.

“Fennec. I don’t know if it’s a first or a last name, but it’s definitely Fennec.” It was quiet for a few moments as she typed, and while you waited for the page to load, you could feel your confusion growing. He said she was a bodyguard. A sharpshooter, and she was in a picture with … “Oh my God.”

You whispered the words, one hand gripping the back of Cara’s chair tightly as you scanned words on the screen, but were unable to say anything else. There’s… what? “Your guy’s close with the head of personal security for the king of Mandalore?” Cara turned her head to look up at you, one brow arched. “Interesting.” Yeah, it is.

“So there’s a lot here, but it says that Fennec Shand was personally appointed as head of security for the Mand’alor, Boba Fett almost ten years ago, and …” You tried to listen - really - but at the mention of the man’s name, you felt your blood run cold. Boba Fett? Fett? As in the other person Din told about me? This can’t be… You felt a hand on your arm and shook yourself back into focus, sucking in a breath. “You alright? What is it that -”

“Nothing. I just…” You didn’t want to lie to them, but also didn’t want to feed them any information until you’d heard it from Din himself and knew what was true - and what wasn’t - so you shrugged and hoped that you’d play it off like nothing was bothering you. “It’s kind of a shock to find out all of this, you know? That Din’s close friend is someone responsible for something like keeping the Mandalorian version of the President safe, and …” You shrugged. “Feels weird to know this because we looked it up.”

“Are you going to say anything?” Stacy darkened the screen and you stood up straight, heading back to your mostly finished lunch. “I mean he can’t blame you for looking him up, right? You guys are basically dating. And it’s not like you found anything about him, just… his friend.” Friends. You corrected her in your head but stayed silent, nodding your head as you began to eat again.

“Yeah. I’ll probably let him know that I looked up Mandalore, and see… see what he says from there.”

“Let us know.” Cara winked at you, swiping her fingers through her hair. “I can’t wait to see how he reacts.” Yeah, neither can I.

—

But you knew that you wouldn’t say anything to Din right away, and at the sight of the man heading across the parking lot and toward you, you second guessed saying anything at all. “You ever built your snowman in an actual snowstorm before?” His smile was wide and bright, the man glancing up at the sky - covered in gray clouds, though it wasn’t dark thanks to the fact that sunset was still an hour or so away. “At least it stopped snowing so you could get your shopping done.”

“It did. And no, It’s never been snowing like this during the competition before, Din.” You fell into step next to him, fighting the urge to reach over and take his hand. “It’ll keep things interesting, at least.”

“Yeah.” As you reached the pathway to the central gazebo and warming tents, he spoke up again. “Did you get everything done you needed to today?”

“Sort of. The mall was really busy so we had to skip some stores, but I think I only need to get one or two more gifts and then I’m done… so I’m ahead of schedule.” The two of you ducked underneath the tent, five of the other teams already inside and waiting, and took your places near the back of the crowd. “I did get that tree skirt for you, though. And I have the extra ornaments in my trunk, too.”

“Great. Thank you.” He moved closer and you felt his hand resting on the center of your back. “I scheduled a pizza delivery for 8:45. Figured that since they said the judging happens at 8, we’d be getting back to my place around then, so we could eat before we started on ornaments.”

“Lights first.” Turning your head to face him, you shrugged. “Gotta put lights on before the ornaments, Din.”

He didn’t have a chance to say anything before someone called for your attention, both of you looking to the front of the tent as the speaker introduced herself, welcoming everyone to the competition. “Most of you know the rules, but for those that don’t, I’ll be quick. All eight teams are here, so as soon as I’m done talking, we’ll start.”

“So we get extra time.” You checked your watch, seeing that it was twenty minutes before the scheduled start time of the event. “That’s good.”

“This event is simple: we want you to create a scene that features snowmen. Your scene has to match the theme, and it has to be contained within your allotted space. Each team will need to build at least three figures in order to qualify. And you must use the provided props in some way on each of your snow creations.” That’s simple enough. Nothing different from last year there. “You have from now until 7:15 to finish, and then we’ll need fifteen minutes to remove the fencing and privacy screens.”

She paused, looking around the room. “They’re on a really tight schedule.” Din leaned over, speaking into your ear. “It’s snow, and -”

“A lot of kids come out to see these. They don’t want it to get too late for them to cast their votes.” He was still touching you, the man moving closer so that his side was pressed against your arm. “Plus they’ve gotta clean up after everyone’s done, so it’s easier to do that before it gets really dark.”

“Good point.” He mumbled the words, his hand sliding from the center of your back to your side, urging you closer. I need to talk to him. I need to…

“As a reminder, this tent will remain open during the competition and act as a warming tent. Plan on taking breaks to warm your hands and feet. There are towels and heaters.” She pointed at one side of the tent. “Hot chocolate and coffee are available. The park’s bathrooms are open, too, and ready for your use.”

You shifted on your feet, antsy to get started - and to get Din alone, and were rewarded a few seconds later when the woman made the final announcement of the night - telling everyone what the theme was.

“We thought about this one a lot throughout the last few weeks, and we’ve decided not to deviate from the typical contest themes.” The crowd murmured, but she kept going, one hand tight on the microphone. “The theme this year is going to be Christmas movies and TV shows.”

You groaned - you couldn’t help it. “What’s wrong?” Din leaned closer, concern evident in his voice. “What’s wrong with that theme?”

“It’s boring.” Rolling your eyes, you turned your head toward him. “Just once, I’d love to do something different, like superheroes or animals or -”

“Do we have to follow the theme?” He said your name, drawing your attention completely. “Is there a way we could -”

“If we don’t follow the theme, we can’t win.” And if we lose another event, we’re going to lose the competition. “So yeah, we’ve gotta follow the theme, Din.”

The two of you listened to the woman finish her spiel - reminding you of the time you had and the location of your props, and then dismissed everyone, telling you to have fun. You lingered under the tent for a few minutes, arms crossed and your head turned to the side. This is going to be hard because he doesn’t know Chrismtas movies, and …

“Hey.” He reached out, putting a gloved hand on your shoulder. “Let’s just make snowmen.”

“But that isn’t -”

“They didn’t say what movies they had to be from, right?” He shrugged. “Let’s go see what they have for props, and we’ll figure it out. “

“But if we don’t have a theme, we -”

“I don’t care.” He turned completely toward you, reaching out with his other hand and laying them both on your upper arms. “We’ll figure it out, or we won’t.” He leaned in, eyes bright. “The way I see it is that we’re going to see a ton of people making snowmen in Santa hats and reindeer.” He paused. “And that one snowman from the -”

“Frosty.” You rolled your eyes. “That’s why this is such a dumb theme. It’s just going to be a bunch of -”

“Let’s just have fun.” Din shook his head. “This is supposed to be fun, and you’re standing here stressed because of a snowman, and -”

“You’re right.” Admitting it helped - it loosened the anxiety in your chest, your lips parting as you looked up at Din. “You’re right, Din. This is supposed to be…” Closing your eyes, you nodded. “Let’s go see what they have in that gazebo.”

Stepping toward the tent’s opening, you weren’t surprised when he reached over and took your hand, fingers interlocking with yours in the moments before he squeezed.

—

An hour later, the two of you had three snowman shapes built, and you were working on turning them into characters.

Once you’d seen the props available, it became clear to you that most people were going the predictable route and creating Santa snowmen or going straight Frosty with their choices. After a few minutes of contemplation - and digging through boxes - you decided to make three snowmen from three different movies.

And as you’d worked, you and Din talked to each other, the man helping you to push and lift the heavy snow into place, Din suggesting that you stick branches into the center for added support - and to ensure that they stood up straight.

You knew that you probably wouldn’t win, but the longer you spent in the cold with him, the snow falling around you and the sounds of the other teams muffled by the makeshift walls, you realized that you didn’t care. Because being here with him is better than winning.

He flashed you a smile before standing up straight and pulling his phone from his pocket, lighting the screen up. “So I’m going to finish up this Frosty guy here, and then take a break.” He pointed at his face. “My nose is cold, and I want some of that hot chocolate.”

“Ok.” Eyeing your snowman, you sighed. “I’m going to stay here while you do that, because this guy has to be big. I remember him always looking huge in the story, and -”

“I’ll help you when we come back.” He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you out here in the cold.” It was snowing harder, but in that moment, you didn’t feel the cold or damp - you felt the warmth of Din’s smile, the heat in his gaze. “Alright?”

“Yeah.” Biting your lip, you took a deep breath, the shiver coursing through your body not at all due to the cold. “Yeah, that’s alright.”

Fifteen minutes later, Din finished his snowman’s hand - carefully molding it around the handle of a broomstick that was securely embedded in a pile of snow on the ground, and turned back to you. “Coming?” With a final glance at your own snowman - the body shape almost to where you wanted it to be, you let out a sigh and then stepped away from it, out and into he open. Din followed, and only a minute passed before the two of you were under the soft, warm light of the tent, cups of hot chocolate in hand. “I think we’re making pretty good progress.”

He sipped his drink, waiting. Yeah, I think so too. “Your’re almost done, and it won’t take us too long to finish the third one, since all we have to do is make it dirty and make a really simple face.”

“We still have about an hour. I’m not worried.” He shrugged. “This is good hot chocolate.” It was, and the longer the two of you stood there, the better you felt; feeling coming back into your fingers and toes, the snowflakes on Din’s hat melting and dripping down, creating small puddles on the ground around him. “Grogu left the tree alone, by the way. I was worried he’d knock it over.”

“Nah. He’s probably going to be more interested once there’s stuff on it, but unless he gets really excited, I bet it stays upright.” Din went to reply, but two more pairs of contestants walked in and so he didn’t, tossing his cup into the trash and then moving to stand next to you - much closer than he had before. “Din?”

“We should get back to our snowmen.” He sighed, eyeing one of the women, who was holding her phone up and recording the interior of the tent. “C’mon. The sooner we do that, the sooner we’ll be done.”

“I thought you liked the snow.” Wrinkling your nose as you carefully made your way back to where you’d been building, you questioned him. “Are you cold Din?”

“I do like the snow. And I’m a little cold, yeah, But to be honest, I’m looking forward to later.” It was the most straightforward he’d been with you about anything, and it stopped you in your tracks. “What?”

“I’m looking forward to it, too.” There was more you wanted to say - much more, starting with telling him what you and your friends had discovered earlier in the day, but you knew that if you did, the snowmen wouldn’t ever get finished. Because it’ll either be a really long conversation… or a really short one.

He smiled at you and then used his chin to motion toward your space, and the two of you began walking again, stepping off of the path and onto the snow.

You settled back into the rhythm you’d established earlier - Din finishing Frosty up to the point where all you had left to do was put his hat on - and then coming to help you with your snowman. It went so much faster with his help - the man hefting large armfuls of snow onto the body for you and packing it in while you worked to shape the arms and legs.

Like in the earlier events, you worked well as as team, and soon enough, your snowman was done, too - a green scarf and hat settled onto his head and neck and tiny, black eyes and a thin mouth adorning his face. You hadn’t been able to find an orange for his nose, so you’d substituted with a piece of orange fabric wrapped around a tightly packed snowball - but you were happy with it. “And then there was one.”

Taking a breath, you turned toward Din, hands on your hips. “I don’t know how we’re going to make this thing dirty, this snow is pure white, and …”

“Yeah, I’m not sure either.” Turning, the man rummaged through your box of props. “If we had actual coal, it would be easier.” Yeah, it would. But all we have is fake, plastic coal, so… “Hold on a second.” He hurried away, leaving you standing in the snow and staring after him, confused. What is he doing?

While Din was gone, you checked your watch - it was nearly 7, which meant you had about fifteen minutes left to finish. We’re cutting it close, and … He surprised you when he reappeared, one hand stuffed into his pocket and the other holding a handful of white packets. “Din, what -”

“Hot chocolate powder.” He grinned. “I saw the extra packets when we were standing in there earlier, and I figure it’s brown - like dirt, so -” Oh, you’re a genius.

You didn’t even try to stop yourself from lunging forward, your arms going around the man’s neck and your lips finding his cheek, the skin chilly beneath them. “You’re brilliant, Din Djarin.”

“No one’s ever said that to me before.” He hugged you back, tucking his head down and nosing along the side of your neck. “But you can say it again if you want.” You would have been content to stay there in his arms for the rest of the night, but Din pushed you away gently, wetting his lips as he let out a breath through his nose. “We’ve gotta finish this.”

“Yeah.” Swallowing, you closed your eyes. “Yeah, we do.” Instructing Din to just sort of throw the mix at the snow, you took a couple packets from him and removed one glove, pouring the mix into your free hand and then holding it up in front of your mouth, blowing in short bursts.

Between the two of you, it didn’t take long for you to cover parts of the surface of the snowman in the dust, the air filled with the sweet scent of the cocoa powder. “That good? Or should I go and get more?”

“No.” You eyed the snow, watching as the powder began to dissolve into muddy looking splotches, bright white peeking through in places. “No, this is good. We don’t want the entire thing to be chocolate soup, it just needs to look…dirty.” In a stroke of inspiration, you reached out, pressing your bare hand to the center of the snowman’s body and letting the heat of it melt a little - a handprint left behind.

Din did the same and when you both stepped back, you laughed, tossing your head back and closing your eyes. “What? It doesn’t look that bad.”

“No. It looks perfect.” Bending down, you wiped your hand on the ground and then kicked snow over the dark space, drying your skin on your jeans before slipping your glove back on. “All we have to do now is put the hat on Frosty, and we’re done.”

He’d taken pictures throughout the night - marking progress with his phone - but you were still surprised when the flash went off as you lifted the hat from the table, eyeing it. “Sorry, I figured I’d take a picture of you putting it on our guy’s head, but I should have asked, and…”

“Here.” You reached for the phone, holding out the hat. “Trade me.” He looked confused but did as you asked, passing the phone to you and taking the hat, his fingers running along the brim. “It’s your first one, Din. You’ve gotta be the one to finish it.”

Instead of taking pictures, you switched it to video and aimed the camera at the man, biting your lip as he moved to stand next to the snowman and then rose up onto his toes, lifting the tophat. “Am I doing this right?” Glancing over his shoulder at you, Din waited for your quiet yes to continue, returning his attention to what was in front of him and settling the hat into place, reaching up and giving it a tweak with his fingers to bring it forward. “Done.”

We’re done. Panning away from Din, you took video of each of the snowmen and then moved it back to him, your smile growing. You didn’t know if your group would win, but you’d had fun building with Din, and that was all that mattered. I hope he did, too.

Ending the video, you handed him the phone and then started to clean up your space, loading all of the trash and spare props into the box you’d carried them over in. When you finished, you checked your watch and found that you had five minutes to go before the competition ended, leaving you and Din with enough time to stand back and admire your handiwork.

You could see people beginning to congregate near the gazebo and tent, but you didn’t focus on them, instead leaning into Din’s side and sighing. “We did a good job, Din. Thank you for talking me down earlier. It… I don’t know what was wrong with me, but -”

“You’re welcome. But I meant what I said. It would be nice to win, but if we don’t, we don’t. I said yes to doing all of this with you to spend time with you, not to win a couple prizes.” Oh. Oh, that…. “But I think we’ll win.”

“You have much more confidence than I do, Din.” Locking eyes with him, you gave him a soft smile. “I hope you’re right, though.”

There were questions you needed to ask him - things you needed him to clear up … but you wanted to kiss him again, too. And it’s going to happen, it … Din closed the distance between the two of you, turning his body and lifting one arm so that he could wind it around you, and when his mouth met yours, you sighed, feeling the upward curve of his mouth against your lips at the sound.

The kiss was interrupted, though, when a flash went off, the sudden brightness forcing your eyes open as Din stiffened in front of you, backing away almost immediately. “What was -” He looked around, obviously on alert, and it only took a few seconds to find the source of the light - someone was walking around and taking pictures of the event, but since it was later at night, flash was necessary.

“They’re just taking pictures of the entries, Din. The same way they came around and took pictures of the cookies.” It hurt - the fact that he’d had such a visceral reaction to potentially being photographed kissing you - and it only added to the mountain of things that you wanted to ask him. But if he’s associated with the king of Mandalore, it makes sense. “Look.”

The flash went off again, closer, and Din finally relaxed, saying your name. “It’s not that I don’t want to be -”

“We can talk about it later.” You stepped further away, sticking your gloved hands in your jacket pockets. “We don’t need to get into it right now.” He frowned but agreed, and when, a few minutes later, the judges finally got to your section of the park, it was Din that spoke first, giving your team name, and then turning things over to you to explain your snowmen. “This one’s Frosty.” You pointed, turning the top half of your body to follow your arm. “And that’s The Snowman from the silent British film.”

“And this one’s Pigpen’s snowman from the Charlie Brown Christmas special.” Din cut in, his arm jutting out to indicate the third snowman. At that, the female judge laughed, her smile growing by the second. That’s good. That’s… really good.

“It smells like chocolate over here.” She raised a brow, looking between you and Din. “Why?”

“We used cocoa powder packets to make him dirty.” You shared another look with the woman, your shared amusement apparent. “So hopefully it works out.”

“I like it.” She shrugged, making a few notes on the clipboard she held. “Alright, we’ll take a picture of the two of you and what you built for our records, and then you can head over to the main crowd until it’s time to announce the winners.”

Unlike the previous picture scenario, Din moved back to stand next to you, slinging an arm around your shoulders as you faced the cameraman. There wasn’t any distance between you, but you felt it nonetheless, a slight shift in the closeness that you’d been building over the previous weeks. I don’t like that at all.

It worried you, but you didn’t have time to dwell on it, the judges dismissing you and thanking you for participating. “Let’s see what everyone else built.” Din nudged you as you walked, pointing with his other hand. “Take the long way back and circle around.

So you did, a few of the walls already down to expose the creations by the other teams. Oh, some of these are impressive.

One team had somehow created Santa, Hermey and Rudolph. Another had made three vaguely reindeer-shaped snowmen, one of them with a bright red nose. A third team’s focus had been on the movie Elf, a large-humanoid snowman dressed in green and yellow, and then a smaller snowman wearing a coat and scarf were joined by something that you identified as a narwhal only by the massive horn sticking out of its face.

Snowmen dressed as Santa and Frosty were abundant, but it seemed that you and Din had been the only ones to mix movies together for your group, and you hoped that it would set you apart. We’ll see.

You passed your friends on the way back to the tent, Cara lifting her hand in a wave as she looked between you and Din, the flakes still swirling through the air. You wondered if they’d know which group was yours, and as you and Din dropped off the remaining props at the gazebo and then headed back to the warming tent, you let the thoughts consume you ,

As much as Din said it didn’t matter if you won, part of you knew that it did - to both of you. He was competitive, too, and even if the main reason he’d agreed to participate was to spend time with you, it wasn’t like he’d tried to throw any of the previous events. And he seemed really upset at the thought that he might not be able to contribute to trivia.

“You either did the Elf snowmen, or you made the ones of Santa and the reindeer.” Stacy’s voice made you turn, Din moving with you and steadying you with one hand on your back again. “And I think it was Elf, but -”

“No, it’s the one that had Pigpen’s snowman.” Cara cut in, swallowing a long sip of cocoa. “Definitely.”

“How’d you know?” Din shook his head. “We -”

“I’m just that smart.” Cara winked at him, but then lowered her cup, laughing. “No, Din, you’ve got cocoa powder on your jacket. I saw it when you walked by us earlier.” Oh. That makes sense. “Good job, guys. They looked great.”

Thanking her, the four of you started talking, but it wasn’t long before Stacy pulled you away and toward the snack table. She only waited until you were out of earshot to lean over, hissing out her questions. “Did you ask him? What did she say?”

“Not yet.” You picked up a bag of popcorn, fingers closing around the handles. “There wasn’t time, and if I would have asked before or during the competition, we wouldn’t have finished. I’ll ask him tonight. And that way if it goes bad… I can just leave.”

“It won’t go bad.” She shook her head, grabbing a bag of popcorn for herself. “I think he’ll appreciate that you looked him up, and that you’re asking him questions, not just assuming things.” You hoped that she was right, and when the two of you made your way back to Cara and Din, and you offered him the popcorn, you really hoped she was right. Because I don’t want things to go back to how they were.

“I think they’re coming back now.” Din pointed with one covered hand, his gloves the same pair from the previous night - black with yellow fingertips, a bright blue triangle on the backs of his hands. “At least some of them.”

He was right - the judges were all back, and the gazebo crowd was starting to increase in size, too, everyone huddling together and talking. The sounds of the conversations grew louder as more time passed, and though you and Din spoke to your friends without any awkwardness or extended silences, you were still very aware of what was happening around you, eyes darting between your group and the rest of the crowd and waiting.

He was beside you but not touching you, though that changed when the woman climbed up the steps to the gazebo, microphone in hand. “Here we go.” Din whispered, bumping your shoulder with his. “We’ve got this.” Do we?

The woman’s speech was congratulatory, highlighting the impressive creations by each team, but she didn’t waste time with long-winded stories, instead getting right to the important parts. “To start, we want to thank our local hardware store, who donated sleigh shovels to make the creation of these snowmen much simpler.” People clapped but not for long, the woman beginning to speak again. “Each participant will receive one of those as a thank you from us for your contribution to the park’s decorations.

“That’ll come in handy. I can make Grogu a path in the back yard.” You snorted back a laugh, keeping your eyes forward.

“In third place and earning fifteen points, with their take on The Nightmare Before Christmas, we’ve got Team Holi-daze.” The two cheered, the crowd reacting along with them. “Second place goes to a pair that chose to make characters from a few different movies - Clan Mudhorn, your Pigpen snowman was a hit and scored you fifteen additional points.” You tried to listen but were distracted, adding the new points in your head to your running total.

“We’re still winning.” Din leaned over, mouth close to your ear. “We -”

“And the winners, with their Elf inspired snowmen, we have team Smarty Pints!” The entire crowd cheered, but the woman wasn’t done, her smile genuine as she looked over the people gathered in front of her. “In addition to the previously mentioned shovels, each winning team will have a donation made in their name to a charity of their choice. Third place’s donation is in the amount of $100, second’s is $150 and first place is $250.”

“I like that.” Din nodded from next to you. “That’s a surprise, but I really like that.” You did, too, and were just about to ask Din if he had any idea where he wanted to donate to when the man spoke again. “You can choose the charity. You know more about the local businesses, and I have no doubt that you’ll pick someone that deserves it.”

“The animal shelter.” You responded immediately. “Everyone donates to people at this time of year, but they forget that there are plenty of pets that need to be fet and kept warm, and -”

“Really?” You nodded. “That’s fine with me.” He put an arm around you and pulled you close, the one-armed hug brief but warm. “Come on, we’ve gotta go and tell them who we want to donate to, and then we can get out of here.”

You followed him to the front of the crowd, getting in line behind Holi-daze, the two of them talking quickly about their planned donation. You and Din stayed quiet, though, waiting your turn and taking the offered shovels before Din urged you forward, a small smile on his face.

After you gave the name of the organization and ensured that it was written down correctly on the sheet of paper in front of you, you and Din made your way back through the crowd and toward where your friends had been - though they were nowhere to be seen. “Thought we’d say goodbye, but …”

“Text them?” Din stuffed his hands in his pockets. “See where -”

“Nah.” Releasing a long breath, you shook your head from side to side. “They would have waited if they wanted to see me.” I think? “Let’s just get back to your place. It’s going to take a few extra minutes because of the snow, so the sooner we leave, the better.”

“Alright.” Din eyed you, one brow arched. “Ready for some pizza?”

“Of course.” Grinning, you hoped that he couldn’t see the conflict on your face - and that he wouldn’t get upset when you brought up what you’d learned. But it would have come out at some point, and … “I’ll follow you?”

“Sounds good.”

And without another delay, you and Din headed for your cars.

—

You got two strands of lights on the tree and ornament hooks on most of the ornaments before the pizza arrived, and even though you didn’t want to ruin anything, you figured that dinner would be the perfect time to talk over your discoveries.

You’d changed as soon as you got to his house - swapping out your jeans and thick socks for a pair of comfortable sweatpants and slippers, and Din had done the same, stripping down to what could only be described as pajamas - dark gray sweats and a pullover hoodie, the sleeves pushed back to expose his forearms. The casual attire helped to put you more at ease even though inwardly, you were freaking out. Just say it. Just say it and get it over with and…

“So how many lights go on here?” He gestured to the tree with his pizza slice before raising it to his mouth and taking a bite. “We have I think 6 more boxes. Is that enough?”

“It should be.” You eyed the tree, squinting. “We can finish the lights and then start the ornaments, and then you’ll have your first real Christmas tree, Din.”

“Yeah.” He chewed, finishing his slice. “And I wouldn’t have it without you.”

You hated to bring things up and potentially ruin everything, but you couldn’t keep quiet any longer. Setting the remnants of your diner down, you wiped your fingers on a napkin and then said his name. “I… have something I need to tell you.”

His shoulders slumped immediately, Din sitting up straight and locking eyes with you. “What? Is everything alright?”

“When I was shopping earlier, I told Cara and Stacy why I picked up the tree skirt, and we started talking about you and the competition, and …” Shit this is hard. “We looked you up, Din. Looked up Mandalore, and…” Trailing off, you sighed and closed your eyes. “There was a picture… lots of pictures, actually, of your friend Fennec with your king… or your Mand’alor, and -”

“Oh.” He sounded dejected, and when you looked over at him again, Din was visibly deflated, the man looking almost small in his chair. “Why’d you decide to look?”

“Stacy looked. She just thought it was weird that I knew almost nothing about you, so she wanted to see if anything came up.”

“Did it?”

“No.” Rubbing at the bridge of your nose, you laughed. “No, it didn’t. Just stuff about Mandalore and Fennec and Boba Fett, and beskar. But nothing about you, not even a LinkedIn profile.” He stayed quiet, and since you figured he was about to ask you to leave, you went on. I’ve already started, so… “When you said politics, Din, I didn’t think that you meant your family was close with your country’s royalty. Hell, I didn’t even consider that that was possible.”

“My family isn’t close with them.” He stood, taking his plate to the sink. “Are you done?”

“Yeah.” You’d only eaten about a slice and a half, but your appetite was all but gone. “Yeah, I’m -” Din leaned over and took your plate, too, carrying it to the trash and dumping the contents before it joined his plate in the basin. “I’ll get my coat, Din, and -”

“Why?” He turned to face you again, arms crossed over his broad chest. “We have a tree to finish decorating.” What? I thought … “You had every right to look me up. I’m surprised you didn’t do it sooner.”

“Din, I -” He cut you off, stepping forward and reaching out with one hand. “What are -”

“Come on. I’ll explain while we decorate.”

A few minutes later, the two of you were back in the downstairs room, the fire roaring and Grogu snoozing in his chair. You and Din were on opposite sides of the tree, passing the strands of lights to each other as you secured them in place - but Din hadn’t said a word. Instead, the only noises that you heard were the crackling of the fire and an occasional burst of sound from the TV, turned on and playing one of the Santa Clause movies. He said he’d talk but he’s not. He’s not going to say anything, and -

“I lost my parents when I was really young.” Din cleared his throat. “I don’t really remember them much. Just small things - my mom’s laugh, my dad’s dark hair. I remember our house. But there was … an accident. A fire. I got rescued, and they didn’t.”

“Din, I’m so sorry.” You tightened your hold on the wire, unsure of what to say. “That had to … that had to be really hard.”

“I don’t remember much of it, like I said. But thank you.” He bent over and plugged in another strand of lights, the colors dancing over his skin, though he was frowning. “In Mandalore, the foster system isn’t like it is here. The people really care about making sure that kids are taken care of.”

“That’s good to hear.” You figured it was easier over there, since it was a much smaller country, but decided not to elaborate.

“Yeah.” He scoffed. “It was an interesting couple years, and I lived with a couple families, but then…” Din paused, tucking lights beneath a branch before he passed the bundle to you. “People started to notice me. I was smart. Strong. I understood mechanical things and even though I was only 10 or 11, I impressed my teachers.”

“You’re really smart, Din. I’m not surprised that people were impressed.” He thanked you and you fought back a smile as you ducked behind the tree, winding lights around the branches there. “Did you skip grades?”

“Sort of.” He took the lights back from you, finishing with that strand and going to grab another. “I-

“You have to plug it in somewhere else.” Reaching out, you settled your hand on his to stop him. “No more than 400 connected at one place. They could short out.” He thanked you and stuck his hand into the center of the tree, reaching for the extension cord there to plug in the new lights.

“I got pulled from school when I was 12. Moved to a private one, where I could still learn things but was also exposed to other … different opportunities.” You had no idea what he was talking about, but still stayed quiet, waiting. “I got pulled from regular school and sent to what you’d call a boarding school here. I didn’t know it at first, but it was run by the ruling family. They only accepted kids that were gifted in some way. But it wasn’t… you didn’t have to have money or status to go there.”

“Oh.” That wasn’t what you were expecting, but it made sense to you - at least in some ways. So they really try to help these kids.

“I was an orphan. I had no one. And while I was there, I met Fennec. And I also met Boba Fett.” The king. The king was a … “I didn’t know it at first, but Boba was being set up to rule Mandalore, and he had been for years. He was older than us, and so he left the school before Fennec and I did. It was a huge surprise when he was named Mand’alor, but we were all there. We got to skip class and go to the ceremony, and I remember thinking how fucking cool it was that my friend was the ruler of a country.”

“That would be pretty neat.” You were both sitting on the ground, working on the lower portion of the tree, and so you leaned to the side, making sure you could see him. “I bet the kids all left you alone.”

“They did but it had nothing to do with Boba. I wasn’t… I’m pretty quiet, so I mostly kept to myself aside from him and Fennec and another guy that was a couple years older - Karga. Karga was the one that hired me for my first job after I graduated from our equivalent of high school, and I worked for him for a long time - until I came over here, actually.”

You worked in silence for a few minutes, plugging in a new set of lights and wrapping them slowly around the branches. It was a lot of information that he was giving you, but none of it seemed to be false - he hadn’t paused or embellished anything, and Din seemed to genuinely want to tell his story.

“Hey, you still with me?” He reached over, taking the lights from you - and covering your hand with his.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m just … this is a lot to process.”

“I’m not even to the good part yet.” Din smiled, his head cocked to the side. “Boba became Mand’alor a little over ten years ago. And when he did, he pulled Fennec from what she was doing to take her with him. She got special training and became his personal bodyguard, and she’s the best I’ve ever seen.”

“You said you were good, but she was better.” He nodded, wetting his lips. “So does that mean you’re security for him, too? How would that work? You’ve been here for a year, and -”

“Mandalore is different. We train for different things as we grow up, and one of them is something that’s now more just to honor the past.” Din closed his eyes and then reopened them, looking away and focusing on the tree, his fingers working to deftly tuck the end of the last strand of lights between the branches to hide it. “It’s not quite military boarding school level, but we did practice things like shooting and combat and …” He shrugged. “It’s normal for us. Mostly used for ceremonial stuff, but…”

“I get it.” You leaned back on your hands, eyes on him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s fine.” He leaned back, too, looking up at the tree. You watched as his lips twitched, the man’s smile apparent as he looked at your handiwork. “I’m not security for Boba, no. He asked me if I’d ever want to join the team a while back, and I said no.” Ok, so there’s one question answered. “Because that would have meant a public presence. It would have meant that people would know exactly who I am, and …” Din sighed. “That’s the big thing.”

“I understand wanting privacy, Din.” You were still confused, though, not understanding why if they were such close friends, no pictures of Din and Boba had come up - why there was zero mention of the man’s name anywhere. “Was he mad?”

“No. Disappointed, maybe. And he knows that if he needs me, I’d be there for him, but … if I’d said yes, it would have changed his other plans, too.” Din stood and then held a hand out to you, waiting for you to take it before he helped you to your feet. You noticed that he didn’t let you go right away, instead tightening his grip on your fingers and pulling you a little closer. “Do you want to know what those are?”

“Yes.” You had no idea what he was going to say, but nothing could have prepared you for what came next.

“In Mandalore, the ruling title isn’t inherited. It can be, and it has been in some cases, but it isn’t always. Boba was chosen, and he’s been a great Mand’alor. The people love him. But it’s a demanding job, and …” Din let go of your hand and then pulled his fingers through his hair, looking down at his feet. “The reason there’s nothing about me online - no pictures or pages or accounts or… anything is because Boba named me as his successor years ago. He has no kids and wouldn’t have any that will be ready to take over and lead in time, and so …” Din sighed. “Until the moment that it’s announced, it’s like I don’t exist. No one knows my face. No one knows my name. I’m like any other Mandalorian. But when it’s my turn to go and take that vow … that all changes.”

“What?” You shivered, blinking furiously. “Din, that …”

“Yeah, it’s crazy, right?” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I thought I still had time. But the last couple years, Boba’s been talking about stepping down, just because he wants to live his life, and so my time is … I don’t have as much free time left as I thought I did.”

“So you’re going to become the Mand’alor?” Squaring your shoulders, you wet your lips. “And it’s going to happen soon, and -”

“Yes. And yes. I don’t know when, but we’re probably talking within the next couple years. I’ll have to go back and for the first time, I won’t just be a nobody that happens to be friends with Fennec and Boba, I’ll be … everyone will see me.”

You didn’t say anything, staring at Din and fighting to keep the frown off of your face. That’s why he’s so content to just work and stay in the background. Because it’s what he wants. His admissions were a shock to you, but you believed him.

He’d mentioned Boba and Fennec before you knew who either of them were. He’d never outright lied to you about who he was or where he was from, just kept certain things a secret. Until I asked. Until… “So you weren’t lying when you said you were a prince.”

“I wasn’t. It’s not … it’s a little different than what you’d think of when you hear the term, but …” He took a seat on the edge of the couch cushion, looking up at you. “People obviously know that I exist, you know? They’ve seen my face out in public in Mandalore. But keeping a low profile is important because if I don’t, enemies of the crown could try and use it against Boba. And against me or Mandalore, and I can’t… that can’t happen.”

“Of course not.” You sat next to him, both of you staring straight ahead and at the tree - and Grogu. “I’m sorry I made you upload your information on that website. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have even asked.”

“It’s fine. You said nothing came up when you searched, so it isn’t…” He shrugged. “But that’s why I got nervous with the flashes later, when we were …” Din trailed off. “No one knows where I am or who I am here, but I promised Boba that if I left, I wouldn’t… I just wanted some time to myself before I have to …” His shoulders slumped again, Din’s sigh heavy.

“You don’t want the position.” Reaching over, you took his hand without another thought, your fingers lacing with his. “Din, you -”

“I don’t. But … Boba is family and he asks me for so little. It’s not about what I want.” Din said your name, waiting until you were looking directly at him to speak again. “I like you. And I like being here, but I can’t… I can’t stay. That trip over summer was to go home and talk all of this over with him and the others. He’s starting to get things ready so that he can step down, and …”

It terrified you - the suddenness of the anxiety that filled your chest at the thought of Din leaving, despite the fact that you’d just started spending time together. That’s not good. “Is that why you said things couldn’t go further?” Of course it is. Of course that’s my luck.

“Yes.” He squeezed your hand, thumb circling over your knuckle. “It’s one of the reasons. Because you deserve more than someone that’s just going to give you some small part of themselves and then give you an ultimatum without anything else.”

You gasped at that, his words hitting you hard. It meant that he’d listened to what you’d said about James. That he understood that while you weren’t looking for a set future, you needed to know that there was the possibility of one, no matter how small. And if he’s leaving, there’s no chance. “Then why, Din? Why’d you kiss me in the first place? Why’d you -”

“Because I couldn’t help it.” He laughed, but it was a sad sound, the man’s chin dropping again. “Fennec told me it was a bad idea to get close to you, especially with everything going on, but …” He swore quietly, taking a breath. “I thought I’d be able to keep myself from getting too involved, because I knew I had to. It just … didn’t work.”

“No, it didn’t.” He’s a prince and he has to go home, and that means he’s leaving, and this isn’t going to… You felt the tears welling in your eyes, but were determined keep them from falling. “You introduced me to your kid the first night we hung out, Din. I’d say that’s pretty involved.”

It worked - your joke breaking the tension in the room, and when Din let go of your hand to pull you in for a hug, you let him. He buried his face in the side of your throat, and you settled your cheek on the soft tumble of his hair, one hand stroking over the back of his head and neck. He could be the ruler of an entire country at this time next year, and he’s sitting like this with me right now. You held onto each other for long moments, and when Din pulled away, it was only because you said his name, whispering the word softly into his ear.

“Thank you for telling me. At least now I know that it’s not me or something that I did that was keeping you from wanting -”

“Oh, believe me, I want.” His eyes darkened, gaze dropping to your mouth and then rising. “You have no idea.”

“I think I do.” It was a night for honesty, and so you gave it right back to him, allowing yourself to be vulnerable. “I want, too. But we have a tree to finish, right?” He widened his eyes, watching as you leaned in and kissed his cheek before you stood, taking the few steps toward the light switches on the wall. “And before we put the ornaments on, we need to make sure the lights are in the right place.”

Flipping the switch, the room was plunged into darkness, the tree glowing from its place by the sliding glass door. It was self preservation - distracting yourself for your own sake - and so he couldn’t see the few tears you had to wipe away once the lights were down. “Oh, that looks … wow.” He stood and headed for the tree, reaching out to touch the needles. “We did a good job.”

“We did.” Standing next to him, you reached out, too, adjusting a few of the lights and repositioning some of the branches. “Just trying to fill in the dark spots. It’s much easier to see them with the lights off.” It didn’t take long for both of you to be happy with the state of the tree, but before you could move over to flip the switch up, Din stopped you, one of his large hands settling on your waist. “Din?”

“I never meant for this to happen.” Voice low, the man stepped closer, his other hand joining the first, both of your arms rising to hook around his neck. “And I’m sorry that I had to dump all this on you. It would have been easier not to tell you. To just let … to just let things go, and deal with it later.”

“It would have.” You were toying with the ends of his hair, a lump in your throat as you spoke. “But I’m glad you didn’t. Says a lot about you as a man, Din.” He hummed in agreement and you realized that the two of you were rocking back and forth slowly in front of the tree, the lights bright enough that you knew he could see the glistening of more unshed tears. “I won’t tell anyone, by the way. Cara and Stacy, I mean. I’ll have to tell them something, but I won’t tell them the important stuff.”

“I appreciate that.” Din leaned in, pressing his forehead against yours and taking a long breath. “I hate that you’ll be lying to them, though.”

“Won’t lie.” You tilted your head back, lips barely apart from his. “I’ll just avoid the whole truth.” His laugh that time was real, and only seconds later he was kissing you, the man’s mouth soft as it met yours. Wait, what… no. I can’t …. This can’t… “Din, I’m sorry.” Breathlessly, you pulled away from him, your hands going to his shoulders. “I didn’t mean to -”

“Don’t apologize.” He squeezed his eyes shut, pressing his lips together. “That one was kind of my fault, too.” He let you go then, his hands stroking over your sides before he stepped completely away from you, yours falling back to hang near your waist. “Ornaments?” It took you a little while to recover but when you did, you spoke with resolve.

It wouldn’t do you any good to let yourself get upset by his revelation. Even if he was a prince, Din was still Din, and for the next week, the two of you were competition partners. You could work with him - and you would, both of you too far in to give up or drop out. One event left. One event and then we’ll go back to seeing each other at work, and that’s it

“Yeah, Din. Ornaments.” Bending down, you picked up a few and then held them up. “So you start with the ones that aren’t spherical. And then you use those ones, the round ones? To fill in the places that need it.”

—

A half hour later, you and Din were finished with the ornaments, both of you standing back with your hands on your hips as you eyed the tree. It was less full than yours, the ornaments much more spread out, but with the addition of the lights and skirt, it looked good, and you hoped that Din thought the same.

It had been fun to hang them, the two of you laughing and joking as you did it, your explanation of the way you left the back of your tree mostly bare and using it only as a place for the ugly ornaments making Din laugh hard, one hand rising to rube at his face while his shoulders shook.

It was like his admission had changed something between you - making things almost easier, even though that shouldn’t have been the case at all. But he’d trusted you with arguably his biggest secret, something that it was clear only a tiny handful of people knew - and that spoke volumes to you.

It would all be out in the open soon enough, but Din coming clean with you even though he hadn’t needed to was what kept you from spiraling - it kept you there, in the room with him instead of allowing you to get lost in your thoughts of what it would be like when he was gone.

He hadn’t tried to kiss you again, but he’d still touched you - and you’d done the same - both of you navigating around the tree, ornaments in hand. It was small touches - his hand on your back, your fingers brushing his arm, Din reaching out to adjust ornaments at the same time you did - but it was comfortable, the same way it had been to play the games with him throughout the competition. Because we fit well together.

That was a painful truth, too - and something that you’d have plenty of time to think about later - the fact that you and Din were good together on many levels, but there was no time to explore it. Or not enough time.

When you stepped back to admire your handiwork, Din crossed his arms over his chest again, nodding. “I like it. It looks like … a real tree.”

“It is a real tree. And I’m glad you like it because you’re going to have to look at it for the next couple weeks.” He laughed again, the two of you turning your attention to Grogu only when he stood up and stretched, the dog yawning before making his way to the sliding glass door. “Figures, he slept through the whole thing and now that we’re done, he’s awake.”

“That’s Grogu. If he’s not eating, he’s sleeping. Been that way since I found him.” You moved as he spoke, your hand on the door handle - and when you pulled it open, you gasped at the breeze that blew in and brought a flurry of snow with it. “Is it still snowing?” The dog darted out past your legs, and when you turned the porch light on, Din swore from right behind you, the press of his chest against your back a surprise - but not at all unwelcome. “Shit, it’s really coming down.”

“Yeah…” Closing the door, you slipped past him and toward the front door, climbing the steps slowly and with a sense of growing dread. If it’s snowing that hard, it’s not going to be a fun drive home. “Oh, damn, Din.” You opened the front door and stared out - both cars and the street covered in a thick blanket of white. “I didn’t think it was supposed to pick up until tomorrow, but it …”

“They haven’t plowed yet.” He was behind you again, clearing his throat. “Do you want to check the radar? Or do you want me to drive you home?”

“I can drive.” Pinching the bridge of your nose, you sighed. “I’ll just go slow. It’s only a couple inches, and if I don’t leave now, it might not stop til morning, so -”

“I have a spare room. The house was furnished when I moved in, and there’s an extra bed. Grogu sleeps in there sometimes, but he’s the only one that’s ever used it. If it’s too bad for you to drive, you can sleep here and wait til the plows come through.” It was tempting - the thought of sleeping under the same roof as Din - but you didn’t want to appear too eager, especially after what he’d just finished telling you. Because that’s all it would be - sleeping under the same roof.

“It’s just a few minutes away. And if you drive me home, that means you have to drive back in it. Only one of us on the road is better than -”

“Neither of us out in this is even better.” He gestured to your outfit, one hand on his hip. “You’re already in your pajamas. You’re comfortable. Why risk it?”

It was a logical question, and you had no real reason to refuse him. You already knew that he didn’t expect anything from you - that his invitation for you to stay was based on a concern for your well-being and that there was no ulterior motive. He’s just being a nice guy. “Alright.” Closing your eyes, you rubbed at your face. “I don’t want to impose.”

“You aren’t.” He was grinning at you, the man pointing at the kitchen. “Now I can offer you a drink. I have some bourbon, I can make us a couple spiked hot chocolates?”

“That sounds great.” Stepping away from the door and back toward the kitchen, you stopped behind one of the chairs, settling your hands on the top of the backrest. “Thanks for offering to let me stay, Din.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He was busying himself with a pot on the stove, heating up milk as he stirred it with a long-handled wooden spoon. “I know you’d probably make it home fine, but there’s no reason for you to go. We’re both adults, right?”

“Right.” You continued to watch him, Din adding cocoa mix to the liquid and continuing to stir, his back to you. “Will you tell me more about Mandalore, Din? About your life? I don’t know if you’re allowed to, but -”

“If you want.” He turned his head toward you, nodding. “There’s not really much to tell, though. Aside from the foster homes and boarding school, my life was normal. I dated. Played some sports. Had friends. I just had to be careful as I got older. People know I was friends with Boba, but after he took the throne and started setting up the plans for the future, we saw each other less, at least publicly.” He reached up and into the cupboard, pulling out to large mugs. “The bourbon is in that cupboard by you. Grab it?”

You did as he asked, carrying it over and standing next to him. “Want me to pour it?” He nodded, still stirring. So you added a measure to each cup, lifting the neck of the bottle to your nose and inhaling. “So you’re still friends with him? Even though no one knows how close you are?”

“Yeah. I’m still friends with Fennec, too. We see each other a lot, or… we did, before I came here. But Boba, it’s more … formal now. It has to be. There are a few people in his inner circle that know the plan, and Fennec does too, but it’s a secret. Part of it is because it’s dangerous to identify me before I become Mand’alor, but it’s also because … if people knew? They’d try to use it to their advantage.”

He poured the hot chocolate into the cups, setting the empty pot in the sink and then reaching into another cupboard and pulling out marshmallows. “Their advantage? What do you mean?”

“Boba’s gotten - and turned down a hundred marriage proposals since he took the throne. None of them came before.” Oh. “If people knew that I was going to take his place, and that I’m single?” He dropped three of the fluffy cubes into his drink and then passed the bag to you. “It would be overwhelming.”

“A lot of guys would love that, Din.” You added your marshmallows and then opened one of the drawers - the one you’d seen him grab knives from - for a spoon to stir your drink. “Their choice of women? People throwing themselves at -”

“Don’t get me wrong. Mandalorian women are something else, but …” He sipped from the cup, his eyes closing. “I’d never know if they’re after me or just using me for my title.” Oh, I didn’t… that’s awful. “Boba’s never married, either. And I think that’s part of why he wants to step down. He wants …” Din looked down, waiting until you took a drink to say anything more. “He wants a regular life. And I can’t blame him.”

“Even though it means your life changes?” Din nodded, pointing back at the downstairs level of the house. You headed back there, curling up on the couch while Din added more logs to the fire. “Maybe it won’t be as difficult as you’re thinking. You could have stayed in Mandalore, Din. Found someone that knew you before you took the crown, let them grow into it with you.”

“Part of me’s always known that this would happen.” He let Grogu in and then came to sit next to you after turning the overhead lights off, the mug held between both hands. “I don’t like lying to people. Here, it’s easier because no one knows anything about Mandalore so it doesn’t come up, but there? It’s harder to pretend.” So does that mean he was alright with lying to me? “It was nice to get to know you without worrying. You just thought I was Din, the IT guy with the cute dog.”

“I still do.” Swallowing another mouthful and letting the liquid warm you, you turned toward the man next to you on the couch. “That doesn’t change just because you told me the truth, Din. And we don’t need to talk about this anymore if you don’t want to. Just … give me a heads up before you’re leaving for good, alright? I want to be able to say goodbye.”

That wasn’t what you wanted to say - you wanted to know more, wanted to question Din about his life and his friends and himself. You wanted the man to feel free to give you whatever answers he wanted to … but you didn’t want to push. Because I’m no one. I’m going to be a memory for him, and that’s… I don’t get to know everything. “I’m not leaving soon, “ he replied, setting his cup down on the side table. “ It’s not like I’ll be out of here in the next few weeks. Boba promised me at least a year, and that year isn’t up until March.”

“So I get you for another three months?” It slipped out, your eyes going wide as soon as the words finished, and you hastily set your mug down, holding your hands out. “I mean, we, here in Mistletoe, we -”

“Yes.” He leaned in, eyes on you. “You get me for at least another three months.” You were happy for the confirmation, but at the same time, dreaded the passage of time, because it meant that he was leaving - eventually. “And honestly, I don’t mind talking about any of this with you. It’s … a relief that you know. And that you didn’t walk out as soon as I told you.”

“Oh, come on. You really think that little of me?” Licking stray drops of hot cocoa from your lips, you rolled your eyes. “I wouldn’t go anywhere. You didn’t lie to me because you wanted to, you kept something really important and extremely confidential from me. There’s a difference.” Nodding in response, Din watched you wordlessly. “But you don’t have to lie to me, Din. If there’s something you can’t tell me? Just say that it’s about this, and I’ll let it go. I’ll be curious, but I’ll let it go.”

Grogu had laid down by Din’s feet, and after you set your almost empty mug down, you reached forward, scratching between his ears. Almost like clockwork, as you bent down, you felt Din’s hand on your back, the pressure comforting. “I still can’t get over how much he likes you.”

“Yeah, well.” You sat back up, eyes moving to Din as you turned your head. “I like him too, so…” You both laughed. “Want to find something to watch? We’re snowed in, we might as well.”

“Sure.” He settled back and you did, too, crossing your legs and flipping through the channel schedule menu. “Hey, what’s that? Lights, Camera, Christmas? Sounds like -”

“I’m not making you watch a Hallmark Christmas movie, Din. They’re so dumb. They all have the same plot and they’re really sappy, and -”

“But it’s a Christmas movie?” He shifted next to you, the cushions moving under his weight. “Put it on. Might be fun.” So you did, flipping to the channel and setting the remote down on the table in front of you before you settled back, too.

It was cozy - the two of you relaxing on the couch in the near-dark, the room only illuminated by the flickering flames and the soft glow of the tree’s lights, Grogu sleeping at your feet, the snow falling outside. I could get used to this. You sighed, chewing on your lower lip. I could really get used to this, except… I can’t.

As the time passed, you let yourself get more comfortable, Din’s arm stretched out behind you and over the back of the couch. The movie - admittedly - was holding your attention, and you caught yourself smiling a few times, the sound of Din’s quiet laughter from next to you surprising you, too. “I’m going to stretch my legs, sorry.” He moved again, lifting both of them and settling them on the coffee table while you leaned forward and moved your empty mug to the opposite end. “You can too, if you want.” So you did, the new position making it possible to sink deeper into the cushions, the heat of Din’s body next to you lulling you into a contented state as the movie played on.

You opened your eyes a while later, startled awake by the pop of a piece of wood in the fireplace, and realized that you’d fallen asleep, your body gravitating toward Din’s - your side pressed into the place below his arm and your cheek resting against the front of his shoulder. Oh, shit. He was sleeping - quiet, even breaths making his chest rise and fall, and you tried to remain still while you watched him, the man’s features relaxed. We both fell asleep.

Grogu was back on his chair, and the fire had burned low, which meant it had been a while, the movie on TV a different one than you’d started watching. But it doesn’t really matter, they’re all the same anyway.

You didn’t want to wake him, but knew that the right thing to do was to suggest going to sleep - separately - before he could wake up and do the same thing. Just do it. You inhaled, humming out his name. “We fell asleep, Din. C’mon. Let’s go to bed.” The words made your chest ache - you didn’t want to go to sleep in separate rooms. You didn’t want to get off of the couch, or have him remove his arm from where it had fallen to settle around your shoulders. But it’s the best thing to do. “Hey, Din.” You spoke a little louder, resting your hand on his chest. “Come on, bedtime.”

“No.” He mumbled the word, not even bothering to open his eyes as his arm tightened around you. “Comfortable here.” You were, too - but instead of just letting it go, you opened your mouth again.

“Your feet are propped up on a coffee table, Din. That can’t be comfortable.”

“Then we should lay down.” He did open his eyes then - halfway - staring at you with a sleepy smile on his face. “Couch is oversized so we’ll be fine.”

You wanted to say no - you should have said no - but instead you peeled yourself away from him and stood, grabbing the blanket from the back of the couch as you looked down at where he was still sitting. “Then lay down, Din.” You caught the surprise in his eyes momentarily, but then he did shift, pulling his feet back and then laying down, stretching out with his back pressed against the thick couch cushions. “Is this a goo -”

“No.” His smile widened. “No, it’s not a good idea, but I want to do it anyway.” You did, too, and so you unfolded the blanket before sitting back down on the edge of the couch. I do, too.

Stretching out next to him, you rested your head on the pillow as you pulled the blanket over the two of you, kicking your foot out so that it covered your entire body. “This alright?” You didn’t recognize your voice, the sound of it thin with apprehension. Shit. The feeling of his arm sliding around your waist and his hand settling against your stomach put you more at ease, your eyelids fluttering shut as you exhaled. “I guess so.”

“As long as it’s alright with you.” He cleared his throat and then leaned in, the man’s mouth just above your ear. “Sleep well.” His breath was warm against your skin and you nodded in reply, eyes still closed as you shifted backwards and into the firm expanse of his body.

“You too, Din.” He didn’t kiss you, but when he pulled his head back, you felt the tip of his nose drag along the skin directly behind your ear and then down before stopping, his arm flexing to draw you even closer.

It would end poorly for you - and you knew it. Din would go back to Mandalore and do his duty as the named heir to the throne, leaving you in Mistletoe. He’d become the face of his country, and his time with you would be nothing but memories to recall when he thought about the past.

There wasn’t a future with him to look forward to - no possibility of getting to know each other over multiple dates and through the changing seasons, no opportunity to talk about moving in together or taking things to the next level. Not even gonna get to go past a kiss, if he sticks to what he said earlier.

But for the first time - and unlike with James - you were content to live in the present and enjoy each moment you had with Din while you could, future be damned. Because no matter what happens, I’ll always have this.

It was you that nodded off first that time, Din’s arm wrapped tightly around you, your easy, even breaths in sync with each other long after you were both sound asleep.

—

Tag list reblog coming soon!

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ladymarycrawley · 2 years ago

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Baby please come home - John Stones

Request: can I pls request a John Stones fic where your family have moved abroad and you’re going to see them for Christmas but John can’t come so you’re quite sad you’re missing your first Christmas with him but what you don’t know is he’s surprising you when you land and you have the most amazing Christmas with him and your family?

Warning: sweet, sweet John (sth like one of those Xmas rom coms)

Tag list: @masonxomount @chelsealover @stonesyy @johnstonesfc

Christmas is such a special time, not just for the magical atmosphere given by all the lights, the shopping to get some good presents and all of that but also because it usually is the time you get to spend with all your loved ones.

Among all those loved ones you would've like to spend the so called most wonderful time of the year there was also another person that, during this last year, became pretty important to you, that one was John. That would have been your first Christmas together and, Needless to say, you were really looking forward to it: getting him the perfect presents, even that being rather hard as he already had everything he could ask for since he had enough money for all of that, picturing him interacting with your family and all of them getting along, him complimenting your mum for the delicious food she cooked��the only thing that could spoil that perfect scenario was him missing all of that. And that was exactly the turn things took: when everything was set for him to come and spend his first Christmas holidays with your family, he came and said that he couldn’t do it anymore due to an intensive training schedule his manager decided to submit the squad to as a “punishment” for their latest losses.

When your boyfriend told you that news you were hoping you didn’t have to listen to, your heart broke into a million pieces and you were sure he could have heard it from the outside too.

"But you promised you would've come"

"I know but it's work and it doesn't depend on me"

You got so angry the night he called all your plans off you were this close to a fight but instead you just kept it all inside and let him cuddle you all night, trying not to let him see the hot tears that were staining your face.

The next day he woke up before you to go training as you had to finish preparing your suitcase ready to take the flight home in a few hours. That morning he tried to make it up to you by whisepring sweet nothings into your ear as he would place lingering kisses against your cheek and by leaving your breakfast ready (including the last chocolate muffin you would usually argue for) with a note saying he was really sorry abd that he loved you so much. As much as you would've liked to play the part of the strong girl that doesn't need these useless things, that sweet gesture caused you to smile from ear to ear, taking your phone in your hand to write him a thank you text, adding you loved him more than ever.

As soon as you arrived at your parents' you facetimed John to let him know you were home safe, as he kept sending you texts asking you how were you doing.

"Yes, I'm entering my bedroom in this very moment" You sighed, leaving your suitcase at the side of the bed and abandoning yourself on what was would have been your bed for those upcoming days.

"Good, how was the trip?" He asked as he was lounging on his bed, with his arm propped on the bed holding his head. The weary smile curving his lips mase your heart flutter, you would have loved to kiss his tiredness away and cuddle next to him.

"Okay, it's so damn freezing outside I just wanted to get home and drink this hot cocoa my mum just made for me"

You were literally gladly to have that steaming mug in your hands and a soft and warm bed to realx on, you were feeling like a child and that made John's smile grow even wider.

"You look like a happy baby"

"I am indeed!" You two shared a little laugh before asking him how was training.

"I'm kinda tired you know, with the cold and everything it's getting kinda hard"

He let out a loud yawn, rubbing his hand over his worn out features. He looked like a baby too in that moment, needing all the cuddles in the world.

"I miss you" You whined, pouting and wrapping your blanket tighter around you.

"You look so snuggly with that blanket on" John smiled softly at your face reflected on the phone screen.

He missed so much seeing you wandering through the house wearing that pile thing around your shoulder as if it was a cape.

"We could have been here together, snuggling under this soft and warm blanket but you preferred staying there, in cold and rainy Manchester"

"You know I would've loved that but Pep decided is a good time for us to work on some tactics"

"Pep, it's Christmas for Christ's sake, go eat some sweets and let these poor men go!" You rolled your eyes, sighing in distress "I should've been your manager"

Your exasperated reaction made him chuckle out loud.

"Yeah, we would've had so much fun…especially me" He wiggled his eyebrows in a flirty way.

"Nope, you wouldn't have gotten anything" You playfully snapped back, him being the one to pout this time.

"I miss you too" He confessed, wanting nothing but to run his long fingers over your face and kiss you.

You looked at each other in silence for a couple of minutes, just getting lost in each other's eyes.

"Mum was really looking forward to meet you"

"Me too, I'm so sorry to be missing all of that"

"And now I'm about to face a long family dinner without you"

"Hey, I already said I'm sorry, don't make me feel guiltier"

"I love making you suffer from time to time" You said, sticking your tongue between your teeth.

He chuckled before waving you goodbye and sending a kiss your way, not after hearing you say how much you loved him.

"Someone rang the door!"

"I'm coming!" You shouted in answer to your mum.

That morning you were adjusting the Christmas tree your mum lef you to do as someone rang the door.

As you opened the door and you realised who was the one person standing at your parents' entrance, you gasped and let the glass bauble you were holding to put on the tree fall to the ground, breaking it into a million pieces.

"JOHN??"

"Happy Christmas baby" You jumped in his arms, wrapping your arms and legs around him like a koala.

He giggled, his lips pressed against your head.

"What the hell are you doing here??"

"Well, if you don't want me anymore I'm going back to Manchester"

"Don't you dare!" You both laughed as you cupped his face to give him a long, needed kiss on the lips. The contrast between your warm lips against his colder ones made you shiver while he let out a pleased moan, enjoying the warmth you were radiating as he spent the last hours out in the cold.

"Oh he made it in the end!" Your mum exclaimed seeing you in tears in John's arms.

"What does it mean?? You knew it?? For all this time!" You gasped pointing a finger against your mum, guessing she knew everything from the start and probably talked to John to arrange the surprise. But how was it possible? They didn't know each other personally.

"Well, I unlocked your phone and searched for her number telling her about the surprise I had in mind" The City player explained you, as you couldn't quite believe what was happening right in front of your eyes.

"You two…you have been playing with my feelings all this time...that's not fair"

"But we succeeded in surprising you so we won" He smirked, kissing your forehead.

Everything you had in mind finally happened: he met your parents, your sister and had dinner with you all, including him appreciating your mum's cooking skills.

“So this is our room?” John asked wiggling his eyebrows mischievously as you showed him upstairs.

“No, it’s mine. Yours is just here on the right”

“Oh come on, I don’t wanna sleep all alone in a new house” He whined hugging you and hiding his face in your neck “I’m scared”

His stubble tickled the highly sensitive skin of your neck, making you giggle and squirm in his arms.

“John, we can’t do anything as far as my family is here”

“I don’t wanna do anything! I just wanna sleep. What do you have in mind, you cheeky girl?” He smiled mischievously.

“The same thing you have in mind, you naughty boy” You pinched his cheek before kissing him softly.

“The heating doesn’t work properly though...I’m so cold”

“John stop it” You couldn’t stop giggling as you tried to push him out of your bedroom. You would have really liked to sleep next to him but you didn't want your family to make some comments or anything about your private business.

"You can't leave me out in the cold!"

"I'm not! You have a hot bed waiting for you"

The day after, when you were strolling hand in hand with him through some Christmas markets, you realised how lucky you got: with him by your side you were feeling as if you had just won the lottery. That thought made you squeeze his hand firmer, drawing his attention.

"What?"

You gazed up at him: his curls perfectly styled, his slender body wrapped in that black wool coat you insisted for him to buy instead of those puffers he would use at City, his cheeks slightly pink due to the cold weather, making his cerulean eyes stand out.

"Nothing, I just love you so much"

John smiled back at you, meeting your smaller figure standing on your tiptoes ready to kiss him.

"Even after having played that prank on you?"

"Even more"

"You said that! Don't complain then"

You playfully hit him on his toned arm.

"It doesn't mean go on, play pranks on me whenever you want to!" You warned him jokingly.

John trapped you in his arms, engulfing you in his embrace which felt so perfect.

"I really am the perfect girlfriend, you know?"

"Pff, don't flatter yourself, I am the perfect boyfriend"

"This coat your perfect girlfriend made you buy is what makes you the perfect boyfriend, nothing else"

"Oh so you're with me just for the looks? I'll remember that"

He pinched your hips from underneath your coat, making you squirm. The cold air and the never stopping smile making your cheeks hurt but you couldn’t care less.

"I have another thing or two that could make me an even better boyfriend…" John smirked teasingly, muttering that kinky words in your ear, adding some red to your already tinted face. He took your hand in his to start walking together again. That was really the most wonderful time of the year.

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clarktooncrossing · 1 year ago

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Giraffe's Eye View: Christmas Specials Special | Klaus

Chestnuts are roasting on an open fire. Jack Frost is nipping at your nose. Mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again. All the dogs in the neighborhood somehow learned to bark Jingle Bells in sync. Yet retail workers are still more annoyed with Mariah Carey. Snow is getting shoveled, tossed, and formed into sentient beings leading parades without permits. It makes for an excellent distraction as the Krampus abducts children for bad behavior. Fruitcake is exchanged only to find its permanent home in the garbage. Terrorists have hijacked the Holiday office party right before your boss can give you a Jelly of the Month Club membership as your bonus. And of course, the Turducken has returned to wreak its fiery vengeance upon an unsuspecting world! If all this doesn’t put you in the Christmas spirit, perhaps these following Holiday specials will!

Greetings people of today and robots of tomorrow! It is I, Santa Clark, your geeky giraffe friend with a deep love of Christmas! My obsession for the yuletide is rivaled only by Maleficent’s hatred for it, which is saying a lot considering she once teamed up with Mad Madam Mim to kidnap the literal Spirit of Christmas. Yes, that really happened. I know this due to my annual pilgrimage to the Island of Misfit Specials, home to obscure or nerdy festive media ranging from movies, TV episodes, and comics. It’s no easy journey. Constantly I find myself confronted by sinister snowmen, genocidal gingerbread men, and worst of all, crappy commercials. Getting stabbed in the foot by a candy-cane wielding cookie is one thing, but I swear I’ve seen that ad for Wilbur’s White Elephant Gift Emporium more times than I’ve seen Miracle on 34th Street! Sometimes at night I catch myself reciting that jingle. Wilbur’s White Elephant Gift Emporium: Where Christmas meets Convenience! Huh, maybe Maleficent had a point.

Nah, my deep-rooted appreciation for this time of year can weather even the most moronic marketing! It helps that most of the merry media I’ve seen have put me in the perfect Holiday mood! Examples include the time a Ninja Turtle found himself trapped in a truck full of stollen toys, a drunk department store Santa stumbling onto a wish-granting magic bag, Big Bird nearly becoming a popsicle, Gwenpool waking up in a world where Galactus took the place of jolly ol’ Saint Nicholas, a terrifying tree stump trying to slaughter some saps over a stupid ship war, and the year when Death gave the Little Match Girl the greatest gift of all. Needless to say, I thought I had seen it all. That is, until I took my friends on a trip to the Island, tasking them to find me new, strange, seasonal specials to review! Some of them were fair, finding me festive favorites as comforting as coco in front of the fireplace. Others were fiendish, wanting to feed off my misery like Gremlins after midnight. Regardless of how naughty or nice my companions were, I’ve compiled all of their suggestions into a makeshift advent calendar! So stay tuned everyday until Christmas to see how badly my buddies can shred what little sanity I have left.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my buddies gave to me...

Netflix has never made my Nice List. Even back in their Blockbuster killing days I thought they were overrated. After all, what’s so cool about an overpriced service that didn’t have Jurassic Park? Now that they’ve spawned steep competition, heightened their prices, and constantly cancel any popular series they produce, it seems the rest of the world is finally singing the same song. Welcome to the Netflix Sucks Club, everyone! However, in defense of the house Stranger Things built, they are running circles around Disney in regards to cartoons. Along with streaming sensational shows like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, and The Dragon Prince, they’re also home to some equally amazing animated movies. Movies such as Nimona, The Mitchells vs the Machines, and of course Klaus. Their origin story for Santa came out at just the right time and has quickly become a seasonal staple for many peeps around the world. Including in Barcelona, home to the artistic android AN-D (Void-Android). So how did this flick become so instantly beloved?

For starters, it’s unspeakably gorgeous! Good lord, I’d be insane not to praise the phenomenal talent poured into every frame. The expressive characters, their energetic motion, all of the breath-taking backdrops enhanced by enriched lighting, this is easily one of the prettiest pictures of the past few years. Words fail in describing how amazing the art is. It’s right up there alongside Spider-Verse or Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Makes sense considering all three utilize a style combining the hand-drawn animation of yesterday with the technological trickery of today. Everything is so beautifully blended that I genuinely have a hard time telling where one method ends and the other begins. Which was the point. Director / Character Animator Segio Pablos theorized the reason 2D animation had yet to make a comeback was due to how it had failed to evolve. Features like Treasure Planet or The Princess and the Frog paired their riveting plots with visuals trying too hard to recapture the magic of the old days. So when Pablos formed his own studio, the cleverly named Sergio Pablos Animation, he was determined to make something special. In his own words, “It was important to me that the film did not feel like it could come out of any other studio, and that it had its own personality without losing the broad appeal that’s expected from a high-end holiday film.”

That’s a quote from Ramin Zahed’s Klaus: The Art of the Movie, a book I highly recommend reading. Not only are you treated to page upon page of fantastic behind-the-scenes concepts, but you also get to hear how Batman Begins served as inspiration. Honestly it matches up once you dive into the plot.

People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy. Or laziness, in the case of Jesper Johanson (Jason Schwartzman). He’s a millennial mailman so spoiled he nearly rivals the Kardashians. Key difference being Jesper’s genuinely entertaining. Furthermore, this brat has a father who actually cares about him, threatening to cut off his trust fund unless he delivers six thousand letters by year’s end. Should be easy given this takes place long before email was invented, right?

Wrong! Like any good parent, the Postmaster General knows his son will be forever doomed to fail if he doesn’t exercise some tough love. It doesn’t get much tougher than sending him to the small, northern island of Smeerensburg. Here the bitter chill of winter is rivaled only by the searing hatred between the town’s two prominent families; the Ellingboes and the Krums. Neither clan remembers how their feud started. Really, when did details like that matter? It’s tradition! What’s important is the disdain that divides them! A mindset later adapted for Twitter! It’s an ideology that’s sadly enforced onto their offspring, too. Snow will fall in Southtown, USA before they allow the spawn of their sworn enemies to mingle! Shun out those who are different from you, even if the only separating factor is their hair color! Wow, it’s so realistic it’s painful. They’re not even allowed to attend school together, much to the frustration of the local teacher Alva (Rashida Jones). Arriving eight years ago hoping to guide youths towards a bright, better tomorrow, now she’s selling fish so she can escape this dump. Getting away from this petty rivalry is all that matters. Both sides are firmly set in their ways, not letters needed to express any ire. Looks like our desperate protagonist needs a miracle!

Enter our titular Klaus, a bearded behemoth voiced by the legendary J.K. Simmons. Contrasting other cinematic Kringles, our initial impression of this legendary figure is that of a gruff, grumpy loner longing to be left alone. He’s a man living far out in the woods building birdhouses in memoriam of his long lost wife. Yup, Mrs. Claus is dead! Merry Christmas! Before the two had hoped to fill their house with happy children, the gentle giant filling his barn to the brim with hand-crafted toys in anticipation. With those dreams dashed, he has no purpose other than waiting to die. That is until Jesper accidentally drops off a depressed drawing swindled from a sad boy. Seeing someone in need, the weary woodsman wrangles the wormy weakling into helping him deliver one of his many toys; a wind-up frog. It’s while watching the kid playing in the window that we get our first glimpse of the good man inside. For the first half of the runtime, Simmons scarcely says a word. You’d be forgiven for forgetting he was in this at all! Yet like any great animated feature worth its salt, the visuals express everything. A spark can be seen in Santa’s eyes when he witnesses the happiness brought onto another. In that moment he’s given a reason to live again.

Lucky for Jesper, said reason is his ticket out of here. Turns out the kid had caught Santa staring through the window. Presuming his letter’s what led to a shiny new toy, word is quickly spread amongst his peers, all quickly forming a line around the post office. Seizing the opportunity, the courier convinces Klaus to donate more of his toys for tots, under the condition they do so in secret under nightfall. As more gifts are given out, legends of the mysterious merry man grow. Most of it predicated on lies and deception. It’s an aspect of the story that really bugs me, sad to say. Personally I prefer how Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town handled this detail, organically explaining how a humble toymaker became the mythical figure we know and love today. Sure, most of it is based in magic, but we’re talking about a guy who traverses the world all in one night on a sled led by reindeer. As I hope my earlier rant in the Flash made clear, logic need not apply here. Layering Batman in a grounded reality makes a strange sort of sense, not so much Papa Noel. For example, the reason Klaus swaps out his horse for reindeer in the first place is because Jesper doesn’t want to lighten the load of presents. More presents equals more letters! Worst of these fabrications is the Naughty List. One little snot found a clump of coal in his stocking, threatening to make like the Power Rangers and mutilate the mailman lest he get answers. Putting aside that it was in fact Jesper who pulled the dirty deed, he terrifies the tubby tike by stating Santa knows when he’s been sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake. Only the ornery ones end up on the Naughty List.

Upon learning of the list, an unexpected domino effect triggers throughout the community. First the kids start behaving better, performing good deeds such as shoveling snow, painting over graffiti, cleaning clarinets, helping out with the laundry, picking berries, nursing a stubborn senior who broke his foot, even going to school at Jesper’s suggestion. An astonished Alva learns to love teaching again, going so far as to spend her savings to spruce up the schoolhouse. Now some may argue this is only happening because these brats want a reward. Fair enough, it’s not an unfair assumption to make. Provided you ignore the adults mirroring that attitude. Despite nobody giving them anything, they’re still acting neighborly towards each other. Why? Because kindness is infectious! It’s a mindset the cynics of the world will undoubtedly scoff at. Let’m keep their dour worldview. Humans are far more hospitable than given credit for. Klaus himself puts it best: a true selfless act always sparks another. Jesper himself scoffs at first, until he meets a sweet little Sami girl named Márgu (Neda Margrethe Labba). Look up ‘cute’ in the dictionary and there’ll be a picture of her. Those protesting otherwise may also expect clumps of coal in their socks! Good gosh, she deserves all the hugs! Although she’ll settle for a sled. Throughout the picture we see her ask Jesper for help in writing a letter to Klaus so she can receive one. Eventually he concedes, asking Alva to translate before helping Klaus build the sled himself. It’s when he delivers it and sees Márgu eagerly ride it that we see that same spark twinkle in the mailman’s eyes too. Perhaps his colossal colleague was onto something after all.

Do the clan elders care? Nope. Realizing their resentful lifestyle is fleeting, both agree to a ceasefire to cancel Christmas. Now that’s the true reason for the season: uniting under a common hatred! Joy to the world!

By then, Jesper’s forgotten about his selfish status quo, contempt with settling down in Smeerensburg. He’s ready to help his friend deliver more presents to the pipsqueaks, now aided additionally by Alva and Márgu’s Sami tribe. Imagine his surprise when dear daddy arrives to escort him back home. All six-thousand letters have been delivered, partially thanks to the malicious machinations of the elders. One would assume they’d burn the barn down due to its location being public knowledge, but then we wouldn’t be subjected to the liar revealed trope. Now in fairness to this classic cliche, How to Train Your Dragon demonstrated that it can work well to strengthen the story. Stoic is a stubborn man set in his ways, it makes sense that he’d ignore anything Hiccup has to say. Jesper's pals suddenly acting pissy doesn't. What, because everything he said was a lie? Okay, but he still changed all your lives for the better, so what does it matter? In her review, Cellspex proposes that Jesper’s friends should’ve allowed him to leave, a true selfless act that in turn would’ve prompted him to stay. That would’ve tied back to the thesis of the narrative while also feeling less forced. Otherwise it’s so obnoxious going through the motions. Inevitably Jasper returns to save the day, they partake in a chase scene minus Klaus flying on rooftops in a big, black tank, and all is forgiven. In the end the elders are forced to reconcile as two of their own fall in love, Jesper lives a happy life with Alva and their kids, and Klaus eventually dies. Merry Christmas! Or does he? As a man Santa is flesh and blood. He can be ignored, he can be destroyed, but as a symbol? He can be incorruptible! Everlasting, even. Jesper can’t comprehend what happened to him after that. He stopped trying to make sense of it a long time ago. What he does know is that once a year he gets to see his friends again. So long as love, generosity, and devotion still exist, so too does Klaus.

Overall, Klaus is a flawed masterpiece that’s earned its seasonal staple status. Artistically it shines like a diamond! Storywise is where the smudges are shown. Pablos accomplished his agenda in elevating the animated artform, but failed to do so narratively. Ironically it's the opposite problem he proclaimed most cartoon pictures once had. This feels like what happens when The Emperor’s New Groove, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, Cars, and Batman Begins are all mixed in a blender. It’s a familiar flavor, though not a terrible one. If nothing else, it's a fun, festive film with vibrant visuals, a charismatic cast, and at least one sensational song. I sincerely hope more movies are made like this in the future, even if they end up on Netflix. The future of animation looks bright! Wait, that’s not the future. Some random Christmas carnival is on fire! Quick, throw cards at it!

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marshallpupfan · 3 years ago

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As promised, here it is! The entirety of my Marshall collection!

I started this whole thing in 2019, back when I bought one single figurine to place in front of my computer monitor. Over time, as I became a bigger fan of Marshall and realized just how absolutely crazy I am about him, I ended up buying a few more things until... well, until it eventually became what you see here!

Also, let me tell you one other thing; I never realized just how much I had until I started rearranging/reorganizing a bunch of it! 😅

I figured I’d briefly talk about each section. So, let’s get started!

The majority of the plush dolls I own are on the right. They used to be located on the bottom of the big display case, but after I started to get so many more, I figured I’d transfer them to their own thing.

Some of the larger plush dolls are on the bottom (with some tiny dolls included because I couldn’t find spots for them elsewhere), and above are the ones that often get released during each new sub-series. Hopefully I’ll get to add the Rescue Knights plush soon, whenever it shows up. I just hope I can find a spot for it! lol

Though most of these are plush dolls, I reserved one shelf for miscellaneous items I couldn’t find spots for on the big display case.

Right in the middle is my TV, with a Ready Race Rescue poster above it. I also have some figurines here of various pups, though I’m hoping to add all of them some day (and perhaps others, like Claw). If you’re curious, my laptop is connected to my TV, and the image you’re seeing is my desktop wallpaper.

I put that wooden wall art on this wall, along with the badges that came with some of the figurines. Things were a bit bare, so I printed off some of my favorite screenshots/pics of Marshall to go along with them! The one with the lucky collar is my favorite, since that smile he has there is simply the greatest thing ever. 😁

Now, onto the big display case.

The bottom two shelves house all of the vehicles I’ve collected. To make them appear nicer, I placed their respective figurines next to them. Some of the smaller ones, such as the True Metal vehicles, reside right below them.

The shelf above the vehicles has most of the figurines that’s released over the years. Can you believe Marshall’s worn so many different outfits? Fireman, EMT, Air Patrol, Mighty Pups, Dino Rescue, Pup-Fu, Moto Pups, Ultimate Rescues... the list just keeps growing!

Above that are other items I’ve managed to find, such as a snow globe, Christmas ornaments, ceramic piggy (puppy?) banks, an alarm clock, bobbleheads, a big color-changing lightbulb (that large head in the back-right), candy dispensers, bubble makers, shampoo bottles, among many other things!

And now, the last two shelves of the display case.

The bottom one here has other misc. items I’ve collected, including lunch pails, a few Marshall-focused DVDs, Good2Grow Bottle Top heads (still missing one), more Christmas ornaments, coffee mugs, among other things. The thing in the middle is a light-up talking coin bank, which I actually imported from the UK (the first overseas item I added to my collection).

The very top houses some of the bigger plush dolls I couldn’t find room for on the right side. I included some others up there, just to fill up the empty space. There’s a few other jumbo plush dolls I hope to add here, whenever I can find them for a good price.

And last, but not least; this singular plush. It’s one of my favorites, so I like keeping him next to my bed. I suppose you could say I consider him a companion of sorts.

Well, there you have it! Pretty crazy collection, huh? There are still a few more things I’d like to do to spruce up the whole thing a bit, like make some better shelves (the one holding the figurines is starting to bend), and perhaps paint them so they’ll all match. For now, I’m quite happy with it, and I hope you guys enjoyed seeing it!

So yeah, needless to say, I wasn’t kidding when I said I’m totally crazy about Marshall! He really is my #1 favorite animated character of all time, and I feel this collection is a testament to not only that, but just how absolutely awesome/amazing I think he is! 😉

#PAW Patrol #PawPatrol #Marshall #Marshall Paw Patrol #MarshallPawPatrol #Paw Patrol Marshall #PawPatrolMarshall #Marshall Collection #Marshall is seriously the greatest pup to ever exist #My Marshall Collection

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gay-otlc · 3 years ago

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Keepers Of The Chaos (3)

Summary: Tam, Linh, Dex, Keefe, Biana, and Fitz are part of the tiny fandom for Keeper of the Chaos, and Tam and Linh’s podcast convinces some of their other friends to watch it as well. The group finds themselves strangely invested in this show, where students at Tumblr High School who work together to write about an elf named Sophia, cause incomprehensible chaos, and fight their rival Pinterest High School.

Content warnings: Cursing, religion (Jewish Vackers), and Amsterdam (just in case, I know that was stressful for some people).

Word count: 1621

Notes: Most of the episodes are just events stolen from Lynn's roundup, Dex's memes are here

(Read on AO3)

The life of an amateur meme maker on dumbles dot com was a strange one, that was for sure. After finishing xyr favorite show- Ze-Ra: Monaerchs of Powhir- for the third time, Dex had searched for another show to fill the void in xyr soul. Biana recommended this show called "Keepers of the Chaos" and described it to xem. Xe was doubtful at first, but after watching the first episode, xe was hooked.

Xe used to not have many friends at xyr school, so xe did what every neurodivergent queer teen would do- made an account on dumbles dot com. People seemed to like xem- or at least, they liked dizznee-plus's memes and edits of Ze-Ra characters. Even after Dex befriended xyr squish, Fitz, thons sister, Biana, and aer girlfriend, Sophie, xe continued making content on dumbles. Around that time, the Ze-Ra fandom started dying off, and xyr memes started getting fewer note

In a sudden, two am burst of inspiration, Dex made edits of some of xyr favorite characters, like Ref, Akki, and Rose, with their respective pride flags (all of them bi) over them, and captioned it "we must be gay." The post blew up, or at least, what could be considered blowing up in Keeper of the Chaos's tiny fandom, and that was how Dex found xyr calling as an amateur meme/edit maker for KOTC.

History had been repeating itself, with the KOTC fandom starting to die off, until it was revived by an announcement from creator Saturn Nolastname- a season two would be released soon. Frantically, Dex made a meme about season one episode two, with the car salesman meme. Xe edited "chaos keepers" onto the car salesman, "the rarelynoticed" on the car, and "this bad boy can fit so many stripper outfits into it."

That had been... an interesting episode, to say the least. The chaos keepers had been talking about the antagonists of "Sophie and the Dark Duck"- a rebel group called the Rarelynoticed. In the information packet they'd been given, it was confirmed that the Rarelynoticed wore black cloaks and armbands, but no other clothes had been mentioned. Somehow, the chaos keepers came to the conclusion that the Rarelynoticed really wore neon pink leotards and green stripper heels, then drew this idea.

Needless to say, the Tumblr staff did not let them write that into the book. Nor did Lynn, the unofficially chosen leader of the group. Unfortunately for her, this didn't stop the chaos keepers from drawing more of these- or the fandom from making a ton of memes. In addition to the car salesman meme, a post with Drake saying no to "wearing normal fucking villain outfits" and yes to "leotards and stripper heels" gained popularity within the small fandom.

Though nothing could match the absolute shock of seeing the Rarelynoticed stripper outfit for the first time, Dex decided to rewatch the episode anyway- it was funny to see the chaos keepers freak out, and maybe xe could get some good screen captures. The good Saturn Nolastname indulged xem, and xe captured an excellent scene of most of the chaos keepers either laughing or screaming at the Rarelynoticed stripper outfits, with Kimber- one of xyr favorites- sitting on the side, explaining to Juno and Kaitee why Bianca Cracker was bisexual.

Xe went over to dumbles, posted the picture, added an image description, and captioned it "Live photo of me not caring when my friends talk about sex/romance." Xe chuckled to xemself- this really was how it felt to be aroace. Xe tagged it as aromantic and asexual as well, since dumbles added flag colors. Smiling, xe went to go check xyr notifications.

Xyr jaw dropped when xe saw that @lordofthesnuggles- Fitzroy (Dex didn't know thons middle name) Vacker thonself had liked and reblogged all three of xyr memes, even adding compliments in the tags! Xe'd had a bit of a platonic crush on Fitz for... a really long time, but xe always felt too awkward to talk to thon, so it was nice to see that thon appreciated xyr humor.

Feeling energized- and excited to procrastinate on xyr math homework- Dex went to watch the next episode: Dark Duck Is Jewish Now. Being Jewish xemself, this was a really funny episode to xem.

Lynn had been writing a sort of spinoff- it would be called fanfiction, but it was for her own story- about some of the Dark Duck characters celebrating Christmas, and added a throwaway line about Bianca and Finn Cracker celebrating Hanukkah. Then, her fiance, Shai, had taken that idea and run with it, writing a list of ideas about what would happen if the Cracker family was Jewish. Hir friend Sam had jumped on the idea, and soon they had abandoned writing the actual Dark Duck in favor of writing a story about Jewish Dark Duck characters. Some of the other Jewish chaos keepers, like Ref and Cat, helped out.

To be honest, it kind of surprised Dex that no one had made a joke about the Jewish Crackers just being matzah, so xe supposed xe would have to be the first.

Xe posted that observation, quickly getting a like from Fitz- which made xem smile. After a few minutes, Dex posted another meme: Shai and Sam standing in front of a door with a sign that read "elves don't have religion," and them saying "This sign won't stop me, because I can't read!"

It was accurate.

While that episode was great for Jewish representation, and funny, the Banana Noir episode was just plain weird.

It focused less on the Dark Duck than most of the other episodes, and was more about the crazy interactions of the chaos keepers. The episode was named for Banana Noir, who was really Cat Noir, but in a banana suit. Banana Noir was the son of Mellie, who looked like a shark, and Nora, who had platonically married faer. The mothers tried to arrange a marriage between him and Akki, who loved the side characters of the Dark Duck series. However, Akki wanted to marry Amelia. After a lot of shit that basically no one understood, Banana Noir's attempts were thwarted, and Lynn officiated the wedding between Akki and Amelia.

Yeah, Dex had no idea what the fuck was going on either. Xe'd watched an episode of Twins of the Chaos and a youtube video by arsonpog analyzing the Banana Noir chronicles, as it had been dubbed by the chaos keepers, and both expert opinions seemed to agree that Saturn Nolastname and the rest of the writers had probably been on crack when they made that episode.

The next episode made slightly more sense, though it was a low bar. After taking a break from the "official" Dark Duck story, the chaos keepers began collectively writing a Cinderella story about the characters Sophia and Bianca. People weren't allowed to be queer in the official story, but the chaos keepers still wanted to have fun with their obviously gay characters.

Even to the viewers of the show, who only received secondhand information about the Dark Duck characters, knew there was no way any of them, let alone all of them, were allocishet. The exact identities weren't entirely clear- when Dex had made edits of the characters' official art and xyr headcanons for their pride flags, a few people had disagreed- but both the chaos keepers and the fandom knew that despite what Shannon said, Sophia and Bianca were in love, and their Cinderella story should have made it in to the official Dark Duck story.

While excerpts of the Cinderella story were quoted in the show, most of it was left unclear, so Biana had taken it upon aerself to write aer own version of it. Dex was expecting an update later that day, actually, or maybe the next. Ae wasn't always 100% reliable with aer update schedule. Still, Dex looked forward to when it eventually did come.

After the brief calmness from the Sophianca Cinderella episode, season one episode six, Amsterdam, exploded back into chaos. A few of the chaos keepers decided to discuss a fake scene in the book in which crazy shit went down, with the scene supposedly being located in Amsterdam. It had never been written and was never going to be, but everyone discussed it like it was real. Some of the highlights involved all the Dark Duck girls having swords (and the chaos keepers being gay for them), and a speedboat chase scene through the canals. Fitz had a popular theory that the chaos keepers would actually travel to Amsterdam in order to commemorate this crazy part of their lives. Almost as popular as that was a meme Dex made, with a man labeled "chaos keepers discussing amsterdam" and gesturing feverishly to a wall covered in papers and red string.

Of course, episode seven (Dark Duck Disney) was chaotic too. Everything was chaotic with this group, it was in the title. Shannon announced that the winning Dark Duck story would be adapted into a Disney movie. After past experience with terrible book to movie adaptations, the chaos keepers panicked. They panicked so much that it became major news within their school, which until then, had been largely ignoring the chaos keepers. Once the discussion about the movie settled down, they talked a lot about how in awe they were that their Dark Duck shenanigans were trending within the school.

But of course, none of that compared to the last episode of the season...

Dex changed xyr profile picture to include an ominous pair of teal eyes and sighed.

#tumblr kotlc fandom fandom #keepers of the chaos #shai types things #shai's writing #hehe like the ze-ra reference

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realcube · 4 years ago

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christmas gifts you give haikyuu!! characters and how they react 🎁

pairings: daichi x reader, sugawara x reader , akaashi x reader, bokuto x reader, yachi x reader

tw// swearing, she/her reader

Daichi Sawamura

you got him a toiletries set!

y’all both agreed to keep it simple and small in terms of christmas gifts

so you just bought him the first toiletries set you found in the shop

it wasn’t necessarily cheap, you probably got him a branded one so you were confident in the fact that the product wouldn’t give him a rush or anything

he found the gift really cute, especially because he got you a eau de toilette

great minds think alike i guess

(but because he was lost when it came women’s perfume he spent a while with the sales person, bombarding them with question - not to be rude but just so he doesn’t something you hate)

(”so, she has [e/c] eyes - what sort of scent would suit that?” he asked the perplexed sales assistant.)

anyway, he really liked the gift and he gave you many kisses (づ￣ 3￣)

it also brought him great relief that you bought him something small - like he bought you - so he didn’t look like fool

Kōshi Sugawara

you made him a cute hamper!

filled with a plushie, chocolate, sweets, some toiletries, a water bottle, a necklace and a few polaroid pictures of you and him

he adored it

literally as soon as he opened it and noticed the amount of effort you must’ve put into it, he wrapped you in the biggest hug and gave you all the kisses （〃｀ 3′〃）

and he loved every single item in that box as well; like, he admired how well you knew him

it kinda made him feel bad about the gift he gave you because the theme y’all decided on was ‘handmade’ and yeah..you arranged the hamper yourself but you must’ve bought most of the contents

while sugawara went handmade handmade and created a scrapbook of y’alls relationship so far

you assured him it was fine though because his gift was so fkn cute like- how could you be mad?

anyway, sugawara loved the gift so much that he put it up on a table as a decoration of sorts because it looked so pretty

and he only took the first thing out of the hamper in February because it was so well-made and he hated to ruin it

Keiji Akaashi

you got him a book/library scented candle and a DVD of your favourite movie!

you and akaashi decided to do a thing that you saw on pinterest where you exchange copies of your favourite books but added a bit ✨spice✨

this was only because akaashi’s (and perhaps your) favourite ‘book’ was in fact a fan fiction in the internet so the next best thing he could think of was giving you a DVD of his favourite movie

as for the candle, the orginal plan was just to do the DVD exchange but when you saw the book scented candle in a store while shopping for cards, you just had to buy it

like a decent person, you texted akaashi saying you bought him a lil’ something extra so he did the same and bought you a simple, dainty bracelet with your initials on it

it wasn’t even an issue either bc he was a whole list on his notes app which consisted of things he could buy you for any occasion and it’s like 2 pages long

anyway, when y’all exchanged gift of the day, of course he loved your taste in DVD for him

“Barbie and A Christmas Carol?” He inquired, resisting the urge to smile.

“A classic.”

As for the candle - as much as he liked to savour gifts like that - once he got a whiff of it’s amazing scent, he just had to light it immediately

needless to say, he loved it - unable to hide how happy to scent made him and the fact that it was from you just made it ten times nicer (╹ڡ╹ )

so, your christmas with akaashi smelled like the library and looked like cuddling by the fireplace, watching the movies you exchanged

Kōtarō Bokuto

you got him a massive, fluffy blanket! (like, 150x200cm)

ok so i have a headcanon bokuto is a huge cuddle bug!

after an intense volleyball match; all he wants to do is go home, take a shower, eat and then cuddle with you 🥺

literally anywhere, he is not picky: on the couch, in bed, on the floor, the dinner table works too, the carpet- anywhere!

but he is picky about temperature - especially after showers

since he takes cold showers (bc he is an athlete >:) ) whenever he gets out, he wants to warm up immediately so he’s always complaining while y’all cuddle

“(Y/N).” He whined, “Stop stealing all the blanket; I need some too! My feet are sticking out and they are cold!”

“(Y/N), my perfect angel lady.” He spoke sweetly, like he always does when he wants something, “Turn the radiator on? I’m freezing..”

“Why can’t you do it, Bo?” You groaned.

“Because I am asleep.” Cue unrealistic, exaggerated snores

anyway, you had known for a while that a big fluffy blanket would solve all your cuddling problems but it took you a while to find an affordable, good quality one

and once you did, christmas approaching anyway so you held off giving it to him until then

and as soon as he tore the present open and laid eyes on the solution to his temperature issues, he freaked out v(ﾟДﾟ)v

“FUCK YES!” he yelled, squeezing the warm blanket to chest and appreciating it how fluffy it is, “THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!

he didn’t stop beaming for the rest of the day

and he insisted you try out the blanket with him immediately so he was just laying on the couch, the blanket draped over him with his arms wide open and an inviting space beside him

“Let’s give it a test-drive! I’ll put on a movie!” He lured, fiddled with the remote as he waited for you to lay down beside him.

You laughed, gently sitting down next to him before sinking into his arms, allowing him to toss the blanket over you

3 movies later, the sun had went down and you were both still snuggled up beside each other, slowly finding yourselves drifting off

“Thank you, (Y/N).” He whispered in reference to how great the blanket was how thoughtful you are to have given him the best gift ever, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Bo.” You said softly, smiling into his chest at how much he liked you gift - be proud 💕

Hitoka Yachi

you got her a cute stationary set!

yachi is definitely one of those girls that takes the most beautiful notes and put a lot of effort into their school work

like she has a new notebook for every unit of every subject, a highlighting scheme, stickers for decoration, the prettiest study planner and the most detailed diagrams

and she always has dainty notebooks, adorable washi tapes, glittery highlight, cool pencil cases and those pens with cute lil’ sanrio characters at the ends

needless to say, she goes through her stationary pretty quickly with how organised she likes to keep her stuff

especially her pens because she uses them to not only take her mass amounts of notes, but to also do little doodles on the side of her jotter or on her hand

oh! and at lunch, you’d shuffle over to her desk to compare Pinterest boards or revise together and you’d notice the cute little drawings of flowers, smilies, sparkles and hearts on her hand ✨❤

yachi would notice the mesmerised look in your eyes and offer to draw on your hand too and obviously you said yes so you’d go around the rest of the day with matching doodles on your hand with yachi ヾ(≧ ▽ ≦)ゝ💓

and whenever y’all go shopping together, you notice how her gaze lingers on the cutesy stationary in a shop’s window for a bit longer than she should

so of course you bought her the one she’s been staring at

and she was absolutely ecstatic

“Oh my god, (Y/N)! These are so cute!” she shifted through the many types of stationary in the bundle, “I’m gonna use these all the time.” q(≧▽≦q)

You smiled, quite chuffed with yourself before sitting yourself beside her and putting your hand on her knee, “Yachi?”

Yachi giggled as that tone was all too familiar

so she popped open one of the pens and began sketching away on the back of your hand; drawing little candy canes, gingerbread men, snowmen, snowflakes and other festive things.

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doiedreams · 4 years ago

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A Cozy Christmas Eve // w.lc

Brought to you by the Walking in a Winter Wonderland collaboration hosted by @suh-insane and @neocitybynight

◈⇢ Synopsis: With only a very limited amount of time, you and bf!Lucas prepare to have your parents over for a Christmas Eve visit, but after all the stress, the day ends in a cozy evening of Christmas movies, hot cocoa, and cuddles

◈⇢ Prompt: “Put that cookie down. NOW!”

◈⇢ Genre: fluff ద

◈⇢ Pairing: reader x bf!lucas

◈⇢ Wc: 2.3k

◈⇢ Warnings: none

Lucas’s full attention is captured by the wintry white snowscape in his view. Bright-eyed and mouth agape, Lucas calls out to you. “Woah… Y/n, come look! It snowed so much last night.”

The excitement in his voice lures you out of your room, toothbrush still between your lips, as you see Lucas with his hands and nose pressed up against the cold glass of the window. You giggle seeing how his actions reflect that of an amazed child seeing snow for the first time. When you approach him, you tap his shoulder, silently requesting that he move out of the way. The moment you step in front of the window, the bright white view blinds you. Considering you woke up not too long ago, the radiance was harsh on your eyes, causing you to squint momentarily before fully being able to take in the view.

The pretty sight incites a muffled gasp from you. Blankets upon blankets of snow cover the ground, presenting little to no color contrast between it, and the grey wintery sky. The rooftops of the houses across from your home are also coated with snow, while their perimeters are draped with thin icicles varying in size. Color can only be found on the holiday decorations scattering the lawns of your neighbors’ homes or the occasional evergreen shrubs nearby. Besides that, it is a white winter indeed.

“It’s so pretty,” you say after taking your toothbrush out. “Okay, we have a long day ahead of us so let me finish getting ready and we can start cleaning up, alright?”

Lucas turns from the window to face you and says, “but it’s already clean.”

“Clean? Lucas, it’s so messy in here. Look around.”

He faces the room, not too disheveled, but surely not in its tidiest state. Magazines of holiday decor and Christmas meal recipes almost covered the entire glass coffee table. Some opened pages had brown ring stains on the wrinkly paper where a couple of hot cocoa mugs, now empty, had sat the night prior. Half of the throw blanket rests on the ground while the other half is slowly slipping off of the couch. Needless to say, it was a bit of a mess.

Turning back to you, he says, “We can clean this up easily. It'll take us… like, 20 minutes?”

Your eyes widened, wondering what makes him think the two of you could fully prepare your house for your parents’ visit in such a short amount of time. “That’s just impossible. There's a lot more to do than to tidy up this room. Plus, anytime I tell you we have to clean you get distracted in about five minutes and leave all the dirty work to me.”

“Do I?” Lucas asks as if this is something he's never noticed.

“You do, but not this time. It's gonna be a team effort and we're gonna get it done as soon as we can, alright?”

Lucas crosses his arms and lifts his chin as though he’s already completed the tasks he's meant to finish. “I’m at your service, m’lady. Where do you want me?”

Laughing at his newfound determination, you tell him, “Well, how about you start by clearing off that table while I finish getting ready.”

While still in his triumphant stance, he gives you a forceful nod before he goes to the table and picks up the empty mugs to place on the sink, and gets started with cleaning. Although you suspect his focus will only last for a little while, you appreciate the effort he’s putting in now. And hopefully, by the time you come back, some progress would be made.

“Ta-da!”

Upon entering the room, you’re met with a completely different atmosphere than before. The coffee table was no longer cluttered with papers and mugs, the sofa’s decorative pillows were placed comfortably at its corners, and Lucas even managed to turn on the fireplace which hadn’t worked in months. If you were to add a few more decorations, the room could’ve been featured in one of the holiday decor magazines he had set aside.

“Lucas- You did all of this?” you asked, gaping at the cleanliness of the room.

He breaks out of his jazz hands and nods. “Yes. I did.” The accomplished grin on his face made it clear that he was proud of his work.

“I’m impressed!” you say with a smile. You thank him for what he’s done and pull out your phone to check the time. “Okay. We have like a couple more hours before my parents start on their way. Oh, but it’s supposed to snow even harder by then...”

You look out the window, noting that the driveway is already covered in snow from last night’s snowfall. “Would you mind shoveling the snow out of the driveway while I clean the rest of the house?”

“I can do that,” Lucas replies while making his way to the door to get his coat.

“Perfect. While you do that, I’ll finish getting the rest of the place ready and I can start making cookies.”

He agrees and you part ways, leaving Lucas to conquer the heaps of snow while you make sure the house is in perfect order in time for the visit.

Once the rooms are all neat and tidy, you move to the kitchen and look for all the ingredients you’ll need to make a couple batches of tasty Christmas cookies. Humming and swaying to the Christmas classics playing in the background, you make the cookie dough, tasting small bits of it against your better judgment. You turn the oven on to let it preheat and take out metal cookie cutters of various holiday theme shapes including a Christmas tree, a candy cane, a gingerbread man, and a snowman. All of which would add a fun touch of festivity to your cookie batches.

While the cute shapes of dough undergo its transformation in the oven, you look out the window and catch sight of Lucas’ figure wrapped in his large, puffy, winter parka, waddling around in the snow like a penguin with his head hidden under the faux fur hood. From the way he shuffles the snow around his feet aimlessly, he seems to have lost his shovel. Seeing him in his own little world causes a giggle to rise from your chest until you become worried he’ll lose his footing and hit the ground due to the lack of friction underneath his sneakers. Perhaps you should have reminded him to put on his snow boots.

The thin high-pitched beep coming from behind you rouses you from your thoughts and you shift your attention back to the cookies in the oven that are now producing a sweet aroma filling up the kitchen. As soon as you open it, a warm sugary scent wafts from the heated compartment, reaching your nostrils. Placing the sheet of cookies on the countertop, you figure Lucas would want to help decorate them, so you let them cool until he gets back.

As you lean against the countertop, delving in the Christmas music and delicious fragrance consuming the room’s atmosphere, a gust of icy air enters and brushes against your leg, following the sound of the front door opening and closing. You hear Lucas sniff and groan once he comes in. You’re suddenly reminded of all the time and effort you put into cleaning the floor while he was gone and your eyes widen as you rush out of the kitchen.

“Lucas, wait! Did you-”

The squeak coming from Lucas’s wet shoes stops you mid-sentence and with the words leaving your mouth, you freeze. In front of you, Lucas is huffing warm air into his hands, oblivious to the small piles of snow at his feet and the trails of melted ice he’s tracked in. Letting your head fall into your hands, you groan, rubbing your temples as if to alleviate the stress that has just been added to your plate.

“The driveway’s all clear,” you hear Lucas say between sniffs. With a sigh, you shut your eyes and nod, approaching him to take off his coat for him and hang it up.

“Well, now I have to clean this up too,” you say as you let out yet another sigh.

Lucas’s mouth forms an ‘O’ shape upon realizing what he’s just done. You’re already rushing to find a rag to wipe up the mess.

“Baby, I’m sorry. I can help you out if you want,” he says, looking for a way to undo his mess.

Frustration evident in your tone, you say, “No, it’s fine. Move.”

You get on your knees beside his legs and hurriedly wipe the floor with a cloth, occasionally glancing at the clock which only builds your sense of urgency. Time is running out and this extra task is not ideal.

“Y/n,” Lucas starts. “Let me help.”

“I don’t need any,” you say as you finish wiping the floor.

As you try to walk past him, Lucas holds you by the shoulder and pulls you back into him. The tension in your muscles starts to melt away at his touch and you allow him to hold you against his body. The last thing you want to do is project your frustration onto the one person that makes you feel at peace through it all.

“It’ll be okay, we still have time,” he reassures you.

You know he’s trying to comfort you, and it’s working as always, but you know that in reality, you don’t have much time before your parents are on their way.

He kisses your cheek and says, “Now, what is that delicious smell?”

“Cookies.” You giggle at the bright smile on his face at the mention of the yummy Christmas treats. “Wanna decorate ‘em with me?” you ask. He’s already pulling you towards the kitchen before you can even finish the question.

“Okay! I think everything’s perfect.” You set the tray of freshly decorated sugar cookies on the table. You roam around the room listing off the tasks you’ve completed. “The bathrooms are clean, the kitchen is clean, the mirrors and windows are wiped down, the driveway is- Lucas!”

You snap your attention back at the boy with a star-shaped cookie in hand, held up to his opened mouth, ready to be eaten. Frozen, he peers over at you, caught in the act.

“Put that cookie down. NOW!”

Lucas slowly places the cookie back on the tray, and sighs softly before taking a seat at the table with his head hung low, as if he’s put himself in ‘time-out’.

Your attention is captured by the ring-tone coming from your cell phone.

“Oh my gosh, they must be on their way,” you say before picking up.

“Hi, my dear,” your mother’s familiar voice gives you a taste of home as soon as you hear it.

“Hi! Are you on your way?” you ask, hopeful.

“I hate to come bearing bad news, but it seems like we won’t be able to make it.”

A disappointed sigh leaves your lips as you think of all the work you’ve done to get the place ready for your parents’ visit. It would’ve been nice to see them again, especially in the holiday spirit, and enjoy quality time together. Your shoulders slouch as your mood drops listening to your mother explain that they’re snowed in for the night. They can’t come.

“They’re not coming?” Lucas asks once you hang up the phone.

You shake your head in response and slump into a chair at the table next to him. Sighing, you prop your elbows on the table, resting your head in your hands, and close your eyes, letting yourself enjoy a moment of calm. Your little moment is brought to an end when you feel a tickle at your bottom lip. Opening your eyes, you see an iced sugar cookie held up to your mouth.

“Taste it.” Your eyes shift upward to Lucas’s cheeky grin. You comply and take a bite out of the cookie. Eyelids fluttering shut in delight, you hum at the deliciousness of the cookie in your mouth. “Is it good?” he asks.

“Perfect,” you giggled.

He takes a bite of the cookie himself and says, “Let’s put on our pajamas,” with his mouth full. “Why? It’s not even late.”

Although the time indicates that it’s only around 5:30 pm, the darkness outside makes it seem a lot later than it really is.

“Looks like nighttime to me,” he says, pointing towards the window.

“Okay, I guess.” He takes you by the hand and pulls you up from your seat, ushering you towards the bedroom where you can get dressed in your matching fleece pajama sets. In the warmth of your pajamas, you and Lucas decide to make the very best out of this Christmas Eve. While Lucas turns on How the Grinch Stole Christmas, you make hot chocolate in the kitchen and pour yourselves a couple mugs. You top it off with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and a candy cane leaning against the rim, adding a hint of festive cheer. Bringing the hot cocoa and tray of Christmas cookies, you join Lucas on the sofa, who didn’t bother to wait for you before starting the movie. Crystals of ice fall down the sky outside the window while the crackle and pop of the fireplace keeps you cozy inside. Lucas drapes a fleece blanket over your laps as the mugs of hot cocoa in your hands keep you warm. He wraps his arm around you, bringing you closer in, and places a sweet kiss on your cheek. Although you’d gone through so much stress during the day, to be able to comfortably relax in the warmth of Lucas’ embrace made it all worth it.

a/n: Merry Christmas! And to those that don’t celebrate it, much love regardless ♡

Proofread by: @hunjins @danishmiilk @crownily thank you guys so so much ♡

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ghostofstudentspast · 4 years ago

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Obligatory (part 2)

Series Masterlist

“Oi Y/L/N, is it true you’re marrying the ferret?” a ginger head of hair popped up next to you as you kept your head held high walking to class.

As it turned out, the Hogwarts rumour mill was rather dry, so the news of you being engaged to Malfoy had spread like wildfire. You had tried your hardest to ignore the stares and the whispers that followed you through the halls, especially from the Gryffindors. Slytherins and purebloods were ever so slightly more understanding, earning you looks of pity rather than ones of disgust. You weren’t sure which was worse.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business Weasley.” You didn’t even look at the boy before answering.

You weren’t on bad terms with Weasley and Potter. Not in the way Malfoy was anyway. Regardless of how much you tolerated them, you weren’t in the mood to be interrogated. Besides, Ron always came off as a bit of a self centred boy in your opinion.

“People are judging you anyway, you might as well tell the truth,” he scoffed and stopped walking. You kept walking, keeping your eyes ahead.

Mother had always said you were good at handling people. You’d figured out later you were just good at presenting the version of you people wanted to see. Your parents wanted a soft spoken little princess. Your teachers preferred an attentive listener who asked in depth questions. Pansy and Theo liked it better when you were loud and confident. All of these people saw different sides of you and the only person who really ever listened was your best friend Daphne.

She was the one holding your hand walking down the hall now. Quick to shoot a venomous glare at anyone who dared to look your way with a haughty attitude. She had been there to wipe away your tears when you had tried again and again to figure out a way out of this contract.

The contract you currently had clutched in your hand as you made your way to the library. As promised your father had drawn up a copy of the contract for you to hold onto. To read over and over again until the lines all blurred together. As you flattened the contract against the library table you wondered if you were fooling yourself, hoping for a way out.

“So, I got permission from professor Snape to use the restricted section. I’m definitely on his watch list now though,” Daphne murmured from the cushy seat beside you, “he probably thinks Theo wants to do something illegal again,” she snorted.

It wasn’t unusual to find a Slytherin in the restricted section. While Ravenclaws might be the more studious ones, Slytherins were set on knowing as much as they could about the important things in life. Hence why every pureblood you knew had been learning dark magic, and it’s counter curses since their first year at Hogwarts. Some things would never be taught in classes but if you were clever, you’d find a way.

Theo however, had been banned from the restricted section for life by every teacher around. In fifth year they caught him trying to curse one of the school toilets to bite people and accidentally flooded an entire bathroom on the third floor. Needless to say, he was kept under a watchful eye.

“Have you talked to Draco yet? About all of this I mean?” Daphne whispered as she added a few books to the growing pile on your table.

“No, he’s been avoiding me,” you hadn’t exactly been hunting him down but it was the truth. Anytime you’d be in the vicinity, he’d suddenly find himself extremely busy or he’d disappear into the crowd. “I don’t blame him. He’s not exactly pleased about this either.”

“Y/N...” Daphne hesitated before asking what was on her mind, and everyone else’s for that matter, “did he really take the mark? Blaise wouldn’t tell me.”

You fiddled with the edge of your sleeve. It wasn’t your place to tell her these things but she was your best friend. Your parents had of course let you know that your darling husband to be was now in fact, a death eater. You nodded ever so slightly and met Daphne’s eyes. They were round with concern and a hint of fear was etched onto her delicate features. She chewed on her lip for a moment and pulled the contract over to her.

“Well, lets figure this out then shall we.” it was an unspoken rule between the two of you. Never admit how afraid you were of your families. Never let them hear your hesitation when they asked about your allegiances. Only the two of you knew, you were too kind hearted, too soft, too disgusted to ever really be on their side. It was what bonded you together.

It was the first Hogsmeade weekend by the time you got to speak to Draco. Well, that’s when you gathered your confidence anyway. You approached him outside the three broomsticks, the two boys flanking him spotted you before he did.

“Hi Blaise, Theo!” You smiled widely at the two boys who grinned in return, “Malfoy, a word please.” your smile was tight as he turned to face you.

“Keep the missus happy Draco,” Theo hollered after you. To your relief, Blaise smacked him in the forehead and dragged him into the pub.

“What do you want? I have things to do.” He crossed his arms and looked over your shoulder, cold air escaping from his parted lips. It looked like smoke billowing out of a dragons mouth. He was aptly named.

“Daphne and I still haven’t been able to find a single crack in this contract,” you huffed as he still refused to meet your gaze and instead fiddled with his gloves, “I need your help.” you bit the inside of your cheek.

“Look who’s suddenly involving me in this,” his cocky smirk popped back onto his lips easily, “we don’t have a copy of the contract and I’m not stealing from my father.” he deadpanned.

“I have a copy.” you didn’t meet his eyes and shuffled your feet.

“Of course you do.” his tone was clipped, pissed off, you could tell. “So much for sharing that with me. Whatever, fine, give me the contract and I’ll take a crack at it.”

“I can’t just give you the contract Malfoy I need it too,” you mentally cursed him, talking to him always felt like trying to eat soup with a fork. Very difficult and you don’t get much out of it.

“Yeah alright, then meet me in the common room tomorrow at noon and we’ll look at it together.” his icy eyes met yours and seemed to stare right into your mind, maybe they could, you were sure he knew legilimency. “Anything else or am I free?”

“Yeah, you’re free,” you blinked at him, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” you nodded and swallowed the lump in your throat before turning on your heel and stalking back towards the castle. Bloody Malfoy.

“No I’m telling you, clause 19 counteracts that. I have to take your name.” You paced in front of the black couch Draco currently occupied.

In his hands he held your copy of the contract. After every few lines of reading he’d throw out a spell, potion or non-magical suggestion to a clause. You would then be forced to point out why these things wouldn’t work, as if you hadn’t already considered every option.

When he’d suggested polyjuice potion you’d laughed. Living separately? You’d immediately pointed a few lines down where it stated you’d take over the left wing of Malfoy Mansion. Simply having an open marriage? The scandal would be horrible, so of course your father had added a clause for that.

“I’m telling you Malfoy you need to get more creative.” You shot a tight lipped smile his way as he pushed his glasses farther up his nose. You hadn’t actually been aware that he needed glasses. They made him look less uptight, or maybe it was the fact that his hair wasn’t slicked back with gel.

“Yeah, I’m trying here Y/L/N,” he ran a hand through his hair again. “You running a hole in the floor isn’t exactly helping.” he added without looking up.

For the past half and hour you’d been alternating between pacing back and forth and perching on the sofa opposite of Malfoy. Something about the intensity in his gaze while he scanned his way down the parchment made everything feel all the more real.

In fact the next few Sunday’s, leading you all the way into the holiday season, you and Malfoy could be found spitballing ideas back and forth in the common room. It was the most you’d spoken to each other in years and it was strangely tolerable. He still made you want to throw a book at him every twenty minutes but at least that was an upgrade from every five minutes.

“I don’t know if there’s a way out of this,” Draco finally spoke after a prolonged silence. It was the week before Christmas break and while you refused to give up hope, he’d seen through the contract weeks ago and knew you were just holding on for your sanity.

“No, there has to be,” You chewed your lip anxiously, “I mean, maybe he left something out?”

“Our fathers are death eaters what do you expect Y/N,” his voice was cool and smooth, almost like a piece of glass, “they’re not stupid.”

“My father isn’t a death eater.” You stopped pacing and faced the blond.

“When’s the last time you’ve seen him wear short sleeves? The last time you checked his forearm?” His eyes were calculating as they gauged your reaction.

“I-“ you paused and thought hard, “last summer.” Your jaw tightened and you felt tears well up in your eyes. It shouldn’t have surprised you this much. You’d thought maybe it was just a feeble following, something your parents could come back from.

“Hey, I didn’t mean-“ He started awkwardly before you cut him off.

“Keep it.” Your voice wobbled, “keep the contract, I don’t care. I’ll see you over Christmas.”

Series taglist: @xkonpinkx @detroitobsessed @follow-me-down-to-wonderland @pointlesscoconut @irlkell @thehumanistsdiary @mo-onstarrs @summer-writes

#draco malfoy #harry potter #hogwarts #draco x reader #hp fanfiction #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy fic #pureblood #draco x pureblood!reader #golden era #war fic #angst #harry potter blurb #harry potter blog #writing #hp blurb #hp blog

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monsoonblooms12 · 4 years ago

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Christmas with the Waverleys ❄️: Part I

A/N: Hi, how is everyone doing💫💛? So I really wanted to do something for the Holidays and this is what I came up with. Writing this was a really joyful process, so I really hope that this brings a smile on your face💛

If you enjoyed the story, please like, leave a comment or reblog. Your feedback keeps me going 💕

Thank you so very much @caseyvalentineramsey for prereading and @jamespotterthefirst for prereading and helping me up with the editing. You guys are life-savers and I love you💛💛

Characters: For this part, the characters are my OH MC(Dr. Pooja Sharma) and OH F!OC (Dr. Alexandra Walton)

Word Count: 1467

Rating: General

Prompts :-

CFWC(@choicesficwriterscreations) Winter Season Prompt #6: Character A doesn’t like the holidays. B loves it. Will B try to find out why or convince A to celebrate it?

@wackydrabbles #74 (Will appear in bold): What do you want me to say?

@choicesdecemberchallenge Day 23: Friendship

December 23rd

The riffling of sheets, concomitant typing on the keyboard and the gentle tapping of a blue ballpoint pen.

Aha! Here it is!

The dainty curling up of her lips purported that her quest had been prosperous.

The young girl let down her brunette hair as the muffled voices of Boston's December traffic infiltrating the quiet beige Living room subserved as a token of the celebratory season.

With balmy footfalls, she went to the bay windows of her residence, moving the white satin draperies and looked down to the provocative streets.

Festivals. Gaieties. They were not her thing.

For her, they were needless gatherings, wastage of capital and time.

Christmas, New Year, never held much of a significance in her life.

No matter how much she relished seeing all the people fortified with holiday disposition, she never aspired to be one of them.

Engrossed in thoughts, she nearly plummeted at the unforeseen chime of the doorbell.

A deep breath.

Another one.

And another.

And the abrupt adrenaline rush faded past as she reacquired her equanimity.

An agile glance at the wooden digital timekeeper on the davenport told her that it was 10:30 in the morning.

Mmm-hmm.

An unlikely time for someone to visit.

Must be some parcel posts.

Moving to the door, she clemently swivelled the knob and-

"LEX!"

"Poo?"

Alex was comprehensively purblind as to why Pooja would have come here at 10:30 am, groomed as if she was the anthropomorphism of celebratory spirit.

Not acknowledging her interrogating glimpses, Pooja went inside. Alex accompanied.

And then, Pooja's eyes fell on the vademecum and jotter sitting on the settee.

Hmmm, so they are my rivals.

"Poo? What's the matter? Has something goofed?"

Alex still had no ounce of idea about all that was transpiring.

"IS SOMETHING WRONG? Lex, EVERYTHING IS WRONG!"

Pooja roared as she denoted towards the current occupants of the couch.

"What is wrong with my manual?"

"Lex, ITS CHRISTMASTIDE! You, sitting here and swotting is Inequity!"

"Poo-"

Pooja held up a hand to prevent her from proceeding further. She knew unequivocally what Lex was going to utter. That she shunned celebrations. All this was a waste and the record of criticisms moving on & on.

She had endured her overtures the prevenient time.

But this time? This time, circumstances would change. Alexandra Walton would be carousing Christmas, no matter how absurd it appeared.

"Lex. I understand, okay. I know you loathe fiestas. But-"

"Now don't begin convincing me and convert to a walking, talking book of 101 reasons to savour festivities."

Nah.

This wasn't going to work. Even if she convinced her, she knew better that she would not heed in.

So, what to do now? Hmmm…

Pooja's mind went back to the discussion she had the previous night.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Of course not! Look!"

The Portrayal of Numerous ocular evidence of the case were placed in front of her.

"So, you're stating that she is here, in Boston and that all this is gonna work?"

"Exactly! Believe me, Poo, you will not regret it. Just give it a try!"

This was the only alternative. She ought to do it. It seems implausible, but the stuff she saw with her optics, felt versus her skin, couldn't be a deceit, could it?

"I need a promise."

"Promise? Wow! What a marvellous way of pressuring me into all this."

Alex substantially scoffed. Pooja lightly smacked her forehead.

"Why did you do it?"

Alex produced a perfect faux crybaby face as she tended to her point of the hit.

"You killed my Lil Lil forehead cells!"

Pooja scarcely restrained her chuckle as she set up the stern big-sister facade,

"Just shut up and listen first. I demand you to promise me that you will go with me somewhere on Christmas Eve."

"On a voyage?"

"No, bimbo! To meet someone."

A pouty face followed. But Pooja's glare was enough to make her regress and concede.

"Fine, Promise. But don't you dare pull me to a holiday funfair. Remember, I can bite."

Alex responded as she unveiled her teeth.

"You won't have to stoop that low" Pooja affirmed while stifling a hearty guffaw.

December 24th

"Are you going to tell me where you are taking me?" Vexation grazed Alex's features.

But her irritation was Pooja's gold. It was one of her reactions which made her laugh hysterically.

"If I die, I will spook you until I am served with 12 boxes of extravagant Walter's White and Pink Chocolate because you are making me do THIS." Alex pointed at the two of them.

"Which, I should make it clear, you won't get. 'Cause you won't die. Also, If means?"

"No, like I mean, subsequently we all will die, but before that, we will become top tier doctors, make millions, eat chocolates."

"We will get husbands" Pooja added to the list.

"They will die"

This earned Alex a scowl from her best friend.

"Then we would be sitting in our opulent houses and would be promoting golden dentures on our Pictogram."

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"And then we will die. We will be in heaven and do the Hippity-Hop dance with our already-in-heaven husbands", And the two of them laughed like crazy. Passers-by gave them side glances, most of them presuming they both had gone mad, but the two couldn't bother less.

After a little while, they reached in front of a modest house. Entering through the small copper-coloured gate, they peered around.

It posed an explicit opposition to the modern peculiarities of Boston. The place was serene. The garden surrounding the humble stone-exterior dwelling was immaculate and well-kept. The two of them went towards the white gate and pressed the doorbell.

Seconds later, an elderly lady opened the door.

"Hi, I am Pooja. And this is Alexandra" She introduced the two of them.

"Of course, please get in sweetheart. I have been expecting you." The lady gave a friendly smile and motioned the two of them to come in.

While entering, Alex tugged at Pooja's sleeve, dragging her back.

Keeping her voice as faint as plausible, she spoke, "Why did you bring me here? To discover how to make gingerbread?"

Pooja almost let out a tee-hee and gave her a warning look.

"What do you want me to say? You dragged me out of my cozy blanket and summery dreams to learn how to make gingerbread!"

Lightly hitting Alex's forehead, she jokingly admonished "Shut up Lex! Just wait and watch."

And then they followed the lady to a dim room.

In the core of the room, stood a circle table, encompassing which, three obsolescent chairs were orderly arranged.

Several aromatic candles blazed the shadowy nooks. Various shelves positioned on the walls with articles they couldn't recognize due to the gloom.

They were motioned to take a seat on the chairs.

"So, Miss Pooja! I am so overwhelmed to have you and your friend with me! I am very certain, that the forthcoming journey will be a once in a lifetime venture." The lady's grin revealed two blank spaces in her teeth.

"You have planned everything for us?" Even though they had talked beforehand, Pooja still felt a bit dubious. What is something went awry?

No.

She halted the train of thought. What ifs are endless. Trust yourself, everything that happens will be for the best.

"Yes, dear. Your request was the loveliest. And I have planned to make everything accurate, just the way you want."

At her words, the tension heaving down on Pooja dissipated.

"Now, both of you lay your hands on the table and relax. Don't ask any questions, Don't have any concerns. Just follow my statements and repeat the words I chant after me."

They both followed. Relaxing, for Alex, was hard, but for her twisted sister, she tried her best and finally calmed down.

The lady began. "Relax. All the arrangements are made. I am sending both of you to the Braidwood Manor, where the Waverleys live. You both are getting a chance to experience Christmas as it was celebrated nearly a century and a half ago. You both will reach London in the 1880s. Take a deep breath"

It felt like someone had cast a spell on them. They both followed all the words, all the instructions wordlessly. As said, they took a deep breath.

"Very Good! Now repeat the words after me. Try to remember them. I am sending you both in the past for a day but in case you wanna come back earlier, you will need them"

Then the lady tapped her purple-painted fingernail four times on the table and began, "Zahiri Washiki Ra, Zahiri Washiki Ma, MaRa LaYa Ma."

Both of them repeated. The gloomy room echoed with the words.

ZAHIRI WASHIKI RA, ZAHIRI WASHIKI MA, MARA LAYA MA!

PS: That's all for Christmas with the Waverleys Part 1🧡! Part 2 will be up tomorrow.

If you reached till here, please know that I am truly grateful for you🌟 I wish you nothing but happiness and smiles for the Holidays and the coming year❤

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a great day ahead🧡🧡

#choices fanfiction #choices fic writers creations #cfwc winter season #fics of the week #choices oh #playchoices #choices stories you play #choices the stories you play #choices stories we play #open heart #open heart fanfiction #open heart mc #alexandra walton #Pooja Sharma #Christmas feels🎄🌟#choicesdecemberchallenge20 #wacky drabbles #My fanfics🖋#Christmas with the Waverleys!

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does-it-need-saying · 4 years ago

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For the person who made life so much better this year, and who I’d most definitely be a complete mess without. I hope this helps close out your 2020 on a good note, and that you have the happiest and best and most amazing 2021 possible! This one’s for you @loupettes ❤️🐀

Sick Week

“So how long will you be staying here? A day? Two?”

“And by you, you mean we, right?”

The Doctor and Rose were making their way over to Jackie’s flat. After a rather shrill call about not getting a visit in the last month, Rose had been particularly keen on making an impromptu visit home. Although the Doctor still hadn’t exactly seemed to accept it.

“Well she’s your mum, Rose. You don’t see me dragging you along to every single one of my affairs, do you?” Rose stopped them in their tracks and gave the Doctor that unmistakable ‘are you being serious right now?’ face. The Doctor sighed, very much in defeat, and tugged on Rose to continue on. “Fiiiiine, we. I meant we. How long will we be staying here? A few hours?”

Rose rolled her eyes now, choosing to ignore that last remark. “A week.” And feeling a ‘but Rose!’ rising in his throat, she quickly continued on. “I promised her a week so we’re gonna be here a week. And if you make a fuss about it, I’ll up it to two weeks. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he gave in.

Of course Rose didn’t really care whether he was a willing participant or not, but she was quite happy to see she still had him wrapped nicely around her finger. So with an extra hop in her stop, she smiled at him, looped her arm through his, and moved to give him a quick peck on the cheek. But upon feeling a fiery heat on his skin, she recoiled back. “Blimey, what’s wrong with you?”

“Oi! I give into your exact demand and this is the treatment I get? You are a bully, Rose Tyler! Nothing but a mean and hurtful tyrant!”

Rose waited a minute to see if he had any more dramatics left in him. “You done then?”

“Mmmmmm… I believe so.”

Rose chuckled. “Good then, you big baby. All I meant is you’re feelin’ awfully hot there, practically burned me to the touch.”

“Am I?” the Doctor asked, intrigued enough to touch all around his face.

“You mean you don’t feel that?”

“Ahh, that’s just my fancy shmancy temperature regulation kicking in. How else do you think I could survive running around in this giant coat all day? Or did you think I was just that impressive?” he asked with a sly smile just as they arrived outside the estate.

“Okay, but that still doesn’t answer my question. Are ya sick or something? ‘Cause if you’re about to be passed out in bed again I’d like a little heads up. In case another dangerous alien invasion comes up, ya know?”

“If I tell you I’m sick does that get me out of staying with your mother all week?” Rose just crossed her arms at him. “Fine, fine,” he quickly conceded as he opened the door for her and followed her up the stairs. “I’m fine, though. Just something that happens occasionally due to the whole aforementioned temperature regulation thingy. Always good to know when it happens, though, so feel free to let me know when you think I’m ‘hot’ anytime.”

Rose could practically hear the grin spreading on his face, and she couldn’t help but smile herself. Though she was thankful she happened to be in front of him so he couldn’t see how extremely red her cheeks were now. “In your dreams,” she teased.

Following a few more flights of stairs and a couple pushes forward from Rose, the pair finally found themselves outside the flat.

“Any last words then?” Rose asked cheekily as she pushed her key into the lock.

“God help me,” the Doctor pretended to pray.

Rose just snorted back at him as she turned the key, but as soon as the door opened her attention shifted. “Mum!!! We’re here!”

“Well it’s about time!” They could hear Jackie shout from the kitchen and went to join her.

“Sorry Mum,” Rose tried to appease her with a hug, but it wasn’t quite working out.

“’We’ll be back in a week, promise. Just a week’,” Jackie tried imitating her daughter. “A whole bloody month it’s been! A bloody month without so much as a proper call to let me know how you are?! For all I knew you could’ve been dead! Or ‘ad joined some alien cult!!”

Rose just stood there, choosing to take all of her mother’s anger now rather than wait for it to inevitably get worse later on. Meanwhile, the Doctor stuck himself as silently as he could to the doorframe. He was certainly entertained watching someone else getting the Jackie-Tyler-Talking-To for once, evident by the smirk plastered on his face. Or at least he was quite enjoying it until an inadvertent snort escaped his lips and Jackie’s wrath was immediately drawn to him.

“And what do you think you’re laughin’ about, then? You’d think after that year you stole my daughter for, you’d be a bit more careful about keeping up with the visits! But no, you’re just as much an idiot now as you were then!”

The Doctor stood up straight now. “Jackie-“

“Mum,” Rose quickly interrupted him. “We’re sorry, alright. I’m sorry. Just got the dates a bit messed up in my head, but I promise it won’t happen again. Okay?”

Jackie took a hard look at Rose, then at the Doctor, then back at Rose. She let out her breath, and any anger she had left with it. “Fine, then. But for letting you get off easy, I want another day with you here. Patricia’s havin’ a party Sunday afternoon and I never get to show you off anymore, so I reckon you owe me that.”

“Yes, Mum, of course,” Rose promptly agreed, taking Jackie back into a now fully loving hug, while daring the Doctor to argue with a slightly murderous glare. Needless to say, he chose not to fight it.

“Well, then, now that that’s sorted,” Jackie said, taking a step back. “Anyone up for a cuppa?”

---

“You’re puttin’ me on! There’s no way you just happened to run into the Paul McCartney on Abbey Road!”

“All the things we’ve told her about, and that’s the one thing she won’t believe?” Rose sighed to the Doctor.

“It does sound a bit unbelievable, I suppose,” he defended.

“Not you too!” Rose laughed. “She’s bad enough, but you were actually there!”

Unlike the first few minutes of their reunion, the rest of the day was going by quite well. They had spent hours catching up, laughing, and just having the best time. Even the Doctor had quickly dropped his stubborn façade.

“I’m not saying it didn’t happen,” the Doctor continued on. “I’m just saying, if someone had told me ‘oh you know what we did today? We met one of those famous Beatles on the same road of their famous album cover all by accident’- without any of the context, mind you- I might not believe it either.”

“Ha!” Jackie gloated. “I knew there was a reason I still put up with him!”

“Mmhmm,” Rose hummed, deciding to take the loss. She slumped back into her seat as she accepted a sly smile from the Doctor before he took a bite of his chocolate biscuit.

“Mmm, this is absolutely delicious! Did you make these, Jackie?” he asked with his mouth full.

“No, they were a gift from Susan. She just opened a bakery down the road, she did. Great little place.”

“Well, give her my compliments!” The Doctor reached for another biscuit as he was still finishing off the first one.

Jackie sighed at him, noticing all the chocolate smudges around his lips. “Ya’ know there’d be more for you to enjoy if you ate properly.” She licked the tip of her thumb and pressed it to the mess on his face, only to be surprised with his burning hot skin. “Oh sweetheart!” she practically jumped on him, taking him in her arms. “Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feelin’ well, love?! You’re burnin’ up!”

“No, Mum—” Rose tried.

“Jackie, it’s not—” the Doctor tried.

“Oh don’t you go trying to make up excuses. I don’t care what planet you’re from, a fever is never normal!”

“No, actually it’s perfectly normal. You see—” the Doctor tried again, but either Jackie chose to ignore him or wasn’t listening in the first place.

“Now listen, here,” she went on, getting up off the couch while pushing him down. “You’re gonna lie down right here for now and I’m gonna go make you some more tea. I’ve got a special recipe just for these things, works wonders! And when you finish with it, we’ll take you to Rose’s room to get a good night’s sleep. Rose, you can sleep on the couch this stay—”

“But Mum, he’s not even--!”

“Don’t you argue with me, little miss! You may be out travellin’ all of time and space, but I’m still your mum and you’ll do as I say.”

Once again, Rose slumped back in defeat. “Yes, Mum.”

“Good. Now, I still don’t know much about alien sickness, not exactly like there’re any books on it at the shops. But ever since that last time on Christmas Day, I’ve been stockin’ up, just in case ya’ know. So anything you might need, I’ve got it all. Vitamins, acetaminophen, fish oil, sugary treats, salty snacks…”

Jackie continued rambling on her admittedly quite impressive list as she made her way to the kitchen. Rose and the Doctor were left on their own, just staring at each other trying to figure out what they’re next move would be. But they were both coming up blank. They could take on Daleks, Cyberman, and even Satan himself any day, but a determined Jackie? Their only option was to let things take their course naturally. Of course, the Doctor seemed to be a bit happier with the situation than Rose. A few days of being fully taken care of for once? Maybe this stay wouldn’t be as bad as he feared it would be…

“…and of course loads and loads of tea, since that’s what seemed to do the trick last time,” Jackie finally concluded as she returned, setting down the fresh cup of tea. “Right then, I’m gonna go get some extra blankets for you. And Rose, why don’t you go tidy up your room a bit, yeah? It’s always a mess in there, make sure it’s all nice and comfy for when he’s ready to head in.”

“Yes, Mum,” Rose grumbled, getting up. And with all her willpower she refrained herself from giving a nice slap to the Doctor, who was almost begging for one as he waggled his eyebrows at her.

---

Over the next few days, the Tyler residence had slowly turned into more of a resort for the Doctor. Jackie and (begrudgingly) Rose started waiting on him hand and foot, tending to his every need. And the Doctor was certainly milking the experience for all it was worth. Though the first few days he wasn’t exactly sure how to deal with this sort of attention, it didn’t take long for him to learn exactly how to be, what Rose continuously and emphatically was calling him, a man baby.

Admittedly, Rose had become a bit jealous of all the attention the Doctor was getting. Sure, it wasn’t like Jackie had shoved her aside whenever she got sick as a kid. But she genuinely couldn’t remember ever having been so pampered- and that was including her bout of appendicitis in the fourth grade. Still, she did rather enjoy seeing her mum and the Doctor getting on so well. When Jackie wasn’t ‘nursing him back to health’, Rose would catch them gabbing on about some reality show they started watching together, or laughing over the latest estate gossip. She always did suspect they cared more for each other than they let on, and it was nice to finally know it wasn’t just in her head. Even if it did mean having to take care of that perfectly fine twat of a Time Lord.

Finally, though, on the fourth day, the Doctor’s ‘fever’ broke and the magic spell he seemed to have over Jackie wore off. As quickly as she had dove into action, she jumped right back out. The days of automatically full cups of tea, bed side delivery of whatever either of his hearts desired, and a completely nurturing Jackie were gone. And though he wasn’t exactly proud to admit it, it did take longer than he would have thought to return to self-sufficient life.

Not that that put any damper on the rest of their stay, though. The three of them immediately went back to having the same good time which was promptly interrupted that first day. Between movie marathons, wandering the town, a few competitive games of Monopoly (which Jackie somehow always won), and a load of chatting, there wasn’t a dull moment to be found. And when Sunday came along, it was actually the Doctor who seemed most excited to head off to Patricia’s party. His enthusiasm even seemed to rub off on Rose, who had grown tired of these estate get-togethers before she had even learned how to read. But it was nearly impossible not to have a good – no, great- time watching the Doctor fail miserably at limbo and pulling her to dance what seemed like every five minutes.

But eventually the party came to an end and Monday rolled around, bringing with it a sort of gloominess in anticipation of the Doctor and Rose’s departure. Where they all would have been sharing smiles and laughs just a few days ago, there was an eerie and awkward silence instead. Until finally the inevitable had come and they were all crowded together in the flat’s tiny hallway by the front door.

“Now, don’t go forgettin’ about me again, got it? I expect to see you two back here next week. And you better not be lookin’ 20 years older by then, either!”

“We’ll be back next week, Mum. And I promise I won’t have aged more than five years. Tops,” Rose tried joking.

Jackie gave a forced laugh, hugged her daughter, then turned to the Doctor. “And you- you better keep takin’ good care o’ her… and yourself.”

The Doctor only nodded in agreement, a small smile growing on his face. A week ago he probably wouldn’t have admitted to being touched by Jackie’s well wishes for him, but now he felt quite grateful for it. So when Jackie moved to give him a hug him, for once he embraced her back just as warmly.

“Well then…” Jackie started, taking a step back from them. But she couldn’t bring herself to actually say goodbye. And apparently neither Rose nor the Doctor could either as they stood in their own silence for some time.

“Ya know…” It was the Doctor who spoke up this time, scratching the back of his head. “I think we’ve got some more time on our hands. You were talkin’ about wanting to catch that special tonight on—err… the Arctic, weren’t you, Rose?”

“Mmm, yeah,” Rose caught on and quickly agreed. “I was just sayin’ earlier- remember?- how it’d be a real shame to miss it.”

“And I- ya know… if I head off alone I’m no good at getting out of trouble all by myself… So why don’t we both stick around an extra day?”

“Really?” Jackie couldn’t help but beam at the suggestion. Then catching herself, “I mean… if you want to… s’ppose I could reschedule dinner with Diane and Linda for another night- if it’s what you two would like.”

“That’d be great, Mum,” Rose smiled.

“Oh and I was thinkin’,” Jackie went on without missing a beat, already heading back to the living room. “It’d be awful fun to go down and take a ride at the London Eye! Haven’t done that since you were real little. Oh and then after that we could head over to Susan’s bakery and…”

The Doctor was just about to follow when he felt Rose tugging on his coat and turned to her.

“Thank you,” she smiled at him, and stood up on her tip-toes to give him a small kiss on his cheek.

“Oh don’t thank me, I’m just trying to trick you into owing me a favor for once!” he winked at her, then whisked himself off to the living room as well shouting after Jackie. “Oh! I forgot to tell you last night! You’ll never guess what Sid told me about him and Matthew!”

Rose took a moment longer for herself in the hallway as she listened to the two of them gabbing away. She’d had quite a lot of amazing moments over the past couple years, yet somehow this one week had blown them all away and she wanted to ingrain the pure feeling of happiness from it into her mind. Then, with a last little chuckle to herself wondering if she’d ever actually be able to pull the Doctor back to the TARDIS, she went to join them.

#heartfelt fluff #I hope you all enjoy!#sick week #original fic #dedicated to loupettes #I love you girl!#tenxrose #tenth doctor #rose tyler #jackie tyler #dw #doctor who

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august-anon · 5 years ago

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Ok, so, winter prompts... I’m not the best at coming up with ideas... But what if the sides were doing a Christmas wish list sort of thing, and one of the sides rights down that they want to be tickled? (I’d imagine it’d be Virgil, but you can choose who it is I don’t really care)

Hey, hope you enjoy it! Thanks for sending in the prompt, my friend!

Joyful Noise

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Ship(s): Platonic LAMP

Characters (lee/ler): Lee!Virgil, Ler!Roman, Ler!Logan, Ler!Patton

Word Count: 1221 words

Summary: Virgil tiredly lets something slip on his Christmas list, but it doesn’t turn out as bad as he fears.

[ao3 link]

——————————–

Virgil didn’t know why Patton had insisted they all make Christmas lists. It wasn’t like Virgil even knew what he wanted, let alone how to ask for things.

And yet, he seemed to be the only one having problems.

Roman had passed out a copy of his list to each of them a few days ago, practically a scroll with the length of the parchment, written in his best calligraphy. Logan had given his out the day after that, typed neatly and formatted well, short and to the point. Even Patton had finished his, scribbled and scrawled in markets and full of doodles because he kept getting distracted. While the contents were technically the same, each of his lists were unique.

But Virgil sat there, barely days left, staring at the notes app he opened in his phone, the text blank. He had nothing. He didn’t know what to ask for.

He could just… wing it? What were things he liked? Virgil liked comfort items like blankets and pillows and stuffed animals. He liked spooky things. He liked Disney. He liked t—

Nope. Not typing down that one.

But what if he did?

Judgement impaired by the fact that it was three in the morning, Virgil hastily typed the word in and quickly clicked off his phone, tossing it to the side. He’d probably take it off in the morning, or at least before he sent it, but for the time being Virgil could at least pretend he was brave enough to admit it.

Even if just to himself for this time.

The next morning, Virgil groggily added a few more things to his list. Chocolate. Cookies. A new pair of headphones. Simple things that wouldn’t be too imposing or difficult to get him.

“How’s the list coming, kiddo?” Patton asked eagerly that afternoon.

“It’s, ah… it’s coming.” Virgil grimaced, suddenly self-conscious.

Patton gave a sympathetic pout and squeezed his shoulder. “If you need any help, let me know. I know it’s hard to think of things you want sometimes.”

Virgil hesitated. “I mean, I guess it’s pretty much done. I just don’t know if it’s good enough.”

Patton beamed and clapped his hands together. “I’m sure it’s perfect, Virge! Could you send it to us?”

So Virgil sent it that night, sending a screenshot of the list to each of them individually later that night. It felt too weird to put a Christmas list in the group chat.

After sending it, Virgil glanced the list over himself one last time.

-warm blankets

-fluffy/squishy pillows

-stuffed animals

-anything Disney

-to be tickled

-candy

-cookies

-a new pair of headphones

-a new phone case

—Wait. What?!

“-to be tickled?!”

Virgil forgot to remove that from the list! And it was too late! They’d all seen it by then, there was no taking it back.

Virgil was doomed. This wasn’t how he had planned to tell them. He hasn’t planned on telling them at all! How could he have forgotten to take that off his list?!

Virgil would just have to hope they didn’t notice, or that their eyes skimmed over it, or that they thought it was a joke. He ignored the tiny, desperate, hopeful voice in the back of his head, saying that maybe he’d actually get what he wanted.

He was a mix of mortified, relieved, and disappointed when no one mentioned it the next day. Or the day after that. In fact, Virgil had almost (almost) forgotten about it by the time Christmas Day finally rolled around.

And of course, the day started with Patton waking them all up far too early over his excitement for the holiday.

“Five more minutes,” Virgil groaned into his pillow, rolling onto his stomach.

“Now, Virgil,” Patton practically sang, “don’t make me take drastic measures.”

Virgil didn’t reply, which only made Patton let out a faux-displeased hum. Really, it sounded more fond (and almost teasing) than anything, but Virgil was too tired to place why that made a tingle go up his spine.

But then two hands slithered under his mound of blankets and scribbled at his right side and ribs and Virgil yelped, eyes going wide and jerking to the side so violently that he toppled off the other side of the bed.

Virgil popped his head up with a frazzled look, but was only met with Patton’s cheeky grin.

“Be downstairs in ten minutes, kiddo! There’s breakfast to make and presents to open!”

Virgil eyed the door warily after Patton left. Eventually he did get off the floor to toss his blankets back on the bed and Mae himself slightly more presentable. He didn’t want to know what Patton would do if he wasn’t downstairs at the end of his time.

Or maybe he did.

Either way, Virgil left his room and slowly started dragging himself down the stairs. Footsteps sounded behind him, but he didn’t pick up the pace. Not even when an annoyed, overly-dramatic sigh ruffled his hair.

But then two fingers jabbed into the flashiest part of his left side, then his right, then his left again, causing Virgil to make an embarrassing eep! noise and jerk away from where the fingers were. He barely swallowed down a giggle.

“Really, Virgil,” Roman said, finally gliding past him, “pick up the pace.”

Virgil grumbled some rude things when Roman turned his back, causing him to turn back around and point at Virgil threateningly before going back on his way.

Virgil stared after him, confused and suspicious, but his brain was still addled with sleep. Yet another poke to his side, this time closer to his hip, had Virgil jumping once more and spinning around to see who it was.

“You alright?” Logan asked, an eyebrow raised.

“I, uh, yeah. Fine.”

Logan hummed, That same teasing hum as Patton, and continued on his way as well. Virgil followed slowly behind.

The rest of the day went much of the same. Random, subtle teases, and pokes or tweaks out of nowhere, setting Virgil endlessly on edge. It wasn’t until halfway through opening gifts (when Virgil’s coffee was finally kicking in) that Virgil’s brain woke up enough to make the connection.

They really went and followed through with his mortifying Christmas list.

But the best part came after the gifts.

“I’m done waiting.” Roman announced loudly.

“Ro—“ Patton tried to start.

“Waiting for wh—ah!” Virgil cried out as he was tackled onto his back.

“To give you the best present of all,” Roman replied cheekily, and shoved his hands up under Virgil’s arms.

Virgil shrieked and tried to pin his arms to his sides, not bothering to hold in his joyous laughter. He cried out again as his arms were lifted above his head and pinned there.

Logan grinned above him. “Merry Christmas, Virgil.”

Virgil felt fingers start skittering around his knees and tweaking at the ticklish pressure points.

“Pat—!” Virgil squealed.

Patton giggled. “Now what kind of dad would I be if I didn’t get my kiddo what was on his Christmas list?”

Virgil burst into a new wave of cackling as six different hands targeted all-new sensitive places. He howled and thrashed, but he didn’t really want to get away or stop it, and they all knew it.

Needless to say, it was a very joyful Christmas that year.

#tickle fic #My writing #sanders sides tickling #lee!virgil #ler!patton #ler!roman #ler!logan #ticklish!virgil #sanders sides #virgil sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #Platonic LAMP/CALM

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dragonnan · 4 years ago

Text

This is faaaar from a complete list and will be spotty at best but I’ve been pondering MCU characters a lot as I’ve been getting slowly back to work on my mega-fic. I LOVE minor head canons. Simple stuff like favorite foods or what music they listen to or were they ever a smoker or whatever whatever. So I’m gonna give myself the challenge of crafting some head canon and anyone else is very welcome to dive in! (some things are already established via canon)

~ Ethnicity ~ Faith ~ Smoker ~ Alcohol ~ Favorite food ~ Favorite cookie ~ Favorite animal(s) ~ Favorite music ~

Tony Stark: Ethnicity: Mixed European-American-Jewish (he refers to himself as a “mutt”) Faith: “No thanks” being the initial answer but if he feels like opening up he’ll admit to believing there’s likely “something” out there but at the same time figures that “something” stopped caring about humanity a long long time ago. Smoker? Never liked cigarettes but smoked a few cigars when he was younger due to Obie’s influence. He never was a big fan but wanted to fit in with his mentor. Alcohol: Influenced both by his father and Obie, Tony started drinking hard liquor semi-regularly as young as 14 (his Dad let him try his first sip at the age of 6). He pretty much sticks with Scotch or Bourbon but is not opposed to cheap beer at a ball game. In fact the cheaper the better - a requirement for any self-respecting American. Favorite food: hot dogs. Neither one of his parents cooked. Breakfast and lunch were whatever whenever for all three of them but dinner? You better be sure you were at that table before the plates were set down or you could go without (and Tony got a slap from his father when he’d observed that rule only seemed to apply to him). But on the nights he was sent to his room, Jarvis would slip upstairs, later, with a sandwich or, on really rough nights, a couple of hotdogs. Favorite cookie: Those Christmas wreath ones made with cereal and marshmallow with the cinnamon candies. Favorite animal(s): he likes all animals but if he had to pick one for a pet he’d get an iguana. Favorite music: well duh lolol.

Stephen Strange: Ethnicity: Mixed European-American (borrowed from Benedict Cumberbatch’s ethnicity and adding the American) Faith: Originally atheist but now closer to Buddhist. Smoker: Never. Even prior to becoming a sorcerer he has always been conscious of what he takes into his body; especially given the history of cancer on his mother’s side of the family. Alcohol: Wine, occasionally, though he isn’t really a social drinker per-say. Favorite food: The spicy shrimp and pork dumplings from a Thai place in Midtown. Favorite cookie: Hmmm.... not a big sweets guy but he won’t turn away a few ginger-pecan cookies with coffee. Favorite animal(s): dogs - unequivocally. He had a border collie growing up on his family farm in Nebraska. Favorite music: please don’t make this poor man actually have to choose.

Steve Rogers: Ethnicity: Irish (as per comics) Faith? Irish-Catholic (as per the comics). Smoker? Prior to the serum there was no way he could safely do so with his health issues. After he started traveling with the performers all of the girls in the group smoked and he tried it out a few times but never developed a taste for it. Alcohol: he drank A LOT - easy enough to do as it never had any real effect on him. He enjoys scotch and bourbon (a taste he picked up from hanging around Howard Stark). Steve seems to low-key always have the munchies (like most enhanced) and once Tony picked up on that there are always a variety of snacks scattered here and there throughout the compound (also of benefit for Bruce, Peter, Thor, and, later, Bucky). Steve’s favorite foods typically remind him of his mother’s cooking. While they’d never had much (especially after his father died) his mom could do a lot with limited supplies. She used to make a fantastic meat pie with ground beef or tongue. He hates SPAM. They ate it in the Army, constantly, and just the smell will occasionally send him back to those days and not in a good way. Favorite cookie? Oreos. He can clean up a family sized pack in like 10 minutes. Steve loves animals but is especially fond of horses and dogs. There was a dog in his unit in WW2 and Steve, like most of the other men, would share bites of his rations with it. Steve is nostalgic about music from the 40s but finds that 70s rock really resonates with him.

Bucky Barnes: Ethnicity: Romanian-American (borrowing a little from Sebastian Stan’s ethnicity) Faith? Possibly agnostic. Smoker? Heck yes - both cigarettes and cigars. Like Steve, the serum he received (via Hydra’s experimentation) means he gets to dodge the detrimental side effects of smoking. Alcohol: He likes to drink but is almost exclusively a beer drinker. He has a big appetite but refuses to eat around others if he can at all help it. His favorite food is corned beef with cabbage. Steve’s grandmother was an Irish immigrant and would make it every Sunday before the war impacted rations. Since both Bucky’s parents were dead he’d often have dinner with his best friend. Also, unlike Steve, he actually likes SPAM. But then, arguably, he isn’t terribly picky about food in general. Favorite cookie: molasses. Favorite animal(s): birds - eagles in particular - though he doesn’t look too deeply at the psychology of their ability to just fly away. Needless to say a crafty observer might spot a former Winter Soldier tossing seeds towards the pigeons. Favorite music: He’s pretty eclectic though he shies away from anything too loud like death metal. He finds classical very soothing.

Peter Parker: Ethnicity: Mixed American-Scandinavian-German-ish Faith: Protestant upbringing but unsure where he currently stands. If pressed he’d say he’s “leaving his options open” Smoker? “Oh gross!” Alcohol: “Um, too young to drink, thanks! But if I WERE to... you know, try it just to taste it there was this mudslide at one of Flash’s parties that was super good...” Favorite food: spaghetti and meatballs. Lots of meatballs. Favorite cookie: chocolate chocolate chip with chunks. Favorite animal(s): NOT spiders. And NOT birds given how many rooftops he’s traversed layered in pigeon ick. He’d probably say cats. Favorite music: The B side of techno rock - especially Depeche Mode.

Peter Quill: Ethnicity: Half mixed American and half celestial. Faith: His Dad was a god and he killed him so he figures he probably isn’t on the best terms with the Big G God should He... or She... or Them... be out there. Look he just wants to do his thing and cause a little trouble without mixing it up with any other celestial types but if they DO wanna throw down he’d like to point out that he’s 1 for 1 and willing to rumble. Smoker: He would not say no to a really good cigar and may have possibly lifted a case from Yondu’s stash when he struck out on his own. Alcohol: Anywhere any time and in large quantities. Favorite food: A thick steakhouse bacon burger with potato chips right on the patty. Extra cheese please! Favorite cookie: He’s a simple guy with simple tastes. classic chocolate chip no frills no fuss and fresh from the oven. Favorite animal(s): He likes dogs - who doesn’t like dogs? But he really likes cows. Just maybe don’t mention the burger thing. Favorite music:

Thor: He’s a Norse god of legend so I figure we can forego the ethnicity/faith questions lol. Smoker: He has never understood this human custom nor has he felt any inclination to try it himself Alcohol: Beer, mead, and anything capable of knocking him on his ass. Favorite food: chili with ghost peppers. Though nowhere near as hot as the fire chilies of Muspelheim (which would be instantly fatal for humans so its just as well). Favorite cookie: strawberry cheesecake with macadamia nuts. Favorite animal(s): It’s a tossup between bilgesnipe and whales. Favorite music: The mighty horns of battle! He also enjoys old school country, much to Tony’s disgust. The story aspect of that music is what appeals to him.

Bruce Banner: Ethnicity: Italian-American Faith: Catholic in his childhood; currently Atheist or maybe agnostic. Smoker: He tends to avoid any substances for, you know, obvious reasons. Alcohol: See previous. Favorite food: Waffles with sliced mango. Favorite cookie: Oatmeal. Favorite animal(s): Mantis shrimp - “did you know they can generate so much power in their attacks that they can briefly super-heat the water up to 7,700 °C??” Favorite music: Indian- especially Krishna Bhajan.

Clint Barton: Ethnicity: Mixed European-American and Panamanian. Faith: His parents were both Protestant but he’s never latched on to any specific faith and hasn’t really devoted a lot of thought on the matter. He has a sorta loose idea of “maybe something out there” but that’s all the further he’s gotten on the subject. What he tells anyone who asks it’s that his religion is coffee. Smoker: Briefly when he was a teen. Alcohol: Beer - he’s a fan of dark lager. Favorite food: Coney Island dogs, Pizza, and pickle flavored potato chips. Favorite cookie: Monster cookies with the mini M&Ms. Favorite animal(s): Dogs Favorite music: 80s rock and some country.

Natasha Romanoff: Ethnicity: Russian. Faith: She was not given much choice when younger and was raised as “state atheist” (per comics). In the years since escaping that life, however, she has tried to discover more about herself. Her parents were both Russian Jewish and there has been a pull to discover more about that faith - especially since meeting Wanda - who is Jewish. Smoker: No. Alcohol: Some vodka - that’s a given. But she actually prefers wine; and honestly her favorites are wine spritzers. Favorite food: Favorite cookie: Krumkake filled with creme and berries. Favorite animal(s): Favorite music: Overall she listens to a pile of little-known bands and whomever is playing at whatever bar in whatever city she happens to be in. She also is a huge fan of old school Spice Girls.

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dansnaturepictures · 4 years ago

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04/01/2021: New Forest walks-My first Treecreeper, Goosander and Dartford Warbler of the year and more (10 different photos in this set to those I tweeted tonight)

We did some more walking in the New Forest on my first weekday of leave for my long awaited week off today. On the way in I liked seeing my first New Forest ponies and Grey Squirrel of the year, two of three additions to my nicely booming compared to my normal starts mammal year list now on six which is pleasing my most mammals seen at this stage in a year ever. We first called into a semi iced Eyeworth Pond which was great, and alongside a Pied Wagtail on the ice which it was brilliant to watch I took a picture of this I was pleased with which I tweeted on Dans_Pictures tonight I was happy to see my first Marsh Tit and Coal Tit of the year always an important year tick and one I’ve been lucky to see so early on in years for so many years these two key New Forest birds so I felt so lucky to see them again. This set the tone for another top day of birdwatching whilst walking with three more year ticks later on taking my year list to 82 still keeping pace with how many I had seen at this stage last year six behind the figure I ended 4th January 2020 on. I took the first picture in this photoset at Eyeworth Pond.

We went on to walk at Cadmans Pool in the New Forest today, by contrast to its one of the hottest day of the year temperatures when I last came here last on an amazing summer’s day for wildlife for me in early August 2020 as it was very cold today. I took the second-sixth pictures in this photoset of views here today there were lots of lovely wet views with the pond itself and the streams. On the walk the wind revealed its presence by shaking some trees. It’s been a theme of today and yesterday with us looking for birds so much with so many year ticks available of seeing leaves being blown about on the ground and mistaking it for bird movement momentarily which is an interesting quirk. On the walk we were delighted to spot a Green Woodpecker flying into a tree then minutes later another of my favourite birds the Jay in the same area. I have had a phenomenal start to the year for seeing some of my favourite birds which continued later on as I mention below. There is a good little group of bird species that I’ve had such a good start to the year for seeing them again and again, these two are part of that alongside Dunnock, Wren and Song Thrush which I saw also today. When seeing the Song Thrush today I remarked on how as a Lakeside Country Park New Year’s Day walk mainstay for me in recent years I have not I don’t believe seen or heard their delightful song at Lakeside at all since working from home meant I walked there every lunch time when I’m working and other times too. So I thought would I struggle for them this year early on but I have not seeing them three out of the four days in January so far.

Walking into trees I was thrilled that we spotted a little bird on a tree’s trunk climbing up, of course it was one of only a few it could be, the wonderful Treecreeper. I enjoyed a top few minutes watching this bird. Another species so typical of this divine woodland habitat which it did feel special to see. It really was a splendid sighting of a beautiful and spectacular species. A very worthy species to be my 80th bird of the year, something I always feel so proud to achieve and this happening so early this year again was amazing. This species was in the forefront of my mind as a target in recent days something its always brilliant to have in new year target birds. The big thrill in new year for me is getting as many species seen as possible, enjoying them no matter how much I see of them or for how long and seeing how my totals each day compare to my previous years which I do all year. That’s why I have a week or time off in New Year rather than between Christmas and New Year if I can to have days to lay the foundations of my new bird year list. But this year we have the added element of impending further COVID restrictions, which is definitely and so desperately needed for the health of the nation I would never argue against that. So this year especially I felt today I wanted to get as many birds seen in as I can before. There are birds I am yet to see and I know they will be something to look forward to after lockdown in many cases too, but I did very much enjoy seeing this bird today.

On the newly announced lockdown by the way I just wanted to clarify a few points for people who may see my photos and posts what the new restrictions will mean for us. I would say as I have before that daily exercise is a permitted reason to leave the house, and I shall of course be doing my walk still for the physical and mental benefits and as was the case in the first lockdown beginning in March that shall be just once per day in line with restrictions.

I would clarify that I am sure in a way millions of others will with a mobile phone, I will have my camera and binoculars with me on walks excluding any where I decide not to due to weather conditions. So there will be pictures and sightings still, some of them may be year ticks and I shall still continue to post these on social media to a level I feel comfortable with as I always enjoy doing. The walks will be walks, my primary form of exercise in a day for my physical and mental health and any photos or sightings will be during them. So I shall not be lingering in areas, waiting for significant time for a species to appear or staying in a spot taking many photos for a long time or anything like that.

For this week as I have said I am on a week’s annual leave with my birthday coming up on Thursday too, so these walks will not be limited to Lakeside the country park we are very fortunate as I have said so much live right next door to as is the case when I work from home but other nearby open spaces will likely be utilized. As I can, in line with restrictions with me not working for this week as I will do on weekends during the lockdown, join the other members of our household including our dog for their daily walk.

I would advise as I have done in each previous national lockdown and my area’s placement in tier 4 that I reserve the right to omit locations from photos and blogs from and about certain walks we do, and obviously any species I do see on that walk from any posts about it. This is something I always reserve the right to do and I do it when rare or sensitive species are involved. I just feel that whilst I do not believe with the people I reach on social media hoards of people are suddenly going to turn up and look for a bird or something I have said I saw at or posted a picture of at a site, you just never know what a post could prompt. And the point is that I will have a camera with me and binoculars as long as weather and other factors permit, and during a lockdown I may not feel that it is always appropriate for the posting of something being at a location or where some nice views are to be a so public and the main point of posting is to show the species or views and remark on what I may have seen whilst taking a walk. If I feel it is safe to do so in terms of the species and I trust that the person will follow all restrictions to stay safe in order to try to see the species or place themselves, then I am happy to discuss with local people via private messaging means. Not something I imagine will come up during the coming weeks and maybe months, but once again you just never know.

Needless to say that every walk we do will be following social distancing rigorously, we tend to stay well over two metres away from anyone and we always sanitize our hands at appropriate points when out and wash our hands when home. We do have vulnerable people within the household and are very aware to the risks of this awful virus, especially the greater risk with the faster spreading new variant, so do take this all very seriously In circumstances where masks are to be worn we have always done this, and will follow any further advise given about this whilst walking.

Back to today and at the end of the walk back looking around the pool which we had not inspected earlier on, my Mum’s husband had sent word that a Goosander was on the water a bird we needed to see this year. We were thrilled to look through the binoculars and spot this super duck. We then walked over to the pond and were happy and entertained to follow it around the water to try and get a picture. I took the seventh in this photoset of it. A perfect consideration for what I was just saying regarding lockdown in fact, that taking a walk within a tier 4 area as we did today does say recreation is allowed outside so within regulations we were able to walk around the pond a few times if needed to try for a picture of this bird in my mind. Had this been a lockdown daily exercise walk, if I could get a picture of it as we walked past the lake and saw it initially then fine but I will certainly not be deviating from intended walking routes or spending time specifically trying to take one picture in line with regulations at that time as I said above. It seemed to go round in a large circle of the area getting further and further from us as it went. We did manage pictures in the end though I tweeted one of it tonight too. Always a very valuable and beautiful bird to see in years. It was one of my first ever bogey birds for the year in 2014 so the bird I normally see easily but don’t for a while in a year but since I have always managed to see this species fairly early on and easily with them being at a nice range of water locations in the New Forest and nearby.

Whilst watching this bird we were thrilled to spot another of my favourite birds the Kingfisher over the water and land in a small tree. A cracking view of a fourth individual Kingfisher I have seen this year quite brilliantly. An exciting view of yet another of my favourite birds I have had surely my best ever start to the year for seeing birds on my list of favourites which I am over the moon with. A smashing and very precious wildlife moment with one of the birds I have loved most since I was a child. At the end of the walk I saw my first Brown Rat of the year. My Mum also thanks to ticking Long-tailed Tit, Green Woodpecker and Chaffinch here which I had got as ticks on my Lakeside New Year’s Day walk and the Goldcrest she got on hers which I have not yet seen did overtook me by one bird as the little friendly race within the household hotted up which is always a fun bit of New Year.

We then had a little bit of time walking at the wonderful Milkham where I took the final three pictures in this photoset of two views and a lovely New Forest pony. A fun moment seeing the ponies then a Grey Squirrel in a tree two of my mammal year ticks in one moment. I had a good day for ponies today. The Milkham walk was headlined though by a fleeting view of yet another of my favourite birds, a Dartford Warbler flying into vegetation. A fantastic bird to see, another year tick I am so proud of this year one of my best in the early days. I was so elated to see this bird, by far my earliest ever sighting of one in a year. We saw Dunnock and Green Woopecker at Milkham too. A wonderful end to a fantastic Monday off enjoying the richly wild habitats of the New Forest with a real variety seen once more. I wish everyone who may be reading this but this shall especially apply to those in the UK I suppose all the best as we enter as the Prime Minister has said probably some of the toughest weeks/months to come in this pandemic. Stay safe, keep talking and connecting to nature and know that I am always only a message away if needed.

Wildlife Sightings Summary: My first of one of my favourite birds the Dartford Warbler this year, my first Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Treecreeper and Goosander of the year, my first of one of my favourite mammals the New Forest pony this year, my first Grey Squirrel and Brown Rat of the year, three more of my favourite birds the Kingfisher, Jay and Green Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Chaffinch, Pied Wagtail, Wren, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Mallard, Canada Goose and Moorhen.

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peeterparkr · 5 years ago

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limits of desire⤳t.h.||10

chapter 10: throw your bridal shower.

story summary: you met Tom a night he was trying to sleep with you, it didn’t work and you became best of friends. Wedding bells might be ringing for when you both realize what you really feel.

summary: the one with the Toblerone, the questionnaire & the lingerie

pairing: fuckboy!tom holland x best friend!reader

warnings: swearing, angsty, fluffy, harry potter, alcohol mention, sex mention, i didn’t proof read lmao

word count: 6.3k

previous chapter next chapter series masterlist wanna be tagged?

“What even is a Bridal Shower?” Sam asked.

Tom and Haz had tried to set up the perfect bridal shower since y/n told him. They were good at planning parties at the last minute. But, those parties usually involved alcohol, music and chips. Nothing too complicated. However, a bridal shower was a whole different thing.

Poker night was definitely going to go way different than the boys had expected it to go. For starters, Haz and Tom's house was covered in flowers, with tables and chairs around. There were cheesy signs with messages like 'Here comes the Bride', 'Put a Ring On It' and ‘Miss to Mrs.’. There were pink flowers, and in the refrigerator, to Harry's surprise, there was no space, due to the pink cheesecake, the pink chocolate cake, and the pink champagne. Haz and Tom had started shopping and decorating as soon as they had left the dance class.

"Don't tell me the toilet is the pink too," Harry complained.

"Alright, Tom," Tuwaine rolled his eyes. “I never thought I'd say this, but here you go...Magazines for bridesmaids, from various countries.”

“I found videos on youtube,” said Harry. “I sent them to you.”

“I made a board on Pinterest,” Haz said. “And i shared it with you.”

"Although honestly, everything would be easier if you went to her hotel room and told her how you feel," Sam suggested. “You know, show up with some flowers, maybe champagne, or maybe show up with some cards, Love Actually style, and tell her how you feel.”

“That could work,” Harry agreed. "But hey, I already ordered some pizzas and here are the beers, drink them since the fridge is full," he said while sipping his beer.

"No ... No, you don't understand," Tom wrinkled his nose, "It's not just preventing this wedding, it's also showing her I'm not against them."

"You're not?" Tuwaine asked condescendingly.

Tom sighed, thinking about the blue box in his drawer. "I bought something."

Haz raised his eyebrows. "What? A ring?”

“If you did, then…maybe you could go and propose to her,” Tuwaine suggested.

“Don’t be silly! He can’t propose to an engaged woman,” Sam rolled his eyes.

“Neither can’t he confess his love, then,” Harry added. “At this point it’s… complicated.”

“Did you really buy a ring?” Haz asked,

"No, no ... Nothing, nothing," Tom cleared his throat. "Now, I need to turn this place into a dream place for y / n, uh ... Actually, I also made a board on pinterest, as crazy as it sounds, I have everything here, there will be a hot chocolate bar ..."

"Tom," Haz stopped him. "Sam made a point."

"I know, but it's not that simple."

"Isn't it easy to tell her that you love her?" Tuwaine laughed. "Man, I’m telling you, it took a long time for you not to tell her, already."

"If I have waited so long I can wait longer," Tom added. “I want her to see that I can really take things seriously, you guys understand?”

“I think rather, you are afraid, Tom,” said Harry. "I think you're afraid of being rejected as you rejected her."

"Maybe, yes," Tom admitted. “But hey, wouldn’t you feel that way? You saw how she was looking at Miguel, right? ”

“ Yes, Tom, but I also saw how you danced with her today, I've never seen her have that chemistry with someone else, not even with Miguel on the night of the party, ”Haz insisted.

"That's what it all relies on," Tom said. "She may have feelings for me, but she thinks I'm not fit for her."

"Have you told her that you have changed?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Tom sighed. "She doesn't believe me."

"We need an insider," Tuwaine suggested.

"We just need to convince not only y/n, then," said Haz. "She has a very poisonous voice there by her side."

"Lizzie," Tom growled. "And how to make Lizzie convince herself?"

"Ask her for help, for the party!" Sam suggested.”Maybe she’ll think you’ve changed, too!”

Tom thought about it. "Okay, okay," he said as he pulled out his phone, texting Lizzie asking about ideas for the shower of y / n.

"I don't know," Haz hesitated. "I think Lizzie isn't so happy with y / n's wedding either."

"Do you think so?" Tom raised his head.

Tuwaine was the first to let out a laugh. "Tom, please, the only thing Lizzie wants in this life is for y/n to get away from you." The other friends followed his laughter.

“Really?” Tom frowned.

“Yeah, but I heard her speaking at the party,” Haz said. “She told Hannah how she was unsure, that y/n should not marry someone she had just met.”

“She’s right about that,” Tom rolled his eyes.

“But still, she doesn’t like you,” Tuwaine added.

“Oh, no, she likes him just fine,” Sam teased. “But she’s angry Tom doesn’t like her in the same way.”

Tom rolled his eyes, but he received a text from Lizzie.

“Flowers, lots of flowers,” it read.

And he knew Lizzie meant that text. Because y/n loved flowers.

“Have the place be presentable. Fairy tale with taste, not too much.” She textured again.

"Ah, that's fine ... Now, you have to ... Transform this men's cage into a dream place," Tom said with little desire.

"What is a bridal shower, again?" Harry asked. “Do you have to bring strippers? Oh, what if you're the stripper for. ”

“No, no, no! it's not a bachelorette party, ”said Tom. "Actually, uh ... I don't know, I just know that we have to do the centerpieces, oh and plan games."

"Games, yes, I had some of that on my board on pinterest ..." Haz said. "Here it is! 30 games to do in a Bridal Shower! ”

Harry took Haz's cell phone, reading the games.

"great, that sounds promising," Tom said, he looked too stressed. "Hey, let's see."

Harry read the list. "You know, most of the games are really coupley things," said Harry. “You know… for couples who have been together for a long time. It would be easy if it were you. ”

“You could make a game like that, right? Let her understand that she doesn't know Miguel and that you Tom, are the one who should really be with her, ”Tuwaine said.

"Yes ... Yes," Tom cleared his throat.

"Yes, the nearly-wed game," Haz said. "I'll send a text to Miguel, I'll have him answer the questions and-"

"You have his number?"

"I had to spend a whole day with him, man, what did you expect?" Harrison sighed. “But, let's ask him questions and let y/n try to answer them. And vice-versa, make y/n answer a questionnaire, and we have Tom answer it. ”

“Cool, now help me out wit these, ‘the thanks for coming’ gifts,” Tom said, as he took out little bags.

"Toblerones?" Asked Harry as he looked into the bag.

"Yes..." Tom smiled. “Toblerones.”

“And… is this Harry Potter themed? I thought the theme was pink.”

Haz laughed, “the theme is the night Tom fell in love with her.”

——

Not far from there, y/n was not having a good time. She felt her head was going to explode. She was sure that whatever that had happened at the dancing lesson was not insignificant. She was in her hotel room, with Lizzie sitting on the edge of her bed while y/n was complaining against the pillow.

Lizzie was drinking from her glass of wine while staying quiet.

"Are you done?" She asked her friend.

"No," answered y / n. “I have serious problems.”

“Needless to say.”

“I love Miguel,” said y/n, more for her than for Lizzie, who decided to remain silent. "I mean ... I don't know why I'm doing this."

"Y / N, you’re not over Tom," Lizzie told her.

"What are you talking about? I'm over him… No, wait, I'm not over because I was never… above him, ”Y / n closed her. eyes. "I mean ... You know what I mean."

Lizzie poured her a glass of wine. "Okay,y/n, it's time we talked."

"Talk about what?"

"Talk about how you have been in love with Tom for a long time already?"

Y / N glared at her friend. "No ...that is not true."

"Come on, y / n, I can assure you that I know the day you fell in love with him." Lizzie sighed. "it was just shortly after you met, when you had that great big essay, you remember? The big Christmas party? We were on finals.”

"That ..."

"You fell in love at that time, and ... if I didn’t know Tom any better, I also believe that he fell in love at that precise moment. ”

Y/N took a sip of her wine glass. Yes, she remembered it too.

5 years ago.

It was cold, y/n had not stopped sneezing, and she had a mixture of tissues, notes and books around her bedroom. Her eyes were covered with dark circles and her nose was red. She was curled up while trying to read yet another book so she could finish her essay on the criticism of contemporary media, talking about free speech with legal terms and other nonsense that y/n did not remember due to her illness.

She was almost finished but, y/n, like the great student She was, she was still editing it. There was a party, Tom had invited her and her friends. Haz and he were celebrating the finals and Christmas. Honestly, it was yet another way to get girls to bed.

Y/ n's friends had been gushing about how amazing it was that y/n was now friends with a celebrity. And they were insisting on how y/n should be dating Tom, thing which, y/n of course declined, being that because clearly Tom was not the kind of guy you go out on dates with, but someone for a one-night stand. Y/n didn’t want that.

Besides, she liked him, as a friend, of course.

But she wasn’t going to the party, she had an essay to finish. Besides, she felt worse and worse by each second. Every second her cold was killing her.

"Are you sure you're not going?" Rachel, her roommate, asked. “It's you whom he invited.”

“I am sure, I don't want to risk getting even more sick, have fun, get out, and I hope you get some.”

She had sent a text to Tom, telling him she wouldn't go to his party because her body had decided to betray her, but she wished him luck and asked him to please not sleep with any of her friends, she didn't want things to be uncomfortable.

-C'mon, please join us, it'll be fun, you know what they say, drinking whiskey is like going to the doctor

-Who says that?

-I just did

-I'm sorry, I really wish I could, but I need to rest, have fun, tho!

So she curled up in her bed, coughing as she covered herself. She fell asleep. But not for long because someone had knocked on her door. Y / N, covered with a blanket, approached the door, which opened only to reveal a coated Tom who had a pizza box in one hand and another box with other things under it.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, perplexed as Tom surrounded her to enter the room.

"I came to take care of you," Tom said. "My God, you're a mess."

"Take care of me?"

"Yes, I told you I would throw that party to spend time with you, you decided not to come so I assumed I would bring the fun to you," Tom said with a smile. "I will help you clean up and then we will watch a movie," Tom said, leaving the box with things on her bed and the pizza on her desk, while throwing out y/n’s tissues and cleaning up her mess.

Y / N looked at him perplexed, with a smile, but not without , of course, sneezing.

"Hell, you sound terrible," Tom scoffed. “I believe you now, I mean I saw you with the red nose but it could’ve been makeup.”

“What… what is this?” Y/n asked approaching the box.

"A care package."

Y / N burst out laughing. “Really?”

“Yes, hey, I told you that I wanted to be your best friend, right? I think it's a good start, besides, you deserve it, I've seen you kill yourself for school, you need a break, ”Tom said, as he approached the box. "It has everything you need, I know you're old-fashioned and you still have a DVD, so I brought your favorites, Harry Potter."

Y / N smiled as she looked at the box. It had the Harry Potter movies, vitamin C supplements, chapstick, lotion, medicine,gatorades, tissues, advils, tea bags in a new cup, popcorn, toblerones (y / n's favorites), a pair of socks and a blanket . Y / N's heart melted.

Tom finished cleaning up the mess y/n had built up while y/n watched him and helped him with it. She saw him, for the first time, in a different way.

"Besides, I brought pizza, because I'm sure you forgot to eat," Tom said. “Now, put on the movie, snuggle up, take your pills, while I'm going to search for some hot water for your tea, okay?”

“But… Tom, your party,” said y/n.

"There will be more parties, silly," Tom laughed. “A friend needs me.”

And y/n had felt like her body was quickly warming up, and she was sure it wasn't a fever. And in that moment when she saw him smile, y/n understood many things about Tom. What she had seen from the beginning, just a few weeks ago. Tom was someone who cared. Tom was meticulous and loyal as a friend.

And she suddenly felt that her stomach was churning, maybe she could blame the same cold, but she had decided to ignore it. Blaming it on illness, when she was completely sure that she had fallen in love with Tom. She saw it with different eyes, and although it was too early to say it, she had seen him with blind eyes.

“You didn’t have to do this,” she told him as soon as he came back.

“I sure did, you deserve to have fun, too,” Tom chuckled. “Look, I will also take you out for breakfast tomorrow.”

“Hmm—breakfast?”

“Fine, brunch so you can sleep a bit more, alright?” Tom grinned. “But actually sleep! I’ve seen how you live on coffee and you should actually sleep more.”

Y/n chuckled, he was right. They stayed quiet for a bit.

“The pizza is great, but you know what I’m craving right now?” She looked at him.

“strawberry cheesecake,” Tom guessed.

Y/N blinked. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she laughed. “I was actually thinking about that!”

Tom’s eyes widened. “No way!”

Y/n giggled between coughs. “Yes! How could you even guess?”

Tom shrugged. “We were meant to be friends, y/n,” he smirked. “Now, let’s prove if this is destiny or not. What dessert am I craving?”

She looked him in the eyes. “I—well,” she bit her lip. “Chocolate truffle cake.”

Tom blinked. “Now that is creepy.”

Y/n raised her eyebrow. “Really?”

“Really, that is creepy.”

“Maybe we read each other’s mind—“ she smiled, as she snuggled with her blanket and her old Mickey Mouse plush.

“Still creepy,” he laughed.

“You know, I need to take you to this bakery, it’s near here, I discovered once when it was raining and I had nowhere else to get in, it’s sooo good, they have all kinds of dessert.”

“Like strawberry cheesecake and chocolate truffle cake?” Tom grinned.

“Yes, like strawberry cheesecake and chocolate truffle cake.”

That had been the first of many times curled up watching Harry Potter. It became another tradition between the two of them, who shared it only with each other. And since that day, y/n had not been able to let her feelings stop growing. But Tom had taught her that he was not a good match, that Tom was simply not built for relationships.

Which brings us back to today, where she was drinking from a glass of cheap wine in a hotel room with Lizzie.

"I'm not in love with him," said Y / N, trying to convince her friend.

"You are," Lizzie told her. "Y / N are you sure you're going to marry a man when you love someone else?"

"I don't know, Lizzie, it's complicated," said y / n. “It's… I love Miguel, he loves me like someone should love me. I don't have to beg him for his love, do you understand? Miguel doesn't go around reminding me that he can't love me. ”

“ Y / N. ”

“ Maybe, Lizzie, I was in love with Tom, I can't… I don't know, I think it's something that had to happen, and you're right, It all happened that night, when he decided not to go to his party to take care of me, ”she smiled as she remembered.

“Yeah.”

“But, being honest, Lizzie, why wouldn't I fall in love with him? Have you thought about that? I mean, he ... he gave everything for me, that night is just one of many, I thought maybe he felt something too. I mean, how many times didn't he pull an all-nighter himself to help me with an exam? Or how many times wasn't he there comforting me to cry with me? It was... the little details, from knowing my favourite chocolate to knowing that I accumulate notebooks. ”

“ I know. ”

“ But, it seems I always found a way to avoid it, as if every time he knew he was doing something to make me fall in love… He was with another girl, and yet with another girl. ”

“ I know, I was one of the victims, I was an aware victim, though. ”

“ You were? ”

“ Y / N, the last time I slept with him was to prevent you from doing it, we both know Tom, he always plays that little game with you, he always looked forward to playing with you and ... And I saw that several times that you were just about to give in, but, as someone who once slept with him, I didn't want you to feel that, you know? I didn't want you to suffer that particular disappointment, ”Lizzie said with a little guilt. “Oh, I don't know,y/n.”

“Come again?”

“I think I saw the way you saw him, and sometimes I came to think that Tom felt the same about you and then… Then he did those things, and he turned around to flirt with whoever was in the room. ”

“ Thank you for bringing that back, ” y/n sighed, gulping down her wine.

"Tom doesn't know how to love,y/n, or ... or maybe he does, I don't know, he's scared, that's what I see, and being honest, I can't stand it," Lizzie said. “Because in spite of everything, he is the man who has made my best friend cry the most.”

She was right.

“No… I don't know,” y/n ignored her gaze, knowing she was right. "But he's also a very good friend."

"I can't deny that," Lizzie said. “But I think, I think you have to let him go.”

“I know,” said y/n . “I tried that, I did that, and for six months, I was fine, I missed him too much, because… He's my best friend, and he's always there for me.”

“As long as you have him close,” Lizzie told him. "You'll continue with that doubt, with that hope."

"But you saw him today, right?" Y / N insisted. "You saw how he looked at me, and… oh Lizzie, when I was dancing with him, I felt ... I felt everything, even more than with Miguel."

The two finished their drinks and Lizzie filled them again. They remained silent, while pretending to watch the background film they had been playing all this time.

"Y/N are you sure you want to get married?" Lizzie asked. "I understand that you want to forget Tom, but is getting married necessary?"

Y/N did not answer suddenly but looked at her cell phone. She had a photo of Miguel as her background, as if to remind herself that he was her fiancé and not Tom. However, when unlocking it, she had a picture with Tom. She checked her notifications, and there was what she needed, a message from Miguel. Poetry, Said poetry she loved.

“Laugh at the night, at the day, at the moon, laugh at the twisted streets of the island, laugh at this clumsy boy who loves you, but when I open my eyes and close them, when my steps go, when my steps return, deny me bread, air, light, spring, but never your laughter for I would die. ”

Y/N smiled to herself.

"Yes, I want to marry Miguel," she said confidently. “I just need to see a picture with him to remember why I want to do it, I guess… I guess I'm having all these thoughts because I know I'm going to let Tom go, forever.”

“Forever?”

“Yes , I don't want to live tied to him, and if I don't let him go ... I'll stay there like a fool, dancing with him just to see how he goes and ends up sleeping with another girl, I can't keep hopeful in that fantasy of him finally falling in love with me, ”y/n reminded her. "So ... after the wedding, I don't know ... Well, for starters, I'll stay there with Miguel, I'm going to leave London."

Lizzie approached to hug her. "Take me with you. You can't leave me. ”

Y / N let out a small, forced laugh. “I have to go, and I will, because I will love Miguel, and we will build a life together.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, y/n,” said Lizzie, as she looked at her cellphone, she erased her last notification.

"Am I crazy?" Asked y/n.

"Very crazy, but I think Miguel will do you good," Lizzie told her. "However, if you're going to get Tom out of your life ... And after being so many years in love with him ..."

"What?"

"Well, if I were you, I'd have a little fun," Lizzie hinted with a smile. “I mean, you both would have to get each other out of your lives, then…”

“Lizzie! You're saying that… ”

“Yes, sleep with Tom, ”Lizzie laughed. "What could go wrong?"

"I am engaged!" Claimed y / n.

"That didn't stop you today," Lizzie reminded her. “Think about it, it was a joke… But, it would be good if you actually knew who you were in love with.”

“Lizzie!”

“Y/N! You’ve been in love with him for five years now. You’re getting married! And you’re never going to see him again, sleep with him, then he will have to kick you out it of his life and you will have to kick him out of your life, and you’re good! And you won’t live without knowing what it was like to sleep with probably the love of your life!”

“He’s—not the love of my life,” lied y/n. “Miguel is.”

“Whatever! You know you want to sleep with Tom!” Insisted Lizzie.

“No, no. That is why I have to go back to Mexico, I will continue with that plan! if I spend 10 more minutes alone with him, I will not be able to control myself. ”

“Do what you want y/n, ”Lizzie laughed. "It was just an idea."

Y / N rolled her eyes. “Idiot.”

“Oh, sometimes I appreciate that you didn't sleep with him,” Lizzie laughed, while y / n now served them both more wine.

Y / N shook her head. They were silent for a while, watching the movie that was in the background.

“Was he…” Y / N cleared her throat. “Was he good?”

Lizzie smirked and raised her eyebrows. "Very."

Y/N laughed. "I mean, with all that experience, wouldn't expect anything else."

Lizzie laughed. "Boy knows his ways," she admitted. "And tell me ... Miguel?"

"It's ..." Y / N flushed. "Well, nothing to do with the British guys ... He moves differently."

"Different good?"

"Oh, definitely, different better!" Y/n chuckled.

Both friends started laughing to each other and gushed about the other guys they'd dated. Having fun, remembering fun anecdotes.

—

Y/N had showed up to her bridal shower with just a slight hangover. Big was her surprise when it wasn’t a disaster. It was… perfect. Pink, very pink, but perfect. With a few touches of white and yellow thanks to the flowers Tom had chosen.

It was cheesy but with taste, and incredibly nice. Tom served pizza, which perfectly captured y/n’s request of ‘nothing too big’. There were some big pillows on the floor where they’d be playing after. It reminded y/n of a slumber party of sorts.

Tom was the only man around, because he was her maid of honor, of course. He was nervous and he seemed a bit out of character. Although, he had been acting that way since y/n had come back.

“Lizzie, hello,” he greeted her.

“I’m impressed,” she admitted. “This is the best shower I’ve been to.”

“Really?” Tom cleared his throat. “Thank you, I hope y/n likes it.”

Lizzie raised her eyebrows at him. “What’s the theme, though? I mean… it’s lovely—“

“Ah it’s… pink, I guess,” Tom lied. “Pink slumber.”

Lizzie gave him an authentic smile. “With strawberry cheesecake and pink chocolate cake, I see… and I saw you had some Harry Potter hints, too.”

“Well, y/n loves Harry Potter, I guess I just threw in a bit of what she loves,” Tom accepted.

“I see,” Lizzie gave him a sad smile.

The party continued, and y/n, with a glass of champagne on her hand, eventually approached Tom.

“Tom, this is adorable,” she told him.

“I’m glad,” he grinned.

Y/N was nibbling on a Toblerone. “I’m… seriously, thank you so much.”

“I’m not going to lie, I was going to a Mexican themed party, but I realized that I could’ve gone in a… totally not appropriate way and that would’ve been bad, so the theme is… Pink, simpler, nicer.”

Y/n chuckled. “Yeah, and oh thanks for the Toblerone, I totally love these,” she chuckled as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “You look nice today.”

Tom blushed looking down. “Thanks, you look… spectacular, that dress is beautiful.”

Y/N smiled but cleared her throat. “Oh… eh, and I just… wanted to thank you for coming to the dancing lessons with me.”

“Anything for you,” Tom said looking into her eyes.

Y/N blinked. There it was again, that promise which held so much but his love.

Tom smiled. “And oh, listen, the only Mexican thing is the music, listen to it, it’s… lovely,” he said turning the volume higher. “this is actually a song named ‘Solamente Una Vez’, am I pronouncing that right?”

Y/n chuckled. “Yes, I think.”

“Well, it’s a song… About falling in love just once,” he said looking into her eyes.

Y/N cleared her throat as she gulped down her champagne. “Nice, uh… Did Miguel recommend it?”

Tom closed his eyes. “No… He, he didn’t.”

Y/N looked away, Lizzie quickly saw her and ran to save her.

“Tom, let’s start with the games!” She suggested.

Soon enough they were gathered around on the pillows and on the couch, waiting for the games that Tom had prepared. They were all cheerful, and happy.

Tom chuckled. “Well, as you may know, I don’t truly know how these things work. Maybe I went a little over the top,” he announced. “I feel weird being surrounded by all these women.”

“Are you really, though?” Lizzie nudged Rachel, who was definitely not happy to be there.

Tom blushed, clearing his throat. “Anyway, uh--”

Y/N glared at Lizzie. “It’s amazing, Tom, thank you.”

“I had to do a little research, because I thought initially this was supposed to be the bachelorette party… And I didn’t have time to cancel the strippers!”

Anna, y/n’s mom’s eyes widened. “Tom!”

He laughed. “No, I’m joking, I’m joking… But with uh, the little research I made, the bridal shower is to…” Tom gulped. “Support the marriage and celebrate the bride,” Tom said looking at y/n. “The beautiful and most amazing bride.”

Y/N chuckled and mouthed a thank you to Tom.

“Enough of this,” Lizzie yelled. “Let’s play the games.”

“Well, I thought it’d be a good time to quiz all of us on knowing the bride,” Tom smirked. “I’m gonna pass some… questionnaires and we will see who knows her the best, we will also be competing against the groom,” Tom laughed. “Who was kind enough to send his answers by text.”

They laughed and started filling it up.

Y/N looked at the questions, and bit her lip. There was no way in which Miguel could’ve answered all of them right. Probably, the only one who could really answer them all was… Tom.

“Well, let’s start, an easy one, okay?” Tom grinned. “Uh, where did the bride and groom meet each other?” he asked. “Y/N, love, mind checking my answers while I check Miguel’s?”

Y/n smiled at Tom. “Mexico, when I was stuck in a rainstorm.”

Tom grinned. “Who got that one correct? Check all your answers then. And let’s see, Miguel got that one correct.”

“Wait, uh, Tom… “Lizzie intruded. “I’ll… ask the next one, and we can keep asking them.”

Tom shrugged. “As you wish.”

Lizzie looked down. “What’s y/n signature drink?”

“Iced coffee…” Y/n answered. “But…Pink mimosas if we’re talking alcohol,” she chuckled, winking.

Tom chuckled. “And… the groom’s answer was… Beer and… Tequila” Tom raised his eyebrows. “I think Miguel thinks he’s dating me, instead.”

Y/N chuckled. “Okay, to be fair with him, back in Mexico, I did only drink just that,” she admitted. She looked down at Tom’s answer. ‘Iced coffee, except when it’s cold, then hot cocoa, and pink mimosas if it’s alcohol’. Y/N gulped.

They continued with more questions, some of them Miguel guessed correctly, but most of them he didn’t. However, each question, Tom had guessed it correctly and with all the ‘buts and whys’ answered right beside it. He knew her, entirely. And she had kept drinking from her champagne while either of her friends refilled her glass.

“What’s her go-to karaoke song?” Y/N’s mom asked after a few questions. “Easy, I can answer it, Dancing Queen!”

“While that answer is partly correct Anna,” Tom chuckled. “That’s only when she’s sober.”

Y/N blushed embarrassed. Her mother stared at y/n chuckling.

“Oh yes, her rendition of Toxic, might be the best I’ve seen,” Hannah laughed. “The choreography.”

Y/N laughed, embarrassed. She was still sober enough to know she wouldn’t need to perform it. That didn’t mean she would.

“I’ve got to differ,” y/n answered. “While both of those options are correct… Tom was the one who guessed it fair and square,” Y/N chuckled awkwardly as she stared at his answers. Her three go-to karaoke songs were there.

“You all missed ‘You’re the One that I want’ from Grease,” Tom laughed watching her. “Shall we?” He asked as he looked for his phone, and searched for the song. “No, no, I’m not doing it,” Y/N laughed, while their friends cheered.

“Oh my god,” Anna giggled.

Tom stood up, reaching for y/n’s hand. “C’mon,” he said before starting the song. The piano gave y/n’s chills.

She smirked. “Tell me about it, stud,” she said.

The rest of the party continued, after y/n’s and Tom’s performance, it suddenly got more interesting. But nothing too weird, Tom hadn’t really done anything wrong and y/n was just waiting for him to hook up with one of her friends. He didn’t. He hadn’t even flirted with them, he had only smiled and listened to them, but no flirting. He had remained incredibly decent and had only paid attention to y/n. Maybe, y/n thought, he was no longer afraid to flirt with her because he thought that y/n wouldn’t fall because she was engaged. Little did he know that was the bigger problem.

The questionnaire had remained on her head, for the rest of the party. Miguel hadn’t been able to answer most of the questions. His answers had been incredibly naive and basic, while Tom’s were on point, as that question about her favourite movie in which he answered: ‘She says her favourite movie is Death Poet Society, which it is, but The Princess Diaries might be her actual favourite.’

But the party ended, it had been perfect. And y/n wasn’t sure if had been the recent conversation she had had with Lizzie, or if it actually was themed to that night. Y/N couldn’t stop thinking about it. The pizza, the Toblerone, the Harry Potter things and the blankets. Maybe it was her imagining stuff.

That didn’t impede her, of course, from booking her flight to Monday that very next monday. She hadn’t told Tom. But she had asked him to go shopping the next day with her, with Lizzie’s idea still roaming on her head. Hooking up with Tom one last time before she got married. As a cleanse. But it wouldn’t make any sense.

Besides, she needed to know where he was in that situation, which brought her to the next day after the party, Saturday, only two days before her flight. A stupid decision, really, to bring him over to check on some ‘clothing’. She had stalled, because she really didn’t want to see it.

However, Tom had been perfect. A perfect maid of honour, he had asked been her confidant, asking if she was actually ready to do all of this.

Tom had been particularly quiet and seemed to have his head elsewhere, but he was still there.

They were walking past the particular shop wanted to visit. Victoria Secret.

“I need to check the lingerie,” she sentenced as she dragged him to the shop. Tom turned red.

“What?”

“For the wedding night!” Y/N chuckled, seeing him turning tense.

“Well, check it with Liz! Or Hannah! Not with me,” Tom coughed, awkwardly. “No.”

“Are you crazy? You’re the perfect person for this job! Who’s taken more lingerie than you?” She laughed as she walked over to see the babydolls, and the teddy’s.

Tom squeezed his eyes shut. “Fair point.”

He followed after her.

“Let’s put your whoring to some use,” she laughed.

Tom followed after her. He was sweating.

“You get nervous around underwear?” Y/N teased.

“I can’t be recognized here,” he mumbled. “Especially not with an engaged woman,” Tom reminded her.

Y/N laughed. “Ah, please, people know we’re just friends.”

“Are we,” he mumbled, but y/n chose to ignore it.

She kept going through the racks as Tom tried to ignore her, scrolling through his phone, texting, until y/n walked into the fitting room.

“So, have you talked to… Miguel?” Tom asked as he strolled in front of the room.

“Yes, yes, I...can’t wait to see him again.

“Of course,” Tom answered. “Well… Uh, yn? I have to thank you.”

“Me? I should be thanking you… the bridal shower was incredible,” Y/N told him as she put on one of the red teddy’s she had chosen.

“Right… But I have to thank you, for well, asking me to be your maid of honour, yeah… it’s gonna sound crazy, but you’ve really opened my eyes to the whole idea of marriage.”

Y/N stayed quiet, thinking about the ring she had found in his drawer. She faked a laugh. “Right.”

“I mean it,” he said.

“Have… you met someone Tom?” She asked him, not wanting to hear a very specific answer.

“No.”

“Then how can you be serious? I mean, would you buy a ring without having a girlfriend?” Y/N questioned.

He sighed. “I don’t know I just…. I don’t know.”

Y/N bit her lip, before she walked out of the fitting room, slowly, staring into his eyes.

He chuckled as he sat down. “Well?”

She smirked as she batted her eyes before walking out with a pink and black corset, tied to the black pantyhose she was wearing.

She walked over in the sexiest way she could, with a slow pace and a lascivious look, seeing Tom getting red and flustered. His mouth opened in awe as she smirked before twirling a finger around her hair.

Tom’s eyes couldn’t be more opened as y/n saw him practically undress her with his sight.

“Well, you think Miguel will like it?” She popped the question.

Tom suddenly shook his head and coughed. “No.” He looked away. Before chuckling and walking over.

“It’s… just…” Tom giggled. “Cute.”

Cute? He had basically already eaten her three times with the glance he had given her and he said it was cute?

“Cute? I don’t wanna look cute on my wedding night!” Y/N complained.

Tom rolled his eyes. “Well, that’s how you’ll look, you’re… cute, y/n,” He gulped. “Maybe try something else.”

Y/N sighed, before getting back to try on more.

Eventually, she decided on one, even if Tom wasn’t convinced. This had been the first time he wasn’t all supportive of everything, but he seemed flustered.

Y/N had insisted on going to the bakery, where she wanted to talk alone with him, she was finally telling him.

“So… why did we come today? It’s Saturday? Are we seeing more wedding stuff related, tomorrow? We’re still up for brunch, right?”

“Tom… No, it’s… it’s my last day in London.”

Tom blinked. “What?”

“I’ve been meaning to tell you, but… I didn’t know how I’m… I’m moving to Mexico with Miguel and I… Tomorrow’s my last day in London.”

And it was probably her last Sunday with Tom.

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